and soule of the church it selfe The veritie and certeintie wherof though it lie in Christ 1. Cor. 1.20 because in him al Gods promises are yea and amen yet the particular applications of the same to our owne harts must come from the powerfull working of the holie spirit But how shall we come to the effectuall feeling of these if the force of the spirit be not shed abrode into our hearts or how can the holie spirit be called the pledge of Gods promises Ephes 1.13 and the earnest penie of our adoption and saluation if that promise of our sauior Christ be not accomplished or how can we find comfort against the feare of death or peace in our consciences against the sight of sinne and iudgement due vnto vs for the same without this Of a truth the remembrance of our dissolution and departure hense this being remooued shall be greeuous and the horrour of hell the iust punishment of our iniquitie will be readie euery houre to ouerwhelme vs. Wee need not stand long vpon this point either this must be true that wee haue the Holie ghost in most abundant measure by the bodilie absence of our sauior Christ giuen to the church as before is said and proued and so a spirituall supplie bestowed vpon vs for a bodiely want that being more excellent than this because the apostle saith that hensefoorth we know no man after the flesh 2. Corinth 5.16 yea though we had knowne Christ after the flesh yet now henseforth know we him no more or else if Christ be heere bodilie present the Holy ghost is not yet come nor the apostles indued with miraculous graces nor the fulnesse of the Gentils gathered in nor the comfort and peace of the church prouided for all which are fearefull to thinke vpon but much more horrible to feele and in deed are quite cleane contrarie to the truth of the word and if we had no more but onlie the second chapter of the Acts of the apostles it were sufficient to ouerthrow the same 6 Sixtlie this assertion dooth not onelie closelie but openlie accuse Christ himselfe of manifest lieng vntrueth who as both the prophets and apostles doo beare witnesse did no sinne Isaiah 53.9 1. Peter 2.22 neither was there any guile found in his mouth He himselfe hath plainlie told vs The poore ye haue alwaies with you Marke 14.7 and when yee will ye may doo them good but me yee shall not haue alwaies And againe elswhere Iohn 14.2 I go to prepare a place for you If this be not blasphemie to doo what we can to taint him with falshood that is both truth it selfe and the author of all truth I know not what is blasphemie And yet this iniquitie staieth not heere for it depriueth vs first of the comfort of the forgiuenesse of sinnes because if our sauiour haue beene tainted with anie manner of iniquitie though neuer so small he cannot be a price and ransome for sin because he that must recommit sinners to God must of necessitie be free from transgression Secondlie it dooth as it were violentlie take and pull from vs the hope that we haue of the heauenlie inheritance For why hath our sauior Christ sundred himselfe for a space from vs as in respect of his bodilie presence not yet leauing vs comfortlesse for he hath giuen vs his spirit to supplie as it were his absence but to the end that we might heereafter in time to come most comfortablie enioye him bothe in bodie and soule for euermore Dooth not hee himselfe say Iohn 16.16 Yet a little while and yee shall not see me and againe a little while and ye shall see me for I go to my father And in another place Though I go to prepare a place for you Iohn 14 3. yet will I come againe and receiue you vnto my selfe that where I am there may yee be also And yet all this notwithstanding superstitious and brainesicke people dare with open mouth affirme that we haue him continuallie with vs here vpon earth and that not in respect of his spirituall power and presence onelie wherevnto we our selues most gladlie yeeld as a verie principall comfort vnto vs in the daies of all our distresses because in that respect as God eternall with his father we beleeue that he filleth all places both in heauen and in earth and is said to be with the beleeuers euen vnto the end of the world Matth. â—3 20 but as in respect of his corporall and bodilie presence also than the which nothing vndoubtedlie can be more false and absurd as hath beene sufficientlie shewed alreadie and plainelie prooued before Now hauing waded thus farre in the trueth and certeinetie of the matter it selfe wee might safelie shut vp and conclude this point but that there remaine sundrie of the aduersaries obiections to be answered wherin I cannot but let the godlie reader vnderstand that I minde not to answer either all of them or manie of them because the most in trueth be friuolous and vaine and it would be ouer tedious to wade into such idle and vnprofitable matter Three there are in deede which because they seeme to be of speciall strength and ordinarie vse I can not let passe Two of them are taken from the words of the text of holie scripture and the third from the omnipotencie and almightie power of our sauiour Christ which though they be common things in deed and such as might as easilie be reiected as obiected because the controuersie is not touching the plaine wordes of the text and the almightie power of Christ as God for be it far from vs to be so absurd as to draw things of such euidency and excellencie into question but we striue rather as for the true sence naturall meaning of the wordes so for the veritie of Christes person and the essentiall properties of either his distincted natures yet we cannot but both for the strengthening of them that be weake and ignorant in the same as also for the discharge of our conscience before God and man but in a word or two as it were make a short but withal a sound sufficient and true answer I hope to euery one of these three seuerallie and by themselues 1 The first place obiected is these words of our sauiour in the gospell after Iohn Except ye eat the flesh of the sonne of man Iohn 6.13 and drinke his bloud ye haue no life in you Weerevnto I answer first that neither these words neither the rest of the chapter can in anie probabilitie or shew of reason properlie be vnderstood of the Lords supper And if we had no more for it but this yet were this sufficient because at that time the supper it selfe was not instituted and ordeined but a long while after as in the euangelists writings dooth plainelie appeare but must rather be referred to our spirituall communicating or partaking with Christ by the meanes of a liuelie
