more need of Symbols or Signs when the Body it self appears I refer the Reader to the Testimonies produced before Chap. 10. Position 2. out of S. Austin Sedulius Primasius Bede c. I will conclude this Chapter with a passage or two out of the Prayers after the Sacrament in the Old Liturgy used in Bertram's time (k) V. Bertram de corp sang Christi prope finem p. 112. Edit ult Lat. Engl. We who have now received the Pledge of Eternal Life most humbly beseech thee to grant (l) Ut quod in imagine contingimus Sacramenti manifesta participatione sumamus That we may be manifestly made partakers of that which we here receive in the Image of the Sacrament And thus afterwards (m) Ibid. p. 114. Perficiant in nobis quaesumus Domine tua Sacramenta quod continent ut quae nunc specie gerimus rerum veritate capiamus in another Prayer Let thy Sacraments work in us O Lord we beseech thee those things which they contain that we may really be partakers of those things which now we celebrate in a Figure Bertram Comments upon these Prayers in such passages as these Whence it appears says he that this Body and Blood of Christ are the Pledge and Image of something to come which is now only represented but shall hereafter be plainly exhibited therefore it is one thing which is now celebrated and another which shall hereafter be manifested And afterwards p. 115. The Prayer says that these things are celebrated in a Figure not in Truth that is by way of similitude or representation not the manifestation of the thing it self Now the Figure and the Truth are very different things Therefore the Body and Blood of Christ which is celebrated in the Church differs from the Body and Blood of Christ which is glorified since the Resurrection c. Ps 117. We see how vast a difference there is between the mystery of Christs Body and Blood which the faithful now receive in the Church and that Body which was born of the Virgin Mary which suffered rose again ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right hand of the Father For this Body which we celebrate in our way to happiness must be spiritually received for Faith believes somewhat that it sees not and it spiritually feeds the Soul makes glad the heart and confers Eternal Life and Incorruption if we attend not to that which feeds the Body which is chew'd with our teeth and ground in pieces but to that which is spiritually received by Faith. But now that Body in which Christ suffered and rose again was his own proper Body which he assumed of the Virgin which might be seen and felt after his Resurrection c. It is very observable and a great confirmation of what has been said in this Chapter That the Ancient Christians of S. Thomas inhabiting the Mountains of Malabar in the East Indies agree with the Ancient Church in denying our Saviours Corporal Presence in the Sacrament of the Eucharist as appears from their Publick Offices and other Books mentioned in a Synod which was celebrated amongst them by Dom Aleixo de Menezes Archbishop of Goa in the Year 1599. In the fourteenth Decree of the third Action of the said Synod in which most of their Church Offices and other Books are Condemned for containing Doctrines contrary to the Roman Faith there is particular notice taken of their contradicting the Roman Faith in the point of Transubstantiation 1. The Book of Timothy the Patriarch is condemned for asserting through three Chapters that the true Body of Christ our Lord is not in the Sacrament of the Altar but only the Figure of his Body 2. The Book of Homilies is condemned which teacheth that the H. Eucharist is only the Image of Christ as the Image of a Man is distinguished from a real Man and that the Body of Christ is not there but in Heaven 3. The Book of the Exposition of the Gospels is condemn'd which teacheth that the Eucharist is only the Image of the Body of Christ and that his Body is in Heaven at the right Hand of the Father and not upon Earth 4. Their Breviary which they call Iludre and Gaza is condemn'd which teaches that the most H. Sacrament of the Eucharist is not the true Body of Christ Lastly The Office of the Burial of Priests is condemn'd where it is said that the most H. Sacrament of the Altar is no more but the virtue of Christ and not his true Body and Blood. This Synod was Printed in the University of Conimbra with the Licences of the Inquisition and Ordinary in the Year 1606. and is in the Possession of a Learned Person who gave me this account out of it CHAP. XII The Twelfth Difference The Fathers assert That Christ's Body is not eaten corporally and carnally but only spiritually But the Church of Rome teaches a Corporal Eating a Descent of Christ's Natural Body into ours and understands the Eating of Christ's Body literally and carnally IF the Church of Rome declares its own Faith when it imposes the Profession of it upon another and makes one abjure the contrary under pain of Anathema then I am sure it was once with a witness for the eating of Christ's Body in the most literal and proper Sense when An. Dom. 1059. Pope Nicholas II. and the General Council of Lateran prescribed a Profession of it to Berengarius made him swear it and anathematize