with staÌ„ding in two sundry external thinges geaue the communion of them to his Disciples This letteth nothing our beleif which do know as well as you that Christ gaue his body and bloud vnder two formes of bread and wyne and yet notwithstanding one Christ was receiued vnder both formes of bread and wyne But therefor he deliuered hymselfe vnder those two kyndes and not one that we might the better consider his passion in which the bloud was separated from the bodye Therfore the fayth of the communicantes in the one parte receiueth the body trusting to Christ his promises the same fayth in the other parte receyueth the bloud beleiuing also our Sauior his wordes therein You haue not to proue that in the one part the body was receiued but that the bodye onlye without bloud is receiued And then further where you say that the faith of the communicantes receiueth the bodie doeth it receiue it as a dead carkas shame to thinke it or else as the bodye of the soune of God Christ our Sauior saieth The flesh profiteth nothing it is the spirite which quyckeneth How then doth the communicantes faith receiue such a sole body which hath neither bloud neither lyfe neither diuinitie in it The forgeauenes of synnes commeth only from the Deitie but the cheif instrument by which God worketh is Christes our Sauior most dearlye beloued Humanitie Which if a man conceiue as separate from his Diuinitie then trulye as it is emong all creatures most excellent so yet is it but a creature and very lytle auayleable vnto vs mary as it is the bodye and bloud of hym which was not only man but also God most glorious his body and bloud doth releiue vs through the presence of his maiestie You therfore which do diuide Christ and by your faith which no wyse man doth euer trust make a receiuing of a body without all bloud lyfe or diuinitie doe most playnelie take the fructe of their redemption from the people and make them to hang vpon grosse imaginations of a bodye without bloud and bloud without a bodye to their exceading losse and iniurie But now if all other argumentes fayled vs and if your deuise were not so obscure and vyle as it is yet the authoritie of the church is no small thing emong Christians againste which you speake so lyke a madd master as though you knew the voyce of Christ better then the church of Rome which yet doe not know whether there be any Christ or no except it were for the authoritie of the church of Rome And whereas you buyld all your institutions and articles vpon the textes of the scripture and your priuate interpretations and coÌ„tempne your mother Church yet except you folow the voyce of the church of Rome you can with no reason defende that this which you holde is scripture And here againe you call vpon vs to remembre S. Cyprian which in all that epistle of his vnto which you do referr vs doth so make against them which ministred only in water that he coÌ„futeth also them which minister onlye in wyne prouing both by the old and new law that wyne and water both should be mengled togeather in the misteries But as concerning tâ—e receiuing vnder one kynde of which we haue to speake what aunswer you vnto the place of Tertullian or vnto S. Cyprian his authoritie You saye that our argumentes taken out of them are but coniectures and the same very vncertayne for often tymes in the Doctors where one kynde is mencyoned both are vnderstanded as after shall more appeare Let the wordes of the authors them selâ—es trye it whether you or we do vse the vncertayne coniectures Tertullian in his second booke vnto his wyfe where he telleth her of the sondrye faultes and inconueniencies into which those women do bring themselfes which after their husbandes death do become wyffes vnto infidell and heathen rulers or gentlemen theÌ„selues being Christians emong which this is a verye principall one that in the houses of paynyms they shall not well be able to keep the orders of Christian people he sayeth after other persuasions Shalt thou not be espied cùm lectulum cùm corpusculum tuum signas c when thow doest blesse thy bedd and thy bodye with the signe of the crossâ— when thou doest spet out with exuâ—flation some vncleane thing when also thou doest aryse in the night tyme to praye and shalt thou not be thought to worke some witchcrafte Shall not thy husband know what thou doest taste secretely of before all meate And if he know it he beleiâ—eth it to be bread and not that which it is said to be Of these wordes you gather that in the name of bread is vnderstanded also wyne and why so Mary because that some tymes emong the Doctors of which hereafter we shall speake more both kyndes are vnderstanded when but one is expressed ergo Tertullian in this place is in lyke maner to be construed But our collection is otherwise that because we reade but one kynde specifyed therefore without any necessitie we doe not make coniectures that he meaneth both And we see that Tertullian in this booke was not in