O heauenly Father that the controuersie about the Sacrament of the blessed body and blood of thy déer Sonne our Sauiour Iesu Christe hath troubled not of late onlye the Churche of England Fraunce Germanie and Italye but also many yéere agoe The fault is ours na dout therfore for we have deserued thy plague But O Lord be mercifull and reléeue our miserie with some lighte of grace Thou knowest O Lord how this wicked world rolleth vp and down and réeleth to and fro and careth not what thy will is so it may abide in wealth If trueth haue wealthe who are so stoute to defende the trueth as they But if Christes crosse be laid on trueths back then they vanish away straight as Waxe before the fier But these are not they O Heauenly Father for whome I make my moste moane but for those silly ones O Lord which haue a zeale vnto thée those I mean which wold Note and wish to know thy wil and yet are letted holden backe and blinded by the subtilties of Sathan and his ministers the wickednes of this wretched worlde and the sinfull lusts and affections of the flesh Alas Lord thou knowest that we bée of our selues but flesh wherein there dwelleth nothing that is good How then is it possible for man without thée O Lord to vnderstand thy trueth indéed Can the naturall man perceiue the wil of God O Lord to whom thou giuest a zeale of thée giue them also we beseech thée the knowledge of thy blessed wil. Suffer not them O Lord blindely to be led for to striue against thée as thou diddest those Alas which crucified thine own Sonne forgiue them O Lord for thy déere Sonnes sake for they know not what they doo They doo think Alas O Lord for lack of knowledge that they doo vnto thée good seruice euen when against thée they doo moste extremelye rage Remember O Lord we beséech thee for whome thy Martyr Stephen did praye and whome thyne holy Apostle Paule did so truelye and earnestlye loue that for their saluation hée wished himself accursed for them Remember O heauenly Father the prayer of thy déere Sonne our Sauiour Christe vpon the crosse when be saide vnto thée O Father forgiue them they know not what they doo With this forgiuenes O good Lord giue me I beséech thée thy grace so héer bréefly to set foorth the sayings of thy Sonne our Sauiour Christe and of his Euangelistes and of his Apostles that in this aforesaid controuersie the lighte of the trueth by the lantern of thy woord may shine vnto all them that loue thée Of the Lords last supper doo speak expreslye the Euangelists Mathew Mark and Luke but none more plainelye nor more fully declareth the same then dooth S. Paule partely in the tenth Chapter but specially in the xj chapter of his first epistle to the Corinthians As Mathew and Mark doo agrée much in woordes so doo likewise Luke and S. Paule But all iiij no doubte as they were all taught in one schoole and inspired with one spirit so taught they as one trueth God grant vs to vnderstande it wel Amen Mathew setteth foorth Christes Supper thus When euen was come he sat down with the xij c. As they did eat Jesus took bread and gave thankes brake it and gave it to the disciples Math. 26. and saide Take eat this is my body And he took the cup and gaue thankes gaue it to them saying Drink ye al of this for this is my blood of the newe testament that is shed for many for the remission of sinnes I say vnto you I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine tree untill that daye when I shall drink that newe in my fathers kingdome And when they had sayed grace they went out Now Mark speaketh it thus And as they eate Jesus took bread blessed and brake and gaue to Mark 14. them and saied take eat this is my body And took the cup gaue thankes and gaue it to them and they all drank of it And he said vnto them This is my bloud of the new testament which is shed for many Verily I saye vnto you I wil drink no more of the fruit of the vine vntill that day that I drink that newe in the kingdome of God. Héere Mathew and Mark doo agree not only in the matter but also almoste fully in the forme of woords In Mathew gaue thankes Mark hath one woorde Blessed which signifieth in this place al one And where Mathew saith Drink ye al of this Mark saith they al drank of it And where Mathew saithe of this fruit of the vine Mark leaueth out the woord this and saith of the fruit of the vine Now let us see likewise what agréement in forme of woords is betwéene S. Luke and S. Paule Luke writeth thus He took bread gaue thankes brake it and gaue it to them saying Luke 22. this is my body which is giuen for you this doo in remembrance of me Likewise also when they had supped he took the Cup saying this Cup is the newe Testament in my bloud which is shedde for you Saint Paule setteth foorth the Lords Supper thus The Lord Iesus the same night in the which he was betraied took 1 Cor. 11. Bread and gaue thankes and brake and saide take eate this is my body which is broken for you This doo in remembrance of me After the same maner he took the Cup when supper was doon saying this Cup is the new testament in my bloud This doo as often as yee shall drink it in remembrance of me For as often as ye shall eate this breade and drinke this cup ye shall shewe the Lords deathe vntill he come Héere where S. Luke saith which is given Paule saith which is broken And as Luke addeth to the woordes of Paule spoken of the Cup which is shed for you so likewise Paule addeth to the woords thereof this doo as often as yee shall drinke it in remembrance of me The rest that followeth in S. Paule both there and in the tenth Chapter perteineth unto the right vse of the Lords Supper Thus the Euangelistes and S. Paule haue rehearsed the woords and woorke of Christe whereby he did institute and ordaine this holy Sacrament of his bodye and blood to be a perpetuall remembrance vnto his comming againe of him selfe I say that is of his body giuen for vs and of his blood shed for the remission of sinnes But this remembrance which to thus ordained as the author thereof is Christe bothe God and Man so by the almightye power of God if far passeth al kindes of remembrances that any other man is able to make either of him selfe or of any other thinge For whosoever receiueth this holy Sacrament thus ordeined in remembrance of Christe he receiueth therwith either death or life In this I trust we doo al agrée For S. Paule saith of the godly receiuers in the tenth Chapter of his first Epistle vnto
Augustine that we eat Life and we drink Life with Emisene that we feel the Lord to be present in Grace with Athanasius that we receive Celestial Food that cometh from above the propriety of natural Communion with Hilary the nature of Flesh and Benediction which giveth life in Bread and Wine with Cyril and with the same Cyril the virtue of the very Flesh of Christ Life and Grace of his Body the property of the only begotten that is to say Life as he himself in plain words expounded it I confess also with Basil that we receive the mystical Advent and coming of Christ Grace and Virtue of his very Nature the Sacrament of his very Flesh with Ambrose the Body by Grace with Epiphanius Spiritual Flesh but not that which was crucified with Hierom Grace flowing into a Sacrifice and the Grace of the Spirit with Chrysostom Grace and invisible Verity Grace and Society of the Members of Christ's Body with Augustine Finally with Bertram who was the last of all these I confess that Christ's Body is in the Sacrament in this respect namely as he writeth Because there is in it the Spirit of Christ that is the power of the Word of God which not only feedeth the Soul but also cleanseth it But of these I suppose it may appear unto all men how far we are from that Opinion whereof some go about falsly to slander us to the world saying we teach that the Godly and Faithful should receive nothing else at the Lord's Table but a Figure of the Body of Christ The Second Proposition After the Consecration there remaineth no Substance of Bread and Wine neither any other Substance than the Substance of God and Man. The Answer The second Conclusion is manifestly false directly against the Word of God the Nature of the Sacrament and the most evident Testimonies of the godly Fathers and it is the rotten Foundation of the other two Conclusions propounded by you both of the first and also of the third I will not therefore now tarry upon any further Explication of this Answer being contented with that which is already added afore to the Answer of the first Proposition The First Argument for the Confirmation of this Answer It is very plain by the Word of God that Christ did give Bread unto his Disciples and called it his Body But the Substance of Bread is another manner of Substance than is the Substance of Christ's Body God and Man. Therefore the Conclusion is false The second part of mine Argument is plain and the first is proved thus The Second Argument That which Christ did take on the which he gave Thanks Da and the which he brake he gave to his Disciples and called it his Body But he took Bread gave Thanks on Bread and brake Bread. ti Ergo The first part is true And it is confirmed with the Authorities of the Fathers Irenaeus si Tertullian Origen Cyprian Epiphanius Hierom Augustine Theodoret Cyril Rabanus and Bede whose places I will take upon me to shew most manifest in this behalf if I may be suffered to have my Books as my request is Bread is the Body of Christ Ergo. It is Bread. The Third Argument As the Bread of the Lord's Table is Christ's natural Body so Ba it is his mystical Body But it is not Christ's mystical Body by Transubstantiation Ergo It is not his natural Body by Transubstantiation ro eo The second part of my Argument is plain and the first is proved thus As Christ who is the Verity spake of the Bread This is my Body which shall be betrayed for you speaking there of his natural Body even so St. Paul moved with the same Spirit of Truth said We though we be many yet are we all one Bread and one Body which be partakers of one Bread. The Fourth Argument We may no more believe Bread to be Transubstantiate into the Body of Christ than the Wine into his Blood. But the Wine is not Transubstantiate into his Blood Ergo Neither is that Bread therefore Transubstantiate into his Body The first part of this Argument is manifest and the second part is proved out of the Authority of God's Word in Matthew and Mark I will not drink of the fruit of the Vine c. Now the fruit of the Vine was Wine which Christ drank and gave to his Disciples to drink With this Sentence agreeth plainly the place of Chrysostome on the 20th Chapter of Matthew as Cyprian doth also affirming That there is no Blood if Wine be not in the Cup. The Fifth Argument The words of Christ spoken upon the Cup and upon the Ba Bread have like effect and working But the words spoken upon the Cup have not virtue to Transubstantiate ro Ergo It followeth that the words spoken upon the Bread have eo no such virtue The second part of the Argument is proved because they would then Transubstantiate the Cup or that which is in the Cup into the New Testament But neither of these things can be done and very absurd it is to confess the same The Sixth Argument The Circumstances of the Scripture the Analogy and proportion of Da the Sacraments and the Testimony of the faithful Fathers ought to rule us in taking the meaning of the Holy Scripture touching the Sacrament But the Words of the Lord's Supper the Circumstances of the ti Scripture the Analogy of the Sacraments and the Sayings of the Fathers do most effectually and plainly prove a figurative speech in the words of the Lord's Supper Ergo A figurative sense and meaning is specially to be received in si these words This is my Body The Circumstances of the Scripture Do this in remembrance of me As oft as ye shall eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup ye shall shew forth the Lord's death Let a man prove himself and so eat of this bread and drink of this cup. They came together to break Bread and they continued in breaking of Bread. The Bread which we break c. For we being many are all one Bread and one Body c. The Analogy of the Sacraments is necessary for if the Sacraments had not some similitude or likeness of the things whereof they be Sacraments they could in no wise be Sacraments And this similitude in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is taken three manner of ways 1. The first consisteth in nourishing as you shall read in Rabanus Cyprian Austin Irenaeus and most plainly in Isidore out of Bertram 2. The second in the uniting and joyning of many into one as Cyprian teacheth 3. The third is a similitude of unlike things Where like as the Bread is turned into one Body so we by the right use of this Sacrament are turned through Faith into the Body of Christ The sayings of the Fathers declare it to be a figurative speech as it appeareth in Origen Tertullian Chrysostom in opere imperfecto
he not offered in verity For the Apostle saith Not that he might offer up himself oftentimes for then must he have suffered oftentimes since the beginning of the World. Now where Christ is not offered there is no Propitiatory Sacrifice Ergo In the Mass there is no Propitiatory Sacrifice For Christ appeared once in the latter end of the World to put sin to flight by the offering up of himself And as it is appointed to all men that they shall once dye and then cometh the Judgment even so Christ was once offered to take away the Sins of many And unto them that look for him shall he appear again without sin unto salvation Another Argument Where there is any Sacrifice that can make the comers thereunto Da perfect there ought men to cease from offering any more Expiatory and Propitiatory Sacrifices But in the New Testament there is one only Sacrifice now already ri long since offered which is able to make the comers thereunto perfect for ever Ergo In the New Testament they ought to cease from offering i. any more Propitiatory Sacrifice Sentences of the Scripture tending to the same end and purpose out of which also may be gathered other manifest Arguments for more confirmation thereof By the which will saith the Apostle we are sanctified by the offering Heb. 10. up of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all And in the same place But this man after that he had offered one Sacrifice for sin sitteth for ever at the Right hand of God c. For with one Offering hath he made perfect for ever them that are sanctified and by himself hath he purged our Sins I beseech you to mark these words by himself the which well weighed will without doubt cease all controversie The Apostle plainly denieth any other Sacrifice to remain for him that treadeth under his feet the Blood of the Testament by the which he was made holy Christ will not be crucified again he will not his death to be had in derision He hath reconciled us in the Body of his Flesh Mark I beseech you he Col. 1. saith not in the Mystery of his Body but in the Body of his Flesh If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the 1 John 2. Righteous and he is the Propitiation for our Sins not for ours only but for the Sins of the whole World. I know that all these places of the Scripture are avoided by two manner of subtil shifts The one is by the distinction of the bloody and unbloody Sacrifice as tho our unbloody Sacrifice of the Church were any other than the Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving than a commemoration a shewing forth and a Sacramental Representation of that one only bloody Sacrifice offered up once for all The other is by depraving and wresting the Sayings of the Ancient Fathers unto such a strange kind of sense as the Fathers themselves indeed never meant For what the meaning of the Fathers was is evident by that which St. Augustine writeth in his Epistle to Boniface and in the 83d Chapter of his Ninth Book against Faustus the Manichee besides many other Places likewise by Eusebius Emissenus Cyprian Chrysostom Fulgentius Bertram and others who do wholly concord and agree together in this unity in the Lord that the Redemption once made in Verity for the Salvation of Man continueth in full effect for ever and worketh without ceasing unto the end of the World That the Sacrifice once offered cannot be consumed That the Lord's Death and Passion is as effectual the vertue of that Blood once shed as fresh at this day for the washing away of sins as it was even the same day that it flowed out of the blessed Side of our Saviour And finally that the whole substance of our Sacrifice which is frequented of the Church in the Lord's Supper consisteth in Prayers Praise and giving of Thanks and in remembring and in shewing forth of that Sacrifice once offered upon the Altar of the Cross that the same might continually be had in reverence by Mystery which once only and no more was offered for the Price of our Redemption These are the things right worshipful Mr. Prolocutor and ye the rest of the Commissioners which I could presently prepare to the answering of your three foresaid Prophesies being destitute of all help in this shortness of time sudden warning and want of Books Wherefore I appeal to my first Protestation most humbly desiring the help of the same as much as may be to be granted unto me And because ye have lately given most unjust and cruel Sentence against me I do here appeal so far forth as I may to a more indifferent and just censure and judgment of some other Superior Competent and Lawful Judge and that according to the approved state of the Church of England Howbeit I confess I am ignorant what that is at this present through the trouble and alteration of the state of the Realm But if this Appeal may not be granted to me upon Earth then do I fly even as to my only Refuge and alone Haven of Health to the Sentence of the Eternal Judge that is of the Almighty God to whose most merciful Justice towards us and most just Mercifulness I do wholly commit my self and all my Cause nothing at all despairing of the Defence of my Advocate and alone Saviour Jesus Christ to whom with the Everlasting Father and the Holy Spirit the Sanctifier of us all be now and for ever all Honour and Glory Amen Ridley Of Christ's Real Presence there may be a double understanding P. 56. If you take the Real Presence of Christ according to the Real and Corporal Substance which he took of the Virgin that Presence being in Heaven cannot be on the Earth also But if you mean a Real Presence secundum rem aliquam quae ad Corpus Christi pertinet i. e. according to something that appertaineth to Christ's Body certes the Ascension and abiding in Heaven are no let at all to that Presence Wherefore Christ's Body after that sort is here present to us in the Lord's Supper by Grace I say as Epiphanius speaketh it I grant the Bread to be converted and turned into the Flesh of P. 60. Christ but not by Transubstantiation but by a Sacramental Conversion or turning It is Transformed saith Theophylact in the same place by a Mystical Benediction and by the accession or coming of the Holy Ghost unto the Flesh of Christ He saith not by expulsion or driving away the Substance of Bread and by substituting or putting in its place the Corporal Substance of Christ's Flesh And where he saith It is not a Figure of the Body we should understand that saying as he himself doth elsewhere add one that is it is no naked or bare Figure only For Christ is present in his Mysteries neither at any time as Cyprian saith doth the Divine Majesty
I heard staying then present how that the Devil did believe the Sacrament of God was able to make of Stones Bread And we English people we do confess that Christ was the very Son of God and yet will not believe that of Bread he made his very Body Flesh and Blood wherefore we are worse than the Devil since that our Saviour by express words did more plainly affirm the same when at his last Supper he took Bread and said unto his Disciples Take ye eat this is my Body which shall be given for you And shortly after the said Mr. Doctor Ridley notwithstanding this most plain and open Speech at Paul's Cross did deny the same Whether Fecknam hath truly represented the words of Ridley is uncertain But from the last words of this passage it is manifest that some even in that time taking occasion from this Sermon had charged Bishop Ridley with asserting a Material Presence of Christ's Body in the Sacrament and that he constantly denied himself to have meant or intended any such presence In this therefore and such like expressions he intended only as himself assures us to oppose those who so lightly esteemed the Sacrament Ibid. vol. 3. p. 35. as to make of it but a figure For that but maketh it a bare sign without any more profit But to clear his intention in this matter from all remaining suspicion of any kind of Material Presence I will annex a larger explication of it in his own words in his last examination before the Queens Commissioners September 30. 1555. In like sort as touching the Sermon which I made at Pauls Cross you shall understand that there were at Pauls and divers other places fixed railing Bills against the Sacrament terming it Jack of the Box the Sacrament of the Halter Round Robbin with suchlike unseemly terms For which causes I to rebuke the unreverend behaviour of certain evil disposed persons Preached as reverendly of that Matter as I might declaring what estimation and reverence ought to be given to it what danger ensued the mis-handling thereof affirming in that Sacrament to be truly and verily the Body and Blood of Christ effectually by Grace and Spirit Which words the unlearned understanding not supposed that I had meant of the gross and carnal being which the Romish Decrees set forth That a Body having life and motion should be indeed under the shapes of Bread and Wine This Treatise was written by Bishop Ridley during his imprisonment a little before his death and several Copies of it dispersed abroad of which some being carried beyond Sea Dr. Grindall and other English Exiles conceived a great desire of causing it to be translated into Latin Ibid. p. 374. and Printing it The Bishop hearing of this desired that by all means they would lay aside their resolution till they should see how God would dispose of him Accordingly it was omitted till his death Immediately after his Martyrdom it was Translated into elegant Latin but in a Paraphrastical way and Printed at Geneva 1556. in 12s The English Copy was Printed at London 1586. 12s which we have now caused to be faithfully Reprinted adding to it out of Mr. Fox's Martyrology divers Speeches Disputations and Determinations upon the same subject which might farther illustrate and confirm his Opinion Lastly Because the late Bishop of Oxford in his last Treatise disputing of the ancient Opinion of the Reformed Church of England concerning the Eucharist and as his Cause required it maintaining the same assertion with our Adversaries That some material sort of Presence was then believed doth mightily urge the Authority of the Learned Dr. Poynet Bishop of Winchester at that time proposed in his Diallection and because that Book is not in English I have selected and annexed several passages out of it which may demonstrate what was indeed his notion of the Real Presence That he denied all manner of Material Presence and perfectly agreeth with Ridley in explaining the nature of it And consequently that he is fouly either Misrepresented or Mistaken by the Bishop of Oxford A BREEF DECLARATION OF THE Lordes Supper WRITTEN By the singuler Learned Man and moste constant Martyr of Christe NICHOLAS RIDLEY Bishop of LONDON Prisoner in Oxford a little before he suffered Death for the true testimonye of JESUS CHRISTE ROM VIII For thy sake are we killed all day long and are counted as sheep apoynted to be slain Neuerthelesse in all these thinges we ouercome through him that loue vs. Printed at LONDON 1586. And Reprinted for Ric. Chiswell 1688. TO THE READER VNderstand good Reader that this great Clark and blessed Martyr Bishop Nicholas Ridley sought not by settinge foorth any notable peece of learned woork the vaine glory of the World nor temporall freendship of men for his present aduancement much lesse he hunted heerby for Bishopricks and Benefices as al his aduersaries the enemies of Christs Trueth and Ordinance commonly doo but hauing consideration of the great charge of Soules committed vnto him and of the account thereof which the Iustice of God would require at his handes intending therwithal to be found blamles in the great daye of the Lord seeing he was put a parte to defende the Gospell He not only forsook Landes Goodes World Freends and himselfe with all and