your purpose for that your priuate masse is nothinge lesse then necessitée In necessitée many thinges may be graunted that otherwyse are not tollerable The thiefe that Christe at his death witnessed should be with him in Paradise was neuer baptised beinge excluded by necessitie The auncient histories make menciou of diuers martirs that died before they weare baptised beinge excluded by necessitee And yet is this sentence neues the lesse true Baptisme is necessarie to a christian man Likewise if wes should graunte your case of necessitee yet is this sentence alway true The supper of the Lorde in the ordinary vse of it ought of necessitie to haue communicants to be partakers of it But ye shall heare the foundacion of our proffes againste sole receiuinge by the priest in place of ministery and they shall not bee gaily garnished with colours and amplifications to make theim appere more goodly then they be but plainly and nakedly set for the that euen the meanest may see what force and strength they haue For I write not this so muche to you whom I know not as to an number partely of vnlearned persons partly yonge men leaâ—â—ed but not much conuersant in the scriptures to whose hand these your writinges beinge brought hathe boone greater face of proffe then any man meanly conuersante in the controuersées of this time can acknowledge to be in them Our proufe is this In the celebration of this Sacramente of the Prouffes againste priuate masse out of the scripture Lordes Supper wee ought to doo that only and nothing els that Christ the aucthour of it did in his institution But in Christes institution appeareth neither sole receiuinge nor ministring vnder one kinde Therfore in celebration of this Sacrament neither sole recounâ—â—ge nor minystringe vnder one kinde ought to bee vsed The maior is Saincte Ciprian proued at large and much staied vpon in his Epistle ad ceâ—isium de sacramento sanguinis in the beginninge wherof he seemeth to signifie that by inspiracion hee was admonyshed of God to aduertise men only to doo us Christe did in the institution of his Sacrament I thought if saith hee both godsy and necessary to write if any man continew in this errour he meaneth vsing water only in the Sacrament in stede of wine that he seing the fighte doe veturne to the roote and beginninge of the lordes ordinance and institution And thinke not that I doe this vpon my owne phantasie or any humayne iudgement c. but when one is charged by the inspiration and commanndmente of god it is necessary for a faithful seruant to obey beyng hofden excused with all men because he taketh nothinge vpon hym arrogantly that is compessed to feare the displeasure of god if he doe not as he is bidde Doe you know therefore that we be admonished that in offeringe the sacrament of the lorde bloud his owne institution should be kepte and no other thinge bee done then that the lorde dyd first for vs him selfe No man can make any exception to this proposition onlesse he wyll cleane weaken Cyprians reason againste those abusers of the Sacrament And then shal we haue no ground to stay vpon but euery glose or interpretation vpon humayne pretenses shal be admitted This assertion of Cyprian is confirmed by Ambrose vppon the first to the Corinthes There hee saith that they receiue the Sacrament vnworthely whiche celebrate otherwise then the Lorde deliuered it For he saith Ambrose cannot bee deuouie which presumeth to doe it otherwise then the aucth our hathe taughte Yea and addeth that we shall make an accompte howe we haue vsed it For the proofe of the Minor let vs consider the historie therof as it is set out in the Euangelistes In the celebration of the Sacramente vsed by Christe there appereth two partes the mattier and the forme The mattier is bread the body of Christe wine and the bloud of Christ of which hee that altereth or taketh away any doth alter and maime christes institution as appereth by Ciprian The forme of ministringe the Sacramente must be taken out of Christes doinges At that time it was taken blessed with thankes geuinge broken distributed eaten dronken charge geuen to remember Christe and his death Therfore hee that altereth or taketh away any of these things maimeth the forme of christes institution and breaketh Ciprians rule Moreouer the force of these wordes Gaue to them present doth binde to a company because it signifieth a bestowinge of the death of christe not to one but to many Therefore in Luke he geueth an expresse commaundmente of distributinge as hee doeth of eating and drinking saying Take you this and deuide it amonge you But howe can he deuyde it it there bee not a company to receiue it onlesse we should to the deludinge of Christes ordeinance make suche a phantasticall breakynge and deuiding as you doo in your masse For therin by Sergius decrée ye breake it into thrée partes th one of which ye let fall into the wine which there soked signisieth the body of Christ raysed from death and sittinge in the glory The other drie parte that the pryeste eateth signifieth the body of Christ beinge vpon the earth The thirde parte which is wonte to tary on the aulter to the ende of masse signifieth the deade in the Sepulchers vntill the daye of iudgement O great vanities wherewith God punisheth the rashnes of folishe men folowynge their owne phantasies and leauing his holy word But to returne to the proofe of the mattier I wyll folow Cipryans example and confirme the maner of Christes institution by the testimony of S. Paul In him I finde two argumentes One is in these wordes Vnus panis vnum corpus musti sumus Nam omnes de eodem pant participamus Which wordes the holy fathers interpreting cal the Lordes holy supper a Sacramente of vnitée Because that as the breade consisteth of many graines and the wine made of many grapes so wée that bee partakers of that one loffe and one cuppe should be knit together in loue and charitée as the members and partes of one mistical body Wherfore Chrisostome noteth that it is not sayde this eateth of one breade and hee of another but all be partakers of one breade and addeth why we be one loffe and one body Because of the common participacion that we haue of the sacrament This significacion is cleane taken away by priuate masse the vse wherof may séeme rather to be a Sacrament of separation and dispension as after shall more appere The seconde argumente out of Sainct Paul is where to the Corinthê he reprehendeth the abuse of the lords Supper brought in by dissension and factions that weare amonge them Wherby it came to passe that one company would not tary for another to communicate but one sort would receiue with out another Against this abuse hee allegeth the institution of Christ signifienge the same to be against such receiuinge in partes and therfore exhorteth them to tary vntill the
Meaninge that they were very fewe and seldome in comparison of that their duitie was But if ye wyll stand vppon these few sillables Nemo est to proue that somtime the minister receiued alone I answer all be it this place did proue that none of the common people would communicate whose slacknes he there reproueth yet ye cannot by this testimony declare that none of the ministers or the clergie receiued with hym heynge byshop there For the maner was not then as you doo vse it now that euery prieste receiued particularly at an aulter by him selfe but all the mynisters and clergy did communicate together with the byshop or chiefe minister that celebrated This to proue true although I coulde bringe in many examples and testimonies yet I wil content my selfe with one that your selfe putteth me in minde of in recitinge afterwarde the .14 cannon of Nicene counsell for therein order is taken by that holy counsell that the deacons should not minister to the byshop and priests nor receiue before them but after in order as it séemed more conuenient Loke for further declaration of this in examininge the cannon that ye afterwarde alledge Wherefore this your place of Chrisostome doth not sufficiently iustifie sole receiuinge by one minister as ye would haue it seeme to do for proufe of your priuate masse But if I should flatly deny that the mynister receiued when none of the people were partakers how coulde you proue it by this place Ye wyl say because he calleth it Quotidianam oblationem and the people as appeareth did not euery day communicate I answere hee named it Oblationem either for that it was done in the remembraunce of Christes sacrifice or for the offeringe vp of the breade and wine to the celebration of the Lordes supper he called it Quotidianam to the inmitacion of the sacrifice of the olde lawe not because it was euery day done withoute intermission but for that it was oftentimes celebrated that is so often as the people assembled together to the church or common place of prayer as hee him selfe witnesseth vpon the. 8. chapiter of Mathew At which times he alwaies had either some of the people or the residew of the mynisters and clergie to communicate with him as the maner of that time was But ye wil here dally vpon the proper signification of this worde B Quotidianum euery day without intermission euery day daily sacrifice euery day masse euery day at the aulter Then must you geue mee leaue as extremely to vrge these two sillables Frustra in vaine is oure oblation in vaine is our sacrificing to no profite or commoditie is our masse in vayne wée stande at the aulter because it is done without company to receiue with vs. And surely if a man rightly consider this place he may iustly meruaile why ye would alledge it for priuate masse For in déede there is no thinge that hathe any colour for it but only the wreasted argument that you wrynge out of the sound of these wordes Quotidiana obsatio and Nemo est qui parbicipet by the tone parte gatheringe that the people then vsed to receiue only at Easter as they doo now by the tother that the priest receiued euery day and there vpon conclude your sole receiuinge Which your collection of how small effecte it is any man may perceiue if hee consider these twoo thingê before declared First that at that time all the ministers receiued together as it shall be afterward more plainly proued by your owne testimonies Secondly the I haue euidently shewed oute of Chrisostome him selfe that many vsed to receiue at diuers other times of the yeare beside Easter For in déede hee doth not there blame the generall maner of all without exception but of a number that addicted theim selfe either to Easter or some other times whether they were meete or vnméete And at other common seasons would not frequent the sacramente though they were more mete to receiue But these were not al as I sayd but a number of the common people and the residew of the better disposed were so few as oftentimes when the lessons of scripture weare redde when prayers and thankes geuing were made when bread and wine were as the maner was offered vp for the communion whiche were the first partes of celebration as appereth in Iustine then he was compelled either to suffer the ministers and clergie to receiure alone or els for lacke of communicantê to leaue of the residew of the ministration And that is it that be complaineth of and saith is done in vaine because it was vnperfitly done For the preparinge to communion the prayers and thankes geuinge for that purpose the offeringe vp of breade and wine the callinge of the people to it may séeme to be in vayns when none dyd come to participate with the mynisters Wherfore Chrisostome in this place doth not only nothinge confirme priuate masse but also maketh very muche againste it and declareth that hée toke the righte and trew vse of the Lordes supper to bée when the people were together partakers of the same For if he had taken it as you doo for an offeringe vp of the body of Christe for him selfe and the people Or if hee had at suche tymes receiued alone and thought it wel done hee neither coulde nor would haue sayd Frustra babetur quotidiana obsatio in vaine we haue our dayly offering geuing no other reason why it was vain but because the people at suche tymes dyd not receiue Therfore it appeareth by those wordes both how necessary hee estemed the peoples communion and also that hee toke not OblationeÌ„ for a propitiatorie sacrifice as you doo For then he could not haue sayde frustra habetur To this purpose it maketh that the same Chrisostome in the same place so earnestly calleth the people to it as he saith to them Whosoeuer is not partaker of the misteries doth impudently and wickedly to stande there And in the. 17. Hom. vpon the epistle to the hebrewes he signifieth that the maner then was that a deacon stode in a place higher then other and with a signe of his handes and a lowde voice called the people to the communion This was not only at Easter but at other times also By this earnest maner of calling therfore it may appere how muche this doctour toke it to be of the substance of the Sacrament that a number should be partakers of it and how farre diuers hys maner was from the fasshion of your priuate masse Now then your amplyfied coÌ„clusion wherin ye clayme Chrisostome to be wholy with you sheweth it selfe to be very vaine And wée may now as iustly say as wée did before that ye haue no proofe out of the auncient fathers for that ye doo herein so earnestly defende And that wée haue right good testimonies both out of the scripture and out of the Doctours against it For ye muste not vse to grounde doctrines vpon the coniecture of a few
nor of many other trifling doubtes you make because all such doubtes are answered to the ful in the oryginall veritie of Christes words being in the nature of the veritée necessarily imploied As these are agaynste the whiche you may kicke till you be very but it lieth not in you to alter the nature of Christes owne wordes If you had found in the scripture spoken by Christe concerninge the blessed sacrament This is not my body but the figure of my body beyng absent in substance and onely present to your imaginacions by the sight of the bread You might haue triumphed and blowed vp your horne lustely in euery pulpit and made your auaunte that you had bin able to controlle all christendome But now the letter is very playne against you and the sence of the letter also as the fathers do recorde in all ages and generall counsels to As may appere by your owne mistrust for the space of the last .ix. hundred yeres and odde I take God to iudge I wrote not this for any malice to suche as are otherwise â—ente I pittie them rather and dayly pray for them that they may embrace the catholike faieth But when I perceiued Goltas in his brauerie hauynge truste in his bigge bones and stronge weapons braggyng many times as though there were none of the Israelites hable to matche him Notwithstandynge there are very many that coulde haue handled him better then I beyng a man of small learnyng troubled with much businesse yet I thought it my dutie for the honour of my mother the catholike churche to hurle out foure or fiue stones in Dauids sling against this champion not to hurte him in the forhead as Dauid did Golias but to crushe in péeces certeine vntruethes that he taught Wyshyng him as wel to doo as I woulde my self And all my countrey men of Englande to be ware least they fal into the snares and trappes that our ghostly enemie laieth abrode euery where not onely to hurte their bodies but to hurle downe bothe body and soule into the déepe dongeon of hell The whiche I beséeche God moste hartely géeue all men grace to auoyde Amen An Answere in defence of the truth Againste the Apologie of priuate Masse LONDINI Mens NoueÌ„b 1562. The cheefe poinctes touched in this defence of the trueth Against priuate Masse or soole receiuing by the minister in the common place of praier Why the doctours call the sacrament of the Lordes supper by the name of oblacion or sacrifice Against communion vnder one kinde Of reseruacion of the sacrament Against the argumentes of multitude and longe continuance of time Against the alledging of the aucthoritee name of the church What is to be attributed to the auncient fathers Of reall presence and interpretacion of christes wordes Hoc est corpus c. ⧠The preface to the Reader IT is wel knowen to a greate number partly by presence in hearinge partely by wrytinge set forth of the same that a worthy learned man and Bishop of this Realme stoutly in dede as the matter required and clerkly also as learning and knowlage taught him did openly protest in certaine Sarmons not to the furtheraunce of vntrueth as malice carpeth but to the confusion of falshodde as the ende proueth that if any of those things which he then rehearsed could be proued of the contrary side by any sufficient authoritie of the scriptures olde doctours and auntient councels or by any alowed example of the primatiue church then he would be contented to subscribe and yelde to their doctrine This his doynge as no lesse was to be loked for sum men depraued many dispraised all they misliked that mainteined suche superstitious errours as false teachinge hath trained people in the space of certaine hundred yeares And in dede seinge they harde their doctrine so plainely defaced and their wilfull misleadynge of Christian men so openly to be noted a man maye thinke they had good cause to startle at the matter and somewhat to loke aboute them leste they seemed altogether carelesse Wherfore as dyuers haue dyuersly shewed theyr mislikinge so one of that partie hath in writing priuely spred abrode an answere to the forsaide offer or protestatioÌ„ for priuate masses wherin he both perswadeth him selfe and would haue other also to beleue that he hathe so fully satisfied the parties request as it maye seeme greate folly and as he termeth it impudencie any longer to staye vpon it One of the copies of this answere by occasion as it fortuned not many monethes sence lighted into my hands which I vnderstande is so spred abrode in dyuers places of this Realme as there be fewe mislikers of the trueth but they haue it and make such accompte of it as a greate number of the vnlearned sorte staie their consciences there vpon Who the aucthour is or what maner of man I neither knowe nor can gesse more then he witnesseth of him selfe in the entraunce of this treatise Where he signifieth that once he imbraced that religion which he now detesteth and writeth against In that parte me thinketh he doth deale as fonde men sometime are wonte to doe which to displease their enemies sticke not to hurte them selues also So he to discredite the doctrine that he is reuolted from geueth such testimonie of his owne naughtie life and conscience as he would be lothe to heare at any mans mouth but his owne All that time saieth he neither regarded god nor good relygion nor any good conscience beside What malice it is to charge the doctrine that by hipocrisie he professed with the cause of his euill doinge I will not declare with suche wordes as the matter requireth This muche I will saye that he learned this of olde Adams greate councellour Who at the beginninge beinge blamed for his disobedyence seemed to bourden God him selfe with the cause of it and excused his owne folly by that thinge whiche his maker had geuen him to his comforte and commoditie In like manner when this mans conscience as it seemeth by hys owne wordes accused him of lewde liuinge and lacke of the feare of god to excuse his owne ill disposed minde he casteth the faute vpon the doctrine of the gospell whiche God did open vnto him vndoubtedly to his great commoditie if he would haue taken it And vnder this pretence bothe forsaketh it him selfe and by his example exhorteth other to eschew it But as the wicked life of a man to his owne greate harme may be a blotte to the religion that he professeth so God forbidde it should be compted a full reprofe of the same or a iuste cause to be of all other reiected If it were so men should refuse Christianitie because dyuers not of the basest sorte but of the heades of the Churche as their owne histories witnes haue ben of horrible and wycked life But we muste thinke that the hipocrisie and traiterous couetousnes of Iudas and his felowes is a confusion to them selfe but no iust reproche to
