of Christ which is done when he is broughte vnder the corruptible elements of this world or is bound to any earthly creatures The other that nothyng be by fainyng applied to his body that agreeth not with the nature of man whiche is done when it is either saide to bee infinite or is sett in many places at ones But these absurdities being taken away I willyngly receiue what soeuer may auaile to expresse the true and substantiall communicatyng of the Body and Blood of the Lord which cōmunicatyng is deliuered to the faithfull vnder the holy signes of the Supper so that they may be thought not to receyue it by imagination onely or vnderstandyng of mynde but to enioy it in dede to the foode of eternall lyfe Why this sentence is so hatefull to the worlde and all defence taken away from it by the vniust iudgementes of many there is no cause at all but for that the deuell hath with horrible bewitchyng madded their myndes Truely that which we teache dothe in all pointes very well agree with the Scriptures it conteineth neither any absurditie nor darknesse nor doutfulnesse it is not agaynst true godlynesse and sounde edification finally it hath nothing in it that may offend sauyng that in certaine ages past when that ignorance and barbarousnesse of Sophisters reigned in the Chirche so clere light and open truthe hath ben vnworthily oppressed Yet because Satā at this day also trauayleth by troublesome Spirites to spot it with all the sclanders and reproches that he can and bendeth himselfe to no other thyng with greater endeuor it is profitable the more diligently to defende and rescue it Nowe before that we goe any further we must entreate of the selfe institution of Christe specially because this is the most glorious obiection that our aduersaries haue that we departe from the woordes of Christe Therfore that we may be discharged of the false cause of malice wherwith they burden vs our fittest beginnyng shall be at the exposition of the woordes Three Euangelistes and Paule rehearse that Christe tooke bread when he had geuen thankes he brake it gaue it to his disciples and sayde Take eate this is my Body whiche is delyuered or broken for you Of the cuppe Mathew and Marke saye thus This cuppe is the blood of the newe testament whiche shal be shedde for many vnto forgeuenesse of synnes But Paule and Luke say thus This cuppe is the newe testament in my blood The patrones of transubstantiation will haue by the pronoune this the forme of bread to be signified because the consecration is made in the whole contente of the sentence and there is no substance that can be shewed But if they be holden with religious care of the woordes because Christ testified that that whiche he reached into the disciples handes was his bodye truely this their deuise that that whiche was bread is nowe the bodie is moste farre from the propre meanyng of them That which Christe tooke into his handes and gaue the Apostles he affirmeth to be his body but he toke bread who therfore can not vnderstande that bread is yet shewed and therfore there is no greater absurditie than to remoue that to the forme whiche is spoken of the bread Other when they expounde this woorde is for to be transubstantiate doo flee to a more enforced and violently wrasted glose Therefore there is no cause why they should pretende that they be moued with reuerence of wordes For this was vnheard of among all nations and languages that the word is should be taken in this sense namely for to be tourned into an other thyng As for them that leaue breade in the Supper and affirme that there is the body of Christ they muche differ among themselues They whiche speake more modestly althoughe they precisely exact the letter This is my body yet afterwarde swarue from theyr precisenesse and say that it is as muche in effect as that the body of Christ is with bread in bread and vnder bread Of the mater it selfe which they affirme we haue already touched somwhat and we shal by and by haue occasion yet to speake more Nowe I dispute only of the wordes by which they say they are restrained that they can not admitte bred to be called the body because it is a signe of the body But if they shunne all figures why do they leape away from the plaine shewing of Christ to their owne maners of speaking farr differing from it For there is great difference betwene this that bread is the body and this that the body is with bread But because they sawe it to bee impossible that this simple proposition might stande that bread is the body they haue attempted to scape away by those formes of speche as it were by croked turnyngs Some more bolde sticke not to affirme that euen in propre speakyng bread is the body and by this meane they truely proue themselues to be litteral mē If it be obiected that therfore the bread is Christ and is God this verily they will denie because it is not expressed in the wordes of Christ. But they shall nothyng preuayle by denyeng it forasmuche as all doo agree that whole Christ is offred vs in the Supper But it is an intolerable blasphemie that it be without figure spoken of a fraile and corruptible element that it is Christ. Now I aske of them whether these twoo propositions be bothe of one effect Christe is the Sonne of God and bread is the body of Christe If they graunt that they are diuers which we will enforce them to graunte whether they will or no then lett them answere whens commeth the difference I thynke they wyll bryng none other but that the bread is after the sacramentall maner called the body Wherupon foloweth that Christes wordes are not subiecte to the common rule nor oughte to bee tried by Grammer Also I aske of all the precise and stiffe requirers of the letter where Luke and Paule do call the cuppe the testament in the blood whether they do not expresse the same thyng which they dyd in the first parte where they call bread the bodye Truely the same religion was in the one parte of the mysterie that was in the other and because shortnesse is darke longer speche dothe better open the meanyng So oft therfore as they shall affirme by one word that the bread is the body I will out of mo wordes bryng a fitt exposition that it is the Testament in the bodye For why Shall we nede to seke a more faithfull or surer expositor than Paule Luke Neither yet doo I tende herunto to diminishe any thing of that communicating of the body of Christ which I haue confessed onely my purpose is to confute that folish waiwardnesse wherby they do so hatefully brawle about words I vnderstand by the authoritie of Paul and Luke that the bread is the body of Christ because it is the couenant in the body If they fight against
capacitie of the vnlearned I wyll vndo those knottes wherwith Satan hath endeuored to snare the worlde Fyrst bread and wyne are signes whiche represent vnto vs the inuisible foode whiche we receyne of the fleshe and blood of Christ. For as in Baptisme God againe begettyng vs doothe graffe vs into the felowshippe of his Chirche and by adoption dothe make vs his owne so we haue sayde that he performeth the office of a prouident Father of householde in this that he continually ministreth vs meate that he susteineth and preserueth vs in that lyfe wherinto he hath by his worde begotten vs. Now the only meate of our soule is Christ and therfore the heauenly Father calleth vs to hym that beyng refreshed with common partakyng of hym we maye from tyme to tyme gather liuely force vntill we atteine to heauenlye immortalitie But forasmuche as this mysterie of the secrete vnityng of Christe with the godly is by nature impossible to be comprehended he geueth the figure and image therof in visible signes moste fit for our small capacitie yea as it were by earnestes and tokens geuen he maketh it so assured vnto vs as if it were seen with our eies because this so familiar a similitude entreth euen into the grossest myndes that soules are so fed with Christ as bread and wine do susteine the bodily life Now therfore we haue it declared to what ende this mysticall blessyng tendeth ▪ namely to assure vs that the body of the Lord was so ones offred for vs that we nowe eate it and in eatyng it doo fele in vs the effectual working of that only sacrifice that his blood was so ones shed for vs that it is vnto vs continuall drinke And so sounde the words of the promise there adioyned Take this is my body whiche is deliuered for you The body therfore which was ones offred vp for our saluation we are commaunded to take and eate that when we see our selues to be made partakers of this we may certainly determine that the power of his death which bringeth life shal be effectuall in vs. Wherupon also he calleth the cuppe the couenant in his blood For after a certaine maner it reneweth or rather continueth the couenant whiche he hath ones stablished with his blood so muche as pertaineth to the confirmyng of our faith so ofte as he reacheth vnto vs that holy blood to be tasted of A great fruite verily of affiance and swetenesse may godly soules gather of this Sacrament because they haue a witnesse that we are growen together into one body with Christe so that whatsoeuer is his we may call ours Herupon foloweth that we may boldly promise vnto our selues that euerlastyng life is ours whereof he is heire and that the kingdome of heauen wherinto he is now entred can no more fal away from vs than from him agayne that we can not nowe be condemned by our sinnes from the gyltinesse wherof he hath acquired vs when he willed them to be imputed to himself as if they were his owne This is the maruailous exchange whiche of his immeasurable bountifulnesse he hath made with vs that he beeyng made with vs the sonne of man hath made vs with hym the sonnes of God that by his cōming downe into earth he hath made vs a waie to goe vp into heauen that putting vpon him our mortalitie he hath geuen vs his immortalitie that takyng on hym our weakenesse he hath strengthened vs with his power that takyng our pouertie to himselfe he hath conueyed his riches to vs that taking to hym the weyght of our vnrighteousnesse wherewith we were oppressed he hath clothed vs with his righteousnesse Of all these thynges we haue so full a witnessyng in this sacrament that we must certainly determine that Christ is truely geuen vs as if Christ hymselfe were sett present before our eies and handled with our handes For this woorde can neither lye to vs nor mocke vs Take eate drinke this is my bodye whiche is deliuered for you this is the blood whiche is shed into the forgeuenesse of sinnes Whereas he commaundeth to take he signifieth that it is ours Whereas he commaundeth to eate he signifieth that that is made one subslance with vs. Whereas he sayth of the body that it is deliuered for vs of the blood that it is shed for vs therin he teacheth that bothe are not so muche his as ours because he toke and laide away both not for his commoditie but to our saluation And truely it is to be diligently marked that the chefe and in a maner whole pith of the Sacrament standeth in these words Which is deliuered for you Which is shed for you For otherwise it should not much profit vs that the body and blood of the Lord ar now distributed vnlesse they had ben ones geuen foorth for our redemption saluation Therfore they are represented vnder bread wine that we shold learne that they are not only ours but also ordeined for the nourishment of spirituall life This is it that we before saied that from the corporall thynges whych are shewed foorth in the Sacrament we are by a certayne proportionall relation guyded to spirituall thynges So when bread is geuen vs for a signe of the body of Christ we ought by by to conceiue this similitude As bread nourisheth susteineth and mainteineth the life of our body so the body of Christ is the onely meate to quicken geue lyfe to oure soule When we see wyne set foorth for a signe of his blood we must call to mynde what vses wyne bryngeth to the bodye that we may consider that the same are brought to vs spiritually by the blood of Christe those vses bee to cherishe to refreshe to strengthen to make mery For if we sufficiently weye what the deliueryng of this holy body what the shedyng of this holy blood hath profited vs we shal plainly perceiue that these thynges whiche are spoken of bread and wine according to such proportionall relation doo very well accorde with them toward vs when they are communicated vnto vs. Therfore the chefe partes of the Sacrament are not simply without hier consideration to reach to vs the body of Christ but rather the same promise wherby he testifieth that his fleshe is verily meate and his blood is drink with which we are fed into eternall life wherby he affirmeth himselfe to be the breade of lyfe of whiche who so eateth he shall liue for euer to seale I saye and confirme that promyse and for bryngyng the same to passe to sende vs to the crosse of Christ where that promise hath ben truely performed and in all pointes fulfilled For we doo not well and healthfully eate Christ but crucified when we doo with liuely feelyng conceiue the effectualnesse of his death For wheras he called himselfe the breade of life he did not borrow that name of the sacrament as some do wrongfully expounde it but because he was geuē vs suche of the Father and performed
But that most nere felowship wherby we are coupled with his fleshe he hath yet set out with a more glorious title when he sayd that we are members of his body and are of his bones and of hys fleshe At the last to declare it to be a mater greater than all wordes he concludeth hys sayeng with an exclamation This is sayth he a greate secret Therefore it should be a pointe of extreme madnesse to acknowlege no communion of the faythfull with the fleshe and blood of the Lord which the Apostle declareth to be so greate that he had rather wonder at it than expresse it Let the summe be that oure soules are so fed with the fleshe and blood of Christ as bred wyne do mainteine susteine the bodily lyfe For otherwise the proportional relation of the signe should not agree vnlesse soules dyd fynde their fode in Christ. Which can not be done vnlesse Christ do truely grow into one with vs and refresh vs with the eating of his fleshe and drinking of hys blood But although it seme incredible that in so great distance of places the flesh of Christ reacheth to vs that it may be meate to vs let vs remember how much the secret power of the Spirit surmounteth aboue al our senses and how foolysh it is to goe aboute to measure hys vnmeasurablenesse by our measure That therfore whiche our mynde comprehendeth not let our fayth conceiue that the Spirite truely knitteth in one those thinges that are seuered in places Nowe that same holy coÌ„municating of his body and blood wherby Christ poureth hys life into vs euen as if he peaâ—ced it into our bones marowes he in the Supper also testifieth sealeth land yâ— not with setting before vs a vayne or voyde signe but bringing fourth there the effectuall working of his spirite wherby he fulfilleth the which he promyseth And verily he there offreth and deliuereth the thing signified to al them that sit at that spiritual banket although it be receiued with frute of the faythfull onely which receiue so great bountifulnesse with true Fayth thankfulnesse of mynde After which maner the Apostle sayd that the bred which we breake is the communion of the body of Christ and that the cup which we hallow with the word prayers to that purpose is the coÌ„munion of hys blood Neither is there any cause why any man should obiect that it is a figuratiue speche by which the name of the thing signified is geuen to the signe I grauÌ„t verily that the breaking of the bred is a signe not the thiÌ„g it selfe But this being admitted yet we shall rightly gather of the deliuerance of the signe that the thing it selfe is deliuered For vnlesse a maÌ„ wil cal God a deceiuer he can neuer be so bolde to say that he setteth before vs an empty signe Therfore if by the breakyng of bred the Lorde doth truely represente the partakyng of hys body it ought to be out of dout that he truely performeth and deliuereth it And this rule is alway to be holden of the godly that so oft as they se the signes ordeined of the Lorde they certainly thinke persuade themselues that the truth of the thyng signified is there present For to what purpose should the Lorde deliuer to thee into thy hande the signe of hys body but to assure thee of the true partaking of it If it be true that a visible signe is geuen vs to seale the gift of an inuisible thing when we receiue the signe of the body let vs no lesse certainly beleue that the body it selfe also is geueÌ„ vs. I saye therefore which both hath ben alway receiued in the Chirch and al they teache at thys day that thynke right that the holy mysterie of the Supper consisteth of twoo thinges that is to saye of the bodily signes which beyng set before our eyes doe represent vnto vs inuisible thinges according to the capacitie of our weakenesse and of spirituall trueth which is by those signes bothe figured and deliuered Of what sort that is when I meane to shewe it familiarly I vse to set thre thinges the signification the mater which hangeth of the signification the vertue or effect which foloweth of both The signification consisteth in the promisses which are after a certayne manner wrapped together with the signe The mater or substance I cal Christ with hys death and resurrection By effect I vnderstande the redemption righteousnesse sanctification and eternall lyfe and whatsoeuer other benefites Christ bringeth vs. Now although all these thinges haue respect to Fayth yet I leaue no place to thys cauillation as though when I say that Christ is receiued by Fayth I would haue hym coÌ„ceiued with vnderstanding only and imaginatioÌ„ For the promises offer hym not that we should sticke fast in the sight alone and in bare knowlege but that we should enioye the true communicating of hym And truely I se not how any maÌ„ maye haue coÌ„fidence that he hath redeÌ„ption and righteousnesse in the crosse of Christ lyfe in hys death but principally standing vpon the true coÌ„munion of Christ himselfe For those good thinges shoulde not come to vs vnlesse Christ first made himselfe oures I say therefore that in the mysterie of the Supper by the signes of bread and wine Christ is truely deliuered to vs yea and hys body and blood in which he hath fulfylled al obedieÌ„ce for purchasing of ryghteousnesse to vs namely that first we should growe together into one body with hym then beyng made partakers of hys substance we may also fele hys power in the communicating of al hys good thinges Now I come down to the excessiue mixtures which superstitioÌ„ hath brought in For herein Satan hath played with maruelous sutteltie that withdrawing the myndes of men from heauen he might fyl them with peruerse error as though Christ were fastened to the elemente of bred And first we must not dreame such a presence of Christ in the Sacrament as the craftesmeÌ„ of the court of Rome haue fayned as though the body of Christ were made present with presence of place to be handeled with handes to be broosed with teethe and swallowed with mouth For this forme of recantation Pope Nicolas endited to Betengarius to be a witnesse of hys repentance namely with woordes so farr monstruous that the author of the glose cryeth out that there is danger if the reders do not wisely take hede to themselues least they should sucke out of them an heresie worse than was that of Berengarius In the seconde distinctioÌ„ in the Chapter beginning thus Ego Berengarius But Peter Lombarde although he trauaile much in excusing the absurdity yet more inclineth to the contrary senteÌ„ce For as we nothing dout that it hath limites accordyng to the perpetual nature of the body of men and is holden in heauen into which it was ones receiued vntill he returne to iugement so to draw it backe vnder these corruptible
