in all the seuerall tearmes and times of the same whether before the Lawe vnder the Law or vnder the time of grace that hee is figured in all the sacrifices and exhibited in all the Sacraments as well old as new as they which are at all times vnprofitable without Christ and which cannot be fruitfull but in Christ who onely is both the foundation and the substance Saint Paul said to the Corinthians J would not saith he that you should be ignorant c. that our Fathers haue all eaten of the same spirituall meate and all drunke of the same spirituall drinke 1. Cor. 10. for they drunke of the spirituall rocke which followed them and that rocke was Christ The Apostle expressing by the words of eating and drinking the communion which they had in Christ euen Christ slaine sacrificed crucified who otherwise did not profit either them or vs. But some make answere that S. Paul meaneth that they did verily eate amongst themselues of one the same meate c. but not of the verie same that we This is the thing that wee must see and trie Certainely the scope and drift of the Apostle is plaine as to shew vnto the Corinthians that they deceiued themselues to put their trust in the vse of the Sacraments not ceasing in the meane time to prouoke God by their abuses But saith hee our Fathers had Sacraments as well as we they eate and drunke the same meate and drinke and notwithstanding such of them as prouoked God could not put off or avoide their destruction If S. Paul had not meant it by way of comparing of the Christians with the Iewes what should the force of his argument haue bene And had they not libertie to haue replied they did not eate Christ as we doe c. But the old writers shall decide vs this controuersie Tertullian This water saith he which distilled and ranne from the rocke Tertul. de Bapt aduer Marcion l. 0. which followed the people was Baptisme for if the rocke were Christ vndoubtedly we see that Baptisme is blessed through the water in Christ. Againe Marcion hath striken himselfe against the rocke whereof our fathers drunke in the wildernesse c. Origen The same which the Iewes call the way and passage through the Sea S. Paul calleth Baptisme and that which they call the cloud Orig. in Exod. c. 7. hom 5. he taketh for the holy Ghost and would haue it to be vnderstood according to that which our Lord saith in the Gospell If a man be not borne againe of water and of the holy Ghost he cannot enter into the kingdome of God Againe the Manna which the Jewes tooke for carnall meate is called by him a spirituall meate c. And he goeth ouer it againe a litle after in the same Homely S. August in Iohannem tract 45. Augustine The times are changed but not the faith in diuers signes is signified one and the same faith as in diuers words they belieue the same things to come afterward which we belieue to be alreadie come and therfore saith the Apostle they haue drunke one the same spiritual drinke yea spiritual not corporal for they drunke of the spirituall rocke and the same was Christ thus you may behold one self-same faith but diuers signes There Christ is the rocke vnto vs Christ is that which is set vpon the Altar And they for a great Sacrament of the said Christ did drinke the water that ran from the rocke But as for vs the faithfull know what we drinke if thou regard looke vpon the outward forme which is visible it is an other thing but if thou looke vpon the inuisible signification they haue drunke the same spiritual drink c. And in another place They haue eaten the same spiritual meate What is this same but that which we our selues do also eate Idem de vtilit paenit c. Certainely I know not what should be the meaning of the same meate if it be not that which we our selues do eate For there were some that tasted Christ in their harts more then the Manna in their mouthes which made a spirituall construction of this visible meate c. and did hunger and thirst after it c. Againe expounding this place of S. Iohn This is the bread that came downe from heauen c. The Manna saith he the Altar of God c. Idem in Ioh. tract 26. in Psal 77. Epiph. l. 1.3 haue signified this bread These things were Sacraments diuers and dislike in the signes but like and the very same as concerning the thing signified Giue eare to the Apostle now brethren I would not haue you ignorant c. Epiphanius reasoneth after the same manner that Tertullian dooth against Marcion They did eate saith he the same meate and drunke the same drinke euen Christ and in truth saith the Apostle and not in shew or appearance onely They obiect and alleadge against vs in this point Saint Chrysostome who in truth speaketh of the Manna and water as figures of our Sacraments But so as that he addeth these words Chrysost in 1. Cor. 10. Idem in Homil. Nolite ignorate fratres Howsoeuer these things were sensible yet in deede the truth is that they ministred vnto vs the apprehension of spirituall matters not by the consequence of nature but by the grace of the gift and nourished the soule with the bodie inducing and perswading them vnto faith c. Likewise expounding this place elsewhere in an Homely for the purpose he findeth therein in diuers considerations an equalitie and in deed the argument of the Apostle dooth otherwise lose his force Likwise the similitude that Chrysostome vseth in the same homely That one and the same king is delineated and drawne with a former and sleighter draught and afterward set forth in liuely colours and yet is euermore the same king So Christ in the two Testaments Bed in 1. Cor. 10. and in their Sacraments c. Beda vpon this place vseth the verie words of S. Augustine without changing any thing therein at all Bertram a Priest in the time of Charles the bald Thou askest saith hee what same meate Verily Bertram in l. de corp sang Dom. that same which the belieuing people of these dayes doe eate and drinke in the Church for it may not be permitted that diuers things should be meant and vnderstood seeing it is the same Christ that in the desart fed at that time with his flesh and gaue his bloud to drinke vnto the people baptised in the cloud and in the Sea and which now feedeth in the Church the beleeuing people with the bread of his bodie and giueth them to drinke of the water of his bloud c. And if thou obiect vnto him But how Seing he had not as yet taken vpon him mans flesh and seeing that as yet he had not tasted of death for the saluation of the world
bodie from the temporall deliuerance to the spirituall from the seruitude of Egypt to the thraâ—dome and slauerie of sinne and to be short from the eating of this lambe which they had solemnized with him vnto that very and true lambe shadowed and pointed out so many ages before this paschall lambe whose bodie was likewise vpon this day giuen for them to the death Ioh. 6.50.15 and whose blood within a few houres after was shed for the remission of their sinnes Your fathers said he in S. Iohn haue eaten Manna in the wildernes and are dead But will you see the true bread of heauen the breade of life the quickning bread that am I my selfe which am truely come downe from heauen and this bread it is my flesh which I will giue for the life of the world who so shall eate thereof shall neuer die but liue for euer c. As if he should say as followeth Your fathers haue eaten the lambe and we againe haue eaten the same here at this present time but the true and very lambe in deed it is my selfe euen the same of whom Esay hath said vnto you He is led to the slaughter for the transgression of the people Esay 53 his soule is offred vp for a sacrifice for sinne Of whom not long since Iohn Baptist said vnto you behold the lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world and of whom I my selfe say vnto you at this present That I go to be deliuered vp to death for you that you shall haue from henceforth my flesh to eat and my bloud to drinke for the remission of your sinnes and for the nourishing of your soules vp vnto eternall life your soules I say that are barren and void of all righteousnes in themselues and therefore also voide of true life but yet such as shall find life in me in my obedience and in my iustice and righteousnes all which are made yours by the sacrifice which now I am about to offer vp of mine owne accord and free will vnto you they shal be become the foode and foison of eternall life if you acknowledge and confesse your sinne your nakednes your vnprofitablenesse and great miserie that is to say if you truely hunger after my grace if you finde and perceiue your selues changed and altred of righteousnes And to the end that the remembrance of this great benefite may be alwaies fresh and new in your memorie thinke vpon remember it I pray you in such sort maner as you would think vpon your meate and drinke without which your bodies cannot stand and much lesse your soules without the benefite of my death and of the life and spirituall nourishment of the same which is secret and hid Do this whensoeuer you shal do it in remembrance of me in remembrance of my torne rent and broken bodie and of my blood shed for you and that such a remembrance as shall notwithstanding exhibite and communicate them vnto you for the assuring of you of the pardon and remission of your sinnes consequently of the saluation of your soules For alwaies and as oft as you shall eate of this bread and drinke of this cup you shall expresse the death of the Lord that is to say you shall receiue the new couenant of grace the seale of your life in him vntill that hee come But this shall be expounded more largely in his place and in the meane time consider and beholde our Lorde and Sauiour doeth take occasion by the Sacrament of the Paschall lambe to institute and ordaine the Sacrament of the holy Supper passing as Saint Ierome saith from the olde to the new wherein as also in this wee haue likewise to consider both a Sacrament and a Sacrifice A Sacrament in that God there presenteth vnto vs bread and wine visible signes and yet notwithstanding exhibiters of an inuisible grace of the participation which the faithfull haue in his bodie and in his blood being members of this head branches of this vine flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones c. A sacrifice in like manner for that in the holy Supper we giue thankes to God for this great deliuerance which we receiue from the seruitude and punishment of sinne in the death of his welbeloued and hereupon it commeth that we call it Eucharisticall and that it hath the name Eucharist giuen vnto it and which neuerthelesse retaineth in some sort somewhat of the nature of a propitiatorie sacrifice in as much as therein wee carefully obserue and keepe the remembrance of this onely sacrifice which is the onely true propitiatorie which the Sonne sent from the father hath once offered vp for all vpon the tree of the crosse for vs differing herein from the Paschall lambe that the institution of the Lambe was a Sacrament of the deliuerance to come whereas the holy Supper is the Sacrament of grace alreadie wrought and purchased and herein againe for that the Passe-ouer held of the propitiatorie sacrifices in that it represented and set before their eyes that which ought to be accomplished in the bloud of Christ whereas the holy Supper holdeth somwhat of them for that it setteth before our eyes this propitiation made and perfected And thus much be spoken briefly deferring the rest till we come to speake of the Sacrifice pretended to be in the Masse What we haue hitherto obserued What was the forme of the holy Supper instituted by our Lord. 1. Cor. 11. The institution of the holy Supper Math. 26. Marke 24. Luk. 22. Paulus Fagius Deut. 8. Deutr. 16.3 is nothing else but that forme of the holy Supper wherein it was first instituted by our Lord as we haue it set downe in three of the Euangelistes and in S. Paule to the Corinthians the first Epistle and the 11. Chapter The summe whereof is as followeth that our Lord after Supper tooke breade and blessed it They vse the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This was done after the manner and laudable custome of the Iewes whose ordinarie manner of blessing in this place is yet to bee read Blessed be thou O our Lord God king of eternitie which hast sanctified vs by thy commandements and hast ordained that we should eate vnleauened bread c. Afterward he brake it gaue it to his disciples and said Take eate this is my bodie do this in remembrance of me Whereas the Iewes were accustomed to say these wordes This is the bread of miserie for so is the vnleauened bread called which our fathers did eate in Egypt Hee that is hungrie let him come and eate and he that hath neede let him come and celebrate the Passeouer Our Lord in this place making the bread of miserie the sacrament of the bread of life that so who so eateth thereoâ— worthily shal neuer hunger Afterwards it is said that he tooke the cup and gaue thankes the Euangelistes vsing the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the same sence and signification
the fruit and effect but by the promise If we receiue not the same thing that the Apostles receiued after the same maner to what end then shold these words of the Lord Doe this c. as also those of the Apostle I haue receiued of the Lord that which I haue giuen vnto you serue And what other places are there whence we ought to learne take knowledge of the same But if it be the very same thing performed in the same maner then let vs cal to mind that it is a spiritual thing not a carnall and to be done after a spiritual not a carnal sort by faith and not by the mouth for he speaketh to them of a body broken for theÌ„ which yet was not broken and of bloud shed for them August in Psa 33. De Consecr d. 2. C. hoc est vbi Glosa which was as yet in his veines and therfore they did eate drink as the Patriarks and Prophets had done before theÌ„ spiritualy by faith And this is it which S. August saith That â—e sus Christ giuing the Sacraments of his body bloud vnto his Disciples did carie quodammodo after a certaine maner himselfe If he had done it really the quodammodo had serued to no vse for quodammodo say the Schooles is terminus diminuens a word of restraint denying the truth of the reall presence August Ep. 23 ad Bonifac. And then if this be quodammodo it is that which he saith in another place secundum quendam modum that is saith he By the similitude that the signes haue with the things not in very deede saith the canon but in signification not verily truely saith the Glose but improperly that is to say sacramentally And indeede that which he saith in one place He caried himselfe after a certaine manner in his handes hee speaketh thus in another place Idem de verb. Dom. in Euang Mat. Serm. 33. Hug. Cardin. in Mat. c. 26. in Marc. c. 14. He caried the bread in his handes in as much as he exhihibited and offered himselfe vnder these Sacraments for a spirituall meate and drinke vnto his disciples c. And the Glose expounding the wordes of the Supper saith Accipite comedite Take eate Intelligite fide comedite vnderstand eate by faith c. Cardinal Hugo likewise Take that is to say belieue with your harts and confesse with your mouthes c. In the mean time they goe about to graunt vs a larger priuilege then euer the Apostles had as though wee should receiue the body of Christ glorified and immortall whereas they receiued it as it was subiect to the death and passion But wee verily content our selues to receiue it as the Apostles did not aspiring after any more high and excellent manner that