temerê condemnandi aut inuicem iudicandi That the controuersie for the one or bothe kyndes may be taken awaye it shall be very well done that holy churche made it free to receiue this sacrament in one or bothe kyndes yet vnder suche condition as hereby no occasion be geuen to any bodye rashely to condēne the vse which the church hath so long tyme kepte nor to iudge one an other Soothly he which would haue it free and at libertie to receiue the sacrament vnder one or bothe kyndes and holdeth opinion that the olde custome of the one kynde onely is not to be condemned semeth plainely ynough to confesse that nothing hath ben instituted or commaunded of Christ touching this matter as necessarie to saluation Thus we may see playnely that they which haue diuided them selues from the mysticall bodye of Christ that is his churche who were of greatest learning and iudgement make it a matter indifferent as it is in dede of it selfe lefte to the libertie of the churche whether the sacrament be ministred vnder one kynde or bothe And this much hath ben cōfessed against M. Iuell and his secte not onely by the learned aduersaries of the churche in oure tyme but also by a learned man of Bohemia aboue six score yeres past His name is Iohn Przybxam of whose writinges some are set foorth in printe This learned man whereas he endeuoured to proue the vse of bothe kyndes of the wordes of Christ written by S. Iohn Except ye eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloude ye shal not haue lyfe in you at length vttereth these wordes according to the eloquence of his tyme. In libr. de professione fidei catholieae cap. 19. Veruntamen hic Deum timens mores impios aliorum praecauens fateor quòd quaslibet personas de ecclesia communion fidelium sub vtraque specie repugnantes damnare aut haereticare non intendo But here hauing the feare of god before myne eyes and being well ware I folowe not the wicked conditions of others I grawnt that what persones so euer of the churche repine against the communion of the faithfull people vnder bothe kyndes I entend not to condemne them nor to holde them for heretikes But if it be the commaundement of God that the Sacrament be receiued of all vnder bothe kyndes why shuld he be forbydden by the feare of God to cōdemne those that wythstād that order of communion Seeing that who so euer goeth against Gods commaundement is worthy to be cōdemned Therefore by his testimonie the vse of one or bothe kindes is indifferent Thus we are able to alleage Luther Melanchthon Bucer and that learned Bohemian for the Indifferencie of the communion to be minister either vnder one kynde or bothe Whereby I meane not that the vse of the sacramēt is so lefte to euery mannes libertie as he that listeth may require bothe kyndes and an other may content him selfe with one kynde not so euery man is bownde to folow the order of the churche but the churche is not bownde of necessitie by Gods commaundement to minister it vnder bothe kyndes to the laitie And whereas it was ministred in bothe kyndes at Corinth as it appeareth by S. Paul and in sundry other places Causes mouing the churche to cōmunicate vnder one kinde as we finde most euidently in the writinges of diuerse auncient fathers yet the churche hath ben moued by diuerse and weighty causes to take order that the people should receiue their cōmunion vnder one kynde not onely in the councell of Basile but also in that of Constāce and long before them aboue a thousand yeres in the first councell of Ephesus as many doo probably gather and mamely Vrbanus Regius a doctour of Luthers scoole confesseth in his booke De locis communibus One cause and not the leaste was that thereby the heresie of Nestorius might the rather be extinguished who emonges other errours held opinion that vnder the forme of bread in the Sacramēt is cōteined the body of Christ with out his bloude and vnder the forme of the wine his bloude onely without his bodye Many other causes moued those fathers to take that order for th'auoyding of many inconueniences dangers and offences which might happē in the vse of the cuppe as vnreuerence of so high a Sacrament whereof christen people at the beginning had a meruelouse care and regarde the lothsomnes of many that can not brooke the taste of wine the difficultie of getting and impossibilitie of keping wine from corruption in countries situated neare to the north Pole in that clime where is knowen to be great extremitie of colde besyde a number of the like So that it had ben beside reason to haue bounde all to the necessitie of bothe kyndes Now in very dede if we would graunt to oure aduersaries which in no wise we do not graunt that it hath ben commaunded of Christ the laye people should communicate vnder bothe kyndes by these wordes Drinke ye all of this yet this notwithstanding the exacte streightnes of gods ordināce may without synne in cases be omitted in such thinges which be not necessaryly to be obserued of them selues or of the prescripte of the lawe of nature so that great and weighty causes the rule of charitie exactely obserued require the same For euident proufe of this we haue exāples bothe of the olde and also of the newe testamēt Leuit. 24. Dyd not God commaunde that none shuld eate of the shewebread but the priestes onely 1. Reg. 21. Dauid eate thereof and yet Christ cleareth him of all blame Mar. 2. The lawe of circuncisiō so streightly commaunded Genes 17. 34. was for the space of forty yeres by the people of Israel quite omitted whiles they passed from Egypte to the land of promesse and God fownde no faulte with them for it God gaue the law of keping holy the Saboth daye with out exception Exod. 20. 1. Mach. 1. The Machabés notwithstanding stickte not to arme them selues against Antiochus and to spende that daye in the fielde in theire defence hauing no scruple of conscience for breach of that law Many the like examples we fynde in the olde testament But let vs come to the newe testament and to the Sacraments of the tyme of grace In due cōsideration of which we may fynde that Christ hath scarcely commaunded any outward thing the moderation qualifying and ordering whereof he hath not lefte to his churche as according to the cōdition of the tyme it hath ben sene most expedient for the common prefermēt and edifying of the same So that notwithstanding there be no swaruing from the scope and principal intente and no creature defrauded of that good which by the outward thinges is to be atteined Touching the Sacrament of baptisme though nothing be sayde of the teaching of them that shuld be baptized neyther of the dipping of them in to the water Matt. 28. which Christes charge in
Or that it vvas then thought a sovvnde doctrine to teache the people that the Masse ex opere operato that is euen for that it is sayde and donne is hable to remoue any part of oure synne Article 21 Or that then any Christian man called the Sacrament his lorde and God Article 22 Or that the people vvas then taught to beleue that the body of christ remaineth in the Sacrament as long as the accidētes of the bread remayne there vvith out corruptiō Article 23 Or that a Mouse or any other vvorme or beaste maye eate the body of Christ for so some of oure aduersaries haue sayd and taught Article 24 Or that vvhen Christ sayde Hoe est corpus meum This vvord Hoc pointeth not the bread but indiuiduum vagum as summe of them saye Article 25 Or that the accidentes or formes or shevves of bread and vvyne be the Sacramentes of Christes body and bloud and not rather the very bread and vvyne it selfe Article 26 Or that the Sacrament is a signe or token of the body of Christ that lyeth hydden vnderneathe it Article 27 Or that Ignoraunce is the mother and cause of true deuotion and obedience These be the highest mysteries and greatest keys of theire Religion and vvith out them their doctrine can neuer be mainteined and stand vpright If any one of all oure aduersaries be hable to auouch any one of all these articles by any such sufficient authoritie of scriptures doctoures or councelles as I haue required as I sayde before so saye I novv agayne I am content to yelde vnto him and to subscribe But I am vvell assured they shall neuer be hable truly to alleage one sentence And because I knovv it therefor I speake it lest ye happely shuld be deceiued They that haue auaunted them selues of doctoures and councelles and cōtinuance of tyme in any of these pointes Fol. 51. vvhen they shall be called to tryall to shew their proufes they shall open their handes and fynde nothing I speake not this of arrogancie thou lord knovvest it best that knovvest all thinges But for as muche as it is godes cause and the truth of God I shuld doo God great iniurie if I shuld concele it THE VVORDES OF MAISTER THE SAME CHALENGE AND offer and imputing to the catholikes of vnhablenes to defend their doctrine vttered by M. Iuell in other places of his booke as folovveth MY offer vvas this he meaneth in the sermon vvich he made in the courte that if any of all those thinges that I then rehearsed In the first ansvver to D. Coles letter fol. 4. could be proued of your syde by any sufficiēt authoritie other of the scriptures or of the aunciēt Councelles or by any one allovved example of the primitiue churche that then I vvould be content to yelde vnto you I saye you haue none of all those helps nor scriptures nor councelles nor doctours nother any other antiquitie and this is the negatiue Novv it standeth you vpon to proue but one affirmatiue to the contrary and so to requyre my promise The Articles that I sayde could not be proued of your parte vvere these That it can not appeare by any authoritie other of the olde doctours or of the auncient Councelles that there vvas any priuate Masse in the vvhole churche of Christ at that tyme Or that there vvas then any communion ministred etc. the articles rekened there it foloweth And if any one of all these articles can be sufficiently proued by such atuhoritie as I haue sayde Fol. 5. and as ye haue borne the people in hand ye can proue them by I am vvell content to stand to my promise After in the first ansvver to D. C. fol. 6. In the ende there fol. 7. I thought it best to make my entree vvith such thinges as vvhere in I vvas vvell assured ye shuld be able to finde not so much as any colour at all But to conclude as I begane I ansvver that in these Articles I hold only the negatiue and therefore I looke hovv you vvil be able to affirme the cōtrarie and that as I sayde afore by sufficient authoritie vvhich if ye doo not you shall cause me the more to be resolued and others to stand the more in doubt of the rest of your learning In my Sermon at poules and els vvhere I required you to bring forth on your part eyther sum scripture sn the second ansvver to D. C. fo 13 or sum old doctour or sum aunciēt councell or els some allovve example of the primiue churchē For these are good grovvndes to buyld vpon And I vvould haue marueiled that you brought nothing all this vvhile sauing that I knevv ye had nothing to bring As truly as god is god if ye vvold haue vouchesaued to folovv either the scriptures or the auncient doctours In the 2. ansvver fol. 15. and councelles ye vvold neuer haue restored agayne the Sup̄macie of Rome after it vvas once abolished or the priuate Masse or the communion vnder one kinde etc. Novv if ye thinke ye haue vvrong There fol. 17. shevv your euidence out of the doctours the councels or scriptures that you may haue yout right and reentre I require you to no great paine one good sentence shall be sufficient You vvold haue your priuate Masse the bisshop of Romes sup̄macie the commē prayer in an vnknovven tonge Fol. 18. and for defence of the same ye haue made no small a doo Me thinketh it reasonable ye bring sum one authoritie besyde your ovvne to auouche the same vvith all Ye haue made the vnlearned people beleue ye had all the doctours all the councelles and fiften hundred yeres on your syde For your credites sake let not all these great vauntes comme to naught Ye desyre ye may not be put of Fol. 18. but that your suite maye be consydered And yet this half yeare long I haue desyred of you and of your brethren but one sentence and still I knovv not hovv I am cast of and can gete nothing at your handes You call for the special proufes of our doctrine Fol. 21. vvhich vvould require a vvhole booke vvhere as if you of your part could vouchesafe to bring but tvvo lines the vvhole matter vvere concluded VVe only tell the people as our devvtie is that you vvithstand the manifest truth and yet haue neither doctour nor councell nor scripture for you and that ye haue shevved such extremitie as the like hath not bē seene and novv cā giue no rekening vvhy Or if ye can let it appeare Fol. 23. You are bovvnde ye saye and maye not dispute etc. But I vvould vvish the quenes Maiestie vvould not only set you at libertie in that behalfe but also cōmaunde you to shevve your grovvndes VVhere as you saye you vvould haue the sainges of bothe parties vveighed by the balance of the olde doctours ye see that is oure only request and that in the matters ye vvrite of I
meum c. The priest sayeth Bessarion after the rite or maner of the east churche pronounceth with a lowde voice those wordes this is my body c. Which maner of lowde pronouncing was thought good to be vsed in the Greke churche as it may be gathered by that Bessarion writeth who being a Greke borne and brought vp in learning amongest the Grekes knewe rightwell the order of that churche to the intent the people might therby for the better mainetenaunce of their faith be styrred and warned to geue tokē of cōsent and of beleefe thereto when the priest sayeth he pronounceth those wordes with a lowde voice the people standyng by in vtraque parte that is first at the consecration of the body and agayne at the consecration of the bloude answereth amen as though they sayde thus truly so it is as thou sayest For where as Amen is an aduerbe of affirmyng in Hebrue in Greke it signifieth so much as truly And therefore the people answering Amen to those wordes verely saie they these giftes sette forth are the body and bloude of Christ So we beleue so we confesse This farre Bessarion It is declared by Clement lib. 8. constitut Apostolicarum that the people sayde Amen when the wordes of consecration had ben pronounced Whereby we vnderstande that order to haue ben taken by the Apostles The same custome also maye be gathered out of S. Ambrose who sayeth thus Dicit tibi sacerdos corpus Christi tu dicis Amen hoc est verum quod confitetur lingua teneat affectus de sacramētis lib. 4. ca. 5. The priest sayeth the body of Christ and thou sayest amen that is to saye true Holde with thy harte that which thou confessest with thy tonge He sayeth hereof likewise de ijs qui initiantur mysterijs cap. 9. Frustrà ab illis respondetur Amen c. Serm. 6. de ieiunio 7. mensis Amen is answered in vaine by them who dispute against that which is receiued sayeth Leo. And that the people shuld geue their consent and applie their faith to this truth without errour and deceite and that by saying Amen they shuld then beleue and confesse the breade and wine to be made the body and bloude of Christ when it was made in deede and not elles for so were it a great errour De ecclesiasticis diuersis capitulis cōstitut 123. for this cause Iustinian the Emperour made an ordinaunce that the bishoppes and priestes shuld to this intēt pronoūce their seruice plainely distinctly and so as it might be vnderstanded that the people might answere Amen wich is to be referred to eche parte of the seruice but specially to the consecration that they might beleue and confesse it was the body and bloude of Christ when it was in deede and not so confesse when it was not which might happen if they hearde not the wordes of consecratiō plainely pronounced And hereunto specially that Constitution of Iustinian is to be restrayned as perteining onely to the Greke churche wherein he lyued and not to be stretched further to serue for proufe of all the seruice to be had and sayde in the vulgare tonge in the West churche as to that purpose of our newe teachers it is vntruly alleaged Now in this West churche which is the latine churche the people hauing ben sufficiently instructed touching the beleefe of the body and bloude of our lord in the Sacrament it hath ben thought by the fathers conuenient the wordes of consecration to be pronounced by the priest closely and in silence rather then with open voice Wherein they had speciall regarde to the dignitie of that high mysterie And doubteles for this point they vnderstoode Lib. de spiritu sancto ca. 27. as Saint Basile writeth that the Apostles and the fathers which at the begynning made lawes for the order of Ecclesiasticall thinges maineteined the mysteries in their due auctoritie by keping them secrete and in silence For it is not sayeth he any mysterie at all which is brought forth to the popular and vulgar eares whereof he wrote very truly before Ei quod publicatum est per se apprehendi potest imminere contemptum Ei verò quod remotum est ac rarum etiam naturaliter quodammodo esse coniunctam admirationem That what is done openly and made common and of it selfe maye be atteined it is like to come in contempte and be dispysed But what is kepte farre of and is sildom goten that euen naturally in maner is neuer without wondering at it And in such respecte Christ gaue warning that pretiouse stones be not strewed before hogges If in the olde lawe priestes were chosen as Saint Ambrose writeth to coouer the arke of the Testament because it is not lawfull for all persones to see the deapth of mysteries If the sonnes of Caath by Gods appointment dyd onely beare the arke and those other holy thinges of the Tabernacle Nume 4. Vide Origenē homil 5. in Numer cap. 4. on their shulders when so euer the children of Israel remoued and marched foreward in wildernes being closely folded and lapte within vailes courteines and palles by the priestes and might not at no tyme touche nor see the same vpon payne of death which were but figures of this how much more is this high and worthy mysterie to be honoured with secretnes closenes and silence For this cause as they reporte In fragmēto Caroli Mag. de ritib. veteris ecclesiae sayeth Carolus Magnus that noble vertuouse and learned Emperour wryting to his Schoolemaister Alcuinus our cowntrie man and first teacher of Philosophie in Paris it is become a custome in the church that the Canon and consecration be sayde by the priest secretly that those wordes so holy and perteining to so great a mysterie shuld not growe in contēpte whiles all in maner through common vse bearing them awaye would syng them in the high wayes in the stretes and in other places where it were not conuenient Whereof it is tolde that before this custome was receiued shepherdes when they sang them in the fielde were by Gods hande strooken Luther him selfe in praeceptorio is much against them that would haue the Canon of the Masse to be pronounced with a lowde voice for the better vnderstāding vvhat persons the primitiue church excluded frō presence of the sacramēt The fathers of the primitiue churche had this Sacrament in such reuerence and honour that they excluded some sortes of faithfull people from being present at the celebration of it thinking them vnworthy not onely to heare the mysticall wordes of consecration pronounced but also to see the formes of the outward elementes and to be in the churche whiles that most holy Sacrifice was offered They were these Cathechumeni Energumeni and poenitentes The first were learners of our beleefe who as they were daily instructed beleued in Christ and as Saint Augustine writeth Tractatu in Ioan. 11 bare Christes crosse in their forehead
