have been made by their Learned Professors in the Publick Schools of both their Vniversities ever since this last Declaration was receiv'd whether they are not fully satisfied that they have been much more Positive for a Real Presence of Christs Body in the Sacrament in a further Sense than the abovementioned Author and others in their Late Discourses against Transubstantiation declare themselves to be And I have the rather given the Sense before expressed of the last clause of their new Declaration which indeed is the only one it can truly bear because the Catholic Church Authoriseth it in the Council of Trent by Declaring there that these two things are not inconsistent viz. that Our Saviour according to his Natural way of Existing should sit at the Right hand of his Father in Heaven and that he should be in the substance Present to us Sacramentally by that manner of Existence which altho' it can scarcely be expressed in words yet our mind enlightened by Faith can be brought to conceive that it is possible with God. I hope therefore that Christian Charity may in time put a happy end to the tedious Disputes which have been so long held about the Blessed Sacrament that so the Sacred Symbols of Peace and Vnity may no longer be made the Subject of Contention Especially when we consider that tho' when the strange Opinion of there being only some certain Vertue of Christs Body in the Sacrament and not that very Body it self was first privately held about eight hundred and eighteen Years after our Saviours time by some Persons that erred through ignorance yet they were asham'd publickly to contradict as some in this last Age have done that Real Presence which the whole Christian World believ'd and confest and concerning which none had ever before erred in the Church but those who had erred concerning Christ himself Likwise that altho' the fourth Great Council of Lateran one of the Greatest which ever was held in the Christian World that they might put an end to the contentions then arisen and maintain Christian verity and peace amongst the Faithful did in declaring the Faith of the Church concerning the Blessed Sacrament make use of the word Transubstantiated to express precisely that Great and Supernatural change therein made which the Catholic Church had in all precedent Ages even from Christs time believed as being necessarily deduced from our Saviours words and exprest by the Primitive Fathers in several other terms signifying the same thing yet the Catholic Church thought it not necessary to determin any thing concerning those nicer speculations about the modes of this wonderful change which have exercised the more subtle Wits even before the time of the Lateran Council and ever since And of this excellent moderation used by the Catholic Church we have a clear evidence from the proceedings of the Council of Trent in reference to this matter which as Padre Paul himself notwithstanding he was no great friend to Catholics in his Historical Relations of the Proceedings of this Council relates determin'd to use so very few and those Universal terms in the Article of the Blessed Sacrament as might satisfie both Parties viz. the Scotists and Thomists and be fitly accommodated to the Sense of each of them but not so as to establish their distinct private speculations Cardinal Pallavicino likewise tells us speaking concerning the circumspection of the Tridentin Fathers that they would have nothing determin'd concerning the modus or manner of the Sacramental Presence of Christ So far were they from prejudicing either of the Theological Classes or from offering to declare those things as Articles of Faith which were not the Revelations of God but the speculations of Men. So that if we can agree that this great supernatural change is made in the Sacrament without the admission of which those of the English Church can never prove that Presence of Christs Body in the Holy Eucharist which they acknowledge to be no less true than we do they will be yet left at liberty and need not determin rashly concerning the manner of it nor so much as anxiously to inquire into this Point For indeed Transubstantiation is a great mystery of Christian Religion so is the Doctrin of the Trinity so is the Incarnation of our Lord to which the Primitive Fathers do so often compare the supernatural change made in the Sacrament so is the Resurrection of our Bodies yet these Articles of Christian Faith are to be believed upon the Authority of the Revealer and not too curiously to be pried into I shall insist only upon the Resurrection at present to shew how little ground they have to believe this upon the account of natural Reason who reject the belief of Transubstantiation by Vertue of which we receive the Instrument and pledge of our Resurrection Christs Real Body in the Sacrament Both these indeed may seem contrary to Reason before enlightned by Faith For how can that convince us that the same Body which dies shall rise again since some that eat Mans Flesh in the extremity of Famin or as the Cannibals out of luxury have the substance of the Bodies that they eat converted into the substance of their own Bodies by the way of nourishment And several other ways there be by which the reduced parts of our Dead Bodies are changed into the substance of other Human Bodies even so that the same Bodies may be claimed by many at the Resurrection Notwithstanding we believe that we shall rise with the same Bodies we had whilst living Dim sighted Reason will ask how this can be since it is against the Nature of a Body to be in two places at the same time Yet Nature and experience prepare us for the belief of the Resurrection which seems to be against Nature by the example of those things which are obvious to Sense Seed as the Apostle instanceth is cast into the ground it corrupts and yet riseth again for God giveth it a Body and to every Seed it 's own Body So to dispose us to the belief of the supernatural change made in the Sacrament nothing is more familiar than Natural Transubstantiation for our life is sustained by a dayly change of the substance of other Creatures into that of our Bodies we should soon die without this Nay we cannot breath but the substance of our Bodies is converted into Air and he that denies this Transubstantiation confutes himself while he speaks Thus Bread also was dayly Transubstantiated into our Lords Body whilst he fed upon it here on Earth All which may dispose us to believe that the Bread in the Sacramental Consecration as Gregory Nyssen teacheth us passeth into the Body of Christ the Word not indeed as it did by the way of manducation and nourishment but being suddainly transform'd into the Body of the Word as is said by the Word This is my Body And if our curious Inquirers shall further ask
deluded Souls it will be necessary to examine the pretended grounds of so false a Doctrin and to lay open the monstrous Absurdity of it ANSWER And yet notwithstanding all this there is a Sect of men in the World so abandon'd and given up by God to the efficacy of delusion as confidently to deny this revealed truth and to impose this strange Negative Article of Faith of theirs That in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper there is not any Transubstantiation of the Elements of Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Christ at or after Consecration by any person whatsoever under no less penalties than the temporal loss of their Estates and Livelihoods the loss of their Lives the formal renouncing of the Catholic Faith and Religion which is dearer to them than their Lives and consequently Eternal damnation Therefore to undeceive which we hope is possible these deluded Souls it will be necessary to shew the real grounds upon which Transubstantiation is built that so the monstrous absurdity of the contrary Doctrin may be made to appear DISCOURSE And in the handling of this Argument I shall proceed in this plain method I. I shall consider the pretended grounds and reasons of the Church of Rome for this Doctrin II. I shall produce our Objections against it And if I can shew that there is no tolerable ground for it and that there are invincible Objections against it then every man is not only in reason excused from believing this Doctrin but hath great cause to believe the contrary FIRST I will consider the pretended grounds and reasons of the Church of Rome for this Doctrin Which must be one or more of these five Either 1st The Authority of Scripture Or 2ly The perpetual belief of this Doctrin in the Christian Church as an evidence that they always understood and interpreted our Saviour's words This is my Body in this Sense Or 3ly The Authority of the present Church to make and declare new Articles of Faith. Or 4ly The absolute necessity of such a change as this in the Sacrament to the comfort and benefit of those who receive this Sacrament Or 5ly To magnifie the power of the Priest in being able to work so great a Miracle 1st They pretend for this Doctrin the Authority of Scripture in those words of our Saviour This is my Body Now to shew the insufficiency of this pretence I shall endeavour to make good these two things 1. That there is no necessity of understanding those words of our Saviour in the sense of Transubstantiation 2. That there is a great deal of reason to understand them otherwise ANSWER In the handling of this Argument I shall proceed in this plain method I. I shall consider the solid grounds and reasons of the Catholic Church for this Doctrin II. I shall weigh the Objections which the Author makes against it And if I can shew that there is a real ground for it and that the Objections against it are weak and inconsiderable then every man is not only in reason obliged to believe it but hath great cause to reject the contrary First I shall consider the solid grounds and reasons of the Catholic Church for this Doctrin Which are at least these five 1st The Authority of Scripture 2ly The perpetual belief of this Doctrin in the Christian Church as an evidence that they always understood and interpreted our Saviours words This is my Body in this Sense Or 3ly The Authority of the Church in every Age to declare propose and exhibit when by misinterpretation of Heretics they are forc'd to it a more explicit Sense of the Ancient Articles of our Faith. Or 4ly The infinite Mercy and condescension of God to operate such a change as this for the comfort and benefit of those who receive this Sacrament Or 5ly The just dignity of the Priest whom God is pleas'd to make use of as his Minister for the working so miraculous a change 1st The Catholic Church hath always grounded the Doctrin of the Real Presence or Transubstantiation upon the Authority of Divine Revelation in these words of our Saviour This is my Body Now to shew the validity of this Proof I shall endeavour to make good these two things I. That there is a necessity of understanding these words of our Saviour in the Sense of the Real Presence or Transubstantiation From whence it will necessarily follow II. That there is no reason at all for the understanding them otherwise DISCOURSE First That there is no necessity to understand those words of our Saviour in the sense of Transubstantiation If there be any it must be from one of these two Reasons Either because there are no figurative expressions in Scripture which I think no man ever yet said or else because a Sacrament admits of no figures which would be very absurd for any man to say since it is of the very nature of a Sacrament to represent and exhibit some invisible grace and benefit by an outward sign and figure And especially since it cannot be denied but that in the institution of this very Sacrament our Saviour useth figurative expressions and several words which cannot be taken strictly and literally When he gave the Cup he said This Cup is the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for you and for many for the remission of Sins Where first the Cup is put for Wine contained in the Cup or else if the words by literally taken so as to signifie a substantial change it is not of the Wine but of the Cup and that not into the Blood of Christ but into the New Testament or new Covenant in his Blood. Besides that his Blood is said then to be shed and his Body to be broken which was not till his Passion which followed the Institution and first celebration of this Sacrament ANSWER First That there is a necessity of understanding those words of our Saviour in the Sense of the Real Presence or Transubstantiation For these two Reasons 1. Because although there be many figurative expressions in Scripture which all men allow yet this in relation to the Case in hand is not such 2. Although a Sacrament admits of Figures which no man is so absurd as to deny since it is of the very nature of a Sacrament to represent and exhibit some invisible grace and benefit by an outward Sign and Figure Yet the Figure doth not lie where the Author pretends it doth The Rule which men ought to observe in their discourse in relation to Figures is this That a Figure should not be used which the Auditor doth not easily apprehend to be so To compare therefore a Figure which all the World can easily understand to be so with an expression which no man can Construe to be a Figure according to the Rules of human Discourse is very absurd Yet such is the Authors instance from Scripture From whence he alledgeth that when our Saviour gave the Cup he
their true and adequate objects and the mind about those which are proper to it is rational But to advance sense above reason and even Faith it self the Beast above the Man and the Christian too as the Author doth is such a piece of stupidity as is not to be parallel'd DISCOURSE It might well seem strange if any Man should write a Book to prove that an Egg is not an Elephant and that a Musket-bullet is not a Pike It is every whit as hard a case to be put to maintain by a long Discourse that what we see and handle and taste to be Bread is Bread and not the Body of a Man and what we see and taste to be Wine is Wine and not Blood And if this evidence may not pass for sufficient without any farther proof I do not see why any Man that hath confidence enough to do so may not deny any thing to be what all the World sees it is or affirm any thing to be what all the World sees it is not and this without all possibility of being farther confuted So that the business of Transubstantiation is not a controversie of Scripture against Scripture or of Reason against Reason but of downright Impudence against the plain meaning of Scripture and all the Sense and Reason of Mankind ANSWER Here the Author like another Lucian renouncing the Christian Faith begins to ridicule the most Sacred Mystery of our Religion I confess I am very unwilling to follow him in such dirty way as he takes It is not at all suitable to the retiredness wherein our Devout minds should be