grace in shamelesse lyes But heere I would beseech the diligent reader to iudge betweene vs and them indifferentlie Bellarmine the great Rabbi of the seminarie at Rome and the goâ—â—ah of that vncircumcised congregation gathereth what euer hee couldâ— find with his owne trauels or the trauels of the whole seminary which bee report serued him what euer had anye shew for his purpose Hee hath gathered together aboue a hundreth and nine places of all which I dare promise the diligent reader that hee hath not two which speaketh the thing which hee woulde haue In them all hee hath neither founde transubstantiation of the elements nor accidents without subiects nor subiects without accidentes nor the bodie of Christ rent with teeth nor that the accidentes are the outward signes in the sacrament nor that â—he bodie of Christ is at one time both in heauen and all other places where the sacrament is ministred nor any other of these new theoremes of the Romaine faith without a glose and that sometimes impertinent sometimes obscurer then the text sometimes repugnant to the text and alwayes peruerting the true sense of the author I hope that no man will count these allegationes equiualent except they proue all the theoremes and appendices of transubstantiation as cleerelye as wee haue done Notwithstanding whate uer they or we can doe in this kinde is no proofe of the truthe but a witnes of the consent of tymes Nowe in this place followeth next to be considered howe this monstrouse opinion of transubstantiation began to insinuate it self into the heartes of men in the ages following for from this time forth it beganne dailye to grow and to gather strength In the mysterie of the sacrament there is such a secrete sacred coniunction of Christs blessed flesh with the seales as we can not well vnderstaÌ„d nor is lawful for vs curiously to enquire but reuerentlye to beleeue that his bodie is the bread which came downe from heauen and giueth life vnto the worlde On Christs parte by the secret and vnseene efficacie of his diuinitie hee conuaieth him selfe into our soules to feede them vnto eternall life On our parts there is an action iointly of the soule and bodie the one receauing the elementes with the mouth of the bodie the other receauing the body and bloode of Christe bee the moâ—th of fâ—ith In this action the whole powers of the soule and body are occupied at one instant applying all the comforts of the senses to the soule The mouth tasting sweetnes presents sweetnes to the soule the stomach receauing refreshment mindeth the soule of refreshment The vitales receauing strength comfort life offers to the soule the strength comfort life that floweth from the bread of which who-so-euer eateth shall neuer hunger nor thirst againe To printe this analogie into our heartes and to lift our senses from the sensuall consideration of these present obiects to the spirituall contemplation of his absente flesh it pleased the wisdome of our Sauiour to name the figures of breade and wine his bodie and blood broken and shed for the faithfull partakers of these mysteries And that he doth not changing the substance as these men woulde haue vs weene but turning the vse of bodilie meate to present to our deepe speculation the meate that feedeth the soule to eternall life This besides the places alredie cited Theodoret about foure hundreth yeares after Christ teacheth as resolutelie as euer did either Zuinglius or Caluin his wordes ar these faithfullie translated because they are ouer long to set downe in his owne language Our Sauiour changed the names to the bodie giuing the name of the signe and to the signe giuing the name of the bodie His purpose is mantfest for he would haue them who did participate his diuine mysterie to haue no eye to the thing which they sawe but bee changing the names to appreheÌ„d the change made be grace For calling his naturall bodie bread meate and calling him self a vine hee honoured the signes with the names of his bodie and blood not changing their natures but adding grace to nature This example of our Sauiour all true preachers in all ages who laboured to instruct the heartes of men in these mysteries followed when they sawe the mindes baselye contented with the externall action manie tymes they amplifyed the presence of Christe with hyperbolicall argumentes of his diuine power to lift the heart from the elements to the thing presented be the elements For as mariners betweene two dangers in the seas beareth of that which they moste feare towardes that which they leaste suspect euen so these teachers drew the people froÌ„ the elements subiect to the sense towards a bodely presence contrarie to sense neuer surmizing that men woulde bee so credulouse as to take such hyperbolical amplificationes for simple suthes The deuill who hath alwaies beene reddie of good to take occasions of ill watered this weede with all helpes Firste hee bred in the heartes of men such a colde regarde of these holye mysteries that few resorted to them as it appeareth be the grieuous complaintes of the fathers of that age and lawes made be sundrie emperours to mende that fault Be this meanes he so incensed the harts of them who had the haÌ„dling of them yâ— no man thoght his eloqueÌ„ce sufâ—icieÌ„t to amplify the preseÌ„ce of Christ in the sacrament with high speeches to imprint a reverent estimatioÌ„ of these sacred mysteries in the dull heartes of the people This continued well nye three hundreth yeares without suspition of ill With the opinion of a corporall presence the deuil drew in be little and little that the verie bodie of Christ offered to the father in the masse was a sacrifice propitiatorie for the quick dead and the people as wee are all borne to superstition and idolatrie imbraced that more gredelie then any truth The Clargie spying the masses to