A FRIENDLY DEBATE BETWEEN A Roman Catholick AND A PROTESTANT Concerning the Doctrine of TRANSUBSTANTIATION WHEREIN The said Doctrine is utterly Confuted and Antichrist is clearly and fully Described and his inevitable Destruction predicted With a Challenge to all the Romish Doctors that Preach and Teach the said Doctrine to Answer it LICENSED September 24. 1688. LONDON 〈…〉 A FRIENDLY DEBATE BETWEEN A Roman Catholick AND A PROTESTANT CONCERNING THE Doctrine of TRANSUBSTANTIATION c. PRotestant Sir Do you believe that there is a Real Change wrought upon the Elements of Bread and Wine after they are Consecrated by the Priest in the Sacrament of the Eucharist into the Substantial Material Living Body and Blood of Christ which makes up his Real Person to wit of Body Soul and Divinity Roman Catholick Yes Sir I do believe that the Elements are Transubstantiated into the very living person of Christ to wit of Body Soul and Divinity that is into the very same Body which he assumed before he died the same Body in which he suffered and died upon the Cross without the Gates of Jerusalem the same Body that laid in the Grave three days and the very same Body in which he ascended up into Glory and is sat down at the right hand of God in Glory Prot. I must confess Sir according to the genuine sense of your Doctrine of Transubstantiation it must be so or else it is a mere sham and mockery For if the Elements be Transubstantiated into the very Body Soul and Divinity of Christ and then be offered up a sacrifice propitiatory and sufficient for the sins of the living and the dead then Christ must be alive or else you do offer a dead sacrifice But I do utterly deny it and therefore Sir I 〈…〉 Rom. Yes Sir I will prove it by Scripture from our Saviour Christ's own words and also from the words of the Apostle St. Paul. Prot. Pray Sir let me hear that Rom. First of all I shall prove it from our Saviour Christ himself by the words of Institution when he Instituted this Ordinance of the Sacrament of the Eucharist Luke 22.19 20. And as they were cating Jesus took bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to the Disciples and said Take eat this is my Body Likewise the cup after supper saying This cup is the new-testament in my blood Matt. 26.26 27 28. And as they were eating Jesus took bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to the Disciples and said Take eat this is my body And he took thâ— cup and gave thanks and gave it to them for this â—â— my blood of the new testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins And in John 6.52 53 54 I am the living bread which came down from heaven if any man eat of this bread he shall live for every And the bread that I will give is my flesh which I wiâ—â— give for the life of the world Then Jesus said unto them Verily verily I say unto you except ye eat thâ—â— flesh of the son of man and drink his blood ye have 〈◊〉 life in you Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh mâ— blood hath eternal life and I will raise him up at thâ— last day Thus you see I have clearly 〈◊〉 〈…〉 That it is Christ's Real Body and Blood that we do eat and drink in the Sacrament of the Eucharist And secondly I shall prove this Doctrine from the Apostle St. Paul's words also in the 1 Cor. 11.24.25 where he saith Take Eat this is my Body which is broken for you After the same manner also he took the Cup when he had supped saying This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood. Thus you see I have proved this Doctrine of Transubstantiation by Scripture and I could also prove it by Councils and Decrees and Canons and Traditions of our Fathers and the like And besides all that has been said it is an Article of the faith of our Church which is infallible and cannot err And we are bound to believe as the Church believes and commands us to believe And therefore this Doctrine must be infallibly true Prot. Sir is this all that you have to say to prove this Doctrine of your Infallible Church Rom. Yes Sir and I think it is a sufficient proof of it too Prot. Why then I pray Sir Give me leave to answer you as well as I can from Scripture and from Reason also Rom. Yes Sir with all my Heart Prot. Why first of all Sir in the first place give me leave to tell ye you have not taken the whole verses or sentence in some of these Scriptures which you have quoted you have gone away with part of a Text even so far as will serve your turn which is a very dangerous thing for it is no less than to clip the King of Heavens Coyn which is Spiritual High Treason which is the worst of Treason and is punishable with no less than all the Curses of the Book of the Holy Word of God without true Repentance Rev. 22.18 19. Deut. 4.2 Prov. 30.6 Sir you know Satan when he tempted our Blessed Saviour Christ he quoted part of a Text of Scripture to serve his own turn Matth. 4.5 6. Then the Devil taketh him up into the holy City and setteth him on a pinacle of the Temple and saith unto him If thou be the Son of God cast thy self down for it is written He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone 'T is written saith Satan quoting Psal 91.11 12. for he shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways they shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone The Devil leaves out that part of the Text to wit He shall keep thee in all thy ways Sir you do own and believe these Scriptures which you have quoted to be understood literally and properly and not Mystically and Spiritually but according to the plain letter of them Rom. Yes Sir I do for the Text is plain and clear Prot. Now Sir I will answer you from the words of our Saviour Christ in the same Chapters and in some of the same verses which you have quoted and also from the words of the Apostle Paul in that same Chapter which you have made use of and also in many other places of the Holy Scriptures whereby you shall see by God's assistance this Doctrine of yours overthrown and utterly confuted therefore let us bring it to the Touchstone of Gods Word To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them Isa 8.20 1. First of all By the words of our Blessed and only Mediator and Redeemer in Luk. 22.19 20. And he took Bread and gave thanks and brake it and gave it unto them saying
This is my Body which is broken for you so far you go but you leave out and omit this do in Remembrance of me likewise also the Cup after Supper saying This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for you Mat. 26.26 27. And as they were cating Jesus took Bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to the Disciples and said Take Eat this is my Body and he took the Cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it Here pray Sir observe by the way that it is said that Christ took Bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to the Disciples what is to be understood by this word it why it was it Bread for had it been Christ's Real Corporeal Substantial Body it should have been more properer thus He took the Bread and blessed him and brake him and gave him to the Disciples And he took the Cup and gave Thanks and gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it Now if your Doctrine were true then it should have been After Christ had given Thanks he gave him to them saying Drink ye all of him and not drink ye all of it that is all the Congregation both Minister and People that are Christ's true Disciples must all partake of the Cup or Wine in the Sacrament of the Lords-Supper But by what Authority your Priests are so uncharitable as to deny the Lay-people the Cup I know not when as our Saviour Christ commands expresly that all his Disciples must drink of it that is of the Wine in the Cup and not of his Material Blood that was then running in his Humane veins and the Cup may rather be taken for the Blood of Christ than the Wine if it be to be understood literally because the Cup only is mentioned and not the Wine for it is said This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for you Christ himself did partake of this Holy Ordinance at the same time when he did institute it The same night in which he was betrayed But now if your Doctrine be true then Christ did eat his own Substantial Body and drink his own Material Blood and yet was visible with his Disciples before their Eyes without any alteration in the least It is said His Blood is shed for many for the remission of sins And yet then at that time Christ had not actually and properly shed his Blood but virtually in the Decree of God he had done it before the foundation of the world for all those that ever were saved before Christ came in the flesh and for all that ever should be saved after he came in the flesh down throughout all Ages to the end of the world 1 Pet. 1.20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifested in these last times for you Revel 13.8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world Act. 2.23 Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledg of God ye have taken and by wicked hands have Crucified and slain This Ordinance of the Lords-Supper is to be kept up and practised in the Churches of God for a Remembrance of Christ's Death and Passion from them words of our Saviour which words you omit and leave out namely Do this in Remembrance of me as will yet further appear by and by from the Apostle St. Paul's words when he celebrated this Holy Ordinance of the Lords-Supper in the Church of Corinth But again from our Saviour's words which you do take and interpret as if spoken literally whereon you lay so much stress and make it serve for a foundation to build this Doctrine of Transubstantiation upon which was spoken before the Ordinance of the Lords-Supper was Instituted by our Saviour himself in Joh. 6.51 53 54. I am the living Bread which came down from Heaven if any man eat of this Bread he shall live for ever And the Bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world Then Jesus said unto them Verily verily I say unto you Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood ye have no life in you Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath Eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day Here you see it is Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood c. How so what is the meaning of that word of our Saviour Christ viz. Whoso eateth c why this refers to what Christ had been speaking before in the same Chapter which leads to this Discourse of Eating his flesh and drinking his blood in setting out the usefulness and excellency of the Grace of Faith and the absolute necessity of it vers 35 40 47 48. here you shall see that this Whoso eateth Christs flesh and drinketh his blood is this viz. Whosoever believeth in Christ and resteth upon him alone for Spiritual life here and Eternal life in Glory hereafter Pray mark the words of our Saviour And Jesus said unto them I am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst And this is the will of him that sent me that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day Verily verily I say unto you he that believeth on me hatâ— everlasting life I am that bread of life What bread of life Why that bread which by faith in his Righteousness and Merits alone justifies and acquits the soul from the guilt and pollution of sin without any works or righteousness of ours in conjunction or iâ— competition with Christ's for he will have no Rival he will have all the honour of saving a sinner tâ— himself for he is made the only Spiritual bread oâ— flesh for the new creature to live upon and it is nourished and strengthened thereby even as our natural bodies are fed and nourished and strengthened by our natural food Joh. 3.16 For God so loved tâ—â— world that he gave his only begotten Son that whose ever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life It is not said here whosoever eateth the material flesh of Christ shall be saved but whosoever believeth on Christ shall have Everlasting liâ—â— Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only Spiritual bread for every believing soul to live and feed upon Spiritually by the mouth of faith But you will say Here is a plain Text of Scripture for your Doctrine viz. This is the Bread which cometh down from Heaven that a man may eat thereof and not did I am the living bread which came down from Heaven 〈◊〉 any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever and tâ—â— bread that I will give is my flesh which I
as well as he is the Infallible Head of the Church for who can give a better interpretation or Exposition of the Law than the Law-maker can therefore no person can understand or give a right Interpretation of the Holy Scriptures but them to whom Christ gives this gift and that is to many thousands to some more and some less some have a higher measure than others it is given to every believer which is a spiritual man to know the mystery of Gods will in the Salvation of poor sinners for saith Christ It is given to you to know the mystery of the Kingdom but unto them it is not God hides these things from the wise and prudent and revealeth them unto babes saith Christ 1 Cor. 2.14 15. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned But he that is spiritual judgeth all things Here you see who is the chief Judg of the Scriptures and who are Missionaries or whom he has Commissionated so â—o do not any one single person above the rest But â—o return to what we are upon Joh. 3.3 4. Jesus â—nswered and said unto him Verily verily I say unto â—â—ee Except a man be born again he cannot see the â—â—ingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him How can 〈◊〉 man be born again when he is old can he enter the second time into his mothers womb and be born This is â—â—st as the unbelieving Jews that said How can this â—â—an give us his flesh to eat And old Nicodemus notwithstanding he was a great Rabbi and Ruler in Israel yet he had like to have gone away under as â—â—eat a mistake about the Doctrine of Regeneration 〈◊〉 you Romanist have done of this mystical saying of â—â—r Saviour Christ's in that he hath said Take Eat â—â—is is my Body and of giving his flesh to eat and â—â—s blood to drink Now pray observe how nearly alike our Saviour Christ interprets and expounds this Doctrine of Reâ—â—neration unto Nicodemus in the 5th and 6th verses â—â—sus answered Verily verily I say unto thee Except man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enâ—â— into the Kingdom of God that which is born of the 〈◊〉 is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit â—â—w see the 6. Joh. 63. and compare them togeâ—â—r It is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth â—â—hing the words that I speak unto you they are spirit 〈◊〉 they are life Here you see all the carnal fleshly â—â—â—eption or Transubstantiated fancy utterly overâ—â—wn and knockt in the head in these words of â—â—aviour Christ as well as that also of Nicodemus's â—â—al conception of the Doctrine of Regeneration 〈…〉 understood mystically and Spiriâ—â—◠〈…〉 eaten by faith in every Ordinance of God in Religious worship and especially in the Ordinance of the Lords-Supper for faith is the mouth of the new creature the great grace of faith is the souls Nurse but it feeds upon Christ and lives upon Christ which is this spiritual Bread which came down from Heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die And so likewise our Saviour gives the like interpretation of the graces of the Spirit in the Believer much after the same manner which are compared to rivers of living water in Joh. 7.37 38 39. In the last day that great day of the Feast Jesus stood and cried saying if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink And pray mind what the drink is that Christ giveth him He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water But pray mind what Exposition our Blessed Redeemer gives in the following verses But this spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive You see this drinking here is by faith in Christ and the liquor which they drink is spiritual liquor it is the water of life Now if these Scriptures are to be understood literally and properly then you must understand the Contexts and the Coherence of them literally and properly also for Christ does not as I remember speak a whole sentence wherein one part wholly contains spiritual matter and the other part wholly contains a literal and proper meaning in it tho one whole sentence may have both a mystical and literal meaning in it Now pray mind in Joh. 6.35 50. And Jesus said unto them I am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth in me shall never thirst Now is not here the very same reason to believe that we shall never be corporally a hungry nor a thirst again as there is for us to believe that that is material bread or flesh that Christ spake of in the same verse Again this is the bread which cometh down from Heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die Now is not here as much reason to believe and understand this literally and properly as there is for any of the other to be understood so and if the rest be to be understood so then they that eat Christ's flesh and drink his blood shall never die a natural death Again if this Doctrine in Joh. 6. be to be understood literally and properly then must the Doctrine of Regeneration be understood so in Joh. 3. And if so then none should ever see the Kingdom of God nor enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and be saved but them and them only that crept into their mothers womb and were born again literally and properly as old Nicodemus ignorantly imagined There is every whit as much reason to believe this as there is to believe your Doctrine of Transubstantiation Pray mind the Interrogation of Nicodemus and that of the Jews how like they are the one to the other 〈…〉 is old c. Secondly the Jews they said How can this man give us his flesh to eat Now if these Scriptures in Joh. 3. and in Joh. 6. are to be taken and the sense of them expounded literally in the plain letter of the word then must this of Joh. 7.38 be understood so in like manner where it is said that rivers of living water shall flow out of the Believers belly and we might as rationally expect that Scullers should ply the Ferry at every believers belly in these rivers of living water and also that every believer has crept into his mothers womb and been born again as to believe that the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament of the Lords-Supper after Consecration is Transubstantiated into the Body Soul and Divinity of our Saviour Christ which is into his very person But what will become of all those poor souls whose mothers are dead before they are or were converted that have never a mothers womb to creep into for I will assure you that the one is as true as the other let who will deny or contradict it And thus you do
which if it were true would be a higher degree of perfection than ever any Church of Christ has yet 〈…〉 and the Apostles time We read of Seven Churches at one time in Rev. 2. and Rev. 3. but we find they had all of them their failings there was neither Infallibility nor Supremacy to be found among them tho notwithstanding it is true the Gospel true Catholick Apostolical Church is perfect and infallible but not in nor of her self but she is so in Christ her Infallible Head for there her perfection lieth Ephes 5.26 27. That he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish Therefore this Doctrine of Infallibility of theirs must also be another Lie which they speak or teach in Hypocrisie for the Scripture saith in Jam. 3.2 In many things we offend all And in Eccles 7.20 For there is not a just man upon earth that doth good and sinneth not Therefore the Man of Sin cannot be infallible altho in conjunction with all these many Antichrists and false Prophets which do belong unto him And pray mind what another Servant of God saith tho acted by the same spirit as Paul was 1 Joh. 2.18 19. Little children it is the last time and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come even now are there many Antichrists whereby ye know that it is the last time And here followeth their Apostatizing from the true Church and Worship of God They went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us Pray observe it was these many Antichrists that went out from the Church of Christ and made the first rent or schism But the true Church of Christ kept her standing tho perhaps not so visible in some Centuries or Ages because she fled into the Wilderness into her place prepared by God for her and was hid there after the Dragon by the permissive will of God got into the Temple of God which is called Heaven in his Son Antichrist for as God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ so o◠the contrary the Dragon is Antichrist's Father Re◠12.1 2 3 6. After this great fight in Heave◠which was persecution of the Church is the W◠man or Church of Christ fled into the Wilderne◠where she hath a place prepared by God that the should feed her there 1260 days which is all the reign of Antichrist And the Antichristian Church that woman is in the Wilderness also Rev. 17.3 B◠as the true Church is in the Wilderness in mere to her because she is in her place which God d◠prepare for her to hide her in from the Dragon the cast out floods of wrath and malice after her 〈◊〉 the false Antichristian Church is in the Wilderness in judgment to her for she is bewildered and I 〈◊〉 there These many 〈…〉 did not go first from them for she kept close to Christ's Standard in all Ages They followed the Lamb whithersoever he went and did not flinch nor run from their Colours but these Antichrists deserted the service of Christ and run from their Colours to Satan the Enemy And now to clench this Nail that is driven into the head of Antichrist the Man of Sin pray look into the same Chapter where he is described and prophesied of and observe strictly what is the cause that produced this dreadful effect namely what was it that provoked God to bring this tremendous judgment upon them and there you shall find that it is charged upon them by way of prediction for their despising and departing from the Faith 1 Tim. 4.1 which is from the whole Doctrine of Faith namely the Gospel of God 2 Thes 2.9 10 11 12. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceiveableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved And for this cause God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned who believe not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness They please themselves with the conceit of being saved by their own righteousness which is unrighteousness in competition with the Righteousness of Christ for Justification they departed from the very Doctrine of Faith the means of Grace and Salvation which is the Spiritual food under Christ for the souls of true Christian Believers to live upon Psal 19.8 9 10. Now that person must needs perish and die that refuseth and despiseth his natural food and will not feed upon it but pretend to live upon the wind why even so it is with a respect to Spiritual food that soul or souls must needs perish and be damned that reject and refuse the means of Grace and Salvation Because saith the Apostle they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved and for this cause God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned That is the whole of their Faith Doctrine Discipline and Worship is one great lie as the whole of the true Gospel-Faith Doctrine Discipline and Worship is called the Truth in the same Chapter in opposition this great Lie. So that the whole of their Spiritual opinion is only a heap of lies and deceit wrapt up and incorporated together And therefore called by the Holy Ghost a strong delusion and a lie It is a Delusion full of Delusions or a Lie full of Lies The Apostle by the Holy Ghost prophesied clearly what a dreadful Judgment God would inflict upon all them that would be thus horribly guilty For this cause God shall send them strong Delusions first hence we may observe that God did not proceed in 〈…〉 we may observe that this Judgment did not come of it self but God sent it Thirdly God sent them the Truth but they did not receive it in the love of it Fourthly you may observe that it was not an ordinary weak puny Judgment or Delusion that God sent which should not be able or strong enough to do the work no but it was a strong delusion that should overcome them Fifthly you may observe that this strong Delusion was not then come because that the Man of Sin was not yet revealed Sixthly the cause of it was then commencing for the Mystery of Iniquity did then begin to work Seventhly hence we may observe that they themselves did chuse these Delusions which was their great sin by which they provoked God to give them up unto them and so God in his Justice made their sin their punishment for it is said The Backslider in heart
fiesh and bones as ye see me have And when he had thus spoken he shewed them his hands and his feet Joh. 20.19 20 24 25 26. Then the same day at evening being the first day of the week when the Doors were shut where the Disciples were assembled for fear of â—he Jews came Jesus and stood in the midst and saith unto them Peace be with ye This made them so terribly afraid because Christ came in personally among them notwithstanding the Doors being fast â—hut And when he had so said he shewed unto them his â—ands and his side then were the Disciples glad when â—hey saw the Lord. That was when our Saviour had â—atisfied their sences and reason and their understanding that it was he himself and not another â—ow if you could satisfie any body of the reality of â—our Christ that is Transubstantiated or if that â—hrist himself would satisfie people of the truth of 〈◊〉 as our true Saviour Christ did it would be someâ—â—ing But Thomas a Didimus being absent this first â—â—y that Christ appeared he mist sight of him vers â—â— 25 26. But Thomas one of the Twelve called Didiâ—â—◠〈◊〉 not with them when Jesus came The other Disciples therefore said unto him We have seen the Lord But he said unto them Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side I will not believe And after eight days again his Disciples were within and Thomas with them then came Jesus the Doors being shut and stood in the midst and said Peace be unto you then said he to Thomas Reach hither thy