An apology or answer in defence of the Church of England with a brief…An apologie or answere in defence of the Churche of Englande with a briefe…

Or y• Antichrist after he hath once entered into the Temple of God, should afterward say, This house is mine own, & Christ hath nothing to do withal▪ For these men now after they have left nothing remaining in the church of God that hath any likeness of this Church, yet will they seem the Patrons and the valiant maintainers of the Church, very like as Gracchus amongest the Romans stood in defence of the treasury, not withstanding with his prodigality and fond expenses he had utterly wasted the whole stock of the treasury. And yet was there never any thing so wicked or so far out of reason, but lightly it might be covered & defended by the name of the church. For the wasps also make honeycombs as well as Bees, & wicked men have companies like to the Church of God, yet for all that they be not straight w•y ⟨image 62⟩the people of God which are called the people of God: neither be they all Israelites of many as are come of Israel the father. The Arians notwithstanding they were heretics, yet bragged they that they alone were Catholics, calling all the test now Ambrosians,¹ now Athanasians, now Johannites. And Nestorius, as saith Theodorete, for all he was an Heretic, yet covered he him self [Greek or Hebrew], that is to wit, with a certain cloak and colour of the true & right faith. Ebion though he agreed in opinion with the Samaritans, yet as saith Epiphanius, he would be called a Christian. The Mahomytes at this day, for all ye all histories make plain mention, and themselves also cannot deny, but they toke their first beginning of Hagar the bond woman, yet for the very name and stocks sake, choose they rather to be called Saracens, as though they came of Sarah the free woman and Abraham's wife. So likewise the false ⟨image 63⟩Prophets of all ages which stood up against the Prophets of God, which resisted E•ayas, Jeremy, Christ, and the Apostles, at no time cracked of any thing so much, as they did of the name of the Church. And for no nother cause did they so fiercely vex them and call them Runaways and Apostatas, then for that they forsook their fellowship, and kept no: the ordinances of the Elders: