If we conjiire the papists, they are silent, they dare say nothing. Dare they say their doctrine is nearer apostolical than ours ? They dare not say but ours is nearer. Why, then, our church is built upon the founda- tion of the apostles. Why so ? All the churches since have been built upon one foundation, because there is one faith and one church. Unity of faith makes the unity of the church.
The seed of the church is the gospel, is divine truth. Now, if divine truth hath been alway, there hath been a church alway ; and if there hath been a church alway, there hath been divine truth that hath been ' yea ' alway. Now, it is an article of our faith in all times to believe a catholic church. Therefore, there is a certain truth that is always yea, to be the seed and foundation of that catholic church. Therefore, we must search out what that ' yea ' was, what was the apostolical doctrine, the positive doctrine in those apostolical times, in the virgin-times of the church, before the church was corrupted. The church was not long a virgin, as the Father said. What was the yea of those truths ? Some there must be alway that held apostolical truths in all ages. Our church holds that positive truth that the apostles held : for directly in so many words, we defend the apostolical faith out of the apostles. Therefore, we say our church was before Luther, because our doctrine is apostolical, and the church con- tinually hath been apostolical, because it was built upon the apostles' doctrine.
Our church hath no doctrine in the positive fundamental points of it contrary ; therefore our church hath continued. Put case we cannot name the men, as idly and ridiculously they urge, what is that to the purpose '? Shall we go from ignorance of particular men, to ignorance of the church ? We must believe that there is a catholic church ; and there must alway be a positive doctrine and truth, the seed of that church.
Ohj. The papists cavil with us, and say we possess a negative religion. Ye cut off our opinions, say they, but what have you of your own ? what affirmatives have ye ?
A71S. It is most certain, that all our affirmatives have been ever since the
2 CORINTHIANS CHAP. I, VER. 19. 377
apostles' time ; for we and the papists differ not in afl&rmatives, only they add patcheries* of their own. Religion stands most in affirmatives, that is the ground fii'st. For we believe negatives, because they agree not to affirmatives : we believe a lie to be a lie, because it is contrary to positive truth, and the truth is before a lie ; the affirmation is before the negation ; a thing is, before the contraiy is not. This laying for a ground, affirmatives being truths, om' positive truths that we hold have been held in the apostles' times, before and since, even in the Church of Rome a thousand years after ; and even now the affirmatives that'we hold.
Do not they believe the Scriptures to be the word of God ? Yes ! But they add patcheries of their own, the Apocrypha, and their own traditions, to be the word of God too.
Do not they believe that Christ is Mediator ? Yes ! But he is the only Mediator for redemption, and not for intercession. They join others with him, saints and angels.
We are saved by faith, that is the affirmative, and so say they. But they add of their own, that we are saved by faith and works.
Then again, we say there are two sacraments, baptism and the Lord's supper ; and so say they, but they add five of their own. So I might run over all their opinions. "Whatsoever we hold, they hold. Therefore in their own confessions, our affirmatives have been ever since the apostles' times. If they had any church, we had a church, because our foundations are included in their religion. All that we say, they say ; but then again they say many things that we do not. Therefore they account us heretics, because we make not that that they hold to be our yea too.
Again, the negatives that they believe, and we do not believe, they are but novelties in experience, they are not of the ancient apostolical faith. That the apocrypha should be had in equal authority with the word of God in Scripture, alas ! such a conceit was not thought of for six hundred years after the apostles. That the people should not read the Scriptures, it was but since the other day. Transubstantiatiou, since the Council of Lateran, a thousand years since Christ. That the pope should be supreme, and depose princes, such a thing was not heard of a thousand years after Christ. That he should have authority to canonize saints, it was but since the other day. Equivocation, but of late time. And so their idle babbling of divine service in Latin, and twenty other trumperies. So the things that we deny that are gross and abominable in the judgment of every man that knovvs anything, they were but since the other day ; they were not yea in the apostles' times. Then the apostolical church being not built on them, they must be devised after. As, indeed, a thousand years after Christ the most of these were never heard of. The most of the points of popery wherein they differ from us, nay, not any of them, were never established by a council till the Council of Trent, except transubstantiatiou, by the Council of Lateran, which was a thousand years after Christ [ttt).