creaturs and thynke not on that breade which the baker hath baked but on hym that called him selfe the breade of lyfe who is signified by the misticall breade Saynte Ambrose also â—pon the Sacrament writeth these wordes Thys bread that goeth into the bodye is not so scrupelouslye sought of vs but the breade of eternall lyfe whyche vpholdeth the substaunce of oure soule Saint Augustine also writeth on this â—n the .xxviii â—â—rmon vpon 〈◊〉 Lorddes â—ordes in â—uke wyse Vse you thys bread dayly or do you after the custome of the Grekes in the easte parte who receyue it at the yeares ende If you thinke these meÌ„ to be none of the church why do not your honourable Lordes burne theyr bookes as well as they dyd the Bible wyth other pore mens bokes wherein was nothynge els conteyned but that is also in these mennes bokes But to what purpose were it for me to spende muche tyme in reprouyng your honourable fathers doyngs seynge my lyfe tyme would not suffice to do it anye thynge to the purpose And to pull you backe agayne froÌ„ your detestable blindnes I thynke it impossible For Paule writyng to the Hebre. sayth It is not possible that they whych be once illuminate and haue tasted of the heauenlye gyfte and be made partakers of the holye Gooste and that haue also tasted of the good worde of God and of the powers of the worlde to come are slypped out agayne to be brought againe vnto peniteÌ„ce for that in asmuch as in them lyeth they haue crucisied the son of God anewe for theyr owne pleasure hauynge him in dirision Thys notwythstandynge the mercye of God is vpon all hys worckes and thynges not possible to maÌ„ are possible to God who knoweth the secretes of your herte whether you fell of weakenes thorowe the feare of death or of contempte If of weakenes as it is our partes to iudge then dispayre not For God hathe aboundaunce of mercye in store wherin you shal haue your part if you repente I woulde wyshe that youre scholemaisters and you myght be wonne by this my laboure But if your hertes be so stony that the truth can take no rote therin it shal suffice me if other the symple membres of Christ hauynge light may escape the stumblynge stockes that you haue layed in theyr waye For theyr sakes therfore chiefely and for you and suche other if it be possible that you maye be brought from your blyndenes I haue enterprised thys daungerouse labour And for that thys Article as it is fyrst so is it the chefe and principall wherof the most parte of the other do depende and hange I am the more earnest in the confutation therof knowynge for certentie that the consciences boeth of you and of your honourable scholmaisters are on my syde But feare to lose the Lordlyke lyuynges of thys worlde preuayleth agaynste vs boeth You say with the pharises Ne forte Romani But I doubt not the good mould shal brynge forth fruite by receyuyng the seed Knowynge that neither the God head can be made of any other substaunce nother the breade and wyne turned into Christes fleshe and bloude at all tymes when it shal please the prieste to play a masse mooste superstitiouslye breathynge out the wordes that oure Sauioure Christe spake to no suche purpose For as S. Augustine â—pon Iohn the .xxx treaâ—ise sayeth it maye be in one place onelye And as the same Augustine writeth to Dardanus We muste take good heede that we make not so diuine a thynge of thys bodye that we denie it to be a body For it foloweth not that all thynges whyche be in Christe shoulde be in all places at once as Christ is For then shoulde we also be in all places at once For the scripture doth truely record of vs that we lyue moue and be in hym It is manifest therfore that notwithstanding the wordes pronounced by the prieste the breade and wine remaine in their natural propertie euen after the consecration as you call it Shaxton ⧠The seconde Article THe sayed blessed Sacramente beynge once consecrated is remayneth styl the very body and bloud of our sauioure Christ althoughe it be reserued not preseÌ„tly distributed Crowley Thys Article is a braunche of the otheâ— and is not in credite wyth theÌ„ that haue the other in suspition Wherefore haueynge sufficientlye spoken of the other it shall not nede me to tarye longe vpon thys Neuertheles bicause I perceyue you go aboute to hange an other article vpon thys I shal by the healpe of God make hym so bare that your