an auncient and vndoubted copy two Franciscan Friars came by authoritie and cancelled many shéetes thereof some in part some wholly and caused them to print other in their stéed not agréeing to the true bookes to Frelonius his great losse both of time and charges The like dealing b Ibid. he noteth of TurriaÌ„ that vnshamefast Iesuit in a Gréeke edition of the Canons of the Apostles In a print of Chrysostomes workes by Stelsius at Paris they haue razed out a most notable and vnanswerable place c Oper. imperf in Mat. hom 49. testifying that in the time of Antichrist there can be no warrant of true Christianitie nor other refuge for Christians being desirous to know the truth of faith but only the scriptures of God that they which would know cannot otherwise know which is the true Church of Christ but onely by the scriptures that Christ knowing the confusion that should be in the last daies did will that Christians desiring to haue assurance of true faith should flee to nothing else but to the scriptures because if they looke vnto other things they shall stumble and perish not knowing which is the true Church and hereby they shall light into the abhomination of desolatioÌ„ which standeth in the holy places of the church This whole place they haue falsly and treacherously left out And why because they take it to haue bin put in by an Arian hereticke as d Bellarm. to 1 cont 1. lib. 4. cap. 11. Bellarmine saith But what wretchednesse is there in this pretence when as they haue left in stil those places which make for the Arians indéed haue only taken away this which was not for the Arians turne but serued to confound themselues in a matter of controuersie betwixt them and vs. Thus e See Doct. Rainolds confer with â—aâ—t cha â— diuiâ— 2. Manutius and Pamelius in their editions of Cyprian the one at Rome the other at Anwerpe haue notoriously falsified a place in his Treatise de vnitate ecclesiae And whereas Cyprian expresly auoucheth by the vniuersall consent of all approued copies that the rest of the Apostles were the same that Peter was endued with equall fellowship both of honour and of power they haue foisted in other words importing a supremacy giuen by Christ vnto Peter and so make him in one sentence with one breath to speake contrary to himselfe Which impudencie and unpietie of theirs is so much the greater for that against the common consent and credit of so many copies both written and printed they would presume to alter the text of Cyprian vpon the warrant of two or thrée such copies as they themselues euidently saw knew to be corrupted so corrupted that they were faine euen for shame to varie in some things from that reading which they found in theÌ„ Thus haue the Spanish censurers vsed Bertram also as hath bene before shewed nipping him paring him where they haue thought good that he may not séeme too strong against their fantasticall conceit of TransubstantiatioÌ„ Now we may not wonder that they who haue bene thus bold with the auncient Fathers should presume a great deale further with later writers And therefore it néedeth not that I stand here to shew how they haue maimed the writings and censures of f Index Expurgat in castigaâ— operum August Tertul Hierony passim Beatus Rhenanus Ludouicus Viues Erasmus and other famous learned men whersoeuer they haue with great aduisement and iudgemeÌ„t noted the corruptions abuses of the Roomish church either in matters of maners or of doctrine This is that godly charitable dealing which the Answ commendeth and thinketh to be a very Christian and necessary course But were he not too much bewitched with the loue of a harlot he would not be so easily brought to flatter her in such vnhonest and hatefull doings Hereby it appeareth what confidence and hold Papists haue in the writings of the Fathers and that the Fathers if they were now aliue in the church of Rome and should speake as they haue written should be condemned for heretickes and their bookes carried to the fire to be burned with them P. Spence Sect. 36. YOu chop in the end to the matter of iustification A verie large race to course in To be short we say Faith iustifieth but that faith which worketh by loue We yeeld with S. Paule Not to him that worketh that is not to him that worketh with the respect of the law or by his free-will without the faith of Christ and his grace as the Iewes and Gentiles But to him that beleeueth in him that iustifieth the vngodly c. Here you see he talketh of one that not only beleeueth God or that God is but in God which is to haue faith hope charitie And that we require in iustifying a Here we haue we say and we say but no prâ—ofe for that which they say and so they may say what they list We say Faith without workes is dead and yet being dead it is a true faith neuerthelesse We say this faith so quickened and formed with charitie doth iustifie that is maketh of wicked iust and withall we say that good workes done by him that is iustified or else they could not be good do iustifie that is as S. Iames saith they make faith perfect By Abrahams workes his faith was made perfect And not only before men as you would haue S. Iames to meane thereby to elude this cleare testimony for he telleth you as for only faith the diuels beleeue and tremble and hee saith faith to bee a ioynt-worker with workes in our iustification which is not by faith only but by workes and they do make a man more iust or increase our iustice They b An absurd contradiction they deserue it and yet it is â—â—eely â—iuen them â—f it be â—â—eely thâ—n it is not of desert deserue the reward though giuen them by Gods free mercie for Christes passions sake yet novv made their vvages and hyer by Gods ordinance and by the proportion and relation betvveene grace Sap. 3. 15. Eccl. 16. 2. Rom. 2. 6. and glorie We defie Pelagius that said vve might merit the first grace or remission of sinner yet vve say vvith S. Augustine that the kingdom of heauen is both gratuite or free because it is of grace purchased by Christs blood and yet vvithall saith he it is a thing deserued because it is due to workes vvhich vvorkes come of grace that vvas giuen freely by Christ We desire no better iudge of the true sense of Gods vvord in this point then S. Augustine himselfe to whom we appeale We say vvith S. Iohn Behold the lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world We say vve must put off the old man and put on the new We say vve must be noua conspersio Azimi We say vve must be c Yet the Answers owne conscience doth tell him that he is not