the contrary as it is set down by Lanfrank (n) De Eucharist Sacram. adv Berengar which because the Nubes Testium tho' it has set down two other Forms durst not give us I will therefore here transcribe out of him Ego Berengarius indignus Diaconus Ecclesiae S. Mauritii Andegavensis cognoscens veram Catholicam Apostolicam Fidem anathematizo omnem Haeresm praecipue eam de quâ hactenus infamatus sum quae astruere conatur panem vinum quae in altari ponuntur post consecrationem solummodo Sacramentum non verum corpus sanguinem Dom. nostri Jesu Christi esse nec posse sensualiter nisi in solo Sacramento manibus Sacerdotum tractari vel frangi aut fidelium dentibus atteri Consentio autem S. Romanae Ecclesiae Apostolicae sedi ore corde profiteor de Sacramentis Dominicae mensae eam fidem tenere quam Do minus Venerabilis Papa Nicholaus haec S. Synodus authoritate Evangelica Apostolica tenendam tradidit mihique sirmavit scilicet Panem vinum quae in altari ponuntur post consecrationem non solum Sacramentum sed etiam verum corpus D. N. J. Christi esse sensualiter non solum Sacramento sed in veritate manibus Sacerdotum tractari frangi fidelium dentibus atteri jurans per S. homousion Trinitatem per haec sacrosancta Christi Evangelia Eos vero qui contra hanc fidem venerint cum dogmatibus sectatoribus suis
of Jerus (o) Catech. Mystag 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When they tast they are not required to tast Bread and Wine i. e. not these alone but the Antitype of Christs Body and Blood. Theodoret as we heard before (p) Dialog 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 calls the Divine Mysteries the Antitypes of the True Body of Christ And in another place (q) Recapit in fine Dialog 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he says If the Lords Flesh be changed into the Nature of the Divinity wherefore do they receive the Antitypes of his Body for the Type is superfluous you see Type and Antitype signify the same when the Truth is taken away Theodotus of Antioch (r) Citante Bulingero adv Casaub p. 166. says As the King himself and his Image are not two Kings neither are these two Bodies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. The Body of Christ personally existing in the Heavens and the Bread the Antitype of it which is delivered in the Church by the Priests to the Faithful They call it a Figure Tertullian (s) Lib. 3. adv Maricion Panem corpus suum appelans ut hinc etiam intelligas corporis sui figuram pani dedisse Calling Bread his Body that thou mayst thence understand that he gave to the Bread the Figure of his Body Again (t) Lib. 4. adv Marcion c. 40. Acceptum panem distriburum discipulis corpus suum illum fecit hoc est corpus meum dicendo id est figura corporis mei The Bread which he took and distributed to his Disciples he made it his Body saying This is my Body that is the Figure of my Body Ephrem Syrus (u) Tract de nat dei curiose non scrutanda Diligenter intuere quomodo in manibus panem accipiens benedixit fregit in figuram immaculati corporis sui calicemque in figuram pretiosi sanguinis sui benedixit deditque discipulis suis Diligently consider how Christ taking Bread in his hands blessed and brake it for a figure of his immaculate Body and also blessed and gave the Cup to his Disciples for a figure of his precious Blood. S. Austin (x) In Psal 3. Adhibuir Judam ad convivium in quo corporis sanguinis sui figuram discipulis commendavit tradidit He admitted Judas to the Banquet in which he commended and delivered to his Disciples the figure of his Body and Blood. Bede (y) In Psal 3. Nec à Sacratissimâ coena in quâ figuram Sacrosancti corporis sanguinisque suis discipulis tradidit ipsum sc Judam exclusit also says the same Neither did Christ exclude Judas from the most holy Supper in which he delivered to his Disciples the figure of his most holy Body and Blood. And elsewhere (z) In Luc. 22. Pro agni carne vel sanguine suae carnis sanguinisque Sacramentum in panis vini figurâ substituens ipsum se esse monstraret cui juravit Dominus Tu es sacerdos in aeternum secundum Ordinem Melchisedec Christ instead of the Flesh or Blood of a Lamb substituting the Sacrament in the Figure of Bread and Wine showed that it was he to whom the Lord sware Thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedeck The words of the Ambrosian Office are very remarkable as they are set down by the Author of the Book of Sacraments under his name where he asks this Question (a) Lib. 4. de Sacram. c. 5. in initio Vis scire quia verbis coelestibus consecratur Accipe quae sint verba Dicit sacerdos Fac nobis inquit hanc oblationem ascriptam rationabilem acceptabilem quod est Figura corporis sanguinis Domini nostri Jesu Christi c. Wouldst thou know that the Eucharist is Consecrated by Heavenly words Hear then what the words are The Priest says Make this oblation to us allowable rational acceptable which is the Figure of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ c. This Prayer thus expressed in this Office signifies more than all that can be cited against us out of these Books and indeed they were too plain to be continued when Transubstantiation was believed in the Roman Church and therefore in the present Canon of the Mass they are changed and instead of Figura Corporis they now read Fiat nobis Corpus c. Lastly The Fathers call the Bread and Wine in the Eucharist the Image of Christs Body Eusebius (b) Lib. 8. Demon. Evang. Christ says he delivered to his Disciples the Symbols of his Divine Oeconomy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 requiring them to make an Image of his Body Gelasius (c) Tract de duabus Naturis Certe Imago Similitudo corporis sanguinis Christi in actione mysteriorum celebrantur Satis ergo nobis evidenter ostenditur hoc nobis in ipso Christo Domino sentiendum quod in ejus imagine profitemur celebramus sumimus c. Surely the Image and similitude of the Body and Blood of Christ are celebrated in the action of the mysteries It is evidently therefore shown to us that we must think of our Lord Christ the same which we profess celebrate and take in his Image c. Procopius of Gaza (d) Comm. in 49 Genes expounding these words spoken of Juda His Eyes shall be red with Wine and his Teeth white with Milk Gen. 49.12 he applies it to the Eucharist and that gladness which is obtain'd by the mystical Wine which Christ first tasted and bad his Disciples take and drink and the Milk may signify the purity of the mystical food 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for he gave the Image of his own Body to his Disciples no longer requiring the bloody Sacrifices of the Law and by the white teeth he denoted the purity of the Bread by which we are nourished Author Dialog adv Marcionitas inter opera Originis (e) Dialog 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If Christ as the Marcionists say was without Flesh and without Blood of what Flesh or of what Body or Blood did he give the Images and commanded his Disciples to make a remembrance of him by Synodus Constantinop an 754. (f) In Concil Nicen. 2. Act. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Fathers there call the Eucharist the true Image of Christ and say afterwards Christ commanded us to offer an Image a chosen matter to wit the substance of Bread not having an humane Figure lest Idolatry should be introduced And again It pleased him that the Bread of the Eucharist being the true Image of his natural Flesh should be made a Divine Body being sanctified by the coming of the Holy Ghost the Priest which makes the oblation intervening to make it holy which before was common He that would have more Testimonies of this kind may consult Monsieur Blondel in his Esclaircissements sur l' Eucharistie cap. 4.
cleave to their Bowels or Entrals cannot be interpreted of his proper and natural Body since as the Romanists confess this Body can neither touch us nor be touched by us as it exists in the Sacrament much less can cleave or stick to our Bodies But the representative Body of Christ may and he that made this Petition first seems to tell us his own Sense tho' no very wise one that he would not have this Holy Food to pass through him as other Meats did and which many of the Ancients thought this also did but might remain and be consumed as S. Chrysostom's phrase is with the Substance of his Body Thus I think I have demonstrated sufficiently the first thing I asserted at the beginning of this Chapter That the old Prayers in the Canon of the Mass concerning the Sacrament agree not with the present Faith of the Roman Church I proceed now to shew the other thing That their New Prayers and Devotions to the Sacrament have no countenance from the Ancient Church I told the Reader before of their New Festival which the Missal calls the Feast and Solemnity of the Body of Christ They have suited all things answerably to it New Prayers New Hymns and their allowed Books of Devotion have an Office of the Blessed Sacrament for one day of the Week and a New Litany c. Which I shall give now some account of and tho' all of them are not direct Prayers to it yet they are such strains concerning it and in such a new Stile as has no old Example Thus translated in the Manual of Godly Prayers Missal Rom. in Solemn corporis Christi Oratio Deus qui nobis sub Sacramento mirabili passionis tuae memoriamreliquisti tribue quaesumus ita nos corporis sanguinis tui sacra Mysteria venerari ut redemptionis tuae fructum in nobis jugiter sentiamus Qui vivis c. O God which under the Admirable Sacrament hast left unto us the Memory of thy Passion grant we beseech thee that we may so worship the Sacred Mysteries of thy Body and Blood that continually we may feel in us the fruit of thy Redemption Who livest c. I believe the Ancient Church never thus prayed that by the worship of the Sacred Mysteries they might feel the Fruit of Christ's Redemption but that they might so receive the Sacred Mysteries c. for they laid the stress upon worthy receiving as this Church do's upon worshipping In an Office of the Venerable Sacrament printed at Colen 1591. they are still more particular Ibid. p. 72. ad completor Deus qui gloriosum corporis sanguinis tui mysterium nobiscum manere voluisti praesta quaesumus ita nos corporalem praesentiam tuam venerari in terris ut ejus visione gaudere mereamur in coelis Qui vivis c. O God who wouldst have the glorious Mystery of thy Body and Blood to remain with us grant we pray thee that we may so worship thy corporal Presence on Earth that we may be worthy to enjoy the Vision of it in Heaven Who livest c. Ibid. p. 44. ad primam Deus qui in passionis tuae memoriam panem vinum in corpus sanguinem tuum mirabiliter transmutasti concede propitius ut qui in venerabili Sacramento tuam praesentiam corporalem credimus ad contemplandam speciem tuae celsitudinis perducamur Qui vivis c. Again thus O God who in memory of thy Passion didst wonderfully change Bread and Wine into thy Body and Blood mercifully grant that we who believe thy Corporal Presence in the Venerable Sacrament may be brought to the beholding of the appearance of thy Highness Who livest c. Rithmus S. Thomae ad Sacram Eucharistiam Or a Rithm of Tho. Aquinas to the Holy Eucharist In Missal Rom. ad finem Orat. post Missam Adoro te devotè latens Deitas Quae sub his figuris vere latitas Tibi se cor meum totum subjicit Quia te contemplans totum deficit Visus tactus gustus in te fallitur Sed auditu solo tutò creditur Credo quicquid dixit Dei Filius Nil hoc verbo veritatis verius In cruce latebat sola Deitas At hic latet simul humanitas Ambo tamen credens atque confitens Peto quod petivit Latro penitens Plagas sicut Thomas non intueor Deum tamen meum te confiteor Fac me tibi semper magis credere In te spem habere te diligere O Memoriale Mortis Domini Panis vivus vitam praestans homini Praesta meae menti de te vivere Et te illi semper dulcè sapere c. I devoutly adore thee O latent Deity Who under these Figures truly liest hid My Heart submits it self wholly to thee For when it contemplates thee it wholly fails me Sight tast and touch is deceived in thee Hearing alone a Man may safely trust Whatsoe'er the Son of God said I believe Nothing is truer than this Word of Truth The Deity only on the Cross was hid Here the Humanity also is conceal'd But both believing and confe l ng both I ask what the Repenting Thief desir'd I do not see as Thomas did thy Wounds Yet I acknowledg thee to be my God. O make me still more to believe in thee On thee to place my Hope and thee to love O thou Memorial of my dying Lord Thou living Bread and giving Life to Men Grant that my Soul on thee may ever live And thou to it mayst always sweetly tast c. Another Sequence of Tho. Aquinas which begins Lauda Sion Salvatorem In Missal Rom. in sesto Corp. Christi Docti Sacris institutis Panem vinum in salutis Consecramus hostiam Dogma datur Christianis Quod in carnem transit panis Et vinum in sanguinem Quod non capis quod non vides Animosa firmat fides Praeter rerum ordinem Sub diversis speciebus Signis tantum non rebus Latent res eximiae Caro cibus sanguis potus Manet tamen Christus totus Sub utrâque specie A sumente non concisus Non confractus non divisus Integer accipitur Sumit unus sumunt mille Quantum isti tantum ille Nec sumptus consumitur Sumunt boni sumunt mali Sorte tamen inequali Vitae vel interitus Mors est malis vita bonis Vide paris sumptionis Quà m sit dispar exitus Fracto demum Sacramento Ne vacilles sed memento Tantum esse sub fragmento Quantum toto tegitur Nulla rei fit scissura Signi tantum fit fractura Qua nec status nec statura Signati minuitur c. Being taught by holy Lessons we consecrate Bread and Wine for a saving Host It 's a Maxim to Christians that Bread is changed into Flesh and Wine into Blood. What thou dost not comprehend or see a strong Faith confirms it besides the order of Nature Precious Things lie hid under different Species which are Signs only
Word of God we believed the true Flesh of Christ to be eaten with the Mouth of our Bodies But whether with or without the Word of God they believed such a corporal eating of Christ's Flesh had been all one to the Heathens if they knew that this was their Belief and it would rather have strengthned their Reproach if they knew that they were bound thus to believe But then what he adds is very remarkable Nam id semper infideles stultissimum paradoxum aestimârunt ut notum est de Averroe aliis That Infidels always counted this a most foolish Paradox as appears from Averroes and others I believe indeed that they must always count this a foolish Paradox which Averroes charged Christians withal in that known Saying of his (b) Se Sectam Christianâ deteriorem aut ineptiorem nullam reperire quam qui sequuntur ii quem colunt Deum dentibus ipsi suis discerpunt ac devorant That he found no Sect worse or more foolish than the Christians who tear with their Teeth and devour that God whom they worship But why was not this cast always in the Teeth of Christians if this was always their professed Doctrine Was Celsus or Julian or Lucian less sagacious or less malicious than Averroes that not a word of this foolish Paradox was ever so much as hinted by them to the reproach of Christians then But the Cardinal has instanced the most unluckily in the World in naming only Averroes for this Calumny when all acknowledg that this Philosopher P. Innocent 3. who establish'd Transubstantiation lived in the same Age and some very learned Men prove from the Arabian Accounts that those