answerable vnto the soule is Christ the Mediator who therefore in six hundred places of Scripture is said to be our life And himselfe saith of himselfe I am the resurrection and the life and againe I am the way the truth and the life Secondly as the Soule so hath Christ also life in himselfe As the Father saith he hath life in himselfe so hath he giuen vnto the Sonne also to haue life in himselfe and S. Paul saith that the Spirit of life is in the Sonne And S. Iohn This life is in his Sonne And againe This life was in him and the life was the light of men Thirdly as the soule hath not only life in it but also a quickning power so hath Christ also So S. Iohn As the Father so the Sonne quickneth whomsoeuer he will And S. Paul The first Adam was made a living soule and the second Adam was made a quickning spirit Fourthly as the soule vntill it be personally vnited quickneth not so neither doth Christ vntill he be mystically vnited Of this Vnion I cannot now speake I shall hereafter when I come to those words That they may be one as we are one I in them and thou in me In the meane season thus S. Paul I liue yet not I but Christ liueth in me that is I liue by Christ vnited vnto me And S. Iohn He that hath the Son that is he that is vnited vnto him hath life but he that hath not the Sonne that is is not vnited vnto him hath not life Fiftly as the Vnion of soule and body makes and constitutes Man so vpon our Vnion with Christ are we made new men Christian men spirituall men yea as is aboue proued very Christ. So speaketh S. Paul in the place alleadged and elsewhere yee are of God in Christ Iesus that is by being in Christ yee haue receiued of God a new essence or being Sixtly as from the naturall being of man comes naturall life so from the spirituall issues spirituall life Because I liue saith our Saviour yee to wit who receiue of my spirit and so are spirituall men yee I say shall liue Seventhly and lastly as from humane life proceed humane operations so from the spirituall proceed spirituall actions This hath beene already shewed wherevnto I now only adde that of S. Paul If Christ be in you the body indeed is dead vnto sinne but the spirit is life vnto righteousnesse And thus you see how and after what manner spirituall life is conveyed vnto vs from Christ. It is further added that this life is not only from Christ but that he is the donour and giuer thereof It is from him but by way of gift For so it is said that he may giâ—e So also elsewhere The bread of God is he which commeth downe from heauen and giueth life vnto the world And S. Paul the wages of sinne is death but the gift of God is eternall life through Iesus Christ our Lord. Wherevpon S. Peter calleth it the grace of life And the scripture every where imputeth the whole worke of our salvation from the beginning vnto the end thereof vnto meere grace Now as he saith Gratia non est gratia nisisit omnimodo gratuita grace is not grace vnlesse it be every way of free gift And certainly if it be not of free gift it is of merit and due preparation in our selues But I beseech you what merit what preparation of himselfe was there in Adam vnto life while as yet he lay like a dead lump of clay before his maker What in Lazarus when he had beene quatriduanus foure dayes in the graue and began to putrifie and corrupt Surely none at all No more can there be in vs who before we receiue this life are vtterly dead in trespasses and sins If the creature disposed not himselfe vnto his creation nor man vnto his generation nor the science vnto its incition how can we prepare our selues either to our renovation or regeneration or ingrafting into the mysticall body of Christ In a word can sinne be a disposition or preparation vnto Grace I trow no. Yet whatsoeuer we doe before we are new creatures and liue the spirituall life is at the best but splendidum peccatum a gay and glittering sinne For the agent is altogether sinfull and carnall and whatsoeuer is of flesh is flesh Doe we gather grapes of thornes or figgs of thistles or good fruite of an evill tree No verily For such as the tree is such fruit it yeeldeth Good it cannot yeeld till it be made good Made good we are not till wee beleeue Till we beleeue therefore can wee doe no good If so then what is not of Faith is sinne and pleaseth not God And what pleaseth not him cannot dispose vnto grace Being then without merit and disposition vnto grace it must needs follow that as spirituall life is by Vnion so it is also by way of gift from Christ. The vse of all may be first to teach vs that all they who are not vnto Christ mystically vnited are spiritually dead and what actions soeuer proceed from them notwithstanding all the specious and goodly shew they make are not living actions For being not acted by the spirit of Christ they are not like vnto bodies animated by a humane soule but vnto such dead bodies rather