Church-history of the government of bishops and their councils abbreviated including the chief part…

This Bishop was one of the famousest men in the whole world for knowledge, piety and justice: The Pope had sent him an order (as saith Matth. Paris, he often did to him and other English Bishops) to do somewhat which the Bishop judged to be unjust. It was not so bad as an interdict to silence Christs Ministers; but whether it was the promoting of bad Ministers, or hindering or excommunicating good men, some such thing it was as you may see by what followeth: The Bishop writeth a Letter to the Pope and Cardinals ⟨p. 410⟩in which he tells them [That he would obey the Apostolical precepts: but that was not Apostolical which was contrary to the doctrine of the Apostles;¹ Christ saying, he that is not with us is against us: And that cannot be Apostolical that is against Christ: as the Tenor of the Popes Letters were: His non obstante so often repeated, showed his inconstancy and his blotting the purity of the Christian Religion, and perturbing the peace and quiet of Societies; a torrent of audaciousness, procacity, immodesty, lying, deceiving, hardly believing or trusting any one; on which innumerable vices follow. And next after the sin of Lucifer, which in the end of time will be that also of Antichrist, the son of perdition, whom the Lord will destroy with the Spirit of his mouth, there neither is nor can be any other sort of sin, so adverse and contrary to the doctrine of the Apostles and the Gospel,² and so hateful, detestable and abominable, as to kill and destroy souls by defrauding men of the care of the Pastoral office and Ministry: which sin those men are known by the most evident testimonies of the sacred Scripture to commit, who being placed in power of pastoral care,³ do get the salary of the pastoral office and ministry, out of the milk and the fleece of the sheep of Christ, who are to be quickened and saved, but administer not to them their dues: For the very not administering of the Pastoral ministries, is by the testimony of Scripture, the killing and destroying of the sheep: And that these two sorts of sins, though unexpectedly are the very worst, and beyond all comparison exceed all other sort of sin, is manifest by this, that they are, in the two existent foresaid things, though with disparity and dissimilitudes, directly contrary to the best things: And that is the worst, which is contrary to the best: