the Church may be without them So was it for some while after Christs Ascention for then neither was the Christian Church so Eminent as that of the Iewes nor was it Vniversall as being confined within Iudea nor great in number as consisting but of a very few nor in Possession of the name Catholike it being a word of a latter date and such as could not well be giuen it vntill it was growne Catholike So will it be also if wee may beleeue your owne writers in the time of Antichrist For then the Church shall bee darkned all externall communion with it shall cease there shall be no Sacrament in publike places all the glory and dignity of Ecclesiasticall order shall lye buried none shall come vnto the solemnity of the Lambe an innumerable multitude shall cleaâ—e vnto Antichrist even all besides the elect and those whose names are written in the booke of life But lastly whether these things be Markes or no is not now much materiall for it makes little to the purpose wee haue sufficiently proued that the Church is not the last Resolution of Faith As touching the second point that the Church may be beleeved securely for that shee can neither deceiue nor bee deceiued I demand what you meane by the Church If the company of all true Beleeuers that now are and heretofore haue beene including the holy Apostles together with them then I grant it For these were so lead by the Spirit into all truth that they could not possibly erre in any matter of Faith that was either to be taught by them or knowne by vs. But if you meane the Present Church in every age successiuely after the Apostles as here Saint Austin doth referring his friend Honoratus therevnto then I distinguish Either you must vnderstand thereby the whole number of true beleeuers who for the present life in the world or the Society and Fellowship of those that in their time rule and sway most in the Church If you take it in the former sense I grant what you say to be true in Fundamentall points but not in such as are not absolutely necessary nor preiudice the Foundation of Faith If in the latter then I affirme that the Church may both deceiue and be deceiued even in Doctrines of highest consequence neither can with such security bee beleeued Witnesse the time when the whole world groaned vnder Arianisme and the greatest part of the Prelates together with Liberius Bishop of Rome subscribed therevnto Neither doth the passage you alledge out of Saint Austin inferre the contrary For although the surest course to put an end to all labours and turmoiles be to follow the way of Catholike discipline which hath flowne downe to vs from Christ by his Apostles yet the Authority that swayeth most in the Present Church doth not alwaies either follow this way her selfe or direct others vnto it as for example it did not in the time aboue mentioned of the Arian heresy And thus much in answere vnto your generall ground N. N. Now I will shew first out of the old Testament how it was prefigured and prophecied and in the new both promised againe exhibited and confirmed by the intendment interpretation of the gravest and most ancient Fathers that haue lived in the Church of God from age to age who vnderstand so the said Figures and foreshewing of the old Testament As for example the Bread and Wine mysteriously offered vnto almighty God by Melchizedek King and Priest who bare the type of our Saviour The shew-bread among the Iewes that only could bee eaten of them that were sanctified And the Bread sent miraculously by an Angell to Elias whereby he was so strengthned as hee travelled forty daies by vertue only of that Bread These three sorts of bread to haue beene expresse Figures of this Sacrament of the true flesh of Christ therein contained doe testify by one consent the ancient Fathers as Cyprian â—lemens Alexandrinus Ambrose Hierom Chrysostom Augustine Cyrill Arnobius Euseb. many others as my author fetâ—eh downe Three other figures not expressed in the forme of Bread but other things more excellent then Bread as the Paschal Lamb the blood of the testament described in Exodus and to the Hebrues and fulfilled by Christ when he said This cup is the new testament in my blood and againe this is my blood of the new testament The Manna also sent by God from heaven was an expresse figure of this Sacrament as appeareth by the words of our Saviour and of the Apostle I. D. This Argument seemeth to be of great esteeme among you for who almost vrgeth it not and that with great confidence It standeth thus Melchizedecks Bread and Wine the Shew-bread Elias his Bread the Paschal-Lambe the Bloud of the Testament and Manna bee Figureâ— of our Sacrament Ergo Christ is corporally and locally present therein by way of Transubstantiation The consequence you maintaine in the next Section the Antecedent in this Wherevnto I answer first that the Legall sacraments and ceremonies if we may beleeue Scripture directly respected Christ So saith S. Paul They are a shadow of things to come but the Body is of Christ. And again Sacrifice and offerings thou wouldest not but a Body hast thou prepared me And hence is it that he doubteth not to call Christ our Passeouer or 〈◊〉 Lambâ— and to affirm that the Rock whereof the Israelites dranke in the â—â—ldernesse was Christ. Yea our Saviour himselfe plainly professeth that the Brasen serpent did prefigure him and that he was the Bread or Manna that came downe from heauen But that those Sacraments and Ceremonies are Types Figures of ours otherwise then by representing the same Substance together with ours I suppose if you searched every corner of Scripture neuer so narrowly you should never finde it therein Adde herevnto that our SacrameÌ„ts are themselues Figures being as S Augustine saith one thing and signifying another Whence it would follow that the old Sacraments being Figures of the New they should be Figures of Figures and Sacraments of Sacraments which standeth not greatly with reason For thus the Circumcision of the foreâ—kinne should figure the Water of Baptisme and water Christ and curious heads might runne on infinitely and as Irenaeus sometime obiected vnto the Heretikes of his time might ever bee devising of types vpon types and figures vpon figures Lastly if the Sacraments of the old Testament were but Signes of ours it would follow that they were ordained rather for the benefit of the Christian then the Iewish Church which is absurd For of our Sacraments which you say is the thing signified by theirs benefit they never reaped any as neuer being partakers of them and to leaue vnto them no more but bare signes that is emptie shels without the kernell how it might availe them I cannot conceaue Certainely all Sacraments
there and how many battles haue there beene fought betweene the Iesuits and Dominicans about no meaner matters then Gods free Grace and mans free will To be breefe there is scarce any thing wherein you dissent from vs that you agree in amongst your selues as our Divines haue at large proved Hugo de sancto victore Richardus de sancto Victore Petrus Cluniacensis Liranus Dionisius Carthâ—sianus Hugo Cardinalis Thomas Aquinas Waldensis Richardus Armachanus Picus Mirandula Caietan and others reiect all those bookes as Apocryphall which wee doe Scotus Gerson Occam Cameracensis and Waldensis affirme the Scriptures to be sufficient in all matters of Faith Stapleton confesseth that the infallibility of the Popes judgement is yet no matter of Faith but of opinion only because so many famous and renowned Divines haue held the contrary as Gerson Almaine Occam almost all the Parisians with â—undry others The same Divines together with Adrian the sixt Durandus Alfonsus à Castro and many besides hold that a Councell is aboue the Pope That a man 〈◊〉 not iustified by any inherent quality but only by faith in the merits of Christ. Gerson Contarenus Albertus Pighius the Canons of Cullen the authors of the booke offered by Cesar to the Protestant Collocutors at the assembly of Ratisbon Stapulensis Peraldus Ferus and others doe justifie That wee may be assured we are in the state of Grace Alexander of Hales Iohn Bacon Ambrose Catharin Andreas Vega with others doe clearly testify That all sins are in their owne nature Mortall Gerson Almaine and Fisher B. of Rochester even by the testimony of Bellarmine doe confesse That there is any merit of Condignity Scotus Cameracensis Arminiensis and Waldensis vtterly deny That Matrimony is no Sacrament Durandus affirmes Alexander of Hales saith there are no more but foure Sacraments That one body should be locally in more places then one at once implyeth contradiction saith Thomas of Aquin. and with him agreeth Aegidius Godfrey de Font Alanus and Henricus The conversion of bread wine into Christs body bloud all of vs saith Caietan doe teach in words but in deed many deny it thinking nothing lesse Finally Peter Lombard Thomas and the other Schoolemen hold not a reall and proper Sacrifice in the Masse as now you doe as your owne Bellarmine is forced to acknowledge It were easy for me to instance in diverse points besides but this may suffice for the present to stop your mouth and to teach you this lesson that you be not so busy to vpbraid others with their warts or freckles your selues meane-while being so full of vlcers and botches For it is fowle indiscretion to obiect that to another whereof our selues are more deepely guilty as here you haue done to vs taxing vs for our petty quarrels while your selues like Amalekits are nothing but stabbing and killing one the other N. N. Your third reason D. Field saith the Church of Rome hath continued a true Church even till our time held a saving profession of truth by it converted nations and divers of that Church even learned are saved D. Covel they of Dome were and are the Church and they that liue and die in it may be saved Willet Kings and Queenes of the Roman faith are Saints in Heauen Yea saith your author Many Kings and Queenes of Great Brittaine haue forsaken their Crownes and Kingdomes to become Monkes and Nunnes I. D. That which you obiect out of D. Field D. Field him selfe hath long since at large answered I will contract it as briefly as I can The Summe is the Roman Church is not now the same it was before Luther His reasons First the then Church was the whole number of Christians subiect to the Papal tyranny of whom many desired to be free of the yoke and as soone as Luther began to oppose shooke it off but the now Church is the multitude of those that adore the plenitude of Papal power or are content to be vnder the yoke still Secondly the Roman Church then consisted of men not hauing meanes of information and so not erring pertinaciously but the now Church consisteth of those who obstinately resist the truth or at least consent in outward communion with them So that they might be saued in their simplicity and these perish in their contradiction Thirdly the Roman Church then had in it the same abuses superstitions it hath now and those that erred the same errours but it had also those that disliked them and thought right in those points wherein the rest erred These were true liuing members of the Church those a faction in the Church In regard of those it was truly a Church that is a multitude of men professing Christ and baptized in regard of these a true Church that is a multitude of men holding a sauing profession of Christ. Lastly the errours then taught in the Church were not the Doctrines of the Church but now they are the Doctrines of that Church That they were not then the Doctrines of the Church appeareth thus The Doctrines then taught were either those which all consented vnto such as are the Articles of the Creed or those errors which many then taught or the contrary truths opposed to those errors The first were absolutly the Churches Doctrine So were the third though all received them not because they were theirs who were so in the Church that they were the Church But the second were not because they were taught by the faction in the Church and not consented vnto by them that were the Church Thus farre the Doctor who at length concludeth that whatsoever it hath beene the present Romish Church is not that true Church of God whose communion wee must embrace whose directions we must follow and in whose judgement we must rest Yea but D. Covell in the name of all the rest affirmeth that it is still a true Church and Salvation may be had in it In the name of all the rest Why who gaue him that commission and how comes hee to be the mouth of vs all more then any other of his brethren Certainly your Author much wrongs the Church of England and abuses his reader to make the private sayings of this man or that man to be the common voice of all If he haue spoken more largely then can be justified hee must answere for it himselfe no reason the whole Church should bee charged with it You will not endure it amongst your selues and why should you then obtrude it vpon vs To the words themselues I answere with D. Field Some will say is the Roman Church at this day no part of the Church of God Surely as Augustine noteth that the Societies of Hereticks in that they retaine the profession of many parts of heavenly truth and the ministration of the Sacrament of Baptisme are so farre forth still conioyned with the Catholike Church of God and the Catholike Church in and by them bringeth forth children vnto God so
our charge and withall in a provident and honest care for those who belong vnto vs and depend vpon vs The fourth and last and chiefest in the knowledge of the true God and in the serving of him in a true manner with a perfect heart and a willing minde which is the summe of Davids Catechisme composed for the vse of his sonne Solomon For intellectuall wisedome S. Paul himselfe was brought vp at the feet of Gamaliel a famous Lawyer that he had well studied the Greeke Poets appeares by his quotations of them vpon severall occasions and had he beene altogether ignorant of Philosophy he could not at Athens at that time the most renowned Vniversity of the world haue incountred the Philosophers both of the Epicureans and the Stoicks being sects of contrary opinions but bending and banding there forces both together against him The first fruits of the Gentiles who by the conduct of a starre came from Persia to adore our Sauiour excelled no doubt in this kinde of wisedome Moses was learned in all the wisedome of the Aegyptians and so we may presume was Daniel in that of the Caldaeans once we are sure that Solomon even in this kinde of wisedome out-stripped all the Children of the East hee was perfectly skil'd in all the properties of vegetables of foules of fishes of beasts and creeping things whereas then the Apostle giues the Colossians a caveat and vs in them that no man spoile vs through Philosophy his meaning is not to checke true Philosophy whereof singular vse may no doubt be made in Divinitie but the errors of Philosophers or their erroneous application of acknowledged truths true Philosophie it selfe being indeed nothing else but a beame of the divine wisedome the dictate of right reason subordinate to supernaturall revelation which I am confident he neuer intended to gaine say or disswade Of Morall wisedome the same Apostle speakes Ephes. 5.15 Walke circumspectly not as fooles but as wise and againe walke in wisedome toward them which are without Col. 4.5 Of Ciuill our Saviour Be wise as Serpents but innocent as Doues wise as Serpents for the iust defence of your selues but innocent as Doues that you doe not iustly offend others Of spirituall the Prophet Dauid the feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome as good vnderstāding haue all they that doe thereafter And as wisdome excelleth among all other vertues so doth this kinde of wisedome among all the other kinds Velut inter ignes Luna minores As doth the Moone to vs when in a cleare night shee fills her circle among the lesser starres the rest if they serue as dutifull hand-maids to her may be very vsefull but in case they should rebell against her they may proue dangerous hurts rather then helps as a knife in the hand of a child or a sword of a mad-man As then those other kinds of wisedome if rightly applyed are not to be excluded out of my text so this kinde is it which without all doubt is chiefly vnderstood and which we are chiefly to labour for and that we may so labour for it as we come to the end of our desires the meanes to attaine are these Frequent and fervent prayer to which S. Iames directeth vs If any lacke wisedome let him aske it of God without wavering and it shall be given him A diligent