the bread is not annihilated for Annihilation is an action which terminateth and endeth in Nothing but this action in the Eucharist by the which the bread ceaseth to be doth not terminate in nothing but in something to witt in the body of Christ not annihilated A Change which is caused by a e Successiue The words of Consecration are the cause of this conuersion and therefore this conuersion is not made without a true successiue pronouncing of the said words Successiue pronouncing of seuerall words and yet wrought in an f Instant Though all the words successiuely pronounced doe worke this Conuersion yet the said words haue no perfect signification and consequently causeth not the change till the last instant wherein the last word is pronounced for in that last instant and not before the effect of the words doe really and truly exist â—hat is the Conuersion of Bread into the Body of Christ and of the wine into his Bloud The like difficulty we find in the words of Baptisme which produce no effect till the last Instant Now heere it is to be obserued that though the signification of the words and the Conuersion be perfected together in one instant yet in order of Nature they reciprocally precede and follow one the other for as the truth of this Proposition This is my Body depends à rei essentia of the essence or being of the thing touched in this Proposition so the Conuersion doth precede the signification of the words but as those words are the Cause of the Conuersion so the words precede the Conuersion instant A Change wherein the Priest may be said of Bread g To make In a sober construction the Priest may be said to make the Body of Christ in that by his only and no lay persons pronouncing of the wordes of Consecration the bread is really turned into the Body of Christ and in this sense the Ancient Fathers doe most frequently teach that the Priest maketh the Body of Christ See Cyprian l. 1. epist 2. 9. lib. 3. epist 25. Athanasius 2. Apolog contra Arianos Basil l. â— de Baptisin c. S. Chrysostome l. 3. 6. de Sacerdotio Hierome lib. contra Luciferianos Now though the Fathers in this their peculiar sense were accustomed to write so in regard that none could consecrate but a Priest yet if we will speake in precise termes the Priest maketh not the Body of Christ because Christs Body being afore the Priest by his words doth not produce it of new but only causeth it to be vnder those externall formes of Bread and wine vnder which afore it was not to make the Body of Christ yet the Priest maketh not the Body of Christ A Change wherein the Body being made h Of Bread The Body of Christ may be said to be made of Bread because the Bread is truly and really conuerted into his Body though the Body doth truly exist before any such Conuersion And in this sense diuers ancient Fathers doe write that the Body of Christ is made of Bread Cyprian saith Serm. de Coena Domini Panis iste quem Dominus Discipulis porrigebat non effigie sed natura mutatus omnipotentia Dei factus est caro Gaudentius tract 2. de Exodo Ipse naturarum Creator Dominus qui producit de terra panem de pane rursus quia potest promisit efficit proprium corpus qui de aqua vinum fecit de vino sanguinem suum facit S. Augustine in his Sermon cited by S. Bede vpon the tenth chapter of the first to the Corinthians saith Non omnis Panis sed accipiens benedictionem Christi fit Corpus Christi so vsuall and obuious was this phrase with the ancient Fathers which is so harsh to the curious eares of our new Brethren of Bread a thing farre different from flesh is the very same which was made of the flesh of the Queene of Heauen A Change where by the force of Consecration the Body is without Bloud and yet euen then the Body is i Not without Bloud The reason hereof is because Christ is there whole vnder either of the externall formes in regard of the naturall vnion of his soule with his Body which vnion is neuer more to be dissolued since he is neuer more to die But if his Body should be without Bloud then should it be a dead Body and consequently himselfe were hereafter to die againe contrary to that of the Apostle Rom. 6. Christus resurgens ex inortuis iam non moritur mors illi vltra non dominabitur not without Bloud In like sort by the same vertue the Humanity of Christ is only intended and yet k His Diuinity The Humanity of Christ is euer accompanied with the Diuinity and therfore his Humanity being in the Sacrament by force of Consecration his Diuinity is also there with it per concomitantiam as the Deuines do speake Now that where the Body of Christ is there the Diuinity of Christ must be also is proued from this Principle of Faith to witt That Christ is one diuine Person subsisting in two natures and therefore wheresoeuer the Body of Christ is it can haue no other