nature For albeit that a man may not see and perceyue the substances but by their accidents it foloweth not for all that that all accidents do agree with euery substance but are attributed vnto them according to their nature and distinguished as thei are or otherwise al nature should be confounded in a marueilous cōfusion of substances and accidents And further wee haue to note that among accidents there be some that are so proper and natural to their substance whereof they be accidents that they may not be separated without corrupting the subiect which sustayneth them in sort that when they shall be separated it is no more that which it was when they were ioyned vnto it And by this meane the bread the wine may be no more bread and wine if they haue not the colour the sauour the other qualities which are proper and naturall vnto them And if they cannot be that which they should naturally bee without their natural qualities and other accidentes their qualities and accidents may much lesse be without their substance Chap. iii. That the bread and the wine of the Supper can not be the true signes of the same if they do not remayne alway bread wine in their proper substance and nature and that the transsubstanciators cannot couer their errour with a couer of miracle FRom whence it followeth of two thinges the one which is that the bread wine remaine alwaies bread and wine aswell after the pronunciation of the sacramentall woordes as before forsomuch as they doe alwayes keepe their first nature as all the senses may iudge the which are not false or els it must be that there is some illusion which deceiueth the senses and that maketh the thinges to appeare otherwise then they are in deede by meane whereof the signes should be false not true signes Wherefore being false they could not be fignes of true things for the trouth cannot be represented by a lie nor the true by a false forsomuch as there must needes be a true correspondance betwene the signes and the thinges which they signifie They must then confesse that the accidents are wholly without substance and without subiect against the whole order of God and of nature or els that the accidents of bread and of wine be the accidents of the bodie of the bloud of Iesus Christ and that the same body and the same bloud are the subiect and the substance of them On which side soeuer they will take it Note they shal alwaies fall into marueilous absurdities For they may not here alledge miracle if that they will not by that meanes ouerthrowe the whole nature of the miracles of God as by their doctrine they do ouerthrowe the whole order of nature For as the power of God may not be separated from his wisdome by the which he neuer employeth his power but wisely and keeping alwaies good order euen so no more doth hee be it that he worke naturally or supernaturally but that he maketh that which he hath made that that which is is the same in deede that it is For if it were otherwise he should be against him selfe and against his owne woorkes Note And therefore albeit that he be almightie yet for all that he doth not neither also will he doe that the bread and the wine shall be bread and wine and that notwithstanding they shall not be at al and that they are are not at all euen together that which they are and that he would that they should be The which thing they should be if the bread and the wine of the supper did keepe continually their former nature as they do in deed and the experience sheweth if and yet for al that they should not hold their proper substance without the which they could not haue nor kepe their naturall vertue as in deede they do hold it aswell after the consecration as before And if they wil not confesse it they must then needes confesse that the naturall senses which God hath giuen vs doe deceyue vs and that the bodily and outward senses doe shewe false things to the spiritual and inward senses And if it be so there is then the woorke of God corrupted and his order wholly peruerted For euen as wee may not separate his wisedome from his power no more may wee also separate his will the which wee cannot knowe but so farre forth as he declareth by his worde Nowe he hath not declared vnto vs by the same that the bread which should be baked betweens two hote prons should be conuerted into the body of his sonne Iesus Christ by the vertue of certaine wordes spoken ouer it by the priests so appointed qualified as they are in the Romaine Church nor that the same hath euer bene done nor that it shall be done as he hath declared that his sonne should take vnto him our flesh and that he should be conceyued in the wombe of a virgine of whom he should be borne and that he should be conuersant not inuisibly but visibly among men Euen so is it of all the other articles of our faith But of that of Transsubstanciation there is no one Prophet