with oile of exultation aboue thy fellowes In Isaie Isa 45. v. 14.15 Thus saith our Lord the labour of Aegypt and the merchandise of Aethiopia and of Sabaim the high men shall passe to thee and shall be thine they shall walke after thee the Messias they shall goe boūd with manicles ād they shall ADORE THEE ād shall beseech thee ONLIE in THEE he speakes still to the Messias is God ād there is NO GOD beside thee Verily thou art God hidden in the forme of man the God of Israel a Sauiour God heere auouches that another distīct personallie frō himselfe is God the only God God hidden which speach is verified in the Messias and cānot possiblie be verified of any pure man Goe further ād you shall finde in Ieremie the greate name tetragrammaton that incommunicable name of God giuen and by God to the Messias Behold the daies shall come saith our Lord Ierem. 33. v. 14.15.16 and I will raise vp the good word that I haue spoken to the howse of Israel and to the howse of Iuda c. I will make the SPRING OF IVSTICE to bud foorth vnto Dauid the same is also in the 25. c. v 5.6 and HE shall doe iudgment and iustice in the earth In THOSE DAIES shall Iuda be saued ād Ierusalē shall dwell confidently ād this is the name they shall call HIM By Rab. Aaron Rab. Iacob 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE LORD our iust one Note heere by the waie that the poīts in Hebrew were inuented more thē four hūdred yeeres after Christ Elias Leuita Iudaeus Praefat 3. ante Massoreth Hammassoreth Genebr Chr. ad an 76. Zach. 2. v. 8 9. and therefore in reading you may take them of againe for in the poīting many texts are corrupted In an other of the Prophets Thus saith THE LORD OF HOSTS after glorie he sent ME to the Nations that haue spoiled you for he that shall touch you toucheth the apple of mine eie because loe I lift vp my hand vppon them and they shall be a pray to those that serued them Marke diligently in the begining who speakes saying that he is sent and you will find him to be the Lord of hosts HE is sent ād is sent by the Lord of hosts allso one diuine Person sending the other The same Person the Lord of Hosts doth continue still his speach and saith and you shall knowe that the Lord of hosts SENT ME. Praise and reioyce o daughter of Sion because loe I COME and will dwell in the middest of thee v. 9.10.11 SAITH OVR LORD And many Natiōs shall be ioyned to our Lord in that day ād they shall be my people and I WILL DWELL in the middest of thee and thou shalt knowe that the Lord of hosts hath sent ME to thee The same God of Israel in an other Chapter affirmes himself to be pierced by the inhabitants of Ierusalem as indeede he was in his passiō The words I put downe before Zac. 12.10 To giue the spirit of Grace is an act proper to God and they are these I will powre out vppon the howse of Dauid and vppon the inhabitants of Ierusalem the spirit of grace and prayer the God of Israel speakes ād they shall looke vppon ME The God of Israel VVHOM they HAVE PIERCED It is cleere then that the God of Israel hath flesh ād blood by Incarnatiō how els could he be pierced Before he foretold his comming in flesh and blood Isa 7.14 A virgin shall conceaue and beare a sonne and his name shall be called Emmanu-el God with vs. c. 35. v. 5. And in an other place God himselfe VVILL COME and will same you then shall the eies of the blind be opened and the eares of the deafe c. Againe the God of Israel in an other place I my selfe THAT SPAKE Isa 52.6 loe I AM PRESENT All which do manifest the ttuth of that which wee reade in Baruch This is our God and there shall none other be esteemed against him Baruch 3 v. 36.37.38 He found out all the way of discipline and deleuered it to Iacob his seruant and to Israel his beloued After these things he was seene VPPON THE EARTH and was conuersant with men THE FIFT CHAPTER Of the Introduction of Christianitie into the world 40. IN the begining of the former Chapter I proposed vnto my self a briefe discourse of the introductiō of Christianitie into the world and the propagatiō of the Church in the tymes primitiue but Atheists ād Iewes did interrupt me so that all the Chapter was spent with them Hauing there shaken them of I will now resume the subiect and will as then I said relate not dispute He that hath raised this greate building whereof I haue spoken in this Booke the Church I meane diffused in all Nations is Iesus borne at Bethlem Sonne of Marie This all doe know and confesse Pagans Iewes Atheists And this greate worke well considered doth argue in him more then was euer in any other vpon earth no one of what qualitie so euer no Scholler No Monarch none that euer liued hath euer donne the like to vnite I say so maay Nations for so long a tyme in so obscure a Creede by such meanes as he hath donne These things wee see are donne they are vndeniable let vs looke on the begining to see how and if wee keepe a setled eie on our Master and his proceedings wee shall discouer that he was indeede the God of nature conuersing here visiblie amongst men 41. His doctrine was of Sanctitie of Saluation of the power and the knowledge and prouidence and soueraigne will of God Of the last end and chiefe Obiect of mans Being Of the perfection of the next life in immortalitie and the dispositions thereunto Of the horrour and effects of sinne and of the goodnes of all vertue whereof he did exhibite himself a diuine forme and example to the world by practising them all in the heroicke and most perfect manner Reflect vppon his cariage in his passion the bitterest in all respects that euer man suffered and you will finde his behauiour in each particular to be diuine In his rule there is no vertue wanting so perfectly did he comprehend what morall Philosophers could neuer attaine vnto and beyond all these he teacheth Faith relying on the prime Verity Hope reposed in Gods infinite Mercie and Charitie louing the diuine Goodnes for it self Whatsoeuer in speculation men knew cōcerning God the highest Obiect he deliuered it more cleerelie all discouering further his prouidence mercie and iustice about man and which is furthest out of our sight the Sacred Mysterie of the Trinitie the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost subsisting in one infinite Nature and communitie of blisse Moreouer he did looke into mens thoughts and discouer what he pleased Matt. 9. 26.1 in the presence and to the confusion of those who sought occasion to traduce him Luk. 18
all sufficieÌ„t These two you must distinguish the first is here affirmed the second is not There must be meanes to knowe which is Scripture which Booke which Chapter which verse and to know the sense of it And herein wee must be directed by the Spirit of the Church Wee must take the Scripture from her hands and the meaning of it from her mouth Harke what the same Apostle saith in an other place 2. Thess 2.15 Hold the Traditions you haue learned whether it be by word or by our Epistle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But of this you shall heare more here after It is sufficient here that no place of Scripture doth contradict the doctrine of the Church and your labour to prooue it is all vaine for that Spirit which directed the writers of Gods word doth allso direct the Church to the sense of it and therefore it is vnpossible for any man to finde Opposition betwixt the Church and Gods word 34. Stay now let vs looke on the contradictions all together in could blood before we goe The first God forbids to giue soueraigne honour to any but to him selfe Papists say an inferior and relatiue honour may be giuen to the pictures of Christ and his Saincts The secoÌ„d Antichrist is opposite vnto and extolled aboue all that is called God and sits in the Temple of God shewing himselfe as if he were God Papists The Pope is Christs Vicar here vppon earth and Pastor of his Churth The third The Eucharisticall bread is the participation of the body of our lord Papists it is not the participation of bakers breade but of the true body of Christ in forme of breade The fourth If I pray in a toÌ„gue my Spirit prayeth but my minde is without fruite Papists It is not necessarie that Priests say Masse in the vulgar tongue The fift Abraham beleeued God that he should be Father of many Nations and it was imputed to him to iustice Papists Iustifying faith is not that whereby N. N. beleeues his sinnes are forgiuen him The sixt The Apostles were commanded all to drinke the cuppe Papists The lay people are not commanded to drinke the cuppe The seuenth All Scripcure is profitable to teach c that the man of God may be perfect instructed to euery good worke Papists Traditions are to be receaued the Scripture is not by itselfe all sufficient This is the substance of that which hath bene here discussed Good logicians be modest or go peripatize with your Aristotle some where els I sit and you stand in the same schoole are contradictories according to the rule by which our nimble Masons do builde their newe Church but A man is iustified by works and not by faith onely A man is not iustified by works but by faith onely are not contradictorie though you meane workes done by grace and in grace a litle newe morter may dawbe them both together for if ye marke the one of them is true in the iudgment of S. Iames the Apostle and the other is true in the iugdment of Mr. Iohn Caluin and so they are not secundum idem THE FIFT CHAPTER Other places of Scripture are answered 35. BEing past the monstrouse Argument which thought to affright me wich the multitude of his heades I was going on to cite Scripture against you but an other Chimaera meets me in the Way Iohn White in his preface to the way had made his bragge that ProtestaÌ„ts haue Scripture in manifest places free from all ambiguitie on their side And being to make this good in his Defence I Whites Defense â— 8. n. 4. hath pickt out such places as he thought of most aduantage and most cleere Parte of them are the same with some of those I haue allready spoken of in the former Chapter The rest I will runne ouer briefly beare with me if I be longer in this point then you desire The first An Angell would not be adoared by S. Iohn but refused it saying see thou doe not Apoc. 1â— 10 22 v. 9â— I aÌ„ thy fellowe seruaÌ„t adore God The Apostle againe another tyme fell downe to adore the Angell and it was againe answeared as before Answ It is cleere by this text that the Angell refused to be adored by S. Iohn and this wee beleeue But it is not said here that it is ill to adore an Angell yea in the iudgment of S. Iohn it was conuenient and being told of it he still beleeued it to be conuenient for he did offer notwithstanding the first refusall to doe it the second tyme. The place therefore is against you Neither is there any difficultie in the matter for S. Iohn might well offer it and the Angell considering how deare the Apostle was to the Sonne of God and lord of Angells and how greate his Apostolicall dignitie was might well refuse it So v. Bede S. Anselme and others vppon this place Luke 17.10 36. The second When you haue done all things that are commanded you say wee are vnprofitable seruants wee haue done that which wee ought to doe This is brought to exclude all merite from our actions donne by and in grace But it comes to short first because here is speach onely of things commanded Matth. 19.21 â— Cor. 7. v. v. 25.38.40 now there are other actions not commanded and by those at leaste wee may merite notwithstanding this sentence Secondly God by creation is Lord of all his creatures and men thereby are naturallie bound to serue him 2. Pet. â—â— Iohn 1.12 By grace men are made partakers of the diuine nature and are sonnes of God and he their Father Wherefore if as seruants they could not merite as by nature indeed they cannot as children they might Seruants are vnprofitable if their masters profit come not from their seruice howsoeuer they may be peraduenture good husbands for theÌ„ selues And this place hath nothing to the contrary Thirdly our labour is vnprofitable to God our lord and Master for he is neuer the better for that wee doe being infinitelie happie in him selfe but it may be profitable to our selues and this is not here denied 37. The 3. Blessed are the dead which die in our lord from hence forth now saith the Spirit that they rest from their labours for their works follow them This place is brought against Purgatorie or paines after this life Apoc. 14.13 suffered by such as depart in the grace of God But it is so farre from being cleere to this purpose S. Aug. l. 20 Ciuit. c. 9. that it rather helpes our cause Some with S. Augustine vnderstand the place of Martyrs and Martyrs instantlie goe to heauen wherefore in that way there is no difficultie S. Ansel vppon this place in the words Others with S. Anselme interprete from hence that is from the Resurrection or generall Iudgment and they are grounded in the discourse of the Chapter This way hath no difficultie neither for all immediately after that tyme are
all tymes it hath had because the Romaine See or Bisshop as I haue shewed hath communicated with all those Councelles and the communion of each of those Councelles was vniuersall in the tyme wherein it was held by reason of the Nations and kingdomes from whence those Bysshops came which is set downe at large in Baronius And by this wee see cleerlie the greate amplitude of Goâ—â— Church wherof the Prophettes did speake whom in the begining of this booke I haue cited Neither is there any other Christian communion that can equall it all this tyme or is any way answearable to the description there putte downe I would goe Further yet and put your eie to it as it hath bene in each tyme but it is not necessarie to take the paines a generall viewe was all I did inteÌ„d aÌ„d this I haue exhibited The Catholicke Church is seene and knowne by her Vniuersalitie in Tymes aÌ„d Nations this Vniuersalitie is seene in the Generall communion of Christian Churches this generall communion is seene in Generall Councelles and these Councelles you may looke on when you will Hereafter I will examine whether this indiuiduall Church whereof I haue spoken hath diuine assistance and how farre but here I abstract from that question and if you graunt this to be the Catholicke Church as of necessitie you must I haue all I intend in this booke And for this purpose onelie haue brought these fewe motiues omitting infinite others which euerie where you may finde 30. For that which I haue alleaged out of Councells I neede say no more it is their communion onelie which here I vrge and the Tomes of Councells I suppose you haue in your librarie Of the truth of their doctrine I will speake afterwards If you will goe Further yet and see all the Bysshopricks of the Church Notitia Episcopat Aub. Miraei either in elder tymes or now take Miraeus and reade them there and marke allso in him those which are erected since the discouerie of the newe world If you will See the particular demoÌ„stratioÌ„ of each poiÌ„t of our faith out of Antiquity and coÌ„sequentlie the consent of the world in our Religion and cause from the Apostles tyme to this day looke in Cocciê° who hath taken the paines to declare it in two large Tomes and there are vndoubted Authors of euerie age though here aÌ„d there may be some allso which are not vndoubted works which the learned ad such as do write coÌ„trouersie are to discerne it being sufficient for his purpose to haue digested in that sort what he had reade Collat. doctr Cath ac Prot. cuÌ„ expr script verb. If you will See the consent of our Church and her doctrine to Gods word and your opposition to it reade the conference of my Lo. of Chalcedon If you desire to knowe the signes and markes of the true Church and in which and how in particular they are verified reade Bosius you haue it there And finallie if your desire be to see the Acts and Monuments of our Church in particular from yeare to yeare you haue them in Baronius who hath made in this kinde an ocular demonstration of it and thereby of our Church In the former Booke you had other proofes of our Church and in the next you shall haue more for the points which I handle in these three Bookes are connected and vnited so that one maintaines the other And you will finde the Bookes so to