were with the dainties of Gods word here on earth I mean men Verily the Psalmist or rather the holy Ghost in the Psalmist sheweth either what our fathers received in that heavenly Manna or els what the faithfull people should beleeue to be in the mysterie of Christs bodie In both of them certainely Christ is signified and set forth which Christ both feedeth the soules of the beleevers and is the food and meate of Angels and yet neither of them are done in corporall taste or bodily feeding but by the power of the spirituall word And wee know because the Evangelist hath declared the same that the Lord Iesus Christ before he suffered Tooke Bread and gaue thankes Mat. 26.26 c. 1 Cor. 11.23 c. and gaue it to his Disciples saying This is my bodie which is given for you doe this in remembrance of me Likewise he tooke the Cup after he had supped saying This Cup is the New Testament in my blood which shall be shed for you We see that Christ had not as yet suffered and yet for all that he wrought or made the mysterie of his body and blood for wee thinke truely that any faithfull man doubteth whether that Bread became Christs bodie which he gaue vnto his Disciples and said This is my bodie which is given for you or whether the cup conteineth Christes blood of which cup our Saviour Christ himselfe saide This cup is the New Testament in my blood which shall be shed for you Therefore as he could even a little before he suffered turne the substance of the Bread and the creature of the Wine into his owne body which should suffer and into his own blood which afterwardes should be shed so likewise was he able in the Wildernesse to turne the Manna and the water that issued out of the Rocke into his owne flesh and blood although that a long time after both his flesh was to be hāged on the crosse for our sakes and his blood to be shed for the washing away of our sinnes Here also wee ought to consider how we must vnderstand that which he himselfe saith Ioh 6.53 Except yee eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood yee shall not haue life in you For hee doth not say or meane that his flesh which afterwards hanged on the Crosse should bee cut in peeces and parts and so be eaten by his Disciples neither yet that his blood which hee should shed for the redemption of the world should bee given vnto his Disciples for drinke because it should be a most wicked and horrible thing for his Disciples either to drinke his blood or to eate his flesh as the vnbeleevers did at that time vnderstand him Therefore in the words following he said to his Disciples who did not vnbeleevingly but in some measure of faith receiue Christs wordes although they could not as then pierce and perceiue how those wordes were to bee vnderstood to them I say he said Doth this offend you Ioh. 6.61.62 What then if yee should see the Sonne of man ascend vp where he was before As though he should say Thinke not I pray you that you must either bodily eate my flesh or bodily drinke my blood or that my body must bee divided into parts to be eaten or my blood distributed to be drunke seeing that after my resurrection yee shall see mee to goe vp into heaven with the fulnesse of my whole body and blood and then shall ye vnderstand that my very flesh shall not be eaten of the beleevers as the infidels suppose but that the bread and the wine being turned into the substance of my body and of my blood the substance thereof shall bee in a mystery received by the beleevers And presently he addeth Ioh. 6.63 The spirit is it saith hee which quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing He saith that the flesh profiteth nothing at all after such a forme and manner as the vnbeleevers vnderstood it otherwise it giveth life as the faithfull do in a mystery receiue it And why this is done he himselfe doth manifestly declare when hee saith It is the spirit that quickeneth Wherefore there is in this mysterie of the body and blood of Christ a spirituall opperation and working that giveth life without the working whereof these mysteries profit nothing at all because they may indeed feed the bodie but they cannot feed the soule Now then heere ariseth a question which while many propound they say and affirme that these things are done not in a figure or mystery but in verity and truth Which while they affirme they are found to goe against and to gaine-say the writings of the holy Fathers Saint Augustine Aug. de doct Christ lib. 3. one of the chiefe Doctors of the Church in his third booke of Christian doctrine writeth thus Ioh. 6.53 Except ye eate saith our Saviour the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood yee shall not haue life in you Hee seemeth to command a wicked thing and an vngodly act Wherefore it is a figuratiue speech commanding vs to communicate in the Lords passion and sweetly and profitably to lay vp this in our memories that his flesh was crucified and wounded for our sakes Here we perceiue that this Doctor saith and affirmeth that the mysteries of the bodie blood of Christ are vnder a figure celebrated and received of the faithfull for hee saith plainely that it belongeth not to religion but is rather a wicked thing carnally to eate Christs body or to drink his blood into which fault they fell who not spiritually but fleshly vnderstanding the Lords words in the Gospell Ioh. 6.66 Departed or went backe from him and went or walked no more with him The same Doctor writing in a certaine Epistle to Boniface the Bishop Aug. ad Bonifa epist amongst other things saith thus Truly we vse oftentimes to speak thus that when Easter draweth nigh that to morrow or the next day after shall be the Lords passion whereas hee suffered so many yeares before and verily that passion or suffering was done but once for all Also on the Lords day that wee call Easter day wee vsually say this day the Lord rose againe whereas indeed and truth so many yeares are since he rose againe already past And why is no man so fond and foolish as to reproue vs speaking thus as though we had lyed but onely because wee name those dayes according to the similitude and likenesse of these dayes in which these things were done Insomuch that it is called the very same day which yet is not in deed the very same but in the revolution and turning about of the time is like it and so also that is said to be done vpon that day by reason of the celebration and administration of the Sacrament which is not done vpon that day but was performed long agoe Was not Christ once offered about that time And yet notwithstanding hee