which hath euer prophecied any thing nor Apostle no Euangelist that euer wrote any thing in such sorte as the transsubstanciatours doe expound it and set it forth For this cause the true auncient Church and the auncient doctors and diuines of the same by whose handes wee haue receiued al the symboles which the Church yet at this day vseth which doe conteyne the Articles of our faith haue not set downe any thing touching this Transsubstanciation nor no one of them which doe depend no not in the very symbole the which the priestes doe recite and sing in their masse Chapter iiii That the doctrine of transsubstanciation can not be true without spoyling of Iesus Christe and his humaine nature NOw if they take their second point whereof I haue lately spoken they redouble their faulte for by that meane they spoyle Iesus Christ of the proprieties without the which his humaine nature cannot be a true humaine nature in sort that they giue him a humaine bodie the which altogether and at one time shal be a humaine and not a humaine bodie For it cannot be a true humaine bodie if it haue not al that which is proper to a true humaine bodie and without the which it cannot be an humaine bodie be it glorified or not glorified For it must needes be alway that a bodie be a bodie be it glorified or not and not a spirite and that it doe keepe alway his naturall proprieties without the which it cannot be a true bodie and such as God hath created it and would that it should be For euen as the soule of man vnited to his bodie cannot be a bodie because that it is a spirite but remayneth alway a soule and spirite euen so the
bodie cannot be the soule because it cannot be a spirite or els if it be conuerted into spirit it is no more a bodie as also the spirite is no more the spirite if it be conuerted into bodie The like is of the bodie and of the soule of Iesus Christe and of his diuine and humaine nature of the which euery one of them holdeth so continually his proprieties that the one cannot be that which the other is For albeit that they be vnited together by personall vnion yet for all that they remaine alway distinct in their vnitie according to their proprieties and not confused in sort that the one cannot be the other wherefore we may not say at all that the diuinitie is the humanitie or that the humanitie is the diuinitie nor that the one is conuerted into the other For if there were such a conuersion they should no more be that which they are but should be chaunged into other natures which thing cannot be For God can neuer be but God Wherefore he can not be conuerted into man but he may well vnite man to him selfe as he hath done in the person of his sonne Iesus Christ In likewise man can not be conuerted into God forsomuch as he is a creature that God which is the creator of all cannot be created but is without beginning as he is without end and infinite the which thing can not agree with any creature From whence it foloweth that the Goddes which are created and that haue had any beginning are no Goddes at all but are onely creatures or else illusions And as the substaunce of God cannot be conuerted into that of man nor that of man into that of God for otherwise God should not be God nor man should not be man at all Euen so neyther the one nor the other may be without his conuenient and naturall proprieties For if the humaine nature haue the proprieties belonging to the diuine nature it is no more humaine nature but diuine In like sort if the body and the bloud of Iesus Christ haue the natural proprieties which doe belong to the bread and to the wine as they haue indeed if they haue their qualities accidents these same effects they are not at all the body and the bloud of him but bread and wine remayning alwaies in their substance with their accidents Chapter v. That the doctrine of transsubstanciatiō doth ouerthrow a great parte of the Articles of the faith and Christian religion concerning the worke of the redemptiō wrought by Iesus Christ THen euen as the transsubstanciators doe abolish from the supper the true signes of the same by their transsubstanciation euen so doe they take away the thinges signified by them to wit the body and bloud of Iesus Christ in asmuch as they transfigure them into an other nature spoyling them of their bodyly proprieties in such sort that they are no more a very body nor a very bloud forsomuch as they haue not their naturall proprieties but haue those of the bread and of the wine which should represent them and should not be the thing it selfe the which they should signifie And by the same ineane they ouerthrowe all the Articles of our faith touching the incarnation of Iesus Christ and his conception and natiuitie his death resurrection and ascension into heauen for if he haue such a body as they attribute vnto him in their masse and supper it is not a true humayne body in asmuch as it hath no thing at all of that which is required in a true humayne body but onely that which is proper and naturall to the bread if it be so that the bread be conuerted into the same From whence it foloweth nyther that it is not the same very body which was conceyued and borne of the virgine Mary and which died rose againe and went vp into heauen or else if it be the same very body it was neuer a true body neyther in the conception and natiuitie nor in the death resurrection and ascension or else it was afterwarde chaunged eyther into an imaginatiue body or into a spirite or into God in sort that it is become infinite as God and that it is euery where in his proper essence and substance as God or at the least that it is in many places at one instaunt and that it hath no one qualitie nor quantitie agreeable to a humayne bodie The which things can in no wise agree with the nature of a true body And that which I do say of the doctrine of the transsubstanciators may be also said of that of the consubstanciators who albeit they doe condenme transsubstanciation as we do yet for al that they doe constitute a corporall presence of the body and of the bloud of Iesus Christ with the bread and with the wine in the supper which is not greatly different from that of the transsubstanciators and draweth after it as many absurdities concerning the proprieties of the humaine nature of Iesus Christ Chapter vi That the doctrine aswell of the transsubstanciators as also of the consubstanciators hath no certayne foundation vpon the wordes of Iesus Christ and for what causes and of the chiefe different which is betweene them and vs touching the presence of Iesus Christ in the Supper IT may not then bee that the transsubstantiatours nor also the cōsubstantiacors may bragge and glorye as they do that they haue the expressed worde of Iesus Christe who sayd This is my body and that their faith of transsubstantiation or consubstantiation is grounded vpon the expressed and certaine worde of god For seeing that their faith doth ouerthrowe the true faith of the principall articles of the Christian doctrine and religion which are very plaine throughly certaine it followeth then in deede that it can not be a true faith as touching that point and by consequent it cannot bee builded vpon the word of god For they may not bragge to haue it in their fauour if they do not take it in his true sense without the which it is no more the worde of God but it is disguised and ouerthrowen Now it appeareth euidently that it is taken in an other then his owne true sense when it is taken in such a sense as ouerthroweth the principal articles of the Christian faith which are not grounded vpon any passage of the holy scriptures that is not well vnderstoode but vpon so many testimonies of the Prophetes and of the Apostles and so plaine and euident that there may remaine no ambiguitie or doubt to those which do beleeue the diuine letters The which thing can not bee saide of the doctrine of transsubstantiation nor of consubstantiation which haue no other ground but vpon a wrong and euill vnderstanding exposition of the wordes of Iesus Christe the which doth plainely and manifestly appeare to bee contrary to the true sense of the same for so much as it is impossible to agree it
be not in superstion and idolatrie Wherefore if at that very time that they haue good pastors which doe set foorth purely vnto them the doctrine of the Lorde and doe solicite them thereby to do their dutie they are yet very colde and slowe we may not maruell then if when they want that doctrine they haue litle care both for the Supper and Communiō and for all other diuine seruice The third is that albeit that they were the best affected of the world to the religion yet for all that they could not furnished and accomplishe so many Suppers and so often and in so many diuers times and places as the priestes doe ordinarily saye Masses Wherefore it must needes be either that they do saye fewer and to better purpose or els that they doe administer their supper and communion all alone as they daily do Behold then how the true vse of the true supper of the Lorde was lost by the meane of masses and was conuerted into the particular priuate cōmuniō and suppers of the priests which are neither suppers nor communions as I haue already sufficiently proued heretofore Chapter .x. Whether men may cōmunicate spiritually at the Supper by the meane of those which doe there communicate bodily without communicating there with thē and whether the one may receiue the Sacraments better for the other then he may heare the preaching and beleeue and be saued the one for the other THere resteth yet to aunswere nowe to that which they saye that albeit that those which assist at the masse doe not communicate at all bodily at the communion which the priest receiueth