A WAY OF RECONCILIATION OF A GOOD AND learned man TOVCHING THE Trueth Nature and Substance of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament Translated out of Latin into English by the Right Honorable Lady Elizabeth Russell Dowager to the Right Honourable the Lord Iohn Russell Baron and sonne and heire to Francis Earle of Bedford AT LONDON PRINTED BY R. B. ANNO 1605. The Author to the Reader TO seeke the attonement of men is to be commended and it hath a sure promise of God Blessed bee the peace-makers But I feare me lest in greedily following the same it happen to me which chanceth to them that part fraies while they seeke others safetie they beare the blowes themselues And I while I study to make enemies friends perhaps shall haue small thankes of them Which if it happen the example of him shal comfort me which said If I should please men I should not be the seruant of Christ Farewell and indeauour thy selfe to please Christ TO THE RIGHT HOnourable my most entierly beloued and onely daughter the Lady ANNE HERBERT wife to the Lord HENRY HERBERT sonne and heire apparant to EDVVARD the most noble Earle of Worcester MOst vertuous and woorthilie beloued daughter Euen as from your first birth and cradle J euer was most careful aboue any worldly thing to haue you sucke the perfect milke of sincere Religion So willing to ende as I beganne I haue left to you as my last Legacie this Booke A most precious Iewell to the comfort of your Soule being the woorke of a most good learned and worthy man Made aboue fiftie yeeres since in Germanie After by traueile a French creature Now naturalized by mee into English like to his learned Author to whom from my part most Honour and seruice is due Surely at the first I meant not to haue set it abroad in Print but my selfe onely to haue some certaintie to leane vnto in a matter so full of controuersie and to yeeld a reason of my opinion But since by my lending the Copie of mine owne hand to a friend I am bereft thereof by some And fearing lest after my death it should be Printed according to the humors of other and wrong of the dead who in his life approued my Translation with his owne allowance Therefore dreading I say wrong to him aboue any other respect I haue by Anticipation preuented the worst J meant this to you good daughter for a New-yeeres gift but altered by griefe for your Brothers broken arme Farewell my good sweet Nanne God blesse thee with the continuance of the comfort of his holy Spirit that it may euer worke in you and perseuere with you to the ende and in the ende IN ANNAM FILIAM Vt veniens Annus tibi plurima commodet ANNA Voce pia Mater supplice mente precor Vt valeas paritérque tuo cum Coniuge Proles Officijs iunctis vita serena fluat ELIZABETHA RVSSELLA Dowager ¶ A CERTAINE MAN wisheth to all Christians the health and peace of our Lord IESVS CHRIST THE question of the Supper of IESVS CHRIST and Sacrament of Thankesgiuing hath brought foorth to vs aboue other things a cruel and pernitious contention For the other Authors of sects Anabaptists and Suencfeldians be neither learned nor of our family But this is a ciuill and domesticall euill a bloody and deadly wound hidden in our bowels Surely it is a lamentable and horrible matter that the thing which was first instituted for the confirmation of mens minds in loue and concord and fellowship of the body of Christ which is the Church is now wrested to variance and confusion And if there haue bene any good in this broile it hath bene in the silence and sorrow of good and learned men of whom aswell the misliking sheweth that there is somewhat in both parts that might be amended and prayer and earnest desire may percase somewhat obtaine at Gods hand that contention taken away the agreement of minds may againe ioyne in one But this booke which is made touching this question whose soeuer it bee sure it seemeth to be the worke of a good learned and modest man and one that hath bene long much and well exercised in the Monuments of our Fathers and Elders Neither doeth it moue mee that he would not be named for because there is no bitter word in this disputation and he doth reason of the matter learnedly well and truely neither doth seeme willing to craue thankes at mens hands nor to haue taken this Treatie in hand either for desire of praise or greedines of Honour but to be mooued thereunto by the common sorrow and hurt to make an entry to that thing the which many men greatly desiring the peace of Christs Church haue wished with earnest and continuall prayers namely the remembrance of the Christian peace and the forgetting of deuilish debate Bucer whom I with honour speake of and for remembrance sake had found and made a way to this concord and there was great agreement of minds betweene him and Luther and hee pacified the Churches of the Heluetians and while hee liued there was peace and quietnesse but when they were both dead beholde againe bitter bookes on both sides And surely they be to be pardoned which write vnwillingly but those which without cause haue renued this wound if there be any such these surely seeme to me little to feare what men iudge of them or to esteeme the peace which Christ gaue and left vnto vs. But I returne to this Booke which pleaseth me best aboue other in this kinde of argument not that I will altogether allow it to the Congregation but because it seemeth to come neerest to the taking away of this contention For which cause he that cannot inuent a better if he be not content with this and cannot defend his owne let him take heed that hee doe not that for mans sake which he ought to leaue vndone for Christes cause namely that he nourish not contention which is the greatest enemie the Church can haue I see nothing concluded in this disputation that either is repugnant from the nature of our Religion or not honourably ynough spoken of this so great singuler mysterie both which things if both the parts had retained or followed we should haue had quietnesse long ere this I blame neither part I beare good will to both I loue both And if that were done in writing that is done and that of many with good conscience in the leading of our life and retaining and esteeming the friends on both sides men should both haue written and disputed of this question on both sides with lesse offence and bitternesse But now wee write in such sort as though wee did defend the persons and not the cause and apply the trueth of the cause not to the ordinance of Christ but to the interpretation of men Iesus Christ restore to vs his peace which he gaue and left vnto vs when hee departed hence which we
haue lost by these our contentions Iesus Christ I say whose Victory Triumph Honour Praise and Glory be for euer and euer Amen ¶ A way of Reconciliation touching the trueth nature and substance of the Body or of the Flesh and Blood of CHRIST in the Sacrament WHat good man doeth not sorrow or what man zealous in Religion doeth not often bewaile the pitifull and vnluckie contention about the LORDS SVPPER which hath now many yeres troubled the Churches of CHRIST which haue imbraced the pure doctrine whereby not onely brotherly Loue is broken but also cities and whole countreys be thereby brought in danger For whereas after the expelling the darkenesse of Ignorance and the happy restoring to the Church the gift of tongues a certaine new Light was restored to the world and the Gospel had begun to take so great roote that thereby hope of very great fruit was offered to ensue By and by this sharpe and vehement contention bursting in among the chiefe champions of the Word hath miserably troubled these very good beginnings For looke what weapons they had valiantly vsed in setting foorth the trueth in ouerthrowing the enemies of the Gospel the very same after this strife was risen did they bend one against another So that the happie course of the Gospel that began to flourish is not only hindered but also by factions discords the matter is come to that passe that vnlesse the mighty Right-hand of the Lord do resist the trueth doeth seeme to appaule and decay againe yea and to returne to the former confusion For if we will iudge the matter truely no force hath so much withstand the inlarging of the Gospel no not the deceits and inchantments of the idole of Rome not the crueltie of Princes against the flocke of CHRIST not the troublesome motions of breeders of Sects as this onely rash contention hath done hurt which bringeth to the minds of godly men sorrow to the enemies cause to reioyce and to the weake and vnlearned offence and falling And surely there is no doubt but that our owne wickednesse hath bene the originall of this so great an euil as it hath bene of many other For wee not regarding or rather contemning the light offered vs are iustly thought vnworthy of so great a benefit Which thing also is the cause that albeit many learned good men vnderstand what profit it should be for the Christian common wealth speedily to pacifie this quarrell and to ende the contentions few notwithstanding doe earnestly traueile about this matter And if any haue attempted it it seemeth to fall out as vnluckily taken in hand to the contrary part For my part when I saw no end could be made of strife nor any hope in any one of better sequele I thought best to commit the matter to GOD by prayer and with silence to looke for helpe in season at his hands Yet in this meane space I thought it my part not to neglect a matter of so great waight but after examination had of the chiefe points of this controuersie to bolt out what was trueth and what not and then to determine vpon a sure grounded opinion both by authoritie of holy Scripture and by the vndoubted testimonies of the Fathers aswell to satisfie my selfe as to yeeld a reason thereof to any that should perhaps demand it of mee that the minde should not wauer continually to fro tossed as it were with the contrary violence of winds While I take this worke in hand diligently tread the steps of the old Interpreters me thinketh I perceiue vnlesse my opinion deceiue me that this controuersie is not so intangled nor darke as most men suppose and that these sharp cōtentions haue come rather by mens fault then by the nature of the matter and that the way of Reconciliation shall not bee so hard with men desirous rather of the trueth then of quarrelling Wherefore albeit I took in hand this worke whatsoeuer it be priuately to my selfe yet because among my friends certaine good men and well giuen were so desirous I did not greatly passe to haue it come to the eares eyes of other that if there be herein any profit it may also do them good The cause I haue thought good so to diuide that briefly it may bee brought to three especial points First wil I shew the trueth of the body of CHRIST in the Sacrament to be giuen to the faithful and that these termes Nature and Substance are not to be shunned but that they of old time disputing of the Sacrament vsed them Then will I declare the difference betweene the Lords proper body and that which is in the Sacrament and that the olde Fathers were of that opinion And lastly I will set foorth at large what maner of Body that is which is receiued in the mysterie why it is called by that name after the opinion of the selfe same Fathers Which things once expounded a man may easily iudge of the whole controuersie First it is manifest ynough by the declaration of the Euangelists Matthew Matth. 26. c. Matth. 14. c. Luke 22. c. Marke and Luke that our Lord IESVS CHRIST when he should depart out of this world and leauing the earth should goe vp to the Father did ordeine the Sacrament of his Body and Blood in the presence of his disciples at Supper and so when he had taken the bread he blessed brake it and gaue it to them saying This is my body After the like maner the Cup also saying This Cup is the new Testament in my Blood 1. Corinth 11. Doe this in remembrance of me Paul also writeth to the same effect to the Corinthians in his first Epistle the 11. chapter rehearsing in a maner the very same words Et cap. 10. in the tenth chapter The Cup saith he of blessing which we blesse is it not the partaking of the Blood of Christ The bread which we breake is it not the partaking of the Body of Christ By these words of the Euangelists and the Apostle they of old time were of that opinion that CHRIST our Lord which is Trueth it selfe spake these things truly and did in deed performe those things that he spake so that no place of doubt might any more be left concerning the trueth of the matter Moreouer those words which in the sixt chapter of Iohn Iohn 6. c. the Lord spake My flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drinke indeed c. The bread which I will giue you is my flesh And vnlesse you eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his Blood c. The Fathers with great accord as well Grecians as Latines doe apply to the Sacrament of Thankesgiuing And that they haue interpreted those places so both in Iohn and the rest of the Euangelists and Paul to the Corinthians the testimonies that follow taken out of the authors themselues Iustin Martir Apol. 2. shal happily proue First Iustin Martyr
to pure flesh incorporat made one with it doth liue by his spirit euen as one bodie by his owne spirit But he that is not of the body of CHRIST liueth not of the Spirit of CHRIST Hitherto Augustine hath plainly inough proued the trueth and nature of the body of CHRIST in this Sacrament Hilar. de tri lib. 8. Hilarie in his 8. booke of the Trinitie I would know now of them that alledge vnitie of wil between the Father and the Sonne whether CHRIST nowadayes be in vs by trueth of nature or by agreement of will For if the Word be verily made flesh and wee receiue the word verily flesh in the Lords meate how should a man not suppose him to remaine naturally in vs which being borne man tooke to himselfe an vnseparable nature now of our flesh and hath mixed the nature of his owne flesh with the nature of eternitie vnder the Sacrament of his flesh to be partaked among vs And a little after Therefore whosoeuer wil denie the Father to be naturally in CHRIST let him first denie either himselfe to be naturally in CHRIST or CHRIST to be in him because the Father in CHRIST and CHRIST in vs do make vs to be one thing in them If CHRIST therefore did verily take the flesh of our bodie if the same man which was borne of the Virgine Mary be verily CHRIST and we verily take vnder a mysterie the flesh of his body and thereby shal become one because the Father is in him and hee in vs How is the vnitie of will alledged seeing the naturall propertie by meanes of the Sacrament is a Sacrament of perfect vnitie Also a little after For those things which wee speake of the naturall trueth of CHRIST in vs vnlesse we learne of him we speake foolishly and wickedly For he saith My flesh is meat in deed and my Blood is drinke in deed Hee that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood remaineth in mee and I in him There is no place left of doubting of the trueth of Flesh and Blood For now it is verily Flesh and verily Blood both by the confession of our Lord himselfe and also by our Faith and these things being receiued by eating and drinking doe worke that effect that both wee be in CHRIST and CHRIST is in vs. Is not this trueth Let it happen vnto them not to bee true which denie IESVS CHRIST to be very God And soone after And so by a Mediator the perfit Vnitie should be taught when as wee abiding in him hee should abide in the Father and he abiding in the Father should abide in vs and so should we clime to the vnitie of the Father when hee is naturally according to his birth in him we also should be naturally in him so long as he abideth naturally in vs. And that this natural vnitie is in vs he hath thus witnessed He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me and I in him And by and by he addeth This is truely the cause of our life for that we haue CHRIST remaining in vs carnal men according to the flesh whereas wee shall liue hereafter by him after the same sort as he liueth by the Father If we therefore liue naturally by him after the flesh namely hauing taken vpon vs the nature of his flesh how hath he not the Father after the spirit naturally in him since he liueth by the Father And he concludeth To this end be these things rehearsed by vs because the heretiks affirming