A PLAIN REPRESENTATION OF Transubstantiation As it is received in the Church of Rome WITH The Sandy FOUNDATIONS it is built upon and the ARGUMENTS that do clearly evert and overturn it By a Countrey Divine Transubstantiation or the Change of the Substance of Bread and Wine in the Supper of the Lord cannot be proved by Holy Writ But it is repugnant to the plain Words of Scripture overthroweth the Nature of a Sacrament and hath given occasion to many Superstitions Articles of the Church of England Art. 28. Nullum hic errori velúm nullus ignorantiae pratextus neque enim vel vereum Dei praeit vel ratio vel sensus errori ac ignorantiae tum demum aliquid datur ubi obscuritas reperitur sive ex parte objecti sive ex parte medii aut modi illud cognoscendi non veto ubi vitium in subjecto tantum idque voluntarium ac affectatum Spanhem â—ub Evang. Part. 2. Dub. 50. p. 450. London Printed for J. Johnson 1687. THE PUBLISHER TO THE READER IT 's an odd Story that some tell us concerning the Py'd Piper of Halberstadt who being denied the Reward he was promised for drowning those Rats wherewith they were much troubled Tuned his Pipes a second Time and draw all the Children in the Town after him till he had brought them to a Hill which opening it self to receive them presently closed upon them again Many of the Romish Communion have of late been blowing their Pipes in our Streets and 't is not much to be admired at that some Vermin Men of flagitious Lives and some Children in Understanding have been tripping and dancing after them to the mighty danger if not to the eternal ruine of their Souls Our Enemies have been busily sowing their Tares and no doubt had the good Men but slept they would have reaped a much larger Harvest But the Orthodox and Learned Clergy of our City have stood upon their Watch have behaved themselves faithfully towards God and the Souls of Men have so convincingly answered and confuted every Book that hath crawl'd out against our Religion that if Men can but read and understand they have sufficient Antidotes against this Poyson laid before them The Truth of it is all the Arguments our Adversaries have produced are but like the Gibeonites old Shoes only they have new vampt them up again The same Souldiers that have been so often beaten out of the Field only they have new Cloath'd ' em What Success Dragooning hath had in our Neighbouring Kingdom is well known but certainly by their arguing their Priests are like to prevail but little among Us. Indeed 't is an extravagant and most unaccountable thing that they should undertake to perswade any to go over to their Communion For they cannot offer at this without pretending to give Men some good Reason for so doing And yet no Man can forsake our Church and enter into theirs but he must renounce his Reason in order to it For what can be more contradictory to the Reason as well as the Senses of all Mankind than that monstrous Doctrine of Transubstantiation the Subject of this following Discourse 'T is an Argument indeed that hath been frequently treated upon both formerly and of late in our own Language as well as in others to very good Purpose This Dagon which some are so zealously setting up again hath been often beaten down I hope it will not be thought a needless thing to give it a Few Blows more utterly to dash the Stump of this Idol in pieces That is the end of publishing the following Treatise the Author whereof I need not tell thee is a Learned Man the Work it self if thou peruse it will prove that All that I shall say concerning him is this that his Modesty is proportionable to his Learning he lives retired far from the Noise of the World and that he cannot be a greater Stranger to thee than he is to this present publishing of his Writings on this Subject The Manuscript was put into my Hands by a Friend of his and upon the perusal of it judging it to be an excellent Piece I was resolved that it should not continue in the same Retiredness and Obscurity as its Author does And in a time of common Danger when we are invaded by a formidable Enemy I see no reason why Books as well as Men should not be pressed and forced into the Field I thought it also very hard that our learned Clergy here in the City should always be upon Duty and not he a little relieved by some Forces drawn out of the Country However I was not willing to go on my own Head but communicated these Papers to a very learned Person in this City who encouraged me to pursue my Design by his high Approbation of it And indeed tho so many have bater'd this most absurd Article of the Romish Faith yet it can hardly be too ill used 'T is a Point that hath cost many thousand Lives and therefore it deserves no Mercy nor Pity seeing it hath been the occasion of so much Bloodshed and Cruelty Nay not only have Multitudes suffered a Temporal Death because they could not swallow this extravagant Doctrine but Holy Church hath also sentenced them to Eternal Damnation for it And yet as much pains as they take to cram it down our Throats and to impose the Belief of it upon us with such severe Methods and such terrible Threatnings I am perswaded they would be glad to be fairly rid of it themselves if they did but know how But this Brat they cannot drop because of their pretence to Infallibility For there is no one Doctrine of their whole Faith equally absurd and ridiculous with this in the Apprehensions of all Men none which they are so hard put to to defend and none that more exposes them to the Scorn and Contempt of the Infidel Nations as well as that of the Reformed Churches The severe Censure of Avertoes Perr de l' Euch. l. 3. c. 29. Sr. Ed. Sands Europae Specul p. 230. Edit 1629. Orat. 3. c. 25. p. 18 19. cited by Daillâ— against Adam and Cottiby pt 1. p. 116. related by Cardinal Perron himself on the Credit of Sarga a Jesuit is well known that he never found a worse or a more sottish Sect than that of the Christians who eat the God whom they worship This is a thing that is matter of great Scandal to the Jews A thing as one saith that had reason enough to know which they can at no hand digest And Joseph Albon a Spanish Jew in his Book entituled Ikkarim sets forth the many Absurdities of it and in the close of all saith they are things as can neither be comprehended by the Mind nor expressed with the Tongue nor endured by the Ear they are contrary to the Understanding and Sense and consequently cannot be believed nor have any room among the Articles of Faith. Nor do the Mahometans come behind the
have thought that Reason was not peculiar to Men but that the Brutes have had a competent share of it And therefore they have maintained that 't was Religion that made the Difference between us and them of which they never perceived the least Footsteps in them But if these rare Stories may be believed that Opinion of theirs is utterly overthrown And the Truth of it is I could heartily wish that the Popish Missionaries would give over their Attempts on us and lay out their pains on the Conversion of these Creatures and endeavour to propagate their Faith among them An Employment which they need not disdain seeing so many of their Betters have submitted to it St. Anthony among others preaching to little or no purpose to some stubborn Hereticks that would not receive his Message turns away from them Specul Exem Dist 7. Ex. 34. and by Divine Inspiration goes to the Sea-side and calls to the Fishes Ye Fish of the Sea and River hear the Word of the Lord since the Hereticks despise it And 't was a very serious Sermon that he preached to them and to very good Purpose for some of these Fishes his Auditors open'd their Mouths and spoke and the rest of them bowed their Heads Indeed such Creatures as these are the only ones for them to exercise their Talent upon For 't is hardly to be conceived that they should have any reasonable Grounds to hope they shall ever make Rational Creatures Proselytes to such a Bundle of Nonsensical Doctrines as their Church hath embraced and among the rest this of Transubstantiation which contains many Monsters in the Belly of it which is ript up and they sufficiently exposed to the Reader 's view in the following Discourse Wherein if any Critical Eye should chance to espye some small Mistakes tho I do not know of any in it yet it being published without the Author's Consent 't is possible a few have crept in I hope the Reader will easily pardon such Venial Faults and kindly entertain this Stranger that comes out of the Country and appears publickly on no other Design but that of promoting the Common Good. MATTH xxvi 26. This is my Body THE Church of Rome hath brought in the Doctrine of Transubstantiation and made it an Article of the Christian Faith that all Persons in her Communion are required to give their Assent unto and receive as necessary to Salvation Yea it is an Article of the Romish Faith that they are most hot in and have now for some Centuries contended for with Fire and Sword to the disturbing of the Peace of Christendom and shedding of Rivers of Christian Blood Anathematizing Cursing Damning and where their Arms are long enough Murthering and Butchering all without difference that refuse to give their Assent unto it And the owning of it together with the Sacrifice of the Mass that is bottomed on it and riseth out of it is the Mark of the Papal Religion and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Mark or Note of Distinction betwixt a Papist and a Protestant And therefore this was the particular and main Point that most of our Blessed Martyrs in the Days of Queen Mary were first called to answer unto and declare their Judgment about and then burned at Stakes all over the Nation for denying of it and bearing witness against it And I wish that if ever the Romanists gain another like Opportunity they do not take the same Measures proceed in the same Method and make use of their old Argument Fire and Faggot against whosoever shall not admit and embrace this Doctrine It is therefore the great Concern of all Protestants who would not make Shipwrack of their Faith when it comes to a Fiery Tryal to make it their Business to have their Minds rightly informed and Judgments established in this Matter that so they may stand fast in the Faith. Now these Words of our Saviour are the Foundation upon which they would build this monstrous Doctrine of Transubstantiation Of which they say 1. That before the Act of Consecration the Elements are true and proper Bread and Wine 2. That after the Consecration there remaineth no Substance of Bread or Wine or any other Substance but the Substance of Christ God and Man Or the very Flesh and Blood of Christ as he was born of the Virgin Mary and did hang upon the Cross The Substance of the Bread by the Strength and Efficacy of Christ's mighty Word spoken by the Priest being converted into the Natural Body and the Substance of the Wine into the Natural Blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ under the Terms of Bread and Wine 3. This Transmutation Conversion or turning of the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is that which they call Transubstantiation 4. This Transubstantiation is made by the Priest pronouncing with an intention to consecrate these five Words over the Bread viz. Hoc est enim Corpus meum For this is my Body Hereby this strange Change is made yet so as the most Learned of them are not agreed among themselves about the Manner of it that is whether the Substance of the Bread be turned into the Substance of Christ's Body productive so as the Body of Christ is made ex materia panis as one thing is made of another or whether it be adductivè by a Recession of the Substance of the Bread and an Adduction or Succession of the Body of Christ into the room of it as one thing succeeds in the place of another the first being voided Thomas is for the former par 3. p. 75. Art. 3. and Suarez and Bellarmine are for this latter which indeed is no Transubstantiation but a meer Succession But leaving them to wrangle this out among themselves tho I believe it is a Matter wherein they will never accord together we shall proceed to take a view of this new and amusing or amazing Paradox Now that Transubstantiation is a most prodigious and monstrous Opinion or Fiction will be very evident from these Three Particulars I. The Original and Rise of it II. The Nature or Constitution of it III. The Products Consequences and Fruits of it I. Consider the Original and Rise of Transubstantiation from what Root or Fountain it is derived And if Enquiry be made after the Birth and first appearing of it in the World it will appear that this monstrous Opinion crept in and came up by degrees in an Age of universal Darkness and Debauchery wherein an easy Entrance and Admittance was given not onely to this but also unto a Deluge of many other corrupt Doctrines and Practices It is confessed by all that the 9th 10th and 11th Centuries were overspread with Ignorance and Profaneness insomuch that Baronius Platina Genebrard Bellarmine and other approved Writers of the Romish Church Men we may be sure that would not say the worst make very sad Exclamations and Complaints Baronius ad An. 900 hath these Words In
Jews in this matter of which we have a famous Instance in Monsieur de la Boulaye le Goux in the Account of his Voyages pt 1. c. 10. p. 21. that the Mahometan Souldiers quarrelling with some of his Retinue among other reproachful Words they called them GOD-EATERS And the Truth of it is 't is so easy to lay this in the Dish of those that bold this Tenet that the Silence of all the ancient Enemies of the Christian Religion Celsus Porphyry Lucian c. who never upbraided the Christians with it is a plain Demonstration that Transubstantiation was not believed by any in their days Rigalt Not. ad Tertull. l. 2. ad uxor p. 189. Not. 7. And therefore Rigaltius is astonish't as it and well he might that among so many Villanies and so many Injuries with which the Christians were loaded even so far as to accuse them of Impiety under this pretence that they had no Altars and offered no Sacrifices and among so many Apostacles of those that revolted from their Religion there was not any one Man that accused them of eating the Flesh and drinking the Blood of their God. And indeed 't is impossible but that those sharp Wits that did so industriously carp at any thing that seemed strange and odd to them in the Christian Religion and the Professors of it and either invented or spread most malicous Calumnies against them I say 't is impossible but that they should have flung this in their Teeth if any such thing had been believed by them For this is a more extravagant Folly than any with which the Fathers did or could upbraid the most sottish among all the Heathens De Nat. Deorum l. 3. Can you think any Man to be so mad said Cicero as to believe that which he eats to be God No the very Egyptians themselves tho the grossest of Idolaters in ancient Times were not so destitute of all Sense or Reason They were so sottish indeed is to worship Sheep Oxen yea and Onions but we never read that they did eat those things they adored This is a singular thing peculiar to those that style themselves Roman Catholicks And as this Doctrine is matter of Sport to those that are without so 't is of no small Torture and Vexation to them that are within the Roman Church It not only hinders Men from entring into their Communion but shakes and staggers many that from their very Infancy have been trained up in it notwithstanding the mighty Prejudices of their Education This was a means of opening the Eyes of our Contry-Man Gage who was formerly a Popish Priest Gage's Survey of West Indies the two last Pages The Story as he himself hath told it in the First Edition of his Survey of the West-Indies for 't is left out in the Second is to this Purpose Being at a certain time Officiating at the Altar he chanced to espy a bold and profane Mouse that it seems had sallied out and seized on the little God Almighty which he carried off before his Face for he ran away with this Saviour of theirs in his Mouth as once their pretended St. Christopher lugged him on his Back The sight of this made him very thoughtful and uneasy in his Mind and indeed well he might to think he had worship'd a God that was not strong enough to secure himself from a little Mouse In short hereupon he began to question the Truth of that Faith he had been trained up in and so long professed and could have no Peace in his own Mind till he had renounced Popery and embraced the Protestant Religion And I am perswaded there are not a few who tho they do not come over to us as he did but still continue in the external Communion of the Roman Church yet in their Hearts they do not and for their Lives they cannot believe Transubstantiation I know indeed 't is hard to determine what Extravagancies both in Opinion and Practice Men may proceed to that are once abandon'd and given up by God to believe strong Delusions When God hath blinded Men they swallow not only Flies but Camels too And Education and Temporal Advantages have a mighty influence on Men's Vnderstandings And therefore I doubt not but many Papists do really believe this Doctrine Yet however many in that Communion tho they wink hard can't choose but see the Nakedness of it so as to be ashamed Answer to Walker's Adoration of the Euch. Pref. p. 11. A late Author not only asserts but proves that Cardinal Perron himself a little before his Death freely confessed to some of his Friends That he thought the Doctrine to be MONSTROUS that he had done his endeavour to COLOUR it OVER the best he could in his Books but that in short he had undertaken an ILL CAUSE and which was not TO BE MAINTAINED Remarkable also is the Story which the same Author tells us That the Learned Arch-BishopVsher Pag. 26. having been so happy as to convert several Roman Priests from their Errours and enquiring diligently of them what they who said Mass every Day and were not obliged to confess Venial Sins could have to trouble their Confessors so continually withal ingenuously acknowledged to him that the chiefest part of their constant Confession was their Infidelity as to the Point of Transubstantiation and for which as was most fit they mutually quitted and absolved one another To this I shall add one thing more which I do not find that any one of late hath taken notice of and 't is out of the same Reverend and most Learned Arch-Bishop Usher in his Sermon Preached before the King's Majesty Anno 1624. of the Vniversality of the Church of Christ and lately Re-printed at the end of his Answer to the Jesuits Challenge In that Sermon saith he Pag. 19. I can testify that when I have dealt with some of the Common People that would be accounted Members of the Roman Church and demanded of them what they thought of that which I knew to be the common Tenet of their Doctors in this Point they not only REJECTED IT WITH INDIGNATION but wonder'd also that I should imagine any of their side to be so FOOLISH as to give Credit to such a SENSELESS THING But yet tho there are so many Infidels among them Multitude being a Note of the true Church it seems they are resolved that they will not want for Company and therefore they would perswade us that the Brutes themselves are many of them turned good Roman Catholicks Of this we have a good Account in a small Book entituled the School of the Eucharist a Book not printed a long time since in a dark and ignorant Age but so lately as the Year 1672 and newly translated into English wherein are contained many marvellous Stories of the mighty Devotions of Beasts Birds Insects Bees Spiders Horses Dogs Asses c. towards the holy Sacrament of the Altar Several famous Philosophers indeed
the nine hundredth year of Christ the third Indiction a new Age begins which by reason of its Asperity and Barrenness of Good is wont to be called the Iron Age from the Deformity of abounding Wickedness the Leaden and from the Scarcity of Writers the obscure Age. And ad An. 974 he saith That the whole World was overspread with Darkness as thick as that in Egypt and again ad An. 992 that at that time as it was reported there were scarce any Learned Men at Rome And abundance more to the same Purpose Platina calls the Popes of those days monstra portenta hominum Genebrard in Chron. of the 9th Century calls it the unhappy Age being barren of ingenions and learned Men and complains that the Popes were altogether fallen from the Vertue of their Predecessours and were rather Apostates than Apostles Bellarmine cries out vide Seculum infelix Behold the unhappy Age in which were not to be found any famous Writers or Councils Pope Sergius was a Slave to all Vices and a most wicked Man. Baronius ad An. 908. Severall succeeding Popes were of the Breed of this Sergius and his famous Strumpet Murazia who had a great Hand in making and unmaking of Popes John the 13th one of Murozia's Brats made Deacons in his Stable among his Horses and Boys Bishops drank a Health to the Devil and was given to Sacriledge Perjury and Adultery as Baleus from Sylvester the 2d An. 999 to Hildebrand or Gregory the 7th inclusively An. 1075. The Popes says Benno were all Negromancers This Gregory or Lurva Diaboli as Luther stiled him poysoned 6 or 7 Popes before he could obtain the Chair he threw the Sacrament into the Fire and was at last deposed for his intolerable Enormities It were easy to prosecute this to a great Length and produce Multitudes of Instances out of their own Authors of the lamentable Ignorance and Wickedness both of Clergy and Laity in those Ages Now in this time when Darkness and Profaneness were grown over the Face of the Church and Church-men minded nothing but the Advancement of their Lusts and secular Interests this deformed and mishapen Monster first appeared And Disputes arose about the real Presence which some begun then to assert but were opposed by Bertram Erigena Rabanus and others in the 9th Century and by Berengarius in the 11th About the year 1170 Lombard begun to assert that the Substance of the Bread was turned into the Body and the Substance of the Wine into the Blood of Christ Sent. L. 4. dist 10. Lit. D. yet Distinct 11 Lit. A. He confesseth that he was not able to define the Manner of it But having reckoned up several Opinions he concludes that there is no Substance left but the Body and Blood of Christ and therefore Distinct 12. Lit. A. determines that the Accidents of the Bread and Wine exist sine Subjecto After Lombard this Subject became the great Apple of Contention among the School-Men who ventilated it to and fro by many Disputations whereby it was kept alive till at last in the fourth Council of Lateran under Innocent the 3d An. 1215. It was established as a Decree of the Sacred Council and Point of Faith That the Body and Blood of Christ were truly contained under the kinds of Bread and Wine the Bread being transubstantiated into the Body and the Wine into the Blood of Christ This Decree the Council of Trent Sess 13. Can. 2 hath confirmed with an Anathema thundered out against all that deny Transubstantiation And thus this Monster was brought forth and came out in the Midnight of the Church when upon the Matter all Men were fast asleep II. The monstrousness of this Opinion will appear from the Consideration of the Constitution and Nature of Transubstantiation Look upon it in this respect and it will be found to be the most prodigious Monster that ever was brought forth A Monster that is constituted and compounded of many 1. Gross and inextricable Absurdities 2. Manifest Impossibilities and Contradictions 3. Open and abominable Impieties 4. Horrible Blasphemies There is such a Colluvies Cloaca or Sink of all these meeting in Transubstantiation as never met together in any of the most absurd Opinions that the Pagan World hath been given up unto First It is compounded of many gross Absurdities Absurdities against Sense Reason Faith Scripture 1. It goes against Sense Sense when duly disposed or rightly circumstantiated that is when the Organ is sound and right the Medium or Mean fitly qualified and the Object duly proportionated is a competent Judg of things that are the proper Objects of Sense St. Luke therefore brings this as the great Evidence and Proof of the Truth and Certainty of those things which he communicated by Writing unto the World concerning our Saviour's Person Doctrine and Miracles Luke 1.1 2 3. And St. John useth the same Argument 1 Joh. 1.2 3. Yea our Lord Jesus Christ himself when he would convince the Apostles who thought he had been a Spirit at his appearing to them after his Resurrection that it was he himself sends them for Conviction and Satisfaction to their own Senses Luk. 24.36 37 38 39 40. Behold my Hands and my Feet that it is I my self handle me and see for a Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as ye see me have And Joh. 20.27 he useth the same Argument to doubting Thomas Reach hither thy Finger and behold my Hands and reach hither thy Hand and thrust it into my Side and be not faithless but believing Thus Sense is a competent Judg of matters of Sense But now if we receive Transubstantiation we must renounce and go against or clean cross to all our Senses For if we make our Senses when best disposed Judges in this Case and bring a Popish Host or Wafer to this Bar they will all with one accord conclude that it is Bread and not Flesh Bread and nothing else The Eye the Touch the Taste the Smell will all agree in this Yea if Indians or Americans who are perfectly unconcerned in these Matters and know nothing of our Differences be called in to give their Vote in this Controversy they will without all Controversy forthwith determine against Transubstantiation For it is plainly contrary to the common Sense of all Mankind He must have something more than his five Wits about him nay go quite out of all his Senses that finds another Substance and Body than that of Bread in a consecrated Wafer If it be said But our Senses may be deceived and represent things to us otherwise than they are I say true it may be so when there is some indisposition of the Organ or Medium or Object But then if Transubstantiation be true and there be a deception in this Case it must be granted that the Senses of all Men are deceived and that the Senses of all Men are deceived not for once or at some times but constantly Day after Day and Year after Year And that
the World. And certainly it is so for in the Mass a God is set up to be adored 1. That is made by a Creature a filthy Priest 2. That is made by a Creature of a Creature a piece of Bread. 3. That is made by a Creature of a Creature by a kind of magical muttering over of five Words This God made of Bread and rising out of Transubstantiation is the Idol set up in the Mass and the great Idol that is worshipped by Papists with bowing of Heads bending of Knees elevating of Hands knocking Breasts prostrating of Bodies burning of Tapers ringing of Bells playing on Instruments c. And it is the most absurd horrible abominable and monstrous Idol that is or ever was in the World. An Idol that makes the Christian Religion to become a Scorn and Derision a matter of greatest Detestation and Execration both to Jews and Pagans This I say is the great Scandal and Stumbling-block to both That Christians worship a God made of Bread and eat their God. A Jew conferring with Mr. Wiseheart gave him three Reasons why the Jews could not be perswaded to turn Christians 1. The Uncharitableness of Christians toward the Poor 2. The Multitude of Images in the Temples of Christians And 3. The Sacrament of the Altar A piece of Bread says he baken on the Ashes ye adore and worship and say that it is your God. Acts and Mon. 1156. The Turks are no less scandalized by it who use to call the Roman Pope Rex Morionum the King of Idiots for this reason And Averroes the Arabian Mahometan cryed out Quandoquidem Christiani manducant Deum quem adorant sit Anima mea cum Philosophis Let my Lot be among the Philosophers rather than the Christians who eat that God which they adore And upon the Fact of Lewis the 9th mentioned before who pawned his Pyx and Host the Egyptians wrought a Wafer Cake and a Box in the Borders of their Tapestry which may yet be seen in the Tapestry which is brought out of Egypt And this was done in perpetual Memory of this thing viz. Ridente Turca nec dolente Judaeo That they had the Christian God in Pawn and to make Christianity a Deridiculum a matter to be derided and laughed at all over the World. And so I may allude to Hosea 7.16 This shall be or is their dirision in the Land of Egypt These are some of the Births that Transubstantiation hath blessed the World with And we have viewed it now in its Rise and Original Nature and Constitution Fruits and Consequents From which we may see that it is not only a most stupid and absurd Fiction but also a most gross and monstrous Abomination In the next place we shall consider the chief Foundations that the Romanists would build this Doctrine upon or the principal Arguments they go about to prove it by Now they endeavour to set it up and maintain it four Ways I. By the Scriptures II. By the Fathers III. By Councils and IV. By Reasons First The first sort of Arguments are taken from the Holy Scriptures And so they argue 1. From these Words of our Saviour This is my Body On these Words they bottom Transubstantiation and their chief strength lieth in them And the whole strength of the Argument taken from them rests on this Basis or Bottom viz. That Christ said This is my Body Hence Bellarmine lib. 3. de Euchar. cap. 19. argues thus These Words This is my Body do necessarily inferr either a real mutation of the Bread as Catholicks hold or a metaphorical as Calvenists but can in no wise admit the Lutheran Sence For our Lord took Bread into his Hands and blessed it and gave it to his Disciples and said of it This is my Body Therefore he took Bread he blessed Bread he gave Bread and of Bread he said This is my Body either therefore by blessing he changed it into his Body truly and properly or improperly and figuratively by adding a new Signification or he made no Change of it if he changed it properly then he gave changed Bread and of Bread truly changed he said most truly This is my Body that is that which is contained under the form of Bread is not Bread now but my Body And this says he is that which the Catholicks hold to prove that this is the true and genuine Sence of the Word They say 1. That our Saviour spake plainly clearly and properly so as the Disciples might understand him and not figuratively darkly and obscurely 2. That we must keep to the literal Sence and proper signification of our Saviour's Words and he said expresly This is my Body In answer to this Argument I would say 1st That many of the Romanists themselves acknowledg that Transubstantiation cannot be proved from these Words both Cardinals and famous Schoolmen as Cardinal Cajetan in 3 Thom. q. 75. Art. 1. Petrus de Aliaco Card. Cameracensis in 4 Sent. dist 11. q. 6. Art. 1. Card. Roffensis or Fisher of Rochester contra Capt. Bab. Lutheri c. 10. and Perron the great Cardinal of France professeth That he believed Transubstantiation not by virtue of any necessary Consequence or Reason brought by their Doctors but by the Words of Christ as they are expounded by Tradition And Schoolmen as Biel Lec 40. in Can. Missae Occam lib. 4. sent dist 11. q. 6. Vasquez Tom. 3. in 3. dist 180. Canus loc Commun l. 3. c. 3. Cassand in Consult de Trans p. 66. Tannerus in compend relat Colloq Ratisbon par 2. c. 6. p. 37. reckons up Transubstantiation among the Points Non est improbabile non extare locum in Scriptura tam expressum ut sine Ecclesiae declaratione evidenter cogat Transubstantiationem admittere quae in scriptura sola non continentur nec ea sola evidentur deducuntur Yea Bellarmine after that he had wearied himself on this Argument concludes it with these Words Albeit there were some obscurity or ambiguity in the Words of our Lord yet that is taken away by many Councils and the Consent of the Fathers A Tacit Confession But afterwards Chap. 23. he is more express when he says It is not improbable that there is not any place extant in the Scripture so express as may without the declaration of the Church evidently enforce the admission of Transubstantiation Thus their own greatest Divines have not been satisfied that this Scripture nor yet any other doth afford a Foundation for Transubstantiation 2. The Popish Sense is not true Our Saviour by these Words This is my Body did not change the Bread into his real Body 1. The order of our Saviour's Words doth evince and evidence this For he took Bread and had them Take and Eat before he pronounced these Words This is my Body which doth plainly imply and import that the Bread was his Body before the pronouncing of these Words and not made or transubstantiated into his Body by the pronunciation of them
concerning the Cup are This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for you Take these properly and then 1. The New Testament is the Contents of the Cup. and 2. The New Testament is shed for us And could this be Can it be said without monstrous Absurdity that the New Testament was shed for us Or that it was Letters Words Syllables Lines that were shed for us for the Remission of Sins Thus which way soever they turn them the literal Sense is absurd and makes our Saviour's Words ridiculous And this may be enough to shew the Sandiness and Unsoundness of the Foundation whereon they bottom this Doctrine Now the Foundation being overturned the Super-structures fall therewith of themselves To wit that that which is in the Cup is real Blood or Wine turned into the very Blood of Jesus Christ because 1. He calls it his Blood. 2. He calls it the New Testament in his Blood. And 3. Saith of it that it is shed I say this Interpretation falls with the Foundation that it is built on and needs no Answer Yet I shall say a Word 1. In general that all these Forms of Speech are Sacramental Terms and must not be taken in a literal and proper Sense but in a Sacramental and improper Signification whereby the Names of the things signified are given to the Signs that do signify them 2. In particular 1. When he saith of that in the Cup This is my Blood the meaning is this is that which signifieth or representeth my Blood the Sign of my Blood. 2. When he saith This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood the meaning is the Wine in this Cup is the Sign and Seal of the New Testament established in my Blood shed upon the Cross or the Sign of my Blood whereby the New Testament is confirmed 3. When he saith it is shed the meaning is it is the Sign of the shedding of my Blood. The Effusion made in the Sacrament was a Sign or Representation of the Effusion which was to be made the next day upon the Cross I have now done with the Plea they make for the Transubstantiation of the Wine from the Words of the Institution III. We shall now come to the 3d in a word to shew that the Wine is not transubstantiated into the Blood of Christ And this may be evinced First From the Absurdities Contradictions and Blasphemies that it carrieth in it These are too many to be enumerated here besides those even now named arising out of the literal Construction of the Words and those mentioned before that attend the Transubstantiation of the Bread which come in again here It labours with these four great Absurdities Grant but Transubstantiation and then according to their own Principles 1. The Wine is transubstantiated into the Cup. 2. The Cup is transubstantiated into the Blood of Christ 3. The Blood of Christ is transubstantiated into a Testament 4. The Testament is shed for the Remission of Sins All these are absurd enough Secondly From its plain Contrariety unto and Inconsistency with the great End and Fruit of Christ's Death Nothing is more plain in Scripture than these two 1. That Christ died or shed his Blood on the Cross to merit and obtain for us Remission of Sins 1 Cor. 15.3 Gal. 1.4 Eph. 5.2 Rom. 4.25 Isa 53.10 c. And 2. That by his Death and Blood-shed on the Cross Remission was obtained Colos 1.20 and 1.14 Eph. 1.7 Revel 1.5 But if as Transubstantiation supposeth the Wine in the Cup was turned into the Blood of Christ and this Blood of Christ was shed in the Sacrament for the Remission of the Sins of the World then the Passion Death and Bloodshed of Christ upon the Cross was both needless and fruitless He attained not his End in dying his Death profited nothing for that which he died for was obtained before he died to obtain it So that as the Apostle said of Justification by works Gal. 2.21 If Righteousness come by the Law then Christ is dead in vain so I may say if Remission of Sins come by the Blood shed in the Sacrament then Christ is dead in vain Thus it takes away the End and Fruit of Christ's Death the Love of God in giving him to die for our Sins the Love of Christ in laying down his Life for us and makes him die in vain Thirdly From the express Words of Christ Matt. 26.29 Mark 14.25 Verily I say unto you I will drink no more of the Fruit of the Vine until the day that I drink it new in the Kingdom of God. These are our Lord 's own Words after he had instituted and celebrated this Sacrament and they put the Matter out of question for he could not more plainly and clearly have said that it was Wine which he had drunk and not Blood. 3. Arg. If in the Eucharist the Elements be transubstantiated into the proper Body and Blood of Christ then the Church of the Jews in the Old Testament did not eat the same Meat and drink the same Drink in their Sacrament that the Christian Church now in the New Testament eats and drinks in her Sacrament But the Church of the Jews did eat the same Meat and drink the same Drink that the Christian Church now doth And therefore there is no Transubstantiation Here are two things to be proved 1. That if there be any such a Transubstantiation as the Papists maintain then the Church of the Jews did not eat the same Meat and drink the same Drink that Christians now do in the Sacrament And this is plain and evident for granting Transubstantiation the Christian Church now eats the Body and drinks the Blood of Christ as he was born of the Virgin Mary But so did not the Church of the Jews nor could for Christ was not then Incarnate nor had either Body or Blood. 2. That the Church of the Jews did eat the same Meat and drink the same Drink that the Christian Church now doth And this is as plain and evident from the express Words of the Apostle 1 Cor. 10.3 4. And did all eat the same Spiritual Meat and did all drink the same Spiritual Drink For they drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ. Observe 1st They did eat the same Meat and drink the same Drink That is Eandem escam potum non tantum inter se sed nobiscum habuerunt Quid est eandem nisi quia eam quam etiam nos Eandem ergo cibum eandem potum sed intelligentibus credentibus non intelligentibus autem Manna sola Aqua Credentibus autem idem qui nunc Tunc enim Christus venturus modo Christus venit venturus venit diversa verba sunt idem autem Christus Aug. Tract 26. in Joh. 1. Not in regard of the external and visible Symbols or Signs For they ate Manna and drank Water We eat Bread and drink Wine 2. But in
regard of Signification or resignificata the Manna and Rock were the same to them that the Bread and Cup are to us to wit Sacramental Symbols of the same Things differing only signis modo significandi 2. This same Meat which they did eat and Drink which they did drink was Spiritual Meat and Drink i. e. not in Nature or Substance but in Signification and Representation Ob spiritualem significationem 3. This same Spiritual Meat and Drink was Christ 1. Not Corporally Substantially and Essentially 2. But Symbolically Symbolum erat Christi representing and exhibiting the same Christ and Grace of Christ to them that the Supper doth to us 4. They ate this same Spiritual Meat and drank this same Spiritual Drink That is 1. All of them ate this same Meat Sacramentally Ore. 2. Some of them i. e. Believers ate it Spiritually also Fide. Thus the Church of the Jews ate the same Spiritual Meat that we do And this doth evidently prove the Popish Transubstantiation to be a meer Fiction 4. Arg. If the Bread be converted into the Body of Christ then not only wicked Men but Dogs and Hogs Rats and Mice may eat the real Body of Christ and consequently according to their Principles have Eternal Life That they may eat the true Body of Christ is plain for they may eat that that remains after the Consecration and after this there remains nothing but 1. The Accidents of the Bread these cannot be eaten 2. The Body of Christ this therefore must be eaten by them What say they to this 1. None of them deny but the Consecrated Host may be eaten by any of these or other Vermin As is evident from the Cauteles of the Mass wherein they do not deny these gross Absurdities or as they call them Inconveniences but appoint certain Rules to be observed about them and go about to salve them 2. But yet they are miserably divided and confounded among themselves Some say that the Mice Rats c. do not eat the Body of Christ others say they do Some that the Body of Christ vanishes as soon as ' ere the Teeth of the Mouse touch the Host some that the Substance of the Bread returns Others that a new Substance is created which the Mouse eats and others God only knows quid mus sumat vel quid manducet what the Mouse eats and what becomes of the Body of Christ when the Mouse eats the Host Thus they are driven to monstrous Shifts And as ill are they set with the Worms and Vermin that breed in the Host when it is over-long kept which are generated either of the Air about the Host or the Accidents of the Bread or of the Substance of the Bread returned or of Matter then created or introduced from some other Body or they know not how Portentu Opinionum 5. If there be any Transubstantiation Then the Body of Christ is daily created Either 1. Out of the Substance of the Virgin. Or 2. Out of the Substance of the Bread. Or 3. Out of nothing But they will not tell us of which 6. If the Bread be turned into the Body of Christ then as often as they Communicate the Body of Christ is 1. Turned into the Substance of their Bodies Or 2. Totally annihilated Or 3. Flyes away to Heaven Or 4. Unknown what becomes of it But 1. Not the First for then they should be Hypostatically united to the Divine Nature 2. Nor the Second as some of them grant 3. Not the Third for then who can tell how many Millions of Christs are this Day in Heaven Therefore no Body knows what becomes of it I have now given as plain a Representation of Transubstantiation as I could as it is received in the Church of Rome with the Sandy Foundations it is built upon and a few of the many Arguments that do clearly evert and overturn it I shall now shut up all in a few Words If it be asked What need was there of this or what use may it be of unto us I say this strange Monster Transubstantiation setteth before us matter First Of Information and may inform us 1. Of the amazing Apostacy of the Church of Rome and those that are devoted to her Communion Here was once a famous and flourishing Church a Church honoured by the Apostle with this high Testimony that her Faith was spoken of throughout the whole World Rom. 1.8 i. e. in all the Churches through the World. And that her Obedience was come abroad unto all Men Rom. 16.19 Thus she was once famous all the Christian World over for her exemplary Faith and Obedience Who could have thought that ever such a Monster as this should have had its Conception in and been born of her Womb and being born have been owned by her taken into her Belief and made one of the most important Articles of her Faith Yet alas so it is Oh how is the Gold become dim How is the most fine Gold changed How is she that was once a pure Virgin and the chaste Spouse of Christ become the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth Rev. 17.5 2. Of the Genius and Nature of Popery or Rome's Religion at this Day It would be a tedious work to describe it in the several Parts and Members of it But we may know a Lion by his Paw and so what Popery is a Religion more after Homer than after the Scripture As Mr. Broughton by this one piece or part of it or from this Monster that is maintained in it This alone if what is said be considered and weighed impartially may give any Man enough of Popery Be a sufficient Disswasive from Popery For if all were well to this and nothing but Transubstantiation with its Appendices lying in the way yet Transubstantiation alone is such a foul mishapen terrible and dreadful Spectrum Hagg or Night-Ghost as is sufficient to fright all that are not either stark blind or stark mad out of their witts already from a thought of looking that way 3. How sadly the Common People are misled and what strange Absurdities and Contradictions they do ignorantly receive and implicitly believe in the thick Darkness they are brought into and kept in What can be more ridiculously absurd than this Fiction Yet through their own wonderful Ignorance and the thin Sophistry of their Leaders it is received without any hesitation by them as a great Mystery and so indeed it is but of Iniquity 4. What strange and strong Delusions Men and Men of Parts and Learning may be given up unto It is not to be denied that many of the Romanists have been Men of vast Parts and Learning nor to be doubted but many of them are so Yet they not receiving the Truth but minding their Secular Advantages and making Religion to serve a corrupt carnal worldly Interest have been given up to such a strong Delusion as to believe this grand Cheat and impose it upon the Faith of others Oh! to what a
height of Delusion Men may be left to believe a Lie a Lie that hath scarce any Vail to cover it a Lie that hath no Sense or Reason in it a Lie that bears upon its Forehead monstrous Absurdities and portentous Contradictions Verily in this according as was foretold 2 Thess 2.11 we have a visible and tremendous Instance of one of the greatest depths of the Judgment of God upon them Let it warn to beware to watch and pray that we enter not into Temptation Some are confident enough and think they can never so far lose themselves as to take up the Doctrines and Practises of Rome But Sirs we have need to shake off Carnal Security to maintain a holy Fear and watchful Care and live in a continual dependence on God for preventing and preserving Grace and Help in an hour of Temptation and day of Tryal For if once we begin to warp but a little to leave God his Truth and Way and God leave us I know no Delusions so strange and monstrous but we may be given up to believe them even to this that is made up of nothing but portentous Absurdities c. 5. How just a Cause our blessed Martyrs in the Marian Days were engaged in and suffered for Some Protestant Pens and Tongues in our Days have made unhandsome and sinister Reflections upon that noble Army of Martyrs of whom the World was not worthy But a Reflection upon this monstrous Fiction that most of them went to the Stake and sacrificed themselves in Flames in opposition to is enough to clear their Innocency and justify them in their Sufferings in the Consciences of all that are not given over to a Reprobate Mind Secondly Transubstantiation sets before us matter of just Admiration And we may wonder and stand amazed 1. At the monstrous Impudency of the first Founders of it That ever Men bearing the Name of Christians should arrive at such a height of Impudence as to obtrude upon the Christian World the Entertainment and Belief of a Tale and feigned Devise so portentous and prodigious even beyond all the Poetical Fictions of the Pagans I may without any Breach of Charity pass the Censure on Transubstantiation that Ludovicus Vives passed on the Golden Legend viz. That it was written by a Man ferrei oris plumbei cordis who was lost to all Shame and whom nothing could dash out of Countenance So I say Transubstantiation was minted by Men to be wondered at for their Confidence and Impudence 2. At the lamentable Simplicity and Credulity of the first Receivers and Believers of it As it is a matter to be wondered at that any Men could be so impudent to invent it so it is no less wonderful that any Men should have been so very sottish and simple as to receive such a putid Trump into their Belief It is unimaginable how this could be possible if Men had been waking when it came upon them 3. At the horrible Induration of the present Supporters and Maintainers of it This is yet the greatest and most amazing Wonder of all that now after the breaking out of the clear Light of the Gospel and the frequent exposing of this Monster by such a number of learned Men of the Reformed Churches there should still any appear in the patronizing defence and supportation of it Here is infinite Cause to wonder and we might wonder our selves into an inextricable maze if the Holy Ghost had not given us a Clew to lead us out 2 Thess 2.11 Thirdly Transubstantiation presents unto us matter of Commiseration Matter that calls lowd on us for Bowels of Pity and Compassion towards Myriads of Souls in the Papacy 1. That have such grievous Impositions laid upon them and have no other choice left them but either to swallow down such Contradictions and monstrous Doctrines as this or to be sacrificed in merciless Flames 2. That are compassed about with such a thick Mist of Popish Darkness that they do not in the least see or discern this and other Mysteries of Iniquity that fill the Synagogues of Antichrist This is a most deplorable Case and God knows it is the Case of Multitudes at this day in the midst of the Papacy 3. That are running such infinite hazards of their Souls and eternal Estates from one Generation to another It is far from me to think of using that Uncharitableness towards them which they with one Consent practise against us viz. To pronounce all that are in that Communion to be in a State of Damnation This is a Piece of Cruelty that doth no way become Christians There is a Distinction to be made of Persons Times Places and Practices See the excellent Discourse of Mr. Durham on Revel 14. Lect. 3 about the Salvation of Papists But this I say they run an extreme Hazard on many accounts that live and dye in this Communion tho they do not give an explicite Assent to the complex Body of her Doctrine and Worship Even the Adoration of a piece of Bread rising out of Transubstantiation as very God is the grossest Idolatry that can be used Now in all these Respects the common Multitude are the Object of our Compassion and the Consideration of their hard and hazardous Condition should move our Pity Oh Christians Pity them and pray pray that God would open their Eyes reveal this great Mystery of Iniquity unto them and bring them out of Babylon where they are running such an Adventure Pray down the Antichristian State and pray home the poor lost Sheep into Christ's Fold that are in the Pope's Pinfold and Tents of Antichrist Fourthly Transubstantiation brings matter of great Gratitude and Thankfulness unto all our Doors Sirs when we think of this how can we be enough thankful unto our God for his Goodness 1. That we were brought forth from under the Clouds and Darkness of Popery and in the days of the glorious breakings out of the Gospel Diis gratias agere debeo non quia natus est mihi filius sed quod tuis temporibus ipsum nasci contingit When Alexander was born his Father Philip blessed the Gods not so much that he had a Son as that he had him in Aristotle's Days But how should we bless God for bringing us forth in Gospel-Times This is the Priviledge which that eminent German Divine Abraham Bucholâ—zer was so affected with that he always accounted it his great Happiness that he was born after the Light of the Gospel break forth and bred up under Melancthon And Chytreus acknowledged it as a singular Mercy that God had made him a Man a Christian and that he had his Education under those excellent Lights of the Church Luther and Melancthon Let this be thy Song O Christian and say with the Psalmist I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live Psal 104.33 I will sing Praise unto my God while I have my Being who hath brought me forth not in days covered with the dismal Darkness of Popery but crowned with a clear Discovery of the Gospel 2. That we have enjoyed a Freedom from these Popish Impositions while other poor Protestants have had bitter and bloody Storms falling on them If we look back to the last hundredth of Years now past who can reckon up a thousand Part of those Sufferings that have fallen heavily upon the French German Bohemian Hungarian Netherland Polish and Irish Protestants for refusing to admit of and submit to these things Oh! Transubstantiation and other Romish Abominations have cost Millions of Lives and Rivers of Blood while we have sat in a Calm and not once tasted of the Popish Fury and Cruelty 3. That to this day we are delivered from this and the many other grievous Impositions of Rome O what a Complication of Mercies have we in this one great Mercy that after all the Contrivances and Attempts of the Papists for this hundred years we may at this day set up our Stone and call it Eben-ezer saying 1 Sam. 7.12 Hitherto hath the Lord helped us Fifthly Transubstantiation doth moreover suggest unto us matter of daily Supplication and calls us to our Knees to beg with Eyes Hands and Hearts lifted up to Heaven for Protection Preservation and Deliverance from the return and re-enterance of the Religion of this degenerated and Apostate Church that brings this Monster in its Womb which if embraced will destroy and damn our Souls and if rejected will destroy and burn our Bodies to Ashes and cost us no less than our Souls or our Lives I find that there was in the Liturgy of Edward the sixth a Prayer to be delivered from the Usurpation Tyranny and Enormities of the Bishop of Rome which was afterwards taken out to take away as is said the Offence that it gave unto the Papists but verily how much soever it may offend them we have much need to put it into our daily Litanies or humble Supplications and to pray without ceasing that we may never fall back into that most woful lamentable and forlorn Estate that a Return of Popery will quickly plunge and sink us into The Pope solemnly curseth us upon Good-friday whereupon one prayed that he may so curse us still and never bless us more as he blessed us in Queen Marie's Time. To this Prayer let all that have any Love for their Religion any Detestation of the worst of Errors and Idolatries any Concernment for their Souls any Care of their Estates Lives and Posterities and would not run unspeakable Hazards for both Worlds say AMEN FINIS