fingers and behold my hands and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side and be not faithless but believing If you of the Roman Catholicks that are Lay-persons were but as incredulous about your Doctrine of Transubstantiation as Thomas a Didimus was of Christ's Resurrection I know not how the Priests would do to satisfie you but here you see that our Saviour Christ did satisfie all his Disciples for he satisfied their sences and reason and all the scruples that did arise in them and he did not send their understandings empty away nor hoodwinkt here was seeing hearing and feeling fully satisfied and reason and understanding sent full fraighted or laden away and no room left for the least doubt or scruple to be made of the truth and reality of those Miracles But your Transubstantiated Miracle is so far from satisfying any persons Senses Reason and Understanding whether Romanist or others that will but be true to their Intellectuals that it both betrayeth and destroyeth Sense Reason and Understanding for ye must not believe one of them noble faculties if you believe your Miracle which is quite contrary to the very nature of Miracles Pray mind our Saviour Christ he comparatively did stoop down and condescend to Thomas's unbelief but it was to destroy it And this he did by satisfying his Senses Reason and Understanding also John 20.24 25 26 27. Now if your Priests could do so then it were something like but because they cannot do it it is not only nothing but it is that which is insinitely worse than nothing it is a very dangerous pernicious Doctrine for it is a strong Delusion and it is one of Antichrist the Man of Sin 's Lying Wonders for they that pretend to work this Miracle do despise and contemn the Holy Scriptures as you may see in that same Chapter where Antichrist the Man of Sin is described For these are two of his Characters viz. Lying Wonders and Disowning the Gospel 2 Thess 2.9 10 11 12. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders That is he claims all power both spiritual and temporal which either his craft or his cruelty can reach Dan. 8.24 25. And his power shall be mighty but not by his own power and he shall destroy wonderfully and shall prosper and practice and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people And through his policy he shall cause crast to proster in his band and 〈◊〉 shall magnify himself in his heart and by peace shall destroy many he shall also stand up against the prince of princes but he shall be broken without hands Rev. 17.14 16 17. The Apostle saith that he should come with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved And for this cause God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie that they all might be damned who believe not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness It is a most dreadful judgment you see that you poor souls do lye under who do believe this Doctrine The Lord in Mercy open your eyes and thorowly convince your Consciences of the evil and danger of it before it be too late while the door of Mercy stands open for it is as great a Judgment as that which the Jews lieth under for as your sins and theirs is much alike so are the judgments which both the one and the other lieth under the Jews they deny Christ openly and you deny him privately you do confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh in words but in works you deny him 3. Thirdly and lastly The Apostles whenever they wrought Miracles the people saw that they were Miracles Acts 8.6 7. And the people with one accord gave good heed unto these things which Philip spake hearing and seeing the Miracles which he did For unclean spirits crying with loud voices came out of many that were possessed with them and many taken with palsies and that were lame were healed And their very enemies did see the Miracles which they wrought and were forced to confess and own it as you may see in Acts 4.16 Saying What shall we do to these men for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done it is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem and we cannot deny it And the Apostles did raise the dead also and the people both good and bad did hear and see the Miracles which they wrought and were all satisfied with the reality of them or else it could be no Miracle There was never any Miracle wrought that ever I read of in the Sacred Scriptures as I can remember either by the Prophets who were inspired by the Holy Chost before Christ came in the flesh or by our Saviour Christ himself or by any of his Apostles that ever destroyed mens Senses and Reason and put out the very light of their Understanding but the Miracles which they all wrought brought their own clear and undeniable evidence along with them They have as we may say spoken clearly and fully for themselves they need no tricky nor force nor cunning artisices to create a belief in the people of the real truth of them but all the people
that saw them have always been satisfied that it was a real thing Tho it is true the wicked enemies many times 〈…〉 believing Jews did of our blessed Lord and Saviour's casting out Devils when they said that he cast out Devils by Beclzebub the Prince of Devils Matt. 12.24 But when the pharisees heard it they said this fellow doth not cast out devils but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils They blasphemously and boldly did assert that Christ the Eternal Son of God did derive his Power and Authority to work Miracles by from the Devil when as Christ himself is the Omnipotence God the Second person in the most Glorious Trinity Rev. 1.8 I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is which was and which is to come the Almighty John 8.58 Jesus saith unto them Verily verily I say unto you Before Abraham was I am Prov. 8.23 30. I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the carth was Then I was by him as one brought up with him and I was dayly his delight rejeycing always before him And likewise concerning that wonderful Miracle of Christ rising from the dead How did they porsuade and bribe the Soldiers that watched the Sepulchre to tell the Governor that while they slept his Disciples came by night and stole him away Matt. 28.11 12 13. But now this Transubstantiated Miracle of yours does not nor cannot satisfy any Man's Senses or Reason unless it be with Ignorance I dare be bold to say and appeal to all men that no Romanist himself can have his Sense and Reason satisfied as to the truth of it for it cannot be it is impossible All that can be said is this their unbelief has overcome and captivated their