this obiection may then haue some place If absurdities or errors be yeelded vnto then they will be infinit no measure of them if by communicating or partaking we vnderstand a reall applieng or mixture of Christes bodie with ours whether it be of the whole with the whole or of the parts with the parts that so the church might in deed be a bodie as it were souldered and glewed togither of innumerable bodies of beleeuers being indeed molten togither as it were with Christes bodie But fie vpon this monster and let vs learne alwaies to driue it far from vs for who perceiueth not that the bodie arising or flowing from this felowship or communicating and belonging altogether to a spirituall life is mysticall Wherfore we are truelie but yet after a spirituall sort and mysticallie become one with Christ himselfe through faith that so from him there may flow into vs true life A similitude And euen as these our members being naturallie ioined with the soule doo receiue from it sence and moouing so should we after a spirituall and vndeclarable maner for great is the mysterie of that spirituall mariage that is betweene Christ and his church Ephes 5.32 as the apostle largelie and lowdlie declareth liue in Christ being ledde and gouerned by his spirit and he againe manifest and declare his powerfull working in vs. Now tell me is this the abolishing of that partaking that wee haue with Christ himselfe or doo we not rather make it a diuine and heauenlie partaking But if with these men we would make it a cōmunicating with the mouth then this partaking or communicating should be no woonderful or excellent matter We cannot approoue of a bodilie communicating or partaking with the mouth because that were to spoile our faith and rob God of his almightie power truth For what I pray you is more naturall and vsuall than if anie thing that is in deed present be deliuered vs to eat we take it in our hands and swallow it down thorow our mouth But that we though as now poore wretches we be placed on the earth not els where should notwithstanding truelie and in deed become the verie members of the flesh and bloud of Christ himselfe who now according to his flesh remaineth in heauen and no where else and should fetch from thence the verie iuice in deed of eternall life notwithstanding that woonderfull great distance of place that is betweene him and vs this I say passeth all mans vnderstanding and is a most euident testimonie both of Gods truth and also of his almightie power And let this suffice also for answer to these slanderers who crie out that wee transforme this holie mysterie into an imaginarie ghost or conceit in that we do attribute all this wholie to our mindes faith If the aduersaries conclusion be true then there will insue therevpon two grosse errors for if they doo trulie conclude this against vs what remaineth then but that we affirme likewise the baptisme of christians to be a certeine vaine fantasie or apparition and their saluation also to be in imagination and not in truth Two similitudes conteining in them arguments from the lesse to the more who die before they can come to be present at or partakers of the Lords supper Now if naturall vnderstanding it selfe and apprehension be so powerfull and effectuall that we being holpē by these faculties become skilfull in so manie things shall not faith that excellent gift of the Holie ghost worke this in vs that wee shall through faith trulie and in deed apprehend take hold of that verie thing which God offereth vs to be receiued by faith though it be neuer so far remooued from vs And sith by the heat of the sun though it be neuer so far distant from vs the whole world is after a sort quickened and made liuelie and strong shall not Christ be able though his flesh and his bloud remaine in heauen so to become in deed our mysticall head that he may powre into vs the iuice of eternall life The conclusion of all But of these matters wee haue spoken thus far My purpose was brethren largelie to discourse of these points because of the slanders of certeine ilwillers that so by this meanes the true and sound doctrine of our churches being made knowne none of them that repaire to this church shuld refuse our assemblies speciallie the holie supper which we mind God willing within few daies to administer but rather that we should euery one of vs religiouslie celebrate this holie banket earnestlie intreating the Lord to restreine troublesome spirits to confirme right beleeuers A godlie praier and to be short to grant vs all this grace that being of one minde in him we may in this world lead an innocent and vnblamable life and at the last be receiued into eternall life and blessednesse by our Lord Iesus Christ to whom with the Father and the Holie ghost be all praise and glorie for euer and euer So be it A SHORT SVMME OF sound doctrine touching the matter of the Sacrament of the Lords supper We haue to consider in Christ our onely Mediatour Foure things to be speciallie regarded in Christ especiallie fowre things that is to saie 1 Christes person 2 His office 3 The gift 〈◊〉 graces which we receiue from him 4 Lastlie by what meanes wee are made partakers of those gifts 1 Concerning Christes person Christ consisting of two natures is yet but one person WE teach affirme that Christ dooth consist of two natures the one the nature of God the other the nature of man making yet notwithstanding but one person of both natures and that so also as the proprieties both in the nature of God and also of man remaine safe and sound and are rightlie distinguished one of them from another Wherein the glorification of Christes bodie standeth And though we confesse the mans nature of Christ to be glorified and that in the cheefest degree one and that no lesse truelie and straitlie than the members are ioined to a naturall body but yet in that maner and after that sort which we will heereafter declare Neither do they please satisfie or content vs wherfore this our ioining with Christ vnto that great mysterie of his incarnation for this is a generall communicating or partaking of his nature with ours but heere we intreat of a particular or peculiar coniunction by which it commeth to passe Ephes 4.13 that his church and congregation groweth vp togither with him And we affirme this coniunction and ioining of vs togither to be the welspring of all the benefits which afterwards are conueied ouer from Christ vnto vs Matth. 3.17 Iohn 17.11 for seeing that the father is well pleased in him alone it is meet that we be truelie made one with him that in him also we may please the father Hense then insueth another sort of giftes and graces that is to
and stedfast faith apprehending the word generallie and applieng particularlie vnto our selues all the gracious and sweet promises that the Lord hath made and offered vnto vs therein which may plainelie appeare to be most true partlie because he persisteth by a continuall thread of speech as it were in the metaphor of bread or meat mentioned before vers 26.27 vsing also for that purpose as euerie man may easilie perceiue sundrie borrowed speeches agreeing well to the circumstance of the matter wherein he was to deale which he would not or needed not to haue doone if he had meane so groslie or carnallie as these men fantasie and partlie because he speaketh so often not of eating onelie but also of beleeuing as verse 35.40 which can not be properlie attributed to anie outward or materiall thing such as the bodie and flesh of Christ then was and is but to inward and spirituall matters which as it may be gathered by sundrie places of holie scripture Rom. 8.24 the apostle affirming that hope that is seene is no hope for how can a man hope for that which hee seeth 2. Cor. 5.7 and that we walke by faith and not by sight Hebr. 11.1 yea and that faith it selfe is the ground of things which are hoped for and the euidence of thinges which are not seene so also may it be prooued euen by the verie nature of faith which being a spirituall and inward qualitie giuen vs of God Philip. 1.29 Iohn 4.24 who is nothing else but spirit trueth and wrought in vs by spirituall meanes as the word sacraments outwardlie and the Holie ghost inwardly in our hearts must also of necessitie be directed to spirituall inward things But let vs for reasoning sake grant that the place were to be vnderstood of the holie supper yet doth it not for all that establish anie grosse and carnall eating of the naturall flesh or bodie of our sauiour Christ because if that were so then had not our sauiour sufficientlie answered the Capernatts or Iewes of Capernaum who vainelie dreaming and doting of such a grosse and carnall manducation or eating Iohn 6.52 said How can this man giue vs his flesh meaning thereby that it was altogither impossible and vnnaturall both in respect of himselfe and in regard of them also because it was seldome or neuer heard of except it were amongst the Anthropophagi that men did willinglie giue their flesh to be food vnto others or that others did eat the same but had rather yeelded vnto them in that their conceipt which besides that it conteineth an errour in religion and nature as before hath beene shewed is quite and cleane contrarie to the purpose of Christ in that place and closelie accuseth him as though either in ignorance he could not or in an euill minde he would not haue instructed them in their blindnesse all which are horrible to heare blasphemous to speake and beastlie to thinke Besides if that corrupt sence should be allowed marke what a Sea of absurdities woulde insue therevpon As first in what a miserable estate shoulde wee leaue the holie Fathers of the olde couenaunts who were longe before the time of Christes taking our flesh vpon him therefore could not eat it and so by consequent could not be saued Matth. 8.11 And yet our sauiour in plaine termes affirmeth that they were in the kingdome of heauen And S. Paule also saith 1. Cor. 20.3.4 that they did all eat the same spirituall meat that wee doo and did all drinke the same spirituall drinke that we doo which word spirituall would be marked as directlie opposite to grosse carnall or bodilie eating plainelie also proouing that betwixt their sacraments and ours there was no difference at all as in respect of substance and effect sauing only that theirs were in time before ours euen as they themselues also were and instituted in other outward elements than ours Secondlie in what a miserable case condition should we put poore infants speciallie of the beleeuers if they should be taken away by death before that cōming to the yeers of discretion they could communicat or partake in that holie sacrament One of these two grosse absurdities must needs follow therevpon yea be granted also vnlesse men wil be stifnecked in error to wit either that infants must haue the holie communion ministred vnto them which thing in deed Augustine did once fantasticallie imagine as appeareth by manie places of his works notwithstanding all that papists say to cleere him therof But S. Paule is flatlie against it who will haue none admitted thereto 1. Corinth 11.28 2. Corinth 13. but such as can examine trie themselues whether they be in the faith or no which infants cannot doo as all men may plainlie perceiue not onlie because they want reason as in the practise therof but speciallie because they be void of faith which ordinarilie commonlie is bestowed vpon the faithfull Rom. 10.17 by hearing the woord preached as the apostle saith or els that with out it they are all condēned already which is verie absurd beastlie not onlie because it tieth grace yea the grace of saluation to the sacrament by the worke wrought than the which what can be more vnresonable for so good and bad hauing the outward signe shall also haue the thing it selfe to wit eternall life but also because it abolisheth as Gods eternall election whereby he hath chosen those that be his in Christ to life euerlasting before the foundations of the world were laied so his gratious and continuall couenant made to vs that he will be a louing God and mercifull father to vs and to our seed for euer Genesis 17.7 by which couenant also we are assured euen of his good will and fauor towards vs in Christ By all this we may see that euen for the auoiding of these absurdities and manie such like the place of the sixt of Iohn can at no hand he vnderstood either of the sacrament or of the carnall eating of Christes bodie in the same or of anie such grosse thing whatsoeuer but of the apprehension or laieng holde of him togither with the particular application of him to our selues by the hand or instrument of faith who euen for that purpose is propounded and set foorth vnto vs by the ministerie of his word and Gospell or if the aduersaries will needs haue it so offered vnto vs in the vse of the supper because that though the thinges bee diuerse representing him vnto vs as the word and sacraments yet there is in that respect but one meane giuen vs to take holde of him by euen as he himselfe is but one Christ that in these sundrie things is exhibited vnto vs and that is that great grace and gift of faith which we must vse in in the word and sacraments as men doo in the apprehending of Christes righteousnesse which righteousnesse of his though it be not essentiallie dwelling in vs yet it
lesse hard sharpe against vs than the verie papistes themselues who will haue the thing signified that is to say the verie bodie of Christ so to be ioined with or vnder or in the bread that in that verie place where that bread is there must also be the bodie of Christ which in like sort is to be vnderstood also touching the wine and the bloud of Christ If a man then should demand where is the verie bodie bloud of Christ in the action of the supper A grosse absurditie or two following consubstantiation if wee will answere according to their opinion we must say that it is truelie and in deed in our hands and in our mouth and therfore certeinelie vnlesse it presentlie vanish away within this bodie of ours with in or vnder the verie signes of the bread the wine being eaten and drunken Now we will shew and that by reasons not fet from humane philosophie as our aduersaries vntrulie say we vse such but from the verie word of God it selfe Two things to be handled viz. the confutation of the aduersaries the maintenance of the truth that this consubstantiation as we may trulie call it is no lesse absurd and erronious than transubstantiation as also that that communion or partaking which out of the pure word of God we propound and teach in our churches is a most secret and diuine matter Wherefore our iudgement is quite cleane contrarie to either of those opinions before rehearsed To begin we hold that such things as are spoken of the sacraments must be vnderstood sacramentallie For what I pray you is or can be more vpright than to haue all thinges spoken rightlie vnderstood and perceiued as the nature of that matter will beare whereof there is question A similitude or two explaning the point he hath in hand Certeinelie such thinges as the lawiers speake touching the law must be vnderstood euen as they are vsed in that verie science of the law and we must needs giue the selfe same iudgement of all things and arts whatsoeuer Such thinges therefore as are taught and deliuered touching the sacraments must be sacramentallie vnderstood What manner of coniunction then is the coniunction or knitting togither of the signe and the thing sacramentallie signified Verilie it is sacramentall The signes therfore and the things are ioined togither by that relation or respect which is betweene the signes and the thinges signified which yet once againe I doo most plainelie declare after this maner When we heare some man speaking vnto vs in the toong we vnderstand the words that come to our eares and strike them doo verie liuelie represent that vnto our mindes for the expressing and signification whereof they were vsed Another similitude For example as soone as we heare the word Rome presentlie wee thinke vpon that citie If a man name Cesar or the emperour Cesar or the emperour presenlie commeth to our memorie The reason whereof verilie is that that is well deliuered and taught in schooles to wit such thinges as are in the voice or words are signes of the affections that are in the soule or minde There is the selfe same consideration to be had of the sacraments for the sacraments are nothing else but visible words that is representing through our eies vnto our mindes things signified as words heard doo by our eares conuey vnderstanding to our minds likewise Therfore these visible sacraments of bread wine bring to passe that when I see and receiue that bread and that wine ioined with the word of God I doo withall conceiue in my mind and vnderstand that bodie that was giuen for me and that bloud that was shed for me as though I were led or carried euen vnto the thing it selfe being present And because I am commanded not onelie to looke vpon these signes with mine eies but also to take them Math. 26.26.27 eat them drinke them therefore dooth the faithfull minde euen lay hold of and applie vnto himselfe those things so signefied as they are deliuered and offered Touching which point we will largelie discourse in the fourth place to wit when we shall come to handle this question how both the signes and the thinges signified are receiued of vs whereas now we onelie dispute or speake touching the sacramentall coniunction of the signes themselues Two errours mainteined by the aduersaries with the thing signified Such as are not content with this sacramentall coniunction fall into a double errour not onelie that they doo in a a great and grosse errour verilie establish a real vnion of the signes with the things signified of which we haue spoken before but also they further adde this that euen in that verie place wheresoeuer the signes are offered to such as come to communicate there is present the flesh and the bloud of Christ that is to say they would haue vs confesse that euen his verie humanitie or manhood is in deed present there and is to be receiued or taken by bodily instruments As for vs we affirme that Christ in respect of his manhood The substance of that we are to know or beleeue touching the coniunction of the signes with the things signified in the Lords supper euen as when he was vpon the earth was no where else but in that verie place where he was conuersant so now he is not anie where else but aboue all heauens into which he ascended and that therefore he is not now togither with the signes offered to the bodie but togither with the signes truelie deliuered and giuen to the beleeuing soule euen as by the word we heare it and by the signe we see it Now it remaineth that we doo by some reasons fet from the word of GOD well wey and consider whether they or we swarue from the truth The first reason Rom. 1.3 Rom. 9.5 Galath 4.4 Philip. 2.7 Hebr. 2.16 Iohn 16.7.28 Matth. 28.20 Acts. 1.9 The holie scripture witnesseth that the sonne of God did personallie take vnto himselfe a true and verie bodie The selfe same scripture dooth attribute vnto the flesh of our sauiour Christ assumed and that both before and after the glorification thereof such things as doo plainelie prooue the truth of a naturall bodie as that he came that he went away that he was sometimes present and sometimes absent These things then doo of necessitie follow the trueth of Christes bodie which if a man take from it he must also needs take away the truth of the manhood of Christ and so come at the length to the heresie of the Marcionits or Dokits Marcionits or Dokits they were called Marcionits of one Marcion whose principall error was this that Christ did not appeare indeed and suffer indeed c. vpon the crosse but in phantasie or ghostlike apparition Concerning Dokitiae see homil 1. before going Tertullian wrote most learnedlie against this Marcion But these things are manifestlie taken away by their opinion who say that
to define the personal vnion not by the effusion or powring foorth of effectual graces but of vertues rather Moreouer vnderstand as large an effusion and powring foorth of giftes and graces into the flesh as possibly a man can I woulde faine see or heare some that coulde tell me how it shal not be a most open blasphemie for a man to affirme that the manhoode may by any meanes wythout robberie be made equall to the godhead What shall become of that sentence so often repeated in the ancient Fathers and olde writers to wit that the Sonne as in respect of his fleshe is lesse than the Father and inferiour vnto him yea and therefore lesse than himselfe and inferiour vnto him selfe because hee is as in respect of his godhead coequall with his Father Wherefore that interpretation is to bee refused as false yea as wholie and altogether sauoring of the heresie of Eutyches An other obiection of the aduersaries They alleadge yet this also The place saye they is not of the substaunce of a bodie and that therefore the substaunce of the body is not abolished though place bee taken away from it The answeare Certainely it would greeue me to the heart to beholde the maintainers of consubstantiation to bee so driuen to their shiftes that by propounding such absurde things they should giue themselues ouer to be scorned of the most popish and grose maintainers of Transubstantiation vpon whose foundation yet notwithstanding they builde vp their owne conceipts sauing that I see euen those very defenders of Transubstantiation themselues who haue bin broght vp with the teats of that most filthie sowe Sarbona to be so thrust to the wall in this point The name of a college in Paris where the popish diuines are maintained that they supposed that with this dirt the truth might be so dawbed ouer He very notably correcteth himselfe that it shoulde not lie open to euery mans eie and sight What woonderfull impudencie and shamelesnes is this beare wyth me brethren and pardon me O yee hearers this my most iust sorrow and greefe for men to deale so sophistically and subtilly in Gods church which is the schoole-house of trueth The worde Bodie in authors referred to two predicaments to wit substance and quantitie but yet in diuers respects Any man indued with reason can hardly be ignorant of this that this worde bodie is somtimes referred to substance and sometimes to quantity Therefore a bodie is sometimes called a corporall or bodilie substaunce consisting of matter forme and substaunce and sometimes it is called that which consisteth of three dimensions or mesurings to wit length bredth and depth So in this question somtimes wee consider Christs bodie as that same materiall substantiall visible and palpable thing which Christ tooke vnto him for our sake and after this sorte verilie quantitie as it is an accident is not parte of that substaunce And sometimes againe wee vse this worde bodie that so that which is defined by that three-fold quantitie may be the better distinguished and knowne The aduersaries must either conclude against reason or else yeelde to the trueth from that which is without quantitie And after this manner verily these men must either prooue that the definition dooth not declare the substance of these thinges which are defined or else they must with vs confesse that a bodie is nothing else but that verye three-folde quantitie continue as they call it that is to say such a quantitie as whose parts are ioined together in a common terme If this be once taken away it cannot be denied but that of necessitie christs true and very bodie must perishe whether wee consider it as it is glorified or as it is set in weaknesse yea Christ himselfe shall be accused of lieng who proueth the truth of his flesh euen after his resurrection by those inseparable accidents that is to say his corporall or bodily quantity He passeth to an other discourse touching the word Place Hitherto wee haue spoken of the bodie nowe let vs see what may be saide touching the place What if out of Augustines plaine and euident woordes wee shoulde saye Take from bodies space of places Augustine they shall be no where and because they shall be no where they shall not bee at all What will they say to this That is true in other bodies will they say but in Christs bodie not so or it agreeth not thereto But I answeare that it dooth most fitlie agree to Christes body of the absence of which from the earth Augustine dooth most properlie reason in that Epistle And truly if it were true that christs body were in diuerse respectes different from ours then he could not be of the selfe same substaunce with vs and like vnto vs in all things sinne onely excepted Hebr. 4.15 He explaneth the question I will adde yet somewhat more that the matter may appeare more plaine though by that which hath beene saide it be euident enough When wee affirme that a place can not be sundered or taken from a body that is from that thing which consisteth of three dimensions or measusurings before mentioned which thing the maintainers of consubstantiation do whē they flee to those same starting holes of his omnipotencie or almightie power which heereafter wee will God willing discouer wee meane not by this woorde place The word place considered after two sortes some peculiar space which by and by may be altered and changed as when Christ departing from one place went to an other for after this sorte this or that place is so euidēt to the body that by most light easy motion one being remoued or taken away another succedeth but we cal a place that same condition or state of a true very instrumentall body wherby it necessarily followeth that whersoeuer the thing it selfe is it must be circumscribed in that place or tied therto neither can it while it is there be in any other place This accident though it be not the verie substance of the body as in respect that the bodie it self is a substance yet verilie as it is a quantity it formeth frameth the body and it is an inseparable accident of the body aswell as of the substance So that there is no man I suppose but hee vnderstandeth how vaine and sophisticall that exception is But say they Christs body walked vpon the waters therefore they do not presently take away the truth of Christes body An other obiection with the answere therto Math. 14.25 c. that attribute vnto it an extraordinary condition or such a state as can not be declared And who I pray you denieth this or any part of it The question is not whether Christ as in respect of his flesh and that in the time of his infirmitye and weaknes also coulde accomplish many things ouer and beside the ordinary lawes of mans nature But this is the question The state of the
controuersie euen that such is Christes bodie namelie that it hath alwaies beene must of necessitie for euer be a verie or true bodie and therefore also circumscriptible and tied to a place The third reason Yea this I say further that God cannot be created by God nor that a thing created can be turned into God for if there were manie gods he could not be God to whō another created wer equall neither could that created god so called abusiuelie be God because that to be God to haue a beginning of time or in time are merelie cōtradictorie things or speeches The conclusion of this point Christs flesh therfore could not become the Godhead therfore could it not be indued with the incommunicable proprieties of the Godhead that is to say with such proprieties belonging to the Godhead as cannot be cōmunicated to any other but the Godhead alone amongst which this to be infinit to be wholie at one time euerie where is not reckoned in the last place Is this I pray you to deny Gods almightie power or do we in this follow the vngodlines of the blasphemous felow Plinie Plinius and his errors for he denieth that God is able to bestow immortalitie vpon mortall people or to call backe again such as are dead which is not only falslie but wickedly spoken also The selfe same partie denieth that God is able to kill himselfe or to bring to passe Truth may be propounded by some though they perhaps doo not well vnderstand the cause thereof that he that hath liued and is now dead should not haue liued then when he liued or that twise ten should not be twentie And heer in howsoeuer he fel fouly in the former he hath not missed the truth but rightlie denied these things to be in God onelie heerein he did most beastlie slip The cause why God cannot do some things is not so much want of power in him as because he cannot or will not be found contrarie to his nature that not knowing or beleeuing the nature of God he would haue these things to be arguments and proofs of Gods imbecilitie and weaknesse wheras contrariwise we know and beleeue that he cannot therefore doo these things because he himselfe cannot perish nor lie nor be changed But loe we are now at the length come to them who seeme most equall and vpright aboue all other who also auoiding all other forgeries and deuises doo stay themselues onelie vpon these wordes of Christs This is my bodie Such answered as vrge the bare words This is my bodie and This cup is my bloud we must say they beleeue Christes wordes though he speake neuer so new and vnaccustomed matters yea though he speake things that our flesh and sences cannot beleeue We grant all this But what if they seeme not agreeable to the truth and the analogie or proportion of faith Verilie they are to be beleeued indeed seeing that the sonne of God is the truth it selfe yet these things or points must be so expounded Two rules meet to be obserued in expounding such places as seeme contrarie to truth that they may altogither agree with the 1 rest of the places of holie scripture and the cheefe 2 groūds or heads of christian religion for whatsoeuer doth dissent though it be neuer so little from these rules must of necessitie be false and vnsound Now we haue heeretofore at large declared and prooued that such and so corrupt is that interpretation which establisheth either transubstantiation or a reall consubstantiation of the signes and the things signified Two christian frutes arising by expounding the words of the supper sacramentallie But on the other side if we grant a sacramentall being of the thing signified which as it is true in other sacraments so also in this mystery then we shall preserue 1 the truth of Christes flesh and vphold 2 the analogie and proportion of faith Wherefore this interpretation is to be admitted receiued as true and well agreeing with right and sound doctrine An obiection answered But say they there is no place heere for a trope or figure yea the verie plaine word is simplie to be obserued But who I beseech you hath giuen you this rule speciallie sith this is most manifest yea and so vsuall also that when they speake of sacraments which also are themselues figures they speake figuratiuelie Neither thinke I that anie man can skarslie bring foorth or allege an example of a contrarie speech You must therefore allege a cause or render a reason why that which is of force in other sacraments shuld not likewise be of strēgth and power in this sacrament or speech touching the same But let vs some what more nighlie looke into the matter and well wey all and euerie of the words of institution First I demand what the thing is pointed at or painted out by this Pronoune demonstratiue Hoc that is The Pronounce Hoc that is This expounded This. The papists answer that it is an identicall proposition that is The popish opinion declared and confuted that one and the selfe same thing speaketh of it selfe and that therfore nothing is shewed forth but euen the verie bodie it selfe as if a man should say This thing is my bodie But we say that of necessitie that must be demonstrated shewed which he hauing taken broken did deliuer vnto his disciples to wit bread which thing also the apostle hath declared when hee said The bread which we breake 1. Corinth 10.16 Is it not the cōmunicating of the bodie of Christ And the word rup added in the other member or part of the institution of the supper doth plainlie prooue to all men that are not vtterlie contentious that this word this is as much as if Christ shuld say this bread And heere I confesse there is no trope at all the reason is because it was needfull for vs to haue the signe properlie fitlie declared that we might not be deceiued But our aduersaries among whom also a trope is almost as odious as an heresie being demanded Vbiquitaries or consubstantiators and thier opinions declared confuted What answer they Verilie that vnder this Pronoune Hoc that is This there is set out vnto vs both the bread and the bodie also that is to say both the signe the thing signified Their opinion is contrarie being in verie deed essentiallie vnited togither as they say To scripture But as erewhile I said 1 Paule vseth the onelie word bread and certeine it is that that was shewed whiche Christe took brake To the nature of Christs body Shall 2 we say that he took and brake his owne bodie Certeinelie if they will so affirme this reall coniunction of the signes the thing signified To their owne opinions shall 3 not depend vpon the words of institution seeing that euen before that Christ tooke it and brake
very growing vp with christ himself from which we haue affirmed the same to flowe This is the lawe of righteousnes to haue that doone to our selues that we woulde do to others euen as it were from a fountaine because afterwardes wee fetch from him both true life and also all thinges necessarie to saluation Neither would I iudge it to be refused that a like interpretation may againe be ioyned to this our manner of speaking that Christ is spirituallie in the supper least any man shoulde thinke that we separate Christs power from the very flesh of Christ or imagine vnto him a speciall bodie Q 9 What is to bee iudged of this manner of sayeng That Christ is present in the supper and is distributed also by an incomprehensible manner or after a sorte that can not bee vnderstoode A We vse this manner of speech but yet in a far other sense and meaning than some are woonte A corrupt interpretation For vnlesse peraduenture wee be deceiued they seeme to take this saying after this sort as though by a certaine diuine and heauenlie power by reason also of the personall vnion of the flesh with the godhead Christs flesh should be really at one time and together both in heauen and in earth But though we neither deny the omnipotencie of GOD neither the true coniunction of the thing A true interpretation with the signes and of the faithfull with Christ himselfe we do yet notwithstanding by reason of the truth of Christs flesh and his ascension likewise plainly affirme that the body of Christ is nowe verily absent from the world Actes 3.21 shal remaine absent vntill he come to iudge the quick and the dead Neuertheles we confes this mysterie of god to be incompreheÌ„sible beyond our vnderstanding Faith ioyneth things together that be as farre asunder as heauen and earth whereby it falleth out that that which is and remaineth in heauen not els-where that so we may draw life and saluation from him who is trulie offered vnto vs and in deede communicated of vs. For albeit wee knowe first that the Holie-ghost that is to say gods power doth worke this The power of the spirite and of the force of faith and then that as in regarde of our selues all this is to be receiued of vs by the onelye instrument or meane of faith yet the power of the spirit and the force of faith doo exceede all our vnderstanding whereby it commeth to passe also that euen this whole action is verie properly called a mysterie or secret as the Greeks vsed to terme it Q 10 How is the matter or thing of the Sacrament communicated or partaken of vs A The matter of the Sacrament that is to say Christ himselfe is receiued of vs by a spirituall manner thorow faith And wee call that a Spirituall manner of receiuing or communicating Spirituall receiuing what it is not onelie in which Christ his spirite is communicated with vs but also that which is not earthlie or naturall but dependeth of the incomprehensible power of the Holie-ghost by which most straight bond indeede the members are more and more ioyned wyth their head For we exclude and shutte out all powring abroade and mingling of substaunces and also all fitnesse of ioyning together of naturall partes and yet can holde and mainâ—â—ine a true growing vppe of the faithfull with Christ which can not bee hindered by anie distaunce of places for our faith cleaueth vnto the worde of God who indeede performeth that which he promiseth Q 11 In what sense are these speeches To eate the Lords body and to drinke his bloud and other such like to be admitted A We say Eating and drinking referred to Christs bodie and bloud must be figuratiuelie vnderstoode that these manner of speeches do also beloÌ„g to that communicating or partaking whereby wee laye holde of Christ euen in the simple word or in the worde it selfe alone yea wee affirme that they are verye effectuall and significant but so that the wordes of eating and drinking when they are spoken of the taking of the body and bloud of Christ are no lesse figuratiuely to be vnderstoode than if a man should attribute to faith a mouth and teeth Two causes why the holie-ghost vseth borrowed speeches The first Now we alleadge two chiefe causes why the holy-ghost speaketh after that manner one cause is that hee may shew how strait our coniunction with christ is by the meanes of faith for nothing more groweth vp and increaseth with vs than meate and drinke without which no man caâ—â—â—asse ouer his time or spend this life â—he other cause which also properly hath place in the Sacraments is The second that by this way and meanes it may be declared how true the Lorde is in deliuering the matter it selfe which he promiseth by signes as it were by certaine pledges giuen for thereby it commeth to passe that though the onely signes are taken wyth the hand and receiued wyth the mouth yet that also which beside the signes is truely offered and by faith onely spiritually receiued is said to be taken eaten drunken c And for this cause we acknowledge Why we vse not the fathers phrases in the â—upper that the holie Fathers haue vsed manie other forms of speaking not vnlike these which wee notwithstanding will not at this day heedelesly vse but suppose rather that the same are to be mitigated by some profitable and fitte interpretations and the rather bicause of many errors spread abrode by Sathan and many controuersies also by this occasion stirred vp in the church of God Q 12 How are these wordes This is my bodie and this is my bloud to bee expounded A Euen after this maner This The wordes of the institution expounded particularlie and as it were one after an other that is to say this bread this wine is to wit sacramentally for not whatsoeuer is anie thing is by one onely way a thing Nowe the question is heere concerning the Sacraments And wee plainly say sacramentally bicause the Lorde did indeede offer not bare breadâ— and wine only but the true signes of his bodie and bloud neither onely these signes but besides them also his body and bloud to be enioyed possessed of vs euen into euerlasting life which life euerlasting also we drawe from him being communicated vnto vs. Luke 22.19 20. My body and my bloud that is not an imagined bodie or fained bloud but that selfe-same body which was giueÌ„ for vs and that self-same bloud whiche was shead for vs of both which wee are indeede by faith made partakers as the signes doo truely witnes Q 13 What do the wicked or vnbeleeâ—ers receiue The institution of the supper dependeth vpon Gods trueth A We hold and teach that by an agreeing iudgement and holy consent that the institution of the sacrament doth hang vpon the trueth of God therefore that in the
the spirituall graces not onelie offered but giuen also vnto vs therin and this likewise to be wrought in vs though our sauiour be in heauen in respect of his bodie Acts. 3.21 Psalm 39.12 we heere as pilgrims strangers on the earth by the wonderfull vnsearchable working of his holie spirit in vs and by the meanes of a liuelie assured faith both which being knit togither doo easilie ioine togither thinges that be as farre asunder in respect of distance of place as one end of the earth is from the other and as farre asunder as heauen and earth themselues are or else how could we either beleeue the holie catholike church and feele the communion of saints seeing it commonlie falleth out that the members of that holie fellowshippe are sundered one of them from another in respect of great distance of place or be assured that Christes righteousnesse is become ours seeing he is in the heauen and wee on the earth if by faith we did not take holde of the same and applie it vnto our selues Besides if men should imbrace this sacramentarie opinion what were it but to euert as the trueth of Christes promises so the certeinetie and assurednesse of his word who in plaine termes calleth this holie sacrament his bodie Wherfore be it far from vs to approoue of anie such dotage as defaceth the trueth of the word derogateth from Christe and vtterlie destroieth our owne faith than which what can be more horrible to heare or fearefull to thinke 2 The second extremitie is that of consubstantiation some affirming that there is deliuered to the people they receiue togither with the substance of bread the verie substance of Christes verie naturall bodie so that there is as it were an intermingling or mixture of both the substances in the action of the supper But this opinion is iustlie to be disliked and reprooued not onelie because of the absurdities which it hath common with the heresie of transubstantiation whereof we will speake in the next place but also because it is quite and cleane contrarie to common sence reason confounding and iumbling togither two seuerall distinct substances and making the lesse to wit the substance of the bread to comprehend the greater that is Christes humane bodie yea euen his verie Godhead heauen and earth is not able to conteine Besides it dooth vtterlie take away an essentiall propertie of Christes bodie Isaiah 66.1 Acts. 7.49.17.21 for if Christ in respect of his humanitie be like vnto vs in all things sinne onelie excepted Hebr. 4.15 and we know by the light of reason vnderstanding that God hath bestowed vpon vs yea by verie experience that our bodies are circumscriptible and tied to a place it must needs follow that Christ in respect of his manhood or Christ as he is man is and must be tied to a place and not be in euery place as he must needs be if these mens assertions be true which is nothing els in deed but vtterlie to destroy Christs body which also I prooue against them thus Whosoeuer taketh away the essentiall propertie of anie thing taketh away also the verie thing it selfe This proposition is prooued by this marime in logike If the definition of a thing which cheeflie consisteth of the essentiall propertie of the thing be taken away then the thing it selfe also defined falleth away as for example If reasonable liuing creature which is the definition of a man be taken away what shall become of man or where shall he appeare which is the thing defined whereof also there is good reason because the essentiall propertie is it that constituteth or maketh the thing Hitherto the maior proposition as we say in schooles with the proofs thereof Now foloweth the minor or second proposition But these men take away the essentiall propertie of a thing to wit of a bodie which is to be circumscriptible or tied to a place which is in deed an essentiall propertie of the bodie of man and therefore of Christes bodie as hee is man whilest they will haue him as he is man in sundrie places at one time If anie man will denie this it may easilie be prooued both by their owne writinges in sundrie places and also by the definition of a bodie which is a quantitie that may be diuided according to the threefold measuring receiued amongest men that is length breadth and thickenesse and likewise