is therein to receiue the body broken and the bloud shed for vs for the Sonne of God properly doth quicken vs in that he is eternall but in that he hath made himselfe mortall neither doth he glorifie vs in that he himselfe is glorious but in that he hath abased himselfe taking vppon him the forme of a seruant and being made subiect vnto the ignominious death of the Crosse Therein I say to receiue it after the same maner the bread for a signe and certaine pledge of his body and yet notwithstanding at the very same instant also to receiue his body the wine a signe and infallible token of his bloude and notwithstanding at the very same instant to receiue his bloud by the inward efficacie of the holy Ghost and both the one and the other for the remission of sins and vnto the resurrection to life seeing that Christ is dead for our sinnes and risen againe for our iustification c. And in verie deed the auncient Fathers haue not otherwise vnderstood the holy supper of Christ with his Apostles Tertul aduer Marc. l. 5. c. 40. l. 1. c 14. Ambr. de iis qui myster init c 9. de Sacr. l. 4 c. 5. Hieronym l. 2. aduers Iouini an in Mat. c. 26. August contr Adaman c. 12 Idem in Prolog super ps 3. Macar hom 27 Theodor. in Polymorph seu Euarist Dial. 1. Tertullian He made the bread which he tooke and gaue to his disciples his body that is to say the figure of his bodie And in another place The bread by which he represented his body S. Ambrose The Lord himselfe crieth This is my body Before the blessing of heauenly words an other kind is named after the consecration the body of Christ is signified And in an other place more clearely The same which is saith hee the figure of the body and bloud of our Lord. S. Ierome He offered not water but wine for the figure of his bloud And in another place speaking of bread and wine Representing saith he the truth of his body and of his bloud S. Augustine The Lord doubted not to say This is my body when he gaue the signe of his body Againe He hath recommended and giuen to his Disciples the figure of his bloud Antitypes saith S. Macaire an Aegyptian Exhibiting the flesh and bloud of Christ Theodoret He that hath called his naturall body wheat and bread and which hath named himself a vine hath honoured the markes and signes which are to be seene with the name of his body and bloud not in changing the nature it self but in adding grace vnto nature Eusebius Emissenus Seing that our Lord must carrie vp into heauen the body which he had taken vpon him it was needfull that in the day of the supper he should consecrate for vs the Sacrament of his body and bloud to the end that that which was once offered vp for a ransom might continually be honored by misterie And here we must shun the confounding of these two words Truly carnally or really the one with the other being such as the old writers accompted of as much differing Cyril l. 3. c 24. in Ioh. Orig. in Gen. hom 1. c. 1. Hieronym ad Gal. c. 4. and carefully to be distinguished For Iesus Christ calleth himselfe the true Vine And Cyrill calleth him the true Manna And Origen the Apostles The true very heauens And S. Ierome the faithfull one true bread Whome it had beene verie hard to haue made to belieue that Christ had beene really the Vine or the Manna the Apostles the heauens or the faithful one loafe c. And thus you see what manner of holy supper it was that was celebrated kept of the Apostles and I verily belieue that there is not any true Christian that wisheth or desireth any other Fiftly Transubstantiation destroy eth the humaine nature of Christ Heb. 2 it destroyeth the humane nature of Christ for the truth whereof all the old Church hath so mightily striuen against the heretickes of that time and in the truth whereof likewise resteth the consolation of mankind the onely meanes of our saluation In as
c. Againe The heauenly bread which is the flesh of Christ is called the bodie of Christ suc modo after a sort though notwithstanding so it be that it is the Sacrament of the bodie of Christ that is of that which beeing visible palpable and mortall was fastned vpon the Crosse and that this offering vp thereof is called passion death c. Not in the truth of the thing but in a signifying mysterie c. In the Glose It is called the body of Christ that is to say significat it signifieth it The heauenly Sacrament which truely representeth the flesh of Christ is called the bodie of Christ but improperly c. Thus then according to the Canons we eate in the Eucharist the flesh of Christ c. spiritually not carnally Now it followeth that we looke a little about vs C Quia corpus 34. C Qui manducant 57. C. Vt quid 46. C Credere 18. C. Tuncâ—â—s 89 C Non iste panis 55. De Consecr d. 2. to see whether it be by faith or with our mouthes The Canon Quia corpus saith The Lord hauing to ascend vp into heauen did consecrate vnto vs in the day of the Supper the Sacrament of his body and his bloud to the end that that which had beene once offered for payment and satisfaction might be continually honoured in a mysterie and that this perdurable offering might stil liue and abide in remembrance which must be waighed and considered of fide non specie By inward faith not by outward appearance and pondered by the inward affection not by the outward sight The Canon Qui manducant That which is taken in the Sacrament visiblie is in truth eaten and drunken spiritually That which is seene is the bread and cuppe c. That wherein it is needfull that the faith should be instructed is how that the bread is the bodie of Christ c. And they are called Sacraments because one thing is seene another vnderstood That which is seene hath a bodily shape but that which is vnderstood a spirituall fruit The Canon Vt quid whereto doest thou prepare thy bellie and teeth beleeue and thou hast eaten The Canon Credere to beleeue in Christ is to eate the bread of life The Canon Non iste panis It is not that bread which goeth into the bodie that feedeth the substance of our soule but the bread of eternall life The Canon In illo Christ is in that Sacrament not therefore a corporall meate but a spirituall And againe the aboue said Canon C. Quia corpus 34. d. 2. de Consecr Quia corpus when thou goest vp to the Altar to be fed with spirituall meates behold by faith the holy bodie of thy God touch him with thy vnderstanding lay hold vpon him with the hand of thy hart Against all these they haue but one onely miserable Glose to obiect which saith So soone as the kind is touched with the teeth Glos in C. Trib. de consecr d. 2. C. Qui manduc 57. Mis in sequent C. Vtrumque 71. C. vt quid 46 Câ—mutat 69. A sumente nonconscissus non confractus non diuisus integer capitur Ioh. 19. Gl. in C. Ego Bereng 41. in C. vtrum so soone is the bodie of Christ rapt and conueighed with speed into heauen c. And yet it is diuersly canuased and tossed by the Canonistes and schoolemen Of eating with the mouth should follow the chawing of it with the teeth But these Canons are contrarie to that The Canon Qui manducat When we eate it we make not any morsels or bittes thereof The faithfull know how they eate the flesh of Christ It is eaten by partes in the Sacrament that is in the signes but it is all whole in thine heart The Canon Vt quid whereto doest thou prepare thy teeth The Canon Vtrum It is not lawfull to eate him with teeth The Masse likewise in the sequences and conclusions following thereon He that taketh him cutteth him not bruseth him not neither yet diuideth him into morsels c. Contrarie to this ancient truth is only that Canon Ego Berengarius made by the Cardinall Humbert as it were in despight of all antiquitie which saith That he is broken and brused with the teeth But without alleadging against him the Gospell which saith Not one of his bones shall bee broken we will onely lay down the words of two Gloses which proclaime for hereticks both Pope Nicholas II. as also the whole Church of Rome of that time The Glose of that same Canon which saith Referre all to the kinds for we make not any part of the bodie of Christ otherwise thou shalt fall into a greater heresie then Berengarius And the Glose of the Canon Vtrum vpon these wordes Is is not lawfull to eate Christ with teeth Berengarius saith the Glose saith the contrarie that is to say Cardinall Humbert in the retractation which he drew for Berengriaus but he spake hyperbolically and so exceeded the bondes of the truth Of the eating of him with the mouth it would follow that the wicked and vngodly should eate the bodie of Christ The Canons againe are contrarie thereunto The Canon Qui discordat Hee that is at strife with Christ C. Qui discordat 64. C. Qui manduc 57. C. Quia passus 35. C. Christus 56. Fidelium dentibus atters C Prima quidem â—aeres 43. d. ead C. Non oportet 3. C. Panis 38. C. Hoc est quod dicim 47. C. Ante benedict 39. C. Panis est 54. eateth not his flesh neither yet drinketh his blood although hee should euerie day take the sacrament of so high and great a thing as a iudgement of his destruction The Canon Qui manducant They that eate and drinke Christ eate and drinke life The Canon Christus Christ is the bread of whom who so eateth shall liue for euer Likewise the Canon Ego Berengarius attributeth it as proper to the faithfull to eate him with teeth In briefe vpon the question also of transubstantiation If the bodie of Christ after the words spoken must be sought for in heauen or in the hands of the priest and if of the wine bread there be nothing remaining but the Accidents Christ say the Canons is in heauen vntil this world shall be consummate and finished The bodie of Christ must be in one place but the truth is spread abroad euerie where And as for the kinds Wee must not offer any other thing in the Sacrament then wine water and bread which are blessed in the figure of Christ Before the blessing one kind is named but after the blessing the bodie is signified The bread and cuppe are a nourishing of the resurrection by the mysticall consecration that is by the efficacie of the worde and institution of Christ That is saith the Glose A spirituall refreshing of the soule which rayseth vs vp againe from the death of sinne Againe The bread and the cup saith he continue the thing
Additions to the Masse which hath of so long time accompanied the Romish church hath cast it off and forsaken it in these latter times for we haue manifest marks and signes to the contrarie All the curious ouerlookers and expounders of the Romish order are of one mind and consent that betwixt the offering and the Canon or the secret as they call it there was not any prayer wont to be said But now we find within the space of these foure hundred yeares or there about fiue to be placed and put in as they themselues also doe acknowledge and it is the same which they call the pettie Canon that is to say Suscipe sancte Pater hanc hostiam or els as it is in some others Suscipe sancta Trinitas hanc oblationem Belarm de Canon receiue O Lord God this oblation or host which I offer vnto thee for my sinnes which are innumerable and for those of all them which are present and for all faithfull Christians either aliue or deade to the ende that it may be profitable vnto mee and them vnto saluation and eternall life Againe O Deus qui humanae substantiae Offerimus tibi Domine calicem salutaris in spiritu humilitatis c. Ven Sanctificator Spiritus Then the blessing of the incense Anno 1065. wherein there is mention made of a propitiatorie sacrifice and of the intercession of Saint Michael new praiers cast and molded according to the mettall of the time vpon new and straunge doctrines Alexander the second put the Alleluiah out of office from the time called Septuagesima Herm. Gigas vntill Easter albeit that by an epistle written frō Michael of Constantiple Anno 1090. 1165. 1200. 1370. 1250. Nauclerus Gezer 42. Vnder the Emperour Rodolph The Councell of Colen it may seeme that that decree was more ancient Vrbane the second ordained a Masse to be said vpon euerie Saturday in the honour of the Virgine Marie Calixtus the third ordained the office of the transfiguration Innocent the third commanded that the Psalme Deus venerunt Gentes should be sung after the Agnus Dei Gregorie the ninth brought in the Salue Regina with the ringing of the bell Albert the great compiled the sequences for the most part And Thomas of Aquin the Office which they call the Office of the feast of God A Councell held at Colen ordained how the host should be chosen namely round and verie smooth and sleeke not too old of what bignes how it should be couered how it should be eleuated what manner of wine it should be and what water in what proportion and quantitie how the priest should discerne and iudge of them by their odor and smell what manner of ones the hallowed linnens should bee what cautions prouisoes and remedies are to bee vsed in respect of the sowring and moulding of it as also to keepe it from the rats mice cobwebs c. that is to say according as the errour of Transubstantiation increased An. 1165. so likewise the errours in ceremonies accompanying the same increased Whereupon it came that Innocent the third in the Councell of Laterane willed that the host should bee kept in some coffer or casket appointed of purpose for the same Anno 1216. Blond l. 7. dec 2. and declareth how that the wordes of the Canon are equall to the wordes of the Gospell And Honorius the third enioyned euerie man to kneele downe at the eleuation of the host and that it should be caried in decent habites vnto the diseased and sicke And Grergorie the ninth for notice or warning sake added the ringing of the bell It was likewise instituted and ordained in these latter times that the Canon shoulde bee vttered in a lowe voice whereuppon it is called a secrete And Hugo de Sancta Victoria Durand l. 4. c. 35. Beleth cap. 44. Durandus Honorius and Beleth doe yeelde a reason Because say they that euerie man can it by hart and because that some of the Pastors abused it to transubstantiate their bread into flesh as it came to passe and yet they were neuerthelesse miraculously punished by fire from heauen Gabriel Biel. contrarie to the auncient vse of the East and West Churches as appeareth by all their lithurgies in which the wordes of the consecration are pronounced with a loude and audible voice And yet notwithstanding it is to be noted The prescript formes of the Masse were diuers and not all one till the yeare 1200. that it was a long time that is to say more then 600. yeares after Gregorie the first before it could bee obtained that there should be but one prescript forme of the Masse throghout all the latine church For we reade about the yeare 1000. and Bellarmine confesseth the same that Bruno the brother of Otho the Great Archb. of Colen did as then reforme the office and order of the Masse in his diocesse according to that of Rome And likewise in France they had Masses which they called two faced three faced and foure faced Masses bifaciatas trifaciatas c. becaused they respected three or foure diuers subiectes as namely diuers Saints for that they were to diuers ends saue onely when they came to the offertorie and notwithstanding they concluded with one Canon which time hath at length abolished Petrus Cantor in verbo abbreuiato Such as haue spoken against these abuses or rather the good husbanding of the priestes who would haue dispatched all at twice or thrice Tantae molis erat saith one speaking to that purpose Romanam condere Missam Loe here you may see how that the Masse would take his foundation root from the holy Supper hath in the end cast it quite out of house harbor so that now the place thereof doth not know it or any the signes markes therof any more And therefore they need not to maruaile if Petrus Cantor more thē 400. yeares since did taxe confute the multiplying profaning of Masses blamed the priests for hauing left the preaching of the word for to sing Masses for hauing sewed and set together again the vale of the Temple Petrus Cantor in verbo abbreuiato citat per Cardinal Alliac rent in sunder by the death of our Lord to bring Iudaisme again by their ceremonies in summe saith he for hauing neglected the commandements of God to follow the inuentions of men Neither yet if Arnoldus de Villa noua one of the most famous men of his time and age saide that for these three hundred yeares the Masses and sacrifices for the deade haue not beene any thing but abuses and departinges from the veritie of Christ that the Priest in his pretended sacrifice doth offer nothing vnto God and that the Deuill by succession of time hath turned out of their right way and caused to erre all Christian people from the truth of our Lord and Maister If the Waldenses and after them the Albigenses which haue replanted