conspire against you that when you thinke you haue answeared any one of them the other two will oppose them selues to your answeare and saue me in the iudgment of an intelligent reader the labour of writing any more When you are about your answeare if you will needes be answearing and are thinking with your selfe how I may oppose it out of the grounds laid downe in these three Bookes you will guesse whether I haue spoken within my compasse and if you spend your iudgment more suddainlie your conscience I beleeue will then retract it THE FOVRTH CHAPTER The Iewes reiected 29. I Care not if I leaue you now consideriÌ„g what I said in the last chapter whilst I looke Further into more remote tymes on the begininges of our Church Dispute I neede not because neither the times present nor the persons into whose hands this will come doe require it and the cause doth contayne such an argument of truth that simply to relate ours is to refute others and a relatioÌ„ serues my turne for the coÌ„nection of my discourse In all Nations and at all yeauen the most obscure tymes it hath beene a generall notion a faith transcendent a common and most constant Principle that there is a Deitie soe fathers taught their children so Philosophers did prooue in schooles soe the worlds variety and order and beautie and maiestie did proclaime abroade No man so simple but knowes he hath a cause and each being of the same nature all the species all mankinde hath a cause Each subordinate cause hath a cause and the collection of subordinate and depending causes doth argue the existencie of a higher power supereminent vnto the collection on which power they all depend which efficient being none of the dependant causes is whollie without a cause and therefore hath of it self an infinite necessitie in Being and in all that appertaynes thereunto Moreouer because infinite in existencie and Being all wisdome all power all perfection is in it and this immateriall intellectuall immoueable omnipotent all-commaundinge Creatour wee call God who as he doth vnspeakeablie exceede all so is he in like manner incomprehensible of all and liues eternallie in the height and fullnes of blisse comprehending aÌ„d enioying his owne substaÌ„ce which is the roote and fountaine of existencie the originall and vniuersall veritie infinite wayes infinite and a most pure and holy Goodnes vnbounded euery way 30. Heere the Atheist a man that intricates himself in Circles and infinities to denie that which he cannot auoid God will interrupt my discourse and except that all subordinate efficieÌ„t causes depeÌ„d not vppon any determinate thing because they may either ruÌ„ne the rounde or ascende euer without an end This fellowe lookes in tyme to begette his father aÌ„d exchang relatioÌ„s with him and to be AdaÌ„s great grandfather infinite tymes and as many times more Adams sonne But his ignorance is verie childish Each man hath a cause as I said aÌ„d therefore the whole nature or species hath a cause for if any had not he weare not of the same species or nature with the rest he weare not a pure man The whole collection or multitude therefore of men the verie nature and the species doth depend on some cause efficieÌ„t which likewise dependeth on an other or is independent and immoueable if independent and immoueable it hath Being by it self preciselie without any cause condition or contingencie what soeuer and therefore hath a pure vnlimited and so an infinite necessitie in Being and this is God If the
name among the Gentiles and in euery place there is sacrificing and there is offered to my name a cleane Oblation because my name is great among the Gentiles saith the lord of hosts The Iewes acknowledgment in fine Ose 3 5. The childrē of Israel shall returne saith Osee immediatly after the words aboue cited of their Desolation and shall seeke the lord their God and Dauid their King and they shall dread at the Lord and at his goodnes in the last daies And Isay In that day the residue of the howse of Israel and they that shall escape of the howse of Iacob shall not adde to leane vppon him that striketh them Isa 10. v. 20.21.22 but they shall leane vppon our Lord the holy one of Israel in truth the remnant shall be conuerted the remnant I say of Iacob to the strong God For if thy people o Israel shall be as the sand of the sea the remnant there of shall be conuerted Consummation abridged shall make iustice ouer flowe Our blessed Sauiour foretold vs of it too whose speach the Iewes haue seene verified allready in part and therefore they might beleeue him in the rest Luk. 21. v. 20.24 When you shall see Ierusalem compassed about with an armie then knowe that the desolation therof is at hand c. There shall be greate afflictiō vppon the lande and wrath on this people And they shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led into all Nations and Ierusalem shall be trodē of the Gētiles till the tymes of Natiōs be fullfilled 37. In findinge out the Person of the Messias there is no difficultie for he was to come with miracles and by his workes to declare himselfe He that will take directions out of ould Scripture for to finde him must attende vnto the circumstances there determined as when from what place in what maner he was to come And he may find him thus without more adoe Looke out one borne at Bethlem before Ierusalē was ouerthrowne whose cariage was humble Mich. 5.6 Dan. 9. v. 26.27 Zach 9. v. 9. 12. v. 10. Isa 49.6 and actions wōderfull who was refused by the Iewes and put to death and hath beene acknowledged followed ād adored by the Gentiles euer since and this is he And in him to whom these fewe circumstances do agree are verified all the Prophecies and all other circūstances foretolde as you will find if you runne them ouer Moreouer that all the circūstances heere named agree pūctuallie to Iesus the sonne of Mary euery Iewe euery Gentile knoweth Neither is it possible now to make them agree to any other since God cannot deceaue nor time runne backe nor that be vndone which is already donne 38. The later Iewes except also against the Deitie of the Messias beleeuinge that he was to be pure mā Wee beleeue that in God there are three Persons in proprietie all distinct in substance and nature one And that the second of these diuine Persons the Sonne and Word coeternall with the Father did for redemption of mankinde assume and vnite vnto himselfe the forme of man or humane nature So that the same Person hauinge two natures is reallie God by reason of his diuine nature the God of hosts the God of Israel the onely God and By reason of his humane nature he is reallie also man In Iesus therefore the Messias Coll. 2.9 Phill. 2.6.7 our Sauiour doth dwell the fullnes of the God head corporally And he when he was in the forme of God thought it no robberie himselfe to be equall to God but he exinanited himselfe takinge the forme of a seruant made into the similitude of men Heb. 1. v. 3.4 and in shape found as man Who beinge the brightnes of the glorie of the eternall Father and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the figure of his substance and carryinge all things by the word of his powre makinge purgation of sinnes sittteth on the right hand of the Maiestie in high places beinge made soe much better the Angells as he hath inherited an more excellent name aboue them Coll. 1. v. 16.17 In whom were created all things in heauen and in earth visible and inuisible whether Thrones or Dominations or Principalities or Potestates all by him and in him were created and he is before all and all consist in him Thus far the Apostle now heare a peece of S. Iohns deuinitie Io. 1. v. 1 2.3 In the begininge was the Word and the Word was with God and God was the Word This was in the beginninge with God All things were made by him and without him was made nothinge 1 Io. 5. v. 7 There be three which giue testimony in heauen the Father the Word and the Holie Ghost and these three be one This great mysterie wee are taught in the schoole of Iesus Christ And though it be very high as concerninge the subsistence of the Deitie in it selfe yet is it easilie defended against all the