then a diuine subsistence which subsistence is the same in matter with the diuine Essence So as we see by force of the Hypostaticall vnion which is neuer to be dissolued where the Body of Christ is there the Diuinity is also his Diuinity which is euer l In all places If the Diuinity of God were not in all places then should it be circumscriptible or at least definitiue in place and consequently not Infinite then it were no true Diuinity in all places is * Heere of new In like sort all do grant that the Diuinity of Christ was in the wombe of the B. Virgin before her Conception and yet the Diuinity was there after another manner at the tyme of her Conception heere of new truly and really exhibited A Change where the Body of our Sauiour is present and yet m Represented It may be said to be represented First because the externall formes of Bread and wyne doe represent the Body of Christ as it dyed vpon the Crosse and the Bloud as it was shed vpon the crosse for the Eucharist is a commemoration of the Passion of Christ according to those words of S. Paul 1. Cor. 11. Mortem Domini annunciabitis donec veniat And in this respect his Body may be said to be represented in the Eucharist because it is not there after the same manner as it was vpon the Crosse but only by similitude and in this sense Augustine epist 23. ad Bonifacium is to be vnderstood where he saith Secundum quemdam modum SacramentuÌ„ Corporis Christi Corpus Christi est Secondly it is said to be represented or in figure because the externall formes of Bread and wyne are the signes of the Body and Bloud of Christ there present
the Virginall parts For thus hereof doe the Fathers write to wit Hierome in Apolog. pro libris contra Iouinianum Gregorie Nazianzen in Tragoedia Christus Patiens Augustinus epist 3. ad Volusianum Ambrose lib. de instit Virginum c. 7. A point so generally belieued by the ancient Fathers that Iouinian is for the denyall thereof registred for an Heretike by Ambrose epist 80. 81. In like sort we read Iohn 20. that Christ came to his disciples Ianuis clausis which action howsoeuer our Aduersaries seeme to elude yet doe the Fathers generally acknowledge the Wonder herein to be that the Body of our Lord did then penetrate another solide and firme body thus Hierome epist ad Pamachium de erroribus Ioannis Constantinop Epiphanius haeres 64. Ambrose in cap. vlt. Lucae as also Chrysostome and August vpon this place Againe another is of our Sauiours rising out of the graue the monument or doore thereof being shut In which point also the Fathers put the former like Miracle to wit that a true naturall body should passe through the graue it still remayning shut See hereof August serm 138. de Temporâ— Hierome epist ad Hebidiam quaest 6. Chrysostome Homil. de S. Ioaâ—â—â—â— Baptista Iustinus quaest 117. besides diuerâ— others Assertions in Christian Religion whereof some are set downe in the Marginall References besides others reserued to their peculiar Chapters and of other irrefragable Positions in Philosophy we may fully perceaue that Mans vnderstanding is too short a scantling to measure out Gods power For diuers such Passages there are other Conclusions in Nature whereunto all Christians giue an absolute assent and yet their proofes cannot be deduced from the grounds of Naturall Reason so true it is that perfection in knowledge is not in this life the portion of Man I will insist in some particulers so shall our Aduersaries see that they haue reason either to admit the Catholike doctrine of the Eucharist or else with the deniall thereof to deny the said Articles of Christian Faith and other Philosophicall Demonstrations First then may be presented to vs that Cardinall-Mistery of the Trinity which is indeed the basis and foundation whereupon the edifice or structure of Christian Religion is builded Heere now our Faith teacheth vs for by the Eagle wings thereof only we do mount so high our Sense and naturall Reason fluttering ouer neere the ground that there is one peculiar nature in three different Persons so as to patterne this to that in the Eucharist we find an Vnity or as I may tearme it an Indiuiduality of Nature and a diuersity of Persons sortable to the Vnity of a Body multiplicity of places Now heere we are to know that euery one of these three Persons is identified really and formally with this nature the strictest Vnion that can be conceaued whereas the Body is only externally conioyned with the place so much is the difficulty of a Body enioying at once diuers locall Circumscriptions surpassed by this dogmaticall Point of one nature being in seuerall Persons without any distraction or multiplication thereof Now secondly if we looke into that other chiefe Point of the Incarnation whereby the Deity of God appeared in the frailty of