in the same yet for all that the same letteth not but that they may cōmunicate spiritually But I aske them if the meanes which the Lord hath ordeined for to communicate vnto vs his giftes and graces doe serue for nothing to that for the which he hath ordeined them and whether it be all one either to vse them or not to vse them at all For if they be there of no value they are ordeined in vaine the which thing shoulde very euill agree with the wisdome and prouidence of the almighty which doth make and ordaine nothing without very good iust cause And if it be so they which doe contemne these meanes do tempt God are rebels vnto him in as much as they do not obey his ordinance in so doing they make them selues vnworthy depriue them selues of the benefites which God would cōmunicate vnto them by those meanes For albeit that he is able to communicate them without those meanes Note and tha he is not thereunto subiect at all yet for all that seeing that he will cōmunicate thē in that sort vnto vs he hath made vs subiect to that order Wherefore if we do contemn and violate them we do make our selues vnworthy incapable of the good things which hee would bestow vpon vs by the same the fruite whereof we can not receiue if we our our selues do not enioy possesse the same in our own very persons not by vicars lieutenāts For there is no mā that may possesse thē nor enioy and receiue the fruite of thē for others but euery man for him selfe onely For the which cause it must also be that whosoeuer wil be made partaker must vse in his own person those meanes by the which the Lord doth communicate them and not an other for him as wee may well iudge by the preaching of the Gospel and by the doctrine set forth vnto vs in the same For seeing that faith is giuen by the hearing of the woorde of God I must if I will receiue this gift of faith heare the worde by hearing whereof the holy Ghost will worke in me and make me partaker for seeing that the Lorde hath so ordeined it if I reiect the preaching of the woorde I depriue my selfe of the faith which I shoulde receiue by the same And therefore Saint Paul saith How shall they belleeue in him whom they haue not heard and how shall they heare without a preacher euen then as an other may not beleeue for me and as I can not be saued by the faith of an other whatsoeuer he be if I my self doe not beleeue in proper person euē so none other may heare the Gospell for me in such sorte that it may profite me if I my selfe doe not heare it in mine own person For faith is in respect of the soule and of the spirituall life as the soule is in respect of the body and of the corporall life wherefore euen as no man may liue a corporall life by meane of the soule of an other man but onely by his own euen so no man may liue a spirituall life by the faith of an other but by his owne faith according to that which is written The iust man shal liue by faith And euen as no man may entertain and conserue the life which hee receiued by meane of his soule by the nouriture which an other doth take nor by that which he eateth and drinketh but onely by that which he him selfe doth take and by the meates and drinkes which he receiueth by his owne preson euen so is it of the nouriture of the faith of euery man by the word of God for the entertainement and conseruatiō of the spirituall life Chapter .xi. Of the agreemēt which is between the signes of the Sacraments and the woorde of the same concerning the instruction of man and of the spirituall communion of them without the bodily in case of necessitie ANd that which I say of preaching and of the worde must be also vnderstoode of the Sacramentes and of the administration of them for so much as they do depend of the same and that they are as Saint Augustine hath very wel said as it were a kinde of worde which is visible and to be felt and is sensible the which teacheth men by their eyes by the meane of the sight and by the other senses by the meane of their feelings as doth the woorde and the voice by the eares by the meane of the hearing From whēce it commeth to passe that by the meane of the sacramentes man is instructed by all his senses as well exteriour as interiour and as well bodily as spirituall because that they haue such as agreement together that the exteriour and bodily senses are as the messengers and the aduertisers of the inward and spiritual senses Wherfore seeing that God would that by the meane of his sacraments that one should helpe to instruct the others euery one in their order and degree none may then contemne and ouerthrowe that order Whereupon I do conclude that the Romaine priests may as wel receiue the supper for others as for them selues as they may heare the word of God beleeue be saued for others for so much as it must needes be that euery man haue all this
of God froÌ„ his people which is so holy sacred a â—hing Wherfore they may be wel placed amoÌ„g â—he false prophets whom the Lorde accuseth by â—eremie to haue stolen his word froÌ„ his people They are in like forte very open rebels to Iesus Christ For seeing that they ought to reprâ—sent his person in the administration of the siâ—per and of al sacramentes it must in any wise bâ— that they do that which he commandeth them tâ— do and that they follow his example For if the do otherwise and contrary thereunto they maâ— not be called the ministers of Iesus Christe buâ— onely by a wrong title Nowe it is certaine thaâ— he commanded them to do in his remembrance the very same which he then did And what is 〈◊〉 that he then did Note he as minister addressed hiâ— worde to his disciples to whom he administreâ—â— his supper and forthwith distributed vnto then the signes thereof which he commandeth theâ— to take Wherefore if the priests do not the likâ— in their masse in their supper wherein they saâ— they do represent as ministers the person of Iâ—sus Christ they do mocke both Iesus Christ anâ— his poore people Nowe it is plaine that in the 〈◊〉 masse they do neither the one ne yet the other From whence it followeth very well that thâ— same can not be the supper of Iesus Christ foâ— so much as they do so great a wrong therein aâ— well to him as to all Christian people For in hâ—â—ding and stealing the worde which ought to bâ— declared vnto them and in not distributing at aâ— that which is commaÌ„ded them to distribute vnto them they do dishonour Iesus Christe in diâ—obeying him also do great wrong to his peoâ—le in not administring vnto them that which â—hey ought to administer vnto theÌ„ And as they â—aile in this behalfe euen so the people doe not â—heir dutie if they wil not receiue the word nor â—he signes when they are duely and sincerely â—dministred vnto them For therein they shew â—hem selues rebels against God. Note And if neither â—he one nor the other be presented and adminiâ—tred vnto them and that they care not at al but â—re contented to be depriued eyther in part or in â—ll they yeeld them selues then without excuse â—â—asmuch as they declare thereby that they doe â—ot greatly care for the glory of god nor for his â—â—luation and chiefely when they may haue the â—â—eane to haue the right and full administration â—f the sacraments Chapter xvi Of the differeÌ„ce and distinction that the Romaine doctors do make in thapplicatioÌ„ of the sacramental wordes of the sacrameÌ„ts aswel concerning the signes of them as the persons which are capable thereof and of the foundation of their transsubstanciation which they ground vpon the same â—Eing theÌ„ that it is so it is easie to iudge howe foolish and ful of filthie ignorance the distinction and the difference that the Romaine doâ—tors doe make betwene Baptisme and the suâ—per and their other sacraments is touching tâ— applying of the wordes and of the signes 〈◊〉 them For they say that in baptisme the sacrâ—mentall wordes are addressed to the persoâ— which they baptize Note and not at al to the mattâ—â— of baptisme to wit to the water which is thâ— signe thereof but it is contrary in the suppeâ— forsomuch as the sacramentall wordes are adressed to the matter thereof to wit to the breaâ—â— and to the wine which are the signes and nâ— at all to the persons from whence they do coclude the conuersion of the bread and of thâ— wine into the bodie and bloud of Iesus Chriâ—â— according to their doctrine of transsubstanciâ—tion By meane whereof they doe affirme thaâ— for that cause the bread and the wine consecrâ—ted after their maner are no more bread anâ— wine but are the very body and bloud of Iâ—sus Christe and the holy Sacrament of thâ— altar and of the supper of the Lorde yea eueâ—â— out of the accion and vse of the sacrament Thâ— which thing they dare not affirme of the wâ—ter of the baptisme For albeit that they hauâ— blessed and consecrated it after their maner anâ— that they doe reserue it in their fonts for thâ— vse of baptisme and that they doe pronounce thâ— sacramental words thereof in thadministration yet for al that they hold it neither for sacrament nor for signe of baptisme but in the very accion and vse thereof to witte when it is applied to the persons that men doe baptize But if they graunt vs this point concerning baptisme why make they so great difficultie to graunt vs the same concerning the supper For haue they more expresse commandement of Iesus Christ to administer the water in Baptisme then the bread and the wine in the supper which are the signes I say yet further that it is so that they haue a more expresse commandement to distribute the bread and the wine of the supper then to administer the water of the Baptisme For where is it that they shal be able to find that Iesus Christ hath said so expressely of the water of Baptisme Take ye baptize ye and be ye baptized as he hath plainely spoken of the bread of the wine of the supper Take ye eate ye Take ye drinke ye yea euery one of you And to whoÌ„ did he speake these woordes following to wit This same is my bodie this same is my bloud but euen to those very men to whom he spake the wordes going before as I haue alreadie declared to whom he gaue commandement to eate the bread and to drinke the wine which he brake distributed vnto them for signes of his body and of his bloud Chapter xvii Of thapplying of the sacramentall wordes tâ— the signes of the sacraments and of the coÌ„secration of them THey may not then at all alledge that they dâ—â— better agree with the matter of the bread and 〈◊〉 the wine in the supper then with that of the wâ—ter in Baptisme and that it hath not equal respeâ—â— to the persons aswell in the one sacrament as 〈◊〉 the other Wherefore to speake properly theâ— must be referred in both the sacrameÌ„ts aswel 〈◊〉 the signes as to the persoÌ„s to whom they ought 〈◊〉 be administred but it is euer in the respect of thâ— persoÌ„s For it should be to no purpose that theâ— were pronounced in secret and in their absencâ— For that should be more like to a charme aâ— enchantment then to a sacrameÌ„t For the maâ—ter which is taken for the signes in all sacrâ—ments cannot be the signes if the same be nâ—â— dedicated and consecrated thereunto by tâ—â— worde of God by the which they are made hâ—ly and sacred signes where as before they weâ—â— but simple and common matter And therefoâ—â— there is so great difference betweene that thâ—â— it was and that that it is after that the word 〈◊〉 added vnto it as there is betwene a piece of
of substance where there is chaunge Wherefore there is as great difference betwene chaunge transsubstanciation as is betwene the general the speciall For chaunge is the generall which comprehendeth vnder it transsubstanciation but transsubstanciation doth not comprehend in it chaunge forsomuch as his signifiration is more ample as that of chaunge of transmutation and of conuersion then that of transsubstanciation For all these names do cōprehend other kindes of chaunge and of conuersion then of one substance into an other For as there is chaunge of substances so is there also chaunge of accidents to witte of qualities of time of places of habits and such other like thinges according to their natures and to the predicaments vnder that which they are comprehended as the Logicians distinguish them Our regeneration is not without chaunge which is wrought in our own persōs But it is not at all by conuersion of the substance of our bodies nor of our soules into others or into any other substance but it is in qualitie which is from vice into vertue by the chaunge renewing of the olde Adam of the olde man into the new And therfore if there be any chaūge in the supper touching the matter of the signes thereof it must then be considered of what kind this chaunge is and in what predicament it must be sought if we will speake as becōmeth Logicians and if there be chaunges either of substance or of qualitie in asmuch as the matter of the signes thereof is otherwise qualified when it is applied to that vse then it was before I haue alreadie declared proued that there can be no more chaunge of one substance into an other then there is in all other sacraments because of the reasons that I haue alreadie alleadged taken aswell of the nature of them as of the testimonies of the word of God whereupon they are grounded And if there were such a chaunge it must needes be that it should be in 2. sortes to witte the one by the which the bread and the wine should be appointed to be the signes of the body and of the bloud of Iesus Christ and the other to conuert the substance of the bread and of the wine into his body and bloud after that they should haue bene made the signes thereof by the first consecration and by the first chaunge which should haue bene made by the same And by this meane it would come to passe that there should be 2. consecratiōs and 2. sorts of sacramental words The first to consecrat cause the bread the wine to be the signes and then the second to conuert them afterward into the bodie and into the bloud of Iesus Christ or else it must be that the same very woordes should do both at one instant And if the same myght be done in the supper there is no reason why it should not be done also in the other sacraments for the reasons which I haue alreadie declared and chiefely in those in the which the holy Ghost hath vsed like maners of speach as in the supper Note We say thē that there is no more chaunge of the substance of the signes thereof then there is in those of the other sacramēts that there is none other at al but in the vse which cōsisteth in this that the matter which is taken for the signes of the sacraments is applied and serueth to another vse and an other end then his did before that time And if there be none other chaunge in the supper of the Lord there can then be none other in the masse if it be his true supper And if it be not his true supper it is not then a sacramēt of the Lord but is rather a kind of magike and of sorcerie Chapter xx Of the ground of the errour of transsubstanciation of the absurdities which followe the same and of the application of the sacramental words to those persons which are capablc and what faith there is there required BUt the Romaine doctors hauing not wel vnderstood the meaning nor the maners of speach of the auncient doctors haue taken them for a chaunge of one substance into an other in stead of taking them for the chaunge which is in the vse thereof It is no maruaile at all if they be fallē into that errour seing that they haue so il vnderstood the nature of the sacrament of the supper that not only they haue conuerted it into a sacrifice in their masse but also they haue made it a sacrament of the altar the which they accompt for a sacrament yea when it is out of the vse therof Wherfore seing they know not what the true vse of the supper is no more haue they well vnderstood what was the chaunge of the signes in the same in respect of their proper vse For that cause euen as they haue chaūged their vse into an other wholly newe and straunge by their doctrine and inuention euen so haue they found out an other newe sort of chaunge of the substance of the signes of the supper into the substance of the thing signified by them against the doctrine and the vsage of al the auncient Church This ignorance and newe inuention hath beene the cause of great and filthie errours and abuses of the transsubstanciation and of the infinite absurdities that the same draweth after it We must then first note Note in what sort the word is adioyned to the matter of the signes to know in what sort the same is dedicated and consecrated to that vse by the same word according to that which I haue lately alleadged of Saint Augustine saying The word is ioyned to the element and it is made a sacrament And then we must goe on further to consider howe the same worde is applied to the persons to whom the sacraments are administred and for whose cause the matter of the signes and of the sacraments is dedicated and consecrated to that vse whereunto it serueth For if the word were not ioyned and applied but onely to the matter of the signes the which Saint Augustine calleth element because it is taken of these earthly elements it should not be conuerted into a sacramēt by the conuersion of the vse whereunto it is conuerted but should alway remaine in his first qualitie should not be qualified as it is when that it is applied to the vse of the sacraments For God hath not giuē the word to man to declare the same to insensible creatures Note to pronounce it ouer thē For that belōgeth to magiciās forcerers charmers and enchaunters which doe abuse it cōtrary to the true vse therof For it is their custome so to applie their charmes enchantmēts to pronounce thē secretly with a whispering voice to babble mumble thē without vnderstanding as also Esay doth witnesse And therefore Saint Augustine sayeth yet very well that the element is made a sacrament by the word which
in his owne person Wherefore it is as possible that the Christiā people should be fedde spiritually with the body blood of Iesus Christ by the communion which the priest alone maketh in his masse as it is possible that he may be fed bodily with that which the priest dineth with and eateth drinketh all alone Wherefore if the people wil be partakers of the things signified by the signes of the supper they must also be partakers of the worde of the signes of the same which are the meanes whereby God will cōmunicate those things which they doe signifie For as he hath ordeined the meane whereby he will giue entertaine conserue the bodily life euē so hath he done for the conseruation of the spiritual life And therefore seeing that he hath ordeined the ministerie of the word of the sacramēts in respect of the spirituall life he that would haue conserue it without this meane should do as much as if he would liue a bodily life without eating or drinking vsing the meane ordeined of God for the nouriture entertainemēt of the same if there be no such necessitie and let that they both cannot be had For God hath not so tied his graces to external things that he cannot distribute the same without them by his diuine vertue and without externall meanes if it please him prouided that there bee no contempt or rebellion of our part for albeit that he hath made vs subiect thereunto so farre foorth as hee giueth vs the meanes yet for all that he is not subiect as wee are but so farre foorth as it pleaseth him to vse them of his owne free will. And therefore euen as he did nourish extraordinarily