falsly the vnitie of wil onely betweene the Father and the Sonne vsed for the example of our vnitie with the Lord as though we were vnited to the Sonne and by the Sonne to the Father only by obedience and will of Religion and no propertie of naturall fellowship were granted to vs by the Sacrament of his flesh and blood whereas in deed the mysterie of the true and naturall vnitie should be taught both for the honour of the Sonne of God that is giuen vs and for the Sonne carnally abiding in vs and wee knit corporally and vnseparably in him Hilarius doeth manifestly teach the true and naturall partaking of the flesh of CHRIST in the Sacrament And as plainely doeth Cyrillus witnesse the same in the 10. Cyrillus lib. 10. cap. 13. booke chap. 13. when he saith Yet wee denie not that wee be ioyned spiritually in CHRIST by a right faith and sincere loue but that wee haue no maner of ioyning with him according to the flesh that truely we vtterly denie And soone after But doth hee happily thinke that the vertue of the mysticall blessing is vnknowen to vs which when it is wrought in vs doth it not also make CHRIST to dwell corporally in vs by the partaking of the flesh of CHRIST For why be the members of the faithfull the members of CHRIST Know ye not saith he that your members be the members of Christ Shal I therefore make the members of Christ the members of an harlot Our Sauiour also saith He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood remaineth in me and I in him whereby it ought to be considered that CHRIST is in vs not onely by that accustomed qualitie which is perceiued by loue but also further by a naturall partaking For euen as if a man shall melt waxe by the fire and mingle it with other waxe which is likewise melted so that one lumpe may seeme to be made of both So by the communion of the body and blood of CHRIST he is in vs and wee in him For this corruptible nature of the bodie could not otherwise be brought to vncorruption and life vnlesse the body of naturall life should be ioyned thereto The same man also in his 4. Idem in Io. lib. 4. cap. 14. booke vpon Iohn the 14. chapter doeth witnesse For truely it behoueth that not onely the soule should ascend into blessed life by the holy Ghost but also that this rude and earthly body should be brought againe to immortalitie by a taste feeling and meate like vnto it The same man in his 11. book vpon Iohn cap. 27. The Sonne Idem in Io. lib. 11. cap. 27. as man is made one with vs corporally by the mystical blessings but spiritually as God And a little after For we receiuing corporally and substantially as it hath bene said the Sonne of God which is made one by nature with the Father be made pure and glorified being partakers of the nature that is from aboue The same man in the same book vpon the 26. chapter Idem eodem lib. cap. 26. For to the end therefore ye might knit euery one of vs among our selues and God although wee differ both in body and soule yet hath he found a meane agreeable to the determination of his Father and his owne wisdome For he blessing with his owne body through the mystical communion them that beleeue doth make vs one bodie both with himselfe and also among our selues For
who wil thinke those distant from this naturall vnion which be vnited in one CHRIST by the vnion of one CHRISTS bodie For if all we eat one bread we be made all one body And within few wordes after But that this bodily vniting to CHRIST is attained by the partaking of his flesh Paul himselfe againe doeth witnesse disputing of the mysterie of godlinesse the which saith he hath not bene knowen to the sonnes of men in other generations as it hath bene reueiled now to his holy Apostles and Prophets in the Spirit that the Gentiles be coheires and ioyned in body and equall partakers of the promise in Christ The same man to Calosyrius Idem ad Calosyrium For that wee should not be afraide of the flesh and blood set vpon the holy Altars God submitting himselfe to our frailtie putteth a force of life into those things that bee offered turning them into the trueth of his owne flesh that the body of life as it were a certaine quickning seed may bee found in vs whereupon he addeth Doe this in a remembrance of me Hitherto Cyrillus Cyprianus de coena Domini Cyprian of the Supper of the Lord This bread not in outward apparence but in nature changed by the mightie power of the Word is made flesh which the Lord did reach to his disciples And in the same place Who euen to this day createth and sanctifieth blesseth and diuideth to those that take it godly this his most true and holy bodie Hieron in Matth. de consecrat dist 2. Hierom vpon Matthew De consecrat dist 2. He tooke bread which is the comforter of man and passed to the true Sacrament of Passeouer That as Melchisedec for a figure therof before had done when he offered bread and wine he should represent it in the trueth of his bodie and blood Chrysost in Io. Hom. 45. Chrysostom vpon Iohn Hom. 45. But that not onely by loue but euen in very deed wee should be turned into that flesh he worketh the same by the meate which hee hath giuen vs. For when he ment to bring his loue vpon vs he ioyned himselfe to vs by his body and made himselfe one with vs that the body might be knit with the head The same man Homil. 61. Idem Hom. 61. Therefore that we should be this not only by charitie but in very deed should bee mingled with that flesh this is brought to passe by the meat which hee hath giuen vs. Chrysostom hath also many other sayings to the same meaning Those things that S. Ambrose writeth in his 6. Ambros lib. 6. de sacra cap. 1. booke the first chapter of the Sacraments do agree with these Euen as our Lord IESVS CHRIST is the true Sonne of God not as men be by grace but as a Sonne of the substance of the Father so is that which wee take the very flesh of CHRIST and they drinke his very blood as he himselfe said And a little after Then when his disciples could not away with the talke of CHRIST but hearing that he would giue them his flesh to eate and his blood to drinke they went away But Peter alone said Thou hast the words of eternall life and whither should I goe from thee Lest therefore any moe should say this as though there should be a kinde of lothsomnesse of blood but that the grace of redemption might remaine therefore receiuest thou the Sacrament in a similitude but thou obteinest the grace and vertue of the true nature The same man in his 4. booke the 4. Idem lib. 4. cap. 4. cap. Thou seest therefore how effectuall in operation the word of CHRIST is If then there be so great efficacie in the word of our Lord IESVS CHRIST that that should begin to bee which was not How much more is it of effect to make those things to be that were before and to be changed into another thing And so that which was bread before the consecration the same is become the body of CHRIST after the consecration because the word of CHRIST doeth change the creature And so of bread is made the body of CHRIST and the wine mixed with water in the cup is made blood by the consecration of the heauenly word But perhaps thou wilt say I see not the forme of blood But it hath a likenesse For euen as thou hast taken the likenes of his death so also doest thou drinke the similitude of his blood that there should be no abhorring of blood and yet the price of our redemption wrought Also before the wordes of CHRIST the cup is full of wine water after the words of CHRIST haue wrought there is the blood made which hath redeemed the people Therefore marke how the word of CHRIST is able to make alteration in all things Beside CHRIST himselfe doeth testifie that wee doe receiue his bodie and blood of whose fulnesse and testimonie we ought not to doubt Likewise peraduenture thou saiest I see another thing How prouest thou that I do receiue the bodie of CHRIST This remaineth yet for vs to proue that this is not it which nature hath fashioned but it that blessing hath hallowed and that there is greater force of the blessing then of nature because nature it selfe is also changed by the blessing Also But if the blessing of man was of such force that it could turne nature What doe we say of the very heauenly consecration whereas the very wordes of the Lord our Sauiour do worke For this Sacramēt which thou receiuest is wrought by the words of CHRIST But if the word of Elias was of such force that it could bring fire from heauen Shall not the word of CHRIST be of power to change the kinds of elements Eusebius Emyssenus de consecrat dist 2. Eusebius Emyssenus likewise who was in yeeres before Ambrose doth witnes in these wordes the opinion which was then had of the Sacrament and it is had De consecrat dist 2. Whereupon the heauenly authoritie confirmeth That my flesh is verily meat and my blood is verily drinke Let therefore all doubt of misbeliefe be laid aside because hee that is author of the gift is likewise witnesse of the trueth For the inuisible priest doeth turne with his word by a secret power the visible creatures into the substance of his bodie and blood saying thus Take ye eate ye this is my body and the hallowing being repeated Take ye drinke ye this is my blood Therefore euen as the height of the heauens the depth of waters and largenesse of earth had their being of nothing suddenly at the becke of the Lord that commanded so with the like power in the spirituall Sacraments when power commandeth effect obeieth How great therefore and wonderfull benefits the force of the heauenly blessing doeth worke How it ought not to seeme a new vnpossible matter to thee that earthly and mortal things bee turned into the substance of Christ aske thy selfe that art
as oft as they of old time treat of the Sacrament they all apply to the Sacrament the vvords of our Lord vvhich are spoken in the sixt chapter of Iohn My flesh is verily meat my blood is verily drinke The bread which I will giue is my flesh and vnlesse you eate the flesh of the Sonne of man c. Which things shal be proued by their ovvne sayings before alledged and also by those that shall follovv Neither are they to bee allovved that deny this chapter of Iohn to be referred to this Sacrament seeing so great a troupe of vvitnesses be against them But the opinion of them seemed more probable vvho as they iudge this Euangelist to set forth the humanitie of Christ lesse then the rest and his diuinitie more amply so doe declare that these things vvhich are rehearsed by the other Euangelists concerning the institution and outvvard ceremonie of this Sacrament are not at all mentioned of Iohn but that he openeth expoundeth more plainly vnto vs the true and right vnderstanding of them And it is plaine that the mindes of the Capernaites vvhen the Lord said My flesh is verily meat And vnlesse ye eat the flesh of the Sonne of man c. vvere much offended and troubled and therefore leauing him departed for they vnderstood him too grosly and after the common sort But his Tvvelue Apostles that taried by him being admonished and lift vp to a more higher meaning and of more Maiestie heard of him The words which I haue spoken be spirit and life Vpon this it commeth to passe that all the old vvriters do flie the common iudgement and vsuall vnderstanding in those vvordes This is my body and vvhich the Lord spake of eating his flesh and follovv a more diuine vvay of vnderstanding them and more agreeable to the Sacraments as they themselues affirme Chrysost in Matth. cap. 26. Hom. 83. Chrysostom vpon Matthew 26. hom 83. expounding the vvords of the Supper Take ye eate ye this is my body c. doth aske this question Why were they not troubled vvhen they heard this And he ansvvereth Because he had taught them alreadie many and great things concerning this point before Wherefore also hee did not confirme that vvhich they had often before perceiued And not long after hee addeth Hee himselfe did also drinke of it least at the hearing of those vvordes they should say What do vve then drinke blood and eate flesh and vpon that might be troubled For at the first also when he spake of these matters many vvere offended onely for the wordes Lest therefore this should then also haue happened he did this first himselfe that hee might bring them to the partaking of these mysteries vvith a quiet minde We be taught here by Chrysostom that the Apostles were not troubled when they heard the Lord say Take ye eat ye this is my body Because they had bene alreadie taught before hovv that which vvas spoken ought to be vnderstood namely where others were offended as it is in Iohn said This is a hard saying they abode and had learned It is the Spirit that giueth life the flesh profiteth nothing The wordes that I haue spoken vnto you are spirit life that is to say as the same Chrysostom in the same place expounded it they are spiritually to bee vnderstood which selfe thing the Lord himselfe confirmeth by his owne deed vvhen hee did eat the same bread drinke the vvine vvith them lest they should thinke vpon any base or common matter but should be brought to the partaking of the mysteries with quiet minds It is no hard matter to perceiue by this that Chrysostom vvriteth in this place that it is one way a body that Christ himselfe called his body when he said Take ye eat ye this is my body the which he also receiueth himselfe together with his disciples and another vvay to bee his proper body which was fed vvith the other The one did eat the other was eaten after a diuers sort either of them is called his body To this purpose maketh also that vvhich Clemens Alexandrinus schoolemaster to Origen Clemens Alexand lib. inscrip Paedagogus teacheth in his booke intituled Paedagogus when he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The blood of Christ is two maner of wayes the one fleshie whereby vve are vvashed the other spirituall vvherevvith we haue bene anointed Hierom. in Epi. ad Ephes ca. 1. Whom Hierom follovving vpon the Epistle to the Ephesians the first chapter saith The blood and flesh of Christ saith he is vnderstood tvvo maner of vvayes that is either that spirituall and heauenly whereof he himselfe spake My flesh is verily meat and my blood is verily drinke And vnlesse you eate my flesh and drinke my blood you shall not haue euerlasting life Or else the flesh and blood that vvas crucified that was shed vvith the speare of the souldier There bee tvvo things that Hierom teacheth in this place That those vvords in the 6. chap. of Iohn do appertaine to the Sacrament euen as Chrysostom doth and that the flesh that vvas crucified doeth differ from that vvhich is in the Sacrament vvhich he calleth Spirituall Diuine The same man vpon Leuiticus and is to be seen De consecrat Idem in Leuit. de consecrat dist 2. dist 2. Of this sacrifice vvhich is by miracle vvrought for the remembrance of Christ it is lavvfull to eate but of that which Christ offered vpon the Altar of the Crosse it is of it self lavvful for no man to eat A plaine and manifest distinction Augustin in lib. senten Prosperi August in lib. Sent. Prosperi It is his flesh vvhich couered with the forme of bread we receiue in the Sacrament and his blood which vnder the forme and tast of wine we drinke that is to say the flesh is the sacrament of flesh and blood is the sacrament of blood By flesh and blood being both inuisible spirituall intelligible is betokened the visible sensible body of our Lord Iesus Christ full of the grace of all vertues diuine Maiestie Who seeth not hovv plainly Augustine putteth a difference between the proper body of Christ which he termeth visible and sensible and that flesh which we receiue in the sacrament vvhich he affirmeth to be inuisible spirituall intelligible and a signe of the other body Idem in Epist. ad Iren. The same man in his Epistle to Irenaeus You shall not eat this body which you see and drinke that blood which they that shall crucifie me shall shed The same truely and not the same The same inuisiblie and not the same visibly He putteth a difference when hee saith Not this body and againe The same not the same The maner of the difference is the same inuisibly which hee termeth before the inuisible body namely the Sacrament of the body and not the same visibly or the visible body which is referred to the proper body for this body
the substance of bread and wine the same body is mysticallie consecrated The body of Christ is both trueth and a figure Trueth while the body and blood of Christ by the power of the holy Ghost in power of the same is made of the substance of bread and wine but the figure is that which is outwardly seene Here also Augustin doeth put a difference betweene the very flesh taken of the Virgin and the trueth of the flesh that is made of the substance of bread and wine for this saith he is daily created his very flesh and offered in mysterie which thing is not lawfull to be spoken of the very proper body of Christ The same author in the same booke Vntill the end of the world the Lord is aboue but yet the trueth of the Lord is for all that here with vs. For it is fit that the body wherein hee rose againe should bee in one place but the trueth thereof is spread euery where Doeth he not plainely teach that the body wherein hee rose againe is one which necessarily must be contained in one place and that the trueth of his body is another which is so farre spred abroad as the sacrament is rightly ministred Here is moreouer to be noted that the trueth of the Lords body is spoken two wayes and ought two maner wayes to bee vnderstood for one maner of trueth of his body is required in mysterie another simply and without mysterie Those words also of Augustin in the same place Idem ibidem De consecrat dist 2. Vtrum sub figura c. doe make for this purpose That because we do now take the similitude of his death in our Baptisme so also wee may take the similitude of his flesh and blood so that the trueth should not be wanting in the sacrament and yet be no laughing stocke to the Infidels for drinking the blood of a man slaine He affirmeth the likenesse of flesh and blood to be coupled with the trueth in the sacrament yet so as if one would vnderstand it properly to be the blood of a man slaine wee drinke it not for so might the infidels laugh vs to scorne He againe in the same title Hoc est quod c. Idem ibidem Euen as therefore the heauenly bread which is the flesh of Christ after his sort is called the body of Christ wheras indeed it is the sacrament of Christs body namely of that which was to be seene handled mortall set vpon the Crosse and the sacrifice of the flesh which is made by the hands of the Priest is called the passion of Christs death and crucifying not in very deed but by the signification of the mysterie so the sacrament of faith which is meant Baptisme is faith Againe he teacheth plainely that the body of Christ which is to be seene and felt is one thing and that another which after his sort is called the body of Christ whereas indeed it is a sacrament of that body of his which is to be seen and felt Glossa ibidem Whereupon the Glosse vpon the same place hath thus The heauenly bread that is to say the heauenly sacrament which doth truely represent the flesh of Christ is called the body of Christ but vnproperly and therefore it is called after a peculiar maner not in the trueth of the matter but by the signification of the mysterie And a little before Idem ibidem the same Glosse saith in the same place The heauenly sacrament which is vpon the Altar is vnproperly called the body of Christ euen as Baptisme is vnproperly called faith August ad Dard. To this agree those wordes that the same Augustin writeth to Dardanus in this wise Keepe faithfully the Christian profession That hee rose againe from the dead He ascended into heauen Sitteth on the Right-hand of the Father Neither shall he come from any other place then from thence to iudge the quicke and the dead And so shal he come the voice of the Angel being witnesse as hee was seene to goe into heauen namely in the same forme and substance of flesh vnto the which flesh hee hath assuredly giuen immortalitie and not taken away the nature After this forme he is not to be thought that he is euery where spred abroad For we must take heed that wee affirme not so the diuinitie of his manhood that wee take away the trueth of his body Idem ibidem Afterward in the end of the same Epistle Doubt not that Christ our Lord the onely begotten Sonne of God equall to the Father euen that Sonne of man which is lesse then the Father is both altogether present euery where as God and also in some certaine place of heauen for the measure of his true body The trueth of Christs body which in another place he said is euery where spred abroad when hee speaketh of the sacrament of his body here where he entreateth of his true body indeed properly vnderstood he denieth that according to that maner of body it is euery where spred abroad but that so the trueth of his body is cleane taken away Augustin is not contrary to himselfe but sheweth plainely ynough that the body and the trueth of the body is to be taken two waies Peraduenture I seeme to haue rehearsed ouer many places out of Austin but yet this one place doe I thinke not to bee ouerpassed which he hath left in writing vpon the Gospel of Iohn tract 50. The poore haue ye alwayes with you Idem in Ioan. tract 50. but me shall you not haue alwayes Let good men receiue this also and not bee troubled for hee spake of the presence of his body For according to his Maiestie according to his prouidence according to his vnspeakeable and inuisible grace that is fulfilled which was said by him Beholde I am with you euery day euen to the ende of the world But according to the flesh which the Word tooke vpon him according to that that he was borne of the Virgin according to that that hee was taken of the Iewes that he was nailed to a tree that hee was taken downe from the Crosse that he was wrapped in linen clothes that he was layed in the graue that hee appeared in his resurrection ye shall not alvvayes haue him with you Why Because according to the presence of his body hee was conuersant vvith his disciples fourtie dayes and they being in company vvith him by seeing him and not follovving him he ascended into heauen and is not here for he is there he sitteth on the Right-hand of the Father and here hee is also for the presence of his Maiestie did not depart After another sort according to the presence of his Maiestie we haue Christ alwayes According to the presence of his flesh it vvas rightly said to the disciples but mee shall you not haue alwayes for the Church had him a few dayes according to the presence of his flesh and now keepeth him
come to the Image of the things and see the comming of Christ made in the flesh Let him behold that hie Priest both novv offering sacrifices to the Father that shall hereafter offer And let him vnderstand all these things to be the Images of spirituall things and that heauenly things be noted by corporall Offices It is therefore called an Image vvhich is receiued for the present time and may be discerned by the nature of man If thou canst vvith thought and mind pearce the heauens and follovv IESVS vvho hath pearced the heauens and is novv present before the face of God for vs there shalt thou find those good things of vvhich the Lavv had a shadovv and Christ shevved the Image in the flesh vvhich are prepared for the blessed vvhich neither eye hath seene nor eare heard nor ascended into the heart of man vvhich things vvhen thou shalt see thou shalt vnderstand that he that vvalketh in them and continueth in desire and earnest affection after them such a one vvalketh not novv in an Image but in the very trueth it selfe Origen writeth to the learned and practised and therefore not easie to be vnderstood of all men Notvvithstanding he shevveth plainely that the sacrifices vvhich be here offered be Images of that trueth vvhich pearced to heauens and abiding before the face of God is intercessor for vs And therefore that the Images of the trueth be one thing and the very trueth another And that although these Images haue also their trueth yet this differeth from that proper trueth vvhich vve shall there indeed attaine to vvhen vve follovving Christ shall pearce the heauens vvhere hee abideth the vvhich after a sort vvee also enioy here while in our deuout meditations our mindes being lift vp to heauen we behold those secret good things He also vpon Matthew cap. 15. Idem in Mat. cap. 15. saith Neither is it the material bread but the word that is spoken ouer it that profiteth to him that eateth not vnvvorthily of the Lord. And these things are spoken of the figuratiue and mysticall body Many things beside may be said of the Word which was made flesh Here Origen doeth declare that the true flesh that is to say the true nature of man which Christ being the Word tooke vnto him to bee one maner of flesh and an other thing to bee his figuratiue and symbolical body with which words he calleth the Sacrament To this purpose serue the wordes that he writeth Contra Celsum lib. 8. Idem contra Celsum lib. 8. We obeying the Maker of all things for his great benefits bestovved vpon vs when we haue giuen Thankes are fed with the loaues set before vs which by intercession and prayers are made a certaine more holy body These words A certain more holy body do not agree to the proper body of Christ but they agree to the sacrament of Thankesgiuing which after a certaine maner is his body The same man vpon Leuiticus Homil. 7. Idem in Leuit. Homil. 7. expoundeth the same matter more plainely saying But you if ye be the children of the Church if you bee indued with the mysteries of the Gospel if the Word made flesh dvvelleth in you acknowledge you these things which we speake that they be the Lords lest peraduenture he that is ignorant be ignorant still Acknowledge that they be figures which be written in the holy Volumes therefore examine them as spiritual not carnall men and vnderstand those things which bee spoken For if you take those things as carnal men they hurt you and doe not nourish you For there is also in the Gospel a letter that killeth The killing letter is not onely found in the olde Testament There is also a letter in the nevv Testament that can kill him which will not spiritually marke those things that bee spoken For if thou follow this that hath bene spoken according to the letter Vnlesse ye eat my flesh and drinke my blood this letter slayeth Seeing then the Authors euery where referre these wordes to the sacrament and Origen commandeth so much to flee the letter as to say that it killeth Who seeth not that Christes flesh is in the sacrament one way to bee vnderstood and another according to the letter and in proper speech Epiphanius in Anchorâ—to is of the same opinion Epiphanius in Anchorato where he saith For wee see that our Sauiour tooke into his hands as the Gospel coÌ„taineth that he rose in the Supper and tooke these things and when hee had giuen Thankes he said This is mine c. And we see that it is not equal nor like neither to the Image that is in flesh nor to his inuisible Godhead nor to the features of his members for this is of a round fashion and without sence as much as to the povver of it selfe appertaineth And therefore his will was to speake by grace This is mine c. And euery man beleeueth his saying for he that beleeueth not that he is true as he hath said hee is fallen from grace and health But that which we haue heard wee beleeue that it is his for vve know that our Lord is altogether sence all indued with sence all God all moouing all working all light all incomprehensible but yet he that hath giuen vs this with grace Epiphanius doeth in this place endeuour himselfe to proue that man being made after the Image of God hath in deed the Image of God not according to the proper nature of diuinitie but after grace and vseth the similitude taken of the Sacrament of Thankesgiuing the which according to the proper nature of a body he denieth it to be the body of Christ since it hath neither the forme of a true body and lacketh feeling and mouing and yet it is verily beleeued to be his body by grace Cyprian de Coena D mini Cyprian also in his sermon of the Supper of the Lord doeth very godly and plentifully reason to the same effect out of the which I haue thought sufficient to touch these fevv places For none of the Fathers haue more extolled the dignitie of the Sacrament and shutting out all carnall sence more plainely declared the true vnderstanding of so great a mysterie An vnconsuming meat saith hee the Master did set before his disciples neither were the people bidden to a sumptuous and cunningly dressed Banquet but there is giuen an immortall food differing from common meates retaining the shape of bodily substance but prouing by inuisible vvorking that the diuine vertue is present Againe There did sometime arise a question as it is read in the Gospel of Iohn of the noueltie of this word and at the doctrine of this Mysterie were the hearers amazed vvhen the Lord said Vnlesse you eate of the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood you shall not haue life in you Because certaine for that they did not yet beleeue nor could vnderstand went backe for that it seemed
to them an horrible and hainous thing to feed vpon mans flesh thinking hee had spoken this after that sort as though they should haue bene taught to haue eaten his flesh sod or rosted and cut in pieces whereas the flesh of his person if it should bee deuided into morsels could not haue bene sufficient for all mankinde which being once spent Religion should seeme to perish vvhich should not haue aftervvard a sacrifice remaining any longer But in such like thoughts flesh and blood profiteth nothing because as the Master himselfe hath expounded These words be Spirit and life neither doth the carnall sense pearse the vnderstanding of so great a depth vnlesse Faith be added too The Bread is food the Blood is life the Flesh substance the Body the Church A body because of the agreeing of members in one Bread for the conformitie of nourishment Blood for the effect of life giuen Flesh for the propertie of the humanitie taken Also hee sayth This common bread beeing changed into flesh and blood doeth procure life and encrease to the bodies and therefore by the accustomed effect of things the weakenesse of our faith is aided and taught by a sensible argument that the effect of eternall life is in the visible Sacraments and that we be knit to Christ not so much by corporall as by spirituall passage Also this bread which hee reached to his disciples beeing changed not in forme but in nature by the omnipotencie of the Word is made flesh and euen as in the person of Christ the humanitie was seene and the diuinitie hid so into the visible Sacrament vnspeakeably doeth the diuine substance powre it selfe Also the Master truely of this Institution sayd that Vnlesse wee should eate and drinke his blood we should not haue life in vs instructing vs by a spirituall lesson and opening our vnderstanding to so hidden a matter that wee should knowe that our eating is an abiding in him and our drinke as it were a certaine incorporation by submitting our seruice and ioyning our willes and vniting our affections Also hee sayth Among the guests of the Lords table the natural man is not admitted whatsoeuer flesh and blood doeth appoint is shut out from this company it sauoureth nothing it profiteth nothing whatsoeuer the finenes of the sence of man doth goe about Cyprian hath these and many other places to the same purpose The very words of Cyprian doe sufficiently declare that which belongeth to our purpose How the Letter is not to bee followed in these things which be spoken of this mysterie how the vnderstanding of the Flesh is vtterly to be shunned and all things to be referred to a spiritual sense That there is the presence of the diuine power in this Bread the effect of euerlasting life and that the diuine substance is powred thereinto that the words are spirit and life that a spirituall lesson is giuen that this Body this Blood and Flesh this substance of body ought not to be taken after a common sort nor as mans reason doth appoint but to be named thought of beleeued for certaine excellent effects powers and properties ioyned thereto which be euen within the body and blood of Christ by nature namely that it doeth both feede and reuiue our soules and prepareth our bodies to resurrection and immortalitie Cyrill in Ioan. lib. 4. cap. 14. The same opinion hath also Cyrillus who though he affirme in many places the trueth and nature of the body of Christ to be in the Sacrament yet hee is in opinion that it is a spiritual and diuine matter and not to be vnderstood after the manner of men For first he declareth that the same maner of eating is set foorth in the words of the Lords Supper which the Lord himselfe signified when he said Vnlesse you eat the flesh of the Sonne of man c. For so he writeth in his 4. booke vpon the 14. Chap. of Iohn Where after he had spoken somewhat of them that did say How can this man giue his flesh to be eaten hee addeth these words Therefore they ought first to haue set the rootes of faith in their minde and then to seeke for those things that are to be sought for of man but they before they would beleeue did seeke importunately For this cause therefore the Lord did not open how it might be but exhorteth to seeke it by faith So to his disciples that beleeued he gaue the pieces of bread saying Take ye and eate ye this is my body The cup also in like maner he caried about saying Drinke yee all of this This is the cup of my blood which shall be shed for many for the remission of sins Thou seest manifestly that by no meanes he would declare the maner of the mysterie to them that sought it without faith but to them that did beleeue and did not seeke it he plainely declared it Likewise in cap. 21. Idem in cap. 21 vpon these words This is a hardsaying thus he saith And such as want sharpenesse of wit are wont to abhorre knowledge which should be sought with great study and much labour but yet the spirituall man accustomed to the Lords doctrine as to great dainties doth continually sing How sweet be thy words vnto my throat yea aboue hony to my mouth But the naturall Iew doeth thinke this spirituall mysterie full of foolishnesse and where by the Lords words he is stirred to an higher vnderstanding of things yet he falleth still to his accustomed madnesse Likewise in his cap. 22. expounding these words Doeth this offend you Idem in cap. 22 c. hee writeth on this sort For ignorance many which followed Christ not vnderstanding his words were troubled for when they heard him say Verely verely I say vnto you vnlesse ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood you shall not haue life in you they thought Christ had called them to the cruel maners of beasts and stirred them to eate the rawe flesh of a man and to drinke blood which be euen horrible to heare For they had not yet knowen the maner of this mysterie and the godly ministration thereof Also in the 24. chapter Idem cap. 24. The words therefore that I haue spoken to you bee spirit that is spirituall and of the spirit and life that is to say they be of the liuely and naturall life Idem ad Calosyrium The same mans words are rehearsed to Calosyrius which follow For least we should abhorre flesh and blood set vpon the holy Altars God fauouring our frailty powred into the things offered the power of life turning them into the trueth of his owne flesh that a body of life as it were a certaine seed that giueth life might be found in vs. By these and many other places in Cyrillus we be lift vp from the letter to the spirite from the sence of the naturall man to a more hie vnderstanding of a spirituall mysterie It must not
be thought here that we eate the rawe flesh of a man or drinke his blood but that the words bee spirituall and spiritually to bee vnderstood that they be termed flesh and blood but ought to be vnderstood of spirit and life that is to say of the vertue of the Lords flesh that giueth life And therfore saide hee that the povver of life was put into the outward signes Idem in Ioan. lib. 11. cap. 26. and called it by an apt signification the body of life The same man vpon Iohn lib. 11. cap. 26. doth expound somewhat more plainely how wee be coupled corporally both with Christ and with our selues and that by the partaking of the sacrament although we be seuered both in body and soule It must be considered saith he whether to the vnitie of consent and will wee may also finde a naturall vnity by which we shall be lincked among our selues and we all vnto God For peraduenture we are ioyned also with corporall vnion although we be seuered one from another that ech one apart hath his being and distance of place For although Peter and Paul be one by vnity in Christ yet Peter is not Paul Afterward within few words hee thus concludeth The originall therefore and the way whereby wee bee partakers of the holy Ghost and vnited to God is the mysterie of Christ for we bee all sanctified in him Therefore that hee might vnite vs one to another and euery one to God although we bee seuered both in body and soule yet hath hee found a vvay agreeable to the counsell of his Father and to his ovvne wisedome For hee blessing those as beleeue with his body through the mysticall communion doeth make vs both with himselfe and also among our selues one body It is plaine that Cyrillus spake not of the same kind of body when he saith Although they bee seuered in body and soule yet they which beleeue through the body of Christ and by the mysticall communion be made one body with Christ and betvveene themselues For euen as the faithfull being ioyned in that spirituall body are one body although their proper bodies remaine seuered Euen so also wee being ioyned with Christ in that spirituall body are made one body with him although his ovvne proper body bee farre distant from our bodies Let vs adde one place more taken out of this Father Idem in lib. ad Euop Anat. 11 which is in his booke Ad Euoptium Anath 11. where he speaketh thus of Nestorius Doeth not he pronounce this mysterie to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a deuouring of mans flesh and violently driue the mindes of the faithfull without conscience into false interpretations and with mans inuentions take those things in hand which are receiued by an onely pure and vnsearchable faith Cyrillus doth in this place obiect against Nestorius That to maintaine this error he did speake too grosly of the Sacrament as though the faithfull doe properly therein eate mans flesh which by the Greeke word hee calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But such kind of thoughts hee termeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say as Budaeus doeth interpret it counterfeite not right not sincere For so much as here is no place for such kinde of worldly and common imaginations We ought to thinke the like of Theophylactus who although in some place he may seeme to haue follovved a more grosse opinion as vpon Matthew the 26. Chapter whose words wee haue aboue rehearsed wherein he seemeth to denie that the bread of the Sacrament of thankesgiuing is a figure of the Lords body but the very body indeede yet when he saith It is no figure he meaneth that it is not onely a figure as in another place where vpon Marke and Iohn it is read for else hee should haue repugned against all the olde Writers and that is not likely who throughout terme this Sacrament a figure an image a signe and patterne Besides in that he said it was the body in very deede his meaning was not to haue it taken after a worldly and common sort as it shall manifestly appeare by those things that follow for he writing vpon these words in the sixt Chapter of Iohn Theophylac in Ioan. cap. 6. The Iewes therefore did striue among themselues saying How can this man giue vs his flesh to eate saith thus It behoueth vs therefore after that wee heare vnlesse yee eate the flesh of the Sonne of man yee shall haue no life in taking the heauenly mysteries to keepe stedfast and vnwauering faith and not to be inquisitiue how For the naturall man that is hee that follovveth mans carnall and naturall thoughts is not apt to conceiue such matters as bee aboue nature and spirituall and euen so he doth not vnderstand the spirituall eating of the Lords flesh whereof who so bee not partakers shall not bee partakers of euerlasting life And by and by hee expoundeth thus these words Hee that eateth my flesh c. In this place vve learne the Sacrament of the communion For he that eateth and drinketh the Lords flesh and blood abideth in the Lord himselfe and the Lord in him for there is a new mixture made and aboue reason so that God is in vs and wee in God Here the Author teacheth that faith must be had in the mysteries and not to be inquisitiue how and therewithall he remoueth apart mans carnall or naturall thoughts and requireth onely a spirituall meaning and commendeth a more hie maner of eating For he addeth not long after vpon these words This is a hard saying who can heare him c. But see their folly For their duetie had been to haue asked and learned those things whereof they were ignorant But they drew backe and did expound nothing spiritually but all things as they outwardly appeared For in as much as they heard of flesh they thought he would compell them to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is deuourers of flesh and blood But because we vnderstand it spiritually neither wee bee deuourers of flesh and yet be we sanctified by such meate By and by also expounding this It is spirit that quickeneth thus he writeth Because as we haue often sayd they that carnally expounded such things as Christ spake were offended he sayth When those things that I speake are spiritually vnderstood that onely bringeth profit but the flesh that is to say to expound them carnally profiteth nothing but is occasion of offence So therefore such as heard carnally those things that Christ spake were offended He addeth therefore The words which I speake are spirit that is to say they be spirituall and life hauing nothing that is carnall and bringing euerlasting life Let vs adde hereunto those things which he writeth vpon Marke 14. cap. 1. For the bread is not onely a figure and a certaine patterne of the Lords body but it is turned into the very body of Christ For the Lord sayth The bread which I will giue is
my flesh And againe Vnlesse ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man c. And how saith he is not the flesh seene O man this is done for our infirmitie For since the bread and wine bee of those things which we be acquainted withall we abhorre them not but if wee should see blood and flesh set before vs we could not abide it but should vtterly abhorre it Therefore God of his mercie fauouring our frailtie retaineth still the forme of bread and wine but he altereth the element into the power of flesh and blood By all these places it is most certaine that Theophylactus followed the steps of the ancient fathers set aside all carnall imaginations in this Sacrament called vs to such as be hie and spirituall that it is not only a figure of the Lords bodie but rather is verely his body yet they that be partakers are not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say flesh eaters And he addeth the cause for that we vnderstand it not carnally but spiritually that is to say that they remaine the formes of bread and wine but yet do passe into the power of the Lords flesh and blood and as he tearmed it be transelemented in which tearme there is no cause why we should faine to our selfe any Popish Transubstantiation as they cal it Idem in Ioan. cap. 6. For writing vpon the 6. Chapter of Iohn he vseth the same terme saying thus Therfore euen as I saith he liue for the Father that is as I am borne of the Father which is life euen so also he that eateth me liueth by the meanes of me while he is after a sort mixed with me and is transelemented into me that can quicken By this terme of transelementatiō he meant to signifie nothing els but the same change that is fit for the Sacraments wherof Ambrose Emissenus and others make mention as before we haue repeated for otherwayes wee cannot be transelemented into Christ And no maruell that Theophylactus so tearmed it since Chrysostom himselfe vpon the sixt chap. of Iohn homilia 45. vseth these wordes Chrysost in Ioan. cap. 6. homil 45. But that we should not onely by loue but also in very deed bee turned into that flesh hee hath wrought it by the meate which hee hath giuen vs. Behold Chrysostome saith we are turned into the flesh of Christ really as I may so terme it But yet who seeth not that turning to be spirituall not carnal Euen so is bread turned in very deede and transelemented into Christes flesh but by a spiritual and no carnall turning because the bread doeth get to it the power of the flesh And these things which haue bene thus cited out of Theophylactus albeit he be not so ancient an authour yet because hee is chiefly alleaged of such as followe the carnall sence in the sacrament of thankesgiuing though hee doth very manifestly expound himselfe and teacheth nothing repugnant to holy Scriptures and writings of old Authors I meant to shew the true opinion of so learned a man and not to discredit his authoritie as a late writer Damascenus is yet vnspoken of whom the aduersaries vse as it were a chief champion but in case they would not snatchingly picke out such sentences as serue the humor of their affections but marke well the through drift of his writing he helpeth not so much their cause as he doth ouerthrow it Albeit that I may frankely admonish the reader and vtter mine opinion he is but a very slippery and an vncertain author in expounding of this mysterie and none I dare say among the olde writers shall be found that hath reasoned of this matter so obscurely and doubtfully Truely I gather by him that vvhen hee had determined to write a breuiat of the true faith hee vvould neither leaue this sacrament vnspoken of nor yet vvist how to intreate of it plainely enough The vvhich of his ovvne vvords the indifferent reader shall easily iudge Damas De fide Orthod lib. 4. cap. 14. He vvriteth De fide orthod lib. 4. cap. 14. of Christ in this vvise It behooued not onely that the first fruits of our nature should come into the partaking of a better but that all persons as many as would should both be borne by a second natiuitie and nourished with a nevv meat meet for that natiuity and so preuent the measure of perfection And a litle after And because he is a spirituall Adam it behoued the natiuitie also to be spirituall and likewise the meate For since vvee haue a double and compound nature it is fitte that the natiuitie bee also double and the food likevvise compound The natiuitie therefore is giuen vs by vvater and spirit I meane by holy Baptisme but the meate is our Lord himselfe Iesus Christ vvhich came dovvne from heauen Then after alleaging the vvordes of the Lords Supper and proofes of vvhat force the vvord is he addeth Euen as all things vvhatsoeuer God had made he hath made them by the vvorking of the holy Ghost so novv also the same force of the holy Ghost bringeth to passe those things that be aboue nature the vvhich no thing can comprehend but onely faith And a little after But bread and vvine bee taken For God knovveth mans vveakenes For commonly those things vvhich it is not acquainted vvith it shunneth vvith loathsomnesse Therfore he humbled himselfe after his wonted maner and bringeth to passe by the accustomed things of nature such things as bee aboue nature And euen as in Baptisme because it is the maner of men to bee washed vvith vvater and anointed vvith oyle he coupled vvith oile and vvater the grace of the holy Ghost and made it to be the vvashing of regeneration After the same sort because men are vvont to eate bread and drinke vvine and vvater he coupled therevvithall his Diuinitie and made them his body and blood that by matters vsuall and agreeable to nature we may be caried to those things which passe nature Hitherto hee seemed to agree with the rest for such as the second natiuitie is such saith he is the meate He termeth the natiuitie spirituall likewise also the meat The natiuitie to be double through water and the holy Ghost the meat also double but how it is double hee alleageth not forthwith as hee did in the natiuity but the meate saith he is the very bread of life which came downe from heauen yet after a few wordes he declareth howe it is done saying As the water is coupled with the grace of the holy Ghost and is made the washing of regeneration so is the diuinitie coupled with the bread and is made the body blood of the Lord. And this hee affirmeth to be the working of the holy Ghost and that the bread and wine be taken for mans infirmitie and by matters vsual to nature those things bee wrought that passe nature which onely faith can comprehend None of these things be contrary to the opinion of the