suddeine pange cōming vpon him or with some cogitation and conscience of his owne vnworthines suddeinly comming to his mynde If either this or any other let had chaunced in what case had the patriarke ben then He had ben like by M. Iuelles doctrine to haue broken Christes Institution and so Gods cōmaundement through an others defecte which were straunge But I iudge that M. Iuell who harpeth so many iarring argumētes against priuate Masse vpon the very word Communion will not allowe that for a good and lawfull communion where there is but one onely to receiue with the priest Verely it appeareth by his sermon that all the people ought to receiue or to be dryuen out of the churche Now therefore to an other example of the priuate Masse Amphilochius byshop of Iconium the head citie of Lycaonia to whom S. Basile dedicated his booke De Spiritu sancto and an other booke intituled Ascetica writing the lyfe of saint Basile or rather the miracles through Gods power by him wrought which he calleth Memorabilia vera ac magna miracula in praefatione worthy of record true and great miracles specially such as were not by the three most worthy men Gregorie Nazianzene Gregorie Nyssene and holy Ephrem in their Epitaphicall or funerall treatises before mentioned among other thinges reporteth a notable story wherein we haue a cleare testimonie of a priuate Masse And for the thing that the storie sheweth as much as for any other of the same Amphilochius he is called Coelestium virtutum collocutor angelicorum ordinum comminister a talker together with the heauenly powers and a felowe seruant with orders of Angelles The story is this This holy bishop Basile besoughte God in his prayers he would geue him grace wisedom and vnderstanding so as he might offer the sacrifice of Christes bloude sheding proprijs sermonibus with prayers and seruice of his owne making and that the better to atcheue that purpose the holy ghost might come vpon him After syx dayes he was in a traunce for cause of the holy ghostes comming When the seuenth daye was come he beganne to minister vnto God that is to witte he sayde Masse euery daye After a certaine tyme thus spent through faith and prayer he begāne to write with his owne hande mysteria ministrationis the Masse or the seruice of the Masse On a night our lord came vnto him in a vision with the Apostles and layde breade to be consecrated on the holy aulter and stirring vp Basile sayd vnto him Secundum postulationem tuam repleatur os tuum laude etc. According to thy request let thy mowth be fylled with praise that with thyne owne wordes thou mayst offer vp to me sacrifice He not able to abide the vision with his eyes rose vp with trembling and goyng to the holy aulter beganne to saye that he had written in paper thus Repleatur os meum laude hymnum dicat gloriae tuae domine Deus qui creasti nos adduxisti in vitam hanc caeteras orationes sancti ministerij Let my mowth be fylled with prayse to vtter an hymne to thy glory Lord God which hast created vs and brought vs in to this lyfe and so foorth the other prayers of the Masse It foloweth in the story Et post finem orationum exaltauit panem sine intermissione orans dicens Respice domine Iesu Christe etc. After that he had done the prayers of Consecration he lyfted vp the bread praying continually and saying Looke vpon vs lord Iesus Christ out of thy holy tabernacle and come to sanctifie vs that sittest aboue with thy father and arte here present inuisibly with vs vouchesafe with thy mighty hand to delyuer to vs and by vs to all thy people Sancta Sanctis thy holy thinges to the holy The people answered one holy one our lord Iesus Christ with the holy ghost in glorie of God the father Amen Now let vs consyder what foloweth perteining most to our purpose Et diuidens panem in tres partes vnam quidem communicauit timore multo alteram autem reseruauit consepelire secum tertiam verò imposuit columbae aureae quae pependit super altare He diuided the bread in to three partes of which be receiued one at his communion with greate feare and reuerence the other he reserued that it might be buried with him and the third parte he caused to be put in a golden pyxe that was hanged vp ouer the aulter made in forme and shape of a dooue After this a litle before the ende of this treatise it foloweth how that S. Basile at the houre that he departed out of this lyfe receiued that parte of the hoste him selfe which he had purposed to haue enterred with him in his graue and immediatly as he laye in his bedde gaue thankes to God and rendred vp the ghost That this was a priuate Masse no man can denye Basile receiued the sacrament alone for there was no earthly creature in that churche with him The people that answered him were such as Christ brought with him And that all this was no dreame but a thing by the will of god done in dede