Pope alone for to decide and aunswere together with the aduise of diuerse Bishoppes and in euerie case they send vnto him certaine conditions and articles whereto hee is admonished to binde them by whome hee shall bee wonne and ouercome and these articles are such as are not contained in the Decrees of the Councell but were then retained in mente Curiae and were afterwarde communicated vnto the saide Princes First Those that wil cōmunicat vnder both kinds shal protest that they agree in hart mouth vnto al that the church of Rome hath receiued aswel in this matter of the sacramēt as in all the rest either of faith or ceremonies and that they doe religiously imbrace all the Decrees of Councels as well published as to be published How many errors may they thus gaine and get in whiles they doe nothing but grant some one thing or other that is done Secondly That the Pastors and preachers vnto those nations or people to whom the vse of the cup shall be graunted doe beleeue and teach that the custome of communicating vnder one kinde is not against the sacred institution of the Lard but rather laudable and worthie to bee obserued kept as a law if the Church ordain not otherwise That such as teach or beleeue otherwise are hereticks and that they shall not administer vnder both kindes vnto any but such as shal both beleeue and confesse the same But and if this be to applie themselues onely to the infirmitie of the people that they thus giue place and yeeld vnto them in this their request then what a hell is that to force and violently to wrest this profession from them cōtrarie to their infirmitie by this meanes offering them one fauour with the left hand and in the meane while drawing twentie from them with the right The third is That they shall promise to acknowledge the Pope to be the lawfull Pastour and Bishop of the vniuersall Church yeelding to him as dutifull children all manner of reuerence from a free and loyall heart Who will beleeue that such things did euer come from the Apostles or who will beleeue that Saint Peter before that euer hee would graunt the sacrament to the faithfull had gone about to draw such an oath homage frō them And againe who doth not see that they sell the blood of Christ to the people yea the same blood which Christ himselfe did so freely and without any price shed for them doe they not make them buy with the high price of the seruitude of their soules and not of their soules onely but of the whole Church yea and of the truth it selfe But in as much as these conditions seemed vnto the Princes and Estates too hard and heauie a yoake and too much ouerlaid with tyrannie it was thought good that things should stand and continue altogether in such state as was graunted and allowed by the consent of the Councell And let them not maruaile any more at that which Luther said That it was wisedome to be well aduised and warie in taking any thing that the Pope shall yeeld and agree vnto namely seeing that for to take away one abuse hee would vndoubtedlie aime at and stand for the establishing of all others how many soeuer And it standeth him vpon seeing that of all the Christian Churches that are whether Greeke Russian Syrian Armenian or Abissine c. there is not so much as one but the communion is administred therein vnder both kindes and contrariwise the administration thereof vnder one kinde disallowed and condemned And this is the reason why they wish so much mischiefe vnto the writings of Cassander containing the Lithurgies rather then the reformation of their own profession Index expurgato p. 38. ordaining in their Index expurgatorius in that booke I meane wherein they haue set downe a register of all the places which they would haue razed and defaced in the reimprinting of the good and sound books that are now extāt that what soeuer Cassāder hath writtē of both kinds should be blotted out Deleantur apud Cassandrum quae de vtraque specie c. Now I woulde gladly know 2. Thess ch 2. by what priuiledge or dispensation the Pope is able to claime and challenge to himselfe alone this power if it be not from that which is belonging onely to the man of sinne the sonne of perdition who is deciphered in the second to the Thessalonians That he opposeth and lifteth vp himselfe against all that which is called God or that is worshipped so that he doeth sit as God in the temple of God shewing himselfe as if he were God c. CHAP. XII Wherein the pretended reasons of the aduersaries are aunswered as well by the holy scriptures as by the Fathers THus then it behooueth vs brieflie to examine the reasons which they pretend to beare them out The cōsutation of the reasons that are made against the vse of both kinds in so bold and hardie an enterprise of change howbeit indeed to goe about to alleadge and oppose reason against Christ his sound and solide institution is properly as the Poet saith Cum ratione insanire And first they inferre that the cup is not necessarie in the sacrament because say they that the sacraments of the old Testament which did prefigure and foreshew the same had no drinke as the Manna the Paschall lambe c. Indeed those sacraments were figures and types of this the Manna of the true bread which was to come downe from heauen the lambe of the true lambe which should beare and take vpon him the sinnes of the worlde in the communicating of whom we are saued But what force can this reason carrie with it being drawne from a figure or shadow against the expresse word of Christ So then Baptisme comming in place of circumcision because that in circumcision men were cut and not washed should it follow that in Baptisme men should be cut seeing they were so in circumcision or else that it should not be needfull to wash in Baptisme because in circūcision there was no washing On the cōtrarie Paul speaking of the sacraments of the olde law as of the sea of the cloude c. 1. Cor. 10. Our fathers saith he were all baptised in the cloud in the sea they did all eat of one spiritual meat they did al drink of one spirituall drinke c. from hence haue some of the old writers proued the communicating vnder both kinds But what wil they say of Melchisedech whō they the said old writers would haue to represent in bread and wine the sacrament of the Eucharist when as wee cannot but see that hee did distribute them to Abraham and those that were with him as his seruants and souldiers It is said Drink ye all all say they that is to say all the Apostles and therefore this precept prooueth nothing for the rest of the faith full Math. 26. These men boast much of antiquitie
c. Verily saith hee this same Almightie power which turneth spiritually the bread and wine at this day into the flesh of his bodie and into the drinke of his bloud did also then inuisibly make the Manna giuen downe from heauen his bodie and the water which flowed from the rocke his bloud It is verie true in deed that our Fathers of Trent had prouided not a daintie dish but a blacke dash for the same in their Index expurgatorius ordaining of their wonted faithfulnesse and true dealing that these places should bee razed out of Bertram Index expurg p. 11. Paschas Raper decorp sang Dom. c. 5. Hug. de S. Victor in 1. Cor. q. 80. Anselm in 1. Cor. c. 10. Paschasius Rapertus Abbot of Corbie in the yeare nine hundred or there about and Hugo of Saint Victor about the yeare a thousand one hundred did teach the same though somewhat more harshly then others that haue dealt in this matter And these are the tearmes they vse Non materia sed significatione The same meate not in matter but signification Idem significantem velidem efficientem Jn as much as it signified the same thing or wrought the same effect For say they That meate was of the same efficacie with this Anselme They did eate in their Manna the same meate that we doe in our bread and drunke the same drinke of the bloud of Christ from the rocke that wee drinke from the Cup. And by that meanes did eate the same spirituall meate that wee though it were of an other bodie because they did vnderstand the visible meat spiritually hungered spiritually tasted spiritually that they might be spiritually satisfied and refreshed c. And therefore saith he it is not said The rocke signified Christ but the rocke was Christ For so the Scripture is accustomed to speake calling the things signifying by the name of those that are signified c. And thus speaketh the most part of the Schoolemen Gratian. C. Inquit C. in Illo c. 10. Thom. Aquin. in 1. Cor. c. 10. Hugo ibid. Gratian in his Decree fetcheth two expresse and euident Canons out of Saint Augustine touching this point The ordinarie Glose likwise saith They did eate Manna and drunke of the rocke c. Signes of Christ which wrought the same effect in the belieuers And this was saith it the same faith Thomas The same spirituall meate with vs but an other corporall namely the Fathers which belieued in Christ. And Cardinall Hugo verie openly The bodie of Christ the bloud of Christ and thereupon produceth the place of Saint Augustine Beleeue and thou hast eaten But some man may obiect Wherein our Sacramentes excell What is then the prerogatiue of a Christian What is there more in our Sacraments then in the old The answere is cleare and plaine the word Propheticall and Apostolicall are of one efficacie Christ is in the one and in the other equall and like vnto himselfe euerie where so farre as that our Lord speaking of the Propheticall Scriptures saith Examine them for you belieue to haue eternall life in them Thus it is with the Sacraments of the old and new people and notwithstanding the word and Sacraments of the new are not without their prerogatiues not in substance but in circumstaunce not in kind but in degree They agree in this that they shew forth promise signifie and exhibite the same communion of Christ by faith and the holy Ghost by the which the elect since the time of Adam euen to the last man vpon the earth are to be saued For without this communion there was no saluation either in the old or new people They differ for that vnder the old Testament our Fathers had this communion in Christ to come and therefore the worke of grace was the more obscure vnto thē but we haue it in Christ come in the flesh c. and therfore the same grace more bright cleare Againe they agree in that they seale vp saluation and grace to all them in generall that doe receiue them in faith They differ herein that the old ones were not properly ordained but for the posteritie of Abraham but these latter and new ones for all the nations vppon the face of the earth that are ingrafted into the Church and in the Communion of Christ in the faith of Abraham To be short they agree in that they seale vp vnto vs the couenant with the same God through the same Christ for the same reconciliation whereupon followeth the same fruite euen the remission of sinnes and eternall life They differ in this that God which hath of old spoken by his Prophets hath now vouchsafed to speake by his own Sonne in so much that wee may say with Saint Iohn That that which was from the beginning of the word of life we haue heard with our eares seene with our eyes and touched with our hands c. And wee haue also greater helpes to raise our faith vnto a further assurance of grace by how much the accomplishment is more then the promise the exhibiting of him in the flesh of more efficacie to moue vs then the expectation thereof and for that amongst the sences one is more quicke and certainely prouing then the other and that which is perceiued many waies more perswasiue then that which is comprehended but one way and that which is knowne of the goodnesse of God in the sending of his Sonne crucified before our eyes more strong to beget in vs an assurednesse of his mercie and by consequent of his loue towards vs and our inlightning with him then that which hee had spoken vnto vs by his Prophets or figured by his sacrifices in all the times that went before And yet in the meane time the old Sacraments cease not to be figures of ours as Circumcision of Baptisme and the Passe-ouer of the holy Supper But certainely antitypes rather then types and correspondent figures not bare and naked figures figures which contained the verie same thing although not in the same manner although not in the same degree of clearenesse and amplenesse Chrysost in hom Nolite ignorare And heere it is that Chrysostome his similitude taketh place The Painter saith he that goeth about to draw the counterfeit of a king layeth the first lineaments and draught therof in colours that are more darke and shadowie wherein notwithstanding is well perceiued the Kings proportion and physnomie but when he hath laid his liueliest colours and hath fully finished it in all points then it is altogether an other manner of thing Idem hom 17. in Ep. ad Haeb. and yet notwithstanding it is the same thing And this likewise is in handling the place of Saint Paul So say we of Circumcision and Baptisme the one and the other doe graft vs into the Church and seale vp vnto vs our new-birth Coloss 2. in so much as that Saint Paule calleth Baptisme Circumcision and Circumcision Baptisme When you haue put off