such hast that he needed to speake by figures vnto his wyfe or to number syx for the dozen Then by common reason we see that wyne in so lyttle a quantitie as ones parte commeth vnto in the distributing of the mysteries was not to be reserued of any person because of the quyck alteration of it Allso we beleiue that vnder one kynde Christ wholye is geauen and therefor that the gouernors of the church were not so folysh or scrupulous as to make a necessitie of both And whereas you perceyue by this testimonye that sole receyuing was then vsed which by your sayeing Christ his institution doth not permit we had no iust occasion to mystrust the receyuing vnder one kynde which we know to be of no greater force then the receyuing with company And you also if you had good wyttes might for good cause feare least you were deceyued in the question of receiuing vnder both kindes whereas in the controuersie of sole receyuing you be so openly confounded which yet you doe as earnestile endeuor to proue as you doe shifte to vnderstand both kyndes in Tertullian whereas he mencioneth but one Note further that when Christ said This is my bodye you will haue no bloud to appertaine vnto it and when any Doctor doth speake onlie of bread you will at your pleasure make wyne to be vnderstanded Iniurious in the one and superfluous in the other Therefore let it be tryed which of our two sydes doth vse more vncertaine coniectures Now as concerning S. Cyprian When a certayne woman saieth he assayed with her vnworthye handes to open her cheste in the which SanctuÌ„ Domini fuit the holy dody of our Lorde was she was made afrayd by fyer arysing from thens that she durst
principal sacrifice of his pure hart and mynd and by this we vnderstand that God excedinglie loued man which of mere good will and compassion was content so to suffer for man What shall we geaue then againe vnto God for all this which he hath done for vs we owe to hym remeÌ„brance of these benefites we owe vnto hym thankes we owe vnto him loue Remembrance is moued by representation and signe Thankes require a present and gift to be vttered by Loue desireth to be made one with that which is loued To keepe his benefites in remembrance we might vse either reading or hearing of his actes out of bokes or painting of his passion and expressing of his liffe in colours But images we knowe are similitudes only and are farr from the thinges themselues To the signifieing of our thankes we might either sing them by mouth or sound them by instrumentes of shew them in the buylding of churches and decking of them with ornamentes And as concernyng Loue we might fetch deepe sigthes and haue ernest desires but as the seruantes of holie Iob saied by theire master in token of their exceding loue who might geaue vs to haue our full of his flesshe We ought to render singular deuotions because we haue receaued singular benefites but our memorie ys so vnstable our power so litle and our charitie so faint that allthough verie reason persuadeth that we after a most best manner shoulde remember thanke and loue so mercifull and bountiefull a Sauior as Iesus ys yet the miserie of nature declareth that we are not able to doe either as we should either perchaunse as we would In this doubt therefor who shall helpe vs but he which hath dyed for vs which because he is made our heade hath therfor this office to direct and rule the bodie And so trulie he hath done For in his last supper he toke bread and saied This ys my bodie he toke the cupp and saied This ys my bloud of the new testament and with this bodie and bloud which he hath and doth geaue vnto vs we are able to discharge all our duties and make a full and perfect offering Of which bodie and the misteries and treasures thereof if I would particularlie speake all tyme and studie were to litle for the greatnes of the matter But for those three pointes the which I make mention of thei may be perfectlie brought to passe in the hauing and enioying of his true bodie For as concernyng our charitie and loue it is the most that we can desire in the state of his liffe to be corporallie spirituallie reallie faithfullie bodilie and ghostlie ioyned vnto hym which onlie is to be loued Of which our coniunction with Christ our God the body and bloud which he gaue vnder the formes of bread and wine are a signe and sacrament and are called in respect of this signification and effect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greeke Communio in Laten and Communion in our Englisshe Then for geauing of thankes what greater present is there in earth or heauen theÌ„ the firstfruct of the virgins wombe and the cheifest portion of all creatures which is the bodie and bloud of Iesus Christ So that if holie Abel Noâ— Abraham and other haue testified their inward sacrifice of thankes by lambes corne grapes oyle and so furth and if Moises with all his people hath pleased God in offering the firstfructes of their vineyardes and