and serious study of the holy scriptures whereby David professeth himselfe to haue beene made wiser then his enemies his teachers his ancients A conversation comfortable to our knowledge To him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the saluation of the Lord A good vse of afflictions schola crucis schola lucis the schoole of affliction is the schoole of wisedome And lastly a daily meditation of our mortality of the shortnesse of our liues and the certaine vncertainty of our deaths Teach vs O Lord to number our dayes that so we may apply our hearts vnto wisedome And as these are the meanes to attaine it so the fruits of it are good workes which our Saviour calleth oile in our lampes and therevpon those Virgins who provided oile in their vessells for the supply of their lampes are by him termed wise and S. Iames more particularly specifies those fruits The wisedome saith he which is from aboue is first pure then peaceable gentle easie to be intreated full of mercy good fruits without partiality without hypocrisie It is so pure as it is likewise peaceable without partiality and without hypocrisie And as these be the pretious fruits so the end of this wisedome is saluation from a Child thou hast knowne the holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise to saluation In reference both to the fruits aud the end thereof the wise Solomon hath given vs in the third of the Proverbs a singular description of this kinde of wisedome yet not single but accompanied and attended on with the other kinds Happie is the man that findeth wisedome and the man that getteth vnderstanding For the merchandise of it is better then the merchandise of silver and the gaine thereof then the fine gold Shee is more precious then rubies and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared vnto her Length of daies is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honour Her wayes are wayes of pleasantnesse and all her paths are peace Shee is a tree of life to them that lay hold vpon her and happie is every one that retaineth her Happie is the man that findeth her so he beginns and happie is the man that retaineth her so he ends yea thrice happie shall he be in his life in his death after death in the course of his life shee shall bring him true contentment in the houre of death true comfort and after death true happinesse The first act issueing from wisedome is teaching which though it be not expressed in the English text yet is it necessarily implyed if not primarily intended in the originall word and in some translations we haue it expressed in the very body of the text it selfe as namely in that of Iunius and Tremellius Erudientes teaching or teachers Some there are who desire wisedome for their owne private contentment only this is vaine curiositie some that they may be knowne to be wise this is vaine glory some that they may rise to honour by it this is vaine ambition some that by it they may grow rich this is vaine covetousnesse some that they may profit themselues in the way of godlinesse this is Christian providence and lastly some that they may doe good not only to themselues but to others by teaching and this is Christian Charitie This the Angell foretells in the Chapter here goeing before They that vnderstand among the people shall instruct many and againe in the latter part of the verse immediately following my text many shall runne too and froe and knowledge shall be increased This the Apostle exhorts
shall be not propter but secundum opera according to his works according to the matter of his worke so shall be the substance of his reward according to the manner of his worke the kinde of his reward and according to the measure of his worke the degree of his reward As a man soweth so he shall reape that 's for the kind and he that soweth sparingly shall reape sparingly he that soweth bountifully shall reape bountifully that 's for the degree If a cup of cold water shall not passe without a reward much lesse he whose whole study hath beene to aduance Gods glory in the works of charity and piety There is no question but the confessors who for the profession of the truth patiently endured stripes banishment imprisonment confiscation of the goods and the like and much more the holy Martyrs who chearefully sealed it with their bloud shine more gloriously then ordinary Christians There is no question but the Patriarchs the Prophets specially Abraham the father of the faithfull shine more gloriously then ordinary beleeuers no doubt but Lazarus and Abraham were both in glory yet Abrahams condition was of the two the more eminent There is no question but the blessed virgin the mother of our Sauiour a chosen vessell full of grace highly favoured blessed among aboue women shineth more gloriously then Mary Magdalen or other women There is 〈◊〉 question but the Apostles of Christ who not only laid downe their liues for the testimony of the truth but were in a manner the first founders of Christian religion and the Secretaries of the holy Ghost being specially inspired for the penning and publishing of those sacred Oracles which they recommended to posterity and are now extant for our saluation shine more gloriously then ordinary Professors in which regard our Sauiour at his comming to judgement assignes them twelue thrones as assessors with himselfe in a speciall manner Lastly there is no question but those faithfull Pastors who like sacred lamps spend their oile and consume themselues to ashes to giue others light and to direct them in the way to heauen by their pens and tongues teaching and turning many to righteousnesse shall shine more gloryously then those Disciples who by them are turned but haue neither faculty nor authority to teach and by teaching to turne others Here then is our comfort incouragement that howbeit from men we haue many times very little thankes for our great paines in teaching yea even from those we haue taught and endeavoured to turne nay though â—â—steed of thanks the world frowne vpon vs and raise stormes against vs yet our reward is the contentment of a good conscience in the discharge of our duty here and that shining crowne of glory hereafter laid vp and promised to them who are faithfull to the death who haue fought the good fight and haue finished their course Our trust assurance is that the lesse thanks and reward we haue on earth the greater our reward shall be in heauen and the more that those whome we haue turned vnto righteousnesse shall increase in number in knowledge and in obedience the greater shall the augmentation of our reward be and lastly if in glory we shall know one another as good Diuines probably coniecture for that we shal vndoubtedly know our Sauiour in regard of his humane nature and the Apostles present at his transfiguration perfectly knew Moses and Elias though they had neuer seene them before if I say we shall then and there know one another it cannot be but a great addition to our happinesse to see and know them in the same state with our selues of whose conuersion vnder God we haue beene the happy instruments The last considerable point in this reward is perpetuitie they shall shine as the starres for euer euer for though the degrees thereof be different yet are â—â—â—y all equall and agree in duration and therefore are they all by the purchaser of them called mansions not houses because they euerlastingly abide or houses not made with hands but eternall in the heauens for here wee haue no coÌ„tinuing citie but we seeke one to come this world passeth away with the lust and fashion thereof but that which is to come is laid vpon sure foundations whose builder and maker is God and as is the maker so is the citie as the citie so the citizens as the citizens so the state of glory all correspondent each to other all euerlasting the shining is for euer and euer without variation without diminution without intermission The moone is sometimes waxing and sometimes waining but with these starres it is not so they are allwayes in the full the sunne it selfe is somtimes eclipsed by the interposition of the body of the moone betweene vs it but with these starres it is not so they neuer loose their light nay those visible starres in the firmament which we now behold shining so brightly shall one day fall from heauen but these starres shall neuer fall Stella cadens non est stella cometa fuâ—t if they fall they were neuer starres and if they be starres they shall neuer fall Euen thâ—â—tarres fixed in the firmament of heauen which are but shadowes and resemblances of these blessed starrs in that ordinary course of nature wherein Almighty God hath set and setled them could neuer of themselues either fall or faile according to that of Siracides At the commaundement of the holy one they will stand in their order and neuer faint in their watches Agreeable whereunto is that of the Prophet Dauid speaking of the kingdome of Christ His seede shall endure for euer and his throne as the sunne before me it shall be establshed for euer as the moone and as a faithfull witnesse in heauen and in another Psalme praise yee him sunne and moone praise him all yee starrs of light He hath established them for euer and euer he hath made a decree which shall not passe Though then at the dissolution of all things Ignea pontum astra petent these starrs we now gaze vp on with a delight mixed with wonder shall by the extraordinary power of that hand which made them be againe vnmade and cast downe from heauen yet these wise these teaching these iustifijng starres resembled by them shall neuer faint but shine in the fulnesse of their strength for euer and euer they shall neuer wander as the planets but remaine for euer as fixed starres to them it shall neuer be said as to Lucifer How art thou fallen from heauen O Lucifer sonne of the morning Esay 14.12 Adam might and did fall from paradise The Angels both might did fall from their first habitation but these starres shall neuer leaue their stations If here they be preserued safe in the right hand of him who is Alpha and Omega the first and the last Reuel 1.16 much more shall they there bee out of gun-shot out of all doubt or feare or possibility of
his glorious estate to make Intercession for vs. Yet this is not all for it is further to be observed that Christ is not Priest as Man only but as Emanuell on God-man This the Apostle to the Hebrewes carefully demonstrateth The law saith he maketh men high Priests which haue infirmity but the wâ—rd of the Oath which was since the law maketh the sonne who is consecrated for ever more And againe Christ saith he by his eternall spirit offered himselfe without spot to God And if he were a Priest after the order of Melchizedecke as he was without Father or Mother without genealogie hauing neither beginning of daies nor end of life as also being Vntithed in the loines of Abraham it cannot be that he should be Priest as Man only for of Man only these things cannot be verified therefore as God also If so then Prayer being an act of Christs Priest-hood it followeth that it is Emanuel God-man that prayeth and that his Prayer is a Theandricall action as Divines terme it Divinely-humane or Humanely-divine This speech haply may sound harshly in some eares there are who sticke not to charge it with â—tat Arrianisme as if thereby we made Christ inferiour to his Father whereas hee himselfe thought it no robbery to be equall vnto him Giue mee leaue therefore to bestow a few words for the clearing of this difficulty the rather because it is being rightly apprehended the ground of singular comfort vnto vs. It is a Fundamentall article of the Christian Faith that in Christ there are two distinct Natures his Divinity his Humanity that both these concurre to the constitution of one Person God-man Whence it followeth that the Agent or Principle which acteth all the workes of Mediation is but one by reason of the Vnitie of the Person even Christ God-man according to that protrite Maxime Actiones sunt suppositorum all actions issue and proceed from the Subiect or person Howbeit seeing the Person alwaies worketh by his Natures and they as wee haue said in Christ are two it followeth by reason of this Dualitie that there are two distinct Principles by which Christ worketh or mediateth according to that other rule in nature Natura est principium motus quietis nature is the principle both of rest and motion This for further illustration may be exemplified in Humane actions For as it is Man or the Person of Man consisting of Soule and Body that vnderstandeth reasoneth moueth speaketh yet it is the Soule by which he vnderstandeth and reasoneth the Body by which he moueth and speaketh so in the actions of Mediation it is Christ God-man that worketh them all yet some by his Godhead and some by his Manhood Here therefore are wee to distinguish The workes of Mediation are either of Soueraignty and Authority or of Subiection and Ministrie Of Soveraignty and Authrity as to send the Holy Ghost to illuminate the Mind to raise from death of Subiection and Ministrie as to suffer to dy to be raised from death All these things did Christ as he was God-man both doe and suffer but yet the former by the Principle of his deity the latter by the Principle of his humanity It is further to be observed that although both the Natures in Christ remaine distinct and consequently their severall operations also yet as Leo truly saith Agit vâ—raque forma cum communione alterius quod cuiusque proprium est both Natures doe that which is proper vnto them but with Communion of each with other This Communion is the concurrence of both Natures in the same Person by their severall proper actions to the producing of one Apotelesma or outward effect pertaining to our Salvation In which concurrence the Deity is ever the principall and the Humanitie is the Organ or Instrument of the Deity so that it never moueth to any thing but as it is acted and moved by the Deity and from it receiues all its value dignity and efficacy as in Man the Body doth from the Soule These things being thus demonstrated let vs in a word applie them to our particular This Prayer of Christ is an act of his Priesthood Heâ— therefore prayes that is the Priest The Priest as we haue shewed is Christ God-man Christ therefore prayeth as God-man But the act is Ministeriall not Soveraigne He prayeth therefore not by the Principle of his Deity but in his Humanitie Howbeit with Communion of the Deity the Instrument partaking with the Principall Agent and deriuing all its vertue and efficacy from the concurrence thereof Which being so the more either ignorant or malitious are our adversaries of the Church of Rome who slander vs as if we held Christ prayed in his Divine nature Nay we know Prayer is a worke of Ministry and implies inferiority whereas the Word is coequall to his Father If may be the dreame of Iewes in their Talmud that God prayes certaine houres every day or of Turkes in their Alcoran that he prayeth for Mahomet But we know that God hath no superiour to whom he should pray and that his will is omnipotent and the effectuall cause of all things so that he needs not pray But it pleased the sonne of God to assume our nature and in the same to make himselfe lesse then his Father and to become obedient vnto him in all things So that although it bee God-man that prayes yet praying non qua Deus sed qua homo not in the forme of the Word but of a Servant it can be no impeachment to his Deity Now if it be God-man that prayes is it possible hee should misse of his suit Surely he himselfe saith I knowe thou hearest me alwaies And the Apostle affirmes that in his Prayers and Supplications he was still heard If hee bee the only Sonne in whom the Father is well pleased will he thinke you deny him any thing Nay if wee that are so vnworthy are yet heard for his sake how can hee that is of such infinite worth but bee heard when as himselfe praies He is therefore alwais heard What is it then he here sues for To himselfe Glorification to his Apostles to know and teach all sauing truth to vs that beleeue through their word Sanctification Vnion with him Perseverance in grace and the blessed-making vision of his Clory Doubtlesse therefore hee himselfe sitteth at the right hand of his Father and swayeth all things both in Heaven and earth to his Churches good His Apostles both knew and taught all the counsells of God and wee may safely build vpon the Foundation they haue laid As for vs all those things shall surely bee made good vnto vs. And though Sathan desire to winnow vs yet Hell gates shall never prevaile against vs. For he that never faileth to be heard hath prayed for our Faith that it faile not then which what surer ground of peace and ioy to the conscience can there be As it is the ground of comfort so is it
and with more patience then he But this in no case may be imagined His 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his feare and consternation his strong cries his agonie and bloudy sweat his earnest prayer that if it were possible the cuppe might passe from him and that lamentable expostulation my God my God why hast thou forsaken me doe all mainely argue that his pangs were high strained and extraordinary For although he were not forsaken of his Father either by breach of personall vnion or losse of vnction or diminution of grace or despaire of protection and deliuerance yet he was abandond and â—eft destitute of all present comfort so that his sorrowes could not but bee aboue all other sorrowes And indeed how could it bee otherwise For not to speake of the paines of the body which yet some affirme to be more intense then could be of other men by reason of the perfection and finenesse of his complection his sorrowes were not for the sinnes of one man but of the whole world which could be no lesse then a world of sorrow And if his loue to vs were so infinite that he was content to suffer all these extremities for vs his sorrow for the miseries wee were in could be no lesse but must every way bee answerable vnto his loue So must it vnto his wisdome also for by it perfectly knowing and apprehending all the causes and reasons of sorrow it cannot be avoided but that according to this knowledge apprehension his sorrowes should be strained and intended The last point is the Duration of his paines or how long he suffered them They were not eternell nor might continue vpon him for ever Had they so continued hee had never conquered death nor hell and hauing not freed himselfe from them how could hee set vs free They continued therefore vpon him but that houre the time destined by his Father therevnto which being once expired all his paines and sorrowes ceased together therewith Here it will surely be obiected the punishment due vnto sinne is an eternall punishment If then the sufferings of Christ were only temporarie and not eternall how hath he suffered and satisfied sufficiently for sinne For time holdeth no proportion with eternity Wherevnto I answer first that in regard of the dignity of his person the shortest punishment inflicted vpon him is equivalent to the eternall punishment laid vpon others For hee is not a meere man but God and man And as there is not betweene time and eternity so neither is there betweene God and meere man any proportion at all I answere secondly that eternall punishment is due only to an eternall sinne not to that which is interrupted and broken off by grace Sinne though the act thereof bee transient yet it leaueth such a staine vpon the soule as continueth in it evermore if by mercy it be not blotted out and evermore disposeth vnto sinne Now he that is so disposed sinneth in suo aeterno and hauing as much as lies in him a perpetuall purpose of sinning he shall as he deserues perpetually and everlastingly bee punished But they for whom Christ died haue their sinnes broken off by grace their soules by little and little cleansed from the staines of sin in his bloud a hatred and detestation of sinne wrought in them together with a sincere loue and study of holinesse vntill sinne be vtterly destroyed and abolished in them Christ therefore thus purposing to put a full end to all their sinnes reason would that an end 〈◊〉 should bee set vnto his sufferings and their sinnes not being eternall that neither his sufferings should bee eternall And thus much for the Duration of his Passion The vse of all may be this First seeing Christ hath suffered all these things and that for vs it is fit that we by all waies and meanes should study to come to the full knowledge thereof It was not for Angells and yet they earnestly desired to looke into this mistery Vs it concernes only and nothing more then it and can wee possibly neglect the learning of it The Apostle Saint Paul accounted the knowledge hereof to be of all other the most excellent and all other things in comparison of it to bee but losse and dung Wherevpon he protesteth that among the Corinthians he was resolved not to know any thing saue Christ Iesus and him crucified Why then should not wee bee of the same and pray with him that wee may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height That knowing what great matters hee hath done for vs wee may be the more incited to bee thankefull vnto him for it Secondly seeing it pleased the Father thus to decree that his sonne should suffer all these things for the satisfaction of his iustice and that otherwise he would not be appeased for sinne we may thereby learne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how precisely rigorous God is in the punishment of sinne together with the vilenesse and odiousnesse thereof The due consideration whereof would both terrifie vs from the committing of sinne and worke in our hearts a loathing detestation of sinne For if God will not be pacified without full satisfaction how dare we commit it And if nothing can cleanse the leprosie thereof but only the bloud of the sonne of God how can we but abhorre it Thirdly seeing he hath resolued to appease his wrath and to rest satisfied for sinne in the sufferings of his sonne wee may therein as in a crystall glasse clearly behold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the great loue of God towards man It was not for the sinning Angells and their redemption that he gaue his sonne but for vs men and our salvation Rather then he would loose the whole race of mankind he would spare nothing no not his best beloued With whom although he were ever well pleased yet he must needs suffer for vs that in him he may be also well pleased with vs. Feare we not therefore nor despaire of grace Though our sinnes be never so many and greivous yet the sonne of God hath satisfied for them all Tender wee this payment vnto his Father and it cannot but be accepted But yet lastly seeing his sufferings were but a short time and so not intended for eternall sinnes but those only which were to haue an end it may giue vs a cave at to breake off our sinnes be time least being iustly cut off in them they proue eternall to vs and so we haue no benefit in the sufferings of Christ. For as the Apostle St Paule saith if obstinately and wilfully we resolue to sinne after we haue received the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sinnes For this is to tread vnder foot the Sonne of God to count the bloud of the Couenant wherewith we were sanctified an vnholy thing and to doe despite vnto the spirit of grace But of this second part the worke of the houre enough The third
of it But before we come particularly vnto them we must needs premise a word or two touching the condition and enquire what it is to come after Christ. Among divers interpretations two there are which to me seeme most likely The first is if any will come after me that is if any will be my Disciple Thus S. Luke himselfe seemeth to expound it where speaking in a manner to the same purpose he saith whosoeuer beareth not his crosse and followeth mee cannot bee my Disciple Wherevnto reason also agreeth for Schollers vse not to goe before their Masters but to come after them whence vsually they are called Followers as the Followers of Plato the Followers of Aristotle In this sence then it is as if our Saviour should say If any will be my scholler But hee meanes a scholler not titularlie and in name only like Apothecaries boxes quorum tituli habent remedia pyxides venena which containe in them poisons hauing the titles of remedies but really and truely one that is so indeed and to speake plaine English a â—rue Christian. The second interpretation is if any will come after me that is if any will arriue at that end to the which I am aspiring before him namely eternall glory Neither is this vnlikely for Christ is the author and finisher of our Faith who for the ioy that was set before him endured the crosse despising shame and is set at the right hand of the throne of God Hee by his blood hath consecrated a new and liuing way for vs into the holy of holies whether he is ascended before vs there to prepare mansions for all such as will come after him And in this sense it is as if our Saviour should say if any will come to eternall life and glory after me Now whether of these two sences shall we take I suppose both for first the circumstances of the Text admit both secondly both agree with the analogie of faith thirdly the safest rule is not to straighten but to enlarge the meaning of the holy Ghost as much as may be and lastly what God hath ioyned together let no man put asunder Now no man can bee a Citizen of heauen vnlesse he be a Disciple of Christ here on earth The Schoole of Christ and the kingdome of heaven are contriued like Marcellus two Temples of Vertue and Honour For as none could enter into the Temple of Honour but he must first passe through the Temple of Vertue so neither can any man passe into the kingdome of glory but by the schoole of grace He that will be glorious there must first be gracious here There is no salvation but only by the Mediation of Christ his Mediation stands in his Priesthood Kingdome and Prophecie Hee is not a Priest to one a King to another and a Prophet to a third but he is all three vnto a man or he is none at all vnto him for Christ is not divided Whence it followeth that whosoeuer will be saued Christ must bee a Prophet vnto him and he must be a Disciple vnto Christ. The meaning then of this condition is as if our Saviour more fully and plainely had said If any will be my Disciple and by being my Disciple will come vnto the kingdome of heaven after me Now let vs descend in due order vnto the counsels and consider both the substance and necessity of them First of the first Let him deny himselfe What is that God saith the Apostle is faithfull he cannot deny himselfe that is he cannot say and vnsay for his promises are not Yea and nay but Yea and Amen neither can he say otherwise of himselfe then he is for he is truth it selfe cannot lye Must we thus deny our selues God forbid For then how can we resemble our heavenly Father and be perfect as hee is perfect for he neither doth nor can deny himselfe And seeing Christ is the expresse image of his Father and wee are to be conformed vnto the image of Christ it cannot be that he should advise vs to bee so vnlike either to his Father or himselfe as in this sense to deny our selues No this we leaue to cheating Priests and Iesuits who haue devised a new doctrine of Equivocation and Mentall Reservation If yee aske of a Priest art thou a Priest Hee will confidently and boldly deny himselfe and say I am no Priest reseruing in his minde of Baal or of Apollo which speech and reservation put together make vp they say one entire and true sentence I am no Priest of Baal or Apollo And this is the starting hole which these Foxes haue provided for themselues in the time of danger But O thou thrice blessed Lord and Saviour Christ and O yee blessed and holy Apostles and Martyrs of Christ how simple and ignorant were yee that yee knewe not this doctrine Had you knowne it how easily might you haue avoided those many troubles vexations and torments that yee endured Thou O Christ being demanded whether thou were the Christ mightst readily haue answered I am not with this reservation such as yee looke for yee Apostles and Martyrs of Christ being questioned whether yee were Christians might easily haue replyed we are not reseruing only in your mind such as yee slander vs to be devourers of young children incestuous and the like But the schoole of Machiavel and Loiola was not yet opened and Christians hitherto were trained vp only in the schoole of Christ all were of the minde of that Bishop who as Augustin saith was Firme both in name and deed who being demanded by persecutors for a Christian whom he had hidden answered roundly and without all Equivocation neither is it for a Christian to lie nor for a Bishop to betray a Christian and therefore I will not tell you I feare me when these Deniers of theÌ„selues shall appeare before Christ at the last day mentall reseruation will hardly excuse them and because they would not be knowne to be the Priests of Christ for so they pretend neither will Christ knowe them to bee of his flocke But of this enough being but by the way To Deny then in this place is not litterally and properly to be vnderstood but thus to disclaime to renounce to reiect to despise to make no reckoning and to take no notice of When our Saviour threatneth that hee will deny them before his Father in heauen whosoeuer shall deny him before men what meaneth he but this Hee will renounce them and not owne them for his Even as it is said of Levi to his great honour He said vnto his Father and to his mother I haue not seene him neither did he acknowledge his brethren nor knewe his owne that is he regarded them not nor tooke any notice of them But what must wee thus Deny Our selues He saith not Father Mother Brother Sister Wife children Friends Honour Wealth Pleasure and yet these things must be denied too but hee
giue me leaue to retort the same words backe againe vpon you that which God hath cleansed and given thee free liberty to vse or not to vse as thou shalt thinke good count not thou that common or vncleane that is sinfull or vnlawfull if at any time thou vse it For as the holy Apostle saith vnto the pure are all things pure whereas vnto them that are defiled and vnbeleeuing is nothing pure but even their mind and conscience is defiled N. N. Hee that is ignorant let him be ignorant still DEFENCE This is the Epiphonema wherewith you close vp this your Pamphlet And it is the saying of Saint Paul concerning which St Chrysostome hath this observation that when he speaketh of grosse and greevous sins then hee saith yee are fallen from grace Christ shall profit you nothing they that doe such things shall not inherit the kingdome of God for these things commeth the wrath of God vpon the children of vnbeleife but not saith hee because it seemeth not to be so great a crime if a man bee ignorant that God commandeth a woman to bee silent in the Church therefore he rebuketh those that are otherwise minded after a more gentle manner saying Hee that is ignorant let him be ignorant Which observation of his if it be of any weight theÌ„ haue you not well applyed this text vnto your purpose For the vse of Lots in Gaming and light matters being in your judgement so hainous and enormious a sinne that it is more to bee detested and abhorred then downeright blasphemy and sporting with Oaths you should rather haue concluded with some terrible sentence threatning fire and brimstone then with this gentle memento He that is ignorant let him bee ignorant still But Theodore Beza as I conceaue best expresseth the meaning of this saying thus as if the Apostle had said he that is endued with vnderstanding amongst you let him acknowledge that these things which I say proceede from the spirit of God and so diligently obserue these our precepts But hee that is ignorant let him be ignorant that is let him acknowledge this his ignorance nor trouble the Church but rest in the judgement of those that are more skilfull or rather let him bee contemned as one pleasing himselfe in his ignorance For whence are troubles for the most part but from this that ignorant men will not be ignorant but take vp the place of those that are more skilfull Thus he Now if you had either the spirit or authority of Saint Paul or had by solid and vnanswerable arguments out of Gods word demonstrated your intended Conclusion no man could iustly haue excepted against you but that you might freely take vp these words of the Apostle and oppose them against all gainsaiers He that is ignorant let him be ignorant still For they that affect ignorance and will not see the truth how clear or evident soever it be made deserue no other but to be neglected and contemned But by your leaue sir neither haue you the one nor haue you sufficiently performed the other and therefore I must entreat you yet a while to forbeare this saying vntill you haue added more strength vnto your arguments and haue made them good against this Answere For to build castles in the aire and to despise the well grounded judgement of others argues much arrogance and overweening of our selues One thing more haue I to say before I leaue you and that by way of caution For as the Poet speaketh Dum vitant stulti vitia in contraria currunt because I speake against the too much strictnesse nicety of those who refraine these Lot-games as vnlawfull it may be some will not sticke to charge me as if I allowed the licentiousnesse of our loose Gamesters therein But let these men know that although I allow the Games themselues notwithstanding the Lot vsed in them yet I condemne and detest as much as they all those foule enormities wherewith they are abused Lavishly to wast and consume that wealth wherewith our families should bee maintained and time which is farre more pretious then wealth to blaspheme the sacred name of God with horrible oaths imprecations and execrations and vpon every crosse chance to fall out of our wits as it were and to become outragious in our passions are fearfull sinnes odious and abominable both before God and man But these are the faults of the Gamesters not of the Games through the profanenesse of mans heart may befall any other Game as well as these They that are not Masters of their owne affections and cannot temper themselues let them in Gods name abstaine least they entangle themselues in the snares of the Diuell But they who haue the discretion to vse them moderatly seasonably and peaceably why should the distemper and irregularity of others preiudice them in the free vse of their liberty In a word I allow the right vse and condemne the abuse neither through too much strictnesse barring Gods people from the one nor through too much remissenesse giuing way vnto the other And so I conclude with that prudent saying of the wise Preacher Eccles. 7. 16 Be not just over much neither make thy selfe over wise for why shouldst thou be desolate 17 Be not overmuch wicked neither bee thou foolish for why shouldst thou dye not in thy time FINIS THE REALL PRESENCE BY Transubstantiation vnknowne to the Ancient Fathers OXFORD Printed by I.L. for E. F. 1633. TRANSVBSTANTIATION vnknowne to the ancient Fathers SIR the distance and disproportion between you me being such as it is I a professed scholler Minister of Christs Gospell you a meer Laick and knowing little farther then your mother tongue can direct you I see not how it could bee any either disparagement to my person or disadvantage to the truth of God if I vouchsafed no answere at all vnto the Schedule you sent mee For as in Duellos and single combats they say a man may without empeachment of honour refuse the Chalenge vnlesse he that made it be in some sort his Peer so I presume in controuersies of Faith also a man may without touch of reputation forbeare the encounter except hee that provoketh be in some measure equall Neverthelesse this disparity perhaps might otherwise easily haue beene dispended withall were it not for the proud brags and insolencies of your Priests and Iesuits with whom it is vsuall in their Pamphlets to trumpet out aloud that even their ordinary Catholikes are able if not to gravell yet to grapple with the better sort of our Divines As if forsooth all Papists were Gedeons and never a Iâ—ther among them or that not only their Anakims Goliasses but even their armour bearers and pages also were such redoubted and terrible warriers Which intolerable arrogance and vanity of theirs as we haue little reason by descending so farre beneath our selues to cherish in any of you so haue we great cause to answer it even as it
without Christ are vnprofitable neither can they be fruitfull at any time but onely in Christ who alone is the Substance and Foundation of them all Wherevpon I conclude that those ancient Sacraments of the Iewes directly looked vnto Christs and prefigured him but were not properly Figures of ours No were What say you then to the Fathers who affirme they were I say two things first that their Authoritie is not a sufficient ground to build our Faith vpon as we haue elsewhere shewed at large For it is but Humane testimonie and argueth as your owne Thomas saith not necessarily but only probably Neither is it reason seeing your selues so often sleight and reiect it even in those points wherein many times they consent that you should so peremptorily vrge it vpon vs and binde vs absolutely to beleeue all they say I say secondly that the Fathers calling the Sacraments of the old Law Figures of ours meane not that they were bare and naked signes without the truth but that in them the thing signified was more darkly and implicitly shadowed then in ours Or rather that they were Figures corresponding vnto ours in the same sense that the Apostle S. Peter intendeth it when he calleth Baptisme the Antitype of Noahs Arke For vnderstanding whereof you are to knowe that Types or Figures are sometimes compared with that truth or thing whereof they are Samplars as where the Holy place of the Tabernacle is said to bee the Antitype of Heauen figured thereby Sometime with some other Secondary samplar and Figure of the same thing as in this place of Peter where Baptisme is made the Antitype of that deliuerance which befell the Church by the Arke in the generall deluge of waters So that the Arke properly was not ordained to be a Figure of Baptisme but both it and Baptisme represent vnto vs our Salvation from the danger both of sinne and death by Christ Iesus therein mutually respecting and answering one the other The same may you also say of the Cloud and the Passing through the Red sea of Manna and the Rock and all the rest And that thus the Fathers heare one for all who to vse your owne words spake in the sense of them all This Bread saith S. Augustine which came downe from heauen Manna signified this Bread the Altar of God signified They were Sacraments divers in signes but in the thing signified alike Heare the Apostle I would not saith hee haue you ignorant Brethren that all our Fathers were vnder the cloud and all passed through the sea and all were baptized by Moses in the â—loud and in the sea and all eat the same spirituall meat The same spirituall I say but another corporall because they Manna We another thing But the same spirituall that we yet our Fathers not their Fathers to whom wee are like not to whom they were like And hee addeth And they all dranke the same spirituall drink They one thing we another as touching the visible nature yet the selfe same in the signifying spirituall vertue For how the same drinke They dranke saith he of the spirituall Rock following them and the Rock was Christ. Thence the Bread thence the drinke The Rocke Christ in the signe true Christ in the Word Flesh. Thus S. Augustine But if the Fathers serue not your turne you haue the Fathers of the Fathers even Christ himselfe and his holy Apostle S. Paul who both affirme that Manna was an expresse figure of this Sacrament And if Manna why not by the same proportion other Sacraments also Indeed now you dispute not Topically but Apodictically you cannot but prevaile if it be true that you say But what are the words I pray you wherein this may appeare Certainely none at all For neither the one nor the other either expresly or implicitly make it a Figure of this Sacrament but of Christ himselfe and his Flesh. For as for the sixt of Iohn it is cleare that our Saviour speaketh not therein of the Eucharist or of Sacramentall Manducation but only of the Spirituall eating of his Flesh by Faith I saith he am the Bread of life hee that commeth vnto mee shall not hunger and hee that beleeueth in me shall neuer thirst Where although to continue the Allegorie hee might haue said He that eateth me shall not hunger and he that drinketh me shall not thirst yet hee chose rather to vse the words of Comming and Beleeuing to teach vs that hee speaketh not of an Oral eating and drinking by the Mouth but only of a Spirituall by Faith And this is so plaine that Bellarmine himselfe confesseth these words Properly not to belong vnto the Sacrament but to the faith of the Incarnation Againe that Eating is meant without which there is no life Except saith hee yee eat the flesh of the sonne of man and drinke his Blood there is no life in you But without Sacramentall eating a man may haue life in him Spirituall eating therefore is meant And thus also doe sundry of your owne Rabbies vnderstand this place as namely Gabriel Cusan Cajetan Tapper Hesselius Iansenius and others As for that place of S. Paul it is evident that the Apostle putteth no difference betweene the old Sacraments and the New saue only in regard of the externall signes for otherwise he affirmeth the same thing to be Signified and Exhibited in both to wit Christ. And so doth S. Augustine vnderstand it They did eat the same spirituall meat saith he it had sufficed to haue said they did eat a spirituall meat but he saith the same I cannot finde how we should vnderstand the same but the same that wee doe eat And againe Whosoeuer in Manna vnderstand Christ did eat the same spiritual food that we doe But whosoever sought only to fill their bellies of Manna which were the Fathers of the vnfaithfull they haue eaten and are dead so also the same drinke for the Rock was Christ. Therefore they drank the same drinke that we doe but spiritual drink that is which was receiued by Faith not which was drawne in with the Body If happily you stand vpon those words These things are types vnto vs you may knowe that hee saith not they were types of our Sacraments but Examples to vs that we sin not as they did For as they perished in the wildernesse notwithstanding their Sacraments so may we doing as they did notwithstaÌ„ding ours Which argument if that you say be true would be of no force at all For the Corinthians might thus haue replied though their Sacraments availed not them yet ours may vs because ours are Substance theirs but Shadows But enough of the Antecedent Yet before I proceed to the Consequence some of your By-speeches are also to be examined First you say that Bread aud Wine was mysteriously offered to Almighty God by Melchizedeck But both the Original and your Vulgar translation made authenticall by the Councell of Trent
these things hang together for my part I cannot see Would to God your selfe had taken the paines to shew it But this is your solemne fault you quote the sayings of the Fathers and leaue mee to gather your Conclusions I may well thinke because you saw no great force or strength in them And whether Gregory did favor Transubstantiation or no let it be tried by these words As the Divinity of the word of God is one which filleth all the world so although that body bee consecrated in many places at innumerable times yet are there not many bodies of Christ nor many cups but one body of Christ and one bloud with that which he tooke in the wombe of the Virgin and which he gaue to the Apostles For the Divinity of the word filleth that which is every where and conioyneth and maketh that as it is one so it bee ioyned to the body of Christ and his body be in truth one Here according to Gregory the body of Christ doth not succeed and fill vp the roome of bread after the substance thereof is abolished but the fulnesse and vertue of the Divinity which filleth the bread maketh it â—o passe into the body of Christ and so to be one body of Christ. Which how it can stand with your Transubstantiation iudge you N. N. These Hereticks admit not the Eucharists and oblations because they will not confesse that the Eucharist is the Flesh of our Saviour Iesus Christ which hath suffered for our sins which the Father hath raised vp againe by his goodnesse These words alleaged by Theodoret are reported by him to be the words of St. Ignatius the Apostles scholler written in an Epistle ad Smyrnenses and therefore of greater antiquitie I. D. These words are not found in that Epistle ad Smyrnenses which is now extant Whereby you may perceaue it is true that I said the Epistles of Ignatius are not come perfect to our hands Of this Epistle saith Eusebius Ignatius when he wrote to them of Smyrna vsed words I knowe not whence taken And Hierome If you vse not his testimonies for authoritie at least vse them for antiquity And the Abbot of Spanheâ—m reckons it not among the rest of his Epistles as being doubtfull Yet for all this the credit of this Epistle shall not be questioned by mee I answere therefore the Heretikes which Ignatius meanes were Menander and the Disciples of Simon These denied that Christ was come in the Flesh and consequently that hee had Flesh. Wherevpon they reiected the Eucharist also least thereby they should be constrained to confesse that he had true Flesh. For granting the signe of a body you must also grant a true body Figure and Truth being Correlatiues whose Relation is to figure and to be figured And thus they added aloes vnto wormwood one error vnto another first denying the truth of Christs body and then that the Eucharist was the Sacrament of his body or that it was Sacramentally his body More then this cannot bee meant For I presume Theodoret would not alleage this to crosse himselfe who holdeth that Bread and Wine still remaine and argueth from them for the verity of Christs body because they are symbols of his body as is aboue declared N. N. Doth not the Evangelist Iohn say in the Apocalyps If any man shall adde vnto these things God shall adde vnto him the plagues that are written in this booke and if any man shall minish of these words of the booke of this Prophecie God shall take away his part out of the booke of life and out of the holy City and the things which are written in this booke Is this malediction or curse lesse to be feared here that we diminish not or put any thing to the words of him that said This is my body which shall be delivered for you this is my bloud of the New Testament which shall be shed for many in the remission of sinnes For when he saith This is my body wee shall put to an vnderstanding saying a Figuratiue Body or that it is spoken by a similitude when I say he saith this is my Body we shal say this signifieth my Body is it not much that we put to his words or by an evill change take from them and make a sense which so great an author God man in no place hath spoken nor at any time did ascend into his heart This man especially with many of the rest answereth M. Downe and all Protestants fully I. D. In this Authority I cannot but greatly pitty you to see how miserably you are gulled and beguiled by your Author For what was this Rupertus but a man of yesterday one that liued towards twelue hundred after Christ and a very Heretike in this point of the Sacrament For he maintained that the Eucharisticall Bread is hypostatically assumed by the Word iust after the same manner that the humane nature was assumed by the same Word This he expresseth in words as cleare as the noone day For expounding that of our Saviour The Bread which I will giue is my Flesh he saith That the eternall word by incarnation was made man not destroying or changing but personally assuming the humanitie and after the same manner by consecration of the Eucharist the same word is made Bread not destroying or changing but personally assuming Bread This he declareth elsewhere very largely shewing that Bread is made the Body of Christ not by turning it into his Flesh but because it is assumed by the Word Whence it followeth that Bread is the Body of Christ yet not his Humane or Carnall but Bready Body much differing from that which he tooke of the Virgin That yet these two bodies may be said to be One because the Person is but one or Christ is one who assumed them both so that the same Christ aboue that is in heauen is in the Flesh and beneath that is on the Altar is in Bread This grosse errour Algerus who liued in the same time with Rupertus confuâ—ed calling it as it iustly deserued a new and most absurd heresie What say you now to this good sir Is this the man who especially among the rest fully answereth Mrâ— Downe and all Protestants Doth he not as fully answere you Papists who cleane contrary to his Tenet destroy and change the bread to make it Christs body Yea but we adde vnto the Text vnderstanding it to be a Figuratiue body That is a shamelesse slander for wee place no Figure in the word bodie but litterally interpret it of Christs naturall body At least we say bread signifieth his body So wee say indeed and so say the Fathers also And to giue the true sense vnto a Text is not to adde vnto it Neither can I conceaue why it should be counted addition in vs to say This is my body Sacramentally or by way of signification more then in you to say it is so by way of Transubstantiation or