Sense and Reason and so they do lay a force upon it and suspend the following of the dictates of it as our Saviour Christ saith Mark 4.12 That seeing they may see and not perceive and hearing they may hear and not understand They may force their Tongues and so extort a Confession that the Bread or Wafer in the Sacrament is the Real Body and Substantial Flesh of Christ but the Eye saith Tongue thou liest at the same time for the Eye seeth no change upon the Accidents but they remains still as they were before which if there were such a change wrought upon them then the Elements would cease to be and quite disappear but he seeth the Elements still remaining as they were But implicit Faith and Unbelief hath so blinded his spiritual Eyes that he must not believe his own corporeal Eyes by which means be cannot or will not perceive the deceit And their hearts being so hardened through the deceitfulness of sin that they will not exercise their thoughts about it and their hearts are so beclouded or vailed over with their false Doctrine that although they hear better things with their Ears yet-they must not believe them because they are bound to believe as their Church commands them to believe And the Hand that 〈…〉 Mouth that can taste nothing but Bread or the Wafer the Mouth cannot taste one bit or morsel of Flesh or feel the least Bone or Gristle in it And as for the Wine that is really turned into blood they must take the Priests word for that and pawn the Salvation of their Souls for the truth of it too But tho they do blind themselves in this nature yet their Senses and Reason do their Office tho they will not hearken unto them nor give the least credit unto what they inform them And Christ and the Apostle tells them that it is Bread after Consecration and that the Cup is a Cup in which the Wine is 1 Cor. 10.16 17. And their own Senses and Reason tell them that it is so but they will not believe Christ nor the Apostles no nor their own Eyes Nose Hands nor Mouth but they will believe as the Church believes or believe the Priest before them all altho they have neither their own Senses Reason nor Understanding on their side nor the Holy Scriptures on their side which is the revealed will of God and ought to be the Rule for every Christian to live and walk by But Sir your own sense and reason and understanding and the Sacred Scriptures are all against you and this is the main reason why your Priests will not permit nor allow the use of the Gospel-light that holy and Sacred Touchstone to the people for if they did it would discover all their spiritual coyn to be but dross and counterfeit and it would never pass among the people Joh. 3.20 For every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved They first put out the light of the Gospel and then they bring them to resign up their sences and reason and understanding and conscience and souls and all unto the conduct of the Priests or Church And when they have them thus in the dark why then they lead them which way they please for he is no longer acted nor guided by his own reason or understanding nor by the holy Scriptures but by the Priests O Sirs look to the Word of God Isa 8.20 To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them O precious souls do not deceive your selves I beseech you by sollowing these blind Guides but take our blessed Redeemer's advice and counsel in Mat. 15.14 Let them alone that is as much as to say do not follow them they be blind leaders of the blind and if the blind lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch And the Prophet Isaiah saith in Isa 9.16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err and they that are lead of them â—re destroyed Again secondly if it be so that your Priests do by vertue of their Consecration convert the Bread â—nd Wine into the real substantial person of Christ 〈◊〉 wit of Body Soul and Divinity why then it 〈…〉 follow that Christ must be as compleat substantial and intire lacking nothing of all these blessed personal perfections as he was when he was here personally upon Earth before he ascended up into Glory for this must be the inevitable and necessary consequence of it for even so it must be or else it is but a meer fantastical imaginary Sham-Christ and is of the number of those sort of false Christs which our Saviour Christ bids us beware of which are out in the desert among the false Prophets Matt. 24.23 24 25 26. Then if any man shall say unto you Lo here is Christ or there believe it not for there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets This was prophesied by our Saviour Christ that when Antichrist the Man of Sin did or should arise that then these false Christs and false Prophets should arise in great numbers with him and shall shew great signs and
not flesh and bones as ye see me have And wheâ—â— he had thus spoken he shewed them his hands anâ—â— his feet And if yours be a Real Christ he couâ—â— speak now as well as he did then or as he will whâ— he cometh to Judge the World when he will câ—â— for Antichrist the Man of Sin who is his greatâ— enemy and call for all the false Prophets and Disâ—ples that do belong unto him to give an accoâ—â— for all their Idolatry and Cruelty and will then 〈◊〉 unto them all But those mine enemies that would 〈◊〉 that I should reign over them bring hither and 〈◊〉 them before me Luke 19.27 Now if you couâ—â— prove by clear and undeniable evidence that evâ—â— this Transubstantiated Christ of yours did speak 〈◊〉 any person at any time or times and gave aâ—â— directions among persons about matters and forâ—â— of Worship in Churches seeing there is so muâ—â— difference in the World about it then thâ— might be something said unto it in vindication of it But seeing that no such thing can 〈◊〉 proved there is no Authority at all to give the lâ—â—â— countenance or credit unto that 〈…〉 â—hat obtrudes such a silent mute sort of Christ upon the people that is altogether speechless and also â—â—uitless unto those that expect to receive any benefit â—â—y him 5. Fifthly and lastly After all that has been said 〈◊〉 will Challenge any of all your Priests that pretend â—o have this Infallible knack of working this Miraâ—le or Change upon the Wafer or bit of Bread and â—he Cup of Wine To take a Consecrated Transubstantiated Wafer or bit of Bread and likewise the â—onsecrated Cup of Wine and let the Wafer be put â—mong a parcel of Wafers of the very same make â—hat are not Consecrated nor Transubstantiated and â—kewise let the Cup of Wine be put among other â—ups of Wine that are not Consecrated and let but â—ome other person that will be but faithful and honest â—ix them together and take good notice to himself which it is that is Consecrated and shift the Wine â—to another Cup and unless the Priest have any â—rivate mark upon the Wafer or any private notice â—iven him which is the Wine the Priest himself â—at Consecrated them shall not know which it is â—or discern any difference that there is between the â—â—ne and the other between the consecrated and the â—nconsecrated neither in colour bigness nor by â—eight it shall not weigh one dram more after â—onsecration than it did before And is not this a â—ry strange thing think ye that there should be â—â—ch a great Change as this is wrought upon the Eleâ—ents viz. from a little Wafer and Cup of Wine â—â—to the real Body Soul and Divinity of Christ and â—â—t that it should not be known nor discerned in â—â—e least from the rest of the Wafers and Wine â—ither by sight nor by weight nor by any the least â—eration to be discerned or discovered upon the Acâ—dents when as they pretend to Transubstantiate it â—â—to the very person of Christ composed and made 〈◊〉 of Body Soul and Divinity and then they ofâ—â— him up a Sacrifice sufficient and propitiatory for â—â—e sins of the living and the dead But in the next place I shall produce you two â—â—ry great Miracies which this Doctrine of Tranâ—â—stantiation does afford us which is essentially in 〈◊〉 very Bowels or Womb of it 1. And the first is this namely That it is no less â—â—n a very prodigious Miracle and amazing Wonâ—â— that ever any persons whom God hath endewâ—â— with Senses Reason Understanding and all oâ—â—â— Faculties and Intellectuals proper to Man and â—â—s great a measure as to any other men whatsoever should yet suffer themselves to be so â—â—â—ribly imposed upon and expose or rather abanâ—â—â— all that is dear unto them to follow a false â—â—â—ist which is to depart from the true one to beâ—â—â— such a piece of Ridiculous nonsensical Doâ—â—â—ne which Travelleth with Contradictions and 〈◊〉 forth nothing but monstrous Absurdities Surely persons must sacrifice all the rational part of humanity or at least postpone it before ever they can be brought or persuaded to assent and consent unto any such kind of Doctrine They must wholly unman themselves And is not this a very great Miracle think ye 2. Secondly The second Miracle which this Doctrine does afford us is almost as great as the former namely this that the Priests should ever have the boldness to make such an invasion upon mens senses reason and understanding and have the confidence to impose such horrible absurdities and rediculous nonsence upon the people that is so full of contradictions in it self and made of a strong delusion that is contrary to the Holy Scripture and contrary to your own Creed and contrary to Sense and Reason and contrary to the very Nature of Miracles for altho Miracles are above Sense and Reason yet such is the nature of them that the first thing they do after they are brought forth is to see that mens Senses and Reason and Understanding are satisfied with the reallity of it or else it can be no Miracle For how can a person admire and wonder at a thing that is common which he seeth no change in nor alteration upon Tho it is true God's end and design in working of Miracles was infinitely higher for it was for the confirmation and establishing the Churches for the Ages that were to come and for the good of God's people and for the greater aggravation of the condemnation of Christ's enemies But yet still the people saw these Miracles when they were wrought and were satisfied with the truth and reallity of them and many were convinced and converted by them John 11.42 43 44 45. Now if a Man should tell me that he is flying in the Air when I see him go along the street upon the ground as I my self do why this begets no manner of wonder in me except it should be at the Man's Impudence and for his lying ridiculous Nonsence But if a Man did really fly in the Air and I saw him do it that would be a Miracle ay altho he should tell me that he was then walking in the Street Now in such Cases as these are Seeing is always to be preferred before Believing So that this Doctrine of yours is but a meer fancy a dream or rather indeed as the Apostle phrases it A strong delusion and lying wonder 2 Thess 2. In the last place our Saviour Christ called it Bread after he had blessed it and called the Wine Cup after he had given thanks and the Apostle called it Bread and Cup after Consecration or Blessing of them when he did exhibit them unto the People 1 Cor. 10.16 17. The cup of blessing which we bless is it not the communion of the blood of Christ the bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of Christ For me being many are one bread 〈◊〉 one body for we
the Holy Scriptures is a total denial of them 2. Secondly if any sort of persons who call themselves Christians under the dispensation of the Gospel do set up allow and maintain the Order of Priesthood Material Altars and also Material Sacrifices then those sort of Christian do deny that that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh and so they deny the whole Gospel of God and are turned back to the Mosaical Law therefore no such person or persons that are of this Principle can or ought to be Judges and Interpreters of the Holy Scriptures 1 Cor. 2.14 15 16. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned But he that is spiritual judgeth all things yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord that he man 〈…〉 Christ There is no more reason for such a Man that is of Antichristian Principles not excepting Antichrist himself to be Judge of the Holy Scriptures than there is for a Thief or a Murderer to be his own Judge But there are a sort of persons which call themselves Christians now under the dispensation of the Gospel that do set up allow and maintain the Order of Priesthood material Altars and also material Sacrifices therefore these sort of Christians do deny that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh and so they deny the whole Gospel of God and are turned back to the Mosaical Ceremonial Law and are not competent Judges nor Infallible Interpreters of the Holy Scriptures but he that is spiritual judgeth all things 3. Thirdly and lastly If any pretended Religion or Principle does teach men and women to be worse than their natural dispositions and corrupt inclinations then that Religion or Principle must be both false and dangerous to themselves and others and is of the Devil But the pretended Religion and Principles of Antichrist doth teach men and women to be worse than their natural dispositions and corrupt inclinations therefore that Religion or Principle must be both false and dangerous unto themselves and others and Satan is the founder of that Opinion and Principle It may be that you will say that our Scriptures are not rightly translated and especially that passage of Job's Wife where it is said that she said Curse God and die I will not say that every Iota of it is rightly Translated but yet this I will say That all the fundamental Doctrines of the Christian Faith which contain matter of Eternal Life and Salvation by the Righteousness and Merits of Jesus Christ alone are rightly Translated and every true Believer that hath the Grace of God in him can set to his Seal and bear witness unto the Truth of it There may be some things that are not rightly Translated that do not contain matters of Salvation in them as for instance in that of Job's Wife it is no matter of Salvation to know certainly whether she said Curse God and die or Bless God and die for as she might speak it it might be much at one as many of the Learned do understand it no doubt but that she spoke it Ironically and so consequently Atheistically or else Job would not have replied Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh for if she haâ— spoken sincerely then Job had been to blame tâ— have given her such a tart reproof as to call oâ— count her a Fool for if she had given him this advice cordially and sincerely to Bless God and diâ— he ought not to have rejected it for it is a great Duty as well as a great Mercy for people to diâ— blessing of God as well as to live so Now whether Job's Wife was a good Woman or no that is 〈◊〉 question for if she were a good Woman she waâ— in a very carnal frame of heart even as St. Petâ—â— was when he denied his Lord and Master or else she would never have spoke after that manner Thus I hope I have by God's assistance sufficiently proved the Holy Scriptures which we Protestants of all sorts do own and believe to be oâ— Divine Authority by the power and strength oâ— Arguments drawn and deduced from Reason only And all other Scriptures of mens inventing to be false and preposterous and of Antichrist And 〈◊〉 hope I have said enough if not to reclaim some oâ— those poor Souls that are fallen into their Snare yet I hope it will be of use to deter others from following their pernicious Example And I hope now I have done you of this Principle will begin to consider not how to be avenged upon the Author do not count me your enemy for telling you the truth for I do neither wish nor mean any hurt unto you in the least no more than I do to my own Soul I will assure you but do heartily wish and desire that all men might come up to the true knowledg of Christ and be saved and to love the Truth as it is in Jesus I humbly beg and beseech you for Christ his sake and for your own precious immortal Souls sake seriously to consider oâ— these things so as to exercise your Senses Reason and Understanding also upon what I have here iâ— faithfulness to your Souls declared unto you especially that are insnared in these false Antichristian Doctrines for it is a dreadful Judgment for aâ—â— poor Soul to be led away with false Teachers Isa â— 16 and also to be led away with fundament Errors in Judgment about Spiritual things where the Soul is concerned it is as much as your Soâ—â— are worth And what has a Man more to lâ—â— than his Soul For when that is gone all is goâ—â— as our Saviour Christ hath said What shall it prâ— a man if he should gain the whole world and 〈◊〉 his own soul or what shall a man give in exchange for a soul POSTSCRIPT NOw Beloved Protestant Friends of all sorts I would not have any person so uncharitable as to destroy or knock any of those persons on the head that are of this corrupt Principle merely for the sake of their Principle who do believe this Doctrine of Transubstantiation nor abuse them in the least but let the Tares grow with the Wheat until the great Harvest I would both advise and desire all good Christians to pity and pray for them nay it is my Lord and Master's command that we should do so Matt. 5.44 But I say unto you love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you O! Sirs Let us carry it with all Christian sweetness of Spirit and tenderness of Affection towards them so that if possible we may win them by Christian love Let us heap Coals of fire upon their heads and melt them down into oneness of spirit with us And on the other hand I would never be willing nor consent to have it in their power to make a â—est of this Doctrine to Burn Protestants for Hereticks who cannot by any means come up to that degree of this kind of Faith as to believe such a complicated pack of Asurdities before they believe the Word of God or their own Sense and Reason Now I do here in the last place humbly yet boldly Challenge by the Power and in the Name of that God by whose Word and Spirit I have written this Any or all of those persons that teach this Doctrine of Transubstantiation and other the like Doctrines sutable to it that find themselves aggrieved or offended at this Christian friendly Discourse to give a fair ample and satisfactory Answer unto it But if they cannot Answer it then if I might advise them it should be this viz. That they would desist and leave off Preaching up any such kind of Doctrine among us which they â—an neither prove nor maintain either by Scripture or Rational Arguments FINIS ERRATA PAge 7. Col. 2. l. 21. r. of me p. 8. col 2. l. 43. r. and p. 9. col 1. l. 43. for without r. with p. 11. col 1. dele and Ibid. col 2. l. 19. r. is p. 12. col 2. l. 33. r. being come p. 13. l. 44. col 2. dele yet p. 15. col 2. l. 54. r. also but it is p. 17. col 2. l. 49. r. broacht Ibid. col 1. l. 29. dele with and to it Ibid. l. 32. r. bow p. 20. col 1. l. 13. r. jo now Ibid. col 2. l. 14. add it was not Ibid. l. 17. r. could not p. 21. col 2. l. 4. r. Heb. 1.7 Ibid. l. 51. dele yet p. 22. col 2. l. 8. for and Sacrifices r. and therefore Sacrifices Ibid. l. 43. r. after p. 23. 〈…〉 p. 24. col 2. l. 44. r. they p. 29. col 2. l. 31. add that p. 31. col 2. l. 27. r. Sacrament p. 37. ADVERTISEMENT THis Book is to be Sold at Randall Taylors and most Booksellers in the City Price Sticht 6 d. which is very necessary to be fixed in your Families and to be Read often unto your Children and Servants that they may acquire the principal Arguments by heart which will enable them to confute those who creep up and down to pervert the Truth and to vindicate the veracity of the Holy Bible in which the Universal or Catholick Apostolick Gospel-Church is founded under Christ