become good marchandise and hopeing for greate cheates to the kitcâ—in bee that market put to their shoulders lifted the sacrifice aboue the sacrament So this weede grewe dailie as weedes commonly growes fastest till few could find the truth that onely such as diligently sifted the Scripturs and fathers of former times It was long before men grew so brasen faced as to denye the figure in the words of the institution The first that wee reade to haue commed so farre was Damascene about the yeare eight hundreth After him followed Pas casius and Theophylact wel nye a hundreth yeares These men broke the yce to them that followed but pearsed not into the depth of this diuinitie Transubstantiation of the elements accidents without subiects and subiects without accideÌ„tâ— the monstruous brude of the Romane Church were not yet clecked She had not yet sit vpon that egge neither was these men yet so well resolued as vpon all occasions to sing one song They disseÌ„ted in many things from them that followed and in sundry thinges from themselues At
the answere is cleare and reddie Christes flesh is the meare of the soule and not of the bodie of the minde and not of the mouth It is eaten be hearing chawed bee vnderstanding and digested bee faith saith Tertullian This our Sauiour teacheth him selfe who knew it better then the pope without sauing his holinesse and all the Iesuites to helpe him I am the breade of life saith he he that commeth to me shall not hunger and hee that beleeueth in me shall neuer thirst Out of which words this argument floweth To come to Christ and beleeue in him is to eate the breade of life that thou neuer hunger nor thirste againe But to come to Christ and beleeue in him is not to eate with thy tethe the reall flesh of Christ which was borne of the Virgine Marie Ergo to eate the reall flesh of Crhiste which was borne of the Virgine Marie with thy teeâ—hâ— is not to eate the bread of life that thou neuer huÌ„ger nor thirst a gain And a little after he that beleeueth in me hath euerlasting life I am the bread of life Which Syllogisme adding the proposition may haue this forme Whosoeuer beleeueth in the breade of life hath euerlasting life But I am the breade of life Ergo Whosoeuer beleeueth in me hath euerlasting life where you â—ee beleeuing for eating But that which followeth in the rebuke of them who tooke him to speake of a carnall and fleshlie eating is most pregnant It is the spirit which quickneth the flesh profiteth no thing the wordes that I speake are spirit and truth That is to saye it is the spiritual eating of my flesh that quickneth and giueth life the fleshlye and carnal eating of it can doe you no good For my wordes are spirituâ—ll and liuelie that is effectual to life In all that cap. he that will marke attentiuely shal finde that whole discourse with the câ—pernaites to be spiritual and the difference betweene them and him to bee their carnall concept of his spirituall wordes Hee shall finde the meate spirituall the life that it feedeth spirituall and the teethe that eateth spirituall There he shall finde that hee that eateeth not his flesh hath no life in him that is no spirituall life and hee that beleeueth in him hath eternall life that is to eate the breade of life that came downe from heauen and giueth life vnto the worlde Thirdlye Maister Rainolds againste Maister Robert Bruce reasoneth thus Christes bodie is there present where it is broken But it is broken in the sacrament Ergo it is present in the Sacrament To the maiore we answere that it is present in the Sacrament as it is broken in the Sacrament But it is broken onely in a figure and therefore is present onely in a figure But to the faithfull Christ presents in deede bee a divine communication with the Sacrament his verie bodie to feede the soule Bvt if he wer bodily in the Sacrament then the wicked would also participate his bodie which thing Christ himselfe denieth in Ioan. c. 6. v. 56 Fourthly the same man in the same place reasoneth out of the wordes of Moses concerning the olde couenante and the wordes of Christe concerning the newe thus That whereof Christe spoke is the bloode of the newe TestameÌ„t as â— whereof Moses spoke was the blood of the olde But yâ— whereof Moses spake was the verie bloode of the olde Testament Ergo that whereof Christe spoke was the verie bloode of the newe Testament Of this argument we deny the minor The blood of both couenants waâ— one the bloode of Christ Iesus who made the vnion in the olde Lawe betweene god them maketh the vnion in the new Testament betweene god and vs. The blood of beâ—es in the olde testameÌ„t was not the very blood of the covenant And therefore this man hath founde a knife to cut his owne throate The wine of the newe Testament is the bloode of the newe couenant as the bloode ofâ— beues and sheepe was the bloode of the olde couenant But the bloode of beues and sheepe was not the very blood of the olde couenant but a figure thereof Ergo the wine in the new Testament was not the very blood of the couenant but a figure thereof Lastly they cast vp to vs incredulity and not beleeuing the omnipotencie of Christ. They beare the worlde in hande that wee denying Christe to turne the bread into his bodie are more incredilous then sathâ—n who beleeued that he coulde make breade of stones To cast this sweete simile into the teethe that it came from These men are as captious as the devill Hee reasoned a potentiae ad actum If thou arte the Sonne of GOD command that these stones bee made breade they follow the same â—rade hee was the sonne of God Ergo he changed the breade into his flesh The question is not heare what Christ could doe but what he would doe We know and confesse as wel as they that Christ can doe what he will but will not doe all that he can To proue that Christs will was to doe a