flesh which was crucified and for that blood which was shed with the souldiers speare This Doctor hath made a distinction concerning the body and blood of Christ and this he hath done with a very great difference For whilest that hee saith that the flesh and blood which the faithfull doe daily receiue are spirituall things and saith on the other side that the flesh which was crucified and the blood which was shed with the souldiers speare cannot bee affirmed to be spirituall or divine hee plainely declareth that they differ so much as spirituall and corporall things or visible and invisible things or as divine and humane doe differ one of them from another and that therefore for as much as they differ one of them from another both of them bee not neither indeed can bee one and the selfe same thing Now that spirituall flesh which is received by the mouth of the faithfull and that spirituall blood which is daily offered to bee drunke of the beleevers doe without doubt differ from that flesh which was crucified frō that blood which was shed by the souldiers speare as the authority of this present person alledged doth witnesse Wherefore they bee not all one For that flesh that was crucified was made of the flesh of the Virgin and was compacted or did consist of bones and sinewes and was besides distincted by the lineaments and proportions of the parts and members of mens bodies and was through the spirit of a reasonable soule quickned into his owne life and fit motions agreeing thereto But the spirituall flesh which doth spiritually feed the beleeving people in respect of the kind or forme which it sheweth forth outwardly doth being made by the Artificers hand consist of certaine graines of Corne or wheat and is not compacted of any sinewes or bones nor distincted by any diversity of members nor made liuely by any reasonable substance nor able to exercise any proper motitions for whatsoever in it doth minister or yeeld the substance of life pertaineth to a spirituall power and belongeth to an invisible efficacy and to a heavenly vertue or force but is indeed in respect of that which is outwardly seene farre differing from that which is beleeved in the mystery Besides that flesh of Christ which was crucified did not shew any other thing outwardly then that it was inwardly because it was the very flesh of a very man being also a very body in the kinde and forme of a very body Furthermore wee must consider that there is figured by that bread not onely Christs owne body but also the body of the people that beleeue in him whereupon it is made of many graines of wheate 1 Cor. 16.17 because the bodie of the beleeving people is through the Word of Christ increased with many faithfull ones Wherefore as the bread which is Christs body is received in a mystery so also the members of the people that beleeue in Christ are declared in a mystery And as that bread is said to bee the bodie of the beleevers not bodily but spiritually so must wee needs vnderstand it to bee Christs bodie not bodily but spiritually So likewise in the wine which is called Christs blood water is appointed to be mixed and the one is not suffred to be offred without the other to declare that the people cannot bee without Christ nor Christ without his people even as the head cannot bee without the body nor the body without the head Wherefore the water in that Sacrament beareth the image of people and representeth them Therefore if that wine being sanctified by the office and service of the Ministers be turned bodily into Christs blood the water which is mixed together with it must of necessity bee bodily turned into the blood of the beleeving people For where there is but one sanctification and by consequent one operation or working yea where there is but a like consideration it must needs then there follow that that mystery is like But we see that in the water in respect of the body thereof there is nothing turned wherefore it followeth very well that in the wine there is nothing turned bodily Whatsoever is set out in the water concerning the body of the people the same is taken spiritually Wherefore whatsoever is shewed foorth in the wine concerning Christs blood the same must of necessity be taken spiritually Againe the things which doe differ one of them from another be not all one That body of Christ which died and rose againe and became immortall Rom. 6.9 dieth not now neither shall death any more now beare rule ouer it for it is eternall and cannot now suffer any thing But that which is celebrated and administred in the Church is temporall and not eternall is corruptible not incoruptible is in the way homeward and not in it owne countrey Wherefore they must needs differ one of them from another and so by consequent are not all one and if they be not all one how is it said to bee Christs true body and his very blood For if it be Christs body and be truly so said to be as if it be Christs body it must bee his body in truth and if it be Christs body in truth or truly then it must needs bee that bodie of Christs which is incorruptible and impasible and so by consequent eternall Whereupon also it must of necessity follow that that bodie of Christs which is celebrated and administred in the Church must be incorruptible and eternall but we cannot deny but that that thing is corruptible which being changed is diuided into peeces to bee received and being broken or ground with the teeth passeth into the body and belly And yet that is one thing which is done outwardly and that is another thing which is inwardly beleeved through faith That which belongeth to the senses of the body is corruptible but that which faith beleeveth is incorruptible Wherefore that which appeares outwardly is not the thing it selfe but the image or representation of the thing but that is the truth of the thing and the thing it selfe which is perceived vnderstood by the minde Hereupon blessed Augustine in his Exposition vpon Iohns Gospell speaking of the body and blood of Christ saith thus Moses also did eate Manna Aug. in Ioh. tract 26. so did Aaron and so did Phiwees yea many others did eate Manna in the Wildernesse who also pleased God and yet are not dead And why so because they did spiritually vnderstand the visible food they did spiritually hunger after it they did spiritually taste it that so they might bee spiritually satisfied and filled For even wee also our selues doe at this day receiue visible food but the Sacrament is one thing and the vertue or power of the Sacrament is another thing Likewise in the words following Aug. tract eodem This is the bread which came downe from heaven Manna signified this bread the altar of God also signified this bread They
were Sacraments and are diverse or differing one of them from another in respect of their signes but are equall and like yea all one in the matter that is signified by them Hearken what the Apostle Paul saith 1 Cor. 10.1.2 c. I would not haue you ignorant brethren that all our Fathers were vnder the Clowd and that all passed through the Sea and were all baptised vnto Moses in the Clowd and in the Sea and did all eate the same spirituall meate and did all drinke the same spirituall drinke Verily they had the same spirituall both meate and drinke but another bodily both meate and drinke for they had Manna and we another thing and yet they had the same spirituall thing that we haue And the Apostle addeth and they did all drinke the same spirituall drinke They drunke one thing and wee another but that was in respect of visible kinde or forme and yet they both signified one thing by spirituall power For how otherwise could it be the same drinke They drank saith he of the spirituall rock that followed them and the rocke was Christ From thence came the bread from thence came the drinke The rocke was Christ in sign figure but the very true Christ is in word and in flesh Againe Aug. tract eodem in the same place This is the bread that came downe from heaven so that whosoever shall eate of it shall not dye but yet hee must eate that which appertaineth to the vertue and power of the Sacrament and not that onely which appertaineth to the visible Sacrament And such a one is hee as eateth inwardly and not outwardly only and as eateth the same in his heart through faith and not that pearceth or presseth it with his teeth And in another place of his saide Exposition vpon Iohn bringing in our Saviours words hee speaketh thus Aug. in Ioh. tract 27. Doth this offend you that I said behold I giue you my flesh to eate and my blood to drinke What then if ye shall see the Sonne of man ascend vp where he was before What meaneth this Doth hee by this speech loose that which moved them Doth hee by so saying open that wherewith they were offended Yea verily and that fully also if they could haue vnderstood it For they thought that he would haue given his body but hee said that hee would goe vp into heaven and that whole as he was as though he should say When yee shall see the Sonne of man ascending vp where hee was before at the least even then yee shall know that hee will not giue his body after such a manner and fashion as you imagine and fantasie yea and even then also yee shall vnderstand that his grace is not consumed or eaten vp by bytings and morsels For the Lord himselfe saith It is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing And after that hee had vttered many words and sentences hee againe addeth Aug. tract eodem Rom. 8.9 Whosoever saith the Apostle hath not the spirit of Christ the same is none of his Wherefore it is the spirit that quickneth the flesh profiteth nothing The words that I haue spoken vnto you are spirit and life What meaneth this that they are spirit and life That is to say they must be spiritually vnderstood Hast thou vnderstood them spiritually then are they spirit and life to thee Hast thou vnderstood them carnally yea even so are they spirit and life but not vnto thee By the authority of this Doctor handling the Lords words concerning the Sacrament of his body and blood wee are plainely taught that those words of the Lord must bee vnderstood spiritually and not carnally even as himselfe saith Ioh. 6.63 The words which I speake vnto you are spirit and life yea even those words verily which hee spake concerning the eating of his flesh and the drinking of his blood For he speaketh of those words wherewith his Disciples were offended Wherefore to the end they might not be offended the heavenly Master or Teacher calleth them back frō the flesh to the spirit and from bodily sight to invisible vnderstanding We see therefore in what respect that meat of the Lords body and that drinke of his blood are truly and indeed his bodie and truly and indeed his blood to wit in respect that they are spirit and life Moreover such things as bee all one are contained in or vnder one definition Now it is affirmed of the very and true body of Christ that hee is very God and very man God as hee was begotten of the father from before all beginnings and man as hee was towards the end of the world conceived and borne of the Virgine Mary But these things cannot bee said of that body of Christ which by a mystery is celebrated and administred in the Church and yet it is after a certaine manner knowne to bee Christs body now that manner is in figure and representation that so the truth and the thing it selfe may bee the better perceived In these prayers which are sayd after the mystery of the body and blood of Christ and whereunto the people answer Amen thus it is vttered with the Priests voyce Wee that doe take or receiue the pledge of everlasting life doe humbly beseech thee to grant that we may with a manifest and plaine partaking receiue that which we touch in the image or representation of the Sacrament Now wee know that a pledge and an image or representation appertaine to another thing that is to say haue respect not to themselues but to another thing For a pledge is a pledge of that thing for the pledging whereof it is given and not the thing it selfe as likewise an image is the image of that thing the likenesse whereof it doth represent or shew forth For these things doe signifie the thing it selfe whose picture and pledge they are and yet for all that they doe not very manifestly declare the things themselues Which seeing it is so it plainely appeareth that this body and blood are the pledge and as it were the picture or representation of a thing that shall be to the end that that which is now shewed by a similitude may in time hereafter to come be by manifestation or manifestly revealed Wherevpon I conclude that if now they signifie and in time to come shall make manifest or lay open that then that is one thing which is done and performed now and that that is another thing which shall in time to come be manifested and layd open Wherefore that which the Church celebrateth and administreth is both the body and blood of Christ but yet as a pledge and as it were the picture or representation But then it shall be the truth when as now not the pledge nor the picture or representation of the thing shall appeare but the truth of the thing it selfe Also in another place of the sayde prayers We beseech thee Lord to graunt that thy
which it is in respect of qualitie though changed perhaps into another qualitie But in this Sacrament if onely the truth be considered in simplicitie and plainenesse and not another thing beleeved than that which is beheld no change can be knowne to be made For neyther hath it passed from that which it was not The first kinde of change into somewhat that is as such a passage and change is many times made in growing things for whereas they were not before they to the end they might be passed from not being to that which is to be or to being But this passage or change falleth not out here because that the Bread and Wine were before they passed into the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ The second kinde of change Neither yet can there be here that passage or change which is made from that which it is to that which it is not which change falleth out in things that through defect suffer a decay or fall For whatsoever doth decay was first and had it being because that thing can not suffer a decay or destruction which never was And yet neither can this passage or change be knowne to be made in this matter because that according to truth that very kinde or shape of creature which is before is knowne still to remaine Moreover The third kinde of change that change which is made from that which is to that which is which change appeareth specially in things that suffer diversitie and varietie of qualities as for example when that which was blacke is turned into white neither can that change I say be knowne to be made here for nothing can be here found to be changed either in touching or in tast or in colour or in favour Therefore if nothing be changed herein it is not then any other thing than what it was before But it is another thing for the Bread is become Christs body and the wine his blood for so he himselfe saith Take ye Math. 26.26 c. and eate ye This is my body and speaking of the Cup he sayth likewise This is the blood of the new Testament which shall be shed for you Therefore they that in this question will take nothing figuratiuely but will haue the whole to consist in the simplicitie and plainenesse of truth must be demanded how and in what respect this change is made so that now they be no more that which they were before to wit Bread and Wine but are the body blood of Christ For according to the kind and shew of the creature and the outward forme of visible things both of these that is the Bread the Wine haue nothing at all changed in them and if they suffer no change at all then are they no other thing but that which they were before Your Highnesse most noble Prince perceiveth whether the vnderstāding and mind of those men that thinke otherwise proceedeth for they denie that which men suppose them to affirme and they are proved to destroy that which