other shal take no holde therat Wher as you saye therfore that thys Sacramente beynge once consecrated remayneth styl the verye bodye and bloude of Christe I muste ashe you this questian Whether the bodye and bloude of oure sauioure Christe be corruptible and maie putrifie or not I am certayne of it you wyll saye no. Well then muste I aske you an other question If the Sacramente be longe kepte paste the tyme that breade and wyne wyll naturallye be swete wyll it not be mouldy râ—tten and sower I doubte not but you wyll saye yea For your holy father made a lawe that you shoulde shyfte the pyxe euerye moneth puttyng into it newe consecrated cakes and spende the olde the wine maye not be kept at al but preseÌ„tly spent wheÌ„ it is consecrated bycause it will sone be sower Is not all thys true I am sure you can not deny it Wel then wyl I coÌ„clude wyth this questioÌ„ If the substaunce of the sacrameÌ„te I meane the naturall substaunce maye be musty rotten and sower and the bodye and bloud of Christe whyche you saye is the onelye substaunce of the Sacramente can not by anye meanes putrifie I praye you tell me howe the bodye and bloud remayneth in the Sacrament beynge reserued and what thynge it is that doeth therin receyue putrifaction Perchaunce you wyll answere me as youre scholmaisters are wonte to answere when men saye they fele see and taste breade and wyne in the Sacrament The qualities say they do remain but the substaunce is chauÌ„ged into the bodye and bloude But when the Sacramente shall be corrupted I thynke your scholemaisters you wil saye that the substaâ—â—ce remaineth and the qualities be chaunged That is to saye the bodye and bloude of Christe whych as you say is the onelye substaunce of the Sacramente remayneth vncorrupted but the qualities that is to saye swetenes clearâ—es whytenes al other the qualities of breade and wyne do corrupte Would God youre greate maister Aristotle myghte heare you make thys answere I doubte not he woulde beare no more wyth you then he dyd wyth hys maister Plato in the opinioÌ„ of the eternitie of the worlde But you wyll saye perchaunce What shoulde we do wyth Aristotle in these matters Aristotle was a manne that builded altogyther vpon reason but in thys thynge we muste stycke to fayeth and let reason passe But wyth your patience
done that you solde me into these quarters for God sente me hyther before you for your healthe And a lyttle after he sayeth not thorowe youre aduise was I sent hyther but by the wyl of God et c. Pharao also whose wyckednes Exodi .ix was moste aboundaunt what heareth he in the scripture For soeth euen thys For thys purpose haue I ordeyned the that I myght shewe my power vpon the that my name mighte be tolde thorowout al the earth And what sayth the Lorde to Moyses Go in to â—harao For I haue hardened his hert the hertes of his seruauntes that I may worcke Exod .x. these my wonders vpoÌ„ him that thou shouldeste reporte to thy sonne to thy neâ—â—wes howe ofteÌ„ I ouerthrewe the EgyptiaÌ„s and wrought my woÌ„ders amonge theÌ„ And you shall knowe that I am the Lorde What scripture caÌ„ be more plaine theÌ„ this Shall we patche out these places with God suffered Pharas to hardê his herte bycause in the .viii. chap. it is said WheÌ„ Pharao saw that he had rest he hardened his hert gaue no hede to Moyses and Aaron as the Lord had coÌ„maunded No God forbid For if we shoulde trifle out of the scriptures on suche sort what maner of God shoulde we make the Lord Forsotheuê as vncertaine in al his doinges as we are oure selues in ours But we must graunt boeth these scriptures to be true For God by his eternal predestinatioÌ„ hardened the hert of Pharao he being the vessell of wrath in his wickednes hardened his own hert What saye we then to Iudas was he not predestinated to betraye Christ Yes forsoth euê as Christe was ordeyned before to be betraied And therfore he calleth him he son of perdicioÌ„ And as possible as it was that christ shold not die on the crosse so possible was it that Iudas shold not betray hym And as possible as it is that the sayeynges of Gods prophetes should not come to passe so possible is it that Iudas shoulde not betraye Christe For the Psalmist had sayed of hym Let hys Psal â—viii aud cvii. place be desert and let there be none to dwel in it and let an other take hys ministration But here begynne the freewyl