in the mysterie of Baptisme Water but not bare water The Apostle hath taught thee not to behold or looke vppon the things which are seene but those which are not seene thinke that the Diuinitie is present therin Wilt thou belieue the operation effectuall power thereof and not the presence c. The water without the preaching of the Crosse of Christ is of no effect vnto saluation c. And S. Augustine againe August in Io. tract 30. You are cleane by reason of the word that I haue told you Wherefore saith he did hee not rather say by reason of the Baptisme wherewith you are washed if it be not this that it is the word that washeth in the water That Baptisme is consecrated and hallowed by the word Take away the word and what is the water but water The word is put vnto the Element and it is made a Sacrament for this is also a visible word From whence commeth this great force power to the water that it should by touching of the body wash the soule but in that the word maketh it such And that not because it is spoken but because that it is belieued for in this same word the sound which passeth and goeth away is one thing and the sound which abideth staieth within is an other thing Reade the Apostle and see what he addeth therto to the end that hee might sanctifie the same making it cleane by the washing of water in the word washing should not be attributed vnto this liquid and fluent Element if there had not beene added thereto In the word And notwithstanding al that which God setteth before vs in the Sacraments Faith receiueth and taketh hold vpon the Sacrament sanctified through his word is vnfruitfull and vnprofitable vnto vs without faith for by faith alone it is made appliable apt to be receiued of vs. Whereupon also wee said that the grace offered to vs therein is receiued by the faith of the faithful as the signe is receiued of his hand For the SacrameÌ„ts giue not faith faith receiueth them they increase it EueÌ„ as the word of God being outwardly heard giueth not faith but faith receiueth nourisheth it faith I say begotten in vs by the word not that which beateth our eares but by the inward which knocketh at the dore of our heart in the efficacie and powerfull working of the spirit So was Circumcision giuen to Abraham not to the end hee might haue faith but for a seale of the righteousnesse of faith saith the Apostle which he had had in the time of vncircumcision And S. peter Repent be baptised Rom. 4. for the remissioÌ„ of your sins And the litle children or their fathers for theÌ„ answered therin Credo for that the SacrameÌ„ts are ordained for the faithful not to the end they may beleeue but because they do beleeue not to the end they may bee receiued into the couenant of God but in token that they are receiued thereinto already as meate vnto men August Sentent 338. in Ioh. tract 26. de cruit Dei l. 25. c 25. not to the end they might learn to eat but to the end that eating they might be fed nourished This is it which S. August saith That for to be a receiuer of the thing that is to say of the grace of the Sacrament it behoueth to dwell in Christ and to haue Christ dwelling in him It is requisite to be members of his body that is to say incorporated into him by faith that whoso disagreeth or is at discord with him though he should daily receiue receiueth not any thing but the bare signe Sacramento tenus saith he non re vera sacramentally not really the Sacrament Chrysost in r. Cor. 11. and not the thing of the Sacrament And Chrysostome The more he receiueth the signe so much the more he purchaseth to himself condemnation As saith he the condemnation of men is growne hereof namely that God hath manifested himselfe vnto them in the flesh c. And S. Basill Basil in psalm 33. August cont Maxim l. 3. c. 22. That the changing of the names maketh no change in the signes The inward man hath also his mouth by meanes whereof it is fed and refreshed by receiuing the word of life the bread that came downe from heauen c. And S. Augustine giueth vs the reason thereof Because saith he that men giue the Sacrament but God the only searcher of the heart giueth the thing of the Sacrament The fourth That this commutation and exchange of names doth not force vpon the Sacraments a commutation of the signes or elements in their nature but only in their vse Otherwise contrary to the doctrine of theâ—e fathers they should be the same thing vnto all men as well the miscreant and vnbeleeuer as vnto the faithfull and to the hypocrite as vnto him that truly repenteth c. It being impossible that Christ the truth and substance of the Sacraments should be receiued but vnto life although the Sacrament that is to say the signes may be receiued of many vnto coÌ„demnation And indeed none of the fathers euer said that Manna was conuerted and turned into the flesh of Christ or the water of the rocke yea the water of Baptisme into his bloud notwithstanding that Saint Paul hath said That our fathers did eate the same meate and drinke the same drinke that we that is to say Christ That the first of the olde writers haue acknowledged that the true Israelites did eate the flesh of Christ in their Manna and drunke his bloud in the rocke That wee all agree togither that in Baptisme we are washed from our sinnes in the bloud of Christ no lesse truly then our bodies are washed with water August in ser ad Infant citatur a Bed in 1. Cor. 10. Theodoret in Dial. 1. And likewise that S. Augustine saith That we must not doubt at all that the faithfull in Baptisme are made partakers of the bodie and of the bloud of our Lord notwithstanding that they depart this life before they haue eaten the bread or drunke the Cup c. Because said Theodoret heretofore vnto vs That this commutation of names is to point out vnto vs the truth of the Mysterie not for that there is anie change made therefore in the nature of the signes but because that grace is added and put to them And this is the cause why the ancient fathers The difference betwixt mysteries and miracles do call the Sacraments Mysteries and not Miracles In diuine Mysteries the grace of God is hidden in Miracles it is manifested and reuealed Miracles are wrought to moue the vnbeleeuers to conuince them in their owne vnderstanding and verie often to leaue them vnexcusable through the clearnes and euidentnes thereof Mysteries are reserued for the faithfull at least for those that are reputed such to seal vp vnto them their saluation to stir vp their faith to raise
is in the vnitie of this bodie that is to say in the coniunction and setting together of the members of Christ of the Sacrament of whose body the faithfull in communicating are accustomed to receiue from the Altar may truely bee said to bee such a one as eateth the bodie of Christ and drinketh his bloud And those on the contrarie that are not his members cannot eate him For hee hath said He that eateth my flesh drinketh my bloud he dwelleth in me and J in him Who so therfore dwelleth not in me I in him cannot eat my flesh nor drink my bloud he eateth it Sacramēto tenus and not re vera that is to say he taketh and receiueth but the signe and not the thing For saith he They which abide not in him are not his members And in an other place Seeing he hath recommended vnto vs the eating of his flesh c. that is to say our abiding in him Idem in Ioh. tract 27. and his in vs now wee abide and dwell in him when we are his members and he in vs when wee are his temple Which thing is much more clearely laid out by Christ himselfe I am the vine and you are the branches c. The branches sucke their life out of the Vine not to the end verily that they may be branches but because they are such alreadie and yet in so sucking they become more faire and beautifull braunches euen so the faithfull doe eate Christ in the Supper not to the end that they may become his members but because they are his members alreadie and to the ende that in deriuing and sucking their life from him they may become the better growing and thriuing members Saint Chrysostome The bread which wee breake Chrysost in 1. Cor. c. 11. is it not the Communion of the bodie of Christ Why did not the Apostle as well say participation Because that he would declare and point out some further matter and shew the great and close coniunction For we doe not communicate onely for that we receiue and are made partakers but for that we are vnited and made one for as this bodie which he hath once taken vpon him is vnited vnto Christ so by this bread we are vnited and made one with him c. For saith he what signifieth the bread The bodie of Christ. And what are they made which doe receiue it The bodie of Christ c. Whereby wee learne that the Communion is not a carnall eating 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but a coherence and vniting of the faithfull vnto the body of Christ which could not be better represented then by eating which is the most strict and vnseparable way Leo. ad Cler. pleb Constant whereby one nature may naturally be ioined vnto another Leo the first to the same sense This is so currant in all mens mouthes as that the verie children cease not to speake amongst the Sacraments of our common faith of the truth of the bodie and blood of Christ seeing that in the mysticall distribution of the spirituall food it is both giuen and taken to the end that receiuing the efficacie power of the spiritual meat we may be translated and changed into his flesh who became our flesh c. that is to say let vs be fed of him as it hath beene said as flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones c. Wherefore to eate the flesh and to drinke the bloud of Christ is to fetch and sucke our spiritual nourishment from him and that from him dead for vs to the ende that the similitude may haue his full course as the corporall man draweth not forth the meanes of the maintenance of his life from things any otherwise then by the dying for the same To bee bidden vnto this banket and eating is to bee exhorted to maintaine and cherish our coniunction with Christ and our life in Christ by the continuing of this nourishment and this coniunction with Christ worketh a coniunction amongst our selues as members of one and the same bodie The coniunction and vnion of the faithful amongst them selues in the holy Supper 1. Cor. 10. which is more and more neerely and closely wrought in the holy supper which S. Paul expresseth in these words We which are many are one onely bread and one onely body for we are partakers of one and the same bread c. that is to say sucking the iuice of life from one and the same Vine we are quickned by one and the same spirit c. which is the second end of the Lords supper but yet depending vpon the first in as much as we cannot be ioyned by faith to Christ except we be also vnited and ioyned by loue and charitie vnto our brethren Ignatius making this coniunction plaine saith There is but one flesh of our Lord Iesus and one bloud of his shed for vs one bread broken for all Ignat. ad Philadelph Iren. l. 3. c. 10. and one Cup of the whole Church Ireneus The Lord promiseth to send the comforter that is to say the holy Ghost For as of drie Corne there cannot bee made any paste neither yet any bread without licour so we cannot of many be made one in Christ without that water which is from heauen Saint Cyprian Cypr. l. 1. Ep. 6 ad Magn. l. 2. Ep. 3. ad Caecil When as our Lord calleth his body bread made into dough by the mixing together of many graines he sheweth that our people the image whereof hee resembled is vnited together and made one And when he calleth the wine his bloud pressed out into one from diuers Grapes be signifieth in like manner our flocke ioyned together and made into one by the mixture Adunate multitudinis of an vnited multitude Now this vnion said Ireneus as it is spirituall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 August de Consecr D 2. c Qu a passus Ep. 57. ad Dardan so it is wrought by the spirit S. Denis The Minister saith he vncouering the bread that is couered and vndiuided and parting it into many peeces and distributing the Cup vnto all multiplieth and distributeth the vnitie mystically c. Saint Augustine And you saith hee are there at the Table and in the Cup you are with vs. Againe Christ is the head of this body This is the communion which the members haue with the head The vnitie of this body is recommended vnto vs by our sacrifice this is the communion of the members amongst themselues Being the same that the Apostle hath signified saying We are all one bread and one bodie c. Chrysostome What doe I speaking of Communion wee are the body it selfe For what is the bread Chrysost in 1. Cor. 10. the body of Christ And what are they made which receiue the same The body of Christ not many bodies but one body For as the bread is made into one lumpe by the kneading of many graines together and that in
such sort as that they are not apparant or to bee discerned notwithstanding that they be there neither yet any manner of distinction to bee made of them by reason of their incorporation euen so are we all incorporate both amongst our selues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as also with Christ for wee are not nourished and fed this man of one bodie and that man of an other but all ioyntly of one and the same These are then the two principall endes of the Sacrament euen the growth and helping forwarde of our vnitie with Christ our head and of our vnitie with the brethren which with vs doe make one body in him which cannot bee accomplished more effectually then by the remembrance of the death of Christ which stirreth vp in vs a loue towards him who hath loued vs so much as to giue himselfe to death for vs euen that death which was due and iustly belonging to sinners c. So that wee not being able either to liue or die for any his emolument or profit for what good can there arise from vs to him we are incited and stirred vp to liue and die for his body which is the Church and not to spare any thing that is in vs no not our owne bloud for the edifying of the same or for the good and saluation of our brethren either begotten of Basil de Baptis in Moral or redeemed by the same bloud And this is the cause why Saint Basill saith What profit is there in these words Take this is my body To the end that drinking and eating we may euermore bee mindfull of him which is dead and risen againe for vs Who so calleth not to mind this remembrance is said to eate vnworthily c. And in another place What is the dutie of such as eate the bread and drinke the Cup of Christ Verily saith he to keep the remembrance of him which is dead and risen againe for vs perpetually c. Seeing saith likewise S. Ambrose Ambros de iis qui myst intiantur c. 3. That the Sacrament serueth not for any vse vnto saluation without the preaching that is to say the remembrance and commemoration of the crosse of Christ. And hitherto it may be that both wee and our aduersaries are of one mind in as much as we both the one and the other say That the bodie and bloud of Christ are in the Supper celebrated according to his institution and are truly and verily drunken and eaten in the same by the faithfull members of Christ in assurance of remission of sinnes and eternall life But the difference and disagreement betwixt vs is Wherein the maine difference lyeth for that wee say that they are receiued in the supper of the Lord with the Sacraments of the bread and wine They vnder the accidents of the whitenes roundnesse c. of the bread and vnder the rednesse and moysture c. of the wine the substance therof being at the verie instant of the vttering of the words by the Priest quite vanished and become nothing that so there may be place made for the bodie and bloud yea conuerted and turned into the bodie and bloud of Christ which they call Transubstantiation Againe that wee say that the bodie and bloud of Christ the nourishment of our soule which is spirituall are communicated with vs by the efficacie and power of the spirit of God and receiued of vs in like manner spiritually and by faith They that they are giuen by the hand of the Priest vnder the accidents of bread and wine and conuerted into flesh bloud by the pronouncing of the words which they call Sacramentall receiued into the mouth and swallowed downe into the stomack corporally and really c. and that not of the faithfull onely but of all both good and bad which receiue them c. So that the question or controuersie betwixt vs is not Whether there be a communicating of the body and bloud of Christ in the holy supper but How And this How is not raised by vs It proceedeth of the curiosity of our aduersaries neither yet by our incredulitie or curiositie but by our aduersaries who in