causes the custome of confessing secret sinnes and may pronounce remission without any confessing as they of the East Churches doe to this day by their Synchoreses as we will relate in his due place We will then make this Catholike conclusion that The Pope cannot by his Indulgences deliuer aniy from those temporall punishments which God inflicts neither ought he to dispence with the doing of al those workes of repentance that are possible QVESTION XVIII Whether the soule of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ descended into hell and whether it vscended into heauen the very sameday of his passion THE EAST CHVRCH RItual of the Syrians The side of the Lord was pearced thorough with a Launce and thence issued water and blood a sacrifice for all the world his body was buried and his soule came backe from hell and was vnited to his bodie Moyses the sonne of Cephas Bishop of Beth-raman Iohn hath written of corporall Paradise in the prayer whose Title is Wherefore this tree is called the tree of knowledge of good and euill and would teach as much as our Sauiour Iesus Christ said Thou shalt be this day with me in Paradise for there he proueth by many arguments that Paradise was corporall The Liturgie of Saint Basil Thou hast appeared in the last dayes vnto vs which sate in darkenesse and that by thy onely Sonne which gaue himselfe to death for our saluation and by reason of our sinnes descended into hell by his Crosse and Passion THE SOVTH CHVRCH DAmianus a Goes The Aethiopians beleeue that Christ descended afterward into hell and hauing rased and broken the gates thereof he came backe into life the third day with great triumph ouer his enemies and ouer death and that after that hee returned into heauen from whence he came and that by his admirable ascention THE LATIN CHVRCH CArdinall Bellarmine DVRAND affirmeth that the soule of Christ descended into hell not according to his substance but by some effects that is to say as it did illuminate and beatifie the holy Fathers which were in Lymbo Caluin hath taught some such like thing touching the descent of Christ vnto the soules of the holy Fathers by his efficacie or vertue and not by his essence Idem It contradicteth the holy Scripture and the Fathers to say that Christ returned from hell the first day THE REFORMED CHVRCH LAsicius Polonus It is the beleefe of the Bohemians that Iesus Christ descended into hell in his soule seperated from his body to triumph ouer Satan The Sybilles doe deriue this word Ades which signifieth hell of the word Adam by reason that Adam descended This place seemes to be els-where then in heauen Vrsinus We must beleeue that which is certaine to wit that Christ descended into hell in that fashion as we haue sayd in suffering in his soule but if any one can defend that he descended in any other fashion it is well but as for me I cannot beleeue it ANNOTATION THe auncient Catholike Church beleeued that the soules of the Fathers in the old Testament went to a place called in Hebrew Scheol in Greeke Ades in English Hell And all Christians for the most part doe beleeue that the Apostles haue taught so likewise seeing that there is not any one particular man knowen that should be the author of this opinion And although that this Article was not in the beginning in the Creede of the Apostles as it is not in the Creed of Nice neuerthelesse hauing beene receiued without contradiction the same doth argue that the beleefe was such before time And which is more the Scripture of the old Testament makes no mention in any place that the soules should ascend into heauen but very often it maketh mention of Scheol or Hell and to descend I will descend into Scheol with sorrow for my sonne sayd that good man Iacob and to descend signifieth to go to some lowe place It is true that the word Scheol signifieth sometimes a graue but the Catholike Church takes it here for Hell for the Greeke translator approued by the Apostles taketh it so as also Saint Luke in this sentence of the Psalmes cited by S. Peter Thou wilt not leaue my soule in Hell For to vnderstand well this question you must note first that it doth not appertaine to saluation to know whether the soules of the Fathers were aboue or belowe prouided alwayes that one doe not call the holy Scripture into doubt which it is not done by and by although a man doe not alwayes attaine to the true sense of it Secondly there are two places that the most learned diuines yea the antient and now a dayes the Latins and the Protestants can hardly agree off So that in so doing some proceede in one fashion others in another The Creede saith that our Lord descended into hell and our Lord said This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Some men will aske how ascended he into Paradise seeing he descended into hell The greater voice of the Romane Catholikes and of the Protestants is that Hell was Paradise when our Sauiour was there but there are many learned men of the Catholike Romans as Durand and the learned Picus which thinking it absurd to say that Paradise was in Hell haue thought fit otherwise to agree vpon it And haue written that the soule of the Lord went really vnto the true Paradice and descended not into Hell but by efficacie or vertue On the other side amongst the Protestants Caluin and Beozo haue thought more to the purpose to referre this word Hell to the torments that our Sauiour suffered to the end that that which the Scripture saith that our Sauiour went to Paradise should be beleeued without running to any false or forged Exposition Also there are learned men amongst the Latines and the Protestants which doe decline from the common opinion herein because that it seemeth very absurd vnto them Neuerthelesse because that none of the three is receiued without contradiction it sheweth that there is difficultie in them all For to say that the Lord descended not into Hell but by his efficacie or vertue is to wrest that place of Scripture Thou wilt not leaue my soule in Hell To say that Hell whereof mention is made in the Creede is the torments which the Lord suffered vpon the Crosse is an Exposition altogether vnknowen to the Ancients and against the intention and meaning of those which added that clause to the Creede and those Protestants themselues for whom this serueth are ready to receiue one more proper as is to bee seene in that sentence before alleadged of Vrsinus As for the rest one may giue many Expositions and all Orthodoxall of one selfe same place of Scripture when one is not assured of the intent and meaning of the Authour so is it likewise in the Creede But about these difficulties the Apostolicke Churches in the East doe furnish vs with a fourth
punished by the Magistrate or dishonoured for euer But to shew how the Churches of the East doe proceed in pronouncing absolution without any confession made we are aduertised that the Popes that is to say the Priests doe it in particular But because that in that Church of the East there is a Patriarch which gouerneth it seemes vnto them hauing regard vnto all the Churches to whom the keyes were giuen that if hee declareth that absolution it is more authenticke and giueth more consolation to the conscience to content the curious reader we will insert here the forme or manner of a Synchorisme translated out of Greeke Theophanes by Gods mercy Archbishop of Constantinople new Rome and Oecumenique Patriarch Our mediocrity by the grace gift and power of the holy and liuing spirit which our Sauiour Iesus Christ hath giuen to his Diuine Disciples and the holy Apostles for to bind and loose the sinnes of men saying receiue the holy Ghost to whom you remit sinnes they shall be remitted and whose sinnes you shall retaine they shall be retained and those that you bind on earth shall be bound in heauen likewise and those you loose in earth shall be loosed in heauen Wee hauing by a successiue descent receiued from them this Diuine grace doe absolue N. aspirituall sonne of the same in all things wherein he hath erred or sinned as a man and offended God in word deede or thought and in all his senses if he be vnder the cursse of the Bishop or Priest or of his father or mother or if he bee fallen into any of his owne sinnes hauing sworne by an oath and not performed it or if hee hath transgressed as a man in other sinnes and hath confessed them to his spirituall fathers and hath receiued of them the Canon exactly of all those things and others whereby he is bound wee doe vnbind and loose him by the power and grace of the most adored and holy Spirit and also of all things which he hath left vnconfessed whether they be by forgetfulnes or Shame All which be pardoned him of the most mercifull God which is blessed eternally Amen The Latines otherwise called the Romane Catholikes say that our Sauiour comaunded euery one to confesse particularly euery sinne and all the circumstances thereof to imploy all possible diligence to remember them and that hee that confesseth not all those memorable sinnes cannot be saued If their opinion be true the Apostolicke Churches of the East South North and the Reformed or Protestants in the West are damned and the gates of hell shall preuaile against the Catholicke Church He that list let him beleeue them so many there be that doe hold with one consent That our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ hath not comaunded any particular confession by numbring our sinnes but that it is an ordinance of the Church which neuerthelesse constraineth no man to confesse those sinnes which he is ashamed to declare QVESTION XXII Whether the Bread and Wine in the holy Sacrament are changed into the body and blood of the Lord. THE EAST CHVRCHES THe answere of the Patriarch Ieremie The tenth Chapter doth treat of the Lords Supper yet not amply but if we may so say obscurely For amongst you men vnderstand many things touching the same the which agree in no wise with vs. The Catholike Church therefore beleeueth that the bread after the sanctification is changed into the body of Christ and the wine into his blood by the holy Ghost prouided that the bread bee leauened not without leauen For the Lord in that night in which he was betraied hauing taken bread and giuen thankes broke it and sayd Take eate this is sayd he not bread without leauen or the figure of my body but my body and my blood Neuerthelesse at that time the flesh of the Lord which he carried about him was not giuen to the Apostles to eate nor his blood to drinke nor now in the diuine celebration of those mysteries as if the body of the Lord descended from heauen for it were a blasphemie to say so but both then and now by the inuocation and grace of the Almighty Spirit the beginner or Author of this mysterie the bread is conuerted and changed into the body of the Lord and the wine into his blood And in another place he sayth thus And from thence it commeth that the Masse or Lumpe of bread is broken in peeces it is not offered entyer or whole which figureth the passion of our Sauiour And at the time that this bread is offered it is Common Bread offered onely to God but afterwards it is made extraordinary bread and is chaunged in deede but if wee would by reasons causes and effectes debate and resolue thereof we should neede a thousand tongues and yet they would not bee sufficient But our Sauiour hath commaunded to doe this in remembrance of him And a little after he saith that the Church is signified in mysteries and not as in Symboles but as the members depend on the heart and as the boughes on the roote of the plant and as the Lord said in that fashion that the branch is in the stocke of the vine For here is not only a Communion of name or a similitude of Analogie but the identitie of the things themselues For the body and blood of the Lord are true mysteries which are not changed into any humane bodie but we are changed into them for the better things haue euer the preheminence Euen as Iron being vnited with fire becommeth fire but the fire neuer becomes Iron And euen as whe the Iron is glowing hot wee see not the Iron but only the fire the properties of the Iron not being apparant euen so also if a man might see the Church of God as it is vnited to him and participates of his body hee should see nothing else but the onely body of our Sauiour by reason whereof Saint Paul writeth Yee are the body of Christ THE SOVTH CHVRCH LIturgia Ethiopica O our Lord Iesus Christ whose substance was not created but art the pure word thou art the Sonne of the Father thou art the bread of life descending from heauen who wouldest come in the figure of a Lambe without spot for the redemption of the world Now O thou louer of mankinde wee doe most humbly beseech thy bounty praying thee that thou wouldest shew the light of thy countenance vpon this bread and vpon this portable Altar blesse sanctifie purifie and translate this bread into thy spotlesse flesh and this wine into thy precious bloud and let it be made an ardent and an acceptable sacrifice and the saluation of our soules and bodies for thou art our King THE LATINE CHVRCH THe Councell of Trent Forasmuch as our Lord and redeemer Iesus Christ hath said that it was his true body which he offered vnder the forme of bread for this cause the Church of God hath alwaies had the same perswasion and this holy Councell doth
againe declare it that through the consecration of bread and wine all the substance of the bread is conuerted into the substance of Christ our Lord and all the substance of the wine into the substance of his blood And this conuersion hath the Catholicke Church conueniently and properly called Transubstantiation THE REFORMED CHVRCH THe Confession of Wittenberg We beleeue that the Eucharist is a Sacrament instituted by Iesus Christ himselfe and the vse thereof was recommended to the Church vnto the end of the world But because that the substance thereof is one thing and the vse another we will speake in order of them both Touching the substance of the Eucharist we beleeue and teach that the true body and blood of our Sauiour Iesus Christ is distributed in the Eucharist do reiect those that say that the bread and wine in the Eucharist are but signes of the body and blood of Christ being absent We doe also beleeue that the Almightie power of God is so great that hee may eyther bring to nothing the substance of the bread or change it into the body and blood of Christ but it cannot be proued by the manifest word of God that God exerciseth in the Eucharist any such absolute power and it appeareth that no such matter was knowne to the auncient Church But as when he speaketh of the Citie of Ierusalem portrayed vpon a bricke this same is Ierusalem it was not necessary that the bricke should be chaunged into the Citie of Ierusalem In like manner when he speaketh of the bread this is my body It is not necessary that the substance of the bread should be changed into the substance of the body of Christ But it sufficeth for the veritie of the Sacrament that the body of Christ be truely present with the bread yea rather the verity of the Sacrament requireth that the true bread remaine with the true presence of God For euen as for the truth of the Sacrament of Baptisme it is necessary that in the vse therof the water should be and remaine true water In like manner it is necessary in the Lords Supper that the bread in the vse therof be and remaine true bread because that if the substance of the bread were changed the veritie of the Sacrament remained not in his true nature The Confession of England We say that the bread and the wine are sacred and celestiall mysteries and that by them Iesus Christ the true bread of life eternall is offered vnto them that are present that doe receiue his body and blood through faith Neuerthelesse we say not that we beleeue that the nature of the bread and wine are wholly changed and reduced to nothing Liturgia Gall. Let vs lift vp our spirits and our hearts where Iesus Christ is in the glory of the father and from whence we looke for our redemption And let vs not dwell vpon these earthly and corruptible Elements which we see with our eyes and touch with our hands to seeke for it there as though it were inclosed in the bread or wine For then our soules shall be fit to be nourished and reuiued by his substance when they shall be eleuated aboue all terrestiall things to obtaine heauen and to enter into the kingdome of GOD where he dwelleth The Confession of the French men We do confesse that the holy Supper of the Lord is a testimony vnto vs of the vnitie which wee haue with Christ Iesus because that he is not onely dead and risen againe for vs but also nourisheth and feedeth vs truely with his flesh and blood to the end that we should be one with him and that his life should be our life And albeit that he be in heauen vntil such time that he shal come to iudge the world yet neuerthelesse we beleeue that through the secret and incomprehensible power of his spirite he nourisheth and quickeneth vs by the substance of his body and blood ANNOTATION ALl Christian nations do with one consent agree that the bread and wine of the holy Sacrament are conuerted into the body and bloud of the Lord. It is true which Alphon. de Castro saith that the Armenians haue heretofore otherwise beleeued but he sheweth not whether it was their auncient manner or whether any particular man brought it in amongst them As touching the Abyssins there is mention made oftentimes of transmutation in their Liturgie which they referre to the Apostles according to the subscription thereof But the Historiographers doe say that the said Abyssins were not Christians so long agoe as they make vs beleeue They report themselues to haue receiued the Christian faith by the Eunuch of Queene Candace and by Saint Matthew and Saint Philip But it is thought in these parts that in the fifteenth yeare of Iustinian Emperor of Constantinople Adad King of the Auxumites made a vowe to become a Christian if he got the victory against the King of the Omerites which hauing obtained he sent Embassadours to the Emperour Iustinian to haue Bishops sent to him which being come thither conuerted his people to the faith Both opinions may be true that is to say that Adad would haue receiued the faith and yet not after the forme of the other Ethiopians but rather after the East Church In like manner the French men receiued the faith vnder king Clouis the which faith notwithstanding was in Fraunce three hundred yeares before Likewise Great Britaine is said to haue receiued the Gospell by Ioseph of Arimathea Yet neuerthelesse the Romanes doe bragge that they conuerted the English men fiue hundred yeares after Howsoeuer it be the Liturgie of the Ethiopians came vnto them from the Sea of Alexandria as appeareth by the Greeke names which are inserted therein Aluares saith that they haue another so briefe that it was no sooner begun but it presently ended One might doubt whether this were not the auncientest If we had the bookes which the said Aluares saith that they haue in great number one might know whether they differ But howsoeuer it be it appeareth not that this beleefe of Transmutation was receiued in any place of the world as a new thing Now a daies it is a question whether the Fathers haue beleeued it or whether it be slipt in by little and little If the Latines and Greekes do alleadge proofes out of the Fathers the Protestants doe thinke them to be Hyperbolicall tearmes for to lift or moue mens soules to the worshipping of the Sacrament If the Protestants doe bring on the contrary side other proofes some will answere them that the Fathers did keepe close that beleefe for feare of giuing occasion to the Pagans to mocke them We will leaue these difficulties the Fathers are not in the worlde now to resolue vs But the Churches scattered through the vniuersall world are as yet to beare witnesse of the Tradition in this point as well as in others and to declare and explane their meaning to those that vnderstand it
constitute accidents without a subiect one matter in many places a body without his essentiall properties one God and man liuing in the host or bread who heareth not seeth not feeleth not nor tasteth not which is say the Protestants an opinion contrary to the holy Scripture and neuer entred into the imaginations or hearts of the auncient Fathers or of the Diuines of the East and South Churches who neuer yeelded or gaue place to the Latins either in quickenesse of spirit or in curiositie and who haue had no want of heretickes to giue them occasion to exercise themselues in these difficulties whereinto some one amongst so many learned men as they haue had in so many ages and such as haue written so many volumes must haue necessarily fallen if that they beleeued that the body of the Lord is materially in the host or bread Now wee must see how farre the beleefe of the Protestants differs from those of the East and other people which to performe we must enter into the consideration of secret or hidden faculties and proprieties There are two sorts of opinions touching supernaturall operations some thinke that God worketh immediatly in the place where the thing is from whence it seemeth that the effect proceedeth euen as when the water of the poole of Siloe being mooued or stirred by the Angell did seeme to heale they say that God healed of himselfe and by himselfe euen then after the touching of the water Others doe beleeue that this supernaturall facultie is giuen to the things themselues so that the sayd water receiues of God such a vertue as some medicines or salues haue in some diseases For it is as easie for God to giue those properties to a forme as it was for him to giue them to those that haue them euer since the creation of the world Neuerthelesse this is not thus done by the diuels who cannot create essences or beings neither indue them with admirable faculties so that the diuels doe worke the like by illusions Behold here then the difference The foresaid Christians doe beleeue that the matter of bread receiueth the forme of the body of the Lord or that the forme of bread obtaineth the hidden properties thereof or that there is some spirituall thing which hath the place of forme in that matter and that thereupon dependeth the Mysticall vnion whereof S. Paul speaketh But the Protestants whom some call Caluinists doe hold that the body of the Lord is onely in heauen together with his quickning forme and vertue and that a substance proceedeth from him and is applyed to the soules of men by the vertue of the holy Ghost and that immediately which certainly is a very slender disputation and of small estimation in comparison of the report which is made of it considering that all doe confesse that the bread is really the communion of the body of Christ as S. Paul saith Also these words This is my body being referred to the whole should be spoken without figure but referred to that which one seeth that is to say to the accidents and to the matter through the accidents they are figuratiue This consideration hath caused that those who are called Caluinists and Lutherans and some Grecians in Poland haue treated of some means of agreement imagining that the difference is not in re but in modo rei This vnion hath beene hitherto hindered by two opinions which fall into extremities Brentius Smidlin and others for the better prouing of the reall yea materiall presence haue had recourse to vbiquitie And on the other side as Iurguieius findeth fault there are some who speake in such sort of the receiuing of the Sacrament that they haue destroyed by their contrary tearmes that which they thought to haue built vp saying that the faithfull vnder the old Testament receiued Iesus Christ as they receiue him now a daies from whence it should follow that if there be any mysticall vnion made it should bee wrought onely by the Diuinitie as in times past and not by the humanity whereof the holy Scripture alwaies beareth witnes that it hath life in it selfe and that it quickeneth Others say also that a man doth participate of the body of the Lord without the Sacrament in the same manner as with the Sacrament So that one receiueth but the signe at the most These men seeme not to speake properly for one is not said to receiue that which he hath ordinarily See heere the diuers termes that are vsed But the truth is that Vbiquitie is reiected in the body by the Lutherans and the reall communicating with the substance of the body of Christ is confessed by the others in the body as it was resolued in the Synods at Rochell in Fraunce and at Torun in Poland We will bring in here two similitudes by the which amongst others Protestants doe cause their meaning to be vnderstood and doe shewe that the communion which they beleeue is reall and neuerthelesse hath no absurdity in it The body of the Sunne saith Caluin is onely in heauen notwithstanding the light thereof is here vpon earth Therefore many doe hold that light is a substance otherwise it should not be found out of his proper subiect Moreouer the Philosopher saith that Sol homo generant hominem Wherefore then should not the Sunne of righteousnesse haue power to regenerate a man though his body be not on earth The Adamant stone saith Beza draweth Iron communicating it selfe with the Iron through an admirable vertue without mingling his matter therewith In like manner the body of the Lorde vniteth it selfe with a mans soule though the matter of his body be no where else but in heauen Hereupon that is to be noted which Gilbertus a learned Physition obserued that is to say that the forme of the Adamant is carried out of the limits of his owne matter and is found in the Load-stones subiect and not in the ayre betweene both It may be said likewise that the body of the Lord doth communicate it selfe from heauen without extension multiplication or any mixture of matter If a man hold himselfe firmely to these similitudes he shall neuer set his imagination or thoughts vpon the place of Realitie for these effects of nature are reall and true To conclude a man may see by that which hath beene spoken that the Churches of the East and those of the South doe not approue this last opinion neither that of the Lutherans withall as it seemeth they hold not that of the Latines touching the reall eating of the matter of the body of the Lord neyther the absurdities that followe thereupon for they doe openly denie that the Apostles did eate the flesh that our Sauiour Iesus Christ did carry about him This then is their saying or opinion That the body of the Lord as touching the matter and accidents is onely in heauen yet notwithstanding the bread and wine in the Sacrament are changed into the body and blood of the Lord in such
a fashion as none can vtter or comprehend in like manner as the faithfull which receiue it are said to be changed into the true body of Christ QVESTION XXIII Whether the change of the signes bee made through these words Hoc est enim corpus meum or whether it be by prayers THE EAST CHVRCHES MArke Bishop of Ephesus in a Treatise expresly made vpon this point sheweth that the breade and wine in the Liturgie are not consecrated neither changed through these words This is my body but rather by prayers and supplications Socolouius The greatest part of the Grecians are of this opinion that the signes are consecrated by prayers and not through the words of Christ onely Scarga The Russians imagine that the body and blood of our Sauiour Iesus Christ on the Altar are not made onely through the words of God that is to say by the pronuntiation of these words Hoc est enim corpus meum but also through the prayers of the Priests THE SOVTH CHVRCHES LIturgia Aethiop Translate O Lord this bread into thy true body and this wine into thy true blood Blesse sanctifie and purifie this bread and transport it into thy flesh without spot and this wine into thy precious blood and let them be made an ardent and acceptable sacrifice a remedie and sauing health both of our soules and bodies THE REFORMED CHVRCHES LIturg Gal. And as our Lord Iesus Christ not onely offered vnto thee O God vpon the Crosse his body and his blood for the remission of our sinnes but also would communicate them vnto vs as nourishment vnto eternall life vouchsafe vs this grace that with true sinceritie of heart and an ardent zeale wee may receiue from him so great a benefit that is that we through stedfast faith may inioy his body blood and that from him all intirely Beza The coniunction of the thing signified with the signes dependeth vpon the onely ordinance and promise of God although it be not locall nor in any naturall manner These men on the contrarie side that is to say the Latins will by the vertue of three or foure words haue the bread to be changed into the body and the wine into the blood of Iesus Christ which would be plaine sorcerie THE LATIN CHVRCH THe Councell of Trent The true body of our Lord Iesus Christ his true blood together with his soule and his diuinity are vnder the form of bread wine but his bodie is vnder the forme of bread by the force and vertue of the words ANNOTATION IN the Liturgie of the Churches of the East and South there are three principall parts as wee haue beene instructed by those of that Countrey The first consisteth in the historie or narration of the institution of the holy Sacrament at that time say they although one doth pronounce these words This is my body it maketh not the consecration The second part is the prayer or prayers wherein they beseech God that the signes may be changed then say they is the consecration made For by prayers a man obtaineth that which he demaundeth and our Sauiour did the same after that he had taken bread for it is sayd that he blessed or consecrated it The third part is when they addresse their wordes to the people saying Take eate this is the body of the Lord Words which declare vnto the people and teach them that it is that which is presented vnto them In like manner our Lord Iesus Christ spake to his Apostles not to the bread when he sayd Take eate this is my body The Protestants doe say as the foresaid people that they doe blesse the bread and wine principally through prayers and not through those words to the which God hath not giuen any intrinsecall vertue to conuert substances The difference betweene the Church of Asia Africa and the Reformed is that those Reformed Churches aske not nor obtaine not by their prayers as the foresaid Churches do pretend that the bread bee changed into the body of Christ but do aske and obtaine that that body may be giuen them in the Communion which they ought to sue for All men alike doe condemne the opinion of the Latins who beleeue that transubstantiation is made by these words Hoc est enim corpus meum or to speake better by the last sillable Vm This opinion of the Church of Rome is the cause that the learned men amongst them who receiue it doe enter into very great difficulties and doubts amongst themselues in desiring to take away some by one meanes and others by other the absurdities which follow thereupon The Christian Reader may aduise himselfe which doctrine hee ought rather to follow whether that of the Latins or the Catholike which is That the consecration and Communion of the body of the Lord is obtained through the prayers of the Church and not through any vertue hidden in these words Hoc est enim corpus meum QVESTION XXIIII Whether the outward formes are really the body and blood of the Lord without vsing of them THE EAST CHVRCHES NIchol The Armenians doe make the consecration in a chalice of glasse or wood Sacranus The Russians doe say that the Sacrament of the Eucharist consecrated the day of the holy Supper is onely meete to be giuen to the sicke and not that which is consecrated euery day and they keepe it also all the yeere long in a Cup prepared for that purpose sometime till it be full of Wormes and spoyled and they giue it in a little spoone Moreouer they consecrate Salt in Chalices of wood and cast the kernels thereof being dried among their small linnen They consecrate for them that goe to the warres Wheaten bread in the body of Christ deliuer it into the hands of the lay people who vpon the very point of the battell doe fill with some liquor or other the first vessell that comes to their hands fit to containe meate or drinke and putting therein this bread they doe communicate in order THE SOVTH CHVRCH ALuares It is a marueilous thing to see the great harme and perill that the little children doe endure in Aethiope whom they make to swallow downe the Communion perforce powring water downe their mouthes as well because the host is of grosse past as because of their continuall groaning Besides they vse Chalices and spoones of wood THE REFORMED CHVRCH BEza The Sacraments are ordained to be vsed according to the word of God and therefore being otherwise vsed they are no Sacraments THE LATIN CHVRCH POpe Pius If through negligence there doth fall any of the blood downe to the ground it shall bee licked vp with the tongue the wood shall bee scraped and if it be not of wood the place shall be scraped to the end that it be not troden downe vnder feete and it shall be burnt and the ashes locked within the Altar and the Priest shall doe penance forty dayes ANNOTATION THe passages or
put more Wine then Water or whether one may vse any other liquor for want of Wine THE EAST CHVRCH LVbelz The Armenians vse vnleauened bread and mingle not any water with the wine Alphonsus de Castro The seuenth heresie is that which is iust contrary to the precedent for here the wine is put into the Chalice in such wise that there is no water at all put therein and hee saith that there needes not any mingling This is the errour of the Grecians which Guido Carme did put in the sixt place It is also the errour of the Armenians Scarga The Muscouites in the preparation of the Chalice doe mingle two or three droppes of Wine in hote water in such sort that one cannot perceiue the Wine consumed in the Water Also in stead of wine they vse sometimes the Iuice of Apples which they colour with some redde berries They make no scruple to put in so much water after the consecration that the wine being consumed by the number of the Communicants there remaineth no taste of wine at all Barbosa The Armenians that are in India in stead of the Sacrament of wine by reason that in India there is no wine doe take drie Raisons and lay them in water all night to mollifie or soften them and the day following when they say seruice they straine them and vse the Iuice in stead of wine THE SOVTH CHVRCH ALuares In Monasteries and Churches they keepe many Raisons halfe dried which are laid in water for the space of twelue daies till that they beginne to swell then they take them and afterwards put them vnder a Presse because that of the liquor that issueth from them they celebrate Diuine seruice THE REFORMED CHVRCH REspon ad Ierem. We mingle not water with wine in the holy Supper because that Iesus Christ sayd I will not drinke henceforth of the fruit of this Vine and made no mention of any water In like manner we do not thinke it necessary to mingle any water yet if peraduenture there be any we hold it indifferent THE LATINE CHVRCH HOnorius A pernitious abuse is brought into the Countrey that is to say that they put more water then wine in the sacrifice whereas according to the reasonable custome of the Church they should put more wine then water Comp. Theol. If there had bene more water then wine the consecration should haue bene hindered Lochmaier But for want of wine one may omit the signe of the blood which yet he must do by dispensation from the Pope ANNOTATION THe diuersitie of the practise of Christians doth declare that this is an indifferent point for the which we ought not to contest and striue And the one part ought not to condemne the other The Armenians doe mingle no water The Grecians mingle it not at the same time that the Latines doe The Abyssines and Indians mingle it not for any ceremonie but vse wine that hath more water then wine The Moscouites care not whether there bee more wine or water Also no man knoweth whether our Sauiour did mingle more of the water or of the wine The Protestants finde no fault with the Northren nations that vse Syder What should one doe saith Bucanus in a Region where is no bread as ours wherin is no wine we must vse such food as men vse in those Countreys for that agreeth with the intention of Iesus Christ The Catholike conclusion drawen from that before alleadged is That there is neither Diuine or Ecclesiasticall Law that condemneth those that mingle or those that mingle not water with the wine whether it bee by way of Ceremonie or without Ceremonie QVESTION XXVII Whether it be necessarie to Communicate vnder the signes both of bread and wine THE EAST CHVRCHES IEeremie Oecumenicke Moreouer we will aunswere to the abuse whereof you speake First you say that all ought to communicate vnder both kinds and you say well for we do so euen when we do participate of the venerable mysteries Nichol. In the Lords Supper the Grecians doe Communicate vnder both kinds Vilamont The Nestorians doe consecrate with leauened bread after the fashion of the Grecians Idem When the Iacobites do minister the Communion to young children it is vnder both kinds being therin conformable to the Grecians the Syrians THE SOVTH CHVRCH THeuet When they doe Communicate they receiue vnder both kinds which also I haue seene obserued of the Abyssins by their Sect in Ierusalem Aluares Their vessels are farre bigger then ours are but of an ill fashion vsing no plate and they celebrate the Masse with the wine of raisins which they powre into the Chalice in great quantitie for all those that Communicate of the body doe likewise of the blood THE REFORMED CHVRCHES THe Confession of England There must be giuen to the people that come to the Cōmunion both the one and the other kind of the Eucharist for the Lord hath so commanded and his Apostles haue so ordained through all the earth and all the auncient Fathers and Catholicke Bishops haue imitated them THE LATIN CHVRCH THe Councell of Constance Being aduertised that in many Churches they haue continued to administer to the Laicks the Sacrament in both kinds we doe declare that although that Iesus Christ did so seeing that afterwards it hath bene receiued by the Priests and by the Lay people vnder the signe of bread onely that all this notwithstanding the Law and authority of the Canons and the custome approoued by the Church Romane hath obserued and obserueth to auoide certaine dangers that this Sacrament shall be distributed vnder one kind we do commaund vpon paine of excommunication that no Priest do minister the Cōmunion to the people vnder both kinds of bread wine ANNOTATION THis Question hath no difficultie all nations except the Latins doe thinke that they ought herein to obey Iesus Christ Those that doe hold the holy Scripture to be true doe confesse that euen in things which seeme to be of small importance God will be obeyed yea Adam and all his children and race for hauing eaten of the forbidden fruit was lost And God would haue slaine Moyses because that his Sonne was not circumcised Vzzah fell downe dead because hee touched the Arke notwithstanding his good intention It is a wonder to see that those that beleeue this haue yet made a Law contrary to the Diuine commaundement of God The fault is now a dayes knowen to many yet they will not confesse that there is any error therein for feare least men should call into question other doctrines So it is that all nations doe confesse That wee ought to Communicate in both kinde of bread and wine QVESTION XXVIII Whether the Sacrament must be kept to bee carried in procession and for other vses or onely to bee carried to the sicke THE EAST CHVRCH GAgnin They vse the Sacrament of the Eucharist in both kinds they
haue a custome to vse one fashion for the sick another for the Cōmunicants For the sicke it is kept all the yeare being consecrated the weeke before Easter Scarga Their Popes that is to say their Priests after dinner somtimes halfe drunk do eat with little or no reuerence the rest of the body of Christ which was not eaten by the faithfull Gagninus They keepe not holy the feast of the body of the Lord. THE SOVTH CHVRCH ZAga Ethiop The Sacrament of the Eucharist is not kept with vs in the Temples or Churches as they doe in Europe that is to say in the Roman Church The sicke receiue not the body of the Lord but at such time as they haue recouered their health This they do because the Priests and the Laickes doe vse to receiue twise euery weeke and all those that would receiue it goe to the Temple and it is not permitted neyther to the Patriarch himselfe nor to Prester-Iohn to doe otherwise THE REFORMED CHVRCH THe confession of Saxon. It is a manifest prophanation to carry about in procession a part of the Sacrament and to adore or worshippe it seeing that part is transferred to an vse quite contrary to the institution where the Text saith Take eate c. The Diuines of Wittenberg The Ministers of the Church are ordained amongst vs to baptise and celebrate the Lords supper both publikely in the Temples and particularly in the houses of those that are neare death THE ROMANE CHVRCH CLement We must principally employ our selues about the right vse of this liuely Sacrament of the body and blood of Iesus Christ which is the glory and crowne of all the Saints to the end that it may shine through a festiuall and speciall celebration to supplie thereby that which is omitted in the other Offices of the Masse ANNOTATION ALl Christian Nations doe agree together against the Romane Church that none ought to keepe the Sacrament to employ it to any other vse then that to which our Sauiour hath dedicated it to wit the Communion And therefore it ought not to be carried in Procession as Pope Clement hath of late time commaunded in the institution of the feast of God or Corpus Christi As for the reseruation which is made to be caried to the sicke it is not in vse in the Churches of Affrica but the Grecians and Latines doe approue it yea and the Protestants likewise as appeareth in the place before mentioned Thinkest thou saith Beza that none ought to celebrate the holy Supper of the Lord noe where else but onely in a publique assembly Answere In the beginning of the auncient Church it was the custome to send the Eucharist by the Deacons to the sicke being absent to whom I doubt not but that the same did bring great consolation I desire heartily that this custome were put in vse againe The Resolution of this question is That none ought to reserue or keepe the Sacrament but onely to carrie to the sicke QVESTION XXIX Whether the Sacrament ought to be eleuated or lifted vp by the Priest for to adore and worship it or for to Sacrifice through that externall ceremony THE EAST CHVRCH SAcranus The Russians as also some amongst the Grecians before that they prepare the Chalice doe light waxe Candles and shew to the people the bread that is to be consecrated with the wine and water powred in the Chalice and then the people fall downe bending their bodies to worshippe and to commit idolatry But being once set vpon the Altar and consecrated it is not worshipped of any neyther is it eleuated or lifted vp THE SOVTH CHVRCH ZAga In this Ministery the Sacrament is not shewed as I see they doe here in the Romane Church Aluares After that the Priest commeth speaking in his owne language after our fashion and the very same wordes but that he dooth not eleuate the Sacrament but couereth it THE REFORMED CHVRCH THe confession of Basil We adore not Iesus Christ in the signes of bread and wine which we commonly call Sacraments of the body and blood of the Lord But in heauen on the right hand of God the father from whence he shal come for to iudge the quicke and the dead THE LATIN CHVRCH THe Canon That euery Priest doe oftentimes teach his people to bow reuerently when in the celebration of the Masse the wholesome host is eleuated and that he doe the same when hee carrieth it to any sicke person ANNOTATION THere is no Catholicke saith Bellarmine that teacheth that the Sacramentall signes must be adored in themselues and properly with that worship which is called Latria but that they must be worshipped with a lesser honour which belongeth to all Sacraments But we say that Christ must be worshipped in himselfe and that adoration or worshippe dooth belong to the signes in regard that they are conceiued to be the same thing with Christ euen as they that adored Christ being cloathed vpon earth adored not him onely but also his habite for hee commaunded not himselfe to bee stript naked The Latines doe accuse the Protestants because that they worship not the Sacrament or Iesus Christ in the Sacrament but if a man consider the matter well he shall finde that they doe all that Bellarmine requireth Socolouius to shew that there is a great defect yea impiety in them layeth before them the example of all the Christians of the world who saith he doe worshippe or adore Iesus Christ in the Sacrament euery one Suo modo And if one can shew that the Protestants doe the same also Suo modo those that search out occasion to complaine shall they not haue reason to be content Bellarmine speaketh of the worshipping of the signes and of the worshipping of Iesus Christ signified In both these the Protestants doe vse such adoration as Bellarmine himselfe doth paint out Those that honoured our Sauiour being in his Clothes had not any intention or meaning to honour or adore his cloathes likewise following the example of Bellarmine be it that a man haue no intention to honour the Sacrament he is blamelesse If Bellarmine doe say that the Cloathes of the Lorde were worshipped per accidens I doe answere him that in like manner the Protestants doe honour the signes per accidens In Germany they receiue the Sacrament vpon their knees The constitutions of England do ordain the like In so doing they doe adore Iesus Christ before the Sacrament that is to say the Sacrament per accidens with a more humble ceremony then the Christians of the East doe who as Vilamont saith receiue it not vpon their knees The Churches of the South doe the like If the Frenchmen doe follow their example they adore it also eorum modo and Suo modo The Romane Catholikes themselues doe not kneele alwaies when they pray or adore as it is seene in the benediction of the table it sufficeth then in adoring to haue the head
Exposition and that most ancient of all They hold with S. Chrysostome a very true Catholicke teacher that the soules of the Fathers were in Ades the Latines call that place Infernum Lymbus but improperly and that our Sauiour descended thither And that he was the very same day in Paradise and that Paradise is no other place but the same which the thiefe conceiued and meant for if our Sauiour had spoken of one place and the Thiefe had conceiued and meant another his vnderstanding had beene deceaued Now the Thiefe meant no other Paradise but that earthly Paradise for hee could not know what Paradise it was but by the Scripture of the old Testament which speaketh not of any other Paradise It followeth then that our Sauior was that same day in that Paradise and his soule was not left in hell It is there also whether the Fathers were conducted wherof some rose with the Lord and were seene in Ierusalem It is in this Paradise say they that Henoch and Elias were placed in their bodies and peraduenture Moses who appeared at the transfiguration of our Sauiour Iesus Christ and all the Fathers were rapt vp into heauen some in their bodies when our Sauiour ascended the other onely in soule when he rose from the dead as the same Saint Chrysostome saith And this opinion is not onely held by the Apostolicke Churches of the East as we haue vnderstood by themselues But it is very true by all likelihoode that the Christians of Africke doe consent thereunto for they are Cophites and of the same faith and Religion as the Cophites Syrians and Assyrians are for in all the Churches the sayd booke of Moyses Bar-cepha touching the Paradise before alleaged and the Author which he alledgeth who doe confirme the same exposition are very much approued Now this shall bee for the Catholike Reader to follow and approue that is to say either of the foresaid three opinions or else that of the Churches of the East and South which is That the soules of the Fathers were in hell called in Hebrew Scheol and in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that the soule of our Sauiour Iesus Christ descended thither yet was not left there but the same day ascended into heauen QVESTION XIX Whether all Infants I meane those of the Elect aying without Baptisme are damned and whether it be permitted to the Lay people to baptise THE EAST CHVRCH IEremie In Baptisme the matter is the water The forme the words of the Priest to wit these This seruant of God is baptized in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost The instrumentall cause is the Priest although we doe not condemne altogether that which is done by one that is no Priest in time of necessity Iohannes Faber In Russia no man is thought sufficient to exercise the office of Baptizing if he be not a Priest what necessity soeuer doe happen Theuet The Moscouites baptize not at all but within their Churches vnlesse it be because they are verie farre from any Church THE SOVTH CHVRCH ALuares of the Ethiopians They minister Baptisme to their male children when they are fortie dayes olde and to the female when they are threescore dayes olde the infants not arriuing to that age die without Baptisme The which thing being come to my knowledge I could not detaine my selfe from publishing in many places the great fault and error which was committed against the Gospel where it is written That which is borne of the flesh is flesh and that which is borne of the spirit is spirit Whereunto they answered me that for that matter the faith of the mother sufficed together with the communion which shee receiued being with childe They baptize not in Fonts as wee doe but in the Porch of the Church with a potte full of water and that the fortieth day Theuet The King of Maitachasi receiued the Gospell at the perswasion of King Cephalian which was a Christian and established in his Churches eight Bishoppes a notable company of Priests and other Ministers there was also established an Alcaide or Ismiel that is to say in their language a Priest aboue all the other Priests which within sixe daies preached a thousand heresies Amongst the rest that if a woman be deliuered and the child die it was depriued of eternal be atitude and on the contrary side it was decreede by a Synod holden at Quiticoi that if a woman being ready to be deliuered came to receiue the Sacrament after their vsage law and faith and that afterwards her childe should be borne dead by this Sacrament only the child was baptized and freede from punishment and damnation THE LATIN CHVRCH THe Councell of Trent Translation into the estate of grace cannot be without the water of regeneration or a firme purpose to be baptized The Canon Praeter If peraduenture there be no Catholicke to be found it is better and more religious to receiue Baptisme of an Hereticke then to perish eternally The Canon Mulier That women presume not to baptize if it be not in case of necessity The Canon Romanus The Romane Bishop taketh it not to be the man that baptizeth but the spirit of God although he that baptizeth be a Pagan THE REFORMED CHVRCH THe confession of the Swizers We doe teach that Baptisme ought not to be administred by women for S. Paul forbiddes them Ecclesiasticall offices The confession of Ausburg Touching baptisme the Church doth teach that it is necessary to saluation as being a ceremony instituted by Iesus Christ The answere of the Diuines of Wirtenberg to the Grecians We doe reioyce that there are many points of agreement between vs and your holinesse and amongst other things that you hold that it must not be permitted to any to presume to take vpon him the office of Teaching in the Church and to administer the Sacraments which notwithstanding in case of necessity the Laickes may baptize ANNOTATION THe Protestants in France doe hold that the Infants of the faithfull dying without baptisme are neuerthelesse saued This word Faithfull seemes to be restrained to the Elect for there are wicked Christians against whom God denounceth that he will punish the iniquitie of the fathers vpon the children Moreouer it may happen that the parents may be Gods Elect and neuerthelesse as all men are subiect to erre they may be negligent to procure Baptisme for their Infants Now it may be doubted whether this fault be any preiudice to the Infants These considerations perhaps haue moued Christian people to encline to this beleefe that the Church ought to hasten Baptisme because they know not who be the children of the Elect and that one cannot erre in prouiding for the saluation of these Infants by baptizing them by reason that in Baptisme a token or signe ordained by the Lord the inuocation of the holy Trinity is vsed and the pardon of originall
not Well then seeing that the bread and wine in the Sacrament are changed wee must examine their discourse to find who doth swarue from the Catholike faith There are foure things in a true bodie First the matter Secondly the accidents and essentiall properties Thirdly the forme which the Philosophers hold to giue life or being to a thing Fourthly the hidden properties which depend vpon the forme As touching the accidents and essentiall properties of the body of the Lord all doe confesse that they are not in the Sacrament but rather the accidents and properties of the bread As concerning the matter of the said body the Latins doe beleeue that it is inuisibly contained vnder the accidents of bread and that the matter of the bread becomes nothing but the beleefe of the Churches of the East and South seemeth to be quite contrary to that First the Patriarch Ieremie absolutely saith that the flesh of our Sauiour which he carried was not giuen to his Apostles to eate From whence it followeth that they did eate some other matter which neuerthelesse was also the body of Christ Moreouer hee expoundeth it saying that it is as Iron or Wood burnt which is called fire because that the fire surmounteth or ouercommeth and the mater of the Iron is not reduced to nothing As concerning the third he saith in like manner that those that doe communicate the Sacrament are chaunged into the body of Christ and that the Church is the true body of Christ Neuerthelesse euery one confesseth that the matter of humane bodies is not reduced or brought to nothing Likewise one may see that the Church is called the true body of Christ or else if the bread be called the true body of Christ this word True is put as opposite euen as the same Author doth expound it to the bare similitude figure or proportion and not as referred to the identitie of the matter The Churches of the South say the very same they do pray in their Liturgie or seruice that God would chaunge the bread and wine of the Sacrament as he changed the water into wine in Cana for the matter of the water was not reduced to nothing to giue place to other wine created a new but the water lost his forme and that matter which was before water receiued the internall forme and all the qualities and properties of wine These considerations and many others the which would bee too tedious to recite doe make some Latin writers and amongst the rest Durandus to beleeue that the bread looseth his forme and not his matter no more then the accidents and properties thereof It is also to be noted what the foresaid Ieremie saith against consubstantiation that there is not two things in the holy Sacrament to wit the bread and the body of Christ but one onely to wit the body of Christ giuing to note thereby that that matter which remaineth is no more the matter of bread but the matter of the body of Christ as in the miracle of Cana that matter which was then the matter of water whē it had the forme of water was the matter of wine when it had the form of wine And which is more there was no chaunge wherin the matter continued not the same And if one well waigh the sayings of the Fathers who beleeued some miracle to be in the Sacrament hee shall find that they doe accord heerein also they say that the substance of our flesh is augmented by the Eucharist and that there be two sorts of the flesh of Christ We must then obserue how they conceiue that the bread is chaunged into the body of Christ It seemes that they would onely haue it a matter be it that it loosed his forme as Durandus saith or loosed it not which should receiue the forme of the body of Christ and the hidden properties which doe proceede from that forme and that that forme being ioyned to the matter it is no more bread neither the matter of bread but it is the bodie of Christ and the matter of the body of Christ for as the Philosophers say forma dat esse rei Some wil say it is a dangerous curiositie to sound these mysteries but I aunswere that of two inconueniences the lesser is to be chosen and that it is a most dangerous carelesnesse to leaue the Church in diuision and to cause Christians to be wounded and slaine for want of teaching that the difference is not so great as it is imagined Moreouer the learned men of the Church of Rome haue a thousand times more curiously searched this point and haue left themselues nothing to say in such sort that that will suffice to make vp a peace which they haue searched out by debate amongst themselues This then may likely bee gathered out of the Liturgie of Christian people that the bread taketh the forme of the body of the Lord which for the matter and accidents thereof is but onely in heauen or that it receiueth the hidden properties of the forme of the body of Christ although that this forme be not without his matter These faculties and properties serue as the said Ieremie noteth to sanctifie a man and to make him capable of euerlasting life If it be demaunded what this forme is The Prince of Philosophers answereth that mans vnderstanding is as fitly disposed for the knowledge of naturall things as the eyes of an Owle to behold the brightnesse of the sunne And that learned Fernelius beginneth his booke of Physicke thus When the Spirit is free and vnbound seeing the naked and cleere substances of things it enioyeth a most perfect and cleere knowledge but whilest it is wrapped within the body it remaines in extreame ignorance The Philosophers and Phisitians seeing in nature sundry admirable effects haue iudged that they could not proceede from the matter which is one in all things but haue beene constrained to confesse that the forme or essence was the beginning and foundation of those effects But if they acknowledged mans vnderstanding vnfit to iudge of those formes much lesse can Diuines determine this effect which they confesse to proceede of the body of Iesus Christ Also that which we doe attribute to the Christians of the East and South touching the forme of the body of the Lord comming vpon the matter of the bread we cannot determine that their beleefe is such for they resolue vpon nothing saying That a thousand heads are not able to expresse it which is nothing else but to signifie that the Sacrament may bee sayd to bee the true bodie of our Lord Iesus Christ although it be graunted that the matter of the bodie of Christ is onely in heauen For it sufficeth for a change euen in things praeexistent that there be an identitie of form or else of qualities and hidden vertues As for the Protestants though they hold not the beleefe of the same people yet they haue not written against them but much against the Latins who doe
by little and little to her obedience The Protestants or reformed Christians doe make the sixt Church of Christians they inhabite a great part of Germanie and the Kingdoms of England Scotland Denmarke and Swethia and haue Churches in France Flanders and Poland This reformation attempted and desired by the Albigeans and Valdians was receiued in Bohemia in the yeere 1400. or there abouts and afterwards in the yeere of 1517. established in the said Regions by the doctrine of Luther Melanchton Zuinglius Bucer Caluin and others The reformed haue not Primate in common neither any generall Synods which are the Markes and Bands of Vnitie and from thence haue proceeded and entred amongst them with great scandale the diuisions and names of Hussits Lutherans Caluins and Puritans ¶ Secondly Certaintie of Christian Religion FOrasmuch as we intend to intreate of diuers points of the Euangelicall veritie It seemeth necessarie vnto vs before all things to establish and shew the foundation The which shall bee of more authoritie if we insert here the end of a learned discourse of Gennade Patriarke of Constantinople made by him in the presence of Mahomet the second Emperour of the Turkes Besides these reasons saith he there are seuen which doe altogether assure vs of our faith The first because that the Prophets of the Iewes the which we doe receiue haue foretold of IESVS and all that which he did and his Disciples after him through his power And in like maner the Oracles of the Grecians by the permission of GOD and the Astronomers of Persia and of Greece did foretell of him The second because the holy Scriptures is altogether conformable to our Faith for that those which did write them had all one teacher to wit the grace of God for if the same had not beene they had differed and varied in some point The third because that men receiued this faith although new and strange with great care among all nations and in great daungers And not onely the foolish but also the wise and prudent and all Diabolicke deceit was perfectly reuersed and ouerthrowne The fourth because that this faith contayneth nothing that is impossible and which disagreeth with it selfe and that there is no corporall thing therein but rather spirituall and it is the way which leadeth the soule to the loue of God and to the hope of euerlasting life The fift because that those which haue receiued this faith and that haue liued vertuously according to the loue of Christ haue receiued great gifts of God and haue wrought many miracles the which could not haue beene done had not the faith beene true The sixt because that all that which may be obiected against it is easily refuted with firme arguments The seuenth because that the Kings of Paganisme Countries haue made Warres against this faith with infinite power and cruelties during many ages and haue profited nothing at all but rather the faith hath preuailed so well insomuch that it doth persist vntill this present and when the Lord doth come he shall finde it To the same Iesus our Lord and true God be glory for euer Amen ¶ Thirdly the Subiect and end of this Treatise IF the Schismes doe ruinate Christendome by the aduantage that the Infidels doe take it is nothing lesse endamaged by the scandall which Christians themselues doe receiue the one of the other the one liueth vncertaine of that which he ought to beleeue the other perswadeth himselfe that he followeth the right way and animated out of measure against the opinion of the rest he doth but attend the houre to renew those auncient Furors If any man speake of a Councell or to correct and eschue those vitious and scandalous extremities he is so soone reproued by those which haue the eares of Kings and people I seeke peace saith the Prophet and when I talke thereof they are bent to warres The saying of Zaga Bishop of Ethiope and Embassadour of Prester Iohn is more charitable It is a miserable thing saith he that Christian strangers should be so sharpely reprooued as enemies as I haue beene heere and other things which concerne not the true faith But it should be farr more conuenient to support all Christians be they Grecians be they Armenians be they Ethiopians be they of any one of the seuen Christian Churches with charity and loue of CHRIST and to permit them to liue and conuerse amongst other christian brethren without any iniurie because that we are all Infants of one Baptisme and doe hold truely the true faith and there is no reason to dispute so sharpely touching ceremonies but rather that euery one should obserue and keepe his owne without hating or troubling the other and not to be excluded out of the commerce of the Church if being a stranger in other Prouinces hee keepe and obserue the customes of his owne Country This is the Discourse of a Moore which should make vs blush But seeing that ignorance obscureth the vnderstanding and that anger stoppeth the eares and shutteth the eyes of the men of this world It resteth for the Louers of peace and trueth to put in practise the commandement of our Sauiour Take heede saith he of the leauen of the Pharisees For who can assure himselfe that this commaundement hath not more scope But some man will say what meanes is there to discerne this leauen and these Pharisees in so great a conflict of reason The answere is that when the Scriptures the which all Christians doe claime haue not sufficient light for to make the trueth in the doctrine of controuersies to bee apparently perceiued Yet may a man now a dayes vse that meanes which S. Ireneus councelleth vs which is that he haue a recourse to the Churches where the Apostles haue conuersed for to learne the Apostolicke tradition But men are farre enough from taking this way The one perswadeth himselfe that the Apostolicke Churches are perished the other calleth them plaine heretickes For it is manifest that we must beleeue the promise of the Son of God who said to his Apostles yea as well to them as to the Colledge of their successors Goe through the vniuersall world behold I am with you vntill the consumation of the world Here is the full But of this Treatise to make men see by Testimonie of Historiographers being ocular witnesses and of vnreproueable Authors that there are Churches in the Apostolicke Sees and for to shew that they are conformable among themselues and to the Scripture in that which is necessarie to saluation As for ceremonies or curious Questions it matters not if euery one of them doeth make or beleeue that which seemeth him best That which is worst of all is the diuision which proceedeth of zeale but with little charitie and it will not be amisse to recite the moderation which Saint Paul commandeth If you saith he bee otherwise minded GOD shall reueale euen the same vnto you As
and profitable The Protestants in the confession of Saxonie and Ausburg and others doe confesse also that it may be imputed to the vnderstanding by reason of other succeeding obiects as the cause that vice raigneth in man for man hath his free will to euill and God hath not promised saluation to them which sinne willingly and notoriously 8. As touching the Christians of the South although that this question is not found handled in their writings yet they speake very sufficiently They say that assurance of faith is a guift of God and therefore they begge it at his hands and they confesse that a man cannot doe any good in the world to wit by his free will Moreouer the Councell of Trent confesseth that this faith proceedeth not at all from free will Euery man saith the Councell when he hath regard to himselfe and to his owne indignity and indisposition may haue some feare and doubt of Gods grace seeing a man cannot know by any certainety of faith that hee hath obtained the grace of God Out of this confession of the Councell a man may conclude that if God giueth this confidence as the Apostolike Churches doe beleeue against the said Councell then it is a supernaturall gift and dependeth no way on freewill 9. But the Reformed stay not on so faire a way They say that we cannot doe any good workes through free-will They would say in as much as these workes proceede of faith for in that they proceede from naturall all reason which is no lesse in the faithfull then in the vnfaithfull the free-will doth cooperate also neuerthelesse they are not therefore truely good that is to say rewardable but they are in that they proceede of faith or that they are addressed to a true end through faith and therfore the Catholike Church beleeueth That God giueth a kind of faith called confidence which proceedeth not in any wise from free-will nor by consequent works considered as effects of this faith QVESTION XIIII Whether a man receiueth remission of sinnes by a confident faith without the workes of the law THE EAST CHVRCH IEremie The one hath neede of the other that is to say grace of the works and the workes of grace as the light of the sight and the sight of the light as the soule of the body and the body of the soule Seeing then that both the one the otherdoth auaile to saluation without doubt a man ought to haue them both a true faith with works the works of vertue through faith and a man ought to beleeue without doubting for doubt and perplexity in faith is no faith for that which is proued by arguments though once receiued is examined more profoundly by searching But the simplicity of faith is more firme then the demonstrations of reason and those things which are beleeued without arte are more strong then those that are artificiall without all comparison For if one sound the depth of Faith she is tossed to and fro but if she be considered in her simple disposition she remaineth stedfast It being then most certaine and not to be doubted that a man must beleeue without Doubting It remaineth here onely that we must with all our might seeke and find in some fashion what that is because that we ought to apply our selues to obtaine saluation for faith without workes and workes without faith are equally reiected of God The booke called Dioptra Thou didst discend O Lord thou hast taken flesh to saue all men preserue me by thy grace I beseech thee for if thou shouldest preserue me by my workes the same should not bee reputed grace For thou my Lord Iesus Christ hast sayde he that beleeueth in mee shall liue and shall neuer see death Let faith be imputed to me in stead of workes for to iustifie me but let that faith suffice me for all It is faith that will absolue me it is faith that will iustifie me it is faith that will make me partaker of eternall glorie for God requireth noe other thing but compunction and mourning THE CHVRCH OF THE SOVTH ANaphor Cophit Lord which art praised by Angels and Archangels called holy of the Seraphins which sittest vpon the Cherubines art praised without ceasing by their voices formed by the diuine word which wouldest also be honored by a Priestly function euen by vs which dwell on the earth not for that thou hast any need of our worship or seruice but for to make vs partakers of thy holinesse support vs O Lord I say which approach to thy holy altar disdaine not vs thy seruants which doe stand before thee for the blot of sinne wherewith we are spotted for thou which art our maker knowest and seest what thy creature is for no man borne of a woman shall be iustified in thy sight THE REFORMED CHVRCH THe confession of Ausburg When the Gospell doth reprehend our sinnes the astonished hearts ought to holde for a certaintie that the remission of sins and iustification through faith are giuen vs freely thorough Iesus Christ which was made a sacrifice for vs and hath apeased his father Albeit then the Gospel requireth repentance yet neuerthesse to the end that the remission of our sinnes might be certaine it teacheth vs that it is giuen freely and that it dependeth not vpon condition of our worthinesse and is not giuen in confideration of any precedent workes neither of any insuing worthinesse or dignitie For remission should become vncertaine if wee should hold it not to bee giuen but after such time as it was merited by precedent workes or else by some notable repentance THE LATIN CHVRCH THe Councell of Trent when the Apostle saith that man is iustified by faith and that freely those words ought to be vnderstood in that sence that the Catholike Church hath alwayes held expounded them that is to say that we are iustified by faith because that faith is the beginning of the saluation of mankind the foundation and root of our iustification without the which it is impossible to please God to come into the companie of the sonnes of God And that we are freely iustified by reason that there is no other thing that goeth before iustification bee it faith or good workes which meriteth the grace of Iustification For if it be of grace it is not of works otherwise as the same Apostle saith grace were no grace Item If any man say that iustifying faith is nothing els but the trust which one hath on the mercy of God which pardoneth sinnes for the loue of Iesus Christ or that this trust is the onely thing through which we are iustified let him be accursed If any man say that to obtaine remission of sinnes It is onely necessary that a man beleeue assuredly and neuer to make any doubt notwithstanding his owne infirmitie and indisposition that his sinnes are pardoned him let him be accursed ANNOTATION TIme saith Malancthon hath mollified the controuersie
Sacrament yet the Priest might administer it as well as the Bishop but he that will beleeue the Catholicke Church notwithstanding the Anathema of the Latin Church will say That the oyle may be as well applied by the Priest as by the Bishop in Baptisme and that it is no Sacrament that is to say a ceremonie commaunded by God or by the Church besides Baptisme QVESTION XXI Whether particular confession stand by diuine law and whether it be necessarie to confesse euery sinne by the Ecclesiasticall lawe THE EAST CHVRCH THe aunswere of the Church of the East to the Diuines of Tubinge We say that he that confesseth receaueth perfect remission of his sinnes if he doe confesse them all and the circumstances thereof as farre as hee can remember Neuerthelesse the sinnes which a man leaueth vnconfessed eyther by forgetfulnes or because he is ashamed to vtter them we beseech our mercifull God that he would pardon them together with the rest and we hope that a man receiueth also pardon for such sinnes Panorm The Grecians admit not confession saying that it is not by Diuine law Gagninus The meaner sort say that confession doth appertaine to Lords and that it is sufficient for them to beleeue in God and in his sonne Iesus Christ and in the holy Ghost Scarga The Russians stand not any more vpon the state of Confession for their Popes or Priests beeing soyled with sinnes without making any other confession then that which they make once a yeare doe approach to celebrate diuine seruice THE SOVTH CHVRCH VIlamont The lacobites neuer confesse their sinnes to any man but to God onely and that in secret Aluares The custome of the Priests of that Countrey is not to keepe secret that which was declared vnto them in confession the Authour speaketh of a Portingall which dwelt thirtie yeares in Aethiope Because he cannot doe a better worke then to open the secrets of the thoughts to him to whom all thinges are knowne Annot. Out of this discourse of Aluares may be gathered that if the Abyssins doe confesse themselues it is not by recyting of all their sinnes and aboue all the rest of sinnes punishable for that were dangerous for them that confessed THE REFORMED CHVRCH THe confession of Ausburg Seeing then that confession is the cause that absolution is giuen in secret and that the custome of confessing in particular causeth that an acknowledgement of the power of the Keyes and of remission of sinnes is kept and maintained among the people Moreouer seeing that this auricular confession profiteth much to forwarne and teach men we doe reteine it for these causes diligently in our Churches yet in such wise that we teach that the recyting of sinnes is not by Diuine Law and none ought to charge mens consciences with the rehearsing of them The Synod at Sandomir in Poland No man shall be admitted to the Communion if first he hath not beene examined and absolued by the Minister or by some of his fellowes In that examination the rudest are apposed and taught and in the end absolued THE LATIN CHVRCH THe Councell of Trent The Lord hath instituted an intier confession of sinnes and by Diuine Law it is necessary for all those which are fallen after baptisme It is most certaine that Priests cannot exercise their iudgement without hauing knowledge of the matter in hand and that they cannot keepe and obserue equity and iustice in injoyning penance or punishment if men declare their sinnes onely in generall and not in speciall From hence a man may gather that the penitents must declare in their confessions all the mortall sinnes which they know in their consciences after such time as they haue diligently examined them although that they were secret and hid and committed onely against the two last commandements of the Decalogue which wound sometimes their hearts more deepe and are more dangerous then those which they commit publickely But because that all mortall sinnes and euery sinne according to desert dooth make men the children of wrath it is necessary to aske pardon of all by open and penitent confession ANNOTATION ALl Christians doe confesse that the Lord gaue to the Apostles and to their Successors vnto the end of the world the charge of bynding and loosing to remit and to retaine sinnes that is to say to denounce against the wicked and impenitent that they are in the estate of perdition and to the penitent and repentant that they are in the estate of grace In such sort that whatsoeuer the Ministers of the Church which haue this office doe open or shut with the keye which was giuen them that is to say according to the trueth of the word of God is confirmed and ratified in them Some man peraduenture will aske whether it be suffcient to preach it in generall or it be commaunded to certifie euery one in particular The Catholike Church answereth that our Sauiour meant that it should be done in the best forme by following his example Thy sinnes are forgiuen thee sayd he to the particulars If one consider well what is practised in the greatest part of the world he shall finde a conformity in doctrine and beleefe but some diuersitie in the forme and maner of proceeding The Iacobites confesse not their sinnes but onely to God as many Authors affirme The same is also true of some nations aboue all the rest of those who haue their Metropolitane in Caramit as Boterus saith for that Church extends into many parts of the world The Iacobites who come out of Egypt doe report that particular confession is in vse amongst those which are called there Iacobites and Cophites The Protestants in Fraunce confesse their knowen sinnes either in the Church or in their Consistories and there receiue absolution and their doctrine declareth that it is very good for the easing of a troubled conscience to confesse sinnes particularly but none can learne when and how the same is practised The Reformed Protestants of Germanie Poland and Bohemia haue established an order to confesse their sinnes and to receiue absolution But without naming their faults They of the East are not farre from this forme of proceeding for they say that the numbring of sinnes which they require is not by any diuine law but rather they confesse that they hold it otherwise for the commaundement of the Church binds not in foro conscientiae vnlesse it be in case of scandall but it is no scandall to conceale an vnknowen offence But the said Churches of the East doe more that is they hold that a man is not bound to confesse that which he is ashamed to declare which is to open a doore to the proceedings of the foresaid Reformed for if a man be ashamed of all it followeth that he is not bound to confesse any Moreouer if Shame doth dispence wherefore doe not other considerations of more importance doe the same likewise as the danger to be diuulged and afterwards
is to say that they neuer receiue or admit any into the gouernment of the Chrurch but onely those men that are married This hath bene practised in all ages peraduenture the Church hath had respect to that which S. Paul saith that a wise Bishop must gouerne well his owne family so that they would haue none but aged and approued men And whereas they admit not them that are twise married it is because they want not conuenient and fit men for that charge vnto the which the most continent are preferred one may therefore say That Church men may marry both by Diuine law and by Ecclesiastical law but cannot marie twise and continue in their office without dispensation QVESTION XXXV Whether there be more then three Orders in the Church that is to say Bishops Priests and Deacons THE EAST CHVRCH ALlphonsus de Castro The Grecians as Guido saith besides the sacred orders admit not any inferior orders but only Readers and they say that the other that is to say exorcists Porters acoluthytes ought not to be accounted amongst the orders Idem The Armenians acknowledge but three orders that is to say Bishops Priests and Deacons THE SOVTH CHVRCH ALuares There assembled a great multitude of people to receiue imposition of hands of the Abuna for no other but he could giue them orders the said Abuna made an exhortation vnto them in the forme of a Sermon then he caused thē to passe through a tent wherin he was and made euery one of them read on a booke and if they could read he caused them to passe on further and vpon those that were examined and were found capable he imposed his hands and they were ordained Deacons THE REFORMED CHVRCH THe Confession of the Frenchmen As touching the true Church we doe beleeue that it ought to bee gouerned according to the policie which our Lord Iesus Christ hath established that is to say that there be Pastors Elders and Deacons to the end that puritie of Doctrine may haue his full scope and course that vices may be corrected and repressed and that the poore and all that are afflicted may be succoured THE LATIN CHVRCH ISidorus All those that serue in Christ his Church are called generally Clerkes whose names and degrees are these the Doore-keeper Psalmist Lector Exorcist Acolythit Sub-deacon Deacon Priest and Bishop And the orders of Bishops are fower to wit Patriarchs Archbishops Metropolitans and Bishops ANNOTATION FIrst The Church is composed of Clerkes so called of the word Cleros which signifieth heritage because that they are after a speciall fashion dedicated to the seruice of God and of the Laickes that is to say those of the Common people so called because that they are the greatest part thereof Of Clerkes some are Bishoppes that is to say Superintendants others Priests that is to say Elders others Deacons that is to say Dispensers Secondly there are fiue degrees of Bishoppes according to the fiue sorts of assemblies or resortes The Parson or Curat which resideth in Parishes for so were the particular Churches in times past called yea the greatest The Bishops of the Diocesses gouerning the Presbiterie or the Senate of the Diocesse The Metropolitans in the Prouinciall Synods the Patriarches in the Synods of nations and the Oecumenicke or generall as they call the Bishoppe of Constantinople at this day which ought to preside or rule in generall Synods The Bishoppe being considered without Iurisdiction is by Diuine Law Let all things be done in order saith S. Paul If he be considered with Iurisdiction and out of assembly he is by positiue law Let the Bishops know saith Saint Ierome that they are greater then the Priests more by the custome of the Church then by Diuine institution This word More sheweth that he acknowledged a certaine Diuine authoritie in them Therefore the Bishoppes in the charge of ruling or gouerning are successors of the Apostles and Euangelists For after them this charge fel to the most ancient Pastor of euery Church One may gather by all likelyhood that it is of such Bishoppes which is spoken in the Apocalyps Write to the Angell of Ephesus Write to the Angell of Pergamus but by and by afterwards a man holdeth it better that Non aetas sed meritum faceret Episcopum The second sort of Clerkes are the Elders whereof some are Preachers and Doctors and doe all that which the Bishop doth excepta Ordinatione The others doe teach the rudiments or principles of religion but not in publicke Sine Episcopo which if they befound fit to doe they are called Liturgij and haue power to administer the Sacraments hauing sufficient instructions contained in the Formularies of the Church These Elders are called Papes in Greece The Russians haue few Preachers but onely these Papes They are very profitable and necessary for little Churches and for the meaner sort of people which get more instruction from a simple Cathechisme then from a learned Sermon They finde many men capable of this office and vse to chuse those that are good and approued people and which are no charge to the Church In Aethiope saith Theuet the Priests after that they haue said Diuine seruice doe goe to worke to get their liuing seeing that the Reuenues which they haue are not sufficient to nourish them and their Familie For they giue not such Donations to the Church there as they doe in these quarters Of these Priests the Nouvelle 123. maketh mention We permit not that any Priest be made which is not fiue and thirtie yeares of age And S. Paul saith The Priests that rule well are worthy of double honour especially they which labour in the word and Doctrine The third sort of Clerkes are the Deacons their office is to serue at the Tables or Altars as well in the receiuing of the gifts or offerings as in the celebration of the Liturgie Fourthly the Laickes doe also employ themselues in Ecclesiasticall affaires Princes themselues doe rule ouer the Clergie of their Dominions The Elders of the people were in times past Counsellors to the Bishops Saint Ambrose thinkes it not good that men should loose any benefit of time Those of the Clergie haue since that cast away this precept altogether The Laickes which serue in the Church are the Sub-Deacons Readers Singers Porters Acolytes Labourers and Diaconisses These according to the Councell of Nice ought not to bee accounted amongst the Clerkes There were no Monkes in times past As concerning the office of Sub-Deacons Lecturers c. they haue beene in seuerall times and places established in a formall office yea and that with ceremonie Neuerthelesse and yet this is the question whereof Diuines doe here dispute the Catholike Church doth beleeue That these little Offices are not Sacramentall that is to say neyther by Diuine nor Apostolike institution QVESTION XXXVI Whether there be an indeleble or perpetuall Character imprinted in the soules of Clerkes that doth
restraine them from becomming Lay-men againe THE EAST CHVRCHES GAgnin If any Priest that is a Widdower doe marry with another woman which is at liberty he is depriued of his charge and must not communicate with the Clergie THE SOVTH CHVRCH ALuares If it happen that a married Priest doe accompany with another woman he shall be prohibited to enter into the Church because that the Lay-people enter not within or doe not enter within the Closset where the Clerkes be and shall not participate of their Reuenues This I know to be true because that I saw one which was called before the Patriarch for being found a bedde with a woman the which he could not denie and confessed the same in my presence for punishment whereof hee was forbidden to carry anie more the Crosse in his hand and condemned to take vpon him the estate of a secular man Moreouer If a Priest that is a widdower doe happen to marrie with a woman that is to say without dispensation as Zaga sayth he must remaine amongst the Lay people Alphonsus de Castro The Armenians doe hold that in the Sacrament of orders there is no grace bestowed which they hold likewise of the rest of the Sacraments THE REFORMED CHVRCH THe Ecclesiasticall Discipline of the Frenchmen The Ministers shall be deposed and degraded that teach false doctrine if after that they haue beene sufficiently aduertised they doe not desist THE LATINE CHVRCH THe Councell of Trent Forasmuch as in this Sacrament of orders is imprinted a Character which cannot be defaced raised out or taken away as in Baptisme and in Confirmation The holy Councell hath iust occasion to reiect as damnable the opinion of those which say that Priests haue a power which endureth onely for a time and that they may retire backe againe into their first estate and condition of Lay people ANNOTATION THis before spoken sheweth the consent of foure Churches against the Councell of Trent It is true that the Grecians in their answer to the Diuines of Wittemberge doe speake of a Spragis a Seale or marke Socolouius interpreteth it a Character peraduenture willing to perswade men that the foresaid Churches do hold with the Romane Church that in the soules of Clerkes there is an indeleble and perpetuall Character so surely imprinted that after their death it may be knowen It appeareth not that they haue this opinion howsoeuer it be both they and the Africanes doe hold the opinion which the Councel of Trent doth call damnable to wit That there is not any such indeleble or perpetuall Character which hindereth a Clergie man to take againe vpon him the estate of a secular man QVESTION XXXVII Whether that the annointing of the sicke be a Sacrament and whether the obseruation thereof be now necessary THE EAST CHVRCH SAcranus The Russians doe say that the Sacrament of extreme vnction cannot giue any remedie against the staine of sinne and that S. Iames speaking of vnction did meane that it was onely to helpe and cure bodily infirmities Vilamont The Grecians doe denie the Sacrament of confirmation and Extreame Vnction THE SOVTH CHVRHCES THe Confession of Zaga It is to be noted that with vs confirmation and the Chrisme or the oile of extreame vnction are not held for Sacraments nay they are not in vse as I see here they are in these parts according to the custome of the Church of Rome Aluares The Abyssins vse neither Chrisme nor oyle of extreame vnction THE REFORMED CHVRCH THe Confession of the Swizers Confirmation and Extreame Vnction are mans inventions whereof the Church may ridde it selfe without any damage and we haue them not in our Churches THE LATINE CHVRCH THe Councell of Trent This holy Vnction or annointing of the sicke was instituted by our Lord Iesus Christ as a true and proper Sacrament of the newe Testament The vertue of this Sacrament is the grace of the holy Ghost the vnction whereof serues to wipe out the guilt of sinne if there be any as yet to purge ANNOTATION SAint Iames commaundeth to annoint the sicke and to pray for them and addeth that praier by faith bringeth health and remission of sinnes Here is a difference betweene the Romane Catholike Church and the reformed Church The Churches of Affrica and Asia which doe vse it are manifestly on the Protestants part As touching the Greeke Church those that haue trauelled those parts doe protest vnto vs that this vnction or anointing is not also in vse there Neuerthelesse Ieremie writeth that they hold it vntill this present time as a Mystery It is peraduenture likely that the vse of oyle hath beene deliuered by some one or other of the Apostles but it is cleare that it was ordained by S. Iames it is his Tradition which since his time hath beene obserued of vs. Those of that Countrey do tell vs that they holde it not necessary and therefore it is not vsed although they holde it as a Mysterie to fill vp the tale of the seuen holy numbers Sacranus witnesseth that in his time which is but a hundred yeares since the Moscouites and consequently the Grecians did beleeue that this oile was onely to heale diseases But because that Ieremie sayth that it serueth for the body and the soule and alleadgeth for it the very text of Saint Iames one may easily reconcile that place in saying that the vnction properly regardeth corporall diseases Neuerthelesse consequently it was a marke of remission because that God giueth not the one without the other And therefore a man may by this which hath beene spoken gather that the meaning of the Churches is That the annointing of the sicke is one of the seuen Mysteries Neuerthelesse the vse thereof is not at this time necessary in regard that the same was purposely Instituted for the miraculous healing of Diseases QVESTION XXXVIII VVhether there be seuen Mysteries in the Church and whether that two of them may be called Sacraments THE EAST CHVRCHES IEremie In the Catholike Church of the Orthodox Christians there are seuen Mysteries or Celebrations that is to say Baptisme the annointing with holy oile the holy Communion imposition of hands marriage repentance and holy oyle THE SOVTH CHVRCH THe confession of Zaga It is to be noted that with vs Confirmation and Chrisme or the oyle of extreame vnction are not holden for Sacraments THE LATIN CHVRCH THe councell of Trent If any man say that the Sacraments of the new law haue not beene all instituted by our Lord Iesus Christ or that there are more or lesse then seuen that is to say Baptisme Confirmation Eucharist Penance Extreame Vnction Orders and Marriage or that any one of them is not truely and properly a Sacrament Let him be accursed THE REFORMED CHVRCH THe confession of England We doe acknowledge two Sacraments which ought to be called by that name that is to say Baptisme and the Eucharist ANNOTATION HEre is a question