thing as I haue said so contrarious to nature so refuted bee sense it behooueth the testimonie to be without exception That Christ was borne of a virgine that he walked on the waters that hee turned water into wine these are the exemples of their induction the spirit of truth that cannot lye hath tâ—stified in plaine tearmes If that spirit had testified as plainely that in his last Supper hee turned the breade into his bodie and left nothing to our taste but accidents we should beleeue this as well as that and bee Gods good helpe haue stoode as surely to it as all the Iesuites since the first Iesuit Ignatius Laiola But seeing these proofes are noâ— thing but figured scriptures turned to their naked skinne wee hope that all Christians will abhore that vgly sinne to rend with mercilesse teethe his flesh that hath borne the horrour of hell â—o purchase mercie to vs. Heare they woulde faine buckle on vs an absurditie out of the words of the institution which we may not passe by In the wordeâ— This is my body which was broken for you The prononne this demonstrateth that which was broken for the sinnes of the elect But in our opinidion the pronoune this demonstrateth the breade Whereof say they it will follow that breade was broken for the sinnes of the elect Firste the maiore is not true for the pronoune this demonstrates not the thing but the figure of the thing tha was broken for the elect Secondly there is a parte of the maiore left out of the conclusion which should haue been expresseâ— Ergo the bread is the bodie which was broken for yâ— elect which conclusion is true in a figure And heare it is a world to see the blindnesse of these men for of their liâ—erall sense this absurditie will followe without a warde The pronoune
saieth Athanasius that hee ment not that they should eate his very bodie he telleth them that it shuld returne to heauen againe and that they should not haue it to eate Which thing August setteth down most plainely answering the same Capernaites Si ergo videritis filium homiâ—is ascendentem vbi erat Prius quid est hoc hinc apparet vnde fuerant scandalizati Illi enim put auerunt illum erogatâ—rum corpus suumâ—ille autem dixit se ascensurum in coelum vâ—ique integrum Cum videritis filium hominis ascendentem vbi fuerit prius certe vel tunc videbitis quia non eo modo quo putatis erogat corpus suum Certe vel tum intelligetis quod gratia eius non absumitur morsibus That is if you see the sonne of man ascending where he was before What is that heerof appeareth the ground of their offence For they thought that hee would exhibite to them his owne bodie But he telleth them that hee was to goe whole to heauen as if he woulde saye when you see the sonne of man ascending where hee was before then shall you see that he will not so bestowe his bodie as you thinke then shall you vnderstand that his grace can not bee consumed peecemaall or bit and bit This is that Christ him self teacheth The poore shall you haue alwaies but me you shall not haue alwayes that which Peter teacheth That the heauens must hould him while al things be restored This is that which our beleefe teacheth That he sitteth at the right â—and of his father Heere their distinction of his visible and vnuisible presence is a dreg of mans braine Christ him self neuer taught vs of that vnuisible preseÌ„ce And wee will not learne such deep mysteries at men who may deceaue and be disceaued that Christ can doe it we denyâ— not but that he will doe it we will beleeue no man but him self of whome we are sure that he will not lye Clemens Alexandrinus saith Duplex est sanguis domini alter carnalis quo redemptiâ— sumus alter spiritualis quo uncti sumus Et hoc est bibere Iesu sanguinem participem esse in corruptionis domini There is two sortes of the Lordes blood the one carnal where with we are redemed the other spirituall wherewith wee are anointed To drinke the Lords blood is to bee partaker of his puritie and incorruption Cirill saith Num humanae carnis coÌ„mestioneÌ„ hoc nostrum sacramentuÌ„ pronuncias et ad crassas cogitationes vrges irreligiose mentes â—orum qui crediderunt Et attentas tu humanis rationibus tractare ea quâ— sola et purafide accipiuntur Callest thou our Sacrament caniball barbaritie and presest irreligiouslie the minds of them that beleeue to grosse thoughts and aseyes thou to handle that with humaine reason which is receaued by pure faith onely Ambrose saith Fide tangitur Christus â—ide videtur non tangitur Corpore non oculis comprehenditur Christ is touched be faith and seene be faith Hee is not handled with the handes nor seene with the eies August saith Dominus dixit se panem qui descendit de câ—lo hortans vt credamus in illum hoc est manducare panem vivum qui credit in illum manducat The Lorde saide that he is the bread which came downe from heauen exhorting vs to beleeue in him for that is to eate the breade of life that came downe from heâ—uen He that beleâ—ueth in him eateth him Bee these places you see that to eate Christ is to beleeue in Christ and pertake his puritie and that hee is eaten onely be faith not with the teethe Theodoret saith Christus naturam panis non mutat sed naturae addit gratiam Christe changeth not the nature of the breade but to nature addeth grace And againe Post consecrationem mystica signa non exuunt naturam suam manet enum prior substantia forma et species The mysticall signes after consecration puteth not of there owne nature for the former substance forme and shape abideth Ambrose saith Sunt que eraut et sn aliud commutantur they are the same thing they were before that is breade and wine and are turned to on other that is turned to an other vse to present to vs the bodie and bloode of our Sauiour to feede our soules spirituallie Gelasius saith in sacramento manet panis et vini substantia In the sacramentes the