men to besturre them and crye out vpon suche priuate exemples to proue Gods vniuersall predestination We haue vniuersal scriptures for our parte saye they declarynge that God would haue all men saued and come to the â— Timo .ii. knowledge of the trueth Whereunto I answere that youre vniuersall scriptures are not so vniuersal but that all your scriptures notwythstandynge God may wyl the greatest numbre to be damned For where saynte Paule sayth that God wyll haue all menne saued he meaneth not euerye particular persoÌ„ for theÌ„ could none be damned for asmuch as Gods wyll must nedes be done but his meaninge is that God refuseth no degre of men neyther estate but accepteth all asyke Neythere doeth he accepte Iewe or gentyle but accepteth of al nations estates such as he hath written in the boke of lyfe Apoca. xvii But if vniuersall scriptures be so muche estemed amonge you lette vs se whether we haue avie for our part Murmur not among your selues sayeth Christe for no man can come vnto me except my father drawe him Iohn .vi. Compare thys no man wyth youre euerye man and then tel me whych of them is most vniuersall Your euery man stretcheth to as manye of all nations kinredes tonges estates and degres as are written in the boke Rom .viii. of lyfe And our no man stretcheth to all theÌ„ that be not written in that boke Boeth therfore must be measured by the wordes of Paul to the Ro. We know saith he that to suche as loue God all thynges Apoca .xiii. do worke togither into good to them I say whiche beynge sanctified are called accordyng to the purpose For such as he knewe before he predestinated to be the lyuelye Images of his son to the enteÌ„t that he might be the first begotteÌ„ amoÌ„g mani brethreÌ„ And such as he predestinated those he called And those whoÌ„ he called he iustified And those whoÌ„ he iustified he glorified What shal we then say to these thinges If God be on our syde who shall preuaile agaynst vs. c. And againe Ephe .i. Blessed he God and Ephesi .i. the father of oure Lorde Iesus Christe who hath blessed vs in all spirituall blessynges in heauenly thynges in Christ euen as he hath chosen vs in hym before the creation of the worlde that we shoulde be holy vndefiled in his sight in charitie Who also predestinated vs to be sonnes of adoption vnto hym thorow Iesus Christ accordynge to the purpose of hys wyll c. Yet haue we mo scriptures of thys kynde if these satisfie you not And fyrst hear what Eclesi .xxxiii. is reade in Ecclesiastiens the sonne of Syrach All men are made of the grounde and out of the earth of Adam In the diuersitie of studye hath the Lorde disseuered them He hath disseuered them and chaunged their wayes Some of theÌ„ hath he blessed and exalted some he hathe sanctified and claymed them to hym selfe and some of them he hath cursed and made lowe and put them oute of theyr estate Like as the claie is in the haÌ„d of the potter and all the orderyng therof at his pleasure so are â—â—en also in the hand of hym that made them so that he maye geue theÌ„ as it liketh him best Now marke what Solomon writeth in Prouer .xvi Prouer .xx. Prouer .xvi hys prouerbes Man deuiseth a waye in his hert but it is the Lord that ordereth his steppes And againe The Lorde ordereth euerye mans goinges for what maÌ„ can vnderstand hys own waye And yet againe The lottes be cast into the lap but the fall staÌ„deth in the Lord. Nowe herkeÌ„ to Esai who saieth in the persoÌ„ of god I am the Lord ther is none other Esai .xlv. It is I that created the light darknes I make peace trouble Yea eueÌ„ I the Lorde do al these thinges And a little after Wo be vnto him that chideth with hys maker the potsharde with the potter Saieth the claye to the potter what makeste thou Or thy worke serueth for nothing Wo be vnto him that saith to his father Why begettest thou And to his mother Why hearest thou Are me of things for to come coÌ„cerning my sonnes put me in remeÌ„braunce as to wchinge the worckes of my handes I haue made the earth created maÌ„ vpoÌ„ it Wyth my haÌ„des haue I spred forth heaueÌ„ geueÌ„ a coÌ„manÌ„demeÌ„t to all the hostes therof I shal wake him vp with rightuousnes ordre al his waies To coÌ„clude thus saieth Ieremie I know Ieremi .x. Lord that it is not in mans power to ordre his own waies nor to rule his own steppes goinges And after al this Paule writing to Timothe saith thus He that deliuered vs
blesse and brake it If I shoulde aske you what he brake I doubte not but you woulde answere that he brake breade and sayed take ye eateye thys is my body But if I should aske you what it was that he called hys bodye then I know your answer woulde be after youre olde maner that the same breade that he toke and brake was it that he called hys bodye But I wyl shew you a lyke thyng to proue whether you can learne to vnderstand this place of scripture by a simile Apelles toke pensell and paper and drewe theron sayed This is Venus Nowe aske I you whether thys that Apelles spake of were Venus in dede or hyr Image I doubte not you wyl saye not Venus but hyr Image Then tell me Was the pensell and paper hyr Image or the luniamentes that Apelles The lines you saye drawen on the paper and not the paper otherwise theÌ„ the glasse is the Image of a mans face whyche appeareth therin Euen so say I of these wordes of Christ Thys is my bodie He toke breade he brake it gaue it to his disciples said This is my bodye As who should say this breade brokeÌ„ geueÌ„ to you receiued of you is a cleare image of mi body which is by the wil of my father brokeÌ„ frely offred geueÌ„ to you by faieth receyued of you so that in like maner as this breade is receyued into the body and naturally nourisheth the same so doth it declare to you by that naturall propertie that my bodye eaten by fayeth that is by beleuynge and trustynge vpon saluation by my sufferynges in the bodye doeth nourish the soules of as manye as do so eate it In lyke maner toke he the cup after supper saying Thys cup is the new testament in my bloude Here maye you if you haue anye lytle glitteryng of the spiritual knowledge easilye perceyue that Paule knewe of no traunsubstantiation in thys misterie For he reporteth that he learned of the Lord all that he taught the Corhinthyans coÌ„cernynge thys misterye and yet he reporteth that Christ sayed of the cuppe Thys is the newe testamente in my bloude And thyuke you that if Paule were here he woulde say that he beleued the substaunce of the cup to be chaunged into the substaunce of the new testament I knowe well you do not thynke it For your opinion is that by the vertue of those wordes the wyne whiche is in the cup is turned into the verye bloude of Christe And yet do not the wordes appertayne any thynge at all to the wyne vnlesse you wyll admitte the fygure whereby the thynge that conteyueth is taken for the thyng conteined And so doynge you must saye that the wine is the newe Testament in Christes blander and not the bloud it self So that if you wyl nedes haue traunsubstaÌ„ciation it must be of the substaunce of wyne into the substaunce of the new testament That is the certentye wherby oure consciences are certified of the promise of God made to vs in the scripture Wyth thys transubstanciation we could beare if so be you would not denye that the substaunce of breade and wyne doeth stil remayne declarynge vnto vs sensibly by visible sygnes the thynge that is in the scripture taught vs by wordes For immediatly after Christe â–ª sayeth Do thys so ofte as ye shall drinke to the entente to remembre me therby That is to saye So ofte as you wil make youre selues partakers of one cup of wyne to the entente tu call to your remembraunce thereby the greate misterie of the participation you haue in me and al thinges that I haue or shal do for you do it after this forsayed fourme So that by thys are condempned as wel the priuate masses wherin one ministreth and receyueth al as the freshly transubstaneiation whereupon is grounded the sacrifice for the quicke and the dead as shall be declared more at large in the seuerall articies concernynge the same To perswade one that were wyllyng to learne thys were sufficiente But seyng that you your schomaisters are more readye to burn me al other that seke your soul health God geue you a better mynde then to accept our dortrine I am coÌ„strained to labour to drawe you by force of argumeÌ„ts none otherwyse then Hercuses drewe the froward Cerberus out of hell I wyll therefore make thys argument grounded on the definition of breade Breade is a confection made of manye graynes vnited or made into one bodye by the myxture of water and force of fyre hauynge in it the vertue to nourishe the sensible bodyes But thys confection remayneth after the consecration as you call