qui misit me Patris He that looueth me not keepeth not my words and the word which ye heare is not mine but the fathers which sēt me If we wyll be contented with the scriptures onely and goe no farther we shall receyue great benefite thereby The blinde shall see the deafe shall heare the dumbe shall speake the lame shall walke fooles shall be wise the sicke shall be whole the dead shall reuine The embracing of the worde of GOD hath made many Papistes The inestimable benefite that proceedeth by the word of God good Christians many persecutours holy Martyrs many proude men humble many couetous mysers lyberall many cruell tyrantes mercifull fauourers many faithlesse faithfull many filthy fornicatours chaste many furious and wrathfull méeke and milde many slaunderers speakers of the trueth many backbiters penitent many slouthfull and drousie vigilant watchfull many fearefull bolde yea and contempners of Phalaris Bull many Saules many Paules many chyldren of darknesse the chyldren of lyght God by his worde offereth to vs his mercifull hande by faith we giue to God our hand and the Sacramentes are as a thirde hand which confirme and establish the ioyning of the other two together If you feare the iudgement of sinne this most precious word offereth you righteousnesse in Christe if you feare death it offereth lyfe if you feare the fire of hell it offereth the ioyes of heauen And bréeflie you haue in this word whence you may take bothe in lyfe recreation and in death preseruation bothe of body and soule euerlastinglie The word of God is water to refreshe vs and wine to chéere vs The vvorde of God is the vvhole direction of a mans life it is bread to strengthen vs and Manna to nourishe vs it is a treasure to enritch vs and a pearle to adorne vs it is a leauen to heate vs and salte to powder vs it is a sword to defend vs and a fire to purge vs it is a salue to heale vs and a lantorne to guide vs it it is a Trumpet to call vs and wisedome to instruct vs a way to dyrect vs and lyfe to reuiue vs. But alas we are so farre from labouring for this worde of God that wheras lyke good husband men we should labour and digge in the féeld and sell all that we haue to buie that féelde whereas lyke wise merchant men we should labour and séeke for good pearles and sell all that we haue to buie that pearle of great prise We sayth Saint Mathew 7. lyke dogs refuse holy things offered we turne about and teare them that doo offer them We lyke swine treade pearles vnder our feete and doo account this pearle this holy thing the worde of lyfe to be vnto vs a ring of golde in a swines snowte For doo the Papistes delight to heare Gods worde beholde yet they are lyke the deafe Adder which stoppeth her eares at the voice of the Charmer charme he neuer so wisclie Doo they looue the bringers of this word beholde yet there is in England an Adders broode a generation of Vipers If we haue more regard in the sayinges of the Papistes and put more confidence in theyr wordes then in the Scriptures howe can we without spéedie repentance but looke for the terrible stroke of vengeaunce God sayth Valerius Maximus hath feete of wooll hee commeth slowlie to punish but he hath handes of yron when he commeth he striketh sore Phillip king of Macedonia hearing of one in his kingdome which refused most vnthankfully to receaue a straunger of whome before he had béene succoured in shyp-wracke in extréeme néede For a woorthy punishment caused to be printed in his forehead with an whotte yron these wordes Ingratus Hospes An vnthankfull Guest So we by refusing his worde may we not thinke our selues woorthy of many whot yrons to print our vnthankfulnes to our shame Thus much for this part ¶ Of auricular Confession THus much you haue heard déerely belooued touching the sufficiencie of the worde of God I haue prooued the sufficiencie thereof bothe by the testimonies of the Scriptures as also with the aucthority of the Doctors Nowe I meane God wylling to confute auricular Confession bothe by Scriptures Doctors and Reasons The Papistes are not ashamed to say and write that it is needefull for all men and women and that it is necessarie for all that are come to the yéeres of discretion to confesse to theyr ghostlie Father maister popishe Préest whatsoeuer sinnes they haue committed If they refuse so to doo our holie Father the Pope wyll hang them in a Rope or send them to hell in ringing Papa Ioannas Bell. If they could prooue by the Scriptures auricular Confession to be lawfull and necessarie to obtaine forgiuenesse of sinnes then is it tollerable yea and commendable in respect of obedience to the worde of God to vse auricular Confession But if Scriptures thereof make no mention at all but rather disprooue such whispering of sinnes in the eares of doltishe Préestes I take such auricular Confession to be fonde foolishe and daungerous Doost thou reade O Christian man that euer the Patriarches were woont to confesse their perticular sinnes to Préestes as the Papistes doo at this tyme dyd the Prophetes vse such auricular Confession or did the Apostles or dyd the Disciples or dyd any of the Saintes of the primatiue Church reueale in secreate wise theyr particular faultes to any Confessour or to any Préest I reade of none If then the Patriarches the Prophetes In the Primatiue Church no confession euer heard of the Apostles the Disciples of Christe the holy Saintes of the Primatiue Church neuer vsed any auricular Confession why then should wée what example haue we to followe what commaundement is there giuen vnto vs to confesse our sinnes before the Préest what lawe dooth charge vs to recken vp all our sinnes Is not sinne forgiuen but vpon condition that there be an intent conceyued to confesse it where they bable that there remayneth no entrie into Paradise if occasion of confession be neglected Must all sinnes be reckened vp but Dauid as it is written Psalm 19.13 who as I thinke had well studied vpon the confession of his sinnes yet cryed out Who shall vnderstand my errors Lord cleanse mee from my secrete sinnes And in an other place Psalm 28.15 My iniquities haue passed abooue my head and lyke a weightie burden haue waxed heauy abooue my strength Truely he vnderstoode howe great was the bottomlesse depth of our sinnes howe many were the sortes of our mischéeuous dooinges howe many heads this monster Hydra dyd beare and howe long a tayle shée drewe after her Therefore he went not about to recken vp a register of them but out of the depth of euyls he cryed vnto the Lord I am ouerwhelmed I am buried and choaked the gates of hell haue compassed me let thy hand drawe me out which am drowned in the great pitte and am faynting and ready to die Who now may thinke vpon the
blinde peruersenes of the Papists In the. 10. of Iohn Christe sayth I am the doore dooth it followe that hée is a doore in déede no forsooth I thinke but that a doore is to harde for any man to eate they would haue takē that place of scripture to make God Though Christ sayd I am the doore it followeth not Note heere that he was a materiall doore no more dooth it followe that this word Hoc est corpus meum This is my body to be the same body that Marie the Virgin bare it is plaine errour and they are fowly deceyued For when Christe sayd This is my body that shall be giuen for you the worde that he spake was him selfe him selfe was the worde or else must the bread haue béene crucified as is afore which I will prooue by the manifest scriptures Christ sayth in the 6. of Iohn I am the liuing bread that came from heauen your fathers did eate Manna in the desert and are dead but I am the bread of lyfe So it demonstrateth that Christe was the bread Note heere which was giuen for vs but these Gentlemen say that the bread is he Nowe héere is all the cōtrouersie betwéene the Christiās and the Papists Christ fayth that he is the bread that was giuen for vs or broken for vs the Papists say that the bread is Christ now how can we agree for we say as Christ saith that he is the bread these Gētlemen say that the bread is he marke well the scriptures Paul sayth That which I receyued of God I gaue vnto you Let them answer me to this dyd Paul receiue any thing of the Lord but his word for Paul was not with the Lord at the supper to receiue any other thing Oblinde creatures they wot not what they doo will they haue the blood of wytnesse of Iesus Christe required at their hāds still O good christian brethrē for the tender mercy of our Lord sauiour Iesus Christ beléeue not this erronious doctrine of the Papistes worship not a wheaten God In the. 6. Chap. of Iohn Christ sayth The bread which I will giue you is my fleshe which I will giue for the life of the world Héere you may perceyue that the bread that Christ gaue vs was his fleshe Ergo his fleshe was the bread that he brake which was him selfe him selfe was the word and his word was his body which was giuē for the life of the world Then stroue the Iewes among them selues sayd How can this fellow giue vs his flesh to eate for they tooke it carnally as our cleane fingred Gētlemen doo now a daies thinking the they should haue eaten him vp flesh blood bones Iesus sayd vnto thē Iohn 6. Except ye eate the fleshe of the sonne of man ye haue no life in you for whosoeuer eateth my flesh drinketh my blood hath euerlasting lyfe And I shall raise him vp at the last day for my flesh is very meat and my blood hath euerlasting life and I shall raise him vp at the last day for my flesh is very meat and my blood is very drinke and whosoeuer eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abydeth in me and I in him Nowe I tolde you afore that Christe was the bread that was giuen for vs and euen as the materiall bread féedeth the body so this liuely bread féedeth the soule And Christe speaketh heere of his fleshe and blood which was offered in sacrifice for our saluation and our redemption as Iohn sayth Chap. 1.8 The worde became fleshe and we see the glorie of it as the onely begotten sonne of the Father and who so dooth beleeue this dooth eate Christes fleshe and drinketh his blood But not as these Papists do for they say that they crash him with their teeth carnally Oh abhominable blasphemy the same body that Mary bare but they which receiue him in a Christian Cōmunion receiue him by faith For Christe sayd Hoc facite in meam cōmemorationem Doo this in remembraunce of me And whosoeuer beléeueth that this body was done vpon the Crosse for his saluation and that the shedding of his blood is for the remissiō of his sinnes taken in the remembrance of Christes death eateth Christes body and drinketh his blood spiritually God graūt we may doo so for our own soules health Amen Thus much bréefly touching the supper of the Lord. Against mennes Merites and righteousnesse GReate controuersie and disputation there is betweene the Papists and vs Christians touching mennes merites righteousnesse The Papists say that they are iustified by good woorkes and not by faith We say that Sola fides iustificat omnes Faith alone iustifieth all men It is marueilous dearely beloued to see with what rashnes and boldnesse iustification of woorkes is commonly debated yea and it is to be seene how none doe more boldly or with fuller mouthes as the saying is prate of the righteousnesse of workes then they that are monstrously sicke of open outward diseases or be redy to burst with inward vices That commeth to passe because they thinke not vpon the righteousnes of God wherof if they had neuer so little feeling they would neuer make so great a mockerie of it And truely it is out of measure lightly regarded whē it is not acknowledged to be such and so perfect that nothing be imputed vnto it but euery way whole absolute and defiled with no vncleannesse such as neuer was and neuer shal be able to be found in man It is in deede easie and readie for euery man in schooles to talke vainlie vpon the worthinesse of woorkes to iustifie men but when they come into the sight of God such dalliances must auoyd because there is earnest doing vsed and no trifling strife aboute wordes To this to this I say we must applie our minde if we will profitably enquire of true righteousnesse how we may answere the heauenly Iudge when he calleth vs to account Let vs thinke him to be a Iudge not such a one as our own vnderstandinges do of themselues imagine but such a one as he is paynted out in the Scripture with whose brightnes the stars shal be darckned by whose strength the hils doe melt away by whose wrath the earth is shaken by whose wisdome the wise are takē in their suttletie by whose purenesse all thinges are prooued vnpure whose righteousnes the angels are not able to beare which maketh the innocent not innocent whose vengeance when it is once kindled pearceth to the bottome of hell If he I say sit to examine mens doinges who 〈…〉 peare assured before his throane Who shal dwell with a deuouring fire saith the prophet Esaie 3.34 Who shall abide with continuall burninges he that walketh in righteousnes and speaketh trueth c. But let such a one come foorth whatsoeuer he be but that aunswere maketh that none commeth foorth for this terrible saying soūdeth to the contrary Lord if thou marke our iniquities Lord who shall abide
thing truelie of the goinges of the beloued or of the dooinges of the beloued Beléeue me truely O world it is daunger to aske her it is next to deaths doore to heare her it is dampnable death and hell to beléeue her Better it is to dye in body for him that may then to beléeue her to be the holy Catholique Church and therefore to perishe in body and soule Happy were they and are and shall be who patiently suffered doo suffer and shall suffer the tyranny and persecution of Antichriste Hope of Roome for the deniall of his whoorishe and Babilonicall Church By theyr patience it appeared that they had the cognisance or badge of the true Church August De tempore Ser. 130. Crux regni insigne est The Crosse sayth Saint Augustine is the cognisance or badge of the Church Athanasius Ad solitariam vitam agentes sayth Caedi Christianorum proprium est Caedere aus tem Christianos Pilati et Caiphae officia sunt To be persecuted belongeth to Christians but to persecute the Christians belongeth to the office of Pilate and Caiphas But the Papistes say that they punishe the Protestants onely for a desire to haue them reconciled to their Sinagogue and for entyre looue A gentle kinde of looue lyke the looue of one Philippides of whome Aristophanes in Vespis writeth who tooke a cudgell A prettie example alluded to the Papists and dyd beate his Father and all for looue But we may say with Tertullian Crudelitas vestra nostra gloria est Your crueltie is our glorie For Gods Religion the more it is pressed the more it encreaseth This persecution of the Papistes against the Christians is an euident token that the Church of Roome is the Sinagogue of Sathan Caine persecuted Abell the Giants Noah the Sodomites Loth Ismaell Isaack Esau Iacob the Egiptians the Israelites Pharaoh Moses Saule Dauid and yet Dauid would not hurt againe of whome we learned that Gods Church dooth suffer rather then hurt pardon rather then persecute The false Church of the Prophetes persecuted the true propheticall Church the Sinagogue of the Iewes persecuted Christe and his Apostles The Churche of Roome persecuteth Christes lyttle flocke and congregation So Hillarius and Nicephorus in many places discourse Lactantius sayth excellently to this matter Diuin Institut Lib. 5. Cap. 19. Defendenda religio est non occidendo sed monendo non saeuitia sed patientia non scelere sed fide Nam si sanguine et tormentis si malo religionem defendere velis iam non defendetur illa sed polluetur atque violabitur Religion is to be defended not with murthering but with monishing not with crueltie but with patience not with furie but with faithfulnesse For if ye defend Religion with bloodshedde and tormenting or with working of mischeefe it is not defended but defiled and deceyued The Church of Roome persecuteth all Christians The Ornamentes and deckings of the Antichristian Church of Roome her sentence is burne burne burne her hadge let vs laye wayte for blood her head blasphemie her shéelde tyrannie her breast iniurie her eyes fyre her gyrdle fornication her breath poyson her tongue the stinge of death her féete ready to shedde innocent blood her sworde violence her Crosse persecution her pardons iniquitie her tryple crowne presumption her Keies ambition and all her dooinges abhomination Héere doo follow great swarmes of Cainites Giantes Sodomites Egiptians Scribes Pharasies Herodians Monks The Champions and vpholders of this Babilonicall Sea Friers Cardinalles Adulterers Idolaters Parasites Poysoners Pardoners Bawdes Flatterers Traytours Rebels Murderers Theeues with all the Romishe rabble These are the right Canniballes lyke to the barbarous people of Armenica that eate one an other My countrey men wyll you builde your faith vppon this Church which receyueth such Varlettes which hath such gracelesse personnes such persecutours and such bloodie butchers The Church of Christe hath none such there were neuer in the Church of Christe nor are not nor neuer shall be persecutors The Church of Christe is styll persecuted and neuer persecuteth Did the Matriarches persecute did Christe persecute did the Apostles persecute When the Samaritanes would not receyue Christe Iames and Iohn béeing as yet Nouices in Christes schoole called for fyre from heauen and would haue burned and consumed the Samaritanes but Christe rebuked them saying You wot not of what manner of spirite you are for the sonne of man is not come to destroye mens liues but to saue them If the Church of Roome were the holie Catholique Church it would then féede the soule of man béeing a spirite with spirituall foode moone her by spirituall instrumentes drawe her by the worde leade her by the spirite and persuade her by the Scriptures which are the onely meanes which God appoynteth If an Heretique holde an opinion he holdeth it eyther of ignoraunce or of wylfulnesse If of ignoraunce he is to be conuerted by doctrine to be conuinced by Scripture reformed by exhortation reduced by reason persuaded by the trueth If of wylfulnesse he is to be menaced by the Lawe and corrected by excommunication The Church of Rome vseth no such meanes wherefore the Church of Roome is of the deuill and not of Christe And as the Lord hath done to Ierusalem in Titus Vespasianus tyme as Iosephus in his hystorie of the Iewes maketh mention and to the ruines thereof that the place should not boast of the Oracles of God So God hath done to Roome A notable forewarning to the Church of Roome to the Idolles thereof that theyr boasting should be in vaine of the Church of God For what was Roome euen from her byrth but a Citie built in Parricide then strengthened with robberies and made a Sanctuarie for murderers of all Nations The pettigree of Roome as you may read in theyr owne Romaine Hystories And what was it afterwardes in the time of the Emperour Iulianus Apostata Dioclesian Nero and diuers others but a slaughter house of the Martyrs of God and what is it in ours and our fathers dayes but the Queene of pride the nurse of Idolatries the mother of whordomes the sincke of iniquities out of which sorceries withcrafts poisoninges adulteries rebellions and bloodie warres haue ouerflowed the whole earth Who wyll beléeue in this Church are we commaunded to beléeue léeue in this Church when as it is sayd in our Créede Credo sanctam Catholicam Ecclesiam I beleeue that there hath béene is and shall be a holie Catholique Church My sence can not shew it and therefore I beléeue it for if I sée it beléefe is in vaine for where sence faileth and can goe no farther there beléefe beginneth For is it necessarie that we should frō time to time beleeue that Roome is the holie Catholique Church but we should from tyme to tyme beleeue there is a holy Catholique church But in déede the Papists and such like open persecutours haue of so long tyme kept vnder the Church that we are driuen
not by any corporall but by a spirituall manner passing into vs c. Christe sayde to his Disciples Take yee and eate yee this is my body which is giuen for you doo this as often as yee shall doo it in remembraunce of me What can be more euident then the interpretation of this Supper if the cyrcumstances of the wordes be scanned accordingly For who is so blinde that can not discerne the fruites of the Lordes death and Passion to be plainlie signified héere For as much as in the verie eating him selfe sayth This is my body that is giuen to be slaine for you Otherwise why should he haue added with all Giuen to be slaine But that hée woulde set downe a plaine testimonie of the death of his body rather then of any substaunce thereof to the viewe of the Disciples As if he should say The tyme is nowe at hand A comfortable consolation woorthy to be had in remēbrance of all men wherein my body must be giuen to be slaine for you not for any of mine offence at all but for your sakes which death of mine shall procure euerlasting lyfe for you After lyke sort and manner as this bread which I giue thus broken vnto you to eate dooth passe into your bodies and giue nourishment thereto Take ye therefore this bread this bread which I giue to euerie of you and eate and withall consider heerein not the naturall bread which feedeth your bodies outwardly But my body which beeing giuen to be slaine and crucified for you shall inwardly and much more effectually refresh you to eternall lyfe For my fleshe which I will giue to be slaine for the lyfe of the worlde is meate in deede and my blood is drinke in deede Iohn 6. For your bodies doo not so much lyue by the nourishment of meate and drink as your soules be fedde within with the crucifying of my flesh and the shedding of my blood without which you can haue no remission of sinnes no ioyfull resurrection of your fleshe no parte or portion of eternall lyfe Therefore let this which is giuen you in this Supper remaine for a perpetuall Sacrament and remembraunce vnto you of the body which I will heereafter giue for you For I shall giue my body for you into the handes of enimies the Sacrament wherof I doo heere giue into your handes Whereby you may perceyue déerely belooued that héere be two things giuen by Christe one vnto vs the other for vs the first to be eaten the last to be crucified that one in the Supper this other vpon the Crosse Now if you desire to know the substance of that which was giuen in the Supper it was bread and the Sacrament of his body That which was giuen vpon the Crosse was his body and not a Sacrament What then wyll you say was not his body giuen at Supper yes in déede Christes body was giuen there to the Disciples neither after a bodily and corporall maner for that corporall body was giuen to the Iewes not in the Supper but on the Crosse wherevpon he gaue his body corporally not to the Disciples but for the Disciples Therefore that which he gaue for his Disciples was his body that which he gaue to his disciples was the mistery of his body yet was it one the selfe same body bothe that of the supper giuen to the Disciples and that of the crosse giuē for his Disciples but yet not after the same sort nor yet at the same tyme. For vpon the Crosse it was giuen to be slaine corporally in the supper it was giuē not to be slaine but to be eaten not corporally to be grawne which theyr téeth but to féede vpō it in the bowels of their soules namely after a sacramētal kinde of receyuing not corporall Therefore it is not denied that the Lordes body was bothe giuen eaten in the Supper but not the body only but together with the body the sacramēt annexed also withal wherof the one apperteyneth to the féeding of the bodies the other to the séeding of the soules That which is receyued within in the soule is the very body not the Sacrament of his body For as much therfore as these two doo necessarily concurre together in the holy supper that the one can not be seuered from the other let vs so ioyne the one with the other that we neyther seperate the body of Christe from the Sacrament as the Papists doo which be so throughly wedded to the only substance of the body as that they leaue therin no substāce at all of a Sacrament but superficial and immateriall shadowes I know not what hanging in the ayre which serue to no purpose Neyther let vs so segregate the Sacrament againe from the body as that wée leaue nothing in the holy Supper but bare signes Cyrill Anathe 11. Doost thou pronouce sayth he this our sacrament to be mans foode and vrgest the mindes of the faithfull irreligiouslie to grosse and carnall thoughts and doost thou practise to discusse by mans sensuall reason the thinges which are conceiued by onely and most exquisite faith Heare what Christe sayth in the interpretation of his owne spéeche Caro sayth he non prodest quicquam verba mea spiritus et vita sunt Fleshe dooth not profit at all my wordes be spirit and life And doost thou cruell Canniball conceiue eate nought else but the flesh of Christe nor wylt thou permitte one crumme so much of breade to remaine because it is called the body of Christe But how many things doo we heare dayly called by this or that name when as in very deede they be not made the things wherof they beare the names When the Disciple whome Jesus looued was by Christes owne mouth called the sonne of Marie yet wyll no man be so wytlesse as to confesse him to be the naturall sonne of the Virgin Marie So also the Prophet dooth call fleshe a flowre of the feelde In the Gospel Iohn Baptist is called Elias Peter is named a Rocke so is he also called Sathan To conclude throughout all the discourse of the Scriptures what is more frequented then this vsuall phrase of spéec he and that things be called by this or that name wherein notwithstanding is no alteration of nature but the properties of things onely noted Theoderet Christ did signifie the signes which be seene by calling them his body and blood not chaunging the nature but adding therevnto grace Gelasius Contra Eutichetem Substantia panis et vini non mutatur et sine dubio imago et similitudo corporis et san◠guinis celibratur in actionem mysteriorum The substaunce of the bread and wine dooth not cease and without doubt the image and similitude of the body and blood is celebrated to the action of the mysteries Ambrosius De mysterijs Christus est in Sacramento quia est corpus Christi ideo nonest corporalis sed spirituas lis cibus c. Christe is in that Sacrament because it is
the body of Christe Therefore it is not corporal foode but spirituall Wherevpon the Apostle speaking of the figure therof Because our fathers did eate the same spirituall foode For the body of Christ is spirituall the body of Christ is the body of a diuine spirit De con Dis Ambros De sacra Lib. 4. cap. 4. Euen as thou hast receiued the likenesse of death so doost thou drinke the symilitude of blood Hesychius in Leui. Lib. 1. Chap. 2. Hunc comedimus cibum in recordationem passionis Christi We doo eate this meate receyuing the memorie of his passion Esai the. 25. Chap. And in this mountaine shall the Lord of Hoastes make vnto all people a feast of fatlinges euen as a feast of meate and fined wines and of fatte thinges full of marrowe of wines fined and purified c. Wéereby it appeareth that his suffering should be bread and foode for all people in the world and as it were an euerlasting banquet according to that propheticall promise Esay the Prophet the. 25. Chapter And for that cause least the remembrance of his passion should waxe out of minde he coÌ„maunded it to be done in the remembrance of him and by the same memoriall to shewe the Lordes death vntyll he come againe Whereby may appeare without any difficulty that the natural body is not eaten héere but the death of his body signified and the remembrance thereof celebrated Not the bread and wine turned into fleshe and blood but a Sacrament of our redemption to be instituted in bread and wine August De consecrat Dist 2. This is it that the heauenly bread which the flesh of Christe is called after his maner the body of Christ when as in deede it is the Sacrament of Christes body Rabanus Maurius Lib. 1. Cap 31. Sacramentum vna res est efficacia sacramenti alia res est Sacramentum conuertitur in nutrimentum corporis virtute sacraments honor aeternae vitae obtinetur The Sacrament is one thing the efficacie of the sacrament is an other thing the Sacrament is turned into the nourishment of the body by the efficacie of the sacrament the honour of euerlasting lyfe is obtayned Origen vpon Mathew writeth after this manner Panis sayth hée qui verbo Dei sanctificatur quantum ad materiam et substantiam in ventrem descendit et in latrinam eucitur The bread which is sanctified by the worde of God touching the matter and substance thereof goeth downe into the belly and is throwne out into the draught c. If that be bread which after sanctification goeth downe into the belly according to the testimony of Origen with what face wyll the Papistes deny it to be bread Againe on the other side if according to the Papistes opinion there remayne no crum of substance at all Whereof then shall that be a substance which Origen dooth ascribe to the bread To the same effect may Augustine De consecra Disti 2. be produced a witnesse of antiquitie not to be reiected The heauenly bread sayth he which is the fleshe of Christ is after this manner called the body of Christe beeing in verie deede the Sacrament of Christes body c. If it be a sacrament of the body how is it the verie body againe if because it is called the body of Christe it be therfore Christes fleshe what should let but that by the same argumeÌ„t Peter should be Sathan because he is called Sathan Moreouer if the nature of SacrameÌ„ts be such as to be called by the name of the thinges which they signifie Let the Papistes take away the substaunce of bread what shall be left in the Accidentarie fourmes that may eyther supplie the name of a body or represent the lykenesse of a body in any respect You haue heard good ChristiaÌ„ people bothe by the Scriptures and Doctours that there is no transubstantiation in the Sacrament of the Lordes Supper Who is therefore of so peruerse minde that wyll not persuade him selfe that these wordes Take ye eate ye This is my body to be a Sacramentall spéech and mysticall and ought to be expounded simbolically and according to the meaning For the bread is a SacrameÌ„t signe or pledge of the body of Christe I haue giuen you to vnderstand by many euident reasons that these words of our Lord This is my body ought not to be taken according to the grosse lytterall sence but to be expounded mystically or sacramentally for the bread remaineth in his substance is not chaunged into the substance of the body of Christe In lyke manner the naturall body of Jesus Christe the which being giuen once for vs raysed from death is ascended into heauen is not hyd nor inclosed vnder the kinde or forme of bread For the Angels of God speaking of this body beare witnesse thereof and saye Acts. 1.11 Hic Iesus qui assumptus est à vobis in coelum sic veniet quemadmoduÌ„ vidistis euntem in coelum This same lesus which is taken vp from you into heauen shal so come euen as you haue seene him goe into heauen In like manner S. Peter sayth Act. 3.21 Quem oportet quidem coelum accipere vsque in tempora restitutionis omnium quae loquus â—us est Deus per os omnium sanctorum suoâ—um à seculo Prophetarum The heauen must receyue Iesus Christe vntyll the â—yme that all thinges be restored which God hath spoken by the mouth of his holy ones from the tyme of the Prophetes Saint Paule sayth also Iesus Christe after he hath offered one sacrifice for sinnes is set downe for euer on the right hande of God from hence foorth tarying tyll his foes be made his footestoole Wherfore we reade that Saint Augustine writing to Dardanus sayde ryghtlie and according to the Scriptures Christe as he is God is all whollie present in euerie place but according to the measure and propertie of a true body he hath his place in some one place of heauen hee hath giuen immortallitie to his body in the glorification thereof After this forme he is not to be thought to be diffused and spread abroade euerie where Wherefore we must take good héede that we doo not so affyrme the diuinitie of the man Christe that we take away the trueth of His body For our personne is God and man and out Christe Jesus is bothe two béeing euerie where in that he is God but béeing in heauen in that he is man Yea and this aucthor hath left in his bookes these thinges and many other lyke bothe Catholique and according to the true sence of the Scripture agréeable to this matter Moreouer the Catholique veritie suffereth vs not to faine that Christe hath two bodies But if you take the wordes of the letter This is my body without the blessed body of the Lord béeing set at the Table with his Disciples gaue vnto them also I knowe not what other body for he could not giue him selfe with his owne handes vnto his Disciples Therefore
with his true body and with his handes he delyuered vnto his Disciples the Sacrament of his onely body Héereupon it followeth that the faithfull acknowledging the Sacrament mysterie receiue with theyr mouth the sacramentall bread of his body But with the mouth of the spirite they eate the very body of the Lord. He is eaten in such sort as he may be eaten that is to say spiritually by faith As the Lord himselfe expoundeth this mysterie vnto vs at large in Saint Iohn the. 6. Chapter Neyther haue the purest Doctours of the auncient Church taught any otherwise yea and this place may well be applied to the wordes of the Lord. For séeing our Lord hath but one true body the which he gaue vp to death for vs and that in these two places he speaketh of this selfe same body it séemeth vnto me that this place of S. Mathewe ought to be expoūded by that of S. Iohn Séeing that Saint Augustin also in his third booke of the agréement of the Euāgelists supposeth that S. Iohn speaketh not of the institution of the Supper of the Lord because in an other place he had set foorth this matter at large All the auncient Doctors of the Church Neither the sufficiencie of the scriptures nor aucthoritie of the Doctours can satisfie the Papists speaking of the Supper alleageth the Supper of the Lord. Yet for all that the Papistes euer haue in theyr mouthes transubstantiation transubstantiation Though bothe Scriptures Doctours writte against them yet so voyde they are of reason and common sence and so blockish that they will embrace signes for things them selues they turne that to worshipping knéeling which was delyuered for a thankfull remembrance by most agréeable application The Deuill hath so bewitched their sences and vnderstanding that they thinke they make God euery day as oft as they list hauing none aucthority of the most holy Scriptures but as they wrest it and wring it for theyr owne purposes For Iesus Christ at his last supper took bread and gaue thankes and brake it and gaue it to his Disciples and sayde Take eate this is my body and he lykewise tooke the cuppe and gaue thankes and gaue it them saying drinke ye all hereof this is my blood in the new Testament which shall be shed for many for the remission of sinnes Nowe to come to our purpose where as these heretiques doo take aucthoritie vpon these wordes Hoc est corpus meum that is to say This is my body The horrible blasphemie of the Papists vsed in their Masse Dooth it followe by the holy scripture that they when they haue sayde these wordes ouer the bread should create a materiall fleshe blood and raynes yea the selfe same body that the blessed Virgin Marie dyd beare as these Antichristes say they doo I doo aunswer no for when Christe brake the bread and blessed it dooth it follow that it was his body in déede and there remayned no more bread if they say no I aunswere no more doo we if they say yea then if the bread was not crucified he gaue it to his Disciples and they dyd eate dyd they eate Christes body or no I meane the verie selfe same body that was borne of the Virgin Marie if they say no I aunswer no more doo we if they say yea then dyed he not for vs For could he dye for vs when they had eaten him vp afore But this worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is my body was the swéetest worde that they could finde out in all the whole Testament The poore people much deceyued by the Papists to bleare mennes eyes with a false God compelling the people to knéele on theyr knées and holde vp theyr handes which is abhominable and detestable Idolatrie But heere is a question to be demaunded of these holy Gentlemen the Godmakers When they make God whether doo they make him at once or twise for they say Note heere that there remaineth no materiall bread after the Consecration but the very naturall body that Marie bare flesh blood bone Then dooth it follow that wée worshippe a false God in the Challice Then wyll they saye as shameles Iuglers that they Consecrate the verie selfe same substāce in the wine that they doo in the bread wherby it dooth appeare manifestly that they are false Sacrilegers robbers and théeues of the laye people For at Easter they giue them a drie body without blood for they giue them Wine vnconsecrated this is once true and manifest But what wyll these Iuglers saye forsoothe euen as they haue all sayde Heretique Heretique blearing mennes eyes with such blinde examples saying euen as there is a glasse and many faces séene in the glasse so lykewise maye a multytude of people receyue the substance at one worde Ah false fayning Iuglers As there be many faces sayth hee in the glasse Note heere and but one glasse I aunswere if I sée my selfe in the glasse dooth it followe that I haue a face styll in the glasse an other in my head Or when a great number of faces is séene in one glasse it is not to note that there are faces in déede but the similytude of faces no more is it to be beléeued that this bread is Christes body that Marie bare for that it dooth but represent the body I would demaund this question that I speaking the worde with reuerence might not make Christes body as well as they they will say no wherfore because we are not elect chosen let them aunswere to this question Dooth the word giue vertue to election Note heere for an especiall enstruction or election to the word If the they say that election giueth vertue to the word then I prooue the worde of no vertue then how can they make God with it If they say that the worde giueth vertue to the election then I prooue that all men speaking the worde may doo as much in it as they For the worde taketh effect in the spirite and not in the fleshe this argument can not be denied except they make God parciall If a man should demaund by what aucthoritie they make God they wyll say by the worde Oh crafty Iuglers God made the world in sire dayes and rested the seuenth day he made Sunne Moone and starres he made byrds beasts fowles and fishes woormes serpentes stones hearbes grasse and euerie thing of the same worde and the same words wherwith he made all these thinges doo remayne mayne styll in the Bible and yet can it not make any of these thinges neyther bread nor beast nor nothing else yet wyll they make the maker of all these things and say they doo it by the word the worde that made all these things remaineth still in the Bible and yet can they not doo it Nowe to come to the word that they make God of that is Hoc est corpus meum which is to say This is my body Behold the