not from Calvin but from Christ and his Apostles For the strait â—â—ssages and steepe places of the Alpes â—â—d preserved them from the persecutiâ—â—s of the Pope and his Ministers And at this very day also the Church of Ethiopia which containeth 17 great â—â—ovinces agrees with us in the funâ—amentall points of Faith though she â—ave some small superstitions For she â—eleeveth not Purgatory nor Transubâ—antiation She maketh no elevation for Adoration of the Hoste Is not subâ—ect to the Pope Knowes nor what Indulgences meane nor private Masses Celebrateth the divine Service in the Ethiopian tongue Gives the Communion to the People under both kindes Worships no Images Hath but one Table or Altar in the Church Hath Monkes but they are Muried and earne their living by the worke of their hands Baptiseth not the male Children till forty dayes after this 〈◊〉 and the females after threesâ—â—â— dayes an assured signe that she beleeves not 〈◊〉 Baptisme of Water to be necessary uâ—â— Salvation These things are seene 〈◊〉 the History of Francis Alvarez a Pâ—â—tugall Monke who lived six yeareâ—â— the Court of the great Neguz Empertâ—â— of Ethiopia The Ethiopian Churches are calâ—â—niously and falsly accused to be Eutichians True it is they be subjeâ—â— to the Patriarch of Alexandria is who 〈◊〉 an Eutichian But that subjection iâ—â—â— in the doctrine but onely in that 〈◊〉 said Patriarch hath the right of noâ—â—â— nation of the Abuna or chiefe Prâ—late of the Ethiopians when the Seâ—â—voide The Greeke Church more ancient thaâ— the Roman and of whom the Chuâ—â—â— of Rome received the Christian Religion doth not acknowledge the Pope rejecteth his Lawes knoweth not whaâ— his Indulgences are Beleeveth neitheâ— the Purgatory nor the Transubstantiation Celebrateth the divine Service in the Greeke tongue Hath her Priests married Hath no Liturgies or Private Masses and comes a greatdeale neerer to our Religion than to the Romish And this I say not that we ground our selves upon any of these examples â—or would be authorised thereby For â—â—e doe ground our selves only upon the word of God and of his blessed Apostles contained in the holy Scripture unto which the Pope braggeth not to be subject and doth not acknowledge it for Judge In a word we must stand firme upon this To wit that our Adversaries must shew us where their Religion was in the time of the Apostles before wee doe shew them where our Religion was before Calâ—in CHAP. XXIV That our Adversaries reject the Fathers and speake of them with contempt OVr Adversaries being pressed by the holy Scripture are wont to have recourse to the Fathers whom never thelesse they receive not for Judges and acknowledge in them a multitude of errors and speake of them with great contempt Denis Petau a Jesuite in his Notes upon Epiphanius pag. Multa sunt à sactissims Patribus praeapucque à Chrysostomo in Homiliss aspersa quae si ad exactae veritatis regulam accommodare volueris boni sesus mania videbuntur 244 speaketh thus In the most holy Fathers and cheifly in Chrysostome his Homilies are dispersed many things which if thore wouldest accommodate to the rule of truth shall be found to be voide of sense Cardinall Baronius in his Annals in the year 34. § 213. a Sanctiâ—â—mos Patres in interpretatione Scripturae non semper in omnibus Catholica sequâ—â—ur â—â—desia The Catholick Church doth not follow alwayes the most holy Fathers in the interpretation of the Scripture b Consultiâ—â— dâ—â—ndu puâ—aâ—â—â— Hâ—eronymum sit amen ille ipse est ut humana sert infirmiâ—as memoriâ lapsum And in the § 185. Hierome hath erred for lacke of memory And in the yeare 31. § 24. he checks Saint Austin for not understanding well these words of the Lord Thou art Peter c. And in the yeare 60. § 20. he is vexed against Theodoret because he rejected the service of Angels grounded upon a place of Saint Paul Colos 2. c Ex his videas haud feliciter ejâ—s pace dictum sit Theodoretum assecutum esse Pauls verborum sensum By this saith he it may he seene that Theodoret with his good leave did not well apprehend the Apostles meanning And in the veare 369. § 24. Hilary had also his defects Alphonsus à Castro in his first Booke of Heresies Chapter 7. a SanctoruÌ„ Patrumsetentâ—â—e saepe invicem repugnant Oftentimes the opinions of the Fathers are repugnant one to the other Melchior Canus in his seventh Book of common places Chapter 3. b NuÌ„ 2. CuÌ„ Sanctorum quisque his duntax at exceptis qui libros Canonicos eduderunt humano spiritu locutus suerit aliquaÌ„do vel in co â—rrarit quod ad sidem pertinere posteademonstratum est c. Seeing