it Ergo there remayneth breade That thys coÌ„fectioÌ„ remayneth I take wytnes of my Lorde of winchester in hys boke wrytten on thys matter And if you thinke hym not an Authour Autentyke make an experieÌ„ce vpon me Let me haue daylie a sufficiente weyghte measure of that consecrated breade wyne and shute me vp frome all other kynde of sustinaunce But thys one thyng I would desyre That the breade and wyne ye consecrate be free from all kyndes of poyson For thoughe I do knowe that God is able to preserue me frome all maner of poyson yet wyl I not neyther maye I tempte my Lorde â–ª God so far But if you do poyson me I shall gladlye suffer it for the trueth sake If all thys wyll not content you I praye you gyue eare to Gelasius who writeth on thys wyse Surely the Sacramentes of the In the ce cel holdeâ— Rome bodye and bloude of Christe be diuine thinges and therfore are we by them made par takers of the diuine nature and yet doeth it not sease to be the substaunce either of bread or wyne but they do remayne in the propertie of theyr nature And no doubt the Image and similitude of the bodye and bloude of Christe are celebrated in the action of the misteries What thynge woulde you haue more plainlye spoken But if you wyll not beleue S. Paule who calleth it breade and the cup of the Lorde euen after the consecration it is not lyke that ye wyll geue credite to Gelalius although in dede you and all such are wont to gene more credite to the iudgment of men that lyued not these manye hundred yeres bicause of theyr antiquitie then to the verye trueth which was before theÌ„al wherby al mens spirites should be tried Wherefore I would you shoulde not lacke testimonies of theÌ„ And to do you pleasurewithal I wil resite you i. or .ii. testimonies by the which you may perceiue that you haue erred in this your atticle and in yuur letter to the kinges highnes also wherin you say that this your opinion hath bene the vnifourme consent of the whole churche euen frome the Apostles tyme. Saynte Chrisostom whom I am sure you â—pon Math wyll not repute amonge theim whome you call heritykes sayeth So sone as the inner eyes se the bread they flye ouer the
coÌ„deÌ„ned theÌ„ for killing theÌ„ selues Yea as it is a greuouse offeÌ„ce to kil an oâ—â—er so is it an offeÌ„ce of all other most greâ—ouse for a maÌ„ to kil him selfe It is manifeste therfore that these meÌ„ myght not by any meanes per fourme their vowe were it neuer so aduisedly made for the lawe of God forbiddeth the 〈◊〉 therof on euerie side What was to be done in this matter Was ther no waye for these Iewes to recoÌ„eile theÌ„ selues to God againe Yese forsoeth They ought euen froÌ„ the bottoÌ„ of theyr hertes to lament theyr 〈◊〉 malitiouse intente and purpose to shede the innocent bloude of that most godly man so coÌ„mitte theÌ„ selues to the mercie of God knowinge his mercye to be so obouÌ„daunt his cleâ—â—eÌ„cie such that he both could would at the respect of their huÌ„ble coÌ„triete hertes forgeue theyr sâ—â—es EueÌ„ so our priestes If they haue vowed suche a kinde of chastitie as to lyue vâ—terlye wythout the vessel that God hath prepared for mans natural operation yet fele in theÌ„ selues such naturall working that it may be iustly said vnto theÌ„ it is better to mary then to burne I say S. Paule beareth me witnes they ought to mary wiâ—es notwithstaÌ„ding their vowe for the word of God is coÌ„trary to the perfourmauÌ„ce therof PeradueÌ„ture you wyll saye this is soner sayed theâ— proâ—ed In verye dede it is not so sone proued as spokeÌ„ But yet it is not so hard to be proned but that it maye easilye be proâ—ed boeth by the testimonies of the â—â—we and olde testament Fyrste tell me what S. Paule meante by Hebru .xiii. these wordes in his Epistle to the Hebrues Wedlocke is honourable in all persons and the bed there of vndefiled I know your interpretation vpon thys place already for I am sure you will not make Paul to recant as you did pore Basil at Paules crosse in LoÌ„don for exhortynge all menne to mariage in hys boke of matrimony not exemptyng the vowed anowterers and therfore I wyll answere vnto it You wyll saye I am sure that in the time of Paule priestes made no vowes of chastitie and therefore they dyd marye in those dayes and longe after as it appeareth by cronicles and theyr mariage was honourable and the bedde thereof vndefiled But if the