entertained when we conceive of a thing so truly Divine to speak slightly I must intreat therefore the Candid Reader to abstract his thoughts wholly from the Blessed Sacrament at such time as any of this froth is cast back again upon the Author which I heartily wish he had spared me the pains of doing and that he had kept his Egg and his Elephant to himself The Analogy would have been more easily made out by those who maintain that Grace and Vertue are the Body and Blood of Christ verily and indeed received for so an Egg is vertually at least an Elephant if according to the principle of the Philosopher Omnia animalia generantur ex ovo every Animal is generated out of an Egg then by such as hold with the Catholic Church that the Sacrament is not Bread and Wine but what verily and indeed it is the Real Body and Blood of Christ Now how to change a Musket-bullet into a Pike I confess I know not The Dragoons better understand that piece of Martial exercise Howsoever I must needs acknowledge with the Author that it seems strange that any Man should write a Book to prove that an Egg is not an Elephant and that a Musket-bullet is not a Pike therefore it is a thousand pities that so curious a Wit as his should be concern'd in so absurd an enterprise as he believes his to be And yet Good God what will not the confident presumption of some Men put them upon he undertakes a task fully as impossible to be performed as that and of infinitely more dangerous consequence to prove that not to be which by the power of God is really made to be in the Sacrament The Author knows that the Catholic Church grounds this wonderful change made in the Elements upon Divine Revelation which depends upon the Veracity of God So that it will not be so very hard a case to maintain by a discourse much shorter than this of the Author even our Lords Words of Institution that what we see and handle and taste as Bread is not Bread in substance but the Body of Christ and what we see and taste as Wine is not Wine in substance but the Blood of our Saviour And if this evidence may not pass for sufficient without any further proof I do not see why any Man that hath confidence enough to do so may not deny any thing to be what all the World sees it is or affirm any thing to be what all the World sees it is not since the Word of God is more Infallible than our senses and this without all possibility of being farther confuted for he that denies the Veracity of God can no ways conclude his senses to be veracious The denial then of the Real Presence or Transubstantiation is not a Controversy of Scripture against Scripture or of Reason against Reason but of down-right impudence against the plain meaning of Scripture and all the sense and reason of Mankind DISCOURSE It is a most Self-evident Falsehood and there is no Doctrin or Proposition in the World that is of it self more evidently true than Transubstantiation is evidently false And yet if it were possible to be true it would be the most ill natur'd and pernicious truth in the World because it would suffer nothing else to be true it is like the Roman-Catholic Church which will needs be the whole Christian Church and will allow no other Society of Christians to be any part of it So Transubstantiation if it be true at all it is all truth for it cannot be true unless our Senses and the Senses of all Mankind be deceived about their proper objects and if this be true and certain then nothing else can be so for if we be not certain of what we see we can be certain of nothing ANSWER The Doctrin of the real Presence or Transubstantiation is a Truth that is evident upon the Authority of the Revealer and there is no Opinion that the Author holds is more evidently false than this is evidently true For Faith is the evidence of things not seen Heb. 11. 1. and the best natur'd truth in the World it is which conveys us infinite blessings Which unless it be so we have no reason to believe any thing else to be true a Truth like that of the Catholic Church which unless it be that which hath lived in Communion with and just obedience to her chief Pastors especially St. Peter and his lawful Successors in the See of Rome then there hath been no true Church upon the face of the Earth For so the real Presence or Transubstantiation unless it be true we cannot be assured of any truth It must be so if God be veracious that is unless what he reveals be false since the very truth of our Senses and all our Faculties depends upon his Veracity and if we be not certain of what he hath revealed though it seem to contradict our Senses we are certain of nothing DISCOURSE And yet notwithstanding all this there is a Company of men in the World so abandon'd and given up by God to the efficacy of delusion as in good earnest to believe this gross and palpable Error and to impose the belief of it upon the Christian World under no less penalties than of temporal death and eternal damnation And therefore to undeceive if possible these