there is none of the Saints except onely those that have written the Canonicall Bookes but have spoken by the spirit of man and sometimes erred in that which afterwards was knowne to belong to the Faith It is evident that from such an authority none can build a certaine and assured Faith And thereupon he produceth for an example the errors of many Fathers so farre as to say that against the ordinary course of nature they bring forth monsters Sixtus Senensis in the Preface upon the fifth Booke of his Bibliotheca c Prisâ—i illi Ecclisiaâ—il Magistrâ— nonnibâ—l interdum à proposito veritatis scopo aberraverunt These ancient Masters of the Churches of have some times swerved from the scope of the truth at which they aimed And in the same place d In libris sancterum Doctorum quos authentica legit Ecclesia nonnunquam â—â—uni antur quaedam pravavel haeretica In the Bookes of the holy Doctors whose authority is read in the Church are found sometimes things wicked and hereticall and he speaketh this after Anselme in his Commentaries upon the second to the Corinthians Maldonat the Jesuite upon the sixth of Saint John checking Saint Austin for not well conceiving in what sense Christ calleth himselfe the bread saith a § 81. Hoc dâ—co persuasum me habere D. Augustâ—num si nostra fuisset aetate longe aliter sensurum fuisse Et S. 71. Hanc interpretationeÌ„ multo magis probo quà m illam Augustinâ— I am perswaded that if Austin had lived in ouâ— dayes he would have beene of an other opinion And in the same place I doe approve of this interpretation much more than that of Austins Cardinall Cajetan in the beginning of his Commentaries upon Genefis b Nullus detestelur novum sacrae Scripturae sensum ex hoc quod dissonat à prescis Doâ—â—oribus Non enim allâ—gavit Deus exposiâ—â—onem Scripturarum pâ—isâ—orum Doctorum sensibus Let none detest a new sense of the Scripture under colour it disagreeth from the ancient Doctors For God hath not tyed the Expesition of the Scriptures to the sense or opinions of the ancient Doctors Andradius in his second Booke of the defense of the Faith
is it as great an absurdity by the word of Substance to understand Accidents If it may be lawfull for them to wrest the Fathers thus and when they say a thing is white understand that they mean black never will there be any thing cleare nor sure Certainely if by this word Substance the Fathers had understood the Accidents they would have said the Substances in the plurall For Accidents are many Among which our Adversaries must chuse one that may be called a Substance But Theodoret in his second Dialogue saying that the bread after the Consecration remaineth in its former substance forme and figure refuteth this evasion For hee distinguisheth expressely the Substance from the Accidents Now as this error of the bodily presence of â—hrists body under the species of the bread began to be set on broach Bertram a Priest in Charles the Bald his time about the yeare of our Lord 870. made a Book against that abuse which Book is yet extant For which cause also Bellarmin in his first Book of the Eucharist chap. 1. placeth him among the Hereticks But Bertram all his life time lived with credit and honor and was never reprooved for it CHAP. XXVII Confirmation of the same by the customes of the ancient Church THis truth is confirmed by the ancient customes different from what is done in the Masse at this day and incompatible with Transubstantiation For in the ancient Church Service was said in a known tongue Every one received the Communion in both kinds The people offered upon the table abundance of bread and wine and not round light wafers * Cypr. Serm. de Lapsis Euseb Histor lib. 7. c. 9. Theod. Histor lib. 5. cap. 18. Nazianz. Orat. de Gorgonia The people aswell men as women received the Sacrament with their hand and many carried it home a long with them * Hesychius lib. 2. in Lev. c. 8. Ivo 2 part 2 de Sacr. c. 59. Burch l. 5. c. 12. The residues of the sacred bread that remained upon the table after the Communion were either burn't or * Evagâ— l. 4 cap. 36. given unto little children coming from Schoole or carried into the Priests houses for to be eaten there Than were there no private Masses Nor no Corpus Christi day The consecrated Host was not carried in procession * Ambâ—l de Viduis Oportet eam Viduam primo carere variarum illecebris voluptatuÌ„ vitare internum corporis animiq laÌ„guoreÌ„ ut corpus sanguinem Christi ministret Ambrose in his Book of Widdows saith that the Widdowes were imployed in the administration of the Sacrament a Editionis Parisiensis anno 1624 