vowe of chastitie hadde bene then vsed amonge priestes Paule would haue exempted theÌ„ in hys Epistle A thinge very lykely Paule wrote vnto the Iewes amonge whoÌ„ was nothynge so muche esteâ—â—d as vowes as we reade in the bokes of the kynges of Saule Dauid and diuers other and yet he had not occasion to exempte votaries in his Epistle But the circumstaunce of the texte geueth rather the contrarie interpretation that Paule dyd in thys place write thys sentence by the vniuersal signe bycause the Iewes were so greatelie geuen in the perfourmynge of theyr vowes that they thoughte all thynges lawfull that they had vowed to do as appeareth by the vowe of the Iewes wherof I haue spokeÌ„ before They thought it lawefull for theym to slea Paule bycause they had vowed his death And yet the priestes elders could make thys answer to Pilate wheÌ„ he bad theÌ„ take our sauiour Christ and iudge hyw accordynge to theyr lawe They coulde I saye answere hym that it was not lawful for theÌ„ to kil any man And bycause they woulde not seme to be murtherers they found the meanes to make Pilate theyr butcher I saye not that oure prelates haue vsed the same practise By like the way to vowe mennes death was not then inuented For if it hadde they myghte haue rydde Christe wyth lesse ado then they made But I thynke not contrarye but it fared by them then euen as it dyd by vs of late dayes For as the numbre of the true christians encreased so dyd the byshops hyghe priestes inuente wayes to brynge them to the pote There were appoynted .iiii. sessions in one yeare moe then were wonte to be And for what other purpose to speake of them by a boke oth to coÌ„pel pore simple coÌ„scieÌ„ces to accuse christes true disciples that they myght be lapped in the chaynes of the syx Articles and so he broughte to the slaughter house where no manne durste once speake in theyr cause Yea they had by thys meanes so binded the power consciences that they though they counde not do greater seruice to God then in accusynge one of the newe learnyng as they call if in so muche that manye simple and weake coÌ„sciences thought it a synne irremissible to coÌ„ceale any such if they chanÌ„ced at any time to haue knowledge of them As it appeared by theÌ„ that accused sir Gorg Blage nowe knight but at the time of your Apostatie moste anworthilye accused spedily condemned and had not the mercy of his prince and Maister bene more large vpon him then it was vpon Iohn Lassels he had burned eneÌ„ theÌ„ I wyl not saye that you other that were then in your takyng thought it no daunger vpon your othe to confesse all that you knewe to be of that opinion which you then forsoke notwythstandynge you knewe that that youre contession shoulde be theyr death By thys we maye coniect how it came to passe that the Iewes thoughte it lawfull to vowe a mans deathe and then to kill hym For in Christes time it was not so as it appeareth by that the hye priestes and elders sought wytues agaynst Christ wher as it vowynge woulde haue serued they myghte haue mads a more spedie dispatche They theÌ„ selues might or els haue caused other to vow hys death as I doubte not but some of theym dyd procure those deuonte votaries whyche vowed Paules death Take me not here good master ShaxtoÌ„ as one that regardeth not an oth or vow But take me as one that wyll nother keepe othe nor vowe the perfourmaunce whereof is against the commaundement of God If I therefore had vowed and sworne by all the bokes vnder the sunne that I would neuer marye but lyue a lone lyfe wythout the lawefull companie of a womanne yet if the rage of the fleshe were suche that I shoulde be ready to ncye as an horsse after euerye mans wyfe I woulde not regarde my foleishe othes and vowe so far aboue my strength but the promise that I made to kepe the commaundemente of God whyche forbiddeth me the verye desyre of my neyghbours wyfe But you wyll saye it is not moughe to saye I wyll not regarde my foleish othes and vow but it be houeth that in this case I shewe that I ought not to regarde them True it is in dede the case requireth so and so maye I fone do For thys is playne if the coÌ„maundement of God which I take to be the whole Euangelye of Christe do forbid or dehort me from any kinde of thyng what so euer it be no oth nor vow be it neuer so aduisedlie made can bynde me to it The worde of God forbid deth all kyndes of