very table our strife is ended For we will neuer striue against the trouth when they shall make it appeare vnto vs by good and sure testimonies of the worde of God the which is reueiled vnto vs by the scriptures But if they cannot shewe the same vnto vs by this meane and that we be able to shewe them the contrarie by the same meane which wee require of them to wit that the Masse such as it is at this day is not only not the very table and supper of the Lord but is wholy cōtrary to the same we beseech them that they woulde not resist the manifest truth but that they giue glory to God and do suffer that their Masse be so reformed according to the ordinance of Iesus Christe that as it hath bene peruerted into the same euen so the same may be restored againe to the true forme which he gaue to his holy supper and was obserued in the auncient Church And then when that shal be done which is so iust and reasonable that nothing can be more all the controuersies shal be ended and they shal be no more deuided nor banded the one against the other for the supper and for the masse wherein euery mā may iudge whether we demaunde any thing that is not very iust and very reasonable and whether they may iustly refuse the same It resteth yet that I do declare the principall reasons which doe hinder vs from the accepting of the masse such as they do set forth vnto vs for the true supper of the Lorde and for what cause we may in no wise receiue nor accept the same but are cōstrained to reiect it as a thing which cannot agree with the true Christian religion if there be not such reformation that it be no more that which it is at this present but that it be the true supper of the Lorde such as it is set forth vnto vs by the Euangelistes and the Apostles who are sure and true witnesses of the doctrine and of the ordināces and workes of Iesus Christ their master who did chuse and call them to that office Chapter vii Of those which will allowe the Masse by the good and faire wordes takē out of the holy scriptures which are conteined in the same and what iudgement and consideration is meete to be had of the same BUt before that I doe expounde these reasons throughly I will yet touche one point concerning that which hath bene spoken of the good and holy wordes which are in the masse I do not deny but it is so but I do answere further that it is not enough to haue good wordes taken out of holy letters except they be wel applied to their true vse and to that ende whereunto they ought to serue For if it were not so a man might by the like reason allowe not onely the charmes and enchantments of Charmers Sorcerers and Enchanters but also the Alchoran of Mahomet and the doctrine in maner of all the heretiques For there be many good faire words takē out of the holy scriptures and faire names of God and of Iesus Christe our lord And if the crosses might serue to the holinesse of the things with the words they haue ordinarily many in charmes inchantments It is not enough then to haue such words if the right vse of them be not had with them And further it must be seene whether there be any thing mingled with them which doth corrupt them as doth poyson good meate which otherwise is of it self good For there needeth no great quantitie of poyson to corrupt the best meates of the worlde and the better that the meat is the more daungerous is the poyson which is hidden vnder the same for so much as it is very hard to discouer it and that men are the more prouoked to take it Wherefore so farre of is it from letting the poyson to be any more poyson that it maketh it more daungerous more mortall if that the poyson be not expelled by a contrapoyson It is not then altogether to see if there be faire and good words in the masse taken of the holy scriptures but we must yet consider whether there bee any poyson false doctrine and mens tradicions mixed with them And if there be any such a man may profite nothing at all by it but may be hurt thereby if the same poyson be not taken away and expelled by his contrapoyson the which can not be taken but of the pure word of god And therefore the controuersie vpon the which we are at this present resteth yet in this to witte whether al the meat which is set forth to vs in the masse be wholy good or whether there be poyson mixed with the same if it be al good then may there none of it be reiected if there be poyson no man may receiue it without danger and perill Chapter viii Whether there be any thing in the Masse other then good wordes and whether those good wordes which are in it be well applied and whether that for those good woordes the Masse ought to be accompted good ANd euen as good meate doth not let but that poyson is alwaye poyson and maketh it more hurtfull euen so the good and holy wordes doe not let at all but that God is dishonoured in thē when men do abuse thē Note for the more holy blessed that a thing is so much the more is the abuse thereof detestable in the sight of God so much the more is he dishonored for so much as his holy name is there the more prophaned By meane whereof so farre of is it that the charmes and enchantments be the better because of the names of God and of Iesus Christ of the virgine Mary and of men and women Sainctes of the good wordes of the holy scriptures that may be in thē that they are in deede so much the more execrable and cursed For seeing that the thing of it selfe is euill it is yet made much worse when that which should serue to the honor of God is there applied to his dishonor Wherefore it is like to blasphemies For when men do blaspheme God they do take his name in their mouth but he is more dishonored by that meane then though they did wholy abstaine from naming him For they do not vse it at all as they do which take it in their mouth to call vpon God and to sanctifie him but do abuse it not onely taking it in vaine but also villainously profaning and polluting the same Therfore Irenee saieth that the heretiques and cōsequently al those which abuse the holy scriptures do with thē euen as when an excellēt workman should make the image of a king very faire and of fine golde and well furnished with all fortes of precious stones and there did come an euill workeman which should take the same matter and should make thereof either a dogge or an ape or some other beast or
not limitted within the course of this life and as though there were such communication betweene the liuing and the dead as there is betweene those which liue in this world together Chapter .xiiii. That these sacrifices and communions cannot be made in faith nor cōsequently be pleasant to God. WHerein they do againe greatly faile in sondrie sortes For for the first seeing that the doe all that which they doe in all these points without any woord of God they can not doe them in faith And if they can not doe them in faith they may then in no wise please God in so doing But they do greatly displease him By meane whereof so farre off is the worke which they do from being good that it is in deed but sinne And that the same is true I proue it vnto them by that which is written that whatsoeuer is done without faith is sinne and that without faith it is impossible to please god And then I proue that all that which is done without the word of God is done without faith because that it is also written that faith cōmeth by the hearing of the same Wherefore there where this worde is not and there where faith hath not the same for his foundation there is also no faith Nowe I haue already sufficiently shewed that they haue no worde of God whereupon they may builde any propiciatorie sacrifice for the remission of sinnes either for the liuing or for the dead except it bee that which Iesus Christ him selfe hath offered the which may not be offered againe neither yet by any other then by him selfe onely They haue no more woorde of God for that communion which they say also is administred in their masse as well for the one as for the other but they haue the worde of God directly contrary to all these points and chiefly the institution of the holy Supper of the Lord. It foloweth then that their faith religion in this matter is not founded otherwise but only vpon the doctrines the commandements tradicions of men wherby God witnesseth not only by Esay but also by his own sonne Iesus Christ that he is serued in vaine And by what testimonies of the Scripture wil they also proue either the praiers or the suffrages for the dead and the inuocatiō of Saints Now if there were no other reason but this Now if there were no other reason but this it is sufficient to ouerthrowe all these points For I wil say alwaies and it shal be true that al that is done without faith from whēce it foloweth that it is sinne vntil such time as they be able to shewe by certaine testimonies of the word of God that he hath commanded alowed such workes that he hath giuen commandement promise therunto which thing they shal neuer do but by corrupting and peruerting the true sense of the Scriptures Chapter xv Whether the ministery aswel of the word as of the sacraments be aswel ordained for the dead as for the liuing whether the worke of the same may stretch out so farre as to the dead whether the priestes may better receiue the supper for them then the Baptisme better then the other liuing Christians ANd further I aske them whether the Lord did ordaine the sacraments either for the liuing or for the dead or for both together It is certain that it is not for the dead but for the liuing only For seeing that the sacraments cannot be administred without the word vpon the which they are grounded it is very certaine that none may be capable of them but onely those vnto whom the word may be administred with their signes Now so it is that the one neither the other may be administred to the dead From whēce it also foloweth that the sacraments doe no more belong vnto thē then the preaching of the Gospel which is ordinarily vsed in the Church And to say that the liuing may receiue them for them I haue already declared that it cannot be done For if the very liuing may not do it for those that are liuing much lesse yet may they do it for the dead And if it were so that it mought be done wherefore also should not the other Christiās aswel do it for their kinsmen and friends which are dead as the priests the monkes And if they mought do it in respect of the supper wherefore mought they not do it in respect of baptisme yea more iustly according to their doctrine for they place so great necessity in the outwarde signe thereof that they do affirme that those cannot be saued which cannot attaine thereunto For the which cause they haue forged a Limbe for the children which are dead without baptisme the which according to their diuinitie is at the least as it were a halfe hel If then it be so that the necessitie be such that the one may receiue the sacraments for the other namely the priests the monkes they should haue greater reason to practise the same rather in the baptisme thē in the supper forsomuch as according to their doctrine there is much greater daunger to be depriued of baptisme then of the supper For they do not at al accompt damned those which doe die not hauing receiued the Supper as they do those which do die without baptisme Wherefore is it then that the priestes are not baptized rather for the litle Children which are borne dead which could not liue vntil they mought receiue baptisme then to receiue the supper for the liuing for the dead as they vaunt thē selues to do in their masse saying that they are as it were the mouth of the whole Church by the which al the body of the same and all her members are nourished spiritually Chapter xvi Of the masses which are celebrated in the honor of men Saints womē Saints which beare their name and of the application of thē to all things what fruit the masses for the dead mought bring vnto them although indeed the inuention of the Romaine purgatorie were certaine ANd on the other side I aske thē What need haue they to Sacrifice or to communicate for the Saints which are already in paradise for what need haue they so to doe Nowe if they say that they do it in their praise and for their remembrance I answere that Iesus Christe hath not ordained his supper either in the remembrance or in the praise of any other then of him selfe for to yeeld thankes vnto God for his benefits And therfore he hath not ordained any supper either of S. Peter or S. Paul or S. Iohn nor of any of the Angels nor of any mē saints or womē saints be they either dead or liuing but did ordaine onely one which is the supper of Iesus Christ Wherefore men may not say the like of the Romaine masses of the which
bodie cannot be the soule because it cannot be a spirite or els if it be conuerted into spirit it is no more a bodie as also the spirite is no more the spirite if it be conuerted into bodie The like is of the bodie and of the soule of Iesus Christe and of his diuine and humaine nature of the which euery one of them holdeth so continually his proprieties that the one cannot be that which the other is For albeit that they be vnited together by personall vnion yet for all that they remaine alway distinct in their vnitie according to their proprieties and not confused in sort that the one cannot be the other wherefore we may not say at all that the diuinitie is the humanitie or that the humanitie is the diuinitie nor that the one is conuerted into the other For if there were such a conuersion they should no more be that which they are but should be chaunged into other natures which thing cannot be For God can neuer be but God Wherefore he can not be conuerted into man but he may well vnite man to him selfe as he hath done in the person of his sonne Iesus Christ In likewise man can not be conuerted into God forsomuch as he is a creature that God which is the creator of all cannot be created but is without beginning as he is without end and infinite the which thing can not agree with any creature From whence it foloweth that the Goddes which are created and that haue had any beginning are no Goddes at all but are onely creatures or else illusions And as the substaunce of God cannot be conuerted into that of man nor that of man into that of God for otherwise God should not be God nor man should not be man at all Euen so neyther the one nor the other may be without his conuenient and naturall proprieties For if the humaine nature haue the proprieties belonging to the diuine nature it is no more humaine nature but diuine In like sort if the body and the bloud of Iesus Christ haue the natural proprieties which doe belong to the bread and to the wine as they haue indeed if they haue their qualities accidents these same effects they are not at all the body and the bloud of him but bread and wine remayning alwaies in their substance with their accidents Chapter v. That the doctrine of transsubstanciatiō doth ouerthrow a great parte of the Articles of the faith and Christian religion concerning the worke of the redemptiō wrought by Iesus Christ THen euen as the transsubstanciators doe abolish from the supper the true signes of the same by their transsubstanciation euen so doe they take away the thinges signified by them to wit the body and bloud of Iesus Christ in asmuch as they transfigure them into an other nature spoyling them of their bodyly proprieties in such sort that they are no more a very body nor a very bloud forsomuch as they haue not their naturall proprieties but haue those of the bread and of the wine which should represent them and should not be the thing it selfe the which they should signifie And by the same ineane they ouerthrowe all the Articles of our faith touching the incarnation of Iesus Christ and his conception and natiuitie his death resurrection and ascension into heauen for if he haue such a body as they attribute vnto him in their masse and supper it is not a true humayne body in asmuch as it hath no thing at all of that which is required in a true humayne body but onely that which is proper and naturall to the bread if it be so that the bread be conuerted into