Now , that you may knowe that they take the Scriptures away from you , not to keep you in sobriety , but to detaine you in ignorance ; consider , that in the Roman Church they read publikely unto you some chapters of the Bible in a tongue which you understand not . If in these chapters GOD were spoken unto , one might excuse it ; saying , that GOD understands all languages : but these chapters are divine Lectures , in which God speaketh unto men . Tell me in conscience , wherefore should God bee a Barbarian unto us , and speak to us in an unknowne tongue ? Wherefore speaks hee unto men , but to the end they should understand him ? Wherefore should those things , which every where else would be esteemed ridiculous and against common sense , bee thought good and comely in religion ? But , is it not a sleight of the enimy of our salvation ; that he might make Christianity ridiculous , and hinder the Word of God from beeing understood of you ? to the end likewise that the threatning may be accomplished which God useth to a people with whom hee is angry , I will speak to this people by men of other language , 1 Cor. 14. 21. & in a strange tongue , and so they shall not understand mee .

This evil hath produced another : for , in taking away from you the holy Scriptures which make men learned , they have given you Images , which they call the books of ignorant men , because they nourish ignorance : therewithall they busie the people , in stead of instructing them ; in stead of teaching them , they make them passe-time . But because that against this same , the second of Gods commandements is expresse , which forbids in matter of Gods service to make any Image , and to fall downe before any representation of anie thing in Heaven or earth ; and that his Law , pronounced with thundering , affrighteth even to this day this superstition : these Doctours have imposed silence unto this Lawe of God , and dare to raze out this commandement out of those books , praiers and service-bookes , which they appoint them to use : A thing wherin wee may suspect our owne eyes , and hardly beleeve when wee see it , that very wormes of the earth have made so bould as to correct the Law of God pronounced with his owne mouth ; yea , that same Lawe , by which they shall bee judged at the last day .

Vnto such enterprises the holie & sacred name of Church serveth as a cloak . It is said that the Church cannot erre ; that she is soveraign Iudge of the points and doubts of faith ; that shee is the faithfull interpreter of the Scripture . By which Church , is understood not the Greek , nor the Syrian , nor the African ( although more ancient & more pure than the Romane ) ; but onely the Romane Church , which , having never been but a particular Church , cals herself the Vniversall . By this meanes the Church of Rome is becomne Iudge in her own cause . The Greek Chur. more ancient than the Roman , complaineth that the Roman Church is revolted and separated from her , producing against her her chaires , her succession , her antiquity . In this contestation , the Romane Church vanteth herself to bee Iudge , and so will bee both Iudge and Party . In the question whether the Romane Church can erre , shee herselfe will be Iudge ; and ( which is more ) when there is question of deciding what the Churches duty is , the Romane Church will bee soveraigne Iudge , to the end shee may have no other lawes but of her owne establishing , and what shee will carve out for her owne self . And , moreover , when the sense and interpretation of the Lawe of God lieth at the stake , shee esteemeth herself the infallible expounder , and reputes her owne interpretation of equall authority with the Law of God ; yet is it certaine , that by this Law shee shall bee judged at the later day . Now , there is no rashnes so extravagant , as to put sinners for infallible judges of the sense of the Lawe , by which their sinnes are to be judged . What obedience think you is the Soveraign Master to look for , if his servants may say unto him , Thou hast indeed commanded us that same , but wee interpret it thus , and doo judge that thy commandement ought thus to bee understood ; and thou knowest , that wee are undoubted judges in such matters , and that our interpretations are of equal authority to thy commandements ? By this reckoning , it were better to bee servant than Master . By which of these two ( thinke you ) shall the Prelates of the Church of Rome be judged at the last day ? whether by the Law of God , or by their owne interpretations ? I referre this to the judgement of any man that hath but the remainder of common sense left him , or any spark of free and unpreocupate conceipt , which of the two ought rather to be supream Iudge in religion : whether God , ruling and teaching the Church by his Word ; or the church , that ought to receive this Word , and obey him . Who shall rather be Iudge , the scripture which commands there should be a Church , and giveth it lawes ; or the Church , which onely giveth attestation that that is the Scripture ? specially considering , that even this testimony may be given by a corrupt Church , and disobedient to this Scripture . Who shall bee rather Iudge , the Scripture which is one , and judgeth without passion ; or the Church , which is divided into contrary churches which cannot bee assembled , and whose Pastors are subject to ambition and avarice , and fitter to bee had in suspicion when there is anie question of their profit or authority ?