as are raised vp by magicians and are stirred and moved only by the spirit of Satan These may seeme to liue but indeed liue not And if spirituall life bee the only blessed life then must these needs bee in a most ruefull and miserable case Secondly it teacheth vs that if we desire to liue this wee must indeavour by all meanes to be vnited vnto Christ. He is come vnto vs that we might haue life yea and that we might haue it in abundance If we come not to him it is our fault if we liue not And iust cause shall we giue him to complaine of vs as he did of the Iewes yee will not come to me that yee might haue life Our comming is by Faith By it Christ dwelleth in our harts and by it is the iust man said to liue This purgeth and purifieth our soules and produceth in vs the works of charity which are the right operations of Spirituall life Thirdly seeing we liue by Christ it is reason we should also liue vnto him For as S. Augustin saith every thing should liue to that by which it liueth as the body because it liveth by the Soule ought to liue vnto the Soule Hence therefore is it that S. Paul would haue all that are dead vnto sinne to reckon themselues aliue but aliue vnto God through Iesus Christ our Lord. Hence also he affirmeth that none of vs liveth to himselfe but that we liue vnto the Lord and that himselfe through the law is dead to the law that he might liue vnto God But most
Chrysostome doe proue not only this but the Resurrection also of our Bodies by the truth of Christs Flesh in the Sacrament for that our Flesh ioyning with his Flesh which is immortall shall bee immortall also I. D. The truth of Christs Flesh in the Sacrament and the Coniunction of our Flesh with his Flesh neither is nor ever was by vs denied And therefore to heap vp Fathers for the proofe thereof is but to spend your labour to no purpose That you should proue is the Presence of Christ by Transubstantiation Which hitherto you haue but little aymed at In the Sacrament say these Fathers our Flesh is ioyned to Christs Flesh Ergo our Flesh shall rise againe The Antecedent is true and the sequele is good But what ioyning doe they meane The taking of Christs flesh into the mouth They neuer dreamt of it And if it were so it would follow that all they that eat Christ Sacramentally among whom how many Reprobates are there shall rise againe vnto life everlasting For I hope you will not say that the sacred Flesh of Christ doth quicken any vnto everlasting death How then is it By eating him not only Sacramentally but also spiritually and by Faith For by this meanes Christ becomes the food of our soules which redounding vpon the Flesh by making it the Temple of the Holy Ghost and an instrument of righteousnes fitteth and prepareth it to a glorious Resurrection Hence our Sauiour He that eateth my flesh drinketh my bloud hath life everlasting and I will raise him vp at the last day And the Apostle S. Paul If Christ bee in you the Body indeed is dead because of sinne but the spirit is life because of righteousnesse But if the spirit of him that raised vp Iesus Christ from the dead dwell in you hee that raised vp Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortall bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you And that this is the meaning of the Fathers appeares by that they say Our bodies come not into corruption but partake of life by being nourished with the body bloud of the Lord. For that our bodies in litterall sense should be nourished with Christs body is to make it the food of the belly not of the minde then which saith Bellarmine nothing can bee deuised more absurd And what I pray you is Nourishment properly Only to take meat into the mouth No but the alteration and conversion of the substance thereof into the substance of that which is nourished which to affirme of the Body of Christ is horrible impiety Of force therefore must the Fathers be vnderstood to speake of such a Nourishment by the body of Christ as is spirituall Now if the Nourishment be spirituall such is the Eating also and it is as absurd to say that the soule is nourished by bodily eating as that the body is nourished by spirituall eating Will you haue all in a word The things that wee eat with our mouth in the Sacramēt are not the causes but the pledges of our Resurrection So saith the great Councell of Nice We must beleeue these things to be the symbols or pledges of our Resurrection N. N. And the same S. Irenaeus doth proue farther that the great God of the old Testament Creator of heauen earth was Christs Father For proofe whereof hee alleageth this reason that Christ in the Sacrament did fulfill the Figures of the old Testament and that in particular wherein bread was a figure of his Flesh which he fulfilled saith Irenaeus making it his Flesh indeed I. D. The Marcionites whom Irenaeus confuteth taught that the God of the old Testament was not the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ and that the Creator was knowne but the Father of Christ was vnknowne Against this hee endeauoureth to proue that the Father of our Lord was he who created the world That this he intendeth manifestly appeareth by those words where hee saith Others saying that another besides the creator is his Father and offering vnto him those creatures that are here amongst vs shew that he is greedy and covetous of that which is anothers And among other arguments this he vseth for one Bread and Wine are the creatures of the Creator of the world which creatures Iesus Christ vseth in the Sacrament the one to be his Body and the other to be his Bloud and therein are they offered to his Father Ergo the Creator is his Father Were he not his Father he would never haue takē that which belongs vnto another or whervnto he had no right and convert it to his owne vse So that here your Author hath notably deceaued you For Irenaeus proueth Christ to bee the sonne of the Creator not by his omnipotence in turning Bread and Wine into his Flesh and Bloud a thing that neuer came into his thought but from his right and title to the Creatures which maketh nothing for Transubstantiation Touching the Figures of the old Testament and how they prefigured our Sacraments we haue spoken enough already N. N. What is so sacrilegious saith Optatus Milevitanus as to breake downe scrape and remoue the altars of God on which your selues haue sometimes offered and the members of Christ haue beene borne c. What is an altar but the Seat of the Body and Bloud of Christ And this monstrous villanie of yours is doubled for that you haue brokē also the chalice which did beare the Bloud of Christ himselfe When the mixed chalice and the Bread broken taketh the word of God the Eucharist of the bloud and body of Christ is made Bread receauing the calling of God is not now common bread but the Eucharist consisting of two things one earthly another heavenly the earthly thing is the old forme of bread the heavenly is the body of Christ newly made vnder that forme Let vs now consider also the persons to whom this Commandement was giuen they were those twelue Apostles whom Christ at his last Supper taught the new Oblation of the new Testament giuing them authority by this precept to consecrate to make present and to offer to God his body and bloud I. D. Where little or nothing is objected the answer is soone made Optatus saith that the altar is the seat of Christs body and bloud and that the chalice beareth his bloud Irenaeus saith that after consecration the Eucharist of the body and bloud is made that in it there is a heavenly thing and the Apostles had authority to make present the body of Christ. Ergo the body and bloud of Christ is really corporally locally and by way of Transubstantiation present in the Sacrament A poore and silly consequence which all the wity our author hath wil neuer be able to make good For those words of the Fathers may be salued and verified if Christ be Present any other way And Present hee is Sacramentally to the signes and spiritually to the Faith of
expresly thus saith he we iudge that if one died for all thē were all dead that he died for all that they which liue should not henceforth liue vnto themselues but vnto him which died for them and rose againe You will say how are we to liue vnto Christ I answere as the body liueth vnto the Soule The Body liueth vnto the Soule when it is serviceable and obedient therevnto especially when it followeth not the sway of inordinate passion but the direction of right reason In like manner we liue vnto Christ when we serue and obey him not living after the flesh but after the spirit For not they that walke after the flesh are in Christ but they only who are lead by the spirit of Christ. S. Peter expresseth it by liuing not to the lusts of men but to the will of God And by and by setteth down the Iusts of men to be the will of the Gentiles namely lasciviousnesse lusts excesse of wine revellings banquetings abominable idolatries and the like Vnto all which he opposeth liuing according to God in the spirit Fourthly and lastly hence we may learne humility to ascribe nothing to our owne selues For what are wee in nature but stinking carkasses If we liue it is by the meere grace of Christ. Come vnto him of our selues to be quickned by him we could not It was his Father that drew vs vnto him Not vnto vs therefore not vnto vs but vnto the Father through Iesus Christ bee ascribed the whole praise and glory thereof for evermore And thus much of the second point Vnde whence this life is The third point is Quibus vpon whom it is conferred and bestowed Vpon those saith my Text and all those whom his Father hath giuen him Who are they For of them Christ very often speaketh All saith he that my father giueth me shall come vnto me And againe This is the Fathers will which hath sent me that of all which hee hath giuen me I should loose nothing And yet againe My Father which gaue them me is greater then all And so also sundry times in the sequele of this present Chapter For clearer vnderstanding hereof therefore we are to knowe that there is a double donation by which men are said to be giuen vnto Christ the one Common the other Singular The Common is that whereby the Father hauing given vnto the Sonne all power both in heauen and earth deliuereth all things also into his hand giuing as it were liverie and seizing of them that from thenceforth hee may dispose of them at his pleasure And thus all men whatsoeuer both elect and reprobate are giuen vnto him But this is not here meant as by and by shall appeare Another donation therefore there is more speciall and singular whereby the Father deliuereth vnto the Sonne some of the creatures as vnto a head to be his members or to persist in our present similitude giueth them as a body to the soule to be acted and quickned by him that is to be ruled and ordered not only by the Scepter of his Power but of his Grace and sanctifying Spirit Now who are these Surely not all flesh for all are not vnited to him and so liue not by him Who then They that are elected and chosen vnto life of whom it is said Multi vocati pauci verò electi many are called but few are chosen And that these are here meant plainely appeareth by and by where he saith I haue manifested thy name vnto the men which thou gauest me out of the world that is not to all but some only selected and culled from the rest And againe Thine they were and thou gauest them mee How thine By free election and now mine by speciall donation And yet againe I pray not for the world but for them that thou hast giuen me for they are thine Where you see the world distinguished from them that are given him and excluded from being the Fathers together with them Whence it followeth necessarily that the donation here meant is not of all but those only who in speciall sort are the Fathers namely his chosen and peculiar ones For the better vnderstanding hereof and that you may knowe how and in what order the Father is pleased to proceed in this gracious worke thus I take it you are to conceaue thereof First the Father seeing all mankind by the fall of Adam to bee corrupted and in the state of damnation out of his meere mercy and loue decreed not to loose the whole race of man but to renew and repaire againe his image in some of them to the praise of the glory of his grace prouided yet alwaies that his iustice for sinne be fully satisfied Secondly for the satisfaction of his iustice he further decreed to send his sonne into the world that taking our nature vpon him he might therein suffer whatsoeuer was due to sinne and so mediate a peace betweene God and vs. Then thirdly out of the corrupt Masse of mankinde he selecteth and chuseth some particulars even such as he pleaseth with a purpose infallibly to bring them to everlasting life And in regard of this act it is that our Saviour saith tui erant they were from al eternity thine and againe tui sunt by the constant continuation of the same purpose they are still thine In the fourth place those that are thus elected the Father giueth vnto the Sonne to accomplish his purpose vpon them and by vertue of the power and life giuen him to quicken them vnto eternall life Being thus giuen wee are now Christs Wherevpon also the Church is bold and saith My welbeloued is mine and I am his and S. Paul directly affirmeth that we are Christs And being Christs fiftly lastly he actually enliues quickens them raising them vp from the death of sinne and convaying into them the spirit of life in such sort as wee haue formerly declared But doth Christ bestow life vpon all them that are so given him yea verily my text expressely affirmeth it that he should giue eternall life to as many as thou hast giuen him This was the very end wherefore the Father gaue them to him And shall we thinke that the Father tooke not order sufficient for the attaining of his end God forbid For because he would not faile of his end therefore did he giue so great power vnto his Sonne Such power that nothing except he would could plucke them out of his hands and so much life that if hee would hee might giue it in abundance Shall we say that the Sonne though he hath power yet wants will Farre be such blasphemy from vs. For he testifieth of himselfe that hee came downe from heauen with this resolution not to doe his owne will but the will of him that sent him and now that he is come that he seeketh not his owne will but the will of the Father