the same From whence it foloweth nyther that it is not the same very body which was conceyued and borne of the virgine Mary and which died rose againe and went vp into heauen or else if it be the same very body it was neuer a true body neyther in the conception and natiuitie nor in the death resurrection and ascension or else it was afterwarde chaunged eyther into an imaginatiue body or into a spirite or into God in sort that it is become infinite as God and that it is euery where in his proper essence and substance as God or at the least that it is in many places at one instaunt and that it hath no one qualitie nor quantitie agreeable to a humayne bodie The which things can in no wise agree with the nature of a true body And that which I do say of the doctrine of the transsubstanciators may be also said of that of the consubstanciators who albeit they doe condenme transsubstanciation as we do yet for al that they doe constitute a corporall presence of the body and of the bloud of Iesus Christ with the bread and with the wine in the supper which is not greatly different from that of the transsubstanciators and draweth after it as many absurdities concerning the proprieties of the humaine nature of Iesus Christ Chapter vi That the doctrine aswell of the transsubstanciators as also of the consubstanciators hath no certayne foundation vpon the wordes of Iesus Christ and for what causes and of the chiefe different which is betweene them and vs touching the presence of Iesus Christ in the Supper IT may not then bee that the transsubstantiatours nor also the cōsubstantiacors may bragge and glorye as they do that they haue the expressed worde of Iesus Christe who sayd This is my body and that their faith of transsubstantiation or consubstantiation is grounded vpon the expressed and certaine worde of god For seeing that their faith doth ouerthrowe the true faith of the principall articles of the Christian doctrine and religion which are very plaine throughly certaine it followeth then in deede that it can not be a true faith as touching that point and by consequent it cannot bee builded vpon the word of god For they may not bragge to haue it in their fauour if they do not take it in his true sense without the which it is no more the worde of God but it is disguised and ouerthrowen Now it appeareth euidently that it is taken in an other then his owne true sense when it is taken in such a sense as ouerthroweth the principal articles of the Christian faith which are not grounded vpon any passage of the holy scriptures that is not well vnderstoode but vpon so many testimonies of the Prophetes and of the Apostles and so plaine and euident that there may remaine no ambiguitie or doubt to those which do beleeue the diuine letters The which thing can not bee saide of the doctrine of transsubstantiation nor of consubstantiation which haue no other ground but vpon a wrong and euill vnderstanding exposition of the wordes of Iesus Christe the which doth plainely and manifestly appeare to bee contrary to the true sense of the same for so much as it is impossible to agree it
no more then they can of their fayth onely God excepted which knoweth the heartes Wherefore either they put them selues in daunger to bee idolaters according to their owne very doctrine worshipping the bread and the wyne in steade of the body and of the blood of Iesus Christe or els they must needes worship them with condition the which can not bee voyde of doubt From whence it followeth that it can not bee in fayth but onely in opinion and by consequence it is sinne seeing that whatsoeuer is not of fayth and without the same can not please God but is sinne Chapter viii Of the diuision of the signes of the Supper and of the Sursum corda of the Masse and of the signification of the same and whereunto it serueth at this present ANd on the other side seing that the Lord hath ordeined 2. signes in this sacramēt the one may not be separated from the other but that his ordinance is there violated and ouerthrowen contrary to his intent and his expressed commandement Now so it is that the wine appointed to be that signe of the bloud is separated from the bread which is appointed to be the signe of the body not onely when the bread is reserued in their pixtes boxes all alone without the wine but also in their supper which they administer beside their masse to them whome they call the Lay people From whence it foloweth that this bread is not at all the sacrament of the supper for so much as it is not applied to his true vse according to the intent and expresse commandement of Iesus Christ but cleane contrary And if it be not a sacrament of the supper it can not be an other sacrament For Iesus Christ hath not instituted any other to that which he hath appointed the bread for a signe but only this And if it be not at all a sacrament how may it be the body of Iesus Christ Iesus Christ him selfe God and man yea in so many places at one instant as there be boxes pixtes cupbordes and caskets in the which this bread is reserued and kept as a relique Therefore I would gladly that the transsubstantiators and Romaine doctors should well consider in all their worshippings that they doe to this bread bee it in their masses or in their pixtes cupbordes and boxes or in their processions to what purpose a litle before they do lift it vp in their masse to cause it to be worshipped they say and sing Lift vp your heartes which is as much to say Sursum corda For it is an exhortation to the Christian people taken of the true ancient Churche whereby the ministers did admonishe them which should cōmunicate at the supper not to stay them selues and rest vpon the visible signes of the same but that they should lifte vp their heartes and their mindes on high to heauenly and diuine things represented by them and to the Lorde which only can communicate those things and will bee serued and worshipped in spirit and truth as he him selfe witnesseth and not in visible and corruptible things nor in things base and earthly For if the time be come that he will not be any more worshipped either in Ierusalem or in the mountaine no more will hee be worshipped betweene the handes of the Romaine priestes nor in their masses and boxes cupbordes pixtes and caskets For that cause after that this exhortation Sursum corda was giuen to all the assistantes they answered Habemus ad dominum which is to saye we haue them vp to the Lorde to witte the heartes the which they were exhorted to lift vp on high Note For the same was spoken in a tongue vnderstoode of al. But to what purpose serueth it now to sing in the masse Sursum corda before the poore people and the ignorant which knowe not what men saye vnto thē neither do they vnderstand at al the exhortation which is giuen vnto them for so much as it is deliuered in Latin and not in their owne language And although that it were deliuered vnto them in their owne language saying Lift vp your heartes on high it coulde not serue them but onely to make them lift them vp to the handes of the priestes which holde and lift vp their hostie and their cuppe euen as hye as their pixtes boxes wherin they holde their holy hostie inclosed no hygher at all For seeing that they doe teache them there to seeke God Iesus Christe our Lorde they neede not to lift their heartes more high to worshyppe him in spirit and trueth but rather that they doe abase them to the earth where they shewe them their visible god whereupon they thinke and rest Wherefore they may very wel boaste thē selues that they haue a god which they see and hee seeth not them But as for vs we knowe no God created nor visible but onely hee which hath created all things and is not him selfe created and which is eternall and inuisible the which doeth very well see vs albeit that we see not him at all for so much as his diuine nature can not bee seene And albeit that hee made him selfe visible in his Sonne Iesus Christe in whome hee hath declared him selfe yet for all that Iesus Christ would withdrawe his bodily presence from this visible worlde to the ende that wee shoulde not seeke him any more in this base territorie nor in corruptible things but that wee shoulde seeke him in the heauens where hee is at the right hande of the Father to worshippe him there in spirit and trueth For hee will not bee worshipped with any other worshippe then that wherewith hee hath taught vs that God must bee worshipped seeing that hee is the cause for the which hee is worshipped for otherwyse it should not be lawfull to worship him seeing that that honour apperteineth to none but to God onely Chapter ix Of the auncientie of transsubstantiation and of the worshipping and keeping of the holy Romaine hostie and of the feast and procession which is dedicated vnto it LEt them not then finde it straunge if we doe not beleeue thē at all when they say vnto vs Lo here is Christ yea there is Christ behold he is in the wildernesse or in the closets For Iesus Christ doth not giue vs testimonie of such a presence of him in his Churche neither of any such comming of his from heauen but in deede giueth vnto vs one cleane contrary No more may they also alleage vnto vs in this behalf the authoritie of the auncient Church nor of the ancient doctours nor the auncientie of their religion touching such worshipping reseruation and keeping of the bread of their holy hostie For the auncient Church hath at the least continued vpon the point of a thousand and three score yeeres before that the doctrine of transsubstantiation was brought into it receiued and approued by the councel in
such sorte as the Romaine Church hath holdeÌ„ it euer since to witte from the time of the Pope Nicholas the secoÌ„d and afterward of Gregorie the seuenth about the yeere 1074. But this was not done at all without contradiction of many which coulde not profit at al forsomuch as they were oppressed by the authoritie of the Romaine Popes and of the multitude of their adherentes The custome for all that was not in the same church to keepe the bread in cupbordes boxes and pixtes before the time of Honorius the third who ordeined it about the yeere 1226. that hee was in the Romaine Chaire nor also to beare it in solemne procession and to dedicate a speciall feast to it vnto the time of Pope Vrbane the fourth who ordained that feast which commonly is called the feast of God or of the holy body of god Beholde then the antiquitie of the religion which followeth such doctrine and such maner of doings and as touching the principall authours vnto the which it may be ascribed And thereby euery man may knowe what faith they ought to giue to the traÌ„ssubstantiatours and Romaine doctours which affirme that the Romaine religion which they at this daye