substance of breade and wine remaineth Irenaeus saithâ— Quemadmodum qui est aterra panis percipiens vocationem domini iam non est communis panis sed eiu haristia ex duabus rebus constans terrena et celestâ— sic et corpora nostra percipientia cucharistiam iam non sunt corruptibilâ—a spem resurrectionis habentia As the breade growing out of the earth receauing the Lords institution is no more common breade but the eucharist consisting of two things the one earthlie the other heauenly So our bodies receauing the eucharist are no more corruptible hauing hope to rise againe Be these fathers it is cleere that the substance of the bread abideth and that the eucharist that is the communion of thankes giueing consisteth of an earthlie and a heauenly thing To conclud this matter Chrysostom saith in Vasis sanctificatis non ipsum corpus Christiest sed mysterium eius continetur In the sacred vessels the verie bodye of Christ is not but a mistery thereof And August saith more peremptorily Non hoc corpus quod videtis manducaturi estis non bibituri sanguinem quem fusuri sunt qui me crucifigent sed sacramentum vobis aliquod commendaui You are not to eate the bodie which you see nor to drinke the blood which they are to shed who will crucifie me But I commended a certaine mysterie to you c. In these places which I haue quoted you haue plainely without any glosse al that we teach and beleeue of this sacrament That the words of the institution are figuratiue That the action of eating and drinking these mysteries is spirituall That the bodie of Christe is receaued bâ— faith not be the mouth That the wordes of the institution are to bee taken literallie That the body of Christe which suffered for our sinnes is in heauen not in the SacrameÌ„t That to eat the flesh of Christ is to beleeue in him That the substance of the breade and wine abideth and is not transubstantiated And lastly that the body of Christ is neither in the holie vessels nor eaten be them who receaueth this sacrament All these thinges I haue heere proued I saye in plaine categoricall wordes which the aduersaries can not avoide without most odious and absurd gloses which the actours neuer knewe nor thought Yet not-withstanding they vendicat these fiue hundreth yeares as the other fiue hundreth also vntill the dayes of Berengarius and beareth the ignorant in hand that all is theirs without contradiction They haue such a confident
neuer was Of the wicked Paull saith hee that eateth this breade and drinketh of this cuppe vnworthely eateth and drinketh his owne damnation He saith not hee that eateth the bodie drinketh the bloode of Christ vnworthely And heare I dare lay my heade which I will not giue for the popes heade and his triple Crowne too that all the Schooles in Roome and Remes shall neuer proue be the Scripture that the body of Christ can be eaten vnworthely Howe oft doth hee promise himselfe in Iohn eternall life sumtime to him that eateth his flesh sometime to him that beleeueth Whereof it is manifest that none eateth his flesh vnworthely seeing that all that eateth of it shal haue eternal life This besides the place quoted be Lumbard that worthy Fatder August in Iohn tract 26. striketh dead Sacramentum quibusdam ad vitam quibusdam ad mortem sumitur res vero cuâ—us est sacramentum omnibus ad vitani nulli ad mortem That is some receaueth the sacrament to life some to death but that whereof it is the sacrament bringeth life to all death to none Seuenthly in the fore cited wordes of Paull He that â—ateth of this breade and drinketh of this cuppe vnworthelie eaâ—eth and drinketh his owne damnation We find this argument The elements in the Sacraments remaine that which Paull be the spirit of God doth call chem But Paull be the spirit of god doth cal them bread and wine and that after the consecration or else they coulde not bee receaued vnworthely nor drawe on so heauy a iudgment as to be guilty of the Lords body and blood Ergo the elements in the Sacrament remaineth breade and wine and are not changed into the naturall bodie and blood of Christ. Heare the base shift that the Apostle vseth the names which they seeme for the names which they are will not houlde for that were to feede the errour of the fenses and to brangle the foundation of faith which thing bee farre from this Apostle who trauâ—lled so faithfullye and discreit ye 〈◊〉 Apostleshipe Heare thou hast seauen argumentes gentle reader thâ— weakest of all which if wee hade no more were sufficient to beare out this cause with greater probability then any that our aduersarie hath to the contrary The firste thirde fifth and sixth concludeth the negatiue that the breade and wine are not the reale and essentiall bodie of our Sauiour The second proueth that they are types anâ— figures of Christ exhibited for the ransome of our sinnes The fourth and seuenth that the bread and wine remaineth in their owne natures and are not transubstantâ—aâ—ted as the Church of Rome laboureth â—o earnestly to bring the worlde to beleeue And so of these seuen arguments four erefutes the aduersarie and three confirmes the truthe Nowe that the Church maintained this truth as she receaued it from Christ and his Apostles for more then fiue hundreth years after Christ I wil proue bee the the testimonies of the fathers who liued and taught the Church in that age And heare I woulde praye the reader not to mistake me I alleadge not these testimonies to confirme this truth as not sufficiently proued already or to ad more authoritie to the testimonies of the scripture for we acknowledge the authoritie of the word of God to haue that Maiestie that if all the world did say against it yet it remained the certaine trueth of the eternall God who is trueth it selfe and can not lye And wee greatly lament the miserie of this age wherein there is so many fouÌ„d and of them