glebeland with firstfructes of men and beastes in testimonie of the honor and thankes which thei gaue vnto God how much more acceptablie are we now able to offer vnto God a most worthie and pretiouse gift which haue receaued for that purpose the bodie and bloud of Christ in whose only bodie the particular values and prices of all other presentes that euer were vnder any law are shortlie coÌ„prised and reckened summarelie And so in this respect the body of our Sauior is vnto vs Eucharistia or a sacrifice of thankes geauing But now for the third point who thanketh hym whom he remembreth not or who remembreth hym whom he is not warned of or what warning can be greater then the reall presence of the partie and the partie being present what is first coÌ„sidered but his cheefest and worthiest benefite That we should therefor allwayes remember our Sauyor hys deathe which he so openly suffered that all creatures should behold it he left vnto vs the same bodie that suffered for vs. In presence of which yf we wyll not be brought to remeÌ„ber him we wil neuer be brought And in this respect our Sacrament is called a Sacrifice because it is vnto all such as haue the true and sincere faith a most holy signe and token of that sacrifice of the crosse which so long tyme sence is ended as concerning the painefullnes and bloudnies of his crucified bodie and yet continueth styll in fresshe memorie by reason of the reall presence of the same bodie which then suffered And lyke as when Easter draweth nygh we saye to morowe or the next daye after is the passion of our Lord because it is a lyke daye vnto that in which he suffered hys passion so because that in the misteries of Christians the representatioÌ„ of Christs perfect sacrifice which he offered once for all ys perfectlie worked therfor it beareth the name of that bloudie sacrifice which it representeth For in deed we doe not at this daye sacrifice Christ bloudelie but rather celebrate the memorie of his paineful sacrifice which memorie is by no meane more effectuallie preserued then by this that the same bodie is now made reallie present before vs which at that tyme was sensiblie offered for vs. But how then is it propitiatorie forsoth because of the offering of one selfesame bodye for allthough we make a coÌ„memoration only of his death not put Christ to death in deed yet we haue thorough hys gyft the selfesame body which theÌ„ being put to death rose againe to lyffe that it might neuer more die which then was offered vpp bloudelie and now is offered misticallie and is in both maners the same Christ verelie and to the same effect dispensatiuelie Therefor as Christ is the true fontaine of lyffe and the euerlasting and shyning light of cumfort and as his pretiouse syde after it hath ben once opened is neuer shut vpp and stopped againe but alwaies geaueth out the streames of mercy and peace so it can not but make for the clensing of their synnes which stand before it and hope after remission forgeauenes and mercie by it And as the word propitiation doth signifie nothing els but graciousnes fauor cause of fauor or some such like so the misticall offering of his reall person which is the deseruer and geauer of all perdon can not be but propitiatorie vnto them which come lowlie before his grâ—ce and do hym faithful honor not withstanding his externall basenes and the curteins whiche he keepeth hym selfe vnder Thus I
a capon But if you vnderstand by sacrament al the act and ceremonie of preparing and eating the lambe the calling of company vnto it was in some case materyal For if the numbre be lesse then shall be able to eate vpp the lambe then saieth God he whosoeuer he be shal take his next neighbor But you may say although the calling of company were conditionall yet the hauing of companye was of the substance of the sacrament It was so of the substaunce as other things were which God in that place commaunded I meane gyrding of their loynes and hauing of shooes on their feete and holding of staffes in their hanâ—es But if by reason of some wounde or dysease anye one of them had not ben able to suffer hys shooe on hys foote although his feete would not beare hym yet if his stomache serued hym could he not haue eaten with his fellowes and eate as fast as the best without breaking of the matter Lykewise if one had ben borne without haÌ„des or had lost his handes in fighting for his countrey so that he could not hold any staff in the hand which he had not was he to be excluded from his parte in the lambe Yf these pointes then which God so distinctlie commaunded haue their interpretations and are not so absolutely to be obserued but that for considerations thei maye be omitted I see no cawse whye the hauing of numbre in eating of the lambe should be so necessarye that it could not be omitted But the matter would be playner if we were once agreed how the terme of substance is to be takeÌ„ when you speake of it For if you meane that to be