doe followe is the religion of the true auncient Churche and that they haue receiued it of Iesus Christ and of his Apostles and is come euen to them from hande to hand by a continuall succession Men may also iudge by the very same which were the Apostles from whom they receiued such doctrine such ceremonies superstitions and idolatries and what iniurie they do to Iesus Christ and to his Apostles and to all the auncient Church in abusing as they doe the name and authoritie of them to giue a more faire shewe to the inuentions of men and the more to coÌ„firme the poore ignorant in their errours and abuses For as I haue already declared the whole ancient church and the true doctors of the same did not knowe any such transsubstantiation as that of the Romaine Church which is at this daye nor any other conuersion of the signes of the sacrameÌ„ts into the thing which they signified but onely in respect of the vse of them as I haue already declared And therefore it had also no such worshipping and keeping of the bread and of their hostie as is that whereof I haue now spoken Chapter x. Of the sacrifice of the Romaine Masse and of the building of the same vpon the transsubstantiation and of the onely sacrifice of Iesus Christ and of the contrarietie that is betweene the same and that of the Masse I Will not nowe bryng foorth anye more proofes wherewith the better to coÌ„firme that which I haue already sayde of all these things because that I haue sufficiently written of it in diuerse other bookes and that I did not determine for this present but onely to touche and handle them briefly and summarily And therefore I will now come to the eight point which is concerning the sacrifice of the Romane priests in their masse the which dependeth also of the transsubstantiatioÌ„ and hath his foundation vpoÌ„ the same For if they did confesse that the bread and the wine did remaine alway bread and wine in the same they durst not affirme nor saye that they do offer vnto God bread and wine in sacrifice for the remission of sinnes the redemptioÌ„ of soules as well the liuing as the dead as they boaste them selues to doe daily in their masses For for the first seeing that according to the testimonie of the Epistle to the Hebrewes there is no sacrifice offered for the remission of sinnes without shedding of blood they can in no waies make sacrifice of bread and of wine for so much as it shoulde bee without sheading of bloud And then what reason should they haue to offer to God bread wine for the redeÌ„ption of soules and for the saluation of man and of what vertue and efficacie might such a sacrifice be And therefore seeing that they woulde conuert the Sacrament of the Supper into a sacrifice and transforme it into a Masse they must in deede foorthwith transsubstantiate the bread and the wyne into the bodie and into the blood of Iesus Christe to the ende that by that meane they might afterwarde offer them in saerifice for the remission of sinnes and for the redemption of soules and not onely for the lyuing but also for the dead Wee may not then greatly marueile if that they doe fight strongly and assuredly to mainteine their transsubstantiation without the which they are neuer able to mainteine their sacrifice without the which also their purgatorie would yelde them a very barren reuenue with all their other inuentions But what foundation haue they for this sacrifice I do not say in the institution of the supper of the Lorde onely but also in all the holy scriptures For for the first we do not reade at all that when Iesus Christ did institute and administer the supper he did in any wise offer in sacrifice either the bread or the wine which hee ordeined to be signes of the same nor in like sort his bodie nor his bloud For it is not in the supper that he did offer theÌ„ really in sacrifice to God for man but vpoÌ„ the crosse For the whole scripture maketh no mention of two sacrifices of Iesus Christ for the redemption of man but of one onely which is so perfect that he needed not to make it but one time onely and it could not bee offered by any other then by Iesus Christe him selfe the very sonne of God which onely is the priest the sacrificer the Sacrifice the Temple and the Altar and the same may in no wise be reiterated by any creature seeing that it is of vertue eternall and of deserte infinite For this cause the sacrifice of the masse can not stande with this but it must necessarily be that the one or the other be abholished to giue place to one onely seeing that there is but one which is full and perfect and there may none other be had seeing then that the same of Iesus is such an one it abolisheth all the others Chapter .xi. Of the difference that the Romaine doctors do put betwene the bloudy sacrifice the not bloudy of Iesus Christ in what sense the auncieÌ„t doctors of the Church did take both the one and the other and did cal the supper by the name of sacrifice And of the things which were obserued in the assemblies of the auncient Church IT may not be then that the Romayne sacrificers doe lay before vs 2. sortes of sacrifices of Iesus Christ for the remission of sinnes to wit the one not blouddy that is to say without shedding of bloud the which he offred in the supper and the other blouddy to wit with shedding of â—loud the which he offered vpon the crosse For by what testimonie of the Scripture