aduersaries of our fayth No Iew Pagan or other that doth refuse our Creed being able to prooue that he who hath made other things frutefull Isa 66. v. 9. hath not a supereminent fecūditie in himself or that God being intellectuall doth not produce a Word infinite as his intellection and equall to himself and consubstantiall Or that these two diuine Persons Father and Sonne by their comprehensiue mutuall loue doe not produce a third Person immanent also and infinite as the loue and therfore in substance all one with the Father and the Sonne though distinct in proprietie as proceeding from them both 39. But wee are heere briefely out of the Prophets whom the Iewes receaue to declare the diuinitie of the Messias And this wee can easilie for though the old Scripture hath not all mysteries so cleerlie God reseruing vnto himself the reuelation of some till he came in Person yet there is enough for our purpose I will here onely repeate a part of that I finde The places are so forcible that they cannot be auoided and therefore the Iewes haue ēdeuoured to corrupt the text but too late for the cause was wonne on our side longe before and the auncient Rabbines are for vs. Ps 2. v. 6.7 I saith the Messias am appointed Kinge ouer Sion c. and the lord said to me King of Siō Thou art my Sonne I this daie of eternitie haue begotten thee And Dauid The lord said to my * his Word Paraphr Chald. the Messias Antiq. Heb. Ps 109. v. 1.7 v. 3. Psal 44. and cited allso by to this purpose by the Apostle Hebr. 1 lord sitte on my right hand an honour importing equalitie with thee the begining in the daie of thy strength in the brightnes of holy things from the wombe before the daie starre I begat thee And Thy throne o God for euer and euer a rod of equitie the rod of thy kingdome thou hast loued iustice and hated iniquitie therefore thee God thy God hath annointed
you beleeue not this how do you beleeue the Reall Presence how do you beleeue the words of Iesus Christ saying of the Sacrament in his hād this is my body and of the Chalice Mat. 26. v. 27.28 this is my bloode if that thing were his body thē was his body in the shape of breade and at once in diuers places If you say that thing was not his body you contradict him you do not reallie beleeue the presence to the signes I doe not say to your imagination but to the signes this reallie you beleeue not 34. As for your oppositions they are sent backe with this answere that nature indeede cannot effect those things they are out of the spheare of her actiuitie but the power of God is infinite and the things in them selues include no contradiction wherefore God can effect them And being grounded in his word wee beleeue them without more adoe Man is not able with his wit to discouer all the wayes of God or to comprehend the whole obiect of his power Our knowledge wee gather from those fewe things wee see or perceaue by some exteriour sēse ād the perfection of allmightie God is infinitelie aboue all this He knoweth more then wee doe and being truth by nature cannot lie wherefore if he tell vs any thing though wee vnderstand it not wee must beleeue it Faith is an argumēt of things not appearing Heb. 11. that in the Deitie be three persons each distinct reallie from the other two yet all reallie the same God is a greate mysterie it is obscure our vnderstanding cannot reach it but faith giuing creditte vnto God who saith it is so doth beleeue it that our Sauiour is the secōd person in this holie Trinitie cōsubstātiall to God the Father is a Mysterie which nature wonders at yet faith beleeues this too because God who cannot deceaue or be deceaued doth auouch it Wee trust his knowledge and take his word Nature is Gods worke she hath not the perfection of her maker and therefore must not compare and equall her selfe with him in vnderstanding or cast an imputation of Errour on all that is not within the circuite of her acquaintaince God knowes more then she doth and therefore she may learne Schollers that are ingenuouse beleeue their Masters ād so come to knowledge whereas those who beleeue nothing are euer rude and vnlearned A Scholler heareth his Master say the Sūne is bigger then the Earth and beleeuing falls to learne the demonstration The clowne takes measure of the obiect with his eies Stellat primae magnitudinis cēties septuagies maiores terrâ asserūt Astronomi and esteeming it no bigger then the Cheese he cutte yesterdaie when he came from plough will not beleeue the philosophers nor the Mathematicians nor all the bookes in the world before his owne eies not he no that he won not Wee are in the Schoole of Religion our Professors and Instructors are the Pastors vnder our great Master Iesus Christ who cleerly doth see the truth of all he doth auouch You rudely take measure of things as in your sillie imagination they appeare making sensible things there or the short knowledge you haue of them the rule and compasse of all Being so denying in effect that God is able to doe any thing further then you can direct him as if in your heade were as much Art as God hath and your knowledge the full compasse and direction of Gods omnipotence 35. But what is the thing you stumble at Substance of it selfe is not determined to place it hath this determinatiō by accidents by Quantitie Localitie Vbication If God bestowe on it supernaturallie two Sacramentall Vbications at once it is at once in two places Sacramentallie if a thousand it is in a thousand places Sacramētall Existencie whatsoeuer it be called as Vbicatiō Presence or by what other name you will is an Accident and this Accident is the formall reason or cause of being present vnder the dimensiōs in the roome of Breade It is supernaturall to the body and God hath power to produce many of these at once 36. You replie that the very same thing cannot without contradiction be at once present in many dimensions without being deuided This is false the thing may haue indiuiduation or vnitie in it selfe and by it selfe and yet be in many dimensiōs too The soule of man is one and indiuisible and yet in the dimensions of all the members of the body That which is in the heade is in the feete not a peece for the soule hath no peeces it is indiuisible but it is all in each part God is heere and in heauen too and yet not deuided though betwixt this place and heauen there be many other things 37. Againe you replie that the same bodie cannot be at once in many mouthes But why not if it be at once in many dimensions The foule an indiuisible thing is naturallie at once in many members it is at once in the heade hands feete fingers and toes and in each member all ād this without any contradictiō or diuision why thē may not God whose power is infinite supernaturallie put one and the same Bodie at once in many mouthes It is no contradiction He may doe it Measure not his power by your witte The thing may be aboue your conceipt no meruaile it is supernaturall The existence of the sowle in many members all is naturall Tell me first how this is done It is in the heade and in the feete yet hath no distance in it selfe It is in manie fingers yet one It is in euerie part of an extended bodie and yet not extended it is in the hart and in the sides in the tongue and in the mouth that is round aboute it it is in the heade that doth compasse the braine and it is within the braine all vnles in your braine peraduenture it be not Shall I now argue out of this that it is within and without and round aboute it selfe if I meant to trouble an vnlearned reader and turne his braine as you doe I would When you haue made him vnderstād these things touching the naturall existence of his sowle he will be able to answere all that you can saie touching the supernaturall existence of the bodie of Iesus Christ in many mouthes and if he doth not yet vnderstand that being naturall no maruaile if he doth not vnderstand this Mysterie it being supernaturall 38. The other peece of your difficultie is that a bodie is naturallie extended and a mās bodie fills a greate place therefore it cannot be within that little roome I answere that substance of it selfe fills no place but by an Accident called Situall extension or Localitie as by it selfe it is not visible but by ā Accidēt Colour These Accidēts are distinct from the Substance they are not Substance If God take away the Colour or will not let it mooue the eie the substance is not seene if God take away the Localitie
our Sauiour had meant onelie this but the Fathers apprehende in the Eucharist a great and incomprehensible Mysterie I will cite one or two least you denie it and will obserue the same manner of proceeding to the end of this Chapter S. Chrysostom speaketh thus Good Lord what a wonderfull miracle is this S. Chrys dâ— Sacerd. l 3. how great is Gods loue towards mankinde Behold he who sitteth aboue with his Father in one and the same moment of tyme is touched by the hands of vs all and he giueth himselfe to such as are desirous to receaue and embrace him IdeÌ„ Hom. 60. ad Pop. Antioch Thinke with thy selfe what honour is done vnto thee and what a table thou art made partaker of Wee are vnited vnto and are fed with that verie thing at which the Angells when they behold it do tremble neither dare they boldlie gaze vppon it by reason of the bright shining splendour which issueth from it IdeÌ„ hom 14. in pri Cor. Ibid. vocat caliâ— em benedictionis salicem formi dolosum horroris plenum S. Ephr. l. de nat Dominimè scrut c. 5. Ibidem In saying the Eucharist I open all the treasure of Gods blessing S. Ephrem Why dost thou search things that are vnsearchable If thou diue curiouslie into these matters thou shalt not be called faithfull but curious Be thou faithfull and innocent receaue the vnspotted bodie of this Lord with an entire faith being assured that thou eatest the lambe himselfe entire The Mysteries of Christ are immortall fire search them not rashlie least in their search thou be burned This truely which the onelie begotten sonne Christ our Sauiour hath donne for vs surpasseth all admiration all thought and all speach for he hath giuen vs fire and Spirit to be eaten and druÌ„ke that is his body and his Blood Hence I argue thus If the Fathers did apprehend in the Eucharist a greate and vnsearchable mysterie they apprehended more then breade and wine with a relation vnto the bodie and blood this being an easie thing and not incomprehensible but the Fathers did apprehend in the Eucharist a great and vnsearchable Mysterie as you haue heard therefore more then bread and wine with a relation to the bodie and blood of Christ 42. Secondlie The Fathers saie that bread and wine are changed into the bodie and blood of Christ You striue indeed to put theÌ„ of with an accidentall change in office and vse as a counter when it stands for a crowne hath a morall change by reason of this deputation though the substance be still the same it was so here you admitte a change in accidentall reference for of no signe it is made a signe it hath a newe reference yet the nature you say is the still the same to wit breade aÌ„d wine But this will not serue For the Fathers saie they are changed in nature and esteeme it a worke of Gods omnipotence comparing it allso with other physicall changes as of Moyses rodde into a Serpent â— Ambros de myst â— nit c. 9. water into wine c. How many examples do wee vse to prooue that the thing is a not that which nature made but that which the blessing hath consecrated and that the power of consecration is greater then the power of nature for by consecration the verie b nature it selfe is changed Thou hast learned therefore that of breade is c made the bodie of Christ Id. l. 4. de sacr c. 4. and that wine and water is putt into the chalice but by the consecration of the heauenly word it is made blood He our Sauiour changed once water into wine S. Cyrill Hier. Catech Myst 3. Id. Catech 1. and is he not worthie to be beleeued of vs that he hath d changed wine into blood The breade and wine of the Eucharist before the sacred inuocation of the adored Trinitie were simple bread and wine but the inuocatioÌ„ being once done the bread indeed is e made the flesh of Christ and the wine his blood The bread which our Lord gaue vnto his disciples Auth serm de coena ap Cypr. being changed not in shape but f nature by the omnipotence of the word is made flesh I doe righlie and with good reason beleeue that the bread being sanctified by Gods word S. Greg. NisseÌ„ orat Cathec c. 37. is g changed into the bodie of God the word Christ thorough the dispensation of his grace entereth by his flesh into all the faithfull and mingleth himselfe with their bodies which haue their substance from bread and wine to the end that man being vnited to that which is immortall may attaine to be made partaker of incorruption Ibib. and these things he bestoweth h transelementing by the vertue of his blessing the nature of the things that are seene into it God S. Cyril Alex Ep. ad Calos coÌ„descending to our infirmities doth flow into the things offered on the Altar the power of life conuerting them into the Veritie of his owne flesh that the bodie of life as it were a certaine quickning seede might be fouÌ„d in vs. â— Gaudent in Exod. tr â— The Lord aÌ„d Creator of Nature that of earth made breade againe because he can doe it and hath promised to doe it k makes of breade his owne bodie and he that of water made wine now of wine hath made his blood Now Sir CoÌ„uersion change of Nature it selfe transelementation of breade and wine into flesh and blood doe put flesh aÌ„d blood reallie and substantiallie in the remaining signes or exteriour formes of breade and wine 43. As that which wee beleeue in this matter may be and is explicated in seuerall propositions and by the Fathers too so your Opinion may be vnfolded into diuers propositions by way of explication I will brieflie put them downe and leaue your conscience to iudge both of my explication and of their accord with the Fathers to whom the letters shall direct you in order as I haue put them downe And first your opinion if it be stripped naked is that the Eucharist is nothing els reallie but plaine breade and wine For relations founded in exteriour deputation onelie are not reall and the substance of our Sauiours bodie you say is not at oÌ„ce in many places reallie This supposed your Opinion is that a the thing on the Altar is in Substance the same it was The Protestant Opinion of the Eucharist by theÌ„ hiddeÌ„ vnder figuratiue speaches there by to cozeÌ„ the vulgar Epist Cyrill ad Calos extat grâ—cè in Bibliotheca Imperat that it is b not reallie changed by consecration that the bodie of Christ is c not made of blead nor his blood of wine that wine it not d changed into blood that it is reallie e the same it was before Inuocation that it is not changed f in nature not changed g into the bodie that nothing is heere h transelemented into the bodie and blood of Christ
nothing i conuerted into the veritie of his flesh that our Sauiour maketh not of breade his bodie and of wine his blood I referre the comparison and iudgment to your self or to any other man learned or vnlearned and goe on 44. Thirdlie out of that which is allreadie said I may conclude with ease that the Fathers thought the substāce of breade ād wine remained not in the Eucharist For that which is changed conuerted transelemented into an other thing is no more existent in it selfe and you haue heard them say that the nature of breade and wine is changed conuerted transelemented into the body ād blood of Christ whēce it followes that it is not existent in it selfe But you shall heare them further affirme that in the formes or accidēts of breade and wine there is not breade ād wine S. Iren. l. 4. c. 34. but flesh ād blood It is not common breade but Eucharist consisting of two things the earthlie the species and the heauenlie the Bodie Let vs giue credit to God euerie where let vs not oppose against him though what he saith doth seeme to our sense and to our thinking to be absurd let his saying master our sēse and our reason S. Chrys hom 83 in Matth. Let vs doe this in all things and especiallie in the Mysteries not regarding alone the things which lie before vs but holding fast his words for by his words wee cannot be cozened our sense 1 may