of the substance of a precept whichâ— without case of necessitie and without dispensatioÌ„ of the cheife gouernors can not be rashlye omitted as euery priuate man shall thinke good in hym selfe then I graunt that all those poyntes which are comprehended within the ceremonye of eating the paschall lambe were of the substance of it But if substance shall signifye such partes of any sacrament as which no man for any respect maye omitt or chainge in which sence we doe take it in speaking of the necessarye forme and matter of euerye sacrament then doe I denye vnto you that euerie point comprehended within the ceremonye of eating the lambe was of the substance of that matter Therefor if your comparing of all Christendome vnto all the Iewes and our particuler churches vnto their sundrye houses and the eating of our Sacrament vnto their lambe did neuer so well agree togeather yet because it is not proued of you that euerie point commaunded of God about the eating of the lambe is so essentiallie of the sustance therof that in no case it maye be omitted or altered therfore you come nothing nigh to the aunswer of our question which is whether that of necessitie there must be coÌ„panye allwaies to receiue at the masse Then againe it is to be noted that in the old law God did not commaunde them to haue companye at the eating of the lambe but rather then anye parte shold be lefte vneaten he willeth them to call more conpanye presupposing that there would be in euerie household companye inough to eate a lambe but yet geauing no commaundement of companye to be at it For if one by hym selfe alone had eaten a whole lambe his wife and children rounde about hym not louing that kinde of meate and yet delighting in the histories which he would tell them of Egipt and the redd sea I see not that you were able to burden hym with the breache of Goddes institution Besides this whereas the lambe of God which is eaten of the Christians is not more meate vnto a thousande then vnto one alone and one alone receyueth the whole that he needeth not to send for his neighbor your proportion betwyxt the lambe of the lewes and our Sacrament was not rightly deuised of you Also if I could finde no faulte with your application yet except you brought greater aucthoritie for the defence of it then your owne I would lykewise of myne owne head inuent an other sence besides yours and saie that my vnderstanding of that place serueth better to the purpose then yours In which case as both of vs might vse perchaunce probable interpretations so yet none of vs both should conclude any thing of necessitie And yet I neede not to runne vnto myne owne wytt for this matter because that long sence Sainct Denyse the Carthusyan doth saie in his CoÌ„mentaries vpon Exodus that the calling of a neighbor to eate of the lambe if howsehold cumpanie were not sufficient doth signifie that euerie Christian which is neuer able by hymselfe to consider sufficientlie the mercyes of God shewed vnto vs in the death and sacrameÌ„t of his Sonn should call his neighbor to hym and prouoke him to helpe forward that all thankes and praises might be geauen vnto the author of so excellent benefites Now to speake somewhat more of this lambe whilest you are of so good a mynd and remembrance to confesse that ther is a proportion and lykenes betwyxt our sacrament and it consider that the lambe was offered vpp to God before it was eaten which proueth that Christ offred his bodie and bloode in his last supper before the Apostles did receiue hym The blood also of the lambe was put vpon both postes of the doores which signifieth that good Christians do receiue Christ in the mouth and in the hart And they which receyue vnworthely or els in receyuing doe not beleiue it to be the blood of Christ these put the blood vpon one poste onlye You are commaunded also to deuoure the head with the feete and the appourtenaÌ„ces that you shold not be curious and nyce in your feeding but faithfullie and humblie receiue his diuinitie his humanitie and all other profond and secrete mysteries In which if any thing shall seeme absurde vnto your grosse vnderstanding you must referr all vnto the working of the Holyeghost and so you shall fulfyll the law which commaundeth the residue of the lambe to be burned with fier It is sufficieÌ„t to beleeue if it be not graunted to vnderstand for moe doe eate this flesh through beleeuing then vnderstanding Wherefore as the figure of the paschall lambe doth nothing make against the order which the church vseth so it doth most playnelie confound your suppositions and imaginations by which you take Christes reall presence from vs and the offering of his body And now what foloweth in your defence You laye vnto our charge that VVe take vpon vs to alter chainge and take away by our spiritual gouernors all the partes of the Lorde his supper as you will declare to vs in order by the doctrine of our defence of priuate Masse Certainelie this is a greate accusation and we are neuer to be trusted in anye thing if this be proued Do we saie you take vpon vs to alter chainge and take
aske not oâ— you why one maye not be howseled for an infidell as well as he maye praye for an infidell but whereas in our most priuate and secrete prayers we saie Our father which art in heauen and not my father by which wordes we declare that we be not alone but accompanyed with a numbre of other soâ—nes and brothers by what reason then maye you saie that he which receiueth alone to your sight hath no communion with other of the faith hope and charitie It is two thinges to saye I praye for other and I praie with other or I receiue for other and I receiue with other To praie for other is not allwaies in owre intent because of priuate and peculyar cases which doe so fully occupie vs yet a faithfull man doth allwaies praie with other because he is in that bodie whose partes are ioyned togeather and animated with charitie To receiue for other is a question of an other tyme and in some sense vnpossible but to receiue with other is most consequent for all tymes except a man be out of that bodie which copleth and vniteth all Catholikes togeather And now what foloweth hereof Truly this first of all that you which make your argumentes against receiuing for other doe verye much range out from the matter which is of receiuing with other And againe seeing there is such a felowshipp and communioÌ„ betweene the membres of one body how can any priest in his sole receiuing to our sight lack such as receyue with hym whereas he communicateth with all other which receyue of the same bodie why then saie you we inferr this that he which saieth Masse in our ladye chapple in Paules at sixe of the clock in the mornyng doth communicate with hym that doth the lyke in Iesus Church at Nyne of the clock the next daye But Syr we did not speake of this daye and the next daye which times although they make greate difference in the iudgement of folysh vnlearned men yet before God vnto whom all thinges are present six of the clock this daye and nyne to morowe make no breach of communion except you thinke that wheÌ„ all candles be put out in the night the worlde is at an end and with the next morning the worlde beginneth againe For otherwise why might not he which saieth masse this daye communicate with an other which shall celebrate an hundred yeares after hym as well as we communicate with the Apostles which haue departed this world fyfteene hundred yeare before vs. TheÌ„ what neede you to encomber your selfe with this daye and to morowe whereas your cause is vtterly lost if for the daye which is present there be found at euerye sole receyuing of the priest a communion which is shortely concluded in this maner There is a communion betweene them which being of one religion and faith receyue in sundrye places But for example sake Syr Thomas celebrateth Masse and receyueth alone in Parys and Syr Ambrose doth the lyke in Venyce Ergo Thomas and Ambrose doe communicate togeather Syr I deny your argument and say that neyther th one nor thother doth coÌ„municate with any Christian man because neyther of both receiueth according to Christ his institution You be allwaies lyke your selfe in forgetting your selfe For here you denye the argument and the cause of your denyall is the fault which you fynde with the maior and minor propositions of it But if the faulte be only in the propositions why denye you the argument And if the argument be faultie how vncunnynglie do you proue that by the denying of the propositions But go to let the first proposition be interpreted as you would haue it and lett vs then repete the argumeÌ„t saying Thei which receiue in diuers places according to the institution of Christ do communicate togeather But Syr Thomas c. as before doe so Ergo thei communicate togeather How saye you doth this argumeÌ„t please you yea truly I thinke it doth why then dyd you deny the former argument which was altogeather of the same forme and making with this But such disputors they be with whom the church hath to doe Now againe if you admitt the argumeÌ„t as coÌ„cerning the forme of it what saie you to any of the propositions Mary you deny the second proposition and say that none of those two priestes whom I named do worke according to the institution of Christ. And why so Forsoth saie you because thei receiue alone by them selfes Yea but herein you say falsely because the one of them at the least receiueth with the other and so thei haue a coÌ„munion and obserue the institution of Christ. Naie saie you againe There should be a particular communion as I maye terme it betwene the members of one congregation You do wisely to mitigat the matter and as it were to aske leaue that you may call it a particular communion But you must haue none your request is so vnprofitable For this particular coÌ„munion is nothing worth yea it is no communion at all except it be referred vnto the true and generall communion in deede And if the communicating in the most perfect and best maner be fulfilled will you bring vs so fair downevvarde that we must haue the particular or els saie the whole is destroyed Maye I not because of your fancyes rest in the end when I am at it but come back againe to the beginning or myddle of the matter The ende of a Christians desier is to be vnited vnto God through Christ our head in the vnitie of his body and to this end I receiue his body in the sacrament which because he is both God an man is therfor able to ioyne vs togeather in vnitie with God man And therefor when I receiue hym I coÌ„municate both naturallie and mysticallie with his bodie Can I desyer any more and is any thing vnperfect herein Yea mary saye you Christ would haue vs make a particular communion also But how proue you that by Christ he which was wysedome it selfe would he make such an accompt of a particular that although the whole some and perfection might be obtayned without it yet he would haue a particular communion He which coÌ„municateth with the whole bodye communicateth also with particulars and therefor what talke you of a particular communion as though that coulde want when the whole is obteyned If you would denye that there is a perfecte commonion betwene men of one religion notwithstanding thei be not in one tyme and place togeather although you should speake vntrulie yet you should speake not most absurdelie but when you graunt the generall communion and yet besydes requyre of necessitie a particular you speake so farr out of all forme and fasshion that no reason or probabilitie may be perceiued in your saying Yes saye you vnitie and concord is lyuely represented as well for the multitude which doe communicate as for the apte signification of the external elementes
lothsomenes might trouble vs if it were geauen in visible forme of flesh and bloud vnto vs. And to conclude The sonne of God is vnited vnto vs through the mysticall blessing corporally as man spirituallye as God Wherefore we doe not destroye one truth by an other neyther so beleiue the presence of Christ his bodye that in no case we wyll admit any significatiō or figure neither againe so magnifie signes and figures that we take awaye all reall presence S. Augustine teaching vs That the body of Christ is both a veritie and a figure a veritie whiles the substance of bread and wyne is made his bodye and bloud by the power of the holyghost and a figure because of that which is outwardly seene and perceyued And so against the next tyme if you can haue any answer prouide to proue not that Christ gaue a figure but that he gaue nothing else but a figure For if you will so graunt a figure that yet you will not denye the reall presence then will all our other cōclusions which you despyse now be deduced out of the principle of Christ his reall presence that you neede to make no further question about them As for the kynges brode seale vnto which you resemble the sacrament it may be well and trulye sayd that in deede the sacrament is a most sure confirmation of all the actes which Christ dyd worke for vs in the tyme of his visible conuersation emong vs. For how might we haue his verye true bodye emong vs except he receyued a true nature of man vpon hym or how might we Christians doubt of it whether he be rysen from death to immortalitie whose flessh and bloud is daily geauen to such as will to saue them frō corruption But if you make no more of it then that as the king his brode seale doth geaue a force to his letters patentes so lykewyse the sacramentall bread should confirme the testament and promyses of Christ and that in such a sense that as truly as our body is fedd with that bread so truly our sowle is norysshed with his spirite verely you haue taken a great wonder at a common and easye matter For euery man when he will not only in the church but at home and else where and not only by bread or wyne but also by euery thing that is true maye vse the lyke phrase and saye as truly as I stand as I sytt as this fyer burneth as the sonne shineth as I lyue as I eate c. so trulie God dyed once for vs to saue vs from death euerlasting And if you wil cōtend that although one maye so say of al thinges which are true yet that there is a speciall regarde to be had vnto bread wine which Christ him selfe appointed for that purpose yet you haue no great cause of wonder no more then you shold maruell in some weighty accompt which the kyng himselfe would sett for some profitable effect that one such peece of golde which right now stood but for a shilling should be sodainly remoued and made to signifie 1000000. Li. For if al the dignity and price of the Sacrament consisteth herein that it representeth a most wonderfull gyfte and benefyte which the soune of God bestowed vpon vs then are you very much to blame for defacing spoyling breaking and burning of crucifixes which did more lyuely represent the death of Christ then any externall forme of bread and wyne can doe Whereunto if you will answer that Christ appointed the one and not the other you maye yet gather thereby that according vnto your imagination there is no such great excellencye in the institution of bread and wyne to represent and declare vnto vs the veritie of Christ his promyses but that a paynter or caruer maye as euidently expresse them by his arte and colours and more effectually also perchaunse for the playne symple deuout and good men of the world Wherefor that the holye doctors and fathers of Christ his church ▪ should meane nothing els by their termes of transmutatiō transelementation mutation conuersion alteration c. But the chainge of the externall elementes into this meanyng that they doe showe the effecte of the Sacrament and seale vpp vnto vs the promyses of Christ it is a very abiect and vyle mysconstruyng of them For they declare most expreslye that in the externall elementes there is no chainge at all but the chainge is onely in the substance of the bread into Christ his bodye which at an other tyme is to be proued more largelie but now S. Cyprian alone maye suffise saying This bread which our Lord◠dyd vnto his disciples delyuer being chainged not in outward shew but in nature is made flesh by the allmightynes of the worde c. But as much as you can for shame you extenuate and debase the greatnes of Christ his benefytes towardes vs. For Christ saying this is my body you vnderstand hym to meane a figure onely of his body and the holy doctors prouing vnto vs that it should not be vncredible that of simple bread he maketh vnto vs his precious body because he made all thinges of no thing and can doe more then is ordynary by the cōmon course of nature yet saye you they speake of no other chainge but that which is about the external elementes And one of them hauing this similitude Lyke as wax being sett vnto fyer is lykened vnto it no substance remaineth no ouerplus resteth so doe thow thinke the misteries to be consumed by the substance of Christ his bodie No say you it is not so or els it is to be vnderstanded after this maner that lyke as when the king his broad seale is sett vnto his lettres patētes then haue those letters their effect so I trow that the Sacrament should be lyke a pece of wax to confirme I can not tell what letters For if you meane the promysses of euerlasting lyfe before we come to receiue the Sacramēt we beleiue God and his church doubt nothing of them and therefor I confesse my ignorance that I can not tell what maner of leases or grauntes you conceyue to be vnconfirmed before the seale of bread and wine be added vnto them But as I began to tell you you take all thinges at the lowest and basest maner and this perchaunse is that which you obiect vnto vs when your delicate and deyntie eloquence could not abyde to heare the Catholike to speake of the pulling skaulding drawing and rosting of a capon before you dyd eate hym resembling vs vnto the seruant which being commaunded to make the dyner readye would thinke vpon great prouysion the master hym selfe meaning to haue nothing els but such colde meate set vpon the table as was in the house As who should saye we shal be saued and fare well inough if we do but imagine that Christ dyed for us As for the hauing of his naturall bodye because it is a matter
of greate prouision and it keepeth a great sturr within a mans hart to conceyue how it should be a naturall bodye and placed now in heauen and yet present and perfect on euery aultar in the whole worlde and because it were lytle inough to thynke all nyght long and mornyng before how to come to such a feast with contrition confession and satisfaction therefore it is but superfluous cost and a torment vnto the conscience Colde meate shall serve vs well inough and we shal be as merye with bread and drink in the remembraÌ„ce that Christ dyed for vs as with all the prouision which the papistes saie Christ to haue made In which similitude you haue as rightly expressed your inward thoughtes as maye be And we truly if we make greate prouisioÌ„ we doe no other then we are commaunded because we be his seruantes which euery daye geaueth the fatt calfe for ioye of his sounes which were lost and are returned agayne which was neuer a niggard of his meate and drinke in so much that when he had none other but seruantes in his howse yett he prouyded so royally for them that as euerye one of them wysshed so dyd his meate taste in his mouth For consider onlye the excellencye of Manna of the olde law First of all it came from heauen without any labor of the Israelites it came dayly except one daye in the weeke that they should haue it fressh and fressh it came so plentyfullye that yt couered all the grounde about theyr tentes and yet so equallye that he which gathered more dyd not abounde and he which gathered lesse did not want it came so simply as if it had ben the seedes of coryander and it tasted so wonderfully that it conteyned all delycates and hartes desyre it continued to them .xl. yeares togeather and as surely as their bodyes were noryshed with that bread so sure thei might be that their sowles mindes were fed with the grace of Christ. And all this yet was bestowed vpoÌ„ the Iewes before the incarnation of the souâ—e of God before the comming of the holyghost in the law of bondage in the tyme of figures and when God as I may saye did not yet keepe open householde in all coÌ„treyes of the world neither make so great cheare as he mynded to doe afterwarde Therefor if such thinges were geaueÌ„ vnto the Iewes what was to be reserued for Christians and if we haue not in deede the reall body of Christ emong vs what lyke thing haue we vnto their Manna Yf there were no other argument but this one which is gathered upon the conferring of tyme with tyme state with state figures with truthes Moyses with Christ Iewes with Christians yet of very congruence and conscience we should looke to fare better then the Israelites dyd in the barren wyldernes But except our Sauior his wordes this is my bodye this is my bloud be vnderstanded literally and really we fare a thousand partes worse For as in our bread vnitie is represented so might it haue ben in 〈◊〉 Manna and as you be as verely assured that your sowle doth participate Christ in spirite as your bodye doth receyue the externall bread so likewise they which were spirituall emoÌ„g the Israelites did in their Manna conceyue and receyue the bread of lyfe and the Sauior of the world and againe as your sacramentall bread is a token and seale vnto you of the goodnes and promyses of God so was Manna vnto them and that with much more myracle and coÌ„fort So that you haue nothing in this your Sacrament of the new law which should be most excellent which one maye not fynde in the Manna of the olde law which yet was but a shadow and figure of the bodye of Christ in the Sacrament but Manna of that tyme had many wonderful prerogatyâ—es by which it farr passeth in estimation the Sacrament of Christ his bodye and bloud if there be no more in it then you doe conceyue and vtter Which because it is vnreasonable therefore we can not but vnderstand Christ his wordes This is my bodye c. in that sense which we doe and we doe not feare least we shall offende in making to great a price and value of the SacrameÌ„t but rather we coÌ„fesse that we shall neuer be able to expresse the maiestie the miracles and the dignitie of it As for you if you be delighted with cold rost and would not if you might haue Christ really and naturally God and man bodye and sowle to be geauen vnto you but can satisfye your appetyte with only figures sygnes and similitudes you shal sytt by your selfe for the Catholikes vntyll God shall sende you more charitie Which if it were as it should be in you you could not fynde fault with the reall presence of Christ in his Sacrament and call it a torment vnto your conscience but rather you would be werye of all scrappes and leauinges of an yesterdayes feast and contemne all counterfait dyshes which haue more apparance then substance When you were a childe if one had brought vnto you a byrde or a fysh made in fyne and sweete paste with a figg or such lyke thing within you would haue ben more delighted in it theÌ„ with the true meate of the byrde or fysh but after that you be come to the state of a man you should couet the sounde and strong meates and lett all such creekes and knackes alone to serue for children God graunt that you fynde not hereafter fault also with the Catholikes that they teache you to beleiue a true and natural flesh and sowle in Christ and that you reproue not the charges and cost which God hath bestowed vpon the redemption of mankynde because the only worde of his blessed will was able to saue vs so that his incarnation needed not but only a similitude of a body But for this tyme let this be an end of this Replye and I would to God here might be an end of all coÌ„trouersie which because it is not verye credible in such confusion and vnrulynes of sectes and diuisions therfor some answer is to be looked for or rather some similitude of it For as concerning any true answer in the defence of your part you can neuer make it in those pointes which you are burdened withall in this Replye as your mysconstruyng of holye Fathers and reasoning out of the purpose with many absurde and vnlearned conclusion Yet no doubt but you will coÌ„tinew styll in your stoutnes and by one meane or other mayntayne your Capitaynes against vs. For if Goliath be stroken downe yet you sett vpp an Achilles and by chainging of the name you thinke to chainge the cause But if your bastard brauery had not ben sufficiently exemplified by the fact of the vncircumcided Goliath yet now by the crake which you sett vpon your prophane Achilles you proue your selfes more lyke that fell Gyant theÌ„ euer you were before For allthough