coluÌ„ 161. Virgo postquaÌ„ coÌ„municavit reservet de ipsa coÌ„munione unde iâ—sque ad diem octavum communicet In the Roman Order which is in Bibliotheca Patrum these words are to be found Let the Virgin receive the Communion after the Masse is ended and after she hath received let her reserve of the Communion sufficiently for to communie the eight dayes together Had they then beleeved the Transubstantiation they would never have given unto maids the Sacrament to keep so long a time Certain it is the ancient Church worshipped not the Sacrament There may be found indeed some places of the Fathers that say that in the Eucharist wee worship Christ But it is one thing to worship Christ in the action of the Sacrament and another thing to worship the Sacrament The Father and the holy Ghost in the Eucharist are also worshipped In vaine do they alleadge some ancient Fathers that speak of the elevation of the Sacrament For the elevation inferreth not necessarily adoration seeing that in Moses Law the Priest * Exod. 29 24. Levitiâ— 8.27 29. Num. 5.25 waved the breast and shoulder of the offering and a handfull of the first fruits without worshipping these things Moreover that elevation was nothing like to the elevation of the Host which the Priest maketh now a dayes over his head turning his back to the people and ringing a little Bell. But then after the Priest had uncovered the bread and wine he tooke the Platter or Dish with both his hands and lift it up for to shew it unto the people and that even before the words which are called of Consecration CHA. XXVIII Explanation of the places of the Fathers that say that in the Eucharist we eate the body and blood of Christ and that the bread is changed into the body of Christ and is made Christs body Specially of Ambrose Hilary and Chrysostome That the Fathers speake of severall kinds of body and blood of Christ THe holy Scripture speaketh of two sorts of body of Christ Namely of the natural body of Christ which he took in the womb of the Virgin Mâ—ry and of his mysticall body which is the Church and of his Sacramentall or commemorative body which is the bread of the holy Supper as we have shewed already The Fathers following the stile of the Scripture besides Christs mysticall body which is the Church speak of two bodies of Christ to wit of his naturall body and of his Symbolicall and Sacramentall body of which body they speak as of a divine thing and full of Mysteries and of a Spirituall flesh which is made by the iâ—effable power of God by the meanes and for the causes which I shall relate hereafter Likewise also they make two kinds of blood of Christ the one naturall the other mysticall and Divine which we receive in the Sacrament Clemens Alexandrinus in his second Book of the Pedagogue chap. 2. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is two sorts of blood of Christ the one is his carnall blood by which we are redeemed fâ—om corruption The other is Spirituall to wit that by which we are annointed and that is to drink the blood of Jesus to be partaker of the Lords incorruption Saint Hierome upon the Epistle to the Ephesians a Ex Hieron in Epist ad Ephes caâ—â— Dist 2. de Conse Can. Dupliciter Dupliciter intelligitur caro Christivel spiritualis illa atque divima de qua ipse aâ—t Caro meaverc est cibus vel caro quae crucifixa est sanguinis qui militis effusus est lanced Christs flesh is meant or understood in two manners either that spirituall and divine flesh of which hee saith himselfe My flesh is meate indeed Or else that flesh that was crucified and that blood which was shed by the speare of the Souldier This place is alleadged in the Roman Dâ—cree in the second Distinction of the Consecration at the Camon Dupliciter And in the same Distinction at the Canon b De hac quidem hostia quae in commemorationem mirabiliter sit edere licet De illa vero quam Christus in ara crucis abtulit secundum se nulli edere licet De hac the same Father is alleadged upon Leviticus in these words It is indeed lawfull to eate of this
the Councell of Constance Sess XV. Artic. 19. Dixerant se audivisse quod Iohannes Hus dixisset quod indulgentiae Papae â—ipâ—scopi noÌ„ valent nisi Deus indulgeat in the fifteenth Session To whom also they did impute things farre from his beleefe Some witnesses presented themselves that testified they had heard him say That the Pardons of the Pope and of the Bishop are nothing worth unlesse God doe forgive That was one of the crimes for which he was burned For that venerable Councell hath judged that the Pope may forgive sinnes whether God will or no and that Gods consent is not necessarily required for to make that the Popes and Bishops Indulgences be of force and validity This newes of John Huz his death and of Hierome of Prague brought into Bohemia did pierce the heart of the Bohemians that were called Hussites with exceeding griefe Histor Bohemicae cap. 56. The King seeing their number encrease dayly more and more granted them Churches in Prague for their meetings Aeneas Sylvius saith that the people mooved with anger pulled downe some Monasteries and Churches both within and without the City Namely neere Tabor where thirty thousand persons did celebrate in the middest of a field the holy Communion under both kindes The King Wencestaus being dead the Kingdome of Bohemia fell to Sigismund his brother Emperor and King of Hungaria Whereupon great feare did seise the people of Bohemia because of his great power and that against his oath and violating the safe conduct he had given to John Hux and to Hierome of Prague he caused them to be burned at Constance But a Bohemian Gentleman called Zisca that had lost an eye in the warres a man incomparable for vigour of body and minde exhorted them not to be disscouraged And it fell out at the same time that Sigismund under tooke warre against the Turke in Hungaria with an indifferent bad successe That gave leasure to the people order their businesses The Queene widdow to Wenceslaus levied some troopes for to fall upon this people and hinder their encreasing Sigismund sent Lievtenants to governe the Country and set things into good order againe in whose hands Zisca did surrender and remit Pelzina and Plesta Cap. 39. and other places whereof he had gotten possession For his desire was to obey the Emperour and he sought all meanes to give him content But there came Letters from the Emperour whereby he did declare that his will and pleasure was that the Churches granted to the Bohemians called Hussites should bee taken from them and their Religion interdicted And they had good advice that Sigismonds intention was to destroy them Whereat the People being afraid looked for nothing but for a totall ruine and their enemies being become more vigorous beganne to oppresse them Which things moved Zisca to take Armes and thinke upon his defence With a few forces bee obtained many victories against the Queene having none but foote forces of small experience and little exercised in warre Then came Sigismond into Bohemia with a mighty Armie resolved to destroy this people Besieged Prague wherein Zisea was who in many sallies defeated the most part of Sigismonds armie made him raise the Siege and tooke many townes by the verie terrour of his name As hee was besieging Vissegrad the Emperour came at unawares for to make him raise the siege having with him thirtie thousand Horse and all the Nobility of Mordvia But Zisea defeated him and obtained upon him a great victorie And a little after Sigismond having for the third time prepared a mightie Armie lost a third Battell by which he was constrained to leave Bohemia full of shame and confusion A little after Zisea besieging a towne Cap. 44. received a shot of an arrow in the eye so that of blinde of an eye as hee was hee became blinde of both But that hindred him not from leading and conducting his troopes and giving many combates being victorious every where But the Emperour being irritated and angrie came backe againe into Bohemia bringing along with him two powerfull Armies the one out of Germanie and the other out of Hungaria which like an overflowing torrent overwhelmed all Bohemia Tooke some townes and made great ravage But Zisea though blinde and having but a few men drew directly towards the Emperours Armie and defeated him with a great defeat tooke Bag and Baggage and all things belonging to the Armie and pursued him a whole dayes Journey Pio a Florentine had brought out of Hungaria fifteene thousand horse who passing upon a frozen River for to save themselves the Ice breaking under them were all drowned in the River Furthermore Zisca with his victorious Armie went out of Bohemia and entred into Moravia and passed into Austria and came to succour the faithfull that were oppressed there To him did adjoyne himselfe a Moravian gentleman named Procopius exceeding valiant and an imitator of the vertue of Zisea who caused the Emperour Sigismund to raise the siege before Juâ—emberg in Moravia which he had besieged A great Battell was given betweene Zisea and the Emperours troupes neare Ausck upon the River of Elbe where a great quantity of the Germane Centry were killed on the Emperours side Who pulled downe and confounded with so many losses resolved at last to seeke after Zisca his love and friendship promising him the Generall Lievetenancy of the whole Kingdome and all kinde of Advantages Zisea gave eare thereunto and took his journey for to goe meet the Emperour but hee fell sicke by the way and dyed being very old and blinde Aeneas Sylvius saith that when hee was a dying he gave counsell to his people to make a Drumme of his skinne after his death Cap. 46. assuring them that at the sound of that Drumme his enemies would flie away Zisea being dead Procopius succeeded him in the conduct of a part of the troopes against whom Pope Martin the fifth set all Germanic in Armes and sent into Bohemia three mighty Armies commanded by the Dukes of Saxe the Marquesse of Brandenbourg and the Arch-Bishop of Trivers These three Armies joyned themselves together But so soone as the Bohemians did appeare such terrour and feare seised upon the Imperiall Armies that they presently fled without staying for the enemie forsaking all their baggage and munitions of warre But the Cardinal Julian sent by the Pope stirred up the Emperour Sigismond to make a greater effort than any of the former Aeneas Sylvius saith there was in his Armie forty thousand Horse besides the Foot This Cardinall entred into Bohemia where hee committed many unheard off cruelties killing both women and children But at the very first noyse and rumour that came of the Bohemians approach such a terrible feare tooke this huge Armie that every one threw his armes downe for to fly away more nimbly and left their carriage and munitions of warre to the enemy The Cardinall having escaped this danger came to Basile for to preside at the Councell that the Pope Eugenius the fourth had assembled there in the yeare of our Lord 1431. Now we have made this recitall not for to approve Zisea his actions nor the commotions of peoples taking armes against their Sovaraigne for to avoide persecution and Martyrdom For the truth of the Gospell is not established by these meanes Christ Jesus calleth us to beare the crosse after him The blood of Martyrs hath more efficacy for to encrease the Church and spread the doctrin of the Gospell than Battels But I have represented this history for to be an example of Gods justice punishing the disloyalty of Sigismond who against his faith and promise burned alive two faithfull Martyrs God having made use of weake and contemptible persons for to make him lose above two hundred thousand men and cover him with shame and confusion CHAP. XII The Confession of Cyril Patriarch of Constantinople now living touching the Sacrament of the Eucharist THis Prelate in the seventeenth Article of his Confession altogether conformable to the Doctrine of our Churches after he hath recited the Institution of the holy Supper as it is found in the Gospell addeth That is the simple true and lawfull Institution of this admirable Sacrament in the administration whereof wee doe confesse and beleeve the true and firme presence of the Lord Christ Jesus Yet that presence which faith offereth and makes present unto us but not that which Transubstantiation vainely invented doth teach For wee beleeve that the faithfull in the holy Supper doe eate the body of Christ Jesus our Lord not incrushing and breaking it sensibly and destroying it with our teeth in the participation But in partaking thereof by the sense of the soule For the body of Christ is not that which is taken and seene in the Sacrament with the eyes but that which Faith having taken spiritually makes it present and communicates it unto us Therefore it is 〈◊〉 that we eate it and are made partakers of it if we doe beleeve But if we beleeve not we fall away from all the benefit of the Sacrament By the same reason we beleeve that to drinke the Cup in the Sacrament is to drinke indeed the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ after the same manner as hath been said concerning the body For the Law-giver made the same commandement touching his blood as he did touching his body Which precept must not be mutilated according to every ones fancie and humour But the tradition that hath beene prescribed unto us must be kept sound and entire When therefore in the Sacrament wee have partaked worthily and communicated intirely with the body and blood of Christ we make this profession that we are already reconciled and united to our head and made one and the selfe same body with a firme hope that wee shall be his coheires in his Kingdome Here is the Originall in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS