JOHN BARCLAY HIS DEFENCE OF THE MOST Holy Sacrament OF THE EUCHARIST TO THE SECTARIES OF THE TIMES· BOOK II. CHAP. II. Englished by a Person of Quality With Allowance LONDON Printed by Mary Thompson at the Entrance into Old-Spring-Garden near Charring-Cross And Sold by Matthew Turner at the Holy-Lamb in Holbourn And John Lane at the Corner of Wild-street 1688· OF THE MOST Holy Sacrament OF THE EUCHARIST· CHAP. II. LET us now speak a little of the Eucharist if in treating of so great a Subject it may be lawful to say but little Do not thou O Lord leave us to whom thou hast left thy self but restore Sight to the blinded Sectaries that they may courageously acknowledge this thy Gift which is so wonderfully great that they believe it not only above themselves to Receive but also above thee to Give For as nothing more frequently deters the Jews from embracing the Christian Faith than their being oblig'd to believe in it that the living GOD the GOD of Abraham became Man led a mortal Life and died on a Cross So nothing more offends many of our Sectaries than the Excellency of this Sacrament whilst they cannot persuade themselves the Bounty of CHRIST could ever make him stoop so low as to permit that very Body to be held in the Hands of Priests and receiv'd by the Mouths of Sinners which having been once extended on the Cross now sits in Glory at the Right-hand of the Father But there is not O ye Sectaries any greater prejudice against you than the universal Agreement of all Christians in their Belief of the Eucharist at such time as you first began to appear and the exceeding great Disagreement amongst your selves in this your Errour Is it probable that there was then no Church in the World which had a right Belief of this Sacrament Or must we think the Spirit of Truth resides in you who in this so great Affair contest more fiercely with one another than with Us All Christians in the World Latines Greeks Armenians Abissines and Muscovites had at that time one and the same Sense of that Sacred Mystery They all I say except a few Hussites in Bohemia who as they were none of Ours so neither are they Yours there not being any amongst you altogether of this Opinion concerning the Eucharist agreed with Us and still do that under the Species or Appearance of Bread and Wine the Body and Blood of CHRIST are really Conceal'd that there is no Bread no Wine remaining that the Eucharist is therefore to be Ador'd because there is in it no other Substance but CHRIST himself But you O ye Sectaries were nothing mov'd with this general Consent of Christians You departed from them all that is you resolv'd to be Hereticks Nor did you all take one way but having once left the well known Path of the Church You wander'd in your own Inventions So that if any one enquires what your Thoughts are of the Eucharist you are fain to tell him a long Story which in the end wants an Oedipus to unfold it For so numerous are your Dissensions concerning this Point that there are reckon'd amongst you above fourty different Opinions altogether contrary to each other Nay farther you do not sufficiently explain or to speak more truly do not well understand what the several Sects amongst you hold Those of you which follow Luther confess that our Lords Body is really contain'd in this Sacrament though they think withall the Bread still to remain The Hugonots English Protestants and other Calvinists affirm on the contrary that it is nothing but meer Bread because say they CHRIST is sitting at the Right-hand of the Father and therefore cannot be in several places Others think otherwise But these two are the most eminent Opinions amongst you Let us now see how absurd they both are The Lutherans confessing CHRIST's Body to be really present deny nevertheless that 't is to be Ador'd And behold how excellently they Reason For say they CHRIST instituted not this Sacrament that it might be Ador'd but that it might feed our Souls Why do they not also say that Kings and Princes ride a Hunting for Recreation and not to be Reverenc'd by their Subjects And that they are therefore mistaken who when they meet their King as he is Hunting pay him the Respect due to their Soveraign CHRIST was on the Cross That he might save the Souls of many and bear the Reproach which was due to us not that he might be there Ador'd Hadst thou O Lutheran been then present wouldst thou have thought it a Crime to have Prostrated thy self on Earth and Ador'd him hanging on the Cross. What madness is it in thee not to Adore CHRIST wherever he is who wherever he is is GOD the Disposer of thy Life and Judge of thy Soul But this Opinion of the Lutherans which asserts the Bread to remain in the Eucharist is no less contrary to Scripture than to the Doctrine of the Primitive Church For if the Bread and CHRIT's Body were both there CHRIST would not have said This but here is my Body nor yet would he have said The Bread but In the Bread which I will give is my Flesh. And if the Church in the Apostles Time had not believ'd with Us that there is no Substance of Bread remaining in the Eucharist St. Justin Martyr would not have written that this Sacrament after the words of Consecration are pronounc'd Is the Flesh and Blood of that Incarnate Jesus but that after the Consecration that Flesh and that Blood are added to the Eucharistical Bread and Wine Nor yet would St. Cyril of Hierusalem have us'd these words This which We see is not Bread though the taste thinks it to be Bread but 't is the Body of CHRIST But he would rather have taught Us that the Bread which is seen is Bread and the Taste not deceiv'd in it but that with the Bread is joyn'd CHRIT's Body Nor do the Calvinists talk more wisely when they say that CHRIST's Body is not really present in the Sacrament but yet that we are really Partakers of it An Opinion so Foolish and so Destructive to it Self that they themselves understand it not For tell me O Sectary canst thou really receive CHRIST's Body and CHRIST not be really present But thou sayst He is always in Heaven and cannot be in several places at once Thou then being only on Earth and he only in Heaven how can his Body really come to thee And when at the same Instant thou Communicat'st at London another at Geneva by what Art can it be effected that ye should be really Fed with CHRIST's Body if CHRIST cannot be really present in two places at once Wilt thou say that thy Soul by Faith flies up into Heaven and is there really Fed with this Holy Food This is nothing to the purpose For though thou mayst by Faith by Thought by Will mount above the Stars and Converse in the midst of
Heaven yet art thou still really on Earth Nor is any part of thee that is either thy Mind or Body really in Heaven there to receive Nourishment Shouldst thou never so Seriously fix thy Thoughts on Rome or on Hierusalem couldst thou be therefore said to be really at Rome or in Hierusalem It remains therefore that thou shew how thy Soul which ascends not really into Heaven can be really Fed with the Flesh of CHRIST unless CHRIST be truly and really on Earth and there also in many places at one and the same time since many of you at the very same moment Communicate both in England and France But thou wilt Reply thou art indeed ignorant of the manner yet certainly knowst that thou art Fed. Is it so If thou knowst not by what means these things are done then art thou not sure but it may be by Transubstantiation Why then dost thou with so great Boldness and Fury inveigh against it But be it that thou knowst not the Manner yet thou at least knowst that the Manner is such as may not in Thought and Faith only but in very Deed joyn thee to CHRIST's Body or else thou must confess that thou dost not indeed receive CHRIST's Body For thou sayst that by Faith thou eatest our Lords Body Now what doest thou mean by these words That thou by Faith hold'st and believ'st Vertue so to flow into thy Soul from the Body of CHRIST who is in Heaven that thou art thereby in some sort united to him But this O Sectary is not really to receive CHRIST's Body 't is at most to receive it but imaginarily For that Power and those Vertues which thou say'st flow from CHRIST into thee are not indeed CHRIST's Body And thou believest that thou receivest really nothing else Nor dost thou I suppose eat these Vertues Why therefore to elude the Sentence of the Fathers who testify That CHRIST's Flesh and Blood is in very deed receiv'd do you make use of such vain Deceits saying that you also hold the same But if thou say'st that thou by Faith apprehend'st and believ'st CHRIST's Body to be really Communicated to thee I answer that this Faith of thine is even in thine own Judgement false and ridiculous as making thee believe that which is not Since in thy Opinion our Lords Body is no where but in Heaven and thou art really no where but on Earth But because thou frequently appeal'st to the Scriptures come and let us hear what they say In St. Matthew Chap. xxvi our Saviour says This is my Body this is my Blood In St. Mark Chap. xiv This is my Body this is my Blood In St. Luke Chap. xxii This is my Body this is the Chalice of the New Testament in my Blood In St. John Chap. vi Vnless ye shall eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood ye shall not have Life in you And St. Paul in his first Epistle to the Corinthians ch xi pronounces him who comes unworthily to the Eucharist Guilty of the Body and Blood of our Lord. These are plain Words no perplex'd Testimonies nor things mention'd but once 〈◊〉 which being clearly vanquish'd you presently fly to 〈◊〉 â—xposition whereas when any thing seems to favâ—â— you ye stick close to the letter refuse all Interpretation and cry out we must adhere to the Word of GOD. As if you were the sole Judges and had Authority at your pleasure one while to decide by the bare Text of Scripture without admitting any Expositor and soon after to appeal to Interpretations and those only of your own Invention But come on What do you object against us Arguments you say taken out of the Scriptures First that the Eucharist is sometimes in the Scripture call'd Bread and Wine Next that CHRIST said in St. John chap. vi It is the Spirit that quickneth the Flesh profiteth nothing The words which I have spoken unto you are Spirit and Life Lastly That CHRIST sits at the Right-hand of the Father and shall come from thence to Judge the quick and the dead But I answer that these words are more obscure than those you would have explain'd by them to wit This is my Body my Flesh is Meat indeed Now what kind of Philosophy is this to explain one Obscurity by a greater or that I may speak more truly to gather the Sense of a clear place from a dark one But what if we should say that these Places you object against us are to be interpreted by those we have alledg'd What if we deny that you have any more Right to expound them than we You bring only doubtful Arguments and such as will be turn'd upon your selves Nor will it be any great labour briefly to solve them all The Eucharist you say is in the Scriptures call'd Bread and Wine Therefore the Scriptures you say acknowledge Bread and Wine to be truly in that Sacrament Proceed Sectary and by the same Argument more closely press us in this manner The Catholicks in their Discourses and Prayers frequently call the Eucharist Bread They believe therefore that there is in it true Bread and not only our Lords Body Is not the reason and strength of the Argument the same Why will you rather make the Scriptures when they mention the Eucharist by the Name of Bread and Wine to assert true Bread and Wine to be therein than us Catholicks when we call it by the same Names Give me leave therefore thus to retort this Argument upon you In the Catholick Church we often term the Eucharist Bread and Wine and yet believe not any Substance of Bread or Wine to be therein Therefore it cannot from the Scriptures using the same Names be concluded that they acknowledge true Bread and Wine to remain in it Lay aside Sectary the prejudice of thy Faction and tell me whether thou art not more justly overthrown by the same Argument with which thou assaulted'st us For that we often style this Sacrament Bread and Wine is so well known to those who live amongst us that 't were Impudence to deny it and gross Ignorance not to know it How often do we desire that not only the Eating but the Effect of this Bread may be granted us How often do we beg of GOD the Father that this Bread may be to us not a pledge of Death but of Glory And all this by Similitudes and Figures Which kind of Speeches you your selves also do not deny to be frequent in Holy Writ So St. Bernard whom none can without blushing deny to be ours calls the Eucharist Bread when in his first Sermon on the sixth Sunday after Pentecost distinguishing Bread into several Species he says Moreover the seventh kind of Bread is the Eucharist because our Saviour says the Bread which I give is my Flesh for the Life of the World. We therefore with the Scriptures call this Sacrament Bread Both because as the Natural Man lives by Bread so does the Spiritual Man by the Eucharist
were between the Pasch and his Ascension Childish moreover would St. Paul's Argument be were it thus to be understood that CHRIST was undoubtedly risen because he had seen an Angel in CHRIST's Shape Our Lord was then really present on Earth with St. Paul and has been so with several other Saints He is really also present with us in the Sacrament but cover'd with the Form of a Creature and under Vails that conceal the Creator And do'st thou still say thou doubt'st whether the Body which is in Heaven can be also on Earth Assuredly Sectary it can Our Lord's Body can be at one time in two several places And if in two why not in Infinite For what hinders our Bodies that they cannot be at once in several places Is it not the condition of our Nature But why cannot he who fram'd our Nature change also its Laws This is the humble Learning this is the Christian Phylosophy of the Primitive Church St. Ambrose lib. 11 Hexam cap. 11. has this Expression Since his Word is the beginning of Nature he may by right assume the giving the Law to Nature who gave it its Original And again lib. 3. Hexam cap. 11. The Word of GOD is the efficient Cause of Nature But this perhaps thou can'st not sufficiently comprehend No more indeed canst thou comprehend GOD and yet GOD is is not therefore less GOD. If thou measurest the Works of GOD by the extent of thy Understanding how weak how obscure how depending on thy self thou wilt make him Thy Strength of Understanding depends on him and not his Power on thy Understanding But is there any greater difficulty in granting one Body to be in several Places than two Bodies to be in one or admitting as the Ppilosophers speak A Penetration of Dimensions The difficulty is altogether equal Now CHRIST brought his reviv'd Body through Stone Which was very great at the Door of the Monument that is he shew'd there might be a Penetration of Dimensions whenever he pleas'd For the Stone was not roll'd away by the Angel till St. Mary Magdalen came to Anoint our Lord. Mary Magdalen came and the other Mary to see the Sepulchre And behold there was a great Earthquake For the Angel of our Lord descended from Heaven and coming roll'd back the Stone and sate upon it c. And the Angel Answering said to the Women Fear not you Mat. chap. 28. After Christ came to his Disciples through close and solid Walls And when it was late that day the first of the Sabbaths and the Doors were shut where the Disciples were gathered together for fear of the Jews JESVS came and stood in the midst c. Joh. chap. 20. Again JESVS came the Doors being shut and stood in the midst Here some of you are not asham'd to pretend certain unworthy Trifles that CHRIST perhaps came in at the Window or descended by the Tunnel of the Chimney or open'd the Doors which before were shut An impudent saying proceeding if I am not mistaken from men who seek to gain Repute by inconsiderate Cavilling Is it then to no purpose that we hear these Words so carefully repeated When the Doors were shut The Doors being shut To what end did St. John use these Words but to signify CHRIST's miraculous Entrance at which himself was present Why did he not add that he came in at the Window or the Chimney or by opening the Doors the shutting of which he had so distinctly noted That he entred then O Sectary the Doors being shut is nothing else but that he entred against the Laws of Nature through the said Doors Moreover says St. Hierom in his first Book against Jovinian He so entred the Doors being shut which the Nature of Humane Bodies suffers not Shall we therefore deny that our Lord and St. Peter had true Bodies because contrary to Nature they walk'd on the Waters St. Ambrose on the four and twentieth Chapter of St. Lukes Gospel has these Words But St. Thomas had just cause of Admiration when he saw a Body brought in through Places unpassable to Bodies all things being shut and no place broken And 't was therefore a Miracle how a Corporal Nature should introduce it self through an in penetrable Body by an invisible Passage in a visible appearance easie to be touch'd hard to be understood And in the same place Though St. Peter believ'd the Resurrection yet might he be troubled when he saw our Lord on a suddain with his Body come in upon them into those places which were incompass'd with lock'd Doors and close Walls Nor did CHRIST at his Resurrection only but at his Birth also shew this Penetration of Dimensions coming into the World from the Womb of his most Holy Mother without violating the Enclosers of her Virginity St. Augustin in his two and twentieth Book of the City of GOD chap. 8. relates to this purpose a famous Miracle hapening in his time He says That Patronia a Carthaginian Matron had obtain'd from a Jew a certain Ring which she wore bound to her naked Body with a Girdle for the Cure of her Disease That she going afterwards in Pilgrimage to the Relicks of St. Stephen the Ring which she wore fell from her whole and unhurt the Girdle to which it was ty'd remaining whole also that the Judaical Remedy might by a Christian Miracle be remov'd from this Woman before she was heal'd through the Martyrs Intercession He further adds They believe not this who believe not that our Lord JESVS was brought forth without detriment to his Mothers Virginity and went in to his Disciples the Doors being shut But let them indeed enquire of this and if they find it true believe those She is a Woman of Quality nobly Born nobly Married and dwelling at Carthage The largeness of the City and the Dignity of the Person will not suffer the Truth to be conceal'd from the Enquirers The Martyr himself by whose Intercession she was Curâ—d certainly believ'd in the Son of her who remains a Virgin in Him who went in to his Disciples the Doors being shut These then are the Scripture Histories of our Lords Nativity and Resurrection this the Primitive Churches Sense of those Histories that two Bodies may GOD commanding it be together in the same place or to speak with the Phylosopbers that there may be a Penetration of Dimensions by the Divine Power Now 't is certainly no less repugnant to humane Sense and Nature that two Bodies should be thus together in one place than that one should be at the same time in many The difficulty on both sides is not only alike but the very same The Church has always acknowledg'd both of them above the force of Nature but below the Power of GOD having ever taught her Children that CHRIST both penetrated the Walls and is present in the Blessed Sacrament in several places at once But there are three things which you O Sectaries cannot well digest The Name of Mass the Eucharists