Serm. de verit mater 27. by the same grace the meanes to cause it to become and prooue such And therefore saith he Man is not onely said to haue the grace of God because he is beloued of God vnto eternall life but also because he giueth him a gift by the which he maketh him wore thie of eternall life which we cal gratiam gratum facientem Grace which maketh a man acceptable that is to wit this faith infused by the holie Ghost into our hearts by the which saith he all the fathers of the olde Testament became acceptable to God and iustified and whereby wee also are deliuered from sinne and death And this fayth saith hee quickeneth the soule by grace Galat. 2. It purgeth it from sinnes Actes 17. c. It giueth righteousnesse vnto the soule Rom. 3. It betrotheth and affianceth vs vnto God Osee 2. Iden in 1.2 q. 102 art 5 Idem in expos 1. Decret In offic de corp Christ In Hymno Tert. summ q. 4.49 arr 1. AEgid Fom c. 12. l. Examer l. 2. c. 4. It adopteth men to be the sonnes of God 1. Iohn 2. It causeth vs to approch and draw neere vnto God Heb. 11. Finally by it men attaine the hire of eternall life Iohn 6. c. Againe To establish and strengthen a sincere heart onelie faith sufficeth c. By faith the passion of Christ is applied vnto vs that so wee may be able to receiue the fruits thereof Rom. 3. It is vnto vs both the beginning and cause of righteousnesse Rom. 8. That righteousnesse which is by the faith of Christ c. Yea and yet Aegidius saith further That all our good workes are the workes of God Thou hast O Lord saith Esai wrought and brought to passe our workes And wee are not sufficient saith the Apostle to thinke anie good of our selues it is he which maketh vs righteous and which effecteth in vs the workes of righteousnesse Nowe were it not better to holde him to these Maximes and to the conclusions necessarily insuing heereof as that wee owe vnto the infinite grace of God our iustification to the perfect and absolute righteousnesse of Christ our righteousnesse to God by Iesus Christ the beginning middest and ende of our saluation according to the Scriptures then according to the curious Meditations which happen vnto the most excellent wittes when the drie and barren veine ouertaketh them to seeke our saluation in our selues in whome there is nothing to bee found but destruction or for any thing wherewith we may pay God or wherewith we may purchase eternall life both for our selues and others out of our owne stocks and prouision In the meane time wee see howe the succeeding ages learned to build vpon these strawie and stubblie foundations Thomas had said That free-will mooued by the grace of God proceeded vnto good workes and became fellow-worker with his grace These men say That free-will of his owne nature dooth such workes as that they merit that God should illuminate the worker with his grace giue him faith c. In such sort as that the vnbeleeuers doe merit of God by their workes not any more the gift of faith and righteousnesse but faith and righteousnesse for a hire which they call Meritum de congruo as a man would say of well beseeming meaning thereby that if not for righteousnesse yet at the least for seemlinesse sake God is bound to giue them his grace See I pray you how this matter agreeth with the Scripture Whatsoeuer is done without faith cannot please God With Saint Augustine The workes of all vnbeleeuers considered in them are sinnes As also with Thomas Whereas God is mooued to distribute his grace it is not in consideration of ante merits gone before or to come but of his free grace and good will sed ex mera gratia And this is the same likewise which the Schoole-men say in their dunsicall doctrine That man by his naturall power doing that which is in himselfe without faith and without the holy Ghost is able to merit de congruo that God should giue him grace And Gabriel Biel expoundeth these woordes Gab. Biel. in 3. sent d. 27. In 4. Sent. d. 14 q. 1. d. 14 l. 3. q. 2. That which is in himselfe louing God saith he aboue all things And this he affirmeth that Man may doe of his owne naturall power Whereas notwithstanding in deed the case standeth thus that loue proceedeth from knowledge and that imperfect knowledge cannot beget perfect loue Yea hee passeth further for saith he as no subiect receiueth anie forme except it be prepared and fitted thereunto euen so it is requisite that our soule should bee prepared for the infusion of grace which is our formall righteousnesse before God and this it commeth to be by the meanes of free-will which maketh a man to know his sinne and to be displeased with himselfe for the same which he calleth dispositionem praeuiam after which he resolueth to loue God aboue all which he calleth dispositionem concomitantem which maketh the soule apt to receiue the stampe and marke namely the infusion of his grace by this act so meriting the same euen so farre foorth as that grace of necessitie and that verie speedilie is infused into it Neither more nor lesse saith hee then in naturall things vltima immediata dispositio necessitat ad formam Which is as much to say in plaine English as that our free-will dooth not onely merit grace at Gods hande for seemelinesse sake but euen of necessitie and perforce Quite contrarie to that which Saint Paule repeateth so often times By grace Thomas likewise Mera liberalitate meragratia c. As also cleane contrarie to that that hee maketh Grace the beginning of our saluation in intention and the effectiue in the execution c. Thomas againe had saide That free-will deliuereth by the grace of God and worketh certaine actions auailable to the purging and taking away of veniall sinnes as also to the stirring vp of the increase of grace But such as come after staie not there For this infused grace of God by the merit of the free-will of man is turned by them into a state and disposition of the spirit made conformable to the Law and will of God by which Man saith this Gabriell also is not onely deliuered from bond of damnation but also is made worthie of life and eternall glorie And the soule saith he informed and taught by this grace by an action drawne partly from this grace and partly from a mans owne will doth merit eternall life not any more de congruo that is to say of congruitie or for seemelinesse sake but de condig no for hauing done a deed worthie of the same that is to say by righteousnesse For euen so doe they define it That the workes of the regenerate done in charitie in this life deserue eternall life in as much as it is to be rendred and giuen to good workes
sufficiently set out this doctrine My merite saith he is no other thing then the mercie of God I am not poore or spare of merites vntill such time as mercies begin to faile I will sing eternally And what Of mine owne righteous workes Nay O Lord I will call to mind thy righteousnesse alone for euen it also is mine For thou art become and made righteousnesse vnto me from God Should J feare that it will not be sufficient for both Nay this is no short cloake Idem Serm. 67.68 that is not able to couer two Thy righteousnesse is righteousnesse and indureth to all eternities This large and long lasting righteousnesse shall couer both thee and me for euer and in me a multitude of sinnes Idem Ep. 190. contr A bailar c. On the contrarie saith he Whereas merite hath forestalled and setled it selfe grace cannot find so much as a doore or any other place to enter at All that thou attributest to merites belongeth vnto the grace of God c. The children new borne stand not in need of merites for they haue the merites of Christ c. For saith he where as man wanted righteousnesse of his owne Aliunde the righteousnesse of an other was assigned vnto him Man was indebted and man paid the debt the satisfaction of one is imputed vnto all the head hath satisfied for the members Colossians 2. c. And what reason should there bee why our righteousnesse should not come from elswhere then from our selues seeing that our sinne came from elsewhere And should sinne be inherent in the seede of the sinner and righteousnesse separated from the bloud of our Sauiour Nay but as they died in Adam so they shall be quickned in Christ J am defiled of the one by the flesh but I take hold of the other by faith And if thou obiect vnto me the sinfulnesse of my birth and generation I set against it my regeneration my spiritual birth against my carnall birth Idem de Caenaâ—â—cmâ—ni Idem l. degrat liber arâ—it He that hath taken pittie vpon the sinner will not condemne the iust And righteous I may be bold to call my selfe but by the righteousnesse of Iesus Christ And what manner of righteousnesse The end of the Law is Christ in righteousnesse to all them that belieue seeing he is made righteousnesse vnto vs from God the father Now if hee haue beene made righteousnesse vnto me is not it mine The righteousnesse then of man consisteth in the bloud of the redeemer c. So farre forth as That it is impossible saith he that the least sinnes should be washed away otherwise then of Christ and by Christ c. And who is he that iustifieth himselfe but he that presumeth of other merites then his grace Incentura And this also is properly to be said to be he that knoweth not the righteousnesse of God it is hee onely that doth meritortous workes which hath made them vpon whome he may bestow them That which we call merites Via regni sed non causa regnandi is the nurcerie of hope the matches and matter to make charitie shine out the signes of a secret predestination the forerunners of a future felicitie and the way whereby to enter into the kingdome but not the cause of raigning c. In as much verily as the kingdome of heauen is an inheritance but the way to come thither is the feare of God manifested saith the Apostle in good workes which God hath prepared to the end that we should walke in them c. Whereby wee may iudge how farre Saint Barnard his doctrine is off from that of our Aduersaries in this point and yet it is not passing three hundred yeares since he writ when as he acknowledgeth no righteousnesse able to iustifie a sinner but the righteousnesse of Christ imputed to the sinner continually vsing this word of imputation whereat they stumble and whereto they oppose and set themselues so much He acknowledgeth not I say any merit but the merit of Christ nor any satisfaction but that which he made for vs vppon the Crosse And he maketh al this to be ours by faith alone Idem in Psal 91. Serm 9. Idem Serm. 10 15. as appeareth by that which followeth Let him saith hee that will pretend his merit it is good for me to put my hope in God God will saue them saith the Psalmist By what merits Heare what coÌ„meth after Because they haue hoped in him Hereby then consider their righteousnesse euen that which is of faith and not that which is of the Law Faith saith Great good things are prepared for the faithfull Hope These good things are reserued for me Charitie I runne thither ward as fast as I can c. In a word all the merit of man is that he haue his hope fixed in him which hath saued euery man c. Idem in Cantic Serm. 24. Epist 190. Whosoeuer findeth in himselfe remorce and compunction for his sinnes hungreth and thirsteth after righteousnesse Let him belieue in thee O Lord which iustifiest the wicked and he shall haue peace with God Being iustified saith he by faith onely For saith he the end of the Law is Christ vnto righteousnesse saith the Apostle vnto euerie belieuer c. CHAP. XIX That good workes are the gift of God and therefore cannot merit and to what vse or ende they serue according to the holy Scriptures and the fathers WHat then Are our workes vnprositable God forbid Whereunto good workes serue They are vnprofitable to iustifie thee before God and yet no doubt profitable to iustifie that is to say to testifie thy faith before the Church vnprofitable to make thee a Sonne to make thee an heyre but profitable liuely to set forth and truely to point out a Sonne a child of the promise in as much as thou liuest according to God in that thou indeuorest to edifie his elect and chosen For saith the Apostle wee are created in Christ vnto good workes which God hath prepared Eph. 2 2. Cor. 5. 1. Pet 2. to the end that we might walke in them He is dead he is risen againe for vs but it is to that end that wee may liue vnto him that we may die vnto sinne and liue vnto righteousnesse Hee hath deliuered vs from the seruitude of sinne and from the power of darknesse Rom 13. Iam. 2. 1. Timoth. 5. Rom. 8. but to the end that we might serue vnto righteousnesse that we might renounce the workes of darknesse and put on the armour of light Be cause that Faith without workes is dead Because that Who so saith that he knoweth God and doth not his commaundements is a lyer And because that Wee are debters to liue according to the spirit and not according to the flesh And therefore if we haue not loue The loue wee beare to God must not consider thereward but our obedience and dutiful regard Iohn 3.