some who knew the truth to oppose them selues against so manifest a light But seeing bee the peruersnes of man and malice of the deuill it is controuerted in my simple iudgment the consent of the Church is no small inducement to indifferentmen and a great slap in the aduersaries saill who beares the world in hand that they saill before the wind and that all the fathers of the primitiue Church doth rowe in their bardge Which confident assertion how false it is I hope with gods good help to make it manifest and to proue be their owne wordes that none of the fathers did euer know that transubstantiated monster which was whelped in the counsell of Rome fiue hundreth yeares after them and after that fostered in the bosome of that Church To beginne Tertullian who liued in the yeare two hundreth saieth of the eating of Christ in the Sacrament Auditu deuoâ—andus est intellectu ruminandus et fide digerendus That is bee hearing he is to bee eaten be vnderstanding chawed bee faith digested Chrysostom teacheth the same Magnus iâ—â—e panis qui replet mentem non ventrem This is the great bread which filles the minde and not the bellie And August Quid dentem et ventrem paraâ— crede et manducasti Why preparest thou thy teethe and thy bellie beleeue and thou hast eaten Cyprian saith esus eius carnis eâ—t quadam aviditas et desiderium manendi in Christo Quod est esus carni hoc est fides animae non dentes ad mordendum acuimus sed fide sinceva sanctum panem edinms The eating of his flesh is a certaine gredinesse and desire to dwell in Christe As eating is to the flesh so is faith to the soule We sharpe not our teethe to bruse but faith to eate that sacred bread Basilius saith est quoddam spirituale os interni hominis quo pascitur recipiens panem vitae qui descendit do caelo There is a spirituall mouth of the inward man bee which he is fed who eates the bread that came downe from heauen Be the testimonies of which fathers it is most cleere and apparant that the Church then tooke the eating of Christs flesh and drinking his bloode to bee a spirituall action of the soule not a bodily action of the mouth that it is eaten be faith not with the teethe and digested into the minde not into the bellie and foullâ—stomache of the receauer Of sacraments in generall August saith in sacramentis videndum est non quid sint sed quid ostendant signa enim rerum sunt aliud existentia aliud significantia in sacraments it is to bee noted not what they are but what they meane so they are signes of thinges signyfiing one thinge and in deede an other Of figures that they are vsuall in the scripture and that the name of the figure is set for the thinge figured and contrariwayes of the thinge for the figure he saith Solet res quae significat eius rei quam significat nomine appellari Hinc dictum erat petra erat Christus Non dixit petra significat Christum sed tanquam boc esset quodâ—vtique per substantiam non erat The thinge which signifieth vseth to be called many times be the name that it signifieth Hereupon it is saide that Christ was the rocke he saide not that the rock signifieth Christe but as if
Sainte Maurice in Angieres wrote a letter to Lanfrancus abbat of Bec-heloin in Normandy declaring the abuses of the Sacrament and commending vnto him Ioannes Scotus his learned work vpon that question It fell out that Lanfrancus himself was then absent and his conuent opening the letter sent it to the pope There the Pope summoned a counsel and condemned the man being absent of heresie and commanded Lanfrancus at that tyme being his freind to answere him vnder no lesse paine then to be as great an hereticke as he LanfraÌ„cus following the swaye of the worlde for afterwarde hee was made Bishop of Canterburie in England performed the charge laide vpon him without all regarde â—fformer freindshipe Berengarius not-withstanding abiding constante Pope Leo the ninthe summoned him to a counsell at Verseles and there damned him againe being absent and burned the booke of Ioannes Scotus which he had coÌ„mended to Lanfrancus before After this Victor the second seeing Berengarius for all this in high estimation and account both with the Nobilitiâ— and people for he was a man of singulare graces gâ—ue direction to the French Church to summon take order with him They therefore asseÌ„bled at Toures whether the Pope also sent his legate Hilde brâ—nd who afterwarde was Pope himself one of the cursedeft that euer was clecked Before them Berengarius appeâ—red and for as ill as the worlde was satisfied them Hildebrand also prouing his doctrine be the Scriptures fathers and counselles to haue beene the ancient faieth of the Church But pope Nicolas the second not contentented with this summoned him to Rome againe to a counsell helde in the Castle of Lateran there and drawing him thither with faire promises gaue it him to his choise whether he would recant or burne Where the cowardlie man now in his oulde age for feare of that which was moste spent made that beastly recantation which is yet extant in Gratian a perpetuall argumente of his dasterdlye courage and the brutishe ignorance of that counsell of which the fyner papistes since hath beene ashamed and their owne glosse saith in the decreits that if it be not wel taken it is a fouler erroure then was that of Berengarius Thus was that sillie man counted before as recordeth Fuldebert bishop of Cenomanum both for life and learning the flowre of his age compelled againste his conscience bee a hersel of ignorant mules to condemne and curse the truth to his great â—reife and terroure in the houre of his death After this the truthe beganne to sinke and ignoraÌ„ce ouerwhelmed almost the whole Church The knowledg of tongues decayed and he was counted the greatest clarke that coulde speake most barbarous Latine and teare out of whole peces such distinctions as would haue troubled all the schooles in Athenes to vnderstand Notwithstanding this cruell dealing with Berengarius Benno Cardinall of Hostia recordes that Gregorte the seauenth before called Hildebrand who at the commandement of Victor the second had hard Berengarius him self in the counsel of Towres remained so vnresolued heereof that hee sent to Anastatius to praye and commanded his Colledge to fast to get some secret reuelation from heauen of this mysterie By which doubt of the pope himself it should seeme that the reasons of Berengarius were not lighte that sunke so deep into his heart as hard as it was that the hole sea of rome â—uld not wash them awaye After this this truth was still persecuted till these our times be the wolfes of Rome that gote the custodie of Christs sheepe bee hooke and crook and forged falshood The first that we reade of to haue abide the flames of this purgatorie for now it was growen hotter burned not onely bookes but both booke and bodie was one Peter Bruce aboute the yeaâ—e one thousand two hundreth Hee was a doctour in Tolouse of great account at that time and many flocked to his lessons of all degrees Hee for his laboure was burned quick for that was now become the stipend of truth how-be-it it had beene as cleare as the sunne if the pope of Rome allowed it not Notwithstanding the fall of his Maister one Henrie his scholer tooke the 〈◊〉 in hand and boldely sustained iâ— Their followers which were manye and the more bee the cruell handling of Peter for sanguis sanctorum semen ecclesiae the the bloode of the saintes is the â—eede of the Church were in dispiâ—e called Petro-Brucianes Henricianes as these men are euer reddie to nik-name whosoeuer dissents from them Aboute the same time there was an abhot in an other part of France I cannot finde the name of the place and a prieste at Lismoore in England of the same opinion The centuries calleth them sacramentaries that they might no more goe without a nikname then their fellowes About the yeare one thousand one hundreth three score there was in Lyons one Waldus a Merchant for welth and wisedome of good account This man walking in the fields for repast as some writeth or on the counsell of the towne as other recordes sawe one in the companie fall downe deade With which spectacle entring into a deepe speculation of the frailtie of this life and the vanitie of our cares sâ—t on a thinge so fraill hee turned his studies to prouide for the life that lasteth without ende Wherefore hee got him a Bible which booke in those times was rare in the handes of the Laitie not so frequent in the hands of the Cleargie as worse bookes and like the man in the gospell â—o buye the Iewell of the kingdome of heauen spent the rest of his trauels for hee was learned to seeke out of it the true water of life The thinge which hee learned him self hee imparted to his familie and catechised it His maner of teaching was so familiare effectual that sundrye of his neighbours resorted to his house to heare him This congregation grew frequeÌ„t the priests grew angrie Wherefore like dogs in a manger that neither can eate the haye nor will let the horse they charged him to let that labour alone and not to put his hooke in their haruest except hee would doe worse The man caried more with conscience which straited him then caring for their boaste whome he sawe doe no other good but roare in a Church followed his godly course and his neighbours for all the feare refrained not his house Whereupon they excommunicated and cursed him with bell booke and candle and al his followers and confiscated al their substance There they sundred some seeking this waye and some that where they coulde finde any succour and woone where euer they came the praises of good life and godly learning being named commonly in waye of pittie pauperes Lugdunenses the poore of lyons as they were in deede stripped out of al and left as pure as Irus Some of them went into Lombardy some into Boheme some setled at home in Prouince Guien Langueâ—ock c. In Bohem being
delated to the King bee ane Doctour Austine they wrote to him a confession of their faith most sounde and Catholicke mistake me not I meane not Romane Catholicke but that which Christ deliuered to his Apostles and the Apostles to the Church and the Church to this houre hath kept pure and cleane as they receaued it and vnmingled with the dregges of mans witt But to our purpose they who setled at home gote noe long rest They were dayly and heauely persecuted by the Bishopes Arelatensis Narbonensis Aquensis Albanensis They possessed two townes called Cabriers and Merindoll till our dayes that is to saye till the yeare one thousand fiue hundreth fortie fiue and the vaile of Angroinguâ— The Bishope had accused theÌ„ to the Parliment of Aix for defection from the Catholicke faith The Parliment had giuen out sentence that they should haue beene destroyed man woman and childe And their Towns Trees euerted be the rootes This bloodie sentence laye ouer fiue yeares and was once attempted be the President Casson and afterwaâ—de forbidden be the King as ouer câ—uell against innocent people At last one Mineres Lord of Opede a bloody tyrant and their mercilesse enemie at the request of the Bishope delated them to the King falsly that they were all in armes against his Maiestie and bee moyen of the Cardinal Turnonius got the Kings letters patent to take the forces provided for the English warres to meete them This bloodie monster atchiued with crueltie the thinge which hee had begunne with a lye and put to the sworde those two townes and two and twentie villages about without mercie of sex or age It were horrible and tedious to tell the perticulares Let them who would know that read Slâ—idan or she booke of Martyres Onely for a taste hee burned fortie wemen in a barne of which many were with child The like crueltie was vsed againste the rest of them in PiedmoÌ„t in Vallies of Angroing Lucern Perouse and Sainte Martynes Aboute the same time Anno one thousand fiue hundreth fortie fiue Thus were that innocent people with the greate regrate of their neighboures destroyed among whome the Lord till then had preserued to himselfe a Church worshiping and seruing him according to his owne word Nowe hauing deduced this doctrine to our owne times it remaineth to open the hidden mynes through the which these men hath drawen this rotten water as out of the well of life where-with this eight hundreth yeares they haue poysoned many milliones of soules The foundation that they laye to raze this monstruous worke on is the wordes of the institution This is my body which is broken for you To mentaine in these wordes a literall sense they pervert the true sense of many places of scripture and to null a figure in this place they force many monstruous figures on other places they denye common sense they pervert nature and at one worde they mingle heauen and â—arth together Before I buckle with their arguments I hope this reason shal satisfie any minde that will heare reason that these wordes are not evident ynough to lead our faith to such a monstruous 〈◊〉 Noe scripture that will 〈◊〉 anadâ—â—â—t â—ther meaning is of â—ufficient importance to lead the heart of a Christian to a persuasion contrary to sense and abhorring from nature But these words of the institution wil beare an otheâ— meaning Ergo these words of the institution are not of sufficient importance to leade the heart of a Cristian to a persuasion contrarye to sensâ— abhorring from nature That the words will beare an other meaning admitting both a figure and the letter is proued alreadie That the persuasion is monstruous no man seeth not That â—eeing breead feeling bread and tasting bread it is not bread which thou eatest but the very flesh of Christ which thou neither seest feelest nor tastest is againste sense To rend with thy teethe and put downe into thy foule bellie the precious bodie of Christ which was broken for thy sinnes beside Cannibal crueltie were impious inhumanitie And therefore the scripture that must induce the faith to beleeue a thinge so contrarie to faith should be single simple pregnant and vncontrouleable And now to their arguments The first is that all sacraments shuld consist of simple and plaine wordes without ambiguitie but figuratiue wordes are not plaine and simple without ambigâ—itie Ergo Sacraments shuld not consist of figuratiue wordes Firste this argumente destroyeth vtterly the naâ—ure of a Sacramente For as August teacheth all Sacramentes are visible signes of vnvisible graces that is seene figures of graces which are not seene As for plainesse figuratiue speeches are many tymes playner then they which are without all figure As for the wordes whereon we stand there is no speeche more vsuall when men presentes themselues be lots then this is I and that is thou Mistake me not I haue proued alredie sufficiently that the sacrament is not a naked figure As for ambiguitie will these men set the eternall worde of GOD to the schoole and â—each him to speake What if the spirite of God will haue his word so tempered that it may be the sauoure of life to them that liue and the sauoure of death to them that dye Doubtlesse his sheepe knowes his voice and hee goeth in and out before them He maketh them rest in greene pastores and leadeth them to the still waters As for his enemies he hath tempered their cuppe with galle and madâ— the worde of life to bee a block in their way He hath left ambiguities for heritickes to waken his Church out of the dreame of securitie It is good saith he that offences be but woe to them bee whome they come And in this poynte it is a wonder to see how God hath infatuated the â—ense of these men to seeke a knot in a rushe and to force a senslesse sense on his worde against sense Secondly out of the same words they make this argument That which Christ divyded amongst his disciples was his bodie broken for them But his essential bodie was broken for them Ergo that which he deuided among his disciples was his essential bodie All this we confesse to be most true as our Sauiour spake it that is sacramentallie That which he deuided amongst his desciples was sacramentally or figuratiuelye his bodie which was broken for them that is his reall and essentiall bodie in a figure but not bee transubstantiation or mutation of the bread into his bodie Thirdely they vrge hard this letter I am the bread that came downe from heauen And againe my flesh is meate in deede gathering that therefore his essentiall body is in the sacrament This enthymem I haue done what I can to caste into a syllogisticall moulde for I wouâ—defaine playe faire playe and displaye their arguments in their best geere But it will not bee for mee without a manifest and seene blemish Yet if it can bee for I acknowledge my owne weaknesse
thing in the Sacramente as they speake of their woulde haue beene plaine mention made thereof in the scriptures To which hee answereth that no plainer mention can bee required then this is my bodye which shall be deliuered for you And asketh M. Robert if he can with al his studie deuise words more plainâ— more effectuall and more significaÌ„t This is pertly said to it These men hath herein a speciall grace But not-withstanding if wee get no plainer and more manifest proofe we are very like neuer to beleeue that there is any miracle in the Sacrament For besides that this text is ambiguouse and capable of two senses it hath no mention of changing the substance nor that the body of Christ is invisible and vnpalpable Nor that there remaineth noe breade sauing accidents nor that the bodye of Christ can at once bee in heaâ—en at the right hande of his father and betweene the priestes handes at the eleuation of the masse with sundry other miraculous mysteries of this diuinitie which they neuer learnâ—d of God nor his worde The fourth is aboute the pronoune this in the wordes of the institution in which he answereth noe thing but onelye maketh a baiâ—nelye obiection that it can not demonstrate breade His reason is for tharin Latine congruitie in hoc est corpusâ— mâ—um hoc can not agree with Panis And in hicest sanguis meâ—s hic can not agree with Vinum In which obiection either he sheweth him sâ—â—fe a meere ignorant of the Latine grammer or else speaketh agaiâ—ste hiâ— knowledge For it is obserued in that tongue that an adiectiue or relatiue betweene two substantiues or two antecedentes may accorde with either of them As that of Cicero Anunal plenum rationis quem Vocamus hominem for quod vocamus hominem Hee woulde bee counted a man either of notable Ignorance or peruerâ—e resolution that woulde denye Animal to bee the antecedent to Quem because it accordeth in gender with Hâ—minem And what may we thinke of Maister William Râ—inoldes Who in the words of our Sauiouâ— denâ—eth Hoc to respect Panis which Christe did demonstrate because it agreeth with Corpus This doubt is not worthy a child in the grammer schoole But to strike this dead with a syllgisme In these wordes our Sauiour tooke hreade and after that hee had giuen thankes brake it and gaâ—e it to his disciples saying this is my bodye The pronoune this demonstrateth that which hee tooke and brake But he tooke breade and brake it giuing it to his disciples Ergo in these wordes of our Sauiour the worde this demostrateth the breade And so the sense muste bee This breade is my bodye which this man pertlye saieth that Christ neuer spake That it cannot demonstrat their Indiuiduum vagum or the bodie of Christe vnder the shape of breade thus I prove A pronoune demonstratiue must demonstrate a thing certaine subiect to sense or reason But the bodye of Christ in the shape of breade is not a thing certaine nor subiect to sense or reason much lesse their Indiuiduum vagum Ergo the pronoune this can not demonstrate the bodie of Christâ— vnder the shape of bread and wine much lesse IndiuiduuÌ„ vagum which it is not possible to english except it be some wandring vagabond The fifth and laste aboute the place of August is answered alredie Nowe to Maister Iohn Hammilton my olde maister I beganne with him and therefore thinke it reason to giue the reader a taste of his reason The first markable thing that I finde in him is that since he was made Doctour hee is become a worse diuine He hath written two bookes The one printed anno 1581. before his Doctour-shipe bee intituleth of the Lordes Supper And least anye mâ—n should thinke that he giueth it that name as from the subiect which he laboureth to confute he saith in the beginning of it that of all the controuerted heades there is none of greater importance â—hen that which concerneth the Sacrament of the altar otherwayes called the Lordes Supper The words the Lords Supper he writteeth also in the letters which he sorted for the texts of Scripture and citations of the ancients remembring belike that Paull giueth it that name When you come together therefore in one place this is not to â—â—te the Lords Supper Deipnon Kyriacon that is â—aules owne wordes Now he is doctoured either hee hath forgotten this or aduising withsome other Doctour of greater account then Paull was in his last booke hee condemneth both himselfe and Paull of heresâ—e because this Sacrament was instituted as hee saith after that our Lorde Iesus had supped and therefore is an heresie repugnant to the euangell to call it The Lordes Supper He hath an odde argument for him to stope euen Paules mouth if hee were aliue to speake one worde for him self ab auctoriâ—te negatiue The fathers called it not the supper of the Lorde Ergo it is rank heresie to call it so Bee the same argument no father for 600 yeares after Christ euer knew or wrote the name of transubstantiation nor accidentes with out subiects c. Ergo all these theoremes of the Romane diuinity are heresies But if it were a wonder to see Maister Iohn Hammilton change beholdâ— a greater wonder then this There was nyntene yeare betweene his bookes and therefore in nyntene yeares hee might well change his concept of Paull who in lesse then nyne-tene monethes if wee â—re not mis-informed changed his opinion of Christe and of a protestant became a papist But this is stranger for within nyntene dayes if the printer was not verye slowe hee changeth also the title of this laste treatise At the beginning condemning the title of the Lordes Supper for hereticall and allowing the title of the Sacramente of the alter onely for Catholicke hee beginneth with that and for 61. Pages he keepeth it At last hee changeth that againe and to the ende which containeth 54. pages hee intituleth it of the Holye communion A wandring minde is inconstant in all his wayes But let vs take a vewe of his reasons God saith he made all thinges with hiâ— worde Ergo the wordes of Christ This is my bodye turned the breade into the bodie of Christe This saith he the Centurion confessed Saye the worde and my sonne shall be made whole And the deâ—illâ— command that these stones be made breade 〈◊〉 this argument Christe him selfe saying I am the bread that came downe from heauen is turned into breade and I am the true â—ine and my father the husband man He is tâ—rned into a vine and his father into a husband man with a snedding knife in his hande to prune him And where hee saieth to his disciples Ye are the salt of the earth they were turned into a piller of salte like Lots wife And to the pharasies generation of vipers they were turned into a nest of young vipers Aâ— for the power of God might of