they beleeue For they doe faithfully confesse it to be the body and blood of Christ and in so doing doubtlesse they doe now protest that the Bread and the Wine be nor the same that they were before and that if they be some other thing than they were before that then they haue admitted some alteration and change Seeing then that this cannot be denied let them tell vs how in what respect they are changed for a man shall perceiue nothing to be bodily substantially changed in them Therefore they must of necessitie confesse either that they are changed otherwise than bodily and substantially He draweth his reason from a double absurditie and so by that means that they are not that which in truth they seeme to be but some other thing which according to his owne being is not seene or perceived to be or els if they will not confesse this they must needs denie it to be the bodie and blood of Christ which thing is very wicked not onely for a man to speake but also to thinke But for as much as they doe confesse both the body and blood of Christ to be there and that this cannot be but by making a change into a better thing and that this change is made not corporally or bodily but spiritually it must needs be that they doe affirme and say that this change is made figuratiuely because that vnder the vayle or coverture of bodily Bread and bodily Wine there is the spirituall body of Christ and his spirituall blood not that they are the existences and beings of two severall and divers things that differ betweene themselues that is to say of the bodie and of the spirit but because that the kinde or shew of Bread and Wine is in one respect one and the selfe same thing that is Bread and Wine and in another respect it is the body and blood of Christ For in respect that both of them are bodily and substantially touched they are the kindes and shewes of a bodily creature but in respect of power because they are spiritually done they are the mysteries of the body and blood of Christ An argument taken from comparing Baptisme the Lords Supper together Let vs consider the fountaine of holy Baptisme which is not without cause called the fountaine or welspring of life because it reformeth them that be partakers of it to newnesse of a better life and maketh them Rom. 6.4 to liue to righteousnesse Ephes 2.1 which before were dead in trespasses and sinne Hath it this power and force because or in respect that the element of water appeareth or is seene to be and yet notwithstanding vnlesse it had in it a vertue and power to sanctifie it were not able to wash away the spots and filthinesse of sinne and vnlesse it contained the vigor and strength of life it could at no hand giue life to them that are dead dead I meane not in the flesh or body but in the soule or spirit And yet notwithstanding all this if in that fountaine we haue respect to that thing onely which our bodily sense looketh vpon and comprehendeth we can see nothing but a moyst and thinne element to wit Water subiect to corruption and that such a one as that of and in it selfe hath no other power in it but to wash our bodies But after that the power of the holy Ghost by the consecratiō of the Priest is come therto it is then become effectuall and powerfull to wash not our bodies onely but our soules and made able also by through a spirituall power to remoue spirituall filthinesses Behold we see that there are in one and the selfe same element two things resisting and as it were striving one of them against the other that is to say we see a corruptible thing to giue incorruption and a thing that hath not life to yeeld and giue life also Wherefore wee
A BOOKE OF BERTRAM THE Priest Concerning the Body and Blood of Christ Written in Latin to Charles the Great being Emperour aboue eight hundred yeeres agoe Translated and imprinted in the English Tongue A nno Dnj 1549. And now the third time published for the profit of the Reader 1623. LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson 1623. TO MY MVCH HONORED FRIEND S R WALTER PYE Knight the KINGS Maties Atturney of the Court of Wards and Liveries SIR I Haue nothing of my owne worthy of your loue but behold a great Worke of another Man 's in this little Volume I Dedicate vnto you It was presented to a great Emperour Charles the Great and by him it was approved as heire generall to the ancient Fathers The Author is now after 800. yeeres questioned for his birth-right and the Polemicall Writers of this Age are not as yet agreed whether he spurious or legitimate I hope the Preface following his very enemies being Iudges will free him from that imputation His revennue is the doctrine of the blessed Sacrament ancient and hereditarie His tenure is in Capite of the Lord Paramount My suite is an Information may be exhibited against his accusers and if you see no iust cause whereof they doe accuse him let your wonted Iustice decree him for the right heire if otherwise let him stand or fall according to your Wisedome and his owne worth and in doing him this right you shall oblige me with the rest of your favours faithfully to loue you and yours HVMFREY LYNDE The Preface to the READER THE great contention that was betwixt the two Women 1 Kings Chap. 3. who should be the Mother of the liuing childe was by Salomon easily decided and the living childe by his wisedome was restored to the right Mother If Truth Peace had ioyned hands with Rome and vs Wisedome her selfe would haue iustified her children and our Adversaries would haue resolued this questiō which without all question is to be resolved that Bertram was the true Author of this fruitfull issue and his Doctrine was the Tenet of the ancient Fathers and the Church his Mother But such is the condition of the Church of Rome that although the true sonne may as easily bee knowne by his voice as Iacob was from Esau yet the Mother that bred this childe would make him an Esau and supplant him of his birth-right the wombe that brought him forth disclaymes his Doctrine the Church that gaue him sucke out of her two Breasts the two Testaments denies him entertainment and yet behold the Mother of the child and this Authors Mother do sympathize The Mother of the child although she were a strumpet yet would she by no meanes suffer her son to be divided nor accept of a dead child although it was presented to her as her owne This Authors Mother although at that time of his birth she had lost much of her wonted modestie yet would she not agree to haue her blessed body of the Sacrament to be divided and given by the halues yea although what was offered her Christ told her it was her body yet by no meanes would she allow of the dead Letter which killeth but of the quickning Spirit which giueth life Here we see the Church of Rome is auncient not her errors We acknowledge shee was a Mother Church and had sometimes Kings for Nursing Fathers and Queenes for Nursing Mothers yea behold this man Bertram had a King a great King Charlemaine the Great to his Nursing Father and the Romish Church sometimes the fairest amongst women gaue him milke out of her sacred Breasts as a Nursing Mother If there be any remembrance left to Parents for their childrens merit Mother behold thy Sonne If there be any meanes left for children to relieue their blind and decayed Parents Sonne behold thy Mother Such is our charitie to the bond-woman her children that we pittie them we pray for them yea in this Subiect of the reall presence We heartily wish that men had not studied so much to be open where the Scripture is silent and that curious wits had not beene wise aboue sobrietie to haue searched into the wayes of the Lord which are past finding out B Andrewes against Bellar cap. 1. That which Durandus is reported to haue said doth not dislike vs We heare the Word we perceiue the sound we know not the manner we beleeue the Presence we beleeue I say the Presence as well as they concerning the manner of the Presence we doe not vnadvisedly define nay more we doe not scrupulously enquire no more then we doe in Baptisme how the blood of Christ cleanseth vs no more then we doe in the Incarnation of Christ how the divine nature is vnited to the humane we reckon it amongst the mysteries and indeed the Eucharist is a mysterie the remaynders whereof should be consumed with fire that is as the Fathers doe elegantly vnderstand it which should be adored by faith not debated by reason But to come to the Author and his Authoritie Behold after 800. yeares silence in the graue there is risen this Champion to confute this new borne Bratt Transubstantiation All the credit that I haue or am like to haue in the Church of God I will ingage it vpon the worth of this little Tract A worke not powred forth vpon Adventures but composed with mature deliberation being required thervnto by Charles the Emperour neither was it likely that so great an Eagle as Charlemayne would consult with flyes in whom it was hard to say whether Learning or Magnificence had the vpperhand and for these later times let the iudgement of that famous Bishop and Martyr Dr Ridley informe vs of whom I may truly say what Ierom did of Nepotian Pectus suum Bibliothecam fecerat Christi Ierom ad Paulinum nec doleat Ecclesia quod talem amiserit sed gaudeat quod talem habuerit who publiquely honored this Treatise in his Disputations at Oxford and privatly bequeathed it as a Legacy to Dr Brookes affirming it to be the first meanes of his conversion and reducement from the common error of the Roman Church But behold the Authoritie of this Man and the dexteritie of his subiect is so great an eye-sore to our Adversaries that they cannot with any patience reflect vpon him Here shall you see Ephraim against Manasses and Manasses against Ephraim but both against Iuda here you shall see Iurors and Iudges reconciled as Pilot and Herod but both against Bertram Will you haue him brought as Paul was before the Councell set before them Behold the Man The Iudge doth harken the Councellers be silent the Cryer biddeth peace all the people are attentiue to know the cause whereof they would accuse him Bellarmine the Foreman of the Inquest he saith Bellarm de script Ecclesiast Tom. 7. fol. 121. That Bertram the Priest liued aboue 800. yeares since and was the first that brought in question the Reall presence but sayth he Paschasius
is not onely every feast of Easter but even every day offered vnto the faithfull people neither is hee to be deemed a lyar who being asked of another man answereth that hee is offered For if the Sacraments had not a certaine similitude and likenesse of those things of which they are Sacraments they could not at all be Sacraments and in respect of this very likenesse that they haue they take the very names of the things themselues Wherefore even as the Sacrament of Christs body is after a certaine manner Christs body it selfe and the Sacrament of Christs blood is after a certaine manner Christs blood so the Sacrament of faith is faith Hence we perceiue that Saint Augustine saith that the Sacrament is one thing and the things whereof they are Sacraments is another thing Now the body in which Christ suffered and the blood that came out of his side are the things of the Sacrament but the mysteries by which these things are represented hee saith they are the Sacraments of the body and blood of Christ which are celebrated and administred in remembrance of the Lords passion and suffering and that not onely every yeare once at or about the feast of Easter but every day in the yeare And although the Lord had but one bodie in which hee suffered once for all and but one blood which was shed for the salvation of the world yet the Sacraments or elements signifying these things haue taken the names of the very things themselues insomuch that they are called the body and blood of Christ being so called indeed for the similitude and likenesse of the things which they represent and shew forth even as the feast of Easter which is observed every yeare is called the Passeover and the resurrection of the Lord whereas we know that the Lord did but once suffer and but once rise againe about that time And albeit that these very dayes cannot now be revoked or called backe because they are already past yet by their name and title are such dayes called as in which the memorie of the Lords suffering and resurrection is rehearsed and celebrated and this is therefore done because they haue a certaine resemblance and likenesse of these very dayes in which our Saviour once suffered and once rose againe Whereupon we say this day or to morrow or the next day is the Lords passion or resurrection when as these dayes in which these things were done were passed many yeares agoe So we may say that the Lord is offered when the Sacraments of his suffering are celebrated and administred whereas indeed hee was but once for all offered vp in himselfe for the salvation of the world as the Apostle saith Christ hath suffered for vs 1 Pet. 2.21 leaving vs an example that we should follow his footsteps For hee saith not that hee every day offered himselfe because he did it but once but this hee saith that hee hath left vs an example which is daily presented and shewed forth to the beleevers in the mystery of the Lords bodie and blood to the end that every one that shall come or repaire thereto may know that hee ought to be made a companion with him in his sufferings the image and liuely picture whereof hee doth as it were tarry and wait for to be exhibited vnto him in the holy mysteries according to the saying of the Wiseman in the Proverbes Pro. 23.1 Commest thou to a mighty mans table marke diligently what things are set before thee knowing that thou thy selfe must another time prepare such like things To come to a mightie mans table is to bee partaker of the Lords offering or as wee say of the Lords Supper and the marking or cōsidering of such things as are set before vs is the sound vnderstanding or knowledge of the bodie and blood of Christ whereof whosoever partaketh hee must know and remember thus much that hee ought to prepare such precious things that so hee may become a follower of Christ in dying with him the remembrance of whose death he professeth and acknowledgeth not only in beleeving but also in tasting Againe Saint Paul writing to the Hebrewes saith thus Heb. 7.26.27 Verily such an high Priest it became vs to haue as is holy harmlesse vndefiled separated from sinners and become higher then the heavens who needed not daily as those high Priests to offer vp sacrifice first for his one sinnes and then for the peoples for the Lord Iesus Christ did this once for all when hee offered vp himselfe That which he did once he doth now dayly exercise and vse For he once offered vp himselfe for the sinnes of the people and this very selfe same oblation or offering is every day celebrated among the faithfull but yet in a mystery that so that very thing which the Lord Iesus Christ offring vp himselfe once for all hath fulfilled may by the celebration administration of the mysteries bee daily performed and done for the remembrance of his death and passion Neither yet is it falsly said that the Lord in those mysteries is either offered or suffereth because they haue a certaine similitude or likenesse of his death and passion whereof indeed they are true and liuely representations Whereupon the very mysteries themselues are called the Lords bodie and the Lords blood because they haue the name of that or those things whereof they be the Sacrament Isodorus Originum siue Etymologiarū lib. 6. cap. de officijs colū 143. linea 28. Isodorus in his bookes which hee wrote of the true signification of words saith thus It is called a sacrifice as though a man would say a holy fact or deed because through mysticall prayer it is consecrated and appointed to or for the remembrance of the Lords suffering Whereupon by his authority and commādement we cal it the body and blood of Christ because that though it bee made of the fruits of the earth it is yet notwithstanding sanctified and so become a Sacrament Gods spirit working invisibly therein the Sacraament of the bred and cup the Grecians doe call Eucharistia that is if it bee interpreted good grace or thankesgiving And what is better then the body and blood of Christ Now the bread and wine are therefore compared and resembled to the Lords body and boold because that as the substance of this visible bread and wine doth nourish and make cheerfull the outward man So the Word of God which is the living or liuely bread being once rightly partaked of doth recreate and refresh the mindes of the faithfull And this Catholike Doctor teacheth vs that that same holy mystery of the Lords passion and suffering must on our behalfes or in respect of vs bee done for the remembrance of the Lords passion And in so saying he declareth that the Lords passion or suffering was onely once done but that the remembrance thereof is continually represented vnto vs in those same holy rites and solemnities Whereupon both the bread that
is offered though it be taken from amongst the fruits of the earth is yet notwithstanding while it is sanctified changed into Christs body as also the wine though it flow out of the Vine is yet notwithstanding through the sanctification of the divine mystery become the blood of Christ not visibly indeed but as the aforesaid Doctor affirmeth the holy Ghost invisibly working therein Whereupon also they are called both the body and blood of Christ because they are received not as they are outwardly seen or beheld but as they are spiritually made or become vnto vs Gods spirit working inwardly in vs. And because that through the invisible power and grace they are become a farre other matter vnto vs than visibly they seeme to bee hee therefore maketh a difference while hee saith that the bread and the wine are therefore compared and resembled to the Lords body and blood because that as the substance of the visible bread and wine doth nourish and make chearfull the outward man so the Word of God which is the living or liuely bread being once rightly partaked of doth recreate and refresh the mindes of the faithfull Now in speaking thus hee most plainely confesseth that whatsover outward thing is received in the Sacrament of the Lords body and blood all that is fitted and applyed to the refreshing of the bodie But the Word of God which is the invisible bread being invisibly in the same Sacrament doth through the partaking thereof by quickening the mindes of the faithfull invisibly feed them The same Doctor also saith Isidorus loco supra citato It is a Sacrament when it is celebrated or adminstred as when a thing is so done that the selfe same thing may be vnderstood or perceived to signifie somwhat which thing must also bee holyly received and taken In saying these things hee declareth that every Sacrament doth in holy things containe some secret or mysterie and that it is one thing which appeareth visibly and that it is another thing which must bee taken or received invisibly And what Sacraments are to be celebrated amongst the faithfull hee afterwards sheweth saying Now these are the Sacraments Baptisme and Chrisme and the Lords bodie and blood which are therefore called Sacraments because vnder the vaile and coverture of bodily things Gods divine power or vertue doth secretly worke the efficacy or power of the said Sacraments Whence also it commeth to passe that they are called Sacraments of certaine secret powers or holy solemnities in them And afterwards he saith In Greeke it it is called a mystery because it hath in it a secret and hidden disposition What are we taught by these words but that the Lords body and blood are therefore said to be mysteries because they haue a secret and hidden disposition that is to say are one thing in respect of that which they outwardly shew forth and another thing in respect of that which invisibly they worke within And herevpon also they are called sacraments because that vnder the vaile or coverture of bodily things Gods heavenly power and vertue doth secretly but yet faithfully and effectually dispense procure and worke the salvation of all such as worthily and rightly receiue them By all the things The sum of this former Part. that hitherto haue beene spoken wee haue declared that the bodie and blood of Christ which in the Church are received by the mouth of the beleevers are figures according to their outward shew and visible forme but that according to an invisible substance that is according to the power of the divine word they are verily and in deed the body and blood of Christ Wherevpon we conclude that as they are visible creatures they feed the body but that yet throw the power of a more mightie and excellent substance they doe both feed and sanctifie the minds of all faithfull people And now let vs looke into the second question the purpose or drift thereof and let vs see whether that very body that was borne of the Virgin Mary that suffered that was dead and buried and that sitteth at the right hand of the Father be the same which through the mystery of the Sacramēts is daily received in the Church by the mouths of the faithfull Let vs enquire and see what S. Ambrose iudgeth concerning this matter Ambro. sacra lib. 1. In his Booke of Sacraments he speaketh thus Truely it is a marveilous thing that God did for the Fathers raine Manna from heaven Psal 78.25 and that they were daily fed with food from heaven wherevpon it is said Man did eate the bread of Angels And yet for all that all they which did eate that bread in the Wildernesse Ioh. 6.51 dyed But as for this meat which thou receivest yea this liuing bread which came downe from Heaven it ministreth and yeeldeth vnto thee the substance of eternall life and whosoever eateth of this bread shall not die for ever because it is the body of Christ Marke in what respect this Doctor saith that that meat which the faithfull receiue in the Church is Christs body for he saith This liuing bread which came down from heaven ministreth or yeeldeth the substance of eternal life Doth it as it is corporally taken or as it is ground and chawed with the teeth or as it is swallowed with the throte or received into the paunch doth it I say in these respects minister or yeeld the substance of everlasting life No verily for so it feedeth our flesh that shall die neither doth it giue any incorruption neither can it in that sense be truly said that whosoever shall eate this bread shall never die for that which the body receiveth is corruptible and cannot by any meanes performe this pleasure for the body it selfe that it should never die the reason is because that looke whatsoever is it selfe subiect to corruption is not powerfull or sufficient to giue eternitie Wherefore in that bread there is life but yet that life appeareth not to the bodily eyes but is beheld with the eye of faith Ioh 6.50.51 yea that is the liuing bread in deed which came downe from heaven and of which it is truely said Whosoever eateth it shall never die and which is also the Lords body Againe the same holy Doctor speaking of the almighty power of Christ faith thus Ambro. sacra lib. Cannot the word of Christ which was able of nothing to make every thing that is be strong and sufficient enough to change things that are into that which they were not for it is not a greater or harder matter to create and giue new things than to change the natures of things Saint Ambrose saith that there is a change made in that mysterie of the bodie and blood of Christ and that it is done marveilously and wonderfully because it is done divinely and heavenly and that it is done vnspeakably because it is of it selfe incomprehensible Now I would faine haue them that will in
Christs bodie but it is not his body bodily and it is Christs blood but yet it is not his blood bodily Also afterwardes the same Father saith Amb. eodem loco 1 Cor. 10.3.4 Wherevpon the Apostle speaking of the figure of Christ saith that our Fathers did eate the same spirituall meate and did drinke the same spirituall drinke For the Lords bodie is a spirituall bodie and the body of Christ is the body of the divine spirit For Christ is a spirit as we reade in the Lamentations of Ieremie Christ the Lord is a spirit before our face He hath most plainely taught vs how we should vnderstand the mystery of the body and blood of Christ For when he had said that our Fathers did eate spirituall meate and did drinke spirituall drinke whereas notwithstanding there is none that doubteth but that the Manna which they did eate and the water which they did drinke were bodily things he addeth cōcerning the mysterie which is now administred in the Church shewing and determining in what respect it is Christes bodie For the Lords bodie sayth he is a spirituall body Christ also is indeed God and the body which he tooke of the Virgin Mary the bodie that suffered that was buried that rose againe was certainely a very and true bodie and the same also remained visible and palpable that is to say might be seene and felt but that body which is called the mysterie of God is not bodily but spirituall and if it be spirituall then is it not visible or palpable that is it cannot be seene or felt Herevpon blessed Ambrose addeth saying The body of Christ is the body of the divine spirit Now the divine spirit is not any thing that is bodily is not any thing that is corruptible or any thing that is palpable and may be felt But this body which is celebrated and administred in the Church is in respect of the visible kinde and forme both corruptible and palpable Tell me then how it can be said to be the body of the divine spirit Verily no other way than in this respect that it is spirituall that is to say in this respect that it cannot be seene or felt therefore incorruptible To this very end Amb. eodem loco in the words following he addeth saying Because Christ is a spirit as we reade Christ the Lord is a spirit before our face By which words he plainly sheweth in what respect it may be counted Christs body to wit in respect that there is in it the spirit of Christ that is to say the power of the divine or heavenly word which doth not onely feede the soule but also purge it and make it cleane Wherefore the same Author saith afterward To conclude this meate strengtheneth our hearts and this drinke maketh mans heart merry and ioyfull Psal 104.5 as the Prophet saith It cannot be denied but that bodily meate doth after a sort strengthen mans heart and bodily drinke make his heart merry But that the Doctor might shew what meate it is and what drinke it is of which he speaketh he hath plainely and particularly added this meate and this drinke What meate doth he meane or what drinke Forsooth Christs body the body of the divine spirit and that it might be the more plainely vttered he saith Christ is a spirit of whom it is read Christ the Lord is a spirit before our face By all these places and speeches it plainely appeareth that we ought not or cannot take or perceiue any thing bodily in this meate in this drinke but that the whole matter must be cōsidered and weighed spiritually For the soule which in the place presently alledged is meant by the heart of man is not fed with bodily meate or bodily drinke but it is nourished quickned and made strong with the Word of God Ambr. sacra lib. 5. Which thing the selfe same Doctor affirmeth more plainely in his fifth Booke of Sacraments Not this Bread saith he which goeth into our bodies but it is that bread of eternall life which ministreth and yeeldeth substance vnto our soules And the things following in that booke or place doe most manifestly declare that S. Ambrose spake not this of the common bread but of the bread of Christs bodie for he speaketh of that daily bread which the faithfull desire might be given them and therefore he addeth If it be daily bread why doest thou receiue it but once in a yeare as the Grecians which dwell in the East are wont to doe Wherefore receiue that daily which may daily profit thee and liue so that thou maiest be found meete and worthy daily to receiue it Wherefore it is manifest of what bread he speaketh to wit of the bread of the body of Christ which sustaineth and vpholdeth the substance of the soule not in respect as it goeth and entreth into the bodie but in respect as it is Bread of everlasting life Thus you see that by the authoritie of this most learned man wee are taught that that bodie in which Christ suffered and that blood which hanging vpon the Crosse he shed out of his side doth very much differ from that body which the faithfull doe daily celebrate and receiue in the mysterie of Christs passion and from that blood which is received by the mouth of the beleevers seeing it is but a mysterie of that blood in and by which the whole world was Redeemed For this Bread and this Wine are not Christs bodie and blood in respect that they are to be seene bodily but in respect that they doe spiritually minister and yeeld vnto vs the substance of life And as for that bodie wherein Christ suffered once for all it shewed forth no other kinde or forme than that in which it consisted and was For it was truely and indeed the very selfe same which it was when it was seene which it was when it was touched which it was when it was crucified which it was when it was buried In like sort the blood that did gush and flow out of his side did not appeare one thing outwardly and cover or shaddow another thing inwardly Wherefore the very blood of Christ did flow from his very and true body but now the blood of Christ which the faithfull drinke vp and his body which they eate are one thing in kind and forme and another thing in sigfication They are one thing in that they feed the body with bodily meat and another thing in that they fat and feed the soules and mindes of men with the substance of eternall life Of this thing Saint Hierom Hieronim in epist ad Eph. in his Commentary vpon Pauls Epistle to the Ephesians writeth thus The blood and flesh of Christ is vnderstood two manner of wayes Ioh. 6.55 For either it is that spirirituall and divine flesh and blood of which he himselfe saith my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drinke indeed or else it is put for that
How then is the bread his body and the cup or that which is contained in the cup how is it his blood These things good brethren are therefore called Sacraments because one thing is seene in them and another thing vnderstood that which is seene hath a bodily kinde forme and shew but that which is vnderstood hath spirituall fruit The reverend Authour in speaking these things instructeth vs what wee ought to thinke and hold both concerning the Lords owne bodie which was borne of the Virgin Mary and sitteth now at the right hand of GOD and in which he shall come to judge the quicke and the dead and also concerning that body which is set on the Altar and whereof the people are partakers That body is sound and whole and is not divided by any cutting neither covered with any figures but this bodie which is set vpon the Lords Table is both a figure because it is a Sacrament and also as it is outwardly seene hath a bodily kinde and forme that feedeth the body but as it is inwardly vnderstood it hath a spirituall fruit which quickeneth the soule Aug. de sacra altar Serm. 1 Cor. 12.27 And the same Doctor minding to speake somewhat more plainely and manifestly of this mysticall body in the words following saith thus If yee will therefore vnderstand what Christes body meanes heare the Apostles saying Yee are the body of Christ and members for your part If then yee be the bodie of Christ and members for your part your mysterie is set on the Lords Table and yee receiue the mystery of the Lord. You answere Amen to that thing which you your selues be and by so answering you subscribe and consent to the same Thou hearest then Christes body and thou answerest Amen be a member of the body of Christ that so thy Amen may be true and right But wherefore is this done in bread In this matter we will bring forth nothing of our owne devise let vs rather heare the Apostle himselfe vtter his minde when speaking of this Sacrament he sayth we that are many are one bread 1 Cor. 10.17 and one body c. This holy man Augustine doth sufficiently instruct vs that as Christes bodie is signified by the Bread which is set vpon the Altar so also there is thereby signified by the bodie of the people that receiveth it manifestly thereby declaring that that is Christes proper or owne body in which he was borne of the Virgin in which he sucked in which he suffered in which be died in which he was buried in which he rose againe in which he ascended into Heaven in which he sitteth at the right hand of the Father and in which he shall come to judge the quicke and the dead Whereas that which is set vpon the Lords Table conteineth the mysterie of the other even as it doth likewise containe the mysterie of the beleeving people the Apostle himselfe witnessing the same and saying Wee that are many are one bread 1 Cor. 10.17 and one body in Christ. Your wisdome most noble Prince may perceiue and vnderstand that I haue both by the testimonies of the sacred Scriptures and by the sayings of the holy Fathers faithfully alledged and layd downe most evidently declared and plainely prooved that that bread which is called Christs bodie and that cup which is called Christs blood is a figure because it is a mystery and also that there is no small difference betweene that his body which is so in a mystery and that his body which sufferâ—â— and was buried and rose againe because in that was the very proper bodie of our Saviour neither was there in it any figure or or signification but the manifestation and plainenesse of the thing it selfe was knowne as also the beleevers at this day doe desire the sight thereof for that is our head and when wee see it Ioh. 10.30 our desire shall be satisfied for he and the Father are one not in respect that our Saviour hath a body but in respect of the fulnesse of the godhead Col. 2.9 which dwelt in Christ as hee was man Whereas in this which is celebrated and administred by a mystery there is a figure not onely of Christs owne body but also of the body of the people that beleeue in Christ for it beareth the figure of both the bodies that is to say both of Christ bodie which suffered and rose again and of the people that are in Christ through Baptisme borne againe and quickened from the dead Hereunto let vs adde also that this bread and this cup which is called the body and blood of Christ doth lieuely represent or set out the remembrance of the Lords passion or death even as hee himselfe hath sayd in the Gospell Luk. 22.19 Doe ye this in remembrance of mee which the Apostle Paul expounding saith 1 Cor. 11.26 So often as yee shall eate of this bread and drinke of this cup yee shall shew forth the Lords death till hee come Here we are taught by our Saviour by the holy Apostle Saint Paul that that bread and that wine which is set on the Altar is there set for a figure or remembrance of the Lords death to the end it might call back to our remembrance that which hath beene done in time past that so wee being made mindefull of that his passion might by it be made partakers of Gods gifts and graces by which also wee are delivered from death knowing this that when wee shall come to the sight and beholding of Christ we shall haue no need of such instruments and meanes thereby to be put in remembrance what his vnmeasurable and infinite goodnesse hath endured for vs the reason is because that When wee shall behold him face to face 1 Cor. 13.12 wee shall be put in minde not by any outward admonition of temporall things but we shall behold him in the very contemplation and sight of the truth it selfe and to be instructed how we ought to giue thanks to the author of our saluation And yet I would haue no man thinke that because wee speake thus that therefore the faithfull doe not in the mystery of the Sacrament receiue the Lords body and blood because faith receiveth that thing not which the eye seeth but that which the hart beleeveth for it is a spirituall meate and a spirituall drinke spiritually feeding the soule and giving the life of everlasting fulnesse even as our Saviour himselfe commending and setting out this mystery saith Ioh. 6.63 It is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing Thus I being a man of very small gifts and desiring to yeeld obedience vnto your Excellencies commandement haue presumed and vndertaken to dispute or reason of no small matters wherein I haue not followed the presumption of mine owne thinking or iudgement but regarded rather the authority of the ancient Fathers which if your Highnes shall allow as spoken Catholikely Christianly impute it I pray you to the deserts and worthinesse of your owne zeale and religion which was not ashamed having for a while layd aside the glory of your Kingly magnificence to demand an answer concerning the truth of such a poore and base person as I am But if happily these things shall not please and delight you ascribe it vnto my folly and vnskilfulnesse which could not effectually declare that which your Highnesse wished and I my selfe greatly desired Here endeth Bertrams Booke concerning the Body and Blood of the Lord. Errata IN the Epistle Whether he spurious reade whether he be spurious In the Preface next following PAge 2. Charlemayne the Great reade Charles the Great Page 7. Trithenius reade Trithemius Page 9. Sendeth greeting reade send greeting In the Booke of Bertram FOl. 5. Outwardly locked vp reade outwardly looked vpon Fol. 9. In colour or in favour reade in colour or in savour