easilie be deceaued his words cannot be vntrue our sense is often times beguiled Seeing therefore that our Lord hath said This is my Bodie let no staggering or doubt lay hold on vs but let vs beleeue it and see it with the eies of our vnderstanding for nothing that is sensible is giuen vnto vs here by Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but in sensible things indeed yet All that he giueth is 2 insensible It is 3 not that which nature made but that which the blessing hath consecrated S. Ambr. de Myst in c. 9. by the blessing euen nature it selfe is changed Conceaue it not as bare breade and bare wine for it is the holie bodie and blood of Christ for though sense doth suggest this that it is breade and wine vnto thee yet let faith confirme thee S. Cyrill Hier. Catech c. 4. that thou iudge 4 not according to the tast but rather take it as of faith most certaine without doubting the least degree that the bodie and blood is giuen thee And a little before VVith assurance let vs receaue the bodie and blood of Christ for in the 5 forme of breade the bodie is giuen to thee and in the forme of wine the blood c. Ibid. Knowing and beleeuing most assuredlie that that which appeareth breade is 6 not breade though it seeme so to the tast but it is the bodie of Christ and that which appeareth wine it not wine as the taste doth iudge it to be Theophil in c 26. Mat. but the blood of Christ. Breade is transelemented by an ineffable operation although to vs it seeme breade because wee are weake and haue a horrour to eate rawe flesh especiallie the flesh of man for this reason breade appeareth but in essence and 7 substance it is not breade S. Ansel in c. 11. pri Cor. To the 8 exteriour senses it seemeth to be breade but knowe by the sense of your vnderstanding that it is my bodie not another but the same in substance which shall be deliuered to death for your redemption 45. The Protestant Opinion our 1 sense cannot erre The substance giuen vs is 2 sensible breade it is 3 that which nature made Of the substance contained vnder those accidents iudge 4 according to the tast The Protestant explication of this point a mans bodie is not in the 5 forme of breade it is breade and wine 6 the sense is to be beleeued in essence and 7 substāce it is breade it is not that bodie which was deliuered but that 8 which it seemeth to the exteriour sense that is plaine breade Compare this to the Fathers words and iudge of the differēce in this point 46. Fourthlie out of the former places of the Fathers it is Further cleere that they beleeued the bodie of Christ in the Eucharist to be the same bodie which is in heauen and the same blood which issued out of his side to be in the Chalice I will adde a place or two more of this S. Aug. l. 12. cōt Faust c. 10. The blood of Christ hath a loude voice on earth when all Nations hauing receaued it do answere Amen This is the shrill voice of blood which the blood it selfe doth make out of the a mouthes of the faithfull redeemed with the same blood V. Beda in c. 10 pri Cor. ex S. Aug. Serm ad Neoph. In the breade you shall receaue that verie b thing which did hang vppon the Crosse and in the Cuppe you shall receaue that which was powered out of the side of Christ Our Lord doth patientlie sustaine Iudas a diuel S. Aug. ep 162. a thiefe his betrayer he permitteth him to receaue among the innocent disciples that which the faithfull doe knowe c the price of our Redemption S. Chrys hom 24 pr. Cor. Ibid. That which is in the Chalice is that which did d issue from our Sauiour his side This bodie the Sages did reuerence in the cribbe thou seest it not in the cribbe but e on the Altar This mysterie makes the earth to be a heauen vnto thee Ibid. Open heauen gates and looke in or rather open the gates of the heauen of heauens and then thou wilt see that which is said to be true For looke what is there most preciouse I will shewe it vnto thee f heere on earth For euen as in royall pallaces the walles and the gilded roofes are not esteemed the most magnificent thing of all but the royall Person seated in his princely throne so is the kings bodie in heauen Now this mayest thou see heere on earth For here I shewe thee not Angells nor Archangells nor heauens nor the heauen of heauens but I shewe vnto thee him who is the verie Lord of all those things Thou perceauest now in what manner thou dost behold heere on earth that thing which is most precious and most honourable of all other and how thou doest not see it onely but allso doest touch it and that thou doest not touch it onely but allso doest eate it and eating of it returnest to thy howse S. Chrys de sacerd l. 6. At the tyme of the Sacrifice the Angells stand about the Priest and the whole companie of the celestiall powers doe make a noise and the place round about the g Alter is full of Angelicall quires in honour of him who h is there sacrificed which thing those will beleeue easilie who do consider the great Sacrifice which is then donne 47. The Protestāt opiniō Blood
donne It is not common bread it is not breade it is not that which nature made The Fathers breade is made the bodie of Christ that in the Sacrament is flesh it is the flesh of Christ made of bread the nature is changed nature it selfe is changed it is changed by Gods omnipotencie it is transelemented The senses may be deceaued beleeue theÌ„ not beleeue the words of Christ It is not breade though the tast esteeme it so it is changed not in shape but in nature it is the flesh which suffered for vs that which did hange vppon the crosse the price of our redemption It is the Lord of Angells he is heere on earth and thou receauest him He is sacrificed on the Altar the Sonne of God is againe sacrificed for vs the LaÌ„be that taketh away the sinnes of the world is offered in sacrifice by Priests without slaughtering Wee offer an vnbloody sacrifice in the Church it is offered euery where it is the same which Christ offered The victime is dispenced from the Altar wee doe eate the lambe entire Christ he is the feast the Angells tremble when they behold that wherwith wee are fed Christ is worshipped on the Altar wee adore the flesh of Christ in the mysteries the mysticall signes are adored as beiÌ„g that they are beleeued to be That in the Chalice is not wine it is blood it is that which did issue out of the side of our Sauiour VVee drinke blood wee drinke blood with our mouthes it is powered into our mouthes that which faith beleeueth the same wee receaue with our mouth wee receaue the bodie and blood of Iesus Christ with our mouth into our bodies into our members So the Fathers Our B. Sauiour This is my body this is my blood I conclude with S. Hilarie S. Hilar. l. 2 de Trinit There is no place left of doubting of the truth of the flesh and blood for now both by our Sauiours profession and our beleefe it is trulie flesh and truelie blood And these being receaued and drunke do bringe to passe that wee be in Christ and CHRIST IN VS THE EIGTH CHAPTER Of Transubstantiation 56. IN the Councell of Trent is defined the conuersion of breade and wine into the bodie and blood of Christ which conuersion is there and in the Lateran Councell termed by a proper name transubstantiation To these Councells and to the AuncieÌ„t Fathers aboue cited you oppose a fewe obscure sentences One out of an Epistle of one Iohn of ConstaÌ„tinople falslie attributed to S. Chrysostome Another out of one Gelasius whom to make your argument seeme the stronger you stile Pope but falslie as Baronius and others haue demonstrated against your Caluin The third out of Theodoret a knowne Aduersarie of your cause Ep. ad Caes Mon. 57. The first Chrysostome saith the nature of the breade remaines Answere It is false sainct Chrysostome saith expreslie it is changed as you shall heare anon The Epistle which you cite is a refutation of Eutichianisme which beganne many yeares after S. Chrysostome was deade Chrysostomus videtur traÌ„substantiationoÌ„ confirmare nam ita scrible moÌ„ vidos paneÌ„ num vinuÌ„ num sicut reliqui tibi in secessum vadunt absit nec sic cogites nam sicut cera c. Magdeb cent 5. c. 4. col 517. the Author of it is also against you for he saith in the same place that there are not in the Sacrament of the Eucharist two bodies but one and that one the bodie of the soÌ„ne of God This man you see was not yours in this point his doctrine take it all is not curraÌ„t among you for if there be in the Eucharist onlie One bodie and this One the bodie of the sonne of God then breade in substance is not there because the bodie of Christ and naturall breade be not one and the same bodie by the nature he meaneth the proprietie or naturall qualitie of the breade which is allso called the nature and this doth remaine 58. The second Gelasius saith De Duab. naturis the substance or nature of breade doth not leaue to be Answere The meaning of this man is that it is not annihilated but the substance is turned into another thing and so as it remaines not in it selfe for it is turned but in the proprietie or proper accidents tast colour c. All this the same Author teacheth in the verie same place in these words they the substance of breade and wine do passe into a Diuine substance the holie Ghost effecting it yet remaining in the proprietie of their nature wherefore this maÌ„ whosoeuer he be is noe ProtestaÌ„t in this for he that holds the substance of breade and wine to be conuerted by the power of God into a Diuine substance the bodie and blood of Christ is no meere Figurist nor of your Schoole but this Author did old it as you finde in his owne words therefore he was not a Protestant as you are Theodor. Dial. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 manent enim in prioris substantiae figura forma or manent enim in riri esentia c. Idem Dial 2 Idem transsubstantiationem videtur â—apere quod Theodoretusscribit sicut ergo Symbola c post innocationem 59. The third Theodoret saith our Sauiour deliuering the SacrameÌ„t called his bodie breade aÌ„d that which is in the Cuppe he called his blood he chaÌ„ged the names aÌ„d gaue his bodie the name which belonged to the signe and to the signe the name which belonged to his bodie Answere Reade further and you meete the solution of your difficultie The reason of the change of names was because he would haue such as partake the diuine sacraments not to heede the nature of those things which are seene the signes but for the change of names to beleeue allso the change that is made hy grace You replie out of another place the mysticall signes after consecration depart not from their nature but abide still in their former substance and figure and forme and may be seene and touched as before Answere It is true that the signes are not changed for those are Accidents those remaine but the substance whithin the signes or Accidents is changed The things are chaÌ„ged by reason of that which is interiour and within they are not changed by reason of that which is exteriour and without exposed to the sense mutantur alia fiuÌ„ c. Magd. cent 5. co 517. Ibidem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Theodoret proceeding saith they are vnderstood to be that they are made that is the bodie and blood of Christ and are beleeued and adored as beiÌ„g the things they are beleeued to be No man beleeues that breade is flesh No man doth beleeue these propositions to be true breade is a maÌ„s bodie breade is flesh flesh is breade No maÌ„ adoreth breade Now the Mysteries Theodoret saith are adored as being indeed the things which they are beleeued to be
he doth not say they are beleeued onelie to be but they allso are that which they are beleeued to be and so are that they may be and are adored So then Theodoret is no Figurist nor Protestant in this point 60. The fourth Argument is taken out of Scripture Our Sauiour tooke breade therefore he gaue breade Answere Matt. 26. It doth not follow because after he tooke it he changed it by consecration into his bodie and then it was not breade but flesh in the shape and forme of breade it was heauenlie breade the breade of life after consecration but after cōsecratiō it was not bakers breade that he gaue was the same with that he tooke in outward shape but the interiour substance was not the same 61. I haue turned the rest of your forces against your felfe I will now turne this allso and make my first argument for the change of breade into the bodie and wine into blood which change or conuersion we call transubstantiation out of this place of Scripture thus Before consecration the thing in the dimensions and shape of breade was breade after consecration the thing in those dimensions was the bodie of Christ This is my bodie therefore it was changed Matt. 26. Hoc quidem sapè diximus quod nunc quoque repetā retineri reipsa nō posse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his Christi verbis hoc est corpus meum quin transsubstantiatio Papistica statuatur Beza de caena cont westphal vol. 1 tr 6. Gene. 1582. The same argumēt I make of the cuppe for if blood hath succeeded vnto wine there is a change made but after consecratiō blood hath succeeded vnto wine for it is blood after consecration This is my blood and before it was not blood but wine 62. A second argument I make out of the iudgment of the Fathers and the Church Primitiue If the Fathers did beleeue that before consecration the things proposed were breade ād wine ād that after consecratiō there was not cōmon breade ād wine but the bodie and blood of Christ then did those Fathers beleeue an inward substantiall change in those formes for this comes not to passe without a change as he who beleeues the drinke in the cuppe to be water when it is brought to the table and afterwards to be wine and nor water doth acknowledge a change for were there no mutation it would be still as it was at first water and not wine But the Fathers did beleeue that those things before consecration were breade and wine as you also do confesse and that after consecration there was not breade and wine in those formes but the bodie and blood of Christ as I haue declared in the former Chapter therefore thy beleeued an inward change 63. Thirdlie the Fathers in expresse termes do teach this change or conuersion which wee speake of I haue cited them before S. Amb. d◠Myst init c. 9. Ibid. Id. l. 4. de Sacr. c. 4. S. Ambrose It is not that which nature made but that which the blessing hath consecrated The power of consecration is greater then the power of nature for by consecration the verie nature it selfe is chāged This breade is breade before the Sacramentall words but when consecration comes of breade it is made the flesh of Christ S. Chrysostome S. Chrys hom de Euch. in Encoen As waxe ioyned with fire is likened vnto it so as nothing of the substance of it remaineth nothing aboundeth so here conceaue the mysteries to be consumed with the substance of the bodie of Christ The things set before vs are not the workes of humane power wee hold but the place of Ministers Idem hom 83 in Mat it he Christ who doth sanctifie and change these things S. Cyrill of Ierusalem S. Cyr. Hier. Catech 1. The breade and wine of the Eucharist before the sacred inuocation of the adored Trinitie were simple breade and wine but the inuocation being once donne the breade indeade is made the bodie of Christ and the wine his blood Id. Catech 3. He Christ once changed water into wine ād is he not worthie to be beleeued of vs that he hath changed wine into blood that which appeareth bread is not breade but the bodie of Christ Id. Cat. 4. S. Gauden in Ex. tr 2 Sainct Gaudentius Bisshop of Brixia The Lord and Creator of Natures that of earth made breade againe because he can doe it and hath promised to doe it of breade makes his owne bodie and he that of water made wine now of wine hath made his bloode S. Cyr. Alex Ep. ad Calosyr S. Cyrill of Alexandria That wee should not feele horrour to see flesh and blood on the sacred Altars God condescending to our frailtie doth flowe into the things offered the power of life conuerting them into the veritie of his owne flesh to the end the bodie of life be foūd as a certaine quickning seed in vs. S. Greg. Nyss orat Catec c. 37 S. Gregorie Nissen I do rightlie and with good reasō beleeue that breade being sanctified by Gods word is changed into the bodie of God the word The same Father saith that our Sauiour did transelement the nature of bread into his bodie Ibid. and of wine into his blood I haue cited more to this purpose in the former Chapter This doth abundantlie prooue Antiquitie to haue beleeued the change of breade and wine into the bodie and blood of Christ which change in regard it is of one whole Substance into another Substance vnder the same Accidents vnder which first the one is and then the other wee call Transubstantiatiō These witnesses whose testimonie I haue here produced were eminent men in the Church they were knowne Saincts in the communion of the Christian world and by them wee knowe the minde of the rest in their communion 64. Fourthlie wee haue this change declared by the Church in generall Councells in the greate Laterane Councell in the tyme of Innocentius the third Conc. Lat. c. 3. Con. Flor. in Decreto Eug. quod decretum factū esse in publica Synodali sessione patet ex fine confer cum fine Concilij dum hac gerebantur c. Conc. Trid sess 13. ean 2. Againe in the Coūcell of Florence and last of all at Trent If you should heere obiect that such a conuersion were not possible I would send you backe againe to S. Gregorie to learne of him the possibilitie Nature can turne breade into flesh wine into blood why then cannot God It is easier to make flesh of some thing then of nothing God made the world of nothing It is easier to change then to create Our Sauiour turned water into wine Aaron his rod was turned into a serpent and the same power could turne the serpent againe into a rod. Gods power is infinite and therefore finds no difficultie he cā turne wine into blood Vt sint qua erant in aliud commutencuae
immolated there is no vnbloodie d Sacrifice which is the flesh of Christ the lambe of God is not on the e Altar he is not offered in sacrifice by the Priest the Sonne of God is not f againe sacrificed for vs the sacrifice is not g dispenced from the Alter Compare 52. Seauenthly the Fathers did beleeue that the bodie of our Sauiour was present to our bodies and mouthes when wee receaue the Eucharist which is another euident argument that they thought it substaÌ„tiallie present here on earth where our bodies are for a thing which is in heauen only cannot be so present Wee denie not that wee are Spirituallie ioyned vnto Christ by true faith and sincere Charitie S. Cyr. Alex l. 10. in Io. c. 13. but that wee haue 1 no coniunction with him at all according to the flesh that verilie wee denie and affirme it to be contrarie to the diuine Scriptures aÌ„d because you are readie to runne to the Incarnation it followes a little after Doth he Nestorius thinke perchance that wee knowe not the force of the mysticall benedictioÌ„ coÌ„secratioÌ„ which being done in vs doth it not make Iesus Christ to dwell in vs 2 corporallie also with the communication of the flesh of Christ which thing he doth prooue there by Scripture and after declare with an example S. Aug. l 2. cont Adu Leg. c. 9. Wee receaue with faithfull hart and 3 mouth the Mediatour of God and man man Christ Iesus giuing vs his bodie to be eaten and his blood to be drunke though it seeme more horrible to eate maÌ„s flesh then to kill and to drinke mans blood then to shed it S. Leo. serm 7. de Ieiun meÌ„s 7. You ought so to communicate of the holie table that you doubt nothing at all of the truth of the bodie and blood of Christ for that is receaued with 4 the mouth which by faith is beleeued S. Greg. Dial. l. 4. c. 58. S. Greg. Nyss orat Catec c 37. His blood is powered into the mouthes of the faithfull Our Sauiour by his flesh entereth into all the faithfull and mingleth himselfe with their 5 bodies to the end that man being vnited to that which is immortall may attaine to be made partaker of Incorruption Wee are made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hearers of Christ when wee haue receaued his bodie and blood into 6 our members S. Cyr. Hi. Catec 4. So the Fathers vnderstanding the bodie of Christ indeed to be in those dimensions and so to be in our bodie reallie when the Sacrament is in it and to be receaued with our mouthes Whereas you denying that he can be reallie here and in heauen too must gape as wide as heauen if you will receaue the signes and the bodie too with your mouth for the signes are here and the bodie and blood according to you are onelie there in that one place 53. The Protestant Opinion The flesh of Christ is 1 not neere vnto our flesh Christ is not 2 in vs corporallie Christ is not receaued with the 3 mouth that which is beleeued is neuer 4 in the mouth neuer neerer then heauen is to the earth the blood of Christ is no where but in heauen it is in no bodies mouth at any tyme. the flesh of Christ is not neere our 5 bodies it is as farre of as heauen is from earth the bodie of Christ is neuer 6 in vs. Compare 54. That which troubleth you did not moue the Fathers to discredit the word of God as you doe His omnipotencie was in the begining of their Creed as it is in ours Heare what they say of your doubtes The first S. Cyr. Hi. Catec 4 S. Chrys ho. â—3 Mat. Sense telles vs it is bread S. Cyrill though it seeme breade it is not bread S. Chrysost let our Sauiours words master our sense and reason His words cannot be vntrue our sense is many tymes deceaued The second It is not possible for one to haue his owne bodie in his owne haÌ„ds S. Augustine In what manner this may be vnderstood of Dauid or another pure man wee cannot finde S. Aug. in in Psal 33. conc 1. but wee finde it fulfilled in Christ for Christ was caried in his owne hands when commending his owne verie bodie he said this is my bodie for then he caried and held that bodie in his owne haÌ„ds If you did beleeue it were reallie in the Sacrament as the Fathers did you would neuer sticke at this nor at any other thing for all are grounded in the Sacramentall being The third Christ could not eate himselfe the Sacrament he might and did eate S. Ierom. He S. Hieron Ep. ad Hedib q. 2. Christ was the Banquetter and the Feast the eater and the thing eaten Wee drinke his bloode c. The fourth Christ is ascended S. Chrys hom 2. ad Pop. Ant. therefore his flesh is not here S. Chrysostom Christ both left vs his flesh and ascended hauing it The fift the bodie should by this time be all consumed for many thousands haue receaued it S. Grerie S. Greg. Nyss orat Cat. c. 37. Wee must enquire how it can possibile come to passe that the one onelye bodie of Christ which is allwaies thorough out the world imparted to so many thousands of the faithfull may be wholie in euerie one in particular and allso remaine whole and entire in it selfe His answere These things he Christ bestoweth by transelementing thorough the vertue of benedictioÌ„ the nature of those things which appeare of breade and wine into it his bodie The sixt A mans bodie cannot be in that forme S. Epiphanius When he Christ had giuen thankes he said this is my bodie and blood S Epiphaâ— in Ancora and yet wee see that it is not of equall bignes nor yet like for it hath no similitude with the image of that flesh which he tooke vpon him nor with the Diuinitie it selfe which cannot be seene nor with the lineaments and shape of members For this is of a round figure aÌ„d according to the power insensible yet he vouchsafed by his grace to say this is my bodie and blood neither may any man refuse to giue credit to his words The reall Presence a fundameÌ„tall point For he that beleeueth it not to be true falleth altogeather from grace and saluation 55. Being here come to the end of this Chapter I wish you now to consider how vnpossible a thing it is for you to make it euident that Antiquitie was with you against vs and to make such as haue witte and learning to beleeue it That which wee beleeue wee finde in the Fathers and the iudgment belonges not to you or me but to the Church which if the cause were obscure by the diuine Assistance promised and present to her could determine it but this cause is cleere the Fathers haue giuen as faire euidence as wee could wish Wee cannot yet expresse our meaning better then they haue