prouyng your learnyng can not be so little but that ye must néedes know A. Euen as say you it is to be wisshed that al contencion and strife were cleane banisshed and yet men are not to be forbidden to sue for their righte when they be iniured so is it to be wisshed that people were so deuoute as they woulde dayly receiue their howsill for so ye terme it And yet is not the priest to be letted to receiue when the people wil not dispose them selues vnto it Beside that ye conclude here only the case of necessitie whiche healpeth the common vse of your priuate Masse very little Ye make your comparison betweene thynges very vnlike and of nature diuers that is between possible and vnpossible and lawful vnlawful That all cotencion should be banisshed from amonge men in this worlde is a thing vnpossible a perfection not to be looked for in this fraile life But in a christian congregacion to haue some of the people or ministers to coÌ„municate orderly with the chiefe minister celebratynge is a thynge so possible as bothe the space of many hundred yeres it was continually vsed in the churche and may at this day with good example and instruction of the ministers be brought to passe although not euery day yet very often times Moreouer to sue for ones right is not only a thing suffered but of it selfe lawful and good and wée haue therof example and aucthoritée in gods worde But for the priest to minister the lordes supper alone is a thyng neither tollerable nor lawfull but contrarie to the forme that Christ him self vsed neither haue wée either aucthoritée or example in the scripture as a sufficient warrant to alter that forme that he vsed and apoincted Therfore your comparison is fautie on bothe partes and especially for that ye séeme to gather therby that it is no more necessarie for company to receiue with the priest then it is to haue all contencion banisshed from christian men whiche as I haue sayd in the frailtée of this woride is vnpossible If suche similitudes should be alowed a man might breake all gods commaundementes and yet proue him self not to do amisse Is not this a ioyly reason thinke you As it is to be wisshed that all variance and strife were cleane abandoned from amonge christian men and yet are not they to be forbidden to sue for their right which be iniured of other so it is to be wisshed that all vnmaried priestes did liue chaste but if they can not the bisshop must not forbid them to haue aâ—coosen of theirs to kéepe their house with whom Si non caste tamen caute This comparison is as rightly applied as yours is and yet how well it proueth I will make your selfe iudge All your drifte in this parte is by alledgyng the corruption of the worlde and slacknesse of deuocion to signifie that the people can not bee brought to communicate with the priest and therfore of necessitie that he may receiue alone But be the world neuer so corrupte I thinke it as vnpossible to haue a priest to celebrate deuoutly euery day as it is to haue some of the people often times to communicate with the priest Wherfore I may as effectually conclude vpoÌ„ the corruption of this time that priestes can not bee brought deuoutly to Masse euery day as ye doo that the people can not dispose them selfe in this colde charitie godly to frequent the sacrament And then were ye best to restraine your dayly massynge priestes and apoincte them either to once or at least to fewer times in the yere as ye haue taken order for the people generally to receiue only at Caster B But the prieste say you is bounde to offer vp the dayly sacrifice for himselfe and for the people This is the roote of all the abuses of the Lordes supper that ye haue brought into the churche of christ This is it wherwith ye doo pitifully deface the death and passion of Christ makinge your selues for your glories sake as it were means of reconciliacion betwene god and his people This is it that hathe discouraged christian people from the often vse and frequentacion of the Sacramente For hereby ye signifie that of necessitie it apperteineth only to the priest and as you wrote before the people to be lefte free to come as seldome as they wyl This ye take for the grounde of your reason in this place and yet within few lines haue twise rehersed it withoute any proofe at all But in déede ye muste of necessitée leaue that vnproued that ye be not in any wise able to proue For sure I am that neither the institucion of Christ maketh mencion of any oblation or sacrifice to be done by the minister sauinge only the sacrifice of thankes geuing for yet the scripture apointeth any bounden duty for the priest more to vse the sacrament then other godly and wel disposed christian men What significacion haue you in the wordes that christ vsed in ordeining the sacrament or in the maner of his doynge that hee then offered him selfe to his father He did that the next day after him self vpon the crosse as S. Paule saieth perfectly once for euer neither doeth he graunt his priuilege of the euerlasting priesthodde to any but to him selfe Therfore when your priestes take vppon them his office to offer sacrifice propitiatorie they goe beyonde theyr commission and take more vpon them then their dutie not without iuste reprehension of arrogancie and presumption Christes institution as the euangelistes S. Paule setteth it foorth is a teaching that hee gaue to vs his blessed body and bloud and not that wee should offer it vp to god the father He sayde Take eate doo this in remembrance of mee he said not geue offer and sacrifice for your sinnes A sacrifice is a thinge geuen to God the sacramente was a thinge geuen to vs. Nothinge therfore can be of nature more contrary then your sacrifice and christes sacramente Wherfore it must néedes bee that ye sucked this erroure oute of the phrases and fashions of speakynge that the olde fathers vsed peruertinge the same to a farre worse sence then euer they ment it For whâ— causes thâ— Lordes supper is called of the Deâ—tours a sacrifice 1. This thinge more euidently to declare it behoueth to consider that the fathers vpon dyuers occasions vsed to call the Sacrament by the name of an oblation or sacrifice First Csemens Asexander Teriussian Jraenens and other make mencion of a certaine oblation or offering that Christen people commonly vsed when they came together to celebrate the Lordes Supper In this they offered vp bread wyne and victuals abundantly not only to serue the communion as wee had a shadow of late yeres in the holy lofe but also that of the ouerplus therof aswell the ministers might haue their findinge as poore people also be refreshed Hereof partely it came to passe the erample beinge taken firste of the common
that they offered for the Patriarkes Prophetes Apostles ye and for the blessed virgin Mary the mother of God For whose sinnes it can not be that they offered whiche by the testimony and faith of the whole church be with God in heauen This thynge is well descriued by Chrisostom vpon the. 8. cap. of Math. Therfore saith he the priest standing at the auster when the sacrifice is proposed commaundeth vs to offer thankes to God for the whole world for them that be abset for those that were before vs and for those that shall come after vs. The same Chrisostome also calleth this their offerynge Rationalem cultum whiche yee can not interprete a propitiatorie sacrifice but a reasonable worshippyng of God by praier and thankes geuyng for his holy sainctes by the whiche he hath builded his churche and whiche nowe remaine as membres and partes of his misticall body whervnto we also by the celebration of the sacrament be ioygned and so as it were kniffe in vnitée with them This was their offeryng for the dead and not a practise to pull soules out of Purgatorie for marchandise and money as ye haue vsed in your priuate Masses a great numbre of yeres to the great defasing of the death and passion of Christe Wherfore your Masse can not iustly be called the Lordê supper but a peruertyng of the institution and ordinaÌ„ce cleane to an other purpose and ende then he willed to be kepte amonge his people For the Lordes supper as I sayde before is a gifte of God to vs whiche wée muste receiue with thankes geuyng Your sacrifice is a price to be paied to God and of him to be taken as a satisfactioÌ„ The Lordes supper is a remembrance of one perfit sacrifice wherby we were once sufficiently purged from sinne and continually are reuiued by the same Your sacrifice is a dayly offeryng vp of Christe for our sinnes as thoughe it had not ben perfitely doone at the first The Lordes supper is to be distributed in the common assembly of his people to teache vs the communion whereby wes all be knitte together in Christe Iesu The vse of your sacrifice in priuate Masse séemeth by the priestes seâ—le receiuyng to be a testimony of seperacion and a meane to bryng the communitée out of christian mens mindes For after they once beléeued that priestes must sacrifice for them they began to leaue the communion and frequentation of the sacrameÌ„t as a thing either not apperteinyng or very little apperteining to them but especially to priestes And by that meanes the way was made to your common vse of priuate Masse So muche difference therefore as is betwéene to géeue and to receiue to remember one perfit sacrifice and dayly to reiterate a sacrifice to celebrate in common as a testimony of vnitie to créepe in corners or by chappels as a signe of seperation so muche difference is there betwéene the sacrament by Christe apoincted and the sacrifice of the Masse by you deuised This haue I spoken more largely of this mattier then either I purposed or you gaue me occasion by any proofe brought for the confirmation of your sacrifice First because this is an other great abuse in your priuate Masse that yes take vpon you to defende Secondly that I might declare the grounde of your reason to be very weake where ye affirme the priest to bee bounde of duitie to sacrifice for him selfe and for the people Thirdly that I might answere more aptly to Chrisostomes aucthoritie which nexte is to be examined The place of Chrisostome 5. Cap. that you alledge is otherwise in him then you recite it A. For he saieth Frustra habetur quotidiana oblatio Frustra stamus ad altare nemo est qui simul participet In vayne we haue our dayly offeryng in vayne we stande at thanlter there is no man to communicate with vs. As touching those wordes that ye moste beate vpon An aunswere to ChrisostoÌ„ There is no man to communicate by them to proue that they receiued only at Easter and at other times there were none at all to communicate with the ministers I wyll shew you out of Chrisostome him selfe that they must of necessitie haue an other sence and that in those wordes he vseth that figure of aggrauatinge that he commonly vseth in all places For euen in the same place D. not many lines before the wordes that ye recite he declareth that a number vsed to receiue at certaine other times C. I se many saith hee rashly not passyng how and more of a custome then lawfully and of good consideration to be partakers of christes body Yf the holy time of lent were at hand say they if the day of Epiphanie were come hauinge no regarde what he is that is partaker of the misteries But the time of cumming to it the Epiphanie the holy season of Lente doth not make them worthy that come but the sinceritie and putitie of minde Doo ye not here perceiue that many vsed ordinarely to come to the Communion at the Epiphanie and in lent as well as he mencioned before at Easter howe can ye then gather by Chrisostome that there was no company to receiue but only at Easter but what if I declare oute of Chrisostome that some vsed to receiue oftener times wyll not your collection vppon this place that ye séeme to triumphe vpon appere to be of very smal force Hom. 17. ad Hebreos Many saieth he take of this sacrifice once in the whole yere some twise some oftener times Hereby it is moste euident that Chrisostom had other to communicate with him at diuers other times beside Easter The maner was I graunte that some of custome addicted theim selues to certayne dayes And in some places the bishops or sinodes apointed men to receiue once twise thrise or fower times in the yere as Augustine witnesseth Concilium Eliberinum apoynteth to communicate thrise in the yere But these prescripte times were ordeined onely for them that vsed seldome to come to the sacrament that at the leaste they should receiue at those times if they would knowlage them selues to bée of the church Notwithstandinge they did not only leane frée to other to frequent the sacrament but earnestly calleth them to it at euery assembly of the people As Ambrose greuously blameth the custome of many in the Easte partes that vsed to come but once in the yere and saith that hée whiche is not méete to receiue euery day wyll not be méete to receiue once a yeare Therfore as in the primatiue church very many in dyuers places vsed to be partakers of the sacrament but ones twise or thrise in the yere so it is euident that dyuers other better disposed dyd receiue with the byshop and ministers at sundry other times That forte because they were not so many as they should haue hene and as Chrisostome wished for to haue in his church to exaggerate their slacknes hee saieth There is none to bée partaker with be
doctours where one kinde is mencioned both are vnderstanded as after shal more appere But to make this more probable you alledge afterwarde oute of Ambrose the hystorie of Satyrus his brother that hanged the sacrament aboute his necke in a stole as you call it when in a shipwarke he leaped into the sea whiche must néedê be informe of bread onely because neither our brayne nor yours can deuyse which way wyne can be in such an instrument inclosed Surely if wée had not knowen before that you had nothing in the aunciente fathers directly to mainteine your maymynge of Christes sacrament this your coniectural gatherynges and surmisinge reasons woulde most euidently declare it to be true Woulde a man thinke that any hauyng the feare of God woulde in so weightie mattiers either grounde his owne conscience or séeke to confirme others by suche féeble proofes and argumentes Is not this a stronge reason thinke you Satyrus S. Ambrose brother in extreame danger of shipwrake purposing to leape into the sea tooke of one that was in the ship only the sacramente of the Lordes body and tied it aboute his necke therfore in the primatiue churche in ministration of the sacramente they gaue onely one kinde vnto the laytie Though it had ben here mencioned that Satyrus had in this extremitée receiued one kinde alone it had bene no argument to proue that it might orderly bee vsed in the churche But as Ambrose signifieth this Satyrus at that time was but as I might say a nouice in Christian religion not so farre instructed in the faith that hee was as then admitted to the communion of the Lordes supper And therfore hee had not the sacramente aboute him selfe but tooke it of other christian men that were there Which whether they were ministers or other the place maketh no mencion but that it calleth them Initiatos That is such as in the congregation were admitted to the communion Neither is there any thinge to the contrary but that the same persons whiche had the sacrament of our Lordes body had also aboute them the sacrament of the bloud either in some conuenient vessel or els after some other fashion as dyuers of simplicitie vppon a zeale at that tyme vsed That is either by sokinge the sacramente of the body in the wyne or els by moystinge a linnen-cloth in the sacrament of the bloud and so carying it with them For euen as I signified before that persecution and trouble of the churche at the beginninge draue some to receiue at home in their houses in like maner the same troublous time and other cases of necessitie with feruencie of zeale caused men to seke other shifts also and to doo those things by simplicitie vpon zeale at a time that in the common vse of the sacramentes they coulde not doo accordinge to the worde of god Therfore as some learned and holy meÌ„ for the time did winke and beare with suche thinges so afterwarde other euen as holy and profoundly learned did mislike and reproue the same As for example when men did trauaile any daungerous iourney and for zeale and deuotion would haue the sacrament with them because they could not conueniently cary wine with them that they might go as nighe to Christes institution as might be they would soke the sacrament of our Lordê body in the bloud Some other would moyste a linnen cloth in the sacrament of bloud as I said before and kepe it to moyste with water when they would receiue Some that either of nature could not or for religion would not drinke wine at other times vsed only water Some vppon other consideracions vsed milke for wine in the sacrament Some were perswaded that in such cases men might vse one kynde Wherfore to sicke men or children they would vse wine alone But the particular cases of a few ought not to be taken for a general rule of the holy churche Neither those thinges which some did as Ciprian termeth it vppon simplicitie by sufferance should be brought as testimonies what the church either then did or ought nowe commonly to doo For a man may well doubte whether these shiftes that men in necessitie did vse beside the institution of Christ were acceptable to god or no although dyuers of them might séeme to procede of a feruent zeale and to bee done of good and godly men It appereth in Cyprian that many of them that vsed water for wine were godly men and yet by zeale and simplicitie did erre Therfore hee saith of them in this manner If any of our predicessours either by ignorance or simplicitie did not obserue and kepe that whiche the lorde by his example and instruction did teach vs to doe by gode mercy his simplicitie may be pardoned But we cannot be forgeuen which be instructed admonyshed by the lorde to doe as he dyd c. The godly and holy fathers dyd beare in many poyntes with the zeale and simplicitie of a number in that tyme. Wherfore those examples cannot bee brought iustly to proue the common maner vsed in the primatiue churche which by manifest testimonies I wyll a lytle after declare to haue be farre otherwyse in the same times that these thinges were done That the same thinges before rehearsed were not generally allowed it may appeare by this that when the church was setled they did forbid those things and bound them so nigh as might bee to Christes institution Hereof ye haue example in Iulius his decrées 1. Hom. Conc. Wher all the fashions before recited are expressely forbidden Wee heare saith he that some led with schismaticall ambition in the diuine misteries doe consecrate milke for wine some serue to the people the sacrament of the body moysted in the bloud as a perfite communion other offer in the sacramente of the lordes cuppe the iuice of grapes squised some diepe a linnen cloth in the wine and kepe all the yere Therefore saith he henceforth it shat not be lawful for any in their sacrifice to offer any other thinge but only the cuppe mixed with water and wine Gelasius also after him euen as flatly forbad receiuing vnder one kinde sayinge We finde that some takinge a portion of the fordes body refuse the cuppe whiche because I know not of what superstition they doe it either let them take the whole sacrameÌ„t or be kept from the whole For the diuision of this mistery cannot be without great sacrilege Here you sée that Gelasius doth count it and cal it sacrilege to receiue vnder one kinde and your sorte contrary to this affirme it to be Herisie if a man say the people should receiue vnder both kindes of bread and wyne If you would rightly haue proued your ministringe to the laytie in one kynde you shold not haue brought coniectures vppon suche rare chaunses as may séeme for the tyme to be borne with rather then alowed but you should haue shewed some playne and euident examples that it was in the primatiue church commonly vsed in celebration of
the sacrament But that you were neuer able to doo and so was it said in the protestation that you call the challenge For herein the whole number of the fathers be against you And that you may not iustly say that wee bragge of our empty boxes that haue the name only and no stuffe in them I wyll rechearse and shewe you some of the mattier which shal be directly applied to that maladie and disease that you haue brought to the right vse of the lordes holy sacrament You hard before rehearsed oute of Iustine declaringe the maner of the church of Rome in his time that both bread and wyne were geuen to companies of the towne and contrey and the same also sente vnto those that were absent Here is manifestly declared that such as were absent and receiued at home in theyr houses had both kindes sent vnto them contrary to your coniecture vpon Tertullian where you say one kinde only is mencioned and therefore receiued Tertullian and Iustine were both of the church of Rome B. and were not in time farre a sunder Therfore it is like one maner was vsed in bothe theyr ages The fleash saith Tertullian him selfe is fed with the body and bloud that the soule may be filled of god He saith not only the body wherein the bloud also may be vnderstanded but hee addeth seperately the Bloud Declaringe the maner of Christes sacrament ministred in two sundry partes Cyprian also speakinge not only of priestes but of other laye men that were like to abide persecution and martirdome for Christ saith in this wise How doe wee teach and prouoke them to shedde their bloud in confession of Christ if wee deny them his bloud or bowe make we them meete for the cuppe of martirdome if wee do not first by communion admitte them to drinke the cuppe of the lorde Is not this a playne testimony C. what maner of mynistracion was vsed in Cyprians time And wyll you then vpon a surmise gather the contrary If ye rede this father in all places where he speaketh of the sacrament you shall finde nothinge more common then Bibi sanguinem Christi How wisie thou saith Ambrose to Theodosius the Emperour with those hands receiue the holy body of our lord how wilte thou be so bolde with thy mouth to be partaker of the lords bloud This Emperour was a laye man E. neyther is it likely that he receiued any otherwayes then the other people did at that time And shall wee thinke by a vayne coniecture of the history of Satirus that the custome of that time was otherwise because your mocking head could not deuise how to cary wyne in a stole and yet they of that time as ye may perceiue by dipping a linnen cloth in the sacrament of the bloud had deuysed which way it might be done But to our purpose Withoute confusion and doubt saith Gregory Nazienzene eate his body and drinke his bloud if thou haue any desire of life in thee And yet hee speaketh to the people Oratione 4. in sanctum pascha Hilariê° also li. 8. de trinitate These thinges saith hee beinge eaten and dronke make that wee be in Christ and Christe in vs. Basile de baptismo vpon these wordes As often as ye shall eate c. What profit haue those wordes saith he That we easing and drinking may be perpetually mindeful of him that died for vs and so may bee instructed in the sight of god and his Christ of necessitie to kepe the doctrine deliuered by his Apostles Here beside the mencion both of eating and drinkinge he addeth of necessitie to kepe this doctrine of the lordes supper whiche you in many poyntes without pricke of conscience take vppon you to aulter Prystes saith S. Hieronime vpon Sophon whiche make the sacrament and dystribute the bloud of the lord vnto the people This man was priest in Rome in Ambroses time and yet he signifieth that the maner then was to mynister the bloud to the people E. And shall the history of Satyrus nothing perteining to the mattier perswade vs the contrary What can be more plaine and expresly against you then that Chrisostom hath Hom. 18. in poster ad corinth There he saieth that in this sacramente the priestes parte is not better then the peoples For it is not saith he as it was in the olde law where the priestes had parte and the people parte neither coulde the people be partaker of that was the priestes But now it is not so for one body and one cuppe is indifferently offered to all And it is notable that he saieth All be like worthy to be partakers neither doth the inferiour differ any thing at all froÌ„ the priest in that matter Why doo you then so plainly againste Chrisostome make difference of dignitie betwéene the priest and the people Is not this which Chrisostom speaketh agaynst one of the chiefest reasons that you haue for the geuynge of one kynde to the people But S. Paule to Timothie and Titus declareth other causes that shoulde make the order of ministerie honorable not to defraude the people of one parte of the sacrament Cyprian againe in the same sermon De lapsis that you afterward aledge and the same Hystorie sheweth that all the companie of lay men and women tooke the sacrament of the Lordes cuppe and dronke of it in order one after an other But I feare I shal séeme to moste men to commit muche foly in that I stande so longe with aucthorities to proue that thinge whiche of it selfe is most manyfest that is that in the primatiue churche the only maner in the common celebracion of the sacrament was that all receiued vnder bothe kindes of breade and wyne Seynge therefore Iustine saieth that on sundaies breade and wine consecrated were distributed to companies of the towne and countrey seynge Gelasius calleth it sacrilege to deuide the sacrament seynge Cyprian counselleth that lay men should be admitted to the communion of the Lordes cuppe and by an Hystorie sheweth that in his time they vsed it seynge Chrisostome affirmeth no difference to be betweene the priest and the people in vse of this sacramente seyng all the residue of the fathers of al countreyes and all ages of the primatiue churche agrée to the same were it not more then willfull blindenesse not to se that holy men at that time in celebracion of the sacramente ministred both partes to the people accordyng to Christes institucion and the doctrine of S. Paule to the Corinth Were it not almoste desperate stubburnesse to perswade the contrarie to ignorant people and by libelles priuily spred to deteine the vnlearned in errour But it stoode you vpon to say somewhat least you shoulde séeme to haue nothynge to say And yet in very déede it had been better for the confirmacion of your doctrine to haue sayd nothyng For then perhaps such as of simplicitie depende vpon your aucthorities woulde haue thought that you had had farre better prouision
this place I thinke such as fauour your assertion wyl smally thanke you for bringing in this councel But thanked be god that you are driuen so much and better to you may proue out of the same place that priestes also receiued but only the body and not the bloud because it saith Corpus christi porrigant and mencioneth not Sanguinem The like you shall reade in many places of the olde fathers where one part only is mencioned when they speake of the priestes receiuinge And yet bothe are vnderstanded If you wil vpon this gather that deacons vsed but one kind I wil inferre vpon the same place that priestes also vsed the like maner But a reasonable man wyll easely conceiue that in speakinge of one parte both is vnderstanded For in the actes of the Apostles the whole celebration of the sacrament is termed breakinge of breade wherby we must not gather that Apostes vsed only bread in ministration of the lordes supper I meruaile why you make suche courtesy to recite this for a proufe of one kinde then vsed seynge the best of your collections for this matter be euen of the same sorte Is not your coniecture out of Tertullian Cyprian Ambrose euen in the same maner gathered For that they séeme to mencion but the one parte onely And yet you make such a bragge vpon them as you count all such to lacke discretion as wil not by and by without contradiction yelde vnto them and acknowledge them vnuincible In déede it standeth you vpon seinge your proufes are of them selfe so sclender somewhat to helpe them with stoute wordes that men may bee almost afrayde to doubte of them You obiecte to vs that we dalley B. when wee presse you with the wordes of Christes institution Accipite manducate bibite diuidite and yet you wyl vrge the words of the fathers as though euery sillable in them were in like maner to be scanned as the wordes of the bible written wholly by the inspiration of the holy ghost But in déede you declare of what aucthoritie you coumpt Christes wordes that estéeme it a dalleinge to repete often his commaundementes Did Cyprian thinke you dally when in one Epistle to Cecilius hee doth well néene .xx. times repete and beate vpon this that the sacrament is to hee ministred in no other maner then Christe him selfe did vse it Did hée dally when hee pressed vpon the matter in this wise If in that sacrifice that is Christe him selfe none but Christ is to hee folowed then must wee obey and do that Christ did and willed to be done When as he in his gospel faith if you do that I hyd you then I call you not seruanies but fuendes And that Christ is only to be heard his father wytnesseth from heauen sayinge This is my deare beloued sonne hym you must heare Wherfore if onely Christ is to be heard we must not gene eare what other dyd before but what Christ did before all Neyther must wee folow mens custome but gode trueth semge he saith by his prophet in vaine they worship me teachinge mens tradicions and doctrines And againe the lorde sayth in the gospell you reiecâ—e my commaund mente for your owne tradition And in another place he that breaketh one of these least commaundements and so teacheth shall be called feast in the kingdome of god If then it be not leeful to alter one of the leaste commaundements how much lesse may we alter so great and weightie commaundements as these are so nigh touchinge the sacrament of the lordes passion and our redemption or to tourue them to any other purpose by mans tradition then the lorde ordeined them These are not my sayinges but worde by worde as they lie in that holy father and wyl you say that hée cauilleth or dalieth when hée this vrgeth Christes institution to bée kepte and would haue nothinge therin to be altered for any cause that man coulde deuise The matter that hee wrate againste was of no more effecte then these are of sole receiuinge and ministring one parte of the sacrament and yet is he so earnest as you sée with a greate number of wordes mo to the same purpose Thinke you not they could haue brought for the vse of water only the examples of holy men and also goodly considerations in apperance ful and negligent as we neither knew the place nor would séeke to examine it Or lastly that of purpose you dyd abuse the simplicitie and ignorance of them that you conueighed your wrytinge vnto which commonly beleue all that you say without examination and therfore doo you alledge for your selfe that maketh expresseâ—y againste you if the place be red which in Cyprian is in this wise The childe beinge among the holy company was not able to abide our suffrâ—ges and prayers but the ignoraÌ„t soule in the simple and younge yeares sometime with wepinge and cryinge did sterile sometime wyth trouble and anguyshe of minde tossed hether and thether and as it were by a tourmentour constreininge it by such meanes as it coulde dyd confesse the gilte of the facte meaninge the eatinge of the Idolle offeringe And when the residew of the celebration was ended the dearon began to offer the cuppe to them that were present and after other had receiued and the childes course was come the babe as if we are by institucion of god tourned away the face held the mouth and lippes together and refused the cuppe Yet the deacon continued and although the infant stryued againste it poured some of the sacrament of the lordes bloud into her mouth Then folowed yeâ—ing and vomiting c. Here were gathered together with Cyprian not priestes only but lay men women and Children also and you sée the cuppe of oure Lordes bloud was offered to all and all drancke in order withoute exception Neyther is heare any thinge that by coniecture can leade a man to thinke otherwyse but that this was the common maner then vsed How than can you gather by the extraordinarie chaunce whiche you recited before out of the same Tertullian and Cyprian that the laytie then vsed to receiue the one kinde of breade onely whereas this place brought by your selfe sheweth that in celebracion they vsed the cuppe also The childe you say in this hystorie receiued but wine only and so one kinde That you make probable because the childe that had receiued the Idoll offeryng was not them to say that whiche they neuer ment In like maner you doo a litle after in Luther and Melancthon saying that they compte it a thing indifferent to communicate the laye people vnder one kinde and that a generall counsel may take order in it as a thynge of no necessitie Sir it had been plaine and sounde dealing that you shuld haue recited some place wher they had so said but that ye were not able to doo For any man that hath ben conuersante in their workes may right well iudge that it is not so I wil not trouble