stead of resting themselues in the simplicitie of the old writers haue so curiously pried into the same as that they haue wrapt themselues in an infinite sort of absurdities thereby causing doubts to arise yea and doubting themselues also of If in stead of making it plaine vnto themselues and others of the manner How Verily Saint Cyprian saith That it is an Apostolike thing and appertaining to the sinceritie of the truth to declare how the bread wine are the flesh bloud of our Lord. Saint Augustine likewise feareth not to demaund How the bread is made the bodie of Christ seeing that our Lord in the day of the Ascention caried vp his bodie into heauen But he hath also giuen vs rules by which these kinds of speeches ought to be expounded But this holy scanning and sifting out of the truth is verie farre from the prophane curiositie of our aduersaries they seeke the deciding of the matter in the nature of the Sacraments by comparing of Scripture with Scripture and by the analogie of faith and of the Creed according to the true and vndoubted rules of Diuinitie but these our aduersaries by destroying of the Sacraments the nature of Christ and the Articles of our faith our onely Diuinitie by destroying also the Lawes which God hath set in nature by a false kind of Philosophie So deeply haue they delighted and rooted themselues in an opinion contrarie to faith in the flesh which profiteth nothing contrarie to the word which is spirit and life and in the letter which is dead and killeth contrarie to the spirit which is liuing and quickning They say The literall sence neither can nor ought to be followed alwayes what is there any thing more cleare or plaine This is my bodie this is my bloud But againe is there any thing more plaine The rocke was Christ And of circumcision This is my couenant Againe The Lambe is the Passeouer These bones are the house of Israell Iohn is Elias I am the true Vine I am the bread of life which came downe from heauen c. And if the plainnesse and clearenesse of places should bee tied vnto the words and not to the sence and meaning then what clearer places can there possibly be then these Let vs make man according to our owne image and similitude And the Anthropomorphites haue heereupon concluded that God hath the shape of a man Genes 1. Luke 22 Who so hath not a sword let him sell his Coate and buy one And what then saith Origen Shall the Bishops put their hand to the sword thereupon I and my Father are one And Sabellius hath concluded thereupon that the Father hath suffered in the flesh I am the bread of life August de ciuit Dei l. 21. c. 25. he that shall eate this
had receiued of the Lord. But what Accidents No but bread As oft saith he as you shall eate of this bread and drinke of this Cup c. And he goeth ouer this word bread fiue times and that after the words of Consecration as they call them and yet notwithstanding The body of the Lord c. For Whosoeuer eateth saith he of this bread vnworthily eateth his iudgement is culpable of the body and bloud of our Lord c. As if a man should say Reus Maiestatis guiltie of high treason against the body of Christ because he hath abused his Sacramēts vnto death which were ordained for him vnto life And what is there more ordinarie in the Scripture then to vse the words of eating drinking spiritually As where wisedome it selfe saith Such as eate of me Ecclesiast 14. Iohn 7. shall further hunger after me and they which drinke of me shall still thirst after me Where our Lord the true and essentiall wisedome crieth Jf any man thirst let him come vnto me and drinke And particularly in the Paschall Lambe a figure correspondent to the holy supper were not these verie words which they call Sacramentall Verba inquam concepta This bread is the bread of miserie which our Fathers did eate in Egypt He that is hungrie let him come and eate c. But the absurditie of this pretended literall construction and yet altogether figuratiue improper and verie straunge shall be better knowne by the touch and triall of the same where wee shall see how that it destroyeth the nature of all the Sacraments of those of the new Testament yea euen the supper celebrated by our Lord with his Apostles how that it destroyeth the humane nature of Christ and offereth violence vnto his diuine nature and in a word how that it ouerthroweth the analogie of faith the consent of the holy Scriptures the Creede of the Apostles together withall the rest of the most firme and infallible points of Diuinitie which we purpose to handle briefely from point to point CHAP. III. That the interpretation and Exposition which our Aduersaries make of the words of the holy Supper doth ouerthrow all the foundations of the Christian faith as also the nature of Christ and of his Sacraments FIrst and principally That Transubstantiation doth destroy the nature of euery sacrament Transubstantiation destroyeth the nature of euerie Sacrament for euerie Sacrament consisteth of a signe and a thing signified both which abide and continue whole and intire in such sort as that it is not possible that the one can be the other neither any part of the other and notwithstanding they depend the one vppon the other they cannot bee well weighed and considered the one without the other But it destroyeth the nature of the bread In the signe the signe and seale of his bodie the nature of the wine the signe and seale of the bloud of our Lord either by changing and altering of them or else by making them nothing worth or by reducing them as others say into the first matter from substances into accidents contrarie to all nature yea contrarie to the Law of the Sacraments it selfe which made choice of signes proportionable to the things signified as they rained Manna to the bread of life which came downe from heauen Water which washeth away corporall spottes to the righteous bloud which cleanseth and taketh away the spirituall bread and wine which nourish and maintaine this life to the body and bloud of Christ which doe sustaine and feed vs vnto eternall life Roundnesse whitenesse moystnesse and rednesse which they giue vs for signes what analogie haue they with the spirituall nourishment Or the accidents with the substance And in stead of deeper and deeper setling vs in faith what is it that they are able to beget in vs but new forged opinions and vaine fantasies Let vs take from Baptisme water the signe of this liuing water of the holy Ghost which washeth our soules Mich. 7. yea saith the Prophet which drowneth and swalloweth vp our iniquities and what maner of doctrine remaineth there behind Take away bread in the holy supper Nehem 9. Psalme 70. Iohn 6. Apocal. the signe of that bread of heauen of the bread of life which giueth life vnto the world Wine the signe of the bloud of the Lambe wherein wee are to wash our garments wherewith wee likewise comfort our soules both the one and the other signes of our vnion in as much as they are made of many cornes kneaded and troden out into one and what doctrine or instruction will there bee then left for vs behind What proportion is there betwixt these accidents and our life Not that verily of our soule onely but that also of our body In the second place In the thing what shall I say of the thing signified How doe they handle it The thing signified is the body bloud of Christ it is Christ himselfe But wherefore was hee giuen in the holy Supper Verily saith he To giue life vnto the world And to what world Verily vnto them whome hee hath drawne out of and saued from the world To them saith hee Which belieue in him which abide in him To them saith the Apostle In whose hearts he dwelleth To them saith S. Augustine Which are his members and not to any others What iniurie then and wrong dooth Transubstantiation offer vnto our Lord vnto this precious pearle of the Gospell which giueth the same to hypocrites and vnbelieuers which casteth the same to Dogges and Swine in such sort as that they regard or looke after nothing else but that they haue a mouth to cast it into and a stomacke to swallow it downe into Can these courses bee maintained either by the scriptures or yet by the old church wee say of euery Sacrament that the signe which is called ordinarily the Sacrament may be receiued of all but the thing of the Sacrament res Sacramenti of the faithfull and beleeuers onely And as for that due regard and consideration which is to be had of the holie Supper the word of the sonne of God is expreslie laide downe concerning the same This is my bodie which is giuen for you my bloud which is shed for your sins He giueth them not for meat and food but to such as for whome it is shed as for whom it is broken that is to say which are effectually redeemed and by consequent his members And thus saith Origen Orig. in Mat. c. 11. That of this true and verie meat of this word made flesh no wicked or vngodly man can eate because saith he that it is the worde and the bread of life because that hee that eateth this bread liueth for euer Saint Cyprian Cypr. l. de Caen. Domini August tract 26. in Ion. That although that the Sacraments bee suffered to be taken and handled by such as are vnworthie yet they cannot bee partakers of the spirit that is to say of
saith S. Paule himselfe is of the Lord. 1. Cor. 3. Canon vtrum de consecr d. 2 Which thing the Canon also concludeth in expresse words That the sacrament is not of the merite of him that consecrateth but of the word of the Creator of the power of the holy Ghost bringing all things to passe c. Seuenthly It destroyeth the analogie coherence of the holy scriptures It destroyeth the analogic of the scriptures faith for how can it come to passe by taking that course that after the example of Esdras we should come to expound scripture by scripture by that key which S. Augustine giueth vnto vs to open the same as to expound one place by many and not in such a sence as is contrary to many one obscure and dark place by many cleare ones whereas the sticking to the words of one place do ouerthrow the cleare doctrine of many others and from this one also do gather nothing but contradiction and darknes He that giueth vs his body giueth vs also his bloud the body and bloud alike precious both the one and the other the price and ransome for our sins and therefore the one the other giuen in the same sence Now the truth is that it is thus said of the bloud Luk. 22. This cup is the new testament in my bloud and this cannot be vnderstood of the cuppe but of the wine namely as S. Mathew reporteth and setteth it downe This is my blood Mat. 26. the blood of the new Testament c. If then there be a most apparant figure in the one it cannot be excluded from the other And as the one is resolued into these words This that is to say this wine is my blood So the other in these This that is to say This bread is my bodie And as it is said of the wine or cup This cup is the new testament in my blood So it may be said of the bread This bread is the new testament in my body And seeing again that according to their own sayings the bread canot be the body nor the wine the blood really because they are two Jndiuidua as the Logicians speake predicated and spokeÌ„ the one on the other we wil expresse them by the words of S. Paul who hath not giuen any other thing vnto vs then that which hee hath receiued neither yet taught vs any thing but that which himselfe had first learned of the Son of God 1. Cor. 10. This bread is my body which is broken for you that is to say This bread which I breake is the coÌ„munion of my bodie this cup or this wine which I blesse is the coÌ„munion of my blood c. And if we yet doubt but what maner of coÌ„munion is this and how is it brought to passe how is this eating and drinking c. we must haue recourse to our Lord for answer and resolution Ioh. 6.50 This is the bread that came down from heaueÌ„ to the end that if any man eat thereon he might not die a liuing bread a quickning bread a bread of God which bringeth eternal life My flesh saith he my blood are truly meat truly drinke which I haue giueÌ„ for the life of the world be it is that eateth drinketh therof that coÌ„meth to me which belieueth in me which dwelleth in me c. If this should offend you as it did the Capernaits then learne vnderstand That it is the spirit that quickneth that the flesh prositeth nothing that my words are spirit life c. Neither is there any cause why it should be obiected here that S. Iohn speaketh of the spiritual eating How S. Ioh. c. 6 must be vnderstood not of the sacramental For notwithstanding that he speake here of the spirituall yet he ceaseth not to declare vnto vs the maner of the sacramentall to wit vnder the Sacraments the obiectes of our sences the helpes of our faith yet spiritual And thus haue the ancient fathers euermore vnderstood it haue serued themselues with this place of S. Iohn as a Commentarie vpon the rest of the Euangelists which haue collected and gathered the necessitie of the expounding thereof siguratiuely also that the faithfull alone are partakers of the thing of the Sacrament and not the wicked and vngodly But as the authors of transubstantiation did afterward more and more embrace the carnall presence consequently that the wicked and vngodly did eate Christ so began they lesse and lesse to admit in this matter and question the authoritie of this sermon made by our Lorde a sermon verily made some yeare or thereabout before the institution of the Supper but as is manifest an intended preparatiue vnto the same euen as the talke and communication which our Lord had with Nicodemus concerning baptisme was a preparatiue to Baptisme There our Lord said Iohn 3. If a man be not regenerate that is to say borne againe hee cannot enter into the kingdome of God And here Jf a man eate not my flesh and drinke my bloud hee can not haue life in him c. There Nicodemus was offended And how can a man that is old be borne againe can he enter into his mothers bellie c. And here the Capernaites This is a harsh speech who can endure to heare it And how can this man giue vs his flesh to eate And many of his disciples alâ—o and that so greatly as that they went from him therefore And there hee expoundeth his meaning to Nicodemus Man must bee borne againe of water and of the spirite That which is borne of the flesh is flesh and that which is borne of the spirit is spirit c. And here in like manner to the Capernaites It is the spirit that quickneth the flesh profiteth nothing c. Now Baptisme was formally instituted after the speech had by Christ with Nicodemus the signe added to the thing the water to the spirit c. and yet notwithstanding the water did not change his nature This text likewise serueth not a little to the plaine laying out of the doctrine of baptisme And in like manner after the sermon of our Lord to the Capernaites the holy supper was instituted the elements of corporall nourishment ordained for Sacraments of the spiritual c. And then why should these signes change their natures And why shall it not be lawful to alleadge this place as well in the matter of the Lords supper for the cleerer vnderstanding of the same that so we may be enlightned and made to discerne where our spirituall nourishment lyeth And seeing that the institution of baptisme comming after hath not at all made regeneration to be carnall by the adding of the element therunto why should the putting of the element to the eating and spirituall communicating of Christ haue made it carnall Saint Augustine demandeth The fathers August de consen euang l. 3. c. 1. Seeing that S.