Mans nature as the SuÌ„ne shines in a pudled water we shal be oppressed euen with store of difficulties presented to vs therin I will not insist in euery particuler therof therfore I will passe ouer how in this astonishing doctrine of Christianity Christ being borne in Time was yet begor before all Time and but newly borne was full growne lying weakly in a Cradle yet able to dissolue with his finger the whole frame of this world ignorant in some sense of the end of the world yet knew all things dyed in the raigne of Tiberius yet slaine from the beginning of the world Finally his Soule separated from his Body by death yet could not dye since death ouer him had no power These and the b And the like To wit how in the Mysterie of the Incarnation God separateth from the Humanity of Christ his manner of subsistence inseâ—ting it in his Diuinity A point which hardly can be vnderstood without presuming some change in God of which he is in no sort capable Now it is no more incident to an Accident to inhere in a Subiect then it is naturall to a Substance to subsist by it selfe if therfore God can effect that a Substance shall not subsist by it selfe as heere it doth not why should not he be able to preserue an Accident without iâ— Subiect like I say I will pretermit will chiefly rest as most pertinent to this place in this one Point to wit how one Hypostasis or Person is in two Natures for whatsoeuer our Aduersaries can alledge for impugning of a Body to be in seuerall places the same is heere found with all aggrauating circumstances Will they obiect that the Places are really diuers and farre distant one froÌ„ another But heere the Natures are more different and dislike the one being Diuine and the other Humane Or will they say that the vnion of the Body and the place is so strait as that it hindereth why the said Body should be in another place But heere the Vnion betweene the Person and the Nature is far greater since that former is meerly accidentary and extrinsecall this intrinsecall and substantiall And which is more heere the Person or Hypostasis is identified and made the same really and formally with it diuine Nature and yee is vnited most inwardly with the Humane Nature If therfore one Person may be in two different and vnlike Natures being vnited most intrinsecally with either of them and yet neyther this Person deuided nor the Natures confounded much more may a naturall Body be in diuers places whose possessing of them is meere extrinsecall without either diuision of the Body or confusion of places Thus we see how our Aduersaries confessing the greater difficulty cannot be induced to belieue the lesser such blind c Blind Guydes Matth. â—â— Guides they are who straine out a Gnat swallow a Camell Now if they were pressed to falue all doubts in this Article by Naturall ReasoÌ„ I am sure how learned soeuer they are they would confesse a great Impossibility therin since God as Man is scarce able to penetrate the Mysteries of Man as God Then by the same Reason they are to reject in any other dogmaticall Point whatsoeuer these first Conceptions and secret breathings of Atheisme How by what meanes Wherunto to answere only by the Light of Reason and to deny whatsoeuer cannot be made good therby is to shew himselfe more conuersant in the Naturall Philosophers Catechisme then in his Creatours sacred Writings so prudently therfore it was said of our Father d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazianzen Orat. 1. de Theologia signifying as much as Ne anxiè 〈◊〉 modum rei 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And thus much of this Paire or Twins of
Ecclesiast cap. 8. re praetereat narratio Seniorum ipsi enim didicerunt à Patribus suis And so the mayne drift of that Part is to shew that those Fathers vnanimously maintayned the now Catholike doctrine of the Reall Presence and of Transubstantiation Which poynt being once proued conuinceth fully and iâ—repliably the Sacramentaries in this Controuersie both because it must of necessity be presumed that the Fathers did draw their faith heerin from the true exposition of the Scriptures as also in that the tyme wherin they liued was euen by the generall acknowledgment of all then when the glorious splendor of Christs Ghospell was neuer hid from the Christians of those Ages still openly shyning without any Eclipse or supposed darknesse like the Sunne which in some Countreys and for certayne seasons neuer e Neuer setts The Sunne being in the Septentrionall part of the Zodiack neuer setteth for halfe of the yeare togeather to those to whom the North Pole is so eleuated as that it becommeth to them their Zenith or Verticall Point The reason hereof is in that to the Inhabitants of such a Climate the Horizon is coincident and one to the Equinoctiall Circle and therefore seeing euery Diurnall Circle which the Sunne maketh is to the eye paralell to the Equinoctiall and consequently to the Horizon of such a Climate it followeth that the Horizon doth not intersectany of the Diurnall Circles and therefore the Sunne during all that tyme neuer setteth to such Inhabitants sets but continueth rolling about with great light in the eyes of the Inhabitants GOOD READER if thou be vnlearned I could wish thee resting thy selfe in the second Part which is facile and easie to passe ouer this first since it will rather intricate thy iudgment then iustruct it it being therunto as strong Wines to weake braines For it in treateth of diuers high and speculatiue Points and such as are aduerse to a coÌ„mon Vnderstanding and therfore an ignorant Man whose Reason oftentimes is but his Sense can hardly penetrate them And though thou shalt find there all such difficultyes fully explaned yet it is questionable whether thou art able presuming thee to be such an one as heere I meane to apprehend the Answeres as well as the Doubtes for a weake and confused iudgment may suggest or conceaue difficulties but it is a cleare Iudgment that must resolue them And the reason of the disparity heerin is this To take one thing for another or to erre in the proper nature and essence of things which is incidenr especially to the vnlearned is the sourse of Doubts and Questions but to be able to marshall togeather things of one nature and to seuer and fanne things asunder which carry a great likenesse one to another for such resemblance of particularities euer begottes mistakings as also â—â— know what essentially is agreeing to the nature of any thing and what but accessorily and accidentally accompanyeth the same is a worke of the Iudicious Wherfore it is no vulgar hand that can euenly cut the small threed in such nyce speculations Hence it is that in regard of the manifold errours of this nature wherunto the vnlearned are subiect we hould that in such abstracted difficulties as also in some others beating only vpon some circumstance of the high Mysteryes of Christian faith so that our ludgment be implicitly at least resigned to the Church therin an humble and vnaffected Ignorance is a safe and secure knowledge This first Part then was written to giue satisfaction to those curious prying Wits of this Age who euen mad with Reason and may I not so terme them who labour to wound him by force of Reason who is the only Author and giuer of Reason do seeke to destroy the Catholike faith heerin by restrayning the Power of him euen of him who hath f Founded the Earth Psalm 28. founded the earth vpon the seas and established it vpon the flouds within the narrow lymits of Philosophy so making Aristotle other vnbelieuing Philosophers to set downe certayne cancells and bounds to his Diuine Maiesty beyond which he must not passe Thus do those who vaunt themselues as the Children of Light borrow their Light from the Children of Darknesse And so these Men being become learnedly ignorant can hardly belieue any thing which may seeme to carry repugnancy to the setled course of Nature expecting indeed at our hands though contrary to the Apostles g The Apostles definition Heb. c. 11. Where by the Apostle Faith is defined to be The substance of thinges hoped for the euidence of thinges not seene From which definition it appeareth that our Sense cannot giue any square measure to our faith definition therof a demonstrable faith But against such as impugne faith by naturall Reason we may well apply the reprehension of S. Augustine Ecce h Ecce qualibus â— de Ciuitate Dei l. 22. c. 11. qualibus argumentis Omnipotentia Dei humana contradicit Infirmitas quam possidet Vanitas Now further in behalfe of our Catholike doctrine in this great Controuersie and to obtund and blunt in generall all reasons deduced from Reason for the destroying of the same I do heere auouch that Mans Vnderstanding doth find a greater repugnancy in giuing an assent to those immediate and necessary Inferences which do ineuitably flow from the Protestants Principles then in belieuing the most abstrusest Difficulties in the Eucharist Which point I grant doth not ryse from any inexplicable or supernaturall Mysteries appearing in such their Illations for since their faith is mainly i Maynly Negatiue For they deny Traditions deny Peters Supremacy deny Christs descending into Hell deny Euangelicall Counsells deny Purgatory and Prayer for the Dead deny Iustification by Works deny Freewill Finally besides many other points deny the Reall Presence of the Eucharist and Sacrifice of the Masse Negatiue consisting for the most part in annihilating ouerthrowing the affirmatiue Positions of the Catholike faith it cannot be inuolued with any such obscurities but it proceedeth in that their Doctrine doth necessarily exhale and breath forth such grosse absurd and exorbitant Conclusions as that by belieuing them they darken and cloud euen the naturall Light of the Vnderstanding I will instance this as vnwilling to transgresse the bounds of an Epistle and reseruing the larger displaying of this point to such oportunity as may perhaps heerafter present it self to some one Catholike Writer or other in this one Assertion first broached by k By Luther himselfe So teacheth Luther to his sayinges alledged in Actis Colloquij Alteburgensis Luther further saith vpon the Galathians Englished c. 2. It is impiety to affirme that faith except it be adorned with Charity iustifyeth noi Yea he auoucheth tom 1. prop. 3. Fides nifi fit fine c. faith except it be without the least good works doth not iustify nay it is not faith And answerably hereto Doctor VVhitaker de Eccles contra Bellarm. Controu â— quaest 5. saith
not adoring Now heere it cannot be replyed that the meaning of this Father is that the faithfull doe eate the Body of Christ existing only in Heauē with the mouth of faith because the Faithfull do only adore it This is false for euen according to the iudgment of S. Augustine the wicked do adore the Body of Christ and eate his Body from the Altar For epist 120. ad Honoratum c. 27. where speaking of the wicked he saith Adducti sunt ad Mensam Domini accipiunt de corpore sanguine cius sed adorant tantum non etiam saturantur quia non imitantur Finally S. Augustine l. 50. Homil. 26. warneth most earnestly that Men should be carefull that no part of the Hoast should fall vpon the ground Chrysostome homil 3. in epist ad Ephes Et tu ad saluturem hanc hostiam c. And thou art ready to come to this healthfull hoast which euen the Angells do behold with feare And Homil. de Eucharist in Encaenijs Agnus Dei immolatur c. The Lamb of God is offered vp in Sacrifice The Seraphims are present couering their faces with wings But how phantastical and imaginary a conceipt were it to thinke that these places can be applyed to Bread and Wine signifying only the Body and Bloud of Christ Againe Homil. 60. ad Populum Antiochenum he saith Cogita quali sis insignitus honore c. Bethinke thy selfe with what honour thou art heere graced what Table thou enioyest We feed of that and are vnited therewith the which the Angells beholding are afraid and dare not looke vpon the same in regard of the illustrious splendor thereof And in the like sort Homil. 61. Huic supernae potestates c. The higher powers doe asist and waite hercupon because they behold the vertue of the things there placed more then we doe and doe admire the inaccesible splendour and lightnesse thereof And that these places of this Father are to be taken literally appeareth out of another place of his wrytings to wit l. 6. de Sacerdotio in these words Ego verò commemorantem quemdam audiui c. I did ouer heare one reporting who tould that a certayne old and venerable Man to whom many Mysteryes had afore bene reuealed was vouchsafed by God to be made worthy of a Vision and that during this tyme viz. of celebrating the sacrifice of the Altar he did see whole multitudes of Angells to descend suddenly downe as much as the sight of Man could endure being clothed with shyning vestements and standing round about the Altar and bowing downe their heads in such sort as if one should behould shoulders bearing thēselues in the presence of their King Thus farre S. Chrysostome The truth of which narration I do not so much vrge since I presume our Aduersaries will esteme it as fabulous but I vrge that S. Chrysostome thought it to be true since otherwise he would neuer haue recorded it and consequently that he belieued that Angells were truly and really present at the Altar during the tyme of the celebration of the Eucharist In like sort Homil. 41. in priorem ad Corinth Non frustra memoriam mortuorum inter sacra mysteria celebramus aut accedimus pro istis Agnum illum iacentem peccata mundi tollentem deprecantes We do not in vayne celebrate the memory of the dead at the Diuine Mysteries neither doe we in vayne approach beseeching that Lambe there lying for them taking away the sinnes of the World which wordes imply manifestly that the Eucharist was in his tyme inuoked The same Father Homil. 60. ad Pop. Antiochenum Non sufficit c. He could not be contented to become Man to be beaten in the meane while with wands but he doth bring vs into one masse as I may say with himselfe Neither fide solùm sed reipsa by faith only but in very deed he hath made vs his Body In which place we find the very distinction inuented by our Aduersaries to be excluded by S. Chrysostome In like manner Homil. 61. ad Popul Antiochenum he affirmeth that Christs Flesh by meanes of this Sacrament is mingled with ours not only by Charity but reipsa in very deed See him also Homil. 24. in priorem ad Corinth where he saith that we are so vnited to the Body of Christ by the Eucharist as his Body was vnited to the word by the Incarnation to wit truly and really and not figuratiuely but all these sayings of Chrysostome were very idle if we receaued Christ only in a signe and by representation S. Gregory Nazianzen Orat. de obitu Gorgoniae Sororis eius thus writeth Ad altare cum fide procumbit cum qui superillud colitur magno cum clamore obtestans She viz. Gorgonia did prostrate herselfe before the Altar with faith praying to him with great clamour who is worshipped vpon the said Altar But Gorgoma prayed not to Bread or Wine Which action of hers as she acknowledging therby the true presence of Christs Body and Bloud vpon the Altar is much reprehended by Peter Martyr l. contra Gardinerum obiect 38. saying that she was not well instructed in Christian Religion so far different was his iudgment from the iudgment of S. Gregory heerin but of this place more heerafter S. Gregory Nyssene Orat. Catechetica c. 36. 37. among other things thus writeth Quemadmodum parum fermenti c. Euen as a little Leauen doth make the whole masse like to it selfe so that body which is made immortall by God entring into our Body doth transferre and change it into it selfe And after Fidelium corporibus c. That Body is ioyned with the bodyes of the faithfull that by that coniunction with the Immortall Body Man may be made partaker of Immortality S. Ambrose l. 1. in Lucam expounding those words Apparuit ill◠Angelus thus writeth Non dubites assistere Angelum quando Christus assistit Christus immolatur Do not doubt but that an Angell is there present when Christ is there present when Christ is sacrificed The same Father l. 3. de Spiritu sancto c. 12. expounding those wordes of the Psalm 98. Adorate scabellum pedum cius thus writeth Itaque per scabellum terra c. Therfore by the Footstoole the Earth is vnderstood by the earth the Flesh of Christ which we now do adore in the Mysteries and which the Apostles adored in our Lord Iesus as we haue said before Where he saith that the Flesh of Christ being vnited with the Word is adored by vs in the Mysteries that is in the Eucharist S. Cyril of Ierusalem thus writeth Sic Christophori erimus id est Christum ferentes c. So shall we be Christophori that is Men bearing Christ when we shall receaue his Body and Bloud into our Members and as S. Peter saith We shall be made Partakers of the diuine Nature S. Hilarius l. 8. de Trinitate Sienim verè verbum c. For if the Word be
that the first Censure terminating in their owne Faith proceedeth out of Preiudice and Selfe-loue the other out of a cleere and impartiall Iudgment And heere now I will close vp this Chapter with a discouery of one notorious sleight of the Sacramentaries which shall serue as a Chorus to this second Tract It is this That now at the length they are content to diuulge that the Article of the Reall Presence is but a Point adiaphorous or indifferent and therfore may be maintayned on all sides without endangering the Foundation of Christian Religion But what Doe they thus teach in fauour towards vs therby to lessen our supposed errour heerin No verily This show of kindnesse we admit not for l Timeo Danaos Virg. Aneid 4. Timeo Danaos dona ferentes The true Reason then heerof is this They seeing that Gods sacred word at least in the litterall and genuine sense therof the vn-interrupted Practise of the Church the conuincing testimonyes of the Fathers and finally theyr owne Brethren though comparting with them in other Articles of theyr owne Religion do all ioyntly corroborate and strengthen the Catholike doctrne in this High Mystery And on the other side vnwilling to recall for Pryde cannot brooke a iust yielding or submission to an Aduersary what they haue heertofore so pertinaciously defended they haue therfore thought it good Policy to suggest to the world and Indifferency of this Point that by so doing they may intimate to all that though they erre therin as hauing so many great Euidences against them yet their Errour not touching any Cardinall supreme article of Faith is the lesse dangerous and therfore the more sufferable and pardonable Now answerably to this my Asseueration we find euen Doctor n D. Keynolds in his fifth Conclusion annexed to his Conference Reynolds no vulgar Idoll in our English Temple to assigne o To assigne diuers others Answerably hereto we find Iacobus Acontius l. 3. stratagem Sat. pag. 135. thus writing It is euident concerning aswell those who hould the Reall Presence of Christs Body in the Bread as those others which deny it that although of necessity the one part doe erre yet both are in way of Saluation if in other things they be obedient to God So also the indifferent iudgement of Iohn Frith Acts. and Mon. 503. who there saith hereof The matter touching the substance of the Sacrament byndeth no man of necessity to Saluation or Damnation whether he belieue it or no. diuers others to the Marginall Reference to affirme that the Reall Presence is but as it were the grudging of a former Ague if otherwise the party hould the Christian faith Thus we see how our Aduersaries comportment in this Controuersy is full of fraud morefull of Malice Their incorrigible humour of contradicting the Catholike Church for their Sacramentall Position is grounded meerely vpon Opposition displayes their Malice their false extenuating for their owne aduantage the greatnesse of this Mysterie their Fraud THAT THERE ARE MANY CONGRVENTIALL Reasons shewing the Conueniency why Christ might be induced to leaue his Body and Bloud in the Eucharist As also shewing the Conueniency of Transubstantiation CHAP. XII IT is an accustomed approued Method both of Philosophers and Deuines after they haue fortified their Assertions the subiect of their Discourse with the most forcible Testimonyes which are to be alledged in that behalfe then to attend the said Proofs with certaine Congruentiall Inducements perswading the conueniency and fitnes of such their doctrine Thus the Philosopher for instance sake after he hath much discoursed of the number the vastnesse and the beauty of the Heauens Gods Hieroglyphick Characters wherin are written his Power and Glory and descending to demonstrate the roundnesse of those Bodyes as also the answerable roundnesse of the Earth from the vnchangeable Motions Phainomena and Appearances of the Heauens he sheweth the sutablenesse of this forme of them both and how it sorteth to the benefite of all Creatures and the Irregularities and exorbitant Effects rising from any other supposed forme giuen to them In like sort the Diuine conuincing against the Arian that Christ is both God and Man from the holy Scriptures and the authority of the Church doth warrant his doctrine with certaine perswasiue motyues drawne from the consideration of Gods Iustice and the Atrocity of Sinne including that it was conuenient that since Sinne did first deuide God from Man he who by redeeming the world should reunite them should be both God and Man And thus the firster kind forceth our Iudgment the other as sorting with Reason and Prudence and in some sense presuming the former serues only as sweet meates to our stomakes pleasingly to close vp our iudgment The same order will I heere obserue For hauing I trust already sufficiently proued the Truth of the Reall Presence in the Eucharist frō all the former Authorities drawne from the Word both of God and Man I will set downe certaine Congruences and Prudentiall Reasons wherwith our Sauiour might well seeme to haue bene induced to leaue his Sacred Body to his Church that by the authority and disposall therof it might be truly and really exhibited to all Christians whatsoeuer And heere by reason of the great number of them I will chiefly insist in some few for I am desirous to contract this Treatise within as small a Compasse as conueniently I can in regard whereof I will not much more enlarge my selfe vpon those Effects and Operations of this most heauenly food which heretofore I haue touched by way of alledging the Fathers Authorities which shew that the Eucharist is a Pledge of our Saluation that by it we are not only by Faith but euen corporally vnited with Christ That in regard of this vnion the Eucharist is a Seale to vs of our Resurrection finally that through it we are made Partakers of the diuine Nature All which admirable Effects and vertues may probably be imagined among other Motiues to haue beene most preuayling with our Lord for the first institution of this holy Mysterie for Man cannot conceaue how Christ could inuent more forcible meanes to produce such spirituall operations then by instituting this Sacrament In respect also of the same desired expedition I will not long rest in displaying and amplifying the dignity and worth of such Inducements as I intend heere to vrge but will passe them ouer with a cursory Penne breifly intimating them to the studious Reader Well then one Inducement of the Institution of this Sacrament may be that seeing Mortall sinne which is the Harbinger of eternall damnation cannot be auoyded altogeather but by the Grace of God what better meanes could his diuine Maiesty inuent for the watering our Soules with his Grace then the ordayning of this Sacrament for since we are hereby truly and really vnited with Christ the Fountaine of Grace how can we be altogeather estranged and deuided from such Influences as proceed from Christ yea we are to belieue