testified the Trueth specified in this Book by his learned mouth in the open presence of the World but also to leaue a sure Monument and Loue Token vnto his Flocke hee hath registred it by his owne Pen in this forme ensuinge and sealed it vp with his Blood. Forasmuch then as he hath proued himselfe no vain disputer no wethercocke nor hipocrite seeing hee hath willinglye giuen his life for the Trueth and in as much also as his loue and moste constant christen Conscience speaketh vnto thee gentle Reader I beseech thee for Christs sake and thine owne lend him thine indifferent hart and pacient hearing A BREEFE DECLARATION OF THE Lordes Supper MANY things confounde a weake memory A few places wel weighed and perceiued lighten the vnderstanding Trueth is there to be searched where it is certain to be had though God dooth speake the trueth by man yet in mans woord which God hath not reuealed to be his a man may doubt without mistrust in God. Christe is the trueth of God reuealed vnto man from Heauen by God him self and therefore in his woord the trueth is to be founde which is to be embraced of al that be his Christ biddeth vs aske and we shall haue search and we shall finde knocke and it shall be opened unto vs. Therefore our Heauenly The blessed Martirs praier Father the Author and fountain of al trueth the bottomles Sea of al vnderstanding send down we beseech thée thy holy spirit into our harts and lighten our vnderstanding with the beames of thy heauenly grace We ask thée this O mercifull Father not in respect of our deserts but for thy déere Sonne our Sauiour Iesus Christs sake Thou knowest
the Cerinthians The Cup of blessinge which we blesse is it not the pertaking or felowship of Christes bloud And also saithe the Breade which wee break and meaneth at the Lords Lable Is it not the partaking or felowship of Christs body Now the partaking of Christes body and of his blood vnto the faithfull and godly is the partaking or felowship of life and immortalitie And againe of the bad and vngodly receiuers S. Paule as plainly saith thus He that eateth of this bread and drinketh of this cup vnworthily is gilty of the body and bloud of the Lord. Note O how necessary then it is if we loue life and would eschue deathe to trye and examine our selues before we eate of this bread and drink of this cup for els assuredly he that eateth and drinketh thereof vnworthilye eateth and drinketh his own damnation because he estéemeth not the Lords body that is he reuerenceth not the Lordes bodye with the honour that is due vnto him And that which was saide that with the receite of the holye Sacrament of the blessed body and bloud of Christe is receiued of every one good and bad either life or death it is not ment that they whiche are dead before God may heerby receiue life or the liuinge before God can heerby receiue death For as none is meete to receiue naturall food wherby the natural life is nourished except he be borne and liue before so no man can feed by the receit of this holy Sacrament of the food of eternall life except he be regenerated and borne of God before And on the other side no man heer receiueth damnation whiche is not dead before Thus hethertoo without al doubt God is my witnesse I saye so far as I doo knowe there is no controuersie amonge them that be learned in the Churche of England concerninge the matter of this Sacrament but al doo agree whether they be new or olde and to speak plain and as some of them doo odiously cal either other whether they be Protestantes Papists Pharisies or Gospellers And as all doo agree hithertoo in the aforesaid Doctrine so all doo deteste abborre and condemne the wicked heresie of the Messalonians which otherwise be called Eutichets which saide that the holy Sacrament can neither doo no good nor harme All do also condemne those wicked Anabaptistes which put no difference between the Lords Table and the Lords meat and their owne And because charity would that we should if it be possible and so far as we may with the sauegarde of good conscience and maintenance of the trueth agree with all men therfore me thinkes it is not charitablye doon to burthen any man either newe or olde as they call them further then such doo declare themselues to dissent from that we are perswaded to be trueth or pretend thertoo to be controuersies where as none such are in deed and so to multiply the debate the which the more it doth increase the further it doth depart from the vnitie that the true Christian should desire And again this is true that trueth nother needeth nor wil be What it is to lye The slaunderous lyes of the Papists maintained with lies It is also a true prouerb That it is euen sinne to lye vpon the Deuil For though by thy lye thou doost neuer so much speak against the Deuil yet in that thou liest in deed thou woorkest the Deuils woorke thou doost him seruice and takest the Deuils part Now whether then they doo godlye and charitablye which either by their Pen in Writing or by their Woordes in Preaching doo beare the simple people in hand that those which thus doo teach and beleue doo go about to make the holye Sacrament ordeined by Christe himselfe a thing no better then a peece of common Bread or that doo saye that such doo make the holye Sacrament of the blessed bodye and blood of Christe nothing els but a bare signe or a figure to represent Christe none otherwise then the Ivye bushe doth represent the Wine in a Tauern or as a vile person gorgiouslye apparalled maye represent a King or a Prince in a playe Alas let men leaue lying and speak trueth everye one not only to his neighbour but also of his neighboure for wee are members one of an other saith Saint Paule The controuersie no doubt which at this daye troubleth the Church wherin any mean learned man either olde or newe dooth stand in is not whether the holy Sacrament of the body and blood of Christe is no better then a peece of common breade or no or whether the Lords Table is no more to be regarded then the Table of any earthly man or no or whether it is but a bare signe or figure of Christe and nothing else or no. For all do graunt that S. Paules woordes doo require that the bread which we break is the partaking of the body of Christe and also doo graunte him that eateth of that bread or drinketh of that cup vnwoorthely to be gilty of the Lords death and to eate and drinke his owne damnation because be esteemeth not the Lords body All doo graunt that these woords of S. Paule when he saith If we eate it aduantageth vs nothing or if wee eate not wee want nothing therby are not spoken of the Lords Table but of other common meats Thus then betherto yet we all agree But now let vs see Wherin the controuerfie consisteth wherin the dissention doth stand The vnderstanding of it wherin it cheeflye standeth is a step to the true searching foorthe of the trueth For who can seeke well a remedye if he knowe not before the disease It is neither to be denied nor dissembled that in the matter of this Sacrament there be diuers poyntes wherin men counted to be learned cannot agree As whether there be any Transubstantiation of the bread or no any corporall and carnall presence of Christes substance or no. Whether adoration due only vnto God is to be doon vnto the Sacrament or no and whether Christes bodye be there offered in deed vnto the heauenly Father by the Preeste or no and whether the euill man receiueth the naturall body of Christe or no. Yet neuertheles as in a man diseased in diuers partes commonly the originall cause of such diuers diseases which is spred abroad in the body doo come from one cheefe member as from the stomacke or from the head euen so all fiue aforesaid doo chiefly hange vpon this one question which is What is the matter of the Sacrament whether is it the naturall substance of bread or the naturall substance of Christs owne body The trueth of this question truelye tried out and agreed vpon no doubt shall cease the controuersie in all the rest For if it be Christes owne natural body born of the Virgin then assuredlye seeing that all learned men in England so far as I knowe bothe newe and olde graunt there to be but one substance then I say they must needs
prophane and ungodly persons for it casteth that which is holy unto Dogs and pearls unto Swine Fifthly It forceth men to maintain many Monstrous Miracles without necessity and Authority of God's Word Sixthly It giveth occasion to the Hereticks which erred concerning the two Natures in Christ to defend their Heresies thereby Seventhly It falsifieth the sayings of the Godly Fathers it falsifieth also the Catholick Faith of the Church which the Apostles taught the Martyrs confirmed and the Faithful as one of the Fathers saith do retain and keep until this day Wherefore the 2 d part of mine Argument is true The Probation of the Antecedent or former part of this Argument by the Parts thereof 1. This carnal Presence is contrary to the Word of God as appeareth Joh. 16. I tell you the truth It is profitable to you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter shall not come unto you Act. 3. Whom the Heavens must receive until the time of restoring of all things which God hath spoken Mat. 9. The Children of the Bridegroom cannot mourn so long as the Bridegroom is with them But now is the time of mourning Joh. 16. But I will see you again and your hearts shall rejoice Joh. 14. I will come again and take you to my self Mat. 24. If they shall say unto you Behold here is Christ or there is Christ believe them not c. 2. It varieth from the Articles of the Faith He ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father from whence and not from any other place saith St. Augustine he shall come to judg both the quick and the dead 3. It destroyeth and taketh away the Institution of the Lord's Supper which was commanded only to be used and continued until the Lord himself should come If therefore he be really present in the body of his flesh then must the Supper cease For a remembrance is not of a thing present but of a thing past and absent And there is a difference between Remembrance and Presence and as one of the Fathers saith A Figure is in vain where the thing figured is present It maketh precious things common to prophane and ungodly Persons and constraineth men to confess many absurdities For it affirmeth that Whoremongers and Murtherers yea and as some of them hold opinion that Mice Rats and Dogs also may receive the very real and corporal Body of the Lord wherein the fulness of the Spirit of Light and Grace dwelleth contrary to the manifest words of Christ in six Places and Sentences of the 6th Chapter of St. John. 4. It confirmeth also and maintaineth that beastly kind of Cruelty of the Anthropophagi that is the Devourers of Man's Flesh for it is a more cruel thing to devour a quick Man that to slay him Pie. He requireth time to speak Blasphemies Leave your Blasphemies Rid. I had little thought to have had such reproachful words at your hands West All is quiet Go to your Arguments Mr. Doctor Rid. I have not many things more to say West You utter Blasphemies with a most impudent face leave off I say and get you to the Argument Rid. 5. It forceth men to maintain many monstrous Miracles without any necessity and authority of God's Word For at the coming of this presence of the Body and Flesh of Christ they thrust away the Substance of Bread and affirm that the Accidents remain without any Subject and instead thereof they place Christ's Body without his qualities and the true manner of a Body And if the Sacrament be reserved so long until it mould and Worms breed some say that the Substance of Bread miraculously returneth again and some deny it Other some affirm that the real Body of Christ goeth down into the Stomach of the Receivers and doth there abide so long only as they shall continue to be good but another sort hold that the Body of Christ is carried into Heaven so soon as the forms of Bread be bruised with the Teeth O Works of Miracles Truly and most truly I see that fulfilled in these Men whereof St. Paul prophesied 2 Thess 2. Because they have not received the love of the truth that they might be saved God shall send them strong Delusions that they should believe a Lye and be all damned which have not believed the Truth This gross Presence hath brought forth that fond phantasie of Concomitance whereby is broken at this day and abrogated the Commandment of the Lord for distributing of the Lord's Cup to the Laity 6. It giveth occasion to Hereticks to maintain and defend their Errors as to Marcion who said that Christ had but a Phantastical Body and to Eutiches who wickedly confounded the two Natures in Christ 7. Finally It falsifieth the Sayings of the Godly Fathers and the Catholick Faith of the Church which Vigilius a Martyr and grave Writer saith was taught of the Apostles confirmed with the Blood of Martyrs and was continually maintained by the Faithful until his time By the Sayings of the Fathers I mean of Justin Irenaeus Tertullian Origen Eusebius Emisenus Athanasius Cyril Epiphanius Hierome Chrysostome Augustine Vigilius Fulgentius Bertram and others most ancient Fathers All those places as I am sure I have read making for my purpose so am I well assured that I could shew the same if I might have the use of mine own Books which I will take to me to do even upon the peril of my life and loss of all that I may lose in this World. But now my Brethren think not because I disallow that Presence which the first Proposition maintaineth as a Presence which I take to be forged Phantastical and besides the Authority of God's Word perniciously brought into the Church by the Romanists that I therefore go about to take away the true Presence of Christ's Body in his Supper rightly and duly administred which is grounded upon the Word of God and made more plain by the Commentaries of the Faithful Fathers They that think so of me the Lord knoweth how far they are deceived and to make the same evident unto you I will in few words declare what true Presence of Christ's Body in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper I hold and affirm with the Word of God and the Ancient Fathers I say and confess with the Evangelist Luke and Apostle Paul that the Bread on the which thanks are given is the Body of Christ in the remembrance of him and his Death to be set forth perpetually of the Faithful until his coming I say and confess the Bread which we break to be the Communion and partaking of Christ's Body with the Ancient and the Faithful Fathers I say and believe that there is not only a signification of Christ's Body set forth by the Sacrament but also that therewith is given to the Godly and Faithful the Grace of Christ's Body that is the food of Life and Immortality And this I hold with Cyprian I say also with St.