of true faith for one b Ferus in Mat. 8. It is not alwaies faith saith he which we call faith For we call it faith to assent vnto those things which are proposed in the diuine histories and which the Church teacheth to be beleeued This the schoolemen call an vnformed faith and S. Iames a dead faith But what faith is that which is dead and wanteth his forme Verily this is not faith but a vaine opinion Farre otherwise doth the Scripture speake of faith For according to the scripture faith is no◠without confidence of Gods mercie promised in Iesus Christ This he sheweth by examples and places and concludeth thus To be short the faith which the scripture commendeth is notliing else but to trust vpon the free mercie of God This saith he is the true faith and in c In Mat. 27. another place To beleeue is to trust that God for Christ sake will not impute thy sinnes Thus the light of trueth caused Ferus to speake and to controll that senslesse fancie and imagination of faith which the schoolemen and Iesuites haue deuised and defended to delude the true doctrine of Christian faith His saying that faith is quickened and formed by charitie should haue béene prooued because I take not his saying to be a sufficient answere The d 1. Cor. 13. 13. Apostle reckoneth that faith whereby a man is called faithfull as a vertue distinct from charitie and therefore not formed by charitie but hauing a proper act and being by it selfe And so by it selfe it doth iustifie and though in the iustified man there be not onely faith but charitie and good works doe also necessarily follow yet in iustifying no work but faith onely taketh place e Aug. de fide oper cap. 1◠Good works saith Austen followe the iustified man they goe not before while he is yet to be iustified And therefore y◠which he addeth that works done by a iustified man do iustifie and as he saith anon after doe make more iust or encrease our iustice is méerely absurd For to speake of morall or inherent iustice of which he speaketh séeing that the iust man is as the trée and iust or good workes are as the fruite it is alike absurd to say that the good workes of a man do iustifie him or make him more iust as to say that the fruites do make the trée good or encrease the goodnesse of the trée f Mat. 7. 17. The good tree bringeth forth good fruite saith our sauiour Christ and the better the trée waxeth the better waxe the fruites but who euer heard that the betternesse of the fruits did worke the bettering of the trée But such vnreasonable fanties are fit enough to possesse the heads of vnreasonable men Yea but faith is made perfect by workes as S. Iames saith of Abraham that by his workes his faith was made perfect We graunt the same and expound it by the like phrase vsed by S. Paul g 2. cor 12. 9. The power of God is made perfect in weakenesse not for that the weaknesse of man addeth any perfection to the power of God but because in the weakenesse of man it is perfectly declared and approoued to be indéed the power of God according to that which he sayth in another place h 2. cor 4. 7. We haue this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellencie of this power might be of God and not of our selues So faith is made perfect by workes that is it is perfectly shewed or declared to be true and perfect as S. Iames teacheth vs to expound it when he saith I will shew thee my faith by my workes Thus doth Beda expound it manifestly i Beda in epist Iaco. cap. 2. His faith was made perfect by workes that is to say it was prooued by the practise or execution of workes that his faith was perfect in his heart Whereas it is vrged out of the same place of S. Iames that Abraham was iustified by workes I haue alreadie answered by the exception that S. Paul hath set downe k Rom. 4. 2 If Abraham were iustified by workes he had to reioyce but not before God The Gréeke Scholiast out of the Gréeke fathers sayth thus vpon those wordes l Oecumen in Rom. 4. What then Had not Abraham workes Yes But did they iustifie him God forbid Indeede he had workes so that if hee had beene brought in iudgement with the men with whom hee liued he should easily haue been iustified and preferred before them but to be iustified by his workes before God as worthy of the kindenesse and bountifulnes of God towards him he should neuer haue attained c. By what meanes then was he accompted worthie heereof By fayth onely c. Heereby saith he the answere is manifest how S. Paule saith that Abraham was iustified by faith and S. Iames that he was iustified by workes A man then we say is iustified by workes and must be iustified by workes but not before God Thus saith the Apostle manifestly and thus hath the auncient Church subscribed the wordes of the Apostle Now against these the Answ telleth me vpon his owne bare word that we are iustified by works in the sight of God but I cannot beare his word against the worde of God Further I must adde that that iustification before men by workes is nothing else with S. Iames but a proofe and declaration that a man is the same that he professeth himselfe to be a true christian man a true seruaunt and friend of God He speaketh to this effect Thou sayest thou hast faith but I would haue thée shewe it me For I beléeue it not except thou iustifie and prooue it to me by thy workes And that there is no other iustification by works let Thomas Aquinas himselfe teach vs m Thom. Aqui. i◠epist ad Gala cap. 3. lect 4. Workes saith he are not the cause that any man is iust with God but they are the practising and manifesting of iustice For no man is iustified by works with God but by the habite of Faith And anon after obiecting to himselfe the wordes of S. Iames was not Abraham iustified by workes he sayth that iustification is heere vnderstood as touching the exercise and declaration of iustice and that thus a man is iustified that is declared iust by his workes This iustification we require in all the faithful and affirme that there is no man a true professor of true pietie and religion but he that iustifieth himselfe so to be by the carefull ordering of his life and conuersation Yet he obiecteth that as touching onely faith S. Iames saith The deuils beleeue and tremble It is manifest héereby say I that S. Iames speaketh not of that faith which S. Paul meaneth when hée saith that a man is iustified by faith without workes For S. Paul speaketh of such a faith as n Act. 15. 9. whereby the heart is purified whereby o R◠10. 13. 14
