Melchisedech brought forth bread and wine to refreshe Abraham and his seruauntes in their returne from the slaughter of the kinges Yea and for this matter that you make so light of he citeth the Hebrue text translating the Hebrue verbe Hotzi Protulit not obtulit thereby making his iudgement of that place manifest If you can proue that Hierome or any other wryter haue in this place vsed obtulit in any other sense then protulit is here vsed in the plaine text I must be bolde to vse Hieroms owne wordes against himselfe and the rest In his Commentarie vpon Math he sayth Hoc quia de scripturis non habet authoritatem In Math. 23. eadem facilitate contemnitur qua probatur Because this thing hath none authoritie of the scripture it is as easily contemned as alowed And in his Apologie of his bookes against Iouinian he sayeth Apolog. lib. aduers Ioui Commentatoris officium est non quid ipse velit sed quid sentiat ille quem interpretatur exponere Alioqui si contraria dixerit non tam interpres erit quam aduersarius eius quem nititur explanare Certe vbicunque scripturas non interpretor libere de meo sensu loquor The dutie of a good interpreter arguat me cui libet durum quid dixisse contra nuptias It is the duetie of one that doth comment vpon the wrytings of other to expound not what he himselfe lusteth but what the meaning of him is whome he doth enterpret Otherwise if he shall say contrarie he shall rather be an aduersarie then an interpretour of him whome he would explane Truely whensoeuer I doe not interpret the scriptures but doe fréely vtter mine owne meaning let him that lusteth reprehend me as one that hath vttred some hard saying against mariage Yet one other place you cite out of Hierome Hiero. quest in Genesim to vnderprop your Popishe priesthood withall Mysterium nostrum c. By thys worde order he did signifie c. If you had bene disposed to deale plainely you would haue ioyned the former part of the Oration with the latter and not haue picked out the latter to serue your purpose leauing out the first Melchisedechs blessing declared Saint Hierome sayth that the Apostle saint Paule in his Epistle to the Hebrues making mention of Melchisedechs being without father and mother doth referre it vnto Christ and by Christ to the Church of the Gentiles For sayth he the glorie of euery head is referred to the members bicause one that was not circumcised did blesse Abraham that was circumcised and in Abraham he blessed Leui and by Leui he blessed Aaron of whome the priesthood did afterwarde come Whereof he would haue vs gather that the priesthood of that Church that was not circumcised did blesse the circumcised priesthood of the Synagoge And then folow the wordes that you should haue cyted Quod autem ait Tu es sacerdos in aeternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech Mysterium nostrum in verbo ordinis significatur c as you haue cyted Our mysterie is signified sayth saint Hierome but you tell not vpon what occasion he sayde so Where as the Apostle sayth sayde saint Hierome thou art a priest after the order of Melchisedech our mysterie is signified in the worde order Not by Aaron in offering vp sacrifices of vnreasonable beastes but by bread and wine that was offered that is the bodye and bloud of the Lorde Iesus Thus farre saint Hierome You must néedes graunt that our mysterie is our coupling togither into members of one body in Christ wherof saint Paule speaketh to the Ephesians When he sayth Mysterium hoc magnum est Ephes 5. ego autem dico in Christo Ecclesia This mysterie is great sayth Saint Paule but I speake it of Christ and the congregation Of the same speaketh saint Austen in his Sermon Ad Infantes Where he sayth thus Vos estis corpus Christi membra Si ergo vos estis corpus Christi membra mysterium vestrum in mensa Domini positum est Citatur à Beda in collect mysterium Domini accipitis Ad id quod estis amen respondetis c. You are the body and members of Christ If you therefore be the body and members of Christ your mysterie is set vpon the Lordes table you receyue the Lordes mysterie To the thing that you your selues are you aunswere Amen And in aunswering you doe subscribe This mysterie was not signified by Aarons sacrifices sayth saint Hierome but by the bread and wine that Melchisedech brought forth to refreshe Abraham and his Souldiours withall 1. Cor. 10. August in Ioh. Tract 26. Which bread and wine was the body and bloud of the Lord Iesus euen as the Manna that fell from heauen and the water that issued out of the rock were the same Your application of this place of Hierome might well haue bene spared therfore if you had dealt plainly with your auditory For it is now manifest to the reader that saint Hierome ment nothing lesse then to teache that Christ offered himselfe once at two times and after two orders The order of Melchisedech declared but he buyldeth vpon saint Paules wordes who sayth that Christ was not a priest to offer after Aarons order but after the order of Melchisedech an eternall and euerlasting sacrifice Now must Austen help you to patch out this matter August in Psal 33. De Ciuit. Dei li. 17. cap. 20. Vpon the tytle of .33 Psalme he sayth thus Coram Regno Patris sui c. And vpon this sentence of Ecclesiastes Non est bonum homini c he sayth thus Quid credibilius dicere c. If saint Austen should in these two places teach as in your application you doe beare your Auditorie in hande that he doth teache Watson would haue Austen teach false doctrine then were his doctrine most false and contrarie to the Euangelicall hystorie For where as the Gospell sayth that Christ did institute the sacrament of his body and bloud the night before he suffered saint Austen must say if you apply his words aright that he did first suffer and then institute the sacrament of his body and bloud afterward But I will not for your pleasure conceyue such an opinion of Austen for I know he was farre from that shamefull errour and open falshood He taught truely that in the time of the olde lawe among the people of the Iewes Christ was a sacrifice after the order of Aaron for by euery bloudy sacrifice was the death of Christ plainely set forth to as many as had eyes to looke and se thorow the shadow of the law But after al those sacrifices that were offered in the shadow of a thing to come he prepared a sacrifice after the order of Melchisedech that is euerlasting and that of his owne body and bloud which is the foode that féedeth into euerlasting lyfe And that this is saint Austens meaning is
in Israell in king Ierobohams time and Baals sacrifices in the dayes of king Ahab You saye it is an enimie and remedie against sinne and you take record of Cyprian the holy Martir and witnesse of Christ but if he were liuing he woulde giue you little thanke to take him to witnesse in so manifest an vntruth In déede Cyprian speaketh reuerentlye and trulye of the holy supper of the Lorde for it is both a remedie to heale our infirmities and a brent offering to purge our iniquities For as S. Austen sayth carnall men must by the degrées and steps of sacramentes be brought from those things that be séene with the bodily eyes August octogint quest 41. to those that be vnderstanded by the minde And so doe sacraments cure our infirmities And as the brent offerings did preach to the offerers that if they woulde haue their iniquities purged by Christ they must offer themselues wholy to God by obedience to his will Euen so doth this holy supper teach vs to offer our soules and bodies in obedience to worke his will whose members we be Thus doth it both cure our infirmities and purge our iniquities as Cyprian hath sayd in the place that you cite WATSON Diuision 6 This little time that I haue now I entende God willing to bestow in this matter to reduce into your remembrance the foundation and commoditie of thys sacrifice of the Church and to repel such bolts as the foolishnesse of some and the malice of other haue shot against it that knowing the necessitie and goodnesse of it we may follow the counsell of S. Bernarde which sayd Discamus eius humilitatem Bernardus homil 3. super missus est imitemur mansuetudinem amplectamur dilectionem communicemus passionibus tauemur in sanguine eius ipsum offeramus propitionem pro peccatis nostris quoniam ad hoc ipse natus datus est nobis Ipsum occulis patris ipsum offeramus suis quia pater proprio filio suo non pepercit sed pro nobis tradidit illum c. Let vs learne his humillitie let vs followe his meekenesse and gentlenesse let vs embrace his loue let vs communicate his passions by suffring with him let vs bee washed in his bloud let vs offer him the propitiation or a sacrifice propitiatorie for our sinnes for to this ende was he borne and giuen to vs let vs offer hym to hys fathers eyes let vs offer him to his owne eyes for the father hath not spared his owne sonne but hath giuen him for vs and so forth Your purpose is you say in this sermon to reduce into the remembrance of your Auditorie CROWLEY the foundation and commoditie of the Masse For that it is that you call the sacrifice of the Church and to repell the bolts c. As foolishe and malicious as you accompt them that haue shot boltes at your Blackbird the Masse yet haue they bestowed them so wisely and charitably in the defence of the true Turtle Doue the Church of Iesus Christ that you nor any of your sort neuer yet hath bene or euer hereafter shall be able to repell them as you bragge that you minde to doe As for your place of Bernarde it might be aunswered with this common saying Bernardus non vidit omnia Bernarde sawe not all things for his antiquitie is vnder fiue hundred yeares So that it was a wonder that he saw any thing the time wherein he liued being so ouershadowed with the cloudes of ignoraunce and superstition and he himselfe also being a Monke by profession Yet will I not so reiect him Bernard was the flower of his time bicause he was the flower of hys time and séemeth by his writings to sée more than he durst well vtter with his tongue or penne And this sentence that you cite out of his Homilie serueth not so much for your purpose as you séeme to think that it doth For what maner of spéeches are these Cōmunicemus passionibus lauemur in sanguine eius Are they not Metaphores For if we vse these words in their proper signification how is it possible for vs to doe the thing that Bernarde exhorteth vs to doe Can we by any meanes suffer any part of that passion that Christ suffered in his owne person And is it possible for vs to bathe our bodies in his bloud I thinke you be not so mad as once to thinke it And why will you then snatch the next sentence which is Ipsum offeramus c. Let vs offer him a sacrifice propitiatorie for our sinnes for to that ende he was borne and giuen vnto vs and vrge that as a proper speach where as it is manifest that to speake properly it cannot be true that any eyther can or euer coulde or euer shall be able to offer vp Christ to his father but he himselfe only We therfore can offer Christ to his father none otherwise than we can bathe our selues in his bloude That is by beléeuing the promise that God the father hath made therein and by receyuing the sacrament Baptisme Now we can offer Christ to his father the seale of that promise on Gods behalfe and of our faith on our behalfe So can not we otherwise offer Christ to his father than by beléeuing that he is that breade of life that came from heauen and that gaue himselfe for the life of the worlde and by receiuing that sacramentall breade and wine which he commaunded to be receyued in remembraunce of his death and passion Thus I trust all indifferent men doe sée how you doe wrest the wordes of Bernarde to make them serue your purpose WATSON Diuision 7. And also as the same Bernarde more plainly writeth in an other place saying thus Pauperes sumus parum dare possumus attamen reconciliari possumus pro paruo illo si volumus totum quod dare possum Bernar. Sermo 1. De Epith. miserum corpus istud est illud si dedero satis est si quo minus addo corpus ipsius nam illud de meo est meum est paruulus enim natus est nobis filius datus est nobis De te domine suppleo quod minus habeo in me O dulcissuma reconciliatio We are poore and little can we giue yet for that little we may be reconciled to God if we wil. Al that I am able to giue is this wretched body of mine If I giue that it is sufficient If it be not I adde also Christes bodie for that is mine and of mine for a little one is borne vnto vs the sonne is giuen vnto vs. O Lord that lacketh in mee I supplie of thee O most sweetest reconciliation See howe S. Bernarde ioyneth the offering of our bodies and of Christes bodie togither That if the oblation of oure bodies be imperfite and suffice not the oblation of Christs bodie maye fulfill and supplie that lacketh in vs. And to what ende That we might be
endued me with benefites but thou hast also rewarded me with spirituall pleasures which are here signified by the table And thys table sayth he hast thou prepared in the presence of mine enimies that when they sée it they may be sorrowfull and euen waste away with sorrowe Or else agaynst them that is contrarie to that which they doe desire or would wishe For they doe alwayes endeuour rather to make me sorrowfull and heauie Or else he doth vnderstand by the table the fruition of those good things to come which God hath prepared for them that loue him or the table of the aultar whereon that mysticall supper doth lye or else he doth vnderstande by it morall vertue If it had pleased you to haue cyted all these wordes your witnesse should haue appéered a farre more honest man then you And some of your faithfull hearers whose credite you would not by your curiositie séeme to mistrust would surely haue sayde that you had produced a wytnesse against your selfe Watson hath produced a wytnesse against himselfe For what one worde is there in all this beside that little péece that you haue picked out that can be wrested to haue any shewe to serue your purpose And these words also as they stand in the Authors writing can no more serue your purpose then the rest For how doth he vse them otherwise then to shewe that sense among the rest to be an Anagogicall sense And if we may be alowed to alledge scriptures for our purposes in that sense and let passe both the litterall and morall senses as you doe here then let vs as the common saying is facere quidlibet ex quolibet make what we lust of euerye thing as commonly men of your sort vse to doe But nowe what doth Cyprian say to this matter He doth teach vs the same lesson say you Quos excitamus c. Those persons c. You haue so disordred the wordes of Cyprian to frame them for your purpose that they can not otherwise be brought into order agayne then by cyting wholy togither all that which you haue disordred with the rest that you leaue out as not appertayning to your purpose Cyprian hath sayde thus Merito enim trahebatur dolentium paenitentia tempore longiore vt infirmis si qui essent in exitu subueniretur c. The repentaunce of such as sorowed for their fall was for good cause continued for longer time that if any of them should fall sicke we might succour them in their departing out of this lyfe so long as we had tranquilitie and quiet which would suffer vs to deferre the teares of the sorrowful long time and at the last succour them in their infirmitie when they should lye in dying But nowe peace is néedefull not for them that be sick but for such as be strong And we must giue the communion not to them that be at the point of death but to them that lyue that we doe not leaue those vnarmed and naked whom we sturre vp exhort to battle but that we arme them with the protection of the bloud body of Christ And seing the Eucharist or thankesgyuing is made for this purpose that it may be a defence to such as receyue it let vs arme with the defence of the Lords full féeding such as we would wish should be safe against the enimie For how doe we teach and prouoke them to shed their owne bloud in the confession of the name of Christ if we doe denie to giue his bloud in them that must fight Or howe doe we make them méete for the cup of martyrdome if we doe not first admit them in the Church to drinke the cup of the Lorde in the right of communion Here are Cyprians wordes in such sort as he wrote them And the occasion that he had to write thus was the euill opinion that Cornelius then Bishop of Rome had conceyued of Cyprian and other Bishops for that they had receyued to communion such as had before fallen in yéelding to the persecutours by reason of the crueltie of torments vsed vpon them To this doth Cyprian and the other Byshops to the number of .39 answere in this Epistle Shewing as is afore written that it were not méete that such as through frailtie haue fallen and doe with bitter teares lament their fall should when persecution is threatned and lyke to come be driuen from the Lordes table and not suffred to be partakers of that sacrament that our Lorde Iesus hath instituted to be an outwarde assuraunce of that which he hath promised in his worde For what reason were it to perswade men to stande manfully to the profession of Christ and warant them euerlasting lyfe if they suffer losse of this lyfe for his sake and yet denie to giue them the holye communion which Christ hath instituted to be a seale of that promise The best armour for Christians No armour can be so sure and make a man so bolde and couragious against his enimie as to be assured that his quarell is such that if he die therein he shall not fayle to lyue and raigne in glorious tryumph for euer Cyprian therefore doth verie well in vsing these Metaphers calling that sacrament that was ordeyned to be an assuraunce of this euerlasting triumph by the names of protection defence and saufegarde But to make Cyprian to séeme whole vpon your side Watsons common practise you help the matter somewhat in translating his wordes and thrusting in a fewe wordes of your owne as you are wont to doe to cause your hearers and readers to thinke that no man is able to gaine say that which you haue sayde Well you haue yet one other place of Cyprian but you spare the Latine thinking it sufficient to tell your hearers and readers that Cyprian sayth so For no man may thinke that you dare belie so holy a man as he was Lyers haue no credit But bicause I haue taken you with lyes more then once I dare not trust your report of Cyprian neyther will I suffer my readers to be deceyued by it First you say This bloud of Christ is dronken daylie c. His wordes in Latine are these Grauior nunc ferocior pugna imminet Cyprian li. 4. Epist 6. ad quam fide incorrupta virtute robusta parare se debent milites Christi consyderantes idcirco se quotidiè Calicem sanguinis Christi bibere vt possint ipsi propter Christum sanguinem fundere A more gréeuous and cruell battle is nowe at hande vnto which the Souldiours of Christ ought with vncorrupt faith and sloute courage to prepare themselues considering that they doe daylie drinke the cup of Christs bloud to the ende that they themselues might be able to shed their owne bloud for Christes cause In the other place that you cite Cyprian sayth thus Cyprian li. 2. Epist 3. Quomodo autem possumus propter Christum sanguinem fundere qui sanguinem Christi
his holy body doth not depart away but the vertue of the benediction and the grace of giuing lyfe doe continually abide and remayne in that that leaueth This heresie is newe reuiued agayne by Martyne Luther and his sect but it can not stande being condemned of olde time and now also by the Catholike Church You can not iustly charge vs with the doings of Zachaeus CROWLEY Massing pristes are not lawfull ministers of Christes sacraments of whome Epiphanius doth write For we praye togither and we receyue the sacraments ministred by none other but such as are ministers lawfullye admitted except anye such remayne among vs without repentance as haue bene Massing priests and neuer desired to be other As for your Anthropomorphits I thinke it straunge that in an open Auditory you durst affirme that Cyrill wrote against them or of them seing that by the computation of time it is manifest that Cyrillus whose workes are extant was dead .500 yeres before that heresie was regarded of many You note in the mergine of your booke that Cyrill wrote of those heretikes to Calosirium Wordes of Cyrill not found in his workes If a man shoulde desire you to shewe that Epistle or booke of his eyther in print or wryting I thinke it would not easily be done But your friend Maister Harding sayth that thys saying of Cyrill is cyted by Thomas Aquinas Parte 3.9.76 Capit. 11. A good ground to build vpon Thomas Aquinas liued within these .400 yeres vnderstoode no worde of the Gréeke as Erasmus hath noted vpon the Epistle to the Romaines and he cyting matter out of a Gréeke Author which is not yet to be founde in Latine must be of sufficient Authoritie to cause all men to thinke that as manye as deny the body of Christ to be really and substantially in the sacrament reserued in a Boxe are heretikes condemned by the fathers of olde time and nowe also by the Catholike Church But let vs sée howe well you and your friend Maister Harding doe agrée betwéene your selues and with your Maister Thomas Aquinas in reporting these wordes of Cyrill Harding sayth Non enim alius fit Christus neque sanctum eius corpus immutabitur For Christ is not chaunged neyther shall his holy body be chaunged And you say Non enim mutatur Christus neque sanctum eius corpus discedit For Christ is not chaunged neyther doth his holy body depart away Parte 3. quest 76. But your Maister Thomas sayth Non enim mutabitur sacramentum corporis Christi The sacrament of the body of Christ shall not be chaunged By this may the learned iudge what lykelyhood of truth thereis in this that is fathered vpon Cyrillus More might be noted but I leaue it to the diligence of the indifferent readers But this maketh me much to muse that you shame not to saye that the Catholike Church meaning thereby the popishe Church doth nowe condemne the errour of the Anthropomorphits seing that in euery Church and Chappel and in many other places is not onely suffered but maintayned the Image of God the father and the holye ghost both set forth in the forme and fashion of a mortall man as though the deuine nature had such partes and proporsions of a body as Christ had in his manhood and hath still I vnderstand that the errour that the Anthropomorphits held was that the Godhead is a bodily substaunce and that man in his bodily shape doth resemble the shape and fashion of that substaunce It had bene much for your honestie therefore as I thinke not to haue medled so much with this errour The papists are Anthropomorphits for we whom you would haue men thinke to be defiled with it are cleare from it and you your selfe most filthily wadled in it WATSON Diuision 15 Manye moe heresies there bee condemned concerning the sacrament beside the heresie of Berrengarius that twise did recant it in two prouinciall counsels And at his death toke great penance for his damnable opinion as the stories tell and also beside the condemnation of Iohn Wyckliefe in the generall counsell at Constaunce But I will not hinder my purpose with a long rehearsall of them These be sufficient to shewe the consent of the Church by the condemnation of heretikes he that would knowe moe arguments to proue the consent in this or any other matter let him reade a booke called Vincentius Lirinensis contra prophanas haeresu vnouitates He may bye it for lesse then sixe pense and find there a great treasure of good learning Now to our purpose of the sacrifice Here the prayer was made The true Church of Christ whose rule is the word of God CROWLEY Gods worde is the rule of the Church hath alwayes condemned all maner of heresies But that is not the Church of Rome which you would gladly cause men to thinke to be that catholike Church As for the heresie of Berrengarius by the report of Lanfrancus his greatest enimie was this Per consecrationem altaris Lanfrancus De Eucharist panis vinum fiunt sacramentum Religionis non vt desinant esse quae erant c. By the consecration of the aultar the bread and wine are made a sacrament of religion not that they leaue to be the same that they were before but that they be altred into another thing and become that they were not before As Ambrose wryteth c. Here is a perillous heresie Ambr. de sa lib. 4. cap. 4. August De Cate. Epist 23. De Consecr Dist 2. If Berrengarius be an heretike for wryting thus then must Ambrose and Austen both be heretiks as well as he For they wrote the same doctrine But Berrengarius hath recanted his heresie in two prouincial counsels at his death tooke great penance for the same as stories do tel when you shall shewe those histories you shall sée what we can say to them Thus we find the Berrengarius was by Pope Nicholas the second enforced to recant in this wise Consentio autem sanctae romanae Ecclesiae apostolicae sedi ore corde profiteor de sacramentis dominicae mensae eandem fidem me tenere quam Dominus venerabilis Papa Nicholaus haec sancta Synodus autoritate euangelica apostolica tenendam tradidit mihique firmauit Silicet Panem vinum quae in altare ponuntur post consecrationem non solum sacramentum sed etiam verum Corpus sanguinem Domini nostri Iesu Christi esse sensualiter non solum sacramentum sed in veritate manibus sacerdotum tractari frangi fidelium dentibus atteri I doe consent sayth Berrengarius to the holy Church of Rome and to the Apostolike seate and with heart and mouth I doe professe that I doe holde the same fayth concerning the sacraments of the Lordes table which my Lorde and reuerende Pope Nicholas and this holy Synode haue by the Authoritie of the Gospell and Apostles taught to be holden
Melchisedech did not in substaunce but in misterie I wyll let the reader sée what Hierome hath written immediatly before and after the words that you cite First he sayth thus Superfluum est nos de isto versiculo velle interpretari cum sanctus Apostolus ad Hebreos plenissime disputauit Ipse enim ait Iste est Melchisedech sine patre sine matre sine generatione Et interpretatur ibi diligentissimè quare sine Patre c. It is a thing superfluous for vs to go about to make an interpretation of this verse seing that the holy Apostle hath in his Epistle to the Hebrues reasoned this matter at the full For he sayth This that is to say Christ is Melchisedech Wherein Christ is like Melchisedech without father without mother and without generation And he doth there most diligently enterprete wherefore he is without father without mother and without generation And all ecclesiasticall persons doe say That Christ is sayde to be without father in that he is man and without mother in that he is God Let vs therefore interprete this onely thou art a priest for euer after the order of Melchisedech Let vs onely declare this thing Wherfore he hath said after the order According to the order is as much as to say Thou shalt not be a priest according to the Iewish sacrifices but thou shalt be a priest after the order of Melchisedech And then follow those words that you haue cyted Quomodo enim c. And immediatly after those wordes he sayth Iste Melchisedech ista mysteria quae habemus dedit nobis c. This Melchisedech hath giuen vs these mysteries that we haue It is he that sayde He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud He hath giuen vs his sacrament after the order of Melchisedech No indifferent reader can iudge that saint Hierome meaneth here to teach that Christ did at his last supper offer his body and bloud vnder the formes of bread and wine as you affirme But as Melchisedech did offer bread and wine so Christ should offer vpon the crosse hys owne body and bloud which is the true bread and true wine and giue vs a sacrament to be frequented in the remembraunce thereof But in that Epistle that Paula and Eustochium wrote vnto Marcella You haue found a most manifest place Paula Eustoch ad Marcellam Recurre ad Genesim Melchisedech say they c. Here I must tell you that where you doe in the Englishe make Melchisedech the Datiue case and in the Latine put the point Periodus after Salem you shew your selfe not to vnderstand the grammaticall sense which is thus Returne to the booke Genesis and thou shalt finde that Melchisedech king of Salem was Prince of thys Citie which euen then c. Men of your sort are very néere driuen Watson is neere driuen when they alledge womens wordes or wrytings for proofe of matters so diuine as is that which in this Sermon you treate of But graunt it were Saint Hierome himselfe that wrote that Epistle might not Melchisedech offer bread and wine in a figure of Christ and dedicate the mysterie of Christians but it must néedes folow that Christ did at his last supper offer his owne body and bloud vnder the formes of bread and wine as you doe affirme I thinke none that is learned in Logick will graunt that argument But as you haue slightly touched before the booke hath not Obtulit but Protulit He brought forth bread and wine Watson maketh light of that which he is not able to waigh As lightly as you let passe the reasons that men make against your opinion by the vauntage that the text gyueth being Protulit and not Obtulit neyther you nor any of your sort shall euer be able to aunswere otherwise then by calling them fond cauillations as you doe In the Latine these two Verbes are sometime vsed both in one signification but Profero is neuer found in that signification that you and such other doe vse Offero when you speake of Melchisedechs comming forth to méete Abraham and offering him bread and wine to refreshe himselfe and his companie withall The Hebrue interpretors who doe best know the signification of the wordes of that tongue wherein that hystory was first written doe teach that it was the maner in those dayes for such as remayned at home in peace to come forth against them that returned from battayle with victorie bringing with them bread and wine to refreshe the wearie Souldiours withall and so receyue them friendly Antiquit. li. 1 Capit. 18. Iosephus a Iewe borne and so well learned in the Iewes lawes and histories that he was able to write a continuall historie of the antiquitie lawes and ceremonies of the Iewes and of their warres doth when he commeth to this part of the historie write thus Suscipitque cum rex Melchisedech quod significat rex iustus erat vtique sine dubio talis ita vt propter hanc causam etiam Dei sacerdos esset Solimorum quam Ciuitatem postea Hierosalymam vocauerūt Ministrauit autem iste Melchisedech Abraham exercitui xenia multam abundantiam rerum oportunarum simul exhibuit super epulas eum collaudare caepit benedicere deum qui ei subdiderat mimicos Abraham verò dante ei etiam decimas spoliorum munus accepit And hée was receyued of king Melchisedech which signifieth a righteous king and verily and without all doubt he was such a one so that for that cause he was also Gods priest in the Citie Solyma which Citie men did afterwarde call Hierosolyma And this Melchisedech did minister gifts to the armie of Abraham and he did also giue them great abundaunce of things néedefull And as they were at meat he began to prayse him and to blesse God which had subdued his enimies to him And when Abraham gaue him the tythes of the spoyle he receyued the gift Hiero. ad Euagrium Iohn 3. Saint Hierome in his Epistle ad Euagrium doth proue that the Citie Salem whereof Melchisedech was king was not that which was afterward called Hierusalem but that Salem that is mencioned in the Gospell where Iohn baptized bicause there was plentie of water there He doeth therefore disproue not onely Iosephus but also all Christen writers for that they suppose Melchisedech to haue béene king of that Citie which was called Hierusalem after his dayes but in his dayes Salem He alloweth the iudgement of those which doe suppose that Melchisedech was the first sonne of Noe and that he liued after Abrahams death .35 yeares at the least which is easie to be seene by the supputation of the yeares from the byrth of Sem to the death of Abraham which is .565 yeares and the whole tyme of Sems life is .600 yeares but fayling somewhat in the supputation he sayth that Sem liued after Abraham .40 yeares He alloweth also the opinion of Iosephus and other which thinke that
playne by that which in the booke that you cite De Ciuitate Dei he addeth to the wordes that you cite His words be these Propter quod etiam vocem illam in psalmo tricesimo nono eiusdem mediatoris per Prophetam loquentis agnoscimus sacrificium oblationem noluisti corpus autem perfecisti mihi quia pro illis omnibus sacrificijs oblationibus corpus eius offertur participantibus ministratur Wherfore sayth saint Austen We doe acknowledge that voyce of the same Meditatour speaking by the Prophet in the Psalme .39 in this wyse thou hast not desired sacrifice and oblation but thou hast made me a perfite bodye for his body is offered in stede of all those sacrifices and oblations and is ministred to such as be partakers thereof The continual offering of Christ This sacrifice bicause it is eternall after the order of Melchisedech is still presently offered by the Meaditor Christ who is both the priest and sacrifice and continually ministred to them that be partakers thereof by faith by that spiritual maner of ministration whereby spirituall lyfe is ministred from the head Christ to his members the Church But nowe to ende this matter your Auditorie must heare one place more which is playnest of all Oecumenius hath said Significat sermo c. If I might vse such libertie in cyting places as you doe in this I could easily finde plaine places ynough to proue whatsoeuer I lusted to take in hande Where the author hath sayde Significat sermo quod licet Christus non obtulerit carentem sanguine hostiam siquidem suum ipsius corpus obtulit attamen qui ab ipso fungentur sacerdotio c. The signification of this saying is that although Christ did not offer a sacrifice without bloud for he offered his owne body yet shall those that shall after him execute the office of priesthood whose high priest God doth vouchsafe to be offer without bloud For that is signified by this saying For euer c. These be the wordes of Oecumenius as Hentenius hath translated them out of the Gréeke But you had promised your Auditorie a playner place then this was beyng thus translated For this is playne against all that you haue done before in proouing that our Sauiour Christ did offer himselfe without bloud For this felow being thus translated sayth Although Christ did not offer a sacrifice without bloud c. Well therefore to make the place plaine in déede you haue amended the translation I trowe and you haue sayde Significat sermo quod non solum Christus obtulit incruentam hostiam siquidem suum ipsius corpus obtulit verum etiam qui ab ipso c. The word meaneth that not onely Christ offered an vnbloudy sacrifice for he offered his owne body but also they that shall vnder him vse the function of a priest whose Byshop he doth vouchsafe to be shall offer without shedding of bloud Well eyther you Oecumenius belyed in translating or your friend Hentenius haue belyed the Gréeke For here is playne contradiction The one sayth Hath not offred and the other sayth hath offered Wherfore it must néedes folow that the one hath made a lye And peraduenture if the Gréeke might be séene and well viewed you might be founde false harlots both for Hentenius was a Louanist c. For who so readeth the rest that Oecumenius hath collected out of other wryters that were before his time and patched togither into one commentarie vpon the Epistle to the Hebrues he shall haue but little occasion to thinke that Oecumenius could be of such minde concerning the meaning of these wordes Tu es sacerdos in aeternum thou art a priest for euer as in this place that you cite he sheweth himselfe to be when he sayth Christ could not be sayde to be a priest for euer but in respect of those sacrifycing priestes that are now by whose meanes he doth still offer and is offred For vpon the tenth Chapter and these wordes Singulis annis he sayth thus An ne nos semper offerimus hostias sanguine carentes sed vnius eiusdemque mortis Christi memoriam facimus vnum Christi corpus semper edimus Doe we alwaies offer sacrifices that haue no bloud But we doe make a memoriall of that one and the selfe same death of Christ and doe alway eate one body of Christ And vpon the worde Perpetuò he sayth Quum vna perpetuò sufficiat Seing that one sacrifice may suffice for euer And vpon these wordes In certitudine fidei In the certainty of fayth he sayth thus Quoniam autem nihil est post haec visibile neque templum id enim est caelum neque Pontifex is est Christus neque victima haec corpus est ipsius necessaria in posterum est fides Verum quia contingit credere simul haesitare ait In certitudine fidei Hoc est vt certisimus de his Oecumenius his meaning made plaine Bicause that hence forth there is nothing visible neither temple for that is heauen neyther high priest for that is Christ neyther sacrifice for that is his bodye fayth is from this tyme forward necessarie But bicause it doth happen that a man doth at one time both beleue and doubt he sayth in the certaintie of fayth that is that we may be certaine of these things Many such sayings as this are in that Commentarie wherefore corrupting of the Author in translating may be suspected as well on the behalfe of Hentenius as you although your doing doe more appéere then his But graunt that Oecumenius haue written in Gréeke euen as you haue reported him in Latine Is he knowne to be of such antiquitie and authoritie in the Church that his glose must be of more authoritie credit then the playne wordes of the text Saint Paule sayth Iam non est oblatio pro peccatis There is nowe no oblation for sinnes Seing Christ hath by one oblation made perfite such as be sanctified what néedeth there any more offering for sinne For the cause of the continuaunce of the offering was the imperfection of the offerings which could neuer take away sinne but alway put the offerers in minde of one that was to come who should be able by one oblation once offered fully to take away the sinnes of the whole worlde Oecumenius may haue no credite against saint Paule Your Oecumenius therefore being a great many of hundred yeres after saint Paule as may iustly be gathered by that he wrote after so many of the Gréeke wryters as he nameth in his booke should nowe be credited in that which he wryteth contrarie to saint Paule if that should be beleued as taught by him which you would so fayne maintaine by his wordes Your false dealings therfore being so playne as it is I néede not to stand vpon the opening of it any more but onely to desire the reader to waight the matter and he shall sée that the
we offer Christ dayly in commemoration and what benefite of innouation we receyue thereby Chrisostome also sayth Chrisost in Math. hom 7. Non aquam de hoc nobis sonte largitur sed sanguinem viuum qui quanque ad mortis dominicae testimonium sumitur nobis tamen causa sit vitae Christ out of this fountaine of the Chalice giueth vnto vs not water but liuely bloud which although it be receyued for the testimonie of Chrystes death yet to vs it is made a cause of lyfe Is not this to haue fruite of Christes passion applied vnto vs when wee receyue life by receyuing of that which is offered in commemoration of Christes death Saint Gregorie sayth Quoties ei hostiam suae passionis offerrimus Gregorius homil 37. toties nobis ad absolutionem nostram passionem illius reparamus As often as we offer to him the host of sacrifice of his passion so often we renewe and repaire his passion to vs for our absolution and perfection Gregor li. 1. Dialog lib 4. Capit. 58. And in another place he saith Haec victima singulariter ab aeterno interitu animam saluat quae illam nobis mortem vnigeniti per mysterium reparat This sacrifice doth singularlye saue the soule from eternall destruction which by mysterie renueth vnto vs the death of Gods only begotten sonne By these authorities ye see that the sacrifice of the Masse doth nothing derogate from the passion of Christ but most of all doeth exalt it repayring and renuing it for vs in the sight of the father that we therby may be renued in grace and receyue life perfection and saluation CROWLEY The Masse doth diminishe Christes glorie You saye that we prooue not that the Masse doth diminishe the glorie of the passion of Christ You shall haue a short and a plaine proofe and leysure ynough to disproue it Christes glory is to haue conquered death hell and damnation alone in his owne person as it was prophecied by the Prophets Torcular calcaui solus Esay 63. de Gentibus non est quisquam mecum I alone haue troden the wine presse and there is not one of the people with me And another Prophet sayth Perdidisti te Israell tantummodo in me auxilium tuum Osea 13. Thou hast cast away thy selfe O Israell in me alone is thy helpe And againe the same Prophet sayth Ero Mors tua O Mors morsus tuus inferne O death I will be thy death O hell I will be thy sting But the sacrifice of the Masse will not suffer that Ergo c. A proofe of that which Watson sayth is not proued But least you shoulde picke a quarrell to the forme of mine argument I will frame it in figure and moode Whatsoeuer is thought to be an helpe to Christ in the conquering of death hell and damnation doth diminishe the glorie of Christ But the sacrifice of the Masse is thought to be an helpe c. Ergo the sacrifice of the Masse doth diminish the glorie of Christ The maior proposition is proued by the scriptures aboue mentioned The minor is proued by your owne doctrine in the beginning middle and ende of both these sermons of yours Ergo the conclusion must necessarily folow Now that I haue proued that which you say was not before proued let vs sée whether we can disproue your two assertions First you say that nothing doth more set forth the glorie of Christ and his true honor than doth the Masse If you can not disproue that argument that I haue made for the proofe of that which we haue sayde then is this that you haue sayde sufficiently disproued by that argument But you haue founde saint Austen to be of your minde when he sayth Ad hunc cultum c. Contra. Faustum lib. 20. cap. 21. To thys godly honour c. In the matter that foloweth in the same Chapter saint Austen doth make his owne meaning more playne then it can appéere by these onely wordes that you cite He sayth thus Sacrificium laudis glorificabit me illic via est vbi ostendam illi salutare meum Huius sacrificij caro sanguis ante aduentum Christi per victimas similitudinum promittebatur in passione Christi per ipsam veritatem reddebatur post ascensum Christi per sacramentum memoriae celebratur The sacrifice of praise shall glorifie me and there is the way where I wyll shewe my sauing health vnto him The flesh and bloud of this sacrifice was before the comming of Christ Saint Austens minde in plaine wordes promised by sacrifices of similitudes In the passion of Christ it was performed by the truth thereof in déede And after the ascention of Christ it is celebrated by a sacrament of remembraunce And agayne he sayth Non ergo illi Patres nostri c. Those our fathers therefore did not onely leaue the ymages of the heathen but they neyther offring any thing to the earth nor to any earthlye thing neyther to the sea neyther to the heauen did offer sacrifices to one God the creator of all thinges euen such as he would should be offered vnto him Promising by the similitude of those sacrifices that sacrifice by which through the forgiuenesse of sinnes he hath reconciled vs to himselfe in Christ Iesu oure Lorde To the faithfull that are made the body of that head doth Paule speake saying I beséech you brethren euen for the mercie of God make your bodies a liuing holy and acceptable sacrifice These words well weighed togither with those that you haue alledged will make Saint Austens minde be knowne to differ farre from yours It is not your masking mumming Masse that he calleth the sacrament of remembraunce Not the masking Masse but the holy communion whereby the sacrifice of praise is celebrated among the christians but it is the holy communion of Christes body and bloud This he calleth the outwarde worke of fayth to this he ioyneth the consecrating and dedicating of the hole man to the seruice of God which he calleth as saint Paule doth the lyuing holy and acceptable sacrifice Your Masse therefore not being the institution of Christ as I haue already declared nor yet hauing any ground in the commaundement or worde of God doth not onely diminishe the glorie of Christ but is the greatest dishonor that man can do to God Your other assertion is that the Masse doth ascribe altogither to Christ Cypri lib. 2. Epist 3. and therefore is no derogation of the passion of Christ at all And this you prooue first by the words of Cyprian where he sayth Passio Domini c. I will let the reader sée the hole sentence that Cyprian writeth in that place for this that you cite is but a Parenthesis that may be left out yet the sentence remayne perfite His words be these Et quia passionis eius mentionem in sacrificijs omnibus facimus Passio est enim Domini sacrificium
speaking of the communion table there springeth a Fountayne of spirituall commodities and thou leauing this table doest forthwith runne to the water and doest beholde women swymming and the very marke of their sexe set out to the eyes of all that be present that thou mayest beholde this thing I say thou leauest Chryst sitting by the Fountayne of heauenly giftes For euen now also he doth sit vpon the Fountaine not speaking to one Samaritish woman but to the hole Citie For euen nowe also there is none that attendeth vpon him sauing that some be present with their bodies but without doubt some other not so much as with their bodyes Yet for all that he departeth not but he taryeth still and requireth drink of vs not water but sanctimonie or holynesse of lyfe For Christ doth giue holy things to them that be holy He doth not giue vs water out of this Fountayne but lyuing bloud which though it be receyued to testifie the Lordes death yet it is made vnto vs a cause of lyfe But thou doest leaue the Fountayne of this bloud and the cup that is to be had in reuerence and wyth spéede thou renuest to that deuillish Fountayne that thou mayest sée an Harlot swim and suffer shipwrack of thine owne soule c. Thus farre Chrysostome You should proue that the Masse is no derogation to the passion of Christ but you haue concluded that we receyue lyfe by receyuing of that which is offered in the Masse If this be no derogation to Christes passion then is there no derogation of it at all in any thing that can be done For what other thing is the fruite of Christes death but our euerlasting lyfe You had forgotten your selfe bylike when you alledged thys place for if Chrysostome ment so grossely as you vnderstand him he did set vp the Masse as much to the derogation of Christes passion as possibly he could Watson wold not see Chrisostomes meaning But Chrysostome had another meaning then you woulde sée when you read his wordes He teacheth the christians of Antioche that those holy things that Christ giueth to them that be holy are made vnto them instrumentall causes of euerlasting lyfe yea euen that mysticall bloud that is receyued to be a testimonie of the death of him that is Lorde of lyfe Thys meaning might you haue séene in the wordes of Chrysostome if affection had not blinded you But I marueile where you found in Chrysostomes words offered in commemoration for euen in the Latine text that you your selfe cite it is Sumitur is receyued But you might at that time say what you would to the aduauncement of that Idole of Rome and all Romishe Idolatrie To those two places of Gregory that you alledge I must aunswere as I haue learned of saint Hierome Hiero. in Math. 23. Hoc quia de scripturis c. Because this thing hath none authority of the scripture it is as easily contemned as allowed And least you should think that not being able otherwise to aunswere I doe reiect the authoritie of so auncient and godly a father I will shewe you the reasons that mooue me to thinke that these workes that are extant vnder the name of Gregorius Magnus were neuer of his writing Gregories bookes burned First Sabinianus that succéeded him next in the Papacie caused all his bookes to be burned And it is not to be thought that there were many copies in so short tyme when there was no way to encrease them but by hande wryting Another thing is the fond fables that in those workes are vsed in the probation of weightie assertions and no proufe made eyther by scriptures or authoritie of such as had before his dayes written of those matters Three reasons to proue Gregories workes coūterfaite but bare assertions contrarie to the scriptures and fathers that had bene before him And last of all the straunge maner of finding out the copie of his morral exposition of the history of Iob which is to ridiculous to haue any credite with such as haue any knowledge in christian religion and haue séene the hystories that make report of the liues and doings of those that had béene Byshops of Rome before the time of the finding out of that booke These authorities therefore doe not proue that the Masse is no derogation to the passion of Christ but rather the contrarie For if all these authorities that you haue alledged were as good as you make them and were so ment by the authors as you haue applied them what other thing should they teach but that the Masse is a derogation to the passion of Christ For what greater derogation can there be to Christs passion then to make it a matter of so small power that it could not of it selfe be effectuall to any vnlesse it be applyed by the mediation of some sacrificeing priest And that it must néedes be effectuall to such as it shall by such mediation be applyed vnto eyther in this lyfe or after Wée haue learned both by the scriptures and auncient fathers that the passion of Christ is of effect to take away the sinnes of the whole world The way to apply Christes passion and that it doth take away the sinnes of all that repent and beléeue the Gospell And that there is none other way to apply the passion of Christ to any but only the faith of those to whome it is applyed Furthermore they say we make our owne workes meaning the Masse a sauiour beside Christ WATSON Diuision 30 which is nothing so but by this sacrifice of the Masse we declare that we beleue there is no sauiour but onely Christ For what doe we in the Masse We confesse our sinnes our vnworthinesse our vnkindnes our manifold transgresions of his eternal law we graunt that we be not able to satisfie for the least offence we haue done therfore we run to his passion which after this sort as he hath ordayned we renew and represent We besech our most mercifull father to looke vpon Christes merites and to pardon our offences to loke vpon Christes passion and to releue our affection We knowledge that whatsoeuer we haue done is vnperfite and vnpure and as it is our worke doth more offend his maiestie then please him therefore we offer vnto hym his welbeloued sonne Iesus in whome we knowe he is well pleased most humbly praying him to accept him for vs in whome onely we trust accompting him all our righteousnesse by whome onely we conceiue hope of saluation And therefore in the ende of the canon of the Masse we say thus Non aestimator meriti sed veniae quaesumus largitor admitte per Christum dominum nostrum O Lord we besech thee to admit vs into the companie of thy saintes not waying our merites but graūting vs pardon by Christ our Lord. Also whatsoeuer thing we lacke all plagues all misfortunes all aduersitie both ghostly and temporall we require to be released of them not through our