Heere ( my Masters ) it is easie to shewe you , that they lead you in a way by which it is altogether impossible you should bee saved : for , you are taught simply to beleeve the Church of Rome , and without farther enquiry to depend entirely upon her authority ; and yet you are deprived of all means to know whether this Church , whereunto you give credit , bee pure , and teacheth true doctrine . For , how should you knowe that ? should it be by the holy Scriptures ? yea , but this book is not permitted you . At Rome and in Spaine , to read in it , is no lesse than burning at a stake : or would you knowe it by the Antients ? those are greek & latin books which the people understand not . What knowes an artificer , or a woman , or an husbandman amongst you , whether the Church teacheth conformably unto the Scripture ? or if their church bee such as it was some 12. or 1500. years since ? or whether of a long list of Popes pictured , the first have beleeved as the last , and that the times have altered nothing ? In briefe , you have no other proof of the purity of your church , but the witnes of your Church it self : whose Prelates , vanting themselves that they cannot erre , in the meane time deprive you of all means to discern of error from truth ; by hiding from you the rule of truth , which is the holy Scriptures . But wherfore should the Roman Church rather have this perfection , that the Greek or the Syrian ( more antient and more pure than the Roman ) founded by Ies. Christ himselfe , and by his Apostles ; and who also brag to have Saint Peters chair ? Doth the Scripture give unto the Roman Church any prerogative above others ? or doth it give her the priviledge of not erring ?

From hence doe ensue two things as cleere as the day : the one , that your faith is grounded onely upon the authority of men , and by consequent that your religion is a humane religion and not divine . Whosoever saith , I beleeve the Gospell and the Word of GOD , because the Church ordaineth it , maketh the Church more credible than God . To doubt of Gods truth , is a lesse crime , than to make it depend upon men . The other is , that , of all humane witnesses , you ground your selves upon the worst and most uncertain : for , you say , your Church is good because shee saith it , and so doo make her Iudge in her owne cause ; not considering , that by this word Church , you understand not Christian people , nor the generality of Pastors , but the Pope and some fewe Prelates whose rules are called Church-rules , although they tend onely to the profit of the Clergie , and the advancement of the Empire of the Bishop of Rome .

And you poor soules , whom God hath framed after his owne Image , whom hee hath redeemed with the blood of his Son , whom God solliciteth by his Word , will you languish alwaies in this captivity ? will you heap up unto your selves the wrath and indignation of the Lord , by rejecting the salvation which is proposed you ?

I confesse , that the Roman Chur. in certain points alleageth scripture , and that between her and us there is strife about the interpretation : but we make use of the Scripture in another manner than those which teach you .

For first , they are afraid the people should read the Scriptures : but we exhort men thereunto .

Secondly , they perswade you , that the Scripture is obscure and ambiguous : but we say , all things necessary unto salvation are therein layd downe with much clearness .

Thirdly , they say that the Scripture is an unperfect rule , they will needs have another unwritten word , and traditions of the Church equall in authority to the Scripture : wee ( on the contrary ) say , that the holie Scripture can make us wise unto salvation , 1 Tim. 15. 1 and that wee ought not to bee wise beyond what is written ; 1 Cor. 6. 4 and that in that which is cleare in the Scriptures , and needeth no interpretation , are contained all the doctrines necessary unto salvation .

Fourthly , when wee alleage the Scripture , we alleage it as soveraign Iudge , and as it that ruleth the Chur. and giveth her her authority : but the Romane Church alleageth the Scripture as a doctrine authorized by the Church , and that you ought to receive it because the Church hath ordained it .

