final section, Jewel turns at last to the question of why the English would
not attend the Council of Trent.
That the Apologia Ecclesiae Anglicanaewas published anonymously
makes it no less the work of Jewel.^141 What emerges from its pages is a
claim that England (and Protestantism in general) is the true possessor of
the early Church, for they possess that which was itself the ground of all
the Patristic argumentation, the ancient canon of the Scriptures. To
Jewel, the divisions within Protestantism he portrayed as trifles, mere
disagreements, which paled in comparison with those divisions that
characterized Rome.
But good God! What manner of fellow be these which blame us for
disagreeing? And do all they themselves, ween you, agree well
together .... Hath there been no strifes ...? Why then do the Scotists
and Thomists, about that they call meritum congruiandmeritum
condigni, no better agree together? Why agree they not better among
themselves conserning original sin in the Blessed Virgin; concerning
solemn vow and single vow? Why say the canonists that auricular
confession is appointed by the positive law of man; and their
schoolmen contrariwise, that it is appointed by the law of God?
Why doth Albert Pighius dissent from Cajetan?Jewel then moves to a host of Catholic divergences on the Eucharist:
some of their own company which say that the body of Christ is in
this supper naturally; contrary, other some of the selfsame company
deny it to be so: again, that there be other of them which say the
body of Christ in the Holy Communion is rent and torn with teeth;
and some again that deny the same ... some ... which say Christ did
consecrate with a certain divine power; some that he did the same
with his blessing; some again that say he did it with uttering five
solemn chosen words; and some with rehearsing the same words
afterward again. Some will have it that when Christ did speak those
five words, the material wheaten bread was pointed unto by this
demonstrative pronoun hoc: some had rather have that a certain
vagum individuum, as they term it, was meant thereby. Again others
there be that say dogs and mice may truly and in very deed eat the
body of Christ; and others again there be that steadfastly deny it.^142
Jewel turns next to the question of Protestant unity and unity’s
relationship to truth. He first maintains that unity is not an accurate
gauge of true religion, for were not they unified who made the golden
calf, and was it not also a unified voice which yelled ‘Crucify him.
Crucify him?’ In fact Peter and Paul were in conflict, so then, was there
no Church when these two were sundered? Thus, since Jewel has
THE STRUGGLE FOR THE ELIZABETHAN CHURCH 91
(^141) John Booty covers the incidentals surrounding the work’s publication, the various
influences in its creation and its anonymous nature. He concurs with the traditional
appellation of Jewel as largely the genius behind it. Jewel as Apologist, pp. 36–58.
(^142) Jewel,Apologia, in Works, I, pp. 68–69.