two were Contemporaries And as for his aliis others I should be glad to see any named that urged what Averroes did to the Christians reproach before the days of Berengarius After that indeed we can meet with a Follower of Mahomet who as a Learned Man (c) Hottinger in Eucharistia de â—ensa Sect. 14. p. 220. Ahmad bin Edris ita scribit verba autem Isa sic Arabes Christum vocant super quo pax Qui edit carnem meam bibit sanguinem c. Christiani literaliter intelligunt Atque sic Christiani atrociores sunt in Christum quà m Judaei Illi enim Christum occisum reliquerunt hi carnem ejus edunt sanguimem bibunt quod ipso teste experientia truculentius est gives us his words says thus Those words of Christ He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood he is in me and I in him c. Christians understand them literally and so Christians are more cruel against Christ than Jews for they left Christ when they had slain him but these eat his Flesh and drink his Blood which as experience testifies is more savage After the Roman Church's declaring for Transubstantiation though not before we meet with the Oppositions of Jews testifying their abhorrency (d) Ibid. Joseph Albo de Ikkarim lib. 3. cap. 25. Nam panis est corpus Dei ipsorum Aiunt enim corpus Jesu quod est in Coelis venire in Altare vestiri pane vino post pronunciata verba Hoc enim est Corpus meum à sacrificulo qualiscunque ille demum fuerit sive pius sive impius omnia fieri Corpus unum cum corpore Messia c. Repugnant hic omnia Intelligibilibus primis ipsis etiam sensibus of a Doctrine which talks of a Sacrifice and makes Bread to be the Body of their God which he means in the sence of Transubstantiation by being turned into it and cloathed with its Accidents whose Body that is in Heaven comes upon the Altar and upon the pronouncing these words For this is my Body by the Priest whether good or wicked is all one all things are made one Body with the Body of the Messias c. Which things are all repugnant to the first Principles of Reason and to our very Senses themselves As he afterwards shows in several Instances And now we are told that it is a common Bye-word to reproach a Christian by among the Turks to call him Mange Dicu All these took their rise plainly from Transubstantiation and not from the Faith of the Ancient Church For if one of it (e) Theodoret. Interrog 55. in Genes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may speak for the rest the Old Christians agreed in the Abhorrence and called it the extreamest stupidity to worship that which is eaten And again Id. qu. 11. in Levit. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 How can any one of a sound Mind call that a God which being offered to the True God is after wards eaten by him But now after all the saddest Consideration is that the Prejudices are so great against this and another Twin-Doctrine of the Roman Church about the worship of Images that a perpetual Stumbling-block seems to be laid before the Jews and it may be look'd upon as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which will always hinder and obstruct their Conversion whilst it is believed by them to be the common Sence and Faith of Christians and they have too great a Temptation to believe so when they have seen this Church which has got the most worldly Power into its hands persecuting not only Jews but Hereticks as they call all other Christians that deny this Doctrine to the Death for gainsaying it and when that Work will cease God only knows The Jews can never be supposed to get over this hard Chapter whilst they who call themselves the only Catholick Christians hold such things about the Body of Christ and remember that it is about a Body which as the forenamed Jos Albo (f) Ibid. Ista talia sunt quae mens non potest concipere neque os eloqui neque auris audire speaks No Man's Mind can conceive nor Tongue utter nor any Ear can hear He means by reason of their absurdity So that the Case of the Jews and their Conversion seems to be hopeless and desperate according to all humane guesses till there be a change wrought not in the substance of the Bread and Wine this Church dreams of but in the Romanist's Belief And though this also may seem upon many accounts to be as hopeless as the former yet for a Conclusion I will try whether as once the Great Apostle thought it a wise method Rom. 11.14 by the Example of the Gentiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to provoke the Jews to Emulation so it may not be as proper to propose the Example of the Jews themselves to the Romanists to provoke their Emulation whom they may see better explaining as blind as they are Christ's words of Institution and agreeing better with the Ancient Church in the matter of the Eucharist than themselves and raising such Arguments and Objections against the Transubstantiating Doctrine as can never to any purpose be answered The Instances of this are very remarkable in a Book called Eortalitium
