he teache all waies the Son to be coeternall with the father wherefore they neuer would affirme that the Son had any beginning of substance Let vs thē leaue these Logicall disputations and looke vnto the expositiōs of the olde writers Put it therfore in the Emperours head that he cal the heretikes before him and aske thē what accōpt they make of such doctours and fathers as wrote before their heresie began and whether they iudge them to be Christen men or none of the church If they mislike thē let them if they dare condemne and anathematise them If they so do the very people will ouerrunne them And so truthe shall ouer come But yf they do not repell the olde doctours it shall thē be our part to bring forth their sayengs and by their testimonies confirme our doctrine This being tolde of Sisinius Nectarius goeth forth with vnto the Courte and declareth vnto the Emperour the aduise off Sisinius who liking it very well and going wisely aboute the matter called the heretikes before him and dissembling his purpose demanded them only whether they made any accompt of the Doctours of the church which liued before their heresie began or no. They not reiecting those writers but calling them their masters and fathers the Emperour asketh them againe whether they woulde admit them as worthy witnesses of the Christen faith The chief masters of that heresie hearing those wordes doubted much what they might answer Whereuppon they striued amonge them selues some thinking the Emperourment wel some mistrusting the issue of his demaundes and perceauing they made litle for their purpose For they were not all of one minde touching the writinges of the olde fathers differing in that point not only from other religions but also from them selues who professed all one religion Thus their wicked doctrine was discouered and confounded as the buylders of Babel by their variaunce in language For the emperour preceauing their disagrement and seing they trusted only vpon contentious disputing regarding not the exposition of olde writers he toke an otherwaie with them commaunding that eche religion should in writing shortly comprise the effect of their doctrine and opinion Thus farre the history of Socrates That Sisinius though good not to dispute with heretikes it was not his first deuise The holy canons had commaunded the same Tertullian and other holy fathers had writen the same And the cause why they thinke it not expedient to trie by disputation matters of our faith is that all heretikes do vtterly take away the true principles off Christen religion which are the sure groundes off good disputation and place in their stede false and forged which are all vncertain and maye serue as we see in coūting sometime for more sometime for lesse sometime nothing at all For he that taketh away the generall and the whole howe can he be sure of the partes Or if ye denie the substance to what purpose were it to dispute of the accident To none at all Therefore he that listeth dialectically and schole like to reason with an heretike if he agree not first with him for the principles he shall fight he woteth not against what nor to what purpose and sooner shall ye take a hare with a taburin then conclude a suttell heretike with an argument For he hath no certainte in his doctrine but is ready to denie that he graunted the last worde before and likewise to graunte that he laste denied flitting and flieng as vauntage serueth Brentius affirmeth the only text of the writen worde to be the first principle of Lutheran religion But in such sorte that it may be lawfull out of this writen text to cut of the epistle of S. Iames cast awaie the epistle to the Hebrews refuse the Apocalypse of S. Ihon and condemne the bookes of Machabes This principle serueth also to reiect any other part of the whole Bible for if any sentence euidently expressed in sctipture be brought against him strayte Brentius crieth The Hebrewe text readeth not so The greke copies haue otherwise And this principle of the only text serueth so fit for these heretikes purpose that for conference with them no waye can be made nor ende can be founde Then the Catholike and Apostolicall vnderstanding of holy Scripture which is euery where one and allwaies agreable with it selfe which is deriued from the Apostles which is the present iudge in all controuersies they vtterly refuse and very rudely and impudently appeale vnto Christ whom in earthe present iudge we can not haue Whom yet some of them denie to be God some to be man and some other saie he is but a tale of Plato And yet forsothe they boaste of the certainte of their faith which in dede is most vncertain as their most manifest dissension well declareth A very vaine and childish crake it is to crie allwaies that their Cōfession of Augspurg is grounded vppon the doctrine of the prophetes and of the Apostles For who saieth so but they them selues and of their only fecte which first inuented it and would impudently compel all Christendō to receaue it But if you ask them howe they proue it they will saie vnto you All the articles of our Confession agree with the prophets and the Apostles and differ frō thence in no point O the madnes of our countre That which is called in question they laie for their groūdes bringing for proufe that which ought to be proued What child in logick would so fondly reason For if you denie againe that the articles of this their confession is grounded vpon the doctrine of the prophets and the Apostles what haue they then to saye peraduenture left they may seme to be put to silence they will beginne to interpret and cōfer Scripture together after their maner But is not this the foule faute in logike called Petitio principij that is to aske that whiche ought to be proued For when we blame the Cōfessiō of Augspurg we blame nothing els but the false and wronge interpretation of holy Scripture vsed in that Confession But you will saye We may as well refuse the interpretation that the Catholikes do bringe of their owne Well truly and worthely For who will heare the Catholike doctour if he bring forthe nothing but saie only that the doctrine of the Catholike churche is grounded in holy Scriptures This must not be tolde but be proued What then will the Catholike bring that the heretike shall not be able to bring He will surely bring and declare first the interprerarion of Scripture which he vseth to be vniuersall to haue ben deriued from the Apostles to be receaued and allowed in all Christendom Then he will showe that euery article and principall point of our faith hath ben confirmed by miracles Last of all he will teache you that all matters of the Catholike church which be proper of the newe testament are founde expressed by euident figures in the olde Testament What
