impossibilitie of the thing it selfe the Lorde hath in the fourth place for the ouercomming of that temptation sette before vs sundrie of his seruaunts who beeing men like vnto vs in all respects Actes 7 6â— haue yet notwythstanding in the dayes of their flesh doone the same as we see particularlie in Stephan Fiftlie the verye Sacrament it selfe and the elements in the same leade vs thereto 1. Corinth 10.17 For wee that are manie are one bread and one bodie because wee are all partakers of one bread at the Lordes boorde euen as that bread wee eate of there is made of manie graines and yet maketh but one loafe Lastlie our owne good shoulde carrie vs forward to this because thereby wee prouide well for our selues that so wee might feele the forgiuenesse of our sinnes before GOD our Sauiour telling vs in plaine wordes Matth. 6.14 That if wee doo forgiue men their trespasses our heauenlie Father wil also forgiue vs. And though it bee true that wee can and doo greatlie aggrauate other mens sinnes against vs as for example hee hath taken away my good name he hath spoiled me of my goodes hee hath killed my father husband children and a thousand suche like and what hainous offences be these Yet if GOD woulde geue vs grace vprightlie to looke into our owne sinnes committed eyther agaynst other men or Gods owne maiestie wee shall finde that wee haue good cause offered to be ready to remitte For if men offend vs wee doo in as great points offend others And though that were not true yet wee cannot denie but that wee doo more highlie displease Almightie GOD than men can or doo displease vs and that not onelie in the notoriousnesse of our sinnes but euen in a dailie and continuall course of iniquitie and in an infinite multitude of transgressions also What a fearefull thing will this bee in our owne heartes that wee woulde gladlie haue God mercifull vnto vs in forgiuing most greeuous and innumerable transgressions and wee will not remitte small offences and sinnes seldome tymes committed By this wee doo nothing else but cast awaie the sure seale and earnest pennie as it were that our sinnes are forgiuen vs before GOD and refuse a certaine pledge that our praiers and all other good things that come from vs are in Christes obedience accepted in his sight yea and moste iniuriouslie treade vnder our filthie feete Gods worde Gods example Gods sacraments and many other tokens of his grace and lastlie pull vpon vs a fearful vengeance from God to be manifested in this life and in the life to come And therefore I beseeche all the godlie that haue care of their saluation to looke heedilie to this point Meditation which is the second thing and is to be vsed speciallie in the tyme of the celebration of the Lordes Supper consisteth chieflie in these points to wit in regarding the outwarde elementes of the Lordes Supper that is to saye the breade and the wine and in considering the rites vsed in and aboute the same as the breaking of the Breade and the pouring foorth of the Wine and so forth For though the outward things are not the matters that wee shoulde stand vppon yet because by them it pleaseth the Lorde as it were by the hand to leade vs vnto right excellent thinges namelie by them to sette foorth vnto our Soules the crucifieng of Christes bodie the sheading of his bloude and so foorth and all for our transgressions that therefore they shoulde not bee sleightlie passed ouer wythout verye deepe and due consideration of the same And then because wee must not stay below on the earth nor be busied in beholding of earthlie things onelie but must by faith rise vp to heauen as it were there to behold the abundant riches of Gods spirituall graces offered and giuen to the faithfull in with by the outward elements we are throghlie to wey what great mercies the Lord setteth before vs in that holie and spirituall banket which though partlie for the woorthinesse of the giuer and partlie also for the excellencie of themselues as also by the want and weakenesse of our blinde and dull vnderstanding they cannot be sufficiently conceiued much lesse vttered may yet in my mind be brought into these foure points following as most materiall and principall 1 God setteth before our eies in that holie action first Christes death and passion togither with the benefits effects which we reape thereby and namelie the remission and full forgiuenesse of all our sinnes togither with the imputation of Christes righteousnesse vnto vs and the assured possession of eternall life for we doo no more verilie behold the bread broken and the wine poured foorth in our bodily sight and presence than wee do or ought by the eie of our faith to beholde the bodie of Christ crucified and his bloud shead vppon the crosse for the forgiuenesse of our sinnes neither are wee more fullie or particularlie put in possession of the bread and wine when wee haue eaten and druncke the same than wee are of Christ and all his merits then when by a liuelie and stedfast faith we lay hold of him and the most excellent graces that in him are offered vnto vs applieng them all particularly to our own souls which yet that they might be more effectually pledged vppe in vs it pleased the Lord to appoint not onlie that the bread should be broken and the wine poured foorth but that euery one of vs should seuerallie by him selfe and for him selfe take it eate it and drincke it c that so wee might bee in the more full and assured possession of hym and his graces 2 Secondlie the Lorde pledgeth out vnto vs therby that ful and spirituall nourishement that through Christ we haue both in the outward and inward man euen to the hope and fruition of eternall life for euen as verilie as that bread and wine dooth seeme to strengthen our out-ward manne so euen as verilie yea more verilye by much dooth Christe and is graces nourishe our soules yea I saye more verilie because that though some part of the bread and wine wee receiue bee turned into our healthfull and profitable nourishment and is become as it were part of our substaunce yet some of it also passeth thorowe the panch into the priuie but Christe remaineth alwaies a most holie and sound nutriment vnto our soules no parte of him vanishing awaye but hauing rather this effecte in vs that hee is not onely turned into our substance as the bodilie elements are in respect of our outward man but rather wholie turning vs as a man would say into his most holie and blessed substance he being not onelye a plentifull but a pleasaunt nourishment also bringing alwaies with him that effect to our soules that the outwarde elements doo to our bodies namelie giuing them all spirituall strength and inwarde comfort Iohn 15.5 because without him we haue nothing nor can doo anie thing 3
is effectuallie made ours whilest we apprehend and lay holde of it by a sound and sure faith applieng the same also vnto our owne hearts and euen in like sort is Christ God and man togither withall his merits not onelie offered but laid holde of in the word and sacraments yea and comfortablie felt likewise to the spirituall sustentaion and nourishment of our soules whereof also this is a good reason that of like thinges there is alwaies and so should be continuallie a like consideration The second place obiected is that sentence reported by the three euangelists Matthew Marke and Luke and Saint Paule himselfe also reciting the institution of the supper which our sauior Christ vsed saieng This is my bodie Matth. 26.26 Marke 14.22 Luke 22.19 1. Cor. 11.24 which they vrge in the letter after this sort Hath not Christ said it in plaine termes and shall not I beleeue it though that my carnall vnderstanding can not conceiue the same To all which I answer first that the question is not of the bare woordes or letter for we as well as they confes the same and what man hath there beene that euer doubted thereof yea what heretike euer was there that would not or did not allege the letter of the text for the mainetenance vpholding of his heresie or error but of the true sence and right meaning thereof which whether they or we haue gaine shall I hope appeare anon to the vpright reader Secondlie we confesse also that we are bound to beleeue all such things as are cōprehended in gods word yea though our sensuall reason cannot in deed comprehend the same for be it farre from vs to labor to bring the incomprehēsible truth of the eternall maiestie within the strait bounds and limits of mans vnderstanding no though he were regenerated and had receiued a great measure of the graces of Gods holie spirit and yet in such sort must we beleeue them all that to such ends also as the lord himselfe hath appointed at no hand stretching thē further than the Lord would haue vs for that is to be wise in our owne eies to make our selues more sharpe sighted than God nor yet restreining them to narrower purposes than the Lord hath laied them out for for that were at the least great vnfaithfulnesse both towards the Lord himselfe and men also neither yet failing in the allegation of them either in the matter maner or ende for if wee do so we doo nothing else therby but heape vp iust condemnation against our owne soules but reuerently receiuing them and faithfully alleadging them in that iuste measure weight and proportion that the Lorde himselfe hath left them vnto vs euen as his onlie lawful and currant coine which we can not clip imbase or impaire anie manner of waye without high treason against his eternall maiestie Nowe concerning the wordes and the plainenesse of them I say that other wordes both in the old and new Testament are as plaine as they which yet notwithstanding must be otherwise interpreted than the woords themselues seeme to import or else not onelye absurdities in reason but errors in religion will insue therevpon For example in the booke of Exodus the paschal lambe with the ceremonies belonging thereto is called The Lords passeouer Exod. 12.11 whereas nowe we knowe and no manne can choose but confesse that it was not the Lordes passeouer in deede but signified and sette out the same rather For the Lordes passeouer was his ouer-passing or passing by the Israelites houses marked wyth the bloud of the Lambe to the Egyptians there to destroy the first borne So likewise in the newe Testament Iohn 15.5 Christ sayth of hym selfe I am the vine than the which what can bee more plaine And yet wee acknowledge wyth our mouthes and beleeue in our heartes that Christ was no naturall vine but rather that hee calleth himselfe so in a certaine resemblaunce because looke what propertie the fruit of the vine hath in respect of our bodies to witte to comforte menne and to make them glad heartes the same hath Christ and the fruites of his grace receiued by Fayth in respect of our soules namelie to replenishe our heartes wyth all Spirituall ioye and gladnesse both of this life and of the life to come And as the braunches of the vine haue nothing of themselues but all that they haue they haue it from the vine it selfe so none whosoeuer they be can bring foorth fruit but by abiding in him and beeing made fruitefull thorow hys grace And euen in like manner is the bread of the Lordes Supper called hys bodie because as wee haue saide before looke what proper and peculiar office the bread hath or yeeldeth to our naturall bodies namely to nourish and strengthen the same the like dooth Iesus Christes bodie broken taken hold of by Faith Spirituallie communicate vnto our soules namelie it feedeth and strengtheneth them to the assured hope and feeling of eternall life And this maner of speech attributing that to the signe which is proper and peculiar to the thing signified is very vsuall in the Scripture as a man meanely conuersant in the same may plainelie perceiue the cause whereof is the straight analogy proportion agreement which is between the signe the thing signified and not anie other respect of consubstantiation transubstantiation or any such like fantasticall dotage Besides all these thinges the very circumstaunces of time place person and manner of dooing doo sufficientlie sette out the vanitie and vntrueth of this grosse interpretation For this Sacrament beeing instituted by Christ him selfe a little before his death in the presence o◠the Apostles who had all their senses satisfied in the beholding hearing and feeling of the naturall bodie of our Sauiour Christ in the visible elements of bread and wine he himselfe sitting at the tabl◠with them and not onely in their hearing speaking these woordes but also in their sight and presence actuallie breaking the bread it coulde not be that that bread offered vnto them as the pledge of his bodie shoulde be his naturall bodie or bodie of flesh vnlesse you will saye that Christ had two bodies one sitting at the Table instituting the action of the Supper and administring the same in his own person and an other borne in his handes and deliuered vnto the Apostles than the which what can be not onely more absurde and blasphemous in respect of our Sauiour Christ himselfe he being by this means made a monster and not become man but also more vnprofitable or vncertain to vs as which might iustly prouoke vs to dout whether of his bodies were crucified for our transgressions And thus as wee doo for good causes before specified as you see reiect this grose sense so for the instruction of the ignoraunt and strengthening of the weake we wil in a fewe lines putte downe the true meaning of these wordes For the better performaunce whereof I woulde haue this to
very growing vp with christ himself from which we haue affirmed the same to flowe This is the lawe of righteousnes to haue that doone to our selues that we woulde do to others euen as it were from a fountaine because afterwardes wee fetch from him both true life and also all thinges necessarie to saluation Neither would I iudge it to be refused that a like interpretation may againe be ioyned to this our manner of speaking that Christ is spirituallie in the supper least any man shoulde thinke that we separate Christs power from the very flesh of Christ or imagine vnto him a speciall bodie Q 9 What is to bee iudged of this manner of sayeng That Christ is present in the supper and is distributed also by an incomprehensible manner or after a sorte that can not bee vnderstoode A We vse this manner of speech but yet in a far other sense and meaning than some are woonte A corrupt interpretation For vnlesse peraduenture wee be deceiued they seeme to take this saying after this sort as though by a certaine diuine and heauenlie power by reason also of the personall vnion of the flesh with the godhead Christs flesh should be really at one time and together both in heauen and in earth But though we neither deny the omnipotencie of GOD neither the true coniunction of the thing A true interpretation with the signes and of the faithfull with Christ himselfe we do yet notwithstanding by reason of the truth of Christs flesh and his ascension likewise plainly affirme that the body of Christ is nowe verily absent from the world Actes 3.21 shal remaine absent vntill he come to iudge the quick and the dead Neuertheles we confes this mysterie of god to be incompreheÌ„sible beyond our vnderstanding Faith ioyneth things together that be as farre asunder as heauen and earth whereby it falleth out that that which is and remaineth in heauen not els-where that so we may draw life and saluation from him who is trulie offered vnto vs and in deede communicated of vs. For albeit wee knowe first that the Holie-ghost that is to say gods power doth worke this The power of the spirite and of the force of faith and then that as in regarde of our selues all this is to be receiued of vs by the onelye instrument or meane of faith yet the power of the spirit and the force of faith doo exceede all our vnderstanding whereby it commeth to passe also that euen this whole action is verie properly called a mysterie or secret as the Greeks vsed to terme it Q 10 How is the matter or thing of the Sacrament communicated or partaken of vs A The matter of the Sacrament that is to say Christ himselfe is receiued of vs by a spirituall manner thorow faith And wee call that a Spirituall manner of receiuing or communicating Spirituall receiuing what it is not onelie in which Christ his spirite is communicated with vs but also that which is not earthlie or naturall but dependeth of the incomprehensible power of the Holie-ghost by which most straight bond indeede the members are more and more ioyned wyth their head For we exclude and shutte out all powring abroade and mingling of substaunces and also all fitnesse of ioyning together of naturall partes and yet can holde and mainâ—â—ine a true growing vppe of the faithfull with Christ which can not bee hindered by anie distaunce of places for our faith cleaueth vnto the worde of God who indeede performeth that which he promiseth Q 11 In what sense are these speeches To eate the Lords body and to drinke his bloud and other such like to be admitted A We say Eating and drinking referred to Christs bodie and bloud must be figuratiuelie vnderstoode that these manner of speeches do also beloÌ„g to that communicating or partaking whereby wee laye holde of Christ euen in the simple word or in the worde it selfe alone yea wee affirme that they are verye effectuall and significant but so that the wordes of eating and drinking when they are spoken of the taking of the body and bloud of Christ are no lesse figuratiuely to be vnderstoode than if a man should attribute to faith a mouth and teeth Two causes why the holie-ghost vseth borrowed speeches The first Now we alleadge two chiefe causes why the holy-ghost speaketh after that manner one cause is that hee may shew how strait our coniunction with christ is by the meanes of faith for nothing more groweth vp and increaseth with vs than meate and drinke without which no man caâ—â—â—asse ouer his time or spend this life â—he other cause which also properly hath place in the Sacraments is The second that by this way and meanes it may be declared how true the Lorde is in deliuering the matter it selfe which he promiseth by signes as it were by certaine pledges giuen for thereby it commeth to passe that though the onely signes are taken wyth the hand and receiued wyth the mouth yet that also which beside the signes is truely offered and by faith onely spiritually receiued is said to be taken eaten drunken c And for this cause we acknowledge Why we vse not the fathers phrases in the â—upper that the holie Fathers haue vsed manie other forms of speaking not vnlike these which wee notwithstanding will not at this day heedelesly vse but suppose rather that the same are to be mitigated by some profitable and fitte interpretations and the rather bicause of many errors spread abrode by Sathan and many controuersies also by this occasion stirred vp in the church of God Q 12 How are these wordes This is my bodie and this is my bloud to bee expounded A Euen after this maner This The wordes of the institution expounded particularlie and as it were one after an other that is to say this bread this wine is to wit sacramentally for not whatsoeuer is anie thing is by one onely way a thing Nowe the question is heere concerning the Sacraments And wee plainly say sacramentally bicause the Lorde did indeede offer not bare breadâ— and wine only but the true signes of his bodie and bloud neither onely these signes but besides them also his body and bloud to be enioyed possessed of vs euen into euerlasting life which life euerlasting also we drawe from him being communicated vnto vs. Luke 22.19 20. My body and my bloud that is not an imagined bodie or fained bloud but that selfe-same body which was giueÌ„ for vs and that self-same bloud whiche was shead for vs of both which wee are indeede by faith made partakers as the signes doo truely witnes Q 13 What do the wicked or vnbeleeâ—ers receiue The institution of the supper dependeth vpon Gods trueth A We hold and teach that by an agreeing iudgement and holy consent that the institution of the sacrament doth hang vpon the trueth of God therefore that in the
very action of the Lords supper rightlie administred the bread is alwayes a true signe of the Lords body and the wine a true signe of the Lords bloud to whomsoeuer they be offered or giuen A bad conclusion iustlie reuerted and cast vpon the aduersaries themselues Nowe whereas some would thervpon gather and inferre that al do receiue the whole sacrament we can at no hand grant it for this consequence or reason is not of force God doth offer it to all therefore al receiue it But rather on the contrary side we gather and reason thus God dooth in the Sacrament offer two things and that indeede as verilie and trullie the one as the other but both are to be receiued by meanes and instruments altogether diuers and different that is to say the outward signs are to be receiued bodily and the thing it selfe spiritually by faith Therefore because euery man bringeth his mouth The reason why some receiue woorthilie other some vnworthilie al receiue the outward signes some indeede worthilie and othersome vnwoorthilie but because the faithful beleeuers onelie bring the mouth of faith therefore the faith all only receiue the matter it selfe therforâ— also life euerlasting And the vnbeleeuers eate and drink iudgement to them selues because they discerne not that is to saye 1. Corinth 11 2â— despise and reiect the Lords bodie offered them neyther haue they any regard therof Wherefore this their condemnation proceedeth not of the bodie and bloud of the Lorde vnworthily receiued for seeing that they are not receiued but by faith they are neuer receiued vnwoorthily neither can they indeede bee otherwise than liuelie and quickening things but of the body and bloud of the Lord From whence the condemnation of the wicked floweth in that they do vnwoorthily eate at the Lords table therefore contemned and reiected because in this action neither the bread should be duely considred as bread but as a pledge of the lords body nor the wine regarded onely as the wine but as a sure pledge of the Lordes bloud Therfore hence it commeth to pas To receiue without faith iâ— to receiue vnworthilie that whosoeuer hee be that receiueth this bread and wine vnworthily that is to say without faith doth despise not the bread and the wine but the body bloud of the Lord in those pledges is therfore guilty of the body bloud of the Lord A reason why all receiue not Christ in the supper which hee receiued not but which he had in consideration or due regard of for Christ doth not â—â—icken or cause to liue al them to whom he is offered whether this be doone in the word alone or in the sacraments but hee doth indeed quickeÌ„ al them of whom he is receiued bicause he cannot bee receiued of any other but of the faithfull only as for those of whom he is dispised he doth iudge them al Two sayings of the auncient fathers very charitably interpreted so far off is it that hee is of them receiued Notwithstanding for some of the fathers sakes the reuerence we carie them me thinke that this saying the body of Christ is of euery one receiued might be born withall this also that of the faithfull it is receiued worthily to life of the vnfaithfull vnworthily to iudgement but yet for all the we must of necessitie ad such an interpretation as may shew this thing to be true that is so far forth as the name of the thing signified that is of the bodye is transferred or attributed to the signes themselues so farre forth also as by this speech they may be properly or fitly shewed foorth not what euery one receiueth but what the Lorde of his owne goodnes offereth to euery one The conclusion The conclusion consisting first of a wish which hath two parts This is the summe of al those things which are taught in our churches and congregations concerning the matter of the sacrament so far forth as I could euer obserue gather or learne And the thing wee wish and desire is that that men would so prouide for the churches peace and quietnes that al manner of speeches not vsed in Scripture might bee auoided so farre foorth as coulde be And againe that if for doctrines sake or the teaching of others any thing shall be thought good to be changed that then all ambiguitte and doubtfulnes might be remoued and taken away Secondly of a promise which also hath two partes But if any thing in this doctrine deliuered can be shewed or prooued not to be agreable to Gods word we are readie not onely to be taught and instructed but also to thanke as there is good cause such as shall teach vs that so at the length wee may wholie and altogither thinke one thing in the Lorde which GOD is our witnes we doo with al our heart day and night earnestlye desire of his mercifull goodnes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The substance of the Lords supper shortlie and soundlie sette forth for the instruction and comfort of all true christian Readers TO cleare yea to void al the controuersies that froÌ„ time to time haue crept into the church of Christ concerning the matter of the lords supper these three circumstances are meete especially to bee considered 1. Corinth 11.23 1 First who ordained it to wit Iesus Christ our lord and sauior which tendeth to two especiall ends first to prooue his eternall deitie or godhead because it belongeth to God alone and none other to institute and ordaine holie signes and Sacraments in his church whereof also it should seeme there is very great and good reason both in as much as the Church it selfe is 1. Timoth. 3.15 the house of the liuing God and his peculiar inheritance and also because it belongeth to him alone to giue that virtue strength vnto elements of common and vncleane by sin to becom purified and holy thorow grace secondly it seemeth to teach vs to haue a more reuerent regarde to come to the sound knowledge and religious vse thereof not onelie because hee being God and the ordainer therof hath all power in his owne handes to punishe the prophane contemners and abusers of the same but also because hee of whome wee haue that that we haue not onely as in consideration of our name Christian but also as in respect of all other both spirituall and bodily graces hath instituted the same for his own glorie and our good 2 Secondly Matth. 26.26 we are to consider when it was instituted to wit before his death and suffering and that immediatelye after hee hadde with his disciples eaten the passeouer by which we may see the Lorde Iesus had as great eare for vs as for the fathers before his being and manifestation in the flesh prouiding also thereby not only for our forgetfulnesse that we might haue the continuall remembraunce of his death passion before our eies 1. Corint
vtterlie ouerthrowe and destroy the nature of a sacrament which as all men knowe and confesse must euer consist of two partes to wit of visible elements and inuisible graces the trueth whereof appeareth not onely by the generall consent of all men as before is alleadged but also by the particular viewe of all the Sacramentes mentioned in the olde or newe testament But this trueth is not onely defaced and laid euen wyth the ground but swalowed vp also and as it were broght to nothing if so be it that the nature and substance of the elements bee either chaunged or vanish awaie in this matter of the lords supper as some affirme and hold the things represented by the same come in their place The reason wherof is plaine and euident to witte that the one parte of the Sacrament namely the visible signe is then and there absent And therefore it must of necessitie followe that not onelie the nature of a Sacrament is destroyed but by consequent also the Sacrament it self because the nature of a thing being taken away the thing it selfe can not stand or continue for the nature is it whereof the thing it selfe consisteth Yea this also falleth out vpon it that those men that in the pride and vanitie of their owne hearts inlarge the number of Sacraments aboue them that christ hath left vnto his church publishing to the worlde that there are seauen where indeede there are but two In the true and naturall vse of the worde Sacrament are founde not onelie to bee clippers of the Lordes coine but vtter defacers of his holie ordinaunce in taking from the Churche whatsoeuer they pretend to the contrarie one of those that Christ hath left to the same for the comforte thereof beeing founde likewise by this meanes not onelie presumptuous against Christ but iniurious also to the people in spoiling them of so great consolation So fruitfull in vngodlinesse is the euill weede of corrupt doctrine Indeede if the signe of the sacrament and the thing signified by the same were thinges contrary they might haue some shew of reason for this vnmeasurable affection but forasmuch as wee all knowe them to be not things contrary but diuers no doubt but they not onely may but do very well stand together the one of them beeing so farre from destroying or defacing of an other that they in a most louing consent agree and concurre together to the setting foorth of Gods glorie and the spirituall good and comforte of hys children Wherefore I saye it cannot be auoided but that they doe very ill that do thus malapertlie disioyne and put in sunder such things as God hath most wiselie ioyned and glewed as it were fast together 2 Secondlie I affirme that this doctrine is woonderfullie iniurious vnto the glorified bodie of our Sauiour not onely whilest it fetcheth him from heauen the place of all such blessednesse as can not be conceiued much lesse spoken of into the earth the place of all vnspeakeable miseserie and wretchednesse which yet is not all this circumstaunce further aggrauating the error of this vniust assertion that they make the blessed body of Christ our Lord and god subiect to the call of a mortall and miserable creature the priest I meane as they name him as though if he bade go it should go or if he commaunded it to come it shoulde come c But also whilest it maketh it to be rent and torne in peeces not only with the teeth of good mē a matter which our nature abhorreth both in respect of the rawnes of it also in respect of the substāce of it for we are not Anthropophagi that is eaters of mans flesh but euen with the teeth of the wicked and vngodlie also which euen for this cause if there were no more is most vntrue and false because that then they shold liue for euer Iohn 6.54 in as muche as all that eate his fleshe and drincke his bloude haue this promise that they haue eternall life And yet these wicked menne cease not heere but proceede to further impietie some of the chiefest among them affirming though in deede others are not so resolute in it by whyche also wee may see that there is not so muche vnitie or consent amongest Popishe diuines and doctors as they pretend that mice rattes dogges hogges and other vnreasonable creatures falling vpon consecrated hostes and deuouring the same doo vndoubtedlie eate the blessed bodie of our Sauiour And if they staied heere their sinne were somewhat lesse but this is not all the mischiefe that falleth out in this behalfe for whereas in trueth and christian religion the bodie of our Sauiour Christ is now immortall and in immortall glorie as Gods worde and the articles of our Beleefe agreeing wyth the same doo plainelye teache vs these menne subiect it to putrefaction corruption and wormes by reason of the long reseruation thereof and at the last to consuming in the fire a fact of most horrible crueltie if it were Christes flesh but no maruaile though they deale so wyth him when they handle hys Saints as hardelie as that commeth vnto which thing experience of all ages dooth sufficientlye prooue because it maye not otherwise bee made awaye as they themselues confesse if it be once taken wyth hoarinesse mouldines or such like If any man doubt of the truth and certaintie of these points obiected against them lette hym but reade their owne workes and hee shall see the matter sufficientlie cleared Yea I suppose that the verye aduersaries themselues will not growe so shamelesse as to denie that which with a full mouth and in the open Sunne light hath beene published by the best of their side And if they woulde or shoulde yet wee haue the liues and the leaues the wordes and the workes in sentence and sense for manner and matter to charge them wythall and to throwe this dung into their faces 3 Thirdly I say that by consequent it dooth most cursedly confounde if not vtterlie subuert and ouerthrowe the humanitie of our Sauiour with his Godhead whilest that which indeede and all trueth is proper and peculiar to the eternall Deitie onely for example to be euerie where which can not agree to anie but to GOD alone as both reason and religion will sufficiently perswade if wee will giue eare vnto the same is yet notwythstanding most blasphemouslye attributed and ascribed to his manhoode which as hath beene already shewed before and shall more plainelie if GOD will be prooued heereafter is and must of necessitie since the time of his moste glorious ascension into Heauen and sitting at the right hande of the maiestie of GOD his Father the very onelie seate and throne as it were of his bodilie residence bee circumscriptible and tied to a place As for that which they are woont vsuallie to obiect for the impeachement of this trueth and the establishement of their owne errour beeing taken from the glorification of our Sauiours bodie is easily beaten backe and