thing is turned by such a change begins to exist Now it is manifest that Christ's Body did praeexist seeing it was conceived in the Womb of Mary It seems therefore impossible that it should begin to be on the Altar anew by the Conversion of another thing into it In like-manner neither by a change of Place because every thing that is locally moved do's so begin to be in one place that it ceases to be in that other in which it was before We must therefore say that when Christ begins to be on this Altar on which the Sacrament is perform'd he ceases to be in Heaven whither he ascended It is also plain that this Sacrament is in like manner celebrated on divers Altars Therefore it is impossible that the Body of Christ should begin to be there by a Local Motion 4. You Christians affirm Ibid. 13. Imposs fol. 134 that your Christ is whole in the Sacrament under the Species of Bread and Wine This I prove thus to be impossible Because never are the Parts of any Body contained in divers Places the Body it self remaining whole But now it is manifest that in this Sacrament the Bread and Wine are asunder in separate Places If therefore the Flesh of Christ be under the Species of Bread and his Blood under the Species of Wine it seems to follow that Christ do's not remain whole but that always when this Sacrament is celebrated his Blood is separated from his Body Ibid. 14. Imposs fol. eod 5. You Christians say that in that little Host the Body of Christ is contained This I prove to be impossible Because it is impossible that a greater Body should be included in the place of a lesser Body But it is manifest that the True Body of Christ is of a greater Quantity than the Bread that is offered on the Altar Therefore it seems impossible that the true Body of Christ should be whole and entire there where the Bread seems to be But if the whole be not there but only some part of it then the foresaid Inconvenience returns that always when this Sacrament is perform'd the Body of Christ is Differenced or separated by Parts I will only here set down what the Catholick Author replies to this after the unintelligible distinctions of the Schools and seems most to trust to even such wise Similitudes as these that the Soul is greater than the Body and yet is contained within it that a great Mountain is contained in the little Apple of the Eye and the greatest Bodies in a little Looking-glass and great Virtues in little precious Stones and in the Little Body of the Pope great Authority c. Ibid. 15. Imposs fol. 135. 6. The Jew says you Christians affirm that your Christ is in like manner on more Altars where Masses are celebrated This seems to be impossible because it is impossible for one Body to exist in more places than one But it is plain that this Sacrament is celebrated in more Places Therefore it seems impossible that the Body of Christ should be truly contained in this Sacrament Unless perhaps any should say that according to one part of it it is here and according to another Part elsewhere But from thence it would again follow that by the Celebration of this Sacrament the Body of Christ is divided into Parts when yet the Quantity of the Body of Christ seems not to suffice for the dividing so many Particles out of it as there are Places in which this Sacrament is performed 7. You Christians say that after Consecration Ibid. 16. Imposs fol. 136. all the Accidents of Bread and Wine are manifestly perceived in this Sacrament viz. the Colour Tast Smell Figure Quantity and Weight About which you cannot be deceived because Sense is not deceived about its proper Objects Now these Accidents as you assert cannot be in the Body of Christ as in their Subject Nor can they subsist by themselves seeing the Nature and Essence of an Accident is to be in another thing 7. Metaphys For Accidents seeing they are Forms cannot be individuated but by their Subject and if the Subject were taken away would be universal Forms It remains therefore that these Accidents are in their determinate Subjects viz. In the substance of Bread and Wine Wherefore there is there the substance of Bread and Wine and not the substance of Christ's Body for it seems impossible that two Bodies should be together in one place 8. The Jews say Ibid. 17. Imposs fol. 137. It is certain that if that Wine in your Sacrament were taken in great Quantity that it would heat the Body and intoxicate as before it was a Sacrament and also that the Bread would strengthen and nourish It seems also that if it be kept long and carelesly it will corrupt and it may be eaten of Mice the Bread and Wine also may be burnt and turned into Vapours all which cannot agree to the Body of Christ seeing your Faith declares it to be impassible It seems therefore impossible that the Body of Christ should be contained substantially in this Sacrament 9. The Jew says Ibid. 18. Imposs fol. 137. That you Christians break that Sacrament into Parts Therefore it is impossible that the Body of Christ should be there The Consequence is thus proved Because that Fraction which do's sensibly appear cannot be without a Subject For it seems to be absurd to say That the Subject of this Fraction is Christ's Body Therefore it is impossible Christ's Body should be there but only the Substance of Bread and Wine There is a great deal more of what the Jews say against this Doctrine in that Author but this is enough for the purposes I before mentioned and so I leave it to the Consciences of those concerned to show that even the Jews have better explained the words whereby Christ instituted this Sacrament than the Romanists have by making it a Figure of Christ's Body and not the Body it self spoken more agreeably to the Faith of the Ancient Church that did so and have confuted the Errors of this Church by Maximes consonant to the Sense and Reason of all Man-kind Which God grant they may be sensible of who have so manifestly swerved from them all that so their Words may never rise up in Judgment against them THE END Books lately printed for Richard Chiswell A Dissertation concerning the Government of the Ancient Church more particularly of the Encroachments of the Bishops of Rome upon other Sets By WILLIAM CAVE D. D. Octavo An Answer to Mr. Serjeant's Sure Footing in Christianity concerning the Rule of Faith With some other Discourses By WILLIAM FALKNER D.D. 40. A Vindication of the Ordinations of the Church of England in Answer to a Paper written by one of the Church of Rome to prove the Nullity of our Orders By GILBERT BVRNET D. D. Octavo An Abridgment of the History of the Reformation of the Church of England By GILB BVRNET D. D. Octavo The APOLOGY of the Church of England and an Epistle to one Signior Scipio a Venetian Gentleman concerning the Council of Trent Written both in Latin by the Right Reverend Father in God JOHN JEWEL Lord Bishop of Salisbury Made English by a Person of Quality To which is added The Life of the said Bishop Collected and written by the same Hand Octavo The Life of WILLIAM BEDEL D. D. Bishop of Kilmore in Ireland Together with Certain Letters which passed betwixt him and James Waddesworth a late Pensioner of the Holy Inquisition of Sevil in Matters of Religion concerning the General Motives to the Roman Obedience Octavo The Decree made at ROME the Second of March 1679. condemning some Opinions of the Jesuits and other Casuists Quarto A Discourse concerning the Necessity of Reformation with respect to the Errors and Corruptions of the Church of Rome Quarto First and Second Parts A Discourse concerning the Celebration of Divine Service in an Unknown Tongue Quarto A Papist not Misrepresented by Protestants Being a Reply to the Reflections upon the Answer to A Papist Misrepresented and Represented Quarto An Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of England in the several Articles proposed by the late BISHOP of CONDOâ— in his Exposition of the Doctrine of the Catholick Church Quarto A Defence of the Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of England against the Exceptions of Monsieur de Meaux late Bishop of Condoâ— and his Vindicator 40. A CATECHISM explaining the Doctrine and Practâ—â—â— of the Church of Rome With an Answer thereunto By a Protestant of the Church of England 80. A Papist Represented and not Misrepresented being an Answer to the First Second Fifth and Sixth Sheets of the Second Part of the Papist Mispresented and Represented and for a further Vindication of the CATECHISM truly representing the Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome Quarto The Lay-Christian's Obligation to read the Holy Scriptures Quarto The Plain Man's Reply to the Catholick Missionaries 140. An Answer to THREE PAPERS lately printed concerning the Authority of the Catholick Church in Matters of Faith an the Reformation of the Church of England Quarto A Vindication of the Answer to THREE PAPERS concerning the Unity and Authority of the Catholick Church and the Reformation of the Church of England Quarto
Imprimatur Liber cui titulus A Full View of the Doctrines and Practices of the Ancient Church relating to the Eucharist c. H. Maurice Reverendissimo in Christo P. D. Wilhelmo Archiepiscopo Cant. Ã Sacris Octob. 6. 1687. A FULL VIEW OF THE Doctrines and Practices OF THE Ancient Church Relating to the EUCHARIST Wholly different from those of The Present ROMAN CHURCH And inconsistent with the Belief of TRANSUBSTANTIATION BEING A sufficient Confutation of Consensus Veterum Nubes Testium and other Late Collections of the Fathers pretending the contrary Rectum est Index sui Obliqui LONDON Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul s Church-yard MDCLXXXVIII A PREFACE to the READER THAT which is here offered to thy Perusal was occasioned by some late Pamphlets * Succession of Church and Sacraments Consensus Veterum Nubes Testium that appeared much about the same time in Print pretending by a Heap of Testimonies from the Fathers to prove as in some other Doctrines so particularly in that of the Corporal Presence and Transubstantiation That the Ancient Church and the present Roman are at a good Agreement It is very hard for Us to believe this and scarce credible that they themselves did so when we see so much Unsincerity in their Allegations such Deceit and contrived disguising the Sense of the Fathers in their Translations such late uncertain and supposititious Writings cited by them under the Venerable Names of Ancient Authors When the way that Procrustes took of stretching Limbs or chopping them off to make all agree to his Bed who were to be laid in it is used to make the Ancient and the Present Church to agree a Consent thus procured can occasion but a short and a sorry Triumph Yet those Performances have been cry'd up and they are look'd upon as Storehouses and Repositories whence any Champion of theirs who enters the Lists may be furnish'd from the Fathers either with what is necessary for his own Defence or the assailing of an Adversary The Representer since that made great use of them in a brisk Attaque he made upon the Dublin Letter tho' the Success I believe did not answer his Expectation The Convert of Putney's Performance who in his Consensus Veterum made the largest Shew of Fathers on behalf of Transubstantiation has had a particular Consideration given it by his worthy Answerer * Veteres Vindicati And so all the other Testimonies in the rest of them that are of any seeming strength and moment have received Answers to them from other Hands particularly from the Learned Author of The Doctrine of the Trinity and Transubstantiation compared Part 1. If any thing after all seems to be wanting on our Part it is this That as our Adversaries have made a Shew of Fathers for I can give it no better name pretended to countenance their Doctrines of the Corporal Presence and Transubstantiation so we also ought to have our Collection of Testimonies from the Ancients made faithfully and impartially wherein their true Sense in these Matters may be clearly seen and viewed and thereby their Dissent from this Church appear plainly in those things that either constitute this Doctrine or are necessary Consequents of it And this is that which I have undertaken in the following Papers wherein as the Usefulness of the Design has encourag'd me to take some Pains so I shall think them well bestowed if the Reader will bring an honest and unprejudic'd Mind to the Perusal of them and suffer himself to be determin'd in his Opinions concerning this Controversie according to the Evidence of Truth here offered for his Conviction If the Differences which the annexed Contents of the Chapters give an Account of are of such a Nature and stand at such a wide Distance that it 's impossible ever to bring Transubstantiation to shake Hands with them as Friends and if the two Churches the Ancient and the Present Roman are really divided and disagreeing as I pretend to have demonstrated in those Points it will then I hope hereafter be ridiculous to talk confidently of a Consent of Fathers and of a Cloud of Witnesses on their Side But if I am herein mistaken I am so little tender of my Reputation compared with Truth that I heartily desire to be confuted and made a Convert for I am conscious to my self of no false Fathers I have cited for true ones of no disguising or perverting their Sense by an Ill Translation of their Words which I have therefore set down in their own Language of no imposing upon the Reader a Sense of my own making contrary to what I believe that they intended I have but one Request more to make to the unknown Author of a Book intituled Reason and Authority c. who mentioning the Defence of the Dublin Letter * Pag. 119. for which I have some reason to be concern'd says That the Authorities of the Fathers there urged are as he conceives in the Sense of them either mistaken or misapplied and that he shall endeavour to reconcile them to other Expressions of the Fathers and to that which he calls the Catholick Doctrine of Transubstantiation I humbly desire when he is about this Reconciling Work and his Hand is in that he would go on to reconcile also the Differences urged in the following Papers Which if he shall do to any purpose I promise to return the Complements he has pass'd upon that Defender with Interest and to alter my present Opinion of him upon his Performances in that Book Farewell THE CONTENTS OF THE CHAPTERS BEING A Summary of the DIFFERENCES betwixt the FAITH and PRACTICES of the Two Churches CHAP. I. The First Difference The Roman Church asserts perpetual Miracles in the Eucharist The Ancient Church owns none but those of God's Grace working Changes in us not in the Substance of the Elements Page 1 CHAP. II. The Second Difference They differ in determining what that Thing is which Christ calls My Body which the Ancient Church says is Bread but the Roman Church denies it 7 CHAP. III. The Third Difference The Roman Church believes That Accidents subsist in the Eucharist without any Subject This the Fathers deny 12 CHAP. IV The Fourth Difference The Roman Church uses the Word Species to signifie those self-subsisting Accidents the Fathers never take Species in this Sense 16 CHAP. V. The Fifth Difference The Fathers differ from this Church about the Properties of Bodies as 1. They assert That every organiz'd Body even that of Christ is visible and palpable 21 2. That every Body possesses a Place and is commensurate to it and cannot be in more Places than one nor be entire in one Part nor exist after the manner of a Spirit All which Transubstantiation denies Page 22 3. That it is impossible for one to dwell in himself or partake of ones self this inferring Penetration of Dimensions and that a greater Body may be contained in a