wherin he then shall stande of the iust iustice iudgement of God O how comfortable is this doctrine how farre passeth it al their painted fires and feyned flames of Purgatorie You sée now that the Scripture admitteth no such place you see the right meaning aswell of the Prophet as also of the Apostle You sée that their two chiefe and onely places doe serue so to their purpose that they stand plainely and altogither against them Howe shall then poore Purgatorie stande how shall the Pope mayntayne his chiefe Farme Howe shall therein his might his gaine be befended to what purpose shoulde we cloke the matter anye lenger his euidences be all naught his writings be counterfeyte his lease is antedated his witnesses be prooued partiall and periured his Lawyers haue lost their credite his interest is not good it is the Lord of hostes that sueth him the iudgement se iudice must passe against him But we see say the Purgatorians the name of Purgatorie often set forth by auncient writers And what I praye you of that what gathered they what meaned they by that name forsooth so farre were they from confessing anye such Purgatorie fire which now men so foolishly séeke to defende that some sayde the tribulation of this life and world must trie mens faith and works some said the griefe of mind in loosing that which they ouermuch loued was the burning fire of mans affections some woulde haue the grieuous vexation of departure out of this life to be a Purgatorie paines some construed the text of the fire of conflagration that shall purge the workes of many in the latter daye Here who is so blind who is so senselesse but maye vnderstande that the scope of their Pargatorie was in thys present life and that it did nothing concerne in any one point any payne in the world to come what should I wade herein any further what should I vse any more wordes with one especiall place of S. Augustine I will ende For the soules sayth he of the godlye being separated from the bodye be in rest but the soules of the wicked doe suffer paynes vntill the bodies of the one may be reuiued vnto euerlasting life and of the other vnto eternal death which is called the seconde By this he maketh but two estates of the soules departed the one now in paines who at the daye of iudgement shalbe damned and the other now in rest who then shall be saued So is their Idea Idiot dreamings of Purgatory by authorities by scripture disproued The next thing wherof we mean to treate is the sacramēt the holy remembrance of the body and bloud of our sauiour Christ which how it hath bene abused of how long a time and by whom we meane here by the assistance of God whose cause especiallye it is to expresse set forth and declare Wherein if any of our elders eyther simply or ignorantlye haue not helde and obserued that which our Lord and sauiour hath taught vs the Lords pardon may extende vnto their simplicitie but we which are nowe warned by our Sauiour and instructed may not loke for forgiuenesse If we wilfully will refuse the knowledge of the truth and the right vnderstanding of Gods holye mysteries Manifolde were the errors wherwith men haue bene blinded touching the holy supper of our Lorde touching the Cōmunion of his bodie and bloud But bicause I haue purposed to be brief I wil rather labor to shew the light right sense therin of holy scripture than to ouerthrow which is very soone done the foolish opinion of some grosse and carnall Cauphernaites Neyther yet may I altogither omit as occasion serueth to speake of the fonde iudgement of such who cannot be contented to enioye the benefites of Christ his bodie and bloude except they further O wicked follie maye teare him with their teeth and more than deuour him with their mouthes Vnto these doth S. Augustine speake To what purpose preparest thou thy teeth and thy bellie beleue and thou hast eaten Neither yet let any here suppose that I adiudge it not néedfull to eate those holye signes as things instituted by our Sauiour for vs to take and receiue in his remembrance But that the aduersaries maye throughlye be satisfied that the indifferent and welwilling maye rightly be instructed shall we sée in what wise S. Paule receiued this institution at our Lords hands That which I deliuered you the same I receiued sayeth he of the Lord. For the Lorde Iesus the same night in which hee was betrayed tooke Bread gaue thanks and brake it saying take and eate this is my bodye which shalbe giuen for you this do ye in the remembrance of me After the same maner he tooke the Cuppe when supper was done and sayd this Cup is the new testament in my bloud this doe as oft as you shall drinke it in the remembrance of me For as often as you shall eate this Breade and drinke this Cup you shall shewe the Lordes death vntill he come Therfore whosoeuer shal eate the Bread and drinke the Cuppe of our Lord vnworthily he shall be guiltie of the bodie and bloud of our Lord. Wherefore let a man examine himselfe and so let him eate of that Breade and drinke of that Cuppe Thus farre speaketh S. Paule and that verie plainly Nowe come we then to the search of the text And first let those who will acknowledge there no breade way but indifferently the words as they stand Christ tooke Breade he gaue thanks and brake it What brake he Breade Who will denie it He sayde that it was his bodie That is true but howe not fleshly but spiritually It is sayth Christ the spirit that quickeneth the fleshe profiteth nothing the wordes that I spake vnto you are spirite and life Lo how euidently he aunswereth the cogitations of such as thought that they should haue eaten him carnally Hence it is that S. Augustine thus saith The first heresie sprang amongest the Disciples of Christ as it were through the hardnesse of hys words For when he sayd except one will eate my fleshe and drinke my bloud he can not haue lyfe euerlasting They here not vnderstanding sayde one vnto another this is a hard saying who can eate him and whiles they thus said they separated themselues from him and he remayned with twoo disciples whom when the other were gone he instructed It is the spirite sayth he which giueth life the flesh profiteth nothing The wordes that I spake vnto you are spirite and life You haue vnderstoode spiritually so they are spirite and lyfe You haue vnderstoode carnallye so yet are they spirite and lyfe But vnto thee they are not spirite and life which vnderstandest them not spiritually Vnderstande yee spiritually the wordes that I spake vnto you You shall not eate thys bodie which you see neyther shall you drinke the bloud which those that crucifie me shall shed I haue cōmended vnto you a kinde of
sacrament which being spiritually vnderstanded doth quicken you but the flesh profiteth nothing But as they vnderstode so they aunswered For they vnderstoode fleshe as that which is solde and broken in the shambles But Christ perceyuing this sayde This offendeth you bicause I sayde I giue you my fleshe to eate and my bloud to drinke If therefore you shall see the sonne of man ascende thither where hee before was what is this Here lo hath he plainly declared that which before had moued them here he opened whence they were offended here in deede and plainly if they had vnderstoode it But they thought that he would giue his bodie vnto them He sayd that he would ascend into heauen and that all whole When you shall see the sonne of man to ascende where he was before truly then shall you specially see that he giueth not his bodie in such maner as you thinke or then you shall vnderstande that hys grace is not consumed with mouthes Vntill the ending of the world the Lord is aboue but yet here is notwithstanding with vs the grace of the Lorde for the bodie wherein he rose can be but in one place yet his grace his Godhead his diuinitie is spreade euerye where O howe plaine howe full howe manifest be these wordes the naturall bodye of Christ that was borne of the virgin Marie is and must be in one place and that in heauen vntill the ending of the world therefore his naturall bodie can not be here also in earth it can not be in the material Church on the altar in y e Priests hands Concerning their consecration transubstantiation I aske of them what they do consecrate whether it be bread or y e Lords body if it be bread then is it not y e bodye of Christ if it be his body can they make it holyer at one time than at an other is his bodie at anye time vnholye Herevnto they may neuer well aunswere their in instanti may stand nothing to their purpose I am loth here to heape the innumerable heresies wherein they are which would defend this carnall eating Their inconstancie their disagréementes their errors be maruailous For example and that I séeme not to belye them I will betray one of their absurdities It is in question amongst them so carnall they be such Cauphernaites they are whether the bodie of Christ may be receiued with his deitie and soule or not H sayth that neither the soule nor deitie is there receiued others as B do saye that in receiuing the body they receiue also the deitie and soule O Lorde what intollerable what horrible controuersies what hainous absurdities be these It were hartilye to be wished of euerie honest hart that these would giue ouer thus carnallye to grinde vpon Christ his soule vppon his bodie and deitie And if they cannot be quiet without altercation in the true faith then it is rather to bée suffered that they wrangle as a number of them do and haue done about sum es fui hic haec hoc qui quae quod c. For by the one they set forth much and outragious impietie by the other they bewray but their iangling nature and great follie For is it not méere childishnesse for them to deale as one of them doth in this matter With it sayeth he agreeth hoc this with it quod the which it commeth after the verbe est is and goeth before the verbe datur is giuen Good God what a doe is this how is a Doctor here troubled in finding out in one little sentence the nowne substantiue Oh it is easie to make great volumes they maye soone make such bookes they may stuffe them without study with Gēders Cases Articles Pronounes Verbes Participles with construing with parsing with iffes with andes with asking and aunswering with trifling and lingering with light questions common talke and controlling Well Christ saye they said this is my body why shall not we then beleue him forsooth that you would beleue him we verilye doe wishe and that you woulde take heede of that herefie which happened as it were through the hardenesse of his wordes amongst his owne disciples we earnestlye admonishe perswade and exhort you It is vndoubtedly true that the holye Communion doth consist of twoo things of the visible kinde of Elementes of breade and wine and of the inuisible grace Of which twoo things the spirituall body of Christ consisting is receyued of the worthie receyuer to his comfort and saluation Neyther yet may you here thinke that his spirituall bodie consisteth of breade but that by the receyuing of breade we be made to vnderstande of the receit of his spirituall fleshe and by the receiuing of wine we are certified to receaue and all for our instruction his spirituall bloude or if you will haue it brieflier to receyue his bodye and bloud spiritually And that this is the Catholike faith S. Hierome shall beare me witnesse Two wayes is the flesh of Christ and his bloud vnderstanded either that spirituall and diuine whereof he sayth my flesh is meate in deede and my bloud is drinke in deede and except you will eate my flesh and drinke my bloud you shall not haue lyfe euerlastyng or else that fleshe which was crucified and that bloud which was shed with the speare of the souldier What words can be playner than these who is so simple but may now sée of what fleshe and of what bloude Christ ment when he sayde My fleshe is meate in deede here further to aunswere such who thinke it to be his carnall bodye bicause he sayde this is my bodie I thinke there is no reasonable bodye that will suppose it néedefull Yet to auoyde all that the aduersaries maye alledge whereas he calleth it once his body he many times nameth it bread so doe the Apostles so doe the Doctors His body it is in respect of his spiritual flesh and bloud which then the faithfull doe receiue but bread and wine it is in respect of the Elementes which we eate taste off and digest Also whereas the Doctors doe somtimes not speake of the bread and wine but of the verie bodie of Christ quod in ipsae veritate spiritualiter manducatur bibitur which in deede is spirituallye eaten and dronke that do they y t rather to moue men to lift vp their hartes to stirre them from the thinking on those signes to think vpon the thing signified to remember that it is not in the bread fixed which must féede vs but that by faith we be fed from aboue from heauen whence we receiue of the Lord the Cup of the newe Testament whence wée receiue verilye Christ his bodie by whome we liue and are made flesh of his fleshe So haue you here sufficiently shewed vnto you the right meaning of the Lordes supper you haue in fewe wordes the effect of the same and the testimonie therein aswell of Scripture as of the Doctors Doe ye therefore the partes
proposition at large framed if we procéede I thinke we shall proue aswel the Pope as those which ouer popishly doe take his part to be accurst The argument is made if we saye that the Pope and his adherentes doe so thinke and for that cause mislike his ministering therefore they bée accurst Such is the conclusion In this argument if they denie any thing it must bée their owne Proposition which was made at a generall Councell by the aduise of so manye fathers Gregorie the Pope and the seauenth of that name who vsurped vnto himselfe as some doe write the authoritie kept a great sturre and laboured earnestly to forbid the mariage of Priestes But the whole Clergie resisted him in so much that the Popes deputie in that behalfe the Bisshop of Mentz had great a doe much trouble and no small perill in dealing therein So odious vnto all was the prohibition of matrimony so vsurped yea so wicked then séemed that deuilish doctrine But what whose sonnes were O sius Bonifacius Agapitus Theodorus Siluerius Deusdedit Felix Gelasius with a number more who were Popes of Rome were they not all Priests children how then can they excuse but that either their fathers were maried or else that they were filthie fornicators and verie lesude liuers Concerning the Apostles specially such as were maried is it to be thought thinke you that they neuer came where their wiues were the Popes friends say they came not And how prooue they it forsooth bicause there is no mention thereof made in the Scriptures A proper proofe Bicause we reade onelye by name of Peters mother in law which laye sicke in his house therefore shall we thinke that she lay succourlesse that her daughter was gone that there was none in the house but she Came not Peters wife came not his daughter Petronella with him into Rome hereof I report me vnto their owne histories S. Paule when he wrote vnto the Corinthians was unmaried but what if afterwards he had a wife and that I come not with bare iffes I will alledge mine authoritie it is Leo the Pope of Rome himselfe that so sayth They must eyther blame his holinesse or else knowledge Paule to haue bene a maried man This is a harde choyse What shall I speake of the deuilish diuorcementes and most vngodly separations vsed in these later dayes euen in lesse than sixtene yeares past why were at that time the maried Priestes separated from their wiues bicause sayth the Pope their mariage was no mariage bicause they were adulterers What bicause of their former vowes O Augustine were thou now liuing thou wouldest laye this heresie vowne But though he be dead doe not his writings yet liue wrote he not against this before he died yes And these are his wordes Quidam nubentes post votum asserunt adulteros esse ego autem dico vobis quod grauiter peccant qui tales diuidunt There are some which say that those which marrie after their vow be adulterers But I tell you that they offende grieuouslye which separate such Nowe if they be adulterers how doe they offende that separate them But if they do amisse which separate them then be they no adulterers Whosoeuer sayeth Augustine will separate such hée doth grieuously offende but Calixtus the Pope doth separate such therefore he doth grieuously offende I dare boldlye saye that they haue nothing herevnto to aunswere I am playne the argument is good it cannot be denyed Montanus est qui docuit nuptias solui it is Montanus the heretike who first taught that mariage shoulde be dissolued they are Montani they are of his sect they are heretikes that doe it What other authorities néede we the thing is playne what would we more in the ende let thys one authoritie suffice Si quis docuerit sacerdotem sub obtent u religionis propriam contemnere vxorem anathema sit if any shall teach that a Priest vnder the pretence of Religion may in any wise contemne his own wife let him be accurst What is not this a decrée of their owne sinode Non in perpetuum sed tempore oblationis à complexu suarum vxorum sacerdotes abstineant Their Latine is so embracing as let them english it that like it We will sayth that sinode that henceforth the mariage of spirituall men shall be in force and good Thus haue I passed ouer first the miserable estate of such as bée in blindenesse then haue I disproued the vsurped primacie of Rome I haue battered downe the rotten walles of Purgatorie I haue defended the right vse of the Lordes supper I haue proued that there are no faultes in our translation I haue shewed that the seruice and prayer ought to bee in the Englishe tongue I haue declared the true vse of fasting prayers repentance and almes deedes I haue set forth the right doctrine of iustification I haue defended the honorable estate of matrimonie I haue also as occasion serued without partialitie answered all the obiections of the aduersaries All which things as they are briefly done so wish I the reader to consider of them indifferently I wish that odious termes may cease I desire that charitie in vs all maye increase It is not inough to terme men heretikes Remember what Gregorie sayth there are many euen of the faythfull which are puffed vp with an ignoraunt zeale and manye times while they hate others as heretikes they are the cause of heresies themselues Awaye with your excommunications renounce your cursings leaue off your threatnings your weapon is naught your authoritie is nothing Haue in memory what S. Hierome saith If any be put out and sent forth not through the right iudgement of such as rule in the Church if he before went not out that is if he did nothing whereby he deserued to go foorth it is not hurtfull vnto him at all though hee seeme to be throwen out by the vnright iudgement of men and so it happeneth oftentimes that he which is cast foorth is within and he that seemeth to be within is without Weigh this well and you shall esteeme the bannings of Rome as they be you shall if you haue eyes sée that you were abused and holden vnder the heauie yoke of a most bitter bondage Shake off therfore selfe wil cast away selfe loue away with estimation care not for a vaine credite consider your estate helpe to redresse that is amisse wee séeke but the putting awaye of shadowes vanities errors blindenesse superstition arrogancie and abuses That this may bée done ioyne handes helpe forwarde the building of Gods house deserue well of your countrie whervnto God exhorteth you our Princes your moste gracious Quéene prayeth you your friendes doe desire you your countriemen doe beséeche you your natiue soyle your countrye it selfe this florishing realme of Englande doe togither and most earnestly entreate you FINIS ¶ A briefe vewe of the erring estate of the Bishops of Rome IF the gates