though in a vision as it pleased Christ to exhibite Amphilochius playnely witnesseth declaring how that one Eubulus and others the chiefe of that clergie standing before the gates of the churche whiles this was in dooing sawe lightes with in the churche and men clothed in white and heard a voice of people glorifying god and behelde Basile standing at the aulter and for this cause at his comming foorth fell downe prostrate at his feete Here M. Iuell and his consacramentaries doo staggar I doubte not for graunt to a priuate Masse they will not what so euer be brought for proufe of it and therefore some doubte to auoyd this autoritie must be deuysed But whereof they shuld doubte verely I see not If they doubte any thing of the brīging of the bread and other necessaries to serue for cōsecration of the hoste let thē also doubte of the bread and fleshe that Elias had in the ponde of Carith 3. Reg. 17. 3. Reg. 19. Let them doubte of the bread and potte of water he had vnder the Iuniper tree in Bersabée Let them doubte of the potte of potage brought to Daniel for his dyner Daniel 14 from Iewerie in to the caue of lyons at Babylon by Abacuk the prophete But perhappes they doubte of the auctoritie of Amphilochius that wrote this story It may well be that they would be gladde to discredite that worthy bishop For he was that vigilant pastour and good gouernour of the churche Theodorit in hist eccles lib. 4. cap. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 precatores who first with Letoius bishop of Melite and with Flauianus bishop of Antioche ouerthrewe and vtterly vanquished the heretikes called Messaliani otherwise euchitae the first parentes of the Sacramentarie heresie Whose opinion was that the holy Eucharistie that is the blessed
sayeth as there it foloweth It is the spirite that quikneth or geueth lyfe the fleshe profiteth nothing The vvordes vvhich I haue spoken to you bee spirite and life As though he had sayde thus The fleshe of it selfe profiteth nothing but my fleshe which is full of godhed and spirite bringeth and worketh immortalitie and life euetlasting to them that receiue it worthely Thus we vnderstand in this blessed Sacrament not onely the body and bloud of Christ but all and whole Christ God and man to be present in substāce and that for the inseparable vnitie of the person of Christ and for this cause we acknowledge our selues bownden to adore him as very true God and man For a clearer declaration hereof I will not let to recite a notable sentence out of S. Augustine where he expoundeth these wordes of Christ In Ioan. tractat 27 Then if ye see the sonne of man go vp vvhere he vvas before There had ben no question sayeth he if he had thus sayde if ye see the sonne of God go vp where he was before But whereas he sayde the sonne of man go vp vvhere he vvas before what was the sonne of man in heauen before that he beganne to be in earth Verely here he sayde where he was before as though then he were not there when he spake these wordes And in an other place he sayeth No man hath ascended in to heauen but he that descended from heauen the sonne of man vvhich is in heauen He sayde not was but the sonne of man sayeth he vvhich is in heauen In earth he spake and sayde him selfe to be in heauen To what perteineth this but that we vnderstand Christ to be one person God and man not two least our faith be not a trinitie but a quaternitie Wherefore Christ is one the worde the soule and the fleshe one Christ the sonne of God and the sonne of man one Christ The sonne of God euer the sonne of man in tyme yet one Christ according to th'unitie of person was in heauen when he spake in earth So was the sonne of man in heauen as the sonne of god was in earth The sonne of god in earth in fleshe taken the sonne of man in heauen in vnitie of person This farre saint Augustine Herevpon he expoundeth these wordes it is the spirite that quikneth or geueth life the fleshe auaileth nothing thus The fleshe profiteth nothing but the onely fleshe Come the spirite to the fleshe and it profiteth very much For if the fleshe shuld profite nothing the word shuld not be made fleshe to dwell amongest vs. For this vnitie of person to be vnderstanded in bothe natures sayeth the great learned father Leo we reade that bothe the sonne of man came downe from heauen Epist ad Flauianū Constantinopolitanū epis cap. 5. when as the sonne of god tooke fleshe of that virgine of whom he was borne and againe it is sayde that the sonne of god was crucified and buryed whereas he suffered these thinges not in the godhed it selfe in which the onely begotē is coeuerlasting and consubstantiall with the father but in the infirmitie of humaine nature Wherefore we cōfesse all in the Crede also the onely begoten sonne of god crucified and buryed according to that saying of th'apostle For if they had knovven 1. Cor. 2. they vvould neuer haue crucifyed the lord of Maiestie According to this doctrine Cyrillus writing vpon S. Iohn sayeth In Ioan. li. 4. ca. 15. he that eateth the fleshe of Christ hath lyfe euerlasting For this fleshe hath the word of god which naturally is lyfe Therfore he sayeth I vvill rayse him againe in the last daye For I sayde he that is my body which shall be eaten will raise him againe For he is not other then his fleshe I saye not this because by nature he is not other but because after incarnation he suffereth not him selfe to be diuided in to two sonnes By which wordes he reproueth the heresie of wicked Nestorius that went about to diuide Christ and of Christ to make two sonnes the one the sonne of god the other the sonne of Marye and so two persones For which Nestorius was condemned in the first Ephesine councell and also specially for that he sayde we receiue in this Sacramēt onely the fleshe of Christ in the bread and his bloud onely in the wine without the godhed because Christ sayde he that eateth my fleshe and sayde not he that eateth or drinketh my godhed because his godhed can not be eaten but his fleshe onely Which hereticall cauille Cyrillus doth thus auoyd Vide Anathematismum xi Item ad Theodos de recta fide li. 2. ad Reginas de recta fide Although sayeth he the nature of the godhed be not eaten yet we eate the body of Christ which verely may be eaten But this body is the Wordes owne proper body which quikneth althinges and in as much as it is the body of life it is quikning or lyfe geuing Now he quikneth vs or geueth vs lyfe as God the onely fonteine of lyfe Wherefore such speaches vttered in the scriptures of Christ whereby that appeareth to be attributed to the one nature which apperteineth to the other and contrary wise according to that incomprehēsible and vnspeakeable coniunction and vnion of the diuine and humaine nature in one person are to be taken of him inseparably in as much as he is both god and man and not of this or that other nature onely as being seuered from the other For through cause of this inseparable vnion what so euer is apperteining or peculiar to either nature it is rightly ascribed yea and it ought to be ascribed to the whole person And this is done as the learned diuines terme it per communicationem idiomatum And thus Cyrillus teacheth how christ maye be eaten not according to the diuine but humaine nature which he tooke of vs and so likewise he is of Christen people adored in the Sacramēt according to his diuine nature And yet not according to his diuine nature onely as though that were separated from his humaine nature but his whole person together God and man And his pretious fleshe and bloud are adored for the inseparable cōiunction of bothe natures into one person which is Iesus Christ God and man Whom God hath exalted as S. Paul sayeth and hath geuen him a name Philip. 2. vvhich is aboue all name that in the name of Iesus euery knee be bovved of the heauenly and the earthly thinges and of thinges beneathe and that euery tonge confesse that our lord Iesus Christ is in glory of God the father that is of equal glory with the father Heb. 10. Psal 96. And vvhen God sayeth S. Paul bringeth his first begoten in to the vvorld he sayeth and let all the Angelles of God adore him S. Iohn writeth in his reuelatiō that he heard all creatures saye blessing honour Apoc. 5. glory and power be to him which sitteth
also and that chiefly a diuine thinge vnder them according to christes promisse couertly conteined specially this being weyed that this most holy Sacramēt consisteth of these two thinges to witte of the visible forme of the outward elemētes and the inuisible fleshe and bloud of Christ that is to saye of the Sacrament and of the thing of the sacrament Tertullian may seme to speake of these two partes of the sacramēt ioyntly in this one sentēce For first he speaketh most plainely of the very body of Christ in the Sacramēt and of the maruelouse tournīg of the breade into the same the breade sayeth he that he tooke and gaue to his disciples he made it his body Which is the diuine thing of the sacramēt Then forthwith he sayeth that our lord dyd it by sayng This is my body that is the figure of my body By which wordes he sheweth the other parte the sacramēt onely that is to saye that holy outward signe of the forme of breade vnder which forme Christes body into the which the breade by gods power is tourned is conteined which outward forme is verely the figure of Christes body present which our lord vnder the same conteined delyuered to his disciples and now is likewise at that holy table to the faithfull people delyuered where the order of the catholike churche is not broken That Tertullian in this place is so to be vnderstanded we are taught by the great learned bishop saint Augustine and by Hilarius who was bishop of Rome nexte after Leo the first Saint Augustines wordes be these De cōsec dist 2. canon vtrūsub figura Corpus Christi veritas figura est Veritas dum