supernaturally by his diuine vertue Moyses Elie and Iesus Christ the space of fortie dayes they not receiuing in that time any bodily meate or drinke according to the order of nature euen so may hee nourishe spiritually and communicate his gifts and graces without the ministerie of man ordeined in his Churche if it please him to those which by necessitie are depriued of them notwithstanding that they haue great desire to vse the meanes which he hath ordeined and that they do all their indeuour that they may to haue the true and right vse thereof as if a faithfull man were so holden by necessitie of sicknesse or by captiuitie and prison of tyrantes or by some other like necessitie which hindreth him that he may not participate outwardly For if there were there of his fault and that hee would forbeare for his pleasure and that he would not do his duetie in that behalfe the reason shoulde bee otherwise Chapter .xii. How greatly and how much the more inexcusable the Romaine priestes should be for depriuing the Christian people from the communion of the body and of the blood of the Lorde in their Masses and of his blood in their common Suppers if the doctrine of their transsubstātiation were true ANd if the doctrine of transsubstantiation were true that which I say would fight yet more sharpely against the Romaine priests For seeing that they doe affirme that the bread and the wine which are the signes of the supper are conuerted into the very body and blood of Iesus Christ the which they signifie they must also confesse will they or will they not that in depriuing priuing the people of these two signes in their masse they doe also depriue them of the bodie of the blood of Iesus Christe and that in their commō supper they depriue them of the blood deliuering to them but they body according to their doctrine for seeing that we must be made flesh of the flesh bones of the bones of Iesus Christ by the communiō which we should haue with him and which is represented vnto vs as well by baptisme as by the supper an other can not be that for vs And by that meane the priests may no more receiue the supper for vs in our name then they may be baptized in our name for vs And therefore Iesus Christ said not that he which should eate his flesh and drinke his blood by vicar lieutenant should haue life in him should be in Iesus Christ and Iesus Christ in him but said openly He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud dwelleth in me I in him hath eternall life and I will rayse him vp at the latter day Let the Romaine Catholiques then consider whether their priestes may eate this meate and drinke this drinke rise for all their parochians and for all those which heare and see their masses and whether they will be contented to be so nourished with the flesh and with the blood of Iesus Christe and so to rise at the latter daye in the person of their priestes Chapter .xiii. Of the Sacrifice and of the Communion that the priestes doe administer in their masses as well for the dead as for the liuing THus much concerning the cōmunion which is in the masse and concerning the ninth errour which wee doe blame in the same I will now come to the tenth which is cōcerning that that the priests doe not doaste that they do sacrifice and cōmunicate in their masse only for the liuing but also for the dead affirming that by that meane they doe applie the sacrifice of Iesus Christe and the vertue and the merite of the same as well to the one as to the others For the which cause they saye that they doe deuide their hosties into three partes in their communion of the which they dippe the one into the wine in their challice against the expresse ordinaunce of the Lorde yea and against the very auncient canons For the Lorde did not temper the bread with the wine neither did hee make a soppe in the wine in the institution of the supper neither did he also commaunde to do it And therefore it is written in the auncient canons which forbidde the same that Iesus Christe did distribute the bread apart and the wine apart and that he gaue not the bread nor the morcell tempered to any other then to Iudas which betrayed him and he gaue it not vnto him yet in the Supper but out of the Supper Nowe of these three partes that the priestes make of their hostie in their masse they assigne the one to the liuing and the two others to the dead because that they doe make two sortes to witte the one which are already happy and doe raigne in Paradise and the other which are yet holden in the paines of purgatorie and haue not yet fulfilled their penance nor haue fully satisfied vnto God and by that meane they doe sacrifice and communicate both for the liuing and for the dead all at one tyme as though Iesus Christe had not fully satisfied for all by his sacrifice and as though the ministerie of the woorde and of the Sacramentes were