verily a substaÌ„ce of an earthly and corruptible element and suffreth no change in it selfe but hath vnder it selfe the body of Christ enclosed If they did so declare their meaning that when the bred is deliuered in the mysterie there is adioyned the deliuering of the body because the trueth is vnseuerable from the signe I would not much striue with them But because they placing the body in the bred do faine to it a beyng euery where contrarie to the nature thereof and in adding vnder the bred they wyll haue it lye there hiddeÌ„ it is necessarie a litle while to draw such suttelties out of their deÌ„nes For my mynde is not yet as of set purpoÌ„se to go through with all this point but only that I may lay the fundations of the disputation which shall by and by folowe in place fit for it They wil therfore haue the body of Christe to be inuisible and immeasurable that it may lie hid vnder the bread because they thinke that they do not otherwise communicate with hym than if he descende into bread but they comprehend not the maner of descending wherby he lifteth vs vpward to himself They lay vpon it all the colors that they can but when they haue said all it sufficiently appereth that they staye vpon the locall presence of Christ. Whense commeth that euen because they can abide to conceiue no other partakyng of the fleshe and blood but whiche consysteth either of ioynyng and touchyng of place or of some grosse enclosyng And that they may obstinately defende the error ones rashly conceiued some of them sticke not to say that the flesh of Christ had neuer any other measurynges but so farr and wide as heauen and earth is brode Whereas he was borne a childe out of the wombe whereas he grewe wheras he was spred abrode on the crosse whereas he was enclosed in the sepulchre the same was doone by a certaine dispensation that he myght be borne and dye and performe the other dueties of man Where as after his resurrection he was seen in his wonted forme of body wheras he was taken vp to heauen wheras last of all also after his ascension he was seen of Stephen and Paule it was doone by the same dispensation that it might appere to the sight of men that he was made a kyng in heauen What is this ells but to raise vp Marcion out of hell For no man can dout that the body of Christ was a fantasy or a fantasticall thyng if he was of suche state Some slip away somewhat more suttelly with sayeng that this body whiche is geuen in the Sacrament is glorious and immortall and that therfore it is no absurditie if it bee conteined in many places if in no place if with no forme vnder the sacrament But I aske what maner of body Christe gaue to the disciples the day before that he suffred doo not the wordes sounde that he gaue the same mortall body whiche was within a little after to be deliuered He had already before say they shewed his glorie to be sene to thre of the disciples That is true in dede but his will was by that brightnesse to geue them a taste of immortalitie for an houre In the meane tyme they shall not there fynd a double body but that one body which Christ did beare garnished with newe glorie But when he distributed his body at his first Supper the tyme was nowe at hande when he beyng striken of God and humbled shold lie without glorie as a leprous man so farre is it of that he then wold shew forth the glorie of his resurrection And howe great a wyndowe is here opened to Marciâ—n if the body of Christ was seene in one place mortall and base and in an other place was holden immortall and glorious Howebeit if their opinion take place the same happeneth daily because they ar compelled to confesse that the body of Christ beyng visible in it selfe lyeth hyd inuisibly vnder the signe of bread And yet they that vomite out such monstruousnesse are so not ashamed of their own shame that they do vnprouoked hainously raile at vs because we do not subscribe to them Nowe if they lyst to fasten the body and blood of the Lorde to bread and wyne the one shall of necessitie be plucked in sunder froÌ„ the other For as the bread is deliuered seuerally from the cup so the body vnited to the bread muste nedes be diuided from the blood enclosed in the cup. For when they affirme that the body is in the bread and the blood in the cup and the bread and wyne are by spaces of place distant the one from the other they can by no shift escape but that the body must be seuered from the blood But wheras they are wonte to allege that by accompainyng as they faine in the body is the blood and likewise in the blood is the body that verily is to triflyng forasmuche as the Signes in whych they are enclosed are so seuered But if we be lifted vp with our eies and myndes to heauen that we seke Christ there in the glorie of his kingdome as the signes doo allure vs to hym whole so vnder the signe of bread we shal be fedde with his bodye vnder the signe of wyne we shall seuerally drynke his blood that at length we may enioye hym whole For although he hath taken awaye his fleshe from vs and in his body is ascended vp into heauen yet he sitteth at the right hande of the Father that is to say he reigneth in the power and maiestie and glorie of the Father This kyngdome is neyther bounded with any spaces of place nor compassed aboute with any measurynges but that Christ may shewe foorth his myght wheresoeuer it pleaseth him both in heauen and in earth but that he may shewe himselfe present with power and strength but that he may alway bee at hande with them that be his breathing his lyfe into them may liue in them strengthen them quicken them preserue them safe euen as if he were present in body finally but that he may fede them with his owne bodye the communion wherof he dothe by the power of his Spirite poure into them After this maner the body and blood of Christe is delyuered to vs in the Sacrament But we must appoint such a presence of Christ in the Supper as may neither fasten hym to the element of bred nor shut hym vp in the bred nor by any meane compasse hym in for it is playne that all these thynges abate his heauenly glorie fynally suche as may neither take from him his owne measure nor diuersly draw hym in many places at ones nor faine to hym suche an vnmeasurable greatnesse as is spred abrode throughout heauen and earth for these thynges are playnely agaynst the truthe of the nature of manhode Let vs I say neuer suffer these two exceptions to be taken away from vs. The one that nothyng bee abated from the glorie
lesse obediently embrace than they and do wey them with more godly reuerence Yea their negligent carelesnesse sheweth that they doo not greatly care what Christe ment so that it geue them a buckler to defende their obstinatie like as oure earnest searchyng ought to be a wytnesse howe muche we esteeme the authoritie of Christ. They odiously spread abrode that naturall sense of man withholdeth vs from beleuyng that which Christ hath vttered with his owne holy mouth but howe maliciously they burden vs with this sclander I haue a great part already made playne and hereafter it shall more clerely appere Therfore nothing withholdeth vs from beleuing Christ when he speaketh nor from obeying so soone as he dothe but with becke will this or that Only this is the question whether it be vnlawful to enquire of the naturall meanyng These good maisters that they may seme wel lettred do forbid men to departe be it neuer so litle from the letter But I on the other syde when the scripture nameth God a warlike man because I see that with out figuratiue translation it is to rough a maner of speakyng doo not dout that it is a comparison taken from men And truely vpon none other pretence in the olde tyme the Anthropomorphites troubled the true teaching Fathers but that catching fast hold of these sayings The eies of God do see It went vp to his eares His hand stretched out The earth his footestole they cried out that God had his bodye taken from hym whiche the Scripture assigneth vnto hym If this law be receiued outragious barbarousnesse shal ouerwhelme the whole light of faith For what monsters of absurdities may not phrentike men picke out if it be graunted them to allege euery small tittle to stablishe their opinions That whiche they obiect that it is not likely that when Christ prepared for his Apostles a singular comfort it aduersities he did then speake in a riddle or darkly maketh of our side For if it had not come in the myndes of the Apostles that bread was figuratiuely called the body because it was the signe of the body they had without doute ben troubled with so monstrous a thyng Almost at the same moment Iohn reporteth that they did sticke in perplexitie at euery of the least difficulties They whiche striue among themselues howe Christ will go to the Father and do moue question howe he wyll goe out of the worlde they which vnderstande nothyng of those thynges that are spoken concernyng the heauenly Father till they see hym how wold they haue ben so easy to beleue that whiche all resō refuseth that Christ sitteth at the boorde in their sight and is enclosed inuisible vnder bread Whereas therfore they in eatyng the bread without doutyng testified their consent hereby appeareth that they toke Christes wordes in the same sense that we do because they remēbred that which ought not to seme strange in mysteries that the name of the thing signified is transferred to the signe Therfore it was to the disciples as it is to vs a certaine and clere comfort entangled with no riddle Neither is ther any other cause why some should depart from our exposition but because the enchauntment of the deuyll hath blynded them namely that they shoulde faine darkenesse to themselues where the exposition of an apt figure offreth it self Moreouer if we precisely stande vpon the words Christ shold wrongfully haue spoken in one place seuerally an other thyng concernyng the bread than he speaketh of the cup. He calleth the bread his body he calleth the wyne his blood either it shal be a confused vaine repetition or it shal be such a partition as shall diuide the body from the blood Yea it shall as truely be sayd of the cuppe This is my body as of the bread it selfe and it may likewyse enterchangeably be sayd that the bread is the blood If they answer that we muste consider to what ende or vse the signes were ordeined I graunt it in dede but in the meane tyme they shall not vnwynde themselues but that their error must drawe this absurditie with it that the bread is the blood and the wyne is the bodye Nowe I wote not what this meaneth when they graunt the bread and the body to be diuers things yet to affirme that the one is spoken of the other proprely and without any figure as if a man shold say that a garment is in dede a thyng differyng from a man and yet that it is proprely called a man In the meane while as though their victorie consisted in obstinatie railing they say that Christ is accused of liēg if an exposition be sought of the wordes Now it shal be easy for vs to shew to the reders how vniust wrong these catchers of syllables do to vs when thei fill the simple with this opinion that we withdraw credit from the wordes of Christ which we haue proued to be furiously peruerted and confounded by them but to be faithfully and rightly expounded by vs. But the sclaunder of this lye can not be vtterly purged till an other crime be wiped away For they spread abroade that we be so addicted to naturall reason that we geue no more to the power of God than the order of nature suffreth and common sense teacheth From so malicious sclaūders I appelle to the very doctrine it selfe which I haue declared whiche dothe clerely enough shewe that I do not measure this mysterie by the proportion of mans reason nor doo make it subiect to the lawes of nature I beseche you haue we learned out of naturall philosophie that Christe dothe so from heauen feede our soules and bodies with his fleshe as our bodies ar norished with bread and wyne Whens cometh this power to fleshe that it may geue lyfe All men will say that it is not doone naturally It will no more please mans reason that the fleshe of Christe reacheth to vs that it maye be foode vnto vs. Finally whosoeuer hath tasted of our doctrine shal be rauished into admiration of the secrete power of God But these good men that be so zelous of it forge to themselues a miracle which beyng taken away God hymselfe vanisheth with his power I desire to haue the readers ones agayne warned that they diligently wey what our doctrine bringeth whether it hang vpon common sense or with the winges of Faith surmounting the worlde climbeth vp beyond it into the heauens We say that Christ as well with the outwarde signe as with his Spirite descendeth to vs that he may truely quicken our soules with the substance of his fleshe of his blood In these fewe wordes he that perceyueth not to be conteined many miracles is more than senslesse forasmuche as there is nothyng more beside nature than that soules should borrow spiritual and heauenly life of the fleshe which toke her beginnyng of the earth and which was subiect to death Nothing is more incredible than that thinges distant and asunder by the
to haue made distinction of the maner of presence And verily some had rather with great shame to vtter their ignorance than to yelde neuer so litle of their error I speake not of the Papistes whoe 's doctrine is more tolerable or at the least more shamefast But contentiousnesse so carrieth some away that they say that by reson of the natures vnited in Christ wheresoeuer the Godhed of Christ is there is also his fleshe which can not be seuered from hys Godhed As though that same vniting haue compounded of those twoo natures I wote not what meane thing which was neither God nor man So in dede did Eutyches and after hym Seruettus But it is plainly gathered out of the Scripture that the only one person of Christ doth so consist of twoo natures that either of them hath still her owne propertie remayning safe And that Eutyches was rightfully condemned they wil be ashamed to deny it is maruel that they marke not the cause of hys condemning that takyng away the difference betwene the natures enforcing the vnitie of persō he made of God man and of man God What madnesse therefore is it rather to mingle heauen and earth together than not to draw the body of Christ out of the heauenly Sancturarie For wheras they bring for themselues these testimonies None is gone vp to heauen but he that is come down the Sonne of man which is in heauen Againe The sonne which is in the bosome of the Father he shall declare them it is a poynt of like senslesse dullnesse to despise the communicating of properties which was in olde tyme not without cause inuēted of the holy Fathers Truely when the Lord of glory is said to be crucified Paule doth not meane that he suffred any thīg in his godhed but because the same Christ which being an abiect and despised in the flesh did suffer was both God and Lord of glory After thys manner also the Sonne of man was in heauen because the selfe same Christ which according to the fleshe did dwel the Sonne of man in earth was God in heauen In which sorte he is sayd to haue descended from the sayd place according to hys Godhed not that the Godhed did forsake heauen to hide it selfe in the prison of the body but because although it fylled all thynges yet in the verye māhode of Christ it dwelled corporally that is to say naturally and after a certaine vnspeakable maner It is a cōmon distinction in scholes which I am not ashamed to reherse that although whole Christ be euery where yet not the whole that is in hym is euery where And I wold to God the Scholemen themselues had wel weyed the pith of thys sayeng for so should the vnsauorie inuention of the fleshly presēce of Christ haue ben met withall Therefore our mediator sithe he is whole euery where is alway at hande with his and in the Supper after a speciall maner geueth himselfe present but yet so that whole he is present not the whole that he is because as it is said in his fleshe he is conteined in heauen till he appeare to iudgement But they are farre deceiued which conceiue no presence of the fleshe of Christ in the Supper vnlesse it be made present in bread For so they leaue nothyng to the secrete workyng of the Spirite whiche vniteth Christ hymself vnto vs. They thinke not Christ present vnlesse he come downe to vs. As though if he did lift vs vp to hym we should not aswel enioy his presence Therfore the question is only of the maner because they place Christ in the bread but we think it not lawful for vs to pluck hym out of heauen Let the readers iudge whether is the righter Only let this cauillation be driuen away that Christe is taken awaye from his Supper vnlesse he be hidden vnder the couer of bread For sith this mysterie is heauenly it is no nede to drawe Christ into the earth that he may be ioyned to vs. Nowe if any man do aske me of the maner I will not be ashamed to confesse that it is a hyer secrete than that it can be eyther cōprehended with my witt or vttered with my woordes and to speake it more plainly I rather fele it than I can vnderstand it Therfore I do herein without controuersie embrace the truthe of God in whiche I maye safely rest He pronounceth that his fleshe is the meate of my soule and his blood is the drinke With suche foode I offre my soule to hym to bee fedde In his holy Supper he commaundeth me vnder the signes of bread and wyne to take eate and drinke his body and blood I nothing dout that bothe he dothe truely deliuer them and I doo receiue them Onely I refuse the absurdities whiche appeare to be either vnworthy of the heauenly maiestie of Christ or disagreyng from the truth of his nature of manhode forasmuche as they must also fight with the word of God which also teacheth that Christ was so taken vp into the glorie of the heauenly kyngdome that it lyfteth hym vp aboue all estate of the worlde and no lesse diligently setteth forth in his nature of man those thynges that are proprely belongyng to his true manhode Neither ought this to seme incredible or not consonant to reason because as the whole kyngdome of Christ is spirituall so whatsoeuer he doth with his Chirch ought not to be reduced to the reason of this worlde Or that I may vse the wordes of Augustine this mysterie as other are is done by men but from God in earth but from heauen Such I say is the presence of the body as the nature of the Sacrament requireth which we say here to excell with so great force and so great effectualnesse that it not only bryngeth to our myndes vndouted trust of eternall lyfe but also assureth vs of the immortalitie of our fleshe For it is nowe quickned of his immortall fleshe and after a certaine manner communicateth of his immortalitie They whyche are caried aboue this with their excessiue speches do nothyng but with suche entanglementes darken the simple and playne truthe If any be not yet satisfied I wold haue hym here a whyle to consider with me that we now speake of a Sacrament all the partes wherof ought to be referred to Faith But we do no lesse deintyly and plentifully feede Faith with this partakyng of the bodye which we haue declared than they that plucke Christe hymselfe oute of heauen In the meane tyme I plainly confesse that I refuse that mixture of the fleshe of Christ with our soule or the pouryng out of it suche as they teache because it suffiseth vs that Christ dothe out of the substance of his fleshe breathe life into our soules yea doth poure into vs his owne lyfe although the very flesh of Christ doth not entre into vs. Moreouer it is no doute that the proportion of Faith whereby Paule willeth vs to examine all
exposition of Scripture dothe in this behalfe very well agree with me As for them that speake agaynst so euident a truthe let them looke after what rule of faith they fashion themselues He that dothe not confesse that Iesus Christ is come in the fleshe is not of God These men althoughe they cloke it or marke it not doo spoile hym of his fleshe Of communicatyng is to be likewise thought whiche they acknowlege none vnlesse they deuoure the fleshe of Christe vnder bread But there is no small wrong done to the Holy ghost vnlesse we beleue that it is brought to passe by his incomprehensible power that we communicate with the fleshe and blood of Christ. Yea if the force of the mysterie such as it is taught of vs and as it was knowen to the old Chirch from fower hundred yeres agoe were weyed accordyng to the worthinesse of it there was enough and more wherupon we myght be satisfied the gate had ben shut against many fowle errors out of which haue ben kindled many horrible dissensions wherwith both in olde tyme and in our age the Chirche hath ben miserably vexed while curious men do enforce an excessiue maner of presence which the Scripture neuer sheweth And they turmoyle aboute a thyng fondly and rashely conceiued as if he enclosyng of Christ vnder bread were as the prouerbe is the prowe and poupe of godlinesse It principally behoued to know howe the body of Christ as it was ones deliuered for vs is made ours how we are made partakers of his blood that was shedde because this is to possesse whole Christ crucified that we may enioy all his good thyngs Nowe these thynges in which was so great importance beyng omitted yea neglected and in a maner buried this onely crabbed question pleaseth them howe the body of Christ lieth hidde vnder bread or vnder the forme of bread They falsly spread abrode that whatsoeuer we teache concernyng spirituall eatyng is contrarie to the true and eatyng as they call it because we haue respecte to nothyng but to the maner which among them is carnall whyle they enclose Christ in bread but to vs it is spirituall because the secrete power of the Spirite is the bonde of our conioynyng with Christ. No truer is that other obiection that we touche onely the frute or effecte which the faithfull take of the eating of the fleshe of Christ. For we haue said before that Christ himselfe is the substance of the Supper and that therupon foloweth the effect that by the sacrifice of his death we ar cleansed from sinnes by his blood we are washed by his resurrection we are raised vp into hope of the heauenly lyfe But the foolishe imagination whereof Lombarde was the author hath peruerted their myndes while they thinke that the eating of the fleshe of Christ is the Sacrament For thus sayth he The Sacrament and not the thyng are the formes of bread and wyne the sacrament and the thyng are the fleshe and blood of Christe the thyng and not the sacrament is his mysticall fleshe Agayne within a littell after The thyng signified and conteined is the propre fleshe of Christ the thyng signified and not conteyned is his mysticall body Wheras he maketh difference betwene the fleshe of Christ and the effectual power of norishyng wherwith it is endued I agree but whereas he faineth it to be a sacrament yea and conteined vnder bread it is an error not to be suffred Hereupon hath growen the false exposition of sacramentall eatyng because they haue thought that wicked men also and euell doers doo eate the fleshe of Christ howe muche soeuer they bee strangers from hym But the fleshe of Christ it selfe in the mysterie of the Supper is no lesse a spirituall thyng than eternall saluation Wherupon we gather that whosoeuer be voide of the Spirite of Christ can no more eate the fleshe of Christ than they can drinke wine wherwith is ioyned no taste Truely Christ is to haynously torne in sonder when that dead body and which hath no lyuely strength is geuen foorth in common to vnbeleuers and his expresse wordes are directly against it Whosoeuer eateth my fleshe and drinketh my blood abideth in me and I in hym They answer that in that place is not entreated of the sacramental eatyng which I graunt so that they wyll not nowe and then stomble agaynst the same stone in sayeng that the fleshe it selfe is eaten without fruite But I would knowe of them howe long they hold it when they haue eaten it Here in my iudgement they shall haue no waye to gett out But they obiect that nothyng can bee withdrawen or faile of the promises of God by the vnthankfulnesse of men I graunt in dede and I say that the force of the mysterie remaineth whole howsoeuer wicked men doo as muche as in them lyeth endeuor to make it voyde Yet it is one thyng to be offred and an other thyng to be receiued Christ reacheth this spirituall meate and offreth this spirituall drinke to all men some do gredily eate of it some do lothingly refuse it shall these mens refusyng make the meate and the drynke to lose their nature They wil say that their opiniō is holpen by this similitude namely that the fleshe of Christ though it be vnsauorie is neuerthelesse his fleshe But I denie that it can be eaten without the taste of faith or if we list rather to speake as Augustine doth I say that men beare away no more of this sacramēt thā thei gather with the vessel of faith So nothing is abated from the Sacrament yea the truth and effectualnesse therof remaineth vnminished although the wicked depart emptie frō the outward partakyng of it If they agayne obiect that this worde this is my bodye is diminished if the wicked receiue corruptible bread and nothyng ells we haue a solution ready that God will not be acknowen true in the receiuyng it selfe but in the stedfastnesse of his owne goodnesse when he is ready to geue yea liberally offreth to the vnworthy that whiche they refuse And this is the fulnesse of the Sacrament which the whole world can not breake that the flesh and blood of Christ is no lesse geuen to the vnworthy than to the chosen faithfull ones of God but therewithall it is true that as water lightyng vpon a hard stone falleth away because there is no entrie open into the stone so the wicked do with their hardnesse driue back the grace of God that it cā not perce into them Moreouer that Christ should be receiued without faith is no more agreeyng with reason than sede to bud in the fyre Wheras they aske how Christe is come to damnation to some vnlesse they receiue him vnworthily it is a very cold question forasmuch as we no where rede that mē do procure death to themselues by vnworthily receiuyng Christe but rather by refusing him Neither doth Christes parable helpe them where he saith that sede groweth vp among thornes
and afterwarde beyng choked is marred because he there entreateth of what value the faith is whiche endureth but for a tyme which they do not think to be necessary to the eatyng of Christes flesh and drinkyng of his blood that in this behalfe do make Iudas egally felow with Peter But rather by the same parable their error is cōfuted where Christ saith that some sede falleth in the hie waie other some vpon stones neither of them taketh roote Wherupō foloweth that to the vnbeleuers their owne hardnesse is a let the Christ atteineth not to them Whosoeuer desireth to haue our saluation holpen by this mysterie shall fynde nothyng fitter than that the faithfull being led to the very fountaine shold draw life out of the Sōne of God But the dignitie of it is honorably enough set out when we keepe in mynde that it is a helpe wherby we be graffed into the body of Christ or beyng graffed do more and more growe together till he do fully make hymself one with vs in the heauenly lyfe They obiect that Paule ought not to haue made them giltie of the body and blood of Christ vnlesse they wer partakers of them But I answer that they ar not therfore condemned because they haue eaten them but only because they haue prophaned the mysterie in treadyng vnder feete the pledge of the holye conioynyng with God which they ought reuerently to receiue Now because Augustine among the old writers chiefly hath affirmed that article of doctrine that nothyng is abated from the Sacraments nor the grace which they figure is made void by the infidelite or noughtinesse of men it shal be profitable to proue clerely by his owne wordes how vnfittly peruersly they do draw that to this present cause which cast the body of Christ to dogges to eate The sacramentall eating after their opinion is wherby the wicked receiue the body blood of Christ without the power of the Spirit or any effect of grace Augustine cōtrariwise weyeng wisely those words He that eateth my flesh drinketh my blood shal not die for euer saieth Namely the power of the sacrament not only the visible sacrament verily within not without he that eateth it with harte not he that presseth it with tooth Whereupon at length he concludeth that the sacramēt of this thing that is to say of the vnitie of the body blood of Christ is set before men in the Supper of the Lorde to some vnto life to some vnto destruction but the thing it selfe wherof it is a sacrament to al men vnto life to none vnto destruction whosoeuer be partaker of it That none shold here cauill that the thing is called not the body but the grace of the Spirit which may be seuered frō the body the cōtrarie comparison betwene these two wordes of addition Uisible Inuisible driueth away al these mystes for vnder the first of them can not be cōprehended the body of Christ. Wherupon foloweth that the vnbeleuers do communicate only of the visible signe And that al douting may be better taken away after that he had said that this bread requireth the hunger of the inward man he addeth Moses Aaron and Phinees many other that dyd eate Manna pleased God Why so because the spirituall meate they spiritually vnderstoode spiritually hungred spirituallye tasted that they myghte bee spiritually fylled For we also at this daye haue receiued spiritual meat but the Sacrament is one thyng and the power of the sacrament is an other A litle after And by this he that abideth not in Christ and in whom Christ abideth not without doute neither eateth spiritually his fleshe nor drinketh his blood though carnally and visibly he presseth with teeth the signe of the body and blood We heare agayne that the visible signe is set in cōparison as contrary to spiritual eating Wherby the error is cōfuted that the body of Christ inuisible is in dede eaten sacramētally though not spiritually We heare also that nothing is graūted to prophane vncleane mē beside the visible receiuyng of the signe Hereupon cometh his famous sayeng that the other disciples did eate the bred the Lord but Iudas did eate the bread of the Lord wherin he plainly excludeth the vnbeleuers frō the partakyng of the body blood Neither tendeth it to any other end which he sayth in an other place What meruailest thou if to Iudas was geuē the bread of Christ by which he might be made bond to the deuel when thou seest on the cōtrary side that to Paul was geuen the angel of the deuell by whome he might be made perfect in Christ He saith verily in an other place that the bread of the Supper was the body of Christ to them to whom Paule said He that eateth vnworthily eateth and drinketh iugement to himselfe and that they haue not therfore nothyng because they haue receiued noughtily But in what sense he declareth more fully in an other place For takyng in hand purposely to define howe the wicked euell doers which professe the christian faith with mouth but with dedes do deny it do eate the body of Christ and that against the opinion of some which thought that thei did not eate in sacramēt only but in very dede But neither saith he ought it to be said that they eate the body of Christ because thei ar not to be reckned among the membres of Christ. For to speake nothing of the rest they can not together be the mēbers of Christ and the membres of a harlot Finally where himselfe saith He that eateth my fleshe and drinketh my blood abideth in me and I in hym he sheweth what it is not sacramentally but in very dede to eate the bodye of Christ. For this is to abide in Christ that Christ may abyde in him For he so sayd this as though he had sayde he that abydeth not in me and in whom I abide not let hym not say or thinke that he dothe eate my body or drynke my blood Let the readers weye the thynges sett as contraries in the comparison to eate Sacramētally and in Uery dede and there shall remaine no dout He confirmeth the same no lesse plainly in these wordes Prepare not your iawes but your hart Herupon is this Supper commended Loe we beleue in Christ when we receiue by faith in receiuyng we know what to thinke We receiue a little and are fatted in hart Therfore not that which is sene but that which is beleued dothe fede Here also that whiche the wicked receiue he restraineth to the visible signe and teacheth that Christ is none otherwise receiued than by Faith So also in an other place pronoūcyng expressly that the good and the euell do communicate together in the signes he excludeth the euell from the true eatyng of the fleshe of Christ. For if they receyued the thing it self he wold not vtterly haue left that vnspoken which was more fitt for his
be dayly sacrificed that he may somewhat profit vs. The Supper shoulde haue bene distributed in the coÌ„mon assemblie of the Chirch that it might enforme vs of the communion whereby we all cleaue together in Christ Iesus The sacrifice of the Masse dissolueth and plucketh in sonder this coÌ„munitie For after that the error grew in force that there must be sacrificers that shold sacrifice for the people the Supper of the Lord as though it were posted ouer to them cessed to be coÌ„municated to the coÌ„gregatioÌ„ of the faithful according to the commaundement of the Lord. An entrie was made open to priuate Masses which might rather resemble a certaine excommunication than that same communitie ordeined of the Lorde when â—â—pety sacrificer wylling seuerally by hym selfe to deuoure his sacrifice doothe seuer hymselfe from the whole people of the faithfull I call priuate Masse least any man be deceiued wheresoeuer there is no partaking of the Lordes Supper among the faithful although otherwise a great multitude of men be present And whense the very name of Masse first sprong I could neuer certainly iudge sauyng that it semeth to me likely that it was taken of the offringes that were geuen Whereupon the olde writers vse it commonly in the plural number But to leaue stryuyng about the name I saye that priuate Masses are directly against the ordinance of Christe and therfore they are a wicked prophanyng of the holy Supper For what hath the Lorde commaunded vs not to take and diuide it among vs What maner of obseruyng of the commaundement doth Paule teache not the breaking of bread which is the communion of the body blood Therfore wheÌ„ one taketh it without distributing what liknesse is there But that same one maÌ„ doth it in the name of the whole Chirch By what coÌ„maundement Is not this openly to mocke God when one maÌ„ priuatly taketh to hym selfe that which ought not to haue ben done but amoÌ„g many But bicause the wordes of Christ Paul ar plain enough we may brefely coÌ„clude that whersoeuer is not breaking of bread to the coÌ„munion of the faithful there is not the Supper of the Lord but a false and wrongfull counterfaiting of the Supper But a false counterfaityng is a corrupting Now the corrupting of so great a mysterie is not without wickednesse Therfore in priuate Masses is a wicked abuse And as one fault in religion from time to tyme bredeth an other after that that maner of offring without communion was ones crept in by litle and litle they beganne in euery corner of Chirches to make innumerable Masses diuersly to draw the people hether and thether which should haue come together into one assemblie that they might reknowlege the mysterie of their owne vnitie Now let them goe and deny it to be ydolatrie that in their Masses they shew forth bread to be worshipped in stede of Christ. For in vaine they bost of those promises of the presence of Christ which howsoeuer they be vnderstode verily wer not geueÌ„ to this purpose that wicked and prophane men so oft as they will and to whatsoeuer abuse they list may make the body of Christ but that the faithfull when wyth religious obseruation they do in Celebrating of the Supper follow the commaundement of Christ may enioy the true partaking of him Beside that this peruersnesse was vnknoweÌ„ to the purer Chirch For howsoeuer the more shamelesse sort among our aduersaries do here goe about to disguise the mater with false colors yet it is moste sure that all antiquitie is against them as we haue afore proued in other things it may more certeinly be iudged by the coÌ„tinual reding of old writers But ere I make an ende of speaking of it I aske our Massing doctors sithe they knowe that obedience is more estemed of God than oblations and that he more requireth that his voice be harkened to thaÌ„ that sacrifices be offred how they beleue that this maner of sacrificing is acceptable to God whereof they haue no certaine commaundement and which they see not to be allowed by any one syllable of the Scripture Moreouer when they heare the Apostle say that no maÌ„ taketh to himself the name honor of sacrificing presthode but he that is called as AaroÌ„ was yea that Christ himself did not thrust in himself but obeyd the calling of his father either they must bring forth God the author ordeiner of their sacrificing presthod or they must coÌ„fesse that the honor is not of God into which they have with wicked rashnes brokeÌ„ in vncalled But they caÌ„ not shew one tittle of a letter that mainteineth their sacrificing presthod Why therfore shal not their sacrifices vanish away which caÌ„ not be offred without a prest If any maÌ„ do thrust in short senteÌ„ces of the old writers gathered here there and do by their authoritie trauail to proue that the sacrifice which is done in the Supper is far otherwise to be vnderstaÌ„ded thaÌ„ we do expound it let him be brefly answered thus if the question be of allowyng the forged deuise of sacrifice suche as the Papistes haue fayned in the Masse the old writers do neuer speake in defeÌ„se of such sacrilege They do in dede vse the worde Sacrifice but therwithal they expounde that they meane nothing ells but the remembrance of that true and onely sacrifice which Christ our only sacrificing preste as they eche where report of him made on the crosse The Hebrues sayeth Augustine in the sacrifices of beastes which they offred to God did celebrate a prophecie of the sacrifice to come which Christ offred the Christians doe with the holy oblation and partaking of the body of Christe celebrate a remembrance of the sacrifice alredy made Here verily he teacheth altogether the same thing which is written in moe wordes in the boke of Fayth to Peter the Deacon whosoeuer be the author of it The words be these Beleue most stedfastly and dout not at al that the only begotteÌ„ himself being made fleshe for vs offred himselfe for vs a sacrifice and oblation to God into a sauor of swetenesse to whoÌ„ with the Father and the Holy ghoste in the tyme of the olde testamente beastes were sacrificed and to whom now with the Father and the Holy ghost with whoÌ„ he hath one Godhed the holy Chirch throughout the whole world cesseth not to offer the sacrifice of bred and wyne For in those fleshly sacrifices was a figuring of the fleshe of Christ which he should offer for our sinnes and of hys blood which he should shed to the forgeuenesse of synnes But in this sacrifice is thankesgeuing rehearsal of the fleshe of Christ whiche he offered for vs and of his blood whiche the same he hath shed for vs. Wherupon Augustine himselfe in many places expoundeth it to be nothing ells but a sacrifice of prayse Finally you shal commonly fynde in him that the Supper of the Lord is for no other
that they are by chaunse made differente from brute beastes But they pretende a cloke of nature whom they accompte the maker of al thinges and so doe conuey God awaye They see that exquysyte workemanship in al their members from their mouth and their eyes euen to the nailes of their toaes and yet here also they putte nature in place of god But specially the so swift motions the so excellent powers the so rare giftes of the soule do represent a diuine nature that doth not easily suffer it selfe to be hid vnlesse the Epicureans like the Gyauntes Cyclopes wold bearing themselues bolde vppon this hye degre outrageously make warre againste God Do the whole treasures of the heauenly wisedome so mete together to rule a worme of fiue fete long and shal the whole vniuersalitie of the world be wtout this prerogatiue Firste to agree that there is a certaine instrumentall thing that aunswereth to all the partes of man doth so serue nothing at al to obscure the honor of God that it rather doeth more gloriously set it out Let Epicure answer me what meting of vndiuisible bodyes boiling the meate and drinke in man doth dispose part into excrementes part into bloud and bringeth to passe that there is in al the members of man such an endeuorynge to do their offyce eueÌ„ as if so many seueral soules did by coÌ„mon aduise rule one body But I haue not nowe to doe with that â—â—ye of swyne I rather speake vnto them that being geuen to suttelties would by croked conueiaunce wrythe that colde saying of Aristotle bothe to destroye the immortalitie of the soule and also to take from God hys ryghte For because there ar instrumental powers of the soule by pretense thereof they bynde the soule to the bodye that it cannot continue without the bodye and with praises of nature they doo as much as in them is suppresse the name of God But the powers of the soule are farre from beeinge enclosed in those exercises that serue the body For what pertayneth to the body for a man to measure the skye to gather the number of the starres to lerne the greatenes of euery one to knowe what space they be distante one from an other with what swiftnes or slownesse they goe their courses how many degrees they decline this way or that way I grauÌ„t in dede that there is some vse of Astrologie but my meanyng is onely to shewe that in this so depe serching out of heauenly thyngs it is not an instrumental measuring but that the soule hath her offices by it selfe seuerall from the body I haue shewed one example by whiche it shal be easy for the readers to gather the reste Truely the manyfolde nimblenes of the soule by which it surueieth bothe heauen and earthe ioyneth thynges past with things to come kepeth in memory thinges heard long before and expresseth eche thing to it selfe by imaginacion also the ingeniousnesse by which it inuenteth thinges incredible and which is the mother of so many maruelons artes are sure tokens of diuine nature in man Beside that euen in slepyng it doeth not onely rolle and tourne it self but also conceiueth many thinges profytable reasoneth of many thynges also prophecieth of thyngs to come What shal we in this case say but that the signes of immortalitie that are emprinted in man cannot be blotted out Now what reason may beare that man shal be of diuine nature and not acknowledge his Creator Shall we forsoth by iudgement that is put into vs discerne betwene right and wronge and shall there be no iudge in heauen Shall we euen in our slepe haue abiding with vs some remnant of vnderstandyng and shall no God be waking in gouernyng the worlde Shall we be so compted the inuenters of so many artes and profitable thynges that God shal be defrauded of his praise where as yet experience sufficiently teacheth that from an other and not from our selues all that we haue is in diuerse wise distributed amonge vs As for that which some do babble of the secrete inspiracion that geueth lyuelines to the worlde it is not onely weake but also vngodly They lyke well that famous saying of Uergile Fyrst heauen and earth and flovvyng fieldes of seas The shinyng globe of Moone and Tiâ—ans starres Sprite fedes vvithin and throughout all the lymmes Infused mynde the vvhole huge masse dooth moue And vvith the large bigge body mixe it selfe Thense come the kyndes of men and eke of beastes And lyues of fliyng foules and monsters straunge That vvater beares vvithin the marble sea A fyry lyuelynesse and heauenly race there is VVithin those seedes c. Forsothe that the world which was created for a spectacle of the glory of God shuld be the creator of it selfe So in an other place the same author folowyng the common opinion of the Greekes and Latynes sayeth Some say that bees haue part of mynde diuine And heauenly draughtes For eke they say that God Gothe through the coastes of lande and crekes of sea And through depe skye And hense the flockes and heardes And men and all the kyndes of sauage beastes Eche at their byrthe receyue theyr suttle lyues And therto are they rendred all at laste And all resolued are retournde agayne Ne place there is for deathe but lyuely they Flye into nombre of the Starres aboue And take their place vvithin the lofty skye Loe what that hungry speculacion of the vniuersall minde that geueth soule and liuelines to the world auaileth to engender and nourishe godlines in the hartes of men Whiche doeth also better appeare by the blasphemous sayings of the filthy dogge Lucretius which are deriued from the same principle Euen thys is it to make a shadowishe God to driue farre away the true God whome we ought to feare and worshyp I graunt in dede that this may be godlily sayed so that it procede from a godly minde that nature is God but because it is a hard and an vnproper maner of speche forasmuch as nature is rather an order prebed by God therfore in thynges of so great weight and to which is due a singular religiousnes it is hurtfull to wrapp vp God confusely with the inferior course of his workes Let vs therefore remember so ofte as any man considereth his owne nature that there is one God which so gouerneth al natures that his wil is to haue vs to loke vnto hym our fayth to be directed to hym and hym to bee worshypped and called vpon of vs because there is nothing more agaynst conuenience of reason thaÌ„ for vs to enioy those excellent gyftes that sauoure of diuine nature in vs and to despise the authoure that freely doeth geue theym vnto vs. Nowe as concernynge his power with howe notable examples dothe it forceably drawe vs to consider it vnlesse perhappes we may be ignoraunt of howe great a strengthe it is with his onely woorde to vpholde this infinite masse of heauen and earth with his onely becke
Likewise Augustine whiche withoute douting pronounceth that it is vnlawfull not onely to worship images but also to set vp images to God And yet sayeth he none other thyng but the same which many yeares before was decreed by the Elibertine councel wherof this is the .xxxvi. Chapiter It is ordeined that no pictures be had in the church that the thing which is honored and worshipped be not painted on the wals But most notable is that which in another place Augustine allegeth out of Uarro and confirmeth it with his owne assent that they which first brought in the images of gods both toke away the feare of God and brought in erroure If Uarro alone should say this paraduenture it should be but of smal authoritie Yet ought it of right to make vs ashamed that a heathen man groping in darknesse came to this light to se that bodily images are therfore vnmete for the maiestie of God because they diminish the feare of God and encrease error in men The proufe it selfe witnesseth that this was no lesse truly than wisely spoken But Augustine hauing borrowed it of Uarro bringeth it forth as of his own mind And first he admonisheth that the first errors wherwith men were entangled concerning God beganne not of images but as with new matter added encreased by them Secondly he expoundeth that the feare of god is therefore minished or rather taken away therby because his maiestie may easely in the folishnesse and in the fonde and absurde forging of images grow to coÌ„tempt Which seconde thing I would to god we did not by proufe finde to be so true Whosoeuer therefore will couet to be rightly taught let him elles where learne than of images what is mete to be knowen concerning God Wherfore if the papistes haue any shame let them no more vse thys shyft to say that images are lay mens bokes which by many testimonies of Scripture ar so openly confuted And althoughe I grauÌ„t them so much yet should they not muche get thereby for defense of their idoles What monsters they trust in in the place of God is wel knowen The pictures and images that they dedicate to Saynctes what at they but examples of extreme riot vnclennesse wherunto if any would fashion himselfe he were worthy to be beaten with staues Surely the brotheâ—houses can shewe harlots more chastely and soberly attyred than their temples shewe images of these whom they would haue called virgins Euen as vncomly array geue they to the martirs Lette them therfore fashion their idols at least to some honest shewe of shamefastnesse that they may somwhat more colorably lye in saieng that they are the bokes of some holinesse But if it were so yet then would we answere that this is not the ryght way to teache the faythful people in holy places whom God would haue there instructed with farre other doctryne than wyth these trifles God commaunded in the churches a common doctryne to be set forth to al men in preaching of his woorde and in his holy misteryes whereunto they shew themselues to haue a minde not very hedeful that cast their eies about to beholde images But whom do the Papistes cal lay and vnlearned men whose vnskilfulnesse may beare to be taught only by images â–ª forsoth euen those whoÌ„ the Lord knowledgeth for hys disciples to whom he vouche saueth to reuele the heauenly wisedome whom he willeth to be instructed with the holsome misteries of his kingdom I graunt in dede as the matter standeth that there ar at this day many which cannot be without such bokes But wheÌ„se I pray you groweth that dulnesse but that they are defrauded of the doctrine whiche only was mete to instruct them with For it is for no other cause that they which had the cure of churches gaue ouer their office of teachyng to idoles but because themselues were dumme Paule testifieth that Christ is in the true preaching of the gospel painted out and in amaner crucified before our eyes To what purpose then wer it to haue coÌ„monly set vp in churches so many crosses of wood stone siluer and golde if thys were wel and faythfully beaten into the peoples heads that Christ dyed to beare our curse vpon the crosse to cleanse our synnes with the Sacrifice of hys body and to wash them away wyth hys bloud and finally to reconcile vs to God the father Of which one thyng they might learne more than of a thousande crosses of wood or stone For parhaps the couetous do set their mindes and eyes faster vpon the golden and siluer crosses than vpon any wordes of God As concerning the beginning of idols that is by common consente thought to be true which is written in the boke of wysedome that they were the first authoures of them which gaue thys honor to the ded supersticiously to worship their memorie And truly I graunt that thys euil custome was very auncient and I deny not that it was the fierbrand wherwith the rage of men being kindled to idolatry did more and more burne therin Yet do I not graunt that thys was the fyrst orygynall of thys mischiefe For it appeareth by moses that images were vsed before that this curiositie in dedicatiÌ„g the images of dead meÌ„ whereof the prophane wryters make otfen mention were come in vre When he telleth that Rachel had stolen her fathers idols he speaketh it as of a common fault Wherby we may gather that the wit of man is as I may so cal it a continual worship of idols After the generall floud there was as it were a new regeneracion of the world and yet there passed not many yeares but that men according to their own lust fained them gods And it is likely that the holy patriarch yet liuing his childrens children wer geuen to idolatry so that to his bitter griefe he saw the earth defiled with idols whose corruptions the Lord had but late purged with so horribe iudgement For Thare and Nathâ—r euen before the birth of Abraham were worshippers of false Gods as Iosue testifieth Seing the generation of Sem so sone swarued what shal we iudge of the posteritie of Cham who were already cursed in their father The minde of men as it is full of pride and rashe boldenesse presumeth to imagine God according to her own conceit and as it is possessed with dullnesse yea ouerwhelmed with grosse ignoraunce so it conceiueth vanitie and a fende faÌ„tasie in stede of God And to these euils is added a new mischiefe that man attempteth to expresse in workemanshippe suche a God as he inwardly conceiueth Thus the minde begetteth the idole and the hande bringeth it forth The example of the Israelites proueth that this was the beginning of idolatrie that men do not beleue that God is among them vnlesse he shewe himselfe carnally presente We knowe not saied they what is become of this Moses make vs gods that may go before vs. They knew that there was a God whose
aduaunced than it was when he sayde He that heareth you heareth me He that despiseth you despiseth me But there is no place more playne than in Paule in his seconde Epistle to the Corinthians where he as it were of purpose entreateth of this matter He affirmeth therefore that there is nothyng in the Chirche more excellent or glorious than the ministerie of the Gospell forasmuche as it is the administration of the Spirite and of righteousnesse and of eternal life These and like sayenges serue to this purpose that that order of gouerning and preseruing the Chirch by ministers which the Lord hath stablished for euer should not growe oute of estimation among vs and so at length by very contempt grow out of vse And howe greate is the necessitie therof he hath declared not onely by wordes but also by examples When his wil was to shine more fully to Cornelius with the light of his trueth he sente an Angell from heauen to sende Peter vnto him When his will was to call Paule to the knowlege of himselfe and to engraffe him into the Chirch he spake not to him with his own voice but sente him to a man of whom he shoulde receiue both the doctrine of saluation and the sanctification of Baptisme If it be not done without cause that an Angell which is the interpreter of God doe himselfe absteine from declaring the wil of God but commaundeth that a man be sente for to declare it and not withoute cause that Christ the onely scholemaister of the faithfull commytteth Paule to the schooling of a man yea euen that same Paule whom he had determined to take vp into the thirde heauen and to vouchsaue to graunt him miraculous reuelation of thinges vnspeakable whoe is there now that dare despise that ministerie or passe it ouer as a thyng superfluous the vse wherof it hath pleased God to make approued by such examples They that haue rule of the gouernement of the Chirche according to the institution of Christ are named of Paule first Apostles then Prophetes thirdly Euangelistes fourthly Pastors laste of all Teachers Of which the twoo last alone haue ordinarie office in the Chirche the other three the Lord raised vp at the beginning of hys kingdome and sometime yet also rayseth vp as the necessitie of times requireth What is the Apostles office appeareth by that commaundemente go preache the Gospell to euery creature There are not certaine boundes appointed vnto them but the whole worlde is assigned them to be brought into the obedience of Christe that in spreading the Gospell among all nations whersoeuer they shall be able they maye eche where raise vp his kingdome Therefore Paule when he wente aboute to proue his Apostleship rehearseth that he hath gotten to Christ not some one citie but hath farre and wide spred abrode the Gospell and that he hath not layed his handes to an other mans fundation but planted Chirches where the name of the Lorde had neuer ben heard of Therfore the Apostles were sente to bring backe the world from falling awaye vnto true obedience of God and eche where to stablish his kingdome by preaching of the Gospell or if you like that better as the first bilders of the Chirche to laye the fundations therof in all the worlde Prophetes he calleth not all expositors of Gods will whatsoeuer they be but those that by singular reuelation excelled suche as at this tyme either be none or are lesse notable By Euangelistes I vnderstande those whiche when in dignitie they were lesse than the Apostles yet in office were nexte vnto them yea and occupied their roomes Suche were Luke Timothee Titus and other lyke and paraduenture also the seuentie Disciples whom Christ appointed in the seconde place after the Apostles According to this exposition which semeth to me agreable both with the woordes and meaning of Paule those three offices were not ordeined in the Chirche to this ende that they should be perpetuall but onely to serue for that tyme wherein Chirches were to be erected where were none before or at least to be remoued from Moses to Chryst. Albeit I denie not but the afterwarde also the Lord hath somtyme raysed vp Apostles or at least in their places Euangelistes as it hath ben done in our time For it was nedefull to haue such to bryng backe the Chirche from the falling away of Antichrist Yet the office it selfe I do neuerthelesse call extraordinarie because it hath no place in the Chirches already well set in order Next after these are Pastors and Teachers whom the Chirche may neuer lacke betwene whom I thynke that there is thys difference that the Teachers are not appoynted to beare rule of discipline nor for the ministration of Sacramentes nor admonishmentes or exhortations but onely to expounde the Scripture that pure and sounde doctrine may be kept among the faithfull But the office of Pastor conteineth al these thynges within it Now we haue which were those ministeries in the Chirch that continued but for a tyme and which were those that were ordeined to endure perpetually If we ioyne the Euangelistes with the Apostles we shall haue remayning two couples after a certayne maner answeryng the one to the other For as oure Teachers are lyke to the olde Prophetes in such sort are our Pastors lyke to the Apostles The office of Prophetes was more excellent by reson of the singular gifte that they had of reuelation but the office of Teachers hath in a manner lyke order and altogether the same ende So those .xii. whom the Lorde dyd choose that they should publish abrode to the world the new preaching of the Gospel in degre and dignitie went before the rest For although by the meanyng and propertie of the worde all the ministers of the Chirche maye be ryghtly called Apostles because they are sente of the Lorde and are hys messengers yet because it was muche behouefull that there should be a certayne knowledge had of the sendyng of them that should bring a thing new and vnheard of it was necessarie that those xii to whoe 's number Paule was afterwarde added should be garnished with some peculiar title aboue the rest Paule hymselfe in dede in â—â—e place geueth thys name to Andronicus and Iunias whom he saieth to haue been notable among the Apostles but when he meaneth to speake properly he referreth it to none other but to that principal degree And this is the common vse of the Scripture Yet the Pastors sauing that eche of them do gouerne seueral Chirches appointed to them haue al one charge with the Apostles Now what maner of thing that is let vs yet heare it more playnly The Lord when he sent the Apostles gaue them commaundemente as we sayd euen now to preache the Gospell and to baptise them that beleue vnto forgeuenesse of synnes He had before commaunded that they should distribute the holy signes of his body and bloud as
ought to geue example of honest sparyng to other shoulde not haue so muche wherby they might abuse it to riotous excesse or deliciousnesse but only wherewith to susteine their owne nede For those of the Clergie saith Hierome which are able to liue of the goodes of their parentes if they take that whiche is the poores doo commit sacrilege and by such abuse they eate and drinke to them selues damnation First the ministration was free and voluntarie wheras the Bishops and Deacons were of theyr owne will faithefull and vprightnesse of conscience and innocence of life were to them in stede of lawes Afterward when euil examples grew of the gredinesse or peruerse affections of some to correcte those faultes the canons were made which diuided the reuenues of the Chirche into fower partes of whiche they assigned one parte to theym of the Clergie the seconde to the poore the thyrde to the mayntenance and reparation of Chirches and other holye buildynges the fourthe to the poore as well straungers as of their owne contrey For whereas the other canons geue this last part to the Bishoppe that varieth nothing from my aboue saide diuision For they meane not that that part shoulde be hys owne that either he hymselfe alone should deuoure it or poure it oute vpon whome or what he lyst but that it should suffice to maintaine the Hospitalitie which Paule requireth of that order And so do Gelasius and Gregorie expouÌ„de it For Gelasius bringeth no other reason why the Bishop shuld chalenge any thing to himselfe but that he mighte geue it prisoners and strangers And Gregorye speaketh yet more playnly It is the maner sayth he of the sea Apostolike to giue commaundement to the Bishop when he is ordered that of all the reuenue that ariseth there be made fower portions that is to saie the one to the Bishop and his familie for Hospitalitie and entertainment the second to the Clergie the third to the poore the fowerth to the repairyng of Chirches Therfore it was lawfull for the Bishop to take nothing to his own vse but so much as were enough for moderate and meane foode and clothyng If any began to excede either in riotous expense or in ostentation and pompe he was by and by repressed by his felowes and if he obeyed not he was put from his dignitie As for that whiche they bestowed vpon garnishing of holy things at the first it was very litle Afterward when the Chirch became somwhat richer yet in that behalfe they still kept a meane And yet all the money that was bestowed therupon remained safe for the poore if any greater necessitie happened So when famine possessed the Prouince of Hierusalem and the nede coulde not otherwyse be relieued Cyrillus solde the vesselles and garmentes and spente theim vppon sustenance of the poore Lykewyse Acatius Bysshoppe of Amida whenne a greate multitude of the Persians in a maner starued for hunger called together the Clergie and when he had made that notable oraâ—ion Our God needeth neither dishes nor cuppes because he neyther â—ateth nor drinketh he molt the vessels to make thereof bothe meate and ransome for men in miserie Hierom also when he inueyeth against the to muche gorgiousnesse of temples doeth with honor make mencion of Exuperius Bishop of Tholosa in his tyme whiche caried the Lordes body in a wicker basket and his bloude in glasse but suffered no poore man to be hungry That which I euen nowe sayd of Acatius Ambrose rehearseth of hymselfe For when the Arrians charged hym for that he had broken the holy vessels to ransom prisoners he vsed this most godly excuse He that sent the Apostles without golde gathered Chirches together without golde The Chirche hath golde not to keepe it â–ª but to bestowe it and to geue reliefe in necessities What nede is to kepe that whiche helpeth not Do we not knowe how muche golde and siluer the Assyrians toke out of the temple of the Lorde Doth not the priest better to melt them for the sustenaÌ„ce of the poore if other reliefs do faile than an enemie a robber of God to beare them away Will not the Lord say Why hast thou suffered so many needy to die for hunger and verily thou haddest golde wherof thou mightest haue ministred them sustenaunce Why were so many ledde away captiue and not ransomed why were so many slayne by the enemie It hadde ben better that thou shouldest saue the vessels of liuyng men than of metalles To these thyngs thou shalt not be able to answer For what wouldest thou say I feared least Gods temple should want garnishyng He wolde answer Sacramentes require not golde neither doo those thinges please with Golde that are not bought with golde The raunsomyng of prisoners is a garnishyng of Sacraments In summe we see that it is most true which the same man saieth in an other place that what soeuer the Chirche then possessed was the store of the nedy Againe that a Bishop hath nothing that is not the poores These that wee haue rehearsed were the ministeries of the Olde Chirche For the other of whyche the Ecclesiasticall writers make mention were rather certain exercises and preparations than appointed offices For those holy men that they might leaue a store for the Chirch after them receiued into their charge gouernance and discipline yong men whiche with the consent and authoritie of their parentes professed theim selues souldiours of the spirituall warfare and they so framed them from their tender age that they shoulde not come vnskilfull and rawe to the executyng of their office But all they that were instructed with suche beginnynges were called Clerkes I woulde in deede that some other propre name hadde rather bene geuen them For this name grewe of errour or of corrupt affection forasmuche as Peter calleth the whole Chirche the Clergie that is to say the Lordes inheritance But the institution it selfe was very holy and profitable that they whiche wolde consecrate them selues and their seruice to the Chirch should be so brought vp vnder the kepyng of the Bishop that none should minister to the Chirche â–ª but he that were well informed aforehande and that had from his very youth bothe sucked holy doctrine and by seuere discipline put in a certayn continuyng qualitie of grauitie and holy life and were estranged from worldly cares and were accustomed to spirituall cares and studies But as yong souldiors are by certayn counterâ—aiâ—e skirmishes instructed to learn true and earnest fight so there were also certayn rudimentes whereby they were exercised while they were Clerkes before that they were promoted to the very offices Therfore first they committed to the Clerkes the charge to open and shutte the Chirch and they named them Ostiarii doorekeepers Afterwarde they called them A coluthi folowers whiche waited vpon the Bishop in his household seruices and did continually accompany hym fyrste for honours sake and then that no suspition should arise of them Moreouer that by lyttle
that they ought not to be troubled nor accombred about the obseruations of the law Hetherto it very wel maketh of our syde But the exception that immediatly foloweth neither is any newe law made by the Apostles but the diuine and eternall commaundemeÌ„t of God that charitie ought not to be broken nor doth diminishe one title of that libertie but onely admonisheth the Gentiles how they shold temper themselues to their brethreÌ„ that they abuse not their libertie to the offence of them Let this therfore be the second poynt that the Gentiles should vse a harmelesse libertie and without offence of theyr brethren But yet they prescribe some certain thyng that is they teach and appoint so farre as was expedient for the tyme by what thynges they might runne into the offence of their brethren that they myght beware of those thynges but they adde no newe thyng of their own to the eternall lawe of God whiche forbiddeth the offendyng of brethren Lyke as if the faithfull Pastors which gouerne Chirches not yet wel reformed shoulde coÌ„maunde all their people that tyll the weake with whome they lyue doo growe stronger they should not openly eate fleshe on Friday or openly labor vppon holy dayes or any suche thyng For although these thynges settyng superstition asyde are by themselues indifferent yet when there is added offence of brethren they can not be doone without a faulte But the tymes are suche that the faithfull can not shewe suche a sight to the weake brethren but that they shall sore wounde their consciences Who but a cauiller wil say that so they make a newe lawe wheras it is certayn that they do onely preuent offences whiche are expressely enough forbidden of the Lord And no more can it be sayd of the Apostles whoe 's purpose was nothyng ells but in taâ—yng away the mater of offences to call vpon the lawe of God coucernyng the auoydyng of offence as if they had sayd It is the Lords coÌ„maundement that ye offend not a weake brother Ye can not eate thinges offred to images strangled and blood but that the weake brethren shall be offended Therfore we commaunde you in the woorde of the Lorde that ye eate not with offence And that the Apostles had respect to the same thyng Paule hymselfe is a very good witnesse which writeth thus verily none otherwise than accordyng to the meanyng of the Councell Concernyng meates that are offred to Idols we know that the Idole is nothyng But some with conscience of the Idole do eate it as offred to Idols and their conscience forasmuche as it is weake is defiled See that your libertie be not made an offence to the weake He that shall haue well weyed these thynges shall not afterwarde be deceiued with such a false color as they make that pretende the Apostles for defence on their tyrannie as though the Apostles had begon with their decree to breake the libertie of the Chirche But that they may not be able to escape but be dryuen euen with their owne confession to allowe this solution let them answer me by what right they were so bolde to abrogate the same decree Because there was no more perill of those offences and dissencions which the Apostles meant to prouide for and they knowe that the lawe was to be weyed by the ende therof Forasmuch as therfore this lawe was made in respect of charitie there is nothyng prescribed in it but so muche as perteineth to charitie When they confesse that the transgressyng of this law is nothyng but a breakyng of charitie do they not therwithall acknowlege that it is not a forged addition to the law of God but a naturall and simple appliance to the tymes and maners wherunto it was directed But although such lawes be a hundred times vniuste and iniurious vnto vs yet they affirme that they must be heard without exception for they say that this is not here intended that we shold consent to errors but onely that beyng subiectes we shold beare the hard coÌ„mauÌ„dementes of our gouernors whiche it is not our partes to refuse But here also the Lorde very well resisteth them with the truth of his word and deliuereth vs out of such bondage into the libertie which he hath purchased for vs with his holy blood the benefit wherof he hath more thaÌ„ ones confirmed with his word For that is not here onely intended as they maliciously fain that we shold suffer some greuous oppressioÌ„ in our body but that our coÌ„scieÌ„ces being spoiled of their libertie that is of the benefit of the blood of Christ shold be seruilely tormented Howbeit let vs passe ouer this also as though it made litle to the mater But of howe great importance do we thinke it is that the Lordes kingdome is takeÌ„ away froÌ„ him which he claimeth to himself with so great seueritie But it is takeÌ„ away so oft as he is worshipped with the lawes of mens inueÌ„tions wheras he wil be holden for the only lawmaker of his own worship And least any man shold thinke it to be a mater of nothing let vs heare how much yâ— Lord estemeth it Because saith he this people hath feared me with the coÌ„mauÌ„dement doctrine of men behold I wil astonish them with a great woÌ„derous miracle For wisdome shal perish froÌ„ the wise men therof vnderstaÌ„ding shal depart from the elders In an other place They worship me in vaine teachyng doctrines the coÌ„mauÌ„dements of meÌ„ And truly wheras the childreÌ„ of Israel defiled theÌ„selues with many idolatries the cause of al that euil is ascribed to this vnclean mixture that transgressing the commaundementes of God they haue forged new worshippinges And therfore the holy Historie rehearseth that the new strangers that had ben transplaÌ„ted by the king of BabiloÌ„ to inhabite Samaria wer torne in peces and coÌ„sumed of wilde beastes because they knew not the iudgementes or statutes of the God of that lande Although they had nothing offeÌ„ded in the Ceremonies yet God would not haue allowed a vaine pompe but in the meane time he cessed not to take vengeaÌ„ce of the defyling of hys worship for that meÌ„ did thrust in deuises strange from his worde Wherupon it is afterwarde sayd that they beyng made afrayd with that punishmente receiued the Ceremonies prescribed in the law but because they did not yet purely worship the true God it is twise repeted that they did feare him and did not feare him Wherupon we gather that the part of reuereÌ„ce which is geuen to him coÌ„sisteth in this while in worshipping him we simply folow what he commaundeth with mingling none of our own inuentions And therfore the godly kynges are oftentimes praised because they did according to al the commaundementes and declined not to the ryghte hande nor to the left I go yet further although in some fayned worshipping there do not opeÌ„ly appeare vngodlinesse yet it is seuerely coÌ„demned of the Holy ghost so soâ—e as men depart from the
the same is nothing ells but a pronouncing of hys own sentence and that whatsoeuer they do in erth is confirmed in heauen For they haue the worde of the Lord wherby they may condemne the frowarde they haue the worde wherby they may receiue the repentant into fauor They I say that trust that without thys bonde of discipline Chirches may long stande are deceiued in opinion vnlesse perhappes we may want that helpe which the Lord foresaw that it should be necessarie for vs. And truely how great is the necessitie therof shal be better perceiued by the manifolde vse of it There be three endes whiche the Chirch hath respect vnto in suche corrections and excommunication The first is that they should not to the dishonor of God be named among Christians that leade a filthy and sinfull lyfe as though his holy Chirch were a coÌ„spiracie of noughtie and wicked men For sith the Chirch is the body of Christ it can not be defiled with suche filthy and rotten members but that some shame muste come to the hed Therefore that there should not be any suche thyng in the Chirch wherby hys holy name may be spotted wyth any repâ—oche they are to be driuen out of her householde by whoe 's dishonâ—â—e any sclauÌ„der myght redounde to the name of Christians And herein also is consideration to be had of the Supper of the Lord that it be not profaned with geuing it to alwithout choise For it is most true that he to whom the distribution of it is committed if he wittingly and willingly admitt an vnworthy man whom he might lawfully put back is as giltie of Sacrilege as if he did geue abrode the Lordes body to dogges Wherfore Chrysostome greuously inueyeth against the Prestes whiche while they feare the power of great men dare debarre no man The blood sayth he shal be required at your handes If ye feare man he shall laugh you to scorne but if ye feare God ye shal be reuerenced also among men Let vs not feare maces nor purple nor crownes we haue here a greater power I verily will rather deliuer mine own body to death and suffer my blood to be shed than I will be made partaker of this defiling Therfore least this most holy mystery be spotted with sclander in the distributing thereof choise is greatly requisite â–ª which yet can not be had but by the iurisdictioÌ„ of the Chirch The secoÌ„d ende is least as it is wont to come to passe with the continuall company of the euil the good shold be corrupted For such is our redy inclination to go out of the way there is nothing easier than for vs to be ledde by euill examples froÌ„ the right course of lyfe This vse the Apostle touched when he commauÌ„ded the Corinthians to put the incestuous man out of their company A litle leuen sayth he corrupteth the whole lomp of doae And he foresaw herein so great danger that he forbade hym euen from all felowship If any brother sayeth he among you be named either a whoremonger or a couetous man or a worshipper of Idoles or a dronkarde or an euill speaker with suche a one I graunte you not leaue so much as to eate The thirde ende is that they themselues confounded with shame may beginne to repente of their filthinesse So it is profitable for them also to haue their owne wickednesse chastised that with feling of the rod they may be awaked which otherwyse by tender bearing with them would haue become more obstinate The same thing doth the Apostle meane when he sayth thus If any do not obey our doctrine marke hym and kepe no companye wyth hym that he may be ashamed Againe in an other place when he wryteth that he hath deliuered the Corinthian to Satan that hys Spirite might be saued in the day of the Lord that is as I expounde it that he went into a damnation for a tyme that he might be saued for euer But he therefore sayth that he deliuereth hym to Satan because the deuil is out of the Chirch as Christ is in the Chirch For wheras some do referr it to a certaine vexing of the fleshe I thynke that to be very vncertaine When these endes be set fourth nowe it remaineth to se howe the Chirch executeth this part of discipline which consisteth in iurisdiction First let vs kepe the diuision aboue set that of synnes some be publike and other some be priuate or more secrete Publike are those that haue not onely one or twoo witnesses but are committed openly and wyth the offense of the whole Chirch Secrete I call those not which are altogether hidden from men as are the sinnes of Hipocrites for those come not into the iugement of the Chirch but those of the meane kynde which are not without witnesses yet are not publike The firste kynd requireth not those degrees which Christ rehearseth but wheÌ„ any such thing appeareth the Chirch ought to do her dutie in callyng the sinner and correcting him according to the proportion of the offense In the second kind according to the rule of Christ they come not to yâ— Chirch til there be also obstinacie added WheÌ„ it is ons come to knowlege then is the other diuision to be noted betwene wycked doinges defaultes For in lighter synnes there is not to be vsed so great seueritie but chastisemeÌ„t of wordes sufficeth the same gentle and fatherly which may not hardeÌ„ nor confounde the synner but bryng hym home to hymselfe that he may more reioyse than be sory that he was corrected But it is mete that haynous offenses be chastised with sharper remedie For it is not enough if he that by doing wycked dede of euill example hath greuously offended the Chirch shoulde be chastised onely with wordes but he oughte for a time to be depriued of the communion of the Supper til he haue geuen assurance of his repentance For against the Corinthian Paule vseth not only rebuking of wordes but driueth him out of the Chirche and blameth the Corinthians that it had so long borne him The olde and better Chirch kepte this order when rightfull gouernement florished for if any man had done any wicked dede wherupon was growen offense first he was commaunded to absteine from partaking of the holy Supper then both to humble himselfe before God and to testifie hys repentaÌ„ce before the Chirch There were also certaine solemne vsages which were enioyned to them that had falleÌ„ to be tokens of their repeÌ„tance When they had so done that the Chirch was satisfied theÌ„ by layeng of handes he was receiued into fauor Which receiuing is oftentimes called of Cipriane peace who also briefely describeth this vsage They do penance saieth he in a certaine ful time then they come to coÌ„fession and by the laying on of handes of the Bishop and the Clergie they receiue power to come to the communion Howbeit the Bishop and his Clergie had so the ruling
sinne It can not be expressed howe pernicious and pestilent this opinion is and so muche the more because in many ages heretofore to the great losse of the Chirch it hath preuailed in a great part of the world Truely it is vtterly deuelishe For when it promiseth righteousnesse without Faith it driueth soules hedlong into destruction then because it fetcheth the cause of righteousnesse from the Sacramentes it byndeth the miserable myndes of men already of their owne accorde to muche bendyng to the earth with this superstition that they rather reste in the sighte of a bodily thyng than of God himselfe Which two thyngs I wold to God we had not so proued in experience so little nede they any long proofe But what is a Sacrament taken without Faith but the moste certaine destruction of the Chirch For wheras nothyng is to be loked for therof without the promise and the promise dothe no lesse threaten wrathe to the vnfaithfull than it offreth grace to the faithfull he is deceyued that thinketh that there is any more geuen to him by the Sacraments than that which beyng offred by the word of God he receiueth by Faith Wherupon an other thyng also is gathered that the affiance of saluation hangeth not vpon the partakyng of the Sacrament as though Iustification consisted therin which we knowe to be reposed in Christ onely and to be coÌ„municated vnto vs no lesse by the preachyng of the Gospell than by the sealyng of the Sacramente and that withoute that it can not wholly stande So true is that which Augustine also writeth that inuisible sanctification may be without a visible signe and agaynâ— that a visible signe may be without true sanctification For as he also writeth in an other place men do put on Christ somtyme vntill the receyuyng of a sacrament sometyme euen vntil the sanctification of life And that firste poynt may be coÌ„mon both to good and to euill but this other is propre to the good and godly Herupon cometh that distinction if it be well vnderstanded whiche the same Augustine hath often noted betwene a Sacrament and the thyng of the Sacrament For it not only signifieth that the figure and truthe are there conteined but that they doo not so hang together but that they may be seuered and that eueÌ„ in the very conioyning the thyng muste alwaye be discerned from the signe that we geue not to the one that which belongeth to the other He speaketh of the seperation when he writeth that the Sacramentes do worke in the only elect that which they figure Agayne when he writeth thus of the Iewes When the sacramentes were common to all the graâ—â—â—as not common which is the power of the Sacramentes So noâ—â—â— also the washing of regeneration is common to all but the grace it selfe whereby the membres of Christ are regenerate with their hed is not common to all Agayne in an other place of the Supper of the Lord We also at this daye receyue visible meate But the Sacrament is one thyng and the power of the Sacramente an other thyng What is this that many receiue of the altar and dye and in receyuyng do die For the Lordes morsell was poyson to Iudas not because he receiued an euell thing but because he beyng euell receiued a good thyng euelly A little after The sacrameÌ„t of this thyng that is of the vnitie of the body and blood of Christe is somewhere prepared on the Lordes table dayly somewhere by certaine distances of dayes and therof is receyued vnto life to some and vnto destruction to some But the thyng it selfe wherof it is a Sacrament is receiued vnto life to all meÌ„ but vnto destruction tomo maÌ„ whosoeuer is partaker of it And a little before he had sayd He shall not dye whych eateth but he which perteineth to the power of the sacrament not to the visible SacrameÌ„t which eateth within not without whiche eateth with hart not he which presseth with toothe Thus you heare euery where that a Sacrament is so seuered from his owne truthe by the vnworthinesse of the receiuer that there remaineth nothing but a vaine and vnprofitable figure But that thou mayst haue not a signe voide of truth but the thyng with the signe thou muste conceyue by Faith the woorde which is there enclosed So how muche thou shalt by the Sacraments profite in communicatyng of Christ so muche profyte shalte thou take of them If this be somewhat darke because of the shortenesse I will sette it out in mo wordes I say that Christ is the mater or if thou wilte the substance of all sacramentes forasmuche as in hym they haue all their perfectnesse and do promise nothyng without hym So muche lesse tolerable is the error of Peter Lombard which doth expresly make them causes of righteousnesse and saluation wherof they be parts Therfore biddyng all causes farwell whiche mans witt dothe faine to it selfe we ought to stay in this one cause Therfore how muche we be by their ministerie holpen to the nourishyng confirmyng and encreasyng of the true knowlege of Christ in vs and to the possessyng of hym more fully and to the enioyeng of his richesse so muche effectualnesse they haue with vs. But that is don when we do with true faith receiue that which is there offred Do the wicked then wilte thou saye bryng to passe by their vnthankfulnesse that the ordinance of God be voide and turne to nothyng I answer that that which I haue said is not so to be takeÌ„ as though to force and truthe of the Sacrament dyd hang vppon the state or will of hym that receiueth it For that whiche God hath ordeyned remaineth stedfast and kepeth still his nature howsoeuer men doo varie But sith it is one thyng to offre an other to receiue nothyng withstandeth but that the signe halowed by the worde of God may be in dede that which it is called and kepe his owne force and yet that there come thereby no profite to an euell doer and wicked man But Augustine dothe in fewe woordes well assoyle this question If saythe he thou receauest carnally it ceasseth not to be spirituall but it is not to thee But as Augustine hath in the aforesayde places shewed that a SacrameÌ„t is a thyng nothyng worth if it be seuered froÌ„ the truth therof so in an other place he geueth warnyng that euen in the very conioynyng nedeth a distinction least we sticke to much in the outward signe As sayth he to folowe the letter and to take the signes in stede of the thinges is a point of a seruile weakenesse so to expounde the signes vnprofitably is a poynte of euell wandryng error He nameth twoo faultes whyche are here to be auoyded The one when we so take the signes as thoughe they were geuen in vayne and when with abacyng or diminyshyng theyr secrete significations by oure enuiousnesse we bryng to passe that they bryng vs no profite at all The other
was more nerely shewed to menne sins he hath ben truely deliuered of his Father such as he had ben promised For Baptisme doth testifie vnto vs that we cleansed and washed the Supper of thankesgeuing testifieth that we be redemed In water is figured washing in blood satisfaction These twoo thinges are founde in Christ whiche as Iohn sayth came in water and blood that is to say that he mighte cleanse and redeme Of whiche thing the Spirite of God also is a witnesse Yea there are three witnesses in one Water Blood and Spirite In water and blood we haue a testimonie of cleansing and redeming but the Spirite the principall witnesse bryngeth vnto vs assured credit of suche wytnessing This hie mysterie hath notably well ben shewed vs in the crosse of Christ when water and blood slowed oute of his holy side whiche side for that cause Augustine rightfully called the fountaine of oure Sacramentes of which yet we must entreate somwhat more at large There is no doute but that more plentifull grace also of the Spirite doth here shewe fourth it selfe if you compare tyme with tyme. For that perteineth to the glory of the kingdome of Christe as we gather out of many places but specially out of the .vii. Chapter of Iohn In whiche sense we must take that sayeng of Paule that vnder the lawe were shadowes but in Chirst is the body Neither is it his meaning to spoyle of their effecte the testimonies of grace in whiche Gods will was in the olde tyme to proue hymselfe to the Fathers a true speaker euen as at thys day he doth to vs in Baptisme and in the holy Supper But onely his purpose was by waye of comparison to magnifie that whiche was geuen vs least any shoulde thynke it maruaylous that the Ceremonies of the lawe were abolished by the comming of Christ. But that same schole doctrine as I may also brefely touche thys by the waye is vtterly to be hissed out wherby there is noted so greate a difference betwene the Sacramentes of the olde and newe lawe as thoughe those did nothing but shadowe out the grace of God and these do presently geue it For the Apostle speaketh no lesse honorably of those than of these when he teacheth that the Fathers did eate the same spirituall meate which we eate and expoundeth that same meate to be Christ. Who dare make that an empty signe whiche deliuered to the Iewes a true communion of Christe And the grounde of the cause which the Apostle there handleth doth plainly fight on oure side For that no man trusting vpon a colde knowlege of Christe and emptie title of Christianitie and outwarde tokens shoulde presume to despise the iugemente of God he sheweth fourth examples of Gods seueritie to be seen in the Iewes that we shoulde knowe that the same peynes whiche they haue suffred hang ouer vs if we folowe the same faultes Nowe that the comparison mighte be fitt it behoued that he shoulde shewe that there is no vnegalnesse betwene vs and them in those good thinges wherof he die forbidde vs to boste falslye Therefore firste he maketh vs egall in the Sacramentes and leaueth to vs not so muche as any smal pece of prerogatiue that might encourage vs to hope of escaping vnpunished Neither verily is it lawfull to geue any more to our Baptisme thaÌ„ he in an other place geueth to circumcision when he calleth it the seale of the righteousnesse of Fayth Whatsoeuer therefore is at this day geuen vs in our Sacramentes the same thyng the Iewes in olde tyme receiued in theirs that is to say Christ with his spirituall richesse What power our Sacramentes haue the same they also felte in theirs that is to saye that they were to them seales of Gods good will towarde them into the hope of eternall saluation If they had ben apt expositors of the Epistle to the Hebrues they would not haue so ben blynded But when they red there that sinnes were not cleansed by the Ceremonies of the law yea that the olde shadowes had no auayling force to righteousnesse they neglecting the comparison which is there handeled while they toke holde of this one thing that the lawe of it selfe nothing profited the folowers of it though simply the the figures were voide of truth But the Apostles meaning is to bring the ceremonial law to nothing vntill it come to Christ vpon whom alone hangeth al the effectualnesse of it But they will obiecte those thinges whiche are red in Paul concerning the circumcision of the letter that it is in no estimation with God that it geueth nothing that it is vaine For suche sayenges seme to presse it down farr benethe Baptisme Not so For the very same might rightfully be sayd of Baptisme Yea and also the same is sayd firste of Paule hym selfe where he sheweth that God regardeth not the outwarde washing wherby we enter into profession of religion vnlesse the minde within be both cleansed and continue in cleannesse to the ende againe of Peter when he testifieth that the trueth of Baptisme standeth not in the outwarde washing but in a good witnessing of conscience But he semeth also in an other place vtterly to despise the circumcision made with hande when he compareth it with the circumcision of Christe I aunswere that euen in this place nothyng is abated of the dignitie of it Paule there â—isputeth against them whiche required it as necessarie when it was nowe abrogate Therfore he warneth the faythfull that leauing the olde shadowes they should stande fast in the truth These maisters sayth he instantly call vpon you that your bodies may be circumcised But ye are spiritually circumcised according to the soule and body Ye haue therefore the deliuerance of the thing in dede which is much better thaÌ„ the shadow A man might take exceptioÌ„ to the contrary say that the figure is not therfore to be despised because they had the thing in dede forasmuch as that putting of of the old man of which he there spake was also amoÌ„g the Fathers to whoÌ„ yet outwarde Circumcision had not ben superfluous He preuenteth this obiectioÌ„ wheÌ„ he by and by addeth that the Colossians were buried with Christ by Baptisme Wherby he signifieth that at this day Baptisme is the same to ChristiaÌ„s which circuÌ„cisioÌ„ was to the olde people therfore that circuÌ„cisioÌ„ can not be enioined to Christians wtout wroÌ„g done to Christ. But that which foloweth and which I eueÌ„ now alleged is harder to assoyle that all the Iewishe Ceremonies were shadowes of thinges to come and that in Christ is the body but most hard of all is that whiche is entreated in many chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrues that the blood of beastes atteined not to consciences that the law had a shadowe of good thinges to come not an image of thinges that the folowers of it obteined no perfection of the Ceremonies of Moses and such other I goe backe to
receiue teaching Afterwarde he addeth that such when they are instructed ought to be Baptised adioyning a promise that they which beleue and are baptised shal be saued Is there in al that sayeng so much as one syllable of infantes What forme therefore of reasoning shal thys be wherewith they assaile vs they which are of growen age must first be instructed that they may beleue ere they be baptised therfore it is vnlawful to make Baptisme common to infantes Althoughe they would burst themselues they shall proue nothing ells by this place but that the Gospell must be preached to them that are of capacitie able to heare it before that they be Baptised forasmuch as he there speaketh of such only Let them herof if they can make a stopp to debarre infantes from Baptisme But that euen blynde men also may with gropyng fynde out their deceites I wil poynt them out with a very cleare similitude If any mā cauil that infantes ought to haue meate taken from them vppon thys pretense that the Apostle suffreth none to eate but them that labor shal he not be worthy that al men should spit at hym Why so Because he without differēce draweth that to al men which was spoken of one kinde and one certayne age of men No whit handsomer is their handeling in thys present cause For that which euery man seeth to belong to one age alone they draw to infantes that thys age also may be subiect to the rule which was made for none but them that were more growen in yeres As for the example of Christ it nothing vpholdeth their side He was not baptised before that he was thirty yeres olde That is in dede true but there is a reason therof redy to be shewed because he thē purposed by hys preaching to lay a sounde fundatiō of Baptisme or rather to stablish the fundation which had ben before laied of Iohn Therfore when he mynded with hys doctrine to institute Baptisme to procure the greater authoritie to his institution he Sanctified it with his owne body and that in such fitnesse of tyme as was most conuenient namely when he began his preaching Finally they shall gather nothing ells herof but that Baptisme toke hys original and beginning at the preaching of the Gospell If they list to appoint the thirtith yere why doe they not kepe it but doe receiue euery one to Baptisme as he hath in their iugemente sufficiently profited yea and Seruettus one of their maisters when he stiffly required thys tyme yet began at the .xxi. yere of his age to boste himselfe to be a Prophet As though he were to bee suffred that taketh vpon himselfe the place of a teacher in the Chirch before that he be a member of the Chirch At the last they obiect that there is no greater cause why Baptisme should be geuen to infantes than the Lordes Supper which yet is not graunted them As though the Scripture did not euery way expresse a large differēce The same was in dede vsually done in the olde Chirch as it appeareth by Cypriane and Augustine but that maner is worthily growen out of vse For if we consider the nature and propertie of Baptisme it is truely an entrie into the Chirch and as it were a forme of admission wherby we are adnūbred into the people of God a signe of our spirituall regeneration by which we are borne agayne into the children of God wheras on the other syde the Supper is geuē to them that be more growen in age which hauing passed tender infantie are now able to beare strong meate Which difference is very euidently shewed in the Scripture For there the Lorde so muche as perteineth to Baptisme maketh no choise of ages But he doth not likewise geue the Supper to al to take part of it but only to them which are fit to discerne the body and blood of the Lord to examine their own conscience to declare the Lordes death to weye the power therof Would we haue any thing plainer than that which the Apostle teacheth when he exhorteth that euery man should proue and examine hymselfe and then eate of thys bred and drynke of thys cup Therfore examination must goe before which should in vaine be loked for of infantes Agayne he that eateth vnworthily eateth and drynketh damnation to hymselfe not discerning the Lordes body If none can partake worthily but they that can well discerne the holinesse of the Lordes body why should we geue to our tender children poison in stede of liuely foode What is that commaundement of the Lord ye shal do it in remembrance of me what is that other which the Apostle deriueth from the same So oft as ye shall eate of this bread ye shal declare the Lordes death til he come What remembrance I beseche you shal we require at our infantes of the thyng which they neuer atteined with vnderstanding what preaching of the crosse of Christ ▪ the force and benefite whereof they do not yet comprehende in mind None of these things is prescribed in Baptisme Therfore betwene these twoo signes is great difference whiche we note also in like signes in the olde testament Circumcision which is knowen to answere to our Baptisme was appointed for infantes But the passeouer into whoe 's place the Supper hath now succeded did not receiue al maner of gestes without difference but was rightly eaten of them only that myght by age enquire of the signification of it If these men had remayning one crumme of sounde brayne woulde they be blynde at a thing so clere and offring it selfe to sight Although it greueth me to lode the reders with a heape of trifles yet it shal be worth the trauail brefely to wype away suche gay reasons as Seruettus not the least of the Anabaptistes yea the great glory of that company thought himselfe to bring when he prepared himselfe to conflict He allegeth that Christes signes as they be perfect so doe require them that be perfect or able to conceiue perfection But the solution is easy that the perfection of Baptisme which extendeth euen to death is wrongfully restrayned to one point of time I say yet further that perfection is foolyshly required in man at the first day wherunto Baptisme allureth vs al our life long by continuall degrees He obiecteth that Christes signes wer ordeined for remembrance that euery man should remember that he was buried together with Christ. I answer that that which he hath fained of his owne head nedeth no confutation yea tha◠which he draweth to Baptisme Paules wordes shew to be propre to the holy Supper that euery man should examine himself but of Baptisme there is no where any such thing Wherupon we gather that they be rightly baptised which for their smalnesse of age ar not yet able to receiue examination Wheras he thirdly allegeth that all they abide in death whiche beleue not the Sonne of God that the wrath of God abideth vppon them therfore
this they haue warre not with me but with the Spirite of God Howsoeuer they cry oute that they be touched with reuerence of the wordes of Christ wherby they do not figuratiuely vnderstande those thynges that are playnly spoken yet this is not a pretence rightfull enoughe why they shoulde so refuse all the reasons whiche we obiecte to the contrarie In the meane tyme as I haue already geuen warnyng it is conuenient to learne what maner of thing this is The testament in the body and blood of Christ because the couenant stablished with the sacrifice of death should otherwise not profit vs vnlesse there were adioyned that secrete communicatyng whereby we growe into one with Christe It remaineth therfore that for the affinitie which the things signified haue with their signes we confesse that the selfe name of the thing was geuen to the signe figuratiuely in dede but not without a most fitt proportionall agreement I leaue allegories and parables least any man should quarell that I seeke startyng holes and wander out of the present purpose I say that this is a speche by figure of transnomination whiche is cōmonly vsed in the Scripture when mysteries are entreated of For neither can you otherwise vnderstand that whiche is sayd that circumcision is a couenant that the lambe is the Passeouer that the Sacrifices of the law are expiations finally that the rocke oute of whiche water flowed in the deserte was Christ vnlesse you take it to be spoken by way of transferring of names Neither are names transferred only from the hyer name to the lower but contrariewise the name of the visible signe is also geuen to the thing signified as when it is sayd that God appeared to Moses in the bushe when the arke of couenante is called God and the face of God and the doue is called the Holy ghost For though the signe differ in substance from the thing signified because this is spirituall and heauenly and that is corporall and visible yet because it doth not only figure the thing whiche it is holily appointed to represente as a naked and empty token but doth also truely deliuer it in dede why may not the name of the thing rightly accorde with it If signes deuised by men whiche are rather images of thyngs absent than markes of thynges present which selfe absent thynges they do oftentymes deceitfully shadow are yet somtime garnished with the titles of the thinges then those thinges that are ordeined of God do by much greater reason borrow the names of those thyngs of which they alway bothe beare a sure and not disceytfull signification and haue the truthe adioyned with them There is therfore so great likenesse and nerenesse of the one to the other that it is easy to draw their names to and froe Therfore let our aduersaries cesse to heape vnsauory scoffings against vs in calling vs Tropistes because we expounde the Sacramental maner of speakyng after the common vse of the Scripture For whereas the Sacramentes agree together in many thinges in this trāsferryng of names they haue all a certaine communitie together As therfore the Apostle teacheth that the stone out of which spiritual drynke did spring to the Israelites was Christ because it was a visible signe vnder which that spirituall drinke was truely in dede but not discernably to the eie perceiued so bread is at this day called the body of Christe forasmuche as it is a sygne whereby the Lorde offereth to vs the true eatyng of his bodye Neither dyd Augustine otherwyse thynke or speake least any man shoulde despise this as a newe inuention If sayeth he the Sacramentes hadde not a certaine likenesse of those thynges whereof they are Sacramentes they should not be Sacramentes at all And of this likenesse oftentimes they take the names of the things themselues As therfore after a certaine maner the sacramēt of the body of Christ is the body of Christ the sacrament of the blood of Christ is the blood of Christ so the sacramēt of faith is faith There be in him many like places which it were superfluous to heape together sithe that same one suffiseth sauyng that the readers must be warned that the holye man teacheth the same thyng in the Epistle to Enodius But it is a trifling shift to say that where Augustine teacheth that when transferryng is often and commonly vsed in mysteries he maketh no mention of the Supper because if this shyft were receiued we myght not reason from the generaltie to the specialtie neither were this a good argument Euery feling creature hath power of mouing therfore an oxe and a horse haue power of mouyng Howbeit long disputation hereof is in an other place ended by the wordes of the same holy man where he sayth that Christ sticked not to call it his body when he gaue the signe of his bodye Against Adimantus the Manichean in the .xii. Chapiter And in an other place vpon the thirde Psalme Meruailous saieth he is the patience of Christ that he receiued Iudas to the banket wherein he cōmitted and deliuered to his disciples the figure of his body and blood But if some precise man beyng blynde at all the rest doo stand onely vpon this worde this is as though is seuered this mysterie from all other the solution is easy They saye that the vehemence of the substantiue verbe is is so great that it admitteth no figure Which if we graūt to them euen in the wordes of Paule is redde the Substantiue verbe where he calleth bread the communicatyng of the body of Christe But the communicatyng is an other thyng than the body it selfe Yea commonly where sacramentes are entreated of we fynde the same woorde vsed As. This shall be to you a couenant with me This Lambe shall be to you a Passeouer To reherse no moe when Paule sayth that the rocke was Christe why do they take the substantiue verbe in that place to be of lesse vehemence than in the speche of Christ Let them also answer where Iohn saith the Holy ghost was not yet because Iesus was not yet glorified of what force the substantiue verbe is in that place For if they abide fastened to their rule the eternall essence of the Holy ghost shal be destroyed as though it toke beginnyng at the Ascension of Christ. Finally let them answer what meaneth that sayeng of Paule that Baptisme is the washyng of regeneration and renewyng which it is euidēt to be vnprofitable to many But nothyng is strōger to confute them than that sayeng of Paule that the Chirch is Christe For. bryngyng a similitude of the body of man he addeth So is Christ in whiche place he vnderstandeth the onely begotten sonne of God not in himselfe but in his membres Hereby I thinke I haue obteined that to soundwitted and vncorrupted men the sclaunders of oure enemies are lothsome when they spread abroade that we withdraw credit from the wordes of Christ whiche we doo no
expresseth that he will not be alway with hys disciples in the worlde Thys saying also they thynke that they do gayly wype awaye as though Christ sayd that he wil not alway be poore and miserable or subiect to the necessities of thys frayle lyfe But the circumstance of the place cryeth playnly to the contrarie because there is not entreated of pouertie and nede or of the miserable state of earthly life but of worship and honor The anointing pleased not the disciples because they thought it to be a superfluous and vnprofitable cost and nere vnto riotous excesse therefore they had rather that the price thereof which they thought to be il wasted had ben bestowed vppon the poore Christ answereth that he shall not alway be present that he maye be worshipped with suche honor And none otherwise did Augustine expounde it whoe 's wordes be these which are nothyng doutefull When Christ sayd Ye shal not alway haue me he spake of the presence of his body For according to his maiestie accordyng to hys prouidence according to hys vnspeakable and inuisible grace thys was fulfilled which he sayd Beholde I am with you euen to the ending of the worlde But according to the fleshe which the worde toke vnto hym according to thys that he was borne of the Uirgin according to thys that he was taken of the Iewes that he was fastened to the tree that he was taken downe from the crosse that he was wrapped in linnen clothes that he was layed in the graue that he was manifestly shewed in the resurrection thys was fulfilled Ye shall not alwaye haue me with you Why so Because he was conuersante accordinge to the presence of hys bodye forty dayes wyth hys disciples and whyle they accompanyed hym in seynge not in folowing he ascended He is not here for he sitteth there at the right hande of the Father And yet he is here because he is not gone awaye in presence of maiestie Otherwyse according to the presence of maiesty we haue Christ alway and according to the presence of the fleshe it is rightly sayd But me ye shal not alway haue For according to the presence of the fleshe the Chirch had him a fewe dayes nowe she holdeth hym by Fayth but seeth him not with eyes Where that I may note thys also brefely he maketh hym presente to vs three wayes by maiestie prouidence and vnspeakable grace vnder whiche I comprehend this maruelous communiō of hys body and blood if so that we vnderstande it to be done by the power of the Holy ghost not by that fayned enclosing of his body vnder the elemente For our Lord hath testified that he hath fleshe and bones which may be felt and seen And to Go◠away and Ascende doe not signifie to make a shewe of one ascending and going awaye but to doe in dede that whiche the woordes sounde Shall we then will some man saye assigne to Christe some certaine coast of heauen But I answere with Augustine that this is a moste curious and superfluous question if so that yet we beleue that he is in heauen But what doth the name of ascending so oft repeted doth it not signifie a remouing from one place to an other They denye it because after their opinion by heighth is onely signified maiestie of Empire But what meaneth the very manner of ascending ▪ was he not in sight of his disciples loking on lifted vp on hye Doe not the Euangelistes plainly declare that he was taken vp into the heauens These witty Sophisters do answere that with a cloude set betwene him and them he was conueyed out of their sight that the faithfull might learne that from thense fourth he should not be visible in the world As though to make credit of his inuisible presence he ought not rather to vanishe away in a moment or as though the cloude ought not rather to compasse him before that he stirred his foote But when he is carried vp on hye into the ayre and with a cloude cast vnderneth hym teacheth that he is no more to be soughte in earth we safely gather that now he hath hys dwelling place in the heauens as Paule also affirmeth and from thense biddeth vs to loke for hym After this maner the Angels warned the disciples that they in vaine gazed vp into heauen because Iesus which is taken vp into heauen shall so come as they haue seen him goe vp Here also the aduersaries of sounde doctrine starte awaye with a pleasante shifte as they thynke sayeng that he shall then come visible which neuer wente out of the earth but that he abideth inuisible with them that be hys As though the Angells did there signifie a double presence and do not simply make the disciples witnesses of his going vp seing it with their eyes that no douting mighte remayne euen as if they had sayd he in your sightes beholding it being takē vp into heauen hath claymed to hymselfe the heauenly Empire it remayneth that ye paciently abide in expectation till he come againe the iudge of the world because he is nowe entred into heauen not that he may alone possesse it but that he maye gather together with him you and all the godly But forasmuche as the defenders of this bastarde doctrine are not ashamed to garnishe it with the consenting voyces of the olde wryters and specially of Augustine I will in fewe wordes declare how peruersly they goe aboute it For whereas their testimonies haue ben gathered together of learned and godly men I will not doe a thing alredy done let hym that will seke them oute of their workes I wil not heape together neyther out of Augustine hymselfe al that might make to the purpose but will be contente to shewe by a fewe that he is without controuersie whole on our side As for this that our aduersaries to writhe him from vs doe allege that it is commonly red in his bookes that the flesh and blood of Christ is distributed in the Supper namely the Sacrifice ones offred in the crosse it is but trifling sithe he also calleth it eyther Thankesgeuing or the Sacramente of the body But in what sense he vseth the woordes of fleshe and blood we nede not to seke with long compassing about forasmuche as he declareth himselfe sayeng that Sacramentes take their names of the likenesse of the thinges whiche they signifie and that therefore after a certaine manner the Sacramente of the body is the body Wherewith accordeth an other place whiche is well enough knowen The Lorde sticked not to saye This is my body when he gaue the signe of it Againe they obiect that Augustine writeth expresly that the body of Christe falleth to the grounde and entreth into the mouth euen in the same sense that he affirmeth it to be consumed because he ioyneth them bothe together Neither doth that make to the contrarie whiche he sayth that whē the mysterie is ended the bred is consumed
mater Also in an other place entreating of the eatyng and the frute therof he concludeth thus Then shall the body and blood of Christ be life to euery man if that which in the Sacrament is visibly receiued be in the truth it selfe spiritually eaten spiritually drōk Therfore whoso make vnbeleuers partakers of the fleshe and blood of Christ that they may agree with Augustine let them shewe vs the visible body of Christ forasmuche as by his iudgement the whole truthe is spirituall And it is certainly gathered out of his wordes that the Sacramentall eatyng when vnbelefe closeth vp the entrie to truthe is as much in effect as visible or outward eatyng If the body of Christ might be eaten truely and yet not spiritually what shold that meane whiche he sayth in an other place Ye shall not eate this body which ye see drinke the blood which they shall shedde that shall crucifie me I haue commēded a certaine sacrament vnto you beeyng spiritually vnderstanded it shall quicken you Uerily he woulde not denie but that the same body which Christ offred for sacrifice is deliuered in the Supper but he dyd set out the maner of eatyng namely that being receiued into heauenly glorie by the secrete power of the Spirite it breatheth lyfe into vs. I graunt in dede that there is oftentymes founde in hym this maner of speakyng that the body of Christ is eaten of the vnbeleuers but he expoundeth himselfe addyng In Sacramente And in an other place he describeth spirituall eating in whiche out biringes consume not grace And least myne aduersaries should saye that I fighte with them with a heape of places I wold know of them how they can vnwynde themselues from one saieng of his where he saith that Sacraments do worke in the only elect that which they figure Truely they dare not denye but that the bred in the Supper figureth the body of Christ. Wherupon foloweth that the reprobate are debarred from the partakyng of it That Cyrill also thought none otherwise these wordes doo declare As if a man vpon molten waxe do poure other waxe he wholly tempereth the one waxe with the other so is it necessary if any man receiue the fleshe and blood of the Lorde that he be ioyned with hym that Christe may be founde in hym and he in Christ. By these wordes I thinke it is euident that they ar bereued of the true and real eatyng that do but sacramentally eate the body of Christ which can not be seuered from his power and that therfore faileth not the faith of the promises of god which cesseth not to rayne from heauen although the stones and rockes conceiue not the liquor of the raine This knowledge shall also easily drawe vs away from the carnal worshipping whiche some haue with peruerse rashnesse erected in the Sacrament because they made accompt with themselues in this maner If it be the body then bothe the soule and the godhead are together with the body which now can not be seuered therfore Christe is there to be worshipped First if their accompanieng whiche thei pretende be denied them what will they do For how much soeuer they crie out vpon an absurditie if the body be seuered from the soule and the godhed yet what soūdwitted and sobre man can persuade himself that the body of Christ is Christ They thinke themselues in dede gaily to proue it with their logicall argumentes But sith Christ speaketh distinctly of his body and blood but describeth not the maner of presence how will they of a doutfull thing gather certainly that which they would What then If their consciences chance to be exercised with any more greuous felyng shal not they by and by with their logicall arguments be dissolued melt namely when they shall see themselues destitute of the certaine word of God vpon which alone our soules do stand fast when they are called to accompt without which they faint at euery first moment when thei shal call to mynde that the doctrine and exāples of the Apostles are against them and that themselues alone ar to themselues the authors of it To suche motions shal be added other not small prickynges What Shall it be a mater of no importance to worship God in this forme where nothyng was prescribed vnto vs When it concerned the true worshyp of God ought they with so great lightnesse to haue attēpted that of which there is no where red any one word But if they had with such humblenesse as they ought holden all their thoughtes vnder the word of God they wold truly haue harkened to that which he said Take eate drinke and wold haue obeyed this cōmaundement wherin he biddeth the Sacrament to be receiued not to be worshipped But they which as it is cōmaunded of God do receiue it without worshippyng are assured that they do not swarue from Gods cōmaūdement than which assurednesse there is nothing better when we take any worke in hande They haue the example of the Apostles whom we reade not to haue fallen downe flatt worshipped it but euen as they were sitting to haue receiued it eaten it They haue the vse of the Apostolike Chirch wherin Luke reporteth that the faithfull did communicate not in woorshyppyng but in breakyng of bread They haue the Apostles doctrine wherwith Paule instructed the Chirch of the Corynthians professyng that he had receiued of the Lorde that whiche he deliuered And these thyngs verily tend to this end that the godly readers shold wey how perillous it is in so hye matters to wander frō the simple worde of God to the dreames of our owne braine But those thyngs that are aboue said ought to deliuer vs from all doute in this behalfe For that godly soules may therin rightly take hold of Christ they must nedes be lifted vp to heauen If this be the office of a sacrament to help the mynd of man whiche otherwise is weake that it may rise vpwarde to reache the height of spirituall mysteries then they which are holden downe in the outwarde signe do stray from the right way of sekyng Christ. What then Shall we denie that it is a superstitious worshippyng when men do throwe themselues downe before bread to worship Christe therein Doutlesse the Nicene Synode meant to mete with this mischiefe whē it forbade vs to be hūbly intentiue to the signes set before vs. And for none other cause was it in olde tyme ordeined that before the consecration the people shold with a loude voice be put in mynde to haue their hartes lifted vpward The Scripture it selfe also beside that it diligently declareth vnto vs the ascension of Christ wherby he conueyed away the presence of his body from our sight conuersation to shake away from vs all carnal thinkyng of hym so oft as it maketh mention of him cōmaūdeth vs to be in myndes raised vpward to seke him in heauen sittyng at the right hand of the
owne exāple that we shoulde mutually dedicate deliuer our selues one to an other but in so much as he maketh himselfe common to al he maketh al vs also one in himselfe But hereby is that very well confirmed whiche I haue sayd in an other place that the true ministration of the Sacramente standeth not without the worde For whatsoeuer profit commeth to vs of the Supper requireth the worde whether we be to be cōfirmed in Faith or to be exercised in confessiō or to be stirred vp to dutie praier is nedeful Therfore nothing can be more disorderly done in the Supper than if it be turned to a dumme actiō as hath ben done vnder the tyranny of the Pope For they would haue the whole force of consecration to hang vpon the intent of the Prest as though this nothing perteined to the people to whom it most of all behoued that the mysterie shoulde be declared But therupon hath growen this error that they marked not that those promises wherw t the consecration is made are directed not to the elemētes thēselues but to them that receiue them But Christe speaketh not to the bred that it may be made his body but cōmaūdeth his disciples to eate and promiseth to them the communicating of hys body and blood And none other order doth Paul teach than that together with the bred and the cup the promises should be offred to the faythful Thus it is truely We ought not here to imagine any magical enchauntment that it be sufficient to haue mūbled vp the wordes as though the elemētes did heare them but let vs vnderstande that those wordes are a liuely preaching whiche maye edifie the hearers which may inwardly pearce into their myndes whiche may be emprinted and settled in their hartes which maye shewe fourth effectualnesse in the fulfilling of that which it promiseth By these reasons it clerely appeareth that the layeng vp of the Sacramēt which many do earnestly require that it may be extraordinarily distributed to the sicke is vnprofitable For either they shal receiue it wtout rehersing of the institutiō of Christe or the minister shall together with the signe ioyne the true declaration of the mysterie In silence is abuse and fault If the promises be rehersed and the mysterie declared that they which shal receiue it maye receiue it with frute there is no cause why we shoulde doute that thys is the true consecration To what ende then wil that other consecration come the force wherof commeth not so farr as to the sicke men But they that doe so haue the example of the olde Chirch I graunt but in so great a mater and in which we erre not without greate danger nothing is safer than to folow the truth it selfe Now as we see that thys holy bred of the Supper of the Lord is spiritual meate no lesse swete and delicate than healthful to the godly worshippers of God by the taste wherof they fele the Christ is their lyfe whom it rayseth vp to thankesgeuing to whome it is an exhortation to mutuall charitie among themselues so on the other side it is turned into a moste noysome poyson to all them whoe 's Fayth it doth not nourishe and confirme and whom it doth not stirre vp to confession of praise and to charitie For as bodily meate when it fyndeth a stomach possessed with euill humors being it selfe also therby made euil and corrupted doth rather hurt than nourish so thys spiritual meate if it lighte vpon a soule defiled with malice and noughtinesse throweth it down hedlong wyth greater fal verily not by the fault the meate it selfe but because to defyled and vnbeleuing mē nothing is cleane though otherwise it be neuer so muche sanctified by the blessing of the Lorde For as Paule sayth they that eate and drynke vnworthily are gylty of the body and blood of the Lorde and do eate and drinke iugement to themselues not discerning the body of the Lorde For suche kynde of men as without any sparcle of Fayth without any zele of charitie do thrust thēselues fourth lyke swyne to take the Supper of the Lorde doe not discerne the bodye of the Lorde For insomuche as they doe not beleue that that body is their life they doe as muche as in them lyeth dishonor it spoiling it of al the dignitie therof and finally in so receiuing it they prophane and defyle it But in so much as being estranged and disagreyng from their brethren they dare myngle the holye sygne of the bodye of Christe with their disagreementes it is no thanke to them that the body of Christ is not rent in sonder and limmemeale torne in peces And so not vnworthily they are gyltie of the body and blood of the Lorde whiche they do with vngodlinesse ful of sacrilege so fowly defile Therfore by thys vnworthy eating they take to themselues damnation For wheras they haue no Fayth reposed in Christ yet receiuing the Sacramente they professe that there is saluation for them no where ells thā in him and do forswere al other affiance Wherefore they themselues are accusers to themselues they themselues pronounce witnesse againste themselues and they themselues seale their own damnation Againe when they being with hatred and euil wil diuided and drawen in sōder from their brethren that is from the members of Christe haue no parte in Christ yet they do testifie that this is the only saluation to cōmunicate with Christe and to be made one with him For this cause Paule commaundeth that a man proue himselfe before that he eate of this bred or drinke of this cup. Wherby as I expounde it he meant that euery man should descende into himselfe and weye with himselfe whether he doe with inwarde affiance of hart rest vpon the saluatiō which Christ hath purchaced whether he acknowlege it with confession of mouth then whether he do with desirous endeuor of innocence and holinesse aspire to the folowing of Christ whether after his example he be redy to geue himselfe to his brethren and to cōmunicate himselfe to them with whō he hath Christ common to hym whether as he himselfe is accompted of Christ he do likewise on his behalfe take al his brethren for members of his own body whether he couet to cherishe defende and helpe them as his own members Not for that these duties both of Fayth and charitie can now be perfect in vs but because we ought to endeuor this and with all our desires to long towarde it that we may daily more and more encrease our Fayth begonne Commonly when they goe about to prepare men to such worthinesse of eating they haue in cruell wise tormented and vexed poore consciences and yet they brought neuer a whit of all those thinges that myghte serue to the purpose They sayd that those did eate worthily which were in state of grace To be in state of grace they expounded to be pure and cleansed from al sinne By which doctrine all the men that
infected with rustinesse but this verilye is the waywardnesse of mans boldnesse whiche can not withholde it selfe but that it muste alwaye playe and be wanton in the mysteries of God But let vs remember that God doth so hyely esteme the obedience of his woorde that he wylleth vs in it to iudge both his Angels and the whole worlde Nowe byddyng farewel to so great a heape of ceremonies it might thus haue ben most comlyly ministred if it were oft and at least euery weke sette before the Chirch but that first they should beginne wyth publike prayers then a sermon should be made then the minister hauing bread and wyne set vpon the borde shoulde rehearse the institution of the Supper and then shoulde declare the promises that are in it lefte vnto vs and therewithall shoulde excommunicate al them that by the lords forbidding ar debarred frō it afterward they shoulde pray that with what liberalitie the lord hath geuē vs this holy foode he woulde instructe and frame vs also with the same Fayth and thankfulnesse of mynde to receiue it and that forasmuch as we are not of our selues he would of his mercy make vs worthy of such a banket that then either Psalmes shold be soong or somwhat red and the saythful should in semely order communicate of the holy banket the ministers breaking the bred and geuing it to the people that when the Supper is ended exhortation shold be made to pure Fayth and confession of Fayth to charitie and to maners mete for Christians laste of al that geuing of thankes shold be rehersed and praises be soong to God which being ended the congregation shoulde be let goe in peace These thinges that we haue hetherto spoken of thys Sacramente do large◠shewe that it was not therfore ordeined that it should be receiued yerely ones and that slightly for maners sake as now commonly the custome is but that it should be in often vse to al Christians that with often remembrance they should repete the passion of Christe by which remembrance they might susteyne and strengthen their Fayth and exhort themselues to sing cōfession of prayse to God and to publish his goodnesse finally by which they might nourishe mutuall charitie and testifie it among themselues wherof they saw the knot in the vnity of the body of Christ. For so oft as we communicate of the signe of the body of the Lord we do as by a token geuen and receiued enterchangeably bynde our selues one to an other vnto all duties of loue that none of vs doe any thing wherby he may offende his brother nor leaue any thing vndone wherby he may helpe hym when nede requireth and abilitie sufficeth That suche was the vse of the Apostolike Chirch Luke rehearseth in the Actes when he sayth that the faithfull were continuing in the doctrine of the Apostles in communicating in breaking of bred and in prayers So was it altogether mete to be done that there should be no assemblie of the Chirch without the word prayers partaking of the Supper almes That thys order was also institute amōg the Corynthians we may sufficiently gather of Paul and it is certayne that in many ages afterwarde it was in vse For thereupon came those olde Canons which they Father vpon Anacletus and Calixtus that when the consecration is done al should communicate that will not bee without the dores of the Chirch And it is red in those olde Canons which they call the Canons of the Apostles that they which continue not vnto the ende and do not receiue the holy communion muste be corrected as men that moue vnquietnesse of the Chirche Also in the Councell at Antioche it was decreed that they which entre into the Chirch and heare the Scriptures and do absteine from the communion should be remoued from the Chirch til they haue amended this faulte Which although in the first Councell at Toletum it was either somwhat qualified or at least set fourth in mylder wordes yet it is there also decreed that they which when they haue heard the sermon are founde neuer to communicate should be warned if after warning they absteyne they should be debarred from it Uerily by these ordinances the holy men meant to reteine and mainteine the often vse of the Communion which often vse they had receiued from the Apostles themselues whiche they saw to be most holsome for the faythful and by litle and litle by the negligence of the common people to growe out of vse Augustine testifieth of hys owne tyme The Sacrament sayth he of this thing of the vnitie of the Lordes body is somewhere dayly somewhere by certayne distances of dayes prepared vpon the Lordes table and is there receaued at the table to some vnto lyfe to other some vnto destruction And in the first Epistle to Ianuarius some doe daily communicate of the body and blood of the Lorde some receiue it at certaine dayes in some places there is no day let passe wherein it is not offred in some other place only vpon the saturday and the Sonday and in some other places neuer but on the Sonday But forasmuch as the common people was as we haue said somwhat slack the holy men did cal earnestly vpon them with sharpe rebukinges least they should seme to winke at such slouthfulness Suche an exāple is in Chrysostome vpon the Epistle to the Ephesians It is not sayed vnto him that dishonored the banket wherfore didst thou sit down but wherfore didst thou come in Whosoeuer is not partaker of the mysteries he is wycked and shamelesse for that he standeth here presente I beseche you if any be called to a banket washeth hys handes sitteth downe semeth to prepare hymselfe to eate and then doth tast of nothing shall he not shame bothe the banket and the maker of the banket So thou stāding among them that with prayer do prepare themselues to receiue the holy meate haste euen in thys that thou haste not gone away confessed that thou art one of the number of them at the last thou doest not partake had it not ben better that thou hadst not ben present Thou wylte say I am vnworthy Therefore neither wast thou worthy of the Communion of prayer whiche is a preparing to the receiuing of the holy mysterie And truely thys custome which commaundeth to communicate yerely ones is a most certaine inuention of the deuill by whoe 's mynisterie soeuer it was brought in They say that zepherinus was author of that decree which it is not likely to haue ben such as we now haue it For he by his ordinance did paraduenture not after the worst manner prouide for the Chirch as the times then were For it is no dout but that then the holy Supper was set before the faythful so oft as they came together in assemblie neither is it any dout but that a good part of them did cōmunicate But when it scarcely at any tyme happened that al did communicate together
and wheras it was necessarie that they which were mingled with prophane men and idolatrers should by some outwarde signe testifie their Fayth the holy man for order and policies sake appoynted that day wherin the whole people of Christians should by partaking of the Lordes Supper vtter a confession of their faith The ordinance of zepherinus being otherwise good hath ben euel wrested of them that came after when a certaine law was made of one communicating yerely wherby it is come to passe that almost al men when they haue ones communicate as though they had gaily discharged themselues for al the rest of the yere slepe soundly on bothe eares It ought to haue ben farr otherwise done Euery weke at the least the Lordes table shoulde be sett before the assemblie of the Christians the promises should be declared which might fede vs spiritually at it none should in dede be compelled by necessitie but all should be exhorted and prycked forwarde the sluggishnesse also of the slouthfull should be rebuked All should by heapes as hungry men come together to such deynties Not without rightfull cause therefore at the beginning I complayned that by the craft of the deuil this custome was thrust in which whē it apointeth one certaine day of the yere maketh men slouthfull for all the reste of the yere We se in dede that this peruerse abuse was crept in euen in the tyme of Chrysostome but we may also therewithall see how muche it displeased hym For he complaineth with greuous wordes in thesame place whiche I euen nowe alleged that there is so great inequalitie of this mater that often in sometimes of the yere they came not euen whē they were cleane but at Easter they came euē whē they were vncleane Then he cryeth out O custome O presumption Then in vaine is the daily offring vsed in vaine we stande at the altar there is none that partaketh together with vs. So farr is it of that he alowed it by his authoritie adioyned to it Out of the same shop proceded also an other ordinance whiche hath stolen away or violently taken away the halfe of the Supper from the better nūber of the people of God namely the signe of the blood which beyng denyed to lay and profane men for with such titles forsothe they set out Gods inheritance became a peculiar possession to shauen anoynted men It is the commaundement of the eternall God that al should drynke which commaundement man dare discontinue and repelle with a new and contrarie law commaunding that not all shoulde drynke And that these law makers should not seme to fight wtout reson against their God they pretende perils that myght happen if this holy cup were commonly geuen to all as though those dangers had not ben foreseen and marked of the eternal wisdome of God And then suttelly forsothe they reson that the one is enough for both For if say they it be the body it is whole Christ which can not now be seuered frō hys body Therfore by Accompanieng the body conteineth the blood Loe how our wit agreeth with God when it hath neuer so litle begon with loose reines to be wanton and wilde The Lord shewing bred saith that it is his body when he sheweth the cup he calleth it his blood The boldnesse of mans reason crieth out contrariwise that the bred is the blood and the wine is the body as though the Lord had for no cause seuered his body from his blood bothe in wordes and in signes or as though it had euer ben heard spoken that the body or blood of Christ is called God man Uerily if he had ment to signifie whole himselfe he might haue sayed it is I as he is wont to speake in the Scriptures and not thys is my body thys is my blood But he willing to helpe our weaknesse did set the cup seuerally from the bred to teache that he sufficeth no lesse for drinke than for meate Nowe let one part be taken away then we shall finde but the one halfe of the nourishmentes in him Therfore although it be true which they pretende that the blood is in the bred by way of Accompanieng and againe the body in the cup yet they defraude godly soules of the confirmation of Fayth whiche Christe deliuereth as necessarie Therefore bidding their suttelties farewell we muste holde faste the profit whiche is by the ordinance of Christe in the twoo earnestes I knowe in dede that the ministers of Satan doe here cauil as it is an ordinarie thing with them to make mockerie of the Scriptures First thei allege that of one bare doing ought not to be gathered a rule wherby the Chirch should be bounde to perpetual obseruing But they lye when they say that it was but a bare doyng for Christ did not only deliuer the cuppe but also did institute that his Apostles should in tyme to come doo the same For they are the wordes of a commaunder drinke ye all of this cuppe And Paule so reherseth that it was a dede that he also commendeth it for a certain rule An other starting hole is that the Apostles alone were receiued of Christ to the partaking of this Supper whome he had already chosen and taken into the order of the sacrificyng prestes But I would haue them answere me to fiue questions from which they shall not be able to escape but that they shall be easily conuinced with their lies Fyrst by what oracle haue they this solution reueled beyng so strange from the worde of God The Scripture reckeneth .xii. that sate with Iesus but it dothe not so obscure the dignitie of Christ that it calleth them sacrificing prestes of which name we will speake hereafter in place fit for it Though he gaue it then to the .xii. yet he commaunded that they should do the same namely that they shold so distribute it among them Secondely why in that better age from the Apostles almost a thousand yeres were al without exception made partakers of bothe the signes was the old Chirche ignorant what gestes Christ had receiued to his Supper It were a point of moste desperate shamelesnesse here to sticke and dally in graūtyng it to bee true There remayne the ecclesiasticall hystories there remayne the bokes of the old writers which minister euident testimonies of this matter The fleshe sayth Tertullian is fed with the body blood of Christ that the soule may be fatted with fedyng vpon God How sayd Ambrose to Theodosius wilt thou receiue with suche handes the holy body of the Lorde With what boldnesse wilte thou with thy mouthe partake of the cup of the precious blood And Hierome sayth The prestes whiche make the Thankesgeuing and do distribute the blood of the Lorde to the people Chrysostome Not as in the olde lawe the prest did eate parte and the people part but one body is set before all and one cuppe Those thynges that perteine to the Thankesgeuing are all cōmon betwene the
seuen is no where founde among the Ecclesiasticall writers neither is it certaine at what time it first crept in I graūt in dede that somtime thei be very free in vsing the name of a sacramēt but what meane they therby euē al ceremonies outward rites al exercises of godlinesse But whē they speake of those signes that ought to be witnesses of the grace of God towarde vs they are contented with these twoo Baptisme and the Supper Least anye man should thinke that I falsely boste of this I will here reherse a few testimonies of Augustine To Ianuarius he sayth First I would haue thee to holde fast that whiche is the chiefe poynt of this disputation that our Lorde Christ as he hymselfe saith in the gospell hath made vs subiect to a light yoke and a light burden Wherfore he hath bounde together the felowship of the newe people with Sacramentes very fewe in numbre very easy in obseruyng very excellent in signification As are Baptisme halowed in the name of the Trinitie and the Cōmunicating of the body and blood of the Lorde and whatsoeuer els is sett foorth in the cononicall Scriptures Agayne in his boke of Christian doctrine Sins the Lordes resurrection the Lord himself and the doctrine of the Apostles hathe deliuered certaine fewe signes in stede of many and those most easy to be done most reuerend in vnderstanding most pure in obseruing as is Baptism and the Celebrating of the body and blood of the Lorde Why dothe he here make no mention of the holy number that is of the number of seuen Is it likely that he would haue passed it ouer if it had ben at that tyme ordeyned in the Chirch specially sithe he is otherwyse in obseruyng of numbres more curious than nede were Yea when he nameth Baptisme and the Supper speaketh nothyng of the rest doth he not sufficiently signifie that these two mysteries do excell in singular dignitie and that the other ceremonies doo reste benethe in a lower degree Wherfore I say that these Sacramentarie doctors are destitute not onely of the worde of the Lorde but also of the consent of the old Chirch how much soeuer they glory of this pretence But now let vs come downe to the speciall thynges themselues ¶ Of Confirmation This was the maner in olde tyme that the children of Christians when they were growen to age of discretion should be brought before the Bishop that they shoulde fulfyll that duetie whiche was required of those that being growen in yeres did offer them selues to Baptisme For these sate among those that were to bee catechized till being fully instructed in the mysteries of the faith they coulde make a confession of their faith before the bishoppe and the people Therfore they that were baptised being infantes bicause they hadde not then made confession of their faith before the Chirch were aboute the ende of their childehod or in the beginning of their yeares of discretion presented againe by their parentes and were examined of the Bishop accordyng to the forme of the Catechisme whiche they had then certaine and common And that this doyng which otherwise ought worthily to be graue holy myght haue the more reuerence and dignitie there was added also the Ceremonie of layeng on of handes So that same childe his faith beyng allowed was let goe with solemne blessyng The old writers do oft make mention of this maner Leo the Pope writeth If any returne from heretikes let hym not be baptised agayn but which he wanted among the Heretikes let the vertue of the Spirite be geuen hym by the Bishops layeng on of his handes Here our aduersaries will crie out that it is rightfully called a Sacrament in which the holy ghost is geuē but Leo himselfe dothe in an other place declare what he meaneth by those wordes Whoso saith he is baptized among heretikes let him not be rebaptized but with callyng vpon the Holy ghoste lett him be confirmed with laieng on of hands because he receiued only the form of Baptisme without sanctifieng Hierome also maketh mētion of it writing against the Luciferians But although I do not denye that Hierome somwhat erreth therin for that he saith that it is an obseruation of the Apostles yet he is most far from these mennes follies And the very same also he qualifieth when he addeth that this blessing is geuē to the bishops onlye rather in honor of their presthode than by the necessitie of lawe Therfore suche laying on of handes whiche is done simply in stede of blessing I prayse and woulde that it were at thys daye restored to the pure vse thereof But the later age hauyng in a maner blotted out the thyng it selfe hath set I wot not what fained confirmation for a Sacrament of God They haue fained that the vertue of Confirmation is to geue the Holy ghost to the encrease of Grace which in Baptisme was geuen to innocentie to strengthen them to battaile which in Baptisme wer new begotten to lyfe This Confirmation is celebrate with annoyntyng and with this forme of wordes I signe thee with the signe of the holy crosse and confirme thee with the chresme of saluation in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy ghost All this is gayely and trimly done But where is the woorde of God that maye promise here the presence of the Holy ghost They can not bring forth one tittle Wherby then will they certifie vs that their chresme is the vessell of the Holy ghoste We see oyle that is a thicke and fatt liquor and nothyng ells Let the worde sayth Augustine be added to the element there shal be made a Sacrament Let them I say bryng foorth this worde if they will haue vs in the oyle to loke vpon any thyng but the oyle If they dyd acknowlege themselues ministers of the Sacramentes as they ought we neded to striue no longer This is the first lawe of a minister that he do nothing without cōmaūdemēt Go to let them bring forth any cōmaūdemēt of this point ministerie I will not speake one word more If they haue no cōmaūdemēt they can not excuse their boldnesse full of sacrilege After this maner the Lord asked the Pharisees whether the Baptisme of Iohn were from heauen or from men if they had answered from men thē he had made them confesse that it was trifling and vayne if from heauen then were they compelled to acknowlege the doctrine of Iohn Therfore least they shoulde to much sclander Iohn thei durst not confesse that it was from men If therfore Confirmation be from men it is proued to be vaine and trifling if they will persuade vs that it is from heauen let them proue it They do in dede defend themselues with the example of the Apostles whom they think to haue done nothing rashly That is wel in dede neither woulde we blame them if they shewed themselues folowers of the Apostles
Chirch these men allow no anointer but the pety sacrificing Prest Wheras they expounde in Iames presbyteros the Elders to be Prestes and fondly say that the plurall number is there set for comlynesses sake that is but trifling as though the Chirches at that tyme abounded with swarmes of sacrificing Prestes that they mighte goe in a long pompous shewe to carrie a pageante of holy oyle When Iames simply biddeth that sicke men be annointed I vnderstande by it none other annointing but of common oyle and none other is founde in markes rehearsal These men vouchesaue to haue none other oyle but that which is hallowed of the Bishop that is to say warmed with much breathing on it enchaunted with much mumbling and with the knee bowed nine times saluted in thys maner thrise Haile holy oyle thrise Hayle holy chresme thrise Hayle holy balme Oute of whom haue they sucked such coniurations Iames sayth that when the sicke man is annointed with oyle and prayer hath ben pronounced ouer hym if he be in sinnes they shal be forgeuen hym namely that the giltinesse being taken away they may obteine release of the peine not meaning that sinnes are put away with fat liquor but that the prayers of the faithful wherby the afflicted brother is commended to God shal not be vaine These men do wickedly lye that by their holy that is to say abhominable annointing sinnes are forgeuen Loe how gayly they shal preuaile when they haue ben at large suffred to abuse the testimonie of Iames at their pleasure And least we should nede to trauaile loÌ„g in profe hereof their own chronicles do discarge vs of this hardnesse For thei report that Pope Innocentius which in Augustines time gouerned the Chirch of Rome ordeined that not only Prestes but also all Christians should vse oyle to annoint for their own necessitie and others Author hereof is Sigebert in his Cronicles Of ecclesiasticall Orders The fourth place in their register hath the Sacrament of Order but the same so fruteful that it bredeth out of it selfe seuen litle Sacramentes But this is very worthy to be laughed at that wheras they affirme that there be seuen Sacramentes wheÌ„ they go about to rehearse them they recken vp thirtene Neither can they allege for themselues that they are but one Sacrament because they tende all to one Presthode and are as it were certaine degrees vnto it For sith it is euident that in euerye one of them are seuerall Ceremonies and they theÌ„selues say that there be diuerse graces no maÌ„ can dout but that they ought to be called seueÌ„ Sacramentes if their opinioÌ„s be receiued And why striue we about it as though it were a thing doutefull forasmuch as they themselues doe plainly and seuerally declare seuen But first we wil brefely knitt vp by the way how many and how vnfauorie absurdities they thrust in vnto vs when they goe aboute to commende to vs their Orders in stede of Sacramentes then we wil se whether the Ceremonie which Chirches vse in ordering of ministers ought to be called a SacrameÌ„t at al. They make therfore seueÌ„ ecclesiastical Orders or degrees which they garnish with the name of a Sacrament Those be dorekepers Reders Exorcistes Acoluthes or folowers Subdeacons DeacoÌ„s Prestes And vii they say that they be for the seuenfolde grace of the Holy ghost wherew t they ought to be endued that are promoted vnto them But it is encreased more largely heaped to them in their promotion Now the nuÌ„ber it selfe is hallowed with a wroÌ„gful expouÌ„ding of Scripture wheÌ„ they think that thei haue red in Esai vii vertues of the Holy ghost wheras both in dede Esay there rehearseth but six also the prophet meÌ„t not to coÌ„preheÌ„d them al in that place for he is ells where as wel called the Spirite of lyfe of sanctification of adoption of the children as he is in the place called the Spirite of wisdome of vnderstanding of couÌ„sel of strength of knowlege of the feare of the Lord. Howbeit some sutteler meÌ„ make not seuen orders but nyne after the likenesse as they say of the Chirche triuÌ„phing But among them also there is strife because some would have the shauing of the clergie to be the first order of al Bishoprike the last other some excluding shauing altogether recken Archebishoprike among the orders I sidore otherwise diuideth them For he maketh Psalmisâ—es Reders to be diuerse he apointeth the Psalmists for soÌ„ges the Reders to the reding of the Scriptures wherw t the people may be instructed And thys distinctioÌ„ is kept by the canons In so great diuersitie what wil they haue vs to follow or flee Shal we say that there be seueÌ„ orders So teaceth the master of the schole but the most illuminate doctors do otherwise determine Againe they also disagree among themselues Moreouer the moste sacred canons call vs an other way Thus forsoth do men agree when they dispute of Godly maters without the worde of God But thys excedeth all follye that in euery one of these they make Christ fellow with them First say they he executed the office of dorekeper when he did with a whip made of cordes dryue the byers and sellers oute of the temple He signifieth himselfe to be a dorekeper when he sayeth I am the dore He toke vpon hym the office of Reader when he red Esay in the Sinagoge He did the office of an Exorcist when touching the tong and eares of the deff and dumme man he restored to hym hys hearing He testified himselfe to be an Acoluthe or folower in these wordes He that foloweth me walketh not in darkenesse He executed the office of Subdeacon when beyng girded with a linen cloth he washed the disciples feete He did beare the persone of a Deacon when he distributed hys body and blood in the Supper He fulfilled the office of Preste when he offred himselfe vpon the crosse a sacrifice to his Father These thinges can not so be heard wtout laughing that I maruel that they were written wtout laughing if yet they wer meÌ„ that wrote them But moste notable is their sutteltie wherewith they play the Philosophers about the name of Acoluth calling him a Ceroferar a taper bearer with a worde as I thynke of sorcerie truely such a one as was neuer heard of in al nations and languages wheras Acoluthos in Greke simply signifieth a folower Howbeit if I shold earnestly tarry in confuting these men I should my self also worthily be laughed at they are so trifling and very mockeries But that they may not be able yet stil with false colors to deceiue eueÌ„ very silly women their vanitie is by the way to be vttered They create with great pompe and solemnitie their Reders Psalmistes Dorekekers Acolutes to execute those offices wherunto they appoint very children or those whome they call lay men For who for the most part lighteth the candels who poureth wine and water into
more set out their own holinesse with notable and seueral attire from other men did let their heare growe long But afterwarde when the fashion turned to wearing of heare certain nations were added to Christiādome which alway vsed to weare lōg heare as Fraunce Germany England it is likely the clerkes did euerywhere sheare their heds least they should seme to couet the gaynesse of heare At the last in a corrupter age whē al old ordinances wer either peruerted or gone out of kinde into superstition because they saw no cause in the shearing of the clergie for they had reteined nothing but a folishe coūterfaiting they fled to a mysterie which now they superstitiously thrust in vnto vs for the approuing of their Sacrament The dore kepers at their cōsecratiō receiue the keies of the Chirch wherby they may vnderstād that the keping of it is cōmitted to thē The reders receiue the holy Bible The exorcistes receiue the formes of exorcismes which they should vse ouer mad and them that are to be catechised The Acolythes receiue the tapers cruet Lo these ar the ceremonies wherin if God will there is so much secret power that they may be not only signes and tokens but also causes of inuisible grace For this they require by their definition when they will haue them taken among the Sacramentes But to make an ende in fewe wordes I say it is an absurditie that in their scholes and canons they make these lesser orders Sacramentes whereas euen by their owne confession that teache this they were vnknowen to the primitiue Chirch and deuised many yeares after For Sacramentes sith they conteyne the promise of God can not be ordeyned of Angels nor of men but of God alone whoe 's office alone it is to geue promise There remayne three orders whiche they calle the greater Of the whiche Subdeaconrie as they call it was remoued into that number sins that the route of the smaller ones beganne to growe But because they seme to haue a testimonie for these out of the word of God they do peculiarly for honors sake call them holye orders But nowe it is to be sene howe crokedly they abuse the ordinances of God to their pretence We will begyn at the order of Presthode or the sacrificers office For by these two names they signifie one thyng and so they call them to whom they say that it perteineth to offer vpon the altar the sacrifice of the bodye and blood of Christe to pronounce prayers and to blesse the giftes of God Therfore at their consecration they receiue the patine with the hostes for tokens of power geuen to them to offer acceptable sacrifices to God And their handes are anointed by which signe they ar taught that they haue power geuen them to consecrate But of the Ceremonies we shall speake hereafter Of the thyng it selfe I say it so hath no title of the worde of God which they pretende that they could not more wickedly corrupt the order set by God Fyrst verily this ought to stande for a thyng confessed which we haue affirmed in entreating of the Popishe masse that they are all wrong doers to Christ which cal them selues sacrificyng prestes to offer a sacrifice of appeasement He was appointed and consecrate of the Father a prest with an othe accordyng to the order of Melchisedech without any ende without any successor He ones offred a sacrifice of eternall satisfactorie cleansyng and reconciliation and nowe also beyng entred into the Sanctuarie of heauen he maketh intercession for vs. In hym we are all sacrificyng prestes but to praises and geuyngs of thanks finally to offer vs and ours to God It was his singular office alone with his offryng to appease God and to purge sinnes When these men take that vpon them what remaineth but that their sacrificyng Presthoode is vngodly and full of sacrilege Truely they are to wicked when they dare garnish it with the name of a Sacrament As touchyng the true office of Presthode which is commended to vs by the mouth of Christe I willyngly accompt it in that degree For therin is a ceremonie fyrst taken oute of the Scriptures then suche a one as Paul testifieth not to be vaine nor superfluous but a faithfull Signe of spirituall grace But wheras I haue not set it for a thirde in the number of Sacramentes I did it because it is not ordinarie and common among all the faithfull but a speciall rite for one certaine office But sith this honor is geuen to the Christian ministerie there is no cause therfore why the Popish sacrificérs should bee proude For Christ commaunded distributers of his Gospell and mysteries to be ordeined not sacrificers to bee consecrated He gaue them commaundement to preache the Gospel and to feede the flock not to offer sacrifices He promised them the grace of the Holy ghost not to make satisfactorye purging of sinnes but rightly to execute and to mainteine the gouernement of the Chirch The ceremonies agree very well with the thing it selfe Our Lorde when he sent forth the Apostles to preache the Gospell did blow vppon them By which Signe he represented the power of the Holy ghost whiche he gaue vnto them This blowyng these good mē haue reteined and as though they did put forth the Holy ghost out at their throte thei whisper ouer their silly prestes that they make Receiue the Holy ghost So leaue they nothing which they do not ouerthwartly counterfait I wyl not say like players which vse their gesturinges neither withoute arte nor withoute signification but like apes which counterfait euery thing wantonly and without any choise We kepe say they the example of the Lord. But the Lorde did many thinges which he willed not to be examples to vs. The Lord said to the disciples Receiue the Holye ghoste He sayd also to Lazarus Lazarus come forthe He said to the man sicke of the palsey Rise and walke Why do not they say the same to al dead men and sicke of the palsey He shewed a profe of hys diuine power when in blowing vpō the Apostles he filled them with the grace of the Holy ghost If they go about to do the same thing they enuiously counterfait God and do in a maner chalēge him to striue with them but they are farr frō the effect and do nothing with thys foolish gesturing but mocke Christ. Uerily they bee so shamelesse that they dare affirme that they geue the Holy ghost But how true that is experience teacheth which cryeth oute that so many as be consecrated prestes are of horses made asses of fooles made madmen Neither yet doo I stryue with them for that only I condemne the ceremonye it selfe which oughte not to haue ben drawen to bee an example for asmuche as it was vsed of Christe for a singular signe of one miracle so farre is it of that the excuse of folowing hys example ought to defend them But of whō receiued they the