Fiftly , when wee interpret the Scriptures , wee give not out our interpretations for lawes as doth the Roman Church , nor call our selves judges or infallible interpreters of the holy Scriptures .

Finally , when wee interpret the Scriptures , wee draw our interpretations from the Scripture it self : but the Roman Church draw their interpretations from the unwritten word and from tradition . For example : wee expound those words , This is my body , He took the bread , gave it , &c. Do this in remembrance of me . By the bread which I give you is the commemoration of my body ; the which exposition is found in the text it self of the institution of the sacrament : or by these words of the Apostle , 1. Cor. 10. 16 , The bread which wee break is the communion of the body of Christ . Your Teachers do not thus interpret the Scriptures : for , they draw their interpretations from the unwritten word and from tradition . When the Lord said to Peter , I have prayed that thy faith fail not ; they say , that by these words Saint Peter and the Popes of Rome , his successours , were promised the vertue that they could not erre : but the Scripture speaketh not of Popes or of Bishops of Rome , nor grants unto Saint Peter any successor in his Apostleship . So Malachie speaketh of a pure oblation which was to bee made in all places ; Mal. 1. 11 This oblation , according to the interpretation of these Masters , is the Masse ; in which they say the body of Christ is really sacrificed . But this interpretation is taken out of the unwritten word : for , the holy scripture speaketh not of any Masse , nor of the sacrifice of the body of Iesus Christ , nor establisheth any sacrificers in the Church to sacrifice the Son of God . So , when the Scripture saith , Thou shalt worship one God , and shalt serve him alone ; The interpretations of these Masters is , that God forbiddeth onely the worship of Latria , but not the adoration of Dulia , which is an inferiour religious service . But , the Scripture speaketh not of the adoration of Dulia , nor of any other religious service then that which is due unto God . These are interpretations which the Romane Church draweth from the unwritten word , which is at the discretion of the Romish Church , nor can bee learned but from her mouth : for , I doo not think there is any that ever hath seen all the instructions of this unwritten word reduced into one body ; Bellar. in Barkl . c. 3. He thinkes not rightly of the chur . of the chur . of Christ , that admits nothing but what hee reads expresly to have bin alledged or practised in the old chu. as if the Church of later time either ceast to be a chr. or hath not authority to expresse and declare , to decree also , and command those things which concern faith & Christian manners . and that because this word changeth according to the age , and is fitted unto the time , and that the Romish Chur. hath power also to adde new articles thereunto even in the points of faith .

The greatest mischief is , that these traditions and instructions of the unwritten word are not only additions unto the Scripture , but also manifest oppositions thereunto : whereof , the Mass alone doth furnish us with many examples . 1. For , Iesus Christ , administring the holy Sacrament of the Eucharist , spake in a tongue understood of the standers by : but the Priest in his Masse speaketh in an unknown language . 2. Iesus Christ administred to all there present : but the Priest oftentimes eateth & drinketh himselfe alone . 3. Iesus Christ communicated the cup unto all , and willed that all should drink thereof : but the Priest drinketh alone , and denieth the chalice unto the people . 4. Iesus Christ offred nothing to God : but the Priest prayeth in the Masse , that God would be pleased with his oblation . 5. Iesus Christ made no elevation of the hoste : but the Priest houldeth up an hoste to bee adored . 6. In the institution of this holy Sacrament there is no speech of a sacrifice , nor of sacrificing the body of Iesus Christ : cleane contrary , the Priest pretendeth the sacrificing of the body of Iesus Christ in a reall & propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead also . 7. Vnder the Table of our Lord there were no reliques hid , We beseech thee , Lord , through the merits of the Saints , whose relicks wee have heer , and for the merits of all the Saints besides , that thou wouldest vouchsafe to pardon all our sins . nor the bones of any Patriarch or Prophet : on the contrary , the Priest hath under the stones of his Altar the bones of the dead , without which reliques an Altar cannot bee consecrated : and so accordingly the Priest in his Masse craveth salvation by the merits of those Saints whose bones lie hidden under that Altar ; a thing that Iesus Christ never thought of . 8. Iesus Christ witnessed , that it was the fruit of the Vine that hee drank : but the Priest denies that it is so . 9. Iesus Christ will , that we make commemoration of him : but the Priest pretendeth to make Iesus Christ himself . 10. Saint Paul saith foure times , that we eat & break bread : on the contrary , the Priest maintains , that we neither eat nor break bread . 11. The Lord instituteth a Sacrament : but the Priest celebrateth a Sacrifice . In a word , the one administreth the Communion ; the other singeth Masse , expresly made to dis-figure the holy Supper of our Lord .