corpus Christi sanguis in virtute Spiritus sancti ex panis vini substantia efficitur Figura verò est quod exterius sentitur The body of Christ is both the truth and the figure The truth whiles the body of Christ and his bloud by the power of the holy ghost is made of the substance of bread and wine And it is the figure that is with outward sense perceiued Where S. Augustine here sayeth the body and bloude of Christ to be made of the substance of bread and wine beware thou vnlearned man thou thinke not them thereof to be made as though they were newely created of the matter of bread and wine neither that they be made of breade and wine as of a matter but that where bread and wine were before after consecration there is the very body and bloud of Christ borne of the virgine Mary and that in substance in sorte and maner to our weake reason incomprehensible Dist 2. cano corpus Christi The wordes of Hilarius the Pope vtter the same doctrine Corpus Christi quod sumitur de altari figura est dum panis vinum videtur extrà Veritas autem dum corpus Christi interius creditur The body of Christ which is receiued from the aulter is the figure whiles bread and wine are sene outwardly And it is the truth whiles the body and bloud of Christ are beleued inwardly Thus the fathers call not onely the sacramēt but also the body and bloud of Christ it selfe in the sacrament sometymes the truth sometymes a figure the truth that is to witte the very and true body and bloud of Christ a figure in respecte of the maner of being of the same there present which is really and substantially but inuisibly vnder the visible forme of the outward elementes And so Tertullian meaneth by his that is the figure of my body as though Christ had shewed by the word Hoc that which was visible which verely is the figure of the body right so as that which is the inuisible inward thing is the truth of the body Which interpretation of Tertullian in dede is not according to the right sense of Christes wordes though his meaning swarue not from the truth For where as our lord sayde this is my body he meant not so as though he had sayde the outward forme of the Sacrament which here I delyuer to you is a figure of my body vnder the same conteined for as much as by these wordes Hoc est he shewed not the visible forme of breade but the substance of his very body in to which by his diuine power he tourned the bread And therefore none of all the fathers euer so expownded those wordes of Christ but cōtrary wise namely Theophylacte and Damascen He sayd not sayeth Theophylact This is a figure In Matth. cap. 26. Lib. 4. ca. 14. but this is my body The bread nor the wyne meaning their outward formes sayeth Damascen is not a figure of the body and bloud of Christ Not so in no wise But it is the body it selfe of our lord deificated sith our lord him selfe sayeth This is my body not the figure of my body but my body and not the figure of my bloud but my bloud etc. And the cause why Tertullian so expownded these wordes of Christ was that thereby he might take aduantage against Marcion the heretike as many tymes the fathers in heate of disputatiō doo hādle some places not after the exacte signification of the wordes but rather folowe such waye as serueth thē best to confut their aduersarie Which maner not reporting any vntruth S. Basile doth excuse in the setting forth of a disputation not in prescribing of a doctrine Epist 64. As he defendeth Gregorius Neocaesariensis against the Sabellianes for that in a contentiō he had with Aelianus an Ethnike to declare the mysteries of the trinitie he vsed the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in stede of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the learned men that be well sene in the fathers knowe they must vse a discretion and a sundry iudgement betwen the thinges they write agonisticῶs that is to saye by waye of contention or disputation and the thinges they vtter dogmaticῶs that is by waie of setting forth a doctrine or matter of faith Neither in that contention dyd Tertullian so much regard the exacte vse of wordes as how he might wynne his purpose and driue his aduersarie denying that Christ tooke the true body of man and that he suffered death in dede to confesse the truth which he thought to bring to passe by deducing an argument from the figure of his body which consisteth in that which is visible in the sacrament to proue the veritie of his body and therefore in framing his reason by waie of illation he sayeth Figura autem non esset nisi veritatis esset corpus There were not a figure onlesse there were a body of truth or a very body in dede And whereas Tertullian vseth this word figure in this place it is not to be vnderstanded to be such The vvordes figure signe token etc. exclude not the truth as the figures of the olde testament bee as though it signified the shewing of a thing to come or of a thing absent which is wonte to