death he hath ouercome the deuell and all thyne enemyes and myne and when he made an ende he said Consummatum est nowe all finyshed He hath done all those thinges that I requyred at thy handes to haue done Despaire not therefore comforte thy selfe wyth thys death of my sonne Trust that this death and bloudsheding is a sufficient ransom and recompence for thy sinnes Comfort thy hungry stomake with this restoretish dishe whiche may so be well called for that it hath restored the all suche as beleue in hym agayne into my fauor Whosoeuer comforteth his hungry soule with this dishe shall haue remission of all hys synnes Whosoeuer feedeth with a sure fayth and eat thereof hartyly not doutinge but that Christ is sufficient to saue his soule that Christe is sufficiente to slaake hys hunger and to quenche his thurst he shall not nede of any other dyshes diuised by men to feed vpon but he shall be suer that the death and bloudshedinge of myne only begotten sonne is sufficient to comfort his penitent hungry soule so that it shall not be famishid it shal not sterue nor peryshe but haue lyfe euerlasting This is the ioyfull tydynges the comfortable doctrine the sede of goddes most holye worde most noble audience which hath bene so longe troden and cast away vnder neth the fote of the people This is the lost seed which when it was sowen woulde not this manye yeares enter into the hartes and vnderstandinges of men But here I moste humbly desier you to note that it is not meant by these wordes eatinge of Christes flesh and drynkynge of hys bloude and feding vpon Christe that ye should so feed of Christe as ye woulde feed of a pece of motton a pece of beefe or a pece of venson For that kynd of cating profetteth nothing at al. Caro non prodest quicquam The fleshe profeteth nothynge at all Thys grosse kynde of feedinge vpon Christe profeteth nothing at all But it is ment that euen as ye comfort your earthly and corruptible body with bread and meat when it is hungry and with ale bere or wyne when it is thurstye Euen so doeth the soule of man when the lawe sheweth to her her faultes and eternal damnation and the dredfull iudgementes of God for her offenses comforte her selfe in her greate hunger and thurste beleuynge that almightye God hath forgeuen her synnes for Christes sake So that where as before she was hungry and comfortles and afraied of eternall dampnation Now is she fed and comforted with thassuerance that her synnes be forgeuen her of god for Christes sake her sauiour It is an vnreuerente and an vngodly opinion and voyd of all Godlye religion to saye or thynke that we muste eate and chame with our corporall teeth or that we muste swallow with our corporal throte Christes blessed fleshe and bones after so grosse a sorte as we eat other kyndes of meat Yea and it is a thynge abhorred of nature that mannes should feede of mans fleshe hyde thesame fleshe of man in pastes or culles or by any meanes otherwyse neuer so conningly Man detesteth and abhorreth to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say a man eater The Centuryon of a relygyouse mynde and of a godly feare thoughte hym selfe vnworthye that oure sauioure Christ shoulde enter into hys house saiynge Non sum idoneus ut tectum meum subeas And S. Peter in the .v. of Luke had a certeyne relygyouse a godly feare to come nighe to Christ and sayed vnto him Discede a me Domine quia homo peccator sum Departe from me O lorde for I am a synnar Euen so all suche as haue any Iote of Godly religyon in ther hartes shoulde be ashamed once to desyer to bruse with there teeth to eate raw and to swallowe the fleshe bloud and bones of oure sauyoure Christe euen as it was borne of the blessed vyrgyne Mary S. Austen wytnesseth that the Capernaites toke our Sauiour Christe after that sort when he sayd Nisi quis manducauerit meam carnem biberit meum sanguinem non habebit uitam eternam Onles a man eate my flesh and drinke my bloude he shall not haue euerlastyng lyfe They toke him saieth he grosly as it appeareth by ther question that they demaunded immediatly saiynge How can this fellow geue vs his fleshe to eat Is not he the sonne of Ioseph Thys grosse opinion of thers Saint Austen calleth heresye as it is a playne heresye in dede to say that we must eat of necessitie Christ after such a grosse sort They thought that Christ had offered hys bodye to be eaten as fleshe that hangeth in the bucherye so that the fleshe of his armes and sydes that stode there before them shoulde be chewed and swallowed of them But sayth Saint Austen that was not hys meaninge For that kynde of eatinge of Christes fleshe profeteth nothyng at all Caro non prodest quicquam But that they whych were made sorowfull and hungrye by the terror of the law shuld be fed and comfortedwith the death of his fleshe and wyth his blessed bloudshedynge And he that feedeth not hys soule after this sort wyth Christes fleshe and bloude is not alyue in Christe but he is in desperation Manet in morte He dwelleth in death yea beynge alyue in thys worlde he hath a taste of hell because hys conscyence is comfortles and the worme byteth him cōtinually so that he hath deuell in his conscience And he is alltogether comfortles because there is none other meet comfort that can comfort oure soules but onely the cōfort that we haue by Christ. And whosoeuer eateth thys fleshe and drinketh this bloud wyth y e mouth of belefe that thys very fleshe of Christ was put to death for him and this very bloud was once shed for him He shall haue euerlasting life and the lord will raise him againe at the latter day And he had a tast of the kingdome of God euen beyng alyue He hath peace and quyetnes in his conscyence Whyche is Gaudium pax in spiritum sanctum And thys kind of eatinge is called of learned men an of Christe Spiritualiter that is to say a comfortinge with oure soules wyth Christ spiritually And as oft as we comforte oure soules of thys sorte we haue a sure knowledge and a felinge that the wrath of god the father against vs is pacyfyed and so be we of oure for more hunger eased There is another kinde of eatinge of Christes body and drinkinge of his bloud that is called eatinge and drinking Sacramentaliter Sacramentally And we eate Christ on this fashion as oft as we Ioyne the outward signes of breade and wyne that is to say the sacrament of the holy communion wyth oure fayth and inward belefe receauing a visible testimony of our inwarde belefe in the face of the congregacion And if it chaunce any man to receaue this outward pledge and testimony of
the lordes death haue not this inward belefe the same man in taking of that visible Sacrament in the face of the congregaciō maketh a lye to the holy gost because he sheweth him self outwardly as though he comforforted his soule inwardelye with Christ and yet in deed he doth not and therfor when he taketh this heuenly Sacrament his conscience cōdempneth hum and telleth him that he is not inwardly so affected and disposed as his outward receauinge of the Sacrament doth pretend Wherfore saint Paule geueth sentence of euery suche man and sayth Iudicium sibi manducat et bibit He eateth and drynketh his owne condempnacion and iudgemente whiche is an vnworthy kynde of eatinge Quia non diiudicat corpus domini Because he hath no consideracion why he eatith of that bred and drynketh of that cuppe wherof he eatith drynketh for an outwarde Sacrament and testimony before the hole congregacion that he is inwardly fed and confortith by Christus death but inwardly indeed he feleth no suche confort Wherefore thus I may conclude he that beleueth eateth And he that beleueth not eateth not although he eate the Sacrament euery day in the weeke And S. Austen beyng of the same minde saith Quid paras dentem uentrem crede manducasti Why doest thou prepare thy teeth and thy bely beleue and thou hast eaten Therfore should man proue hymself as S. Paule saieth and examen diligentlye hys owne conscience within hys breste and way with him selfe wel before he come to this holy communion whether he be indued with the spirit of god and lyuely fayth in Christe or not And if he perceaue hym selfe to be a fleshly a sensuall man without faith and without the spirit of almighty god he ought not to receaue thys holy sacrament but to withdraw him self vntil such time as almighty God shall more plentyfullye indue him wyth his most heauenly grace But if he perceaue by his faith that he is knyt holly to Christ and that he is a liuelye member of him let him then goe forward and eat of this bread drynke of this cuppe to his most heauenly comfort And lette hym say to him selfe on thys wyse when he goeth to receaue the communion I goe now to make a solempne professyon before God and his congregation of my fayeth and to receaue that comfortable Sacrament and misticall pledge that Christ hath appointed And besydes the quyeting of myne owne conscience to declare to other of the flocke of Christ that I beleue assueredlye that oure Sauyoure Christe shedde hys precyouse bloude and dyed for the remissyon of my synnes And that he and none but he hath geuen me a wysdome whereby I am returned againe into the fauor of God The lawe told me that I was not able of my selfe searchinge all the wittes that I had to returne againe to God but Christ. Factus est mihi sapientia a Deo Hath geuen me a wisedome and a knowledge howe to come with hys helpe agayne to God I was altogether wicked and vnholly and he hath made me holy in that he hath made me partaker of his holynes I was alltogether vnrightuouse and he hath made me rightuouse in that it pleaseth him to make me partaker of his rightuousnes By meanes wherof my former offenses shall not be imputed vnto me I thought that I coulde by no means haue pacified the wrath of God the father and haue made amendes for mine offences but nowe I am sure that Christe is become my redemer and hath made a quietnes an attonement betwene almighty god me So that I fele and perceaue this to be trew that Christ is god mā Factus est mihi sapiencia a Deo Iusticiaque sanctificatio redemtio Christ is become my wisdom frō God my righteousnes my holynes and my redemption In witnes wherof I wil eate of this bred and drinke of this cup that our sauiour Christ hath appointed me to eate drynk of to my most heuenly comfort and consolacion After this examinacion our conscience wil tel vs whether we bee apte or not to receaue this holycōmunion according to Christes right institucion Whiche is appoynted for vs to perpetuall memory of his death vntyl his comminge agayne in glory For this ende was the holy sacrament first instituted and not to be holden vp in the handes of the priest ouer his hed not to be hāged vp in y e church to be worshipped with a goodly honor of y e people not that the minister thereof shoulde by the ministraciō therof purchase remission of synnes for y e quicke and the dead not that he should get reyne therby or fayer wheter not y t he should clense the ayer thereby from euell infections no more y t the receyuer therof should be the better for the receuing therof that is to say for the doiynge of that worke but rather the worse if he were not a goodly beleuinge man before The right vse of this holy sa Sacramente is as often as it is taken for a heuenly meanes to putt vs in rememberanrce of the death and bludshedinge of our Sauiour Christ. Whiche right vse being once trewely and plainely perceaued of the people all vayne vses wyll fall awaye of them selfes euen as falsed fayleth when truth commeth and as darcknes geueth place when light cometh And at the last the mainteyners of these fond diuises will be ashamed of their ignorance when all the worlde shall see the truth to ther open confusion and perceaue sensibily how blynd bussardes they be what shift they make both to lyue themselfes and also to bringe vp and confyrme other in blyndnes Yt is a sport to here these ignorant blyndlynges what shiftes they make when they be dryuen to their answer either concernynge the Sacrament it selfe or elles concernynge the presence of Christes body in the Sacrament Some saye that Christ is in this Sacrament realiter et substancialiter but not naturaliter that is to saye really substancially but not naturally And of this opinion be the mooste parte of the schole Doctors Some other holde that that opynion is false and wyl in any wyse haue thys worde naturally saiynge that Christ his bodye is there naturally whiche terme I meruayle much wher they fynd seynge that it is not vsed eyther of Saint Austen saint Ambrose saint Hierom or of any other of the old aunceant doctors writers either in greek or latin old or new And yet is there one who hath of late writtē a boke called the detection of the deuels Sophistry whiche vsed this terme naturally twyse or thrise in his boke belyke he lerned this terme in that schole wheras he learned the deuels Sophistry that is to saye in the schole of lyes of whom the deuel is the chefe scholemaster Some saye that he is there Iisdem dimencionibus quibus pendebat in cruce Euen of thesame lenght breadeth and thyknes as he dyd hange vpon the crosse Some say that
the bread is transubstanciated that is to say that the substance of the bread is gone and the qualities onely of the breade doeth remayne which opinion is an heresy in logike to saye that accidens may be sine subiecto Some saye the bread is the body and some saye the body is vnder the bread And if a man alledge vnto them the article of our Crede say that that body which was borne of the blessed virgin Mary lyued here in earth .xxxiii. yere suffryd vnder pontius pylat and that honge vpon the crosse and that was dead and buryed That theselfe same body arose agayne the third day frō death no fantastical body but euen thesame fleshe and bone and the selfe same bodye that was felt of Thomas and that it remayneth here .xli. dayes with his disciples after his resurrection from death and that the selfe same body is ascendit into heuen and sitteth at the right hand of God the father that is to saye in the glory of the father and that he shall not come agayne vntyll the latter day when he shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead and to restore all thynges whiche were spoken of by the prophetes accordingly as we reed in the third of the actes they wyll saye constantly that all thys gere is playne false For say they a preste may fetche Christe his manhoode downe from heuen when he wyll before the latter day come with saiynge Hoc est corpus meum Be he neuer so viciose a gentelman that saieth the wordes he hath Christes body at his beck and commandement to bringe hym doune when him lusteth And for the mayntenance of thys there erroneus and Anthechristian opinyon they wyll not styke to saye that Christes body may be in sondry places at one tyme graunting that it may be at Rome at Paris in London in Canterbery and in a thousand other dyuerse places at once Whereas if ye read the scriptures through ye shall neuer fynd that Christes body was in two places at one tyme or that after hys resurreccion it appeared in two sundry places at one tyme. This deuilishe opinion of thers openeth a dore to Martion and the Manicheis who defyed Christes bodye after suche a sorte that they denied it to be of like substance as other mens bodies be Agaynst whych doctryne S. Austen geueth this rule Cauendum est ne it a diuinitatem astruamus hominis ut ueritatem corporis auferamus We must take hede sayeth S. Austen that we doe not so affirme the diuinitie of his manhode that wee take awaye thereby of the trueth of hys body And Saint Austen doeth plainelye affyrme that thys body muste be in one place of heauen whereas it pleaseth hys dyuine maiestye to be And he sayeth in the .30 treatyse vpon Iohn .xvi. Corpus enim in quo resurrexit in uno loco esse oportet The bodye wherein he dyd ryse must be in one place I am not ignoraunt that the prynted copy of saynt Austen hath in that place Vno loco esse potest that is maye be in one place But I praye you what is he that douteth of that thing that Christes body maye be in one place Surelye Saynt Austen woulde neuer haue vsed so vayne a sentence in so weightye a matter and it is playne in the decrees De consecratione distinctionei ca. Prima quidem heresis And in the maister of the sentence in the fourth booke distinctione decima that S. Austen is faslye prynted in that pointe For in both these places ye shal haue these plain wordes Corpus enim in quo resurrexit in uno loco esse oporter The body of Christ in which he arose must be in one place These two of there owne schole be sufficiente witnesses to me and to all men that S. Austen was playnely of thys opinion that Christes bodye muste be at one tyme in one place and can not be at one tyme in sundrye places In uno loco esse oportet It must be in one place The best waye to confute this sorte of men is to set the one of them agaynst another him that sayth that Christes body is ther naturaliter naturally against thē that say it is the natural body of Christ but not naturallyter And them whiche sayeth that there is a transubstanciation in the Sacramēt agaynst them that say that ther is the body and the bread together And them that say the mouse may eat the Sacrament agaynst theim that saye the mouse cā not eat it And them that say it may moule agaynst them that say it cā not moule And so shal we ease our selfes of a great deale of paynes in sufferinge the one of them to cōfute the other who as they haue many hedes so haue thei many wittes and their is euē as great a confusion amōgest them as their was amongest the tonges in babylon wherfore whē they striue to hit the matter they lightly alwayes misse euē as men that threshe heynes blyndfyld But ye wyll say to me Syr ye haue told vs what some saye but what say yow Forsoth Sir I say as I haue sayeth that Christes blessed body is not eaten with oure teeth so grosly and so carnally as they take it to be But I beleue that that very body whiche was borne of the virgine Mary and was crucifyed ded and buried and that very body whiche arose agayne the third day and that was felt of Thomas after Christes resurrection that it had fleshe and bones otherwise then spirites hath that whych dyd eat and drynk with the duciples after his resurrectiō And that whiche was seen of the disciples when it ascendid into heauen and that whiche sitteth at the right hand of God the father accordynge to the article of our Creed I beleue I say that that body is in heuē only and is not in the earth accordyngly as Saint Augusten sayth in the 50 treatyse vpon Iohn Conuersatus est secundutu corporis presentiam quadragintaa diebus cum discipulis suis eis deducentibus uidendo ac sequendo ascendit in celum non est hic ibi enim sedet ad dextram patris That is to say He was here conuersant wyth the presence of his body forty dayes with his disciples and they goyng with him and folowynge him he ascendid into heuē in their sight and he is not here for he sitteth ther on the right hand of his father By his diuinitie his godhed hys diuyne mayestye hys power and his prouidence he is here and euery where But his manhod is a creature and is in heuen only and ther shall he remayne vntyll the latter day And yet is it trew that Christes very body is present at the mynistracion of the lords supper Yea euen flesh blud and bone as he was borne of the virgyn Mary Why but what mean I to say so Thys geer semeth to be quiet contrary to al that euer I haue sayth befor
his body is in heuen and his body is present at the mynistracion of the Sacrament of hys Supper These sayenges seme to be directly repugnant the one of them to the other To put you out of dout in this poynt ye shal vnderstād that euen as the sonne which is far of dystand is absent from myne eye and yet is present to my syght euen so is Christes body absent from my mouth and yet present to my belefe For my belefe ascendith in to heuen euen to that body of Christ whiche sytteth ther at the ryght hand of God the father whiche is his very trew and no fantasticall body fleshe blud and bone as it was borne of the virgyn Mary And when I receaue the holy communion Mea conuersatio est in celis My conuersacion is in heuen Wher Christes body is euen so present to my fayth as the sone is present to my sight and as the bred and wyne bepresent to my mouth So that yf I haue no fayth Christ is not present to me when I receaue the Sacrament of the body and blud of Christ Yf I haue fayth Christes body beynge in heuen in one onely place is present to my fayth and when I receue the holy cōmunion I inbrase him by fayth euen fleshe blud and bone as he was borne of the virgyn Mary And so doth al mē through out the hole worlde hange vpon hym and comfort them selues with that only body beynge in one place of heauē though they be dispersed into neuer so many sundry places through out the world Thus farre I haue declared vnto you most noble audiēce The heauenly banket that all mighty god hath prepared for the rōfort of the soule of man which notwithstandyng that it is so comfortable a doctrine yet this many yeres it coulde not be receaued of y e people therfore may it wel be likened to that seed whiche hath bene lost in the way couldnot enter to take rote growe bring forth fruite accordyng to the expectacion of the seed sower Now because I haue determined to speake somewhat of the fourth paynt for the satisfyenge of my promes I will leaue make an end of my for more matter and procede to the latter pece of my purpose this day Which is cōcerning what burdes they be what men they be that hath troden and deuowered this seed As touching the burdes our Sauiour Christ maketh it plaine sayng that they figure the deuell who inueigleth inchanteth so the eares and hartes of many people with heretical doctrines and false opinions that the good seed of Goddes most holy word can fynde no place ther to take rote grow and bring forth fruite But assone as it is sowen it is by by forgotten and as it were drowned and swalowed vp amongest wicked opinions of the martians the manycheis the arrians the Pellagyans the Libertines the Annabaptistes and so fort These and suche lyke hath been the deuelles instrument the deuels throte wherby he hath deuoureth the seed of Gods most holy worde And as touchyng the treadynge of thesame worde vnderneth the feete of y e people The chefe arche capitayn tread worde is the Antichristian Biishope of Rome who as they report neuer sayth masse but he treadith the holy bible vnder neth his feet in tokē that he his ministers haue an aucthoritye greater thē is thaucthoritye of the scripture or rather that he and his mynisters wilbe alwaye ready to treade downe the word of god vnderneth their feet and wyth their wycked doctrines stop vp the hartes of the people that they shalbe made vnapt to receaue it Ther be a greate nomber god knoweth that stampe and tread downe gods word vnderneth their feet And very hard they be to be knowen Yet shall ye knowe them by two tokens commonly whether they be stampers and treaders of Gods worde vnder neth their feet or not The one is by their talkes and the other is by their lyfe As thouchynge their talkes they be of many sortes yet all tend to thys one end that is to say to the pullynge down of Christ and to the settynge vp of Anthechrist And Amongest sundry other of ther talkes this is one Christ say they is not sufficiēt but we must haue some other bye merites and bye satisfactions not meaning ciuile satisfactions betwene man and man but satisfaction to god the father for ther offences And they contend playnly that god can not saue man except man helpe hym And for this they brynge out a place of Saint Austen Whiche in deed is in his .xv. sermon de verbis Apostly and these be hys wordes Qui fecit te sine te non saluabit te fine te That is to say he that made the without the shal not saue the without the. But the lyuynge almyghty god he knoweth that holy S. Austen myndyd no thynge lesse then by this or any other sentence in his workes to rob be god of hys omnipotentie as thoughe he were not able as well to saue man without mās helpe as he was hable to make man without mās help But for the defence of thys holy doctor Saynt Austen Ther is one who hath written a tragedy De libero arbitrio In the Italian tonge and is not translated into any other thonge to my knowledge he is an ytalian and semeth to be singularly well learned He sayth that at Rome in that worthy library most vnworthy to be in so wycked a place named Biblioteca Vaticana Their remayneth an old written copy of Saint Augusten wher in thesame sentence is word by word as I haue rehersed it vnto yow but in the ende of the sentence he sayth that ther is an interogatif poynt that so it is not a determinynge sentence but a question Thus. Qui fecitte sine te non saluabit te sine te He that made the without the shall he not saue the without the Oh lorde what a change here is now in thys sentence How smal aduantage now can our merit prechers our satisfactioners take of thys doctrine Trewly none aduantage at all for the wordes sound now to thesittingforth of gods omnipotēcy and they declare that God is euen as hable to saue man withoute mans helpe as he was to make man withoute mans helpe Saint Augusten confuteth this opinyon of thy merites no man more and namely in his workes agaynste the pellagians And Saint Ambrose vpon the fyrst Epistle to the Corynthes vtterly condemneth that opynyon of other satisfactions besydes Christ saynge Hoc est constitutum a Deo ut qui credit inchristum saluus sit sine opere sola fide gratis accipiens remissionem peccatorum This is thapointemēt of god that he y t beleueth in Christe shalbe saued without work by faith only frely receauing remission of his sinnes So that although our workes declare our at tonement with almighty god yet do they not make satisfaction attonement betwene god and vs. Such as vse