of eating and drinking Iob. 6. are not to be vnderstood properly but by a figure sect 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 30. That the Doctours of the Romish church by the defence of Transubstantiation haue bene driuen to most impious and damnable questions and assertions sect 29. That the place of the Gospell Luc. 22. 20. which they so much cauil vpon out of the Greeke maketh nothing at all for Transubstantiation as by diuerse other reasons so by the confession Bellarmine himselfe sect 31. That the assumption of the virgin Mary is a meere fable sect 33. That the Church hath no authoritie after the Apostles to authorize any scriptures and that we seclude no other bookes from the canon of the bible then the old church did sect 34. How wickedly the Papists deale in mangling and martyring the writings of the Fathers sect 35. That our doctrine of iustification before God by faith onely is the verie trueth which both the scriptures and out of them the Fathers haue manifestly taught that it maketh nothing against good workes that the place of S. Iames cap. 2. maketh nothing against it sect 36. May it please thee gentle Reader first of all to take notice of these two places of Chrysostome Gelasius which haue bene the occasion of all this controuersie for thy better satisfaction I haue noted them both in English and Latin though otherwise to auoyd both tediousnesse of writing and vnnecessarie charges of printing I haue thought good to set downe the places alleaged onely translated into English The place of Chrysostome against the vse of water in the cup of the Lords table CVius rei gratia non aquam sed vinum post resurrectionem bibit Chrysost in Math. hom 83. Perniciosam quandam haeresin radicitùs euellere voluit eorum qui aqua in mysterijs vtuntur Ita vt ostenderet quia quando hoc mysteriuÌ„ tradidit vnum tradidit etiam post resurrectionem in nuda mysterij mensae vino vsus est Exgenimine ait vitis quae certè vinum non aquam producit In English thus But why did Christ after his resurrection drinke not Water but Wine He would plucke vp by the rootes a certaine pernicious heresie of them which vse water in the Sacrament So that to shew that when he deliuered this Sacrament he deliuered wine euen after his resurrection also he vsed wine at the bare table of the Sacrament Of the fruite of the vine saith he which surely bringeth foorth wine and not water The place of Gelasius against Transubstantiation CErtè sacramenta quae sumimus corporis sanguinis Christi diuina Gelasius cont Eutych Nestor res est propter quod per eadem diuinae efficimur consortes naturae tamen esse non desiuit substantia vel natura panis vini Et certe imago similitudo corporis sanguinis Christi in actione mysteriorum celebrantur Satis ergò nobis euidenter ostenditur hoc nohis in ipso Christo domino sentiendum quod in eius imagine profitemur celebramus et sumimus vt sicut in haenc scilicet in diuinam transeunt sancto spiritu perficiente substantiam permanent tamen in suae proprietate naturae sic illud ipsum mysterium principale cuius nobis efficientiam virtutemque veracitèr repraesentant ex quibus constat propriè permanentibus vnum Christum quia integrum verumque permaenere demon strant In English thus Verily the Sacraments which we receiue of the bodie and blood of Christ are a diuine thing by reason whereof we also by them are made partakers of the diuine nature and yet there ceaseth not to be the substance or nature of bread and wine And surely an image or esemblance of the bodie and blood of Christ is celebrated in the action of the mysteries It is therefore euidently inough shewed vnto vs that we must thinke the same in our Lord Iesus Christ which we professe celebrate and receiue in his image that as these namely the bread and wine do by the working of the holie Ghost passe ouer into a diuine substance and yet continue in the proprietie of their owne nature so they shew that that principall mysterie the efficiencie vertue wherof these do represent vnto vs doth abide one Christ because whole and true those natures properly remaining whereof he doth consist M. Spence hauing had my bookes to peruse these places sent me in writing this answere to them SIr I right hartily thanke you for the willing minde you hauâ— towards me Truly I should be verie vnkinde if I knew mâ— selfe vnaffectioned to so much good will I am in prison and pouertie otherwise I should be some way answerable to your friendlinesse In the meane season good will shall be readie for good will Touching the words of S. Chrysostome He would plucke vp by the rootes a certaine pernicious heresie of them which vse water in the Sacrament c. Read the 32. Canon of the sixth Councell holden at Constantinople and there you shall find vpon what occasion this golden mouth did vtter these words and not only that but also mention of S. Iames and S. Basils masse or sacrifice left to the church in writing The words of the Canon begin thus Because we know that in the country of the Armenians wine onely is offered at the holie table c. The heresie therefore against which he wrote was of the a Vntruth For neither doth Chrysostome intimate any thing against the Armenians or such as vse wine only neither was it heresie in theÌ„ that did so Armenians and the Aquarians the first whereof would vse onely wine the other onely water in the holie mysteries Against which vse being so directly against both the scriptures and custome of the primitiue church he wrote the same which he saith of pernicious heresie as before I cannot doubt of your hauing the Councels or some of them Your other booke conteining the words of Gelasius I wil not yet answere being printed at Basil where we suspect many good works to be corrupted abused But if it proue so to be yet the whole faith of Christs church in that point may not be reproued against so many witnesses of scriptures and fathers b Neither scripture not Father auoucheth the contrarie auouching the contrarie Nay what words should Christ haue vsed if he had meant to make his bodie blood of the bread and wine as we say he did other then these This is my bodie which shall be giuen c. And gaine for this is my blood of the new Testament which shal be shead for many for remission of sinnes Marke well the speeches and they be most wonderfull as most true All the world and writings therein c The Gospell it selfe is sufficient to perswade him that will be perswaded â—nforming vs of a true and naturall bodie of Christ and not of a fantasticall bodie in the fashion quantitie of a wafer cake cannot
again in this mysterie his flesh suffereth for the saluation of the people and Cyprian We sticke to the crosse we sucke the blood and fasten our tongues within the wounds of our redeemer and Chrysostome againe Good Lord the iudge himselfe is led to the iudgement seat the creator is set before the creature he which cannot be seene of the angels is spitted at by a seruant he tasteth gall and vâ—neger he is thrust in with a speare he is put into a graue c. In which maner of speaking S. Hierome saith Happie is he in whose heart Christ is euerie day borne and againe Christ is crucified for vs euerie day and S. Austen Then is Christ slaine vnto Aug. ouaesâ— Euan. li 2. q. 33. euery man when he beleeueth him to haue bene slaine Doe you thinke that these thinges are really done in the Sacrament as the words sound that Christ indeed suffereth dieth is burted that we cleaue to his crosse c S. Austen telleth you The offering of the De cons dist 2. cap. Hoc est flesh which is performed by the hands of the priest is called the passion death and crucifying of Christ not in the truth of the thing but in a signifying mysterie Séeing then the passion of Christ is the sacrifice which we offer and the passion of Christ is to be vnderstood in the Sacrament not in the truth of the thing but in a signifying mysterie it followeth that that sacrifice is likewise â—o to be vnderstood not in the truth of the thing but in a signifying mysserie and therefore that the sacrifice which you pretend is indéed sacriledge as I haue termed it and a manifest derogation from the sufficiency of Christs sacrifice vpon his crosse As touching the matter of Transubstantiation I alleaged vnto Gâ—las cont â—u yâ—h Nâ—st you the sentence of Geâ—asâ—â—â— Bishop of Rome There ceaseth not to be the substance or nature of bread and wine You answere me first that you suspect it to be corrupted by some of ours There is no cause M. Spence of that suspitioÌ„ but the shamelesse dealing of some leaud varlets of your side is notorious that way and infamous through all the Church of God Your owne clerkes cannot deny the truth of this allegation as they do not of many other sayings of the auncient Fathers as plainly contrary to your positions as this is Albeit Index Expurg in censura Bertrami they practise therein that which they professe in the Index Expurgatorius where they say In the old Catholicke Doctors we beare with many errours and we extenuate them excuse them by some deuised shift do oftentimes deny them and faine a conuenient meaning of them when they are opposed vnto vs in disputations or in contention with our aduersaries Indéed without these pretie shifts your men could finde no matter whereof to compile their answers But being taken for truly alleaged you say yet the whole faith of Christs Church in that point may not by his testimony be reproued against so many witnesses of scriptures and Fathers to the contrarie Whereas you should remember that Gelasius was Bishop of Rome that what he wrote he wrote it by way of iudgement and determination against an hereticke and therfore by your owne defence could not erre And if it had bene against the receiued faith of the Catholicke Church in those daies the heretickes against whom he wrote would haue returned it vpon him to his great reproach But he spake as other auncient Fathers had done before him as Theodor. dial 1. Theodoret He which called himselfe a vine did honour the visible elements and signes with the name of his bodie and blood not changing their nature but adding grace vnto nature And againe The Dial. 2. mysticall signes after consecration do not go from their own nature for they continue in their former substance figure and forme c. chrysost ad caesarium Monach August apud â—edam in 1. cor 10. Chrysostome thus Before the bread be consecrated we call it bread but the grace of God sanctifying it by the ministerie of the priest it is freed froÌ„ the name of bread is vouchsafed the name of the Lords bodie although the nature of bread remaine in it Austen thus That which you see is bread and the cup which your eyes also do tell you De consect dist 2 cap. â—oc est But as touching that which your faith requireth for in â—ructioÌ„ bread is the bodie of Christ and the cup is his blood And againe This is it which we say which by all meanes we labour to approue that the sacrifice of the Church consisteth of two things the visible forme of the elements and the inuisible flesh and blood of our Lorde Iesus Christ of the Sacrament and the matter of the Sacrament that is the bodie of Christ And that you may not take that visible forme of the elements for your emptie formes and accidentes without substance which and many other things your Censours aboue-named say The latter age of the Church subtilly and truly added by the holie Index Expurgat in censura Bertrami Ghost confessing thereby that these Popish subâ—ilties were not knowne at all to the auncient Fathers take withall that which he addeth Euen as the person of Christ consisteth of God and man for that Christ is true God true man because euery thing conteineth the nature and truth of those things whereof it is made By which rule you may vnderstand also the saying of Irenee The Eucharist Iren. lib. 4. cap. 34. consisteth of two things an earthly and a heauenly namely so as that it conteineth the nature and truth of them both By these places and many other like it is euident that albeit in this Sacrament there is yéelded vnto the faith of the receiuer the bodie and blood of Christ and the whole power and vertue thereof to euerlasting life yet there ceaseth not to be the substance nature and truth of bread and wine Which is the purport of Gelasiuâ— his words By the Sacraments which we receiue of the bodie and blood of Christ we are made partakers of the diuine nature and yet there ceaseth not to be the subsance or nature of bread and wine The force of which words and of the wordes of Theodoret you shall perceiue the better if you know how they are directed against Eutyches the hereticke The hereticke in Theodorets Dialogues by a comparison drawen from Dial. â— the sacrament wold shew how the bodie of Christ after his assumption into heauen was swallowed vp as it were of his diuinitie and so Christ ceased to be truly man As said he the bread and wine before the blessing are one thing but after the blessing become another and are changed so the bodie or humanitie of Christ whereby he was truly man before is after-his ascension glorification changed into the substance of God But Theodoret answereth him Thou art
might more presume of his learning and reading as indéed he doth being as it séemeth far in loue with himselfe thinking nothing to be learned but that that he liketh of sitting vpon the circle of his owne braines and calling the scriptures and Doctors before him and charming them that whatsoeuer they speake or howsoeuer plainly yet they shall meane no otherwise then he will haue them to meane And straunge it is to sée what madde and vnreasonable meanings he fathereth vpon them whilest he séeketh to shift off their cleare and euident testimonies Which I perswade my selfe doe for the most part beare that sway in his conscience that he cannot extinguish the light thereof nor satisfie himselfe that he hath truly answered vnto them Whosoeuer he is I wish both him and you to remember that which S. Austen saith to Petilian the Donatist c August cont lite Petil. lib. 3. cap. 30. There is nothing more wretched or vnhappie then for a man not to yeeld to the truth wherewith he is so shut in that he cannot finde any way out Now if this matter had by your good dealing rested in priuate betwixt you me M. Spence as my intentioÌ„ was it should I wold not haue brought either your name or mine owne into this open light censure of men But sithence I perceiued both by your selfe and also otherwise that you had communicated the matter to your fellows who are wont to brag greatly both in corners and abroad if any thing of theirs remaine vnanswered truly howsoeuer you would be willing that I should sit downe as a conquered aduersary and so yéeld you some what wherof to triumph in secret amongst your disciples and followers and to be a means to subuert the faith of others I haue against this mischiefe thought it necessarie to publish this whole matter that though it be no good to you yet it may be good to them whom you séeke to hurt as Bernard saith d Bernard in Canti Ser. 6â— though the hereticke arise not from his filth yet the Church may be confirmed in the faith To come to your words you thank me for wishing you good I would you had accepted of the good that I wished you and then I would haue accepted of your thankes But you differ from me in iudgement what is good If I iudge of good one way and you another way who shall be iudge betwixt vs. Not your part for I say they are partiall for you Not our part for you say they are partiall for mée I must answere you with Optatus his words against the Donatists e Optat. cont Parmen Donat. lib. 5. No iudgement of this matter can be found in the earth we must require a iudge from heauen But why knocke we at heauen when we haue here the testament of Christ in the Gospell S. Paul saith f 2. Tim. 3. 15. The scriptures are able to make a man wise vnto saluation through the faith which is in Christ Iesus If your iudgement did entierly depend vpon the scriptures you I should not differ in iudgement But whilest you set one foote in the scriptures another foote beside the scriptures and g Hilar. de Trinit lib. 1. take not your vnderstanding from the sayings of the scriptures as Hilary saith you should but labor to draw the scriptures to those fond opinions which you haue presumed without the scriptures I maruell not that you go lame and halting in your iudgemeÌ„t and I cannot yéeld to iudge with you because you iudge without God Tertullian of olde said but I would not haue you thinke he spake it of the Papists h Tertul. de resurr carniâ— Take from hereticks their Heathenish conceits that they may decide their questions only by the scriptures and they cannot stand As for your regard of truth how great it is appeareth by your froward and wilfull answeres wherewith you shut your eyes against the cleare sun-light rather séeking shifts to cast a mist before it then framing your selfe to walke in the comfortable light thereof But to let that passe I will now leaue you to be a looker on in this matter and will henceforth apply my selfe to him that hath taken vpon him to be the Answerer for you P. Spence Sect. 2. IF ye finde S. Chrysostomes place so expounded as I haue set downe then is it but a I alleage it to no other purpose then the words theÌ„selues do manifestly yeeld See the answer wrangling to alleage it to the ende you do contrarie to Chrysostomes minde that is to vrge words contrary to the authors knowne meaning not caring for truth but to cauill If your thousand Bishops of Armenâ—a because of the b I opposed nuÌ„ber against number neither to be followed for their multitude but for their reason and proofe number do in this point which without them you fauour otherwise beare such a swaie with you why shall not the number of Bishops in other matters do the like if partialitie of iudgement would permit you would you haue a reason why your thousand of Armenian Bishops yea if they were ten thousand were not herein meete iudges theÌ„ woâ—e ye well they did wrangle as you do vpon Christes wordes against their owne consciences wresâ—ing words sillables to serue their sorie turne Why so Because the Armenians forsooke both the Latine and Greeke Church Anno dom 5 27. for that they condemned Eutyches and Dioscorus in the Calcedon Councell for denying the two natures of Christ and superstitiouslie they c But how or where doâ—h it appeare that they began to hold this point vpon that occasion held this point of wine alone fearing least the water mixed therewith should signifie Christs two natures as in the Greeke Latin Church it doth So that if your thousand Armenian Bishops moue you so you must be an Eutychian and for that cause must you forbeare water in the wine and then tell mee why your thousand Armenians must not moue you to hold with them that â—o childe is christened with water alone but with water and oyle as they hereticallie held besides many other d VVherof the Church of Rome hath verie great store toyish and most childish vanities I stand not vpon the validitio of the Trullane Canons of the sixt Councell but it is inough that besides their testimonie not de iure but de facto of the Churches mingling water with wine the sâ—me is otherwise by infinit testimonies proued to be vsed You condemne not you say the Churches that vse water and wine for that point but for their superstitious standing in it and shall not we condemne more iustly the superstitious contradicting humor of those that make a religion and a superstition to vse it with wine conteining so auncient and so vniuersall and so well witnessed a custome You dare not flatly denie it but you would haue it seeme only probable that Christ put water to the wine at
elementes not visibly and corporally and to be perceiued with the eye but inuisibly and spiritually and to be conceiued with the vnderstanding Where I make not that conteining or couering or being vnder a physicall or locall matter but I meane it partly in respect of signification in which maner saint Austen saith that a August de catechi rud cap. 4. in the old Testament the new was hidden and that b Ibid epis 89. the incarnation of Christ was couered or hidden in the time of the old Testament the reason of which maner of spéech he elswhere maketh to be this c Ibid. de Baptiâ—mo cont Donat. lib. 1. cap. 15. because it was hiddenly signified So he saith againe that Christ did d â—bid in Ioh. tra 2â— couer grace in those wordes which hee vsed in the sixth of Iohn of eating his flesh and drinking his bloud meaning that he did obscurely signifie the same To this purpose Bertram saith as touching the sacrament that it e Bert. de coâ— sang domi sheweth one thing without in figure but within it doth represent another through the vnderstanding of faith partly in respect of the secret inuisible working of the spirite of God f Cypria de caena domini whose diuine maiestie as Cyprian speaketh doth neuer absent it selfe from the holy mysteries but doth though without appearing to the eie hiddenly worke the effect of that which is signified Thus we may say as touching Baptisme that it is the bloud of Christ couered or hidden in the visible element of water that doth clense vs from our sinnes In which maner the councel of Nice saith g concil Nice In fine ex cut hâ—r Tonstallo To. 1. concil Our Baptisme must be considered not with bodily eyes but with the eyes of the mind Thou seest water but consider the power of God couered or lying hidden in the water Thinke the water to be full of the sanctification of the holy Ghost and of diuine fire And thus doth Chrysostome declare the nature of all Christian mysteries in which saith he h Chrys in 1. cor hom 7. we see not that which we beleeue but we see one thing and beleeue another and therefore the beléeuing man is otherwise affected in them then the infidell For sayth he the infidell hearing of the water of Baptisme thinketh it to be meerely water but I doe not simply see that which I see but I behold it in the cleansing of the soule through the holy Ghost Heereupon hée compareth these mysteries to bookes which an vnlerned man taketh and séeth the letters but vnderstandeth nothing thereof But one that is learned findeth great matter laid vp or couered and hidden in them so the infidell hearing of our mysteries séemeth not to heare them but the expert Christian beholdeth great vertue in the things that are hidden in them Thus things which are signified by our mysteries are said to be couered hidden in theÌ„ because they are not perceiued with the bodily eie but only with the eie of the faithful and beleuing mind The meaning then of the words aboue named according to the doctrine of S. Austen must be thus that in the sacrament of the flesh and bloud of Christ it is not meere bread wine that we receiue but it is in vnderstanding and spirituall grace and blessing the flesh and bloud of Christ not appearing so to the sense which discerneth onely bread and wine but yet as in all other mysteries of Christian Religion so in this fayth beholdeth heauenly grace couertly and hiddenly conteined through the holy Ghost and by the visible elementes perceiueth the inward force of the flesh and bloud of Iesus Christ The reason whereof is because the visible signes which beare the name of the flesh and bloud of Christ are Sacramentes and therefore not onely haue the name but conteine the force and power of that true flesh and blood of Christ where in he suffered for our sinnes And so by these visible things which thus inuisibly spiritually and only by way of vnderstanding and mysterie are the flesh and blood of Christ is signified that true body of Christ which is visible palpaple full of grace vertue maiestie and glory No other meaning can the Answ make of these wordes by S. Austen vnlesse he will contrarie those generally receiued groundes which Saint Austen setteth downe and surely hard it is to find in Austen that Christ hath one bodie visible palpable full of grace vertue maiestie and glorie another not so as these words import if they be vnderstood as the Answerer taketh them And if he will haue the word Forme as I knowe his meaning is to import such emptie formes as he maketh without substance S. Austen will deny him that for that he maketh it the generall name of the outward signe in all Sacraments when he defineth a Sacrament thus i De co 〈…〉 〈◊〉 dist â— ca. â—â—r It is a visible forme of inuisible grace But now if I séeme partiall in expounding these words let the same Saint Austen as Gratian citeth him euen in the verie next words iustifie this exposition For thus he saith k Ibid. cap. Hoc est The heauenly bread which is the flesh of Christ is in it maner called the bodie of Christ whereas it is indeed the Sacrament of his bodie euen of that bodie which being visible and palpable was put vpon the Crosse and the offering of the same flesh which is performed by the hands of the priest is called the passion death and crucifying of Christ not in the truth of the thing but in a signifying mysterie Where S. Austen plainly calleth the heauenly bread of the Sacrament the flesh of Christ yet not as being flesh verily and indéed for then it shoâ—ld truly properly be called the body of Christ But now it is so called but only in it maner whereas it is indéed but a Sacrament of his bodie which manner he declareth in the other point to be not in the truth of the thing but in a signifying mysterie And if I be partiall here also let the glose expound it l Ibid in Gloâ— The heauenly bread that is the heauenly Sacrament which doth truly represent the flesh of Christ is called the bodie of Christ but vnproperly WherupoÌ„ it is said in it maner not in the truth of the thing but in a signifying mysterie that the meaning may be thus It is called the bodie of Christ that is the bodie of Christ is signified If this wil not serue let him heare also the maister of the sentences whom he may not dislike vnlesse he can say Hic magister non tenetur He hauing set downe the words which the Answ vrgeth saith thus m Sent. lib. 4. dist 10. Marke here diligently that S. Austen here vseth a trope or figure wherby the signs do beare the name of the things signified by them For here the visible forme
hope and charitie ioyned with the entrance of his blessed bodie into ours so by that diuine touching thereof we are so vnited to him as man and woman by the coniunction of their bodies become one body or one flesh according to S. Paul For we being many are one bread and one body all which are partakers of one bread and one cup. 1. Cor. 10. This same one bread and one cup whereof we participate is Christes body and bloud in the Sacrament receiued which by entring into our bodies and touching vs maketh vs all one b In that maner do we eat Christ as hee maketh vs one amongst our selues one with him This is not done by bodily touching therefore neither do we eate him by bodily feeding amongst our selues and one with him this being a Sacrament of vnitie And it is to be vnderstood of Christ not of verie bread which cannot be one in so manie places of the christian world but c It is one bread in mystery throughout all the world euen as it is one cup. diuers breads We doe therefore participate of one bread in the blessed Sacrament which is Christ R. Abbot 27. HE confesseth those excellent and heauenly effects of the Sacrament which I set downe sauing that I follow Caluins metaphysical imagination as he termeth it that we receiue the same effects in the sacrament by faith Caluins iudgement in that point is indéed more metaphysicall then that a méere naturall should vnderstand it Hée knew well enough that Christians come not to their sacraments as swine to a trough as if they were to receiue the graces of God with their bodily mouthes and therefore that it must be the hand of the soule a Augu. in Ioh. tra 50. which is faith that must receiue the same both in the word and in the sacrament He found by comparing the spéeches of b Ioh. 6. 47. 54 Christ in the sixth of Iohn that by beléeuing in Christ wee eate and drinke the flesh and bloud of Christ and consequently receiue all the vertues and graces that arise from thence to vs. He found that S. Austen did so expound it To c August in Ioh. tra 26. beleeue in Christ saith he that is to eate the bread of life He that beleeueth in him eateth him He knew that the fathers of the old testament receiued the same graces that we doe and that they receiued them by faith and that we haue d cor 4. 13. the same spirite of faith as they had and therefore by faith are made partakers of the same graces as they were He knew that God had appointed both the word and Sacramentes to be meanes both to beginne and also to continue vphold increase our faith that by this faith in the exercise of the same word sacraments we might more more grow into societie and vnity with Christ vntil we attaine to the fulnesse of our perfection Now whereas the Answ obiecteth that if our eating and drinking of the flesh and bloud of Christ be onely by faith then we may eate and drinke the same at any time without any sacrament I would haue him know that we take not the same eating and drinking to be any momentany action but the continuall exercise of a liuely faith For although the minde perhaps by reason of the present occasion be most effectually bestowed to this exercise either in the vse of the word or especially of the sacrament and of the sacrament so much the more by how much visible and apparant signes and tokens are more forcible to moue vs then onely words yet we know that neither the word nor the sacraments haue onely a present effect but serue to settle and continue Christ in our consciences in such sort that he may be a continual meat for our soules to féede vpon that by the assured beliefe of his body giuen and his bloud shed for the forgiuenesse of our sinnes our heartes may be chéered continually and comforted against al the occasions of doubt and distrustfulnesse which from day to day and from houre to houre arise to disquiet our mindes And as Abraham our father though he had faithfully embraced the promise of God and the couenant of his grace yet néeded the sacrament of circumcision for a seale of the same couenant thereby to be vpholden in the continuall assurance thereof so we though we haue once by the word of the Gospel and participation of his sacraments receiued Christ to be the food and sustenance of our soules yet that we loose not Christ again and the comfort of his grace our fayth néedeth to be continually exercised and strengthened by the offering and yéelding of Christ vnto vs in his word and sacraments which else through the want of these meanes would faile decay and dye in vs euen as we sée the body to perish for want of his dayly foode Which I note for the auoiding of that cauil which perhaps the Answ would mooue against that that hath béen said that if we may eate the flesh and bloud of Christ without any sacrament then we need not any sacrament for the doing thereof For although we do by fayth eate and drinke the same when there is no sacrament yet it followeth not thereof that the sacrament is néedlesse because the Sacrament is one of those speciall and most effectuall meanes whereby God offereth and giueth Christ vnto vs with all his benefites to be ours that our faith may lay hold vpon him and receiue him to make him the continuall food and sustenance of our soules And if the aforesaid eating and drinking import not such an action as may be at al times and without the sacrament what shall we say of those that are hindered from euer being partakers of the Sacrament as the théefe that was crucified with Christ but that they are consequently secluded from euelasting life For Christ sayth e Ioh. 6. 53. Except ye eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud ye shall not haue euerlasting life If then the eating and drinking of the flesh and bloud of Christ cannot be without the sacrament it followeth that he which receiueth not the sacrament faileth of eternall life But to say so is erronious and damnable doctrine Therefore the eating and drinking of the flesh and bloud of Christ signifieth such a thing as may be done at all times and without the sacrament But now that the Answ hath so reiected that maner of receiuing the grace of Christ in the sacrament which Caluin taught let vs sée how he will haue the same to be receiued He saith we haue it by our spirituall receiuing of Christ in faith hope and charitie But this hangeth not well togither with that which he saith afterward of the sacraments yéelding their effect by the very worke wrought and therefore without any of these Let that be reserued to his due place But héere we haue him confessing that fayth is one
some space professors of the faith of Christ the false Apostles had perswaded to ioyne with their beléeuing in Christ the kéeping of the law thereby to be iustified Concerning these men and the like conuerted to the faith of Christ baptised into Christ being Disciples and brethren the Apostle determineth this matter that c Gal. 2. 16. Rom. 3 21. 28. they must be iustified by faith and not by the workes of the law yea without the workes of the law and that not of the ceremoniall law onely but of that law also d Rom. 3. â—0 by which commeth the knovvledge of sinne which saith e Cap. 7. 7. Thou shalt not lust which pronounceth f Gal. 3. 10. Cursed is euerie one that continueth not in all thinges that are vvritten in this lavve which saith g Rom. 1 5. Gaâ— 3. 1â— Hee that doth these things shall liue in them that is to say of the morall law as S. h Augâ—st de spir â— ca. 8. 14. Austen also gathereth by the same places Therfore not onely ceremoniall workes nor onely workes of nature and fréewill but all workes whatsoeuer either before baptisme or after baptisme either before grace or in grace are secluded from iustification and onely faith in Christ is our righteousnesse before God Yea and that so as that the Apostle against that distinction of workes done in the grace of Christ saith expresly i Gal. 5 4. Ye are abolished from Christ yee are fallen from grace whosoeuer are iustified that is doe séeke iustification by the lavv So that hee which being come to the grace of Christ shall thenceforth séeke to be iustified by the works of the law done in the state of the same grace voideth himselfe of Christ and falleth away from the grace of God And therefore Abraham himselfe is set forth vnto vs as a paterne of iustification by faith wthout workes not in his first iustification as the Roomish language hath taught men to speake but k Gen. 12. â— 5. 6. 7. 8. c. after that he had obeied the voyce of God to depart out of his owne countrey had trauailed many countries as God directed him had built many altars vnto the name of the Lord had called vpon him and serued him a long time as appeareth in Genesis from the twelfth chap. to the fiftéenth Euen then was it said l Gen. 15. 6. Abraham beleeued the Lord and he counted that to him for righteousnesse Whence the Apostle thus reasoneth m Rom. 4. 2. If Abraham vvere iustified by vvorkes he had to reioyce but not vvith God For vvhat saith the Scripture Abraham beleeued God and that vvas counted to him for righteousnesse Wherein he inferreth that because the scripture pronounceth of Abraham after his long seruing of God and many good workes done yet that not his workes as n Chrysost in Epist ad Rom. hom 8. Chrysostome rightly gathereth but onely his fayth was counted to him for righteousnesse therefore that howsoeuer he might with men by works yet with God hee was not iustified by workes but onely by faith Abraham was the o Rom. 4. 11. Father of the faithfull and therefore all that are iustified must be iustified according to that patterne which the word of God hath set forth concerning him and therefore not by workes but by faith onely Now that the true iustifying faith is not separated from charitie and good workes we willingly confesse because it p Gal. 3. 14. receiueth the promise of the spirite the effect whereof is noted in the declaration of the promise q Ezec. 36. 27. I vvill put my spirite vvithin you and cause you to vvalke in my statutes and yee shall keepe my iudgementes and do them Yet notwithstanding as the diuers members of the bodie necessarily concurring for the perfecting of the whole haue euery one their seuerall office so these vertues of the soule namely faith and charitie though they alwaies méete in the regenerate man yet in office and function are distinct ech from other The office of iustifying belongeth only vnto faith euen as the office of séeing belongeth onely to the eie the office of hearing onely to the eare c. And therefore the defining of beleeuing in God by the hauing of faith hope and charitie as the Answ setteth downe is a verie preposterous and vnorderly definition and no other then as if a man taking in hand to tell what it is to sée should say it is to haue eies eares and nose Beléefe in God is set forth by the Créede charitie and workes by the ten Commaundements they may not be confounded one with the other Doubtlesse it were verie strange to thinke that when a man saith I beleeue in God the father c. he should meane thereby I haue faith hope and charitie or that Christ when he said to the blinde man in the Gospell r Iohn 9. 3 5. Doest thou beleeue in the sonne of God did intend to aske him whether he had faith hope and charitie Cyprian telleth vs what it is to beléeue in God namely Å¿ Cypria de dup martyr to place the confidence of our whole felicitie in God onely which though it neuer be without the loue of God yet euerie mans vnderstanding may giue him that the act of beléeuing is one the act of louing is another Whereas hee saith that faith without works though it be dead yet it is a true faith he speaketh indéed Roomishly but that is ignorantly and absurdly For that onely is the true faith whereby a man is called truely faithful so that the saints of God in whom it is are by a speciall and proper name termed t Ephes 1. 1. the faithfull and u col 1. 2. faithfull brethren which it selfe is called by the Apostle w Tit. 1. 1. the faith of the elect by which he saith x Gal. 3. 26. we are the children of God which hath this promise y Ioh. 3. 3â— that euerie one that beleeueth in Christ hath eternall life which hath no place in the carnall worldling as our sauiour noteth saying z Ioh. 5. 44. How can ye beleeue which receiue honour one of another and seek not the honour that commeth of God onely whereby a man not onely beléeueth that God is or that God is true in that which he saith but also aplieth vnto himselfe the promises of God assuring himselfe of the benefite thereof to the forgiuenesse of sinnes and eternall life by the mediation of Iesus Christ S. Bernard therefore saith that a man a Berna ser 1. in Annunc Mar. hath but the beginning of faith vntill hee come to this to beleeue that his sinnes are forgiuen him by Iesus Christ and that this is that which the Apostle saith that a man is freely iustified by faith Ferus the preacher of Mentz as he smelled diuerse corruptions in the doctrine of the Church of Roome so hee noted the misconstruing