These Masters thinke themselves well fensed with using a childish recrimination in objecting unto us , that seeing wee will imitate our Lord , we ought all to celebrate the Communion after supper , & in a high chamber , and not to admit of women : but neither the place , nor the houre , nor the sex of the assistants , is either part or essence of the action ; and without any of these the action remaineth intire , nor hath Iesus Christ touching the same given any rule , or forbidden any circumstance . But the change which wee object against them , is in things essentiall , and which change the nature of the action ; seeing that thereby is introduced an adoration not commanded nor practised by the Apostles ; and a sacrifice established , which our Lord hath not ordained ; and an authorized superstition about dead mens bones ; and a publike repast changed into a private Mass ; and the people frustrate of understanding their ordinary service ; and instructed to take God , and to eat their Creator , & adore the creature ; and deprived of one halfe of the Sacrament , to wit the cup , wherof Christ hath said , 1 Cor. 8. 11. Drink ye all of this : as also the Apostle commandeth the people of Corinth to take the cup as well as the bread . Let a man prove himself , and so eat of this bread , and drink of this cup.

Whereupon wee propose a means of agreement , which cannot bee refused but by him that loves discord , or is thirsty of Christian blood , or which will war against God : for , all Christians confesse that Iesus Christ hath done well , and that there is nothing amisse in his institution , and that even when it might bee lawfull to celebrate the holy Communion in some other fashion then hee did ; yet all agree , that it would not bee ill done to follow his example , speak as hee spake , and doo as he did . Now , this is that which wee demand : and certaine it is , that the Pope might make an end of all contentions sprung from this point , which trouble and divide Christendome , if hee would restore the holy Communion unto the form in which our Lord did celebrate it ; laying aside all disputes , & binding the people unto the example of the Son of God . What incommodities or inconveniences soever might bee alleaged against the same , could not bee put in balance against the obedience which wee owe to Iesus Christ , & against the peace of Christendome , and the re-union of that rupture and separation of people , which hath caused so many troubles , and spilt so much blood , and which goareth the side of the Ro. Church as well as ours , exposing it to the violence of Turks and Infidels .

Every spirit that is not preoccupated will easily acknowledge , that this is the language of truth : wherewith , lest your consciences should bee touched , they use a device , namely , to represent unto you our religion altogether other then it is , and paint it out unto you like a hideous monster , and to make us speake things wholly against our beleef . And thereupon , many amongst you are of so easie beleef , as to chuse rather to learne what our religion is by our enemies invectives , than by our owne confession ; yea , after wee have protested , not to beleeve any thing of all they father upon us , yet would they make us perswade our selves , that wee beleeve that which wee beleeve not : wherein they justifie us before they bee aware . For , thereby they privily confesse , that our religion truely proposed cannot bee encountred ; and that if it were represented in as true colours , at the very first it would make a strong impression in the minde of the Auditor through the evidence of the truth thereof . They tell you , 1. that our religion teacheth , that good works are not necessary ; 2. that the Elect may without danger licence themselves to doo evill ; 3. that God gives no recompense to good works ; 4. that God constraineth our willes , and forceth them unto good ; 5. that we accuse God of injustice , as having given us a law which wee cannot accomplish ; 6. that wee are enemies to the Saints and the Virgin Mary ; 7. that for the understanding of the Scriptures , every one of us vanteth to have a particular inspiration ; 8. and that wee deny the Almightinesse of God in the Eucharist .