we haue not faith we are not of God we haue nothing to pretend wherfore we haue any right or part in his inheritance But certainely that which we doe if we bee the true children of God we doe it not for the inheritaunce that were in some sort too seruile a thing but rather in consideration of the great bountifulnesse and louing kindnesse of God who hath so loued the world yea which hath in particular so loued vs as to haue giuen his onely Sonne vnto death to the end that belieuing in him we might haue eternall life Who furthermore hath manifested this secrete vnto vs hath giuen vs to belieue therein hath iustified vs in his Sonne and hath sanctified vs by his holy spirit because that this great loue and fauour of God towards vs most miserable wretches ought to beget a loue in vs which may mak vs to loue him alone and that for himselfe which may cause vs to renounce our selues for him and which may make vs loue our neighbours in him Not to procure vs thereby the celestiall Paradice but for the loue of himselfe Nay to loose a Paradice for him if we cannot haue it but without him Such ought to be our loue towards God as that it ought to bee intirely and wholly set on him and cleane and free from all respect of reward or punishment As likewise the good child obeyeth not his father because he is the heire this were an euill signe but naturally because he is a Sonne Neither is he heire because he obeyeth but because he is a child a child who by obeying cannot merite this inheritaunce for it is his part and dutie who notwithstanding by disobeying might loose it and that euerie houre in as much certainely as the inheritance dependeth vpon the father and that grace is lost by ingratitude if it be not renued supported by the goodnesse of the father a bountifull goodnesse descending more freely from the father to the Sonne then it ascendeth from the Sonne to the father And this againe is the cause The loue of God the gift of God wherefore it is a gift of God that this loue of God which worketh good workes in vs this loue of God which hath begotten vs for children to him in the bloud of Christ euen that this same loue should giue vs to be true children and should giue vs to loue God by the operation of his spirit This free loue I say of the Lord which hath iustified vs in his bloud and sanctified vs by his spirit in as much as the merit of Christ worketh not only to the obtaining of the remission of our sinnes A double or two fold righteousnesse but both of them the gift of God Rom. 6. in that we die in him but also to the giuing of his holy spirit vnto vs which renueth the spirit of our vnderstanding to the end that wee may liue to him And yet in the meane time both the one and the other gift is called righteousnesse the former that is the imputation of the righteousnesse of Christ for the remission of our sinnes when it is said Abraham belieued and it was imputed vnto him for righteousnesse The latter that is the operation and working of his holy spirit renuing vs from daie to day from the outward man to the inward and from the old to the new when it is said 1. Ioh. 2. That we are freed and set at libertie from sinne to serue vnto righteousnesse Againe Whosoeuer worketh righteousnesse is borne of God c. But these two sortes of righteousnesse though they both proceede from one and the same fountaine of liberalitie are farre differing the one from the other That as which is able to stand out against the anger of God at all assaies because it is the righteousnesse of Christ imputed to euerie faithfull man by the which he is iustified that is to say quit before God not as one that hath paide the full paiment but as one that hath obtained an acquittance and absolute discharge and that by hauing seene the hand writing defaced and the Bill of debt cancelled and therefore he is called Blessed to whome sinne is not imputed c. This as which can neuer make it selfe able to discharge vs of our debt toward God as making vs day by day more indebted vnto him by reason of that contradiction betwixt the fleshe and the spirit and by the making heauie and sad of the spirit of God within vs Wherupon also the Apostle crieth out of himselfe Who shall deliuer me from this mortall bodie c. And this little righteousnesse notwithstanding as also sanctification which appeareth in our workes is euermore the gift of God grace for grace in as much as those whome he hath iustified 1. Cor. 9. he hath also sanctified hee hath giuen vs faith and the spirit and both to belieue and to do Wherupon the Lord againe thus setteth vpon vs and saith What hast thou that thou hast not receiued Who hath giuen vnto me first and I will repay it him againe c. You are not your owne For you are bought with a price c. Why it is called a reward The word Merit vnknowne to the Scripture Eccles 16. And notwithstanding in as much as Godlinesse hath the promises of this life and of the life to come God vouchsafeth sometimes to call it hyre which hee giueth vs of his free promises hyre promised by him but not deserued by vs a reward whereof he is become debter vnto himselfe that so he might crowne his own gifts vnto the faithfulnesse I say of his owne promises and not to the sufficiencie of our merits For as concerning the word Merit it is not to bee found in the whole Scripture the word it selfe is no lesse new then the doctrine that followeth vpon it In Ecclesiast 16. whence they alleadge Euerie man shall find according to the merit of his workes Hebr. 13. Their Glose hath noted Placetur Deo To the Hebrewes likwise where they Translate Talibus hostiis promeretur Deus by such sacrifices God is merited that is by giuing and distributing of their goods the Greeke saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is well pleased But let vs yet further heare the testimonies laide downe in the writings of the fathers The Lord Iesus saith Saint Ambrose Is come to fasten our sufferings to his Crosse Thus haue the old writers spoken Ambros de Incob vita beata l. 1. c. 5. and to forgine vs our sinnes In his death we are iustified c. Now as our sinnes are forgiuen vs in his death that in his death also the passions sufferings of our flesh might die that they might bee nailed to with his nailes Let vs liue and conuerse with Christ let vs seeke and search with Christ the things that are heauenly Wee are renued in the spirit let vs walke in the spirit let vs not cast our selues into new billes of debt by
constant assertion doth become fool-hardie and faith if it become wauering is infirme and weake And therefore it appeareth by his effects and sheweth foorth the life that is in it The life thereof saith he is Christ dwelling in our hearts Idem Serm. 1. in Oct. Pasch Idem ibidem and of a certaintie looke where he dwelleth he dwelleth not without loue sanctification and good workes The life thereof is loue and charitie These are the life of faith as faith is the life of our soules For saith he If thou deuide actum a fide action and working from faith thou makest an vnlawfull diuision and killest faith Idem Serm 24 in Cant. Ep. 107. Idem Serm. de resurrect Domini 2. Idem de Serm. omn. fester for faith is dead without workes And wilt thou offer vnto God a dead sacrifice a faith without loue a bodie without a soule c. Nay saith hee workes doe testifie the life of faith Our life is knowne by mouing and that of faith by good workes Now we reason thus Man liueth not because hee is moued but he is moued because hee liueth and then the faithfull is not iustified neither inioyeth he the life of his soule because he doth good workes but because hee is iustified because his soule inioyeth life in Christ by faith he doth good workes These good workes notwithstanding are such as if the righteousnesse of God bee considered are by him compared vnto the most filthie thing in the world and such notwithstanding as they bee if you consider them according to that small quantitie of goodnesse which they containe they are of God and not of our selues Idem Serm. de Annunciat Mariae the fruit no lesse then the tree For saith hee It is meete that the holy Ghost should testifie vnto thee that thou hast them not but of him he is the author the rewarder and the whole reward This soueraigne good thing is a twofold cause of good things vnto vs the efficient and the finall And yet further hee saith Without grace wee are not sufficient onely to thinke a good thought Idem Serm. 9 in Psalm 91. Serm. 32 In so much as that speaking of his owne workes hee attributeth them vnto God As in that his soule hath not beene giuen our from the beginning vnto all sinne in that it hath beene changed from bitternesse and vexation into ioy and comfort in that it hath repented after a sound and profitable sort Idem de Sept. misericord contrarie to the repentance of many others in that hee hath obtained free remission in that he hath beene kept from falling backe into his former sins in that he hath profited in abstaining from euill accustomed the practise of that which is good and in that he hopeth and looketh for a better estate in the world to come c. Now then what remaineth for to attribute vnto man In stead that of our aduersaries we say what reserue they then as a remainder for God For if we owe vnto God that which we pretend challenge to merit by namely a faith working by charitie which is our pretended merit for what owe we not to him of whome we hold all that we haue What hire can we pretend for a thing that is not our owne but only his mercy which hath made it ours and which himselfe according to the riches of his grace will bee ours And this is that which this our good and bountiful father left vs by testament I know well saith he that I haue not any merit In â—â—t Bernar. to bring me to heauen but my Lord doth possesse it by a double title and claime namely by nature and obedience hee is himselfe content with the one and giueth me the other c. CHAP. XXI How the doctrine and opinion of merit prospered proceeded and went forward from the time of Saint Barnard vntill these our daies And what contradictions and resistances were made against it vntil the time of the full springing vp againe of the Gospell BVt let vs now drawe neere vnto the yeare one thousand three hundred wherein Christendome felt a notable change in doctrine generally but especially in this article Therein at that time Philosophie began to raigne and ouertop the sacred profession of Diuinitie by the introduction and bringing in of Schoolemen so that Aristotle got the vpper hand of Saint Paule Sound and grounded dealing melted into fine and filed subtiltie curiositie and temeritie the later enuied the former and that consequently from one to another euen to the memorie of our age This scholasticall dealing fell amongst the Monkes who added Pharisaisme vnto Philosophie seeking how to make themselues highly reuerenced amongst the common people yea and to make God himselfe bound beholden vnto them by reason of their austere and stoical obseruations deuised and affected of their owne voluntarie inuentions They ingrossed for good debt which God should become answerable vnto them for all their Masses praiers fastings sermons contemplations watchings abstinences and the discipline and correction vsuall in their Cloisters c. And that to the making of them auailable not onely for theÌ„selues for they were not vnprouided of a remanet but vnto so many as became benefactors vnto their fraternities and couents And to the common people they assigned them for readie money therewith to pay for and discharge their sinnes to satisfie the wrath of God and obtaine eternall life Mightie therefore was the growth increase of this abuse when once such multitudes of people tanquam agmine facto lent their helping hand therunto And that so much the more for that they being mendicant begging people had their maintenance assigned them vpon the pretended merits of the coÌ„mon people which also that they might the better attaine and come by they assigned vnto them eternall life to be receiued vpon the reckoning of their deuotions And here we are not to forget the maner and forme of their donations gifts Bulla fraternitatum Dominicanorum FranciscanoruÌ„ which were passed at this time to Monasteries which was as foloweth Euery man must deeply weigh and consider how swiftly this present life doth passe away and that other approch and come on and by the same meanes thinke and consider with himselfe if there be any thing in his possession to giue vnto worshipfull places for his soules health that so hee may merite to inioy eternall rest in Paradise with saint Peter and saint Andrew because that they by giuing their goodes haue purchased the kingdome of heauen The kingdome of God is woorth as much and according to that which thou possessest For what is there that is more cheape when it is bought or more deare when it is possessed and obtained c. This was the declaration and maner of speech vsed for the moouing of their affections whereupon insued their maner of giuing and disposing vpon this promise then which was made vnto them by the
let him know that tendeth any other course that he shall not attaine vnto the light of the truth which he shal grope after in darknes To be short saith he what soeuer is said since the apostles times is cut off it beareth no authority with it c. Hieronym in Psal 87. how holie prudent soeuer the Authors thereof might be S. August The Canonicall Scripture is set vpon a throne and euerie faithfull vnderstanding must be subiect thereunto If we yea if an Angel from heauen August contr Faust l. 11. c. 5. cont lit ras Petil. 6 lib. 2. contr Donatist c. 6. tract 2 in Ep. S. Iohan do teach any thing more then that which is contained in the Scriptures the Law or the Gospel let him be accursed In our cōtrouersies let vs bring this ballance these gold waights as out of the closet of God to iudge that of weight from that which is light Let vs there iudge of errors for God hath placed in the Scriptures a bright and cleare shining firmament to discouer confute them The Councels for saith he vnto the Arrians I alledge not vnto thee the Councell of Nice Cont. Maxim Episc Arrian l. 3. c. 14. De Ciuit. Dei l. 11. c. 1. Epist 166. De vnit eccles c. 1. 3. 4. 5. 6. 16. neither therefore doe thou alledge vnto me the councel of Rimini but let vs trie the maistry by the Scriptures which both you and I my selfe doe well approue c. The Church likewise for The citie of God doth beleeue in the Scriptures and by them is faith conceiued In the Scriptures saith he we haue learned Christ therein also haue we learned to know the Church we haue knowne the head and therefore cannot misknow the bodie thereof VVhether we or the Donatists be the Church the Scriptures alone will teach and instruct vs. Saint Chrysostome The ignoraunce of the Scriptures hath begotten heresies c. Though the dead should liue again or an Angel descend frō heauen Chrysost in hom de Laza. yet we must principally and before them beleeue the Scripture The Angels are but seruants ministring spirits but the Scripture is the Lord maister In Epi. ad Gal. hom 1. In 5. Mat. hom 43. 49. In 1. ad Thess homil 7. In 2. ad Corin. homil 33. In Psal 5.95.142.147 In at this gate doe both the sheepe and shepheard enter they driue away heretikes who so entreth not by them is a theefe The Scripture is the kingdome of heauen it is inclosed therein and fastned thereunto The gate of this kingdome is the vnderstanding of the Scriptures Setting our course and sailing after them wee haue the sonne of God for our patron and protector they are our rule and our squire As the light is vnto the eies so is the law of God vnto our spirits without it all our senses halt An heire doth willingly possesse himselfe of his fathers will and testament and so should we no lesse of the Scriptures the furniture and prouision for our warre against sinne and Sathan himselfe c. In which saith he in another place wee must either denie Christ or blot out the Scriptures or else become the obedient seruants of the Scriptures And if he said this then against the heretikes of his time then much more against Antichrist to come and vpon farre more iust causes and considerations For saith he when this cursed heresie the armie of Antichrist shall possesse the Churches there will not bee found any proofe or maner of helpe to trie and know Christendome by but the holy Scriptures By them alone a man shall know where and who shall bee the true church In this confusion and hurlie burlie there will bee no want of broching and blasing abrode of miracles for euen alreadie the counterfet Christians haue most but and if a man looke any other way then to the Scriptures hee cannot but bee offended perish and fall into the abhomination of desolation which shall bee in the holie places of the Church And therefore our sauiour Christ knowing afore hand that such confusion should follow in the latter daies will that we flie vnto the Scriptures And now also this is the cause why according to the aduertisement of Saint Chrysostome we call you thereunto we which thus alledge and contend with the hazard of our liues and for the working of your saluation and our owne that that Antichrist is alreadie come and seated in your Church and all this according to the Scriptures and by the Scriptures Hereto you replie If his Scriptures alone take place in this controuersie then what shall become of so many goodly traditions What becommeth them of the traditions 1. Cor. 11. What shall become of our Church Verely if you speake of diuine traditions such as whereof Saint Paule saith I haue receiued of the Lord Quod tradidi vobis whatsoeuer I haue deliuered vnto you of those which haue their foundation in the Scriptures and whereof Irenaeus saith vnto vs Looke what Gospel the Apostles preached the same they deliuered vnto vs tradiderunt inquit nobis in the Scriptures Of them saith Saint Cyprian which descend from the authoritie of the Gospel Cypri in Epi. 74. ad Pomp. and the writing of the Apostles Verelie we will be readie to defend them if you will beleeue vs with common armour we shall be both the one and the other quit and freed from all our paines and trouble for the Scriptures and they wil mutuallie acknowledge one another as doe the little riuers and their heads or springs being touched with the touchstone of the Scripture they will hold their value But if by Traditions you meane mans inuentions and doctrines that are without and out of the Scriptures then we tell you that Christ hath giuen definitiue sentence thereof In vaine do you serue me Matth. 15 9 teaching for doctrines the commaundements of men And thus spake he to the Pharisies who wholy rested themselues in the Church in the Sorbone of that time which said as you do of yours at Trent that it was no lesse grieuous an offence to commit against or omit any thing contained in their traditions In Thal. ord 4. tract 4. dist 10 Esay 29 13. then and if such commission or omission had beene in respect of any point of the law it selfe And there is great like lihoode that it is come vpon you which was forespoken by the Prophets They haue serued mee according to the ordinances of men Ierem. 8 8. and therefore wisedome shall perish from their wise men They haue cast behind them the worde of the Lord and there is no wisdome in them But if you suspect the soundnesse of the Scripture Iust in Tryph or rather the vprightnesse of God in his owne cause then let vs heare the fathers Iustine We must giue credite to God and his ordinances alone and not vnto humane traditions And that he ruleth them
neither Canon nor beginning nor any note or marke of any part of this Office and seruice which now they vse more then the bare words of the institution which are repeated in the same Howsoeuer that Hugo de S. Victor Hugo de Sacram altaris Gabr. Biel. lectione 36 Innoc. 3. de celeb missae c. cū Marth et ib. glossae be not ashamed to say that the Canon of the Masse is of like authoritie with the Gospell and that Gabriell Biell haue much enhaunced the same saying That that onely worde Enim which they haue added to the wordes of our Sauiour Christ cannot be left out in that place by the Priest without committing of mortall sinne CHAP. II. That the Masses fathered vpon the Apostles and Disciples of Christ are notorious and meere suppositions WHat shall become then will you say of the Masses or Lithurgies which are so confidently builded founded vpon S. Peter S. Iames S. Mathew S. Andrew S. Marke S. Denis Areopagite S. Clement c. all Apostles Euangelistes or disciples I answere that we will in this Chapter take away whatsoeuer scruple of doubtfulnes or cloude of darknes that may arise to the troubling of any mans minde about the same Onely let the readers beare about them such care and diligent watch and attention as they would do in the receiuing of some paiment least they should be deceiued with false money or as they would vse in some suit for the auoiding of counterfeit writing or false euidence yea rather a great deale more because the sonne is much greater the inheritance of a far higher nature as containing in it our title and interest vnto eternall life Assuredly if these Masses rise from such authors as are the Apostles and Euangelists there is cause for vs to yeeld stoope for they were gouerned by the holy Ghost and the holy Ghost is alwaies like himselfe and so by consequent it must follow that wee giue vnto them the honour which wee vse to giue vnto their Epistles and Gospels But if on the contrarie it will be proued very clearely that they cannot be of the Apostles or Euangelistes then let vs confesse that that which they teach is worthily to be suspected of vs to be the meere seed tares of the enuious man which bestirred himselfe in the night yea and that in most abhominable manner For as there is none so hardie as to falsifie and counterfeit the coine of the Prince but such as in whom the spirit of lying and rebellion raigneth so there cannot any be found so bold and impudent as to counterfeit the spirit of Christ the style hand of his Apostles saue such as in whom the spirit of Sathan beareth rule and sway But I speake not this vpon any conceit of these pretended Masses which can nothing preuaile against vs seeing that our aduersaries themselues dare not auouch them for authentike seeing also that there is neuer a Priest of them all amongst the Latine Churches which can perswade himself to haue made a good consecration by following of their rules seeing also that we can fortifie and strengthen our owne cause diuers sorts of waies by them seeing the confession therein is not made vnto any but vnto God alone seeing the Communion is therein administred vnto all the people and vnder both kindes and for that also that the Canon thereof is farre differing from that of the Latine and finally for that they are said in a language that is commonly vnderstood of all and for many other reasons which shall be handled in their place And that the rather in good sooth for that it is our dutie for that testimonie sake which we do owe vnto the truth to make our selues parties against them and that the more by reason of the horrible hugenes of deceiuing lies so impudently broached in the matters concerning our saluation Then let vs enter into the listes The lithurgie of S. Iames. and trie the strength of that which they pretend make shew of to haue beene done by S. Iames. S. Iames the iust say they the brother of our Lord did first set downe the Masse in writing he hath offred sacrifice after the manner of the Iewes as also after the manner of the Christians and to him alone before all or any one of the rest of the Apostles it was permitted by the Iewes because of his tribe holines of life to go into the most holy place Iudge what apparance of truth is in these assertions when as S. Iames who had seene and learned yea did teach that the onely sacrifice of our Lord Sauior Christ did put an end to all the sacrifices of the law should not yet giue ouer but continue to offer sacrifices according to the Iewish fashion and manner that the Iewes who did abhorre and detest nothing so much as the Apostles persecuting S. Iames vnto the death and Ananias still holding the place of the high Priest wold euer permit suffer him to do any such thing that as they add with the garments of the high priests but principally in cōsideration of his stock and lineage a thing making him to be so much the more suspected of the Romaines who had the gouernment ouer Iudea But still they continue their claime and say Concil Constant 2. in Trul. Canon 32. that it was alleadged in the second Councell of Constantinople against thē who did not mingle water in the Sacrament of the holy Supper Let vs adde then that this was neere vpon seuen hundred years after that Christ was ascended that of all that time it had neuer a tongue to speake Whereas of a truth if it had beene true and known so to be from of old it wold not haue beene forgotten of the former councels seeing the power and authority thereof comming from so great an Apostle would haue beene able to haue put downe and made nothing worth all the controuersies though neuer so great that were moued and raised in the same In the Councels of Ephesus the first and the second where the controuersie was handled against Eutiches and Nestorius and where the Fathers produced no proofe of antiquitie besides a certaine place out of Eusebius and Origene in which the holy virgin is called the mother of God Iudge you and thinke what aduantage they had got against Nestorius if they had had forth comming this Lithurgie wherein fiue or sixe seuerall times she is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the virgine that did beare and bring forth God namely all that which may growe from the saying and testimonie of an Apostle yea all that which the testimonie of the spirite of God is able to afforde to the establishing of the truth of a doctrine of such importance and weight as also to the authorizing of the first and principall Canon of those Councelles And yet notwithstanding some holde that Proclus Archbishop of Constantinople was present at the first and disputed against
as they haue borrowed their Idols so haue they also their arguments for their defence saith It agreeth verie well that the same God who hath forbidden in his law to make any similitude or likenes hath likewise commaunded by an extraordinarie commaundement for to make that of the Serpent If thou worshippe and feare this same God thou hast his law for thy direction therein Make not anie similitude or likenes and if thou consider the commaundement that commeth after inioyning one to bee made in that thou art to imitate and do as Moses did Make no image or likenes contrarie to the law if this same God do not expresly commaund it And by this meanes Tertullian cutteth them off quite inferring that the law of God is generall and that no man must dare or presume to doe any thing to the contrarie without an expresse exception and the same to issue and come forth of the same mouth which thing Paulus Ricius though one of their side doth resolue them of in this manner saying The law of the Lord forbiddeth thee to kindle any fire for thy familie vpon the Lordes day and thou sinnest mortallie if thou do it and yet notwithstanding hee commaunded thee to kindle a fire in the verie same day in the Tabernacle The like is that of the Cherubins ordained by the expresse word of God howbeit to haue Images is fetcht from some other fountaine then his commaundement being such an abhomination and mischief as cannot bee answered Wherefore our aduersaries deale herein as our first Father did being taught therunto by the Diuell for when God went about to tel him of his sin he would post it ouer to another saying The woman which thou gauest me was the cause and so they became the wofull accusers of the most vpright God If wee bee Idolaters it is thy worke for wherefore didst thou euer cause that the similitude of Cherubins or Serpents should be set vp c But their condemnation waiting for them is iust hauing drawne it vpon themselues in asmuch as they will pretend vnto themselues license and priuiledge to lift and aduance themselues aboue all that is of God yea euen aboue his plaine and expresse lawes And that such a priuiledge as may seeme to belong to him alone and that in this very respect being denied vnto all others For the Greeke churches notwithstanding the curses and excommunications of the seconde Councell of Nice did cleaue vnto their pictures but honouring them rather after a ciuill then a religious sort The Abissines and Armenians in like manner howbeit there are also some as Aluarez reporteth vnto vs which haue not any at all and those which haue to shew that they bee the goodlie presents of the Bb. of Rome doe foresee that it is good that they should haue no other but Latine inscriptions so now this same which wold be but the fountain original is become the stream to ouerflow the seruice of God and as a mightie floud to couer and drowne vp the whole earth CHAP. IIII. Of vnleauened bread wine mingled with water and of the thinges which serued to the administration of the Sacraments NOw we haue intreated of Temples and of their principal ornaments as our aduersaries esteeme them that is of Images we haue likewise spoken of the holy Tables otherwise called Altars whereupon the bread and the wine ordained for the sacrament were wont to bee set the wine in certaine clean vessels either of Glasse or of mettall the breade wrapped in a linnen cloth that so nothing might fal vpon it without anie manner of superstition or curiositie and in some places these Tables were shadowed with some vaile or curtain It remaineth now that wee looke about vs to finde out how this simplicitie did change into curiositie and this puritie into superstition as likewise how the indifferencie and libertie which was in old time in these things is turned into a necessitie and slauish seruitude worse then euer was that of the Iewes Our Lord celebrating the Passeouer with his Disciples Leauened or vnleauened bread vsed vnleauened bread And there is no doubt thereof for the Passeouer according to the law must be celebrated without leuen it was by expresse ordinance so appointed and our Lorde came to fulfill the law and that in matters of farre more weight and difficulty howsoeuer Epiphanius and the Grecians after him may seeme to say that he did keep the feast sooner then it was appointed by the law and that he also gaue vnto his Disciples leauened bread 1. Cor. 5. v. 7.8 But that the institution should bind vs to this circumstance S. Paule the true Interpreter of Christ sheweth to the contrarie saying Our Passeouer hath beene sacrificed c. Let vs there keepe the feast not with the old leuen of maliciousnes bitternes but with the vnleauened bread of sinceritie and truth It might then be kept and obserued but without keeping of a leauen more daungerous namely a schisme betwixt the Greeke and latine Churches as also without binding of themselues to the circumstances of leauen being a ceremony belonging vnto the Iewes seeing that the Christian Church had taken thorough acknowledgement how that the Passeouer might be celebrated without offending of the law vpon the Saboth after the 14. day of the Moon of the moneth Nisan and not the 14. according to the institution as also that the day of rest might be kept vpon the Lords day and not vpon the Saturday after the manner of the Iewes whiles as the substance of the institution was kepte whole and inuiolate inasmuch as the feast of the spirituall deliuerance accomplished by the resurrection of Christ was celebrated in stead of the carnall and corporall deliuerance and the feast of the second birth and creation of mankind in steade of that of the first creation Now in the time of the Apostles and their first Disciples wee see not anie title of this distinction It is to be thought that they did keepe themselues to S. Paule his admonition Purge out the old leauen that so you may bee a new lumpe That is that they should purge and clense their heartes to become new creatures in Christ For as for the Decretall Epistle of Alexander the first it is not good but that it should be read that so it may bee reputed and helde for a deuised and counterfeite thing In the Councell of Laodicea about the year 400. Concil Laod. 29.36.37.38 it was forbidden that any Christians should vse any part of the ceremonies vsed in the Iewish seruice as to rest vpon their Sabath to haue Philacteries to keepe any solemne feastes vppon the dayes of their solemne feastes and by name to take of their vnleauened bread that is to tye themselues vnto the Iewish cer emonies and more particularlie vnto that This had not beene to anie purpose if thē the Church had taken herself to haue beene bound to vse vnleauened bread at the celebration of this diuine
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. in prayers in hymnes and supplications c. confessing the name of the Lord. And how In as much saith hee as wee giue him thankes for that he died for our sinnes c. Theoder ad Hebr. c. 13. Thom. ad Heb. c. 13. Chrysostome and Theodoret vpon this place after the same sort But Thomas more clearely then any of them all saying This is the Altar or the Crosse of Christ whereupon he was offered for vs or els this is Christ himselfe in whom and by whom we offer vp our praiers This is the Altar likewise whereof mention is made Apoc. 8. c. But let them tell me then in their consciences Belarm l. 1. de Sacram. c. 35. l. 1. de Miss c. 14. if there be in all this any one word of the Masse And in deed Bellarmine in a certain place after the manner of other would faine abuse it but elswhere he saith that hee will not presse this place seeing that other good Catholike writers doe vnderstande it of the Altar of the Crosse In the ende they come to breath life into the Masse with that which cannot but make it breathlesse and presse it to death euen with this Epistle Heb. 5. v. 1. which ceaseth not to go ouer it againe and againe in a hundred places that our priest hath fulfilled whatsoeuer was needfull for our redemption by the onely sacrifice of the Crosse It is written say they Omnis Pontifex siue sacerdos euerie high priest or other priest taken from amongst men is established by men in things which are done to Godward to offer sacrifices and giftes for sinnes then it behoueth that our priestes doe offer for sinnes and that in the new Testament Let vs note their good dealing the text is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euery high priest and not euerie sacrificer nor euerie priest And in deed hee compareth in this place and setteth the high priest of the law against our high Priest Iesus Christ in these words In like manner also Christ c. Hee compareth him I say in this that both of them had their calling of God he setteth downe the prerogatiue in that the one was a seruant and the other the Sonne of whom it is said This day haue I begotten him He opposeth and setteth him against him in that he was taken from amongst men from time to time but this our high priest vnder the Gospell is eternall without beginning after the manner of Melchisedech And this is the cause why the interlineall Glose saith Omnis Pontifex secundum legem And Oecumenius By the comparing of the priestes that is to say of Christ and of the high priest of the law hee would shew the excellencie of the new Testament aboue the old c. And Thomas of Aquin comming after all the old writers vnderstandeth this place after the same manner What shamelesse cogging and foisting then is this to conclude from the high priest to euerie ordinarie and inferior priest from the high priest of the law to the inferior priests of the Church of Rome And let it be said here by the way that which is to bee held once for all that there is not so much as any one place in all the holy scripture where the Ministers of the new Testament are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sacerdotes priestes or by any other name of equall sence and signification but rather all manner of Christians are called in certaine places by the name of Priestes notwithstanding that they be qualified with diuers names as Euangelistes Prophets Teachers Ministers Pastors and Elders that for no other cause doubtles but because the holy Ghost purposed to abolish the pedagogie and childish rudimentes of the law that so they might not haue any place or vse vnder the Gospel He wold also take away therby this stumbling stone which Antichrist hath very cunningly cast in the way hauing drawne from this word sacrifice which is to say A holy consecrate kind of dutie or seruice a phrase and tearme first vsed by Christians generally for the whole exercise of deuotion a Sacrifice properly so called as they speake then propitiatorie and afterward meritorious for the remission of sinnes and that not for the liuing onely but also for the dead But they go further It is thus said at the least in place elsewhere that it behoueth that Iesus Christ should haue something to offer and if any thing then himselfe and that euery day vnto God in heauen for vs. Now without all question the Masse by this accompt is as farre from this place as heauen is remoued from their Altar But yet we must looke further into this their deceit craft It must needs be that he haue something to offer that is to say that he hath offered something and what hee hath offered Heb. 8.3 the Apostle telleth vs in a hundred places Hee offered himselfe once for all for the sinnes of the world he hath purchased vnto vs by his blood an euerlasting redemption by one onely offering once offered he hath sanctified vs and sitteth at the right hand of God his father He doth not then offer or sacrifice any such thing vnto him euerie day as they doe falsly alleadge the text but rather Hee appeareth before God making intercession for vs praying and making requestes for vs by the power and vertue of this sacrifice once made c. The question onely betwixt vs is whether these wordes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ought to be expounded Quod offerat or Quod offerret that is that he doth dayly offer or that he hath once offered And the Apostle hath decided it without the helpe of any others in many places but let vs heare what the olde writers doe say thereof Oecumenius saith Oecumen in epist ad Heb. c. 8. Because it properly belongeth to priests to offer gifts sacrifices 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where our aduersaries woulde vnderstand for the perfecting of the sence this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is necessarie we do make the supply with this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make the sence It was necessarie which agreeth better with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is as much as to say that it was meet that Christ should also haue something to offer But that which followeth doth decide the question This was the cause saith he wherefore he had his owne proper flesh which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath offered For it might haue beene said If he bee a high priest for euer why is he dead wherefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that hee might offer himself a sacrifice c. And a little after He is therefore dead that he might offer this sacrifice but he is risen from the dead ascended into heauen to possesse keepe the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where it is requisite that he should exercise his priesthood And how Verily saith he by
Idem l. 3. c. 4. l 4. c. 5. sometimes we consecrate our selues all wholy vnto him and his high priest or sacrificer which is to Christ dedicating I say our selues bodies and soules vnto this word where wee haue to obserue that he reckeneth vp the sacrifice of Christians as the memorie of the passion of our Lorde thankesgiuing prayers praises and offering vppe of our selues c. but of the sacrifice without blood which they pretend whether it bee in the Supper or in the Masse not one word Nowe about this time was the first generall Councell of Nyce held Can. Nicaen wherein wee haue a Canon all saue some little parte thereof drawne out of the Vatican librarie the title whereof is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the holy table The wordes are Wee doe not rest and content our selues with the breade ministred vnto vs here belowe or yet in the cuppe but lifting vppe the vnderstanding of our mindes wee thinke by faith that the Lambe of God taking away the sinnes of the worlde lyeth in this Table 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sacrificed by the Priestes without being slaine c. Where wee obserue agreeing with the doctrine going before that there is insinuated a certaine secrete opposition betwixt the holy table and the Altars of the lawe of the Lambe which taketh away the sinnes of the worlde and the Sacrifices of the lawe which were nothing but figures and shadowes of the Sacrifice which was there offered to this which is but renewed by being called to minde and of the bodily presence and visible substance of the one to the eating and receiuing of the other by faith And this appeareth more euidently by that which followeth which calleth vs cleane backe from all thinking of a sacrifice to the receiuing and communicating of a sacrament that is That we truely and verily receiuing his precious bodie and blood belieue these thinges to bee the infallible signes of our resurrection And this is the cause why wee take not much but a little that so wee may know that it is not to fill vs full vnto bodily nourishment but to further and feed the worke of our sanctification For if hee had rested in the sacrifice woulde that haue followed which he saith And that notwithstanding our being present at this sacrifice wee haue the resurrection and the life c. Athanas orat 3. cont Arrian Whereupon also Athanasius of the same time saith The oblation or sacrifice of the Lord once offered did accomplish all thinges and remaineth fast and sure throughout all times Aaron had his successors but the Lorde sine transitione successione without any succession or change from one to another holdeth the priesthood for euer Saint Basill Those which were wont to be consecrated of the seed of Aaron are excluded Basill in 1. c. Esa to the end that there might come in their roome a priest according to the order of Melchisedec and not the sacrificing priestes of the Church of Rome There is no more any question saith he of the continuall sacrifice neither yet of these so oft reiterated and renewed sacrifices c. For there is but one sacrifice that is Christ and the mortification of the Saintes which is become famous and renowned for their confessing of him There is but one besprinkling and cleansing with water and that is the washing of the new birth there is but one purgation for sinne that is his blood shedde for the saluation of the world To what end saith the Lord serueth so many sacrifices he requireth but one reiecting all whatsoeuer els that is that euerie man doe reconcile and offer himselfe to God appearing before him a liuing sacrifice by a reasonable seruing of him and offering vnto God the sacrifice of praise c. Againe Now in the end and latter age of the worlde one onely sacrifice is approued once offerred for an oblation for sinne For the Lambe of God hath taken away the sin of the world offering himselfe an oblation and sacrifice of a smell of a sweet sauour c. Idem in psal 115. And in another place I will therefore sacrifice my soule vnto thy praise O Lord as it were vpon some Altar I will offer vnto thee the sacrifice of praise which is more worth then an infinite number of others c. Gregorius Nazianzenus This great sacrifice Gregor Nazianz in Pasch orat 2. which in his first nature could not bee sacrificed is mingled with all the sacrifices of the lawe That same I say which is the purgation not of one parte of the worlde nor forsome certaine time but of the whole world and for euer And thus we are admonished not to seeke for any other But saith he we offer vnto God vpon his celestiall Altar together with Angels the Sacrifice of praise let vs passe through the first vaile and drawe neere vnto the second let vs sacrifice to God at all times And hee addeth For the chiefe and principall point of wisedome is a good and honest life purged and made cleane before God euen that God which is most pure and requireth no other sacrifice at our handes but this purenesse which the scripture commonly calleth a contrite and broken heart the sacrifice of praise a newe creature in Christ c. Eusebius Emissenus saith Euseb Emissen de caen Dom. Seeing that our Lorde was to conuey vp into the heauen beyond the reach of our pearcing sight this his humane bodie which he had taken vppon him it was needfull that vppon this day hee should consecrate for vs the Sacrament of his bodie and of his blood that so what had once beene offered vppe for the price of our redemption might bee honoured in a mysterie for euer to the end that as redemption hath his ordinarie course for the saluation of men without any wearisomnesse so also the euerlasting oblation perpetuall sacrifice of this redemption might liue and continue fresh in our memorie and that this one true and perfect sacrifice that is to say Christ might continually bee present in grace which wee must iudge of by faith and not by outward appearance by the inward affection and not by the outward sight Where wee are to note that hee saith Sacrament not Sacrifice and that hee opposeth the remembrance of the oblation to the oblation it selfe the powerfull course and continuance of redemption to redemption it selfe once wrought the presence of grace to the reall presence and the body of Christ lifted vp to heauen to the Sacrament of the same left remayning in the Supper Epiphanius Epiphanius cont Marcion haere 42. 35. Haue you offered me sacrifice saith the Lord fortie yeares in the wildernesse c. To the end that they might learne that God by the comming of his Christ hath taken away all manner of vse of sacrifices and that in respect of one sacrifice which hath perfected and accomplished all the other sacrifices that went before
not any other sacrifice but that of bread and wine which hee hath ordained and is like vnto that which Moses in the law called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sacrifice of praise c. For therein wee praise God for the benefite which hee hath bestowed vpon vs sauing vs by his onelie Sonne c. Alexander Hales holdeth manie assertions that cannot agree with the Masse saying Iesus Christ hath offered a double sacrifice a spirituall and corporall the spirituall that is a sacrifice of deuotion and loue towardes mankind which he hath offered in spirit the Corporall the sacrifice of the death which hee vnderwent vpon the Crosse which is represented in the sacrament Marke represented The spiritual prefigured by the incense and perfume which was made vpon the inner Altar the corporall which hee offered in his flesh two waies that is to say sensibly vpon the Crosse and insensibly vpon the Altar obserue and marke again insensiblie That sensible sort being shadowed out by the sacrifiees of beastes but the insensible by the sacrificing of thinges that are incensible as fruites bread and wine both the one and the other vpon the vtter Altar The one of them to speake as hee speaketh propitiatorie for such were the sacrifices wherein beasts were offered with the shedding of their blood for sinne figuring out that sacrifice offered by Iesus Christ the other Eucharisticall onelie for such properlie were those of fruites and such like thinges Againe The sacrifices of the law were signes both of the true sacrifice of Christ Circumferimus as also of the spirituall sacrifices which we shall haue to offer vnto God That for the purging away of all our sinnes aswell originall as actuall these to haue relation to the mortification of our flesh inasmuch as we carrie about with vs Iesus Christ in our bodies to the end that his life may be manifested in vs. Lyranus handleth the matter more clearelie Lyranus in ep ad Heb. c. 10. That which cleanseth and wipeth away sinne must needes bee heauenlie and spirituall and that which is such hath perpetuall efficacie and by consequent ought not neither indeed can be reiterated and this that wee say of the oblation of Christ is because of the Godhead being vnited and conioyned with the manhoode for it being once offered ought not to be reiterated and yet is sufficient to deface and blot out al the sins that are alreadie or hereafter to be cōmitted You wil say yet behold the sacrament of the Altar is euery day offered vp in the church c. But the answere hereto is that this is no reiterating of the sacrifice but an ordinarie remēbring calling to mind of the only sacrifice offered vpon the Crosse wherupon it is said in Mat. 26. Do this in remēbrance of me c. Now manie such good people enflamed with a true zeale had stayed the course of this mischieuous monster but their owne infirmitie and weakenes did incumber and hinder them tyranous rule and gouernment astonished them and the multitude carried them away For on the contrarie to this error once so farre admitted of the multitude there is added an other heape of more then good measure Gab. Biel. lect 26. That it is cleane an other thing to be present at the Masse then to communicate in the holie supper That the Masse ex opere operato by the worke wrought that is to say by being onely present without receiuing anie thing or yet bringing anie good motion thereunto doth apply vnto euerie such person present al the merites of Christ Who could not now loue the Masse better then the holie supper which requireth a serious examination and tryall of the conscience that offereth life but representeth to the vnworthie receiuer the dreadfull horror of tormenting hell Againe That the Masse hath a most speciall a most great and an indefferent or middle power and efficacie a most speciall in respect of the Priest seeing that by it hee meriteth eternall life a most generall in respect of the Church and all the members thereof without anie exception and a meane or middle in respect of him or them that cause the same to bee saide c. Of the sacrament of the holie supper the institution of the Sonne of God of all the sacramentes together yea or of the verie death of Iesus Christ is there anie one of them that hath written so high tearmes of commendation But seeing that it hath such efficacie and vertue in it to what end is it so oft reiterated or multiplied so manie waies seeing that the oft administring and taking of a medicine as they saye themselues is a marke and note of the weakenes of the same But this question is not yet throughlie decided amongst them as those that haue too eager a stomacke to loose their fatte morsels They dare not saye that it is for anie wante of sufficiencie in the sacrifice neither will they saye that the vertue and efficacie thereof may bee so farre stretched and extended as the sufficiencie thereof woulde beare Some saye that none but Iesus Christ doth knowe how farre it concerneth euerie man Others that hee bestoweth the power and vertue of the Masse according to the determination and application of the Priest that sacrificeth it Gab. Biel. lect 26. And thereuppon Gabriel Biel is set in a chafe saying I praye you such as wauer in this sorte and doe not so much as giue but sell such vncertainties in the Church and that in so serious and waightie a matter can we otherwise call them then most pernicious and daungerous Impostors and deceiuers Now as all truth doth agree and hang together That the doctrine of the Masse is against it selfe so wee may see in this doctrine the figure of falshoode and broad stampe of a shamefull lye which as his nature is is giuen to destroye and ouerthrowe it selfe Sometimes they say that Christ hath offered his bodie vnto God in the supper for the Apostles and that in the Masse the promises of the new Testament euen those of the remission of sins are applyed and that thereby it becommeth propitiatorie yea ex opere operato Other sometimes they say that this sacrifice doth not worke sufficientlie and immediatelie Bellarm. l. 2. de Missa c. 4.2 Idem l. 1. c. 2. and that it is not properlie ordained of God the instrument to iustifie as Baptisme and Absolution are but that it serueth onelie to obtaine the gifte of penance by which the sinner would drawe neare vnto the sacrament and bee iustified by it Againe sometime that the Masse carrieth with it the remission of sinnes in asmuch as Christ hath sacrificed his body and his blood for the remission of the sinnes of his Apostles and that in the same howre wherein hee celebrated the supper with them and commaunded them to continue the same and therefore it is propitiatorie yea saith Caietanus infinitelie meritorious and satisfactorie Sometimes they conclude that
heere were the place to speake of it if he had belieued otherwise Not the Angels themselues Idem l. 10. con fess c. 42. For saith hee in an other place How shall I find one that may reconcile me vnto thee must I goe vnto the Angels But with what praiers With what Sacraments Many indeuoring to return vnto thee and not being able of themselues haue as I vnderstand assaied this way and haue beene deceiued by vaine illusions as they deserued c. But the true mediatour hath appeared betwixt mortall men being grieuous sinners and the immortall iust one euen Iesus Christ man c. In him is my hope hee maketh intercession with thee for vs. Otherwise I should flie and hide my selfe from before thy presence but thou hast staied and kept me backe saying Therefore is Iesus Christ dead for sinners c. Behold therefore Lord I cast my whole care vpon thee and I shall liue And now after that he hath laid these Maxims behold how cunningly he indeuoreth to stop and turne the course of the presumptions of his time It was now growne to an inueterate opinion that the Church triumphant or already gathered into heauen had care of the militant or that which was warfaring here vpon earth hee standeth not obstinate and wilfull as Vigilantius against it on the contrarie Idem de praedest sanct c 14 Idem confess l. 9. A great companie saith hee doe wish vs in heauen being alreadie assured of their owne saluation but yet standing in some doubt of ours Againe Now Nebridius is in Abrahams bosome hee greedily powreth downe full draughts of wisedome and yet I cannot be perswaded that he drinketh himselfe so deepely and deadly drunke therewith as that hee forgetteth vs seeing that thou O Lord who giuest him to drinke vouchsafest to haue vs in remembrance c. In a certaine place hee cannot containe himselfe from desiring and wishing that S. Cyprian would praie for him Behold saith he S. Cyprian disburdened of this bodie Idem contr Donatist l. 5. c. 1. who seeth the truth more clearely let him helpe vs with his praiers in this our fraile and mortall flesh as in a darke and gloomie cloud to the end that by the grace of God we may follow him c. This is a wish and not a set praier or purposed inuocation on the contrarie after hauing discoursed vppon the question Whether the Martyrs doe intermeddle in humane affaires Idem de cura pro mort agend 10. 13 and if they appeare in dreames and visions c. and the same argued and disputed euerie manner of way he protesteth that The thing passeth his vnderstanding that he is not able to reach so high c. And notwithstanding setteth downe his opinion according to the Scriptures Let euerie man saith he take that which I shall say as it pleaseth him if the soules of the dead should be found dealers in the affaires of them that are liuing my good mother would not leaue me or forsake me any one night but certainly that which the holy Psalme doth sound out so shrilly is true My father and my mother forsooke me And if our parents haue no care ouer vs what other amongst the dead are there that either know what wee doe or what we suffer Esay saith Thou art our father for Abraham hath not knowne vs Jsraell is ignorant of vs. If then these great Patriarkes were ignorant of that which befell this people sprung and risen out of their loynes how shall the dead haue any dealing in the affaires of the liuing to helpe and further them And how shall wee say that it was prouided that such as are departed out of this world 2. King 22. 2. Paralip 32. before that the euils which followed their transgressions he speaketh of Iosias should fall to the end that they might not be grieued at the sight thereof And the conclusion is The spirits therefore of the deceased are in a place where they see not what is done or what accidents fall out in the life of man August de cura pro mort c. 13.14.15.16 And vpon the obiection of the wicked rich man He had as much care and consideration of the liuing as we haue of the dead we know not what the dead doe neither did hee regarde whether the liuing did sinke or swimme Now if you take away this knowledge from the dead what shall become of the praiers made vnto them by the liuing In the meane time Miracles at the Sepulchers of the Martyrs the common people say wee see miracles at the graues of the Martyrs But to the end that they might not conclude or gather therevpon any inuocation or praying vnto them as holding such a good fauour to come from them he leadeth them to the consideration of other causes Jt is God saith hee that dooth this thing by himselfe in this wonderfull manner so that although he be eternall yet it is hee that worketh these temporall things and hee bringeth them to passe either by his Ministers or else the same which he doth by his Ministers he effecteth likewise somtime by the spirits of his Martyrs as though they were done by men still dwelling in their bodies or else hee bringeth all these things to passe by his Angels the Martyrs obtaining by earnest sute that the same may be done though they bee no Actors in the same or finally by some incomprehensible manner past the reach of mortall men but yet such as may vndoubtedly confirme vs in the resurrection vnto eternall life Who seeth not in the reckoning vp of â—o diuers causes that he would pull them from one and in that hee concludeth that the cause is incomprehensible that hee would breake off both their manner of reasoning and the consequences which they gather thereon But in the Maxim which hee setteth downe in an other place that he would draw them from the Martyrs vnto God August de Ciuit Dei l. 10. c. 12. when he saith That all the miracles which are done whether it be by Angels or any other manner doe not recommend vnto vs any other Religion deuotion or worship then that of the one onely God in whome alone consisteth the blessed and eternall life But to what ende and wherefore then was it that they praied and worshipped which they cal also by the name of sacrificing Ad memorias MartyruÌ„ at the Sepulchers of the Martyrs Verily we haue said that before that Christians had Churches and during the times of the persecutions of the Church they met with one consent in their burying places for the cherishing of their zeale by the example of the Martyrs and this custome was still retained for a long time after But was that which they called sacrificing to the Martyrs the action of inuocation or praying vnto them God forbid Idem de Ciuit. Dei l. 22. c. 10. We build saith S. Augustine no Churches vnto our Martyrs as vnto Gods
spoken of in the song of the three children in the furnace Daniel 3. ex Graeco Ye spirits and soules of the righteous blesse ye the Lord c. All these false couers and colourings notwithstanding being euident testimonies not so much of an vnwillingnesse to come to reformation as of a shamefastnesse to be ouertaken and detected of this spirituall whoredome Cassander therfore and Hofmeisterus more freely if so be they had but practised it in the Church as they belieued held it in their harts Cassander verily who after hee had excused the Church of Rome to Maximilian the Emperour as much as he could euen vpon this article that Orate was as much as Vtinam oretis Pray ye that is I wish and desire that you would pray saith notwithstanding That he maketh not in his owne behalfe any praier but vnto God by Iesus Christ and that he accompteth that the most infallible way Hofmeister who after he had gathered whatsoeuer hee could out of the old writers August de visâ—tâ—t infirmotu si eius est l. 1. c. 2. concludeth with these words of Saint Augustine I shall speake more boldly and ioyfully to my Iesus then vnto anie one of the holy spirits of God c. But what do our fathers of Trent say here after the long looking wherewith they haue made vs to looke for reformation Do they allow at the least these expositions these mitigations or do they bring some better of their owne Neither but on the contrarie they institute and ordaine that we should call vpon the Saintes by praier to help vs Suppliciter humblie beseeching them vpon our knees and that we should betake our selues not to their praiers onely but to their helpe and succour declaring all such as haue any other opinion to be wicked impious And the Catechisme made by the authoritie of the said Councell saith plainly Christians worship Angels but not as God is worshipped we must pray vnto the Saints in as much as by the grace and merit purchased by them God doth deale wel with vs c. And Cardinal Hosius a man approued of them Rom. 8. to such as alleadge S. Paul That we cannot call vpon any but him in whom we belieue answereth lustily That we must also credere in Sanctos belieue in Saints What reformation can there be from theÌ„ who after such enormous faults laid open discouered by the light of Christendome doe wilfully make themselues blind and yet will not haue themselues accompted of as hauing failed in any point And yet furthermore they ioyne thereunto another notorious pranke of maliciousnesse which is their causing to bee raced out in good bookes Index pag. 8.10.24 25.30.31.36.38.47.49.50 whatsoeuer might checke or controll their proceedings for so they haue resolued and set it downe as appeareth by their Index Expurgatorius As for examples The place where S. Augustine distinguisheth betwixt the honour due vnto God and that of Saints the interpreter hath giuen this note This that is to say that which is to be reserued to God alone is now giuen to all the Saintes Deleatur let it be raced and put out In the Tables of S. Augustine S. Chrysostome and S. Ierome their works there were many places noted which directed vs vnto such sayings in their works all speaking against the inuocation of Saints vpon the heads whereof were set Deleantur In Erasmus and Faber Stapulensis famous worthy men in their profession when they say Deum solum omnis oratio adoratio decet Vnto God alone belongeth all praier and worship is it not written Torcular calcaui solus Index pag. 49.50.55.59.61.255 I haue troden the wine presse alone All the Saints are nothing if the question bee once of true worship all our owne workes and those of our fathers from the beginning of the world are no better c. Deleantur And Cassander likewise where he sheweth how the old father did vse the words Merite and to merite That When they said Orate this was as if they had said Vtinam oretis c. Deleatur But what reasons will there satisfie these men if they need not any other answer to them but the racing and vtter blotting of them out or what witnesses if there be nothing but away with them to burning CHAP. XVI That man cannot merite eternall life for himselfe much lesse for another where the consideration is first of mans state before regeneration OVr aduersaries as they say do pray vnto Saints because they make intercession for them vnto God but we haue alreadie destroied this foundation And they make intercession for them say they by the power of their merites and that not onely for the procuring of them gifts and graces in this life but also eternall happines in that to come For which cause wee haue next to shew vnto them that so we may not leaue any thing doubtfull That no man can merite with God not eternal life or rather not the least grace of this fraile transitorie life not for any other man no not for himselfe And this we will deale in according to the three estates of man Man in his first estate could not merite Genes 1. Ephes 4. Colos 3. Psalme 19. his integritie or innocencie his fall or transgression and his regeneration Of his integritie it is said That God had created him according to his own image and S. Paul expoundeth it to consist in righteousnesse holinesse and the knoweldge of God c. That he had placed him in Paradise in a place abounding with all felicitie which Dauid calleth placed in honor In so much that he held had both his being his graces and his glorie at the good pleasure of his Creator of his meere free and vndescrued goodnes The abilitie to merite might haue beene great the good deeds only considered but then what abilitie or power can there be to merite of him of whom he holdeth all of him for whom a man can do nothing Let vs admit then that our first father had vsed all these graces perfectly well that he had possessed them in such feare 〈◊〉 awe as he should yea and that he had fulfilled the law as naturally he might yet had he beene able to say after all this but with the same pride which cast him down from his high glorious estate it selfe alone I haue deserued that God should yet further giue me this yea that he should continue vnto me what he hath alreadie giuen mee If we do not wrongfully name and call our merit that pleasure which it pleaseth God to take in adding and bestowing graces vpon his euen grace for grace and glory for glorie to deserue well of vs if I may so say and that so exceeding bountifully and liberallie as that we are not able to merite any thing of him So then here is place for that Iob. 41.1 which God saith in Iob Who is it that gaue me first I wil
was in her integritie saue that in the state of integrity it was repressed by a supernaturall gift of originall righteousnes which did represse keep it vnder which God hath taken away in the first man so from all other men in him as a punishment of his sinne in such sort as that this concupiscence is not sinne in men because it is not against any law of God or if it be that it is the least of all other sinnes in as much as it is onely some small disorder in nature But how can this fancie agree with Saint Paule with this law of the members which maketh vs seruants of sinne Sinne whose wages is no other then eternall death But there is some pleasure in respect of these different opinions to heare what the olde fathers say handling this question against the hereticks of their times as those who are by so much the lesse to be suspected in this cause by how much they haue beene the more renowned testified of for their godlinesse and yet haue not ceased to acknowledge the infirmities of their humane nature Testimonies out of the fathers Ambr. in epist ad Rom c. 5. tom 5. Idem de vocat Gent. l. 1. c. 3. tom 2. Idem in Apol. Dauid c. 11. Notet Pighius S. Ambrose It is most plaine and manifest that all haue sinned in Adam as in the Masse by him therefore we all become sinners euen as we do all come of him He hath lost the benefite and priuiledge by sinne c. Againe Before we be borne we are defiled by contagion before we enioy the light we receiue the losse of our original goodnesse in as much as we be conceiued in sin c. And if the child that is but one day old be not without sin much lesse the daies of the mothers conception We are all therefore conceiued in sin of our fathers and mothers we are borne in their trespasses and euen the very infant beareth about it his pollutions And if thou doubtest from whence this commeth so to passe he maketh it manifest Hence it is saith he that wee are mortall from hence springeth not so much the multitude of our miseries as of our hainous sinnes and crimes our faith to bee lost our hope farre remoued our vnderstanding blinded and our will captiuated And what becommeth then of the power and vertues of the not regenerate of such as continue still and dwell in the corruption of their nature Without the worship of the true God saith he euen that which seemeth vertue is vice without God it is not possible for any man to please God And he that pleaseth not God whom can he please but the Deuill But to come as neere to the quick as may be is there any remainder of goodnesse abiding in man whereby hee may relieue and raise vp himselfe againe Idem Ambros de vocat Gent. l. 1. c. 5. Opere suo opus suum reparat Nay nay but on the contrarie No man saith he is found hauing any thing in himselfe whereby he may recouer his former place and excellencie Man will neuer be able to turne backe againe to God if God himselfe doe not turne and conuert him The grace of our Lord by his worke that is to say by the operation thereof repaireth his worke The will of man hath nothing left of all the powers thereof saue only a power and readie inchnation to destroy it selfe periculi facilitatem c. Gregorius Nyssenus Grâ—â— Nyss l. de oâ—at Man forsooke and reuolted from him who had made him and betooke himselfe to the enemies side that is to say to the Deuil whereupon his freedome and power changed of themselues and his wicked and vngodly will into a grieuous and dangerous seruitude and thraldome vnto sinne Then insued the abolishing of the image and figure of God which was before imprinted euen from our first creation in vs Adde hereto the losse of the groat By which the scripture doth teach vs that there is not of all the men that are so much as one to bee found that liueth one onely daie without spot And this is the cause why wee pray forgiue vs our trespasses although he were a Moises or a Samuel seeing that the same speech of repentance that agreed with Adam is common to all to the end that the Lord may saue vs by grace in graunting vnto vs the blotting out and abolishment of our sinnes And we need not for the finding out of the same enter into the consideration of nature in generall for euerie man entring into his owne censcience may find how needfull a thing it is to craue merciâ— Chrysostome Chrysost in Genel hom 29. tom 1. The first man by the decree of God by his sinne did incurre and draw vpon himselfe the sentence of death and hath past it ouer and conueighed it to his whole posteritie c. The second man is come downe from heauen he alone abiding without sinne and not owing any thing to death that so he might be free amongst the dead and that death might be condemned in his death Againe The nature of this pestilence tooke his beginning from one bodie hath now spread it selfe all ouer into euerie man Idem in Mâ—â—â— â—om 33. tom 2 And if thou demande what manner of plague it is When sinne entred saith he then came the downefall of our libertie for it corrupted the power giuen vs by nature it brought in seruitude and bondage c. Euen such a pestiâ—ence as that such as are infected therewith are not able to doe any thing that is ought worth â—em â—â—â—m 6. 〈…〉 â—â—a 〈◊〉 Fla. 〈…〉 de 〈…〉 Idem l. de natur grat c. 3 de â—id ad Petâ—um c. 23. Idem paâ—sim Iâ—eâ— cp 107. Idem contr Iul. Pelag. l 4. For saith hee in another place The heathen though they wrought good workes yet they wrought them not truely good because they did them not in anie consideration that they had of God but for to be reputed or because that goodnes is good or for the conseruing of hâ—mane societie c. But Saint Augustine against the Pelagians hath handled this matter and ript it vp to the bottome as the thing saith he wherein consisteth the summe of all Christian religion Hold fast saith he that euerie man which is conceiued by the carnall comunction of man woman together is borne in original sinne subiect to wickednes villanic and subiect to death and by this nature the child of wâ—ath c. And therefore this nature of man from the time of his birth hath need of a Phisition because it is nothing sound c. But mortally pestered as is to bee seene in the beadroll of euils which he attributeth vnto it That is the losse of free will thraldome by sinne ignorance and maliciousnesse banishment from the kingdome of heauen and the decree of eternall death Whereupon he saith We â—annot be
of the Law The law leadeth to faith and the iustice of God to his grace cannot possibly faile by consequent to explaine and lay open vnto vs the benefite of grace leading vs from Moyses to Christ from workes to faith and from death wherein wee stand naturally euen from the time of our conception and whereinto also euen after the time of our regeneration we runne and cast our selues continually by our faults and offences vnto our life and righteousnesse which is hid in Christ We cannot liue by the Law for we cannot fulfill it wherefore we must haue recourse vnto his grace His grace that is to say the mercie of God freely exhibited in Iesus Christ who hath fulfilled the Law by his obedience and which hath borne our transgressions vppon the Crosse but for such as to whome God hath giuen by the same grace to feele the sentence of condemnation due in themselues and assuredly to belieue their saluation in him And this is the cause why these two points are ordinarily conioyned and coupled together both in the Scriptures and holy Fathers euen grace and faith opposed to the Law and workes namely that grace that is to say that gift which God hath bestowed vppon vs by the righteousnesse of his onely begotten Sonne yea of his Sonne and all that which hee possesseth for the abolishing of our sinnes that faith that is to say that abilitie and power which hee giueth vs by his holy spirite to receiue in humilitie and yet with all assurednesse and certaintie that incomparable good thing which hee bestoweth vpon vs here below as a pledge and earnest pennie of those which hee will consequently giue vs to possesse with him in the highest heauens Origen expounding these words of the Apostle Orig. in Ep. ad Rom. l 3. c. 3. Where is thy glorying it is shut out c. He saith saith he that the iustification which is of faith onely doth suffice although that the belieuer haue not wrought any worke And for an example wee haue the theefe for whose onely faith Jesus said vnto him This day thou shalt be with me in Paradice c. And so likewise the woman in the Gospell Luke the seuenth The Pharisie said Jf he were a Prophet he would know what shee is but for her faith onely Iesus said vnto her Thy sinnes are forgiuen thee c. And for this cause the Apostle doth not boast himselfe of his owne righteousnesse chastitie wisedome c. But of the Crosse of Christ in the Lawe of faith which is in Iesus Christ c. Saint Ambrose saith Ambros de Virgin l. 3. Christ hath not redeemed thee with siluer nor gold haue thy siluer readie thou art not arrested euerie day though thou be in debt He hath paid his bloud for thee thou art indebted vnto him this bloud for we lay pawned in the hands of a wicked Creditor We haue beene the cause of the bill of our owne blame and guiltinesse by our sinnes Idem de fide l. 3. c. 3. wee owe for the punishment of the same our bloud the Lord Iesus is come hee hath paid his bloud for vs c. Againe Our redemption is by the bloud of Christ our forgiuenesse and pardon by his power and our life by his grace Idem de bono mort c. 2. Ep. 72.73 Againe Eternall life that is the forgiuenesse of sinnes and the Lord Iesus is come to fasten our sufferings to his Crosse to forgiue vs our sinnes to nayle to the crosse our obligation and to wash all the world in his blood Otherwise Idem de Iacob beat vita l. 1. c. 5. Psalme 118. saith he wherefore should the Prophet haue said Haue mercie on mee if he had trusted vnto his owne righteousness if there be any thing but mercie which deliuereth from sin But hee that hath need of mercie is a sinner and therefore what soeuer good commeth to vs let vs impute it to the righteousnesse of Christ It is the mercie of the Lord that remission of sinnes is freely and liberally giuen vnto vs Let no man glorie or boast himselfe that he hath a chast hart c. Againe Idem de fide l. 3. c. 3. My wisedome that is to saie the crosse of Christ My redemption the death of Christ Again By the disobedience of one man many are made sinners by the obedience of one man many are made righteous Againe God hath taken vpon him our flesh to abolish the curse of our sinfull flesh Idem de fuga saecul c. 7. Iudicato he was made a curse for vs to the end that the blessing might swallow vppe the curse integritie sinne grace the sentence of death and life death it selfe for he likewise hath vndergone death to fulfill the sentence of death and to satisfie the iudge for the curse lying vppon sinfull flesh Faith receiueth and taketh hold of grace Idem de paenit l. 2. Ex Syngrapha Idem in ep ad Rom. c. 3. 4 euen to the death c. And here behold the poole of grace the fountaine of life freely set open who shall put vs into the poole who shall draw for vs out of that fountaine verily verily no other helping hand saith the Apostle but faith yea Onely faith saith Saint Ambrose Let vs hope and looke for saith he the pardoning of sinnes by faith and not as by debt or merite faith will obtaine it for vs as by vertue of couenant vnder writing that is to say of the promises of God by the which he hath bound himselfe vnto vs Praesumptio propior est arroganti quà m roganti c. Presumption that is that ouer high couceipt we haue of our workes is more incident to such as arrogate and challenge for their owne eternall life by their desertes then to such as acknowledging themselues to haue no parte therein as of themselues doe humblie craue the same by praier c. Againe They are iustified freely because they are iustified without doing or working for the same and because they giue not any thing in exchange for the same they are iustified by faith alone by the gift of God c. The wicked man impius is iustified before God by faith alone c. For Idem devocat Gen. l. 2. c. 8. He that dare saith he preach that the grace of God is giuen according to mens merites preacheth against the catholike faith c. Let no man therefore glorie in his workes for no man shall be iustified by them He that is iust he hath it of gift Tertullian calleth it Donatiuum for hee is iustified by being washed It is faith that deliuereth vs by the blood of Christ Idem ep 71. Blessed is he whose sinnes are remitted and hath his pardon granted c. Againe By the sinne of one all haue deserued to bee condemned sinning alike for in the righteousnesse of one all shall be iustified credentes that belieue If hee
vnderstanding by faith that is to say not to see but to belieue That the lambe which taketh away the sinnes of the worlde is there offered is there eaten Offered saith he without being offered that is to say as the Canon expoundeth it selfe mystically for the Table is mysticall C. iteratur C. Hoc est D. 2. de consecr Non rei veritate sed significante mysterio And therefore eaten without being eaten and yet truely sacrificed and truely eaten in asmuch as wee beleeue and call to minde there that hee hath beene sacrificed for vs in as much also as we are certaine that we are partakers of this sacrifice which is ours that his flesh is our meate vnto our resurrection vnto eternall life for he hath said vnto vs that he hath giuen it for vs. The Councell therefore hath saide truely because there is nothing more true then the promise of God nothing more certaine then his effect when it is receiued in faith and notiwthstanding that the bread and the wine are but tokens or signes to the ende that following the exhortation accustomed in the olde liturgies Sursum corda 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Life vp your harts on high c. We may waite and looke for the receiuing of our spirituall food at the hand of God and not at the hand of man yea we lift them vp verie high and farre aboue these signes and this table before which if the doctrine of our aduersaries at that time had had any place the Councel should haue said vnto vs as they say at this day Cast your selues downe before this table settle and fixe your eyes vpon your God that descendeth commeth downe vpon it see that you kneele downe vnto and worship him there Saint Athanasius which was of this time Athanas de verbo quicunque dixcrit c. will manifest and make cleare the purpose of this Councell I haue seene saith hee the like Character in the Gospell of Saint Iohn where the Lorde entreating of the cating of his bodie and seeing that manie were offended thereat speake in this sorte Doth this thing offend you what will you say then if you see the Sonne of man ascend and go vp to the place where he was afore time It is the spirite which quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing c. For hee hath spoken here of the one and the other of his flesh and of his spirite and hath distinguished the spirite from the flesh to the and that beleeuing not onely that which appeareth vnto the eyes but the inuisible nature also wee might learne that the thinges which hee spoke are not carnall but spirituall Where wee shall marke that hee expoundeth these wordes of the Councell Let vs not settle our minds vpon the signes set before vs but let vs vnderstand and know by faith c. By these That we beleeue not that onely which appeareth vnto the eies c. Hee addeth For to what an infinit multitude of men should his bodie haue become sufficient meate being ordained to bee the foode of all the world shewing thereby that wee must alwaies iudge and make accompt of the bodie of Christ as of a true bodie And in this sence the Councell said This is the cause why wee receiue in a small quantitie c. Seeing the scope and drift of the action is the sanctification of the spirite and not the filling of the bodie And afterward And therefore he made mention of his ascention into heauen thereby to draw them backe from vnderstanding of him corporally and to the end that from thence forwarde they might learne that the flesh whereof he had spoken was a heauenly and spirituall meate which hee must giâ—e them from aboue Whereby wee learne that this eating must in such sorte bee vnderstoode as that it euermore include the truth of Christes bodie and of his locall ascention For saith he that which I haue spoken vnto you is spirit and life as if he said This bodie which is shewed and giuen for the world shall bee giuen for meate to bee attributed to euerie one spiritually and to be made vnto them a defensatiue and preseruatiue vnto the resurrection of eternall life Setting against the badges and notes which the Councell had spoken of the spirituall distribution of this celestiall meate that is to say the thing it selfe And this is the cause why in another place he calleth it The mysticall table as the Councell The holy Table At which saith he Who so is partaker doth enter into the companie of God that is such as receiue the thing signified by the Sacrament that is to say the inward grace The thing then contrarie to the doctrine of our aduersaries is not receiued by the wicked and vngodly as those that neuer come in the company of God neither then is it receiued by the hand either of the faithfull or of the minister incorporated with the signe c. For as concerning the place that Bellarmine alleadgeth of Athanasius Thedor dial 2 ex orat Athan. de fide cited by Theodoret where he saith That it is saide of the true bodie Sit thou at my right hande Likewise This is my bodie which is deliuered for you and that by this bodie he was made our high priest c. It is to good purpose against those hereticks that denie the truth of the humane nature of our Lord but not against vs as also it is still to this day against the maisters of transubstantiation which destroy the same S. Hillarie In C. Corpus Christi de consecrat d. 2. Bishop of Poictiers of the same time cited by Gratian The bodie of Christ which is taken from the Altar is a figure in that the bread and wine are seene outwardly but truth in that the bodie and blood of Christ are receiued inwardly in truth Others attribute this to Hillarie Bishop of Rome Againe We doe verily receiue vnder a mysterie the flesh of his bodie and therefore we shall be one with him And To the end that he may be belieued to be in vs by the mysterie of the Sacraments And againe There is no place to doubt of the truth of the bodie and blood of Christ for both by the profession of our Lorde himselfe and by our faith it is truelie flesh and truely blood which being eaten and drunken doe bring to passe that Christ is in vs and we in him Now wee are to note the figure opposed and set against the truth the mysterie against the reall presence the profession of our Lord ioyntly with our own faith for the making of vs partakers of this truth being the effect which followeth of the coniunction of the partakers of this truth with Christ from which coniunction the wicked are excluded and therefore also from the receiuing of this truth Hilar. in Mat. c. 30. l. 8. de Trinitate which is accomplished by faith therefore the reall chaunge can take no place there And in
the redemption being perpetuall went for the saluation of all that so also the oblation of that redemption should stand perpetuall that is saith the Glose Gloss ibid. the preaching of this onely sacrifice after which there is not any other to come And that this perpetuall sacrifice might liue in our remembrance and might alwaies be present with vs in the grace thereof Asacrifice saith he which must be iudged of by faith and not by the outward appearance or kind by the inward affection not by the outward sight Here now you may behold a manifest opposition of the mystery against the realitie of the remembrance against the presence of the presence of grace against the reall presence of faith against apparance and of affection against sight But notwithstanding say they there is a change And what change verily such a one as hee there describeth and setteth downe for he compareth the change that is made therein first with the creation For as saith he in the twinckling of the Lords eyes there were incontinently subsisting and extant the heauen the sea and the earth although of nothing by the same power also in the sacramentes whereas this vertue commandeth the effect doth incontinently follow Now would they say that by the consecration Christ was created anew And to bring forth nothing is this to chaunge and turne is this to transubstantiate And what can they then inferre but that the same spirite which made the heauen and the earth doth conioyne and vnite them together in the holy supper as we haue diuerse and sundrie times said And secondly with the change which is made in vs by our regeneration in Christ into which saith this Eusebius Non viuendo sed credendo transiliisti we enter not by liuing but by belieuing we are made of the children of perdition the adopted children of God by a hidden and secret purenes continuing and abiding idem atque idem one and the same in substance but otherwise much altered and chaunged by the proceeding and growth of faith Changed saith Bellarmine accidentallie and not substantiallie And therefore the bread the wine in the holy supper in like maner changed said Theodoret in a word Not in their nature but by addition of grace c. And how then shall wee there receiue the bodie of Christ verily in a manner proportionable to this change and correspondent to this obiect When saith he thou commest to the altar to be fed of these spirituall meates looke by faith vpon the bodie and blood of thy Lord touch him there with thy mind and spirit mente continge take him by the hand with thy hart drinke him haustu interioris hominis with the full and large draughtes of thy soule with all thine inward man c. And yet this is the man amongst all the rest by whom they take themselues best vnderpropped Procopius Gazaeus saith also Procop. Gazeus in Genes c. 49. Macar Egypt Anachor The Lord gaue the image figure or tipe of his bodie to his disciples not admitting any more the bloudie sacrifices of the law Macarius an Egyptian more clearely saying That there ought to be offered in the Church bread and wine the resemblances and representations exhibiting the bodie and blood of Christ the fathers of the olde Testament knew it not how that they that should receiue the inuisible bread should also spirituallie eate the flesh of Christ c. Figures then euermore and types and representations of the bodie and bloud which forbid and exclude all manner of realnesse in the kinds as likewise all change in the substances in that they alwaies call them bread and wine c. And thus wee are come to the time of Gregory the first about the yeare of our Lord 600. CHAP. VI. That of a long time also after Gregorie transubstantiation was not knowne And further that all the most famous liturgies receiued of our aduersaries are repugnant thereunto NOw Gregorie 1. Anno 600. Gregor dial 4. c. 58. Et in registro had not as yet beene infected with this errour howbeit he had inwrapped himselfe in many other Who is there saith he of all the faithfull that doubteth that at the houre of the sacrifice at the voice of the minister the heauens are opened or that the heauens are ioyned to the earth c. and we will bee readie to tell it them at all times if they will heare And heauen is not onely ioyned to the earth but God to man and righteousnesse to a sinner c. They say that this is vnder the Accidentes of bread wee in the nature of our soule Which is the more beseeming diuinitie But when S. Gregorie saith When we take the bread whether it be heaued vp or not heaued we are made one bodie with the Lord our Sauiour To what end should he say heaued or not heaued if there be nothing but accidents And is there not any great difference whether we our selues be made the bodie of our Lord or els the bread and wine the Indiuiduum vagum accidents hanging in the aire Idem hom 22. in Euang. But saith he The bloude is sprinkled vpon the two postes when it is not taken of the mouth of the body onely but also with the mouth of the heart That is to say say they when it is taken also in at the mouth of the bodie But we say that this is according to the rule aboue specified which giueth to the signe the name of the thing That is that the sacrament is taken in at the mouth of the bodie the thing by the mouth of the soule and in the faithfull the one with the other Which S. Gregorie layeth open elsewhere in these wordes speaking of the vngodly Howbeit Idem l. 2. expos in l. 1. Reg. c. 1. that they receiue the Sacrament with their mouth yet they are not replenished with the vertue of the Sacrament And therefore say wee they did not take the flesh and bloud For he that receiueth them saith the Lord hath eternall life Beda followeth S. Augustin step by step Bed 1. Cor. 10. and it may be that Bellarmine for the same cause hath left him out He teacheth them that the sacramentes of the old and new testament are the same in substance That in all sacraments the sacrament is one thing and the vertue of the sacrament another and particularly in that of the holy Supper that that which is seene hath a corporall figure but that which is vnderstood a spirituall fruit That the bread is said to be the bodie of Christ after the same manner that we are called his members c. To be short saith he The creature of bread wine Idem in Luc. l. 6. c. 2â— by the vnspeakeable sanctification of the holy Ghost is translated into the Sacrament of his flesh and bloud Into the sacrament saith he not into the thing it selfe that is to say of elements they are made Sacraments they are made
visibiliter to put inuisibiliter for substances accidents for temporall eternall c. And this is further to be noted therewithall that he was not taxed of heresie for the same that the Abbotte Trithemius which forgot not to set the brand vpon others when there was cause hath not once pointed at any such thing in him Haimo Bishop of Halberstat and one of Alcuinus his hearers Haim in 1 Cor. 11 in Sabbarh post Iudic. who was Schoolemaster to Charlemaine This is my bodie saith he that is the bread that Christ gaue to his Disciples and to all the predestinated vnto eternall life and that that which the Ministers do consecrate daily in the Church by the power of the Diuinitie which filleth this bread is the bodie of Christ Now I would know if they wil approue of this Proposition That this hoc is the bread Then it is not their Iudiniduum vagum nor yet their accidents Giuen to the elect or predestinated not then to the wicked and vngodly and not by the mouth Filled with the diuine power not then with Christ really who is that fulnesse And in the end This bread the body of Christ And how according to their owne speeches without heresie How then but Sacramentally by the neere coÌ„iunction of the thing with the signe Againe The flesh that Christ tooke in vnity of person and this bread are not two bodies but one And how can this be otherwise then by this Sacramental vnion The one then as saith the Canon In truth the other in a mysterie Againe At the same instant that this bread is broken and eaten Christ is offered and eaten whole notwithstanding and liuing Then it is the bread that is broken and not the body and not the accidents And therefore according to that which he saith afterward Hoc facite Sanctifie this body in remembrance of me in remembrance saith hee of my passion of your redemption that I haue redemed you with my bloud He addeth The Lord therefore hath left this sauing Sacrament to all the faithfull that so he may imprint in their harts that he died for their redemption So some man being about to die leaueth vnto his friend a gift and saith vnto him keepe that in remembrance of me he is heauie and pensiue when he seeth it and we when we are partakers of this eternall gift in the Sacrament must come to it with reuerence remembring our selues with what loue he hath loued vs giuing himselfe a ransome for vs. The bread therfore is a Sacrament of the gift and not the gift it selfe and that vpon far stronger reasons then any hee toucheth which assureth vs more and more of the reall possession of our life nourishment in Christ In whom saith he in an other place to abide and dwell is to eate him is to liue by him is to be bone of his bones flesh of his flesh and one with himselfe Rabanus Maurus Archbishop of Maguntia The creator of things redeemer of men Raban in eccl l. 7. c. 8. making of the fruits of the earth that is to say of Corne and wine a fit and conuenient mysterie turned them to Sacraments of his bodie bloud He saith not into his body and bloud Idem l. 1. c. 5. de proprie rerum verb. He would saith he in an other place that these Sacraments should bee receiued into the mouthes of the faithfull and become their foode to the end that by the visible worke the inuisible might be shewed that is to say by the true corporall eating the true spiritual eating What is now become of our accidents For euen saith he as the materiall meate doth nourish refresh the body outwardly so the word of God doth comfort and nourish the soule inwardly c. Where he layeth downe before vs the agreement and analogie which once comming to cease as in deede it ceaseth by Transubstantiation there followeth the destruction of the Sacrament Some obiect But are they not the bodie and bloud Let vs heare him Because that bread dooth confirme and make strong the bodie it is verie fitly called the bodie of Christ and the Wine because that it maketh the bloud in the fleshe is referred to bloud Note also That they are named But when they are sanctified then by the holy Ghost they become the Sacraments of the diuine bodie Idem de sacrâ—m Euchar. c. 10. 41. And then not into the verie thing of the Sacrament Which saith he in an other place hee hath left vnto vs because it must needes be that he should ascend vp into heauen to the end that they might bee figures Characters of his flesh and bloud vnto vs and that our spirit and our flesh might bee by these things the more aboundantly nourished to the receiuing by faith of the things that are inuisible and spirituall So by this it appeareth that the thing of the Sacraments is spirituall and receiued by faith that is to say spiritually And so in deed it is not receiued but of the faithfull euen by such as haue the spirit of Christ dwelling in their hearts For saith he The Sacrament is one thing Idem de prop. Serm l. 5. c 11. Idem l. 1. c. 3. and the power and vertue of the Sacrament is another thing The Sacrament is taken in at the mouth but the vertue of the Sacrament by the inward man The Sacrament is turned into the nourishment of the bodie but the vertue of the Sacrament worketh in vs vnto eternall life The Sacrament by some is taken to their destruction but the thing alwayes vnto saluation If they say that the wicked in the Sacrament doe receiue the bodie of Christ but not the power and vertue of the same how can they without blasphemie seperate the bodie of Christ from his soule Or the one or other from his Diuinitie From his spirit And who can receiue that but to his saluation They replie againe It is as he saith That the figure and Character is verily the same which it is outwardly perceiued to be Idem de Sacr. Euchar. c. 14. but that which is taken inwardly is altogether truth without any shaddow And without doubt also we say and himselfe dooth lay it open We participate the flesh of Christ which was crucified for vs verily and truely and the Sacraments of the same in deed are there And thus there is truth and veritie in euerie thing whether it bee the thing or else the Sacrament of the thing Paschasius Pasch Ratpert de Corp. Sang. Domini c. 1.19 50. Abbot of Corbie in Saxonie held the contrarie opinion for the Schooles and Monasteries were diuided concerning this point And yet so new was this doctrine as that we may see that he was not able to vtter his mind or to speake what he would seeme to meane in the booke which he made He saith The Lord hath done in heauen and in earth whatsoeuer
contrarie saith that it signifieth that which is secret and hidden vnder the formes thereof What difference is heere betwixt the forme and the body the substance and the accidents Againe some say that the body of Christ is made of the bread and his bloud of the wine as of his matter others denie it And Bellarmine doth affirme and denie both together Againe sometimes vrged out of Tertullian and Saint Augustine they acknowledge that there is a figure and sometimes they doe wholly and flatly denie it c. And they speake as vncertainly of the chaunge and transmutation Sometimes Bellarmine saith that the substance of bread is turned into whole Christ body and soule God and man sometimes into the body onely c. And sometimes that hee is there hypostatically or personally and as he speaketh with his personalitie that he may not fall into Rupertus Tuitiensis his errour sometimes that hee is not And there are that say that the substance of bread is turned into the truth of the body and others into the power and vertue of the same onely Besides others which in diuers places affirme sometimes the one sometimes the other Now what becommeth of this body afterward Their answeres herein haue no lesse vncertaintie and ambiguitie For one saith after that the kindes be altered and corrupted it withdraweth it selfe Nay saith an other it still continueth and abideth there Idem tr 1 c 19 Veg assert 205 Bellâ—rm l 3 de Euchar. c. 10 24. l. 1 c. 14 Veg. de reâ—l Praesent c. 58 Turr. tr 1 c 11 19 Scarg art 12 pro sacratiss Euchar. c 6. c Cont. Vel. Vega de Miss fol. 11 thes 19. 20. Idem de real praesent thes 84 Scarg in art 11. Turr. tr 1. c. 7 tr 2. c. 11. 8 Stel. Clericor for an incorruptible seede of the resurrection and that if not in substance yet in power and effectuall operation Let vs reason thus then If the efficacie and powerfulnesse be sufficient for the seede of the resurrection and incorruption Wherefore the body in our body And wherefore doe we admit this absurditie of hauing so many bodies within our bodies a thing contrarie to reason nature and all Diuinitie An absurditie wherein as yet they infold and wrap themselues For if the glorified body be supernaturally euerie where wherefore say they that he commeth downe vpon the Altar and why doe they say that hee departeth and goeth his way in respect of his body If he come downe if he goe vp why doe they say that he is not circumscript and tied to place and that he is corporally euerie where Againe sometimes they say We set our teeth in the flesh of our Lord wee deuour and feede vpon him with our teeth c. We chew him wee breake him c. And sometimes they are angrie that one should obiect it against them as their reproach they vexe themselues they denie it To bee short for we should neuer haue done if wee should goe about to gather together all their contradictions and this shall suffice for a taste when shame seaseth vpon them they are offended that a man should laye it to their charge that they haue saide That the Priests are creators of their Creator c. And by and by they come againe to their mutuall byace and doe freely vtter it That the Eucharist is no creature That it is the Creator himselfe That it is an Hypostaticall grace That it deserueth to bee adored and praied vnto c. And yet the same neuerthelesse say they that dependeth vppon the intent and purpose of him that consecrateth Now wee haue finished the whole historie of the doctrine of Transubstantiation taught in the Church of Rome The comparing of the holy supper and the Masse together But how farre is it off from the auncient simplicitie of the Christian Church and how farre from the institution made by our Lord of the holy supper The Summe wherof is thus That in the holy supper we are seriously admonished of our bond and obligation vnto our Lord and of our dutie towards our neighbour likewise nourished and strengthned in our coniunction with Christ our head whereupon dependeth our true life which approueth and maketh it self manifestly knowne as the soule doth it selfe by his motions by our zeale towards God and our behauiour towards our neighbours Therein we cal to mind our obligation when we remember according to his commandement the death and Passion of our Lord That we were dead in our sinnes dead verily and eternally seeing it was requisite and necessarie that the eternall Sonne of God should expose and giue himselfe to death euen to the death of the Crosse to redeeme and set vs free from that death therefore eternall death And thence is that action of praise and thankesgiuing that followeth solemnely obserued and performed in this action and perpetuall in our soules if we be truely faithfull For hee that willingly belieueth this great and vnspeakable benefit how can he possibly forget it How can it possibly be but that he should occupie and as it were powre forth himselfe in a continuall exercising of praise and thankesgiuing Seeing I say he sinneth euerie moment he cannot bee without matter to humble himselfe euerie moment and to haue his eye both vpon death and also vpon hell and accordingly againe he hath matter euerie moment to raise vp him selfe againe in hope by the remembrance of this eternall Sacrifice vpon the mention that is made namely in this Sacrament How that the Sonne of God hath giuen his bodie for him hath beene broken with cares and griefes and how that his bloud was shed for the remission of his sinnes And this is the cause why this Sacrament is called both a remembrance and an Eucharist or action of thankesgiuing For of the remembraunce of this benefite of this gift of saluation and by this vnspeakable meanes there followeth in euerie Christan heart a serious and heartie Eucharist or thankesgiuing But this effect by name is wanting in the Papists their Masse For this remembrance is not practised in it at all the death of the Lord is not shewed foorth there at all vnto the people This is in steed of whatsoeuer it should bee a heape of words and a varietie of gestures neither the one nor the other vnderstood Wee are taught likewise in the holy Supper our duties towards our neighbours for wee are not only created of one and the same Masse but regenerate and begotten again but redeemed and bought with one price euen bloud but made members of the same bodie and quickned by one and the same spirit but liuing mouing and feeling from one and the same head One with him through the grace of his good pleasure and will One therefore amongst our selues both by his commaundement and by naturall dutie And if the head the eternall Sonne of God haue giuen his life for vs to make vs I say his members what do