Adam the tenour whereof runnes thus Hoc fac vives Doe this and thou shalt liue hee gaue it not vnto the person of Adam alone but vnto all those that were in his loines even to all his posterity who had the law printed in their hearts by nature In like manner when Christ commanded the Gospell of Faith and repentance to be preached he limited it not vnto a few but said vnto his Apostles Goe teach all nations and goe into all the world and preach the Gospell vnto every creature Neither from the law nor from the Gospell was any man excepted God is no accepter of persons the hand that swaies a scepter and that diggeth with the spade are both alike vnto him Idem ius Titio quod Seio one rule vnto all whether they be high or low noble or base rich or poore learned or vnlearned bond or free young or old of what state age sexe or condition soever they be God hath not strowed the way to Heaven with roses for great ones to dance vpon and with thornes for the meaner sort to tread vpon neither hath hee appointed a spacious and broad way for some and a strait narrow way for other some to passe vnto life everlasting by For the waies of the Lord are strait waies and as betweene two points there can be but one strait line drawne so can there bee but one strait way that leadeth vnto life Vno quisque modo bonus est mutisque nefandus a man may be wicked many waies but he can bee good only one way A thousand byâ—pathes are there which lead vnto destruction and but one only right path that leadeth to salvation For there is but one body and one spirit and one hope in which all are called one Lord one faith one baptisme one God and father of vs all in a word one Blessednesse which is the end and one Religion which is the way to that end through which way every man of necessity must passe that meaneth to arriue at that end Now I beseech you all that heare mee this day of what place soever you be whether high or low that you will be pleased every one to apply this individually and singularly vnto himselfe and to take notice that none of you can come after Christ but only by the same way Every one must deny himselfe every one must take vp his crosse daily every one must follow Christ or else yee cannot possibly come after him There is none of you so meane whom God overseeth or neglecteth none so great whom he priuiledgeth or exempteth And thus much of the generality of the Counsell The Forme of words in which the Counsell was deliuered is if any will let him which as wee haue said importeth the liberty of them that are counselled For it is as if our Saviour should thus haue said Behold I tell you all plainely no man can come after me vnlesse hee deny himselfe take vp his crosse daily and follow me Now if any will thus come after me I giue him good leaue let him doe so for my part I will neither force him from me nor after me if he come he shall come willingly If any will let him First therefore Christ putteth off and forceth no man from him For God would haue all men to be saved and to come vnto the knowledge of the truth neither is he willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance I haue no pleasure in the death of him that dieth saith the Lord God nay he sweares as he liues hee will not the death of a sinner but that the wicked turne from his way and liue And certainly seeing man is the creature of God and creation is the first emanation issue as it were of his loue it cannot be that hee should delight in his destruction He made not death as the wise man saith and when he inflicts it alienum opus facit he doth a worke not so pleasing him for he had rather shew mercy then execute iudgement Hence is it that he standeth at the doore of our heart and knocketh yea that he continueth knocking vntill his head be filled with dew and his lockes with the drops of the night that he requesteth vs so louingly to giue him entrance Open vnto mee my sister my loue my doue my vndefiled promising so bountifully that if wee shall open vnto him he will come in vnto vs and sup with vs and wee with him and threatning vs that as if we come vnto him wee shall finde refreshment so if wee draw backe his soule shall haue no pleasure in vs. Neither let vs thinke but that God meaneth seriously in all this for otherwise he should but mocke and deceiue vs pretending one thing and intending another and which I tremble to speake playing the hypocrite and dissembler with vs. Besides this he should make vs the ministers of the Gospell no better then false witnesses vnto him testifying things that are vntrue and which he never purposed whereas God being omnipotent needeth not our lye and being truth it selfe will not compasse his end by a lye Finally if Christ with his hands should push from him those whom by his word he inviteth to him then they that come not are the more excusable for every one may plead for himselfe that he suffered violence and Christ himselfe hindred him whose force no creature is able to withstand Christ then forceth no man from him If so whence then is it that many who are invited come not I answere the fault is in themselues they will not come I called saith Wisdome yee refused I stretched out my hand no man regarded yee set at naught all my counsells and would none of my reproofe And againe I called saith God and yee did not answere I spake and yee did not heare but did evill before mine eyes and did chuse that wherein I delighted not Wherefore he protesteth by the prophet Osea Perditio tua ex te Israell thy destruction is of thy selfe oh Israell and complaineth by the prophet Ezechiell why will ye dye ô house of Israell as if he should say if yee dye it is because yee will needs dye They refused to harken saith Zacharie and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their eares that they should not heare yea they made their hearts as an adamant stone least they should heare the law In like manner in the new testament How often would I haue gathered thy children together as the hen gathereth her chickens vnder her wings and yee would not Marke the words I would therefore Christ forceth no man from him yee would not therefore the fault is in our selues The Pharisees and Lawyers saith St Luke reiected the counsell of God against themselues our Saviour testifieth of the Iewes that they would not come vnto him that they might haue life
obedientia blinde and absolute obedience is as necessary commendable as in Friars to their superiours it is foolish and vnreasonable To this I answere that God indeed had intimated his purpose vnto Abraham but yet in this forme of words Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sinne is exceeding grievous I will goe downe now and see whether they haue done altogether according to that crie which is come vnto me and if not that I may know In these words you see he doth not say that he would destroy the godly with the wicked and by the deliverance of Lot it plainely appeares he never intended so to doe and therefore it could be no arrogance in Abraham to make such a charitable deprecation for them Neither doth that appeare by the words that God had past an absolute and peremptory sentence against the wicked Sodomites for if ten righteous men had beene found amongst them they had beene spared and the threatnings of God ordinarily are to be vnderstood with a condition annexed vnto them if men repent not yea although it be not in plaine tearmes expressed as in that against Niniveh yet forty daies Niniveh shall be destroyed for this notwithstanding vpon their repentance they were not destroyed So that this condition being here also vnderstood what presumption could it be in Abraham to desire favour for the Sodomites at least vpon their repentance Finally had God absolutely threatned without condition yet ought not man so much to attend what God intendeth to doe agreeable vnto his owne will and iustice as what he himselfe is to doe agreeable to the law of God and nature and then shall he find that God in denouncing and executing iudgement wills two things both that they perish and that he greeue God had laid Iudea wast and sent away the inhabitants thereof into captivity yet Ieremy lamented for it Christ knew well that God had absolutely determined to destroy Ierusalem yet hee wept over it a sonne may know by evident symptomes that his Father cannot liue and yet desire the prolonging of his life and all without sinne In like manner might Abraham without offence wish all good vnto the Sodomites notwithstanding Gods will vnto the contrary Now this affection of this holy Patriarch is iustifiable both by the law of God and nature hauing a three fold foundation to support it Humanitie Consanguinitie Piety First Humanity for what heart of flint or adamant would not melt to behold so many thousands so fearfully to perish It is reported of Xerxes a king of Persia that leading into Greece a huge hoast of about a leauen hundred thousand men and being desirous on a time to take a view of them from the top of a hill while he beheld thē he burst forth into weeping and shed many teares and being demanded the reason because quoth hee within one age not one of all these will be left If Xerxes were so affected at the consideration of the naturall death of so many should not Abraham be much more moved at the destruction of the Sodomites so sudden so violent so terrible for the manner of death is far more fearfull then death it selfe Nay if God himselfe pittied the great City of Niniveh in which were sixscore thousand persons that could not discerne betweene the right and the left hand why should not Abraham also commiserate these fiue citties in which without question were many thousands of young tender babes and infants who never partaked in their parents transgressions Aboue all If yee consider that this temporall plague of fire and brimstone from heaven was praeludium aeterni a fore runner of eternall miserie in hell what man is he that hath but a sparke of humanity in him but would wish it to be otherwise and prevent it if he could For one man not to sympathize and compassionate with another in his miseries is meere inhumanity Another ground of this affectio◠in Abraham was Bloud and Consanguinity for there liued among the Sodomites Lot his children and family Now Abraham was vnkle vnto Lot Lot being Harans sonne which Haran was brother vnto Abraham and this is so great a neerenesse in bloud that by the very law of nature marriage betweene vnkle and neece aunt and nephew is interdicted and vnkles are accounted as fathers to their nephewes Betweene these therefore there must needs passe a naturall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and affection more then betweene them and others inasmuch as there is a neerer vnion and coniunction betweene them Others may be glewed together by friendship or alliance but these are of the same peece naturally one bone of bone and flesh of flesh Here there ought to be no difference at all let there bee no strife betweene me and thee saith Abraham to Lot for wee are brethren yea extraordinary loue and amity I behaued my selfe saith David as to my friend or to my brother and the more the loue is the more earnest and vehement will the desire be for the prevention of such evills as doe threaten them The third and last ground of Abrahams affection was Religion and Piety For where there is a profession of the same true religion there is a straiter bond then that of bloud being members of the same mysticall body in Christ Iesus hauing one Lord one Faith one Baptisme one body one spirit one hope one God and Father of all which is aboue all through all and in all And out of this Vnion issueth that holy communion of Saints mentioned in the articles of our Creed in regard whereof we are bound to loue the Saints farre aboue other men according to that of St Paul while we haue time let vs doe good vnto all specially vnto those that are of the houshold of faith Of this family was Lot and his houshold and many others for ought Abraham knew and therefore vnlesse hee would be not only without naturall affection but also without religious sympathie and compassion he must needs stand thus affected towards this mixt company in Sodom and beseech God either to spare the wicked for the godlies sake or to preserue the Godly in the destruction of the wicked that it may not every way be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as to the one so to the other And thus you see the affection of Abraham both what it is and by what grounds it is justified warranted Let vs apply this before we proceede farther As we all professe our selues to be the children of Abraham according to the faith so is it our duty also to be his children in affection And first even towards the wicked ought wee to be tenderly affected and to pittie them more then they pitty themselues Thus doth Abraham in this place thus did David a true son of Abraham when they were sicke saith he I clothed my selfe with sacke cloath and humbled my soule with fasting Thus did Christ a true sonne both of
for the Transformation of Bread into Flesh which he speakes of though still it seeme Bread it is plaine hee meanes not that of Transubstantiation for in this Bread ceaseth to be but in that he confesseth it still to remaine and that it is Bread which is eaten by vs in the Mysteries Which yet he more plainly expresseth where hee saith God in mercy condescending to our infirmity preserueth the Species or Nature of Bread and wine but trans-elementeth or changeth it into the vertue of his flesh blood where it is farther to be obserued that hee saith not into flesh and blood but into the vertue thereof intimating a Change not of Substance but of Operation and Efficacy Your next witnesse is Magnetes an author to me vtterly vnknowne saue that Gesner in his Bibliotheca reporteth that he was very ancient and that about thirteene hundred yeares since hee wrote in the Greeke tongue certaine bookes in defence of the Gospell vnto Theosthenes against the Gentiles that flandered it and that he is quoted by Fr. Turrian By which words it seemes that hee never yet saw the Presse and what is alledged out of him is warranted only by Turrians testimony But Turrian is one that deserues no credit at our hands as being a Iesuite and knowne to haue plaid many foule tricks this way Yet if to make your author agree with the rest of the Fathers you will giue the same construction to his words that aboue is giuen vnto Theophilact you may Otherwise his authority is as easily reiected as alledged N. N. St Hilary vseth this kind of argument If the word of God were truly made flesh then doe wee truly receiue his flesh in the Lords supper and thereby he is to bee esteemed to dwell in vs naturally St Cyril proueth not only a Spirituall but also a Naturall and Bodily vnion to be betweene vs and Christ by eating his flesh in the Sacrament I. D. That Hilary speaketh of the Lords Supper or of our Coniunction with Christ by Eating thereof I thinke it will hardly be proved Had he so meant how cometh it to passe that he never alledgeh those words of the Sacrament This is my body which would haue made more for his purpose but ever voucheth the sixt of Iohn which maketh little to the Sacrament Howbeit if you will needs vnderstand him so I will not striue Know then that in those bookes St Hilary disputes against the Arians To them he obiected that saying The Father and the Sonne are one One answered they as wee are with Christ by Will not by Nature wherevnto he replied that wee are even by Nature one with Christ. And this he proues first because both in Christ and vs there is the same Humane nature by the Incarnation of the Sonne of God which hee calls the Sacrament of perfect vnion Secondly because the Faithfull are ioyned vnto him by his Spirit dwelling in them which regenerateth quickneth sanctifieth them and not only conformeth them vnto him but also transformeth them into him And for proofes hereof hee alledgeth divers passages of St Iohns Gospell such as your selues confesse no way to belong vnto the Sacrament Thirdly for that by Baptisme we are ioyned vnto Christ and that not only by consent of will but naturally according to that of Saint Paul As many as are baptized into Christ haue put on Christ. Whereunto lastly if you please you may adde for that also in the Lords Supper wee are vnited vnto him by Eating his Flesh and Drinking his Blood All these waies saith Hilary are wee Naturally ioyned vnto Christ. If so then not only by the Eucharist And if for the establishing of the other meanes there needeth no Transubstantiation at all as of the Sonne of God into Man of Faith into the Spirit of Christ or of Baptismall water into the Bloud of Christ neither is it necessarie for this that bread be Transubstantiated into the Body of Christ. Or if to bring Christ into vs and our mouth you will needs transubstantiate the bread into his body I wonder what Transubstantiation you will devise to bring vs into him and his mouth For Hilary affirmeth that by the same Mysticall coniunction not only is Christ in vs but also wee are Naturally in him The same Answere may serue for Cyril also wherevnto for farther explication of the word Naturally and Naturall so often vsed both by Cyril and Hilary I adde that in them Naturally signifieth Truly Naturall True if wee may beleeue him who best knew their meaning even Cyril himselfe For thus he Not according to naturall vnity that is true vnity By nature wee are the children of wrath where by nature we are to vnderstand truth So that Naturall vnion is true vnion and naturally to be vnited is truly to be vnited which I hope may bee without Transubstantiation N. N. Theodoret doth proue that Christ tooke Flesh of the blessed virgin and ascended vp with the same and holdeth the same there by that he giueth to vs his true flesh in the Sacrament for that otherwise hee could not giue vs his true Flesh to eat if his owne flesh were not true seeing that he gaue the same that he carried vp and retaineth in heauen I. D. I marvell much not one of the Fathers being more expresse against Transubstantiation then Theodoret that yet you durst to praise him in the maintenance thereof Evē for this cause doth the Preface to the Roman Edition goe about to weaken his authority and Gregorie of Valentia flatly condemneth him It is no wonder saith he if one or two or more of the Ancients haue thought or written of this matter not so considerately and rightly Adde herevnto that Theodoret was noted by the Councell of Ephesus for some other errours besides But how much Theodoret maketh against Transubstantiation you shall heare hereafter Now you may be pleased to knowe that in the place by you cited he disputeth against an Eutychian Hereticke who held that the Humanitie of Christ was abolished and absorpted by his Deitie This hee would proue by the Eucharist that as the Symbols before Consecration are one thing but after it are changed and become another even so the Body of Christ after the Assumption thereof is chāged into the Divine Substance Now if Theodoret had beene Transubstantiator hee had beene finely taken for Transubstantiation abolisheth the substance of Bread and turneth it into the substance of Christs Body But hee taketh the Heretike in his owne nets affirming the Mysticall signes after their sanctification doe not depart from their nature and that therefore Christ after the Assumption thereof retaineth his Humanity still Whereby you may see that although it be yeelded that Christ giueth vs his true Flesh in the Sacrament yet in the iudgement of Theodoret he so giueth it that the Mysticall signes retaine their Nature still which vtterly overturnes your Transubstantiation N. N. S. Irenaeus S. Iustin and S.