in his wordes He sayde not absolutely no negatiue proposition coulde be proued neither doeth D. Cole finde so muche faute with him for deniyng that a negatiue might be proued for him selfe had so saide before but with this that to gréeue his aduersarie he woulde stay vpon the negatiue and put you of the contrarie parte to proue the affirmatiue Whiche was vpon good reason donne at that time to the ende as I thinke that he might presse vpon you somwhat narre then other before had vsed to doo The cause why hee might iustly rest vppon the negatiue For whereas you haue vntruly borne the worlde in hande and make your auaunte continually that the church hath taught as you doo these xv hundred yeres that the holy scriptures aunciente fathers counsels doo make altogether for your doctrine against ours he both wisely and learnedly did sée that there was no way so fitte either to driue you from this auaunte or to declare it euidently to be false as to rest vpon this true negatiue that you haue no sufficiente proufe out of the aucthoritées before rehearsed For therby he should either force you to shew what you haue whiche in effecte is nothynge or els to confesse that the chiefe poinctes of your doctrine by him recited be as they are in déede cleane beside the worde of god and example of the primatiue churche or if you would not for shame confesse it yet that all men in the ende might perceiue it is so when that you neither woulde nor coulde bring any sufficient confirmation of the same by the scriptures olde fathers auncient counsels or alowed example of the church by the space of vi hundred yeres I will declare the mattier by example of those thinges that your self taketh in hande to proue All the preachers of this time teache that the right vse of the lordes supper is to be celebrated in maner of a communion or feast with companie and that as well the laytée as clergy shoulde receiue vnder bothe kindes This doctrine they say is accordyng to Gods worde and vse of the primatiue churche and not the contrarie For proufe thereof they alledge out of the scripture the Euangelistes and saincte Paule in whiche appereth euidently that company was and bothe kindes were indifferently vsed and no significacion at all of the contrarie For the primatiue churche they bringe Justine Dyonisius Cyprian Chrisostome and other ther hée did of purpose seeke a shifte to cauille or els in déede had nothinge to saye Or if you doo thinke it reasonable I will learne at your hande howe you coulde proue that negatiue by all your lawe or logike I doo scante thinke you wyl say that a man may be orderly required to proue suche mere negatiues When a negatiue or what kinde of negatiues may bée proved I leaue to bée discussed in some other place as a question more mete for Sophisters in the paruise schoole at Oxforde then for dyuines in matters of weight and importance After your reasoninge againste the causes 2. Cap. that as you saye were alleged not to proue the negatiue An aunswere to the distinction of priuate as it were to lay the ground of your controuersée for priuate masses ye beginne with a distinction that this terme priuate may be taken after dyuers sortes Eyther as contrary to common to many for the commoditie therof or els as sole receiuing by a priest aloue without any company In the firste way A. you saye ye neuer affirmed masse to be priuate but to pertaine to the behalfe of all states and sortes of men whatsoeuer they be In déede I were to blame and very iniurious vnto you if I woulde dente that ye haue ben very bountifull in bestowinge the benesite of your masse and especially when money was broughte in aboundantly For then ye applied it vnto highe to low to Princes to priuate persons to absent to present to quicke to deade to heauen to hel ye and to purgatory to Ouer and beside that ye made it a saliâ—e for all sores and a remedy for all misâ—heffes Here were a large feeld for me to deseant vpon the diuers abuses that you applied it vnto contrary to Christes institution and ordinanâ—â— but that any Christian hart may rather yerne and lamente to remember so vngodly prophanation of the holy Sacrament then to séeke occasion pleasantly to daly in the rehersall and deluding of the infinite vanyties therof The other signification of priuate in sole receiuing by the priest not imbarringe any that is willynge and ready to be partaker with him ye say the Catholike Church doth and alway hath taught And here vpon makinge your proposition ye require a profe of the affirmatiue included in the negatiue that is that euery priest or any other ought when he receiueth to haue a company to receiue with hym Why sir is this the truste that you would séeme to haue in the trueth of your cause is this the plaine and sound dealinge that ye after professe to vse is this the leauing of all shifts where by ye may séeme to cauill rather then staye vppon the chéefe profes of your matter Who séeth not that euen in the very entrance mistrustinge your quarel ye seke a shiste as it were by policy to helpe that whiche in the open féelde is not able to defende it selfe This was no parte of the challinge as you terme it This is not that ye pretende so earnestly to proue The matter is of priuate masses and you make your issue in sole receiuing Is there no difference thinke you betwene sole receiuinge and priuate masse doeth euery one that receiueth alone say a priuate masse Then may not only priestes say masse but also by your owne authorities after brought in lay men and women also And yet your reasoninge in the residew of your treatise is suche as if it were a sufficiente profe of priuate masse to shew that some men and women in certaine cases receiued alone in the primatiue Church But of your argumentes afterwarde In this place ye shall geue me leaue to finde that faute in you that Tussy in the beginning of his offices layeth to Panetius who intending to write of dutie in behauiour omitteth the definition of the same where as euery reasonable discourse ought to procede of a viefe declaracion of that whiche is in controuersée If ye had this done I doubte not but ye would rather haue plucked your pen from the paper thâ—â— haue medled with the matter that ye are now entred into What priuat masse is I will therefore thewe you oute of your owne aucthours what I take your priuate masse to bée B. It is a sacrifice of the body and bloud of Christ vsed in the Churche in place of the Lordes Supper by one prieste alone offered to God the father for the sinnes of quicke and deade which without any to participate with him haâ— may apply to the benefite of what persons
and thingeâ—â— hée listeth That it is a sacrifice of Christes body that it is vsed in place of the Lordes Supper that one may offerat for quicke and deade that it is in the priestes power to apply it all your sorte doe not only without resistance easely confesse but without reason stoutly defende Therefore I shall not néede to make any further prouse of the partes of this discripcion I doo therefore take priuate masse to be not only as you and some other patrons of your cause of late yeares haue wrested it sence the ministers of gods truth in this latter time haue driuen you to the best shiftes of interpretacion but as it was commonly vsed in the worlde before and as it is set forth in your schole men to the great defacinge of Christes death and passion And yet ye shall not thinke that wée of trueth can or ought to yelde to the best of your interpretacions that euer I could heare Of this priuate masse that I haue now declared to you the challenge that ye take so greuousy was made And therein doo I also at this time ioigne issue with you and say that nether you nor any of your parte will euer be able to proue the same by the hoâ—y scriptures auncient fathers or alowed councels yea and because you vrge the negatiue that with gods healpe wée will abundantly proue the contrary This will I doo quietly and calmely without stormynge or tempestuous blustering either at you or at your doctrine as one moste glad to bringe you againe to that heauenly trueth of the gospel whiche vnder the blasphemous names of falshode and phantasée you declare your selfe to haue forsaken In the residue of your discourse ye woulde séeme to take from vs the true and right rule to reforme the church of Christ 3. Cap. that is to proue that in doctrines and vse of the sacramentes al thinges should not be reduced to the patern of the Apostles time and the primatiue churche Herein you doo as they are wonte whose conscience doeth pricke them to haue done amisse For suche alway draw backe and lurke out of the light being lothe to come there where they know that truth woulde be tried Euen so you fearyng to be founde fautie woulde wryng vs from that rule wherby all trueth in doctrine ought to be examined To this purpose ye may séeme to bryng three reasons One is a rowlyng in of a rable of suche examples as no reasonable man woulde denie vnto you The seconde is a resemblyng of the primatiue church vnto an infant in the swadlynge cloutes and this latter time to a tall man of perfit yeres and ripe age The thirde is the comparison of the times and the ferueÌ„t charitée that then was with the key-colde charitée that now is As touching the first I cannot choose but greately merueile at your maner of reasonyng whiche indeuour to proue the contrary of that that no man did euer affirme Did ye euer here of any A. that woulde haue all thinges without exception reduced to that very forme of the worlde that was in the primatiue churche And yet your examples tendeth to the rupted either with false opinions depraued or with superstitious ceremonies defaced is it not full time thinke you to call for redresse accordyng to the scripture and primatiue churche So to doo wée haue good example in Christe him selfe and in his apostle S. Paule When Christe woulde purge the lawe from pharisaicall mitigations and interpretacions he had recourse to the first fountaine originall Math. 5. saiynge Dictum est veteribus c. Ego autem dico vobis So he ruduced all to the first fountaine In the mattier of deuorsemeÌ„t he alledged not the Rabins and late writers of Iewes but saied Ab initio non fuit sic Countyng what soeuer was added to the first ordinance of the law to be a corruption of it S. Paule mindyng to redresse the abuse of this sacramente of the lordes supper euen in this poincte that they tooke it in partes and not together bryngeth the institution of Christ from the beginnyng and saieth This haue st receiued of the Lorde Wyllynge to alter nothyng therin The like doeth S. Cyprian epist ad Cecisium against Aquarios Wee must not harken saieth he what other did before vs but what Christe first did that was before al. And here he speaketh of the same sacrament and against them that abused if contrarie to the first fouÌ„dacion were they neuer so holy This Tertussian also taketh to be a sure rule against all heresies and abuses who saith in this wise This reason is of force against all heresies That is true that was first ordeined that is corrupted that is after done And Cyprian in the same epistle before mencioned Hereof saith he arise diuisions in the church because wee seeke not to the head nor haue recourse to the fountain nor kepe the commaundementes of the heauenly maister Therefore seyng it is so good a rule in religion to resorte to the first institucion wée also without any iust reproche may require to haue the sacramentes reformed accordynge to the scripture and the primatiue church But you thinke perhappê although for shame ye may not say it that their successours in calder age of the churche were of more wisedome and discretion and know better what they had to doo then the Apostles and olde fathers Therto tendeth your similitude of bringyng a talle man againe to his swadlyng cloutes B therein resemblynge the primatiue churche to infancie and this latter time to ripe age and discrecion That the primatiue churche was not of the state of infancie This is not your onely similitude It is muche in the mouthes of suche as mainteine your doctrine But I assure you it was neuer inuented without the spirite of Antichriste nor cannot be maintened without blasphemy against Christe and singular reproche of his Apostles and their successours If that time were the state of infancie in the churche when Christ him selfe instructed when his Apostles taught when the holy fathers gouerned nexte their time then wee muste néedes recken Christ the Apostles the fathers to be infantes in religion to be babes in gouernement of the churche not to be able so well to se what was conueniente in the vse of the sacramente as their posteritee were Can any christian mans hearte fall into that cogitacion without feare of Gods wrath and displeasure And yet that must needes folow vpon this defence of your doctrine I pray you when hath a man best discrecion to rule him selfe Will yée not say when he is most indued with the vse of reason and wisedome When had the churche of God such aboundant wisedome and knowledge of his heauenly misteries When was it indued with so plentifull graces of the holy ghost as it was in time of the Apostles and first fathers Did it not appere in their pure life in their feruent zeale in their miraculous workyng And will
you then to defende your ceremonies affirme that time to be the state of infancie in the churche Doo you not remember that immediatly after ye attribute to the primatiue church passing feruent charitée with excéedyng holynesse of life contempte of the world To this latter time keycolde charitée slacke deuocion loue of the worlde and contempte of vertue Whereof I pray you commeth this Not because in the firste time they were stronge in godlynes abundante in liuely spirite and grace of God and wée now féeble and fainte to all vertuous doinge lackinge wisedome and as it were dotinge for age For what other cause was yonge age of children called infancie then for that it had not the vse of the tonge nor coulde not speake But the primatiue Church coulde speake and continually declare the good will of God and his great benefites to his people S. Paule spake with a loude voice and a stronge spirite Woe be to me if I preache not the gospell The same was the voice of all the olde fathers and godly men in the beginning They were occupied in nothinge but either in teaching and confirminge trueth or in reprouinge and defacinge falshode and heresée but after 600. yeres the prelates of the churche wel nere cleane loste their voyces Wealth of the worlde honour and ryches had stopped their mouthes in such sorte that within few yeres it came to passe that it was a rare mattier and almoste a reproche to see a bishoppe in the pulpite and heare him speake to the people Wherefore ye can not so aprely resemble the primatiue churche to infancie as ye may this latter time to dotinge olde age wherin they that should doo nothinge but preache the worde of God and teache the people haue either cleane loste the vse of their speache throughe infancie and ignorance or els bable they wot not what through dotage and folly That ye may not thinke mée to speake of stomake more then trueth reade the histories of this latter time rede those that write particularly of the Bishoppes of Rome sée howe many bée praised for preachinge to the people and for teachinge the worde of god either by speakinge or writinge So that they may not only séeme for age to haue loste the strength of their voice but as it were with a paulsie to haue loste the vse of their handes onles it weare in wrytinge of decrées or fingringe of pence In that ye attribute vnto the primatiue Churche so good deuotion C. An aunswere to the comparison of this time with the primatiue churche so earnest zeale so feruente charitée and there by that they came dayly to the receiuing of the Sacrament it is most true that ye say But you must againe consider that the often frequenting of the Lordes Supper by grace therein conferred did bothe bréede and increase that same liuely faith and feruent charitée that in mutuall loue and contempte of the worlde so flourishingly did shewe it selfe in them So that their earnest zeale dyd not so muche cause them to come often to the Lordes Supper as the often frequenting therof did increase their so greate zeale and charitée For by that meanes it was alwayes freshe in their memory not only by hearinge but also by féeling in them selfe that they were all members of one body all the children of one father all deliuered oute of bondage by one raunsome all fed with one foode and norished at one table And therefor that it was as méete and necessary for them to imbrace one another as for one limme of the body to healpe another for one brother to loue another one deliuered oute of thraldome to reioyce with the other One housholde companion to tender the good estate of the other Therfore that kaycolde charitée that you say and truly say doeth reigne in these dayes may not more iustly bée attributed to any one thinge then to your priuate masse Colde charitie is not so muche cause of priuate masse as priuate masse is of colde charitie For there by the common vse and frequentation of the holy Sacramente of vnitée loue and concorde hath bene taken from amonge the people of God beinge perswaded by you that it was sufficient for them to bée present in the churche when one of you alone dyd saye a priuate masse You laye the cause of priuate masse vpon the keicolde charitée of the people and perhappes the first occasion came therof in déede but your scaulding hotte and firebourning charitée may bee more iustly charged with the continuance thereof And therfore the people of God may worthely crie out vpon the chiefe maisters and mainteiners of it for all the mischiefe and diueleshnes either in naughtiues of life or corruption of doctrine that the Churche hath ben drowned in this certaine hundred yeres may séeme to be drawen in firste by that occasion Hasten you saith signatiue to the sacrament of thankes geninge and to the glory of god For when that is continually frequented all the powers of the deuil are expelled Then muste it of necessitée be that the slacke vse of the same doth bringe in weakenes of faith coldnesse of charitée contempte of vertue loue of the worlde and the hole heape of those things that the deuill moste desireth and chiefely sheweth his power in Therefore not without a cause that perpetual enemy of mankinde quickely did séeke occasion euen in S. Paules time to corrupt the right vse of this Sacrament and bring them to faccions in receiuinge of it He did wel sée of how greate force it was to mainteine concorde loue and charitée which is as it weare the very cognisance of a Christian man For that cause hee indeueringe as hee doeth alway traiterously to traine away the seruauntes of God firste alway by the abuse of this Sacramente of vnitie he as it weare cutteth of the cognisance from their liueries that not beinge knowen whose Souldiours they are he may the sooner conueigh them into his campe and there put on his badge of hatred malice dissencion Your faute therfore in furtheryng his indeuour cannot be excused But is to be taken of Christian people as very gréeuous and heinous An obiection But ye wil say that the priest doeth not imbarre any that will communicate that he wolde reioyse to se them dispose them selues vnto it that they doo lament to se the contrarie The aunswere These be faire wordes without any sounde trueth at all I assure you sir if the matter were so indéede vnfeinedly not you by force of truth against you driuen to séeke that interpretacion for a shifte your soole receiuyng had ben muche more tollerable But when I pray you did any of you vse in priuate masses to cal for the people to reproue their slacknes to shew them the daunger of beyng priesente and not receiuyng to tell them of the greate commoditées that commeth by the vse of it When did any of you stande at the aulter as Chrisostom did
congregation came together that they might receiue according to Christê institution That this was S. Paules minde it appeareth by his first proposition and reason and by the conclusion that he addeth in the ende When ye come together saieth he ye can not eate the Lorde supper wher firste it is to be noted that to the celebracion of the sacrament they resorted together and were not priuately in sundry corners He addeth the reason why they coulde not at their méetinges celebrate the Lordes supper Because euery man is occupied in eatynge his owne supper Herein Paule blameth them not onely for immoderate féedynge of their owne meate but also for the disordered vsyng of the Lordes supper in partes where as they should be together as Christ and his Apostles were This he declareth more plainly in that conclusion that he inferreth vpon the rehersall of christes wordes in ordering the sacrament For he saieth Therfore my bretherne when ye come together to eate the Lordes supper do you tarie one for an other What can more plainely declare that S. Paule tooke the right vse of the sacrament to be a common receiuynge together and not a seuerall vse by one man alone As if he had said In christes supper ye se the maister together with the disciples the table and the meate common to all not so muche as Iudas the traitour excluded one lofe and one cuppe discributed amonge the whole companie Therfore when yee come together ye must imitate the concorde and equalitie that he then vsed If he thought it an abuse in the Corinthes to receiue in partes he woulde counte it a farre greater abuse for .x. or xii to receiue eache of them seuerally in one church at one time as though they were of diuers religions or membres of diuers misticall bodies If the Corinthes in receiuyng by partes were blamed of Paule for that they séemed one to contemne an other may not pristes be as iustly blamed because they séeme in their priuate Masse to disdeine and contempne the people I wil now therfore conclude with Cyprians wordes If so be both it be ordeined by christe and the same confirmed by the Apostle that wee should do in this sacrament as our Lord did wee finde that wee steepe not that is commaunded if we do otherwise then Christ did Séeyng then Christe vsed company in ordeinyng the sacramente of that holy feast and supper Priestes also ought to haue company in ministring the same For the aucthoritée of the primatiue churche to confirme that this is the right vse of the sacramente Proufes againste priuate masse out of the fathers I will in this place bringe in onely twoo witnesses which shall not speake of this mattier lightly or by the way but of very purpose declare the maner that then was vsed amonge the people of God alowed and confirmed by godly and holy fathers In so much that if any other maner had ben then vsed they coulde not haue omitted the same especially séeyng they professed to declare that maner of christians therin Iustine the martir in his Apologie descriueth it thus After prayer wee safute eache other with a kiffe then breade and the cuppe mixed with water is brought to the chief brother which after he hath taken geuing praise and thankes vnto the father of all in the name of the sunne and holy ghost for a space he continueth in thankes geuynge After praiers and thankes geuyng the whole company saieth Amen When the ministers geuynge of thankes and the peoples well wisshynge is finisshed those whiche wee call deacons gene parie of the breade and cuppe ouer whiche thankes is geuen vnto euery one that is present yea and suffer the same to be caried to them that be absent This nourishment we call Eucharistiam the sacrament of thankes geuing A litle after he declareth the same thyng agayne On sunday saith he companies of the towne and countrey come together Where lessons of the prophetes and Apostles be redde When the clarke ceaseth the minister exhorteth and allureth them to the imitation of so holy thinges Afier we all arise and pray Then as I said bread and wyne mixed with water is brought foorth and the chiefe minister so muche ae he can praieth and geueth thankes the people syngyng Amen Then the thynges consecrated are distributed to al present and be sent by the Deacons to those that be absent The same forme and maner of celebracion of the sacrament with very little difference is witnessed by Dionisius who in Ecclesiastica Hierarchia after he hath descriued a few other circumstances and noted that only they taried in the churche whiche weare méete for the sighte and communion of the deuine and holy sacrament addeth this After hee hathe she wen the gifts of those diuine workes he hoth commeth to the communion of the same hym selfe and also allureth other When the dynine communion is bothe taken and geuen it endeth in holy thankes geuinge Woulde a man desire any plainer testimony of the vse of the Lordes supper in the primatiue Churche Doth not all thynges agre with the institution of christe and example of the Apostle Is here any coniecture either of the laitée receiuing vnder one kinde or of sole receiuynge by the priest or of sacrifienge the body and bloud of Christe for quicke dead Is here any worde or ceremony that signifieth suche vse to haue bene at that time Yet as I sayd these men write not of this mattier by the way but of purpose vndertake to shew the maner of the churche in their daies And wyll you yet continew to affirnie that wee haue no colour or title in the scripture and fathers for the reproffe of your priuate masse But ye wil vrge after your maner to haue an expresse sentence that forbiddeth the priest to receiue without company I answere Christes institucion the example of the apostels the common vse of the fathers was other wayes therfore the prieste should not communicate without other Ye haue no expresse commaundmente that forbiddeth you to baptisme in the name of the father only but that christes institution was otherwise Wyl ye therfore say that ye may withoute offence baptise in the name of the father only If christes institution in baptisme be a sufficient forbidding of the contrary to be vsed why should not his wordes and mauer vsed in the supper forbidde you to doe the contrary Ciprian as I haue sayde taketh it for a full prohibition of the contrary and if you wil not ye must of necessitie weaken his reasoninge against those that he writeth which dyd bringe euen as good reasons and as holy considerations for their parte as ye be able to deuise any for yours Now that I haue in this manner-layed the foundacion of our proofes I wil procede to examine the residew of your argumentes againste vs. In recityng the aucthoritie of Chrisostome you brynge in a similitude or comparison 4. Cap. which of how small force they be in
sillables in one sentence but compare the same with diuers other places as well of the same doctour as of other and al together with the common vse and maner of that time and therby gather a perfit conclusion If you will skanne and stay vpon euery worde or clause in the Doctours as you doo of the holy scriptures and not consider them by conference with them selfe and other you may easely erecte infinite new doctrines that hitherto were neuer hearde of in the churche The reason 6. Cap. that you bring in grouÌ„ded as you say vpon our principall is euen of as muche force as the other before mencioned A. That is not euidently determined in scripture say you ought to stande as indifferente but the necessitie of coÌ„panie to receiue with the priest is no where determined ergo it ought to remaine indifferent Your seconde proposition is not true For I say and partly before haue proued that it is determined in Christes institucion In Luke he saith Accipite hoc diuidite inter vos But how can it be taken at the ministers handes and deuided or distributed amonge theÌ„ vnlesse there be a companie I se no sufficient warrant that ye can brynge vs for the discharge of this commauÌ„demente If ye wyll say Diuidite is no commaundement but a counsell that may be vndoone and yet the substance of the sacrament remaine then bylike ye will say Late drinke is no commaundement nor yet do this in remembrance of me But all be indifferent couÌ„sels that may bee altered as you after say by spirituall gouernours So that your spiritual gouernours may by this meanes cleane alter Christes institution and leauinge out eatinge drinking distributinge doinge in remembrance of Christes death as they haue done deuise a a new fashion of their owne braynes more fitte for the churche to vse then that order which Christ hath lefte But as he taketh away the right vse of the sacramente that taketh away from it eatynge drinkynge and doynge in remembrance c. So I say that hee taketh away the same that leaueth out distributynge Whiche because it can not be without companie I conclude the Sacramente can not bee vsed in the celebration without companie Cyprian teacheth you that Christes institution should be of more authoritie with you than so lightly to change it at your owne pleasure Only Christ saieth he is to be hearde in the order of this sacrament And we must not in any wise departe from the preceptes of the Gospell The Apostle also more constantly and stoutly declareth in an other place that the disciples ought to obserue and doo the same thynges that their maister taught and dyd before them saying in this wise If either I or an angell from heauen teach you otherwise then I haue taught you before accursed be he Seyng therfore neither the apostle him selfe nor an Angell from heauen can tell vs or teache vs otherwise then that Christe hath once taught vs already and the Apostle declared to vs I meruayle how this came in vse to doo contrary to that whiche Christe dyd And what I pray you can be more contrarie then when Christe had them drinke to take away the cup and whan Christe bad them distribute amonge them and S. Paule willed one to tarrie for an other vntill they came together yet contrarie to this as you doo to minister and receiue alone Therfore I say with Cyprian that in alteryng the sacrament either by soole receiuyng or géeuing vnder one kinde ye worship God in vayne with mens tradicions The mattier that Cyprian wrote against that is vsinge of water alone in the Sacramente in stéede of wyne might perhappes in case of necessitie be graunted to some that of nature coulde not abide wyne Neuerthelesse the necessitie of a few is not to be drawen to a general example in the common vse of the Lordes supper Euen so it may be graunted that in cases of necessitie one may receiue alone and yet that is not to be taken for a common maner and fashion in the churche when the sacrament is celebrated as you vsed in the priuate Masse That many circumstancies of place person and time B. may be altered or taken away for good considerations without impeachement to the right vse of the sacramentes wée graunte you but that company in receiuyng is one of those circuÌ„stances that wée can not graunte as well for the reasons before declared as also that wée haue no aucthoritée or example of the Apostles or primatiue churche that wée may so doo as wée haue in all other thynges that you recite with moe wordes then néedeth Wée dare minister in other places then Iurie because wée se in scripture that the Apostles did so Wée minister to women and lay men because S. Paule applieth Christes institucion to the whole congregacion of Corinth where were both lay men women We celebrate vpon any day indifferently because the Apostles did so Actum 20. vno die sabbatorum Wée minister to fewer or moe then twelue by the example of the Apostles in .20 of the Actes and of Paule in .10 and .11 to the Corinthê Wée receiue in the mornyng both because time is a thyng indifferent in this sacrament and also for that wée haue plaine examples in the primatiue churche without case of necessitie or extraordinarie chaunses Christe sayd not doo it after supper as he sayde Deuide it amonge you He did it after supper him self because he wolde institute the Sacramente of the new law in place of the sacrament of tholde law that at the same supper he had celebrated Neither is it so muche of the substance of the sacrament to be doone after suppper as it is to be celebrated with companie because of the significacion of vnitie and charitie amonge christian men receiuynge together Whiche is one cheefe poincte in this sacrament of the Lordes supper The very proporcion and likenesse of that ceremonie of the olde lawe in place whereof the Lordes supper is ordeined may teache vs the right vse of it The Passeouer was a solempne eatynge of the Pascale lambe together in remembrance of Godes great benefite of their deliuerance and passyng of his plague from them This ceremony they coulde not solempnice alone but if they had not companie of their owne house they shoulde take of their neighbours Euen in like maner Christ hauyng finisshed at his laste supper the celebracion of that ceremonie of the Passeouer ordeined for his euen a lyke sacramente a supper a feast wherin they beyng together might celebrate the remembrance of their redemption by his body and bloud géeuen and shed for them And euen as the Iewes in solempnisinge their sacrament had a communitie of the remembrance of that benefite when their coÌ„panies were in sundry howses seperate and yet might not one alone eate the pascall lambe in his owne house for that god had ordeined it to be done with company so all the churches in the worlde haue communitie
in the sacrament bee they neuer so farre a sunder and yet can not any one alone minister it in one church withoute company to celebrate with him because Christes institution was otherwise Wil ye say here that company to eate vp the pascal lambe was not of the substance of the sacramente but an ornament to commend it or set it forth and might be altered by spirytual gouernours Although the Iewes weare very bolde in altering many ceremonies yet wée reade not that euer they durst aulter this chiefe sacrament as you take vpon you to alter change and take away by your spirituall gouernours all the partes of the Lordes Supper as I wyl declare to you in order by the doctrine of this your defense of pryuate masse The sacrament as it is in vse hath two partes the mattier and the forme the mattier is bread and the body wine and the bloud of Christ The forme of ministration is that the minister should take the mattier and with the wordes of the gospel geue it to them present as Christ dyd This forme say you may be altered by your spiritual gouernours For sometime the prieste may receiue alone with out the people sometime the people without the priest somtime both together So that no certaine forme of ministration is nedefull as you say in this sacrament to be kepte The mattier also ye signifie may bee altered at your pleasure For to receiue the sacrament of the bloud is not of the substance of Christes institution For if it weare the churche could not alter it as you doo commonly in ministringe to the people and as you coniecture by Tertus and Ciprian that they dyd in the prymatiue church Likewyse the sacrament of the body is not so muche of the substance but that vpon considerations the church may commonly omitte it and minister the wine only For so you séeme togather by the history of the chylde in Ciprian to whiche the prieste gaue only wine as you say So that the sacrament of the lordes supper by your doctrine either hath no parte that is of the substance of it but consisteth only of mutable accidences or els your churche is of such power that it may cleane alter and take away Christes institution For if you haue considerations for which ye may commonly leaue out the wine and vse bread only and other considerations for which ye may omit breade and vse wine only when bothe those considerations come together then may you take away bothe breade and wine and defraude the people of the whole sacrament or in stede of that may point them another What is this but with exceding arrogancie to make your spiritual gouernours omnipotent in alteringe and transposinge the sacramentes by Christ ordeyned Howe much more comely weare it for you reuoking your errour to say with Ciprian If we wil walke in the sight of Christe in the order of his sacramentes we must not swarue or departe from his preceptes and instructions geuinge thankes for that hee instructinge vs what we ought to doe hereafter doth pardon vs for that offence which by simplicitie we haue before committed Where you indeuour to proue 7. Cap. that there may be communion in the sacrament although it be receiued alone in th one part you make your comparison as you haue done before betwene thinges of nature very dyuers that is betwene praier and the lordes supper In the tother where ye confirme generall communion betweene all sainctes you proue that no man denieth There man be communion in the benefite of prayer say you though one doe pray alone A. therfore in the Lordes supper also Who séeth not that prayer and the Lords supper in the vse of them be nothinge like That praier is a common action which done of one alone maye stretch to the benefite and commoditée of many we haue aucthority in the scripture and example in Christe him selfe but that the Lordes supper is suche a commoÌ„ action we neither haue authoritie nor example in gods worde By as good a reason wée may proue that a man may baptise him selfe withoute a minister because one may pray alone without one to guyde him in the forme of his prayer Or that ones baptisme may profite another that is not baptised as a mans prayer may profite him that prayeth not But you must consider that there is greate difference betwene the nature of sacrament and other common good workes The sacraments haue an external forme by christ apointed in the administratioÌ„ of them which wée may not alter In other good workes and godly exercises it is not so And yet you recken them vp together as though they weare in all poyntes like As praier baptisme penance confirmation fastinge almes déedes c. Another mans praâ—â—r or almes dâ—â—de may profite you I graunt and procure gods grace for you May an other mans baptisme therfore receiue you into the church or an other mans penance satisfy for your sinnes I thinke you wyl scant affirme it although ye be ready to affirme straunge thinges No more therfore can your receiuinge profite another that receiueth not Christe taught vs and his holy worde commaundeth vs to pray on for another But he neuer saide receiue the communion or bée baptised one for another To confirme your purpose you bringe an article of our crede B. that is I â—eseue the communion of saincted By this you proue that there is a communion of all good thinges betwene them that are in place and time farre distante whiche wée deny not But to vnderstande how lytle this communion of saintes doeth serue your purpose of sole receiuing it behoueth to consider what communion is It is called of the Grekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and may be defined to be a societie of a company or multitude whiche by certaine lawes and couenantes are all partakers of one thinge As amonge Marchantes that vpon certaine condicions occupy iointly and are partakers of like gaine and damage So all Christian men haue a certaine societie or coniunction whiche consisteth in this that they are all partakers of one saluation and all members of one mistical body the head wherof is christ Iesu The lawes couenantes wherby wée be all thus knit and ioigned together are the word of God the sacramentê vsed according to Christes institucion Therefore all churches of the worlde haue the same worde of God and the same sacramentes by them through faith are graffed into one and the same body of Christe thoughe they be thousandes of miles a sunder By the word of God our faith is instructed By baptisme wée be receiued first into the societie of christian communion and made members of the misticall body By the Lordes supper wée haue from time to time heauenly foode ministred vnto vs and as it were liuely spirite from the head of this body Iesu Christe He therfore that is baptised in India hath the same baptisme that wee haue and beyng graffed into the same
body hath communion with vs in baptisme Likewise they that receiue the Lordes supper be fedde with the same feede of the body and bloud of Christe that wée be and so haue communion with vs in that sacrament though in place they be farre of This is the communion betwéene christian men and this wée most reddely graunte But will you conclude here vpon that there is lyke communion of the benefite of soole receiuyng in priuate Masse as there is of praier when a man praieth alone Then must ye say the same of baptisme also As for example that our baptisme here may benefite some that are in Fraunce and receiue them into the churche like as our praier here may obteine the healpe and grace of God for them that be there Which were great folly to affirme In déed wée haue communion in baptisme but euery mans owne baptisme bringeth him the grace of that sacrament And in lyke maner is it in the Lordes supper Wée haue all communion therein and yet euery mans owne receiuyng doth profit him You will say perhaps you doo not inferre this vpon the argument of generall communion but onely that they whiche be in diuers places may communicate Wel sir I graunte you that but yet ye should haue inferred the other poincte if ye woulde orderly proue that ye began That is to be lyke coÌ„munion in the Lordes supper of one alone receiued as there is in praier when one man in place alone praieth â—â—r a multitude The multitude that praieth not may haue benefit by one mans praier But proue you by Gods worde that one man receiuyng or ministringe the Lordes supper alone doth benefit those that receiue not or that it is suche a thyng as may be doone of no for many And surely it standeth you vpon substaÌ„cially to proue that pointe or els your priuate Masse will fall to the grounde and bee of no estimacion For if people shall vnderstande that your sole receiuinge in your Masse doth not only nothing profite them that be present but as Chrisostome witnesseth bringeth them in gods displeasure if they receiue not them selfe thinke you that the gayne and aduantage thereof wyll bée so great as hath bene before Assure your selfe it wyl not But what doo you inferre vpon this proofe of communion betweene them that are in place farre distante forsoth in effecte this That if there may be communion betwene those that are not together in one place then a priest sayinge Masse in our Lady chappel in Paules at sixe a clocke in the morning doth communicate with him that doth the like in Iesus Churche at .ix. of the clocke the next day although in place and tyme they bee seperate Sir I deny your argument say that neither th one nor thother doth communicate with any Christian man because neither of both receiueth accordinge to Christes institution I confesse there is communyon betwene them that receiue in sundry places according to the order by Christ apoynted as there is likewise in baptisme But if they alter the sacrament they doo not cummunicate I sayd a little before that in the passe ouer all the companies of the Iewes in sundry houses did communicate and yet one might not eate vp the lambe alone because god had taken an other order Likewise all societées of Christian men communicate together in the Lordes supper and yet should not one celebrate it alone seinge Christes example sheweth and the Apostles interpretation declareth that in ministringe of it there shousd bee also a particuler communion as I may terme it betwene the members of one congregation Wherfore the grauntinge of communitie betweene all christian men in vse of the sacrament doth make nothinge against this that Christ ordeined it to be receiued as a feast with company to th ende it might more liuely represent both the general giuing and bestowing of his body to death for many and also the vnitie and concorde that ought to be betwéene Christian men receiuing together of one lose and one cup. For this purpose as S. Augustine signifieth he vsed those externall elementes of breade and wine to declare that as the bread of many graines is brought into one lofe and the iuice of many 〈◊〉 apes is made wine in one cup so the multitude of a christian congregacion receiuyng together the Lordes supper are made meÌ„bers of one body knit together in like faith and charitie and hauyng like hope of saluacion The like effecte is doone in baytisme as S. Augustine witnesseth In sermone ad infantes and wée be graffed into Christ and made partakers of his body and bloud But he wold haue it more liuely represented and set foorthe in this sacrament of communion as well for the multitude as for the apte signification of the externall elementes More ouer the ecclesiastical histories declare when Chrisostome was banisshed muche against the peoples heartes that diuers of them woulde not communicate with his successour but had their assembles and receiued the sacrament in an other place by them selues so that diuers of them by the Emperours thretnynges coulde not be constreined to communicate with him that was bisshop after him This their dooyng was to no purpose if diuersitie of time and place doo not declare a seperacion betwéen them that be of one congregacion The whole vse of excommunication in the primatiue churche doth so sufficiently proue this as no reasonable man néedeth greatly to doubte it The effecte wherof this your deuise may séeme to take away For what other thyng is excommunication as touchyng the externall acte then a debarryng of the partie to receiue with other of the same congregacion and therby to note him not to be of that misticall body But after your deuise a priest that is excommunicated of the bisshop may say Masse in his chamber and affirme that he will communicate with him whether he will or no. Because distinction of place maketh nothyng to the purpose Because wée necessarily require a numbre together you presse vpon the mattier very earnestly and thinke by your dalliyng foly to driue vs to many folies For you curiously require a mesure of place a prescription of time and a certaine number of persons as it were therby to portray vnto you a perfit plat of a christian communion for so it pleaseth you to dally in this weightie mattier I answer that wée se in the Euangelistes and S. Paule that Christe tooke breade and gaue with it his body that he tooke wine also and gaue with it his bloud that he did it in coÌ„uenient place and time that he had a company with him to receiue and willed them to distribute amonge them Therfore with S. Cyprian wée compte his example in these thynges necessarie and not to be altered As for the kinde of breade or wine the fashion or quantitie of place the conueniencie of time the increasing or deminisshynge of the number or company wee recken amonge those thinges that may be altered as you say
by spiritual gouernours But to apointe a geometricall measure of place a prescripte proportion of tyme or one certaine number that may serue for all churches times and ages is far aboue our reache And therfore I leaue it to be deuised of suche profound and curious braines as you and yours haue Which beside the worde of god and contrary to his workynge in his creatures can compryse accidences without subiectes and bodies withoute fashion quaÌ„tity or measure with other suche highe misteries whiche neither scripture nor any necessitie of reason doth teache For in déede our wittes are so simple as in gods misteries we can sée no more then his holy word leadeth vs vnto Nexte is that you burden vs with Erasmus aucthoritie 8. Cap. and chalenge vs that wée wyll not beléeue his reporte Sir it séemeth very straunge to mée that you whiche haue so muche hated Erasmus A. as ye haue often chased him out of grammer schooles and dryuen him into the fire should now in your néede take helpe and succour at hys hand Answere to Erasmus Tertullian Cyprian and Ciril Truly wée doo now esteme Erasmus as wee haue alwayes for a man of excellent learning and a singular instrument prouided of god to begin the reformacion of his church in this latter time and yet thinke wee not all his opinions to be true For you I thinke doo esteme Tertullian and Origen and that right worthely And yet if ye wyl graunt all that they write to be true I wyl proue you an heritke Notwithstandinge we deny not that whyche Erasmus saieth in this mattier and knew whens he had his assertion before you tolde vs. How little it serueth your purpose I wyll shew hereafter You confirme Erasmus opinion with that Tertullian wryteth in his 2. boke Ad vxorem of the Paynimes wife that was Christened and euery day priuely receiued the sacrament at home in her house And also with the history that Ciprian rehearseth of the woman that vnreuerently opened the cheste where in shee kepte the Lordes body To this also ye adde Cirilles aucthority for reseruation Out of these places you sucke not onely soole receauinge but also mynistringe vnder one kinde reseruation yea and reall presence also Of soole receiuing Firste for soole receiuinge it behoueth to consider that in the time of Tertullian B. Ciprian and all that age the church was in much trouble vexacion and persecution so that they could not haue their ecclesiasticall assembles and congregations for common praier and ministracion of the sacramentê so conueniently as afterwarde in time of peace For euery Paynime especially if his wyfe childe or seruaunt were tourned to Christianitie was ready and sought occasion to bewray them and bringe them in trouble as it may appere by the same booke of Tertullian that you alledge Therfore they were oftentimes compelled of necessitie to send the sacrament to such as were absent and either durst not or might not conueniently come as ye may perceiue by Iustine the Martir that the fashion was in his time Hereof it came that dyuers receiued alone in their houses But nor these places nor any other that you be able to alledge can proue that there were ministers or priestes priuately celebratinge with other standinge bie that receiued not That whiche these persons receiued at home was parte of that was distributed in the common celebration where company were and vppon case of necessitée sent by the ministers to them beinge absent But you should bringe such places as might proue that the common minister in place of the lordes supper dyd celebrate and receiue alone other beinge present and not partaking For suche a sole receiuinge is your pryuate Masse that you pretende to striue for Now therefore let vs sée how aptely your argument gathered vppon these places doeth conclude your purpose Women and lay men somtime in case of necessitie priuately receiued at home parte of that which was sent from the common celebration therfore common ministers as often as they liste oute of necessitie may consecrate and receiue alone in the common place of prayer when the people is present and doth not communicate I thinke your selfe may easely se of what force this collection is That may be graunted to a lay person receiuinge that may not to a pryest ministringe that sometime in necessitie whiche may not alwayes at pleasure that at home where none is that may not in the church where many be Wherfore these testimonies are but weake groundes to builde pryuate Masse vppon You wyll perchance obiecte that such receiuing in houses was vsed when the churche was in quiet and without persecutioÌ„ I graunt you as the maner is that facions brought in by necessitie or some greate consideration be oftentimes kept and folowed with abuse when neither necessitie doth constraine it nor good consideracion can mainteine it and so was it in this matter Hierome against Iouinian mencioneth that in his time some vsed to receiue in their houses but he earnestly inueigheth against that maner Why saith he doe they not come into the church he Christ sometime abrode in the common place somtime at home in the house c. In Socrates the. 2. boke we reade that Sinodus Gangrensis condemned Eustathium for that contrary to the ecclesiastical rules he graunted licence to coÌ„municate at home So that hereby it may apeare that a custome that in necessitie to some persons is eyther tollerable or pius error is at another time and to other persons vntollerable and Impia prophanatio If you dilygently examine that maner of receauinge in theyr houses at that tyme which ye thinke to make with you you shal wel perceiue it not a lytle to make against you When they did celebrate as Iustine before rehearsed doth witnesse they dyd not only distribute to them that were presente but by the deatons sent it to such as could not be present Did they not in this point declare a necessitée of partakinge if it were possible at euery ministratioÌ„ In so muche that when their place would not receiue all or other necessary cause did let them to come to the common place of prayer yet that they might be partakers of the Lordes supper they sent it to them where they were How well doth this fashion agree with your priuate masse Wherin ye neither cal nor proffer nor send to the people but so doo it all alone in sight of the hole congregacion as though it weare a thinge that nothing appertained vnto them Now then you may euidently se that none of these aucthorities hetherto alleged doth prove directly your Masse that is a sole receiuinge in the celebration of the sacrament But how necessary that time of the churche dyd thinke it to bee that the people should bee partakers with the prieste that Epistle signitieth that you attribute to Anacletus where it is this wrytten Peracta consecratione omnes communicent qui noluerit ecclesiasticis carere liminibus Sic
whose wordes by you in this place recited D. I haue this muche to say that as I know the same place is alleaged of dyuers other and therfore I wyl not plainely deny it so because that worke of Ciril is not ertante I haue good cause to suspecte it And so muche the more for that diuers of your sorte haue alleaged oute of the same doctour in his worke Thesaurus certaine wordes for the supremicie of the Byshop of Rome whiche are not there to be found This vniust fatheryng of your owne late deuised phantasies vpon the auncient doctours and writers of the churche may cause vs iustly to suspecte the residue of your doyng But be it so that those are Cirils owne wordes indéede Wée haue for that one suspected place a number of sounde testimonies that all did not alow reseruacion nor thinke it accordyng to the worde of God Origine vpon the .v. chap. of Leuiticus The Lord saith he deferred not the breade that he gaue to his disciples saying take and eate neither commaunded it to be kepte vntill the morow The residue of his wordes vpoÌ„ the same place be suche as he séemeth thervpon to gather an argument that it should not be reserued Hee that wrote the sermon De caena domini in Cyprian saieth plainely of the sacrament Recipitur non includitur At is receiued it is not inclosed or Butte vp Isychius vpon Leuiticum at large declareth how that in his time if the ministers and people were not able to eate vp so muche as was consecrated the restdue was bourned and coÌ„sumed by fier that it might not be kepte vntill the nexte day Therfore you may not force vpon vs to receiue reseruacion as a thyng either grounded in scripture or generally alowed by the primatiue churche What will you say to your seconde Epistle of Clement bysshoppe of Rome Ret so many holy loues saith he he offered vpon the aulter as may be sufficiently for the people If so be any shall remaine let them not be kepte vntil the morow but with feare and tremblyng let the ministers eate it vp This was a Bisshoppe of Rome this was Peters successour this was as you say head of the churche and yet you heare his appoinâ—mente and order taken erpressely against reseruation If ye will not beléene vs why doo you not beléeue your owne Will you say with your testimonie of Ciril that Origine was madde that Isychius was madde Or if ye be not afrayde to say it of them Will you say that Clement was madde also Well sir if ye wyll proue vs impudent or madde for not receiuynge reseruacion I truste you se that wée shal haue company in our impudencie and madnesse But Clementê Epistle presseth you harde in soole receiuynge and priuate Passe also and signifieth that all the ministers receiued together with the people For in the wordes before rehearsed he speaketh of the Passe that was vsed when that Epistle was made and yet it willeth you to prepare for the people Why doo you not folow his aucthoritie in these poinetes You will say as you sayd in the beginning if the people be absente and when the sacramente is prepared either will not or can not come to receiue Clement then sayeth not that the priest consecratyng should forbeare because thother bidden guests will not come The churche you will say did alway professe a communion proue oute of the same history that it were no abuse to haue boyes and chyldren to minister the sacramente commonly because in that extremitie Sirapions boye delyuered him the sacrament which the pryest sent Surely in this your maner of defendynge priuate Passe wherein you shew your selfe to be able to bringe nothing for the mainteinance therof but only extraordynary chanses in extremitie and necessitie you doo much bewray the euyl vse of it and manifestly declare yea and as it weare protestée that in déede it is euel and without all aucthoritie or example of the primatiue churche if you bee not bryuen to it by necessitie and lacke of communicants You wyll reply perhappes and say by these examples it may appeare that company in receyninge is not of necessitie or if it had ben they would not haue vsed the contrary Yes sir necessitie and extremitie may cause some kinde of gods commaundements at times to be omitted and yet out of necessitie the same commaundementes ought necessarely to bee obserued and kepte The Iewes were commaunded on the Sabboth day to doo no bodely or toylinge worke Neuerthelesse sometimes we rede that by necessitie of there enemies constreined they kept warre and fought on the Sabboth day Yet can you not say but that commaundement was necessary I sayd the like before of baptisme and the same must I say in the lordes supper that a case of necessitie may perhappes for a time alter some necessary parte of it and yet not bee taken for any generall rule Therfore if ye wyll receiue alone in your Passe or minister vnder one kinde you must neuer doo it but in extremitie otherwyse your proufes helpe you nothinge at all Yea but in the history of Sirapion but one kinde is mencioned and reseruation manifestly appeareth in that it was so ready to bee boye to soke the sacramente consecrated in a licour not consecrated And especially if he were of your opinion in transsubstantiacion This may you se by your owne place that in reseruation they vsed often to kepe bothe kyndes Which might wel stand with the maner of that time wherin they did euery day communicare so that the wine also might well tary vntil the next day The .xiiii. caÌ„non of Nicene councel in no sence doth prouce sole receiuinge 10. Cap. Answer to the .xiiii. Cannon of Nicene cousell as you would haue it séeme to doo It apointeth who should minister and in what order they should receiue firste the byshop then the priestes after the deacons and so forthe other that dyd communicate This order takeÌ„ by that holy counsaile maketh so plainly againste the manner of your pryuate Masse as I assure you I meruaile that you coulde for shame alledge it Who seeth not by this testimony that all the ministers vsed commonly to receiue together with the byshop beynge present Here was not my lorde at the high aulter and the residew of hys chaplaines and priestes in sundry chapels celebrating by them selfe but all receiued together deacons and all that it might appere to bee a heauenly feast or supper and not a worke or sacritice to be done of one to the behoufe and benefite of a number that stande by and loke on The councel speaketh not here in this poynte of any extraordinary chaunce as it doeth in that parte that you alledge but of the common ordynary maner which by the aucthority of the same councell was apointed to bee vsed in the church It we had lacked testimonyes for the trueth againste pryuate Masse wée had bene muche beholdinge to you for puttinge vs in mindâ— of
it be knowen What the churche is and whether it may erre Forsooth the scripture speaketh of the churche of Christe twoo waies Sometime as it is indéede before God not knowen alway to mans iudgemente Into this church none be receiued but onely the children of grace and adoption and the very members of Christe by sanctifiyng of the holy ghost This church doth not comprehend only holy men and sainctes liuyng on the earth but all the electe from the beginnynge of the worlde This churche is the piller of truth that neuer continueth in errour This churche is neuer forsaken of the spirite of God This is the holy communion of sainctê that in our Créede wée professe and acknowledge But this church as after shall appere doth not alwaies flowrish in sight of the worlde Sometime the churche is taken for the vniuersal multitude of al those whiche beyng dispersed through the worlde acknowledge one Christe and beyng through baptisme admitted into the same by the vse of the Lordes supper openly professe the vnitie therof in doctrine and charitie Sometime the churche is taken for the multitude of those that beare rule in the churche This churche is resembled to a nette whiche caste into the sea bringeth vp both good and badde It is resembled to a feilde that hath not only pure corne but also Cockle Darnell and other wéedes And as wée often se that good corne in some groundê is so choked vp and ouer runne with wédes as the good graine may hardly be deserned for that the wéedê beare the chief rule Euen so in this churche the euill and corrupted doth sometime beare downe the better sorte that a man can hardly iudge whiche be the true members of the churche whiche are not This churche therfore for the most number may be misled and in many thinges stray out of the way This church may erre and not continually abide in pure and vncorrupte worshippyng of God as I wil now with good prouse farther declare vnto you God hath had this his externall churche from the beginnyng of the worlde instructed by his holy worde instructed by his Patriarâ—es and Prophetes instructed by hiâ— apoincted law and ceremonies and so continued till the commyng of his dâ—â—â— forme Iesus Christe This churche he called his spouse his tabernacle his priuie garden his loued citie his electe and chosen vineyard But did it alway continue in florishyng estate Did it alway in like maner retaine the truth of Gods morde that it was taught in the beginnyng Did it alway cherish and mainteine suche ministers as God sent from time to time into it to redresse and reforme his law accordyng to his holy will In what state was this churche in Nous time when .viii. onely were saued In what state was it when the .x. Tribes forsooke the right worshippyng of God and leste onely the Tribe of Iuda In what state was it afterwarde when the same one Tribe of Iuda vnder diuers kinges sell to Idolatrie In what state was it when Elias pitifully complained that he onely was lefte and all other were departed from God Where was the enternall face of the church at that times In what state was it when Esaias Ieremie Ezechiel and al the Prophetes of God were persecuted put to death I pray you was not Iurie then called the people of God Had they not at that time the lawe of God Did not they vse his ceremonies Did not they bragge and make their auaunte that they coulde not erre that the trueth coulde not departe from the mouthe of their priestes and doctours that they had the temple of God the temple of God Yes certainely they had euen then the law of God They had euen then the sacramentes and ceremonies by God appointed or els the Prophet would neuer haue vsed their temple or compante of their praiers and ceremonies Yet how miserably the law of God and his sacramentê were corrupted among them it appereth by that Esay sayeth The siluer of the people of God is iourned into drosse How they interteined the messengers that God sente to reforme his law it is euidente in this that all the Prophetes were slayne amonge them This externall churche then did erre this externall churche refused the trueth of Gods law This externall churche did persecute the Prophetes And yet did not the Prophetes thinke that they coulde caste them out of his true churche or make them not true members of his people to whiche the promisses were made Neither did the Prophetes for that cause cease to call for a redresse of the pure law and ceremonies of God and worshipyng him accordyng to his holy worde They did not refraine to tel euen those that faib they were the chosen people of god the electe vineyarde of God the citie and habitacion of God that they had fortaken the law of God that they folowed their owne deuises that they worshipped God in vayne with their owist tradicions And therfore that he would not acknowledge them any more for his people that he woulde sette his vineyarde open to spoile that he would bringe his owne citie into thraldome and captiuitie After the captiuitie of Babilon when the same churche was restored and his people taught by adversitie to reforme the law and receiue againe the right worshippinge of god apointed in his worde it continued of many yeares but that it was agayné corrupted horribly and led farre out of the way to lowinge againe their owne phantasies For when Christ him selfe came for whose cause God had so preserued that people they sayd that they had Moyses lawe that they were the séede of Abraham that they were the chosen people and true churche of God that he wente aboute to take away the lawe and destroy the temple and for that cause did they put him to death In like maner did they vse the Apostles â–ª They reproued their doctrine as vaine and phantasticall they caste them out of their Synagoges as Schismatikes and Heretikes Yea and when they did this they had in face of the worlde those thynges wherin the churche is compted to consiste They had doctrine out of the law of God They has the ministerie of the same by their Priestê and Doctours They had the sacrament of circumsicion as the couenant wherby they were admitted as the people of God They had the other ceremonies â–ª wherin they were practised to the confirmation of the same They had the counsels wherby the condeÌ„pned Christ wherin they condempned the Apostles and refused their doctrine They blâ—med their predicessours for that they had â—illed the Prophetes and yet they persecuted Christe and his Apostels Shal we thinke therfore that the Apostles were not of the church or rather shal we indge that them which haue the gouernemente of the law and sarrâ—mentes and to the world haue the facâ— and name of the churche may so fowly erâ—e as they may refuse the true doctrine of gods lawe and persecute the ministors and
holy misteries For when it is once departed from the true sence of gods worde it draweth in as it were by linkes a number of other absudities none of which can haue any profft in scripture seing the first roote of them came not out of the true sence of scripture Euen so when you had deuised and geuen to Christes wordes another sence then the meaninge of them doth importe no maruel if the same reason doo leade you to a multitude of other doctrines not only beside the worde of god but expressely against it Whether that interprefacion that you make uppon these wordes doo more agrée with the scripture and grounde of our faith then that which we teach any indifferent man that is not contentiously bente to the one parte or to the tother may easely discerne Your sence is when Christ saith This is my body that the naturall substance of the breade which Christ toke was turned into the naturall substance of the very body that Christ dyed in notwithstandinge that the colour taste forme and power to norâ—she that were before in the substance of bread doth still remanynâ— â–ª And yet under those qualities and accidences of bread is really conteined the natural body of Christ hauing neither bignes nor any proportion or sensible qualitie rightly apperteininge to such a body To expresse this your meaning you vse to say that the bread is transsubstantiate into the body of Christ In what tonge or language was it euer séeue In what authour was it euer redde that Sunâ— es fui the verbe substantiue might be iuterpreted by transsubstantiare Or if the proprietie of the worde wil not in any wise admit that sence what one sentence or clause haue you in all the course of the bible that vnder the like wordes can receiue the like interpretacion Or what prouses can you bringe by conference of other places of the scripture that these â—â—â—des in this place ought of necessitie in this maner to be interpreted If neyther the proprietie of the tounge can beare the sence nor you can bring any examples or prouses out of the wordâ— of god where vpon men in so weightis a matter may stay their consciences is it not extreame crueltie in you vnder payne of damnasion to compel them to beleue it Here you will burden vs with the aucthoritie of the holy catholike churche which as you say hath alway receiued alowed that interpretacion Vnto this I answer that the catholike churche of Christe neuer generally receiued the meanynge of any sentence but that they gathered the same either by examples of the like or els by grounded reasons taken out of the scripture declared that of necessitie it must be so vnderstanded This rule was appointed to the churche by Christe and his Apostles who in their doubtes willed men Serutari scripturas to searche the scriptures Therfore when the churche decreed against the Arrians and other Heretikes that in this sentence In principio erat verbum the woorde was in the beginnynge that Verbum was to be taken for the person of the sonne of God Or when they decréed that the sonne was eiusdem substantie cum patre of the same substance with the father they stayed not onely vpon their owne consente and aucthoritie but brought a greate number of prouses out of the scripture that it must of necessitie be so taken as it appereth in Cyrill and other of the holy fathers Now then if this that you defend be the iudgement of the catholike church it hath vndoubtedly good proffe in the scripture or if you can bringe for it no such testimony oute of the worde of god it is euydent that you doo wrongfully father this interpretatioÌ„ vpon the holy catholike churche and vnder the couert of that name you doo promote set forth your owne errour And this much for your opinioÌ„ On the tother parte when wée interprete Christes wordes wée say it is a figuratiue spéeche and suche as the holy ghost often vseth in the institucion of sacramentes and ceremonies or in the deseriuyng of other misteries The figure is named Metonymia when the name of the thynge is geuen vnto the signe When these wordes therefore be laied vnto vs This is my body wée say it is moste true But mistically sacramentally figuratiuely not really and accordyng to the naturall substance For this interpretacion wée haue a number of examples out of the canonicall scriptures God speakynge of circumsicion saieth This is my couenante And yet was circumsicion not the couenante indéede but the signe testimonie wherby they were assured to be the people of God and partakers of his promisses The Paschale lambe is called the Passeouer and yet was it but a testimony and remembraÌ„ce of the greate benefite of God in passyng his plague from them This is the victorie saieth S. Paule that ouercome the world euen your faith And yet is not our faith the victorie it selfe but the instrument or meanes wherby the victorie is gotten In like maner diuers other places As I am a vyne God is a consumyng fier The seuen kine be seuen yeres And that S. Paule hath to the Corinthes Petracrat Christus The rocke was Christe And yet was not the rocke Christe himselfe really onlesse ye will take it as hee there doeth indéede for the spirituall rocke For that spirituall rocke was Christe himself verely and indéede not only in a misterie or signification So in the Lordes supper if you take bread for spirituall bread as Christe doth in the .vi. of Iohn I will say with you that it is really and essentially the verie true body of Christe it selfe and not onely mistically If wée had not these many examples with a greate number mee in the holy scripture to iustifie our maner of interpretacion yet the very wordes whiche the spirit of God by singuler prouidence hath vsed in the Euangelist and S. Paule doeth manifestly leade vs vnto this sence rather then to that you haue deuised For in the seconde parte of the sacrament where Math. and Marke say This is my bloud of the new Testament That Luke and Paule vtter in this maner This is the new Testament in my bloud Whiche can not be otherwise vnderstande but that this sacrameÌ„t is a testimonie or pledge of his laste will and gifte of our saluacion confirmed by his moste precious bloud Wherfore if you say neuer so often times with Math. and Marke This is my body This is my bloud wee wyll repete as often with Luke and Paule who were led with the same spirit This is the new Testament in my body and bloud This interpretacion and meanyng of Christes wordes which wée gather by conference with other places of holy scripture is confirmed also by the consent of the aunciente fathers in many places Whose testimonies I wil recite more copiously partely because you séeme to signifie that they altogether make for you in this mattier partely that all men may se how vniustly your sorte
doo terme vs Figuratores because wée interprete that sentence by a figure wheras it is not our deuise but the exposicion of all the aunciente fathers of the primatiue churche First I will beginne with Augustine contra Adimantum cap. 12. There it appereth that Adimantus vsed Moyses wordes Sanguis est anima trumake this sonde argument â—loud is the â—â—oule saith Moyses 〈◊〉 flesh and bloud saith Paule shall not possesse the kyndome of God Therefore the soule shal not possesse the kyngdome of God Auguâ—tnes answer to that argument is that this sentence Sanguis est anima must be vnder standed figuratiuely and not litterally as he in that argument tooke it To proue that he vseth these wordes of Christe Hoc est corrusmeum Saiyng in this wise Possum interpreâ—â— illud praeceptum in signo positum esse NoÌ„ enim dubitauit dominus dicere hoc est corpus meum cum daret signum corporis sui I may saieth Austine interzete that precept to consiste in a signe or figure For the lorde bonbted not to say This is my body when he gaue the signe of his body As if he had saied in a farre greater mattier then this that is in institutinge the sacrameÌ„t of his death and our redemption the lorde doubted not to vse a figure and to say this is my body when be gaue the signe of his body Therfore this sentence â—loud is the soule man soner be interpreted figuratiuely So that the meaninge of it is that bloud is the signe of the soule or life and not the very soule in déede The same Augustine in his exposition vpon the thirds psalme Iudam inquit adhibuit ad conuiuium in quo corporis sanguinis sui figuram discipulis suis commendauit Hee admitted Iudas to that feast wherin he commended to his disciples the figure of his Body and bloud The same exposition Tertullian maketh moste euidently in hys forth booke againste Martion Panem inquit acceptum distributum discipulis corpus suum illum fecit Hoc est corpus meum dicendo Hoc est figura corporis mei Christe saith Tertullian made that bread that he toke in his handes and gaue to his disciples his body sayinge this is my bodie that is to say the signe of my body What can bee playner then this exposition of this auncient father if men did not study rather to mainteine partes then to confirme trueth His purpose was there to proue against Martion that Christ had a true body in deds because in the sacrament hee ordeyned the signe or figure of his body and therfore afterward he addeth Figura autem non esset nisi veritatis esset corpus That should not be a figure of his Body onles hee had a very true body in deede Augustine againe in 23. Epistle to Bonifacius Si inquit sacramenta similitudinem quandam earum rerum quarum sunt sacramenta non haberent omnino sacramenta non essent Ex hac autem similitudine plerumque rerum ipsarum nomina sortiuntur Sicut ergo secundum quendam modum sacramentum corporis Christi corpus Christi est sacramentum sanguinis Christi sanguis Christi est ita sacramentum fidei sides est And a littell after Sicut de ipso Baptismo Apostolus Consepulti inquit sumus Christo per baptismum in mortem Non ait sepulturam significamus sed pror sus inquit consepulti sumus Sacramentum ergo tantae rei non nisi eiusdem rei vocabulo nuncupauit If sacramentes had not a certaine similitude of those thinges where of they be sacraments they should not be sacraments at all And for this similitude or likenes they commonly haue the names of the thinges them selfe Therefore as the sacrament of Christes body after a certaine fashion is Christes body and the sacramente of hys bloud is his bloud so the sacrament of faith is faith c. As the Apostle speaketh of Baptisme We bee buried saith he in death to Christ by baptisme He faith not we signifie burial but plainely we be buried Therefore he doth nothinge els but terme the sacrament of so great a thing by the name of the thinge it selfe Sainct Augustines meaninge is to declare to Bonifacius that Baptisme might bee called by the name of faith and that therefore the Infante baptised might be truly affirmed to beleue or to haue faith because it had Baptisme the sacrament of faith This he proueth by comparison with the sacrament of Christes body and bloud Which for a similitude or likenes hée saieth is called the body and bloud of Christ that after a certaine fashion adding that Baptisme in like manner is faith And yet no man wyl be so vnwise to say that Baptisme is faith in déede really Wherfore the like is to be iudged of the sacramente of the Lordes body wherby S. Augustine proueth it This also is diligently to be noted that Augustine saith all sacraments generally be vttered by name of the thinges them selfe because of a certaine similitude or likenes therfore Paule saith not we signifie our buryall but wée be buried callinge the sacrament by the name of that thing as Austine saith Againe in Libro sententiarum prosperi as it is recited in the decrées De consecratione distine 2. cap. Hoc est The same father hath these words Coelestis panis qui est caro Christi suo modo nom inatur corpus Christi cum reuera sit sacramentum corporis Christi Vocaturque ipsa immolatio carnis quae sacerdotis manibus fit Christi passio mors crucifixio non rei veritate sed significante misterio The heauenly bread which is the flesh of Christ after a fashion is named the body of Christ where as in dede it is but the sacrament of his body And the offeringe of the fleash which is done with the priestes hands is called the passion the death the crucifiynge of Christ not in veritie of the thinge but in a signifiynge mistery The glose in expounding these words of Augustine saith this Caeleste sacramentum quod vere repraesentat Christi carnem dicitur corpus Christi sed improprie vnde dicitur suo modo non rei veritate sed significante misterio Vt sit sensus vocatur corpus Christi id est significat It is called the body of Christ saith he that is to say it signifieth the body of Christ To this I wil adde Chrisostome Operis imperfecti Homil 11. Si inquit vasa sanctificata transferre ad priuatos vsus peceatum est in quibus non est verum corpus Christi sed misterium corporis Christi continetur quanto magis vasa corporis nostri c. If saieth hee it be sinne to transferre holy vessels vnto priuate vses in whiche is not the true body of Christ but that mistery of his body is conteined how muche lesse should wee c. What can more plainly declare the figuratiue sence of those wordê of christ hoc est corpus meuÌ„ then that
Chrisostome saieth in whiche vessels is not the very body but the mistery of it For if those wordes were litterally to bee vnderstanded as you say then should the holy vessels that conteyne the sacramentes haue in them not only the mistery of Christes body and bloud but his very body really in dede Which Chrisostome denieth In the. 83. Homil. vpon Mathew the same doctour saith Si mortuus Iesus non est cuius simbolum aut signum hoc sacrificium est If Christ be not deade of whom is this sacrifice a figure and signe And vpon the. 22. psalm Vt quotidie in similitudinem corporis sanguinis Christi panem vinum secundum ordinem Melchisedech nobis ostenderet in sacramento That hee might dayly shew vs in the sacrament bread and wine accordynge to the order of Melchisedech as the similitude of his body and bloud As before hee vsed Symbolum signum misterium so he hath here Similitudinem Likewise Dionisius de ecclesiastica Hierarchia cap. 3. Per venerabilia signa Christus signatur sumitur By those reuerent signes Christe is signified and receiued Ambrose also De hijs qui imciantur misterijs cap. 9. Ipse clamat dominus Iesus Hoc est corpus meum Ante benedictionem verboruÌ„ caelestium alia species nominatur Post consecrationem corpus Christi significatur Our Lorde Iesus crieth this is my body Before the blessing of the heauenly wordes one kinde is named after consecratione Christes body is signified In the. 4. boke also De sacramentis cap â–ª 8 The same Ambrose saith Fac nobis hanc oblationem ascriptam rationabileÌ„ acceptabilem quod est figura corporis sanguinis domini nostri Iesu Christi Make to vs this offering alowable reasonable acceptable whiche is the figure of the body and bloud of our lord Iesus Christ Here he acknowlegeth the sacrament to bee a figure In the. 6. boke De sacrameÌ„tis cap. 1. He hath these wordes also Ideo in similitudinem quidem accipis sacramentum sed verae naturae gratiam virtutemque assequeris Therefore thou receiuest the sacrament as a similitude but thou atteinest the grace and vertue of the true nature in dede This sentence of Ambrose conteineth our whole doctrine of the sacramente of Christes body and bloud whiche is that it is a figure or signe of his body and yet not a bare or naked figure but suche a one as there by we atteine in déede the full grace and benefite of his body that suffred for vs and was crucified vpon the crosse and haue our soules fed and norished with the same to euerlastinge lyfe Origine vppon Mathew saieth Panis sanctificatus iuxta id quod habet materiale in ventrem abit in sesessum encitur c. The sanctified bread saith he according to that it hath material passeth into the bealy and is auoyded oute of the body But accordinge to the prayer that commeth to it it is profitable makinge that the minde vnderstandeth and hathe regarde to that is profitable Neither is it the matter of the breade but the word spoken ouer it that profiteth him which receiueth it not vnworthely And thus much haue I spoken of the typicall and figuratiue body Much also may be sayd of the liuely worde it selfe whiche was made fleash and very meat in deede whiche meate he that eateth shal surely liue for euer whiche no yll man canne eate c. Here note you firste that Origine saieth that the mattier of the consecrated breade of the sacrament passeth into the bealy and is auoyded out expresly againstâ— your interpretacion of Christes wordes wherby ye say the breade is transsubstantiate and no mattier of it leftâ— but onely accidencies Secondly that he calleth the sacrament Typicum symbolicum corpus the typicall and figuratiue body Thirdely that he affirmeth constantly that no ill man can eate the very flesh of the seconde person in Trinitie And yet that is one of the necessarie labels that your sorte doeth teache to depende vpon your wrongefull interpretacion of Christes wordê Wherfore Origine with this one sentence teareth of diuers of your counterfaited Labels that you stitche to Christes testamentes by drifte of reason without the warrant of his holy worde More ouer Austine de doctrina Christ lib. 3. cap. 9. After he hath declared that in the new Testamente God hath lefte vnto his people but few sacramentes and ceremontes and the same to be vnderstande not carnally seruilely accordyng to the letter and there for example hath mencioned baptisme and the celebracion of the Lordes body and bloud in the ende he addeth these wordes In whiche saith he as is folow the letter and to take the sygure for those thynges that are signified by them in a poincie of seruile infirmitie so to interprete the signes euill is the poincie of wandrynge erronâ— As he counteth it a fonde and wicked errour not to interprete the sigkes well and accordynge to Gods worde so by a streight litteral sence to take the signes for the thynges signified he esteemeth a seruile infirmitie What can be more plainly spoken against that interpretacion that you make vpon these woordes of Christe wherby you doo binde vs to a seruile litterall sence of this worde Js and in suche forte take the signes of this sacramente for the thinges signified as you affirme breade and wine whiche S. Augustine and the other Doctours call the externall signes cleane to be tourned into the body bloud of Christ The same Augustine contra AdimaÌ„rum Manich. The Lorde faieth this is my bobie when he gaue the signe of his body Also vpon the. 98. psal he speaketh in this maner Ye shall not eate that body that you se not ye shal not drinke that bloud that they shall shedde It is a misterie that I tell you whiche shal reliue you if you vnderstande it spiritually Wyll you not yet vnderstand from whence our men receiued this interpretacion will you not yet perceiue that wée sucked not it out of our owne singers but were led vnto it by the testimonies of holy scriptures and teachyng of these aucient fathers Will you not cease vniustly to bourden vs that wée cauill and dally vpon titles and sillables whereas your self in this sentence woulde driue vs to suche an vnderstandyng of this one sillable Js as the like is not in the whole Bible But ye will aledge for your selfe as you signifie in you writyng that Ambrose Cyprian Chrisostome and other auncient fathers haue in this case vsed the termes of transmutacion alteration conuersion transelementation c. Wherby they haue plainly declared theyr meaninge to bee as yours is and that no bread there remayneth but only the substance of Christes body True it is in déede that those holy fathers vsed such wordes not for that they were of your opinion but only to th end they might more reuerently as méete was and more liuely expresse the dignitie and effect of that heauenly mistery wherin Iesu
Christ by his vnfallible promisse vnfeinedly geueth to the faith of his people the very fruition of his body and bloud with the hole benefite of his precious death and passion and by the workinge of the holy ghost merueilously ioyneth vs in one body together with him Is not this thinke you a merueilous change and to mans estimation a miraculous worke when by the power of the holy ghost worde of god of commen breade and wine such as we daily féede our bodies with is made the dredful and reuerent sacramentes and mysteries of Iesus Christ wherby as I saide he doth not by a bare signe only but verely and in déede endow is faithfull people and make them partakers of his body and bloud Yea and that in such sorte that euen as truly as the bread doth norishe our body and euen as truly as the wine doeth comforte our spiritê so truly and vnfeinedly doeth the heauenly foode of his body and bloud toren and shed for vs by fait h in time of that holy supper no ryshe strengthen and comforte our soule and by the wonderfull workinge of his spirite make our bodies also apte to resurrection Truly when I earnestly consider the effecte of this sacrament as it must néedes be by the trueth of Christes promises I confesse I am not able with wordes to vtter so muche as in my minde I doo conceiue and together withal eschew the absurditie of your reall presence and transsubstantion Wherfore I merueile not if those holy fathers fearinge no suche inconueniences but lokinge rather pithely to expresse the thinge dyd vse those earnest wordes and manners of speakinge and yet mente not as you now of their wordes doo gather All though no similitude can sufficiently declare the thinge I wyll for the simplar forte so muche as I can indeuour by a comparison to set for the that I do conceiue If a temporal prince for certaine causes mouinge him would geue you a thousand pound land by the yere and for that purpose had caused the wrytinges to be made The same wrytinge vntill it bee confirmed by the prince is nothinge but common parchment and inke framed into letters by some inferiour mans hand neither doth it bring any effect but when the prince hath once added to his seale confirmed the graunt it is no more called parchement or common writing but the kinges letters patents And now hath that reuerence that all to whom they be shewed doo veile there bonetes as bringinge with it some parte of the princes maiesty Such a change is now made in those trifelinge thinges that before no man estemed You also to whom this lande should bee geuen would not thinke this writinge common parchement blotted with inke but the perfite déede of your prince wherby you were assuredly possessed of the foresaid lands Moreouer when the prince at the deliuery of the same should say sir here is a thousand pound land that I geue fréely to you and to your heires I thinke you would not be so fonde to thinke either that the Prince doeth mocke you because you sée not the laÌ„ds presently or els to conceiue with your selfe that you haue the landes really inclosed within the compasse of your writing For the kinges aucthoritie in the writyng geueth you as ful possession of the landes as though you helde theÌ„ if it were possible in your hande And you in this case might iustly saye to your friende shewing your letters patents Lo here is a thousande pounde lande that my prince hath geuen me If then there bee so greate a change made in framyng the couenant déede of an earthly prince If his seale doo bryng such force effecte to his gifte and letters patentes How much more merueilous change alteracioÌ„ or transmutacion muste wée thinke it to bee when the base creatures of breade and wine be consecrated into the sacrament of the euerlastyng couenante and testament of Iesu Christ wherin he geueth vs not earthly vanities but the precious foode of his body and bloude remission of sinnes and the heritage of his heauenly kingdome how muche more of effecte must this sacrament be that is sealed with the promisse and wordes of our sauiour Christ who is truth it selfe and cannot deceiue any that trusteth in him Wherefore to expresse this change of the externall elementes into so heauenly misteries to shewe the effecte of this sacrament to withdrawe the ignorant mindes of the people from the prophane cogitacion of a bare signe in this mattier the auncient fathers had good cause to vse suche wordes And yet therein doo they nothyng at all defende your miraculous workes that you deuise to be made in the Lordes supper As for the similitude wherewith you woulde declare the necessitie of your Labels depending vpon the first founded absurditie it is both of as smal force as other that you before vsed and you handle it with more sluttish eloquence then is méete for suche a mattier as this is For the drawyng of the Capons the scumming of the potte the stinkyng water the hewyng of wodde the puttyng on the broche with guttes garbage and al. c. Be phrases and termes more méete for the kitchinne then for the Diuinitee schoole and such as your self I thinke woulde not haue vsed if your mockyng spirite had not so rauisshed you as you wist not what you did If wée had resembled your Labels whiche you cutte out by drift of reason vnto so base mattiers you woulde haue sayd that wée had rayled and done otherwise then it became vs. But sens your selfe doth so take them wée must thinke that God oftentimes moueth his aduersaries to vtter trueth against them selues But if the same maister that you imagine to commaunde his seruaunte to make readie that hee may dine did meane onely that he should set vpon the table suche colde meate as was in the house because he saw no cause or necessitie of greater prouision And the seruaunte vpon his owne foolish head would mistake his maisters commaundement conceyuing that he woulde haue great straungers did kill his Capons Chickens and other prouision aboute his house and busied himselfe with more labour then thanke to make them readie Doo you not thinke I pray you that he might iustly be compted an vnprofitable seruaunt and worthy by correction to bee taught more witte for that he putteth his maister to greater chargies and himselfe to more paines then the mattier required if he had rightly vnderstanded his maisters will and commaundemente Euen so sir those thynges that you say foloweth by force of reason and argument vpon the first sentence do folow indéede only vpon that sence that your selfe doth imagine mistakyng your maisters wil and pleasure and not vpon that meanyng that Christe himselfe would haue his wordes to be taken in For all that he woulde haue done may be sufficiently done without the working of so manie miracles as you in this case would driue his omnipotencie vnto Wherefore wée are not