The Practice of Piety

Thirdly, Voluntate & opere, both in will, and deed: as in the Primitive Church, Stephen, Polycarpus, Ignatius Laurentius, Romanus, ¹A• tiochianus, and thousands. And in our days, Cranmer, Latimer, Ho•per, Ridley, ²Farrar, Bradford, Philpot, Sanders Glover, Tailor, and others innumerable, whose fiery zeal to Gods truth,³ brought them to the flames of Martyrdom to seal Christs faith. It is ⟨p. 982⟩not the cruelty of the death:⁴ but the innocency and holiness of the cause that maketh a Martyr; neither is an erroneous conscience a sufficient warrant to suffer Martyrdom: because Science in Gods word must direct conscience in mans heart; for they who killed the Apostles, in their erroneous consciences thought they did God good service. ⁵And Paul of zeal breathed out slaughters against the Lords Saints:⁶ Now whether the cause of our Seminary Priests and Jesuits, be so holy, true and innocent; as that it may warrant their conscience to suffer death, & to hazard their eternal salvation thereon;⁷ let Pauls Epistle written to the Ancient ⟨p. 983⟩Christian Romans, (but against our new Antichristian Romans) be judge: And it will plainly appear, that the doctrine which Saint Paul taught to the ancient Church of Rome is ex diametro opposite in •6 fundamental points of true Religion: to that which the new Church of Rome teacheth and maintaineth? For Saint Paul taught the Primitive Church of Rome: