the Leuen of the Pharesies where he manifestlie vseth a figure that such a figure as the Apostles in that place vnderstoode him amisse Moreouer in the 7. Matt. 7. 11. of Matthew he commaunded that they should beware of false Prophets for they will come vnto you saith he in sheepes clothing but inwardly they be rauening woolues In which commaundement who perceiueth not a figuratiue spéeche And in teaching of doctrine there is no doubt but figures tropes are vsed Paul saith in the new Testament 1. Cor. 10. 4 Ib. ver 18. Heb. 12. 29 The rocke was Christ We be one bread And of God it is writteÌ that he is a coÌsuming fire 68 Afterward they affirme that the bodie of Christ may be euerie where Whether the bodie of Christ be euerywhere Look in the dialogue seuerally set out by P. Martyr concerning this maner Iohn 3. 13. and that by the wordes of Christ to Nichodemus in the 3. Chapter of Iohn where it is saide No man ascendeth into heaueÌ but he that came down from heauen euen the sonne of man which is in heauen Beholde say they the sonne of man that is Christ spake vnto them as touching his humane nature and was also in heauen because the humane nature cannot be plucked away from the diuine Therefore what he affirmeth of one must also be spoken of the other But it is aunswered that wée will not diuide these two natures one from an other yet it followeth not therefore that that which appertaineth to the one should be giuen vnto the other Indéede wée graunt that the diuinitie of Christ is euery where but we will not attribute the same vnto his bodie and humanitie And this did Augustine vnto Dardanus most manifestly teache And that which is brought out of the third Chapter of Iohn the same Augustine enterpreteth that it must be vnderstoode that the sonne of man was in heauen as touching his diuine nature Neither did Chrysostome otherwise iudge when he expoundeth this place For he affirmeth that to be in heauen was not attributed vnto the sonne of man but in respect of his diuine nature But how féeble an argument this is These two natures are ioyned together therefore that which is graunted to the one must be attributed also to the other This may bée shewed by the like The body of the sonne and the light thereof haue betwéene them a naturall and excellent coniunction yet the light extendeth not it selfe to euery place whereunto the bodie doeth reallie attaine In like manner the bodie A similitude our eyes and sight are verie much ioyned one with an other and yet doth our sight attaine to manie things vnto which the eye of the bodie extendeth not Afterward they argue that vnto the bodie of Christ manie things must be granted besides the common course and conditions of other bodies and that for two causes partly because it is glorified and partlie because it hath the word ioyned with it We confesse that many things are to be giuen but to bée euerie where this cannot be fit for it the nature of mans bodie preserued And if wée shoulde graunt this vnto it it were not to bring renowne but ruine thereunto for then it should be extruded from his owne nature Moreouer it doeth not much further this matter because although we should graunt that the bodie of Christ hath this in it that it can be in manie places yet would it not therof follow that God would deale so in this sacrament A similitude 69 Moreouer they indeuour to prooue this corporall presence by the similitude of a teacher Who séeing he can extend his wordes vnto many hearers in them he communicateth vnto the hearers the concept of his mind so as all they vnderstand him fullie alike So saith he doth God deale in the words which bée vttered at the Sacrament Hée fouldeth his bodie in them that by them he may be shewed in all these signes and may be communicated vnto all that be receiuers Wherefore that which is graunted vnto a maister and that an earthly maister why shall it not bée graunted vnto Christ But the comparison is farre wide and as wée saide before words doe not discouer things or the concept of the minde vnlesse it bée by way of signification And that is to no purpose which afterwarde they goe about to prooue that the body of Christ is euery where out of the first chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians where it is saide Ephe. 5. 22. Christ is giuen to be the head of the bodie of the Church which as it is written in the gréeke is the fulnesse of him that filleth all in all things For the Apostle meaneth not that the bodie of Christ filleth al things and is euery where as these men inferre An exposition of a place to the Ephesians But because the signification of that verbe or participle ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã fulfilling is doubtfull for it may bée taken both actiuely and passiuelie séeing it is a verbe of the meane voyce if thou vnderstand it passiuely according to the gréeke expositions the sense shal be this That Christ the head of the Church is filled as touching all things in all his members not that he is accomplished in himselfe For he is both sufficientlie perfect happie Howbeit that must be vnderstoode in respect of the bodie members For as to be the head is giuen vnto him so likewise the Church is vnderstoode to be the fulnes of Christ namely for that it filleth and maketh perfect his mysticall body But if the signification therof be actiue then shal it be said that Christ is the head because he himself perfecteth al the gifts and vertues in all his members Christ as he is man is not euery where Neither is the sense that he as he is man is euery where And it is thought that this maie bée prooued by the Scriptures Ioh. 11. ver 14. 15. For Christ openlie confesseth that Lazarus was dead when hée was not there But if he wil coÌtend that he had not a glorified body it maketh not much to the matter because he had neuerthelesse the godhead ioyned with it But to take away the doubt the Angell now after the resurrection saide vnto the women He is risen he is not heere Matt. 28. ver 6. 7. And againe He shall goe before you into Galile And againe Acts. 1. 9. He was taken away from their eyes as he ascended into heauen Wherfore hée filleth not all things nor is euerie where 70 They are woont also to cite a place in the 4. Chapter to the Ephesians Verse 10. He that descended is the verie same that ascended euen aboue all heauens An other place to the Ephesians expounded that hee might fill all thinges Which place notwithstanding prooueth nothing and is expounded two manner of wayes First that to fill all things is referred vnto that which is
act for a yoong man to commit fornication And there wanted not some in the church of Corinth which were of that opinion So as by these reasons the filthinesse of whoredome is so extenuated that either it is not counted for sinne or else thought that it should be reckoned among the least sinnes 2 We must not haue a respect vnto the reasons of men but vnto the word of God not what men thinke or iudge but what the holie Ghost speaketh in the holie scriptures In the prophets and in Salomon there is detesting of fornication in euerie place Fornication is forbidden by testimonies of the lawe but in the lawe they saie there is nothing decréed against it Séeing they will reson by the lawe I also will bring testimonies out of it whereby it may easilie be vnderstood that fornication is forbidden In Leuiticus in the booke of Numbers and in Deuteronomie the Iewes are forbidden to linke themselues vnto strange women Againe verse 17. in Deuteronomie the 25. chapter it is commanded that there should be no harlot nor common woman in Israell Let these places be compared togither It was not lawfull to haue anie harlots neither strange women nor yet women of Israell Therefore they were all forbidden But some will saie How then had Samson fellowship with an harlot Some of the Hebrues answer Iud. 16 1. that she was not an harlot with whom Samson had fellowship but one that kept a vitling house But forsomuch as that is but a weake answer me thinketh that an other answer must be made The publike weale of the Hebrues was at that time corrupted for they liued then vnder the Philistines Neither is it anie maruell if they had then receiued some of their vices and corrupt maners Wherefore some harlots they had howbeit not by reason of their owne laws but through the vse and conuersation of the Philistines 3 But in the new testament It is forbidden by testimonies of the new testament Heb. 13 14 whoredome is openlie and manifestlie forbidden To the Hebrues it is thus written Adulterers and fornicators the Lord will iudge The Lord is not said to iudge and to auenge except it be for gréeuous sinnes And to the Ephesians not onelie couetous men and idolaters Ephesi 5 5. but also fornicators are excluded from the kingdome of God To the Corinthians also where Paule writeth of excommunication I speake not saith he of all sorts of fornicators 1. Cor. 5 11. but if anie brother be named a fornicator with such ye shall not so much as eate But he treateth much more manifestlie of all this matter in the sixt chapter of the same epistle and that of verie purpose For manie as it is said were of an euill opinion as touching this kind of wickednesse First he saith Meate is ordeined for the bellie 1. Cor. 6 verse 13 c and the bellie for meate but God shall destroie both this and that now the bodie is not for fornication but for the Lord. Moreouer all meate of his owne nature is pure but for the offense of our neighbour we ought sometimes to absteine Howbeit some man might saie Meate is necessarie to liue by It is saith Paule in this life but in the blessed resurrection God shall destroie both the meate and the bellie Wherefore thou must not so much estéeme it that for such a cause thou shouldest offend thy brother It is not commanded that thou shouldest absteine from all meate generallie but from that onelie whereby thy weake brother is offended But as touching fornications saith he of which ye make small account Ibidem there is a far other respect Your bodie is not appointed for fornication but for the Lord. And this must not be passed ouer that Paule with great wisedome saith not that the bodie is not giuen for procreation but that it is not giuen for fornication sith the bodie is also giuen for procreation sake Oftentimes men are woont to excuse their faults and to impute them vnto nature The nature of the bodie saith he is that it may be giuen vnto the Lord so then the rule of life must be taken thereby and not by euill examples The nature of relatiues This is the nature of relatiues not onelie of those relatiues which in the selfe-same thing that they be belong to other but also of those which by anie meanes are referred to another thing as the head vnto the bodie and likewise the bodie vnto the head For when we sée the head we straitwaie require the bodie and againe when we sée the bodie we require the head Such relatiues as the Logicians saie are called Secundum dici The Lord is the head of the bodie of the church and the church is the bodie of his head Wherefore Paule both wiselie and pithilie disputeth when he saith The bodie is not made to this end that it should pollute it selfe with lusts but to be correspondent vnto the head and to be conformable vnto it And he addeth verse 14. God which hath raised vp Christ shall raise vs vp also by his power The first argument was taken from relatiues the second from God himselfe For if he shall raise vp our bodies as he hath raised vp Christ why then doo we shamefullie vse them He procéedeth further verse 15. and saith But doo you not knowe that your bodies are the members of Christ Shall I then take the member of Christ make it the member of an harlot Vndoubtedlie a weightie argument which he concludeth Shall I take saith he the member of Christ As though he should haue said No without doubt for this were to rent in péeces the bodie of Christ And it is a most cruell thing to plucke awaie the members from a liuelie bodie and to ioine them to a rotten or dead bodie But herein the strength of the reason dooth consist Christ cannot commit fornication wherefore if thou wilt commit fornication thou must be first plucked from Christ Here is shewed that fornication is not onelie a sin but also a deadlie and most gréeuous sin bicause it plucketh vs awaie from Christ 4 Afterward he addeth verse 16. He which coupleth himselfe vnto an harlot is beecome one bodie with hir for they shall be two in one flesh And he which is ioined with God is one spirit This place is verie full of consolation Before in the tenth plac art 6. forsomuch as it declareth that we are ioined most nigh vnto Christ from whom we must néeds be plucked awaie before we be made the members of an harlot He which cleaueth vnto an harlot is become one bodie with hir for they shall be two in one flesh The apostle séemeth at the first sight to abuse the words of Genesis in transferring them to whooredome which be spoken of matrimonie For these words were first spoken of Adam and Eue bicause the flesh of Eue was before in the flesh of Adam from whom GOD tooke a
and sanctified vs and so inriched vs with the knowledge of him and with other heauenlie gifts as now we are destitute neither of strength neither of force neither of light neither of anie facultie to let vs whereby we should the lesse either will or worke aright And thus we shall reteine a chéerefull and quiet life euen in the middest of persecutions which often the world and satan doo stir vp so that we be most fullie persuaded by that holie spirit that we shall obteine eternall life and that not of our owne merits but by the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ which liueth and reigneth for euer Amen I beleeue in the holie catholike church the communion of Saints c. 35 This article of the faith is so aptlie knit vnto the other that goeth before The spirit is the root of the church Two similitudes as to any man that is of sound iudgement the former may séeme to be the root or stem of the latter out of which this latter article ariseth and buddeth foorth as a most fit branch And that is shewed vnto vs after this sort In whatsoeuer bodie life is placed the power and strength thereof is to guide and also by a most sure bond to vnite all the parts of the whole bodie by how great a space soeuer they be disseuered one from the other euen so the congregation of the godlie which commonlie if the beléeuers be considered of in respect that they be earthlie men is called the church how much soeuer it be compact of sundrie people and hath hir parts setled a great space one from another in the world and that as much as the vttermost quarter of the world is distant by the spaces of regions from the other part of the world yet neuerthelesse it is ioined knit and couched togither And for that cause it is by Paule compared to a bodie and that oftentimes in his epistles vnto the Ephesians and Corinthians Ephe. 4 12 and 5 23. 1. Co. 12 12 But by what bond the christians who so greatlie differ one from another whether respect be to their condition countrie or language are so strictlie knit togither it is sufficientlie vnderstood by the order which ioineth this latter article of our faith vnto the former For there our faith confesseth the holie Ghost and here it treateth of the bodie of the faithfull which with a sincere faith imbracing the doctrine of Christ is by him gathered togither in one What the name church signifieth And this congregation by a Gréeke name is called Ecclesia which signifieth no other thing than a multitude called togither For it is compact of them which by the holie Ghost are called vnto the christian faith from the which they be excluded which by an humane motion or persuasion or double heart or by anie other sinister meanes without anie instinct of the spirit of God doo ioine themselues vnto it A similitude Euen as if one should artificiallie ioine vnto a humane bodie some péece of a bone of a sinew of a gristle or else a péece of flesh these be not therefore accounted parts of that bodie séeing they are not moued by the life thereof but they altogither depend of this cunning art Euen so indéed we acknowledge that the communion of saints is here found vpon the earth to wit the congregation of the faithfull the which is gathered togither in one not by the will of man or by anie cunning craft of the world but by the onelie spirit of Christ not doubtlesse that it should be conteined togither in one place but that it should reteine one true vnderstanding of faith The church is a mysticall bodie 36 By these things therefore ye vnderstand that the church is a mysticall bodie the which is gouerned by the holie Ghost Hereby also it is manifest enough who they be that apperteine vnto the same and who liue out of the communion of it Further it is not obscure how aptlie the name of church agréeth vnto it First it is euidentlie proued that this maruellous bodie is gouerned by the holie Ghost by those words which Paule teacheth in the epistle to the Ephesians We saith he be one bodie and one spirit Ephe. 4 4. Againe also it is more plainlie shewed in the first epistle to the Corinthians 1. Co. 12 13. By one spirit we are all baptised into one bodie and haue droonke of one spirit Wherevpon it followeth that whosoeuer be destitute of that spirit doo not belong to this bodie For he that hath not the spirit of Christ how can he assure himselfe to be a member of that bodie whereof Christ is the head and in whom there is no other life than the diuine spirit it selfe Vndoubtedlie it sufficeth not it sufficeth not I saie to put on certeine colourable shewes whereby we should be taken by the iudgement of men for members of that bodie Peter was called of Christ blessed not bicause he confessed him with outward voice to be the sonne of God but bicause neither flesh nor bloud nor anie humane reason had reuealed vnto him so great a mysterie but onelie the heauenlie father Paule also in his first epistle to the Corinthians in the place aboue recited writeth that No man can saie that Iesus is the Lord but by the holie Ghost By which places it is manifest what confession at the least is required in the church namelie not that which procéedeth of mans sense but that which is stirred vp and brought foorth by the spirit of God For otherwise the diuelles themselues and also the Mahumetanes in their Alcoran doo ascribe a certeine honour vnto Christ while they confesse his praise 37 But here might appeare some difficultie Whether and how farre foorth the church is inuisible What Is the church inuisible that it cannot be perceiued in the world with corporall eies And dooth not the verie sense it selfe tell that the companie of men is there gathered togither for celebrating and calling vpon the name of Christ How then is that beléeued which is séene Is faith caried vnto those things which be most manifest and are subiect euen to the senses themselues Herevnto we answer that the multitude of men which outwardlie professe Christ are indéed séene of vs but not suffâicently knowne of vs bicause we apprehend it with our outward sense as it hath béene said But we beléeue certeinlie that this companie of men dooth so come togither as neuerthelesse it is no humane worke A philosopher or some other heathen man would obiect that such assemblies be sects of men which might spring vp of diuerse and sundrie opinions and be brought foorth into light according as places and times require Vndoubtedlie we liue not by the industrie of men but this worke must be attributed to the spirit of GOD whome we haue before confessed Neither must we passe ouer the cause Whie the church is called Catholike whie the church is called
sundrie abuses the sacraments ordeined of God and especiallie the holie supper of the Lord which they haue turned into filthie and shamefull idolatrie and of the signes or seales thereof they admit the simple flocke to the participation of one onelie as though it were in their power to inuert the order which the Lord hath appointed They not content I saie to defraud the flocke of Christ of that principall food of soules which is the word of GOD doo also cut awaie halfe the sacrament which is as it were the visible word and the euident testimonie of the goodnesse charitie and ardent affection of Christ toward vs a memoriall of his death the most effectuall marke of that vnion whereby they growe vp togither vnder Christ himselfe being head vnto a holie bodie of the church But this will I here adde that this one thing they worke by their traditions namelie they establish that tyrannie of theirs and make it to extend further abroad Howbeit the hope is that Christ will at length take pittie of so noble a bodie of his and that he will not suffer a mortall man anie longer to vaunt himselfe so proudlie against his head This Christ onelie Christ I saie is the head of the church That the Pope is not head of the church 40 But they which saie that the Pope is head of the church as he will commonlie be accounted which also his shamelesse flatterers feare not to publish openlie both by words and writings séeme in my iudgement to be like vnto those wicked Iewes which all with one voice denied Christ to be their king and professed Caesar to be their prince Euen as in a bodie well framed there is one head so must the church A similitude vnles it be transformed into some kind of monster be indued with one head onelie the which head is Christ Neither standeth it with any reason that they saie they haue the Romane bishop to be appointed another head as it were vnder the chéefe head Christ whose bishop to wit that other head they will haue to be a necessarie instrument For there was neuer séene in a well shapen bodie such a disorder as thervnto should be ioined two heads wherewith one should be subiect vnto another séeing the verie name of Head signifieth the chiefe part of the bodie But Christ alone sheweth himselfe aboue the church he altogither by maruellous and vnspeakeable meanes ioined the humane nature vnto the diuine nature Behold the head which God appointed to that beloued bodie as it is written in the epistle to the Ephesians Epes 1 21. We confesse in déed that the members in that bodie be diuerse wherof one is more excellent than another but in this point they conspire all in one that they be subiect vnto that head and are to serue faithfullie vnder it Wherefore it is not lawfull to deuise more heads than one and vndoubtedlie it is verie intollerable pride for one to arrogate vnto himselfe the honour of Christ But I beséech you let it be as these men will that the Pope should be counted another head vnder Christ the principall head Yet with what faith he is vnder Christ as a fit instrument experience it selfe speaketh which beareth record that he not onelie doth not cleaue vnto Christ but that he is plainlie against him both in works déeds and counselles Neither is it my purpose to set foorth at large the proofe of this matter Barnard séeing Barnard hath declared the same indéed not fullie but yet so as their craftie and subtill exception may be discouered Wherefore being content with this profitable declaration I will not here at this time adde anie more but that I conclude againe Christ onlie is the head of his church that that bodie hath onelie Christ to be the head and not anie sillie man which with his authoritie alone may wrest corrupt peruert and rent in sunder the words of the scriptures whereof he boasteth among his sort that he within the closet of his brest hath the full knowledge and perfect interpretation not a sillie man which according to the naked iudgement of his owne will may expulse out of the church whom he please and accuse and condemne them not a sillie man that at his owne onelie becke may appoint pastors rectors and bishops vnto churches to whom he will not commit the custodie no not of their own goods bicause he mistrusteth their wit and industrie whereof he hath not had anie one iot of triall Now then we be content with one head namelie Christ the holie Ghost being the guide and the holie scripture being as an outward testimonie of his will the certeine persuasion whereof the power of the holie Ghost dooth inwardlie seale in our minds By what meanes the church is edified 41 But let vs weigh I beséech you by what meanes that most holie bodie of the church may be established edified and also increase And here I affirme that besides the inward grace faith and outward scripture we haue also néed of admonitions and godlie sermons out of the word of God the which be miserablie intermitted at this daie by them which would be called christians And yet neuertheles this is the chiefe and principall worke of the Apostolicall office the which as though it were vnworthie for the dignitie of a Bishop forsooth these new heads of the church haue committed it vnto certeine hungrie Moonks Preaching committed to certeine hungrie Moonks who neuerthelesse are threatened vnto gallies vnto perpetuall prisons and to be put to euerie most cruell death if they passe the bounds prescribed by them Indéed they knowe verie handsomelie how to withdrawe themselues from their owne office charge and labour but so as they will neuer preach vnto the people concerning holie things The maner of papisticall preaching Yet neuerthelesse whosoeuer doo take that charge in hand they will haue them to preach after the rules prescribed by them Whereof it commeth to passe that the poore small flocks of Christ either perish with hunger or else are scantlie and slenderlie fed And commonlie the sermons touching holie things are onelie made in the time of Lent and a verie few daies besides and that either by a sort of vnlearned and vndiscréet men which knowe not sufficientlie those things that they speake or else by them which stand more afraid of some than they ought to doo or else by such as hunt after honours riches or fauour which are not fit for their vocation Wherefore at that time they haue sermons but yet such as in them they vtter méere trifles and bewraie the grosse darknesse of ignorance But if otherwhile they shew something of the truth it is doone with such cloked spéeches with such intricate minsed and nice termes as they rather destroy than edifie or else they preach flatteries the which vndoubtedlie vnto all godlie men are méere intollerable And such be they that preach for the desire they haue either of
honour or of priuate commoditie All the rest of the yeare is spent in walking vp and downe the churches in chaunting singing and sounding of instuments In all which things not so much as the least word is vnderstood that might serue for edifieng of the people At which time those chéefe priests bishops and other prelats are occupied as they saie in great affaires as to take vpon them the administration of the common weale to examine accounts to search out the yéerelie reuenues of lands and manie times to find out new waies of gouernment I passe ouer those things that be more outragious not bicause it gréeueth them to heare such things but partlie for that I am ashamed of them and partlie bicause those things are sufficientlie knowne and manifest to euerie one If they be apostles it perteineth vnto their office to preach if they be pastors to féed if they be schoole-masters of the church to teach if they be dispensors of the treasures of Christ they ought to inrich their shéepe therewith I meane not with their pardons bulles and blessings but with the word of God with continuall admonitions and corrections by which meanes the infidels are conuerted vnto God the faithfull are stirred vp from their sloth and idlenesse and receiue comfort in the fornace of afflictions 42 These be those exquisite arts whereby the bodie of Christ is preserued vnto the which must be added the vse of the sacraments but yet whole and throughlie clensed from the deuises of men Oh thou that holie supper of the Lord how manie waies art thou here miserablie dishonoured and polluted Oh masse masse masse what remaineth sound in thée But here will I forbeare my stile séeing I write a Catechisme and not a full treatise of the sacraments which neuerthelesse I hope shortlie if the Lord lend me life to bring to passe These few things I haue written onelie to this end that I may shew how ill these things haue béene handled which did make for the increase and profit of the church I will speake nothing of baptisme séeing by the mercie of God the same hath béene somewhat lesse polluted with foule abuses And although it be not purelie and soundlie vsed yet there is lesse cause for thée to complaâne herein The vse of the sacraments Wherefore the vse of the sacraments is most profitable vnto the church séeing they be as it were visible words the which consist in those euident signes of water bread and wine By which signes as it were by words all the promises of Gods mercie are effectuallie represented vnto vs. And here not onelie the promises are giuen vs but we be assuredlie partakers of the thing it selfe and therefore those sacraments are verie necessarie vnto vs and further vs not a litle vnto saluation Brotherlie correction Vnto which sacraments must be ioined brotherlie correction which in these daies is so neglected as no man will applie it either to another mans vse or will submit himselfe therevnto such profit haue we taken in the schoole of Christ Yea which is more those which are carefull but of their owne matters are counted godlie yea and in a maner holie which neuerthelesse is so vndecent and dishonest as it is not allowed no not of the heathen philosophers séeing they fréelie confesse that Man is not borne onelie to himselfe Yea and verie oxen or shéepe or asses if they be fallen downe by the waie will helpe one another And shall not we haue a care of our brethren that when they faint vnder the burdens of their sinnes to reléeue them with the helpe of holie correction But if that doo not preuaile it behoueth that excommunication follow which God hath left vs as the last remedie against obstinate persons Ecclesiasticall lawes 43 To conclude that holie bodie is preserued by equall and iust lawes by the which it must be ruled and gouerned so farre as concerneth those outward exercises Of which sort be the comming togither vnto publike praiers at places and times conuenient to sing praises vnto God to giue thanks vnto Christ and to come vnto the administration of the sacraments All which things must be doone in order decentlie and honestlie euen as Paule teacheth in the first epistle to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 14 14 These lawes must not be appointed by the will and discretion of one man neither yet must they be accounted of so great authoritie as those things which the Lord hath reuealed to vs in the holie scriptures And they must be so ordeined as they cannot be repealed and changed by one mans consent but by the consent of the whole church if anie detriment come to the church by them Moreouer let no man setle his hope vpon those things as though they can bring righteousnesse or saluation but let him remember that they be ordinances of men further that they haue not to doo with yéerelie rents with gaine or with the priuate commoditie of anie man but that they must wholie haue a respect to the glorie of God and to the profit of our neighbour Let not their number be so augmented as either they may be naughtilie comprised or else that they should oppresse the people with a more gréeuous burden Let them not despoile the people of that libertie which is giuen in Christ let them not bind mens consciences with the terror of eternall death With these conditions I saie if lawes be appointed by the church let christians imbrace them let them obeie reuerentlie submit themselues to them Where the matter so standeth that lawes be after this order appointed they cannot be contemned or little set by without gréeuous offense Hitherto we haue largelie enough disputed what that holie bodie of the church is how it may be ioined togither in one what head it hath by what meanes it is nourished augmented preserued And if so be that I haue béene induced to stand longer vpon this matter than my maner is to doo it must altogither be imputed not to anie superfiuitie of speach but vnto the nature and state of the cause which aboundeth with such plentie store of matter as I haue rather touched the principall points of things than sufficientlie expressed it according to the woorthines thereof But that which may be wanting at this time we will prosecute more largelie in another place The remission of sinnes 44 Vnto the former article of the coniunction and vnion of the faithfull into one bodie of the church now is aptlie added the doctrine of faith and remission of sinnes which is no where else to be hoped for but in the church The remission of sins is onelie incident to the church For although the same be granted vnto vs by the onelie liberalitie and grace of GOD yet can we not obteine the same but onelie in the name of Christ Whosoeuer therefore shall not come into this fellowship can by no meanes be partaker thereof séeing it is onelie granted vnto them which by faith are vnited vnto Christ the head of the church Whereof it may be soundlie concluded that it is a peculiar gift for them which be true members of this bodie vnder the head Christ
to haue a regard vnto him and onlie to séeke his glorie And they that are led by his spirit followe not the affections and prouocations of lusts Hereby it is manifest in what sort faithfull and godlie men are in Christ It is prooued that the faithfull are in Christ by all kinds of causes and that by all the kinds of causes For Christ and we haue all one matter also we haue the selfe-same first entrances of forme for wée be indued with the self-same notes properties and conditions which he had The efficient cause whereby we are mooued to worke is the same spirit whereby he was mooued Lastlie the end is all one namelie that the glorie of God may be aduanced 36 Furthermore In 1. Cor. 12 12. euerie assemblie and congregation of men which tendeth to a definite and certaine end and is gouerned by prescript lawes may be called a bodie What societies are said to be one bodie Wherefore a citie a common-weale a kingdome are called certaine bodies bicause they haue a certaine end to wit that men may both be in good state as touching the bodie and may liue according to vertue But the bodie of Christ A declaration what the bodie of Christ hath respect vnto which is the church hath not onlie respect vnto this but vnto eternall life also and it hath all these things in common namelie God Christ the holy Ghost the word of God grace the sacraments and it hath respect vnto the things of this world which pertaine to mutuall helping one of an other And this bodie is gouerned by the ordinances and saiengs of the holy scriptures and it liueth by the spirit of Christ Of this bodie we haue an article of the faith Two maners of coniunction of the members of this bodie And of this thing we haue an excellent article of our faith wherein we confesse the catholike church to be the communion of Saints But in the members of this bodie there is obserued two sorts of coniunction one is that which they ought to retaine among them selues and the other that which they ought to haue with Christ Touching this thing we are verie well instructed in the fourth chapter to the Ephesians verse 16. where it is written that By the head Christ is ministred life and spirit by the ioints and knitting togither of the members into the whole bodie that according to the measure of euerie part there may be an increase in the bodie The same is also shewed in the second chapter to the Colossians verse 19. The wicked are not verelie of the bodie of Christ which is the church By which words it appéereth that wicked men are not verelie of the church séeing the spirit is not instilled into them by Christ the head Indéed they may be conuersant in the church but they cannot be of the church It is a méere imagination brought by our aduersaries that there can be withered and dead members in the bodie of Christ the which may be reuiued againe A dead part of a body is no more called a member of the bodie 1. Cor. 6 15. A member that is dead is a member no more neither yet ought to be called a member vnlesse thou wilt haue it all one that to be a man which is but the signe of a man And Paule said in the epistle vnto the Corinthians Shall I take the member of Christ and make of it the member of an harlot As if he had said These things are repugnant one with another that we should be the members of each of them A most neere coniunction betweene Christ vs. Wherefore this similitude declareth what maner of coniunction ought to be amongst vs and with Christ And certeinelie euen as we haue said we be so ioined with Christ as we be called flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones bicause through his incarnation we are made of the same nature and kind that he is of and afterward his grace and spirit comming to vs we are made partakers of his spirituall conditions and properties Cyrill as it hath béene aboue declared Wherefore Cyrill writing vnto Reginas of the right faith said that Our flesh is togither in one substance with the flesh of Christ and those that otherwise would iudge he held them accursed 37 And for the proouing of so great a coniunction betwéene vs Christ there is no néed of the corporall and substantiall presence of the bodie of Christ as manie indeuour to prooue in the Eucharist For we should haue neuer a whit the more profit or coÌmoditie by the same than if we confesse Christ to be in heauen as touching his bodie A similitude For we sée that christians may be members one of another and that most néerelie knit togither although some of them liue in England some in France and some in Spaine But if so be this be granted as touching the members themselues whie shall it be an absurd thing to grant the same touching the head that by this spirituall coniunction it may both be in heauen and also be ioined spirituallie with vs A similitude The verie which thing we sée come to passe in matrimonie wherin the holie scripture declareth Matt. 19. 6. that Man and wife are one flesh which thing our aduersaries are constrained to grant no lesse to be true when man and wife are somtimes in sundrie places distant one from another than when they dwell in one house togither If so be then it be so in them To this coniunction betweene Christ and vs there is no need of his corporall presence whie should we denie that the bodie of Christ may be ioined vnto vs in such sort as we may be one with him although by substantiall and corporall presence in the Eucharist he be absent from vs They are euer flieng vnto that sentence of the Lord This is my bodie as though it may not otherwise be vnderstood but that there must be affirmed a naturall presence when neuertheles we will confesse it to be the bodie of Christ into the which we neither be transubstantiated neither is it required that any of vs in corporall presence should be ioined with other as concerning place But of these things we will speake verie largelie else-where Touching the adoption of the children of God out of the eight chapter to the Romans verse 15. 38 This place séemeth to require that we speake somewhat also of the adoption of the children of God The lawyers as it is in the institutions define adoption to be a lawfull act which dooth imitate nature A definition of adoption How arrogation differeth from adoption found out for the comfort of them which haue no children Further they make a distinction betwéene adoption and arrogation for they saie that it is arrogation when he that is his owne man and at libertie is receiued into the sted of a sonne but adoption is when he that
of sinnes it cannot be denyed but that they are of God For they haue a respect of Iustice For so doth God oftentimes for the sinnes of the people raise vp an vngodlie Prince But although he be vngodlie he must be obeyed After what sort wicked kings must be obeyed howbeit so farre forth as Religion shall permit And if he shall command vngodlie things he must not be heard Neither is it lawfull with silence to dissemble anie thing that the King doeth peruerslie and vngodlie We ought to warne counsell reprooue chasten and amend him for so did the Prophetes Also for defence of the common weale we must obey without exception Therefore Cicero Cato Pompeius and others must not be blamed who tooke warres in hand against Caesar But when he had once attained to the Empire no priuate man ought to haue takeÌ armes against him Therefore when Augustus Caesar had heard railing wordes to be spoken against Marcus Cato being nowe dead because he dealt tyrannouslie against Iulius answered that Cato was a good Citizen in that he would not haue the present state of the common weale to be changed So that God raigneth together with kings whether they be good or euill Kings be the heads of the common weale Psal 18. 44. And kings maie be called the heads of the Common weale For so Dauid writeth of himselfe Thou hast set mee to be the head of the Nations Yet are they not properlie but Metaphoricallie called heads For euen as from the head is deriued all the sense and motion into the bodie so the senses by good lawes and motions by edictes and commandements are deriued from the prince vnto the people And this strength excéedeth not the naturall power 2 Now as touching the other question none may after this maner be called the head of the Church No mortall man may be called the head of the Church for heere the consideration is farre otherwise than in a common weale For the Church is a celestial diuine and spirituall bodie Sense can be giuen vnto hir by no mortall man For those things which pertaine to the sense of the Church be of such sort as neither eare hath heard Esa 64. 4. 2. Cor. 2. 9. nor eye hath séene neither haue they ascended into the heart of man for all quickening of the Church procéedeth from the holie Ghost So as they which will raise vp vnto vs a newe head of the Church are not wel aduised what they saie For regeneration and remission of sinnes doe flowe from the spirite of Christ and not from man Onely Christ is head of the Church Ephe. 4. 15 Also the Scriptures doe sufficientlie testifie that Christ alone is giuen to be head of the Church Paul vnto the Ephesians saith Christ is the head of the Church by whom all the members by order of assistance make increase of the bodie And vnto the Colossians Col. 2. 19. speaking of hypocrites They hould not saith he the head whereby all the bodie is knit together by synowes ioyntes And againe vnto the Ephesians Let vs therefore growe vp in him which is the head Ephe. 4. 15 namelie Christ So that euerie sense and mouing of the Church floweth from Christ alone not from anie mortall man But thou wilt obiect An obiection that Princes vndoubtedly cannot ingender ciuill vertues in the mindes of their people Wherefore the reason on both partes is a like The consideration of the Church and coÌmon weale is diuerse Yes verilie they can for that doth not excéede the power of nature For vertue springeth of frequented Actions So when as princes by lawes and edictes driue their subiects vnto actions they also driue them vnto vertues But the spirit of God and regeneration is not attained by manie actions but onelie by the blessings of God For these gifts of God flowe vnto the Church by ioyntes and synowes that is by preachers and ministers For their part is to teache the people to minister the Sacraments to excommunicate offenders and to reconcile the penitent For albeit that Christ is the onelie head of the Church yet doth he vse the ministerie of these men Whether in the Church may be an outward head that should gouerne the ministers The order instituted by Christ must not be changed Aristocratia 3 But thou wilt saie that although the inward senses and mouings of the Church be of Christ yet there maie be an outwarde head to rule ministers and to kéepe them all in their duetie There maie not be neither vndoubtedlie is it lawfull to change the order appointed by God For God would that in the Church there should be a gouernment of the best men that Bishops shoulde take the charge of all these things should choose Ministers yet so as the voyces of the people should not be excluded That Byshops are to choose ministers But euen as the Israelites cast awaie the gouernment of God that they might make themselues a king euen so they that would haue the Pope to be the Head of the Church haue cast awaie Christ the true head of the Church Paul vnto the Ephesians saieth Eph. 4 11. that Christ Gaue some to be Apostles some Prophets some Euangelists some Pastors some Teachers for edifying of the Church neither addeth he that he set one ouer al these persons Who commaÌded these men to alter this order Further when Matthias was to be substituted in the place of Iudas Acts. 1. 15. Acts. 6. 3. and when Deacons should be created the matter was referred not vnto the Pope but vnto the people Besides this That the Pope cannot be the vniuersall Byshop if the Pope were head of the Church he should be the bishop of bishops or the vniuersal bishop which thing no reason would beare But least that the Papists should thinke that there is smal weight in my words let them heare Gregorie the cheife of all Popes Arguments of Pope Gregorie touching this matter Hée in the fourth book of the register in the Epistles vnto Mauricius the Emperour vnto Constantia the Empresse vnto the Patriarch of Ierusalem Alexandria Antioch and vnto Iohn of Constantinople writeth at large of this matter I will comprise his arguments in as fewe words as I can There cannot saith he bée one head of the whole Church For if paraduenture that head should fall into anie heresie it would of necessitie bée that the whole Church should be corrupted And that the same head maie bée corrupted Nestorius and Macedonius may be a tryall who sometimes gouerned the Church of Constantinople The one of these affirmed distinct persons to be in Christ the other denied the holie Ghost to be God Furthermore if there might bée one onelie head of the Church he saith it would of necessitie be that the authoritie of all other Bishops should be deriued vnto him But that would be absurde Therefore Cyprian saith that there is one Bishopricke whereof
heades of the Church But Peter saie they died at Rome And Christ died at Ierusalem which is more We declared at the first that the Pope hath no word of God whereby hée should appoint his kingdom then that no one man can be ouerséer of the whole world lastlie if he might yet he ought not any more to be the Bishop of Rome than anie other Bishop Besides this the authoritie which they boast of either they haue it of God or of men if of God let them bring foorth some testimonie of the word of God that we maie beléeue But if they will saie of men yet men cannot nor ought not determine of the kingdome of God For that were to vsurpe vppon an other mans kingdome Neither doe we onelie shake off this power The elder Fathers shââ¦ned this power but also in a manner all the elder Fathers In the time of Cyprian there were such as woulde appeale out of Aphrica vnto Rome Of that matter Cyprian wrote vnto Cornelius Let causes be heard where they be committed There is one Bishopricke a part whereof is throughlie possessed by each one Apiarius the Priest being condemned of his owne bishoppes appealed to the bishop of Rome who commaunded that he should be wholie restored The councell of Carthage had decréed that if anie man had appealed beyond the sea he should be excommunicated And so the Bishops of Aphrica receiue not Apiarius answere that this is not lawful vnto the Romane Bishop Vnto theÌ was sent Potentinus a bishop The Pope once claimed not from Christ nor froÌ Peter but from the Councel of Nice The Aphricans demand froÌ whence the Pope chalengeth so great authoritie he aunswereth not of Christ not of Peter for as yet they became not so shamelesse but of the Synode of Nice The Aphricans desired the originall coppie The Pope made delaie for he had not what to shewe They send to Alexandria Constantinople and Antioch in the Libraries of which Cities they doubted not but that all decrées of the Nicene councell were extant But no such thing is there to be found Afterward the Pope by no verie faithful dealing instéede of the councell of Nice foisted in the councell of Sardis But the authoritie of that councel was ouer light Gregorie writeth that this title in in the councell of Chalcedon was tendered vnto Leo the Bishop of Rome but that hée would not accept the same But nowe as touching doctrine we shall find The Pope teacheth things contrary vnto Christ that the Pope doeth teach in a maner all things contrarie vnto Christ Iustification by workes inuocation of the dead maiming of the Sacraments praiers in a straunge and foraine language By these Argumentes which we haue spoken of is sufficientlie prooued that there is no head in the Church besides Christ Arguments of the aduersaries 9 Now will we weigh the foure strongest Arguments of our aduersaries what force they beare First they saie Christ went into heauen Acts. 1. 9. Christ went into heaueÌ therefore there is néede of an other visible head therefore the Church hath néed of a visible guide Further Christ loueth his Church therefore to the intent that the same might be the better gouerned he would haue it to be prouided for by one head For euen as the bodie cannot be gouerned without the soule Ephe. 5. 25. Christ loueth the Church therefore he would it to haue a head so neither the Church without a head Thirdlie they saie that the old Fathers had alwaies refuge to the Romane Church as vnto the head Lastlie they say The ministers be not equall among them selues Therefore least the matter should growe to a tumult one must be chosen who should be preferred among others and haue a preheminence of voice in councels Howe Christ remaineth with vs. As touching the first Argument Christ so went his way as he neuertheles remaineth perpetual lie in his Church not in bodie but in spirit grace and prouidence For so he promiseth Behold I am with you euen to the end of the world Mat. 28. 20. Mat. 18. 20. And whersoeuer two or three be gathered together in my name there am I. Wherfore Christ is alwaies with vs How Christ remaineth with vs. that is in our hearts Further he left his word from whence the forme of gouerning the Church must be sought But so thou wilt saie as he cannot be séene I grant it And your Pope also when is he seene of the Indians or Ethiopians But thou wilt saie The Pope hath his legates As though Christ hath not likewise his Legates To the second Argument Christ would haue the Church to be prouided for therefore he would haue one head therof The Argument foloweth not For the Church maie be otherwise prouided for Howe the Church is ruled prouided for The Romane and Athenian commoÌ weales were best administred and were most floorishing wheÌ they were ruled by Senatours Wherfore in the Church there maie be Aristocratia that all things be ordered and ruled in councels as in times past it was doone among the Apostles and in the auncient Church For what Cannot Heluetia be safe without a king Yet so strong are the Arguments of Pigghius although to himselfe hée maie séeme verie sharpe Thirdlie the auncient Bishops being wronged An argumeÌt taken of the Byshops appealing to Rome repaired alwaies vnto the Romane Church therefore it was the head I denie the Argument For in the common weale if perhappes a man receiue iniurie he flieth vnto some Senator whom he beléeueth to be a good man shall it therefore follow that the same Senatour is the head of the common weale In those dayes the Romane Bishop was more holie more learned and lesse corrupt than others hée was of great authoritie and in great place about the Emperour therefore Athanasius Chrysostome and others went vnto him for refuge not that they tooke him for the head of the Church And in that gouernment of the foure Patriarches of which we haue spoken before the west part did not so commit it selfe vnto the Romane Bishop as vnto their head but tooke his aduice in doubtfull causes and afterward referred the matter vnto a councell An argumeÌt taken from the vneuennesse of ministers 10 Vnto the fourth Ministers be not al equall among themselues Therefore least there might be a confusion of all things it were necessarie there should be one head I aunswere He that is better learned more spirituall Dignitie must not be tyed to Chayers It must be giuen to doctrine holinesse let him be aboue the rest So was there verie much ascribed to Athanasius and Basil not for the worthinesse of the seat but for doctrine and holinesse sake Manie in all parts for learning sake tooke counsell of Augustine but the posteritie bound al the dignities vnto certaine chaiers namelie of Alexandria Constantinople Antioch and Rome because they hoped that in these seates there
the comming of Christ was promised vnder oblations of lykenesses In the passion of Christ it was giuen according to the trueth it selfe after the ascension of Christ it is celebrated by a sacrament of remembraunce The same father in the 26. Treatise vppon Iohn Those Sacramentes were in signes differing from ours but in the matter which is signifyed they be equall Straightway he saith therefore there was the selfe same meate and the selfe same drinke howbeit to them that vnderstoode and beléeued but to them which vnderstood it not it was but onely Manna and the other but onely water but to him that beléeued it was the selfe same thing that it is now For then Christ was to come now he is come was to come and is come be diuers words but one and the same Christ And Bertramus among the later men thus writeth But that our fathers did eate the selfe same spirituall meate 1. Cor. 15. 3 and drinke the selfe same spirituall drinke Saint Paul affirmeth Perhaps thou demaundest which selfe same Euen the very same which at this day the faithfull people doe eate and drinke in the Church For we must not thinke that there is a difference séeing that he is one the very same Christ which with his flesh fedde the people and with his bloud gaue them drinke when they were in the desert in the clowd and were baptised in the sea and which now in the Church féedeth and giueth drinke vnto the beléeuing people with the bread of his body and water of his bloud And straightway againe the same father A maruell doubtlesse incomprehensible and inestimable he had not as yet taken the manhood vppon him he had not as yet tasted of death for the saluation of the world he had not as yet redéemed vs with his bloud and yet euen now our fathers in the desert did eate his body drinke his bloud by a spirituall foode and an inuisible drinke as the Apostle beareth witnesse saying The selfe same spirituall meate And againe For euen he also which by his omnipotent power in the Church spiritually conuerteth the bread and wine into the flesh of his owne body and into the water of his owne bloud euen he then inuisibly wrought the Manna which was giuen from heauen to be his owne body and the water which was powred from heauen to be his owne bloud 10 We sée moreouer in the sacrament of Baptisme that the holy Ghost and remission of sinnes is giuen yet doe we not saie that these things lie hidden in the waters yea and we put on Christ Gal. 3. 27. yet doeth not any man say that water is transubstantiated Christ they say is after one sort in the Eucharist An obiection and after another sort in Baptisme As touching the manner An answere I confesse that in Baptisme Christ is giuen as a mediatour Howe Christ is giuen in Baptisme and in the Eucharist as a reconciler and to speake more properly as a regeneratour but in this he is distributed vnto vs as a meate and nourishment Furthermore with this their Transubstantiation they come néere vnto a figure of the Marcionits for they say It séemes to bée bread and is not The error of the Marcionites The verie which thing Marcion affirmed of the flesh and bodie of Christ that it was not true flesh Christ is no iugler but that it onelie appeareth to be flesh Christ is no iugler neither doeth he delude our senses but by the senses he prooued the Resurrection Feele saieth he and see Luk. 24. 39. for a spirit hath no flesh and bones The Apostles might haue said we feele we sée it appeareth to be flesh and bodie but it is not and in vaine had that proofe bin whereby Christ prooued that he was not a phantasticall bodie but that he had a true bodie And that he had receiued his owne proper bodie and not an other he shewed by the wounds of the nailes Ib. ver 40. and by the gap that was in his side Which Argument of his if place should be giuen to these iugling knacks it would be of no force Yea and the Fathers argue from the properties and accidentes of mans nature to wit that Christ was verie man because he hungred slept woondred and sorrowed and wept and suffered which Arguments are of none effect if by these accidentes the substance be not truely shewed so as it shoulde not be lawfull to saie it is of the selfe same fashion it hath the same taste the same colour which bread is woont to haue therefore it is verie bread For Heretickes will confesse that Christ hungred slept woondred wept suffered but when thou shalt thereof inferre therefore he was verie man they wil denie the consequence For they will say that these properties might haue place in Christ although the substance of them namely the nature of man be not present They say as touching the Argument of Marcion An obiection that it may be he tooke the occasion of his errour out of the Gospell where it is written of Christ that he walked drie foote vpon the water that he was lifted vp into heauen Mat. 14. 25. Acts. 1. 9. Luk. 4. 30. and that hee escaped out of the handes of the Iewes so as they sawe him not and yet that these things ought not to bée taken out of the Gospell by reason of the daunger of the Marcionits An answere Whereunto we answere that in the Gospels it is described that Christ once or twise did these myracles but ye appoint that these things be perpetuall And that which is in the Scriptures wee our selues haue not feigned therefore wée ought not to be accused of giuing occasion Howbeit in those things which we haue deuised which we doe expound and teach as doctrine without the expresse word of God we must beware least we set open a windowe to Heretikes The nature of a sacrament 11 Furthermore the nature of a sacrament is corrupted of which Augustine vpon Iohn saieth The woorde commeth vnto the element and it is made a sacrament The nature thereof is that it should be made of these two things but as these men appoint the elements that is the bread and wine are taken awaie And then Augustine ought not to haue said The worde commeth vnto the element What analogie there is of the signes to the things in this sacrament but It taketh awaie the element And while they remooue the natures of the elements the proportion of the significatioÌ perisheth Wherefore the bread signifieth the bodie of Christ because it nourisheth streÌgtheneth and sustaineth which we cannot attribute vnto accidents It is also a signification of many graines gathered in one which representeth the mysticall bodie and that cannot be attributed vnto accidents Wherfore Paul said 1. Co. 10. 17 We that are manie are one bread and one bodie because we are partakers of one bread Tit. 3.
is said This is my bodie The Bishop of Rochester saieth in these propositions that when any thing is changed into an other thing it is not absurde that that which was before shoulde bee shewed And so he admitteth that in This is my bodie should be shewed the bread which was before and is chaunged into the bodie of Christ whyle those wordes be spoken But then saie I the proposition is not well framed For it should haue bin said This is made my bodie or This is turned into my bodie otherwise being said This is my bodie the spéech is vnproper 14 They which say that the body of Christ is really ioyned with the signes the natures I meane of bread and wine being preserued doe thus argue against Transubstantiation What dignitie or priuiledge haue Accidentes that they can be ioyned with the body of Christ which ought to be denyed to the substance and nature of bread And if the Accidentes can remaine why shall not also the substance of bread be retained Yea rather many of the fathers suppose that this may be doone And thence they take a similitude that the humane and diuine natures in Christ doe verily remaine and so remaine as one passeth not into another whose opinions we will bring in when time shall serue They fall also into an other absurditie for while they breake the Sacrament What is broken in the sacrament we demaund of them what they break there Here they stagger and some haue said as testifyeth the maister of the sentences in the 4. booke that the essence or substance of the body of Christ is broken but this opinion is by him confuted because the body of Christ is immortall and therefore it is not subiect to these things and to new chaunces There were others which said that the same is no true breaking but that it onely appeareth to be and so séemeth vnto our senses And this is also reiected least we should establish here a perpetuall illusion At length they say that they be accidents which be broken And when as they after a sort appoint a Mathematicall quantitie that is a quantitie separated from matter which if it be diuided it is onely doone by the power of the minde and by the promptnesse of the vnderstanding These men also diuide in very déede so as the partes diuided may most manifestly be séene In Ieremy we reade Iere. 11. â9 Let vs cast wood vppon his bread which place is cited by Tertullian and Lactantius and they interpret that this was spoken of putting the wood of the crosse into the body of Christ and they will that mention was made of bread because through bread Christ was to giue himselfe vnto vs. And that which the Prophet speaketh The Transubstantiators take away the figure of the old Testament they will haue to be a figure of the bread of the Sacrament which séeing these men take away and onely leaue a figure vnto vs they affirme a figure of a figure so as no sound thing remaineth The very which may be gathered by that which is oftentimes alledged by the fathers as concerning Melchizedeck Gen. 14. 18 who brought the bread and the wine the figure whereof is not by these men obserued when they remooue away the bread and the wine And the selfe same thing followeth as touching the Shewbread 15 Againe we will bring a reason taken froÌ baptisme A little before we argued from thence that for the trueth of that Sacrament it was not requisite that water should be transubstantiated now we reason from the men themselues which be baptised The change of vs in Baptisme of whom the Scripture plainely saith that they lay away the olde man and are againe begotten and yet is there no Transubstantiation imagined in them neuerthelesse generation is described to be a motion whereby a new substance is gotten Iohn 3. 5. Wherefore it is no maruell that Nichodemus tooke offence at the wordes of the Lord wherein it was shewed him that he should be borne againe For while he thought with himselfe that a new generation was preached vnto man already brought foorth and well in yeares he stood in a doubt But and if we interpret that generation to be new and the natiuitie to be spiritual why doe we not vouchsafe to doe the same in the Eucharist And why doe we not transferre all thinges vnto spirituall eating I gladly ioyne together these two Sacramentes Baptisme and the Eucharist because Paul in the 1. Verse 13. Epistle to the Corinthians the 12. Chap. knitteth them together How Paul knitteth together the two Sacraments when he saith All wee by one spirit are baptised into one body and haue bin all made to drinke with one spirit Neither is it of any force if thou shalt say that we be baptised into one body to wit the mysticall body because from the mysticall body Christ is not absent séeing he is the head thereof And else where Paul most plainely saith Gal. 3. 27. that We in baptisme put on Christ We see moreouer that the holy writers bring out of the 6. Chapter of Iohn many thinges as touching the Sacrament of the Eucharist Yea rather there is none of the fathers which in the interpreting of that chapter writeth not pleÌtifully of the Eucharist Whereupon we conclude a reason after this manner Whether the words in the 5. of Iohn belong to the Eucharist The thinges which be there spoken either serue vnto this sacrament or they serue not if they belong not vnto this what néede is there to rite them or by those places to dispute of the Eucharist But if they haue respect vnto this séeing there is onely a spirituall eating that is by faith whereby is receaued the true body and bloud of Christ what néede is there to bring in an other new receauing and to imagin a carnal eating whereby the same thing should be receaued againe For if we graunt that there commeth some godly and faithfull man then these men shall be constrained to admit that twise he dooth receaue the body of Christ First by a spirituall eating through faith afterward by their carnall eating which they haue neuer prooued And thus thou séest that these men doe stop vp their owne way so as they cannot truely cite those testimonies which are vppon the 6. Chapter of Iohn And while they affirme TransubstaÌtiation they are found to be in the same error that the Capernaites were The error of the Capernaââ¦s Euen they also reuolued in their mind I know not what corporal eating of the flesh of Christ from which cogitation Christ straight way reuoked them when he said Ioh. 6. ver 36. that his wordes were spirit and life and that the flesh profiteth nothing And he obiected vnto them the memory of his ascension into heauen saying Verse 62. What if ye see the sonne of man ascend into heauen where he was at the first But these men say
bodie is so called bicause it is now immortall with the spirit And a little after Therefore as a naturall bodie is not a soule but a bodie so we must thinke that a spirituall bodie is not a spirit but a bodie And in his treatise De ciuitate Dei the 13 booke and the 20. chapter Howbeit bicause it shall be subdued to the spirit by an excellent and woonderfull easinesse of obeieng euen to the accomplishing of the most assured will of immortalitie which cannot be dissolued And a litle after Euen as the spirit which serueth the flesh is not amisse called carnall so the flesh seruing the spirit is called spirituall not that it is changed into the spirit You heare what things are spoken of a spirituall bodie among the which we find not that it is in diuers places at one time For it is euen as repugnant to the nature of a bodie to be in diuers places at once as it is to be no bodie D. Tresham I denie your minor proposition that it is as repugnant to the nature of a bodie to be conuersant in manie places at once as it is to be no bodie for this latter includeth contradiction of the verie termes and so dooth not the former And more readilie may this be doone in a bodie which hath the properties of a glorious bodie D. Martyr I will prooue anon that it is against the bodie of Christ being definit and circumscribed by limits of place and a creature to be in manie places at once But as touching the glorie which he now hath I saie I doo not exclude the gifts of glorie Howbeit I will prosecute the argument in hand to wit that Augustine ment not that the soule of Christ was at one time both in hell and in heauen with the théefe much lesse therefore shall this be granted to the bodie which is not attributed to the soule Neither in that treatise dooth Augustine exclude the Eucharist D. Tresham Yes verelie he did exclude it D. Martyr Augustine made mention there of the Eucharist but intended a far other matter than to exclude the same from the truth determined For he disputed of the holie Ghost how he being one distributeth his gifts without diuision of himselfe that he maie adorne with his graces the mysticall bodie of the church which mysticall bodie of Christ he saith is set foorth in our sacrifice D. Tresham What if Augustine denie that the soule of Christ cannot be in diuers places therefore can it not be Shall the saieng of Augustine diminish the power of God that it shall not doo as it will No it shall not diminish it D. Martyr It shall now suffice at this present that we haue séene Augustines iudgement that Christ as touching his humanitie bicause of the quantitie of a true bodie is in heauen but as touching his diuinitie euerie where D. Tresham When Augustine saith Christ in that respect that he is man is in heauen vnderstandeth that to be true as touching visible forme for so he expoundeth himselfe in that place saieng If he shall come according to that voice of the angell euen in such wise as hée was séene go into heauen that is to vse his owne words in the same forme of flesh according to this forme he saith he must not be thought to be dispersed euerie where Afterward Augustine maketh mention there of our sacrifice And at that time no man doubted of the truth of the sacrament D. Martyr You shall neuer find there out of Augustine that the bodie of Christ by an inuisible forme may be in manie places at once this is of your owne deuise And I haue now shewed to what end he made mention there of the Eucharist Moreouer we doo not dispute here of the truth of the sacrament which we all confesse but we contend as touching the maner how Christ is there And I will shew most assuredlie that it is in God alone to be in manie places and euerie where at once and that it must not be granted vnto creatures For by this reason dooth Didymus in his first booke De spiritu sancto prooue the Godhead of the holie Ghost It is onelie God that can be in manie places at once bicause he was able to be in many places at one time which can be no condition of anie creature And the verie selfe-same reason made Basil in his booke De spiritu sancto chapter 22. Wherefore if these mens arguments should be of anie strength it would be concluded that the humane nature in Christ is the diuine nature séeing it is affirmed of you to be in manie places at once and so all things would be confounded But now let vs heare their words Didymus saith thus The holie Ghost himselfe if he were one of the creatures he should at the least-wise haue a substance circumscriptible or within limitation euen as haue all things that be made For albeit that the inuisible creatures are not limited within place and bounds yet are they bounded by the propertie of their substance But the holie Ghost sith he is in manie places hath no limited substance For Iesus sending foorth the Preachers of his doctrine replenished them with the spirit and breathing vpon them Receiue ye saith he the holie Ghost Iohn 20 22. and go yee foorth and teach all nations not as though he sent them all to euerie nation Neither in verie déed did the apostles trauell togither vnto all nations but some into Asia some into Scythia and others were dispersed into other nations according to the dispensation of that holie spirit which they had After what maner also we haue heard the Lord saie I am with you euen vntill the end of the world Héerewith all likewise agréeth that saieng Act. 1. 8. Ye shall receiue power of the holie Ghost when hee shall come on you and ye shall be witnesses vnto me both in Ierusalem and in all Iudaea and in Samaria and vnto the vttermost ends of the earth Now then if these apostles for the testimonie of the Lord being placed in the vttermost confines of the earth were distant in most far places one from an other yet that the holie Ghost dwelled in them hauing a substance which cannot be bounded or limited The angels cannot be in manie places at once it is an euident token that the power of angels is far other than this is séeing for example sake the angell which was present with the apostle when hée praied in Asia could not at the selfe-same time be present with others which were placed in other parts of the world But the holie Ghost not onelie is at hand with them which are separated one from an other but also remaineth an assistant to all particular angels principalities thrones dominations and as he sanctifieth men so is he of an other nature than men be of Basil in his booke De spiritu sancto the 22. chapter Therefore as touching the holie Ghost whom the world cannot
saie that his toong or parchment or inke or the signifieng sounds vttered with the toong or figures of letters written vpon little skins is the bodie and bloud of Christ but that onelie which we doo rightlie receiue being made of the fruits of the earth and consecrated by mysticall praiers Héere likewise you heare that that which we receiue of the fruits of the earth is called the Lords bodie Wherevpon it followeth that bread dooth there remaine vnlesse you will saie that the earth dooth bring foorth accidents And whereas you obiect that the worke of God and the holy Ghost are requisit for the making of this a sacrament I grant it but that the signification of the bodie of Christ is not so great a matter as it hath néed of those things that doo I denie You haue oftentimes alreadie heard that we doo not héere set downe a common or vulgar signification but a sacramentall mightie and effectuall signification whereby the beléeuers are incorporated into Christ D. Chadse But the bread by his substance nourisheth therefore it may signifie the bodie of Christ before consecration also it is gathered and consisteth of manie praiers before consecration therefore it may signifie the vnion of the church Howbeit it is none of Augustines mind that anie thing should be called the bodie and bloud of Christ bicause of the signification but only in this respect that being taken out of the fruits of the earth and consecrated by mysticall praier we receiue it vnto saluation Neither meaneth he that the bread taken from the fruits of the earth dooth so remaine but after such a sort as Ambrose saith that that which nature hath made is by blessing changed D. Martyr As touching the first you cannot in verie déed saie of water that wheresoeuer it is euen out of baptisme it signifieth the washing of the soule But dooth it therefore followe that that signification is sacramentall when the word of the Lord is absent nor yet the institution of Christ is exercised therein We speake here as we haue often said alreadie of the power and effectuall signification of sacraments the which we obteine by the word and institution of God As touching the other Augustine said most plainelie that by those thrée that is to wit by the toong parchements that is to saie writings and by the sacrament the bodie of Christ is signified and then followeth that which you saie to wit that it is receiued to saluation And of the change that is to saie the casting awaie of that substance that is gathered of the fruits of the earth there is no mention at all how Ambrose must be vnderstood I haue declared before D. Chadse Chrysostome in the 45. homilie vpon Iohn in the sixt chapter thus writeth This bloud being shed ouerflowed all the world whereof Paule vnto the Hebrues pronounced manie things This bloud purged the secret and holie places But and if the figure thereof was of so great force in the temple of the Hebrues and when it was sprinkled vpon the doore posts in the midst of Aegypt of much more force was the truth it selfe This bloud signified a golden altar without this the high priest durst not enter into the innermost places This bloud made the priests This bloud in a figure purged sinnes In the which figure if it were of so great force if death so feared the shadowe how greatlie I beséech you will it be afraid of the truth c. He compareth the sacraments of the old testament with the sacraments of the new testament as one may saie the shadowe and figure with the truth and he nameth our mysteries ââ¦nderfull and dreadfull If then as he saith the old fathers had the shadowes and we therââ¦l it followeth in the sacrament of the Eucharist that the verie bodie of Christ is presentâ otherwise if we should haue himselfe thereby signification onelie there is no more to be attributed vnto our sacraments than to the sacraments of the old lawe D. Martyr Whereas Chrysostome saith that the sacraments of the old fathers being compared vnto ours be shadowes and figures I grant the same Howbeit it must be so vnderstood that shadowes and figures were there because the comming of Christ was as yet expected Againe the significations of those sacraments were more obscure both which is agréeable vnto figures and shadowes for figures did foreshew Christ to come and shadowes doo want plentie of light By these kind of meanes was Christ signified in the sacraments of the old fathers and by faith was giuen to be receiued of the beléeuers But now to vs in the new sacraments he is offered as he that is alredie come that hath performed his promises and that is crucified for vs in verie déed Besides the words which we haue in our sacraments be far more cleare and plaine than were the words of the old sacraments in the lawe But you vnderstand this word truth as though it should signifie reall presence and therefore you infer that the bodie of Christ is present with vs reallie corporallie and substantiallie But the fathers vnderstand truth to be in our sacraments if they be compared to the sacraments of the old fathers bicause they represent the thing that is now performed euen that the kingdome of heauen is opened and that the benefit of our redemption is with all euidence and assurednesse alreadie finished and made perfect and bestowed on vs as if were before the eies of faith D. Chadse Yea but the sacraments of the old fathers were euen as much true as ours be the selfe-same power was in them that is in ours Those fathers as well beléeued that Christ would come as we that he is come For by the testimonie of Paule all our fathers droonke of the selfe-same spirituall rocke and did eat the selfe-same spirituall meat 1 Co. 10 4. D. Martyr True it is that the old fathers as touching the thing it selfe had the selfe-same sacraments that we haue which were signes that Christ should come and offered him vnto the beléeuers but the difference as I said was that Christ hath now performed indéed the price of our saluation but then he was afterward to performe the same And a thing that is alreadie done if it be compared euen to it selfe which shall afterward be doone both it is more assured and may be called a truth but it is said to haue a shadowe and a figure when it is not yet performed Ouer this no man doubteth but that that Christ and his death is expressed vnto vs with more plaine and euident words By these things you may gather that as Paule testifieth we as touching the substance haue the selfe-same sacraments with the old fathers but that there be manie differences also betwéene them as touching the thing present which I haue rehearsed D. Chadse The sacraments of the fathers promised but grace ours giue the same which things you in your lectures did interpret They signifie grace giuen Wherefore if those
you that you will finish that which you haue begunne and that you will bring foorth and publish that which you are traueling in Now it remaineth that I should aunswere vnto those thinges which you demaund as touching our communion with Christ And omitting that which Iohn a Lasco a famous man both in learning and godlinesse hath iudged of this matter I will onelie in fewe wordes open what is my faith as touching this mysterie For I indeuour to be short especiallie sith such is your learning and sharpnesse of wit as you can by fewe wordes vnderstand what my meaning is Of our communioÌ or coniunction with Christ Hebr. 2. 14. Somewhat is the coniunction of one and the same nature which we haue common with Christ from his incarnation For it is mentioned in the second Chapter to the Hebrues where it is thus written Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and bloud he also himselfe tooke part with them Yet neuerthelesse it is not proper vnto the Christians for the Turkes and Iewes A certaine coniunction with Christ common to all men in generall and as manie as be comprehended among the number of men are on this wise ioyned with Christ Wherefore it behooueth that there come an other likenesse whereby the nature of euerie Christian as touching soule bodie and bloud be ioyned vnto Christ and that is it when by the helpe and indowment of Christes benefites we are renued vnto all thinges and being adorned with diuine properties are made holie and iust and through the giftes of God doe claime vnto our selues the gift of immortalitie and of eternall glorie Now then we consist no more of our weake and féeble flesh nor or faultie and corrupt bloud neither of an vnsauourie and sicklie soule but we are clothed with the flesh of Christ we are watered with the bloud of Christ we liue are mooued by the soule of Christ not that we haue as touching nature cast away our flesh bloud and soule but because we by the heauenly giftes which through beléeuing we haue obtained doe beginne while we liue here to haue the same nature which by the benefit of the first creation was all one in nature with that which Christ in his byrth tooke of the Virgin adorned and dailie more and more restored and finallie made perfect when we shall be come to the blessed resurrection Ye haue therefore my singular good brother in fewe wordes comprehended the beginning and end of our communion or coniunction with Christ Then doe wee beginne after some sort to be like vnto him when we be borne men and finallie when by the faith of Christ we are restored vnto his merites giftes benefites and properties which as we at our conuersion beginne to obtaine so shall we not haue it fullie perfect before we be aduaunced vnto the eternall life by the blessed resurrection Howbeit betwéene the beginning and end of this communion we must néedes graunt and beléeue that there is a meane which is secret and much lesse perceaued than those two extreme communions rehearsed yet neuerthelesse it is perceiued if with a faithfull attention we consider the holie scriptures For those vndoubtedlie shewe that so manie of vs as beléeue are the members of Christ and haue in common one head namelie Christ so ioyned to euerie one of vs as from thence by ioynts and knittinges together as is said vnto the Colossians and Ephesians we drawe the spirit Col. 2 19. Ephe. 4. 16. heauenlie life and all the properties and vertues of God and of Christ Therefore betwéene the first coniunction which I name to be of nature and the latter which I may iustlie say is of likenesse or similitude I put this meane the which may be called a coniunction of vnion or of secret mysterie thereby doubtlesse we are ioyned to Christ as to our head and are flesh of his flesh and bones of his bones séeing in that we beléeue we are all wholie quickened in him wée are increased and ioyned together with other members And of this inward coniunction aswell Baptisme as the Supper of the Lorde be most assured and firme tokens For straightwayes so soone as we beléeue in Christ we are made partakers of this communion and for because that in a profitable receiuing of the sacraments faith must be had therefore by it is the same coniunction both confirmed and increased while we doe vse the sacraments Wherefore through faith we are lifted vp from the degrée of nature so as we be ioined vnto Christ as members to their heade Furthermore from the immortall and heauenly heade which we doe nowe in verie déede possesse through faith are deriued vnto vs sundrie giftes heauenly benefites and diuine properties These are the things most déere brother which I thought to shewe as touching the coniunction we haue with Christ yet doe I not so vnderstand that meane coÌiunction as though I should thinke that the very substance of the flesh bloud of Christ is mingled indéed with the substances of the flesh and bloud of euerie one of vs or as if the body of Christ were really as I may say diuided among al men but I beléeue a certaine secret mystical communion wherby he is truely become our heade as the holy scriptures doe testifie Whereof it comes that I will not so easilie subscribe to Cyrill which affirmed such a communion as thereby euen the substance of the flesh bloud of Christ first is ioyned to the blessing for so he calleth the holie breade and then that it is also mingled by the meate with the flesh bloud of the communicants You sée therefore what my iudgement is of this matter I beléeue that there be thrée degrees of our communion with Christ and doe perceiue that the same meane secrete mysticall degree is expressed in the holy scriptures vnder the metaphor of members and the head of the husband and of the wife And euen as the substaÌce it selfe of the head is not mingled with the substance of the foote or hand although it be knit and ioyned vnto them by most straite knots Againe as the substance of the bodie of the husbande groweth not vp vnto one and the same bodie with the wife although by a singular bonde it be coupled together with it so are we by a woonderfull and inward societie ioyned with the bodie and blould of Christ although that our substances of ech part remaine vnmingled But now sir I see that I haue discoursed more at large with you than was conuenient your learning being considered wherefore if I haue vsed ouer many words pardon me according to your curtisie Betweene our two opinions there is but a little or no difference at all I beseech Christ that he will bring into his Churches concorde where yet there is none and that where it is he will vouchsafe to nourish and increase it Fare you wel and loue me as you doe I pray you in my name
is more to be reprooued that hath ill friends than he which hath corrupt Children 1 148 b Not all a mans Children be his heires 3 81 b The lacke or losse of them an hinderance vnto felicitie and why 1 148 b 149 a Three sorts of Children legitimate and not naturall naturall and not legitimate legitimate and naturall 2 476 b Whether the Children of Esau were legitimate or no 2 436 b Of Godlie Parents the Children haue some holinesse 2 367 a Of their imitating 4 124 a Children of the prophets and why so called 4 6 b They that abounde in good Children are gratefull to the citie and honoured of others examples 1 148 a The Children of the elect reckoned among the beléeuers 2 234. Some belong not to predestination 2 233b 238 b 239 a They be holie as touching ciuill action and howe that is ment 2 238a They may belong to perdition 4 117 b 118 a ¶ Looke Holinesse and Infants Choise Whether there can bee a Choise made in euill 2 295b Two kinds the one common the other proper 2 294 a Nor frée in all things 3 201 a In what it may take place 3 166 b Reasons proouing that it is not opinion 2 296a The Sâoâks assured it to be an opinion Sumooned 2 294 b Whether it be of that which is pleasant and vnpleasant 2 295 a The same consideration is not of Gods Choise that is of mans choise 3 17a Euerie Choise is not alwayes an aduersarie to euerie desire 2 â95 a What Choise is offered to young-men as the Pythagorians fay and of the Choise of Paris 2 295 b The making of Choise is not subiect to fortune 2 294 a That no kind of opinion is all one therwith 2 297 a The place which it hath in the minde 2 295 a Of thrée things that want the making thereof 2 294 a It concerneth those thinges that are in our power 2 296a Whether children and brute beastes be without it 2 294 a It is exercised about that which is good and that which is euill 2 295 b An order where by the definition thereof is found out 2 294 b It is most proper to vertue prooued 2 293 b That it and desire be diuerse prooued 2 294 b Maners are more iudged thereby than by actions 2 293 b A sounde Choise is euer more against an euill desire 2 295 a It is of those things that belong vnto the end 2 296a Frée placed in the will but rooted in the reason 2 252 b It pertaineth not to things vnprofitable 2 296 a Our will hath an affinitie with Choise yet is it not choise 2 295 b 296 a ¶ Looke Election and VVill. Choler The abundance of Choler in the tonââ¦e is the cause that all things séeme bitter 1 39 a ¶ Looke Humors Christ An interpretation of the name Christ 2 605b 615 a Howe it is meant that his horne shal be âealâed and when 2 597 a Of his superabundant loue towardes vs. 2 610 a What his burial doth teach vs. 2 610 b 621a 608 ab Al things concerning him were certeinly determined before hand 3 6 b 7 a He tooke humane nature vpon him fréely 3 19 a 1 117 b How the fathers coulde eate him he being not then borne 2 587 b Of the vnion of his two natures 4 189b 190 a 1 115ab 2 614 a 600 b 340. 3 358 ab The reuealing of him is not commoÌ to all 3 27 b The first effect of predestination 3 25 b A creature 2 616 b 335 b After what manner we shoulde worship his flesh 4 177 b Whether his body be more worthie thaÌ his word 4 214 a Painted out by the Euangelists Apostles 2 353 b The foundation of the church 4 83 b Painted with Asses eares in despite 2 341 b Maintained by holy women 4 29 a Remaineth with vs though he be ascended 4 39 b 40 a CoÌmunicateth his things with vs. 4 83 b In him only death without sin 2 244 a How all creatures did him seruice 2 244 a In what respect he is compared with Melchisedech 1 102 a That his soule procéeded not from the virgin by propagatioÌ 2 244 b How with his body he could beare his own bodie 4 157 b 177 a How he is saide to be annoynted sith he was not annoynted 606 b Why God woulde haue his death to be the only meanes of mans saluation 2 619 b Why he is called the end of the law how 2 580 ab Of his image in what respects it may and may not be made 2 340 b In what respect he is not the cause of predestination 3 19 a The old fathers in the lawe called vpon him 2 582 a Peculiar testimonies of him his righteousnesse 2 581 a Of his reall presence in the Eucharist 4 144. 145. 146. His crosse death 2 619 a How he suffereth in his members 2 608 b Why his flesh is called sin 2 609 a A paterne of a holy vpright life 2 617 a Whether his body be euerywhere 4 189b His humanity prooued 4 153 b 3 314 b 315a How he is present with vs till the ende of the world 4 186 b How it is ment that he maketh intercession for vs. 3 308 b 307 a What we must call to mind in thinking of his death 2 607 b 608 ab What body he had after his resurrection 4 186 ab 1 113 b 3 362 b 2 639 ab Two things to be noted in his death 2 617 b How he is euerie day crucified 4 222 a Whether he may be said to be sacrificed in the masse 4 221 b He had natural motions 2 571 b Mediation in the legue made betwéene God and man 2 583 a His death was effectual euen before it was performed 4 104 ab Prophesies touching his kingdome metaphoricall 3 397 a Of his descending into hell 3 374. 375. 344 a The place whither he ascended 3 370 b The error of the millenarii touching his latter comming 3 358 a In what respects he may be called a plague or destruction 3 355 a The true arke and propitiatorie 3 306 a Diuerse wayes testified in old time 2 581 ab What he did in a case of contumely 2 53â b The Pelagians make his death of none effect howe 2 299 b His natiuitie and the fruites of the same 2 617a His diuinitie prooued against the Arrians 1 101 ab 102 ab 2 603a b The Nestorian heresie which separated his diuine humane nature asunder 2 340. Onely he is head of the Church 4 36 a 2 632a b Whether the old Iewes beheld him in their sacrifices 2 582 a After what manner he dissembleth 2 541 b He and Ieptha compared 2 523 b Howe Hylarie speaketh of his body 3 297 b How it is meant that hee grew in fauour with God 2 571 b Two sorts of ministeries in him as he is Priest 3 307 b He liued at the charges of the godly 4 29 b A
of the simple that they differ one from another and euerie one from the truth and for this cause ye forbid men to read them at all vnles they be translated by your selues We grant indeed that our translations differ in words but verie seldome in sense if at anie time in sense yet neuer in matter of great importance As for differing in words we prooue that there was neuer yet anie mortall men two three or mo that without an apparent miracle could speake write and interpret one and the selfe-same thing after one and the selfe-same maner with the verie same words Which interpretors notwithstanding whilest they keepe the true sense are not to be condemned though they varie in words wherefore to saie the verie truth the difference of our translations is rather in sound of words than in sense or meaning And where there be anie alterations they be seldome anie corrections but explications But put the case there be some few escapes of small weight in some of the first editions perhaps some few in the latter by reason of mistaking some Greeke or Hebrue or Syrian word or phrase shall this make the word of God to be of none effect Shall the people for this cause not once looke into the whole scripture for their owne comfort and edification Shall the few small faults of an interpretor forbid a wounded conscience to seeke a medicine for his maladie and a salue for his sore Shall men be denied the vse of all vessels gold and siluer if anie cracke or flawe happen vnto them Shall euerie pretious iewell that is not adorned with the finest gold and with the best foiles be cast awaie Shall euerie good land that hath a bauke or bunch be left vnmanured Shall euerie good man that is able to do seruice in the Common-weale be abandoned for committing one or two small offenses If we see no pretious thing in the world that for anie accidentall blemish is contemned cast awaie shall the rich diamond of the word of God be kept from the vse of Christians bicause of some few words misconstrued by some vnaduised men Will ye denie the new testament latelie translated by your Iesuits into English to all the English pretended Catholiks bicause some certeine words be misinterpreted therein some childishlie affectate some in the verie sense it selfe corrupted You should haue dealt more charitablie with vs and not so vniustlie haue accused all our translations but especiallie if you had spied anie thing amisse in the first Editions which are mended in the latter you should not so maliciouslie haue laid those things to our charge and with more trauell you should haue learned the truth of the Greeke before you had obiected vnto vs such things as now turne to your owne shame and reproofe I thought to haue spoken somewhat at large in the defense of our translations but sith that learned Diuine Master D. Fulke whose great labour and diligence in the church I can neuer sufficientlie commend hath so stronglie and so latelie confuted all the causis obiected against the same as all you that be the aduersaries shall neuer be able by all your replies to shake the credit of that booke much lesse to conuince or disprooue it therefore I passe it ouer with a word or two assuring you that we haue doone nothing parciallie but so far as God hath lent vs his talent we haue searched out both the Latine and Greeke in all those places wherein might be anie mistrust of corruption and wrong interpretation Againe if we according to the Greeke copies haue translated otherwise than your Latine translations will beare so long as the same agreeth with the rest of the doctrine of the holie scriptures it is warrant enough for vs to vse the same and too great rashnesse of you to denie it Furthermore we confesse that we in our translations are not so precise but that where the words of the Greeke or Hebrue or Latine be so difficult as they cannot be liuelie expressed word for word especiallie in the English toong we haue sometimes added a necessarie word by the sense of the place to be vnderstood which you haue not doone in your translation of the new testament and therefore haue you left such vnperfect sentences and haue giuen such absurd termes as euerie good man dooth pitie and lament your great fruitlesse labour Furthermore it may be that we haue not in euerie word kept the proper English of the Greeke or Hebrue as neither yee haue doone altogither out of the vulgar Latine in your translation yet neuerthelesse will the circumstances alwaies beare the same and so can it not be iustlie said that we haue anie waie altered the sense But now would I not haue you thinke that we haue spoken this as though the doctrine which we teach cannot be defended vnlesse our translations be iustified at large For our doctrine is vnreproouable and that which we defend is sound and the verie same that Christ left in his word that the apostles and all the fathers taught in the primitiue church that we haue receiued from them by the testimonie of their owne writings and haue manie times sealed with our owne bloud finallie that we haue confirmed with innumerable books and writings and that we will still stedfastlie defend so long as we haue breath in our bodie Wherevpon also we conclude that since all our translations are consonant to this doctrine consonant to the originall copies of the Greeke and Hebrue and consonant to that which the apostles and fathers taught in the primitiue church they be sufficientlie authorised of themselues without receiuing anie further defense from vs. But what doo ye of the Seminarie of Rhemes thinke if we should receiue into our church the translation which ye your selues latelie made simplie I meane and nakedlie without anie of your corrupt notes and blasphemous glosses would not the verie same confirme all our opinions in the cheefest matters as much in a maner as our owne translations For it is not your phantasticall new deuised termes that can make Christs true religion contrarie to it selfe that can alter the sense and meaning of the holie Ghost that can either infeeble our true grounded positions or strengthen your false forged obiections Neither can the name of Chalice in steed of Cup turne our Communion into your Masse nor Supersubstantiall in steed of Dailie or true bread from heauen in the Lords praier turne naturall bread into the bodie flesh and bloud of Christ nor Hosts in steed of Sacrifices conuert our sacrifices of Thanks-giuing Praier Almes and Mortification into the vnbloudie sacrifice of the Masse and hanged vp Idoll of the Altar Nor can the name of Penance for Repentance establish your Satisfactions nor Condigne for Woorthie take awaie the woorthinesse of Christs death to erect your merits of Condignitie nor Inuocate for Calling vpon establish your Inuocation of Saints nor yet anie other of your new inkpot terms
of God which was obscured by the fault of our first parents it was verie méet that the same should be againe imprinted in men by Christ that is by his spirit which is the verie liuelie image of God And héereby we may learne what dignitie the Church of God is of what maner of citizens it hath and requireth namelie such as be like vnto God finallie when thou hearest that God created man thou must call to mind as touching the bodie the whole workemanship of all the instrumentall parts and the commodities and ornaments of the seuerall members and as touching the soule all the powers qualities and actions which are found therein Of Paradise 29 It is said In Genesis 2 8. Looke part 3. pl. 16 art 7 and 19. that God planted Paradise in Heden But this word Paradise although it bée common as well to the Gréekes as to the Hebrues yet in verie déed it is an Hebrue word since Salomon vsed the same in Ecclesiastes the second chapter and it signifieth a garden Ecclesiastes 2 5. So great a care had God of man whom he had created as he would haue him set in a place of the greatest pleasure delight The region of Heden Heden in the second chapter of Genesis signifieth a region so called by reason of the pleasant and delectable soile And that the same was a region we gather by diuers places Gen. 4 16. In the fourth chapter of Genesis it is said of Caine that he liued like a runnagate in the land of Nod eastward from Heden And in the 27. chapter of Ezechiel there is mention made of the children of Heden Ezec. 27 25 which are ioined with Chamne Charam And we knowe that Charam is a region of Mesopotamia vnto which Abraham went when he came foorth of his countrie So likewise we reade of the children of Heden in the 37. chapter of Esaie wherefore it is not onlie knowne to be a region but by the reading of these prophets we coniecture the coast site wherein it is Further of the garden of Heden there is oftentimes mention made in the holie scriptures but that is by a maner of comparison when the pleasantnes of anie place is to be expressed as in the second of Ioel Ioel. 2 3. Esaie 51 3. Ezec. 23 13. in the 51. of Esaie and in the 28. of Ezechiel Wherefore in mine opinion they are verie much deceiued which will vnderstand all things héere by allegorie for it was a garden indéed planted by the commandement of God Neither are they to be heard which séeke for such a paradise vpon the highest mountaines so as they would haue the same to be néere the moone or vnder the equinoctiall line by reason of the temperature of the aire Which opinion is disprooued by these things which we haue said It was planted by God in a certeine region which is not far from Mesopotamia The place where paradise was The historie also is declared by Moses wherefore we must not make a méere allegorie thereof It is said that it was planted in the orientall part which neuerthelesse some vnderstand From the beginning séeing vnder that word both may well be signified The Hebrue interpretours for the most part vnderstand it of the east situation whom the seuentie interpretours by their exposition doo allow Albeit they thinke and it séemeth not absurd that this garden was planted by the power of God the third daie when the rest of the gréene trées The time of planting paradise plants and herbs were brought foorth but yet placed in the second chapter when the historie of mans creation is set foorth Indéed that garden was appointed for the habitation of man Howbeit this is but a small controuersie whether the same were planted the third daie or on the sixt it maketh no great matter ¶ Looke the propositions out of the fourth chapter of Gen. at the end of this booke Gen. 2 10. 30 Out of the region wherein paradise was set there issued foorth a riuer or fountaine which went into the garden The riuers of paradise and watered the same and from thence it was diuided into foure branches Whereabout this diuision is made whether at the departing out of paradise or at the verie breaking foorth from Heden it dooth but little appéere by the words but the greater part doo iudge that it is to be thought that it issueth foorth from the entrance of paradise Twoo of the names of the riuers be certeine and twoo be doubtfull As touching Euphrates and Tygris which compasse about Mesopotamia there is no doubt As concerning Physon and Ghihon what they are the interpretours doo varie But by our writers Physon is taken for Ganges but it is Nilus whose originall is so vncerteine as thereof hath risen a prouerbe touching them which inquire after things that be verie doubtfull that They seeke the head of Nilus If there be anie things reported of the beginning thereof they are verie vncerteine and as manie doo affirme it may arise in some other place than it séemeth to doo and afterward breake out through holowe places and parts vnder the earth vnto that place which séemeth now to be the fountaine and head thereof that no doubt is Nilus The fourth riuer Ghihon is thought of manie to be Nilus which thing I thinke not to be true For in the first of Kings 1. Kin. 1 33. the first chapter Dauid commandeth that his sonne Salomon should be conueied to Ghihon which riuer the Chaldaean interpretour translateth Syloa Esaie 8 6. Iohn 9 11. whereof there is mention in the Gospell and in Esaie And it is said that it watereth the whole land of Aethiopia not that Aethiopia which is in Aegypt but perhaps the Madianites and Aethiopians which were neighbours to the Israelites from whence was Ziphora an Aethiop woman the wife of Moses who neuertheles is said to be a Madianite Wherfore by these knowne names of the riuers it is manifest that paradise was in a certeine region of the east part Paradise signifieth the state of eternall felicitie Luk. 23 43. 1. Cor. 12 4. And we must not forget that the word paradise is translated to signifie the state of eternall felicitie as when Christ said to the théefe This daie shalt thou be with me in paradise And Paule in the first to the Corinthians the 12. chapter saith that he was rapted vp into paradise The metaphor is plaine and verie comfortable as who would saie that is a pleasant and delectable garden where it shall be lawfull for vs to enioie God Whervpon the Gentiles account their féelds Elysij as gardens where they imagined the soules of good men to dwell But let vs returne to our terrestriall Heden What is become of paradise at this daie What is become thereof at this daie There be some which thinke that it is yet extant and that the place cannot be come vnto Others thinke that it
not to reuenge vnlesse they be angrie the scriptures saie that God when he dooth reuenge is angrie And bicause that men possesse not the chastitie of their wiues without gelousie and that God in like maner taketh principall care least his church being as it were his spouse should plaie the harlot they saie he is gelous How God is said to be gealous On this wise are féet hands and other parts of the body ascribed vnto God And so bicause men are not accustomed to change their purpose How God by changing his dooing is said to repent vnlesse they repent them of some déed therefore as often as God changeth his dooing they saie that he is mooued by repentance not that there is become anie alteration in God but bicause that thing may be changed which we hoped would haue continued for euer And for this purpose it is said that God repented him that he made Saule king 1. Sam. 15 verse 11. Others thinke that this doubt maie more easilie plainlie be dissolued if the change be vnderstood in the thing if selfe not in God And to hold vs to our example Saule was godlie and honest before now he became wicked and rebellious How God is said to repent when the thing is changed therfore he séemed woorthilie such a one of whom God would repent And this séemeth the more probable bicause it followeth in the text it selfe And Saule went his waie ¶ Looke the propositions out of the sixt seuenth and eight chapter of Gen. 2 The first opinion although it may haue some shew yet it cannot be allowed in euerie respect Indéed it may be said that God dooth that which he bringeth to passe in vs and also causeth vs to doo it but yet this holdeth not alwaies For he burned Sodom he destroied Pharao and by that meanes exercised his wrath reuenge yet he did not driue men to doo these things And we read that God repented him and yet it is not written that Samuel repented him Augustines iudgement is both plaine and probable The second opinion also may not be forsaken wherein neuertheles it must be considered that the change is said to be in the thing it selfe and not in God Iere. 26 3. Ieremie saith If they shall repent them of their waies I also will repent me of all the euill that I haue threatened them Whether God alwaies changeth his purpose when man changeth Therefore vnto this changing in man there followeth also a change of Gods sentence whether the same apperteine vnto the promise or vnto the change For so often as a sinner dooth repent him with a true faith he is by and by deliuered from euerlasting destruction But the sentence of temporall punishments is not alwaies changed although he repent him neuer somuch Dauid was penitent for his adulterie yet the iudgement of God which Nathan pronounced remained stable Moses repented and yet he might not enter into the land of promise True therefore is this saieng as concerning the iudgement of euerlasting death but not alwaies touching temporall punishments Moreouer The change of man commeth of God 2. Tim. 2 25. Phili. 2 13. that change commeth not of our selues but of God for so Paule writeth vnto Timothie If God peraduenture shall giue them repentance And vnto the Philipians It is he that worketh in vs to will and performe We cannot once thinke a good thought of our selues as of our selues And vnto the Corinthians the 15. chapter 1. Cor. 15 verse 10. Whether mans consent be of himselfe I haue laboured more than all and yet not I but the grace of God that is in me But it is in vs they saie to consent Nay rather the assent it selfe is also of God for we haue a stonie hart and vnlesse the same be changed and made fleshie nothing is brought to passe And although they thinke it a small matter while they saie there is a consent of ours yet if the same be attributed vnto vs we shall haue whereof to glorie 1. Cor. 4 7. for Who hath seuered thee saith Paule what hast thou which thou hast not receiued And if thou haue receiued whie dooest thou boast as though thou hadst not receiued And It is neither of him that willeth Rom. 9 16. nor of him that runneth but of God that hath mercie Here Augustine saith If anie thing be left vnto vs Paule concludeth nothing for the proposition might be so turned as it should be read on this wise Rom. 8 17. It is not of God to haue mercie but of man that willeth runneth I knowe saith Paule there dwelleth not in me that is in my flesh anie good thing And Christ saith You haue not chosen me but I haue chosen you Ioh. 15 16. Psa 119 36 Psal 51 12 Dauid also saith Incline my heart vnto they testimonies And A cleane heart create within me ô God But no man can create himselfe It is said we be regenerated but no man is regenerated of himselfe And yet are not we regenerated as stocks stones or blocks for we vnderstand we preceiue and we will but it is God which bringeth to passe that we vnderstand perceiue and will Wherefore there must be put a difference of men for some be regenerate and some be not He that is not regenerate can of himselfe doo nothing but after we be once regenerate our strength is renewed and we become workers togither with God 3 But in my iudgement we shall more easily vnderstand what this phrase of Gods repenting betokeneth God changeth not as touching his secret will if we remember that his secret will is one and his reuealed will another for the secret will of God is stedfast and immutable Therefore insomuch as it is said God is not changed that ought to be referred to his secret will God decréed from the beginning that Saule should be king That is his eternall and stable will and without the which nothing is doone But he dooth not alwaies reueale the same full and wholie it is enough that he sheweth some part thereof through the lawe and the prophets In what sort the reuealed will of God may be changed That will may be changed not that there can anie mutation happen vnto God but bicause that may be changed which men thoght would haue continued for euer The reuealed will of God was that the kingdome should alwaies be in the stocke of Saule for so it was like to haue béene but yet the other part of his will was secret and hidden Ezechias falleth sicke Esai 38 1. Looke before place 14 art 38. Esaie warneth him that he should die for such was the nature of that disease that it might séeme he should die this will was changed the other which was secret could not bée changed But they obiect that where we saie The will of God was from euerlasting it is but a méere deuise for that in God there is
the molten calfe Exod. 32 20 Other good princes also and Serenus the bishop of Massilia Neither haue we euer perceiued that the scripture condemned ouerthrowers of images but the workers of images The first perhaps Who first painted churches which painted the church was Paulinus the bishop of Nola which yéelded this reason for the fact When the faithfull sort met togither vpon the holie daie to celebrate the memorie of Felix the martyr they were interteined with a religious banket and when they were more giuen to féeding of their bodie than reason would that father deuised to paint vpon the wall the histories of the old testament of the new to the end that the people by beholding of them might the more soberlie behaue themselues in their banket But howsoeuer that holie and godlie father ment in other matters yet in this matter he offended double For first he should not haue banketed the people in the church séeing we know that in the church of the Corinths there were manie things found fault withall by the apostle 1. Co. 11 22 concerning those feasts Moreouer he did amisse in that he thought men were more instructed by dumbe pictures than by the liuelie word of God Wherfore did he not rather teach them by a liuelie voice that they should temperatlie and soberlie spend out the time of the holie feast This had béene the ordinarie waie and meanes and most void of all danger Prudentius Prudentius also which liued in the time of Honorius and Theodosius singing the passion of Cassianus the martyr said that The historie of him was pictured in the church And in the seuenth Synod which was holden vnder Constantius and Hiren Nilus a bishop one Nilus a bishop is brought in which counselleth him that should build a new church to garnish the wals on euerie side with images and pictures But what bishop this was it is not knowen a martyr indéed he is called in this respect that he so became for Christ in the time of Dioclesian But it can not be he bicause it was not then permitted vnto the christians to build churches publikelie Further in that second Synod of Nice we read manie feined things and those things which were cited by those fathers for the most part are not extant in the booke of those men which were of sound iudgement There also it is reported that Gregorius Nissenus wept at such time as he passed by the image of Abraham but whether that image were in the waie or in the temple it appéereth not There also it is read that the martyrdome of Euphemia the virgine was painted out in the temple of the citie of Calcedonia howbeit so farre as I can gather these pictures were in the church-porch Augustins temple had no images But that Augustine had no images in his temple it appéereth hereby that he expounding those words of the 113. psalme The images of the Gentiles be siluer and gold euen the works of mens hands he writeth The works of mens hands for they worship that which they themselues made of gold and of siluer Doubtlesse we also haue manie instruments and vessels of such kind of matter or metall for the vse of celebrating the sacraments the which vessels being consecrated to the ministerie it selfe are called holie in the honor of him whom hereby we serue for our saluation And these vessels I beséech you are they anie other thing than the works of mens hands Yet notwithstanding haue they a mouth speake not Haue they eies yet will not sée Doo we praie to them bicause through them we make supplications vnto God That is a verie mad cause of impietie Wherefore it is manifest that images were not there for otherwise he would haue confessed himselfe inexcusable 24 Moreouer in the same Synod they cite Basil in his oration of the fortie martyrs A place in an oration of Basil expounded But that which they alledge maketh nothing to the matter now in hand For Basil affirmeth not that the acts of these martyrs were described in the temple but in the commending of them in his oration he saith that he would doo rightlie and orderlie whereby others might againe and againe be strengthened in faith For painters while they paint foorth the acts of valiant men they stirre vp others vnto laudable enterprises Men began euen at the first vpon a readie good will borne vnto Christ and to his apostles to haue some of their images at home with them Afterward being not satisfied with the priuate vse of them they set them not within the temples but in the porches Againe they considered with themselues What if they should be put in churches would they not bring such and such things vnto our memorie And finallie there insued an adoration Constantine with his sonne Iustinian at the temple of Sophia made pictures the which afterward Philippicus tooke awaie for which cause there followed afterward verie fierce contentions And séeing Paule saith 2. Cor. 6 16. How agreeth the temple of God with idols Is it not a shame at this daie that churches should be fraught with images How the ancient Christians ordered themselues in praiers Tertullian expresseth in his Apologetico the 30. chapter We saith he honor GOD with our eies lifted vp to the heauens and not vnto pictures Lib. Instit 2 cap. 2. Lactantius reproouing the Ethniks saith If ye thinke that those whom the images doo represent be in heauen whie doo you not lift vp your eies vnto heauen Wherefore it is lawfull so to saie vnto our aduersaries If ye thinke that the saints be in heauen whie doo ye not lift vp your eies vnto them which ye turne vnto the images in the temples Also we may prooue by an other argument Other arguments to proue that the Christians had no images that Christians had no images in their temples For Aelius Lampridius describing the liues of the thirtie tyrants among other things saith that Adrianus the emperor had decréed to appoint churches vnto the Christians but that there was one which did dissuade him that he should not doo it For he said If thou doo this the temples and images will be forsaken and all men will become Christians For those churches which the emperor was minded to giue them he builded without images Insomuch as those churches which were afterward erected without images were called the temples of Adrian Moreouer it must be considered that those things ought not to be had in the churches which call men backe from the religion of Christ Vndoubtedlie verie manie as well of the Turks as Iewes would be content to become christians were it not that they be greatlie offended at our images Paulus Ricius a learned Hebrue Wherevpon Paulus Ricius a verie learned Hebrue which was christened at Pauia said It was verie expedient that images should be remooued out of churches bicause manie of the Hebrues by the meanes of them be called
better he executeth punishment and euen then he vseth not affliction God vseth affliction as a medicine as the vttermost punishment but rather as a medicine Who séeth not that all this is a worke of great mercie Iustlie therefore and vpon good cause are these words numbered among the titles of Gods mercie And it cannot be denied but that the prophets togither with the people were oftentimes afflicted Ezech. 1 11. Dan 1 6. Iere. 37 15 For Ezechiel and Daniel were led awaie into captiuitie and Ieremie was cast into prison and turmoiled manie maruellous waies in time of the siege and afterward going to Aegypt with the Hebrues was slaine For on this sort God will haue the thing to be doone that good men may not onelie order their owne conuersation aright but that also by patient suffering of gréeuous things they may warne and amend the wicked For with them they liue togither in one common-weale and church and be after a sort members of one bodie Wherefore good men ought thus to thinke with themselues If God haue afflicted them we also shal be vexed togither with them we shal be all wrapped vnder one punishment Therefore we must take héed that we trauell for them by reproouing and praieng for their saluation being neglected it will bring euill also vnto vs. After this sort must Augustine be vnderstood when he saith that God by this meanes establisheth discipline For if the people be afflicted for their kings and the sonne for the father then it behooueth that all men labour and be diligent one for an other Yet doo not good men in the meane time liue without sinne in such sort as God cannot find cause to punish them Howbeit the painefull things The afflictions of the godlie cannot properlie be called punishments which happen to the godlie as it hath béene said cannot properlie be called punishments but rather exercises of faith For by that meanes God dooth throughlie make triall of their faith and whatsoeuer he doth against them it turneth to their good Moreouer he would haue them to expresse in themselues Iesus Christ their first begotten brother which bare the sins of others in himselfe For euen this is a certeine portion of Christ his crosse though they be not so innocent as Christ was neither dooth their crosse worke anie thing to the redéeming of sinnes Daniel being in captiuitie thus confessed his sins Dan 9 5. We haue sinned saith he and dealt vniustlie c. He saith not They haue sinned but We. And Esaie saith Esaie 64 6 All our righteousnes is like vnto filthie rags Indéed in saints there is a certeine righteousnesse but no such whereof they may boast before the tribunall seat of God Wherefore if they suffer some punishments they haue no iust cause to complaine 51 But thou wilt saie Wherefore is God said to reuenge on them the sins of other men when as they themselues also doo sinne He should rather be said to punish their sinnes than the sins of their parents I answer bicause when God had long and manie daies expected their fathers repentance yet perceiued no amendement in the meane time the third and fourth generation was come at the length he powreth out his wrath on the children Now they are said to suffer for their parents bicause had it not béen that the wickednesse of their parents had gon before their punishment might haue béen delaied longer but now since they hapned to be in the third or fourth generation the nature of Gods iustice suffereth not that the punishment should be longer deferred And although themselues deserued those euils yet in that they are corrected in the third fourth generation they owe it to their parents And so God dooth terrifie the parents to the end they may staie themselues from wickednes if not for Gods cause or their owne sake yet at the lest wise for their posteritie sake He maketh also the children afraid least they should imitate the sinnes of their parents that the punishment due vnto the parents might not be renewed vpon them And it is no iniustice that the children suffer somewhat for their parents for euen for their fathers sakes they receiue inheritances and are indued with honour and renowne before others For God not onelie gaue good successe vnto Dauid but fauoured his posteritie also for his sake sith the kingdome did continue in his familie by the space of foure hundred yéeres As touching eternall saluation the children are not punished for their parents But as touching eternall saluation neither doo the fathers suffer punishment for their children nor yet the children for their fathers But manie spirituall gifts are by good parents obteined for their children for Paule said in the first to the Corinths the 7. chapter Otherwise your children should be vncleane but now they are holie Wherefore of godlie parents the children haue some holinesse and some spirituall gift as that place teacheth On the contrarie part by euill parents manie such good things be hindered Neither are they being euill and impenitent heard of God when they desire spirituall gifts for their children But it commeth oftentimes to passe through the prouidence of God that of good parents are borne euill children and of ill parents good children As Ezechias a good king had the wicked king Achas to his father and contrariwise the same Ezechias a verie godlie prince begat Manasses a most wicked and cruell king The same also I might saie of Iosias This happeneth thus least wickednesse should growe out of measure if continuallie euill children should be begotten of euill parents God worketh therein who maketh the child borne of an euill father to become the member of Christ And he sheweth therwithall that his goodnes can not be hindered by the parents Whie good children be borne of ill parents and ill of good though they be euill Furthermore euill children be borne of good parents that grace may be confirmed and least that the good behauior of the children should be attributed vnto the nature which they tooke from their parents For God will haue it to be acknowledged his gift that we be saued 52 One onelie thing is to be added to this question proposed namelie that indéed it is lawfull for God as we haue declared to punish the sinne of the fathers vpon the children but vnto men this is not lawfull For in Deuteronomie the 24. chapter it is plainelie said Let not the fathers be punished for the children verse 16. nor yet the children for the parents Which must be vnderstood so that the father consent not vnto the sonne nor the sonne vnto the father Wherefore if Achan had béene called into the place of iudgement and vnto the tribunall seat he alone should haue perished by the ordinarie course of the lawe and not his children togither with him But God hath this lawe peculiar vnto himselfe who would haue it to be otherwise Howbeit he sometime also
in false colouring there is so manifest a shew of euill as it cannot be denied Vndoubtedlie in the holie scriptures the colouring with Stibium is neuer taken in good part In the fourth chapter of Ieremie verse 30. verse 40. and in the 23. of Ezechiel when GOD bringeth the idolatrie of the Iewes into hatred he vseth the metaphor of whooredome and saith that He will bring the enimies against that people who for their sakes had before painted their faces with Stibium to the intent they might commit shamefull whooredome with them Séeing therefore the scriptures beare record that these colours are procured for whooredome sake we must not giue eare vnto fond painted women which protest that they haue a chast hart and mind A conclusion of this question and what ornaments women may vse Now that we haue brought testimonies enow out of the word of God and plentie and sufficient reasons out of the fathers what must we then conclude Not that euerie ornament should be vtterlie taken awaie from women Let them in Gods name indeuour to please their owne husbands honestlie let them not be altogither vnhandsome and foulie attired let them wash awaie vncleanlinesse let them cleanse awaie filth but let them not be painted with white lead with Purpurisse with Stibium and finallie with anie counterfet colours For that is to put on vizards and to plaie the maskers to beguile to deceiue and also to stir vp lusts What is to be iudged concerning gold ornaments and iewels But what my iudgement is concerning gold iewels sumptuous garments I did not purpose at this time to haue disputed howbeit bicause they are things néere agréeing togither I will bréeflie intreat somewhat of them By the saieng of Augustine euen now alledged it appéereth that those ornaments are not rashlie to be condemned and vtterlie to be taken awaie For there be diuers degrées and sundrie states of men There be in the world not onelie common people and such as are not in honour but there be also Emperours Caesars Kings Quéenes Princes Lords and Ladies vnto whom after a sort those ornaments be necessarie 68 Howbeit thou wilt saie 1. Tim. 2 9. 1. Pet. 3 3. that Peter and also Paule doo seeme to haue forbidden these things but what their meaning was that are we to consider of The scope of the apostles in reproouing the pride of women Their mind was to withdrawe christian women from vanitie pride superfluitie and too much sumptuousnesse and to lead them awaie from that opinion wherein they iudged these things to be the proper true and principall ornaments of women So that they being adorned on this wise thought that no other thing should be sought for as though in these ornaments consisteth the whole summe and effect of all Wherefore they forbid these things not absolutelie but by waie of comparison In like maner as when the same Paule saith Ephes 6 12. that Our striuing is not against flesh and bloud denieth not but that we must also striue against these things but he sheweth that these striuings are verie small in comparison of the powers of our aduersaries which continuallie assault vs. And euen as when Christ in talking of Iohn said Matth. 11 â that They which are clothed in soft garments be in kings houses tooke not soft and pretious garments out of the world but shewed for whom they were méet Moreouer we must consider vnto whom the apostles wrote namelie vnto them of small estimation to the common sort to those which were obscure and abiects séeing the church for the most part at that time consisted of such Wherefore Paule said in the first epistle to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 1 26. Brethren haue an eie vnto your calling not manie noble men c. To the intent therefore that Christian women should auoid superfluitie and too much sumptuousnesse and not vse such ornaments for things indifferent and thinke that they might vse them as they list they call them backe from those things that leauing their affection towards them they should séeke for better the which would be ouerlong now to recite For they are easie to be found in the verie writings of the apostles and almost in the whole scripture besides These things being on this wise ordered we will answer the arguments brought out of the scriptures by our aduersaries A confutation of their arguments which allow women to paint their faces 69 First out of the first epistle to the Corinthians the first chapter verse 34. it was alledged that married women doo care for those things that be of the world to the intent they may please their husbands But this we denie not let them haue a care to please their husbands so they doo it without dissimulation and lieng And let them thinke of themselues whether they would be so deceiued and beguiled as in stéed of a comlie and well fauoured man they should marrie him that were foule and deformed They said also that if men should be alienated from their wiues for deformitie sake they might easilie fall into adulteries Héerevnto I answer that honest husbands by false paintings are rather alienated than woonne vnto their wiues Moreouer if they absteine not from adulteries for the feare that they haue of God and are vrged by the authoritie of his word neither yet be mooued by the lawes of men and terrified with gréeuous perils much lesse will they staie for such counterfet painting And whereas it was alledged out of the epistle vnto Timothie 1. Tim. 2 9. that it is lawfull for women to go in comelie apparell it is not rightlie expounded by our aduersaries bicause ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in that place is modest and honest which the word following dooth declare for it is afterward added In shamefastnesse But in feigned colours there is no shamefastnesse naie rather there is intollerable impudencie Furthermore there was a place brought out of the first to the Corinthians 1. Co. 12 23 that Vpon those parts which be most vnhonest put we more honestie on wherevpon it was concluded that if anie blemish be in the bodie or in the countenance it is lawfull to adorne and to colour the same First let vs consider what mind the apostle had when he wrote these things In verie déed he ment nothing else but that the weaker sort in the church which séeme to be the vnworthier and obscure members of Christ should not be reiected and troden vnder féet but rather cherished and adorned the similitude being drawne from hence to wit that it hath béene so vsed in the outward bodie And whereas the apostle speaketh of honour to be put vpon those parts which are lesse honest it cannot apperteine vnto counterfet colours for they are no ornaments but rather feigned deuises and deceits I praie you moreouer what honour is there giuen vnto the parts that be lesse honest Euen to couer them for we prouide that they should not be
Catholike which is a Gréeke word and signifieth no other thing than if thou shouldst saie vniuersall for that it is not bound more to one place than to an other But euen as God is a God of the whole vniuersall world euen so will he that the bodie of his sonne which is his church should be extended into euerie place With him there is no exception of persons neither had he respect whether those which he calleth into his church be either husbandmen or smithes men or women princes or seruants rich or poore barbarous citizens or Gentils as though he were moued for these outward things to choose them but of euerie nation he chooseth those whome he thinketh méet Wherefore the church is an vniuersall bodie compacted of men of euerie kind and condition But it excelleth also in a nobler societie which is of such sort as whosoeuer be truelie gathered togither into that bodie be indued with the same féeling of faith And vndoubtedlie in vaine shall euerie other consent be if minds disagrée in the doctrine of faith Neither is there euer anie thing that bringeth more detriment vnto this faith than the inuentions of men From hense haue flowed all the heresies that euer were which in verie déed are nothing else but the opinions of men conceiued besides the meaning of the scriptures and sowen abroad among diuers people as if they were certeine diuine mysteries which bring saluation or else works most acceptable vnto God And forsomuch as such doctrines are nothing else but deuises of men by which the authours of them haue sought their owne gaine and commoditie first they be méere lies deceipts and wicked iuglings secondlie when as they procéed from the inuentions of men they cannot satisfie all men For looke how manie men so manie sundrie opinions there be so that some dissent in one article of the faith and some in another So in verie déed it happened among the Gréekes and other Christians which inhabit towards the East part whome if thou examine thou shalt vndoubtedlie find that by a common consent they haue allowed the holie scriptures but in those sundrie superstitions the which they haue oftentimes deuised there will appeare great disagréement The Roman church aboundeth with superstitions 38 Howbeit in these deuises of superstitions the church of Rome carrieth awaie the price For while they prouide to stuffe into the pure and simple religion of Christ infinit abhominations drawne out of the sinkes of paganisme in restoring and as they saie or rather as they lie in reforming them to a better forme it hath troden vnder foote and destroied all things Also this it obstinatelie vrgeth that euerie mans faith dooth rest in such goodlie things And mens inuentions are more estéemed than the lawfull doctrine of the truth drawne out of the holie fountaines of the scriptures And this might not others which in like maner be infected with their owne superstitions abide that they anie lesse than the Romans should stoutlie kéepe still and defend their fained worshippings and humane inuentions But they which haue imbraced the principall and sincere doctrine of Christ be vtter enimies against those superstitions séeing they perceiue that thereby the glorie of Christ and his merits are altogither obscured the honour of God translated vnto his creatures his seruice vsed without his word set foorth onelie after the deuise of men so that the church which at this daie challengeth proudlie vnto it selfe alone the name of Catholike shée alone I saie more than others hath seuered and euen rent in sunder that common and vniuersall societie of the faithfull For if it had staid it selfe in that religion and seruice which the holie scriptures doo prescribe vnto vs there had not procéeded so manie schismes from thence But hitherto it hath vsed no measure of hir owne feined deuises and it hath endeuored by force armes to constraine euerie man to receiue the same From hence haue risen infinit dissentions amongst which there be some that remaine vnto this daie as experience it selfe plainlie testifieth And as touching those that haue béene in the former ages whosoeuer will diligentlie applie his mind in reading of histories shall easilie perceiue them Howbeit whatsoeuer sathan by his cunning The Catholike church standeth fast hath wrought the Catholike church remaineth still stedfast and immooueable and shall firmelie abide euen vntill the last daie of iudgement For the same betokeneth nothing else but an vniuersall bodie compact togither of men of euerie state and condition the which in what parts soeuer of the earth they dwell they reteine the same faith and grace righteousnesse holinesse and happinesse and finallie they imbrace euerie good thing offered them in Christ and so as they will neuer suffer themselues one iot to be led from that truth which the spirit of God hath reuealed to vs in the holie scriptures but they will assure themselues of that onelie worshipping to be lawfull and acceptable vnto GOD which hée hath prescribed in those holie scriptures 39 Neither are they for anie other end compacted togither in this societie A communion of the church but spirituall but that they should edifie one an other to their power euen as the ioining togither that is in the members of a mans bodie is chéeflie ordeined for the helpe and preseruation of euerie particular member The church striueth not to the intent it might challenge vnto it selfe some chéefe empire or temporall iurisdiction it promiseth no such end vnto it selfe as it would heape vp excéeding treasures and earthlie riches The scope thereof is not to rule nations to make warres to laie hold vpon cities What weapons the church hath and to vanquish them Indéed this bodie is not destitute of his weapons but these be spirituall and not carnall weapons namelie the word and the spirit with the which it ouercommeth the wisedome of man casteth it to the ground leadeth captiue the mind and cogitation to the obedience of Christ And the same vndoubtedlie oppresseth not the bodies with tyrannicall seruitude or draweth awaie mens goods by gréeuous tributes This selfe-same doctrine dooth Paule in verie manie words inculcate in his later epistle to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 10 4. where he verie well describeth the wrestlings of this congregation and he in the same epistle intreating there of his owne and of other of the apostles authoritie saith that The same was granted vnto him to edifie and not to destroie Vnto the which notwithstanding they doo singularlie bend themselues which will alone be called heads and apostles of the church Howbeit in the meane time with all their power they resist the word of God Neither doo they suffer the perfect state of our iustification to be preached but rather by their humane decrées and constitutions laie infinite snares against the miserable soules of the people committed to them the which notwithstanding are redéemed by the pretious bloud of Christ And yet further they pollute with their
force as contrition and repentance is deferred touching the sinnes committed And when repentance is performed then also let an end of the punishment of excommunication be appointed For which cause Christ being demanded of Peter How oftentimes a man should forgiue them that offend Ibid. 21. whether seuen times which séemed to be much answered Euen so often as they shall returne againe to better life For that be awointeth when he saith Seuentie times seuen Wherefore they which by repentance returne to the church must euermore be admitted And least peraduenture so often separation and receiuing reiterated by the ministerie of men against one and the same man should séeme to be of small importance and reputed for sport and mockerie as a thing procéeding from the will of man he addeth that He giueth them the keies of the church The keies of the church that is to saie the power that Whatsoeuer she should bind or loose vpon the earth should be established in heauen And this doth the church vnderstand in the same sort as the holie euangelist writeth it By this article therefore we beléeue that such diuine authoritie is committed vnto the church that it may absolue and set at libertie the persons excommunicate which repent them of their sinnes committed and may reconcile them to hir selfe whereby they may be restored vnto that place of a healed bodie whereof Christ is the head Which absolution being performed with publike vowes and praiers in the church no doubt but the church forgiueth them their sinnes committed Wherefore after the grant of this authoritie of the keies Matt. 18 19 and 20. Christ not in vaine added Whatsoeuer ye aske in my name it shall be giuen vnto you And Wheresoeuer two or three shall be gathered togither in my name I am in the middest of them Whereby it is gathered that the church is neuer present either to excommunicate or to reconcile them that be excommunicated but that Christ himselfe also is present 2. Cor. 2 7 8 Wherfore Paule to the Corinthians the second epistle writeth to the church that forgiuing the fault of that sinner of whom he had made mention in his first epistle they should confirme charitie towards him in renewing with him their old fréendship Behold how we contemne not the authoritie of the church but we denie it to be in the will and authoritie of one We confesse this power therfore to be in the earth among the godlie But euen as the multitude of beléeuers gathered togither in Christ haue onelie the right of excommunication so haue they also of reconciling and admitting and that which is so performed by them we beléeue also to be doone and confirmed in heauen Howbeit note that in this third meanes is conteined the forgiuenesse of publike sinnes onelie And as concerning the two former meanes the church hath belonging vnto it the forgiuenesse of all sinnes in generall Here onelie that absolution taketh place which apperteineth to publike crimes the which through euill example hath offended and doone harme vnto them to whom the knowledge thereof hath come Wherefore with all the hart and voice let vs giue thanks vnto God who hath granted vnto vs so great a benefit vpon the earth and hath laid vp greater for vs in heauen as afterward we shall sée The Resurrection of the flesh ¶ Looke more hereof in the third part 47 How these articles should be knit togither After remission of sinnes followeth life by a more fit method I cannot perceiue Sinne as it is knowne hath béene the onelie and whole cause of mans death and that we haue remission of sinnes through Christ it was shewed a little before Now then remaineth this one thing to wit that by him we shall be deliuered from death and released from the tyrannie therof so soone as euer we haue accesse vnto Christ by faith sith then shall perish in it the continuall iurisdiction which it obteineth against vs. For séeing the naturall power hereof is such as what it hath once seasoned vpon it firmelie holdeth therefore the philosophers write that it must not be granted that from such a priuation men can returne to their ancient habit In which matter certeinlie they be not deceiued if thou shouldest but consider the power of nature But we which be indued with faith doo so tast of death as we knowe that there is an end and limit appointed to the working thereof we being confirmed through the promise of Christ himselfe Iohn 6 39. who in the sixt of Iohn saith that He will loose none of them which his father hath giuen him but will raise them vp at the latter daie But if so be thou obiect that he will raise vp not onelie them that be godlie but also the vnbeléeuers and shall therefore the faith in Christ as touching the resurrection profit anie thing I answer that the confidence in Christ shall nothing at all profit vnto the méere and absolute resurrection séeing that degrée both the godlie and the wicked shall obteine but the resurrection vnto felicitie vnto life eternall and vnto heauenlie blessednesse is onelie granted vn-them which by faith are vnited vnto Christ Howbeit I thinke not méet to passe ouer this to wit that whereas the wicked shall rise againe they obteine not that by the power of their owne nature but by Christ For séeing we confesse that by the death of that one first man we were all made subiect vnto death it is reason also we should grant that how manie soeuer be made partakers of this second life should also obteine the same by that one man Christ who first was raised vp Wherefore the wicked whether they will or no shall féele in themselues the power of Christ but that which these shall obteine to their great harme iust men shall receiue to their great benefit This is the doctrine of Paule to the Corinthians when he saith As by one man came death 1. Co. 15 21. so by one man came the resurrection of the dead And as by Adam all men die so by Christ all shall be made aliue but euerie one in his owne order The first fruits is Christ then they which be of Christ And in the last and most vnhappie state shall they be which be strangers from Christ And as there shall be a difference in the state condition so shall there be also in the place For the saints then raised vp 1. Thes 4 16 and 17. shall togither with the godlie which then perhaps shall remaine aliue be caught vp to méet with that high King our Lord IESVS CHRIST in the aire Who vndoubtedlie as we haue alreadie confessed shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead as wée haue expresselie shewed in the article of the last iudgement Wherefore Christ will shew foorth his power generallie towards all as well good as bad not onelie in the iudgement it selfe but in the resurrection also He therefore is the first that hath
risen and we shall followe him at the time appointed The church is a bodie quickened by the spirit of GOD A similitude the which increaseth by degrées no otherwise than a liuing bodie is naturallie formed by little and little For of the power of forming which is in the séed first some one member is formed and brought foorth in the lumpe whether the same be the heart or anie other member it forceth not it sufficeth that sense and moouing be giuen to anie one of them The same spirit after that goeth forward by little and little to frame other members And euen this happeneth in the holie bodie of beléeuers wherein the spirit of GOD hath raised vp Christ the verie head of them all Afterward the same spirit by the same power whereby it raised vp Christ in all vs who be the déere members of his bodie will bring foorth the same effects of resurrection as we read in the first chapter to the Ephesians Ephes 1 19. and as we haue declared in that article wherein we intreated of the resurrection of Christ 48 But how great consolation that blessed hope bringeth to the godlie The hope of the resurrection bringeth great comfort to the godlie let euen they themselues iudge which in great ioie celebrate with such pompe and ambition the daie of their natiuitie or else that daie wherein they were preferred to some degrée of honour And thus they celebrate with ioifull memorie the beginnings of so great miseries and calamities as this life is subiect vnto and as are incident vnto principalities and worldlie honours This is the true natiuitie of the saints of Christ this is the true triumph this is that heauenlie interteining of them Then shall be opened vnto vs the wounds or rather the gates of glorie Here ought all our hope to reuiue if at anie time as oftentimes it dooth happen we appeare to be negligent and to go slowlie forward in the way of the Lord by reason of the burden of our flesh which oppresseth vs. On this wise ought our minds to be strengthened to endure the troubles which séeme to be hard and difficult vnto the bodie vnto nature and vnto the sense On this wise ought we to be confirmed to the mortifieng of our senses concupiscences séeing we know out of Paule that We Rom. 6 5. which haue beene partakers of the death of Christ shall also be partakers of his resurrection For then we shall be deliuered from the labours miseries sorrowes and torments of this life and we shall haue a bodie so much more excellent as a heauenlie and spirituall bodie dooth excell an earthlie and fleshie bodie And certeinlie I speake not this as though we should not recouer so much flesh bloud and bones as shall be sufficient vnto the constitution of a bodie but we beléeue it will be a much more excellent bodie bicause Heauenlie and Spirituall betoken names of nature The which titles and prerogatiues Paule 1. Co. 15 4â in the first epistle to the Corinthians gaue vnto bodies renewed by the resurrection And Christ in Matthew Matt. 22 30. when he was tempted of the Saduceis promised that we should be like vnto the angels that in heauen there shall be no vse of matrimonie For séeing that death shall haue no dominion there shall be no néed also of generation which is granted vnto vs for supplieng the number of such as death taketh dailie awaie The same is affirmed touching hunger thirst and all that euill band of troubles Whosoeuer therefore goeth forward vnto so noble and glorious a state ought to regard but a little all the troubles and labours which he endureth for the name of Christ Yet this dooth not the wicked sort consider but it séemeth to be a matter of no weight vnto them that they submit their soule vnto the bondage of innumerable miseries and suffer the same to be mastred with the flames of naughtie lusts They doo not make anie account of hauing their bodie once frée and discharged from naturall necessities as men that iudge it a thing impossible bicause they measure the power of God by the course of those things which continuallie be brought foorth and be here among vs. But contrariwise the godlie which by vertue of the resurrection doo hope for that most excellent gift to wit that neither death nor yet other naturall infirmities may be able to doo anie more displeasure to the bodie must bend their whole indeuour to rid their minds from the tyrannie of vices and affections whereby they may be more and more confirmed in the hope of recouering of a frée bodie wherewith the mind may be cloathed that now through Christ hath gotten the victorie ouer lusts and sinnes which by meanes of the bodie and the flesh doo oppresse the spirit And this let vs desire of the eternall God and most mercifull father that he will vouchsafe to bestowe vpon vs at his owne appointed time and that through the merit of our Lord Iesus Christ for that immortall desires sake wherewith we wish after his kingdome And this we would desire with all spéed to be doone so that his glorie honour might be made more famous and knowne The life euerlasting 49 We which here liuing in the church by the spirit of Christ haue obteined remission of sins and when we haue atteined vnto regeneration in felicitie and glorie what either can we or ought we afterward wish but that it be granted vs to liue euermore ioifullie contentedlie and happilie in GOD through Christ And although such a state is for manie causes verie greatlie to be desired yet all the parts of that happie life must be referred to two good things the first hath respect vnto the soule Happinesse of eternall life in two respects and the other vnto the bodie Touching the which this I will saie brieflie that it will come to passe that all labours gréefes miseries and sorrowes which we are compelled to suffer in this vnhappie vale shall cease from the same And this is it which is said in the Apocalypse Apoc. 21 4. that God will wipe awaie all teares from the eies of his saints neither shall there remaine to them anie more sorrows lamentations sighs or wailings Wherefore our bodie shall méerelie be renued according as we treated in the article of the resurrection Vnto which sentences declared this we adde that there is a liuelie effectuall example in the resurrection of Christ what maner of heauenlie properties our bodies shall haue It is euident also euen in sundrie of his actions when he was coÌuersant in this passible state of life Iohn 20 19. Iohn 6 19. what time as he shewed miracles euen in his owne bodie Acts. 1 9. He entred into the place where the apostles were the doores being shut He walked vpon the waters of the sea Luk. 14 39. and soonke not He was lifted vp into the aire or rather ascended into heauen as we
by faith taketh nothing awaie from the truth of things dooth not take awaie anie whit from the truth of the thing Wherefore verie manie are far deceiued about the matter of the Eucharist for when we affirme that by faith we doo eate the flesh of Christ and drinke his bloud they straitwaies conclude that therfore we haue not these things indéed as though that by faith we apprehend a false flesh of Christ or a feigned bloud of him Neither yet is that true which was taken as granted that we in anie wise haue sinne bicause it is not imputed vnto vs for séeing they which be iustified doo striue against sinne and suffer not the same to haue dominion ouer them therefore after a sort they are iudged to haue no sinne On the behalfe of charitie that it dooth iustifie that is woont to be obiected which we read in Iohn God is charitie 1. Iohn 4 8. and he that dwelleth in charitie dwelleth in God and God in him Howbeit this place is not verie proper for charitie for else-where it is written also He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud Iohn 6 54. dwelleth in me and I in him And againe He that dwelleth in me and I in him Iohn 15 5. this man bringeth foorth much fruit And of them also which kéepe his commandements he saith that He and the father will come and dwell with them Iohn 14 23 Wherefore thou séest that this abiding which they obiect against vs dooth happen vnto vs through manie instruments or meanes and yet is there not anie man that will affirme vs to be iustified by all these things Not all these things by which God and Christ dwelleth in vs doo iustifie vs. Wherefore we néed not labour to knowe by what meanes it commeth to passe that Christ and the father dwell in vs and we in them but we must rather consider what is that by the which he first and principallie dwelleth in vs. And certeine it is that such a coniunction springeth not of anie other cause than of election Rom. 8 28. predestination and calling according to his determinate purpose as the apostle hath contriued togither these things in the epistle to the Romans And there is no doubt By faith we first answer vnto the calling of God but that we first of all by faith answer vnto the calling of God Neither dooth experience teach vs otherwise When anie thing is promised vnto vs by some man we then first of all cleaue vnto him when we giue credit vnto his saiengs Wherefore Paule in another place wrote Ephe. 3 17. that Christ dwelleth in our harts by faith VVhat is the vnion of the godlie with Christ In Rom. 8 at the beginning 35 Now must we sée what it is to be in Christ First commeth in place that which is common vnto all mortall men for the sonne of God bicause he tooke vpon him the nature of man is ioined with all men For séeing they haue fellowship with flesh and bloud as testifieth the epistle to the Hebrues Heb. 2 14. What maner of coniunction we haue with Christ he also was made partaker of flesh and bloud But this coniunction is generall and weake and onlie as I may terme it according to the matter for the nature of man far differeth from that nature which Christ tooke vpon him For the humane nature in Christ is both immortall and exempted from sinne and adorned with all purenes but our nature is vnpure corruptible and miserablie polluted with sinne but if the same be indued with the spirit of Christ it is so repaired as it differeth not much from the nature of Christ Yea so great is that affinitie as Paule in his epistle to the Ephesians saith Ephe. 5 30. that We are flesh of his flesh and bones of his bones Which forme of speaking séems to be drawne out of the writings of the old testament for trulie thus doo brethren and kinsfolke there speake one of an other He is my bone Our bone and our flesh is the Hebrew phrase and my flesh For they being come of one and the selfe-same séede of the father and wombe of the mother séeme to acknowledge vnto themselues one matter common to them all wherevnto this furthereth also that children drawe of their parents not onlie a carnall and corpulent substance but also wit affection and disposition The verie which thing commeth to passe in vs when we are indued with the spirit of Christ for besides our nature which we haue common with him we haue as Paule doth aduertise vs in the first to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 2 16. Phil. 2 5. his mind and according as Paule requireth the Philippians the self-same sense Let the selfe-same sense saith he be in you which was also in Christ Iesu This knitting of vs togither with Christ Paule expressed by the similitude of ingraffing A similitude wherein are very well perceiued those two things which we haue now rehearsed for the yong slip that is graffed and the stocke whereinto it is graffed are made one thing Neither onelie are the matters which were diuers ioined togither but they are also nourished togither with one and the selfe-same iuice spirit and life The selfe-same thing the apostle testifieth to be done in vs when he saith that we are graffed into Christ Rom. 6 15. The same also doth our Sauiour teach in the Gospell of Iohn when he calleth Himselfe the vine Iohn 15 5. and vs the branches for the branches haue the selfe-same life common with the vine trée for they all spring out by one spirit and bring forth one and the selfe-same fruit Paule also in his epistle to the Ephesians Eph. 5. 23. compareth with matrimonie that coniunction which we haue with Christ for he saith that the same is a great signe betwéene Christ and his church For euen as in matrimonie Our coniunction with Christ is compared with matrimonie not onelie the bodies be made common betwéene man and wife but also their affections willes are ioined togither so commeth it to passe by a sure and firme ground betwéene Christ and his church Wherefore the Apostle pronounceth them frée from sinne which doo abide in Christ and are in him after such a sort as I haue now declared to the end they may liue his life be of the same mind that he is and bring foorth such fruit of works as differ not from his fruits And they which are such cannot feare condemnation or iudgement for the Lord Iesus is saluation it selfe as his owne name declareth wherefore they which are in him stand in no perill to be condemned Herevnto we adde that they also are in Christ Who are in Christ which in all their affaires depend vpon him and who are mooued by his spirit whatsoeuer they take in hand or doo for to depend vpon him is nothing els than in all things that we go about
mortified should haue béene translated We are slaine For the Hebrue word is Horagnu although the Gréeke word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã sometimes signifieth To mortifie for that word Paule vsed in the same chapter Rom. 8 13. when he said And if ye by the spirit mortifie the deeds of the flesh ye shall liue But héere as we said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifieth To be slaine and to be deliuered vnto the death 15 But that which followeth All the daie long signifieth that death dooth continuallie hang ouer them and that they are neuer secure but that they thinke they shall be foorthwith drawen vnto death Chrysost Albeit Chrysostome amplifieth this an other waie It is of necessitie saith he that men die once at the least But séeing they are so prepared that they are willing euerie daie to die if néed require they haue euerie daie the fruit of martyrdome as if they should euerie daie die And the cause much relieueth and comforteth them for they are not slaine as wicked men or malefactors but onlie for religioÌ godlines sake And therefore they saie For thy sake And for that cause some thinke that that psalme ought not to be vnderstood of the first captiuitie for then the Iewes were not punished for Gods cause or for religion sake but bicause they were idolaters and so wicked as God would no longer suffer them for they had now altogither fallen awaie from God The booke of the law was almost cleane blotted out the temple was shut vp The Iewes for the lawe suffred manie things vnder Antiochus and the Macedonians the citie of Ierusalem ouerflowen with the blood of the prophets Wherefore this is a prophesie of the latter calamitie which happened in the time of the Machabeis vnder Antiochus and the Macedonians For then the Iewes suffered most gréeuous torments bicause they would defend the lawes of God Therefore they saie For thy sake are we slaine And in an other verse it is added And yet for these things haue we not forgotten thee or doone vnfaithfullie against thy couenant These things are not so spoken as though men doo at anie time suffer more gréeuous things than they haue deserued For none of all the martyrs liued so purelie and innocentlie but that they were subiect to some sinnes but those sinnes deserued not onelie the death of the bodie but also without the helpe of Christ his death euerlasting punishment But these paines and vexations God sendeth not vpon them as being angrie but for the setting foorth of his truth and glorie Howbeit in the meane time according as he promised Matt. 19 29. God rendreth an hundreth fold vnto them which haue suffred for his name in this life he repaieth vnto them not onelie life eternall but also in this life he rendreth vnto them an hundreth fold For oftentimes he most abundantlie restoreth those things which were lost for his sake Sometimes also in the middest of tribulations and euen in the verie crosse and death he giueth vnto them so much strength and consolation that in verie deed it is more than an hundreth fold if it be compared with those things which they haue lost And bicause the mysteries of our faith are secret and hidden God will haue them to be testified not onelie by oracles of the scriptures but also by the torments and slaughters of the elect And therefore Christ vnto the apostles Act. 1 8. when he sent them into the whole world to preach Ye shall be witnesses vnto me in Iewrie and in Samaria and vnto the ends of the world But it is no hard matter by words to testifie the truth but those testimonies are most weightie which are sealed with blood Not punishments nor death but the cause maketh martyrs Augustine and with death Howbeit this must be knowen as Augustine hath admonished that paines punishments and death maketh not martyrs but the cause For otherwise manie suffer manie gréeuous things and yet are not martyrs For the same Augustine to Boniface De correctione Donatistarum and in manie other places testifieth that in his time there were Circumcellions a furious kind of men which if they could find none that would kill them would often times breake their owne necks hadlong and would slaie them selues These men saith he must not be counted martyrs Thrée things therefore séeme fit to the state of martyrdome First To martyrdome three things are required that the doctrine which is defended be true and agréeable vnto the holie scriptures The second is that there be adioined integritie and innocencie of life that men doo not onelie edifie the church by death but also by life and conuersation The third is that they séeke not to die for glorie sake or for desire of name and fame Paule saith to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 3 13. If I shall deliuer my bodie to be burnt and haue not charitie it nothing profiteth me Therefore no man ought to account the Anabaptists The Anabaptists or Libertines are no martyrs Libertines and other such pestiferous sects for martyrs For séeing these men doo obstinatelie defend their errors vnto the death they are not mooued with charitie neither towards God nor yet towards men And forsomuch as they hate all good men they be rather the martyrs of satan and of their owne errors than of Christ Two kinds of testimonies we haue Two testimonies that further herin but yet are not firme which helpe verie much to the knowledge of the truth yet are not those altogither so firme that we ought straitwaie to assent vnto them namelie miracles torments which are suffred for the defense of anie opinion In either of them must be had great warinesse that the doctrine which is set foorth be examined by the holie scriptures Paule out of Dauid compareth the godlie with shéepe appointed vnto the slaughter In this similitude are two things to be considered First that they are called shéepe bicause they be simple as becommeth the flocke of Christ to be Secondlie bicause in their punishments they make no resistance following the example of Christ of whom it is written that When he was led like a sheepe vnto death 1. Pet. 2. 22. Esaie 53 7. yet did hee not open his mouth 16 Paule addeth But in all these things we be conquerours The Gréeke word is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is We doo notablie ouercome This particle ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in this place perteineth nothing vnto the works of supererogation for Paule ment nothing else but that so much strength is giuen vs by God as in this conflict we go farre beyond our enimies This the diuell dooth that by these aduersities he may wrest from vs our confidence and loue towards God But that by this meanes is rather increased Rom. 5 4. For tribulation worketh patience patience worketh experience experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed But by what strength this victorie happeneth vnto vs Paule straitwaie
ouer-much Faults in moorning After which maner we read that Samuel was reprooued when he lamented ouer-much for Saule 1. Sam. 16 1 being now cast out of his kingdom Ouer this if vndecent things be doone as the renting of the bodie and such like or else if it be doone semedlie Finallie that moorning is most to be disallowed which procéedeth of denieng the resurrection But we must sorrowe moderatelie as Paule by his example testifieth for in the second to the Philippians he saith of Epaphroditus God had mercie of him and of me Phil. 2 27. least I should haue sorowe vpon sorrowe Thou séest that the apostle by his owne confession had sorrowed for the death of Epaphroditus if the same had happened Neither doo moorners that which is contrarie vnto the word of God bicause God by whom death is inflicted would haue the nature thereof to be such that it should bring teares and sorrowe not onelie vnto them which die but vnto those also of whom they that die are beloued and are of néere fréendship for it is a punishment for man If it be gréeuous there is nothing that commeth without the ordinance and decrée of God looke how he will haue it to be so let vs take it Who would saie that men doo sin if they should complaine of hunger of thirst and of cold which neuerthelesse is not laid vpon vs without the will of God We confesse that God suffereth nothing to happen vnto them that be his but such as turneth vnto their good In moornings two things to be considered Two things therefore are to be considered in these moornings one is the present losse we haue when as a man that is déere vnto vs dieth and the other is the counsell of Gods prouidence which we beléeue by faith to be good and profitable vnto vs but in what sort the same is we doo not now perceiue Howbeit we are greatlie touched with the wound of our present losse doubtlesse not to the contumelie of God or that we complaine of him as though he handleth vs vniustlie or cruellie but we are moued through the sense of our owne nature so instituted by God which is the cause why we be mooued at the present euill Wherefore we sorrowe for iust causes that anie brother is departed all which causes it shall not be néedfull to recite Put the case it be bicause he was déere vnto vs bicause he was gentle louing bicause he promoted the honour of God was profitable to the church and such like Charitie driueth vs vnto two things to wit that we as members of one bodie are desirous to liue togither as much as long as is possible and further that we thinke the mishaps of other men to be our owne through the mutuall compassion of Christ his bodie Now then to sorrowe moderatelie we attribute the same vnto nature and vnto charitie and not to sorrowe ouer-much we attribute vnto faith séeing we haue the comfort of the resurrection the which with ouer-much lamenting we séeme to denie In. Gen. 35. verse 8. 3 The Ethniks doo therefore thinke that a meane must be vsed in moorning bicause death is a necessarie euill as that which cannot be auoided by anie remedie Death a necessarie euill But this vndoubtedlie cannot mitigate sorrowe but augment the same For who will thus vnfitlie answer him that so comforts him I in verie déed do sorrowe bicause I shall neuer atteine to an end of euill séeing I cannot auoid the same by anie means in that it hath all desperation ioined therewith Wherfore there be some which attempt an other waie We ought not saie they so to sorrowe for death sake bicause if it be a loosing of the soule from the bodie as it is reported to be it is not to be reckoned among euils Whether the coniunction of the soule with the bodie be a troublesome thing for that the coniunction of the soule with the bodie is a troublesome thing and doth not much further our felicitie But if so be thou obiect against this their opinion Then let euerie man that is wise laie violent hands on himselfe to the intent he may obteine that coÌmoditie they will gainesaie with these reasons First it behooueth vs to know that our soule is placed by God in this bodie of ours A similitude euen as a lieutenant is appointed to anie castell or fortification the which for his allegeance sake is not lawfull for him to forsake except he haue leaue of the Lord which placed him there vnlesse he will be counted a traitour And this is knowne to all wise and godlie men that a man is none of his owne but he is the iust and lawfull possession of GOD. Wherefore if anie man kill himselfe he doth not destroie that which is his owne but destroieth the substance of an other which thing how vniust it is let vs thus learne of our selues A similitude If our horse or bondman should worke his owne death would the same please vs or no I suppose it would not naie rather we would be gréeuouslie offended thereat and if we might we would that so great a crime should not be vnpunished And if so be we would thinke it vnwoorthie that so great an iniurie should be offered vnto vs will we not giue eare when we doo the verie same vnto our selues Neither can we otherwise be in better case or be better prouided for than vnder the Lord God himselfe Wherefore doo we then flie so good a Lord But when he calleth vs we must go vnto him without anie delaie for in departing when he commandeth we shall not onelie dwell with him but also with notable and excellent men which perpetuallie inioie the societie of him Wherefore séeing this coniunction of the mind and the bodie is verie vnprofitable vnto vs a philosopher must perpetuallie think vpon the separation of them But if so be it be the better and that he professe he desireth it would it not be a shamefull thing for him to be striken with feare when he should sée the same drawing néere vnto him But that the bodie is hurtfull to the soule they hereby thinke to prooue bicause it is against true philosophie to obeie or make much of the pleasures and affections which by the same are stirred vp in vs. For true philosophie teacheth nothing else indéed but that we should be alwaies mindfull to shunne these things as noisome plagues of our nature Which if we cannot altogither reiect from vs yet that we may at leastwise to our power breake their force and kéepe them vnder Lieng senses ministred to the soule by the bodie 4 Afterward they adde that the bodie is most troublesome vnto the vnderstanding for that which they said before must be referred to the appetite for vnto the perceiuing of the truth it ministereth deceiueable senses Vnto the which who so do giue credit are foorthwith beguiled in searching out the nature
hath foreshewed But it is sufficient for vs to knowe 1. Co. 10 11 that as Paule said This our age is the last so as another age after this is not to be looked for And touching this time of ours Christ said Matt. 28 20. I will be with you vntill the end of the world wherein he sheweth that the end of our age is the consummation of the world And when he instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist 1. Co. 11 26 he said Ye shall shew the Lords death vntill he come by which saieng he declareth that our sacraments shall endure vntill the end of the world 3 Manie are led by coniectures which are but weake I will not saie vaine to appoint the time of the last iudgement They bring foorth an oracle from the tradition of the Hebrues which they attribute to Elias and his Schoole namelie that the world should endure six thousand yéeres And those yéeres they distribute after this maner to wit that two thousand yéeres were spent before the lawe two thousand yéeres vnder the lawe two thousand yéeres they appoint to be vnder the kingdom of Messias And others haue feigned which commeth all to one purpose that the world shall endure six daies euen as it was made in six daies but as touching the lasting thereof they appoint for euerie daie a thousand yéers as though this had béene the mind of Dauid when he said Psal 90 4. And a thousand yeeres before thee are as yesterdaie that is past Also there be others which thinke that the mysticall bodie of Christ that is the church shall liue vpon the earth 33. yéeres which number Christ liued in the world as touching his bodie which he tooke of the virgin but to euerie yéere they distribute fiftie vsuall yéeres that they may make a yéere of Iubile All these things are inuentions of men And it is a miserable thing that whereas we haue so manie cléere and manifest things in the holie scriptures concerning faith hope charitie and the bonds of other vertues wherein there is nothing obscure we will leaue those vtterlie neglected and with so great superstition followe other things which are vncerteine and serue lesse vnto saluation This dooth the diuell indeuour that we should earnestlie occupie our selues in questions which be infinite vnprofitable laieng aside other things which should be necessarilie kept But when we heare mention to be made of the last iudgement let vs rather prepare our selues to watch and praie lest we be found negligent True certeinelie it is Augustine that Augustine said Prophesies are sooner fulfilled than vnderstood that Prophesies are sooner fulfilled than vnderstood Wherefore when we sée some of those signes which Christ set foorth vnto vs as tokens of the iudgement to come let vs saie with our owne selues Perhaps the wrath of the Lord is now to be powred out let vs feruentlie desire of God by praiers and most earnest faith that he will be mercifull and reconciled vnto vs for Christ his sake Concerning the ages and spaces of times the heretiks Marcion Cerdo Praxeas and Valentinus haue shamefullie doted as may be séene in Tertullian and Irenaeus 4 The deferring of punishments In Rom. 2 verse 4. which God vseth of his owne nature séemeth to inuite men to returne vnto God although it haue not the like strength of working in all men Wherefore Why God punisheth some and not all when we sée some punished and we our selues in the meane time spared it is meet that we should weigh this goodnes of God whereby he beareth with vs to the intent we should correct our selues Of which thing Christ admonished vs when he said at what time that word was brought him of some that were slaine with the fall of the tower of Siloa Luke 13 4. Doo ye thinke that they alone haue sinned As though he should haue said Not onelie they haue deserued that punishment but manie others ought to haue suffered the like But God will shew foorth certeine particular examples of his iudgement which one daie shall be generall Indéed the punishment of the vngodlie is deferred but yet it shall most certeinlie come at the time appointed Ibidem 6. The parable of the fig-tree which the good man of the houshold commanded to be cut downe séeing it bare no fruit admonisheth vs of the selfe-same thing For the husband-man obteined that the cutting downe thereof should be a little while deferred for that he would doong it and husband it if perhaps it would bring foorth fruit which if it did not then it should not onelie be digged vp by the roots but be also throwne into the fire Here are we taught not straitwaie to forsake our brethren How we should deale towards our brethren that offend when they offend but patientlie for a time to expect and that euen as God himselfe dooth so should we by benefits prouoke them to repentance not omitting in the meane time brotherlie admonitions But it is woorthie to be noted that the verie same men Rom 5 24. and 2 5. whom Paule said were punished when they were deliuered vp to the lusts of their owne hart and vnto shamefull affections and also vnto a reprobate mind shall againe be punished God punisheth the wicked with a double punishment which therefore is doone bicause that first kind of punishment drew them vnto pleasures and delights for he declareth that it shall one daie come to passe that they shall haue sore and gréeuous punishment laid vpon them But how dooth this agrée with that which the prophet Nahum writeth in his first chapter verse 9. A place of the prophet Nahum expounded namelie that iudgement and punishment are not vsed twise for one thing Séeing these men were punished once whie are they punished againe Certeinlie that sentence so commonlie frequented that God punisheth not twise is not so written in the prophet although it be so read in the seuentie interpretors The words are after this sort Whie doo ye deuise against the Lord He will make an end neither shall tribulation arise the second time Which words some of the Hebrues as Ierom reporteth doo interpret of the Assyrians who séeing they had gotten the victorie at the first time against the kingdome of the ten tribes thought that they had béene able in like maner to haue preuailed against the kingdome of Iuda which the prophet said should not come to passe and saith that after the first tribulation a second should not followe Indéed this exposition may be borne withall But there is an other which is more plaine namelie to saie that these things are spoken against Senacherib which besieged Ierusalem vnto whom God threatned an absolute and perfect destruction I will saith he so blot thee out as I shall not need to rise the second time against thee One plague shall be sufficient thou shalt be so vehementlie afflicted therewith Neither did the prophet dreame as
we will not graunt them to be the members of Christ vnlesse we shall iudge according to the forme and outward shewe Neither doe we for this cause say Euill men must not be excluded froÌ the Church at euery mans priuate iudgement that euill men at euerie mans iudgement should be separated or excluded from the Church when they haue secretlie sinned and haue not bin as yet cut off by excommunication from the body of Christ Nay rather while they be permitted if so be they administer the word of God or Sacraments vnto the people diuine things are not polluted by their wickednesse but this onelie we affirme now that such maner of men in verie déede and before God are not members of the Church Thou maiest perhappes doubt how Paul might trulie call the Church of the Corinthians How amoÌg the Corinthians was the Church of God the Church of God the which was infected with so many vices But it must be vnderstoode that all they which were there were not vtterlie corrupted manie good men remained Further they were as yet instructed with pure doctrine and they retained the Sacramentes whole and perfect neither were they altogether without discipline and those things that were wanting were not laide aside without regard nay rather the godlie laboured much about the correcting of them For we know that Paul was admonished by them which were at Cloas 1. Cor. 1. 11 that he should preuent the euils that were breaking forth Acts. 16. 9. Besides this Paul had a respect to the testimonie of God who had said vnto him that in the same citie he had much people Ouer this thou must vnderstand that the Church of God doth not so fall away for euerie blemish as that it should no more be called the Church of God It is not presently without spot or wrinkle but in the day of Iesus Christ it shal be 2 But they excéedinglie erre which account onelie the Romish Church for the Church In 1. Cor. 1. 2. We denie not but that there is an order among Churches but we graunt it not to be the same which dependeth of the wealth and dignities of this world An order in Churches and which must be taken for the better Looke after p. 6. Art 6. c. Wherefore among Churches that must be taken for the better which doeth most florish in spirit doctrine and holinesse But at this day onelie successions and Cathedrall seats are had in great estimation whereas notwithstanding Christ hath not tied his grace vnto these things And if so be that at Rome or Constantinople doctrine be polluted the Sacraments mangled and discipline corrupted how can we aske counsell of those Churches as more excellent than the rest Verilie this should be nothing else but to seek grapes of thornes and figges of thistles Matt. 7. 16. In auncient time the Apostolicall Churches were Ierusalem Antioch Alexandria Ephesus Corinth and other such like but what is there at this daie Alas there be manie errours and superstitions and there is little wanting but that they degenerate into Turkish wickednes Let the Church be Catholike for places do not separate beléeuers euen as the place in like maner Chrysost as saieth Chrysostome although it be one doth not ioine theÌ togither For if in one the same place there be two Lordes which command things repugnant doubtlesse their seruantes will be diuided for as Christ hath taught Matt. 6. 24. We cannot in one and the selfe same worke serue two 3 But it is perpetuallie obiected against vs by Hosius and Staphylus In 2. Sam. 21. vers 15. and other persecuters of the Gospell that we agrée not among our selues as touching the matter of the Sacrament Frée wil and other things We cannot denie it but shal we therfore say That we haue the true Church though there be dissentions among vs. that the reformed Church is no Church Indéede the spirit of the Lord is the spirit of peace It would possesse vs all whollie if we were whollie regenerate howbeit as yet we are not so The Church is instituted Ephe. 5. 27. that it may be without wrinckle hereafter now it is not one day it shal be when Christ shall haue ouercome all his enimies I thinke there be none but do like of a consenting together but yet sauing the truth otherwhile it cannot be had Dissentions in the Church are neuer forthwith rooted out These men when they declare these things do séeme to set forth mere wonders as though that there hath neuer béene dissentions in the Church But I beséech you let them consider the beginnings The people of Israell Exod. 7. 4. Num. 14. 10 which was the Church of God would often times haue killed Moses in the wildernesse Num. 16. 1. Core Dathan Dissentions in the Church of Israel and Abiram raised a tumult and contended for the Priesthoode which by the expresse worde of God was assigned to Aaron What turmoils were there betwéene Dauid and Saule 1. Sam. 18. c. yet was there an expresse worde of God as touching the kingdome The house of Iuda had the kingdome at the handes of God 1. Kings 12 1. Kings 13 11. and yet there became a schisme vnder Roboam After that age the Prophets succéeded 1. Kings 22 11. 17. on the one side they were true on the other side they were false they spake thinges that were repugnant That which one affirmed Iere. 21. 26. the other denied The Israelites being returned out of captiuitie were rent into sundrie sorts into the sectes of the Essei Pharesees Saduces Who wil saie that a church was not there And so it is no new thing where the Church of God is there dissentions to be If they shall denie this to be doone in the newe Testament I knowe not whether they erre wittingly or vnwittingly What happened betwéene Peter and Paul in the time of the Apostles Gal. 2. 14. Dissentions in the Church of the Apostles Act. 15. 39. Peter followed the Iewish custome to the hinderaunce of the Ethnickes which were conuerted Paul reprooued him Paul and Barnabas whom the holie Ghost had ioyned together in the ministerie so disagréed as they departed one from an other The time of contention for the retayning or not retayning of Iudaisme continued a long time The contention was past ouer vnto Augustine Ierome The one would that euen in the holie Scriptures certenties might be grounded by dispensation the other earnestlie denied it In the time of the Apostles a litle after the Christians had manie sectaries among them namelie the Cerinthians the Marcionites the Gnostickes the Carpocratians Admit that the Ethnickes had taken our Argument and had saide You cannot agrée as touching your Christ We haue holie ordinances of our Gods Which shal I beléeue these or those They al say that they be Christians I beséech you let vs consider of the Church
himselfe with other businesse 2. Tim. 2. 4 Hée also that entreth into this office must take héed that he hinder not himselfe with other cares and businesse as Paul saith vnto Timothie No man being in the warfare of God troubleth himselfe with the businesse of this life This function is of so great moment as it requireth the whole man Neither shall he doe a little that shall be able to performe this as he ought to doe Aristotle Aristotle in his first booke of Politikes saith that euerie one instrument is méete for one only worke One instrument for one worke Wherefore it is not méete for the ministers of Christ to plaie the part of souldiers huntsmen Marchauntes or Marriners Further it is to be noted that séeing they bée called the ministers of Christ they ought in anie wise to be distinct from others Which thing Iohn Baptist verie wel distinguished when hee saide Iohn 1. 26. My selfe baptise you with water but hee standeth in the middest of you whom ye know not There must be put a difference betwéene Christ his ministers Iohn 1. 6. They must not liue idely hee shall baptise you with the spirite and fire And Iohn the Euangelist wisely did put a difference betwéene Christ and his forerunner when he saide He was not the light but that he might beare witnesse of the light Neither is it the part of ministers to liue idlelie for they be hired to labour in the vineyarde Matt. 20. 1. to the ende that they maie afterwarde haue their reward which they should the oftener haue respect vnto séeing they exercise a worke both troublesome to the flesh and full of labour But in the meane time while we liue here there is no cause why they should dreame of a better estate than either the Apostles or Christ himself had experieÌce of in their ministerie They must not expect better fortune than the Apostles had 1. Cor. 4. 13 Act. 17. 18. Act. 22. 22. Matt. 9. 24. 34. Ibid. 12. 29. Ibid. 26 67 Iohn 8. 59. Luk. 4. 29. The Apostles were accoÌpted as the ofscourings of the world Paul boasted that he was reuyled as a babler and was reported of the Iewes to be vnworthie to liue as though he were an ofscooring and hainous offendour And was not Christ derided in euerie place there was no want of contumelies and reproches They rose against him with stones They indeuored to cast him downe headlong from the mount Oftentimes they would haue laide holde vppon him whom at the last when they had taken they crucified with great ignominie The same lotte must they looke for because it is enough for the scholer to be like his Master Mat. 10. 25 and the seruant if he be as his Lord. 28 They be called the dispensers of the giftes of God Looke part 4 p. 12. Act. 15. They are not called sacrifices or sacrificing priests but not sacrificers or sacrificing Priestes not that all kinde of sacrifices be taken awaie from them For praises and confessions by the which the goodnesse and mercie of God is declared are an acceptable sacrifice of God No lesse are praiers What be the sacrifices of the ministers of the Church confession of sinnes offering of Almes and repentance by which the heart is made contrite and humble and finallie the sacrifice of our owne bodies which we offer vp vnto God as a liuelie and reasonable sacrifice we denie not but that these things are done by the ministers of the Church And last of all it is a sacrifice whereby vnbeléeuing people are brought vnto Christ as it is plainlie shewed in the xv Rom. 15. 16 Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans in the which Euangelicall ministration the Ministers of Christ are most of all busied But the fauourers of superstitions brag that they sacrifice the sonne of God which is most absurde The ministers do not sacrifice the son of God Heb. 10. 14 bicause Christ offered vp himself nor néeded he another Priest By one oblation did he finish and make perfect whatsoeuer was to be done for our redemption Nor méete it is that man should be had as a sacrificer in so great an oblatioÌ For it behooueth alwaies that he which offereth be either equall or more excellent than the thing that is offered which we to imagine of our selues being compared vnto Christ is plaine sacriledge Further howe can we offer the sonne of God séeing he is perpetuallie in the sight of his father where he is our propitiation and our Aduocate 1. Iohn 2. 1. But if by sacrifice they vnderstand thankesgiuing for his death and bicause he would giue his bodie to be crucified his blood to be shed for our saluation such a sacrifice we will not denie to be offered to God in the Lordes Supper aswel by the Minister of the Church as also by all them that stand by And happilie the Fathers after this manner vnderstoode this worde To Sacrifice What the fathers ment by the word To sacrifice The fathers are not to be commended for vsing of this word Cyprian which in their writings they often vse albeit I maie not commend their aduise séeing thereof is growen an intollerable abuse Neither must we forget that offerings were accustomed to be done by the faithfull when they approched to the Supper of the Lorde as Cyprian most plainelie witnesseth And of these oblations there is mention made in the Collectes which are read after the Offertorie in the Masse But of these things else where Onelie this warning we woulde giue least it should be thought that they are called the Ministers of Christ bicause in the Masse they sacrifice his bodie and blood vnto God the father 29 As to the rest It is required in Stewardes That euerie one be found faithfull 1. Cor. 4. 2. Ministers must be found faithful and prudent A gouernor of a house ought to be prudent and wise Mat. 24. 45. The Apostle requireth not the eloquence of the world Nobilitie Fauour the power of Kings but a faithfull administration onelie Vnto this Christ added Wisedome when he said in Matthew A faithfull seruant and a wise whom the Lord hath set ouer his familie Howbeit these two qualities be so ioined in themselues as the one of necessitie followeth the other Neither shall the seruant escape frée if he behaue himselfe otherwise than is prescribed vnto him séeing in the Gospell we reade Ib. ver 48. that If the seruant when his Lord shall delaie his comming waxe cruell to his fellow seruantes so as he striketh them and oppresse them with tyrannie the Lord shall come at a time vnlooked for and shall destroie and slaie him and appoint his part with Hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Also of the wise and prudent housholder Mat. 13. 52 we haue heard that he bringeth out of his treasurie things both new and olde Euen so he that maketh a banquet
Christ and his disciples Iohn 9. 21. and as manie as followed him to bee cast foorth of the Synagogue But excommunications of this kinde Vniust excoÌmunications are no harme to innocents séeing they be wicked and vnwise are not preiudiciall vnto the godlie and innocent but they doe excéedinglie hurt the Ministers and executors of them who in doing peruerslie doe harme vnto God to Christ to the Church and to themselues and at length so farre as in them lyeth they murder the little flocke of Christ For although God be present with him that is vniustlie excommunicated yet the authors of this vnrighteousnesse for their part driue him out of the Church being oppressed with slaunders and cast him foorth to bee deuoured of wolues for whom Christ died But against the crueltie of these men Christ comforteth vs when he saith Feare yee not them which kill the bodie Mat. 10. 28 seeing they cannot kill the soule Let these men excommunicate as much as they wil they shall not separate vs from GOD from Christ and from the Church A certaine foolish Suffragan An exaÌple disgraded as they speake a certaine Priest after a while to be bounde because he preached the Gospell and said that he did separate him from the Church of Christ militant and triumphant Vnto whom that prudent and constant Martyr answered What shewest thou me of the triumphant and militant Church of Christ No creature can plucke me from thence Rom. 8. 37. And thou hauing the roome of a Bishop in vaine attemptest to cut me off from the bodie of Christ against the word of God 18 Lastlie it shall not bee hard by these things which we haue spoken to sée how we ought to behaue our selues towardes him Howe we ought to behaue our selues towards an excommunicate which is already excommunicate The familiar conuersation which is doone for affection sake must be withdrawne from him yet so as children wife and subiects be not exempted from their due obedience towardes the Magistrat least al things be confounded But in the meane time let héed be takeÌ least in this conuersatioÌ they giue assent vnto the same crime But as to others let the excommunicates be auoided let not meat be eaten with them let it not be said vnto them God spéede but let them be accounted as Ethnicks and Publicans Yet must we not cease from admonishing teaching and reproouing neither from giuing meat and drinke if necessitie shall vrge Because excommunication can no further be extended than charitie and other holie commaundements of God will suffer We néede not to feare the hatred of him that is excommunicate For if he wil iustlie weigh what is doone towards him he shall perceiue that the faithfull are stirred vp against him not through enuie but through charitie Theodosius Theodosius being corrected by Ambrose ceased not to loue him to honour him and to commend him And againe they which be excommunicate ought not for that cause to steppe backe from the Gospell or to desist from the faith thereof Further when they shall repent he which was separated from the Church let him be reconciled as Paul exhorteth in the seconde Epistle to the Corinthians 1. Cor. 2. 8. which thing should be doone mildlie with great good will and charitie These things I ment to saie as touching excommunication being alwaies readie to heare better matter For I perceiue that manie things herein be obscure which do oftentimes trouble the weake And for this am I very sorie that it séemeth to me I haue spoken of Vtopia and the common weale of Plato the which although of manie they be praised as goodlie things yet are they no where to be found Of Comelinesse and order in the Church In 1. Co. 14 at the end 19 But Paule in the first to the Corinthians the 14. Chapter added a verie excellent conclusion to wit That all things be done decently and in order But that particle Decently must be rightly vnderstood least we should thinke that this comelinesse consisteth in instruments of silke in vessels of golde and siluer in cuppes set with precious stones in the ringing of Bels in swéete perfumes in the shining of lights They which boast of these things as decent fall into the false argument which Aristotle calleth A secundum quid ad simpliciter A false argument that is From that which is in some respect to that which is absolute Comelie we graunt these things to be howbeit vnto the eyes of the bodie vnto the sense of the flesh and to the iudgement of the world which things we must rather denie than follow What comelinesse is required in the seruice of God The comelinesse which in these things is required consisteth in mortification holines modestie contempt of the world and especially in edification Let it not be obiected vnto vs Exod. 25. that God in the old Testament required of vs these outward ornaments The ornaments of gold siluer c. were conuenient for the olde law why as golde siluer precious stones c. For these things were conuenient for that time and age when the people of God was vnskilfull and were detained as infants vnder the rudiments of this world Nowe hath Christ brought a more perfect state therefore in his Church we must retaine those things which of themselues be decent not those which for some certaine time were méete for the people of God being newlie sprong vp Also he willeth that all things should be done in order that is without confusion For it is order where some things doe fitlie goe before and follow one another A definition of order by Augustine For Augustine De Ciuitate Dei defined it Order is a disposing of things that be like and vnlike giuing to euerie one their proper places In a Church let there be Doctors Disciples People a Pastor Elders And in rites let some things be set before and other things follow after so that in euery place nothing be done vnorderly or confusedlie Of Temples or Churches 20 Dauid although he be commended to be an acceptable and godlie King In 1. Cor. 3 verse 16. yet is he forbidden by God that he should not builde a Temple vnto him because he was exercised in warlike affaires and had put his handes to the bloud and slaughter of manie men Let vs further consider that God shewed marueilous vengeance vpon the Philistians 1. Sam. 5. in vexing them with most foule diseases for that they toke awaie the Arcke of the couenant Neither did it well happen vnto the Chaldeans at the length for that they burned the Temple and tooke away the holie vessels into captiuitie forsomuch as their Monarchie not long after was ouerthrowen The Macedonians also who most contemptuouslie violated the temple repaired had an euill ende And that we passe not ouer the holie houses of the Christians Augustine Augustine giueth warning who declareth in the first Booke
another which helde not with that guide with whom he held and as it appeared in the Church of Rome wheÌ two or thrée Popes liued at one time These things being marked it maie easilie be gathered what is Schisme that is to wit It definâ⦠of Schisme it is a separatioÌ of a coÌgregation through the hatred of brethreÌ because of the diuersitie eyther of minde or opinion or spéeches or electioÌ of gouernours which things doe both bréede and increase that hatred 3 Howbeit we must vnderstand that all Schisme is not good or euill For there is A distinctioÌ of Schisme which thou maiest not condemne It is no separation but of partes from the whole and which thou maiest iustly allowe It is no separation except it be of the partes from the whole which whole when it shall become euill if certaine parts diuine themselues from it because they will not be corrupted and infected the departing shall be commendable A good departure or separation Hebr. 11. 8 So is Abraham commended because he departed from the Chaldeans from his owne countrie A good separation also there was of the Proselits who suÌdring themselues from idolatrie went vnto the people of God Also the departing of Christ and of the Apostles from the Iewes is altogether commendable especiallie séeing Christ himselfe saide Mat. 10. 34. that hee came not to send peace but a sword and to seuer men from their owne houshold It also happeneth sometimes that all the partes of some whole be euill And it profiteth the godlie that those be drawne one from another to the intent they maie languish and be enféebled And to that purpose Paule when he was come into great daunger Acts. 23. 6. set the Pharisees and Sadduces at debate one against another It was profitable also for preaching of the Gospell when the Iewes disagréed among themselues as concerning Christ A part said of him He is good Iohn 7. 40. seeing he doeth so manie signes but others affirmed that he was euill and that he coulde not be of God séeing he brake the Sabaoth daie But if the whole it selfe be good and some partes being putrified defiled are departed awaie A detestable Schisme such a schisme must be detested and we affirme it to be euill Wherefore it is a pernitious thing because the nature neither of the parts nor yet of the whole is preserued Which that wée maie vnderstand a certaine distinction of the whole must be considered as it is taught of the naturall Philosophers One is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and it consisteth of like parts as is water blood earth and such like If a diuision be made doubtlesse the powers of the whole doe after a sort perish for by that plucking in sunder it is weakened but in the partes the nature of the whole is preserued For euery part of water is water and euerie part of blood is blood Another whole there is founde which they call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which consisteth of the diuersitie of partes Such be liuing creatures made of diuers members yea and plants consist of diuers parts These things if a man diuide neither the whole nor the partes will stand A man being drawen asunder into partes ceaseth to be a man and his parts be no more the members of a man And the Church séeing it is a bodie of diuers parts when it is diuided both it selfe after a sort is ruined and the partes thereof being distracted doe perish séeing they fall from eternall life So as they that separate themselues in an euill Schisme both destroy themselues and asmuch as in them lyeth destroy the Church vnlesse that Christ be present to restore and preserue the same Wherefore the vice must be shunned as a pernitious thing What maner of departing ours is what be the causes 4 Now must we sée whether our separation be euill or good I affirme that it is good First because it hath most iust and very good causes the which I will in this order recite The first cause is In the Church there can bee no coniunction betwéene them which retaine not the faith The Papists are fallen from the faith Our aduersaries haue cast awaie and retaine not the faith so as there can no knitting together happen betwéene them and vs. That they haue departed from the faith hereby it appeareth in that they haue cleaued to traditions neglecting the word of God But faith is by hearing and hearing by the worde of God as Paule testifieth Ro. 10. 17. Further there can be no fellowship with them They lay vpon vs intollerable burthens which by a mighty and welnéere tyrannicall violence obtrude vnto vs heauie intollerable burthens a great deale more than false prophets would lay vpon the Gentils being conuerted vnto Christ What may we here do In times past the Lacedemonians said vnto the Athenians If ye shal command things that be more hard than death we wil rather die than doe them Thirdlie our aduersaries vsurpe more vnto themselues than Paul thought did appertaine vnto himselfe The Papists arrogaâ⦠too much vnto themselues Verse 24. He wrote in the 2. Epistle to the Corinthians the first Chapter Not as though wee haue dominion ouer your faith By which wordes he testifieth that faith is subiect vnto none but vnto the word of God so as the ministers of the Church haue no dominion ouer it but as Peter saieth in the first Epistle the fifth Chapter Ver. 2. 12 They ought by admonishing and teaching to be helpers of the ioy of the faithfull that is of their eternall felicitie And he had said before Not as though ye bare rule ouer the Clergie by the Clergie he vnderstandeth the people of God The Church if it be generallie considered is one certaine body of Christ but it hath manie partes to wit particular Churches all which be called the lots and inheritances of God Wherfore Peter woulde not that Ministers and Pastors should behaue themselues towardes them like Lordes Fourthly Papists suffer vs not to worship God purelie and sincerelie The Papists admit no libertie of the Gospel among them if we be conuersant with them Because they neither suffer that the Gospell shoulde be preached by vs neither graunt they the pure administration of the Sacraments as they be instituted of Christ Fiftlie The Papists euerie yere accurse vs vpon Shere Thursdaie they curse vs and pronounce most horrible execrations against vs especially vpon Thursday in the great wéeke Séeing then they haue so excommunicated vs and euerie yéere renue their excommunication what shoulde we deale with them when as they haue so cruellie abandoned vs Sixtly if we should ioine our selues vnto them The Papists are separated from the greatest part of the inhabited world we should be pulled awaie from the greater part of the world In so much as they accouÌt for Schismaticks the Churches of Africa Egypt Syria the
East-Church the Churches of Asia and the Gréeke Churches in respect forsooth that they will not be subiect to the seate or rather the Tyrannie of Rome Seuenthlie they being not content with excommunications and execrations by which they curse vs being faithfull men and professors of the Gospell The Papists persecute the godlie doe most cruellie persecute destroie vs with sworde violence prisons banishments confiscation of goods and finallie with flames and fires Eightlie it is méete that godlie men shoulde be conuersant together with sinners The Papists admit no reformation so long as there is anie hope of them remaining and while they abide to heare those which warne them But these meÌ haue stopped their eares like Adders neither can they abide any word of men admonishing them They haue bin cried vpon of long time and they compelled of force confesse that many great errours are crept in into the Church yet doe they not either shewe or amend anie Certaine Councels haue bin held namelie of Constance Basill Florence and Trent welnéere within our age or the age of our Fathers yet is there not corrected in the Church so much as one trifling thing or error or abuse So as they séeme now past hope of saluation And experience teacheth that in liuing with them the trueth is rather hidden and weakened than that they are become the better wherefore it is no maruell if we depart from them For the Apostles for the verie same cause departed from the Iewes Act. 13. 46. séeing they cast awaie the word of God The papists mislike of a Christian Councel Ninthlie manie haue hoped and yet hold opinion that the onelie remedie which remaineth for the reliefe of the miserable state of things is a general Councell which should be fréelie helde where the cause on both parts might be discussed But they neuer abide themselues to be brought therunto With griefe they heare mention made of a Councel Moreouer least they shold séeme ouer wicked they permit a Councell after a sort but such a Councell as consisteth of them that conspire against the worde of God and séeing the ground and state of all dependes wholie vpon the Pope they will abide none there but such as be sworne vnto him 5 Tenthlie in the Church there be thrée kinds of things What and how manie kindes of things are in the Church For some be necessarie others be frée and othersome be wicked Among things necessarie are appointed doctrine and administration of Sacraments as also holie and honest life namelie that men should behaue themselues godlie modestlie and iustlie towards God them selues and their neighbours all which in verie déed belongeth vnto discipline This being so let vs consider how these men behaue theÌselues in all these things Doctrine out of all doubt they haue corrupted For they teach that we are not iustified by faith onelie Rom. 1. 16. 3. 21. 5. 1. Gal. 2. 19. as the scriptures do appoint but that we be also iustified by workes They preach worshipping of Images and the adoring of creatures They defend inuocation of the dead and such like things which be méere corruptions of heauenlie doctrine And as touching the administration of Sacraments they haue so defased by adding too and mangling of the Sacraments as they are now scarcely knowen Further as to maners and life they haue so excéedinglie loosed the raines of discipline as they call good Esa 5. 20. euill and euill good And all things are taken hand ouer heade and so great a confusion there is of things as there be no difference perceiued of iustice And thinges that be frée nowe they suffer not to bee frée They haue ordeined a choice of meates Col. 2. 16. when as in meate and drinke as testifieth the Apostle none ought to iudge vs. They obserue daies with great superstition Also they suffer not fastings to be frée but they will haue appointed times as the yeare goeth about They haue decréed to fast vpon fridaie and saturdaie in the time of Lent in the Vigils and Imber daies Matrimonie which among other thinges is most frée they haue forbidden to all the cleargie Also there bee garments prescribed by them to be so ncecessarie as without them Masse cannot bée had They will not that leauened breade should be consecrated but swéete or vnleauened Ceremonies and rites they will haue to be so common that all men maie vse them Briefelie they haue made things that be frée to be of necessitie Things that be naught and corrupt they wil not cut off they retain them obstinatlie and he that wil admonish them thereof they gréeuouslie pursue him Whether the title of the Catholike Church be agreable with the Church of Rome Look before cap. 1. Act. 2. 6 Furthermore they will haue none to be of their fellowshippe that professe not the Romane Church to bee the Catholike Church and they indeuour to make the vniuersall Church to be particular For the Romane Church is one certaine Church as is the Church of Alexandria Millain and Ephesus But the Catholike is vniuersall for it is there found wheresoeuer the beléeuers and true members of Christ liue well It is not bound to places chaires They straight way reuolted from the Catholike church when the Popes kingdome was erected by them For they which would not go vnder the yoke were by the Romanistes expulsed from the Church They sought not that the name of Christ might be largelie spread but that they might beare rule farre and wide Paul vnto the Romans wrote Rom. 12. 5 that we be one bodie in Christ meÌbers euery one of an other But and if he said that we be one in Christ it ought to be enough to professe Christ Eââ¦ors of the Donatistâ⦠not the Romane Church The Donatistes are reprooued by manie of the Fathers and especiallie by Augustine because they had straitened the Catholike Church into a small corner of Aphrica affirming that the Church was no where else to be founde But doe not the Papistes the verie same when as they acknowledge none for the Churches of Christ which followe not the Romane Church as their head and Prince Let them prooue if they can that the Gospell sprang vp at Rome It cannot be saide For it came from Ierusalem aswell vnto the Greekes as Latines Whereby it commeth to passe that the Romane Church is not by the right of antiquitie the first of all Further it is gathered that the Catholike Church was before the same And if it could then be without it what let is there but that nowe also it maie be without it But if so bée to speake after the maner of the Logicians the Romane Church first of all and by it selfe had béene the Catholike Church all Churches by it should be named and should bée called and become Catholike through her Which how false it is I haue already shewed in that the Churches of Ierusalem Antioch and
of Martianus being a wise woman and well commended She in her Epistle vnto Strategus in the Prohems of the councell of Chalcedon The example of Pulcheria to Strategus commaunded that out of Nice a citie of Bithinia where she would haue had the councell which afterward was translated to Chalcedon should be expelled al the cleargy men and Moonkes to the intent that they might leaue the place voide and frée vnto the Bishoppes and that the matters might not be molested by them The Argument is of an Act or example which is not of force In verie déed that woman was in other things godlie and wise but in this act shee cannot be allowed Neither is it thus doone by our aduersaries at this daie In the councell of Trent and in manie other together with Bishoppes there sate Abbots general Masters of the Franciscans of the Carmelites of other orders which were not bishops 18 Fricius also a Polonian The iudgement of Fricius of Polonia an excellent learned man iudgeth that the Legates of the kingdomes and Prouinces of Christianitie should be admitted vnto these kindes of Actions of the church But setting aside the reasons of men I thinke we must haue a regarde vnto the first councell which is in the 15. chapter of the Actes of the Apostles Acts. 15. ver 22. 23. The Apostolicall Councell ought to bée a paterne vnto all Councels This for so much as it was holie and Apostolicall ought to be accounted for a law and rule to all councels There the Apostles establishing the decrée of Christ saide So it seemed good to the Apostles and Elders with the whole Church Afterward they béeing minded to write thereof to the Antiochians wrote letters after this manner The Apostles Elders and brethren c. These things do plainelie testifie that not only the bishops but the other meÌbers of the Church haue place in councels And as to that which we coÌplained of the Church of Rome they alleadge that the same hath alwaies had singular authoritie among the Christians The power of the Roman Church exceeding her bouÌds hath brought great losse vnto the Church Vnto this we answere that whatsoeuer power the church hath the same ought to be vnto edifying Let nowe the Romanistes themselues take héede that they edifie the bodie of Christ They haue raised vp infinite contentions for the maintainance of their primacie and for that cause they stirre vp most bitter contentious troubles to the intent they maie obtaine and kéepe the same They diminish the Church of Christ they shorten it and contriue it in a narrow roome For all those which will not acknowledge their primacie they excommunicate and cast out from the communion of the faithfull Furthermore they lay vpon men an intollerable burthen of mens traditions Besides the Canons of the Councels they haue adiected innumerable decrées and decretals their Sext their Clementines their Extrauagant constitutions Thus the Church is charged by them with most gréeuous burthens so farre is it from being eased The complaint of Augustine for the burthen of Ceremonies in his time Augustine in his time complained that the Church of Christ was more charged than in old time the Church of the Hebrewes was I beséech you what would that father now saie if he should behold our times which is now so gréeuouslie pressed with superstious rites and manifold traditions as it is altogether oppressed Of the Romane Church it maie fitlie bee said In vaine doe they worship me Esa 29. 14. teaching the doctrine and precepts of men But let vs consider to what end they so extoll the power of the Romane Church Certainelie for no other cause but that they may easilie obtrude their traditions and euerie fained thing Why they so greatlie extoll the name of the Romane Church so as with hearing the name of a decrée letter or tradition of the church of Rome we should straightwaie giue a blind consent 19 When we demaunde of them how so great a power happened vnto the Church of Rome they saie and especiallie Cardinall Caietanus From whence they claime the Roman power Before pl. 3. Act. 1. that it came by Peter For Christ as they saie when he knewe that he shoulde goe from hence into heauen left that Apostle to be his vicar vppon the earth But we demaund why had not other Churches the Popedom from Peter Because saie they they were not properlie or peculiarlie appointed or ioyned vnto Peter They faine that before Peter was anie where Bishop the Popedome was a wandring and flittering thing namely that there it should be wheresoeuer Peter abode At the last as they trifle he setled himselfe in the Church of Rome But séeing they iudge also that Peter before he went to Rome was also Bishop of Antioch why doe they not attribute the Popedome vnto that seate especiallie séeing they celebrate euerie yeare the feast of Peters chaire whereby they declare that they renewe the memorie of his being bishop in Antioch Yet must we not beléeue that the Church of Antioch was planted by Peter For it was before that Peter went thither He no doubt was at Ierusalem with the rest of the Apostles Acts. 15. 4. 7. as it is in the 15. of the Actes when that great contention sprang vp among the beléeuers of Antioch as concerning the Legall ceremonies of Moses whether they should be obserued or refused All which cause was referred to the Apostles at Ierusalem Whether Peter leauing his byshopricke of Antioche went to Rome 20 But they faine that Peter went afterward vnto Rome and forsaking the bishopricke of Antioche tooke vpon him the bishopricke of Rome But how knowe they that Peter going to Rome kept not to himselfe the byshopricke of Antioche As though wée sée not dailie that the Byshop of Paris London Artois and Augusta doe goe to Rome yet do not renounce their byshoprick But let vs graunt them that they desire let them at the least wise shew why they gaue not the second place vnto the Church of Antioche next vnto Rome Truelie they made the Patriarche of Alexandria to be chiefe séeing that Church was founded and planted by Marke an Euangelist not an Apostle Further in the Councel of Chalcedone they depriue the Patriarche of Alexandria from his place giuing vnto the Byshop of Constantinople the second place next vnto the Romane Byshop whenas neuerthelesie it appeareth that the Church of Constantinople was founded by none of the Apostles whereby is gathered that Churches haue not gotten their honour or degrée of the founders otherwise the Churches of Ephesus Ierusalem Corinthe and Thessalonica and such like which had the Apostles their master builders should be preferred aboue Alexandria Constantinople many other famous Churches than that which they by the decrée of the Canons haue beene lesse estéemed And as touching Peter it is verie vncertaine to the most learned men whether he came to Rome Whether Peter
vnto the vncircumcised Such verily was the societie betwéene these Apostles 23 But setting these reasons aside I perceiue plainlie that this power which they say is giuen onely to the Bishop of Rome by the succession of Peter The primacie of the bishop of Rome is taken away by the old Canons is ouerthrowen by the Canons of the Fathers forsomuch as in the Synode of Nice some certain limits were prescribed vnto the Patriarches of Rome of Alexandria and to the rest which might not haue béene done if the Roman Patriarch had at that time béene head of all Churches How rightlie they did which appointed foure Patriarches to be the principall of all Bishops throughout the Church of Christ I will not at this present declare But this onelie I affirme that they in the Church which is * Gouernance of many good men Aristocrasia or a kind of common weale did institute a * The dominion of the foure Patriarches was like the quadrumââ¦rate in Rome Quadrumuirat whose fellowship neuerthelesse in processe of time they obserued with small fidelitie Leo the Pope misliked that any Byshop should be called vniuersall For Leo the first of that name complayned that the Patriarch of Alexandria would make himselfe the vniuersall Byshop of the Church of Christ The very same coÌtention had Gregory with Iohn Byshop of Constantinople And Socrates in the 7. booke and 10. Chapter wryteth that the Byshops of Rome and Alexandria went beyond the limits of their iurisdiction especially in that they turned themselues to an outward dominion which is a most sure token that the Byshop of Rome had not in times past as they will haue it an infinit power 24 But to returne to Peter himselfe by whose labour they boast that they haue obtayned so great and so excellent an authoritie of their Popedome as it may be iudged by none vppon the earth whosoeuer he be But good Peter as it is in the Acts of the Apostles when he was accused because he went in to the Ethnikes Acts. 11. 2. Peter had none of that common maioritie declared the cause purged himselfe neither did he flye from iudgement vnder that pretence that he was Pope and that he would be iudged by none vppon the earth as they would haue it He was sent together with Iohn by the Church of Ierusalem into Samaria Acts. 8. 14. whereby it commeth to passe that he is of lesse authoritie than the same For it is euident that he which is sent is inferiour vnto him whose messenger he is made Moreouer Paul ordayned Byshoppes and that by Titus Titus 1. 5. neither did he in that thing aske counsell of Peter or thought it requisite to vse his authoritie therein The same Paul as we haue to the Galathians reprooued him Gal. 2. 14. that openly before the Church of Antiochia vndoubtedlie not as an inferiour vnto him but as one equall and of lyke dignitie The most ancient Fathers were not subiect to the Roman bishop Cyprian and others of the most auncient fathers and also Councels especiallie those which were celebrated in Africa when they wrote letters vnto the Byshop of Rome professed not the subiection towards him which they imagin should be giuen him they called him brother or else honorable or worshipfull fellowe in office or such lyke In the 4 Chapter to the Ephesians are reckoned the ecclesiasticall degrees Ephe. 4. 11 The Ecclesiasticall degrees and God is declared to haue put in the Church some Apostles some Prophets some Pastors and teachers c. No mention of the Popedome in the holie ââ¦tures But of so great a matter namely of the Popedome we haue no mention there made There is also a remembrance of one bodie one spirit one hope of vocation one faith one baptisme but this ministeriall head of the Church is vtterly silenced 25 But they make great outcryes that they haue a perpetual succession of these their high Byshops What we are to iudge of the continual succession of the Romane Byshops and that the same is greatly accounted of by Tertullian Augustine and other fathers as though the Churches of Ierusalem Antioch and Alexandria cannot euen vnto this day shewe their successions As though perhappes also we would defraude of those successions the Churches of Corinth Ephesus and very many other Apostolicall seates And what Did not also the high priestes of the Iewes in the time of Christ and the Apostles bragge of their successions euen from Aaron But yet that might be no impediment but that it should be lawfull for the Apostles to depart from them when they sawe them reiect the Gospell of the sonne of God Steuen also sayd vnto them although they sate in very honorable place and might make vaunt of their successions and that verily with great bouldnesse You haue alwayes resisted the holy Ghost So that succession no whit auaileth them which depart from godlynesse and from the worde of God And that it is sometime lawfull for iust causes to depart from a continuall succession Note an example of Charles the great the example of Charles the great declareth The Emperours of Greece had a continual succession but whenas now through succession of time they were become slothfull and of small courage the Romane Empire reuolted from them and they ordayned Charles the sonne of Pipin to be Emperour Augustine Moreouer Augustine teacheth vs for what cause the fathers sometimes alledge those successions In his 165. Epistle vnto Generosus dealing against the Donatistes as touching this matter he writeth many excellent things among the rest he rehearseth the Roman Byshops euen vnto Anastasius which in his time sat at Rome and at length saith Ye will not be so boulde to say that any one of these was a Donatist so as it appeareth that ye enterprise newe matters in the Church and bring in newe opinions vtterly vnknowen to the auncient time séeing vnto your doctrine you are not able to shewe any succession or continuance with the auncient fathers Wherefore the argument of this father was very euident and plaine against the Donatistes neither will we therefore despise the same but being instructed thereby will contend against the Papists Let vs make a reckoning of the Roman byshops in their order course vntil we come to Boniface the 3. which first erected the Popedome Boniface the 3. first ââ¦rected the Popedome Certainly we may perceiue that amongest them there were many excellent and holy men and valiant confessors of Christ yet let our aduersaries say if they can of any one of them This was a Papist Let them take héede then to which of those men they will apply their doctrine The doctrine of the maioritie of Rome is newe and froÌ whence ãâã sprang so as they may say that he receiued it by this or that succession Vndoubtedly this doctrine of theirs is new in no wise taught by those godly fathers but by the
that all Christendom during all that time were damned Héereunto we say that there neuer wanted men in all that space which repugned the lies and deceits of Poperie and that they of the East parts the Gréekes resisted that tyrannie Neither as yet doe they acknowledge the dominion of the Church of Rome So then not all Christendome as these men faine haue perished for that cause Yea and in our West regions the libertie of the Church stood after a sorte vntill the time of Pipin Charles the Great We will adde moreouer that as touching the predestinate none of them haue perished in any age The théefe at his last houre imbraced Christ And it is not vnlikely but that which happened vnto him happened vnto very many others The spirit of Christ wanteth not wayes by the which he can reduce the wandering shéepe vnto the fould Great yea most large is the imbracing of Gods mercie whereby he draweth vnto him euen those that be at the point of death Neither is it therefore brought to passe that men should not now follow the trueth being layd open But why doe they so often wearie vs with telling of the saluation or perdition of our forefathers It had bin lawfull for the Hebrewes to haue obiected the very same vnto the Apostles Iohn 4. 20. So the séely woman of Samaria said vnto Christ that the fathers woorshipped God vpoÌ the mountaine or place So might the Ethnikes aske the preachers of the Gospel of the sonne of God whether all their forefathers which had not heard such doctrine did perish euerlastingly It is none of our part when as the reueiling of Gods wil is brought to make inquirie vpon his iudgementes Let vs our selues doe our duetie vnto him leauing to the iudgement of God to giue sentence of our forefathers and of all men by the decrées of his iustice If that all things haue not bin reueiled vnto our fathers in such sort as they haue bin vnto vs and not in general yet shall they partly be excused for their ignorance But our cause shall be much the woorse if we knowing the thinges that haue bin shewed in our times doe not imbrase them so farre is it off that the error of the fathers shall be defended by vs. But because the force of this argument is common to both partes we may fitly returne the same againe vpon our aduersaries Let them say Before Boniface the third when as in Christendome the Popedome was vnknowen which they would should appertaine to the articles of the faith whether all men perished which imbraced not the same by faith nor obayed the seate of Rome And whether be they also condemned and iudged to the paines of hell so many as were ignorant of the transubstantiation of the bread and wine of the Euchariste before Innocentius the third Be they also damned all which in the time of Epiphanius and Ierom iudged that Images should be taken out of the Temples They haue not what to aunswere and so let them cease to obiect that vnto vs which no lesse presseth them than it dooth vs. 41 They demaund moreouer where the Church of Christ hath bin so long In what places the Church of Christ was before the Churches were reformed by vs. you say they as yet were not And as you affirme the Church was not among vs therefore it was no where Which thing is most absurd and must not in any wise be admitted But if we will say Mat. 18. 20 That where two or three were gathered together in the name of Christ they were the Church and that it neuer happened but that such haue bin in the world they againe contend against this in saying that the Church ought to be visible which the faithfull may haue accesse vnto because Christ sayd Tell the Church Ib. ver 17. To aunswere heereunto Of the Church we thinke good and that in fewe wordes and grosly to speake somewhat of the Church The Church is the bodie of Christ And least that any should deride this naming of it wee will search how many kindes of bodies are found Thrée kindes of bodies Pomponius a notable Lawier in the Digestes De vsis Capione L. Rerum mixtura made thrée bodies The first is that which is contayned in one spirit as man wood stone and that naturally groweth in it selfe An other is that which consisteth of a certaine knitting together wherein the partes doe one touch an other as a house a ship a storehouse and this is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Finally the third is that which hath partes distant one from another which neuerthelesse are ioyned together in one name and communion of order as a people a companie a legion c. In the third kinde is comprehended the Church What kind of bodie a Church is which is a fellowship of theÌ that be distant in place one from an other For whether any faithfull man be at home or in the stréete or in the countrie yet hee is reckoned to be in the Church But there is a difference in defining of this bodie The Papists we denne the Church after a diuers maner For it is not defined by the Papistes and by vs after one manner For they thinke that al they which professe Christ be the Church so that they be not excommunicate wherein they excéedingly erre because the Church séeing it is the body of Christ is liuely neither hath it any dead members And it is said by Iohn 1. Ioh. 2. 19. They went out from vs because they were not of vs for if they had bin of vs they had surely taryed We graunt in deed that in the Church which consisteth onlie of the elect of God which be iustified by faith and indeuour to expresse the word of God so farre as they be able in godlynesse of manners there dwell very many wicked and vngodly men and that sometime it commeth to passe that therin they hold the chiefe places Christ sayd that the kingdome of heauen which is the Church hath fishes good and bad Mat. 13. 47 virgins wise and foolish Cockle and Wheate although neuerthelesse it be not the Church in very déede Assuredly they be conuersant and be in it no otherwise saith Augustine than are corrupt and naughtie humors in mans bodie For euen as those trouble and corrupt the health A similitude so these vexe and disquiet the Church Therefore when it is demaunded by the aduersaries whether their congregation aduaunced by the Popedome were the Church I aunswere that it was then excéedingly fallen to decay and dayly more and more ruinated so as now amongest vs there is no more left but certaine rubbish and péeces of walles together with some beames or small ioystes so as it is not properly the house of God howbeit as yet it retaineth certaine steppes although they be slender Wherefore we acknowledge the baptisme that is there giuen neither doe we rebaptise those
his own selfe neither will they besides one Pope admit an other What head therefore shall he haue They will say Christ But we will replie vnto them that if Christ be sufficient for a head vnto the Pope how happeneth it that he maie not suffice others also We haue departed from them which challenge vnto them selues an other power and habilitie of forgiuing sinne than by preaching of the Gospell and thus I knowe not what counterfeit kaies whereby they bind and loose they haue made vnto themselues They say Mat. 24. 23 of Christ Beholde he is here beholde he is there behold he is in the secret places while they offer vnto vs a small Wafercake to be worshipped in the Masse in the Pix and also in Pompe wherein they carry the same about We haue separated our selues from them which preach the merites of men and bragge of the workes which they call works of Supererogation And séeing they haue reuolted from Christ let them cease to woonder that we are departed from them The fellowship of theÌ is now the pillar of lying not the ground of trueth It is ruled and gouerned for the most part by Woolues couered with shéepe skinnes Neither is there among them the house of God but the receptacle of Images It is the propertie of the Church as saith Ambrose vppon Luke the 2. booke and 3. Chapter to be the mother of the liuing but those men be the councell or conuent of the dead We haue departed from that Church which consisteth in walles painted colours and vizardes whereas the true seate thereof ought to be in the heart as Lactantius in his 4 booke de vera sapientia and 13 Chapter hath written There the corrupt and vitious man is worshipped and Christ the Author of saluation is neglected We forsake the adulterous Church which besides Christ the lawfull spouse acknowledgeth the Pope for her husband We haue also departed from the old growen schisme wherein that multitude of Romanists haue seuered themselues from others by turning away her eares from the word of God and conuerting altogether vnto fables And because it hath forsaken the loue of the trueth it is giuen ouer to a strong illusion of error We are fallen away froÌ theÌ that goe astray and we goe foreward vnto the way of truth and vnto the kings high way We would not be with them which following the spirit of error haue their conscience marked with an hotte iron and forbid meates and marriages 48 Now it appeareth by these markes what maner of congregation it is from whoÌ we haue reuolted and it is sufficiently perceiued that it is not the Church vnlesse perhaps thou wilt saie it is the Church of the malignant Other markes also might be annexed but I cease to recken vp anie more because whosoeuer is but meanelie acquainted with the holie scriptures maie sée them The marks of their Church which haue departed froÌ the Pope And it is not néedefull that I should now describe that Church vnto the which wee haue repaired séeing it hath properties contrarie vnto those which we haue now alleaged This one thing will I saie that it is the same which in the booke of the Apocalips is described to be like a woman Apoc. 12. which brought foorth a man childe and fled into the desert least it shoulde be destroyed by the Dragon which persecuteth her Our men are after a sort constrained to be in the desert séeing the chiefe Prelates most cruellie rage against them who neuerthelesse in the meane time doe most earnestlie complaine that we leaue them no forme of a Church Howbeit they ought not to ascribe this vnto vs but vnto themselues For they haue deceiued godlie men of that liberty séeing that the true Church should be heard and reuerenced and the faithfull sort ought to obey it But these men require such things as we ought in no wise to obey 49 But they saie It is obiected that Paul departed not from the Church of Corinth though it were corrupt 1. Cor. 1. 1. 1. Cor. 1. 12 1. Cor. 6. 1. 1. Cor. 5. 1. that the Church of Corinth was verie much inserted and corrupted which neuerthelesse Paul acknowledgeth and saluteth The Corinthians were verie much diuided among themselues One would be of Paul another of Caephas another of Apollo and so they attributed as much vnto their Ministers as vnto Christ They brought their contentions and strifes to the iudgement seates of the Ethnicks they suffered an incestuous man who had the wife of his father to be conuersant among them they thought not whoredome to be sinne 1. Cor. 6. 13 1. Cor. 8. 10 1. Co. 11. 21 they did euery where eate with the Ethnicks things dedicated vnto Idols they celebrated the supper of the Lord with vnquietnesse of minde they abused the gift of tongues 1. Cor. 14. 1 1. Co. 15. 33. neither did they iudge truelie and godlie of the resurrection These things no doubt be grieuous crimes yet did they not therefore bring to passe but that among the Corinthians there was a Church But we answere this doubt after the verie same maner that we did before as touching the Church of the Iewes that although it were distained and corrupted yet did it not constraine any to wicked opinions and rites and it exercised the ceremonies according to the prescript of the law of Moses wherefore séeing in manie things they were good men it was acknowledged as the Church of God So lykwise in the Church of Corinth the word of God was openly published and the Sacraments were soundlie administred And thus although manie were infected with sinnes and grieuous corruptions yet did they not all straie from faith holinesse wherefore the Church ceased not to be at Corinth Where the two things which we haue made mention of be soundlie kept the word of God I meane and the Sacramentes they are neuer without some fruite but as it is elsewhere said they be assured tokens and pledges of the true Church They obiect the breaking of the vnitie of the Church 50 They also crie out against vs that we haue broken the vnitie of the church But what vnion I beséech you doe they tell vs of No other verilie but the vnitie of the Pope of the seate of Rome to which they are in miserable bondage the vnitie of Idolatrie and of the Masse the vnitie of the marke of the beast which all they receiue and also the vnitie of the outward ceremonies wherein all they in a maner communicate one with another But this is not the vnion of the Church which the holie Scriptures neither acknowledge nor testifie Paul vnto the Ephesians writeth Ephe. 4. 3. Be ye carefull to keepe the vnitie of the spirite through the bond of peace Againe One bodie one spirit euen as ye be called in one hope of your vocation And againe One Lorde one faith one Baptisme one God the Father of all which is aboue all
not in that it is spoken but it that it is beléeued But in Infants which by reason of age cannot yet beléeue The word clenseth not because it is spoken buâ because it is beléeued The holie Ghost worketh in the steade of faith Tit. 3. 5. the holie Ghost worketh in their heartes in the stead of Faith The effusion also of the holie Ghost is promised in baptisme as it is expresselie writen in the Epistle to Titus Who hath saued vs by the fountaine of regeneration and renewing of the holie Ghost which he hath plentifully powred vpon vs. 3 Neither are these two things in such manner offered vnto vs in Baptisme The things offered in Baptisme are also had euen before Baptisme Rom. 4. 11. Act. 10. 44. as though we in no wise might haue them before baptisme For it cannot be denied but that they which bee of full age if they beléeue are iustified euen before they be baptised For so Abraham beleeued and was iustified and after that hee receiued the seale of Circumcision And Cornelius the Centurion when hee had heard Peter and beléeued was not onelie iustified but also visiblie receiued the holie Ghost Neither would we baptise Infants but that we suppose that they alreadie pertaine vnto the Church and vnto Christ And yet are not such baptised in vaine For we must obaie the commandement of GOD which if anie man should contemne though hee boast neuer so much of his faith yet should he sufficientlie declare that hee neither beléeued nor is iustified nor yet hath receiued remission of sinnes Furthermore although they beléeue In Baptisme the gifts which are had before are increased yet when these promises are againe offered that by the appointment of the Lorde and they through faith and instinct of the holie Ghost doe effectuallie take holde of them the benefites of God cannot but be increased in them And why the holie Ghost is powred into the heartes of them that be regenerate this is the reason Why the holy Ghost is powred into the heart when we be regenerate Eze. 36. 26. By Baptisme we are visiblie grafted into Christ and his Church 1. Co. 12. 13 Because they must be made men againe and their stonie heart as the Pophete saith must be turned into a heart of flesh which is not possible to bee doone by mans reason And that we are by the visible sacrament grafted into Christ into the Church is first declared out of Paul For Paul saith that they which are baptised are grafted into Christ And in the first to the Corinthians the 12. Chapter By one spirit saith he all we are baptised into one bodie And that this bodie is the Church he teacheth at large in the same Chapter We added in the definition by a visible Sacrament because so soone as we be iustified we are verilie in minde and in spirite grafted both into Christ and into the Church But because that is vnknowen vnto men it is afterward knowen when we are entered by the outward sacrament By Baptisme the right of eternall life is sealed 4 Also the right way vnto eternall life is sealed vnto vs by baptisme So soone as we be iustified we haue it giuen vnto vs and it pertaineth vnto vs by right not of desert but of the liberall gift of God and by baptisme it is sealed A similitude As the giftes of kings so soone as euer they be graunted vnto vs doe without doubt pertaine vnto vs but afterwarde are sealed that the will of the king if it be néedfull maie be testified vnto others Neither is this part to wit The right vnto eternall life Not all which be not baptised doe perish so to be vnderstoode as though they ought to be excluded out of the kingdome of heauen which were not baptised For if they beléeued and that there was no let in them that they were not baptised there is no doubt of their saluation For Christ saith Iohn 11. 25. He that beleeueth in mee hath life euerlasting And in an other place although he saie that he which beleeueth and is baptised shall be saued Mar. 16. 16 yet straight waie he added He which beleeueth not shal be condemned A faithful man may be saued without Baptisme By which words he gaue vs to vnderstande that baptisme is not of such necessitie but that a faithfull man maie be saued without it so that there happen therein no contempt nor disobedience The Schoolemen also confesse that besides the baptisme of water the godlie are sometimes baptised with martyrdome and with the inspiration of the holie Ghost Death called baptisme Mat. 20. 22 so much as suffireth vnto saluation Christ also called death it selfe Baptisme when he said that he should bee baptised with an other baptisme and foretold that the Apostles should be baptised with the holie Ghost not manie dayes after his ascension into heauen Acts. 1. 6. RepentaÌce must be ioyned with Baptisme Lastlie we againe in baptisme professe death toward sinne and also a newe life Which profession sheweth nothing else but that vnto this Sacrament is ioyned repentance Mat. 3. 2. 28. 20. which both Iohn and Christ taught when they spake of Baptisme And the fathers waen they passed ouer the sea escaped into liberty Exod. 14. but Pharao with his host was drowned in the waters wherby was signified that by baptisme we ought so to be renewed as there we should forsake our sinnes and issue out with a newe purpose to holinesse of life All these things ought we when we are baptised often to consider out of the testimonies of the Scriptures and continuallie admonish our selues thereof For although this sacrament be but onelie once giuen We must continuallie carie our Baptisme in remembrance yet ought it neuer in our whole life be forgotten For euen as it behooued the Iewes euermore to remeÌber that they were circumcised so also we ought coÌtinually to cal to mind our baptisme 5 But it is woonderfull how some dare affirme Baptisme of children is no new thing in the Church Cyprian Looke In. 1. Cor. 1. 16. and in the Booke De Votis pag 73. ãâã foorth at Basil that the Baptisme of Infantes is a newe institution in the Church For Cyprian a verie auncient writer maketh mention of it and aunswereth that it is not of necessitie that we should tarie till the eight daie for the baptising of them For that the trueth of the Gospell hath deliuered vs from obseruing the number of daies and that therefore they may well be baptised what daie soeuer the Church shall be assembled together Origen also writing vppon the Epistle to the Romanes and vppon Leuiticus sufficientlie declareth that Infantes were in his time accustomed to be baptised And since that these men were not long after the Apostles times and that they make not mention of it as a thing inuented by them or in their time it sufficiently appeareth
the sacrifice of his onely begotten sonne by which sacrifice God hath made an euerlasting couenant with his people hath forgiuen our sinnes hath adopted those that beleeue to be his children hath committed them to his first begotten sonne to be saued and hath incorporated them and made them heires of his heauenly kingdome And in receiuing the sacrament of the Eucharist wee are put in minde of the Lordes death and of the whole mysterie of our redemption by reason of the word of God which became flesh thereby is renued the memorie of Gods testament and therein is offered the participation of Christ and remission of sinnes through the sacrifice of Christ offered vpon the altar of the Crosse Wherefore in this sacrament if it be receaued rightlie and with faith not by the power of the worke but by the free benefite of Christ which in beleeuing we apprehend we confesse our sinnes to be forgiuen the testament or couenant betweene God and vs to be confirmed and the very sonne of God hauing lyfe in him selfe for the father to be so receaued that whosoeuer with a true faith are partakers of his flesh and bloud doe liue for him and that the heauenly inheritance is possessed of the faithfull so farre as the state of this lyfe will permit We therefore doe challenge vnto vs not onely lyfe but also a safe and quiet lyfe from the wrath of God and we which haue God mercifull and fauourable vnto vs and the sonne of God dwelling in vs of what ioye of what delightes of what honest pleasures are we destitute Without doubt of none if wee seeke after those that be true and sound things and not after phansies and shadowes And of this commoditie did Christ make mention in the institution of this sacrament when he gaue his body and bloud to be eaten and drunken by faith namely to the maintenance and nourishing of lyfe by faith For in the Gospell of Luke he saith Luk. 22. 19. Doe this in the remembrance of me Which Paule expressed more plainly saying For so often as ye shall eate this bread 1. Co. 11. 26 and drinke of this cup ye shall declare the Lordes death till hee come Luk. 22. 20. 1. Co. 11. 25 Finally in the end it is said of them both by Luke and Paule This cup is the new Testament through my bloud which shall be shed for you So then as touching the reconciliation with God the forgiuenesse of sinnes and the confirmation of the Testament I haue fained nothing I haue deuised nothing I haue inuented nothing which I haue not doone out of the holy scriptures Lastly because a man is not made to solitarinesse but that he is desirous of fellowship and of a ciuill lyfe therefore when he hath now assured himselfe that he hath God mercifull vnto him for Christ his sake and that by the same his sinnes are forgiuen him there is nothing else required towardes his perfect and absolute life so long as he liueth in this world but that with other men which in the holy scriptures be called his neighbours he liue together ioyntlie and with singular iustice and charitie But this sacrament dooth most effectually and earnestlie admonish vs hereof For while we in these mysteries become partakers of one Table what else should we meditate in our minde than this that we be one body that we be members one of another vnder Christ our head that we be one bread that is to be so ioyned one with another euen as welneare an infinite number of wheate cornes are made vp together in that bread which we receaue Those without doubt which through these admonitions are not perswaded to maintaine mutuall concord and charitie betweene brethren haue their heartes hardned like stone and Iron and shall be accounted more sauage and beastlie than Tygers and most cruell beastes insomuch as they knowing that the sonne of God gaue his life for his enemies are not mooued themselues to doe good asmuch as in them lyeth to their brethren and neighbours for whom Christ dyed If a temporall Table doe reconcile men one to an other when they meete together why should not rather the Table of Christ bring this to passe Since the beastes which be most sauage are made tame by meate why doe not men waxe meeke by this heauenly foode If leagues and couenants were woont to be confirmed by meate and drinke why doe not the children of God by communicating together establish peace and friendship among themselues Of these things vndoubtedlie are they admonished by this diuine Rite and by the wordes of the holy scripture recited therein But and if the admonition we being obstinate as wee are and very vntoward vnto iust honest and holy thinges be thought but slender or not to be effectuall enough yet vppon condition that faith be not wanting the power of the holy Ghost is by the sacramentes and wordes of God ioyned vnto our heartes the which dooth alwayes stirre vp vnto concord peace and mutuall charitie so as not onely an outward admonition is vsed but the mindes also while we communicate together doe feele the inward incouragement of diuine inspiration Wherefore ye see what notable excellent good things I teach to be given vnto vs by the Eucharist Let now mine aduersaries goe and cry out asmuch as they will that I doe violate the sacrament of the Lordes supper Let them selues come foorth and shew by their monsterous and prodigious transubstantiations what more sound fruite and iust commoditie they haue brought by this sacrament either vnto communicants or vnto Churches than I haue verified Will they speake of the benefit of our dwelling in Christ and Christes dwelling in vs That doe I also affirme Will they speake of obtaining a diuine life and a heauenly blessednesse Euen that doe I also testifie Will they boast of a receauing of the body and bloud of Christ That doe I also prooue no lesse than they but yet such a receauing as is by faith and from the heart But will they obiect the remission of sinnes the confirmation of the testament and the memoriall of the crosse and death of Christ I thinke they will not For all these thinges haue I oftentimes taught in great assemblies Will they alledge against vs the incorporation as I may say which we in communicating by faith obtaine with Christ and betweene our selues which be his members They cannot for this also hath bin perpetually rehearsed of me What doe they then say since besides these there is nothing else taught vs in the holy scriptures touching the Eucharist I know now what they will say Ye take away say they Transubstantiation bodilie fleshlie reall and substantiall presence this doe we take in ill part this doe we confesse ouer and aboue that which you affirme herein doe we disagree from you I heare them well enough and as touching Transubstantiation aswell for that it is a vaine thing as because I haue dealt therein sufficientlie both
in my disputations and also in the Treatise which is prefixed thereunto I haue determined at this time to aunswere nothing But concerning the body of Christ which ye so greatly mislike that I should deny to bee present I will say somewhat for their satisfaction If I should demaund of you to what purpose there ought to be affirmed any such presence as ye doe say ye will as I thinke make me no other aunswere but to the intent the body and bloud of Christ may be ioyned vnto vs. Howbeit since the whole woorke of this coniunction is heauenly spiritual it is not required hereunto that this presence of yours for the which ye so earnestlie contend should haue any place What neede is there here either of any naturall touching or of the neerenesse of places Tell me I pray ye since the holy scriptures doe declare that not onely weare coupled together with Christ but also that we be members together with our brethren so as we are made all one body will ye not confesse that those faithfull which are in Spayne Italie Germanie and Fraunce Rom. 12. 4. are so ioyned together with vs that as Paul said They be members one of an other with vs I know ye will not deny it If then the distance of places and naturall touching which cannot be at all doe nothing hinder this vnitie whereby through Christ we are ioyned together in one why then doe yee deny that we are truely ioyned together vnto Christ without a reall and corporall presence But if ye deny it not why doe ye importunately vrge this presence And to vse yet a plainer and more expresse similitude Man and Wife in the holy Scriptures as ye know both are and are called one flesh For Adam or God by Adam saith This is now bone of my bones Gen. 2. 23. Mark 10. 8. and flesh of my flesh for this cause shall a man leaue father and mother and shall cleaue to his wife and they shall become one flesh And so proper is this similitude to the thing which we haue in hande that Paul to the Ephesians maketh the bodie of Christ to be in such sorte the Church as the wife is the bone and flesh of her husbande And yet nothing hindereth this vnitie of the fleshe betweene husbande and wife if as it happeneth a man shall sometime be at London for a time and the wife shall remaine at Cambridge or at Oxford The distance of place and naturall touching which now cannot be had prooueth not but that the wife and the husband be betweene themselues one and the selfe same flesh Wherefore there is no neede that for comming into vnitie with Christ yee should so labour to tye his body and bloud or as ye speake to hide them vnder bread and wine Wee are truely ioyned vnto Christ without these prodigious thinges The Eucharist without these fained deuises is a whole and perfect sacrament and no lesse true without these delusions are the words of Christ wherein he said Mar. 14. 22. Luk. 22. 19. This is my body wherein he deliuered bread to his Apostles as in the Treatise following shall be more at large declared Wherefore to the âstablishing and confirming of all these thinges the Church hath no neede of a corporall or substantiall presence of the body of Christ But neuerthelesse I would not haue it to be thought that because of the similitudes which I haue alleadged I doe but lightlie account or do too much extenuate the coniunction which wee haue and dailie enter into with Christ For I knowe verie well that the Scriptures to shewe that the same coniunction is most firmelie knit haue not onelie beene accustomed to declare that we are indued with the spirit merite and intercession of Iesus and that both we are gouerned and doe liue by his inspiration and spirit but also that he him selfe is with vs and dwelleth in our heartes by faith that he is our head and that he dwelleth in vs and we in him that we are borne anewe in him and that his flesh is both giuen and receiued to the intent it maie be eaten and drunken Howbeit I vnderstande these sayings to bee metaphoricall sith that proper speaches cannot verie easilie be had for these things For words according as they signifie this or that so are they appointed to serue vnto mans purpose For this cause when wee are to speake of heauenlie and diuine things a naturall man which vnderstandeth not so great secretes is not able so much as to name them And therefore the holie Ghost to remedie our weakenesse hauing graunted vs a light and vnderstanding which should excell our owne nature hath also humbled himselfe to these metaphors namelie of abiding dwelling eating and drinking to the intent that this diuine and heauenly coniunction which we haue with Christ might some manner of way be knowen vnto vs. And these formes of speaking since we see they comprehend in them two manner of things to wit a singular efficacie and a signification not proper but translated it is necessarie that we interprete them not rashlie but with prudent and spirituall circumscription Which is then vsed if we doe not extenuate the sense of them more than is meete especiallie when they bee applied vnto the Sacraments nor yet doe attribute thereunto anie more than is requisite The excessiue speaches of the fathers and contempt of the Anabaptistes did maruellouslie obscure the Sacramentes and especiallie this Sacrament whereof we intreate whyle the one sort iudge it to bee but onelie a token of mutuall charitie and a cold and a bare signe of the death of Christ and the other attribute all manner of diuinitie vnto it by meanes whereof before they were aware they made a steppe vnto horrible Idolatrie And no other way can that mediocritie which wee desire bee retayned but by interpreting the Phrases which wee haue rehearsed according to the analogie and agreeablenesse of the holie Scripture Which although it require that we plucke not in sunder the hypostaticall as they call it or essentiall vnitie of Christ for which the properties of the two natures I meane the diuine and humane are communicated the one with the other yet doeth the same require of vs that what wee haue made common by interchanging the proprietie of the words we should by interpretation distinguish with a sound vnderstanding that both the diuinitie be not made subiect to humane infirmities and that the humanitie be not so much deified as by leauing the bonds of his owne nature it should be destroyed Wherefore by a spirituall wisedome such as is not elsewhere obtained thaÌ in the holie scriptures we must discerne what is agreeable vnto Christ as touching the one nature and what is agreeable to him as touching the other And thus the presence of the bodie of Christ which I remooue from the Eucharist is in this respect that they affirme it either to be spread ouer euerie place or else that it is
wee will examine the other opinion which is that bread and wine as touching their perfect and true natures are retained in the sacrament and so retained as they may haue the true bodie and bloud of Christ ioyned vnto them as they speake naturally corporally and really Thirdly shal be considred that which others say that these thinges are not any other way ioyned one with an other than sacramentally that is by a significancie and representation Lastly shal bee declared out of the opinions pertaining to the second and third poynt so much as may most séeme to belong vnto godlinesse in this treatise of the sacrament The opinion which hath affirmed transubstantiation 2 Wherefore we wil begin with the opinion of transubstantiation partly because it is the grosser further because it is the newer and because the other two opinions doe ioyntlie and without drift confute the same Of that the Master of the Sentences writeth in the 4. Booke in the 8. 9. 10. 11. distinction And to shewe it brieflie it is on this wise The Minister ordayned hereunto when hee vttereth the words instituted by the Lord ouer due and méete matter that is bread and wine so he haue an intent as they speake to doe it the substance of the bread and wine is turned into the substance of the bodie bloud of Christ and is so conuerted as the accidents of that substance which is changed or destroied remaineth without a subiect which neuerthelesse some would to cleaue to the bodie of Christ which succéeded But this is false because in verie déed the bodie of Christ hath no such accidentes Others haue indeuored to make the ayre a subiect for them as a naturall foundation Which also séeing it cannot possibly be prooued welnéere all the patrons of this opinion agrée that they hang in the ayre and remaine without a subiect Further they wil that these accidents which be séene and felt doe signifie vnto vs the true bodie of Christ which they haue couered and hidden in them Afterward they procéede further say that this body of Christ lying hidden vnder these accideÌts is a signe aswel of the verie body of Christ which did hang vpon the crosse as also of the mysticall bodie that is of the fellowship of the elect of men predestinate Wherfore the Maister of the sentences saith that here is some thing which is but onelie a signe and that he appointeth to be the visible formes and that there is another thing that is both the substaunce and the signe namely the bodie of Christ which is hidden vnder the accidents for that is a substance if it be referred vnto the visible formes and a signe if thou haue respect to the the mysticall bodie Another thing saieth he there is which thou maiest in no wise call a signe but a substance onely to wit the mysticall bodie because it is so signified as it is no more a signe of any thing Those things which are afterward mingled in the action of these mysteries are not saith he matters of necessitie but onely thankesgiuing and prayers interlaced And if thou demand of them how so great a bodie maie be contained in that litle cake they saie that this is not by the maner of quantitie or locally or as they speake definitely but by the manner of substance and as they say sacramentally Neither count they for absurde things that in this sacrament are contained two bodies in one and the selfe same place because they are constrained thus to say for betwéene the accidents of bread there is a quantitie and that doubtlesse a corporal quantitie Also they doe not mislike that one and the selfe same body is truelie in manie places and that a man of a iust largenesse and stature as Christ was vpon the crosse and as he shal come to iudgement is truely but inuisiblie contained not only in a small cake but also in the least part thereof Manie things else might be rehearsed as touching this opinion but I minde that these shall be sufficient vnto our Treatise He that desireth more may reade the Maister of the sentences in the place which we cited Arguments for transubstantiation together with a great manie of interpretours of him And of the change or transubstantiation these Arguments they bring 3 First the holy scripture perswadeth it For in the 6. of Iohn Iohn 6. 51. the Lord promised that he would giue his flesh not onely for the life of the world but also to be eaten And he added Ib. ver 53. Vnlesse a man shall eate my flesh and drinke my bloud he shall not haue life He saide moreouer Ib. ver 51. that He is the bread from heauen and that the liuely bread whom the father had giuen Where he manifestly promised that he woulde giue himselfe to be eaten after the maner of bread and that which he promised he in good earnest perfourmed as the Euangelists testified was doone in the last supper And that the same which is giuen is the Lords bodie Paul declareth when he saieth 1. Co. 11. 27 He that eateth and drinketh vnworthilie shall bee guiltie of the bodie and bloud of the Lord. Againe Ibid. 29. He eateth and drinketh his owne damnation because he discerneth not the Lordes bodie But they say that the whole strength of the argument consisteth in those wordes wherein it is saide This is my bodie Ib. ver 24. Which they affirme to be manifest and néedeth no expositions And it behooueth say they that we shoulde beléeue them for the reuerence that we owe vnto the word of God For the Euangelists as touching those wordes haue conspired together in one namely Matthew Marke and Luke also Paul the Apostle in the first Epistle to the Corinthians and vnlesse the thing were of great importance and so to be taken absolutely as it soundeth the Apostles woulde not with so great vnitie haue consented one with another But and if it bee lawfull to shift off by tropes or figures nothing say they will be now safe from hereticks Furthermore the Propositions of such a kind as is this This is my bodie must be vnderstood as that the subiect and the predicate do represent signifie all one thing be as it is said in the schooles a proposition of one the selfe same signification vnlesse there be found any thing before or after in the ioyning together of the spéeche which may driue vs to a trope or allegorie which in this place is not found Nay rather if thou rightly looke vpon the wordes which follow they reuoke vs to the plainnesse of the proposition For it is said Which is giuen for you But it is manifest that the verie bodie it selfe of Christ was giuen for vs. Moreouer those things which differ in nature and forme and by the Logitians are commonly called Disparata as a maÌ a horse and a stone be in that case as they can neuer be mutually verified
that they say An vnbloudy sacrifice it is an vnbloudie sacrifice be-because Christ is not here slaine nor yet his bloud violently drawne forth An answere For although that these things be not doone yet without bloud according to the grosse imagination of these men the thing is not doone Wherefore it appeareth that the fathers so spake because they woulde onely haue a memorie here of the true sacrifice and a spirituall receiuing therof An obiectioÌ which is doone by faith Moreouer they are woont to say that the bodie and bloud of Christ is shadowed and couered with the accidents of bread and wine least we should séeme to eate rawe flesh and to drinke bloud An answere But I doe not thinke that these men wil say howsoeuer they paint and colour the matter if their Transubstantiation be true but that we doe eate rawe flesh insomuch as no reason is brought either by them or by the scriptures that it should be sodden And yet it is written of the Paschall lambe which was a figure of this sacrament that nothing thereof should be eaten rawe 21 Besides foorth we sée that Christ in the Eucharist instituted a sacrament It is méete that in Sacraments all things should be receiued sacrameÌtally wherby it commeth to passe that all thinges be doone there sacramentally Neither is it required that in Sacramentes more should be giuen or desired than the reason of a Sacrament shall require Further if we weigh what Christ did in that last supper we may easily perceiue the thing it is prooued that he gaue his owne body If we demaund further what manner of one he gaue they cannot determine with themselues Some séeme to say that he gaue such as he had namely a passible and mortall body Whether Christ gaue his passible bodie or whether his glorified bodie Howbeit such a body with those conditions which it then had might not carnally as these men dreame be contained in small péeces of bread But others which thinke themselues wiser say that Christ in himselfe had a body mortall and passible but that in bread he gaue a glorified and spirituall body Then dooth that make against them which we read in the wordes of the Lord Mat. 26. 26 This is my body which is giuen for you and my bloud which shall be shed for you Where he plainely extendeth his speach both vnto the body which he then had and vnto the bloud which he at the same houre possessed For these glorified and impassible thinges he receaued not vntill the resurrection was past But admit it as they say We argue the conditions of the body passible and glorified are contrary one to an other so as they cannot both together at one time be in one subiect Whereuppon it followeth that if ye will haue them put into the body of Christ at one very time ye make Christes body to be twaine Experience and the histories teach vs that we must not allow of Transubstantiation because they write that Victor the Pope of Rome dyed by drinking of poyson out of the challice An Emperour and a Pope poysoned by taking of the Eucharist And Henry the Emperor was poysoned by taking of bread in the Eucharist If all things be there transubstantiated That the matter of the sacrament cannot be cast away What the matter and forme of the Sacrament are and that only accidentes are remaining how may these thinges be We know that euery of the Sacramentes as the aduersaries themselues speake consist of matter and forme The matter they say is the signes or elements but the forme they say is that which is added by the word But that which is compounded of the two must not cast away the one so as nothing thereof should remaine but accidentes otherwise the nature of composition and coniunction would not be kept Therefore it is concluded that the substances of bread and wine doe remaine And before they be aware the bodie of Christ is by them depriued of quantitie place and distance of partes so as his whole body is constrained to be in the least péece thereof 22 This Sacrament is not onely called the Sacrament of the body of Christ our sauiour but also of the mysticall bodie wherefore Paul in the first Epistle to the Corinthians sayd 1. Co. 12. 27 1. Co. 10. 17 Ye be the body of Christ and again We that are many be one bread and one body which be partakers of one bread And Augustine in his 22. booke De Ciuitate Dei the 10. Chapter saith that Christians doe not offer sacrifice vnto Martyrs The sacrifice vndoubtedlie is the body of Christ which is not offered vnto Martyrs because they theÌ selues be the same to wit the body of Christ Wherefore séeing this Sacrament is of both the bodies The bread is not transubstantiated into the bodie mysticall no more therefore is it into the bodie of Christ euen as they appoint not that the bread should be transubstantiated into the bodie mysticall so it may not be required that it should be truely and properlie coÌuerted into the bodie of the Lord séeing it is declared to be the Sacrament aswell of the one as of the other And of this opinion it would followe that aswell the faithfull as the vnfaithfull doe receaue the bodie of the Lord The vngodlie doe not receiue the verie bodie of Christ which I haue elsewhere disprooued by two reasons First that seeing the bodie of Christ is not plucked away from the spirit of Christ it would followe that the wicked should receaue the spirit of Christ Secondly séeing infidels be dead as touching the inward man they altogether want the instrument whereby they should receaue spirituall thinges And Augustine plainelie said that none doe eate the bodie of Christ but they which be of his bodie And Ierom in the 4. booke vppon Ieremy the 22. Chapter And whereas he inferreth They shall not eate and drinke he vnderstandeth the bodie and bloud of our Sauiour And he spake of the Heretickes And the same Father vppon Esay the 66. Chapter While they be not holy in bodie in spirit neither doe they eate the flesh of Iesus nor doe drinke his bloud And manie such like places are had out of the Fathers And whereas here they so very often pretend vnto vs manie miracles we must not so easilie giue credit because miracles are not woont to be brought in vnlesse it be in respect that they be strange and woonderfull thinges by whose vnaccustomed happening a weight may be added vnto the word of God For then men be stricken with admiration and may be easily led to imbrace the doctrine of Christ But here is no visible thing changed and there is nothing that can stirre vp men to admiration How they craue in vaine the help of myracles wherefore they séeme in vaine to craue helpe of miracles The virgin in déede conceaued of the holy Ghost but this she sensiblie
it Therefore faieth he it is a commaunding figure namely that we should swéetely profitably lay vp in memorie the flesh of Christ that was crucified and wounded for vs. In an Epistle vnto Boniface he said most plainely that sacramentes take their name of those things whereof they should be sacraments and he expressed by name the sacrament of the bodie of Christ And he addeth that the sacrament of the bloud of Christ is the bloud of Christ And all this he wrote to shew that baptisme is the Sacrament of faith and that therefore it may be said that it is faith and that young children being baptized haue faith because they receiue this sacrament And least that any should say that these be signes substantially as these men speake of the thing present let them consider of the similitudes which these men haue alleaged to wit that we say when we be néere vnto Easter that to morrow or the next day after shal be the Passion of the Lord and vpon Sundaie the Lord rose againe when as yet these things are not nowe present but were doone long before Further he here affirmeth that the baptisme of young children is faith which neuerthelesse yong children presently haue not Yea and the same father as we haue it De Consecratione distinct 2. in the Chapter Interrogo vos saieth that it is as sinfull a negligence to suffer the word which is preached to slip out of our mindes as it is for a part of the sacrament to fall vpon the earth Which if it were graunted this Transubstantiation would take but small place For it woulde séeme to be farre more absurd that the bodie it selfe of Christ should fall or be troden vnder foote than if any part of the holy wordes should be heard with small regard Moreouer vpon the 8. Psalme he saieth that Christ admitted Iudas in the supper when he commeÌded vnto vs the figure of his bodie They are accustomed to say that the figure or signe in this sacrament which is the bodie of Christ being hidden with accidents is his owne dead and vnbloudie bodie as he hung vpon the Crosse and that the bloud hidden vnder the accidents of wine is the figure of the bloud shed vpon the Aultar of the Crosse But who perceiueth not that the deuises of these men be vaine For there ought to be put a signe and figure which is sensible more knowen than the thing signified Therefore the Maister of the Sentences out of Augustine defined a sacrament to be a visible signe of an invisible grace A definition of the sacrament But the bodie of Christ being hidden vnder accidents as themselues affirme is no lesse obscure than is that which hung vpon the Crosse yea and if I may say the truth more vnknowen and obscure than the thing signified Which is against the nature of a signe and figure For more easily is the bodie knowen and considered of vs how it hung vpon the Crosse than as they make it in the Eucharist 28 Leo the Pope in an Epistle vnto the Clergie people of Constantinople wrote Leo. that this is a mysticall distribution a spirituall foode and a heauenly vertue That here we receiue it to the intent we may bée made the flesh of Christ who for our sakes tooke our flesh vppon him Cyrillus in the 4. Cyril Booke and 14. Chapter vpon Iohn On this wise he gaue vnto the beléeuing Disciples péeces of bread saying Take ye The same Father in an Epistle to Calosyrius Wherefore it became him after a sort to be vnited vnto our bodies by his holy flesh and by his precious bloud which we receiue in the liuely blessing in bread and wine Now will we alleage Theodoritus Bishop of Cyrus Theodoritus he liued in the time of Cyrillus and was in the Synode of Ephesus and Chalcedone and he was accounted most learned and eloquent And when in the Synode of Ephesus there had happened a discension betwéene Iohn the Patriarche of Antioch and Cyrillus the Patriache of Alexandria it séemed good to Theodoritus to cleaue vnto the Patriarche of Antioch howbeit the matter came to an agréement and in the Synode of Chalcedone Theodoritus was knowen for a verie learned man and holy member of the Church of Christ yea and in the bookes which he wrote he purposely withstandeth Nestor and by expresse wordes dealeth against him The Booke was printed at Rome And the Papistes perceiued that he is most manifestly against Transubstantiation and they haue excused him for two causes First for that the Church had not as yet pronounced as concerning that matter as though wée shoulde séeke what the Pope with his Cardinals decreed either at Constance or in the Synode where Berengarius was condemned and not rather what hath bin preached and beléeued in the olde Church Further they saide that this man in writing against Hereticks wheÌ he intreated of those mysteries did ouermuch leane vnto the other part and so was against Transubstantiation to the intent the aduersaries might be the easilier confuted But how vaine an excuse this is it may appeare by the discourse of the writer where thou maiest perceiue that not one word hath escaped him but that the whole Argument and strength thereof is drawen from the nature of a sacrament so as if thou mingle therewithall Transubstantiation there can bée nothing concluded Yea rather the Heretickes will carrie away the victorie They adde that he in the selfe same booke speaketh sometime more reuerently of the Eucharist but all things being considered he speaketh no where so reuerently that he is against our opinion which we haue now affirmed He disputeth against them which denied that Christ had a true bodie and said that his bodie at the time of his Ascension was wholy turned into the diuine nature First he alleageth the prophesie of the Patriarch Iacob that he may prepare himselfe a waie to deriue an argument from the sacraments The wordes be these 29 ORTH. Doest thou know that God called bread his owne bodie SOD. I knowe it ORTH. And againe that at another time his flesh was called Corne SOD. This also I know for I haue heard him say that The houre commeth wherein the sonne of man shall be glorified Ioh. 12. 23. and vnlesse the graine of Corne be cast into the earth and die it remaineth alone but if it be dead it will bring foorth much fruite ORTH. He vndoubtedly in the deliuerie of the mysteries called bread his bodie the Cup mixed his bloud SOD. So in déede he named it ORTH. But it might also according to nature bée called a bodie yea euen his owne bodie and bloud SOD. It is graunted ORTH. Yea verilie our Sauiour himselfe chaunged the names and to the bodie he gaue the name of the signe and to the signe the name of the bodie Iohn 15. 1. After the same manner also when he said that he himselfe is the vine he called his bloud the
signe SOD. This in déed is true but I would also learne the cause of the changing of the names ORTH. The ende why it is so called is manifest vnto them which be instructed in Religion For he woulde that they which be partakers of those diuine mysteries should not haue regard vnto the nature of those things which be séene but that by the changing of names they shoulde beléeue that transmutation which is doone by grace For he that called his owne naturall bodie Corne and bread and also called himselfe a vine euen he himselfe also honoured those things which séeme to be signes with the name of his bodie and bloud not forsooth changing nature it selfe but vnto nature adding grace SOD. Truelie the mysticall things are spoken mystically those things which are not knowen vnto al men are made cleare and manifest ORTH. Wherefore séeing he confesseth that the robe and garment is by the Patriarch called the Lordes bodie and that we be entred into the talke of diuine mysteries tel me in verie déede whose singe and figure thou thinkest that most holy meate to be Was it the signe of the verie diuinitie of Christ or else of his owne bodie and bloud SOD. Doubtlesse euen of those things whereof also they receiued their names ORTH. Doest thou meane of the bodie bloud SOD. So I meane ORTH. Thou hast truely spoken For the Lorde taking the signe saieth not This is my diuinitie but This is my bodie And againe This is my bloud And in another place But the bread which I will giue for the life of the world SOD. Iohn 6. 51. In verie déede al these things be true for they bee the wordes of GOD. ORTH. Certainely if these things be true the Lord had a bodie in déede SOD. But I say that he is without bodie ORTH. But thou confessest that he had a bodie c. 30 Out of the second Dialogue we haue these wordes SOD. We must doubtlesse according to the prouerbe remooue euery stone that we may attaine vnto the trueth especiallie in setting foorth the doctrine of God ORTH Shew me then whereof the signes which be offered vnto God by the ministers of holy thinges be mysticall signes SOD. Of the bodie and bloud of the Lord. ORTH. OF the true bodie or not SOD. Of the true bodie ORTH. Very wel said for they must be a principall patterne of the Image For the painters doe followe nature and they paint the Images of those thinges that be séene SOD. Thou sayst true ORTH. If then those diuine mysteries be examples of a bodie being then is the Lordes bodie now also a bodie and is not changed into the nature of diuinitie but is replenished with diuine glory SOD. In good time hast thou mooued this speach of diuine mysteries for thereby will I shew thée a changing of the Lordes bodie into an other nature aunswere therefore vnto my questions ORTH. I will aunswere SOD. What callest thou that gift which is offered before the priestes inuocation ORTH. We must not speake openly For it is very lykelie that some here present be not yet throughlie instructed SOD. This is a diffuse aunswere ORTH. Looke what séede it was such meate it is SOD. But how doe we name the other signe ORTH. This name also is common betokening a figure of the cup. SOD. How doost thou call those thinges after sanctification ORTH. The bodie of Christ and the bloud of Christ SOD. And doest thou beléeue that thou receauest the bodie and bloud of Christ ORTH. Yea verily I beléeue it SOD. Therefore euen as the signes of the bodie and bloud of the Lord be one thing vndoubtedlie before the inuocation of the priest but after the very inuocation be changed from one to an other and become other thinges so likewise the bodie of the Lord after it is receaued is changed into diuine substance ORTH. Thou art caught in the same nettes which thou hast layd For those mysticall signes after sanctification doe not change their owne proper nature Note that the signes do not cast away their old nature for they in very déede remaine in their former substance both in figure and forme and are euen so séene and handled as before and the thinges that are doone are vnderstood and beléeued honored as though they were such as they are beléeued to be Compare therfore the Image with the principall figure and thou shalt sée the similitude For a figure must agrée with the trueth For that very bodie it selfe hath his first figure and forme and circumscription and to speake plainlie the very substance also of a bodie But after the resurrection it became immortall and it is accounted woorthie of the seate which is at the right hand of God and is woorshipped of all creatures as a bodie being of the Lordes owne nature SOD. Howbeit that mysticall signe changeth his first name and is not afterward named by that name which it was first called but is called a bodie Wherefore the trueth it selfe must now be called God and not any more a bodie ORTH. Thou appearest ignorant vnto me it is not onely called a bodie but also the bread of life for so the Lord called it Yea and we also call this a diuine bodie and a quickening bodie and the maisters bodie and the Lordes bodie teaching that it is no common bodie of euerie man but the bodie of our Lord Iesus Christ who is God and man euen Iesu Christ yesterday and to day and the same for euer 31 There is extant an Epistle in the Lybrarie of Florence albeit not imprinted of Chrysostome to Caesarius the Moonke in the time of his second banishment Chrysost An example of that Epistle is extant with the Byshop of Canterburie written against Appolinaris and others which confouÌded the diuinitie and humanitie of Christ Christ is both God and man God because he cannot suffer Man because of his passion and suffering One sonne one Lord one and the selfe same doubtlesse possessing one dominion and one power of the natures vnited although they be not together of one substance and each one of them being vnmingled kéepeth an acknowledgement of his owne propertie for this cause that they be two thinges not confounded For like as before the bread be sanctified we name it bread and the same being sanctifyed by the diuine grace by meanes of the priest is vndoubtedlie deliuered from the name of bread and is accounted woorthie to be called the Lords bodie although the nature of bread haue remained in it and is declared not to be two bodies but one bodie of the sonne euen so this diuine ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is to say the nature of an ouerflowing bodie hath made both these one sonne and one person Hesychius in the 20. Hesychius booke vppon Leuiticus the 8. Chapter Therefore he commaundeth that the flesh should be eaten with bread to the intent we might vnderstand the same to be called a mysterie of him
drinking The Lambe was not that Passouer of the Angel but onely a monument and signification therof Mat. 26. 17 Christ sought a place where he might eate the Passouer with his Apostles And by the Passouer he vnderstood those meates and those things consecrated which did betoken the passing ouer 1. Cor. 5. 7. Paul also said Christ our Passouer is offered In which place he called Christ himselfe our solemnitie and our passing ouer Which wordes cannot otherwise be vnderstoode than by a figure And that Lambe was not that passing ouer of the Angell which then should be but was alreadie doone of old the memorie whereof was represented by those outwarde signes Héere also we haue the bodie of Christ which before time suffered not that it is now deliuered to be crucifyed or whose bloud is now to be shed 37 And if they would expound these wordes of Christ rigorously Where a signe should be there the ââ¦rsaries admit none and where it should not be there they will ãâã one when he saith This is my bodie which is giuen for you it should be néedefull for them to say that the bread was to be crucified or at the leastwise Christ hidden vnder accidentes as they appoint in the Sacrament For Christ shewing that which he had in his handes said that the same should be deliuered and shed for them But if they shall say it was in déed the same that was deliuered but not after the selfe same manner or in that forme then they séeke interpretations and shiftes and take not the proposition simply The very which thou maist perceiue in these wordes Is deliuered and is shed The which if while we vtter the wordes of consecration they be vnderstood of vs as they sound the bodie of Christ will be signified that it is presentlie crucified and his bloud presentlie shed or within a while to be shed But they would haue these wordes to be conuerted into the preterperfectence that we may vnderstand that the bodie is deliuered that the bloud is shed and this is to deale figuratiuelie when as one tence is taken for another And whereas Paul said That they which eate vnwoorthilie are guiltie of the bodie and bloud of the Lord 1. Co. 11. 27 also they eate their owne condemnation because they put no difference of the Lordes bodie it is nothing For Ambrose answereth as touching the first while he interpreteth that place They shal be punished for the Lordes death because he was slaine for them who make no account at all of his benefit Wherefore as we haue heard he interpreteth them to be guiltie of the Lordes bodie yet is not Transubstantiation required herevnto And they which receaue vnwoorthilie are said not to put a difference that is to haue the Lordes bodie in no estimation because so great is the coniunction betwéene the signes and the thinges signified as the reproch of the one redoundeth vnto the other On this wise spake Paul when he said 1. Cor. 11. 4 A man praying or prophesying with his head couered dishonoreth Christ where plainelie he would haue that redownd vnto Christ which was doone about the head of the man The conââ¦melie of the Sacrament redoundeth to the bodie of Christ which is the thing of the Sacrament because it should be the signe of Christ It is also to be considered that Paul wrote vnto the Corinthians who were not altogether voide of faith but meÌ troubled with some infirmities And we said not that this kinde of men onelie doe receaue the signes and haue not the bodie of Christ but this we affirme of the Infidels Epicures Atheistes and strangers from the Church Wherefore it might rightlie be said vnto them not onely as touching the signes but also as touching the matter of the sacrament that they were guiltie of the bodie and bloud because they made no difference of the Lordes bodie séeing they receaued them without faith and expressed them not in lyfe And in this place this also is to be considered that Paul when he intreateth of the sacramentall action that is to wit of the eating and drinking maketh mention of bread and saith Ibid. v. 27. He that eateth this bread But afterward when he would exaggerat the fault hee maketh mention of the Lords bodie and if we make an account and iust reckoning we shall finde that in the whole Treatise of this Sacrament the Apostle more often expressed bread than he made mention of the bodie of the Lord. For thou maist very well finde that he mentioned bread fiue times and onelie foure times the bodie of the Lord. The reasoÌs that prooue a figure to be in these words This is my body 38 But now must we sée what those thinges be that mooue vs to vnderstand this speach This is my bodie figuratiuelie First let vs consider that Christ was present at the supper wherefore there was no néede that he should shewe his bodie vnto his Apostles For they sawe him Further how might it be that he could eate himselfe really and corporally That he in very déede communicated with his Apostles not onelie the fathers affirme but Christ himselfe saith it as thou hast in Matthewe Mat. 26 29. I will not hereafter drinke of this fruit of the vine Moreouer we haue regard to that which is heere spoken of Remembrance wherein the figure is shewed And we sée that these men change the tences and that which is pronounced by the future or by the present tence as touching the deliuerie of the bodie and shedding of the bloud they interpret it by the preterperfectence We consider afterward that they cannot be without signes in their consecration because they vnderstand this verbe Is for It is changed it is transubstantiated or it is made And Christ séeing he instituted a Sacrament it is méete that by significations and figuratiuelie the signes should be vnderstood according to the nature of a Sacrament which is that it should be a signe Wee haue also respect vnto the ascension of Christ into heauen vnto the trueth of the humane nature which he tooke vppon him and also vnto that which is written in Iohn when it is said vnto the Capernaites My wordes be spirit and life Iohn 6. 63. the flesh profiteth nothing namely being carnally eaten it is the spirit which quickeneth And againe we doe consider Paul who here most manifestly nameth it bread 1. Cor. 10. 11. where notwithstanding these men would haue it to be a figure who are so greatly against our figure Also wee heare Paul testifie 1. Cor. 10. 1 that the forefathers had the selfesame Sacrament that we haue For by the iudgement of Augustine it was not sufficient for him to say that they had spirituall meate and drinke but he added The selfe same Ibidem And againe least thou shouldest doubt the Apostle also expressed Baptisme which he saith that they obtained in the sea and in the clowd whereby
the materiall naturall conditions thereof It is also to be vnderstood by interchange and participation of properties that because the diuine nature of Christ is most truely present with vs the selfe same may be communicated with his humanitie Iohn 3. 13. As Christ when he spake vpon the earth said that the sonne of man is in heauen and so he attributed vnto the humanitie that which belonged vnto the diuinitie After what maner the humane nature may be saide to be present in the sacrament And after this maner I might graunt that the humane nature of Christ is present with vs in the Communion if it should be expounded by communicating of properties one with another Lastly if thou demaund why the father 's vsed these figures and excessiue spéeches Why the fathers vsed excessiue spéeches as touching these matters wée say partly to followe the phrase of the Scripture partly to pearce more vehemently the mindes of men Further to the intent they might shew that this signification of Sacraments is not as it were Comical or Tragical For in those each player may represent Hector or Priamus there followeth nothing besides of any great importance But here the thing represented is by the power of the holy Ghost both giuen and imprinted in our mindes by faith and there followe manie giftes and graces and especially a secrete and vnspeakable vnion with Christ so as we truly become one with him 45 But the first obiection was out of Irenaeus who saieth that the earthly breade being consecrate is not common bread but is become the Eucharist This doe we willingly admit affirming that it is not héere common bread but holy and which now as he said is become the Eucharist But that which followeth makes more on our side For he writeth that the Eucharist consisteth of two things that is to wit heauenly and earthly and saieth not of the Accidents of an earthly thing He addeth afterward Euen so our bodies receiuing the Eucharist are not corruptible hauing the hope of the Resurrection And if so great a chaunge in our bodies be set forth by him as he maketh it equall to the change of the bread for he saith euen as that bread is no more coÌmon bread so our bodies are no more corruptible what néede shall there be of Transubstantiation séeing he maketh these changes to be equall aswell in the one as in the other Next of all was Tertullian alleaged To Tertullian and he also expoundeth his owne selfe He not onely saith The Lorde hauing receiued the bread made it his bodie when he said This is my bodie but he added That is a signe of my bodie They obiected out of Origen To Origen that he wrote that the Lord confesseth the bread to be his bodie This doe not we denie but all the strife is as touching the maner how it is become the bodie of the Lorde and hereof he himselfe plainely teacheth elsewhere that there lyeth a figure and that this breade is called the nourishing word of the soule he teacheth that we must not holde our selues vnto the bloud of the flesh but vnto the bloud of the word To CypriaÌ Cyprian séemeth to speake more hardlie when he saieth that this bread is changed not in shape but in nature Howbeit we must haue regarde what he wrote vnto Coecilius namely that with the wine is shewed the bloud of the Lord and that if the wine cease to be in the cup it cannot appeare that the bloud of the Lord is there And whereas he nowe speaketh of changing that also wée graunt Howbeit a sacramentall changing What manner of change of the bread is graunted then we confesse not that the shape or the forme and accidents of bread haue this gift to become sacraments but that the nature and substance it selfe of breade and wine is chaunged into the sacraments of the bodie and bloud of the Lord. And as the substance it self of bread and not the forme nourisheth euen so the bodie of Christ both nourisheth our soule and it fostereth the bodie and renueth it And as the substance it selfe of bread consisteth of many graines so the mysticall bodie which it representeth hath many members ioyned together Whereupon aswell we as our aduersaries say that the forme that is the appearaunce and shewe of the bread is not changed but that it is the substance which is chaunged And they woulde haue a change to be by casting awaie of the nature of bread but we onelie affirme a sacramentall change And Cyprian himselfe maketh against our aduersaries for they change not the substance of bread but they take it vtterly awaie We say that it is changed as that which is become the bodie of Christ that is a sacrament of Christes bodie which before it was not Besides these things Nature among the authors of the Latine tongue doeth not alwaies signifie substance Diuers significations of nature but power wit and propertie Wherfore Cicero de Somnio Scipionis The proper nature and power of the soule is that it selfe should be mooued by it selfe And vnto Lentulus That is the nature and Religion of thy Prouince And when it is saide the Nature of Herbes the nature of stones and such like Which signification doeth well agrée with the saying of Cyprian To Ambrose 46 They obiect Ambrose and especiallie in his bookes De Sacramentis which bookes some haue thought to bée none of Ambrose workes The Bishop of Rochester is earnest against them that so thinke And hée saith that we must in any wise giue credite to Augustine Certaine bookes ascribed to Ambrose concerning sacraments who ascribeth these bookes vnto Ambrose And he openly testifieth that Ambrose wrote the bookes de Sacramentis and he citeth the prologue vppon the Bookes of Christian doctrine which I haue oftentimes read and neuer finde that which this man writeth Vnlesse perhaps he meane that which he wrote in his books of RetractatioÌs when he maketh mention of his writings of Christian doctrine there perhaps hée hath some such thing Moreouer this I know very well Certaine spéeches of Ambrose that Augustine against Iulian the Pelagian cited Ambrose De Sacramento Regenerationis vel de Philosophia yet not these Bookes De Mysterijs vel de Sacramentis And the things which be there cited are not found in those bookes De Sacramentis But I passe not hereof Admit that they be the bookes of Ambrose They do not altogether disagrée with vs. For he oftentimes maketh mention of signifying and that these sacraments are named and called the bodie of Christ the which we denie not And if at any time hée make mention of changing or conuersion these wordes must be vnderstoode of sacramentall changing Further the selfe same father must be perused what hée saith in an other place First in his Treatise De Officijs the 4. booke the 48. Chapter Héere is the shadow héere is the Image there is
may be saide that the Godhead is therefore ioyned vnto it because the holy Ghost vseth it as an instrument to our saluation Further he maketh a comparison thereof with Baptisme wherein hée saieth that God hath vsed to condescend vnto our custome and vsuall manners And because men are woont to be washed with water and annoynted with oyle therefore God ioyned vnto these things his grace and spirit in Baptisme Euen so séeing the custome of men is to eate bread drinke wine vnto those things he ioyned his Godhead But if he had followed these transubstantiators he would not haue ioyned vnto but vtterly extinguished the natures of bread and wine And the nature of this comparison requireth that euen as the ioyning together of Baptisme with the grace and holie Ghost doeth not repell or extinguish the nature of water euen so the matter of this sacrament doeth not destroy and cast away the being of the signes He saieth also that God did so condescend to our custome as that by things vsuall and agréeable to nature we maie attaine to that which is aboue nature Wherein he toucheth our transmutatioÌ into Christ But it must bee marked that he saieth the signes of the sacraments be according to nature and those if thou appoint to be onelie accidents without a subiect or which haue the bodie of Christ hidden vnder them they bee no more according to nature In déede he vseth woordes in which hée saieth that the nature of bread is changed consumed become the bodie of Christ Which wordes if they be vnderstoode as touching the change of the Sacrament they doe not make against vs. And wheras he saith that these things do happen aboue nature we graunt For it is no naturall thing that a Sacrament should be made of common breade no more than the fountaine of regeneration is naturallie made of water But and if thou demaund of him the manner of this transmutation into the bodie of Christ he saith also that it is not easie for vs to expresse the maner how in naturall nourishment bread is changed into our flesh But of this similitude how it may be taken we sufficiently intreated before when we spake of Theophilact If thou vnderstand this similitude generally and appliest it vnto a Sacramentall changing it sufficeth but if thou wilt haue the comparison to be made specially of such a changing as is of the sustinance in our bodie when it is conuerted into flesh then thou shalt not onely make the nature of bread to giue place but the accidents How the two parts of the sacrament are called Sacraments 57 He addeth that breade is made the bodie of Christ and Wine and Water his bloude so neuerthelesse as they be not two but one If he referre One vnto the cuppe and bread as if he should saie that these bée one Sacrament we contende not much because in this action as in one sacrament Christ euen as sustenance is giuen vnto vs. Albeit in receiuing both the parts of this Sacrament the Church feareth not to saie in the plural number that here be sacraments And in the Collects of the masse after communion thou readest oftentimes The Sacraments which we haue receaued and the rest that followeth But if they shall saie They be one so that after consecration the bread and bodie of Christ should nowe be all one and not two by reason of Transubstantiation that is incident wee oppose the saying of Irenaeus wherein he writeth that the Eucharist doeth consist of two thinges namelie of earthlie and heauenlie Also Gelasius the Pope who argueth from the coniunction of breade with the bodie of Christ the natures remaining whole that the humane and diuine nature in Christ are ioyned in one both the one and the other remayning whole and inuiolate He addeth moreouer Origen Whether the Sacrament be cast into the draught that this Sacrament is not cast into the draught And surelie it cannot otherwise be spoken of the Transubstantiators For séeing they appoint nothing in the Eucharist besides the accidentes and the nature of Christes bodie none of these thinges belong to the draught But against these thinges I obiect a most manifest place of Origen vppon Matthew the 15. Chapter Mat. 15. 11. where he interpreteth these wordes That which goeth into the mouth defileth not man And hee saith If it defile not neither doeth it sanctifie But what shall we saie of the breade of the Lord Is it true that it neither sanctifieth nor yet defileth He aunswereth That if anie thing maie séeme to bee vnpure it doeth not defile vs vnlesse it be through an euill conscience Euen so that which is séene and is called holie vnlesse that righteousnes and integritie of life be with vs it doeth not sanctifie For if this had wherewithall of his own nature to sanctifie there had not béene among the Corinthians so many weake feeble and so manie that slept 1. Co. 11. 30 Wherefore that which in the Lordes breade is material passeth through into the bellie and is cast into the draught But whatsoeuer commeth by prayer and by the worde of the Lord profiteth the soule according to the measure of faith Wherefore the matter is not profitable but the word which is added doth profit the soule And least thou shouldest think that he speaketh of anie other meat he bréefelie repeateth saith These things are spoken concerning the mysticall bodie of Christ None will take exception hereunto that Origen sometimes erred in doctrine séeing Ierom Epiphamus and the auncient fathers which most diligentlie scanned his errours neuer made mention that he iudged ill of the Eucharist This would they not haue doone if he had transgressed in so great a matter And in the selfe same place he most plainelie added The wicked doe not eate the bodie of Christ that the wicked doe not eate the bodie of Christ because it is a quickening bodie and hee which eateth it dwelleth in him Wherefore against this Iohn Damascen being but a late writer and not verie famous let Origen be opposed a most auncient Father and of great renowne To the Councel of Ephesus 58 After these matters that was obiected the which Cyril in the name of the councel of Ephesus wrote to Nestorius the Bishop of Constantinople For then there was a disputatioÌ against him who affirmed the humane person in Christ to bee altogether seuerall and distinct from the person of the sonne of God so as there should be no other manner of coniunction except it be of dignity Against him is argued from the nature of Sacramentes If the flesh of Christ be so seuered from the person God it followeth that the same is no quickening fleshe and whereas we graunt the flesh of Christ to be in the sacraments we should eate the flesh of man after a sort sanctified and excellent but therby we could not according to the promise obtaine euerlasting life This is the scope wherunto all those
They feigne that in the Church there bee two great lightes Two great lights fayned in the Church by the papists and that the Pope with the Bishops be the greater light that the Emperour and kings and Magistrates bée the lesser light These ought to take care that is as much to say as destroy their bodies but the other the soules So would they haue Princes to be onely certaine herd men to pamper the bodie But the verie Philosophers doe not so absurdly iudge For Aristotle in his Politicks saieth The office of a Magistrate that the office of a Magistrate is to prouide that the people may liue well and vertuously And no greater vertue there is than Religion And God commaundeth in Deuteronomie that the prince should write out for himselfe the booke of the lawe not onely for himselfe to kéepe but also to compell others to kéepe it And the law containeth not onelie ciuil gouernment but also Ceremonies and the worshipping of God And whereas the lawe is distributed into two tables both of them are committed to the power of the Magistrate Moreouer Paul saieth that the Magistrate standeth in the stead and place of God and that euerie soule ought to be subiect vnto the higher power Rom. 13. 1. Chrysost From which place saith Chrysostome neither Bishops nor Euangelistes nor Apostles be excluded And Augustine against the Donatistes It were a goodly matter in déede saieth he if Magistrates should haue power to punish adulteries but might not punish the whoredomes of the soule And he addeth that kings ought to serue God not onelie that they themselues may liue modestly and godly but also that they may bring others vnto godlinesse and defende the worship of God In all Artes as saieth Aristotle there is a certaine respect vnto the principall Art For example the Art of Riding commandeth the Sadlers craft Also the Art of Nauigation is aboue that Art which maketh Oers and sayles wherefore séeing the office of a Magistrate is the chiefe and principall science he ought to rule all the partes of a Common weale In déed he himself exerciseth not those Arts but yet ought he to sée that none doe corrupt and counterfeit them If a Phisitian cure not according to the prescript of Galen or Hypocrates or if an Apothecarie sell naughtie and corrupt drugges the Magistrate ought to correct them both And if he may doe this in other Artes I sée no cause why he may not doe it in Religion So Ezechias Iosias Dauid Salomon Constantine and Charles shewed verie well that religion belonged vnto their charge 2. Par. 26. ver 19. Ozias was striken and that iustly For God appointed him to be a king not a Priest he notwithstanding contrarie to the commaundement of God would offer sacrifice But if he had corrected the Priest when he offended or had made him doe his duetie there shoulde not any euill haue happened vnto him for that matter 2. Sam. 6. 7. Oza was striken vnto death because he rashly laide his hand vpon the Arke The Leuites ought to haue carried it vpon their shoulders neuerthelesse they laide the same in a Cart. And he was punished for laying hold vpon it when the Cart staggered What the duetie of Princes is in setting forwarde of Religion looke the Epistles in the end of this worke 3 Howbeit because the power of a Prince is féeble and without limits therfore he hath néede of manie eies manie hands and manie féete 2. Sam. 8. 16 Wherfore it is described by whom Dauid ruled the common weale not onelie in prophane but also in Ecclesiasticall affaires Ioab being a valiant man By whom Dauid ruled the CoÌmon weale and skilfull in the art of warre the kinsman of Dauid and of an approoued faithfulnesse had the rule and gouernment of the warres 1. Par. 11. 6. That office was due vnto him by promise because he did first smite and vanquish the Iebusites Furthermore Dauid to the inteÌt that nothing should be done vnorderlie or be forgotten he would haue a reconder or maister of the requests to put him in mind of causes both priuate and publike Him the Italians call Referendarium The French men Maistre des requestes A Maister of the requests Afterward he bent his mind to Ecclesiasticall affaires and agréed together two families of Priests which were at variance For those as it oftentimes happeneth among Ecclesiasticall men contended for the principall place For which although there be woont to be great debate betwéene prophane Princes yet no where greater than betwéene them which ought most of all to contemne these follies The two families of Ithamar and Eleazar contended betweene themselues for the high Priesthood Two families contended for the priesthoods And least we should thinke that there were two high Priestes wee must vnderstande that there was onelie one Abiathar was he whose sonne Ahimelecke Dauid made equall with Sadoch that they two might bee next vnto the high Priest Howbeit some think that those two were as the kings chaplines that wheresoeuer he should be eyther at home or abroade he might alwaies by them aske counsel of the Lord. Afterward in the time of SalomoÌ Achimileck was constrained to giue vp his place and in stead of him came Sadock God had then long before commanded that the Priests should be chosen out of the familie of Aaron So as Dauid admitted not other families but onlie followed the prescript rule of the lawe of God This would not the Pope at this day suffer to wit that the Emperour should ordaine orders among Bishops and cardinals And yet neuerthelesse Dauid did this and thought not that he did any thing against his owne office Dauid tooke the shildes of Golde of Hadarezer and whatsoeuer Gold siluer In 2. Sam. 8 Dauid heaped vp gold for the building of the Temple and brasse he had gathered out of Beta and Berothay and of King Thoi he consecrated all wholly vnto the Lord. So in the booke of Numbers what monie soeuer the Israelits tooke from the Moabites they did consecrate to the tabernacle Rightlie did Dauid and as it became a godlie King For although he were prohibited by the Kings lawe that he should not heape to himselfe treasures yet was there no let but that he might séeke for and kéepe those things whereby the Temple of God might be builded and adorned Yea and Moses commaunded all the vessels of the Tabernacle to be made of the spoiles of Egypt God had before forbidden Dauid that he should not build him a Temple yet he forbad him not to gather together the stuffe for that building Godlie Kings imploy all things to the building and beautifying of the Church of God The care of the Church belongeth to Princes and in the meane time contemne not the outward ornaments of Temples but the wicked Nabucadonezers and Dionysij doe pull away all euen with a contempt of God Neither is it any maruell In mindes
Citizens of Sinope had commaunded that he should be banished out of Pontus sayd I in like manner condemne them that they be perpetuallie vppon the shores of Pontus Euxinus They alledge also that Themistocles who while he liued in banishment was verie much inriched and said vnto those that were with him Yong men vnlesse we had pearished we should haue bin vtterlie vndoone By such examples banished men are made the bolder and seldome are the better Out of Caelius the 20 booke 1. Chapter we haue learned that L. Neracius hauing confidence in riches was verie proud and malepeart so that it was a game and pastime vnto him to strike a frée man on the face vppon which fault in verie déede was laid a penaltie of twentie fiue péeces of monie called Asses Whefore he caried a seruant about with him which ware a purse well stuffed with monie but he at his owne pleasure bid beate verie manie and straightwayes commaunded to pay them xxv péeces of that monie So then a light punishment dooth the more easilie prouoke vnto sinne Herewithall adde that banished men seeing they know the secretes of a Citie and discommodities of the Citizens doe verie often shewe all those thinges vnto the enemies Moreouer to excuse themselues they defame their owne Citie and the Citizens which be therein and are held in estimation they affirme them to be more wicked than themselues And they set foorth the examples of Socrates Aristides and Cicero who were sometime driuen into exile Besides foorth if the auouterer and auouteresse be cast out for adultrie they méete againe together in an other place and perseuere in the same wickednesse And when men haue robbed in their owne countrie they being cast foorth of the same will not cease to rob elsewhere so as their sinnes be not hindered by their banishment Also this punishment séemes to be much against charitie towardes our neighbors For when a prouince or Citie hath wicked men among them they so disburden themselues as they burden other Cities and prouinces Besides they which so be cast foorth if they might abide in their countrie would be more diligentlie marked séeing they be there well knowen but in an other land where they are not knowen they both sinne more easilie and also escape vnpunished And at home Infamie would beare a stroke with them and they would be ashamed when as in an other place they liue without shame If Citizens should so send out one infected with the plague as they would commaund him to enter into other Cities those Cities would not onelie put him backe but would also complaine and that greeuouslie of those men But if it would be vniust as touching the sicknesse of the bodie what are we to iudge concerning the vices of the minde Also if a man by poyson kill a condemned man he should be accounted most wicked Howbeit to send mischéeuous men into strange landes séemeth to be nothing else but to infect them There might be other Arguments and that verie manie to perswade on this behalfe but these séeme to be the chiefest What vse of banishment is to be retained 8 Now are we to determine which may séeme to be the right way Doubtlesse it appeareth vnto me that either part is to be imbraced and I would say that the vse of banishmentes is after some sort to be retained but not so that banished men should be sent vnto others among whome they should become the woorse and to infect them Wherefore they ought to be banished within the boundes of the dominion subiect vnto the Magistrate For wicked men should the easilier be restrained if it were not frée for them to wander here and there and according to the greatnesse or lightnesse of their offence so may they limit vnto them places more painefull or more commodious And assuredlie God when he would banish Adam and Caine Whither Adam was banished he sent them not foorth of his dominion Further the lawes of Moses so appointed the Cities of refuge In what sort Moses appointed the Cities of refuge as he would haue them to be certaine But thou wilt say Then will all places be filled with banished men I aunswere that we must not easilie be led vnto this kinde of punishment For there be other kindes of punishmentes as are prisonmentes lessening of substance remouing from offices and diuers other Moreouer God sent not into exile Core Dathan and Abiron when they were seditious men neither did he condemne vnto banishment Achan an haynous offender Iosua 7. 25. Banishmentes then must be vsed otherwhile but not often The Roman lawes when libertie stoode did not cast foorth into Exile as it hath bin said although they suffered such as were willing to depart 2. Sa. 14. 24. Dauid banished Absolon but not out of the boundes of his dominion 3. kings 2. ver 26. 36. Iud. 11. 2. Salomon also commaunded that Abiathar and Semei should be banished but he cast them not foorth of Ierusalem Iephta also was cast out by his brethren but yet into the laÌd of Tob which is thought to haue bin in the tribe of Gad. Neither is there anie néede to take an example of wicked Amasias although he cast not foorth the prophet out of the tribes of the Iewes for he sent him into the tribe of Iuda Also the Leapers were coÌmaunded by the lawe to be out of the Cities to wander among desolate places yet were they not sent away vnto strange Nations neither was it a sinne to be stricken with leprosie So then that separatioÌ must not be counted a punishment but rather a certaine caution least they that were whole should be infected Excommunication which was said to be a certaine kinde of banishment dooth not vtterlie cast men out of the Church because it is lawfull for the excommunicates to heare the word of God Further they are admonished by the faithfull althouth it be not lawfull to be conuersant with them for the soule sake Moreouer the Church ceaseth not to pray for them that they may repent and returne into the way againe True in déede it is that ill humors are driuen out of the bodie and corrupt members out of the Commonweale vnfruitfull twigges and bowes are cut off aswel from vines as from trées howbeit betweene these things banished men there is no iust coÌparison for these things being cut off and expelled cannot hurt as doe banished men who are woont to hurt both themselues and others also Besides true it is which is commonlie said Where an euill must be corrected that an euill must be corrected where it is bred But some man will obiect that it would be vnprofitable if banished men should be had in such places for there perhappes they can not doe or occupy anie thing Hereunto may be said they are banished vnto worke In times past leawd men were sent away vnto the Quarries Mines And at this day in manie places they are
weigh with your selues déepelie and in due time from whence ye depart namelie from God from Christ from the brethren and from the swéet food of excellent charitie These things if ye will faithfullie consider perhaps ye will come againe to your selues and into the right waie Which that ye may obteine through the mercie of God we will here praie while we shall communicate togither To the excellent and worthie men the gouernors of the schoole of Straâbrough my most reuerend maisters grace and peace from God through Iesus Christ our Lord. BIcause there is some doubt risen as touching the matter of the sacrament and that the ministers of this church be afraid left by me should arise some contention about that matter therfore haue I thought good that those things which a few daies past I mainteind in your presence now to repeate the same by writing First that I willinglie imbrace and confesse the confession made at Augusta and other confessions whatsoeuer not differing from the same so they he rightlie and profitablie vnderstood Secondlie that there shall be no contentions raised by me naie rather if there be anie place to be handled in the scriptures or that anie other necessitie shall require that I should declare my opinion about such a question I promise that I will doo it with all modestie and without anie bitter inuectiue But what my opinion is ãâã he séene by the bookes which I haue alreadie published from which I will haue nothing either taken out or altered by this my writing as promise vntill being taught by the scriptures and the spirit of God An agreement betweene Bucer and Luther I be persuaded to the contrarie And whereas I haue not subscribed as the agréement made betwéen D. Martin Bucer and D. Luther his fellowe ministers the ãâã is that I cannot in respect of the word of God nor for my conscience sake grant that they which are without faith doo in receiuing of the sacrament receiue the bodie of Christ And it is no meruell that I would not agrée to this article since Bucer himselfe in this our schoole I being present did openlie teach otherwise when he expounded the Acts of the apostles And euen he when he was in England wrote far otherwise as I can shew by diuerse of his articles And without doubt his opinion was true since faith is the onelie instrument whereby Christ his bodie and blood is receiued of vs which saith being remooued the mouth of the bodie receiueth nothing but the sacraments of the bodie and bloud of Christ Christ receiued by faith the bread I meane and the wine consecrated by the officer of the church or the minister Euen as if a man which is of full age should come without faith vnto baptisme we would saie he receiueth nothing besides the sacrament that is besides water for not beléeuing he could not receiue the grace of regeneration so without faith no man is admitted vnto the communion of the bodie and bloud of Christ Lastlie I am afraid least by subscribing vnto this agréement before rehearsed I might séeme to condemne the churches of Zuricke Basil Berne Geneua and England all the brethren dispersed through Italie and France which assuredlie I doo not thinke by the word of God to be lawfull Therefore as I both honour and reuerence the churches of Saxonie euen so doo I imbrace and loue heartilie in the Lord those other churches which I haue rehearsed God as he is the author of peace grant vs that we may once iudge and speake all one thing And to you my maisters whom I verie much honour for the courtesie and goodnesse which you shew vnto me I tender most heartie thanks since I haue no other thing to requite you withall And I beséech our good God for Iesus Christ his sake that he will alwaies be mercifull to you From my lodging in Strasbrough this 27 of Decem. The confession or opinion of D. Peter Martyr Vermillius as touching the Supper of the Lord exhibited vnto the most noble Senat of Strasbrough when he was called to Zuricke in the yeere of the Lord 155â One person in Christ consisting of diuers natures OVr sauiour Iesus Christ consisteth of ãâã natures ioined togither into one and ãâã same person or substance and those ãâã not confounded of mingled togither but the properties and conditions of both being safe and entire Wherefore vnto the Godhead of Christ which is infinite and is limited by no measures or bounds That the humanitie of Christ is not euerie-where it is granted without controuersie to be euerie where but vnto the humanitie by reason of the nature and truth thereof circumscription limits and bounds doo so belong as neither it can be euerie-where neither can it be without some certeine place vndoubtedlie not for the weakenesse of the diuine power but for the perpetuall and vnchangeable condition of mans nature For as it cannot be that either the number of thrée can be the number of six or that the thing yesterdaie doone can be vndoone so is it not possible that that which is an humane bodie shuld not be a bodie humane whose definition of necessitie comprehendeth quantitie parts distinguished and members Therefore whatsoeuer they be that spred the same and will haue it to extend so largelie as the word of God and therefore to be either euerie-where or else in manie places at once they affirme that that which is a humane bodie is not a humane bodie and that that which is created is not a creature For it is not conuenient for anie creature being limited to be in manie places at one and the selfe-same time But that Christ as touching his humane nature is a creature the church neuer doubted to affirme out of the word of God Wherefore Christ in respect that he is a man left the world we haue him not present at bodie for with it he ascended into heauen which must conteine or receiue him vntill the times of the restitution of all things as Peter in the Acts of the apostles hath taught Acts. 3 21. The sacrament of the Eucharist I confesse is so instituted by Christ our sauiour What presence there is of Christ in the sacraments as his words being vsed which promise a true communion of the faithfull with him and therwithall adding the signes of bread and wine which be effectuall instruments of the holie Ghost as touching the faithfull while the holie supper is celebrated faith is wrought whereby we trulie and vnfeinedlie apprehend at our mind both his bodie and bloud euen as they were deliuered vnto death and to the crosse for vs vnto the remission of sinnes Which receiuing in verie déed although it be of things absent and doone in the mind yet dooth it not profit the mind it selfe onelie but it redoundeth also vnto the bodie of them that receiue so as by a certeine power of sanctification and spirituall coniunction it is made capable
and spirit which doo so flowe from the diuinitie as by the flesh and bloud of Christ giuen vnto death they are deriued vnto vs. For GOD dooth not giue anie celestiall gifts vnto mortall men but by one mediator of God men 1. Tim. 2 5. the man Christ Iesus as Paule saith vnto Timothie Whereof it commeth that our bones and our flesh Regeneration of the bodie forsomuch as they be partakers of the heauenlie regeneration and of eternall life be of his flesh and of his bones Ephes 5 30. as the apostle hath taught vnto the Ephesians For vnlesse they did depend of them and spirituallie cleane therevnto they could not deriue vnto themselues from GOD by them either regeneration the spirit or eternall life Wherefore although betwéene vs and the bodie of Christ there be great distances of places yet doo we depend of him and vnto him are maruellouslie ioined And séeing this coniunction is spirituall secret and diuine there is not required a substantiall and corporall presence of his bodie and bloud and therefore we doo not admit the same bicause it is against the truth of the Lords humane nature and dooth euidentlie disagrée with the testimonies of the scripture In things perteining to man A similitude a husband happeneth vpon some occasions to iournie into a far countrie he leauing his wife for a time at home ceaseth not therfore with hir as the scripture speaketh to be one flesh Wherefore their true proper and lawfull coniunction remaineth perfect although the one be neuer so far absent from the other How much more dooth Christ Ephes 5 23. who as the apostle saith is the husband of the church remaine with all his members wined togither although he be gone awaie into heauen and departed bodilie Wherefore vnto this vnion which we haue with the Lord that is with his bodie bloud and bones there is no néed of a naturall touching neither of places conioined continuall or close togither onelie there must be spirit and faith wherby we may be most néerlie copied to whole Christ our spouse and sauiour But they which denie that there becommeth such a coniunction with the flesh of Christ without his substantiall and corporall presence séeme to attribute but little to the mightie power of GOD whereas they in the meane time doo perpetuallie warne vs to haue regard vnto it when we iudge that the bodie of Christ can neither be euerie where nor in manie places at once Let they themselues vse that remedie which they offer vnto others and let them grant that power of God which the truth and our godlie iudgement requireth and the same being granted there shall be nothing taken awaie from the humanitie of the Lord the nature of the sacrament shall remaine found and we shall agrée togither in the wisedome of the holie scriptures In the confession made at Augusta there is nothing so farre as I can perceiue but may agrée with the opinion which I haue now set foorth But bicause both in word and mind as it manifestlie appeareth we agrée not among our selues therfore what I beléeue and vnderstand out of the word of God I ment to declare that none may afterward iustlie complaine that they be deceiued And these things haue I comprehended in verie few words touching which I can no longer with a perfect and safe conscience hold my peace from teaching disputing and writing Wherefore I beséech you that when oportunitie shall serue it may be frée for me to intreat plainlie and manifestlie in word and writing what I iudge as concerning that substantiall and bodilie presence of the bodie and bloud of Christ in the supper and of the other things which I haue rehearsed Which if it may not séeme good to be granted I desire to be dismissed by your authorities with good licence and fauour The opinion of D. Peter Martyr Vermillius as touching the presence of the bodie of Christ in the Eucharist propounded by him in the communication that was had at Poissy YEe reuerend Prelats and most learned men séeing there séemed to be in a maner a consent as touching the presence of the bodie of Christ in the vse of the supper yesterdaie I professed to you what my opinion faith and iudgement should be thereof Which as I then expressed in words so am I now minded to rehearse it by writing whereby I may make the same more certeine and more euident vnto you Wherefore I iudge that the reall and substantiall bodie of Christ is onelie in the heauens but yet that the faithfull in communicating doâ spirituallie and by faith truelie receiue his verie bodie and verie bloud which was giuen for vs vpon the crosse Wherefore I allow no transubstantiation and consubstantiation in the bread and wine of the supper Further I affirme that the distance of places is no let to our coniunction with the bodie and bloud of Christ bicause the supper of the Lord is a heauenlie thing and although that with the mouth of the bodie we receiue vpon the earth bread and wine being sacraments of the bodie and bloud of the Lord yet by faith and by the helpe of the holie spirit our minds wherevnto speciallie belongeth this spirituall and heauenlie food being carried vnto heauen doo inioie the present bodie and bloud of Christ And therefore I affirme that it is not néedfull to determine the bodie of Christ to be truelie substantiallie and corporallie present either to vs or in the signes by a presence not locall I saie moreouer that the things signified are no otherwise ioined vnto the outward signes than sacramentallie forsomuch as by them they are not prophanelie and lightlie but effectuallie signified by the institution of the Lord. This is the summe of my faith which I hold in this opinion And therefore the consents brought in writing I doo admit in this respect as they are referred or may be applied vnto the sense now declared against which if anie man doo either wrest them or interpret them I professe that I dissent from him And whereas in these spéeches there is mention made of the substance of Christs bodie I vnderstand no other thing by that name or word but the true bodie of Christ For our faith is not directed vnto a feined thing or phantasie but vnto the true humane and naturall bodie which the word of God tooke of the blessed virgine and gaue for vs vpon the crosse Wherefore there is no cause whie by that word we should be thought to beléeue that his reall presence is else-where than in heauen I Peter Martyr Vermillius a Florentine borne haue written these things with mine owne hand and haue professed them with mine owne mouth before the reuerend and honourable personages of this Conference Questions question I WHether the lawe in the. 22. of Exodus of maids deflowred to bee married of such as had deflowred them should be reteined in a christian common weale question II IF the magistrate shall thinke
shall not be without fruit For words said Homer are but wind but those things which are put in writing cannot be so easilie misreported This if they will doo euen as I was then bold to deale with them by liuelie voice so will I now prepare my selfe to answer those things which they shall write In the meane time fare yee well and take this in good part Questions set downe to be disputed of question 1 In the sacrament of the Eucharist there is no transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the bodie and bloud of Christ question 2 The bodie and bloud of Christ is not carnallie and corporallie in the bread and wine nor as others speake vnder the shewes of bread and wine question 3 The bodie and bloud of Christ is sacramentallie conioined to the bread and wine The disputers were these For the one side was Doctor Peter Martyr For the other side were Doctor VVilliam Tresham Doctor VVilliam Chadse and Maister Morgan Maister of Art The disputation of the first daie which was the xxviij of Maie Anno Domini 1549. betweene D. Peter Martyr and D. VVilliam Tresham before the kings visitors among whom the worthie man D. Cox Chancellor of the Vniuersitie of Oxford before the disputation should begin spake on this wise YE that be learned men although that of verie dutie I ought to moderate disputations but especiallie diuinitie yet doo I thinke that this must now chéefelie be doone as most apperteining vnto me bicause it so pleaseth the kings maiestie and for that the authoritie is committed vnto vs by letters patents as well in other things as also in the ordeining of publike readings disputations So we haue determined not onelie to be present thereat but also to ouersée gouerne and moderate them But I would haue you which haue taken vpon you this labour of disputing to consider how hard a matter that is which ye shall doo Remember with your selues how greatlie all mens eies are bent vpon you Respect ye diligentlie and regard ye the glorie of God laieng aside contentions and wranglings I knowe that ye be graue and learned men yet in respect of mine office I though it good to admonish you And I aduise other beholders and hearers that factions laid aside if anie such be they will so quietlie and peaceablie giue eare as there may séeme to be no partaking Phil. 2 2. Doo ye according to Pauls precept that In the name of our Lord Iesu Christ ye will vnderstand all one thing iudge all one thing that in you there be no schimes but an entire bodie hauing one mind and one iudgement Set aside ill affections let there be no noise debates scornefull laughters and outcries And ye yong men speciallie I would haue you to be forewarned which haue a greater feruencie of mind than ye haue of iudgement In the greatest controuersies there are woont to be discords hatreds and enuiengs as it came to passe in the disputations of Steeuen and Paule But I would in no wise haue this to happen among you but I wish rather that ye will learne to know the truth and when ye haue knowne it to imbrase the same so shall ye doo your dutie and also that which shall be verie acceptable vnto vs and God will giue good successe to that we haue in hand The preface of Peter Martyr RIght Honourable yée that be the Kings Maiesties Commissioners if I had thought that displeasures hatreds or enimities had béen the perpetuall companions of publike disputations I doubtles had neuer béene brought vnto this place But now that I sée those things doo not alwaies insue but are ioined vnto them casuallie or as they speake accidentallie I am come to dispute And certeinlie the desire which I haue to search out and open the truth hath mooued me aboue all things But they which for the desire of contention or for the vaine glorie of this world or for gaine sake doo take this matter in hand must not be accounted Diuines but light and vaine Sophisters carnall men giuen both to their bellie to ambition But we ought to be of that mind that we willinglie and of our owne accord yeeld vnto the knowne truth manifesting it selfe in disputation Which truelie is no small or slender part of diuine worship And therefore let the troublesome motions of minds cease on all sides and let all factions be far awaie Which if it happen there will arise singular profit of this exercise For iron of it selfe is but cold and a stone is altogither senselesse but if they be knockt one against another they cause fire to come foorth Euen as clouds otherwise of a darke and grosse nature if they méet togither and be one dashed against another doo cause a bright lightening in the aire so likewise the wits and studies of learned men are slowe of themselues but in the conflict of disputation they be stirred vp and made somwhat liuelie Neither must excellent and honest things as are disputations be refused nor yet counted vnprofitable and hurtfull sith we doubt not but they be the gifts of God We are beholding vnto disputations for that excellent doctrine of Iesus Christ our sauiour which he had with the Scribes Pharisies Saduces and Herodians of the loue of our neighbour the resurrection the paieng of tribute vnto Caesar the signe of Ionas the prophet and such other like things And I thinke it is not vnknowne to you how greatlie the disputations of Paule and the rest of the apostles and fathers did profit the church No doubt but they may be doone of vs without bitternesse hatred and enuie so that the spirit of Christ be present Trulie there is a great difference betwéene disagréement and bearing of hatred For the first belongeth to iudgement the which is exercised in the vnderstanding part of the mind but the other which is hatred is a flame of the will Paule dissented from Peter and reprooued him and yet did he not hate him Thus much I thought good to speake of open disputations in generall But comming now néerer vnto these disputations of ours I confesse that I was to staie a while before I should come to this conflict bicause I sawe that I was to deale in that matter for which the church at this daie is excéedinglie disquieted And they which challenge to themselues the order of the priesthood thinke that transubstantiation and a carnall and corporall presence of Christ his bodie in the Eucharist he being taken awaie all the honour they haue would come to naught as though they had no other office but to change the substance of the bread or to close vp the verie bodie of Christ in the bread And so béesotted and doting is the common people as if a man teach anie otherwise concerning this sacrament than hitherto hath béene receiued they thinke that Christ is taken awaie from them and when we teach otherwise of the Eucharist than is beléeued in the Papasie
of them should remaine Otherwise the heretiks will alwaies saie that indéed the diuine nature is granted to be in Christ but that he had onelie but a shew and accidents of an humane bodie D. Tresham If the Eucharist be verelie answerable to Christ as you affirme it to be it followeth that euen as true bread is said to be there so must likewise the true bodie of Christ be said to be there the which maketh most of all against your second question Wherefore the argument is of no force bicause the similitude is of no force for the similitude is not currant D. Martyr You answer indéed that this maketh against me bicause I doo not affirme the bodie of Christ to be conteined in the sacrament but yet so farre as I sée you answer nothing hitherto to the comparison of these fathers except it be in denieng of the same and therefore the argument remaineth vnassoiled For the fathers brought the same chéeflie to this purpose to shew that on both sides as well in Christ as in the sacrament both the natures remaine whole and perfect But after what manner I appoint the true bodie of Christ to be in the sacrament shall be declared afterward when I come to the second question Now by the testimonies alledged we haue concluded effectuallie that bread remaineth for the confirmation whereof we haue Theodoretus who against Eutyches wrote excellent dialogs In the first of which Theodoretus bringeth the same comparison and plainlie denieth transubstantiation he thus saith Those things which appeare to be signes he honoured with the name of his bodie and bloud vndoubtedlie not changing the nature it selfe but ioining grace vnto nature And in the second dialog he bringeth in the heretike opposing after this maner Wherefore euen as the signes of the bodie and bloud of the Lord be after one sort before the inuocation of the priest but after the same inuocation they be changed and made other things so likewise the Lords bodie after the assumption was changed into a diuine substance The Catholike answereth Thou art caught euen in the same net which thou thy selfe didst laie for neither doo those mysticall signes depart from their owne nature sith they remaine in their former substance figure and shape and so he concludeth against Eutyches that the bodie of Christ was not changed into the diuine nature as he affirmed And thus you sée that these Doctors Cyprian Augustine Gelasius and Theodoretus doo verie well agrée betwéene themselues that the substance of bread in the sacrament is not changed bicause of the agréeablenesse which it hath with Christ in whom as well the humanitie as diuinitie remaine entire D. Tresham Reduce your argument into a forme and then I will shape you an answer D. Martyr This is Theodoretus reason As bread remaineth entire in the sacrament departeth not from his owne nature so Christs bodie remained in him and was not changed into the diuine as the heretiks affirme it to be D. Tresham This maketh still with me and concludeth that therein is the true bodie of Christ which you in your second question denie Againe this Theodoretus whom you cite was a Nestorian heretike and that appéereth manifestlie enough by the historie of Nicephorus and the Councell of Chalcedon in the eight action And the testimonie of an heretike deserueth no authoritie in so great a matter D. Martyr That Theodoretus was no Nestorian no man can prooue better than himselfe who writing against all the heretiks which went before him left not Nestorius vntouched yea rather he wrote a whole particular chapter against him and called him a verie fit instrument of the diuell But as touching that which you alledge of Nicephorus and the synod of Chalcedon it happened for this cause In the synod of Ephesus there fell out verie gréeuous offenses betwéene Cyrill which was president of the Councell and Iohn patriarch of Antioch bicause Cyrill with his fellowes had procéeded to the condemnation depriuation of Nestorius without expecting of him and other bishops and so both of them going beyond the bounds of humanitie exercised among themselues hatreds not beséeming for christians And the matter came to such a passe as they did excommunicate one an other and deposed one another but afterward they returned into friendship againe And during the time of this dissention Theodoretus which fauoured Iohn wrote against the excommunications which Cyrill made wherein he charged him gréeuouslie And if a man will diligentlie read the matter he shall hardlie find by that writing that Theodoretus either was an heretike or else fauoured anie ill opinion of Nestorius notwithstanding that his aduersaries and such as fauoured Cyrill did so slander him Howbeit euen as we haue said they were all at the length reconciled among themselues And in this eight action of the synod of Chalcedon it appéereth manifestlie that Theodoretus was falselie slandered and there it appeareth how excellent a testimonie he had of the fathers of the Councell by whom he was restored vnto his seat and he openlie accursed Nestorius with whom he sheweth that he neuer concurred in opinions Of the verie which Theodoretus there is read somwhat in Bessarion cardinall of Nice in the Florentine Councell Since therefore the synod of Chalcedon did not refuse but allow of his confession whie doo not ye admit of his purgation And since he wrote these things against Eutyches after the synod of Chalcedon in the which synod he was allowed as a right beléeuer of the faith they must not easilie be denied as ye would they should and we must giue more credit vnto the Councell vnto Leo the most holie bishop of Rome and vnto manie bishops more than vnto that same one Monke Nicephorus D. Tresham That purgation is not equall or to be admitted wherwith a man purgeth himselfe Let an other man praise thée saith Salomon and not thine owne mouth Certeine it is that Cyrill wrote manie things against him Againe he is but an obscure authour and no man hath him but you wherefore he must not be cited for defining of so great a matter D. Martyr An excellent waie for euerie one to purge himselfe of heresie Yes verelie when anie mans faith is brought into question euerie man is a competent witnesse to himselfe as if so be one should be accused of Arainisme he might no better waie purge himselfe than by detesting of Arrius and by writing against him But if you thinke that Theodoret must be reiected bicause he contended against Cyrill and for that Cyrill wrote against him by the same reason you will reiect Cyprian bicause he once in the matter of baptisme not onelie dissented from Steuen Bishop of Rome but also from other Doctours of sound iudgement And you may as iustlie refuse the writing of Epiphanius Chrysostome and Theophilact who so earnestlie stroue and contended among themselues that Iohn Chrysostome was displaced and cast out of his bishopricke And whereas you obiect that he is
argument is to no purpose being taken from a wrong sense as Augustine testified to Vincentius the Donatist An argument deriued otherwise than from the literall sense is of small force to persuade anie thing by an effectuall inference Or else it may be otherwise answered to wit that he speaketh of the substance of bread which before consecration was either vnleuened or leuened D. Martyr It is plainelie declared that Gregorie spake nothing allegoricallie in this place For it was then called into doubt and the controuersie was whether the bread of the Eucharist should be vsed either vnleuened or leuened Gregorie being consulted herevpon in Registro setteth downe his opinion vpon this matter D. Tresham Now doo I better vnderstand it than before For I remember the controuersie and the Gréeks erre euen vntill this daie reteining still leuened bread but yet the place conteineth nothing against me for Gregorie would not haue it to make anie matter whether the bread wherof the sacrament is made be vnleuened or leuened and it is called vnleuened or leuened of that which it was before D. Martyr I maruell that you in your answer doo saie that the Gréeks doo erre vntill this daie since Gregorie sheweth that it maketh no matter whether it be vnderstood of vnleuened or of leuened bread And whereas you saie that he meaneth that which he spake to be before consecration that agréeth not with his words For he saith While we doo receiue neither is the sacrament receiued before consecration D. Tresham After that the bread is transubstantiated it is named according to that thing whereof it is deriued D. Martyr That the holie scriptures acknowledge no transubstantiation Alwaies when similitudes be brought in which doo prooue bread to be in the sacrament you shift off those matters by a figure taken from their former nature and therefore I am minded to dispute with you after this maner Transubstantiation is not declared nor prooued by the holie scriptures Therfore it must not be receiued D. Tresham By the power of the holie scripture which saith This is my bodie the church was compelled to decrée transubstantiation For it is not possible that this proposition shuld properlie be true vnlesse that this change be determined D. Martyr If the accidents remaine whie dooth not the substance Whie so My thinks I héere news now If the accidents doo remaine with the bodie of Christ whie not the substance What hath the substance more offended than the accidents that it may not abide with the bodie of Christ And especiallie since a great part of the contention séemeth to be about measure and quantitie which notwithstanding ye reteine for the quantitie and masse of bread is not abolished D. Tresham Therefore dooth not the substance remaine bicause it did not so please Christ the institutor of this sacrament Christ might haue brought to passe that the bread should remaine but now bicause of his word the same hauing his accustomed power it cannot remaine D. Martyr Since that you answered me not sufficientlie I demanded whie the bread might not remaine By no other meanes saie you but by the word of God and will of Christ But I do not as yet vnderstand what the words of Christ should let Neither doo I sée from whence you haue this testimonie of the will of GOD whereby he will not haue bread to remaine D. Tresham Euen bicause it is vnpossible that the word of God should be false Also it is vnpossible out of the proprietie of words to prooue the truth of the Lords words wherein he said This is my bodie without transubstantiation Whether that proposition This is my bodie may be done without transubstantiation D. Martyr I could now speake of the figuratiue spéech of that propositioÌ wherby I might shew it to be a true proposition as manie such like are true the things remaining still as they were before but I let this passe and I procéed in the question alreadie made to wit whie the substance dooth here perish rather than the accidents Neither doo I heare anie reason whie you should rather plucke awaie one of these than an other D. Tresham I haue alreadie said that the words of the proposition This is my bodie cannot be true vnlesse that a transubstantiation followe bicause the bread is not the bodie of Christ nor the accidents the bodie of Christ Moreouer the word of God should not be working and effectuall vnlesse there were a transubstantiation therewithall and that the accident did euidentlie appeare to remaine And therfore the propertie of the saieng being kept and putting no figure in the words it is vnpossible that the proposition should be true vnlesse that there be a transubstantiation admitted D. Martyr I doo note in your answer that the bodie of Christ cannot trulie be spoken either of the bread or of the accidents where neuerthelesse Epiphanius saith in Anchorato True he is who togither with grace hath giuen vnto man that which is according to the image And how manie things are there which be of like similitude For we sée what our sauiour tooke into his hands according as we haue it in the Gospell that he rose in the supper and when he had giuen thanks he said This is mine and this and this and we sée that it is not equall nor alike neither to the image in the flesh nor to the inuisible deitie nor yet to the lineaments of the members For this is of a round forme and insensible as touching the power thorough grace he would saie This is mine and this and this The bodie of the Lord is said of that which as touching power is insensible and yet there is no man but beléeueth his saieng for he that beléeueth not that the same is true according as he spake it such a one falleth awaie from grace and from saluation But what we haue heard that we beléeue bicause it is his word Verelie we knowe out owne Lord who is altogither sense altogither sensible altogither God altogither the moouer altogither the worker altogither the light and altogither incomprehensible but yet such a one as is the same to vs which he giueth by his grace By which words you heare as concerning a thing of round shape and insensible in respect of the power thereof the Lord of his grace said This is my bodie Neither can you auoid it but that that which is round whether it be substance or accident is that wherof Epiphanius saith that it is called the bodie of the Lord for he will haue the bodie of Christ to be spoken of that which is insensible according to power But it agréeth not with the bodie of Christ that it should be without sense euen as you haue it expreslie shewed in the sentence alledged D. Tresham It behooueth to read the ancient fathers fauourablie as Erasmus saith And let the notaries write that neither I name the accidents nor yet the bread the bodie of Christ And further it
may be otherwise answered that he on this wise spake therof before he had made an end of vttering his words D. Martyr Séeing you will not haue it that this round thing whereof this Epiphanius saith that it is called the bodie of Christ is bread nor yet an accident what then did he meane by this pronowne demonstratiue Hoc This D. Tresham That can I not tell but that was shewed which Christ himselfe ment let him be asked who did institute it But if it be spoken concerning bread it is ment before consecration The fathers as I haue said must be read with fauour D. Martyr In that you saie that the fathers must be fauourablie read I like it well and I know that sometimes they must be interpreted conuenientlie Howbeit when they speake the truth there is no néed of pardon neither doo I thinke that Epiphanius in this place hath anie néed thereof he dooth sufficientlie mainteine the word of God and speaketh verie well of the same D. Tresham Hilarie in his fourth booke De Trinitate as I remember saith that the vnderstanding of saiengs must be gathered by the causes of the saiengs bicause the matter is not subiect to the spéech but the spéech to the matter And therefore to answer according to the condition and truth of the matter I affirme that Epiphanius said that as touching that which is of a round figure the Lord would pronounce This is my bodie not that there is true bread vnder the round figure but bicause it so séemeth and appeareth vnto our sense and therefore I said that he must be read fauourablie bicause his words pretend bread to remaine which neuerthelesse dooth not remaine D. Martyr That which you alledge out of Hilarie helpeth you but little séeing Epiphanius cannot otherwise be vnderstood but as I haue declared For it is manifestlie said that the Lord of his grace said concerning that which is of a round figure that it was his bodie Therfore whether you will saie that that round thing is bread or an accident he speaketh vtterlie against you for by the same he nameth his bodie But that you may vnderstand verie true bread to be present I will shew it most euidentlie out of the words of the Euangelist Christ tooke bread Mat. 26 26. he blessed brake and gaue to his apostles saieng c. Those foure verbes To take to blesse to breake and to giue gouerne no more but one accusatiue case that is to wit Bread And therefore euen as it is true bread while it is receiued and blessed no lesse true shall it be when it is broken and giuen whereof it foloweth that Christ gaue bread not accidents alone Otherwise the Euangelist would haue said that Christ brake his bodie and giue his bodie but as you haue heard he referreth all vnto bread neither doo I thinke that the Euangelist hath anie néed of fauour D. Tresham I saie with Saint Peter Pet. 1 20. that the scripture is not of a priuate interpretation The fathers of the church doo cléerlie enough expound according to my assertion that Christ gaue his bodie and that in putting this verbe Gaue before he vsed a figure D. Martyr Yet doo not you satisfie me How that place The scripture is not of priuate interpretation must be vnderstood for that which Peter saith to wit that the scripture is not of a priuate interpretation that is it ought not to be expounded acording to our own priuate affections I admitt but you are neuer a whit the more furthered And as for that which ye auouch of the fathers I haue taken testimonie of them and haue shewed that they are of my side And therefore I repeat these words Christ tooke bread blessed bread brake bread gaue bread so speake the fathers so speake the scriptures You run vnto figures and you séeme to saie that we must vse the spirit That both the bread is giuen and the bodie but the bread vnto the mouth and the bodie vnto the soule and vnto faith But I see not where we should séeke the spirit except in the holie scriptures which affirme the one and the other to be giuen bread I meane and the bodie the which I also confesse but you in reiecting the bread doo not consent with the scriptures D. Tresham The holie scriptures must be expounded with the selfe-same spirit whereby they were indited And the holie Ghost hath taught the good fathers that immediatelie so soone as the words of consecration are vttered the substance of bread and wine ceaseth of which mind are all the catholike Doctors And I haue not the fathers alone but Christ himselfe also which promised in the sixt of Iohn that he would giue vnto vs his flesh he is faithfull and his truth hangeth not of the fathers but of himselfe verse 51. The bread saith he which I shall giue is my flesh which I shall giue for the life of the world And so I confesse that it is bread bread bread bread and bread euen vntill the last pronuntiation of the words afterward it is no bread but flesh D. Martyr The words of the scripture saie both the one and the other to wit that bread is giuen and that flesh is giuen whie doo you not then confesse bread to be giuen also as the Euangelists haue euidentlie written For whereas you saie that the fathers make on your side I haue now shewed by manie of their testimonies that it is not true and I allow that the scriptures should be expounded with the selfe-same spirit whereby they were indited But when they are otherwise expounded of you than they meane that exposition dooth not procéed of that spirit whereby they were written for that spirit dissenteth not from them D. Tresham I saie both but yet I vnderstand the scriptures not as you doo sith about the vnderstanding of the scriptures all controuersie hath euermore arisen For by the scriptures Arrius went about to take awaie the diuinitie of Christ The heresie of Nestor and Eutyches by the scriptures Nestor and Eutyches endeuoured to take awaie his humanitie by the scriptures Manes banished frée will by the scriptures Pelagius extolled frée will aboue measure by the scriptures Luther defended the truth of the bodie of Christ in the Eucharist and contrariewise by the scriptures Zuinglius séemed to himselfe to take awaie the presence of the bodie of Christ from the Eucharist and finallie all heretiks and the diuell hath alwaies said It is written and yet they erred Wherefore it appeareth that we must flie vnto that spirit whereby the scriptures are published Euen as Peter the apostle saith 1. Pet 1 20. that The scripture is not of priuate interpretation and that spirit is promised vnto the church D. Martyr Heretikes perhaps haue the scriptures but yet they haue them not as it becommeth they followe the shew but not the sound sense But what church you tell me should be followed To the scriptures
is knowne the church and the spirit I perceiue not howbeit this I knowe that the Euangelists Paule and the holie fathers whom I haue named doo testifie that here is bread and the holie scriptures doo most manifestlie speake the same And without these things which I haue rehersed there is no church neither dooth there anie good spirit make against these D. Tresham These words of Christ Doo ye this in remembrance of me be words of commandement and command vs to doo that which Christ did And he gaue his owne bodie which said that it was his bodie and looke what Christ the spouse of the church hath doone that by his commandement the church dooeth through the scriptures D. Martyr Of these words which you recite wrote Chrysostome vpon the first epistle to the Corinthians the eleuenth chapter the 27. homilie For Christ in the bread and in the cup said 1. Co. 11 24 and 25. Doo this in remembrance of me Also Cyrill vpon Iohn the 14. booke and 14. chapter He gaue them péeces of bread D. Tresham The fathers name it bread of the terme from whence it came to wit bicause of the former name it had D Martyr You doo but haste and stand vpon the terme from whence you forbid a figure and yet you alwaies defend your selfe by a figure D. Tresham I haue manie places of Chrysostome that make for me and I laie Chrysostome to Chrysostome and the doctors when they speake obscurelie must be interpreted by places more plaine But Chrysostome in the sermon of the treason of Iudas confesseth that the bread is changed D. Martyr It is not now my turne to answer When you oppose me I will answer to that which you obiect out of Chrysostome Howbeit in the meane time bicause I will not séeme to be too precise I hold with Chrysostome that the bread is changed but yet into a sacrament but that the substance of bread is doone awaie that doo I denie neither shall you euer prooue it out of Chrysostome Yea and Cyrill saith Euen in the bread we receiue his pretious bodie and in the wine his bloud D. Tresham We receiue it in the bread and wine that is to wit in the shewes of bread and wine D. Martyr What doo you call the shewes of bread and wine D. Tresham The accidentall formes of bread and wine D. Martyr Assuredlie you haue not this signification from the fathers for they by Species that is forme or kind vnderstood the verie natures of the things not the accidents Ambrose in his booke Eorum qui in tiantur mysterijs the last chapter But and if the spéech of Elias were of so great force as it could fetch downe fire from heauen shall not the saieng of Christ be forcible touching the kinds of the elements He treateth of a sacramentall change Wherefore if he should meane the kinds to be the accidents it would followe that the accidents shuld be changed in the Eucharist but that dooth the sense denie Againe this father in the same chapter Before the blessing of the heauenlie words another kind is named after consecration the bodie of Christ is signified And Augustine vpon Iohn the 26. treatise One thing did they and another thing we but yet in a visible kind which neuertheles signified all one thing And he speaketh there concerning the difference of the sacraments of the old and new lawe And euen the verie same in a maner is said by Augustine in his treatise De catechizandis rudibus the first booke and 16. chapter D. Tresham The fathers call the forme or kind sometimes the substance and sometime the accident for it is an ambiguous word and that which the scriptures call bread and the fathers also name bread we call the kinds or forms Here it seemed good vnto the Visitors that wee should dispute in the second question D. Martyr We denie the bodie and bloud of Christ to be in the bread and wine carnallie and corporallie or substantiallie and reallie as ye saie it is or vnder the shewes of bread and wine And this will I prooue out of the scriptures Mark 16 19 In the last of Marke The Lord Iesus after he had spoken vnto them was taken vp into heauen sitteth at the right hand of God In the 26. The scriptures testifie that Christ departed from vs in bodie Matt. 24 23 of Matthew The poore shall ye alwaies haue with you but me shall ye not haue In the sixt of Iohn I leaue the world and I go vnto my father Manie shall saie in those daies Behold here is Christ or there is Christ beleeue them not In the third of the Acts Whome it behooueth the heauens to hold vntill the time of the restitution of all things And vnto the Colossians the third chapter Seeke ye those things that be aboue where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God Since therefore it appéereth by these saiengs that Christ being taken vp from hence liueth in the heauens and that it is not agréeable to the nature of a true humane bodie to be in manie places at once it followeth that the bodie of Christ is not reallie in the bread or wine D. Tresham I denie that it cannot agrée to an humane bodie to be in diuers places at once for the holie scriptures teach the contrarie that Christ after the ascension was with his apostles euen according to his humanitie In the first epistle to the Corinthians the 9 chapter Paule saith Did not I see the Lord And in the 15. chapter of the same epistle And last of all he was seen of me as of one borne out of time And in the ninth of the Acts Saule Saule why doost thou persecute me And againe I am Iesus whom thou persecutest And a little after Ananias said Brother Saule the Lord hath sent me euen Iesus which appeered to thee in the waie And Barnabas said afterward vnto the apostles concerning Saule how he in the waie had séene the Lord and that he had spoken vnto him During the which time it behooueth to beléeue that Christ was in heauen at the right hand of his father bicause it is an article of the faith and yet neuerthelesse he was then vpon the earth in visible forme Wherefore you haue concluded nothing and verie well may the bodie of Christ be in the sacrament vnder an inuisible forme when he was otherwhile in the earth in a visible forme as we haue prooued Wherefore your reasons doo not conclude D. Martyr The answer dooth not suffice When Christ appeered vnto Paule he was in heauen for how knowe you that Christ appéered not vnto Paule abiding in heauen according as he was séene of Steeuen sitting at the right hand of God Yea and Augustine vpon the 54 psalme saith that the head which was in heauen cried for the bodie which was vpon the earth and said Saule Saule whie doost thou persecute me Acts. 9 4. Moreouer was not Paule rapted into the
third heauen when he had power to sée Christ The which he testifieth vnto the Corinthians For there he onelie saith that he sawe Christ but speaketh nothing of the place or time Indéed he appeared vnto Paule as he was in the waie and while he was in the waie did speake vnto him neuerthelesse as I haue said he might doo this remaining in heauen and frame a voice from thence which shuld be heard vpon the earth Furthermore put the case that the Lord exhibited himselfe to be séene of Paule vpon the earth you shall not be able to shew that he was in heauen at the selfe-same time We beléeue the article of our faith to wit that he was assumpted into heauen and sitteth at the right hand of the father but that he cannot sometime transferre himselfe from thence and appéere to whome he will that are not we bound to beléeue It is inough to confesse that he hath his proper mansion in heauen D. Tresham Wheras Augustine saith vpon the psalme that Christ was in heauen when he cried Saule why persecutest thou mee it is agréeable to my opinion For it signifieth that he was at one time both in heauen and in the earth or else I answer that the heauen is ment by him to be th' aire where perhaps Christ was when he cried Saule Saule why persecutest thou me And that the aire is called heauen the scripture testifieth when it saith The soules of heauen D. Martyr Whereas you doo saie that Christ according to Augustines iudgement is in both places to wit in heauen and in earth Gen. 1 30. Iob. 28 21. Psal 8 9. you learne not that of him naie rather he sheweth himselfe else-where to be of an other mind And to appoint Christ to hang in the aire is an absurditie and you séeme thereby to make him a foule of the aire D. Tresham I make not Christ a foule of the aire for then should he be such a one when he hoong vpon the crosse D. Martyr No verelie for he was then fastened to the crosse But let these toies passe If we will see what Augustines iudgement was as touching this matter let vs consider his epistle vnto Dardanus where he wrote as concerning the glorified bodie of Christ that it is in some certeine place bicause of the measure of a true bodie The question was propounded vnto him how the théefe was with Christ in paradise that same daie wherein he died as he promised he should be And he answereth that if for paradise we vnderstand heauen it was not so as touching his humanitie bicause his bodie was in the sepulchre and his soule in the nethermost places wherevpon he decréed that this should be vnderstood as touching his diuinitie And thereby I gather this argument If Augustine durst not admit vnto the soule of Christ to be at one time both in hell and in heauen much lesse must it be granted vnto his bodie D. Tresham I saie with Augustine Distribute the times and the scripture agréeth Thrée errors did Augustine impugne at that time one is of those men which did take the word that is to saie the Godhead in place of the soule of Christ another tooke the word for the mind of the soule of Christ the third was of them which made the bodie of Christ to be spread euerie where Augustine therefore in that place speaketh of the bodie of Christ so far foorth as it hath a visible forme and after that maner he saith that it is onelie in heauen vnlesse that at anie time it doo miraculouslie happen otherwise Howbeit he is in the sacrament according to an inuisible forme according wherevnto Augustine beléeued that it is in diuers places at once for euen in the selfe-same epistle he maketh mention of our sacrifice Neither is it to be doubted but that Christ dooth offer himselfe visible and againe inuisible euen as pleased him As in the fourth of Luke When he withdrew himselfe from the multitude went through the middest of them on the mount Thabor he shewed his glorified bodie And therfore vnto Augustine I answer that much rather now he dooth these works at his owne pleasure D. Martyr You haue gathered manie things togither but yet can it not be gathered of all these that Augustine would haue the bodie of Christ to be in manie places at once Albeit he made mention of our sacrifice that was for an other cause neither dooth it belong vnto this article as may appeare vnto them which read it Yea rather he referreth our sacrifice to the vnitie of the mysticall bodie and maketh no mention at all of the flesh or bloud of Christ himselfe Neither taketh he in hand to confute the error touching the soule or mind of Christ Naie rather he supposeth that Dardanus was not intangled with them And it appeareth how greatlie he writeth there against you sith he will haue no accidents if the subiect be wanting nor bodies if you take place awaie from them And vndoubtedlie if he did make for your part when he wrote these things If Christ might be in manie places at once he may also be euerie where it behooued to except the Eucharist Besides all this if we should grant that anie bodie may be in manie places at one time it must be granted that it can also be in all places and that likewise did Scotus sée Howbeit as I haue alreadie affirmed it standeth as yet firme by the saieng of Augustine that bicause of the measure of a true bodie the bodie of Christ requireth a place certeine D. Tresham And yet if God will it may be in manie places yea euen in so manie as he himselfe will Neither must it be ascribed to anie want of diuine power in him which includeth not anie contradiction in the termes D. Martyr There is no part of the diuine power diminished by me although I haue spoken after this maner And I speake of the power of God with all modestie but yet there be manie things which therefore cannot be doone bicause the nature of things dooth not permit being such as are méere contraries and as it is said of you doo implie contradiction and this must not be imputed to an infirmitie in God Howbeit you haue not prooued that there is héere no repugnancie of the termes as you speake onelie you saie it D. Tresham Here there is no difficultie on the behalfe of the things for Paule distinguisheth betwéene a naturall bodie and a spirituall bodie But the bodie of Christ is spirituall and hereby is taken awaie all the difficultie on the behalfe of the thing And not onelie is the bodie of Christ spirituall but euen so shall our bodies be after the resurrection D. Martyr I knowe that the bodie of Christ is spirituall but Augustine saith in an epistle to Consentius It is ment that a naturall bodie is said to be like vnto other liuing creatures bicause of the dissolution and corruption of death but a spirituall
vs to be his bloud he shewed that by the woonderfull power of GOD the bloud of our Lord is made of a creature which is amongst vs. Neither must it be vnderstood that it is togither both the bloud of Christ and the wine but that a creature in respect of vs is made bloud after that the words be pronounced To Gregorie Gregorie likewise In registro saith that It may be made as well of swéet bread as of leauened bread not that he meaneth bread to remaine To Epiphanius Beside this Epiphanius in Anchorato is alledged by you and that place dooth most of all make for vs. Wherefore I maruell that you made mention of Epiphanius And for an answer it shall suffice to read his words We sée that our sauiour as the Gospell testifieth tooke it into his hands that he rose in the supper and tooke these things when he had giuen thanks he said This is mine This and This and we sée that it is not equall nor like neither to the image in the flesh nor to the inuisible Godhead nor yet to the fashion of the members For this is of a round and insensible forme as touching the power and yet would he by his grace saie This is mine This and This and there is no man but beléeueth his saieng For he which beléeueth it not to be true euen as he spake it falleth awaie from grace And hereof it may be vnderstood that whosoeuer beléeueth not the verie bodie to be there he falleth from grace and saluation Now to come to the matter propounded I answer as touching the first question that in the sacrament of the Eucharist the bread and wine is changed in substance into the true bodie the true bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ D. Martyr I haue heard you allege much as touching those things which were discoursed yesterdaie and you haue indeuoured to frame somewhat a large answer vnto those matters which I in the obiections vsed against the other aduersarie But now if I would shew of what strength your answers be the disputation wold be excéeding long Againe since I haue other reasons in the shewing wherof this daies space as I thinke will not suffice I giue you my word that vpon that daie wherein I shall answer you I will repeate all these saiengs of yours and will declare of how small strength they be to weaken my part And in the meane time lest anie should slander me without cause and by your words be mooued to drawe me into enuie I protest that we in the communion doo receiue the verie bodie and the verie bloud of Christ but yet with the mind and with faith Neither doo I affirme it to be a feigned or phantasticall bodie But now onelie is called into question after what maner the same true bodie and true bloud is present in the Eucharist I saie spirituallie and that we by faith doo imbrace the same and make it to be present But you affirme that we take it with the mouth and carnallie And I wholie persuade my selfe and knowe for a certeintie that those things which I haue spoken doo not tend to a diuision of the auditorie as you accuse me but vnto the teaching of the truth But omiting these matters let vs come to the handling of the question In all sacraments there ought to be an analogie or proportion obserued and kept betwéene the sacrament and the matter of the sacrament That an analogie must be kept in the sacraments which analogie Cicero calleth a conueniencie And Augustine De catechizandis rudibus would that a sacrament should haue a likenesse of the thing it selfe And that dooth he also testifie vnto Boniface where bicause of this likenesse he attributeth vnto the sacraments the names of the things themselues Séeing therefore the Eucharist hath for the matter of the sacrament both the bodie of Christ and the mysticall bodie ye which by transubstantiation take awaie the bread and wine ouerthrowe the analogie which consisteth therein that euen as we be naturallie nourished by bread and wine Two kinds of analogie in the Eucharist so by the bodie and bloud of Christ we are nourished spirituallie both in the outward and inward man And as concerning the mysticall bodie therein dooth the similitude stand that euen as bread and wine consist of much gathering and pressing togither that is to saie of manie graines of corne and manie grapes so the mysticall bodie standeth of manie members which growe vp togither in one D. Chadse I denie the Minor proposition that the substance of the bread being departed the analogie also is taken awaie D. Martyr I haue prooued it for euen as our bodie is nourished naturallie by bread and wine That our bodies are not nourished by accidents so spirituallie we be nourished by the bodie and bloud of Christ And it is manifest that our bodies are not nourished by accidents but by substance D. Chadse We take not awaie the analogie for that consisteth in the matter which is had before the consecration for the word commeth vnto the element and it is made a sacrament and when consecration is finished there remaine accidents which lead vs by the hand to that similitude And those outward things doo suffice to shew that which you séeke and they be left through the great mercie of GOD bicause we may not loath the bodie and bloud of Christ if they should be shewed vnto vs without the shewes of bread and wine And yet for all this conueniencie it is not required that the nature of bread and wine should remaine D. Martyr Your answer standeth vpon manie chéefe points I will replie to euerie one by it selfe First whereas you saie It sufficeth that it is bread and wine before consecration by which substances we be nourished it prooueth not but that in the sacrament it selfe the conueniencie is by you taken awaie For we speake not of the sacrament when it is now a sacrament where also we affirme that the analogie must be kept You appoint the same to be before the sacrament and when ye come to the sacrament you take it awaie and so ye sinne against the sacrament In baptism is kept an analogie bicause water remaineth Doubtlesse in baptisme it fareth not after that maner for by the water wherewith we be commonlie washed is signified the purging of the soule neither is the water taken awaie No but it remaineth and we are washed therewith and if it were taken awaie it should be no full sacrament And therefore it is not enough to saie that before consecration there was a due matter extant Againe the saieng which you alledge out of Augustine The word commeth to the element If the word come vnto the element it dooth not thrust it out and is made a sacrament dooth make most of all against you for he saith not It thrusteth out the element but it commeth to the element and the meaning is that the element
plainelie affirmeth And whereas you alledge that a figure and a thing figured is all one it is from the purpose we haue in hand and yet shall you hardlie be able to proue the same Wherefore to the place in the epistle to the Hebrues Heb. 1 3. that the sonne is called a figure of the fathers substance I saie that Paule dooth there speake of the sonne so far foorth as he is man and in this respect he is a figure and not the substance of the father For he hath it by the figure Antonomasia that he is the image of his father and that dooth more noblie agrée with him than with other men The words of th'epistle be these At sundrie times in diuers maners spake God in the old time to the fathers in the prophets Heb. 1 1. A place to the Hebruâ expounded but in these last daies he hath spoken vnto vs in his sonne But if you vnderstand Sonne as touching his Godhead God as well spake by him through the prophets in the old testament as he spake to vs in our daies But herein standeth the difference that he did that now by his humanity which in old time he did not performe Howbeit if you shall altogither vrge that this speach must be vnderstood of the diuine person it should not yet prooue that the figure and thing figured is all one For the Gréeke words are ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is The figure of his substance And that which our interpretor absolutelie called substance in Gréeke it is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And séeing the person of the sonne is not the person of the father verie well also may the son as touching his Godhead be called the substantiall figure of the father Yet it followeth not therfore that the figure and thing figured is all one for betwéene persons there is a reall distinction as they call it D. Chadse I answer that this is common in the scriptures that the thing which is ascribed to the manhood belongeth to the Godhed Iohn 3 13. and so the contrarie As for example No man ascendeth into heauen but he which came downe from heauen euen the sonne of man which is in heauen whereas notwithstanding the sonne of man descended not from heauen And Paule saith They would neuer haue crucified the Lord of glorie And therefore Christ both according to his manhood and according to his Godhead is called the image of his fathers substance For if this be agréeable vnto him by one nature it may be attributed vnto him according to the other by participation of the properties And herevnto is added that Christ as a méere man cannot be called the image of his fathers substance for then should I and all other creatures be called images of the fathers substance and therefore in that respect that Christ is a figure he is also said to be the thing figured And vnto Tertullian I answer that he writeth against Marcion who affirmed Christs bodie to be a phantasticall bodie but he confessed the figure of an humane bodie to be in Christ wherevpon Tertullian argued from the confessions which Marcion made Thus he induced his argument That which is phantasticall hath no figure as Marcion said it had Therfore Christ had a true and no phantasticall bodie And this was Tertullians scope and he reasoned so of necessitie to confound the heretike he gathered it violentlie And so this in effect is Tertullians meaning Marcion attributed vnto Christ a figured phantasticall bodie and yet in the sacrament he denied not the bodie of Christ to be that is the figure of his bodie Hereof he argueth that there is not a figure of a bodie vnlesse there be a true bodie also bicause there is no figure but of a truth D. Martyr As touching the first I neuer denied a participation of the properties in the two natures of Christ whereby I grant that that which is said of the one may also be attributed to the other but yet I saie it must be diligentlie examined when such participations doo come togither of which nature that is spoken which wée héere pronounced as in both your examples it appeareth For when it is said that the sonne of man descended from heauen we receiue that maner of spéech but yet we confesse that the same must be admitted as touching his Godhead Againe we confesse that the Lord of glorie was crucified but we testifie that the same is attributed vnto him in respect of his humanitie And so I in that place to the Hebrues grant Christ to be an image of the fathers substance but yet as the matter is there handled I did affirme that the same is spoken according to his humanitie séeing before the redemption GOD spake to the fathers in the diuinitie of Christ but in these latter daies he spake by his sonne namelie when he had put vpon him the humanitie Which saieng also if you wold néeds haue it to respect the diuinitie I sent you vnto the Gréeke text out of which you might well vnderstand the difference betwéene the figure and the thing figured But whereas you saie besides that then he should be no more according to the image of GOD than I or an other creature I denie the consequent for as he is among all men the most excellent so likewise is he among vs the principall image of GOD. Neither said I that this agréeth vnto him as he is méere man For who séeth not that vnto the humanitie of Christ is not beséeming so great an excellencie as we sée the same haue vnlesse it be bicause it hath the Godhead ioined therewith And as touching Tertullian I acknowledge as you saie that he argueth there against Marcion but not after such a maner as you recite the argument for he reasoneth with him by things manifest commonlie granted wherein also an heretike durst not disagrée from the common sense of the church namelie that this sacrament should be a figure of the Lords bodie And he argueth Of a thing phantasticall there is no figure for a figure signifieth a true thing but this sacrament is a figure of the bodie of Christ and Therefore the bodie of Christ is no phantasticall thing bicause it hath this sacrament for his figure And you ought to knowe that to the end a figure should not be vaine is required that the same represent some truth And this is an easie and plaine meaning of Tertullians words But that which you bring that the collection is forced such like they be strange spéeches And if Tertullian would haue argued after this maner he néeded not to haue produced the Eucharist he might sufficientlie out of Marcions words haue prooued that which hée went about saieng Forsomuch as thou grantest that that which Christ bare about him was a figure and but a shape of a bodie and a figure cannot be but of some thing that is extant indéed thereby it is prooued that it is a true
placing of the words but the gouerning of the verbes be regarded And therefore this other daie it was not well answered when the bodie of Christ was so affirmed to be giuen as the bread should be taken awaie which by a necessitie of grammaticall construction was prooued to remaine M. Morgan Theophylactus saith vpon Marke the 14 chapter This is my bodie this I saie which ye receiue for the bread is not a figure and a kind of an example of the Lords bodie but it is changed euen into the verie selfe bodie of Christ The Latine copies are false where you shall read the bodie of Christ is changed into it The Gréeke text hath ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Thus you plainlie sée that this father saith that this bread is not a figure but is changed into the bodie of Christ D. Martyr First of all vnderstand as touching Theophylactus that he is not of anie such authoritie that if he did make directlie against vs we should make anie great account of him For he vpon the third chapter of Iohn said that The Latine church did plainlie erre as touching the procéeding of the holie Ghost and liued as it should séeme in a corrupted time In the Latine bookes which I haue séene for the Gréeke copies I haue not met withall The bodie of Christ is changed into it howbeit whether the Gréeke copies haue it so or not I passe but litle sith I doo admit some kind of change into the bodie of Christ And whereas you saie that the bread is not a figure or example in Theophylactus the words be thus For it is not onelie a figure and patterne which we grant to be true séeing the bread is not set downe of vs to be a bare signe and a naked figure And without doubt vnlesse that same particle onelie were had Theophylactus alone might not stand against all the other fathers who acknowledge both a figure and an example as doo Tertullian Basil Augustine Theodoretus and in a maner all the rest Furthermore I vnderstand the change into the bodie of Christ to be sacramentall sith it is made a sacrament of the bodie of Christ which before it was not For as Augustine vnto Boniface testified and as we haue oftentimes cited sacraments haue their names of the things whereof they be sacraments Wherefore the sacrament saith he of the bodie of Christ is after a sort the bodie of Christ neither is the change such as it can cast awaie the former substance And we may gather out of Theophylactus himselfe that he so vnderstood it for vpon Iohn the sixt chapter he saith He that eateth me shal liue for me while after a sort he is mingled with me and transelementated into me You heare him saie that we be transelementated into Christ and yet you sée we reteine the substance which we had before Why will you not vnderstand the selfe-same thing to be doone as touching bread M. Morgan To the first when you saie that Theophylactus one while erred I answer If for that cause he should not be receiued by the like reason you might refuse Augustine which alloweth the inuocation of saints images and praiers for the dead which be errours if we shall follow your opinion D. Martyr I did not saie that he was therefore to be vtterlie reiected but I ment to shew that there be degrées of the fathers to let you vnderstand that the authoritie of them all is not alike which must chéeflie be considered according to the time and age wherein they liued And in that he disagréed from the Latine church so expreslie in the controuersie touching the holy Ghost it is an argument that he happened into in those latter times when vehement dissention was betwéene the Gréekes and the Latines in the verie which time began now the doctrine of transubstantiation to bud forth But of Augustine and such as he was the case is far otherwise for they liued in the purer times And as for the inuocation of saints or praiers for the dead or how much or how he dissented from vs an other place shall serue to declare it But as touching that he allowed the worshipping of images I know nothing thereof M. Morgan Theophylactus is altogither on my side while he saith vpon the sixt chapter of Iohn The bread which I will giue is not a figure of my flesh but it is my flesh for by the mysticall words the bread is transformed albeit it séeme bread vnto vs yet is it flesh c. You sée that he saith There is a change of the bread into the flesh of Christ And vpon Matthew he hath in a maner the very same words he addeth Wherfore there appeareth bread that there may be a condescending to our infirmitie And let vs put the case that he would haue taught transubstantiation what else could he haue said Or with what more manifest words could hée haue vttered it For againe vpon the 14. of Marke he saith It kéepeth in verie déed the shew of bread and wine but it is transelementated into the power of flesh and bloud D. Martyr As touching this change wherof Theophylactus maketh mention in the 14. chapter we dout not for it is sacramentall And as you cited but euen now he saith that bread and wine is changed into the power of flesh and bloud but he saith not into flesh and bloud The which we also will grant forsomuch as sacraments are named by the things which they signifie and by them God giueth his grace and spirit which is the power strength of those things that they signifie And when he said they are transelementated or changed into the power of flesh bloud he sheweth how we must vnderstand bread to be changed into the body of Christ namelie that by these signes and sacraments How we must vnderstand bread to be changed into the bodie of Christ the holie Ghost may worke in vs the merits fruit and grace of the bodie of Christ crucified for vs. And we grant vnto Theophylactus as we haue said a sacramentall change And whereas he saith that the Lord said not that the bread and wine is a figure this if he vnderstand absolutelie without exception he hath all the fathers against him For Basil saith that It is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is an example a paterne and Augustine a figure and signe And whereas he nameth it the shew of bread it nothing hindereth the true nature and substance thereof for this word Species forme among the fathers as I haue aboue shewed signifieth a true nature of things M. Morgan So may we likewise well saie that the vertue may signifie the bodie And the same Theophylactus vpon Matthew the 26. chapter saith This sentence This is my bodie sheweth that the bread which is sanctified vpon the altar is the verie bodie of the Lord and no figure correspondent for he said not This is a figure but This is my bodie Againe this verbe Transformatur is
and that I in answering to your arguments obiected certeine places out of the fathers you would satisfie me when you should come to answering Now the time is come for you to performe the same Wherefore to oppose a martyr against Martyr I will begin with Cyprian and thus will I argue Cyprian the martyr doth set downe transubstantiation Therefore Peter Martyr should not denie the same D. Martyr So strong is this argument as if we should argue from a thing to the name For Cyprian was in verie déed a martyr and I onelie am called Martyr But let sports go I answer that Cyprian dooth not put transubstantiation D. Tresham In his sermon De coena Domini he saith Whether Cyprian dooth mean that there is a transubstantiation This bread which the Lord gaue to his disciples being changed not in forme but in nature by the omnipotent power of GOD is made flesh D. Martyr I denie that this place maketh for transubstantiation D. Tresham Erasmus noted vpon the margent that so this place must be vnderstood D. Martyr Erasmus did therefore note it vpon the margent bicause he knew that manie did gather this matter from hence But how far Erasmus was persuaded in transubstantiation you may find out by his writings Howbeit you séeme now to magnifie him whom else-where ye handle most vniustlie Sometime ye allow him not and ye accuse him euerie where of error but now ye can easilie vrge his authoritie D. Tresham You are woont to alledge Erasmus in these annotations of the margent when he serueth your purpose and now when he disagréeth from you you reiect him He vndoubtedlie saith that this common bread is changed D. Martyr That the bread is changed in the sacrament I neuer denied But I maruell that you which brought foorth Cyprian at the beginning doo now turne your selfe to Erasmus I grant indéed that I once cited Erasmus according as he had noted in the margent of Augustine but yet I did not attribute so much vnto him as I did not also confirme by other reasons that which I thought good to be prooued bring you also other reasons and I will answer them D. Tresham When Erasmus serueth for your purpose you take him but when he is against you you repell him Yea but I prooue transubstantiation out of Cyprians words for he saith in the same place This common bread is changed into flesh and bloud it procureth life and increase vnto bodies but a change of bread into flesh is a transubstantiation D. Martyr This is your propertie that you will contemne and commend Erasmus at your owne pleasure Howbeit bicause the time shall not waste I will discusse the place of Cyprian which you haue alledged The bread which the Lord offered to his disciples being changed not in forme but in nature was by the omnipotencie of the word made flesh These be his whole words I wrest them not And I answer that he here appointeth a sacramentall change of the bread the which we doo affirme And here haue we some things common with the transubstantiators and some things diuers from them Herein hold I with you that the forme of the bread remaineth and is not changed as Cyprian said but it is the nature of bread that is changed And as touching this change we disagrée for we saie that the nature of bread is changed bicause it is made a sacrament of the bodie of Christ and no lesse a sacrament of the mysticall bodie That which is changed in the Eucharist remaineth as touching the subiect which before it was not and therefore this change is attributed vnto the nature not vnto the accidents of bread sith it is the nature of bread whereby we be nourished and which consisteth of manie grains And these be the reasons wherevpon the consideration of this sacrament is founded So now when Cyprian saith that the nature of bread is changed it followeth not that the same remaineth not for in naturall changes that which is changed to wit the subiect is reteined Yea moreouer if you should take awaie the same subiect the change shall not haue wherevnto to cleaue In generation the matter remaineth in the alteration the thing compounded in the increase that which is nourished and increased and in the locall motion that which is mooued Euen so when Cyprian saith that the nature of bread is changed two things we haue both that it remaineth and that it is made a sacrament which before it was not D. Tresham Now is Cyprian no Cyprian but a Petrian there is no néed of omnipotencie that we should bring into the bread some thing intentionall and which happeneth from without The image of Christ hanging vpon the crosse is of as much account as it D. Martyr I answer that the sacramentall change is a great matter neither can it be wrought without the power of God for it is a thing supernaturall it is onelie Gods worke to make sacraments And in baptisme where you iudge not anie transubstantiation to be a sacrament whereby we are graffed into Christ is not made of water without the omnipotent power of God And that vnto this matter is required the power of the holie Ghost we learne it sufficientlie of Augustine in his third booke De trinitate where he saith Which when it is brought by the hands of men vnto that visible shew it is not sanctified to become so great a sacrament without the inuisible operation of the holie Ghost Wherefore the image of Christ may perhaps be the signe of him but no sacramentall signe D. Tresham If the bread were made flesh as Cyprian said it was then was it flesh the argument is most euident But this can neuer be granted to be true that bread is flesh it is all one as if one should saie that man is a stone D. Martyr We grant that bread is flesh after such a maner as it is made flesh How the bread is said to be made flesh but it is not made flesh by transubstantiation but by a sacramentall conuersion and so euen according to this maner we grant bread to be flesh Wherfore the antecedent if it be rightlie vnderstood inferreth no more but that bread is flesh sacramentallie But if you will vnderstand the antecedent that bread is reallie or substantiallie made flesh we denie it Wheras you adde afterward that the proposition must néeds be true to wit that bread is flesh and that this is verie absurd I saie that you haue not prooued nor yet are able to prooue that all propositions which consist of the verbe substantiue Est Is must be counted identicall that is when the same is said to be the same bicause some attributes may be affirmed of subiects euen by a certeine proportion or agréeablenesse as the circumcision is the couenant where it is not required that the couenant circumcision should be one and the same Againe you sée in the same proposition wherein it is said The word was
his bodie so as you speake of that which was in act I saie that of necessitie when the bodie of Christ was indued with passible qualities and conditions it could not be vnder impassible qualities it might be changed from the one sort to the other but to reteine both at once it was vnpossible Of the second question VVhether the bodie of Christ be reallie present in the Eucharist D. Tresham THe ancient authour Irenaeus in his fourth booke and 24. chapter against the Valentinians who said there was no resurrection of the flesh and denied Christ to bée the sonne of God who created all things How saith he shall it appeare vnto them that the bread wherein thanks are giuen is the bodie of his Lord if they denie the verie sonne of that creator And a little after But how againe doo they saie that the flesh turneth into corruption and receiueth not life the same being nourished with the bodie and bloud of the Lord Whereby it may be perceiued what maner of faith and doctrine of the church there was at that time touching the sacrament of the Eucharist Thus I dispute Euerie thing whereby another thing is prooued ought to be more certeine than that which is prooued but the resurrection of our flesh is prooued by the true presence of the bodie of Christ in the Eucharist and Christ is prooued to be the verie true sonne of the creator of this world therfore the bodie of Christ is there reallie present that ought to be more certeine to vs than those things which are prooued by these D. Martyr Irenaeus argument is true neither doo I denie the same but it maketh nothing against me For that bread is a bread of the Lords supper it is also the bodie of Christ but how Sacramentallie And that Iraeneus may conclude against the heretikes which denied Christ to haue béene the sonne of God the maker of this world he argueth that Christ tooke bread the which sith it is from God the creator of this world Christ would haue vsed an other creature Wherefore for Irenaeus purpose it is sufficient to prooue that this kind of bread being a creature hath place in verie déed in the sacrament least Christ might séeme to be an vsurper of a strange creature if he should be called the sonne of an other God than of him that made the world Two sorts of nourishment in the Eucharist But that we may knowe what Irenaeus iudged as touching the Eucharist let vs consider that he wrote that our bodies are fed nourished consist and increase by the Eucharist And this saieng is so true as we may vnderstand that by this sacrament there commeth vnto vs two kinds of nourishment One is naturall to wit by the signes bread and wine by the which commonlie an humane bodie is susteined Vnto which kind of nurtriment although it be not to be contemned yet Irenaeus and other of the fathers doo not attribute much therevnto The other nourishment is that while we receiue the sacrament we imbrase the bodie and bloud of Christ by the mind and faith and there first of all is our mind filled with the spirit and with grace secondlie our bodie is renewed that it may from daie to daie become a fit instrument for the spirit and so made more capable of the blessed resurrection And this did Irenaeus plainlie expresse when he saith Bread receiuing from the earth the calling of God is no more common bread but is made the Eucharist which consisteth of two things earthlie and heauenlie euen as our bodies receiuing the Eucharist be no longer corruptible bodies And after this maner he bringeth out of the Eucharist a reason of our true resurrection to come D. Tresham Whereas you saie that Irenaeus dooth name bread in this place and that therefore his meaning is that in the Eucharist there are both to wit as well bread as the bodie of Christ that these things are of great force to confirme his argument against the Valentinians you haue not satisfied me For looke in what sense the holie scriptures doo name bread in this sacrament euen in the same sense dooth Irenaeus speake in this place And he most euidentlie saith that the verie bodie of Christ is in the Eucharist and he calleth it bread either for that it was bread or else for that it reteineth the shewes of bread D. Martyr Indéed I grant that Irenaeus speaketh of bread in the verie same sense that the scriptures doo and therefore is it in such wise granted by him as it is by them that bread doth here remaine But that he saith that the bodie of Christ is in the bread after such a maner as you will haue it you shall neuer be able to shew out of his woords And that by the scripture it is named bread in such a sense as you appoint I haue often times disprooued it D. Tresham Chrysostome in his 61. homilie vnto the people of Antioch and vpon Iohn the 45. homilie writeth Your brother was I minded to be and I haue partaked flesh and bloud for you and those things whereby I am ioined vnto you I haue againe giuen to you Wherevpon it appeareth againe that the flesh and bloud whereby he was made of our consanguinitie are giuen in the Eucharist D. Martyr That the flesh of Christ is giuen to the communicants in the Eucharist I grant it wée dispute as touching the maner how which I prooue to be spirituall And yet doo I not therefore vnderstand that we receiue a feined flesh or a feined bodie but in a sacrament by faith we truelie receiue those things and are vnited vnto them D. Tresham Whereas you saie spirituallie that is not in the words of Chrysostome and by faith we may receiue euen without this sacrament D. Martyr Albeit that Chrysostome in this place dooth not write expreslie this word Spirituallie yet dooth he sufficientlie expresse it else-where when he saith Those things which be giuen vnto vs be such as are to be vnderstood And whereas you obiect that the receiuing of the bodie of Christ by faith may be also had without the sacrament I grant it For we may both with the figures and without the figures be partakers of the bodie of Christ for both with the signes without the signs while we consider in our minds Christ crucified for vs his bloud shed for vs and doo so beléeue we are truelie made partakers of him but yet the signes being ioined therewithall which the holie Ghost vseth as instruments for the better printing of faith in our minds we are verie much holpen For we be verie slacke vnto diuine things and therefore we haue néed of outward sacraments The disputation of the fourth daie made betweene D. VVilliam Chadse wherein he opposed D. Peter Martyr the first daie of Iune The Preface of D. VVilliam Chadse I Find and I am most assuredlie taught by experience that that is true which that same Gregorie Nazianzen
that bee alreadie beléeuers when with faith and reuerence they exercise themselues in the holie Scriptures I passe it ouer that although a naturall man perceiueth not those thinges that be of God 1. Cor. 2. 14 yet doth a spiritual man discerne al things Wherfore what by our owne strength and the capacitie of our reason wée are not able to attaine to in the holie scripture we learne so farre as is necessarie by the strength of the holie Ghost And assuredlie they be no light thinges or of small importance which the holie Scripture teacheth For to speake nothing of infinite things that be noble and verie excellent is there not in them an intreating of the prouidence of God of the nature of God of the bringing foorth of things of the gouernment and redemption of men of the election before al eternitie of reiection of contingencie of necessitie of the fréedome of mans wil of the cause of sins and of infinite such like whereof the vngodlie standing oftentimes in doubt do perish in their vngodlinesse and the godlie being especiallie instructed in the verie same things by the holie scriptures receaue thereby both singular pleasure and also edifying There be manie which saie that they take it verie gréeuouslie that they liuing in this life cannot sée celestiall thinges against whom we maie iustlie obiect Why doe you not goe vp vnto this Theater of the holie scriptures that you maie behold euen the things of God yea the verie thinges in heauen Howbeit these men and together with them all yee my Christian brethren woulde I haue to bee admonished that the place or Schoole of this Philosophie is heauen Wherefore they which créepe on the grounde and haue not their conuersation in heauen Phil. 3. 20. as the Apostle commaunded are in ieopardie least in studying they loose their labour Besides this it must not bee omitted that the instructer thereof is the holie Ghost for although you haue innumerable teachers preachers instructers and masters vnlesse the holie Ghost doe fashion the inwarde partes anew those shall all spende their labour in vaine And who haue béene euen from the beginning the chosen ministers of this doctrine the holie Histories doe abundantlie shewe Namelie the Prophetes and for the most part the common and rude sort of people fishermen publicans and men of occupation but yet did not the word of God by the base condition of these in respect of the world receiue anie indignitie or dishonour For vndoubtedly this function what and how much soeuer it be dependeth of God of his spirit Therfore it must not be weighed what those men were but what they teach and wherevnto they perswade vs by their doctrine Indéede they cal vs not vnto the oliue bough and to the garlande of the wilde oliue trée wouen with the leaues of Aspins not vnto the garlandes which were giuen for scaling of wals or bourding of a shippe that was assailed and for sauing a Citisens life in fight not vnto images of marble brasse siluer or golde not vnto other images vnto bankets perpetuallie prepared and vnto meat in the Senate house of Athens but vnto this doe they call vs that wee shoulde bee made the most déere children of God heires of him coheirs with Christ Furthermore I beséech you for your saluation sake that if there be anie compassion anie pitie anie remorse or if anie care touch you of the Church that is of the bodie of Christ so rent in sunder and scattered in these our daies haue regarde I beséech you haue regarde vnto this It will not be restored by riches or holie garmentes neither by a choise of meates nor by rites and ceremonies but it maie by this one medicine of the worde of God be cured Vndoubtedly if the power of doing myracles were at this daie extent in the Church as it was in the primitiue time perhappes it woulde not a little confirme the doctrine of godlinesse But if wee shoulde all gather together in one and shoulde deale by most vehement praiers and most effectuall teares we shall not bring so much to passe as did in times past the handechercheffes of Paul Acts. 19. 12 Whereby it plainly appeareth with howe great a studie the knowledge of the holy scriptures must be obtained séeing the tents of God must by that onely garrison bee defended Moreouer the Apostles which were so singular in the spirit and in miracles suffered not themselues for any cause to be seuered from the worke of exercising and communicating the worde of God Acts. 6. 1. but rather prouided that Deacons shoulde be ordained in the Church to the intent that they being vnburdened of the care of ministring vnto tables might onely intend vpon the administration of the Gospel 2. Tim. 4. 13. Yea and Paul when he was held captiue at Rome commanded to be brought vnto him the sachel with parchments bookes that by reading also by writing he might profite the Church And the same Paul warned Timothie 1. Tim. 4. 13. that he shoulde giue diligent attendance to doctrine and reading whereby he might saue both himselfe and those which should heare him But and if that all those things which assuredly shoulde haue mooued verie much mooued but a little why doe not we take héede with howe cruell conflictes we are assailed Ephe. 6. 12. Our wrestling is not as saith the Apostle against flesh and bloud but against principalities and powers and against spirituall wickednesse Which warre since it is not one onely and slightly followed but is sundrie manifolde and most sharpelie fought it warneth vs that we should alwayes haue weapons ready out of the armourie of the scripture In this warre we ought to knowe all the wayes and manners of fighting least we shamefully giue ouer when we come to handstrokes What shall it profite vs to haue disputed sharply against Ethnicks and Philosophers when the Iewes on the other side wast and destroy al things Or what shall it profite to haue vanquished the Marcionites Valentinians Arrians such other pestilent sectes if the papistes consume all thinges farre and néere Finallie what thing shall we do worthie of commendation if we onely defende Godly opinions when as we bring nothing vnto the institution of a godly life the amendement of manners and vnto spiritual edification Wherfore come yée all hither to assist the common-weale of the Church and with this wall of the worde of God more strong than the Adamant inclose ye the people of the Lord while they be inuaded by such violent and craftie enimies Let vs remember Paul who as it is in the Actes Acts. 20. 18 rehearsed vnto the Ephesians that he was whole thrée yeares with them that hee warned euerie one and that with many teares and let vs be ashamed of our selues which either at no time preach the Gospel in the Church or else do it so seldome so coldly that we rather seeme to do some other matter
Oliue branch to Appius garland of the wild Oliue trée wouen with leaues not to the garlandes giuen to them that first clymed a wall that first boorded a ship or saued a Citizen in fight not to Images of Marble Brasse Siluer or Gold not vnto other Images vnto banquetes perpetuallie in a readinesse and vnto the meate in the Senate house of Athens but to this end that we may be made the most deere children of God his heires and coheires with Christ And further I beséech you for your saluation sake that if there be in you anie compassion anie pitie anie remorse or anie care or regard of the Church that is of the bodie of Christ so rent in sunder scattered in these our daies haue a regard I beséech you haue a regard vnto this For it will not be restored by riches or holie vestmentes neither by the choise of meates nor by rites and ceremonies but by this one medicine of the word of God it may be cured Assuredlie if the power of doing miracles were at this day extant in the Church as it was in the primitiue Church perhappes it would much confirme the doctrine of godlinesse Howbeit if we would gather all together in one and would deale by most earnest prayers and vnfeined teares we shall not bring so much to passe as in times past did the handkerchers of Paul Whereby it plainly appeareth with how great studie the knowledge of the holy scriptures must be obtained since by that onelie helpe the tentes of God ought to be defended Moreouer the Apostles which were so excellent in spirit and in miracles suffered not themselues for anie cause to be remooued from the worke of handling and communicating the word of God Acts. 6. 2. but rather prouided that Deacons should be ordained in the Church whereby they themselues being fréed from the care of the Tables might onelie apply themselues to the administration of the Gospell 2. Tim. 4. 13. Yea and Paul when he was held captiue at Rome commaunded that the Satchel with the partchmentes and bookes should be brought vnto him that both by reading and writing he might profite the Church 1. Tim. 3. 13. And the same Apostle warned Timothie that he should diligentlie giue himselfe to doctrine and reading that he might preserue both himselfe those which should heare him But if that all these thinges shall litle mooue vs which without doubt ought verie much to mooue vs why doe we not regard with what cruell conflictes we are assailed Ephe. 6. 12. Our wrestling as the Apostle saith is not against flesh and bloud but against principalities and powers and heauenlie wickednesse Which battell séeing it is not one onelie and sleightlie followed but is diuers manifold and most sharplie fought it warneth vs that we should alwayes haue out of the Armorie of the scriptures most necessarie weapons It behooueth vs in this battell to know all manner of wayes and meanes of fighting least we shamefully yéeld when we come to the conflict What dooth it profite to haue sharply disputed against Ethnickes Philosophers when the Iewes on the other side waste destroy all thinges Or what auaileth it to haue vanquished the Marcionites Valentinians Arrians and such other pestilent heretickes if the Papistes destroy all thinges farre and néere Finallie what thing praise woorthie shall we doe if we onelie defend godlie doctrine and bring nothing to the institution of a godlie life to the mending of manners and to spiritual edification Wherefore come ye all hither to assist the Commonweale of the Church and with this want of the word of God more hard than the Adamant compasse ye about the people of the Lord while they be inuaded by such violent and craftie enemies Forget not Paul who as it is in the Actes Acts. 2. 18. put the Ephesians in minde that he was whole thrée yéeres with them he warned euerie one and that with manie teares and let vs be ashamed of our selues who either preach not the Gospel at all in the Church or else verie seldome and that so coldlie that we may rather séeme to doe some other matter There be applyed no vehement affections nor is there anie thing doone earnestlie and from the heart but all thinges are rather doone of a certaine custome and ceremonie Let no man alleage that these thinges belong onelie vnto the Byshoppes and Pastors séeing Paul to the Colossians warneth euerie man Col. 3. 16. aswell that the word of God may dwell plentifullie in their heartes as also that our communication should alwayes be gratious and powdered with fault that we may know how to aunswere all men 1. Pet. 3. 16. And Peter will haue vs to be readie to giue a reason of that hope which is in vs. But now since I sée that my time is past I will make an end and will bend my selfe to prayer as to a most sure hauen to craue the assistance of Gods helpe And as holy Moses Deut. 3. 2. when he had now ruled the people of God 40. yéeres on this wise prayed Deut. 23. 2. That my doctrine may drop as dooth the raine and my speech as dooth the deawe So I O God most humblie desire thée that those thinges which I shall teach thy children may be no stormes of errors but desired and plentifull raine of the trueth and that my interpretations may be no water to destroy the Church and ouerthrow consciences but a deawy consolation and profitable edification of soules And I earnestlie desire thee also to incline and giue eare vnto my prayer that all those which be here present may receaue the holy séede of thy word not as the highway nor as the thornes neither yet as the stonie ground but as the good ground and field prepared by thy spirit they may out of the scriptures which shall be committed to the furrowes of their heartes bring foorth fruite some thirtie some sixtie and some an hundreth folde An Oration which he made at Zurick the first time after he succeeded in the place of Conradus Pellicanus What things are woont to fraie vs from the weightier sort of functions THose causes yée Diuines and most déere brethren in Christ which are woont many times to terrifie men from any function of charge as both the experience and the writings of the wise doe teach me are indéede not infinite that they cannot bee comprehended vnder a certaine number but yet many and manifolde doe come to my remembrance First some doe refuse a charge committed vnto them because it is laide vpon them as newe fresh and vnlooked for of them A similitude For euen as the yoke is soone shaken off from vntamed cattle the bridle from young coltes so doe all those things easily disquiet men whereunto they haue not béene accustomed and especially if they shall choose to themselues a kinde of life which is altogether contrarie from that whereunto they are called For
that Christian charitie mooueth mée to fauour them your request also shall cause mée that I will pleasure them any waie that either they themselues shall desire of me or that Iohn Vlmer shall desire in their behalfe That Hooper is deliuered of all his troubles I thinke you nowe vnderstand by others I neuer failed him and I alwayes hoped well of his cause He is nowe in his Bishoprick he exerciseth his function faithfully and earnestly God graunt him that he may plentifully reape the fruites which he most desireth Also Christopher Froschouer behaueth himselfe well for your sake I will neuer forsake him so farre as in me lyeth and I hope so well of him as I thinke hee will well aunswere your expectation I bid you and all yours fare well in the Lorde From Oxford the 25. of Aprill 1551. To Ralph Gualther IF I shoulde not my learned Friend giue you thankes for the paines which you haue taken in the perusing and correcting of my Booke when it was in Printing both I shall be vngratefull and shall not deserue hereafter to haue any benefite bestowed vpon mee by any other Truely I sée that you haue taken no small toyle therein For in copying out the Booke which I sent vnto you there was no such diligence vsed as had bin requisite But I will prouide hereafter that the matter may bee more diligently handled when I shall sende any thing to you to be Printed Wherefore I beséech almightie GOD to requite the paines which you haue taken for mee Your carefulnesse hath brought to passe that the worke is come forth well ynough amended But looke how much you haue furthered the impression so much lesse hath fortune fauoured the carriage of the bookes For to this day there could be conueyed hither but thirtie Coppies wherefore many séeke them in vaine since they are not to bee solde any where in this kingdome Birkman who promised me xx Coppies hath not sent one which I will not thinke to bée doone of ill will but rather that it hath happened through some mischaunce As touching our matters I cannot certifie you of much more than this our carrier I meane your Froschouer is able to shewe who vndoubtedly is an honest and godly young man and all the while he taried here liued moderately and religiouslie wherefore it appeareth that he was not rashlie commended of you at the beginning God increase his godlinesse and graunt you to procéede as ye doe in the instructing of your children and young men Great newes is here spread out of Germanie but yet so vncertaine and variable as we cannot wel assure our selues what to beléeue We are desirous to knowe whether the Switchers which professe the Gospell haue determined to send any of the Ministers of their Churches to the Councell of Trent But to enquire much of these things perhaps will not be thought conuenient since Christes cause is chiefely to bée commended to Christ himselfe Howbeit as the members of the bodie of Christ which is the Church are ioyned one with another by a most sure bonde of the spirit so is it requisite that they shoulde be carefull one of another I bid you farewell in the Lorde Salute in my name Maister Pellican Maister Bibliander together with the rest of our fellowe Ministers Giuen out of the house of my Lorde of Canterburie the 6. of Marche 1552. To the Lords of Polonia Professors of the Gospel and to the Ministers of the Churches there I Am fullie perswaded right honorable and louing brethren in Christ that you so abounde in the grace of God and his plentifull spirite and be so replenished with heauenlie doctrine and wisedome that you are able not onelie to teach and instruct your selues in the waie of God but can also admonishe and teach others yet am I bolde to write these things vnto you that you maie knowe as a certaine testimonie of my minde what coniunction I haue with all the members of Christ what most ready will towardes the holie renewing of the kingdome of Christ and what a certaine singular affection towardes the kingdome of Polonia Polonia embraâed the Gospel First then I giue thankes vnto God the father through our Lorde Iesus Christ that your newe profession of the gospell is with great praise of the godlie spread in a manner euerie where For what can happen more acceptable or more ioyfull vnto them than that the Gospell of God maie be ministred euen in the vttermost parts of the worlde that the oblation of the Gentils where it was least to be looked for maie bee accepted of God and most aboundantlie sanctified by his spirite Verilie they which haue but a sparke of godlinesse in their brest and are touched with anie indeuour of the worshippe of God do not onelie make great account of your indeuours which you bestowe in the reformation of Christes religion but also doe weigh the same as the greatest pleasure and singular delight Procéede therefore as you haue begunne forasmuch as you are nowe become a most ioyfull spectacle vnto God vnto the Angels 1. Cor. 4. 9. and vnto men and for your sakes doth euerie good man from all partes reioyce Verilie I my selfe who am woonderfullie afflicted for the harde misfortunes of the Church of Englande The afflicted state of the Church of England who dailie lament the newe slaughters of holie men and continuallie sorow for the fires wherewith the most holie members of Christ are burned cannot but recreate my selfe by reason of the determination of godlinesse that you haue begunne For with you is increased and amplified that which elsewhere is by the extreme power of Antichrist abated and diminished Howbeit that our thankes giuing maie be the fuller and you receiue more ioyfull aboundant and long lasting fruite of that which you haue taken in hand this must you speciallie prouide that ye ioine with innocencie and purenesse of life that trueth of God which he hath vouchsafed to open vnto you The knowledge of God without integritie of life is hurtfull otherwise it profiteth nothing yea rather it doeth excéeding much harme to haue the knowledge of God to haue the reuelation of his will and to vnderstand the secrets of the Scriptures when wee shall in déedes and life denie all these thinges For what other thing I beséech you should that be Rom. 1. 18. than as Paul saith to detaine the trueth of God in vnrighteousnesse Assuredlie it is the first steppe vnto godlinesse rightlie to knowe those thinges whereby God will be worshipped of vs but herein to labour for performance thereof which we haue nowe by the grace of GOD knowen it is a most certaine fruite of that faith which indéed being taken awaie what soeuer knowledge went before though it were lightened by the spirit of God yet did it make vnto most gréeuous condemnation Wherefore my most déerelie beloued brethren we must take héede that our light be not without heate that the leaues bee not without
that of a daungerous disease Neither doeth it nowe any lesse grieue mée when I perceiue that your sickenesse which troubleth you is a quarten ague I for my part am able to say much of the vntowardnesse and as it were rebellious obstinacie of this disease against medicines and Phisitians as he that hath two sundrie times striuen therewith The chiefest thing is that they which are in this state must vse great long pacience which I am sure you are not to séeke in matters without séeing it is aboundantly ynough planted within your minde by the spirite of Christ But I together with many others haue two causes to sorrowe for this your sicknesse The one is because you your selfe are broken and weakened which cannot otherwise be especiallie in a slender bodie now in a manner dried vp with labours And the other cause is that your labours in preaching and writing are discontinued to the great detriment of all Christians For there is nothing so much enemie vnto this disease as are studies and cares These be the things which disquiet not onely mée but all that be true godlie men Howbeit since the case so standeth it is our part to pray as earnestlie as wee can that you may spéedilie be restored to your former health And it is your part with all diligence to forbeare from all thinges that may doe you hurt especiallie from earnest studie and care of weightie matters whereby the humour of Melancholie from whence this feuer is stirred vp is so forced and striken as it setleth euen into the Marowe of the bones Verilie it is to be wished that since it hath so séemed good vnto God you should much rather quiet your selfe for certaine dayes or monethes than either to die which God forbid to the great griefe of the godly or else to the incredible hinderance of the Church to liue the rest of your life altogether with a féeble and consumed bodie and minde Wherefore take héede you offende not either against your selfe or against the Church of Christ Yesterday there came hither certaine messengers sent from the English gentlemen which liue at Strasborough which do certifie that their Quéene died the 16. day of Nouember The death of Quéene Marie and that the most noble Elizabeth is succéeded in the kingdome that with a full consent of all states For by chaunce they were gathered together at this time from all the partes of England to the assemblie which they commonly call the Parliament Nowe must we desire GOD that this alteration of the state may turne happilie to the honour of Christ and his holy Gospell I knowe that you and your godly Church will not faile to doe what in you lyeth Perhaps the time is now wherein the walles of Ierusalem shall be builded vp againe in that kingdome that the bloud of so manie Martyrs may séeme not to haue bin spent in vaine Other newes than this I haue not sauing that my Booke is vnder the presse Gardiners booke confuted by Peter Martyr wherein I haue discouered and confuted all the false arguments and shiftes of Stephen Gardiner somtime Bishop of Winchester touching the matter of the Eucharist Which as I hope hath happened in verie good season For it will be profitable especiallie at this time that the English Papistes may vnderstande that that booke is not inuincible as hitherto they haue bragged Fare you well and long may you liue vnto Christ and to his Church I salute all the Ministers and also Beza and the Marques From Zuricke the first of December To a certaine friend IT is euen in déed as you write right woorthie man and déere beloued friend in Christ and I am euerie day taught more and more by experience it selfe that the death of the bodie of that most godly yong man Edward king of England belongeth vnto manie partes of the Church and bringeth greater harme than many doe now perceiue But God the father of our Lord Iesus Christ graunt that within a while they féele it not to their great sorrowe But I which after some sort haue bin partaker of these matters if I should not bitterlie lament for the miserable case of our excellent brethren and for their most constant daungers aswell of minde as of bodie and should not euerie day shed iust teares for the mishappe of that people verilie I should be as a stone and péece of leade While they be now grieuouslie afflicted laid open on euerie side to offences burned euerie houre with the fires of temptations while with extreme vngodlinesse of hypocrites that Church is suppressed and trodden vnder foote how may it be that I and such as I am can sorrowe temperatlie and moderatlie While I taught in that countrie there were verie manie learners of the holie scriptures and verie toward scholers in Diuinitie whose haruest was welnéere ripe whom now against their willes I sée either miserablie wandering in vncertaine habitations or else most vnhappilie subuerted if they tarie There were in that kingdome a great sort of most sincere and learned Byshops who are shut vp in most straite prison euen now readie to be plucked away as théeues vnto death In that nation were laid the foundations of the Gospell and of a noble Church and with a fewe yéeres labour the holie building was in good forewardnesse and better and better was euerie day hoped for But now finallie vnlesse God put to his helping hand it is like to come to passe that not so much as a steppe of godlinesse in outward profession will be left These and other thinges suffer not my heart to be at rest nor my minde at quiet Wherefore I beséech God with all my heart that he will remitte some part of the punishment and for Iesus Christ his sake wil forbeare to powre out his great wrath otherwise we shall be oppressed with the heape of infinite euils And that which I doe so earnestlie wish I beséech you that you in like manner will desire of God that yet at the length he wil take pitie of afflicted England which I verie well know did before this calamitie verie much fauour you and other godlie men and good learning And whereas you admonishe me that I should here séeke and maintaine concord with them that teach I iudge that you speake the same of loue and good will and I assure you in déede that so much as in me lyeth peace and charitie shall remaine inuiolate I haue bin alwayes of milde nature and haue verie much loued peace and tranquillitie Wherefore I minde not especiallie now in my olde age to change my nature Welnéere all the professors of good artes and learning doe make much of me and I in like manner doe loue them In the same wise dooth the case stand towardes the Ministers of the Church sauing that I perceaue some of them beare me not so good will yet neuerthelesse I cease not to haue them in the same estimation that is due vnto the holie
Ianuarie I answered not before because I receiued them in the Calends of March neither haue we any store of conuenient cariers at Tigure Now must you perswade your selfe of this that those things which gréeue you and such as you be do also very much gréeue me my brethren To answere againe vnto your questions I thinke it not much néedeful because I thinke that all my letters came vnto you whereunto I haue answered as I coulde not perhaps so much as the matter required or somuch as you your selfe desired yet I said that which séemed then to serue to the purpose That which you feare wee cannot turne away from you otherwise than by prayers which beléeue me we carefullie doe and will doe Finallie to come to your last question The Image of the Crucifix namely to haue the signe of the crucifix vpon the holie table while the Lords supper is ministred I do not account it among things indifferent neither would I aduise any man to distribute the sacraments with that rite Howbeit you that are in the verie conflict looke not for counsell from hence for we bée farre from you consult vppon your owne grounde a vocation is not lightly to be cast off nor yet to be taken in hand with iniury of the truth To be briefe the worshipping of images must in no wise be suffered neither doth master Bullinger nor I account such for indifferent thinges nay rather we refuse them as thinges forbidden Howebeit except you be compelled to these things doe not you refuse the ministerie which is fréelie offered to you As concerning the writing of letters to the Quéene about this matter this much vnderstande that I am nowe so ouerwhelmed with businesse as though I haue neuer so much minde to doe it yet I cannot For these two moneths together I alone teach in the schoole and I iudge that the cause is not to bee committed vnto letters And besides this I thinke that my letters will be of no great weight Truely I haue written twise publiklie and priuately neither coulde I vnderstand whether the things that I wrote were well accepted Furthermore if it be the determination of your men as it is reported that they will imbrase the confession made at Augusta and that they couet the league of the Protestants you your selfe may consider of what credite my letters and the letters of such as I am will be accounted That one thing which I can I will not faile to doe namely to praie that your kingdome and Church together with your most mightie Quéene may most happilie liue in Christ Notwithstanding as you willed me I haue delt in the cause with master Bernardine Hee is sicklie both by reason of age and through the diseases that come vpon olde men yet he refused not the labour of writing but promiseth to doe it when he shal be able I doubt not of Bullinger but that hee will write for he is verie well incouraged in this matter Although he haue read your letters hee hath not yet shewed me any thing whereof I may giue you to vnderstand Fare you well Bullinger all the fellow ministers my wife and Iulius with his wife salute you A sonne was borne vnto me the 2. of March and died the 10. day of March. Salute in my name all your friends and cease not to loue your Martyr The 20. of March 1560. To a certaine friende of his 42. I Verie well knowe by your letters my godlie and learned friende and my most beloued in the Lorde that you throughlie vnderstande my meaning as touching the supper of the Lord. Wherefore I shall the lesse neede to make aunswere to your most courteous learned Epistle The state of the question as you rightlie gather is whether according to the increase of faith which both of vs agrée to be giuen vnto the faithfull in the vse of the Eucharist Whether we by the increase of faith be the more incorporated into Christ we bée more vnited or incorporaâ⦠vnto Christ our Lorde and by him vnto God which I affirmed but you denied as thinking that although our faith increase yet that coniunction which wee haue wish Christ is not for that cause increased thereby But I minding to confirme my opinion That our coniunctioÌ in Christ is encreased thought it verie requisite to bring foorth places of the Scriptures by which our increase in Christ is most manifestlie declared Paul vnto the Ephesians the 3. Chapter saith Ephe. 3. 19. That ye maie be filled with all fulnesse of God By these wordes of the Apostle is opened and taught that vnto the faithfull belongeth euerie daie to be fulfilled and perfected But the same Apostle testifieth that it is Christ alone by whom we be fulfilled and perfected yea it is he who is both fulfilled and perfected in vs. For we read in the verie same Epistle that the Church is the body of Christ and fulnesse of him that filleth all in all thinges Ephe. 1. 23. that while one member of this bodie is augmented Christ maie be saide to be increased in it that is become greater and more néere vnto it In the 4. of the same Epistle to the Ephesians it is saide that there are giuen vnto the Church Apostles Prophetes Euangelistes Pastors and teachers who in verie déede doe not deale but by the worde of God and Sacramentes for the restoring of the saintes into the worke of the administration into the edifying of the bodie of Christ Eph. 4. ver 11. 12. 13. 14. vntill we all meete together into the vnitie of faith and knowledge of the sonne of God vnto a perfect man vnto the measure of age of the fulnesse of Christ that hence foorth wee maie be no more children Hereunto therefore maie these Ministeries of the Church and Sacramentes bee saide to pertaine that euerie man maie bee strengthened in his vocation ministerie and that hee doe not alwaies liue an vnperfect age but be increased in the bodie of Christ and be made at the length of full age and perfect stature that hee be not a babishe and childishe member of the perfect and manlie heade I meane of Christ Neither is there anie other augmentation of the members to be appointed than that Christ himselfe shold be amplyfied and made greater in euerie of his members and this is doone if the faithfull be euerie daie made more partakers of him And streight way after the same Apostle saith But we following the trueth in loue let vs in all thinges growe vp vnto him who is the heade that is Christ And hee addeth In whom al the bodie being coupled and knit together by euerie ioynt for the furniture thereof according to the effectuall power in the measure of euerie part receiueth increase of the bodie vnto the edifying of it selfe in loue In this place also we heare of an increase of the bodie as touching each part according to the measure thereof and the manner of
Nowe let vs come to the knowen * He meaneth the principall points of Religion Whether it be of necessitie to vnderstand all the opinioÌs as touching Christ demonstrations and properties Séeing sayeth he there haue bin many if a man consent vnto all onely one excepted vndoubtedly it is absurde and vncharitable to exclude him from eternall saluation because he reiecteth onely one of those principles Yea saieth he there must rather be a consideration had of the number which he admitteth than of that one which he refuseth and is against Herevnto we answere that all the words of God so farre foorth as they haue flowed from him are of like weight and authoritie and therefore it is not lawful for any man at his owne pleasure to receiue one thing and to confute another thing and to reiect it as false Iame. 2. 10. Iames boldlie saieth He that sinneth in one is made guiltie of all If this haue place as touching the obedience of the commaundements it shall also be true as touching things which must bee beléeued And doeth not Hadrian sée that this reason of his being allowed euen Arrius himselfe must bee acknowledged as a member of Christ For he will say I admit all other demonstrations properties and markes which other faithful men doe beleeue onelie one excepted namelie that I affirme the sonne of God to bee a creature And not onelie Arrius but innumerable other Heretickes also by this mild and remisse censure will fill the Church with their Heresies and in the bodie of Christ there will be such a foule sincke of sects that in the ende all will become most shamefull and vncleane Neither is this true that the Anabaptists when they affirme that the sonne of God brought flesh with him out of heauen and that he tooke not the same of the virgin doe onely stande against one demonstration propertie or note of the Christian faith sith this errour of theirs doth drawe with it verie manie other For all at once they denie that Christ as touching the humane nature was the séede of Eue For vnto his substance doth her séede belong neither is it of an heauenlie nature Also they denie it to be the séede of Abraham wherein all nations of the earth should receiue blessing Neither can it appeare vnto him that Messias is the sonne of Dauid which the scripture euerie where testifieth should verilie be neither can they admit that the virgin conceiued her sonne and brought him foorth as the Prophets and Euangelists doe confirme Howe moreouer will they saie with the scriptures that Marie was the mother of Iesus Or howe will they confesse him to bee the sonne of man If their saying were true he shal be none of our brother neither hath he béene partaker with his brethren Heb. 2. 14. as vnto the Hebrues it is written that he was I coulde easilie also gather other things whereby I might declare that not onely one demonstration or principall article of the right Christian faith but verie manie are taken away of the Anabaptists through this their wicked opinioÌ But forasmuch as I thinke those to bee sufficient which I haue alledged I will surcease nowe touch that wherein we are saide to deale not logicallie but rather sophisticallie That Christ is no mediator vnlesse he be also a man when we affirme Christ to be no mediatour if he tooke not flesh of the virgin Marie For as Hadrian saith this is concluded of vs * Non simpliciter led lecundum quid not absolutely but in some respect namelie as touching the Anabaptists but their opinion transformeth not the nature of things I cannot sufficiently maruell what this deuise can make to the confuting of those arguments which be excéeding good plaine It is none of our minde there to shewe that Christ is not the true mediator for they affirme that same for a most certaine and vndoubted docttrine but this point wée haue to prooue that by the receiued opinion of the Anabaptists that thing doth plainelie followe Neither do they thus arguing depart from the fathers vsuall forme of disputing The way to confute false opinions For the Ecclesiasticall teachers while they dispute with heretikes are woont to bring foorth a sentence which not onelie is true but common vnto both parts For they drawe the same out of the holie scriptures afterwarde they adde the false opinion of them against whom they dispute thereof they gather some grosse and odious absurditie But since this cannot be gathered of the common proposition which is verie euident is true it remaineth that it follow by the aduersaries owne proposition It is no rare but a vsuall kinde of argument whereby those men whom we presse in disputing are driuen to confesse absurdities So likewise doth Aristotle dispute against Parmenides Melissus and others of the olde writers That he first taketh as graunted which is both verie manifest and most true then hée addeth the opinion of those olde writers whereof he concludeth most absurde sentences not being such doubtlesse as he himselfe will holde but whereby he may shewe vnto them which allowed the opinions of the olde writers into what follies and absurdities they did headlong cast themselues For not all demonstrations or arguments can be direct and absolute wherefore manie there be and are founde which are ascribed vnto some certaine men or their errours and doe refell onely them particularly and not all others generallie Further there séemes but small consideration in them to require of vs that we should shewe a place certaine and euident in the holie scriptures That errors are not particularly condemned in the scriptures wherein they are declared both to be damned and to be voide of saluation which beléeue not that Christ tooke his flesh of the virgin For it is sufficient that we are generally commaunded to giue credite vnto all those things which the sonne of God and the holie ghost by himselfe by the Prophets and Apostles hath spoken This is my sonne Matt. 17. 5. heare him Neither did it séeme good vnto God to make particular mention in the holie scriptures of all the errours which in time to come should issue out of the braine of hereticks it was suffitient there to teach those things which were to be beléeued Vndoubtedlie as it is said in the schooles by the learned A thing that is straight or right is iudge both of it selfe and of that which is crooked That expressing had béene ouer laboursome and in a manner infinite if I shoulde straie almost innumerable wayes from the scope which can be attained but one waie What ende I beséech you should there be of writing if all the peruerse opinions of them that erre shoulde in expresse words bée discoursed together with their condemnation It is generallie ynough spoken by Paul He that shall preach anie other Gospel than we haue preached let him be accursed Gal. 1. 8. Which saying I doe not thinke should bée
sacramentes a great deale more than is requisite and tie the grace of God vnto baptisme interpreting amisse that saying which is in Iohn Iohn 3. 3. Except a man be borne againe of water and of the spirite he shall not enter into the kingdome of heauen Mar. 16. 16. Againe Hee that shall beleeue and be baptised shall be saued Moreouer we heereby gather that they attribute more than is méete vnto baptisme for that we comming vnto them they would not giue vs the Eucharist whereas notwithstanding they dare not denie baptisme vnto your young children because they dispaire that those can haue saluation without it Further they beléeue that young children be indued with faith which neither you nor we doe beléeue who thinke it to be sufficient vnto their saluation that they be indued with the spirite of Christ who is the roote and originall of faith and who at such time as hee shall thinke good will stirre vp the same in them Wherefore since there is no agréement betwéene them and vs in anie of both sacramentes we knowe not why you should from thence take baptisme vnto your children Besides this we thinke good to recken what an offence or stumbling blocke will be giuen to the weake ones of your Church when it procéedeth not of impietie or pride or too much obstinacie but of a great desire of the purer religion and it hath verie good reasons to prooue pastors and elders as much as they can must indeuour to auoid the same What commoditie I beséech you or spirituall edification is had at the length by baptisme ministred of the Lutherans vndoubtedlie your infantes are not in ioperdie of saluation if they die without baptisme forsomuch as neither the grace of Christ nor the effects of predestination must bee tied to outwarde things and sacraments Assuredly we are not to beléeue that the children of the Hebrues which for the space of fortie yeares died vncircumcised did al for that cause sustaine the condemnation of eternall punishment for that had bin verie straunge from the league couenant made with the fathers and also from the goodnesse of God and his promises Neither shall the âissing of the Lutheran Baptisme be anie dammage vnto the parentes since it happeneth not vppon a contempt of the Sacrament but onely in regarde of the conscience and faith Wherefore wee exhort you my most déere brethren in Christ that ye at the leastwise for a while will abstaine from this kinde of baptisme till yee haue taught your weake ones as you call them that it is lawfull to receiue the Sacrament of the Lutherans For that is either forbidden or is necessarie to saluation or else it is a thing indifferent Necessarie to saluation it is not seeing the grace of God is not tyed vnto the sacramentes But if it be forbidden of God to be doone as we thinke it is so much the rather must yée abstaine from it Finallie if it be a thing indifferent as you may séeme to affirme if we shoulde graunt you euen this yet yee ought not to vse it with offeÌce of the weake séeing Paul in these thinges indifferent woulde haue the consciences of the weake ones to be prouided for and that at the least wise for a time vntill the matter as we doe wishe maie bee made more manifest vnto them Neither must we be vnmindefull of the rule of Paul wherein hee spake of all this matter All thinges are lawfull for mee but all thinges are not expedient 1. Cor. 6. 12 Consider I beséech you with your selues although that the baptisme of the Lutherans shoulde be lawfull yet shoulde it not bee expedient at this time and for your brethren Neither doeth it séeme to be a part of Christian godlinesse onlie to heare and to be willing to followe as much as maie be lawfull by the lawes For otherwhile it behooueth for our brethreÌs sake to omit somewhat of that which is lawful to bee doone especallie in those thinges which be accounted indifferent But in the meane time you saie that the discorde betwéene vs and the Lutherans is more more increased And perhappes it is but yet it chaunceth not through our fault for wee doe loue them and manie times would haue accounted them for our brethren which they not onelie haue refused but also haue euerie where in a manner condemned vs and doe indeuour by all meanes to cast vs out of the Church Neither can it be thought that the discorde will bee therefore diminished because you séeke to baptise your children in their ministerie Yea and perhappes your sort will not hereafter through this communion of the sacrament aduenture so valiantlie and constantlie to defende that trueth about the article of the Sacrament as they haue heretofore with great praise vertue maintained it For vnconstant is the nature of man and is not for anie other cause sooner reconciled with them that haue ill opinions than by vsurpation of their Sacramentes These things my brethren did I thinke good at this time to write vnto you as touching this matter the which take yee in good part and pray you earnestlie for our Churches euen as we doe instantly pray for you To the brethren of the Citie of Luca. 47. SInce we together bee all one bodie most déerelie beloued brethreÌ in Christ it is wholie our part to coÌmunicate one with an other the affections wherewith wee bee some time mooued especially those which we think may bring any helpe to the coÌmon saluatioÌ Wherefore I which of long time haue liued ioifully in God because of your coÌmendable proceedinges in the waie of the holie Gospell of Iesus Christ all the faithfull giuing euerie where honourable report of you I thought it not néedefull hitherto to incourage you with my letters and therefore I regarded this one thing that I might giue thankes to the heauenlie Father for our aboundant spirituall fruites and to pray that hee woulde vouchsafe to increase the blessing that hee hath giuen you Which to accomplish I was not a little mooued forsomuch as I had at the beginning laide among you some foundations of the Christian trueth according to the will of the heauenlie Father weaklie indéede at that time as I before God confesse yet so as not by my power but by the fauour of Iesus Christ that indeuour whatsoeuer it were brought no small profite aswell to me as to you Furthermore I was delighted herein that after these foundatioÌs such as they were were laid you obtained of God other teachers which were more fitte through whose prudent trauell and most syncere doctrine the husbandrie begunne in you did increase Wherefore I reioyced and maruelouslie triumphed for your sakes as for an incorruptible crowne of mine owne neither was there euer anie mention made of you vnto mée but that I was wholie replenished with spirituall gladnesse Of the fall in persecution But nowe when it hath seemed good vnto God to prooue his housholde by tribulations and
celebrate their assemblie As yet nothing is doone sauing that thrée dayes a goe they mette together The Quéene mother was present and the King and also the king of Nauarre and other Péeres The Cardinals also and the Bishoppes were present The OratioÌ of Beza before the King and Queene mother The matter was committed to Beza that hee shoulde make the entrie or Preface of the conference who spake in Frenche the space of one houre as they say But towards the ende when he happened to make mention of the Eucharist he said that this they ought to knowe that the bodie and bloud of the Lorde is as farre from the bread and wine of the supper of the Lorde as heauen is from the earth These words so offended and stirred vp the Byshops as they began to mutter and finallie to make a rumor so that Beza had much a doe to make an ende of his Oration The Princes feare least hereof the Ecclesiastical men wil take an occasion of breaking off or rather of refusing the conference And this did the Prince of Condie affirme vnto me yesterday that they haue determined to offer vnto the King a confession of their faith and to haue a contrarie Preface whereby they may confute Beza and then to testifie that they will not deale with vs but he added withall that this should not be permitted them by the Kings Maiestie The Cardinall of Turnois after Bezaes Preface said vnto the Quéene mother least she should beléeue any of those things which Beza had said that he hoped by the helpe of God of our Ladie and of all the Saintes that all those things which were nowe alleaged shoulde both be confuted and vtterly abolished But the Cardinall of Loraine in his assemblie of Bishops saide as touching Beza I woulde to GOD that yesterday either wee had bin deafe to his blasphemies or else that he had bin dumbe Peter Martyrs fâl conference with the Queene mother This day namely the xj of this moneth I was called to the Quéene mother who verie courteouslie both sawe me heard mee I deliuered her the letters of our Magistrate and also those letters which belonged to her sonne I was a long while with her Such things I spake then as séemed most to belong vnto the present cause and that with great libertie She conceiued verie great hope of mée but we must pray that it be not frustrate which I am afraide of For she woulde haue the Church reformed but yet by leaue and consent of the Church men which thing coulde neuer yet be brought to passe nor now can be I excused praised and confirmed vnto her those things which Beza had spoken And when shee made mention of the Confession made at Augusta I answered that the holie scriptures ought to be sufficient for vs and that shée shoulde not perswade her selfe that if the Confession of Augusta were receiued it woulde be doone with the consent of the Ecclesiasticall men Also the verie same day and in the same place I was with the King of Nauarre who talked with mee a great while before he reuealed himselfe In fine when I had the letters in my hand to be deliuered vnto him he demaunded what letters those were I saide that they were to be deliuered vnto the king of Nauarre I saieth he am the same man Then I gaue him his due honour and deliuered them He dealt verie courteouslie with mée but to tell you the trueth he is verie colde as they say in Religion and goeth vnto Masses He also spake of the Confession of Augusta whom I answered as before I saide to the Quéene The Chauncellour of Fraunce dealt there with mee in the same matter coulde get no other thing of mée Finallie I so departed froÌ the Quéene as she saide she woulde talke manie times with me I will expect and will certifie you of such things as shall happen Our aduersaries haue set foorth foure principall things to be disputed of namelie of the authoritie of the Church of the strength and power of Councels of the authoritie of the scripture and of the Reall and substanciall presence of the bodie and bloud of Christ in the Eucharist Fare you well my most louing friende God kéepe you many yeares in health Pray for the cause of Christ for the kingdome of Fraunce and for me loue mee as you doe I louingly salute all my fellowe ministers also your sonnes daughters and sonnes in law and especiallie your wife I saluted in the name of you and of my fellow ministers all these coloquutors who on the other side sende salutations vnto all you Also Iulius and Gulielmus Stuccius whom you haue ioyned with me desire me to salute you Fare you well from S. Germans the 12. of September To the same man 52. SO often as occasion shall be offered of writing vnto you my Reuerende and most louing Gossip I wil not omitte the same Wherefore I did write the 12. daie of this moneth Nowe vnto those letters I will adde such thinges as did followe afterwarde An Oration was to bee made fower dayes since by the Cardinall of Loraine wherein he should haue confuted the Preface of Beza And when our brethren and associates were to goe thither namely to Poissi where the assemblie of the Ecclesiasticall persons is holden it was long and verie much debated in the kings Court whether I shoulde be fetched thither or no and it was in a maner determined that I should not goe because the Cardinals and Bishops woulde not suffer mee to be there Howbeit the Quéene at the hower of going thither called me foorth and commaunded mee to goe The Prince of Condie tooke order that I shoulde be brought by him that was his Secretarie and hee sent his owne Mule whereby I might be brought both easily and quietlie Wherefore I went thither apart from the brethren for they when the houre was néere went foorth before me And wheÌ we were come to the men who beare as they call them speares and halberdes which were the garde of the kings person suffering none to enter in but such as shoulde The Duke of Guise who was captaine woulde not let me enter but when hee had hearde of the Princes seruaunt that I was Peter Martyr he tooke me by the Arme and brought me in Wherefore being entered into the Hall I sawe a great companie of Cardinals and Bishops sat within a verie large place inclosed behinde whome sat a verie great nuÌber of Abbotes Doctors Sorbonistes and Moonkes When I had séene these thinges and perceiued that neither the Quéene nor the King nor other of the noble personages were present I withdrewe my selfe into a corner of the lowest part of the hall that I might there sit and attende the comming of the brethren For I knewe not whither they were gone And since I was there alone I could not be hid The Cardinall Chastillion together with two Bishoppes in their Cardinall and Bishoppes apparell first
things were spoken in the Frenche tongue For so it was agréed vppon because the Quéene the King and the noble Personages might vnderstande Wherefore since I cannot speake that language although I vnderstande the same I spake nothing neither was I requested to speake But yet in the ende at the instance of my brethren and associates I desired of the Quéene that leaue might be giueÌ me to speake hereafter which courteouslie and most gentlie shee graunted mée Moreouer I demanded in what tongue shée would haue mée to speake She answered In Italian that shée also might not bée ignorant what shoulde bee doone The 26. day of September we mette together againe We were warned by the Quéene the Prince of Condie and the Admirall who were desirous that the conference shoulde not be broken of that we shoulde forbeare to speake in the first place of the Article as touching the presence of the bodie and bloud of Christ in the Supper For they saw it would come to passe before wee shoulde come to that point that they should be conuinced of most grieuous abuses and errours Wherefore we presented a supplication to the Quéene wherein two things speciallie were contained first that our men shoulde by the sentence of the Cardinall vppon no iust causes be dispoyled of their ministerie whereas yet if we woulde vrge them touching their institution according to the lawfull Canons and the holie scriptures wee might easilie shewe the same to bee voide and that they are verily straungers from the true Church of God Secondly we complained that we are in a manner compelled by force to receyue the confession of Augusta and to subscribe to the prescpipt wordes thereof otherwise that the appointed conference shall not goe forward We shewing that it belonged vnto the maiestie royall to decrée as touching the manner and order of disputing the Quéene at that time made no answere to the supplication There the Cardinall began againe to deale as touching our vocation affirming that the same is voide Further he complained that we reprooued both him and other bishoppes as though they had no iust calling in the Church of Christ laying to our charge that we woulde goe about to ouerthrowe the kinges authoritie whereby they were created Bishoppes which in his iudgement were a most seditious thing After this he turned his spéech to the Eucharist affirming that the wordes of the suppper to wit This is my bodie must bee vnderstoode euen as they be spoken There I tooke him at his worde and first of all I defended the ministerie of our Churches It would now be ouer long to write the reasons Also I aunswered to the false accusation wherein he slaundered vs to be seditious as we that woulde not haue the appointment of Bishops to be in the Kinges power I added moreouer that I did verie much maruel that the Cardinall saide yesterdaie that there were onely thrée Councels before Augustin séeing hee himselfe maketh mention of the Councell of Ariminum and the Syrmian Councell helde in the time of Constantius which councels since that they gréeuously erred they were afterwarde amended I obiected moreouer that he was excéedinglie deceiued insomuch as he was bolde to affirme that in the commaundementes of God in the holie histories in the Testamentes and Sacramentes there be no tropes or figuratiue spéeches and I made it euident by the scriptures that there were figures founde and that therefore it might not be concluded of him that the words of the Lord which they call the wordes of consecration shoulde bee vnderstoode absolutelie There a Spaniarde the Prince of the Iesuites which came thither with the Popes Legate sodenly tooke holde of my wordes and made a sharpe oration where he reprooued the Quéenes Maiestie that shee hath taken vppon her the iudgement of these causes seeing it did not belong vnto her but vnto the Pope the Cardinals and Bishops and that it is not méete while the Councell of Trent is helde to celebrate here such a priuate conference This Oration of the arrogant man greatly offended the Quéene and had it not beene for the Cardinall of Ferrara shee woulde haue taught the Iesuite modestie The Cardinal turned his talke to mee yet so neuerthelesse as all men might perceiue that he refused to incounter with me Hée beganne to alledge that he vnderstoode not my language Whereas notwithstanding it is reported that hee vnderstandeth it verie well Hee said that he had rather dispute with a man of his owne language But I excused my selfe that I spake on this wise by the commaundement of the Quéene and that otherwise I was readie to dispute in Latine Therefore he beganne to aunswere me after a sort in the French tongue which hee coulde not haue doone vnlesse he had vnderstoode what I saide Yet neuerthelesse he aunswered not to all the obiections And when I was to confute his arguments the Quéene aduised me to vse the Latine tongue to the intent that all the prelates and Doctors which stood by might vnderstande I obeyed and those thinges I spake which were conuenient for the time Therewithall came Beza and in fewe wordes aunswered the iangling Spaniarde And then he beganne to deale with the Cardinal himselfe about the supper of the Lord and to dispute somewhat as touching Transubstantiation And the Cardinall of Loraine woulde not haue it to be founde in the scriptures that breade was giuen by Christ in the holie supper There did I bring in the expresse wordes of the Euangelist who saith that the Lorde tooke breake blessed it The cardinall of Loraine set to schoole by Peter Martyr brake it and gaue it to his disciples and I shewed that these verbes haue no other accusatiue case than Bread In vaine did he indeuour to vnwinde himselfe D. Depensius beganne to speake somwhat in the matter But when he coulde not refraine from the lowde and clamorous spéech of the Sorbonistes the matter brake foorth into an action of tumult insomuch as neither the Cardinall himselfe abstained from excéeding great noyse Wherefore at the commaundement of the Quéene the night being now come the assembly was disolued The manner of that action séemed vnworthy of a kinglie presence wherefore the Quéene determined to bee no more present neither would she afterward that the matter should be tryed betwéene so manie but she assigned fiue colloquutors on the aduersaries part and fiue also on our part Of the aduersaries were chosen the Bishoppe of Valence the Bishop of Sagensis Doctor Bottiller Doctor Salignacus and Doctor Depensius and of our sort these be the names Beza Galasius Marlorate Spina and my self For both partes there were appointed Notaries But being without Iudges and other witnesses we talke friendlie and quietly enough For so farre as I can perceiue wee haue aduersaries méeke enough and which disagrée not much from vs. Wee haue béene nowe thrise with them and to conclude we haue onelie dealt as touching the presence of the bodie in the supper I am called but
the spirite and with faith For while in the holie supper we reuolue in our minde the death of our Lorde and with a syncere faith do faithfullie beléeue that these thinges were wrought vpon the crosse for the redéeming of vs wee eate and drinke those thinges for our great benefite for they be vnto our mindes as it were the most excellent meate and the most holsome drinke And that faith doeth God stir vp in them that bee his through the holy Ghost applying thereunto two outward instrumentes the worde I meane and the elements of bread and wine Wherefore they which beléeue and comprehende by faith that the fleshe and bloud of the Lorde were giuen vnto death for our saluation doe spirituallie eate and spirituallie drinke those thinges Therefore wee confesse that vnto the natural and proper eating and drinking is required a presence of the thing to be eaten and of the thing to be drunken otherwise thinges that be absent can neither be eaten nor drunken But withall we denie that of spirituall eating and drinking can be gathered or concluded that those thinges which are saide to bee eaten and drunken allegorically are there bodilie and properly present But that the eating of the flesh of Christ consisteth of faith he himselfe most plainely testified in the 6. chapter of Iohn Ver. 35. 47. Wherefore that Euangelist since he iudged the whole matter to be there aboundantly expounded of him he did not rehearse in the historie of the last supper in what sort the outwarde signes of breade and wine were added Moreouer by this is the selfe same thing gathered that vnto the true and proper bodie of Christ cannot be applied a true and proper eating since that nowe it cannot be rent in sunder broken in small peeces and grinded verilie both the breade in déede and the wine are properlie eaten and drunken with the mouth of the bodie which thinges in their manner are called the flesh and bloud of Christ because they be outwarde signes of those thinges Wherefore after a sort we may bee saide to eate and drinke with the mouth the bodie and bloude of the Lorde Wherefore Cyprian and Augustine when they treated of the eating of these thinges which be signified namely the spirituall eating did prudently say Why preparest thou thy teeth and thy bellie Beleeue and thou hast eaten Wherefore there is no néede that the bodie and bloud of the Lorde should be sent downe out of heauen into the earth or that it shoulde yet bee conuersant in the worlde that they might mixe themselues with our supper but it behooueth that our mindes beeing admonished by the worde of God and the outwarde signes should be caried by faith vnto heauen that they may eat this holie meate and be nourished And here it followes that they which be vtterly destitute of faith doe not receiue the bodie and bloud of Christ because those thinges as I haue saide are eaten and drunken by faith and spirite onelie In déede these do eate and drinke the outwarde signes but they do not attaine to the thinges that be signified euen as they that be blinded cannot receiue the light and the colour which are things apprehended by the eyes Whereas afterwarde I am demaunded whether I thinke that in the Church the supper is had without the bodie and bloud of Christ I answere If we speake of that presence which they call corporall reall and substantiall I confesse that the bodie and bloud of Christ is absent neither shoulde they if they were present bring anie more profite commoditie and aduantage than we drawe from thence while they remaine in heauen farre disseuered from vs. Moreouer the flesh and bloud of Christ are present vnto vs by spirite grace merits and other wonderfull fruites which are from God deriued by them vnto vs euen as the sonne is sayde to be present with vs by the light by the beames and by good influences which we receiue from thence Neither are the bodie and bloud of the Lorde so present vnto our minds spiritually and by faith as that there onelie they should containe their most helthfull efficacies and powers and suffer the bodies of the faithfull to be méere voide of the same The matter is not so But because in beléeuing that the bodie and bloud of the Lorde are the pryces of our saluation wee are iustified and regenerated or else both in the same iustification and regeneration wée are increased and confirmed but iustification and regeneration are the beginnings of our blessed immortalitie Thereof it commeth that by faithful receiuing of the supper of the Lorde not onelie the soules are fedde and refreshed but also the bodies are made more and more capable of the blessed resurrection This is the iudgement of my faith as touching the holie supper of the Lord the which right worshipfull syr I haue parhappes for the barrainnesse of the stile not so exquisitely as faithfully expounded But I trust that you setting aside the rude and vneloquent words will with a friendely minde cleaue to the sentences and thinges themselues Fare you well and loue mee as you doe euen as I doe verie much loue you and pray for the fruite of my vocation Maister Bullinger and the rest of your friendes willed me to write their heartie salutations vnto you FroÌ Zuricke the 24. of Maie 1562. To the Right honourable the Earle of Bedforde THe courtesie of your excellent Lordship hath béene so great towards mee as neither am I able nor yet knowe I howe to expresse it Wherefore since I cannot write vnto you as I ought perhappes it were better for me to holde my peace which neuerthelesse the gratitude of a Christian man will not permit wherfore not knowing else what to do I wil let the matter rest And setting a side the praise of your godlinesse nobilitie and goodnesse I will onelie giue you thankes for the fauour helpe and courtesie which you haue shewed towards Iulius my faithful seruaunt in his businesse For the which I account myselfe so greatly and effectually bound vnto you as more I cannot be if I would And truely for his part he is neuer well appaied nor content but when he is declaring setting foorth your honors courtesie goodwil affirming that without your helpe fauour and trauell he coulde neuer haue dispatched his businesse And this vndoubtedly is a singular pleasure vnto me because I am sure that both in him in me you chiefely respect Iesus Christ his syncere Religion wherein howe zealous you are and howe feruently you loue the same it is euery where knoweÌ and of all men confessed And that causeth al good Christians to loue honor you in their heart Which notwithstanding it be a great glorie in it selfe yet is it nothing in comparison of the great pleasure that our almightie God taketh therin And I likewise know that this is it which hath caused you to make me such an offer as you haue For the which I giue you
very great thankes And I aunswere that as the cause standeth I am not now minded to labour or séeke for the same hauing thankes be to God foode and clothing competent enough wherewith I content my and séeke for nothing else But when it shal happen otherwise I will not refuse your honours helpe to whome I might séeme to doe iniurie if I shoulde chaunge you for an other since you giue a verie manifest testimonie that you loue mee exceeding much aswell for the glorie of Gods sake as for the affection that I haue alwayes borne to that godlie and glorious kingdome Whereuppon I reioyce with all my heart that the cause so standeth with the same as it nowe doeth For I am well assured that the loue thereof towardes mee will growe euerie day more and more séeing the good wil that I beare to the English nation doth continually waxe greater greater Nowe as touching leaue to sée you againe safe and sounde in person for the commoditie as you write both of your couÌtrie and my owne comfort I am verie sorie that I cannot aunswere you in such sort as may satisfie both you and my selfe Truelie if I might haue mine owne will I woulde no lesse serue the Church of Englande than before time I haue doone howbeit neither mine age nor the strength of my body wil any longer indure the same being not able to indure a viage so long so diuers and not altogether easie Wherein also for one of my age and féeblenesse there be manie daungers and the labours there will be more gréeuous vnto me than those that we haue here Wherefore to the intent that I become not vnprofitable both vnto you and also to them that be here it séemeth better for me that I remaine where I am And this doe not onely I iudge but so likewise doth the Magistrate together with the Ministers of this Church who otherwise would be most readie to pleasure your excelleÌt lordship as much as lieth in their power especially in those thinges that tend to the spreading and setting foorth of the Gospel of Christ Neuerthelesse my good Lord wheresoeuer I shall bee I am readie at your commandement and to doe you anie seruice desiring you that for Gods cause you wil continuallie growe vp in al goodnes especially in the indeuour of confirming and enlarging the Gospell of the sonne of GOD. Finally if as you write vnto me you haue béene greatly satisfied by my good and faithfull seruaunt Iulius thereby doe I receiue verie great comfort For I louing him very much as I doe both for the zeale that hee hath vnto godlinesse and sound religion and also for other good parts that be in him there can be no greater contentation vnto me than to sée him wel accepted of such a one as your honor is whose seruice I hauing no meanes to recompence you in some part may helpe him when néed shal require Again if as you write you accept well of his friendship vndoubtedly to serue you wil alwaies be most acceptable vnto him The Lorde God long preserue you in health to the seruice of the Church and the commonweale From Zuricke 1561. The end of the Epistles To God alone the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost be all honour praise glorie and dominion for euer and euer Amen AN ORATION WHEREin is set foorth the life and death of the most famous man and excellent Diuine D. Peter Martyr Vermillius Professor of diuinitie in the Schoole of Tygure made there by Iosias Simlerus one of Zuricke To the Reuerende Father in Christ Iohn Iewel by the grace of God Bishop of Salisburie his very good Lord. WHereas latelie at the death of that most godlie and graue diuine P. Martyr Vermillius I made an oration openly in our Schoole wherein I comprehended briefelie the historie of his life manie of Peter Martyrs friendes and mine desired of mee that I woulde recognise the same and augment it if it were possible and so to put foorth the same into light Which thing I coulde not denie them aswell for their loue towardes mee as also for other great causes For albeit that my Oration be not so well furnished and composed as it can extoll Martyr with deserued praises yet doe I thinke that the same for the true and syncere commemoration of the thinges themselues wilnot be altogether vnwelcome vnto such as bare good will vnto Peter Martyr For I haue declared nothing but that which either I my selfe haue seene or haue learned of witnesses worthie of credit For I haue indeuored earnestly herein to know euen as perfectlie as might be al the historie of his life of those which were conuersant with him Wherein I was holpen by others but especially of Iulius Terentianus who both was Martyrs scholer in Italie and in his banishment and al his peregrinations coulde neuer be separated from him vntill his death Manie thinges also did I vnderstand by diuers of Martyrs owne writings and by his letters vnto his friends and in like manner by the letters of his friendes vnto him the which I diligentlie perused and by the good will and request of his heyrs gathered them into order Wherefore this Oration of mine such as it is for I knowe well and confesse willingly that all my workes are but slender and bare I thought good to sende vnto you reuerende Father and that it shoulde passe foorth openlie vnder the authoritie of your honourable name For since you both loued and honoured Martyr while he liued I doubt not but that the remembraunce of him woulde be to your ioy and liking and I iudge that the incredible sorrowe which I thinke you haue taken for his death cannot be better reliued by anie meanes than by the continuall memorie and consideration of the diuine vertues which shined in him And because the life of Martyr was throughlie well seene and knowen vnto you you may verie well also iudge of the trueth of my discourse You liued in Englande with him vnder King Edwarde of happie and godlie memorie But the state being changed when by reason of the imminent perils and the persequution which then waxed hote manie good men went out of their countrie you in your banishment ariued againe at your Martyr as it were in a certaine port of your studies and so liued with him both first at Strasborough and then after with vs at Zuricke and was a perpetuall companion and assistant of his studies and labors which were verie great And nowe after that by the singular benefit of God through the indeuour good will and diligence of the most excellent Queene Elizabeth the true Religion beganne to be perfectlie restored amongest you and that you together with manie other godlie and learned men were restored to your countrie and that you were aduanced to great honours according as your excellent vertues deserued you being absent did alwaies through continuall letters and all manner of dueties carefullie and diligently maintaine your auncient friendshippe
in the most honorable place of the Temple And because the Papistes should not attempt the like thing afterward her bones were mingled together with the bones of Fridesuide whom in times past they deuoutlie worshipped Wherefore in that the bodie of a most godly woman was shamefully cast awaie is a notable monument of the Romish Tyrannie which spareth not the faithfull neither aliue nor dead but in that it was restored to the Sepulchre where it was before testifieth a good and gratefull minde of the Englishmen towardes their Maister whose wife she had lately bin And for so much as by this occasion we are come to the rehearsall of English affaires and that as it seemes there hath bin saide ynough of those things which he did and taught at Strasborough I will nowe hereafter shewe why he went into England and what he brought to passe there When Henrie the King of England was dead Edward his sonne by the counsell of his Tutors especially of Edward Duke of Somerset his Vncle and Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Caunterburie the primate of all England decreed to abolish the Popes Religion to reforme the Churches according to the word of God And because the Ministers of Churches who should preach the word of God ouer all the kingdome are to proceede out of the Vniuersities he determined first of all that they should bee reformed that afterward out of these the pure iuice of sound doctrine might be deriued into euerie part of the kingdome And because that Peter Martyr by the iudgement of all learned men for his singular learning and incredible skill of many things seemed one of all other most meete for this charge he at the Kings desire was called thither by the Archbishop of Caunterburie Therefore at the ende of Nouember 1547. with licence of the Senate of Strasborough where he had nowe taught fiue yeares he departed into England Barnardinus Ochinus accompanying him who likewise was sent for by the same Archbishop And when the Archbishop had stayed them with him for a time and had intertained them with all manner of courtesies Martyr by the Kings commaundement had appointed to him the charge of interpreting the holie scriptures in Oxford In that Vniuersitie he first expounded the 1. Epistle of S. Paul to the Corinthians because therein are handled diuers and many principall matters which serue for the controuersies of our times in such sort that the doctrine of this Epistle if it be profitablie aptly read it may cure all the faults wherewith the synceritie of the Church is corrupted and may conuince all abuses and Papisticall superstitions The Papistes of whom there were yet a great number in Oxford did in deede at the beginning indifferent patiently abide Martyr to teache and some of them also frequented his Lectures confessed that they had his doctrine in admiration but others and especially the Maisters of Colledges restrained their scholers from his Lectures and made no further stirre But after that he had condemned their vowes of sole life and that consequently vppon occasion of the Apostles wordes he began to treate of the Lordes Supper they thought it was not for them to bee any longer at quiet For whereas their forefathers hauing first obscured and then corrupted the doctrine of this principall matter which gate of error being opened they brought into the Church all superstition and Idolatrie they could not abide Martyr who with maruelous indeuour deliuered the trueth of the Eucharist from their errors and corruptions And to the intent they might procure vnto him not onely hatred but also great daunger they first of all railed on him with their vsuall accusations namely that he impugned the doctrine of the forefathers that he abolished the Ceremonies well instituted that he prophaned the holy sacrament of the Altar and scarce forbare the treading of it vnder his feete After this hauing made all things readie they without his knowledge fastened vpon euerie Church papers writen in the English tongue that the day following he woulde dispute openly against the presence of Christes bodie in the holie supper Wherefore the day following they occupie the Auditorie they dispose of their trauels in places conuenient and commaund them to bee readie as neede should require to make clamors and tumult yea and to fight too And for audience sake there flocke together not onelie the students of all the Colleges but also some and that no small number of the tumultuous people partly to beholde the euent of the things and partlie that they might be present with both parties if perchaunce any vprore should arise In the meane time Martyr ignorant of all these things prepared himselfe at home that after his woonted maner he might make his Lecture at the howre appointed when in the meane time his friendes being much mooued at the vnusuall concourse of people came home vnto him and declared all the matter perswading him that he shoulde staie at home and not procure himselfe any daunger forsomuch as the aduersaries were so prepared as they migh seeme rather to contend by armes than by Arguments He aunswered that he might not slacke his duetie nor neglect the charge which the King had committed vnto him that he was neuer Author of any tumultes whereof they themselues could best beare recorde and that nowe also he would not giue vnto the aduersaries any cause of disorder but would reade after his accustomed manner further that there was many in this congregation which expected the accustomed reading whom he might not disappoint And nowe as he was going to the Auditorie being accompanied by his most faithfull friendes there mette him by the way a seruaunt of Smith who plaide the chiefe part in this Tragedie and deliuered letters vnto him whereby his Maister challenged him to disputation There did his friendes againe admonish him that he should returne home they declared the daungers that he was in But he neuerthelesse stood fast in his purpose He went to the Auditorie with modest speache pacifying as much as he could the aduersaries which challenged him answered that he refused not the disputation but that now he came not hither to dispute but to reade so they coÌdescending he read his lecture after the accustomed maner with great admiration of all men For they which before wondered at his singular doctrine and eloquence now did they also honour in him his incredible constancie and courage For in so great a murmur of the people and fuming of the aduersaries he so perfourmed his Lecture as in him was no chaunge of countenance and colour no hacking of his words no tripping of his tongue and finallie no trembling of members or palenesse shewed anie tooken of feare When the lecture was doone the aduersaries vrged him more stoutly and with great clamours prouoked him to dispute neither accepted they his most modest excuse that hee woulde dispute yet at an other time and that nowe hee was not readie since they so cunningly had
in the doctrine of the Lordes Supper he was gone from the opinion of the confession of Augusta and that therefore it was to be feared least he would make some troubles in the Church Hereof he being admonished of his friendes purged himselfe by a writing presented to the Senate and taught that the Confession of Augusta and other confessions not disagreeing from the same if they bee rightly and profitably vnderstoode hee willingly embraced and that if neede should require he would willingly defende them to his power he promised moreouer that for his part there should be no contentions raised but rather if any place were to bee handled in the Scriptures or any other necessitie should require he would declare his opinion about this question he affirmed that he woulde doe this with all modestie and without any bitter contradiction And what his opinion was he saide it might bee easilie knowen by his Bookes alreadie set foorth from which he woulde not by that his writing or promise that any thing should bee plucked awaie or chaunged vntill such time as by the holie Scriptures he should bee otherwise perswaded And for so much as besides the Confession of Augusta there was brought foorth the concorde betweene D. Bucer and D. Luther and their fellowe Ministers he answered that he subscribed not hereunto because he could not for the worde of God and conscience sake graunt that they which bee destitute of the true faith shoulde in receiuing of the Sacramentes receiue the bodie of Christ And he added that this ought to seeme no maruell vnto them that he woulde not assent thereunto since D. Bucer himselfe in the Schoole of Strasborough while he expounded the Actes of the Apostles taught otherwise and that he wrote farre otherwise when he was in England which might be shewed by diuers of his Articles and that verie rightly for since faith is the onelie instrument whereby Christ himselfe his bodie and bloud bee receiued the same being remooued the mouth receiueth nothing but a sacrament of his bodie and bloud to wit bread and wine things consecrated by the Lordes institution Euen as a man of ripe age if he goe vnto Baptisme without faith is said to haue nothing besides the Sacrament that is to wit water the prayers of the Church For euen as no man while he beleeueth not obtaineth not the grace of regeneration so without faith none haue any waie to the Communion of the bodie and bloud of Christ For as Augustine saieth To eate and to drinke is nothing else than to beleeue Lastly he added that he feared least in subscribing to this concorde offered vnto him he should seeme to condemne the Churches of Tygure Berne Basill Geneua Lausanna England and all the brethren dispersed in Italie and Fraunce which doubtlesse should not bee lawfull for him to doe by the word of God and charitie towardes them And therefore he saide that as he reuerenced and honoured all the Churches of Saxonie and all those which consented vnto them so did he embrace in the Lorde and heartilie loue the others also which he made mention of for because he said that question was not of so great importaunce as it shoulde breake the Communion and charitie betweene the faithfull By this writing of his or promise the Senate of Strasborough which maruellouslie well loued Martyr was satisfied reiecting the priuie accusations of others So nowe being restored to his former office he interpreted the Booke of Iudges And because the schoole wanted at that time a meete reader of Aristotles Philosophie it was determined that as two Diuines reade the holie Scriptures so they shoulde likewise weekely by turnes teache Aristotles Philosophie And therefore Martyr not refusing this labour beganne to interprete Aristotles Ethickes Ad Nichomachum and in expounding the same proceeded vnto the thirde booke And his Collegue was D. Hieronymus Zanchus a verie louing friend of Martyr and who followed him as wee haue saide out of Italie he tooke vnto him to interprete the Bookes of Aristotles Phisickes But Martyrs aduersaries and ill willers of whom wee spake before although they opposed not themselues openly against him yet did they not cease dayly in secrete and as it were vndermining to withstand him For both by letters and by their readings and sermons they so gall him as there wanted nothing to the accusing of Martyr but the naming of him yea and one of the studients made an Oration openly in the Schoole touching the Eucharist made to this ende that he might of set purpose condemne Martyr and his doctrine Wherefore since he perceiued that his aduersaries did dayly make more open warre against him and that they did by name reprooue him in their Bookes as also Sleidan in his historie maketh mention hee beganne to deliberate with himselfe of his departure when vppon the sodaine a most fitte occasion was offered him For when there died with vs at that time that good and godlie man Conradus Pellicanus the honourable Senate of the commonweale of Zuricke with the good will of the ministers of the Church appointed Martyr to succeede in his place and concerning that matter they wrote letters aswell vnto him as vnto the honorable Senate of Strasborough wherein they desired that hee might be sent to Zuricke This calling was verie well accepted of Martyr For albeit hee loued the commonweale of Strasborough and acknowledged him much beholding thereunto yet because he sawe that this controuersie of the sacrament was dailie stirred vp with more bitternesse of mindes hee reioysed that there was an occasion offered whereby hee might ridde himselfe from the troubles Therefore when he was demanded by the magnificall and noble Senate what his mind was hee nothing dissembled but shewed that leaue to depart woulde be verie welcome to him and hee testified at large of his good will towardes the common weale and he saide that the cause why hee might not tarie with them was that he sawe he coulde not at that time inioy that libertie of teaching disputing writing which hee desired And to be desirous of this leaue first hee said he was vrged by his vocation and then moued by threates and comminations Besides that he feared the iudgementes of the grauest men who had read his writinges and had heard him teach if by his silence hee shoulde seeme not onelie to forsake but also as it were to betray the truth at other times defended with the perill of his life and nowe manie and sundrie waies priuilie and openly oppugned For of these men of whome some of them either for the verie same cause woulde be burned with fire or else remaining yet aliue did to great purpose beare rule in the Churches of Christ he saide he might not choose but bee greeuouslie reprooued as he that either departed from his vpright iudgement which crime of inconstancie is not to bee suffered in a Christian man or else who woulde in silence let slippe those thinges which hee knewe to be
for that shee saide there was now such discorde and sedition in the kingdome for Religions sake that it was exceedingly troubled Heereunto Martyr answered franklie that although he coulde not assure himselfe any good at the aduersaries hand yet he denied not but that they should bee courteouslie and mildly dealt withall so that no part of the trueth were diminished or cut awaie Hee saide it was no maruell that some discordes should arise since Christ foreshewed that such thinges must happen in the preaching of the Gospell and hee confessed that hee came to sende not peace but the sworde and that the fire was alreadie kindled and that hee woulde not otherwise but that it shoulde burne further that it was vnpossible that pure and true religion shoulde bee restored and retained without the Crosse and therefore saide that it behooued her with a valiant courage and syncerely to take this charge in hand and that God according to his promises would not faile who asswageth euils and giueth patience Moreouer being oftentimes asked of the Queene what counsell hee coulde giue for setting of thinges at quiet hee aunswered that hee sawe no other remedie but by suffering the professors of the Gospell to assemble together freely in their holy congregations graunting them Churches wherein they might haue godlie Sermons for if shee woulde cause this to be doone the truth woulde easilie manifest it selfe and that there shoulde bee no neede of conferences or disputations Lastlie when hee was demaunded what hee iudged as touching the confession of Augusta he aunswered that to him the word of God seemed to be sufficient for vs because therein are clearely contained al things which serue vnto saluation Neither if that confession were receaued saith hee woulde there followe a reconciliation with the Romanistes since they haue condemned the same as Hereticall To the same effect did hee aunswere the king of Nauerra and other great men in the Court which asked his opinion of the selfe same thinges After this followed the publike Action whereunto the Cardinals and Bishoppes thought not good to admitte Martyr but yet the Queene would haue him to come In this Action the Cardinall of Loraine made an Oration which also hee did afterwarde publishe Herein hee spake manie things as touching his Church as that which had a continued succession imposition of handes and which worshipped Christ without Idolatrie Hee denied that the Church of God stoode onely of the elect because otherwise it shoulde become inuisible and that men shoulde alwayes be vncertaine of the same Further hee added that the Councels coulde not erre neither in doctrine nor in manners but that they might alter manie thinges by reason of the diuersitie of tâmes And hee affirmed that the Church it selfe was before the Scriptures and that the interpretation of them was to be sought from the Church After this hee digressed to the matter of the Sacrament and saide nothing of the Masse and of Transubstantiation but hee affirmed the bodie of Christ to be there present not indeed locally or circumscriptibly but after a heauenlie manner and as he spake supersubstantially And when he had made an ende of his Oration hee turned himselfe vnto the Queene mother and to the king and vpon his knees prayed them that they woulde persist in that faith wherein they were borne and baptised and therewithall hee offered with all his Bishoppes all manner of duties seruices and obedience A fewe daies after Beza according to his singular learning did greatly in open audience confute the Cardinall of Loraines Oration But the Cardinall opposed him selfe against him and required that ours should either subscribe to the confession of Augusta or else that they shoulde accept of a breefe draught which hee brought touching the Lordes supper and that vnlesse they woulde condescende herein hee woulde deale talke no further For hee sought causes to breake off the conference In this action did Martyr holde his peace because all thinges were doone in the French tongue But when they mette together againe hee being admonished by the brethren and by the Queenes leaue hee himselfe also spake a great while in the Italian tongue against the Cardinall of Loraine who seemed to refuse the ioyning with him and alledged for excuse that Martyr spake in the Italian tongue as though hee had not vnderstoode the same and hee said that he would rather deale with a man of his owne language howbeit he indeuoured to aunswere to some things by him alleadged And moreouer a certâine Spanyard being a Maister of the order of the Iesuites made an Oration in Italian against our men whereunto Beza aunswered in few wordes but Martyr beganne againe to argue against the Cardinall as touching the Supper howbeit because the night was at hande and besides that the act was full of contention so that euen the Cardinall himselfe abstained not from clamors the day there was no more done But nowe after that the aduersaries our men reclaming but in vaine had founde the meanes that the beginning of the conference shoulde take beginning at the article of the Supper of the Lorde there were fiue speakers chosen of each part Of the aduersaries partie the Valentine and Sagentian Bishops Botilerus Salignaicus Depensius which were doctors and of our men Beza Marlorat Spina M. de Sola and our Martyr These dealt without anie iudges vsing onelie two Notaries And first they sought diligentlie to haue some certaine rule proposed wherein the parties might commen together of the presence of Christos bodie in the Eucharist and when as many things had bin alleaged on both sides Martyr also being demaunded set foorth a briefe writing of his opinion which neuerthelesse satisfyed not the Bishoppes for that they saide it was ouer bare but the disputers of our part agreed with Martyr Afterwarde there was betweene them a disputation of this question for the space of certaine dayes and at the length a newe order was taken whereby both the partes might commen together of the presence of Christes bodie in the Supper and hereunto the disputers of eache part agreed and subscribed But Martyr when he sawe that therein were certaine ambiguities declared that hee woulde not varie from the sense of the first writing which hee had deliuered vnto them Hee together with Beza and the rest of the speakers of our part added a briefe declaration vnto the latter rule that ambiguitie being remooued the aduersaries might see what our meaning was But the Cardinalles and Bishoppes after it was declared vnto them that the speakers were agreed as touching this Article disallowed of those thinges which were doone by their owne speakers yea and accused them of Heresie wherefore by their meanes the conference was suspended for certaine dayes For nowe both by their owne will and by the instigation of the Popes legate they decreed to breake off the conference But in the meane time the Bishoppes wrote certaine Canons and at length the 19. of October the Cardinalles of the house
as he doubted not but to accuse both him and all our sort for impugning the glory and Maiestie of Christ and for denying the omnipotencie of God whereas notwithstanding it is knowen vnto all men in such sort as euen Brentius cannot bee ignoraunt thereof that our men teache quite contrarie It greeued him exceeding much that a man otherwise very notable and who might bee profitable to the Church so obstinately defended an opinion absurde monsterous and merely newe which leaneth vpon no euident testimonies of the scriptures nor vpon any authoritie of the fathers and auncient Church and which no not the Papistes who haue fained many thinges for defending of the carnall grosse and corporall presence of the bodie of Christ in the holy supper were so bolde at any time as to allowe For as he reported that at his being in Fraunce at the conference when certaine bookes of Brentius were brought foorth the chiefe of the Popes Diuines said openly that this opinion of Brentius was newe and neuer heard of and that it was merely hereticall Wherefore he had nowe prepared himselfe diligently and throughly to answere the slaunderous reproches of Brentius which were many and grieuous and his Arguments which were not many But alas for sorrow he being by the sudden violence of sicknesse taken awaie froÌ vs could not perfourme that which he was determined to doe Which mishap neuerthelesse might after a sort be borne because Bullinger the Pastor of our Church who had diuided with him the labour of answering shal by his studie labour and by his excellent learning with a good courage sustaine the labour of them both shall alone suffice for defending of theÌ both And moreouer the Arguments of Martyr which bee many that he produced in his Dialogue doe stand as yet firme by this attempt of Brentius could not be enfeebled much lesse ouerthroweÌ But this rather is to be sorrowed that Martyr coulde not finish other and most excellent works which might haue brought great benefite to the whole Church For nowe these certaine yeares hee hath interpreted as yee knowe the two Bookes of Samuel and nowe the first Booke of Kings being finished he trauelled in the seconde and those things which he read although all were not throughly reuiewed by him yet are they such that when they shall come foorth as shortly the Lorde willing they shall scarcely can any man desire a finishing of them And who will finishe this as it were the picture of Venus begunne by Apelles owne hande Who will so correct the Commentaries vpon Genesis vpon Exodus vpon Leuiticus vpon the smaler Prophets and vppon the Lamentations of Ieremie as they can haue that same dignitie and that same excellencie as if they had bin amended reuiewed and set foorth by himselfe What shall I speake of the most graue disputations of the greatest matters What of the Commentaries of Aristotle and other Commentaries which he began and left vnperfect For before he coulde I will not say correct these things but euen in a manner before he coulde take order what he woulde haue doone with them he was by the violence of a grieuous and vnexpected death oppressed and taken away from vs. For when he had begun to sicken the fifth day of this moneth he departed this life the 12. day of the same Hee was before but somewhat a sickly man aswell by reason of his age as for sundry cares and troubles and especially for the great griefe he tooke for the afflicted state of the French Church his powres did consume by litle and litle And therefore when the general disease wherof many of you haue had experience assailed him it did easilie consume nature alreadie spent But we because this disease hath not hitherto bin in any man vnto death nothing feared Martyr the first dayes of his sicknesse And he himselfe also confirmed our hope for the thirde and fourth day after the disease came vpon him he returned againe vnto his studies meant the day after when his turne was come to teach publikely albeit I was against it and admonished him that he shoulde haue a regarde to his health and saide that I woulde reade in his stead and that I doubted not but the Auditorie hauing a consideration of his sicknesse would easilie beare with him but he coÌtrariwise thought himself strong ynough said that vnlesse some thing else happened he would reade the day after But eueÌ the selfe same night the feuer returned inuaded him more grieuously than it did before and in the meane time distilling of the rewme increased vpon him and therewithall the cough was verie troublesome vnto him Therefore albeit that his friendes bad him to hope well of his health and that the Phisitians also put him in some comfort yet hee himselfe foreshewed his death to bee at hande and for that cause made his Testament the day before he died and calling for the worthy man M. Bernhard Sprunglius the Treasurer being his neighbour to whom he commended the care of his wife great with child willed me to recite the same wil in his presence and desired of him that he would indeuour that the Senate might ratifie the same The next night after he tooke good rest the disease seemed vnto vs to be somewhat slaked but in very deede the power of nature being ouercome by the sicknes stroue no longer with it And in the meane time his friendes came euerie day to visit him with whome before the difficultie of breathing was hindered he talked of diuers thinges with them no lesse pleasantly than if hee had beene infected with no disease at all For by Phisicke wherein hee had diligently trauelled hee reasoned of the power and nature of his disease with such Phisitians as for friendshippe and courtesie sake did dailie visite him and because hee had slept some nightes not vnsoundly he greatly counted to his friendes this a benefit of God and out of the precepts of Phisicke rehearsed the nature and efficacie of sleepe as it were in sweetly refreshing the whole bodie Also he complained oftentimes of the Cough which hurt all the bodie but especially the head and brest And other while hee testified that hee was sicke indeede as touching his body but yet verie well as âuching his minde And then if hee had begunne either to yeelde an account of his faith or to rehearse with what consolations hee was to erect his minde hee was in this kinde altogether diuine And on the day before hee shoulde die some of vs his friendes being present with him and speciallie Bullinger among the rest hee lay a certaine space meditating with himselfe then turning vnto vs he testified with speech plaine enough that hee acknowledged life and saluation in Christ alone who was giuen by the father an onelie sauiour vnto mankinde and this opinion of his hee declared and confirmed with reasons and wordes of the scriptures adding at the last This is my faith In this will I
be the summe of all such points of Diuinitie Philosophie and Historie c. as are therein comprised Gathered and laide together in an alphabeticall order as followeth An introduction to the Reader FOr the easier and readier vnderstanding hereof sith many places carie diuerse numbers both in respect of Part and Page it shal be necessarie to note that all such figures as stand thus inclasped or imbraced 1 2 3 or 4 doe signifie the 1. 2. 3. or 4. Part remembring alwaies that the whole volume is Quadripartite or consisting of 4. Parts besides the additions which may be a supposed Part by themselues the other figures as they fall more or lesse doe import the page or side of the leafe Note further that A inferreth the first columne as we commonlie call it or partition of any page B the second And thus much brieflie by way of aduisement The first Table Ab. Abraham OF Abrahams bosome 3 373. 374. 375. 376. 378. ¶ Looke Bosome Absolution A definition of Absolution 3. 208 b Abstinence Of Abstinence from flesh 3. 170 ab From whome it sprang 3 174 a In diuerse cases counselled 3 167b The Abstinence of the Nazarites and Rechabites 3 171 a 172 b Of the Manichies from mariage and flesh 2 293b ¶ Looke Meates Abuse The Abuse of good things is no reason why they should be quite taken away 1 47 b 2 341 a It may be euen of the verie best things 4 227 b A thing is not made euil by the Abuse thereof 3 3 a Abuses Whether Abuses in the Church must be borne withall 3 164 ab Ac. Accidents A difference of Accidents 2 505 a Accidents of the Lawe and the Gospell 2 586 a 577 ab Of the minde and the bodie 1 188 b That same thing may be spoken of them which cannot be spoken of the subiect 4 83 b Accuse If our heart Accuse vs what the remedie is 3 303 b Action Euerie Action and moouing is of God and how 1 188 b Sometime the worke which remaineth is more excellent and sometimes the Action and why 1 4 b How the selfesame Action is produced by God and by vs. 1 189 b 190 a What may and is counted an excellent Action 1 139 b The ende of euerie Action 4 308 b Better than vertue more to be desired than it 1 150 b How it is to be seuered from vertue 1 151 a That the most perfect must not be accounted for felicitie 1 151 a In what respect it must be of necessitie or necessarie 1 172 b That Action is sinne which is depriued of the ende due vnto it 2 265 a Two things to be considered in euerie Action 3 331 a An Action doone by another is said to be doone by our self 4 234 b The chiefe Action of mans life what it is and that brute creatures shall not partake it 1 132 a Euerie good Action is his good whose action it is and therefore honour is his that giueth it 1 142 a That the Action of vertue is wholie in the minde 1 151 b disprooued Of a general Action of God the effects of the same 1 181 b 182a Howe a worke can bee the ende of an Action when it is after the action 1 7 b Actions After what Actions the actions of vertues do follow 1 4 b Of diuerse vnlawfull Actions and their circumstances and whether they were tollerable 2 304 b 305. 306 The Actions of the affects and of reason be contrarie 2 406 b Pure and happie Actions remain for vs after this life saith Plato 1 159 a Vnhonest Actions called by Aristotle ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and why 1 163 b The Actions of vertue haue pleasure alwayes ioyned with them 1 135 b The onely commended meanes to attaine honour 1 144 b Nothing more firme constant than they 1 161 a.b In what respect good Actions are commended in aduersities 1 164 a They are sinnes 2 562 Of themselues sufficiently to be sought for 2 573 a Whether their pleasures do hurt 1 138 a Vnto what Actions felicitie doth belong 1 146 a By what Actions it may be altered 1 163 b To what end ciuil and domestical Actions do serue 4 220 a Whether at any time honour and iust Actions be diuided or alwayes ioyned together 1 142 b The Actions which are done before we attaine to an habit bréede not pleasure 1 136 a How honour is ioyned vnto Actions to what actions 1 141 b Outwarde Actions bee a certeine shewe of confession 2 316a b What is the deficient cause of euil Actions 1 184 a Actions are knowen by their obiectes 4 32â b Some admit excesse other some admitte none 1 137 b Which be the perfecter 1 4 a Which follow after works already brought to passe 1 4 b Which cunning worked do neither go before nor yet follow 1 4 b The ende of them is not simple but sundrie 2 573 a 574 a A diuision of them 2 533 a 3 331 a To be iudged by their circumstances 3 264 a 2 515. 2 287bab 516 ab Whether they that procéede from anger and lust be voluntarie or not voluntarie 2 290 b 291 a Which deserue praise or dispraise 2 291 ab Some good some euil and some indifferent 1 136. Some necessarie 3 166 b Howe they haue and haue not necessitie 3 35 ab Differences of them and of pleasures 1 136 a In which the rule of charitie must be obserued 3 166 b Whether they shal be called necessarie or contingent 3 35 b 36 a Which are worthie of pardon and which not 2 284 ab Whether the Actions of creatures shal be perpetuall 3 394 b Mingled Actions ought to bee reckened among those that be voluntarie 2 291b For them wée be praised and dispraised in the scriptures 2 291 b 292 a Which take part of voluntarie and part of not voluntarie 2 394 b Why they be voluntarie 2 283 b When mens Actions haue an order 4 320 b 321 a We be not masters of them 2 565 a They cannot passe out of the boundes of Gods prouidence 1 199 b Our best haue their defect 2 566 b The peruersenesse of them 2 574 a Of Actions voluntarie not voluntarie violent and mixed read pages 280. 281. 282. 283. 284. 285. c. Voluntarie in brute beasts children through wanting the vse of reason prooued by scripture 2 293 ab Frequented Actions leaue an habite in the minde 1 4 b The iudgement of the scripture touching the choises and Actions of men 1 3 b They decrée appoint that there is a principall ende whereunto men direct all their Actions 1 6 b Howe Aristotles doctrine touching good Actions which delight good men standeth with the holy scripture 1 141 ab The Actions of the not regenerate are prone to euill and why 1 3 b in what respectes they are not right and acceptable vnto God 1 132 b they are better than their workes 1 8 b The Actions of God are by no meanes
should it be doone to Images 2 346 b A shift of the aduersaries for the auouching of the woorshipping of them 2 347 b They are Gods Ministers and of their seuerall offices 2 357 b 558 a Appearing in mens bodies they were not men 1 117 a They did eate not for néede but to procure conuersation and familiaritie with men saith Augustin 1 118 ab Why they were worshipped in the old testament of holie men and the same not admitted in the newe 2 347a What manner of meat it is that they do eat 1 118b Why there is no mention of the creation of them in the olde testament 1 111 ab Tertullians iudgement that they are verie bodies 1 28 b Proued by examples that they haue sometimes appeared 1 27 ab God by their ministerie gouerneth natural things 2 â58 a They represent the ministers of Churches 2 358 a The may be pictured how farfoorth 2 341 a How they did assume bodies 2 604 b They are not predestinate 3 8 b Defined out of them our of Augustine 1 113 a They doe seruice vnto men and of their gouernement 2 249 b Orders of them and their seueral offices 1 1â0 b It is a thing worthie to be noted that in the holie Scriptures verie fewe things are mentioned of them 1 121a How they and spirites doe eate which proueth them to haue bodies consisting of vitall paâtes 1 88 a They can call things backe from the memorie to the sense 1 89 a Whether teares are beseeming for them 3 284 a While they appeared and seemed to bee men and were not they did not lie 1 113 b Whether we ought to offer prayers vnto theÌ 3 284 a 308 b Proofes that there be Angels 3 383 a Howe it is meant that Enoch was a Legat vnto them 3 148 b 149 a Why they are called spirites 1 103 a The heauens turned about by them 1 111a b Bernard and the schoolemens opinions that they haue bodies 1 113 a Whether they be bodies or but méere phantasies 1 87 b 88 a ¶ Looke Spirites Archangels Betwéene Archangels and Angels there is a difference saith Augustine 1 118b Anger Aristotles opinion of Anger and how he defineth it 1 109 b How the power thereof doth resist the desiring part 2 410 a It is a cause of confirmelie 2 529 b It is no simple but a compounded afteer 2 406 a It is a wherstone to fortitude 2 408 a 3 296 b It is the roote of murder 2 517 a Whether the power of desire and of it bee all one 2 409 b 410 a How contrarie it is to desire 2 4â0 a The Philosophers say it maketh the actions of men not voluntarie 2 289 b A definition thereof and that to Achilles it was like honie melting vnder his tongue 2 290 b Things done therein do not excuse the dooer 2 292 b The scripture commendeth it in whome and in what cases 2 293 b It doth seruice vnto Fortitude 3 272 a It hath sorrowe and pleasure ioyned with it 3 â46 a It commeth néerer vnto reason than desire doth 2 410 a It pertaineth not to choise sayth Aristotle and why 2 295 b In what cases and against whome Aristotle admitteth it in men 2 290 b What Heraclitus Plato and other say of it and that it is not subduable 2 289 b No refuge against Gods Anger 4 295 b 296 a ¶ Looke Affects Angrie Why the Scriptures say that GOD when he doeth reuenge is angrie 1 207 a How we must vnderstand God to be angrie and to repent 1 109 a Annoynted Why we are sayde to be annointed 2 606 b Some called so who receiued not the outward vnction 4 14 ab Annoynting The signe of outward Annoynting 4 14a Vnder what pretence it was brought into the Church 4 15b To what end it serued 2 577 b It hath not beene long in the Christian Church 4 14 b 15 a.b The originall thereof about Princes 4 236 b What is signified thereby being done to the Byshops heade 4 â5 a Why it was proper to Prophets Priests and Kings 2 605 b Whether it be rightlie transferred vnto Christian Princes 4 14 b 15 a.b Whether it be necessarie that it be obserued still 2 606a 6. The twise annoynting of all Christians 4 15 a Of the papisticall and superstitious rite thereof 2 â06 a What the worde signifieth 4 4 b Or the sicke and that it is no Sacrament 3 211 a Of men readie to die 4 15 b The carcases of dead 3 244 a Interpreted to be an aboundance of the Spirit 2 605 b 606a Reckened among traditions 4. 99 b ¶ Looke Oyle and Vnction Antichrist Of Antichrist prophesied by Daniell 3 351 b The Pope prooued to be the same 4 36 b In Gods Temple 4 92 a Of the myracles doone by him and that they be méerelies 1 65 a Antiquitie No Antiquitie can prescribe against Gods worde 3 244 a Of the Scriptures and howe the Papists and Protestants dissent about the same 1 99a Ap. Apostles The Apostles gaue more Epistles to the Church than we haue at this day 1 52 b They are to the Byshops as the Prophets were to the hie Priestes 4 4a Both Christ and they may be foundations of the Church 4 83 b 84 a Difference betwéene their Gospell and the Papists 4 87a They liued at the charges of the godlie 4 29b Forged Canons ascribed to them 4 55 ab 56 a Whether they were Byshops any where 4 79a To what end they were chosen 4 3 b Whether Peter were chiefe of them 4 80 a Difference betwéene them and Byshops 4 3 b 4 a They were not alwayes able by their auctoritie to cast our diuels 4 130 a Their diligence in preaching the Gospell 4 5b In their time the Church had not two swords 4 234 b Whether they were Priestes 4 212 b By what instruments they vsed outward punishments 4 233 a Apostleship The office of Apostleship was but temporall 4 78 b A difference betwéene the Apostleship of Peter and the apostleship of Paul 4 79 b Apparell Of the costlie and sumptuous Apparell of women 2 507 ab Whether Apparel be any impeachment to the ministerie 4 16 b A fonde imitation of Elias and Iohn Baptist in Apparell 1 20b Touching Apparell reade diuerse points page 506 b 507 a ¶ Looke Garments Appeale To whom the libertie of Appeale is denied by the ciuill lawes 2 438 b Paules Appeale from the luietenant of Iurie to Cesar 4 276 a Appeales Of Appeales made to the Romane sea by inferiour byshops and what is thereby prooued 4 39. 40. From Councels and fathers to the scriptures 4 47 a From the Pope to the Emperour in matters of religion 4 244 b None from Scriptures to the fathers admitted 4 48 b 49 ab Appearing Gods Appearing vnto men in the likenesse of straungers denyed by Plato and what the Scripture saith of the same 1 200 a Of the Appearing of Samuel when he was deade reade the iudgement
them and places together 3 373 b Whether mens Bodies haue decreased euer since Noahs floud hitherto 1 130 b 131 a What manner of ones we shall haue at our resurrection 2 637 b 638 ab Whether naturall Bodies ca. bée without a place or in diuerse places 3 363 ab What kinde of Bodies spirits or demons are saide to haue 1 80 b 81 a Of Bodies assumed and what actions are sit and not fit for them 3 113 b 114 a In what respects it is meant that celestiall Bodies shal be quite abolished 1 120 a Bolde Who is Bolde and the nature of such a one 3 270 b Boldnesse Boldnesse doth affect a good thing that is hard to be had 2 410 a Bonde Of the guiltinesse of sinne and the Bonâ vnto punishment and whence they both arise 1 188 a Bondage Bondage of two sortes 3 163 a It is a thing against mans nature 4 314 a Mitigated by Gods lawe 4 316 b Cato slewe himselfe because hee woulde not come into it 2 281 b Why it is to be counted a punishment 4 314 a This of Christians greater nowe than was that of the Iewes 3 172 a Why it must not be reiected 4 314 a For debt determined by lawe 4 315 a.b ¶ Looke Seruitude Bondmen Diuers kindes of Bondmen 4 316 a.b Who bee Bondmen according to Aristotle that such haue somwhat in them apt to bondage 2 218 a ¶ Looke Seruants Bookes Manie Bookes of holy Scripture perished and that their losse is profitable and to whome 1 51 b 52 a Howe the Bookes of God are saide to bee sealed vp 3 353 b Christ left no written Bookes behinde him of his owne doings but his disciples were his registers 1 52 a Whether all the Bookes that Enoch wrote were authenticall 1 129 b Salomon wrote not his Bookes ând they were receiued and set downe as he spake them 1 52 a Howe the Bookes of the Machabees haue béene receyued of the Church 3 238 b A kings opinion touching written Bookes and the same misliked 1 52a Socrates and Pithagoras wrote no Bookes themselues but their Disciples in their names 1 52 a ¶ Looke Scriptures Borders The meaning of the Borders which the Iewes ware sowed to their garment 2 314 a ¶ Looke Garments Bosome What is meant by Abrahams Bosome 3 325 b 373. 374. 375. 376. 378 Br. Breath The worde Breath hath a double signification 1 121 b 122 a Howe God is saide to breath séeing hee hath neither mouth nor nosethrels 1 121 b 122 ab Brethren In the scriptures they which by any meanes were ioyned in bloud were called Brethren as howe 1 452 b Of the loue that ought to bee betweene Brethren and who be such 2 556 b 557 a Christ calleth the Apostles Brethren 3 81 a Brightnesse Of the splendent Brightnes of our bodies at our resurrection 3 358 b ¶ Looke Resurrection Bu. Building Building signifieth doctrine and fier the triall thereof 3 239. 240. 241. 242. ¶ Looke Doctrine Burdens Of vile Burdens and personall burdens 4 239b Ordinarie and extraordinarie 4 240 ab Burial Whether Buriall auaileth the dead 3 320 a 321 a 319 b Why it must not be contemned 3 322 a Howe it belongeth vnto them that be aliue 3 320. 321 a Regarded in the time of the Patriarches 3 234 b The lacke thereof is a punishment 3 321 b Whether to be in one place more than another is materiall 3 322b 323a Whether it be lawfull for vs being aliue to choose our selues a place for it 3 323 b Places for that purpose set foorth to sale 3 323 a What Christes Buriall doth teach vs. 2 620 b 621 a With what pompe the Cardinall of Yorke prouided for his Buriall 3 321 b Ca. Calamities Calamities hinder not felicitie proued by scripture 1 153 b 158 a ¶ Looke Miserie Calling Gods Calling of two sortes 3 29 a 44 b 4 12 a It goeth before faith 3 45 a The power thereof 3 45 b To what endes it is directed 3 44 b The honour of the same 3 45 b The forme thereof differeth and how 3 44b Whether the gift of effectual Calling be common to all 3 198 b It is of Gods frée mercie 3 45 a Good works are not the cause therof 3 15 a 14b Of the time of the same 3 45 b The difference of beleeuers and vnbeléeuers dependeth thereupon 3 18 b Of two kindes thereof the one generall the other effectuall and to whom they befall 1 196 b Howe it may be said to be common to all men 3 51 a It is without repentance interpreted 3 207 a How to determine whether it be effectuall or no. 3 47 b 48 a What things make it certeine 3 48 a One effectual and another not effectuall 3 45 a The outwarde is common to the predestinate and reprobate 3 30 a Much spoken to fro of that which is vniuersall 3 31. 32. 33. The names of gift and Calling vsed in scripture 3 202 a A Calling must not be condemned by a hard successe 4 9 b That we ought to be content with our estates and Calling 3 188 b A Calling ordinarie and a calling extraordinarie to the ministerie 4 11 b 12 a Lawfull and vnlawful 4 9 b c. Diuine and humane 4 10 a ¶ Looke Vocation Callings That in the Church shoulde bee ordinarie Callings 4 10 b 11 a Argumentes of such as confounde them 4 11 ab Hinderances to our Callings procured by the diuell 4 9 b Candels Waxe Candles added to baptisme 4 127 b Lighted at hie noone in poperie 4 127 b ¶ Looke Light Canons The Popes supremacie taken away by olde Canons 4 79 b What they haue determined touching the celebration of episcopall councels 4 55 b Vnto whome they giue the making of lawes 4 41 b Of them that are Apostolicall 3 252 a Whether they are all to be receiued 4 55 a They are but fained 4 56 a A iudgement touching them 4 55 a Captiues Of redeeming Captiues with Church goods 4 32 b 33 a A lawe for such as are redéemed at other mens costes 4 316 a Whether beeing taken in warre they should be slaine or saued 4 300 b 301. 302. Carcase Whether a Carcase be the bodie of a man 3 135 a Care Fleshly Care of the bodie must bée reiected 2 638 b Carefulnesse What kinde of Carefulnesse God forbiddeth in saying care not for to morowe 2 480 b 3 69 b Carnall The condition of Carnall men of two sortes 2 564 b Castels Whether Castels are to bee fensed 4 296 a Catechumeni Who be Catechumeni and conceiued sonnes of God 2 261 b Being baptised they may seeme more perfect than one being vnbaptised though he beléeued 2 262 a Of their dismissing by the Deacons from the Communion 4 217 a They ought not to stay in one degrée of faith and grace 2 262 a Catholike What Catholike signifieth and why it is ascribed to the Church 2 631 a Whether the Churche of Rome
doeth nor alwayes define things that be profitable 2 227a Whether that which is called originall sinne be voluntarie 2 219 b Commended and praised 2 221 b It remaineth after regeneration but the blame is taken away by Christ 2 274 b It owne nature mortall 2 272 b Both sinne and the punishment of sinne 2 571 a 274 b 275 a 219 ab Why it is called sinne seeing the blame therof is taken away 2 274b Whether that which remaineth in the regenerate be sinne 2 271 ab 272 What is meant by Concupiscence or lusting 2 570b ¶ Looke Lust Motions Confession A distinction of Confession 3 114 a Not auailable in all alike â 109 ab Forced in the Philistines Pharao others touching God 1 13b Required in iustification 3 105 b Whether it stande with the law of God 3 217 a What Confession is required in the Church 2 630 b Distinguished into diuerse kindes 3 216 b It must be done to God himselfe 3 219 b Priuate Confession of sinnes in some cases allowed 3 220 a Why Paul ioyneth Confession vnto faith 3 262 b Outward actions be a certeine shew therof 2 316 ab Peters Confession was the rocke whereof Christ spake 4 83 ab Two sortes of Confession one in words another in workes 4 46 a The Confession of diuels howe they testified of Christ 1 13 b The antiquitie of auricular Confession confuted 3 218 b 219 b 217 ab 114 a The destruction of the West Church 4 252 b Sinne committed two manner of wayes therein 3 236 b Instéed of satisfaction 3 236 b Why it was inuented 3 225 a why abolished 3 218 b 219 a Confirmation The beginning of Confirmation and whether it be a sacrament 3 211 a Annoynting vsed in Confirmation 4 15 b ¶ Looke Sacrament Congregation To enter or to be one of the Congregation what it was among the Iewes 2 470 b ¶ Looke Church Coniunction What manner of Coniunction we haue with Christ 3 78 a 79 a 4 144 In the Eucharist by faith 4 175 b 176 a 179. 180 a No neede of his corporall presence thereto 3 79 ab Of the Coniunction of the soule with the bodie 3 316 a 317 b 328 b Two sortes of Coniunction of the members of the bodie of the church 3 78 b 79 a Coniuration By whome Coniurations must be vsed onely and alone 1 91 b Against them being vsed at the sepulchres of dead saints 1 68 b Certeine in the Church 1 91a The diuell faineth himselfe to be afraid of them 1 67 a Of Solomons exorcismes or Coniurations and why he vsed them 1 91 ab Origens opinion of exorcismes or Coniurations at the graues of dead saints 1 68 b Added to baptisme and why 4 128 b ¶ Looke Exorcisme Coniurers The Iewes had Coniurers or exorcistes among them and how long they continued 1 91 ab Of some which haue the name but want the grace due to the name â 91 b ¶ Looke Exorcists Magicians Conscience What Conscience is 3 165 b Of the wonderfull force thereof and wherein it appeareth 1 15 b In what cases it is to be beléeued 3 98 b Whether faith signifieth the same 3 98b How it is troubled after sinne committed 3 203ab Of feare comming of an euill Conscience 3 69 a The propertie and nature of the same 3 165 b 166 a Wherein it exerciseth her power 3 165 a How it may make a worke good or euill 3 165 a The féele of the same doeth testifie that there is a God how 1 12 b How necessarie a good one is 3 â65a b Whether it be a sufficient schoolemaister vnto vs. 3 166 a How another mans Conscience is wounded 3 164 a Consecration Consecration and dedication differ 4 124 b How the fathers vnderstand the worde Consecration 4 172 a Consecration of Princes by Bishops why 4 236 b 237 a Of temples houses citie walles c. 4 123 ab Consecration of prophane things to holie vses 4 247 b 248 a Of fruites 4 127 b Of Children 4 114ab Of the Consecration of Ministers 4 13 b Of meates 4 123 b Of fonts twise a yere 4 127 a Howe fowly they erre which closely mââ¦ter the wordes of Consecration at the sacrament 4 105 a Of what strength the names thereof be 4 123 a What thinges must be onely vsed in the outwarde ãâã 4 126 b The Popish Consecration of ministers 4 13 b 14 a 126 b Papisticall Consecration of churches 4 124 b 125 a 66a Why the papisticall kinde must be reiected 4 126 a Consolation Consolation by the scriptures in diuerse our distresses 1 44 b 45 ab Conspiracie Whether Conspiracie against Princes be lawfull 4 325 b 326 ab ¶ Looke Treason Constancie How perseuerance and Constancie do differ 3 184 ab The CoÌstancie of diuerse Ethniks 3 277 ab Of Anararchus and Zend in their torments 2 284 b Of M. Attilius Regulus 2 394 a 539 a Of the Iewes against the Macedonians and Romans 4 243 a Of Naboth 4 32 a 33 b Of Christ 2 620 a Contemplation Contemplation a great part of mans felicitie 1 5 a Eustratius opinion touching the same reiected and why 1 149 b 150 a And what felicitie is therein 1 149 b Whether the pleasures which spring of it do him 1 138 ab Who they be that giue them selues thereto 1 149b Reckened vp of Aristotle as an end 1 5 a The right vse of a life consisting in ciuill action and Contemplation 1 150 ab Of actuall Contemplation what the Philosophers and holy scriptures say thereof 1 16 b Why theologicall Contemplation goeth before actiue 1 16 b Contemplations Contemplations haue pleasure alwayes ioyned with them and why 1 135 b Contempt Three kindes of Contempt or contumelie 2 528b Of Gods word an heynous sinne 2 554 b Of good men purchaseth destruction proued 1 143 b In what case of the same imprecations and cursings are admitted 2 398 b 399 a Contentment An example for Contentment with our estate 3 188 b 259 b Contention Causes of Contention trouble 4 321 b 322 a The kinds thereof and when it is named a schisme 4 320 b Contention betwixt Aiaz and Vlisies and why 2 550 a Betwéene Augustine and Ierom. 2 544 b 545 a For the priesthood in Dauids time â 247 b Vespasians iudgement in a case of Contention betwéene a Senator and a knight of Rome 2 401 b Which partie is accusable in a Contention 4 323 a Paul at Contention with himself and reconciled 2 548 ab P. Martyrs opinion touching Contention about Religion 2 391 a ¶ Looke Schisme Contingent Things Contingent are foreséene of God onely 1 62 a ¶ Looke Chaunce Continuance Continuance in sinne is most detestable 2 554 b Contraries Whether Contraries may be deriued from one originall 3 289 b 290 a What is required in them 2 294 b 295 a What the rule of them is 3 290 a 213 b Their nature 4 202 a An argument drawen
the olde Iewes were saide to line vnder it 2 595 a Gods Spirite was giuen to them 2 592 b God is a Spirite no body and by what reasons the same is prooued 1 24b 25 a The power of Gods Spirite in raising vp the dead 3 349 b A reason why he sometimes taketh it away from men 1 181 b How it is not bound to persons 4 53 b How we are said to gréeue or make it sorrowfull 206 b 1 207 a Whether all men haue the Spirite of Christ 1 41 b Wee cannot drinke Christ without it 2 593b It is not graunted no not to the bodie of Christ that after his resurrection it should passe into a Spirite and why 1 25 a Why the holie Ghost is called by the name of Spirite 2 627 a It is the roote of the church 2 629 b 630 a The lawe cannot doe her office without it 2 593 a Two effects thereof 2 594 b Who they bee that are saide to haue the first frutes thereof 2 248 b Water and the Spirite taken to be both one 4 122 a Of the Spirite of the soule and the spirite of God 3 349b How it is meant that the Spirite of men and beastes is all one 3 36â a ¶ Looke Holie ghost Spirits Of wandering Spirits 3 326 b 327 a A definition of them out of Apuleius 1 78 b What maner of bodies they haue 1 80 b 81 a Manie causes why they are often times deceiued 1 82b 83 ab Of the ayer and that they see the scriptures of the Prophets and whatsoeuer is done in the Church 1 82 a To what ende they put on bodies 1 88 a That they can raise vp tempestes prooued 1 90 b Whether they see the thoughtes of men 1 83 b They that stirre by Prophets are somtimes good somtimes euill 1 19 a Of the knowledge which they haue 1 81 b They beguile the outwarde senses how 1 88 b 89 a Their power distinguished and how 1 85 b 81 b 84 b Whether they be bodies or but meere phantasies 1 87 b 88 a Among the celestiall there be orders and offices 1 120 b Their olde age their nimblenes and why they are termed flying 1 81 b 82 a They can perse through the massiest substances 1 87 a How Spirits worke things so suddenly and with such spéedinesse 1 86 ab The opinion of the platonists touching them and their substances 1 â8 b Whether they know things to come 1 81 b 82 a There be some which gouerne the spheres prooued 1 77 a Foure kinds mentioned in the scriptures 1 81 ab Both good and bad are called Demons 1 77 a Of some that be not impulsions of the minde but verie substances 1 81 a They bee present at the counsels of God and are called to execute his commaundement prooued 1 82 ab Whether the bodies of Spirits be elementarie 1 80b Of whom they which walke about the earth to our great harme were begotten as saith Lactantius and others 1 128 b 129 a Of a people in Norway which haue great familiaritie with Spirites 1 90 b Of Spirites which be aduersaries vnto God noted by Paule in the Ephesians 1 120 a Their offices and vnto what seuerall functions they are appointed 1 78 b In the vpper region of the aer prooued 1 80 b How they doe eate which prooueth them to haue bodies consisting of vital parts 1 88 a By what meanes they can giue answeres 1 84 a A diuision of them into sundrie sortes 1 78 b How Spirites be in a place 3 373 They take to themselues aierie bodies and how that is prooued 1 87 ab 88 a They gather the causes by the effects and how 1 82 b They that be created of God cannot bee séene with our bodily eyes 1 27 a Trisââ¦egistus denieth that there bée any at all and why 1 78 a A proofe of good Spirits out of the holy scriptures 1 79 a They do not deceiue and why 1 88 b They doe not obey Magicall inchantments saith Origen 1 73 b A proofe of euill Spirits out of the holie Scriptures 1 79 a They haue talked with God himselfe 1 74 a Whether it be lawfull to aske counsell of them 1 91 a They did oftentimes deceiue men 4 131 a They are mooued not onely vnto fleshly lust and other sensuall pleasures but also vnto crueltie 1 90 ab The vse of the power of euill Spirits is of two sorts and to whom the same belongeth 1 66 b 67 a By what meanes we must succour the possessed with them 4 132 b Of casting them out 4 129 b 130 ab Whether the Spirits of the deade wander vp and downe 3 326 b None of our bodies shal be so transformed in the blessed resurrection that they shal be come Spirits or cease to be bodies any longer 1 25 a Why Paul saieth that the Spirites of the Prophets are subiect to the Prophets 1 2â b The great number of administring Spirits reckened vp of Daniel and their offices 2 357 b Of the Spirits wherewith the fathers vnder the lawe and the spirite wherewith we vnder the Gospel are mooued 2 592 b Two rules for the trying of Spirits 4 46 a Howe to discerne betwéene the reuelation of good and euill â 37 a 4 45 b The gift of trying them ceased in the Church 4 59 a Spirituall It shall rise a Spirituall bodie expounded 3 359 b Spitle In Spitle is a propertie against poyson 4 127 b Added to baptisme 4 127 a A blind and a lame man healed of Vespasian by his Spittle 1 77 b Spoiles Of Spoiles taken in war what is determined â 3â3 304. 305. The diuision of them 4 306 b 307 a St. Stars What thinges are foretolde by Starres â 7 a State Adam was frée in his first State 2 253 a Foure differences of State in man at the least 2 253 a Stature The common Stature of men of our time 1 130 b Beautie and Stature doe nothing further vnto saluation 1 131 a The Stature of giants both out of holy scripture and Ethnike writers 1 130 ab Of mens bodies shal be lesse lesse saith Esdras 1 131 a The Stature of Saul and that hée was hier than the other Hebrues by the shoulders vpward 1 148 a Stealing Stealing away of seruants punished with death 2 518 b ¶ Looke Theft and Rapt Stewes Against the mainteining of the Stewes in Christendome 2 470b 471 a A sentence of Augustine for mainteining of them 2 471 a Common mainteined in Rome 2 472b 473 ab Iustinians greefe when he sawe them mainteined to néere to Gods Church 2 473 b Strangers A lawe for the reléefe of poore Strangers 2 521 a Strength The weakenesse of Strength is admitted for no excuse in the Ethnikes 1 14 b If by our owne Strength we cannot performe the lawe howe are we excusable â 14a ¶ Looke povver Students A lesson for Students touching these diet 3 174 a Su. Subiectes A distinction or
Circumcision and what it signified 150 a Baptisme and it be all one and how 150 a Collects and the reason of those praiers and their name 136 a Commandement which is the soule of all the rest 102 b 103 a The first and last obserued of none 167 b Commandements of God must be distinguished and how 160 b Foure in the first table and which they be 165 a Six in the second and what they be 165 a Why some are affirmatiue and some negatiue 169 b What we haue to note in the contents of the ten 164 b The coniunction of them 165 a The substance of them 164 a b Thrée kinds of actions handled in them 164 b What we must doo when two contrarie méet which cannot be performed both at once 166 a b 71 a b 72 a Commings of Christ in the scripture onelie two 231 b Common-weale and what kind of rule were good therein 163 a Platos imagined 52 a Communion or coniunction of vs with Christ 105 b 97 a What opinion Cyril held thereof 106 b The instruments or knots of the same 98 a Of the beginning and ending thereof 106 a Signes and tokens of it 98 a Distances of places hinder it not 97 b Of the Communion of the parts or members of the bodie 97 b Communion in the morning a deuise of man 119 b 120 a ¶ Looke Eucharist Concubines of the patriarchs were their wiues 152 a Concupiscence of two kinds recited in the last precept of the lawe 165 a Confession of sinnes both to God and men allowed 157 a Thrée maner of waies in the sacrifices 170 a How flight in persecution is a kind thereof 70 a Auricular must not be taken out of the church 170 a Coniunction of vs with Christ in the Eucharist 140 b 141 a b 106 a b 184 a b 220 a b 124 a b Disagréement touching the same 97 a Whether it be doon by Christ or by faith 126. How it is increased in Christ 124 b 125. 126 a 127 a A certeine kind common to all men in generall 105 b That the weakenesse of faith letteth it not 126 a Of the members of the church 139 a b 140 a b Of Christs humanitie and diuinitie 3 a b. Coniunctions two which we haue with Christ 97 a Conscience cléere a great comfort 112 b We must doo nothing against it 122 a b. Consecration is a sacramentall thing 242 b The force therof speciallie in the Eucharist 138 b 239 a When and how that of the bread in the Eucharist was made 212 a Consequent denied by denieng of the antecedent 130 b 131 a Constancie in persecution for true religion exhorted Read the 47. epistle beginning at pag. 139 Renewed in the godlie 145 b Consubstantiation of Luther and Brentius 153 b Contempt of Christ 3 b Contraries cannot be togither in one subiect at once 204 a b 205 a b. Contrition and how it is not effectuall to the remission of sinnes 157 a Controuersies about the vnderstanding of scriptures 187 a Conuersion and whether it be by compulsion 111 b 112 a 119 b Touching the power of God therein 108 b Thervnto we bring nothing actiuelie 117 b 118 a Whereto it and our disposition to doo good must be attributed 110 a b 111 a b 112 a b Of Paule 115 a Whether he therein were drawne by frée will 118 a b. Correction brotherlie extendeth to euerie estate 170 a Couenant and the definition and scope thereof 160 a What God requireth of vs to him ward therein 28 b 29 a That in the lawe and that in the Gospell all one 150 a What Iewes at this daie belong not to the same 150 b What God ment when in that which he made with the Leuites he promised peace 28 a b. Councels generall and how they are to be regarded 210 b 197 a b That they cannot erre as the Cardinall of Loren saith 152 b Not to relie or leane too much to them 249 a b. Counsell asking of God in euerie enterprise 38 a Court of leauing it or liuing in it 158 b Creation of all things and probable propositions concerning the same 144 a Creatures haue a substance circumscriptible 190 b How it commeth that some be cleane and some vncleane 147 b Wherin their holinesse standeth 163 a Crosse is Christs triumphant chariot 5 b 6 a 8 a How it maketh all things sauorie 9 a b How diuerslie men be addicted to the same 4 a Crucifix and of worshipping the same 121 a b The image thereof must not be on the table when the word is preached or the sacraments ministred 123 a b. Curiositie defined and what is intended thereby 152 a Why it dooth much hinder faith 163 a Cursses are lawfull for the godlie and so are oths 164 b What we are to gather by those that were laid vpon our first parents 146 a b. D. DAgon and the forme and figure of him being the Philistines god 86 b Dansing and what is thereof determined 161 a Deacons and whie they were ordeined in the church 50 a 42 b Dead and touching their buriall in chosen places and speciallie in temples 152 a Death more feared in the time of the lawe than of the Gospell 149 a Of bodie and soule set before Adam 145 a Of sorrowing and reioising therein and the causes thereof 155 b The crueltie therof complained of 82 a How the godlie desire that which they feare 67 a How the feare of the same is not of it selfe faultie 73 a b. Of two sorts the one bodilie the other spirituall 74 b Within what bounds the feare thereof must be restrained 67 b A thing to be feared 66 a How it dooth alwaies bring feare 67 a Whether there be a faultinesse in the feare thereof 66 a Not good by it selfe 67 a Whether the feare thereof in a Christian man be sinne 65 b A sermon of Christs 1 a and so forward In what respect he stroue with it 5 a Dearth and prouision against it when and by whom to be made 157 a Disagreement and bearing of hatred differ 176 a b. Discipline ecclesiasticall and how necessarie a thing it is 88 b Where the rule thereof must be sought for 89 a Vnder what pretense it is reiected 88 b Disputations must not be counted vnprofitable nor refused and whie 176 a Diuell let loose and at libertie 103 b Diuine is a god speking among men 49 b. Diuinitie a sermon concerning the studie of the same 43 b and so forward The ancientnesse thereof 45 b The vtilitie and profit of it 46 a The worthinesse thereof 45 a 249 a b Schooles for it and what ought to be read in them 89 a b The cheefe thing whereby to iudge matters thereof 210b How that when it is commended vnder one labour are reaped two fruits 44 b The nature and propertie of it set foorth by similitudes 56 b A kind thereof condemned whie 54 a A definition thereof 56 b Diuinitie or Godhead and a distinction
or diuersitie made in the essence thereof 103 a ¶ Looke God and Trinitie Doctrine must not be grounded on doubtfull spéeches 134 a Drawe how God draweth vs vnto him is shewed by similitudes 111 b 112 a Dreames and whie being sent from God they are granted to some vnbeléeuers 156 b Of the obseruation of them and whether it be lawfull 151 a Euen vaine ones dooth GOD vse in most weightie matters 37 b Droonkards must be excommunicated 151 a What we are to determine of the euils doone by them 151 a Droonkennesse and in whom it is to be condemned and in whom not 148 a In the vice thereof what is sinne and what not 151 a E. ELection and whether it depend of works foreséene 131 a b Gods and mens are diuerse 131 a. Elements and in what sort they be in compounded bodies 183 b. Errors are not particularlie condemned in the scriptures 135 a b Diuerse their fauourers 135 b 136 a ¶ Looke Heresie Eucharist consisteth of two things earthlie and heauenlie 183 b 232 b whether the bodie of Christ giuen therein be passible or impassible 204 a A comparison of our change with the change of bread in it 183 a Origins opinion that the naturall substance thereof is cast into the draught 182 a How both bread and the bodie of Christ is giuen therein 186 b Whether the bread in it be metaphoricall 215 b 216 a 235 b 236 a Whether the bodie of Christ be corporallie and substantiallie in it 188 a 189 a b c. 226 b c. 243 b 244 a c. Thrée questions touching the same disputed of 175. The word of God hath both that Christs bodie and the bread is therein 198 b How Christ is therein shewed by comparison 280 a As Christ blessed bread so he gaue bread in the same 198 b Two kinds of analogie therin 195 b The aduersaries will not decrée that by the power of Christ bread can remaine and the bodie of Christ be giuen in it 198 a To what end Augustine made mention to Dardanus thereof 190 a It dooth not derogate from the maiestie of Christ to haue bread present therein 198 b That in these words thereof This is my bodie is a figure is shewed for thrée causes 199 b 201 a A sacramentall change of the bread into Christs bodie in it 213 b 214 a b 215 a 240 241 c. Certeine propositions like vnto this This is my bodie vsed therin 199 a What is to eate Christ therein 208 b 209 a Why Christ spake of his ascension in the words thereof 200 a Whether the wicked receiued the bodie of Christ therin 207 b 208 209 245 b The aduersaries saie that the bodie of Christ therein consisteth not of quantitie 205 b 206 a A place of Paule touching the same expounded 200 b Of consecration of the bread and wine therein when and how 212 a If Christ were carnallie present in the same he should hinder our spirituall commoditie 208 a Two sorts of nourishment therin 227 a How the eating of Christs bodie therin must be vnderstood 211 a What bread Christ tooke and gaue therein 211 b 212 b 213 a Of the change of bread therein after consecration 234 a Touching vnleuened bread in the same 123 a The same bodie of Christ is receiued therein which hoong vpon the crosse but diuerslie 243 b 244 a Why the sacrament thereof was instituted 1 a The peace of the church dooth much depend vpon a pure communicating therof 88 a The force of faith in receiuing it 244 a That which is changed therein remaineth as touching the subiect 218 a That the figure is not the thing figured 203 b 202 a b 201 a b We receiue whole Christ in the same yet by faith 88 a Euerie thing cannot be a signe of Christ bodie as that is 245 b After what maner we be trulie changed into Christ therin 220 b 221 a By the definition of a sacrament is prooued that bread remaineth therin 197 b This proposition The bread is the bodie of Christ in the same is not vnpossible 237 b 238a A place of Ambrose touching the similitude of Christ his death and his bloud therein 202 b 203 a Excessiue spéeches vsed about the same 219 a b 220 a Why bread must be reteined in it 179 a How the bread is said to be made flesh therein 218 b A confirmation of the reasons against the reall presence of Christ therein 230 b 231. Augustine saith that Christ gaue a signe of his bodie therein 203 a The force of consecration in the same 238 b 239 a we no lesse receiued Christ in his word than in it 231 a What bodie of Christ we receiue therein 195 b The Cardinall of Loren mainteineth reall presence therein 154 b 155 a A comparison betwéene the sacrament thereof and the person of Christ 179 b 180 a The outward signe is named both bread and the bodie of Christ therein 242 a b It is a signe of a thing which substantiallie corporallie and reallie is absent 202 b A controuersie at Strasborough touching it 53 a With what faith wée receiue the bodie of Christ therein 96 a b Whether in the church it is had without the bodie and bloud of Christ 164 a Gardiners book touching it confuted by P. Martyr 94 b The controuersie about it made manifest 100 b Against diuers fond deuises touching the doctrine thereof 162 a b Bezas opinion of the bread and wine therin 150 b 154 b Of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã therein 161 b 162 a With what mouth it is receiued 87 b 88 a What is the end of receiuing the same 230 b The true eating thereof 231 a 163 164 Most perstilent séeds of idolatrie in the same 87 b Note that bread is the bodie of Christ therein which the aduersaries denie 242 a The bodie of the Lord therein is said of that which as touching power is insensible 185 b Of our coniunction with Christ therein 220 a b 127 a b 184 a b. Excommunication prefigured in Adam cast out of paradise 146 b The end therof 89 a Vnto whom the right therof belongeth 88 b 26 b 27 a F. FAith the instrument whereby we atteine eternall life 126 b Whole Christ receiued in the Eucharist thereby 88 a Why curiositie dooth much hinder it 163 a Of what kind baptisme is a sealing 137 b Why a weake one ought not to be despised 160 b The force thereof shewed by the force of imagination 155 a Of our communion with Christ therby 98 a 125 b 126 a With what kind we receiued the bodie of Christ in the Eucharist 96 a b. How necessarie it is in receiuing the Lords supper 138 b The word goeth naturallie before it 114 b That the weakenesse thereof letteth not the coniunction that we haue with Christ 126 a The force thereof in making things far distant to be present 140 a What is and is not the rule thereof
by washing of garments 163 a Signified by they barrennes of women in the old testament 152 b Therevnto we bring nothing actiuelie 117 b 118 a The Pelagian heresie of deseruing grace before it 106 a b 107 a The will dealeth passiuelie therein and how 118 b The state of man before after and in it 102 a Reioising in afflictions and troubles and what the world iudgeth of the same 25 b Religion and whether for it our calling and countrie must be forsaken 76 a Against delaie in reforming thereof 87 a How hardlie the aduersaries deale with the professors of it 74 b 75 a The example of Dauid in restoring it 59 b How heinous a sinne it is to abiure it 75 b Whose office it is to purge and cleare it of superstitions 154 b 60 b 61 a Persecution in England for it 92 a b 95 a And flight 93 a The principall point and summe thereof in Dauids time 59 b How hurtfull the loue of riches is to it 141 a.b Touching the abiuration thereof and remedies for the same 145 a b 146 a b Of constancie in persecution for it read the 47. epistle beginning at page 139. Whether in baptisme regard is to be had of the ministers 137 a b 138 a That of mans deuising inchanteth and how 20 a A forme of praier to be vsed of and for them that be fallen from the true Religion 143 b 144 a b. Relikes of Christ 4 a Remembrance of what things it is 199 b Whether it may be of a thing present 200 a Whie it is attributed vnto God 147 b Remission of sinnes dependeth not wholie on baptisme 148 a How contrition is not effectuall to the same 157 a How it is ment that the old ceremonies gaue none 168 b Repentance ioined with true inuocation 158 b How it is said to fall in God 147 b The mother thereof and the effects of the same 145 a 140 b Thrée sorts of it 160 a That and true faith ioined together 170 b Effectuall with examples of the same 145 a b A long time of Repentance granted before the floud Looke 147 a. Reprobate their maners and behauiours when they are fallen into sinnes 144 b The difference betwéene them and the predestinate after they are fallen 143 b. Reprobation defined 131 a. Whether sins or what else is the cause thereof 131 a Reproches a bréefe summe of them that Christ suffered 3 b Reason and whether the determination of the true meane of vertues belongeth therevnto 47 b Restitution and what and how it is preferred before sacrifice 170 b Resurrection of Christ and whie it was first shewed to women 9 b 10 a How his is auailable vnto vs 11 a Diuerse circumstances or accidents about it 10 a b Whether Christs body after it was without all thicknesse 221 b 222 a c. Diuerse testimonies thereof in the old and new testament 10 a b 11 a In Christs his humane nature behaued it selfe passiuelie 124 a A sermon concerning the same 9 b and so forward Of ours with Christ and wherein it consisteth 11 a b That of the dead mentioned in the old time 159 a Ours is not past but begoone and how 11 b The hope thereof bringeth true consolation of death 155 b Reuenge and whie it belongeth not to priuate men 166 b Riches and that the vse and possession of them is lawfull for Christians 148 b How hurtfull the loue of them is to religion 141 a b How a Christian is bound to leaue and forsake them 148 b 149 a Righteousnesse imputed and inherent 149 b 150 a Against the essentiall of Ofianders feigning 91 b 92 a S. SAbboth commanded to be kept and yet violated and dispensed withall 71 b Propositions necessarie touching the same 166 a What is the true one 144 b What works might and might not be done on the same 166 a Two causes whie it was commanded 165 a Sacrament defined 245 b 140 a 132 b Of what two things it consisteth 194 b 132 b It consisteth not of two things before blessing and why 183 b The nature thereof is more kept in signification than in bodilie presence 231 b Whether the bread thereof should beleuened or vnleuened 184 b A figure in the words This is my bodie prooued froÌ the nature of it 200 b Touching the reall presence of Christ therein 204 a 179 a and so forward The error of the Anabaptists touching the same 177 a Not nature but the power of God is it that frameth it 240 b The benefit and frute thereof 179 b 180 a If the word come vnto the clement thereof it dooth not thrust it out 196 a Of our coniunction with Christ in the same 106 a b 107 b 127 a 98 a 140 b 141 a Whether Christ be therein by transubstantiation or reallie 176 b 177 a The difference betwixt it and a sacrifice 132 b Two kinds of eating and two kinds of bread therin 215 b 216 a What that is which is changed in the same 241 b Whether it must be kept in churches 161 b What presence of Christ there is therein 139 a b That we partake the Lords bodie in the same though it be absent 140 a By bread in the sixt of Iohn the Lord vnderstood not a signe thereof but his owne flesh 236 b Sacraments take no worthinesse or vnworthines through the ministers of the word 133 b They must not be ministred with the crucifix vpon the table 123 a b Those of the old and new testament touching Christ compared 246 b 247 a b 118 a How the diuine essence infuseth it selfe into them 232 a b Whether they of the old law were better than ours 247 a b 248 a Some honour due to the signes of them 170 a Whether they of the new testament giue grace 247 a b The propertie of them touching bodie and mind 88 a How they differ from the things which they signifie 87 b Faith is more holpen by ours than by those of the fathers 247 b 248 a b. The plainer that rites be in them the better they be 88 a How they are dangerous to the receiuers and abhominable to God 170 b Wherevnto the ministerie of them dooth apperteine 124 b. Too much ascribed to them by the Lutherans 138 a b. Why they are so called 209 b They be visible words 231 a Against such as neglect to receiue them 159 b What things are distributed to the people by them 133 b 134 a Whether they being eate and droonke for other men doo auaile 134 b What is required that they may be honourablie celebrated 160 b How grace is exhibited by them 150 a Neither too much nor too little must be ascribed to them 87 b That an analogie must be kept in them and how 195 b Sacrifice what it is and the nature thereof 168 b 132 a The difference betwéen a propitiatorie and a gratulatorie 132 a b A feigned difference betwéene bloudie and vnbloudie 135 a What it is that
the sacraments 170 a The coniunction of them with the things signified 139 b 140 a Similitude and in what things it must hold 232 b Sinne punished with sinne 130 b Whether a lesse is to be committed for the auoiding of a greater 150 b What necessitie therof is in men 126 b 104 b 105 a How it had place in Christ and how it is in vs 4 b 5 a How it is ment that God would it not 119 b What be the properties which followe it 146 a Why the préests is more gréeuous than the peoples 170 a What we haue to gather when a place where it much reigneth is spared 151 a How it is ment that euerie one shal be punished for his owne 170 b 171 a When it shall be possible for vs not to commit anie 105 a How it is remitted and reteined 26 a How the feare of death is Sinne 67 a b Whether the same in Christ be so and how it is to be considered in vs 66 a b 67 a The difference of the predestinate and reprobate after they are fallen thereinto 143 b 144 a b. Sinne originall and who are guiltie thereof and who absolued from it 147 b 148 a How it commeth to passe that the soule is defiled therewith 148 a Sinne veniall and that the lawfull vse of matrimonie is so counted 167 a Sinnes of committing and omitting 169 b. What those of the old fathers doo shew vs 153 a Forgiuen in sacrifice and how 168 b The regenerate cannot be without them 125 b. 104 b 105 a Not the cause of reprobation 131 a We be naturallie giuen to hide them 156 b Sinners whether they are to be withdrawne from knowledge of the scriptures 48 a Why Christ would haue certeine in his stocke 156 b. Singing in the church lawfull 160 b. 161 a Soldiers their dutie and charge and how they misbehaue themselues 19 a Solitarinesse disallowed 53 b Sonnes of God which are said to haue gone in to the daughters of men c. 147 a. Sorrowe of manie doubled whie it dooth lighten a heauie mind 82 b Where remedies therein are to be found 83 a b. Soule is not deriued à seminâ genitali to the children 146 a The substance thereof and that it is created 148 a How it commeth to passe that it is defiled with originall sinne 148 a Whether the bloud be all one with it 203 b What must be vnderstood when it is so called 141 a An error touching the mortalitie of the same 136 a The reasonable commeth not by the strength of nature 145 b Spirit of God the fortitude thereof and that it is not in all alike 72 b The Demon or good Spirit of Socrates 38 a State of men distinguished 102 a. Stewes are not tollerable in a common-wealth 156 b Suffer and how Christ is said to doo so at this daie 7 b Sunne and whie God placed it in an high place 39 b Superstitions must not be pared awaie but rooted out 87 b Diuerse papisticall ones iniurious to Christ 7 b 8 a Peter Martyrs praier against all maner of them 251. 252. Supper of the Lord and whie it maybe called a sacrifice 147 b 132 b How the vnfaithfull are partakers thereof 139 b Christ receiued by faith therein 138 b Of the outward signes thereof 168 b An exhortation to the mysticall receiuing therof 137 a b From what things we depart in departing from it vnreceiued 138 a Why Iohn in describing it maketh mention of the flesh and bloud of Christ 237 a The Lord offereth himselfe to be eaten of the beléeuers both in it and out of it 238 a How the bodie and bloud of Christ is present in the same 164 a 139 b 140 a Surplis and whether it were a popish inuention 119 a b. A pretended honest signification for the same 119 b. Swearing the vse and abuse thereof 151 b Thrée formes thereof vsed in the scriptures 143 a T. TEmple of God at Ierusalem why it was defiled and burned 12 a How long it laie ruinated 23 a Reedified c. restored and by whom 12 a What causes hindered the Iewes from building it 14 a b 15 a c. Tempt GOD who doo so and by what meanes 152 a 148 b Temptation what it is whether God be the author thereof and of resisting the same 151 b Of Adam and Eue read page 146 a. Why permitted by God 146 a Testament old new how they differ 6 a Testimonies of God vnto vs in the scripture 13 b Theft punished by death 157 a b What mens actions fall within the compasse of it 166 b The Israelites could not be reprooued thereof when they robbed Aegypt 167 a Titles and the diuers ends of them and names inuented by the godlie and vngodlie 147 a Transubstantiation forsaken by expresse words of the Cardinall of Loren 150 a 152 b Manie absurdities do followe it as how 230 a b Proofes for the doctrine thereof 229. 230. 235 b 236 c. 238 b 239 a What kind were to be wished in the church 22 a Whether these words This is my bodie may be doone without it 185 a b Against it and reall presence 88 a 176 b 177 a 24 b The chéefe principle for the which it is denied 221 b Thereby is peruerted the nature of things 229 b A similitude brought to prooue it disprooued 196 b 197 a b Why the scriptures admit none 215 a None of bread and wine in the Eucharist 178 b 179 a b. Tree of life and the trée of good and euill 145 b Who eate the fruit of it 166 a Trinitie and whether the angels that spake with Abraham giue vs a notice thereof 150 b Truth and diuers waies whereby it is established 79 a Who haue changed it into a lie and how 86 b What it is to deteine it in vnrighteousnesse 86 a Tyrants estate touching their regiment most miserable 8 a b Whether priuate men may rise against them and slaie them 155 b Tythes and wherto the institution of them dooth serue 118 a V. VBiquists error touching Christs naturall bodie conuinced 102 b 139 a Vbiquitie of Christs naturall bodie prooued and disprooued 10 b 86 b 88 a 162 a 188 a 189 a b 205 b 221 b 222 a Proper and peculiar to God onelie 190 b Vertue ciuill and the end thereof 104 b Vertues of the Ethnikes fruitlesse and why 47 b 48 a Whereto they are compared 25 a Vices of whom pleasure and idlenesse are the nursses 49 b Violence and how it is lawfull to repell it by violence 167 a 157 a Violent defined 118 b Vnitie charitie with their two plags 2 a Vnrighteousnesse and what it is to deteine the truth of God therein 86 a Vnthankfulnes must not cause vs to leaue off from dooing well vnto men 157 b Vocation ¶ Looke Calling Vowes wherein they stand and what we haue to note in them 154 a Vrim and Thumim and what they signifie 30 b Vsurie of what kind the
in the bread without bloud and whether there is bloud in the wine without the bodie If they say there is they diuide the humane nature by the two partes of the mysterie which cannot be committed without impietie since the bloud bodie and humane nature of Christ are vnited by a perpetuall coniunction But if they will say that these thinges bee together and will feigne those straÌge Concomitancies of theirs this at the leastwise they cannot escape but that they shal double the bodie of Christ to wit wholy vnder the wine and wholy vnder the bread appointing the same as they will haue it vnder their Accidentes XII Lastly there happeneth vnto the wordes of Christ lesse than is pronounced by them in the partes of the Sacrament since they affirme the bread to be the bodie alone and the wine to be the bloud alone These be the principall and chiefe poyntes which are contained in my booke of confession against Gardiner as farre as concerne the Arguments and confirmations of our part And now this remaineth that I lay before the courteous reader some sayinges as it were certaine sentences out of the which not onelie all our Argumentes in a manner are drawen but whereby also the reasons of our aduersaries may easilie be confuted And so all this disputation will become both plaine and easie Sayinges or sentences out of vvhich c. I. Christ in the holy supper called the very bread his bodie and the very wine his bloud whereupon it commeth that they cannot vnderstaÌd his wordes This is my bodie simply and without a figure since neither the bread nor the wine can properly and truelie be the bodie bloud of Christ II. These wordes This is my bodie and This is my bloud be figuratiue formes of speeche whereby God pronounced of the outwarde signes the things which are signified III. To eate the flesh or the bodie of the Lorde and to drinke his bloud is to beleeue that these things were giuen for vs as a price of our redemption and that vnto these are ioyned those thinges which for our sakes were taken away vppon the crosse IIII. The humane nature of Christ from his ascension into heauen vntill his last comming when he shall iudge the world is no where else but in heauen V. In the faithfull receauing of the Eucharist we are not onely in soule or minde through faith ioyned to the bodie and bloud of Christ but we become partakers of the spirit grace and vertue of the Lord not in deed by the power of the woorke but through his goodnesse and faithfull promise VI. Wicked men doe not eate the very flesh and bloud of Christ except so far foorth as they vse the outward signes the bread I meane and the wine which in their kinde of manner be are called the bodie bloud of Christ VII We are no lesse ioyned to Christ in baptisme thaÌ we be in the Eucharist Wherefore the presence of him and the receauing of him which is spirituall is to be affirmed alike in both VIII The fathers in the olde Testament did eate the bodie and bloud of Christ as touching the matter it selfe no otherwise than we doe IX Onely the faithfull doe truely and spirituallie receaue the bodie bloud of the Lord and that by faith inasmuch as it is the onely instrument of ioyning vs vnto Christ X. Our bodies after a certaine manner are nourished and restored to eternall lyfe by the bodie and bloud of Christ XI We our selues by a faithfull participation of the Lordes supper are fed vp and in a manner transelementated by a certaine kinde of spirituall change into the bodie of Christ XII By the incarnation of the sonne of God we communicate with him in flesh and bloud forsomuch as we beleeue he tooke our flesh vppon him and on the otherside while in communicating we imbrace through faith his bodie and bloud which were giueÌ for vs vnto death we are spiritually made partakers of them XIII The word of the holy scriptures or the hearing or sense of them in asmuch as it is receaued by faith is the bodie of Christ and the bread whereby our mindes are nourished XIIII The congregation of beleeuers is the bodie of Christ whereof he himselfe is the head and we also both are and are called his members XV. The poore those which be oppressed for the name of Christ be his bodie Thereupon came that voyce vnto Paul Why doest thou persecute me XVI Miracles that haue otherwhile bin shewed about the signes of the Eucharist doe neither proue a change of the substance of the Elementes thereof neither yet a reall and substantiall presence of the bodie XVII A spirituall presence of the bodie vnto them which doe communicate without doubt signifieth not to be inuisiblie but yet properlie present as the Papistes say but that it be present to our faith and spirite no otherwise than his death which we truelie beleeue and then the good thinges of the life to come which we expect with a most assured hope the presence whereof can onely be referred to our faith and spirite XVIII Truelie our aduersaries speake many thinges of the consecration of the bread and wine but whether it be performed by praiers or by words that they cannot determine XIX In the Eucharist we admit no other sacrifice than the sacrifice of thanksgiuing of prayers and of offering vp of our owne selues and these sacrifices must not onely be offered vp of the Minister but also of the people that communicate XX. Also we graunt that a sacrifice is there in respect that there is a commemoration of the true sacrifice and the sacraments that is the outwarde signes which are proposed are signes of the same true sacrifice and by the institution of the Lorde doe set foorth the same vnto the Communicants The sentences which I haue now rehearsed the prudent and gentle reader of my Booke shall finde not onely to be handled therein but also to bee confirmed by many testimonies aswell of the Scripture as of the Fathers Wherefore if it shall like him to haue all this whole coÌtrouersie plainlie and euidently described as it were in a certaine table let him with an attentiue minde and often repetition make himselfe well acquainted fyrst with these sentences and then with the reasons which I haue brought in this Abridgement for in so doing I hope he shall both reape profit and it shal neuer repent him of the labour he hath bestowed 1561. The eleuenth Chapter Whether it be lawfull in the Communion to vse one onely kinde In 1. Cor. 10. OVr aduersaries endeuour by many Arguments to defend the most shamefull mayming of this sacrament which they haue brought in The first reason of the aduersaries In déede they graunt that the Church while it was yet ignoraÌt vsed both the kinds but afterward when it vnderstoode that the one part might suffice especially the laitie to preuent the error of some which might
thinke that the bodie of Christ in the sacrament is giuen seuered from the bloud and the bloud seuered from the bodie it decréed that onely the Priests shoulde vse both kindes in the Masse and that to the people onely the one kinde shoulde be distributed The 2. reason The 3. reason Further they saie that it was authorized by the Councell of Constance Moreouer they contriue the Commaundements of God into two principall points Some of them they will haue to remaine perpetuallie firme and vnshaken so as they may neuer be violated among which sort they place the moralles The others doubtlesse they appoint to be those which concerne outward things of which kind be the Ceremonies and sacraments And these they will not haue to be so necessarie but that according to the place and time they maie be changed The 4. reason They maintaine also that it was no wrong to the ChristiaÌ people that one kinde is taken from them For the bodie of Christ say they is not giuen in the forme of bread without bloud euen as in the cuppe also the bloud is not had without the bodie They likewise alleadge The 5. reason that the libertie of Christ his Church is far greater than was the libertie of the Synagogue that therefore it is lawfull for the Church to change more things in our Ceremonies than was permitted to the fathers of the olde Lawe For we are not vnder the law as seruants but as frée meÌ vnder grace And they indeuour to shew that sometimes the Church in manie rites altered euen in verie matter First of all they say The 6. reason that it dipped not them which be baptised according as the Gréeke word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifieth but it onelie sprinkled or after a strange manner washed Neither is it to be doubted but that those which so be washed must be holden as baptized Cyprian séeing that Cyprian béeing demaunded whether they which were baptised in yéelding vp the ghost should be iudged as baptized for they lay in the bed and being oppressed with the force of sickenesse might neither be dipped nor yet washed but onelie sprinkled wherefore they should seeme not to be baptized that man of God aunswereth that they had perfect baptisme The 7. reasoÌ 2 They vaunt also that in baptisme the wordes haue sometime béene altered séeing in the Actes of the Apostles the 8. Acts. 8. 16. 10. 48. Chapter we reade that baptisme was giuen in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ when as notwithstanding in the Gospell the Lorde commaunded his disciples that they should baptize in the name of the father and of the Sonne The 8. reasoÌ and of the holie ghost Yea and they alleage that at this day the order prescribed by Christ is peruerted Matt. 28. ve 19. 20 For he commanded that they should first teach and then baptize But wee deale otherwise we first baptize infantes afterward when they are growen we teach theÌ The 9. reasoÌ And againe they say that that which Christ did is not obserued in our communion For we receaue the sacraments fasting whereas he distributed them when he and his Apostles had supped The 10. reason We also choose vnto our selues the morning whereas hée made his supper in the euening Neither doo we washe féete whereas he first washed his disciples féete and commaunded that one should wash an others féete The 11. reason In like maner they alleage the commaundement of the Apostle 1. Cor. 11. 4 to wit That a man should not pray or prophesie with his head couered nor yet a woman with her head bare Which at this day is not so carefully preciselie obserued Also a decrée of the first Councell The 12. reason Acts. 15. 29 which was held in time of the Apostles namelie that the Gentiles should abstaine from bloude and strangled The 13. reason is abolished And these fellowes cauill that the case of the Apostles with whom the Lord in his last supper communicated is not like the case of the Christian people For they were ordained by Christ to be Préests wherefore they say that iustlie and vpon good cause there was ordained an other disposition of the communion for the lay people The 14. reason They faine likewise that Christ otherwhile distributed the Eucharist vnder one kinde to his disciples especiallie when he went with them vnto the towne of Emaus where they are said to haue knowen him in breaking of bread Luk. 24. 35. Whereupon they argue that we offende in séeking to establishe a doctrine precept onely by one action of Christ Further they crie out that the consent of the Catholike Church maketh for them The 15. reason and they alleage causes whereby they are led to minister onelie one kinde vnto the laitie The 16. reason The first they say is least the wine should be spilt which might easilie happen if it should bée ministred to the whole multitude The 17. reason The other cause is for that it were requisit that as well wine as bread shoulde bee reserued for the sicke and ministered vnto them whensoeuer they should aske it which might not conueniently be doone because wine is so soone and easilie corrupted The 18. reason Besides this they obiect that there be many which drinke no wine who being able to receiue onely one part if both partes were of necessitie they woulde thinke that neither they communicate rightly neither that they haue the whole Sacrament Lastly The 19. reason they alleage the honour of the ministerie for they haue iudged it méete that more shoulde be attributed vnto their Massing Priests than vnto the general multitude Neither would they that the communion of the laitie should be of equall dignitie or estimation with the Masse I haue wel-néere recited their Arguments which be of most force 3 Nowe on the contrarie part I will shewe our reasons Against the mangling of the Eucharist whereby shall be shewed how grieuously they offend in this mangling of the Lordes Supper First they depart from the institution of Christ and preach an other Gospell than he himselfe and his Apostles haue preached And this doth excéedingly iarre from godlinesse This in diuinitie ought to bee a chiefe principle whereby all things must be resolued The Lorde saide It is the word of the Lord that indureth for euer From the which 1. Pet. 1. 25. if we shoulde be called backe to mens fancies since they often change we shall haue nothing firme in religion but we shall be driuen from certeinties to vncerteinties and the authoritie of men shall be equall to the authoritie of God The 2. reasoÌ Gal. 1. 8. Vnto the Galathians it is written If wee or an Angell from heauen shall preach otherwise let him be accursed But and if that Paul wil neither haue Angels nor Apostles to bee heard which affirme any thing contrarie to the