yeeld him thanks calling to mind the shedding of his blood And in the second Apologie Idem in Apol 2. after he hath described the whole ceremony of the holy supper This meat saith he is called the Eucharist wherof no man is to be permitted to be partaker but those which belieue that which we teach c. For we receiue not these things as common bread and drinke c. But as our sauiour hauing taken flesh by the word of God hath both flesh bloud for our saluation so we are taught that this meate sanctified of him by the word of prayer wherewith our bloud our flesh are nourished by changing alteration is the flesh and bloud of the same Iesus Christ made flesh c. But Bellarmine doth arme and fortifie himselfe with this place and let vs see how This is not saith he bread nor common drinke And who doubteth thereof seeing it is sanctified by the institution of the Lord But so it is that it is bread drinke which is not become an accident but continueth a substance and therefore hath only changed his vse and not his nature It is sanctified from God by the word of praier This is not then by the fiue pretended words of transubstantiues but by the ordinary common maner of praying made vnto God according to his institution thereto all the people answered Amen And with this meat sanctified Our flesh bloud are nourished by mutatioÌ„ change Now it must needs follow that this is either really or sacramentally Really dare they say so of the flesh bloud of our Lord And that sith Bellarmine himselfe denieth it For thereupon saith he it would follow that the Eucharist should be the nourishment of the body not of the spirit theÌ„ which there is nothing more absurd It remaineth then that it is sacramentally to giue place to his similitude That as our flesh bloud are nourished by the alteration of sanctified bread wine turned into our substance so are our soules by the flesh bloud of Christ made flesh and bloud for vs communicated vnto vs vnto a spirituall life by the operation of the holy Ghost Idem expurg p. 75. at the same instant that the signes are coÌ„municated Note that the Index hath not forgotten to note that whatsoeuer Langus hath writteÌ„ vpon these places must be raced because that he doth not therein acknowledge the doctrine of transubstantiation And yet hee is a professed Romish Catholike Ireneus Iren. l. 4. contr haeres c. 34. The earthly bread receiuing the name whereby God calleth it is not any longer common bread but the Eucharist composed of two things an earthly and a heauenly and thus our bodies receiuing the Eucharist are not any longer corruptible hauing the hope of the resurrection Let vs ponder and weigh all these wordes The bread taketh his calling of God that is to say by his institution of common is made sacred it is made the Eucharist the same compounded of two things an earthly and a heauenly Not then of the accidents of one earthly thing and one heauenly thing but both the two must remaine the earthly that is the sanctified bread appointed to a holy vse and the heauenly that is the bread of heauen the liuing breade c. that liuing breade which of corruptible ones maketh vs incorruptible by the faith of the resurrection notwithstanding we as yet creepe vpon the earth here below subiect to corruption after the same sort verily that the earthly bread becommeth heauenly becommeth liuing vnto vs not by any reall change that is made in his nature but by the faith in which wee receiue it and by the vocation which it hath receiued of the institution Whereupon Ireneus doth not doubt to say speaking of the Marcionites heretickes of his time Idem l. 4. c. 34â— 57. How should our Lord haue iustly confessed that is to say declared the bread huius conditionis quae est secundum nos of this earthly nature and condition his body temperamentum caliâ—is that which was in the cup his bloud Namely if our Lord were not verie man Againe Taking the bread which is a creature the Lord said that it was his body the cup his bloud c. And we say the same also that is sacramentally And as for our aduersaries Thom. p. 3. q. 75. art 8. if they will haue it to be really let them remember themselues of Thomas his Maxime That it cannot be auouched in sound Diuinitie That the bread is the reall bodie of Christ but that it is an assertion of their owne That the Catholike Church did neuer speak so c. For as concerning that which Bellarmine alleadgeth out of Ireneus against vs How will they say Râ—latm l. 2. c. 5. 6. that the flesh falleth into corruption and receiueth not life which is nourished of the bodie and bloud of our Lord taking it in such grosse manner hee ought to call to his remembrance that which he said handling the place of Iustine That there is not a fowler errour then to say That the bodie and bloud of our Lorde ordained for the nourishment of our soules do turne and worke to the nourishment of our bodies Clement of Alexandria Clem. Alex. in â—edag l. 1. The flesh and bloud of Christ that is the nourishment of faith of the promise Againe That that which was blessed was wine and not Accidents he sheweth it saying I will not drinke any more of the fruit of this vine c. And againe There is a double bloud of Christ Hoc est bibere c. the one carnall by the which wee are redeemed the other spirituall by the which we are annointed And This is to drinke the blood of Christ to be partakers of the incorruption of the Lord c. Tertullian Tertul. l. 4. aduers Marcion c. 40. He made the bread which he tooke and distributed to his Apostles his bodie saying This is my bodie that is to say the figure of my bodie Where we haue to note that by this Hoc this he vnderstandeth not an Indiuiduum vagum as our aduersaries doe but the bread and not a bread either vanished away of it selfe or transformed into an other nature but a bread of a sacramentall condition and qualitie in that it is the signe of the bodie of Christ yea the signe of a true bodie saith he For there could not possibly bee any figure if there were not a true bodie And from thence he reasoneth against Marcion which denyed the truth of his bodie Againe Come saith Ieremie let vs cast the wood into his bread verily into his bodie for God hath so reuealed it in our Gospell that is to say Idem ibid. l. 3. c. 19. Idem aduers cund l. 1. c. 14. the Gospell of Saint Thomas calling the bread his bodie to the ende that from thence thou mayest know that hee hath giuen
heauenly word c. What is there saith Bellarmine more cleare then this But and if it bee so cleare a case let him answere vs why Thomas of Aquin Thom. part 3. Summ. q. 75. art 8. and all those after him condemne this Proposition of Saint Ambrose That the flesh or body of Christ is made of the bread It being obserued saith hee That it cannot be properly said that of a not essence an essence may bee made c. And if it cannot be said properly must it not then needes be improperly And who can or ought to make this impropernesse propernesse better then himselfe Therefore he addeth But seest thou the efficacie of the word of Christ And if then it haue such vertue in it selfe that the things that were not doe thereby beginne to be as namely in the creation Vt sint quae erant in aliud commutentur How much more effectually shall it worke and bring to passe that things be againe that which they were before and that they may bee changed into an other thing Now then what meaneth this To be that which they were but to continue in their nature And by consequent To be changed into an other thing but to change their condition vse Bellarmine taketh himself to haue plaid the tall fellow when he aunswereth that Saint Ambrose vnderstandeth that they are the same that they were without but not within And is it enough to say so But Saint Ambrose himselfe easeth vs of all these cauils in an other place Ambros de iis qui myster initiant The true flesh of Christ saith hee is that which was crueified and buried Of this true flesh the Sacrament is a Sacrament and our Lord doth proclaime it This is my bodie before the blessing of the heauenly words an other kind is named after the consecration the bodie of Christ is signified and before the consecration another thing is said after the consecration it is named bloud What is that then in Saint Ambrose by Saint Ambrose himselfe The bread by the consecration to bee made the bodie of Christ the Cup his bloud Euen to be made Sacraments to signifie to point out the bodie and bloud of Christ But he must not plaie the wrangler here and say That by the word Kinds he vnderstandeth the apparant accidents of bread and wine as the transubstantiators haue afterward said For when he saith Before the blessing of words another kind is named by kinds he cannot but vnderstand the substances of bread wine for are they not as yet according to their owne speeches bread and wine And againe this age of the world had not yet learned that Accidents are called Kinds But he doth yet further explaine himselfe Ambros de Sacram. l. 4. c 4 by the comparison of Baptisme Peraduenture thou sayest I see not the kind of bloud But saith he it hath the resemblance of it And what manner of resemblance For euen as thou hast receiued the resemblance of death Viz. in the dipping that is in Baptisme so hast thou drunke the resemblance of his precious bloud to the ende that there may not remaine any horrour of bloud and notwithstanding that it worketh the price of redemption Againe Thou thy selfe wast but thou wast an olde creature after thou wast consecrated thou didst beginne to become a new creature c. Now wee are of this iudgement with our aduersaries that there is not any Transubstantiation in Baptisme neither in the water which washeth Idem de sacr l. 6. c. 1. nor in the creature that is washed And this is the same that is said in an other place Thou tookest the Sacrament for a similitude or resemblance but thou inioyest in truth the grace and vertue of the nature I am saith he the bread of life that came downe from heauen but the flesh is not come downe from heauen Hee tooke flesh in earth of the Virgine Idem in 1. Cor. 11. c. Againe The Testament is ordained by bloud bloud is the restimonie of the gracious worke of God for a figure of the same we receiue the misticall Cup of bloud c. Saint Basill What doe these words profit vs Take eate This is my bodie To the end that eating and drinking Basil de Baptis in Moral we should remember our selues of him who is dead and risen againe for vs And he that recalleth not to his memorie thus much is said to eate vnworthily And he maketh mention againe of the same in his Morals In the Lithurgie attributed vnto him likewise after the consecration We draw neere saith he with assured confidence vnto thy holy Altar and setting thereupon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the resemblances of the holy body and bloud of thy Christ we praie thee that it would please thee of thy mercifulnesse and great bountie to cause thy holy spirit to come downe vpon vs and vppon the gifts there vnfolded and laid open and the same to blesse and sanctifie c. Now they could not before the consecration bee called resemblances or figures for they were but common bread and wine wee are of the same mind and further that they are so also after the consecration And neuerthelesse they are so called by Saint Basill Wherefore they are not really the body and bloud Bellarmine of three aunsweres made heereunto reiecteth two and cleaueth to the third That the body and bloud in the Eucharist are signes of the body bloud vpon the Crosse May we iudge that Saint Basill had euer any such intent that hee euer called the accidents Gifts vncouered and laid open that hee praied to GOD in the same tearmes to haue him to send downe his holy spirit vpon the assistants and vpon the bodie and bloud of his Sonne and that hee would blesse and sanctifie them by him c. Is it possible without blasphemie And after all was it not more readie for him to say simply Wee set before thee the holy body and bloud of thy Sonne c. They obiect these words vnto vs Basil de Spir. S. ad Amphiloc Who is he amongst the holy Fathers that hath left vnto vs in writing the words of inuocation at such time as the bread of the Eucharist and Cup of blessing are shewed Men praied vnto them saith Bellarmine and then they are not figures But hee saith not that they were praied vnto but rather that God was praied vnto at such time as men prepared themselues to be receiuers of the Sacraments Namely to this end that he wold giue vnto them to present thēselues to the same with reuerence humilitie repentance an approued faith c. And frō this place they should rather haue learned that after the consecration it is euermore bread it is euermore a cup. But say they wherfore should it be accompted rashnesse to touch thē there For S. Basil saith If such as present themselues rashly to the participating of things sanctified by men
Idem Serm. 2. de Baptisme c. 3. lie open to such great and grieuous threatnings what shall we say of him that sheweth himselfe rash and vnaduisedly carying himselfe against so great a misterie Verily wee will say with Saint Paul That he eateth and drinketh his owne condemnation not discerning the Lords body But wee may learne of the said Saint Basill in the same place that such touching is not meant of the body but of the soule For saith he By so much the more as he is greater then the Temple c. so much the more is it to be feared to approach rashly to touch with an impure and filthy soule the body of Christ then to come neere vnto sheepe and Oxen c. Out of Gregorius Nyssenus the brother of Saint Basill they cite a place Gregor de vita Mosis but it maketh nothing at all for them for hee intreating of the Manna saith The bread that came downe from heauen which is the true mâ—ate which is signified in this historie is not a thing without a body For how should a thing without a body become foode and sustenance to a body This would be to purpose against such as should denie the veritie of the body of Christ and further can it not serue But and if they should gather from it that common bread by consecrating may be made the heauenly bread and the heauenly bread a body to nourish our bodies they should sinne many waies against themselues for they will not graunt that either the bread may bee made a body neither yet that it entreth into the nourishment of the body whereupon it remaineth that wee vnderstand this place by the Councell of Nice That the Sacrament to become profitable both to soule and bodie is made vnto vs a seale of the resurrection c. But will wee plainely know this Fathers meaning The bread saith he in the beginning is common Idem de Bapt. but the misterie hauing made it sacred it is called and is the body of Christ and so the wine and beeing things of small accompt before the blessing after the same which proceedeth of the spirit they worke excellently What then is there any transmutation of the substance Thus saith he by the newnesse of the blessing the same power that is to say of the holy Ghost maketh the Minister reuerend and seperated from the vulgar sort for of one of the multitude of the people which he was yesterday he is sudainely become a Master and teacher of pietie and a super-intendent of the hidden and pro found misteries and al this without any maner of change made either in his body or forme Thus againe the Altar is holy and yet it is but a common stone not differing from others that walles are made of but this commeth to passe by the dedicating of it to God Let vs reason from thence therfore neither the bread nor the wine are changed in themselues neither in their bodies or formes but onely in that of common ones they are made sacred and sanctified instruments of God to exhibite vnto vs his grace c. Gregorius Nazianzenus Eate the body and drinke the bloud without beeing confounded and doubting c. and denie not faith vnto the things which are named of the flesh and Passion of our Lord c. that is to say Bee not offended as are the Iewes and Gentiles at the Crosse and infirmities of Christ But say they hee calleth it Eating and drinking c. And who will doubt of that We doe not contend about the thing but the manner Verily saith he let vs become partakers of the Passeouer and yet notwithstanding spiritually Greg. Nazianz in orat 2. de Pasch although this Passeouer bee more manifest then the old For the Passeouer of the Law I speake it boldly was a more obscure figure of a figure c. And then ours also is but a figure but yet a more cleare and plaine figure And in the funerals of his sister Gorgonia Idem in funere Gorg. If said he her hand had in any part clasped and laid close hold vppon any thing of the representations and resemblances of the precious body or bloud of Christ c. Then they continued resemblances that is to say figures after the consecration For otherwise who would belieue that these holy persons more zealous verily and bearing more reuerence vnto sacred things then they of this age would haue permitted these women to touch them thus with their hands and so to carie traile them vp and downe their houses Optatus doth agrauate the furious outrages of the Donatists in these words Optat. aduers Parm. l. 2. You haue broken downe the Altars whereupon heretofore you haue offered whereupon the vowes of the people and the members of Christ haue beene carried from whereof many haue receiued the pledges of eternall saluation the protection of faith and the hope of the resurrection you haue broken the cups the bearers of the bloud of Christ c. The Altar which is the seate of his bodie and of his bloud c. Who seeth not that all this must be figuratiuely taken and that the first figures doe binde vs to the others Verily after the same manner that the members of Christ that is to say the faithfull and their vowes haue beene carried vpon the Altar that is to say in spirit in the same the body and bloud haue beene set there also the Cups haue beene the bearers c. And in like maner when he saith The pledge of eternall life the hope of the resurrection what other thing is this then that which the Councell of Nice said Pledges of our resurrection And at the least of that which he saith afterward What offence hath Christ done you whose body and bloud at certaine moments dwelt in these Altars They should haue learned that this could not bee spoken or vnderstood but of the vse celebration of the holy supper and that at that time they had not kept them in a tabernacle vpon the Altar that they might be there still resident and worshipped continually And as little dooth that proue Ephrem l. de natur Dei nimium scrutanda which they alleadge of Saint Ephrem Why seekest and searchest thou saith he for things that are past finding out Thou wilt leaue off to be faithfull any longer and fall to becurious For whome may this saying better fit then the embracers of transubstantiation for they haue vndertakeÌ„ to examine these misteries by Auerrhoes and Aristotle But rather saith hee be faithfull and innocent be partaker of the immaculate bodie of thy Lord by a most euen faith Assure thy selfe that thou eatest the same Lambe whole and intire c. These things surpasse all admiration he hath giuen vs fire and spirit to eate and drinke that is his bodie and his bloud c. Fire then and spirit which are not laid hold on or taken with the hand but spiritually but
the carrion shall bee Idem hom 24. in 1. Cor. c. 10. thither will the Eagles resort The Eagles saith he to shew that it greatly standeth him vpon that wil come neere to this body to pitch his flight in the highest and loftiest degree and that he haue nothing to doe with the earth that he looke vp vnto behold the Sun of righteousnes And that he haue the eye of his vnderstanding verie quicke and sharpe sighted for this table is a table for Eagles to feed vpon and not the Crowes They are to thinke saith he in an other place Idem hom 60. ad Pop. Antioch Idem in Psal 144.133 in Mat. hom 7. 90. Idem in Ep. ad Caesar Monach Idem in oper impers hom 11. in Iohan. That they taste and feed on him that is set on high worshipped of Angels They are to rise vp to the gates of heauen to looke vpon him he filleth the spirit not the belly He distributeth the holy things vnto them that are holy Thou maiest imbrace him but it must be with a pure conscience touch him but by rising in thy spirit soaring aboue the heauens But what is there in all this that maketh for the transubstantiators In the Epistle to Caesarius ther is a doubt put yet it is an old one The bread saith he before it be sanctified is called by vs bread but after that it is sanctified by the grace of God c. it is thoght worthy to be called by the name of the body of our Lord notwithstanding that the nature of bread doe still abide in it c. And in an other place If it be daungerous to conuert sanctified vessels to priuate vses there being not in them the verie bodie of Christ but the misterie of his body then how much more the vessels of our bodies which God hath prepared for his owne habitation c. Whether Chrysostome Maximinus or some other were the Author of this booke so it is that he speaketh as was then the vse and custome and according to the faith receiued in the Church For as concerning that which Bellarmine saith that a certaine disciple of Berengarius did insert it it is as easie for vs to denie as it is hard and difficult for him to proue Saint Ierome speaketh not any otherwise Hieronym in Mat. 26. After saith hee that the Passeouer was accomplished and the flesh of the Lambe eaten with the Apostles he tooke bread which comforteth the heart of man and passeth forward to the Sacrament of the true Passeouer to the end that as Melchisedec Gods high Priest offering for a presiguration of him had done he also might represent the truth of his body Bellarmine laboureth in this place to turne represent into present or offer Idem ad Hedâ—â— but S. Ierome will expound himselfe If saith he the bread which is come downe from heauen be the body of Christ and the wine his bloud shed for manye for the remission of sins c. let vs ascend with the Lord into this great hall c. and let vs receiue of him there on high the cup of the new Testament and there celebrating with him the Passe-ouer let vs bee drunken with him with the wine of sobrietie c. Then it is here below that it doth represent him and on high that it presenteth and offereth him They replie If saith he The bread which he brake and gaue to his Disciples be the body of our Sauior then our Lord himselfe est conuina conuiuium both the guest and the feast he which eateth he which is eaten c. Not verily after the letter for Belarmine would be loth to blame S. Ierome of heresie and this is their heresie That the bread may be the body of Christ And therefore in a mysterie Idem in 1. Cor c. 11. in a figure for a remembrance for a pledge c. And he himselfe also doth vse al these words Hee tooke the bread saith hee and blessing it as he should suffer left it to vs for his last remembrance as he which goeth into strange countries leaueth some one or other token of remembrance with his friend c. which he can hardly looke vpon without weeping And this is in handling the matter of the supper Idem aduers Ioum. l. 2. C. de hac quidem de Consecr D. 2. In an other place He offered wine for a figure of his bloud c. for a figure of his Passion to approue the truth of his body And vpon Leuiticus Of this oblation saith he which is maruelously made for a remembrance of Christ it is permitted to eate but it is not permitted to any according to his own sence to eate of that which Christ hath offered vpon the Altar of the Crosse What becoÌ„meth then of that which they say that the very same is taken in of men at their mouthes And what distinction shall it be possible for S. Ierome to make therein But that that that is to say the Sacrament is taken and receiued with the mouth but this that is the thing is receiued by faith And this is the same that he saith in an other place In Ep. ad Hedâ—â—t In Eccles c. 3 Idem in 1. Cor 11. In Esa c 66. That all those that haue put on Christ in Baptisme doe eate the bread of Angels that we are fed with his flesh both in the Sacraments as also in the Scriptures That they which haue had the same in such sort as to bee fed therewith must haue a cleane and a new spirit Comparing the receiuing of Christ in the supper with that receiuing of him which is in Baptisme and in the word Againe That the flesh of Christ is vnderstood two waies Either spiritually and diuinely whereof it is said My flesh is truely meate c. Or for that which was crucified and pearced with the Souldiers speare That then is the Sacramentall that is to say the Eucharisticall bread so called for the straite vnion of the Sacrament and the thing c. And this the real into which we are grafted and implanted by the vertue of the holy Ghost crucified in it to be glorified with it c. For as for that which our aduersaries say that that is his flesh which cannot suffer and this his flesh that is subiect to suffering they should remember themselues how that this is spoken many ages after our Lords glorification whose flesh as they themselues hold cannot any more become subiect to suffering S. Idem ad Eph. c. August q. â—7 In Leuâ—t ad Eund cont Maxim l. 3. c. 22. Idem Ep. 23. ad Boâ—â—â—ac Augustine commeth We haue seene his Maximes heretofore as so many preparatiues to the deciding of this matter Hee said vnto vs The fathers haue eaten the same meate that we in the Sacraments and he gaue vs the holy supper for an example Againe The signes of eatimes
to morrow c. And this is to bee noted against hereafter and for that there bee some that alleadge it vnder the name of Origen And that the effect thereof is the dwelling of Christ in vs by his spirit But saith hee he entreth into vs by faith Theodoret Theodor. dial 1. who was present at the Councel of Ephesus and Chalcedon decideth this question dealing against the Eutichians saying Our Lord giuing the misteries called the bread body and the wine wherein the sop had beene dipped bloud Then the Orthodoxe brought in in that Dialogue yeeldeth a reason to the Erranist that is to him that disputed with him and maintained the errour saying Verily hee chaunged the names giuing to the body the name of the signe and to the signe the name of the body And that in the same manner that he called himselfe a Vine he called the signe bloud And againe hee giueth the reason To the end saith he that they which are partakers of the diuine misteries doe not rest themselues vppon the nature of things which are seene but that because of the chaunge of the names they belieue the chaunge which is wrought by grace For he that calleth his naturall body corne and bread c. hath honoured the visible notes and signes with the name of his bodie and bloud not by chaunging their nature but by adding grace to their nature c. Which is as much as if he should say vnto vs that This is my body This is my bloud should be expounded by these wordes of the same our Lord I am the bread of heauen I am the stocke of the vine c. In an other place Idem Dial. 2. The mysticall signes saith the Orthodoxe which are offered to God by the ministers of God are the signes of the bodie and bloud of our Lord. But saith he to the Erranist Thou hast entangled thy selfe in thine owne snares for they forsake not their owne natures after the sanctification but abide in their first substance figure forme palpable and to be felt as before c. And he that shall compare Bellarmines answeres by his sensible Accidentes with the text of Theodoret which is worthie the reading throughout shall find them altogether fond and friuolous In the meane time we con him heartie thankes Gelas de duab natur in Christ for that he so freely confesseth that Gelasius whether hee were Pope or Bishop of Cesarea is of the same opinion with Theodoret as he was also liuing in the same time Certainly saith hee it is a diuine thing as also the Sacramentes of the bodie and bloud of Christ which we receiue for thereof and by them we are made partakers of the diuine nature and notwithstanding they cease not to bee the substances of bread and wine And verily the image and semblance of the bodie and bloud of Christ are celebrated in the action of the Sacraments Note Image and semblance that is to say The figure and not the thing Againe Which abide in their first substance of bread and wine Is it enough to say that by the word substance he vnderstood accidents Leo the first Bishop of Rome Leo 1. ep 23. ad Cler. pleb Constant In the mysticall distribution of the spirituall food that is giuen that is taken to the end that receiuing the vertue of this celestiall meate we might be turned into his flesh which is made our flesh Looke how many words there be so many breaches are there made vpon transubstantiation Mysticall distribution that is to say sacramentall Spirituall food the vertue of the heauenly meate to bee turned or chaunged into his flesh which is made our flesh For this is not wrought by any disgesting of the flesh as they pretend They obiect againe for the rest will carrie the question away Idem serm 6. dereiunio 7. mens That is receiued in at the mouth which is belieued by faith And therefore say they it is receiued in at the mouth whereas wee on the contrarie expound him by S. Augustine Thou takest the bread of the Lorde in at thy mouth if thou belieuest with thy heart Thou takest the bread of the Lord to thy condemnation if thou belieuest not And thus that which thou belieuest by faith thou receiuest at thy mouth be it vnto thy condemnation or be it vnto thy saluation Hesychius If his bodie had not beene crucified we should not haue eaten him Hesychius in Leuit. l. 1. c. 2. l. 2. c. 8. l. 6. c. 22 for the meat that we now eate is that wee receiue the memoriall of his passion Againe Hee forbiddeth vs once to thinke or conceiue any earthly or carnall thing of the holy thinges and commandeth vs to receiue them diuinely and spiritually c. And it was a custome in his time as he himselfe testifyeth To burne all that which remained of the Sacrament in the fire An argument that they had not receiued any such opinion in the Church then as is at this day But they haue a conceipt that they shall reape a better crop out of Eusebius Emissenus not that Greeke of whome S. Ierome speaketh for seeing he speaketh of the Pelagians it cannot be he but the author of the sermon De corpore Domini a Latine no doubt whome some take to bee Faustus Rhegiensis others Caesarius and the later writers some one some an other but both of them Abbots of Lirin Let vs heare him Let all doubting or wauering of faith depart far away from vs. Herein we agree C. Quia corpus de consec D. 2. This sacrifice must be in deed by faith not by the outward appearance by the inward affection not by the outward sight And in that also But say they The inuisible Priest chaungeth his visible creatures into the substance of his bodie and bloud by his word by a hidden and secret power Marke the inuisible Priest and not the visible or minister But so it is say they that he chaungeth it euen in conscience taking these wordes after the letter would they subscribe vnto them could they approue them by their owne Maximes That it is an errour yea an heresie to hold that the bread may be made the bodie of Christ that it may be turned into the bodie of Christ Against their Glose also vpon the word Conuertantur which expressely condemneth disaluoweth this proposition De paue fit corpus Christi and alleadgeth the inconueniences thereof c. Let vs then expound him by himselfe and not by our preiudicate opinions In the Sacrament saith he seeing that our Lord remoued his bodie farre away from our eies it was necessarie that he should consecrate the Sacrament of his bodie and bloud in the day of the Supper To the end saith he that Coleretur iugiter per mysterium C. Semel Christ de consecr D. 2. that might be continually celebrated by a mysterie which had beene once offered for the price of our redemption and that as
because of his blessing of it but not to be adored or worshipped as his essence or proper person In like manner none of all the East churches did euer admit adoration neither those that are vnder the gouernment and iurisdiction of the Patriarke of Constantinople Aluares nor those vnder the iurisdiction of Antioch And the Abyssines also at this day do receiue the communion standing though that with great reuerence and besides though they bee of the same iudgement with vs in the adoration and worship due to our Lord whom S. Iohn say the fathers worshipped and adored being as yet in the virgines wombe whom saith a certaine writer if the doctrine of transubstantiation had place the Church should haue in like manner worshipped in the stomackes of the Ministers and faithfull people and euery man in his neighbour But this thing neuer came into the mind of any man once to thinke or imagine What shall we say The old writers did not call the Sacrament their Lord. Cypr serm de laps when furthermore they labour to bring credite vnto the same from antiquitie as though the old writers had called the Sacrament Their Lord and their God But let vs see with what pretence or shadow of truth S. Cyprian reporteth that it came to passe in his time that a certaine man who had renounced God for feare of persecution taking the holy communion in the companie of Christians opening his hand found the sacrament turned into ashes This miracle saith he may be a lesson vnto vs that the Lord withdraweth himselfe when men denie him that is to say that he forsaketh them which renounce him They gather notwithstanding that the Lord of whome he speaketh is the Sacrament The Lord verily forsaketh such a one as denyeth him Is it then the Sacrament which hath denied him or man Verily man and not the Sacrament And God then doth not here forsake the Sacrament but man But God for an euident signe that he hath forsaken man doth also leaue him destitute of the Sacrament Paul Diacon l. 15. So as Deuterius an Arrian Bishop would haue baptised a man after his manner the water dried vp sodainly in the font Saint Cyprian might here haue said as before That God did teach vs thereby that he did withdraw himselfe that is to say that he would take away his grace when we abused it but he had not therefore gathered thereof that the water was God because he had shewed his wrathfull indignation in drying it vp Cypr. in orat Domin Again We beg and craue saith S. Cyprian that our bread that is to say Christ may be giuen vs euerie day And who doubteth that Christ is our bread the bread come downe from heauen which giueth life to the world that he may be our life our way c. But S. Cyprian saith not that the Sacrament is Christ but the wordes that follow doe make him plaine To the end saith hee that wee may dwell and liue in Christ and that we may not at any time seperate and put our selues farre away from his sanctification and bodie But this abode and dwelling as he told vs is made by faith This coniunction is not a mixture of substances Idem serm de caena Domin Se infundit Tertul. de baptism but an agreement of wils c. But they yet set his words further on the racke causing him to call it God For say they hee saith That by an vnspeakeable manner the diuine essence is infused into the Sacrament Therefore it is God And then also we will call the water in baptisme God For Tertullian saith That the holy Ghost descendeth from the father and resteth himselfe vpon the waters of baptisme Saint Ambrose That the whole Trinitie sanctifieth them Paulinus in his verses That this water doth euen conceiue God Augu. de baptism cont Donat l. 3. c. 10. l 1. c. 19. Câ—pr de vnct chrysmat or by God Saint Augustine That God is present with his word and Sacraments And there is not one amongst vs that doubteth thereof yet what one amongst them all is there that wil say that the water is God What is meant then by that which S. Cyprian saith The diuine power is shed vpon the visible Sacrament Verily the same which he saith in an other place In the Sacramentes the diuine power doth worke most mightily and powerfully the truth is present with the signe Adest signo and the spirit with the Sacrament c. Chrysostome Let vs draw neere vnto the body of our Lord with honor and cleannesse And when thou shalt see it proposed or set vpon the Table say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in thy selfe and not to the Sacrament not to that which thou seest set before thee for the Grammaticall construction will not suffer it because of this body I am not any more earth and ashes c. Of this body towards whom he exhorted vs in the sentences going before to flie vp on high after the manner of Eagles Of that body then which is at the right hand of the father not in the hands of the Minister Of that body in a word which is not inclosed in the bread but signified by the bread whereof hee hath said vnto thee before What signifieth the bread The body of Christ. And indeed he speaketh vnto thee to come vnto the Sacrament with reuerence but to GOD with feruencie of loue and firmenesseof faith And that thou shouldest set before thy selfe in the same at that instant thine owne miserie and his mercie that so thou maist bee a worthie partaker of this misterie Thy myserie in that thou art nothing but earth and ashes his mercie in that hee vouchsafeth to raise these ashes vnto glorie Thy miserie in that thou art nothing but sinne and corruption his mercie in that hee hath made his owne Sonne sinne for thee in that hee hath giuen his body to bee broken and his bloud to bee shed for thy transgressions And therefore comming vnto this Sacrament of the remembrance of his death August aduer Iudae c. 1. thou oughtest of good right say vnto him Because of this body I am no more earth and ashes But to approach or drawe neere thereunto saith Saint Augustine is to belieue The true and proper approaching is performed by the heart and not by the flesh by the power of faith Idem de peccat merit l. 1. c. 18. and not by the presence of the body c. As likewise to vs of Baptisme We are carried to Christ our Physition that wee may receiue the Sacrament of eternall saluation that is carried to Christ in Baptisme after the same manner that wee approach and draw neere vnto God in the Sacrament of the Eucharist who also saith the same vnto vs in the hearing of the word Chrysost hom 12. de mulier Cananaea Draw neere vnto him which is preached vnto
was forbidden in the Councell of Laodicea Can. 14. And therefore there was but a little kept because that in the feruent zeale of those times the holy supper was celebrated almost euerie day and that a great deale lesse then the water of the Fonts which for all that was neither transubstantiated nor worshipped And this was the custome of the Church Some of superstition carried it into their houses and some women would wrap it vp in their handkerchefs lockt it vp in their Coffers and eate it at their owne houses c. Now let men iudge if the first ages of the Church did euer take the Sacrament to be God if it would haue suffered these prophanations But these examples are worthie to be as much accompted of in the Church as theirs that vsed to put it in childrens mouthes abusing this place If any man eate my flesh c. or of others who would put it in the mouthes of those that were dead c. being practises that haue beene condemned by many Councels And they are happily vanished and worne away of themselues howsoeuer they were grounded vppon verie auncient tradition euen since the time of Tertullian and S. Cyprian as also by the ordinance of Charlemaine That the Ministers should haue the Eucharist consecrated euerte day L. 1. c. 161. for children Because they had no other staie or foundation then the Scripture misunderstood The custome likewise being not of keeping it but of giuing it to them which were in extremitie grew hereupon that many sinking and shrinking away vnder the heate of persecution they were excluded and put from the Sacraments by the seueritie of this first discipline and that euen to the hower of death whereto the famous storie of Serapio is to bee referred And then that they might be comforted by their being receiued into the peace and Communion of the Church hauing giuen tokens of repentaunce the Ministers of the Church accompanied with their friendes did communicate vnto them the holy Supper and oftentimes also did communicate with them Againe wee reade not in all those 800. yeares The questions moued in these latter ages were not heard of in the first no not of 800. yeares after Christ which fall into the time of Charlemaine in any of the bookes of those graue and holy Doctors any of the questions wherewith the Schooles were afterward filled The people which read and heard the word of God and his seruice in their owne language was wonted to the phrases and manners of speeches vsed in the Scriptures the sheepe of the Lord did heare and vnderstand his voice and rested contented and satisfied therewith Barbarisme brought into the Church did beget these barbarous Expositions and consequently these blasphemous questions not as they are barbarous If our Lord do leaue heauē to come into the place of bread If in comming thither he passe through the ayre If he doe forsake the same againe so soone as the kind is striken vpon with the tooth or else if he goe downe into the stomacke and being in the stomacke whether he rest therin altogether and how long staying in the stomack whether he waite and attend there till the forme of the bread at the least bee disgested whether he chaunge himselfe at such time into the soule or body of the Communicant or whether he vanish into nothing or else returne to heauen Whether the accidents of bread and wine doe cleaue vnto him or else abide hanging in the ayre Whether the Priest in remouing the host doe remoue the body of Christ or the accidents onely Or rather whether the Priest remouing the accidents God do fit and accommodate the bodie of Christ to this mouing Againe Whether the thing nourished or rather poysoned as it is to be seene become a new substance which God createth in the stomacke and whereunto they fasten themselues Whether the body of Christ bee whole and all in euerie part of the host or at the least in those parts which are to be seene by an indifferent and meane sight as also the bloud in any the least drop Whether he be there alwaies standing his head turned toward the Priest c. Or else after the same manner of position and placing that he is in heauen set or otherwise and whether hee be there clothed or naked Whether the Priest be able to consecrate all the bread and wine of the world or that onely which is before him And whether that which he seeth onely or that also which he seeth not prouided that hee be equally distant from the one and the other Whether the words become of sufficient power being spoken once or many times to consecrate many hosts And what the words must bee whether those that our Lord spoke when he blessed the signes which we know not or those fower Hoc est corpus meum Or whether Enim bee requisite and necessarie thereto or not Or else Quod pro vobis datur c. Whether the intent of the Priest bee requisite if not actuall yet at the least habituall or inclining or disposed Whether that Christ bee entred into the bread after this word Hoc is spoken or after Est or the whole fiue words Whether he enter into the same seeing hearing speaking doing all that which he seeth heareth c. in heauen or else blind deafe dumbe c. and a thousand such like which we shall see hereafter Questions such as we shall not find any step or trace of in all the writings of the reuerend old Fathers as neither of their doctrine Whereat these good fathers would bee afraid and ashamed if they should liue againe and which verily I should haue made conscience to haue vttered if conscience did not bind me to discouer and vnfold the absurdities whereinto one falschood once receiued hath cast and plunged vs beeing also such as Dame impudencie her selfe would blush at howsoeuer that strumpet clothed with Scarlet died in the bloud of the Martyrs of Christ doe not blush thereat at all CHAP. VIII What hath beene the originall proceeding and increase of the opinion of Transubstantiation vnto the yeare 1215. And how it was ratisied and established by a decree in the Councell of Laterane THus then we see what the opinion was not onely of the first old writers but of all almost the later concerning the holy supper and how far off it was from that which is receiued at this day And now it onely remaineth that we see how it is transubstantiated by what degrees manner of proceeding The originall of Transubstantiation which worke wee will frame and applie our sclues in these our next labours to set downe Now it is a fresh to bee set before our eyes that the first zeale of Christendome beeing decaied and dead Christians came but fewe and seldome to the receiuing of the holy Sacrament in so much as that we haue heard those good Fathers complaining of the same in their Sermons and forced to