of them which instructed them selfes and ther own worckes and dyd put there hole truste in him onlye But contrarywyse suche as dyd put some trust in themselues and were not so desierouse of Christ as the other were not so hungry as the other were them he sent away empty leuynge them to themselues And in the seuenth of Saynt Iohn This desier is likened to a thurstynge Si quis sitiat ueniat ad me bibat If any mā be a thirst that is to saye if his soule be desierouse to haue remission of synne let hym come to me and dryncke And also in the .21 chapter of the Apocalypse Ego sitienti dabo de fonte aque uite A will geue to him that is thyrsty the water of lyfe By all these places it is playne that y e desier which the soule of man hath to haue forgeuenes of her synne is called in scripture hungring and thurstynge Now then agayn the scripture calleth that thing which doth comfort and satisfye this desier of the soule meate and drynke And when the soule of man hath that same thinge geuen vnto her that she desiered and longed for so sore thē is she fed For a profe where of Mathew and the reste of the Euangelistes doeth vse these termes faturabuntur aqua cibus And in the .4 of S. Iohns Gospell Christe was desierouse to satisfy the wyll of his father and he called the satisfyenge of that desier hys mete Meus cibus est ut faciam uoluntatem patris mei My metes sayeth he is to doe the wyll of my father His hunger and his thurst that he had was the desier that he had to doe the will of hys father And the doing of it was his meat and drynke as it appeareth before in this texte when as answering to hys disciples he said Ego habeo alium cibum comedendum quem nos nescitis I haue other meate to eat whych ye know not Thus farre I haue declared vnto you most noble audyens howe the soule of man is made hungry and thurstye by the workynge of the lawe And also howe that thynge whych doth satisfy this desier of the soule is named in the scrypture mete Lett vs now then procede to the declaracion of the heauenly banket wherby our heauenly father doth feed comfort the soule of man whyche is made hungry and comfortles by the lawe When our heauenly and most mercyfull father perceaueth y t his law hath wroughte her feat in the soule of man and hath brought man euen to very desperacyon Ad inferos ducit reducit Then he feedeth and comforteth mans soule soweth the seed of saluation vpon him in thys wyse Here I muste desier you to licence me most noble audience to change my parson to speake in y e name of god the father who calleth al men to feed comfort there hungre thursty soules with such meat drinke as he hath prepared in his most heauenly banket for them Thus saith our heauenly father to y t man all men whiche be comfortles and afrayed of eternal dampnation for ther offenses Man dispaire not for thy synnes that thou haste cōmitted Folow my counsel although thy synnes be neuer so greate and manyfolde yet shall they not dampne the. Be sory for thyne offenses euen from the botom of thyne hart and purpose earnestly to amende thy former lyfe beleue that my sonne Christe Iesus hath taken the paynes vpon hym that thou hast deseruid for thy synnes and thou shalt not be dampned but thou shalt haue life euerlasting Let his death ease thy stomake comfort thy fearfull and sorowefull hungringe soule with the punyshing of hys body and the sheding of hys preciouse bloude And euen as meat doth comfort thy body when it is hungry drinke when it is thursty euen so let hys punishmēt comforte thy soule For I assuer the that his paines his punishment and death is able to saue both the and all the whole worlde from eternall dampnation I will no more be angrye with the for the sinnes that thou haste done If my sonne Christ will take vpon him to answere for the as no dout he if thou wilt come to him put thy hole truste in him Feede thy hungrye stomake w t thys meate that I haue prepared for the and thou shalt haue remission of all thy synnes Feare not any of those daungers that sinne that fleshe the world or the deuel hath brought the into for my sōne hath for thy sake ouercome all hys and thine enemies whom otherwise thou waste not able to ouercome with all the wittes thou haddest Fyrst and formoste he hath ouercome synne for thy sake in that he hath payd his deth to me not for his own sinnes but for thy sinnes and for the synnes of all the world so that allthough thou hast commit-may so be that he will tempte the as in dede he doth daylye tempt all such as I haue chosen to possesse my kingedome but of this thing thou maiest be well assuerid that he can not hurte the because my son hath made him both hys and thy bonde seruaunt with hys death The deuell in tempting the shall be my seruaunt for I wil vse him as an instrumente to trye thy faieth and to exercise thy belefe from tyme to tyme. So that for this purpose I suffer him to tempt the from tyme to tyme that by that meanes thou shouldeste waxe stronger in thy fayeth and stronger Now seest thou that where as before tyme thou waste afrayed of the deuell fearinge that he had rule and power ouer the Nowe my sonne Christe and I do vse hym for our slaue and bond seruaunt to exercyse the fayeth of the good by daylye temptacions to punishe the wicked with continual affliccion and miserye My sonne also hath for thy sake ouercome death and yet not after suche a sort as though it were vtterly takē away but he hath so taken it awaye that it can not hurt the. For whereas before suche as hath deyed without belefe in my sonne went out of thys lyfe into eternall death Now shall death be a dore for the and them to euerlastinge lyfe in so much that thou shalt confesse in thyne hart that which is written in the fyrste to the Philippians saiyng Mihi uita Christus est mori lucrum Christ is my lyfe and it is aduantage for me to dye Death shall no more be vnto the neyther vnto anye of my chosen bitter but sweet not so rowfull but ioyfull not losse but gayne not to be feared but to be desiered death shall not be worthye to haue the name of death but rather of the waye and entry vnto eternall lyfe Death shall haue no power to hurte the for hys stinge is cut of accordinge to my promes O mors Ero mors tua O death I wyll by thy death Thus hath my sonne for thy sake ouercome synne he hath ouercome
¶ A notable Sermon concerninge the ryght vse of the lordes supper and other thynges very profitable for all men to knowe preached before the Kynges most excellent Mayestye and hys most honorable counsel in hys courte at Westmynster the 14. daye of Marche by Mayster Iohn ponet Doctor of dyuinity 1550. Matth. 11. Come vnto me all ye that laboure and are laden and I wyll refreshe you They be to be solde in Paules churche-yard next the great Schole at the signe of the sprede Egle. ¶ A notable Sermon concernynge the ryghte vse of the Lordes supper and other thynges very profytable for all men to knowe Preached before the kynges most excellent May-stye and hys most honorable counsel in hys court at Westmynster the .xiiij. daye of Marche by Mayster Iohn Ponet Doctor of Diuynytye 1550. Math. xiii Alia quidem cecideruntiuxta uiam Some fell by the wayes side IN my laste sermō moste noble audience enteringe thys pece of the parable wheras our Sauiour Christ saith y e sume of the sede fell by the waies syde I promised y e declaraciō of fower thinges First what was ment by this worde waye Secondarely what it was that hath so hardened that thing which is fygured by this word way Thirdly what seede it is that hath bene lost in this way And fourthly what byrdes they be and what men they be that hath deuowerid trodē thesame seede Of the two first pointes I saied somwhat my mynde the last tyme whan I was in this place And I am come at this presēt to perfourme my promes touchyng the two latter pointes Wherof the first is touchyng what seede it is that hath bene lost in this way For declaraciō whereof ye shall vnderstande that it is the doctrine of the heuenly banket wher w t our heauenly father fedeth all his elect and chosen people wyth the verye bodye and bloud of hys sonne our Sauioure Iesus Christ which doctryne is so necessary that without the comfort thereof it is impossyble y t any man shoulde be sauid It is not ynough for a man to haue a knowledge of thys doctryne but also so many as shalbe sauyd must haue a practyse and a lyuely felynge of it in hys harte and a pleasaunt tast of the swetnes of this heuenly comfort The scripture sayth not that he whych knoweth the doctryne of eatynge of Christes flesh and drynkyng of hys bloude shalbe sauyd but it sayth Nisi ederitis et biberitis that is onles ye haue y e acte of eatyng of Christes fleshe of drynkinge his bloude Non habetis uitam in uobis Ye haue no lyfe in you So y t here is not only a knowledge an vnderstandinge but also an acte a worke required at euery mans hand Forasmuch therefore as it standeth vpon euery mans saluacion dampnaciō euerlastingly to haue or lacke y e inward felyng of this comfort it is very expedient necessarye that all suche as be called to thys offyce of preaching goddes most holy word should instruct leade euery man into the trew knowlege thereof especially for y t it is a doctrine whiche hath not ben receaued but ben a loste cast away sede vpon y e most sortes of people thus many yeres Therfore for declaracion of this doctrine of the heauenly banket ye shall vnderstande that it is our heauenly father whiche make the this heauenly banket as it appeareth by the parable in the 22. of Mat. and the 14. of Luc. And so so desirouse he is to haue all men come and fede vpon thys banket that after his preparacion of all thinges in a readines he sendeth fourth his seruaūtes to bydde not some mē only but al mē to come to hys feast And euē as ther is no liberal harted gentelman y t maketh a feast but he is desirous y e his gestes should haue a lusting gredy hungry stomake Euen so our heuenly father is desierouse that al men which are bydden to thys feast shuld haue hungringe thurstinge stomakes But here ye muste note y t as this bāket whervnto our heuēly father byddeth vs is a banket for our soule not for our body euen so must thys hungrynge thursting be hunger and thurste of the soule and not of the bodye Wherefore it is conuenyente that fyrst and foremost I declare vnto you how the soule of mā is made hungry thursty also when it is hungry thurstye Whiche lesson shall geue a great lyght to all the rest of our purpose For declaration whereof ye shall vnderstande that the soule of man is made hungry and thurstye by the meanes and workyng of the law and that after thys sorte as I shal declare vnto you The law worketh foure thynges for and in the soule of man Fyrst and formost the law maketh the soule of man knowe and see her offences and synnes committyd and done againste the mayestye of almighty god And it sheweth them as lyuely to the eye of the soule as a glasse sheweth the spotes and markes of mans face vnto hys bodylye eye And if the lawe did not shewe to our soules oure synnes after thys sort we should not know that we be synners as Saint Paule witnesseth to the Romayns Peccatum non cognouissem nisi per legē I had not knowen synne but by the law Therfore is thys one office and worke of the lawe to make mans soule knowe here offences The seconde thynge that the law worketh for the soule of mā is that it sheweth vnto mā goddes displeasure goddes punishement for synne euerlastinge death hell fyer for her offences Stipendium peccati mors y e reward of syn is death The third office worke of the law is to make man dispaire quiet of hym selfe For when the law of God hath geuen thus muche knouledge to the soule of mā then doth mās soule begyn to dispaire and to thinke verely that there is no way with her but one which is euerlasting damnacion Now when mans soule seeth her self in such great daunger then is man in a wonderfull agony and sorow quiet out of all comfort and is driuē to seeke som other meanes for helpe then at the hādes of the law whiche sheweth no mercy but extreme punishment And for this forssyng that the lawe straineth man with al the law is called pedagogus ad christū a sholemaster whiche teacheth man to goo to christ for helpe this is the fourth office of the lawe but all men cannot by by se christ in this agony mās nature is so naturally by reason blinded y e first man seketh all other means for helpe and comfort before it seke for the true and right helpe For declaracion whereof ye shall vnderstande that when mannes soule seeth her selfe in suche daunger first and formost peraduenture man will fall to abstinence frō this or that kynde of meate and once or twice a weeke
death he hath ouercome the deuell and all thyne enemyes and myne and when he made an ende he said Consummatum est nowe all finyshed He hath done all those thinges that I requyred at thy handes to haue done Despaire not therefore comforte thy selfe wyth thys death of my sonne Trust that this death and bloudsheding is a sufficient ransom and recompence for thy sinnes Comfort thy hungry stomake with this restoretish dishe whiche may so be well called for that it hath restored the all suche as beleue in hym agayne into my fauor Whosoeuer comforteth his hungry soule with this dishe shall haue remission of all hys synnes Whosoeuer feedeth with a sure fayth and eat thereof hartyly not doutinge but that Christ is sufficient to saue his soule that Christe is sufficiente to slaake hys hunger and to quenche his thurst he shall not nede of any other dyshes diuised by men to feed vpon but he shall be suer that the death and bloudshedinge of myne only begotten sonne is sufficient to comfort his penitent hungry soule so that it shall not be famishid it shal not sterue nor peryshe but haue lyfe euerlasting This is the ioyfull tydynges the comfortable doctrine the sede of goddes most holye worde most noble audience which hath bene so longe troden and cast away vnder neth the fote of the people This is the lost seed which when it was sowen woulde not this manye yeares enter into the hartes and vnderstandinges of men But here I moste humbly desier you to note that it is not meant by these wordes eatinge of Christes flesh and drynkynge of hys bloude and feding vpon Christe that ye should so feed of Christe as ye woulde feed of a pece of motton a pece of beefe or a pece of venson For that kynd of cating profetteth nothing at al. Caro non prodest quicquam The fleshe profeteth nothynge at all Thys grosse kynde of feedinge vpon Christe profeteth nothing at all But it is ment that euen as ye comfort your earthly and corruptible body with bread and meat when it is hungry and with ale bere or wyne when it is thurstye Euen so doeth the soule of man when the lawe sheweth to her her faultes and eternal damnation and the dredfull iudgementes of God for her offenses comforte her selfe in her greate hunger and thurste beleuynge that almightye God hath forgeuen her synnes for Christes sake So that where as before she was hungry and comfortles and afraied of eternall dampnation Now is she fed and comforted with thassuerance that her synnes be forgeuen her of god for Christes sake her sauiour It is an vnreuerente and an vngodly opinion and voyd of all Godlye religion to saye or thynke that we muste eate and chame with our corporall teeth or that we muste swallow with our corporal throte Christes blessed fleshe and bones after so grosse a sorte as we eat other kyndes of meat Yea and it is a thynge abhorred of nature that mannes should feede of mans fleshe hyde thesame fleshe of man in pastes or culles or by any meanes otherwyse neuer so conningly Man detesteth and abhorreth to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say a man eater The Centuryon of a relygyouse mynde and of a godly feare thoughte hym selfe vnworthye that oure sauioure Christ shoulde enter into hys house saiynge Non sum idoneus ut tectum meum subeas And S. Peter in the .v. of Luke had a certeyne relygyouse a godly feare to come nighe to Christ and sayed vnto him Discede a me Domine quia homo peccator sum Departe from me O lorde for I am a synnar Euen so all suche as haue any Iote of Godly religyon in ther hartes shoulde be ashamed once to desyer to bruse with there teeth to eate raw and to swallowe the fleshe bloud and bones of oure sauyoure Christe euen as it was borne of the blessed vyrgyne Mary S. Austen wytnesseth that the Capernaites toke our Sauiour Christe after that sort when he sayd Nisi quis manducauerit meam carnem biberit meum sanguinem non habebit uitam eternam Onles a man eate my flesh and drinke my bloude he shall not haue euerlastyng lyfe They toke him saieth he grosly as it appeareth by ther question that they demaunded immediatly saiynge How can this fellow geue vs his fleshe to eat Is not he the sonne of Ioseph Thys grosse opinion of thers Saint Austen calleth heresye as it is a playne heresye in dede to say that we must eat of necessitie Christ after such a grosse sort They thought that Christ had offered hys bodye to be eaten as fleshe that hangeth in the bucherye so that the fleshe of his armes and sydes that stode there before them shoulde be chewed and swallowed of them But sayth Saint Austen that was not hys meaninge For that kynde of eatinge of Christes fleshe profeteth nothyng at all Caro non prodest quicquam But that they whych were made sorowfull and hungrye by the terror of the law shuld be fed and comfortedwith the death of his fleshe and wyth his blessed bloudshedynge And he that feedeth not hys soule after this sort wyth Christes fleshe and bloude is not alyue in Christe but he is in desperation Manet in morte He dwelleth in death yea beynge alyue in thys worlde he hath a taste of hell because hys conscyence is comfortles and the worme byteth him cōtinually so that he hath deuell in his conscience And he is alltogether comfortles because there is none other meet comfort that can comfort oure soules but onely the cōfort that we haue by Christ. And whosoeuer eateth thys fleshe and drinketh this bloud wyth y e mouth of belefe that thys very fleshe of Christ was put to death for him and this very bloud was once shed for him He shall haue euerlasting life and the lord will raise him againe at the latter day And he had a tast of the kingdome of God euen beyng alyue He hath peace and quyetnes in his conscyence Whyche is Gaudium pax in spiritum sanctum And thys kind of eatinge is called of learned men an of Christe Spiritualiter that is to say a comfortinge with oure soules wyth Christ spiritually And as oft as we comforte oure soules of thys sorte we haue a sure knowledge and a felinge that the wrath of god the father against vs is pacyfyed and so be we of oure for more hunger eased There is another kinde of eatinge of Christes body and drinkinge of his bloud that is called eatinge and drinking Sacramentaliter Sacramentally And we eate Christ on this fashion as oft as we Ioyne the outward signes of breade and wyne that is to say the sacrament of the holy communion wyth oure fayth and inward belefe receauing a visible testimony of our inwarde belefe in the face of the congregacion And if it chaunce any man to receaue this outward pledge and testimony of
the lordes death haue not this inward belefe the same man in taking of that visible Sacrament in the face of the congregaciō maketh a lye to the holy gost because he sheweth him self outwardly as though he comforforted his soule inwardelye with Christ and yet in deed he doth not and therfor when he taketh this heuenly Sacrament his conscience cōdempneth hum and telleth him that he is not inwardly so affected and disposed as his outward receauinge of the Sacrament doth pretend Wherfore saint Paule geueth sentence of euery suche man and sayth Iudicium sibi manducat et bibit He eateth and drynketh his owne condempnacion and iudgemente whiche is an vnworthy kynde of eatinge Quia non diiudicat corpus domini Because he hath no consideracion why he eatith of that bred and drynketh of that cuppe wherof he eatith drynketh for an outwarde Sacrament and testimony before the hole congregacion that he is inwardly fed and confortith by Christus death but inwardly indeed he feleth no suche confort Wherefore thus I may conclude he that beleueth eateth And he that beleueth not eateth not although he eate the Sacrament euery day in the weeke And S. Austen beyng of the same minde saith Quid paras dentem uentrem crede manducasti Why doest thou prepare thy teeth and thy bely beleue and thou hast eaten Therfore should man proue hymself as S. Paule saieth and examen diligentlye hys owne conscience within hys breste and way with him selfe wel before he come to this holy communion whether he be indued with the spirit of god and lyuely fayth in Christe or not And if he perceaue hym selfe to be a fleshly a sensuall man without faith and without the spirit of almighty god he ought not to receaue thys holy sacrament but to withdraw him self vntil such time as almighty God shall more plentyfullye indue him wyth his most heauenly grace But if he perceaue by his faith that he is knyt holly to Christ and that he is a liuelye member of him let him then goe forward and eat of this bread drynke of this cuppe to his most heauenly comfort And lette hym say to him selfe on thys wyse when he goeth to receaue the communion I goe now to make a solempne professyon before God and his congregation of my fayeth and to receaue that comfortable Sacrament and misticall pledge that Christ hath appointed And besydes the quyeting of myne owne conscience to declare to other of the flocke of Christ that I beleue assueredlye that oure Sauyoure Christe shedde hys precyouse bloude and dyed for the remissyon of my synnes And that he and none but he hath geuen me a wysdome whereby I am returned againe into the fauor of God The lawe told me that I was not able of my selfe searchinge all the wittes that I had to returne againe to God but Christ. Factus est mihi sapientia a Deo Hath geuen me a wisedome and a knowledge howe to come with hys helpe agayne to God I was altogether wicked and vnholly and he hath made me holy in that he hath made me partaker of his holynes I was alltogether vnrightuouse and he hath made me rightuouse in that it pleaseth him to make me partaker of his rightuousnes By meanes wherof my former offenses shall not be imputed vnto me I thought that I coulde by no means haue pacified the wrath of God the father and haue made amendes for mine offences but nowe I am sure that Christe is become my redemer and hath made a quietnes an attonement betwene almighty god me So that I fele and perceaue this to be trew that Christ is god mā Factus est mihi sapiencia a Deo Iusticiaque sanctificatio redemtio Christ is become my wisdom frō God my righteousnes my holynes and my redemption In witnes wherof I wil eate of this bred and drinke of this cup that our sauiour Christ hath appointed me to eate drynk of to my most heuenly comfort and consolacion After this examinacion our conscience wil tel vs whether we bee apte or not to receaue this holycōmunion according to Christes right institucion Whiche is appoynted for vs to perpetuall memory of his death vntyl his comminge agayne in glory For this ende was the holy sacrament first instituted and not to be holden vp in the handes of the priest ouer his hed not to be hāged vp in y e church to be worshipped with a goodly honor of y e people not that the minister thereof shoulde by the ministraciō therof purchase remission of synnes for y e quicke and the dead not that he should get reyne therby or fayer wheter not y t he should clense the ayer thereby from euell infections no more y t the receyuer therof should be the better for the receuing therof that is to say for the doiynge of that worke but rather the worse if he were not a goodly beleuinge man before The right vse of this holy sa Sacramente is as often as it is taken for a heuenly meanes to putt vs in rememberanrce of the death and bludshedinge of our Sauiour Christ. Whiche right vse being once trewely and plainely perceaued of the people all vayne vses wyll fall awaye of them selfes euen as falsed fayleth when truth commeth and as darcknes geueth place when light cometh And at the last the mainteyners of these fond diuises will be ashamed of their ignorance when all the worlde shall see the truth to ther open confusion and perceaue sensibily how blynd bussardes they be what shift they make both to lyue themselfes and also to bringe vp and confyrme other in blyndnes Yt is a sport to here these ignorant blyndlynges what shiftes they make when they be dryuen to their answer either concernynge the Sacrament it selfe or elles concernynge the presence of Christes body in the Sacrament Some saye that Christ is in this Sacrament realiter et substancialiter but not naturaliter that is to saye really substancially but not naturally And of this opinion be the mooste parte of the schole Doctors Some other holde that that opynion is false and wyl in any wyse haue thys worde naturally saiynge that Christ his bodye is there naturally whiche terme I meruayle much wher they fynd seynge that it is not vsed eyther of Saint Austen saint Ambrose saint Hierom or of any other of the old aunceant doctors writers either in greek or latin old or new And yet is there one who hath of late writtē a boke called the detection of the deuels Sophistry whiche vsed this terme naturally twyse or thrise in his boke belyke he lerned this terme in that schole wheras he learned the deuels Sophistry that is to saye in the schole of lyes of whom the deuel is the chefe scholemaster Some saye that he is there Iisdem dimencionibus quibus pendebat in cruce Euen of thesame lenght breadeth and thyknes as he dyd hange vpon the crosse Some say that
the bread is transubstanciated that is to say that the substance of the bread is gone and the qualities onely of the breade doeth remayne which opinion is an heresy in logike to saye that accidens may be sine subiecto Some saye the bread is the body and some saye the body is vnder the bread And if a man alledge vnto them the article of our Crede say that that body which was borne of the blessed virgin Mary lyued here in earth .xxxiii. yere suffryd vnder pontius pylat and that honge vpon the crosse and that was dead and buryed That theselfe same body arose agayne the third day frō death no fantastical body but euen thesame fleshe and bone and the selfe same bodye that was felt of Thomas and that it remayneth here .xli. dayes with his disciples after his resurrection from death and that the selfe same body is ascendit into heuen and sitteth at the right hand of God the father that is to saye in the glory of the father and that he shall not come agayne vntyll the latter day when he shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead and to restore all thynges whiche were spoken of by the prophetes accordingly as we reed in the third of the actes they wyll saye constantly that all thys gere is playne false For say they a preste may fetche Christe his manhoode downe from heuen when he wyll before the latter day come with saiynge Hoc est corpus meum Be he neuer so viciose a gentelman that saieth the wordes he hath Christes body at his beck and commandement to bringe hym doune when him lusteth And for the mayntenance of thys there erroneus and Anthechristian opinyon they wyll not styke to saye that Christes body may be in sondry places at one tyme graunting that it may be at Rome at Paris in London in Canterbery and in a thousand other dyuerse places at once Whereas if ye read the scriptures through ye shall neuer fynd that Christes body was in two places at one tyme or that after hys resurreccion it appeared in two sundry places at one tyme. This deuilishe opinion of thers openeth a dore to Martion and the Manicheis who defyed Christes bodye after suche a sorte that they denied it to be of like substance as other mens bodies be Agaynst whych doctryne S. Austen geueth this rule Cauendum est ne it a diuinitatem astruamus hominis ut ueritatem corporis auferamus We must take hede sayeth S. Austen that we doe not so affirme the diuinitie of his manhode that wee take awaye thereby of the trueth of hys body And Saint Austen doeth plainelye affyrme that thys body muste be in one place of heauen whereas it pleaseth hys dyuine maiestye to be And he sayeth in the .30 treatyse vpon Iohn .xvi. Corpus enim in quo resurrexit in uno loco esse oportet The bodye wherein he dyd ryse must be in one place I am not ignoraunt that the prynted copy of saynt Austen hath in that place Vno loco esse potest that is maye be in one place But I praye you what is he that douteth of that thing that Christes body maye be in one place Surelye Saynt Austen woulde neuer haue vsed so vayne a sentence in so weightye a matter and it is playne in the decrees De consecratione distinctionei ca. Prima quidem heresis And in the maister of the sentence in the fourth booke distinctione decima that S. Austen is faslye prynted in that pointe For in both these places ye shal haue these plain wordes Corpus enim in quo resurrexit in uno loco esse oporter The body of Christ in which he arose must be in one place These two of there owne schole be sufficiente witnesses to me and to all men that S. Austen was playnely of thys opinion that Christes bodye muste be at one tyme in one place and can not be at one tyme in sundrye places In uno loco esse oportet It must be in one place The best waye to confute this sorte of men is to set the one of them agaynst another him that sayth that Christes body is ther naturaliter naturally against thē that say it is the natural body of Christ but not naturallyter And them whiche sayeth that there is a transubstanciation in the Sacramēt agaynst them that say that ther is the body and the bread together And them that say the mouse may eat the Sacrament agaynst theim that saye the mouse cā not eat it And them that say it may moule agaynst them that say it cā not moule And so shal we ease our selfes of a great deale of paynes in sufferinge the one of them to cōfute the other who as they haue many hedes so haue thei many wittes and their is euē as great a confusion amōgest them as their was amongest the tonges in babylon wherfore whē they striue to hit the matter they lightly alwayes misse euē as men that threshe heynes blyndfyld But ye wyll say to me Syr ye haue told vs what some saye but what say yow Forsoth Sir I say as I haue sayeth that Christes blessed body is not eaten with oure teeth so grosly and so carnally as they take it to be But I beleue that that very body whiche was borne of the virgine Mary and was crucifyed ded and buried and that very body whiche arose agayne the third day and that was felt of Thomas after Christes resurrection that it had fleshe and bones otherwise then spirites hath that whych dyd eat and drynk with the duciples after his resurrectiō And that whiche was seen of the disciples when it ascendid into heauen and that whiche sitteth at the right hand of God the father accordynge to the article of our Creed I beleue I say that that body is in heuē only and is not in the earth accordyngly as Saint Augusten sayth in the 50 treatyse vpon Iohn Conuersatus est secundutu corporis presentiam quadragintaa diebus cum discipulis suis eis deducentibus uidendo ac sequendo ascendit in celum non est hic ibi enim sedet ad dextram patris That is to say He was here conuersant wyth the presence of his body forty dayes with his disciples and they goyng with him and folowynge him he ascendid into heuē in their sight and he is not here for he sitteth ther on the right hand of his father By his diuinitie his godhed hys diuyne mayestye hys power and his prouidence he is here and euery where But his manhod is a creature and is in heuen only and ther shall he remayne vntyll the latter day And yet is it trew that Christes very body is present at the mynistracion of the lords supper Yea euen flesh blud and bone as he was borne of the virgyn Mary Why but what mean I to say so Thys geer semeth to be quiet contrary to al that euer I haue sayth befor