preache the one in the hilles of Gutni the other in Zary a village of Silesia In Pintzou a towne of Poleone George Brandat and Peter Statorius teache openly that there is not one but thre Gods and eche of them of diuers and distinct natures no lesse then thre diuers men So that there is not one substaunce of the godhed but thre and thre different operations thre diuers willes And that the Son is lesse then the father As for the crede of Athanasius that it ought rather be called the crede of Sathanasius the diuell him self And these felowes Brandat and Statorius being admonished of such blasphemous doctrine and required by what authorite or whose persuasioÌ„ they durste sowe suche blasphemies they answered they were moued thereunto first by the authorite of Caluin of wolfgangus Musculus of Peter Martyr of Bullinger and such like masters then by the euidence of the holy truthe which hitherto hath layen hidd and nowe was from God vnto them reueled These thinges to be as we saye Stanislaus a Baron of the realme of Pole Mathias Stadnitzky and Franciscus Stancarus do write But bicause this parted confusion of so diuers opinions can not well be perceaued and is harde to be tried or discerned of such as gladly receaue al nouelties there is vpsterte this very winter in Bohem a newe Secte The which to take awaye this confusion and to sett forthe a brefe and compendiouse waie of the Lutheran doctrine teacheth openly and affirmeth that all other opinions and doctrine of God of the worshipping of God of faith of good or euill workes and to be short of any saluation of man be but olde wyues tales and fonde inuentioÌ„s This onely to be a sure and infallible lawe and the true sincere doctrine that man bothe body and soule after this life vtterly perisheth no sence or life remaining after death here Lo to what point the preachers of the newe ghospel haue brought their doctrine vnto Lo the marke and scope of all their doings The third principle of the Lutheran ghospell is saieth Brentius an assured certainte that euery maÌ„ hath of his faith in Christ. But for the loue of God what is this assured certainte of faith May we not as well call day night and light darknes But what I praye you is this so assured and vndoubted certeinte of faith amonge the Lutherans It is peraduenâ—ure that certainte of faith which for the clerenes and euidence of it hathe so surely and with suche constaÌ„t consent and maruaylous agreement ioyned together the Lutherans that in all their new ghospell no dissension can be founde no variaunce in any article of their faythe no heresyes at all in their doctrine may be espied For if constant certaynte bredeth true concorde and agreement as a certain philosopher wittely reporteth then surely vncertainte and wauering in opinions muste nedes brede strife Hereof then we may clerely gather howe trew this thirde principle of Luther is for such is the certaynte of their faithe as the agreement of their opinions is The whiche howe greate and of what maner it is they haue them selues declared and we will not dissemble it These are the principles of the reformed ghospell laied by Luther repeted by BreÌ„tius and admitted of the whole swarme of sectaries Nowe bicause in the principle all is contained and many labels depend thereof what roufe thinke yow will the diuell buyld vppon these foundations of Luther For the effect neuer excelleth the cause Truly these consequents and labels depended of suche holy principles To make of chaste membres of Christ filthy membres of an harlot of deuoute and well disposed Christians wicked and vnruly subiects of sober and temperat glutons and Epicures yelding to all filthy lust and pleasure whose bely is their God whose faithe is perfidiousnes and no faith at all And to this butte and scope of Luther many haue preuily aimed at but those of BoheÌ„ haue nowe openly shott at it and stroken the very marke preaching in open pulpits that the soule dieth with the body But bicause Epicure him selfe taught that to get pleasure a coulour of vertu must be caste and the diuel perceauing wel that publick magistrats could better be chauÌ„ged theÌ„ vtterly takeÌ„ away he thought better to traine this herde of Epicures fleshly and worldly meÌ„ to the yoke of MahometaÌ„s doctrine being so sure they should be his owne theÌ„ to leaue theÌ„ vnder the roufe of the Catholike church where he stoode allwayes in doubte to lese them The diuell therefore hath so directed allwaies and trayned all contentions and variaunces in religion that all heresies ende in the Alcoran Mahomets lawe All historiographers that write of the first beginning of Turkes affirme with one assent that the lawe of Mahomet writen in the Alcoran was compiled by one Sergius an Arrian and Ihon a Nestorian bothe auncient heretiques and of a certain Iewe of the Talmudistes Now although the heresies which haue in our vnhappy time spronge vp be many and diuers yet if the chiefe of theÌ„ and moste receaued were examined and coÌ„ferred diligeÌ„tly with those thre sectes aboue mencioned we should plainely and euidently perceaue that the drift of the diuell is no other nowe a dayes then by the meane of these heresies to traine vs vnwares from the faith of Christ to the cursed infidelite of Mahomet Petrus Statorius chargeth Franciscus Stancarus with the heresie of Nestorius and he againe the other with the heresie of Arrius And bicause Stancarus is a famous Iew and Talmudist and Statorius is by professioÌ„ a Caluiniste partes hath so hotly and earnestly beÌ„ taken on bothe sides that nowe not only in Pole and Hungary whiche are Realmes nighe vnto the Turkes but also in Silesia in Morauia in Bohem and other prouinces more remote greate contentions haue ben kindled thereupon and be yet hotte And what other thinge o mercifull God can we looke for If Christen men call the faith of Christ in doubte if they denie it openly if they embrace the abhominable doctrine off Mahomet is it likely that whose doctrine they allowe his power and rule they will refuse no truly But these may seme paradoxes and beyonde all credence Woulde God they were so But I feare me they are as true as the ghospell The causes be euident and open surely the euent of all likelyhood will be correspondent Let them enquire that be ignoraÌ„t and those that see and knowe the thinges to be as we saie let them well waighe them But I will not make so euill abodement I will rather wish and hope well and much more rather woulde I be counted a lyar and vnprouident that it might not so proue then true and wise that they shoulde so proue But nowe to couple more closely and to strike more directly oure aduersarie whom I labour here to saue I saye the only remedy for the mischef that hangeth on vs the only meanes to escape this vtter destruction of ChristendoÌ„ is
saide these euill abodements and will praie vnto God that it will please him rather to beare downe our sinnes with the balance of his mercie then to exacte them to the rigour of his iustice graunting to our aduersaries the loue of Christian and Catholâ—ke concorde and to vs the amendment to a perfiâ— life The wrath of God is slowe and although allwais iust yet neuer without mercie if at lest we labour rather to trie it mercifull then iust For it inuiteth vs first to acknowledg our sinne and expecteth our repentaunce before it pronounceth sentence to condemne vs. And what may we thinck of the prouidence of God taking awaye the auncient and aged princes and leauing aliue the yonge which for their tender age and small experience are like to swarue and misse in many matters Within the coÌ„pas of these thre yeres or there about what number of princes kinges and Quenes haue departed this worlde And to begin with the most principall The Emperour Charles the fifte died the laste yeare About that time died his two sisters Leonore wife vnto Frauncis theÌ„ frenche kinge and Mary wife vnto Loys kinge of Pannonia Mary also Quene of England maried vnto kinge Philip his son About that time also died Ihon kinge of Portugall Bona wife vnto Sigismunde kinge of Pole and Isabell his daughter maried vnto Ihon kinge of Hungary Not longe after also died two kinges in Denmark Christern and Christian sonne to kinge Friderike which had longe kept the other in prison Shortly afther these Harry the Frenche kinge died and a litle before him Paule the fourth B. of Rome What shall I nowe talke of the death of inferiour princes In the compasse of a shorte time died fowre of the Princes Electours of the Empire the bishops of Treuires of Ments and of Colonie and Ottohenricus Counte palatin of the Rhene and in Italy the Duke of Venis But what shall I speake of those whiche died this laste moneth Gustanus king of Suethland Frauncys the second the frenche kinge and Ernestus Duke of Bauaria Michael also Archebishop of Salisburg a vertuous and lerned bishop the bishops also of Frising and of Eystat your predecessour haue about this time ben taken out of this worlde And although it be true that Euripides saieth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 al meÌ„ are borne to die and that Eschilus an other poet writeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To serche out the cause of death is in the secrets of fortune yet the like is not of such straunge and rare maner of chaunces True it is and by a most iust order of nature hath allwaies ben a constant and sure ratified lawe that which Horace the poet writeth Pallida mors aequo cae VVith like force and foote death striketh at the doore Of the princes highe palais and the cottage of the poore But that so many kinges so many Quenes so many Princes in so short a compas as of thre yeares should all departe this life it is a rare matter the like whereof hath in fewe ages happened And may we thinke this to be a mere chaunce and casualtie or rather to haue proceded of the vnfallible prouidence of God Truly as the first I can not thinke so the last I must nedes beleue For doth not God by the mouthe of his prophet Esay declare vs his diuine prouideÌ„ce herein For Lo he saieth the Lorde God of hostes doth take away from Hierusalem and Iuda euery valiaunt and stronge abundance of bread and of water the mighty and man of warre the iudge and the prophet the wise and the aged maÌ„ the prince of fiftie yeares olde and the honourable the Senatours and meÌ„ of vnderstaÌ„ding the master of craftes and the well spokeÌ„ wisemaÌ„ And I shal geue theÌ„ childreÌ„ to be their princes and the delicious and waÌ„ton shall haue the rule of theÌ„ the people shall be ouerruÌ„ne and one maÌ„ shall be set against an other euery maÌ„ against his nâ—ighbour Tbe boye shall presume against the elder and the vile pâ—rson against the honourable and so forthe Thus the pâ—ophets in times past did so pronounce of the Iewes that it may well seme to be meÌ„t also of vs GermaÌ„s The truthe of the prophet concerning the Iewes the euent declared And that he will not lye touching vs it is not nede to declare in wordes the daily experience dothe showe it But seing that this mischef is so farre growen that by only repentaunce we may escape the rodde better it were for vs to amend our selues quietly then to repreheÌ„d other sharply seing that so it is now that if as an inferiour you do brotherly aduertise men you auaile nothing by entreating and againe if as a superiour you commaunde you get nothing by forcing Peraduenture therefore as S. Basile saieth in the like cause of a coÌ„mon vice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Better a man to holde his peace then to speake Being the parte of a good oratour as well in time to kepe silence as when occasion serueth to talke For as by doing the one he profiteth much so by neglecting the other he hurteth sometime And this the nerer I considre the more lothe I am to set vppon this enterprise And truly if I folowed herein my owne priuat quarel I might worthely seme vndiâ—cret and rash which would prefer my priuat commodite or incommodite before the publick and common or woulde esteme my priuat displeasure more then the profit and instruction of many But the loue of truthe shall here ouercom which as it is oppressed by silence so being discouered taketh force againe I had rather therefore if I must nedes somewaies offend smarte for telling the truthe then for dissembling by flattery Therefore iff I declare that which I haue perceaued if I aduertise men to beware of the mischef that I haue incurred my selfe I trust in so doing I shall offend no man I knowe there are amonge the rulers and noble men which if they plainly perceaued the deceites of these heretikes and knew what mischef ariseth thereby to them selues to theirs and to the whole common welthe they would not slowly and slackely as I did very vnwise but with spede as wise men returne to the trade of auncient and Catholike religion Therefore writing this booke most Reuerend I haue eftesoones ioyned teares with praiers beseching allmightie God as well for my enemies as for my frendes that it will please him of his goodnes to geue vs all one minde and one vnderstanding that we may knowe no other thinge nor thinke our selues wise in any other point then in Iesus Christ and he for vs crucified For he is the shoot anker of all Christian religion he is the only porte of our saluation Who so straieth from him he leseth God and life euerlasting And to this ende haue I directed bothe all other trauaill of my life and this my present labour that the vnlerned might hereby charitably be admonished and the lerned might
continuall succession of time vncorrupted whole and perfite whiche maketh me more to maruaill what wicked and malitious sprit moued these protestants to terme them selues only ghospellers and professours of Gods worde calling the Catholikes papistes and enemies of the worde of God seing that bothe nowe and in all ages we reade the ghospell in our churches we preache the worde of God in our pulpits and interpret it to the people we expresse it by outward ceremonies rites and gestures such as we haue receaued of our forefathers euen from the primitiue church and the Apostles time And this Luther knewe him selfe well inough But why dissembled he it then forsothe to deceaue and entrappe the easier the simple people in to his preteÌ„ded religion For Luther and all his ministers knowe very wel that in the ghospel and worde of God two thinges are to be considered First that the text be sownd and not corrupted then that the same text be expounded Catholikely and not heretically For as S. Bernard saieth looke with what sprit the scriptures were writen with the same must they be read and vnderstanded Seing then the text by the instinct of the holy ghost hath ben geuen vs true and perfit the vnderstanding also and interpretation thereof coming of the holy ghost must be true and perfit so that one shall be as true and of as much force as the other It is not inough therefore to reade holy scripture perfitly but to vnderstande it well also For as S. Hierom sayeth The scriptures consist not in reading but in vnderstanding All this Luther was not ignorant of But to depraue and corrupt the right interpretation of holy scripture and to bring in place his owne hereticall and forged expositions he maketh no mencion off the text but crieth still the worde of God calling the dreames of his braine pure and holy scripture For if ye aske of the Lutherans when they preache that God coÌ„straineth men to do euill that God was the cause of Iudas his reprobation and obstinat desperation that good workes are hurtefull to saluation and such like matters what maner of doctrine that is they will incontinently awnswer you that This is the pure ghospell the sincere worde of God and holy scripture it selfe But then if ye go farder and desire them to showe yow these very wordes and propositions in holy scripture there they hush Yet will they tell you that the wordes in dede them selues be not in the Bible but the meaning of them is there To the which if ye replie agayn and vrge them farder it will soone appere that the controuersie betwene the protestants and vs is not of holy scripture it self but of the true vnderstanding of the same And so S. Hilary hauing to do with heretikes in his time pronounced Heresie sayth he is in the vnderstaÌ„ding not in the scripture And truly all heretikes neuer cried other thing theÌ„ the holy scripture the worde of God and we that are Catholikes also haue holy scripture allwaies in our mouth Nowe then a man may maruaill and aske howe cometh it to passe that the Lutherans and the Catholikes the protestants and the papistes striue and contend so one with an other where as yet bothe haue the ghospell bothe loue and embrace it bothe cleaue vnto it and bothe are ready to spende their good and their life for it Here I beseche the Christian reader marke and perceaue well that this is not the coÌ„trouersie whether the Catholikes or the Lutherans haue the worde of God but which of them doth truly rightely and sincerely expounde that worde off God For this is the Lutherans common saying The papistes vnderstand not the Bible but we haue founde the right interpretation thereof and the kaye of all truthe And to set a good coulour vppon this holy protestation they saye farder That all bisshops prelats priestes and Monkes be all without lerning all incoÌ„tinent all of euill life geauen to couetousnes to pleasure and to the bely But they theÌ„ selues that is the Lutherans be learned chaste sobre liberall deuowte and of perfit life and such as haue done great miracles and yet do Neither are these impudeÌ„t heretikes ashamed of these lowde lies although all the worlde well knoweth it is nothing so while they see Churches hospitalls religious houses of all sorte colledges and bishoprickes of these men partly cleane ouerthrowen partly rifled all taken into their handes and conuerted into palaces armories barnes cole houses shops of Marchaundrise yea and in some places in to stables These lo be the miracles of this new ghospell abundantly practised all this fourty yeares As for other miracles not one of these new ghospellers was euer able so much as to cure a lame colte or a halting biche so farre is it that these meÌ„ could euer cast out deuils heale the lame cure the blinde restore the deafe or raise vp the dead all which miracles many holy fathers of the olde ghospell as I may so speake which these men call Papistes haue wrought from time to time in Christ his churche as right approued histories do manifestly declare Now as for the good and perfit life of these men and excellent lerning all the worlde seeth it An olde sorte of heretikes called Donatistes obiected in times past to S. Augustin the very same argumeÌ„t saying that their church only was vpright holy pure and lerned But the Catholike churche was nothing so And therefore the doctrine of the Donatistes was vndoubtedly souÌ„de and perfit but that of the Catholikes false and vntrue But what awnswered theÌ„ here S. Augustin The argument saieth he that proueth mens doctrine by their life is false But let vs suppose that these holy protestants passed al the vniuersall Catholike church of Christ sens the time of the Apostles bothe in godlines of life and excellency of lerning Which I thinke in good sothe they wil not al together affirme But if it were so it wil not yet thereuppon ensue that only the Lutherans vnderstande holy scripture and the Catholikes neuer vnderstoode it For if the right intelligence of holy Scripture be only to be sought amonge such as will stoutely affirme of them selues to passe all the rest of men in vprightnes of life and excellency of lerning then in very dede must we nedes leaue this great treasure of the right meaning of holy scripture vnto heretikes For in all ages heretikes allwaies craked of their great lerning and perfit life as the ecclesiasticall histories well declare of the Arrians the Manâ—ches the Pelagians and such like And what other thinge dothe Luther in many of his workes especially in his booke against the pope Then call the olde Catholike writers and holy fathers fooles asses rude and vnlerned babes of the pope hermaphrodites and such like Neither contemneth he only the Catholikes but euen his owne coÌ„panions and felow heretikes also as Zuinglius
God but by his propre will and operation yea and whensoeuer men labour to do well that then they sinne deadly Of this tre haue growen all mischef fornication aduoutrie ryot dronknes extorsions robberies rebellion periuries deceites lies all contempt of honesty and vertu procliuite to all vice beside blasphemies of Gods holy name backbiting slaundering reproches iniuries and all kinde of wickednes frely and without grudge of coÌ„science practised Be not these noble and faire frutes of Luthers ghospell May not well the rule of Christ here take place By their frutes ye shall knowe them For looke what the tre is such is the frute and looke what the frute is such is thetre Although therefore we can not denie but amonge vs Catholikes much enormite is and much euill life yet no man can saie that we teache and allow these vices or that our doctrine is the cause off oure naughty liuing no man I saye can charge the Catholike doctrine to prescribe any thing against holy scripture against ciuill policie or publike magistrates as the newe forged ghospell of Luther doth Exacting therefore the Lutherans vnto this rule of Christ we worthely iudge them of their frutes to be false prophets and daungerous deceiuers The like they caÌ„ not do of vs for that the euill frutes that are in vs procede of oure selues not of our doctrine of swaruing from the precepts and godly constitutions off our faith not of obseruing them But the Lutherans naughty life procedeth euen of their doctrine as we haue in some certain pointes for example before declared Yet as touching the life of spirituall teachers and rulers god hath prescribed to the laitie and common people a perfit and absolute rule to discerne true doctrine from the false saying The scribes and Pharises sit in the Chaire of Moyses Do as they commaunde you to do not as they do theÌ„ selues in the which saying of Christ euery Christen man that regardeth his soule helth ought diligently waie two pointes First to know which is the lawfull chaire of Moyses and which is not then how the laye and common sort of people ought to beare them selues towardes the euill life of the clergy Let vs then first speake of the first point Sithen the time that these newe doctrines of Luther hath ben putin the peoples heads and so many diuers and contrary opinions hathe ben taught that the simple and vnlerned know not all most which waie to turne them selues many are brouht to that point that they reiect all religion at ones and think oure Christen faith to be but prety policies of mens inuention or rather olde wyues tales to feare childreÌ„ and with this imagination are become worldly Epicures terming their felicite in present pleasure as a great number do nowe in Germany Whereof truly we haue great cause to feare vnles these cursed heresies be spedely extinguished that almightie God of his dreadfull iustice will sturre vp the Turke or some cruell tiraÌ„ to rippe vp the belies of these fleshely swine and gredy gloutons destroying also with the wicked whiche God of his tender mercie forbid the good and vertuous But to thentent that all good and vertuous people may beware of such infidelite and wiâ—ked cogitations despering vtterly of all religion S. Paule hathe forewarned his scholer Timothe and in him vs all writing All scripture inspired froÌ„ God is profitable to teach to improue to amend and to instruct in righteousnes that the man of God may be perfit and prepared vnto all good workes These are not mens imaginations but the very wordes of God pronounced by the holy ghoste in the mouthe of the Apostle And this is an expres commaundement of God that we beleue vndoubtedly in holy scripture that we seke our saluation therein walking and continuing vprightly in the pathes of that holy write not swaruing either on the right hande either on the left But that we maye so do it behoueth vs not only to reade the bare and literall text of holy scripture but to enquire also for the true and right vnderstanding of the same For the letter killeth but the Spirit geueth life Wherefore our Lorde speaking to the Iewes saieth Searche the scriptures for in them ye thinke to haue eternall life But it is one thinge to reade another to serche They are therefore much deceaued which crie now a daies that nothing must be receiued but holy scripture that all other interpretations being but the imaginations of man are not to be beleued If the protestants speake herein as they thinke I woÌ„der why the Lutherans and the Zuinglians haue writen so many and so large interpretations vpon the olde and newe testament and caused them to be printed abrode yea why make they suche continuall sermons to the people wherein they recite not allwaies expresse scripture but talke much beside the text adding their interpretations and expositions vnto it commaunding also and charging the people to take those their interpretations for the very worde of God And is not this a maruailous impudent and proude presumption of these protestant preachers When we on our part alleage the expositions of the holy fathers vpon holy scripture they as if it were in a rage crie out incontinently The holy fathers were but men the church hath erred in many pointes the expositions of those fathers are but their imaginations and deuises not the worde off God And therefore we nede not geue any credit vnto them But when they them selues preache vnto the people the commauÌ„de and persuade the people that if they tender their soule health they must vndoubtedly beleue that which is there preached vnto them and the interpretation of holy scripture which they bring is the pure and sincere worde of God the ghospell it selfe Is not this as I saied a a maruailous impudent and proude presumption of these protestant preachers Is it not an horrible arrogancie to terme their owne fantasies holy scripture their imaginations the ghospell the meaning and sens of their owne inuention the very worde off God condemning withall and reiecting the vniforme true and receaued interpretations of all olde holy fathers and writers approued hitherto in the Church of Christ by whom the same church hath ben from time to time gouuerned directed and instructed in all truthe sens the time of the Apostles this thowsand fiue hundred yeares and more vnder whose doctrine and godly instructions so many blessed martirs holy confessours and infinit thousands of other Christen soules haue attained to euerlasting life Whereas contrary wise by the expositions and interpretations of these newe preachers horrible schismes diuers and hainous heresies dissolute and licentious liuing strifes contentions and rebellions haue spronge vp and all most ouergrowen the garden off Christes church well planted before and tended by the holy fathers rulers thereof what can be more impudently and arrogantly presumed Yet these newe preachers to wrappe and entrappe the people more and
that euery mā and womā were priestes Although this be an olde condemned heresie of the Aerians of Aetius and Pepusius raised vp now againe of Martin Luther by chaunging the worde Priesthoode in the worde Elders cōtrary the meaning of S. Paule and the common receaued interpretation of all Christendom hitherto Yet hath it pleased Master Luther to renew and preache to the worlde and olde detestable heresie vnder pretence of S. Paules doctrine and the expresse worde of God Nowe although these fewe examples might suffise to declare the honesty of Luther and vpright dealing in translation of the holy scripture yet for the more declaration thereof I will adde yet one place notably misused and willfully corrupted of Luther The Apostle writeth thus to the Colossians Beware lest any man deceiue you by philosophie or vaine deceites after the tradition of men after the elements of the worlde and not after Christ. Thus readeth the greke and the latin text But Luther drawing after his fashion the scripture for his purpose where it is in the text After the elements of the worlde he turneth it Nach der welt satzungen that is after the lawes and ordinaunces of the worlde It is surely a straunge case to see howe variabel and braynsicke these ghospellers are At the first broching of this newe ghospel while Luther as the rumor was lyued yet in his Patmus Philip Melanchthon taught that sithen Christen men were all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taught immediatly of God him self no man should study philosophie For al the writings of Plato Aristotle Cicero and such other were but friuolous tales and daungerous deceites and to be burned and destroied as in dede in many places so they were but onely the Bible ought to be read and studied For by these the holy ghoste would minister all knowledge bothe to serue God and to liue in this worlde bothe for euerlasting saluation and for this temporal estate That a Christē man should not liue a studious quyet life for that it was writē In the sweate of thy brow thou shalt eate thy bread that is as they expounde it thou must be a plowemā a showemaker a bucher a tayler or some such handy craftes man and so with thy owne labour get thy liuinge This fowle errour beside other occasions ministred thereunto was of Luther in sundry places of his workes stoutely maintained and defended One of such places I will here at large alleage Writing vnto the Nobilite of Germany he hath these wordes The vniuersites also haue nede of an earnest and sharp reformation Truly I must speake as I think let him be angry that listeth VVhatsoeuer was instituted or ordained vnder the pope tended only to the furderance of vice and encrease of errours for the vniuersites if they be not otherwise ordered then they haue ben hitherto what other thing are they then as it is noted in the Machabees scholes of children and of the greke glorie where is all licentious dissolutnes holy Scripture and Christen faith is not taught but that blind ethnick philosopher Aristotle ruleth aboue Christ him selfe VVhe refore by my aduise the Phisicks the Methaphisiks the bookes de Anima the Ethikes should vtterly be abolished with all the rest of his workes which professe to teache the naturall causes of thinges Although therein nether natural nor spirituall knowledg is to be gotte Beside that they are of such obscurite that fewe haue hitherto vnderstode them good wittes lesing bothe labour and time about them I dare well saie that euery coblar hath as much knowleadg of natural thinges as is to be gotte in those bookes It greueth me euen to the hart that this cursed and crafty proude ethnike could so longe a time abuse and deceaue the lerned men of Christendō VVith this scorge haue we ben whipped for our sinnes This much wrote Luther in the yere of our Lorde 1520. out of these and such other writings of Luther Carolostadius and Melanchthon first sucked out the contempt of philosophie and all good lerning being so moued by the authorite of this german prophet Luther And by the yeare 152◠they furdered the matter so farre that in many famous vniuersites and cites all study of philosophie vtterly decaied And although this doctrine of Luther and Melanchthon taking awaie from Christen men as Iulian the apostat Emperour did all honest discipline liberall sciences and good lerning whereby the estat of Christēdom hathe alwaies ben in knowleadg and vertu directed and to driue all men to handycraft workes and husbandry only by a rude and bestly doctrine yet it so serued that time and was so wel liked that at Wittēberg many scholers burned all their bookes and became craftes men sheaperdes husband men and so forth Carolostadius him selfe being before Archedeacon of Wittenberg getting him to a village thereby became sodenly a ploweman tilled and sowed the grounde him self and brought wodde to the market of Wittenberg to be solde Beside many other cites especially Breslau did shet vp cleane all scholes and for the space of certain yeares suffred their youth to roue abrode without any education or instruction Which if a man had asked them why they did so the text of S. Paule serued them for a cloke of their foly where it was writen Beware ye that no man deceiue you by philosophie and vaine suttelties after the tradition of men But now Luther perceauing afterward that this serued nothing his purpose retourning from his Patmus to Wittenberg he corrected Melanchthon and draue Carolostadius out of the dominiō of Wittenberg professing then openly and declaring that without grammer logick and philosophie his ghospell could not be spread abrode conueniently Therefore in the yeare 1524. writing to the Magistrates and cites of Germanie of setting vp and main taining scholes he laboureth very ernestly to haue restored againe such as had decaied or were neglected making yet no mention of Carolostadius or Melanchthon by whom that enormite was committed To quenche therefore and appaise the tumultes stirred vp by his former doctrine and by Melanchthon letting passe the foresaied text of S. Paule he teacheth that philosophie is good in it selfe if it be wel vsed and not abused to deceiue mē Which in dede had ben of him well saide if he him selfe had not much abused philosophie to sett forthe his fleshely ghospell and to persuade his wily and suttle opinons But seing that he could not without philosophie and helpe of scholes vtter the wicked wares of his fresh and newe lerning letting passe as I saide the former text of the Apostle he toke holde of the wordes that folowed The elements of the worlde turning it the lawes and ordonaunces of the worlde For philosophie hindered not so much his purpose as the Magistrates and and lawes of the countre did Whose authorite onlesse he first ouerthrew drawing men from due obedience vnto their superiours he perceaued right wel that his purpose could
of god to reuenge and punish malefactours Nor Luther hath no cause nowe so proudely to demaunde VVho dare be so bolde as to restore to libertie the presonner prince For he whose parte it was to do it was not onely bolde and able to do it but did it in dede princely and scourged worthely those whiche had offended But nowe let vs see what punishment and satisfaction this pope of Germany enioyneth the Duke VVhereas this captiue saithe he is depriued of his estat and dominion he ought not to thinke that this is a worthy punishment for his deserts but that being touched onely gently as with the flappe of a foxe taile he is but prouoked and inuited to penaunce and thus he must saie O most mercifull god whereas I haue deserued a greate deale worse and thou yet dost but whip me with small roddes verely I will gladly beare this punishment all daies of my life and I will vtterly renounce my dominion and estate as of the which thou hast moste iustely na rather most mercifully depriued me and from the which I am rightly and worthely thrust out for I am not as I perceaue nowe fit to gouuerne the same Thou art iuste o lorde and thou hast dealed iustely with me yet not according to my desert for as I saide before we muste entreate with god from the bottom of our harte and obediently yelde to his punishment if we do not so he as the trier and sercher of mens hartes from whom nothing is preuy and whom no man can deceiue will easely espie it and if any man go aboute to deceiue or delude him he maketh his cause be it neuer so god starke naught which all we Christen men knowe well inoughe or ought at leste to knowe Marke here nowe diligently good Christen Reader Nowe Luther will haue this poore prince beinge prisonner not to make his confession after the Lutheran order that is that he confesse his fautes onely to god in his harte but euen after the papisticall maner as touching the confessing of his sinnes by mouthe will that he kepe nothing preuy from him or them that shall be his confessours nor be not so bolde as to denie any thinge what then must this penitent of Luther confesse Forsothe all those thinges whiche his open and notorious enemies do falsely accuse him of to the entent that if being forced by cruell emprisonment he happe to yelde vp his owne right then all the worlde might thinke that his voluntary confession was the cause of such satisfaction for they will haue him confesse that he suffreth such emprisonment worthely and that for his deserts he is thrust out of his estate and dominion and that he will neuer require it againe but will of his owne accorde yelde vp all his right and the right of his heires for euer to his aduersaries and mortall enemies here in earthe abiding for and expecting an other estate in heauen Is not this thinke you a swete and pleasaunt satisfaction and merely inuented of Luther and very ghospell like when the Lutherans offend against the Catholikes then in the whole penaunce there can be founde no satisfaction contrition suffiseth But nowe in this case we must haue all thre degres of penaunce Contrition confession and satisfaction But nowe Luther to showe that he is not only the holy Father the highe bishop and pope in Germany but also that he is a prophet and the third Elias he comforteth the princes vnderneth him and dothe prophecy of thinges to come taking occasion of a certayne coyne brought vnto him oute of base germany vnto Wittenberg in the yeare 1545. whereof in this his litle booke thus he writeth This yeare there goeth a talke that certain straunge coynes are brought hether out of base Germany which bothe declare the greate knowleadg off the Papistes and threaten wonderfull perills to the two princes the Electour Duke of Saxony and the Lantgraue of Hesse These coynes of one side haue two pillers Crowned the one with the Emperours the other with a kinges Crowne betwene the two pillers are fetters and giues and two chaines prepared for two men I thinke this shitten prophet would bynde the Prince Electour off Saxony and the Lantgraue there with for in the circle of the coyne thus it is grauen Ad alligandos reges eorum in compedibus that is to binde their princes in fetters The other side of the coyne hathe a spread egle climping in his clawes the two swordes which are painted in the Duke of Saxony his armes Beside the pointes of these swordes strike through a virgin lieng on her side vnderneathe and fire droppeth on her like raine the virgin is tituled Infidelite the writing aboute is Ad faciendam vindictam in nationibus that is to worke vengeaunce in nations whereby they declare what they wrought againste vs and howe they would haue interpreted the leage of defence if those thinges that they saide had come to effect We nede not here to aske whether of these two in this foresaide prophecye was the true or that I may by your good leaue vse Luthers ciuilite the shitten prophet The foure and twentith daie off Aprill in the yeare 1547. in Locher filde and the xix daye off Iune off the same yeare at Halles in Saxony hath manifestly declared it I can not without greate grefe remembre howe our Noble countre of Germany hath suffred a rennagat monke thus to blinde them and delude them to our perpetuall shame and ignominy in the face off all other countres to the vtter destruction of thousands off soules murder of our bodies and spoiling off our goods Truly I fully persuade my selfe that this foresaide coyne was sente vnto vs out of the lowe countres not without the instinct of the holy ghoste either mercifully to admonishe vs to looke better to our matters or that the vaine prediction off this false prophet Luther might by so euident and true a prophecy be conuicted For he that can not see maye yet sensibly feele that this whole matter had the very same euent that the coyne foreshowed cleane contrary and repugnant to Luthers dreame Luther persuaded the simple germans that this prophecy was fulfilled in Duke Harry then presonner and that thereby the popes dominion was vtterly destroied and therefore pricked forwarde the Duke and the Lantgraue to fight and rebell against their liege Souuerain For thus he addeth yet farder in the same booke But nowe for whom they haue painted these giues and fetters we see thanked be god which hath iudged according to the saieng of the psalme They haue opened the pitte and digged it vp and haue fallen in to it them selues their sorowe shall be turned vpon their owne heades and their iniquites shall fall vpon their owne crownes therefore we thanke the iuste and allmightie god and praise the name of the highest Amen Se howe this proude prophet boasteth and triumpheth as thoughe all the element
that continuall communion which we surely haue withoute the frequentation of the Supper And this continuall communion withoute the frequentatioÌ„ vse or accesse of the Supper he meaneth to be the very same which we haue in the Supper as his wordes folowing declare where he saithe Simul tameÌ„ fateor nihil hic dici quod non in Coena figuretur ac vere praestetur fidelibus that is Yet I confesse withall that nothing is here spoken which is not figured and truly exhibited to the beleuers in the Supper Then the doctrine of Caluin is clere and euident in this point that we receaue Christe no lesse and haue him no lesse dwelling in vs coÌ„tinually though we come not to the communioÌ„ or Sacrament then if we come and resorte thither What nede I speÌ„de wordes time and paper in refelling this moste absurde doctrine if this be so why scorne they of Caluins secte against suche as liste not come to their table Maye not good men tell theÌ„ that by the doctrine of Caluin they coÌ„municat and receaue Christ allwaies by faithe in their hartes no lesse then at their table or coÌ„munion and that they take nothing there but suche as they had before they came thither Caluin teacheth this most directly as you haue heard and as they maye more see whiche liste to reade his litle treatise entitulâ—d A resolution vpon the Sacraments in the fourtenth and ninteth articles I will here aske one question of the Caluinistes and scholers of Geneua in our countre If as Caluin saithe vpon the sixte of Ihon we haue a perpetuall communion of Christ no lesse withoute celebrating the Supper of the Lorde then in celebrating it what nede Christen meÌ„ celebrat that Supper They will perhaps awnswer that in the Supper we receaue Christ SacrameÌ„tally not only Spiritually as without the Supper we do If this be the only differeÌ„ce touching our part and the frute that we receaue thereat theÌ„ the differeÌ„ce onely is this that at the communioÌ„ we receaue a piece of bread more then they whiche stande by and looke on Spiritually saithe Caluin al true beleuers receaue Christ and eate his body before they come to the Sacraments for els saithe he we should tye Christ to his sacraments Sacramentally we receaue Christ by Caluins doctrine when we receaue the signes to witt bread and wine Lo what the coÌ„munion of oure countre is â–ª a piece of bread and nought els They will perhaps saie we celebrat in the Supper the remembraunce of Christ his passion I awnswer So do they whiche stande by no lesse then those whiche receaue Againe is eating your bread and drinking your wine a remembraunce of Christ his deathe and passion A likely matter truly You are wonte to crie on scripture and allow no doctrine withoute it Tell vs then from the beginning off the Genesins vto the ende of S. Ihons Reuelation where the remembraunce of Christ his passion is taught to be celebrated by eating a piece of bread at a table in the churche and drinking a drawthe off wine at the hande of a Minister vpon whom no handes haue ben layed by the order of priesthood as by S. Paule we lerne to be necessary Showe this and them your communion shall be somewhat more then a piece of bread and a cuppe of wine Nowe is it nothinge elles And this verely is the cause of so many drie communions in oure countre this is the reason why in Germany as Friderikus Staphylus recordeth some of the Sacramentaries come not ones in ten yeres to the communion some neuer at all As touching the hearing of the ghospell if as Caluin in his wordes aboue recited and in his resolutions teacheth we receaue Christ and are made partakners of all his benefits no lesse then by the communion then is it ynoughe to heare the sermon and no nede at all to tary oute the communion then was the primitiue churche muâ—he deceaued suffring the Catechumins and open penitents to heare sermons excluding them afterwarde from the communion S. Chrisostom in his homelies complaineth that in the pulpit he had as greate audience as was possible but at the aultar he was lefte alone Truly by Caluins doctrine he was a foole so to complaine for the people had receaued Christ all ready at the sermon What neded they then to tary oute the communion Againe what scripture haue these men that at Sermon we receaue Christ no lesse then at the communion truly if men see not these absurdites they wil see nothing By the sermon we are instructed not clensed as by baptim we lerne Christ we do not communicat Christes body as in the blessed Sacrament But these men as longe as they may saye and teache what they liste vncomptrolled what may we thinke they will at length do truly they wil haue nor communion nor baptim nor churche nor minister but a faire pulpit in the fielde where euery man as the Spirit moueth him maie teache what he liste and the other beleue as they liste It is all ready in some countres brought to this point And there is no cause but we maie feare the like vnlesse spedy policy refraine their vnruly liberty You haue good Readers the effect of Caluins doctrine touching the blessed Sacrament with certain of the absurdites depending thereof We come nowe to his coÌ„tradictions aboute the same matter whiche when you shall see to be in him diuers and most manifest recorde with your selues that as in coÌ„moÌ„ plea where the witnesses are taken in contrary tales the euidence must nedes be naught so in the controuersy of this most highe mistery Caluin being the enditer against the olde possession of oure belefe herein and chefe pleader if you maie take him in coÌ„trary tales you maie not doubte but the euideÌ„ce of his doctrine must nedes be starke staring naught Beside his coÌ„tradictioÌ„ shall serue vs as a most stroÌ„ge weapoÌ„ to ouerthrow his doctrine layde in against vs for thus he him self shal cut is owne throte condemne and confute his owne sayengs I will first drawe you out the effect off his doctrine against the reall presence off Christ in the Sacrament and show you how he accoÌ„breth him selfe how he turneth and windeth seking by some probabilite to coÌ„founde the doctrine of the catholike churche and yet after many wordes confoundeth him selfe by his owne contradiction Marke therefore his wordes we bring you nowe and howe the other that we shall bringe you after do agree In his institutions treating of this Sacrament see howe he dothe coÌ„trary him selfe First he saith We caÌ„ not be meÌ„bres of Christ his body bones of his bones and fleshe of his fleshe which all S. Paul affirmeth we are vnlesse whole Christ bothe in Spirit and in body cleaue vnto vs. and oure Lord saieth Caluin doth testifie offer and geue in the holy supper to all that receaue that spirituall banquet suche a communion of his body and of his
conuaiaunce off Christ his flesh in to oure soules whiche he teacheth bothe in his Institutions and in his commentaries vpon S Paule he fell in to the heresy of the Maniches no lesse wicked and auncient heretikes then Nestorius Now you shal see that making the flesh off Christ a pipe for the conuaiaunce of Christ his diuinite vnto vs he falleth in to the heresy of Nestorius In his commentaries vpon the sixte of S. Ihons ghospell thus he writeth As the euerlasting worde off God is the fountaine of life so his fleshe conuaieth vnto vs like a certain pipe that life abiding in the godhead And in this sense the fleshe of Christe is saide to geue life bicause it communicateth vnto vs the life which it boroweth other where These are the very wordes of Caluin Nowe let vs considre the doctrine of S. Paule saieng As in Adam all do die so in Christ all shall be quickened or endued with life Vppon the grounde of this doctrine whiche can not be denied thus I reason If the fleshe of Christ dothe not of it selfe geue life as Caluin saythe but serueth vs as a pipe of the life abiding in god then the sinnerfull fleshe of Adam was not of it selfe damnable and the cause of our damnation VVe all sinning and dieng in Adam as S. Paule saithe but a pipe or instrument of deathe and damnation abiding in some euill God from whence the fleshe of Adam toke deathe and damnation as the fleshe of Christe acording to Caluin boroweth life of God For otherwise the saieng of S. Paule shall not be true attributing as properly and as truly life vnto our Sauiour as deathe vnto Adam Nowe to imagin a higher cause of deathe in Adam then Adam him selfe and an euill God in whom that death before remained to be from thence deriued to sinners is the very doctrine of the cursed Maniches making two Goddes or beginnings of all things one of the good and an other of the badde as in S. Augustin it is easy to finde But here perhaps some scholer of Caluins schole and zelous professour of the ghospell of Geneua will steppe in and saie that Master Caluin neuer taught neuer allowed nor so muche as dreamed off the approuing of suche hainous heresies as these are And therefore we deale not charitably herein but rather vtter our malice and stomache to no purpose To such bicause I thinke it were harde for me to frame an awnswer of my owne that might please them I will awnswer with the wordes of M. Caluin him selfe which I hope shall not mislike them Master Caluin in his Institutions hauing for his pleasure longe iested at the blessed sacrifice of the Masse and with a fewe sory reasons laboured to proue that such as saide Masse crucified Christ againe at the length moueth the like obiection as this is against him selfe and awnswereth vnto it in these wordes I knowe well saith he they haue a ready answer whereby they will charge vs as slaunderers For they will saie we laye that vnto their charge whiche they neuer thought and whiche they were sure they coulde neuer do But we knowe well inoughe it is not in their handes to make Christ liue or die Nether care we if they neuer thought to kill him Onely this I would showe what absurdite doth folowe by their wicked and hainous doctrine Thus awnswered Caluin thinking it a sufficient excuse to escape the note of a slaūderer and false accuser hauing well deserued it We awnswer the same being no false accusers of Caluin but true reporters of that we finde in his writings and saie that we passe not whether Caluin euer thought as Arrius Faustus Manicheus Valentinus Samosatenus Nestorius and the whole secte of the Maniches taught Onely we entend to showe that by his hainous and wicked doctrine such heresies do consequently folowe Whiche the vnlerned take so muche the sooner for that they come vnder the visard of a fauourer of the ghospell Whereas being nowe brought to light and their visard plucked of they shall appeare in their liknes to witt olde cursed and cōdēned heresies This I truste shall make men take better aduisement whiche waie they walke in matters of belefe nor lightely to trust euery newe Master bringing newe lerning and not heard of before Lest as Caluin hathe done by listening after newe doctrine they fall in to olde heresies But nowe to the residew of them That the paschal lambe offred and eatē by Moyses in the olde lawe was a clere figure of Christ the true lambe of god to be eaten and offred in the newe lawe for the redēption of mankinde it is a verite of all Christen men confessed and vndoubtedly receiued The wordes of our Sauiour saieng that it behoued him to fulfill all wich was writen of him in the lawe the psalmes and the prophets geue vs no lesse to vnderstād S. Paule also teacheth vs that al thinges happēed to the Iewes in figure to witt of suche thinges as vnder Christ should be accōplished Brefely Caluin him selfe in his commentaries vpon S. Paule to the Hebrewes confesseth that all the sacrifices of the olde lawe do leade vs to the sacrifice of Christe whiche doctrine he lerned of the holy fathers especially S Augustin who repeteth it in sundry places of his workes Caluin therefore in his Institutions treating of oure Lordes supper accordeth this figure of the paschall lambe with the supper off oure Lorde in this sorte The paschall lambe saithe he being bodely eaten did figure the spirituall eating of oure paschall lambe which is Christ. Vpon this his doctrine it foloweth that Christ was but spiritually not corporally offred vp for vs. For the paschal lambe of Moyses figured Christ not onely as it was eaten but also as it was offred If then the figure of the lambe eaten be accomplished by spirituall eating of Christ the figure of the lambe offred shall be also accomplished by the spirituall oblation of Christe For bothe actions were true figures of Christ and bothe were to be accomplished by Christ no lesse the one then the other Nowe to make the sacrifice of Christ but a spirituall sacrifice is the heresy of Marcion whom Tertullian confuteth The truthe is that as Christ was a true sacrifice figured by the paschall lambe to die for vs so was he a true sacrifice figured by the same to be eaten by vs. Bicause the heresy of Valentinus renewed by the hereticall doctrine of Caluin well espied and tried oute maketh muche for the verite of the reall presence in this blessed Sacrament we will yet farder see how the doctrine of Caluin destroying the reall presence vpholdeth and reneweth the heresy of Valentinus The opinion of Valentinus was that the body of Christ was a celestiall body descending from heauē through the wombe of the blessed Virgin taking no fleshely substaunce thereof Caluin calleth rem signatam the thinge figured in the Sacrament a spirituall and celestiall