by the description of a place which is defined to be a nighnesse or touching of the thing conteining and the thing conteined The conclusion therfore is that in taking away place from the bodie of Christ which they doo whilest they place it in euerie place whereas in the nature thereof it can be but in one place at one time they doo vtterlie destroie the bodie or humanitie of Christ or at the least confound it so with the Godhead as Eutyches did that they make a confusion whereas in all trueth and vprightnesse there shoulde remaine a distinction of the proprieties of either nature in his blessed person But of this inough in this place because it is somewhat philosophicall and because also in the next section we shall haue occasion to deale with the like 3 The third extremitie is that of transubstantiation mainteined altogither by the Romish catholiks as they will be called who hold that the bread and wine the substance thereof vanishing away and nothing being left but the accidents or qualities thereof as in the bread roundnesse whitenesse c and in the wine rednesse moisture c are changed and that by the power of certeine words spoken by the preest as they name him ouer the elements they are turned into the verie naturall bodie and bloud of our sauior Concerning this point and the branches therof I minde to speake both more particularlie and more fullie because it is one of the popish opinions that greatlie at this present troubleth the christian world and namelie our flourishing isle of England and also because in the daies of persecution heeretofore both within this land and elswhere it hath beene the common knife that the wicked haue vsed to cut the throtes of the godlie withall as it were the hatchet to chop off their heads It may be that in this my poore trauel some may be conuerted from falshood to truth and so be saued in the day of Christ or if that gratious effect followe not in the aduersaries yet I hope the friendes and louers of truth shall by this meanes be somwhat staied that they be not caried away with certaine inticing and inchaunting wordes in the mouths of some seducing spirites whom Antichrist Satans eldest sonne hath thrust into the worlde to peruert men from the truth and obedience of God 1 First for the name of Transubstantiation I feare not to affirme that it is verye newe and neuer heard of before the days of pope Innocent the third who was about the yeare of our Lorde 1205
much lesse was it confirmed as an article of faith before the Councell of Laterane which was kept and holden in his dayes And though wee might by authoritie of good historiographers make it yet somewhat more new namely that it was not ratified as an article of religion till the Councell kept at Constance a citie so named in Germanie in the dayes of Pope Iohn the 23 which was about the yere of our Lord Garan in sinu Concilio Harding in confut Apolog. 1415. Yet to gratifie them wee wil grant it to be as old as the councel of Lateran in Rome held in the yere 1215 thaÌ„ the which also their own writers will not prescribe further But alas what get they hereby namely that this their dotage and dreame of transubstantiation at the least in the name of it hath not so manie gray haires on the head or yeares on the backe of it as they would beare the world in hand it hath for as by computation it may appeare it is but 300 do yeres old Neither wil that shift serue that they flee to here to wit that though the terme were not till then yet the matter was before A verie likelie thing forsooth as though the fathers of the Greeke and Latin churches so well skilled in those seuerall languages had not bin able aswel to haue deliuered the word as the matter In points of greater consequence than this by farre they hadde their peculiar and significant words as trinitie harmonously hypostasis and such like and yet in this they must faile forsooth to the end that the glorie of new inuention or forgerie rather may bee ascribed to some other But to conclude â—his point If papists vnder a false cloke of â—oueltie will not spare to reiect not onely olde but good and true things also then much more may we and that vppon good ground refuse this fantasie not onelie because it is new but also bicause it is false as shal god willing hereafter more fullie appeare 2 Howbeit that there is a chaunge no man of sound iudgement I thinke dooth or will denie but that is not in respect of the nature of the thinges themselues for the elements of bread and wine remaine in their owne proper peculiar substance wherof not only al men may be sufficient witnesses but almost all the senses of euery man as sight taste feeling c but this mutation is made in regarde of the vse and ende wherevnto they are applied because that they are by the Lordes owne institution and appointment separated from the common vse yea as it were froÌ„ common bread and wine and applied not onlie to a holy vse whilest they are vsed in holie assemblies wyth sanctified and religious mindes but dedicated also to holie endes that is to saye to ratifie and confirme our Faith in the trueth of Gods promises and to be sure seales and pledges to our consciences of holy things to wit of christs body and bloud and of the effects and fruits that by his death passion wee receiue But that this chaunge shoulde be wrought by any words as they say of consecration I am so farre off from allowing it as true that I am verily persuaded that they speake they knowe not what because it is not yet resolued not onely amongst the doctors of their side as Bessarian Biel Bonauenture Catharin Durand Scotus and others which be the words of coÌ„secratioÌ„ or with which words Christ and the priest by his example maketh the bread Christs body but because a pope himselfe who hath the fulnes of all knowledge in his breast and cannot erre if all bee true that they affirme I meane Pope Innocent the third Innocent de saâ—r altar myster lib. 4. cap. 6. a great fauourer and furtherer of such fantasies coulde not well tell how to resolue it as appeareth by his writings Yea in ascribing mutation and change of things to a forme of wordes vttered by the mouth of a mortall man they blasphemoussy robbe God of that glorie which is due vnto him alone Psalm 148.5 For to him onelie it belongeth to speake the woorde and to haue thinges made and giue it to an other to whom it at no hand appertaineth And if words be so strong in the one Sacrament as to turne bread into Christes body and wine into his bloud what reason is there that the wordes of institution vttered by the same person I meane the priest with intent also to consecrat it shold not alter the element of water in the other sacrament to wit of Baptisme and be so strong and powerfull as to make the same the very true and naturall bloud of our Sauiour Christ But let them say what they will For mine owne parte I rest resolute in this that this assertion and their whole action in consecration sauoureth verye stronglie of a magicall incantation and I am so muche the more confirmed in this because the Papistes reioycing as inchaunters and sorcerers doo in theyr odde numbers haue added one woorde that is to saye enim which is not in the Greeke or Latine textes Missali Roman ex decreto concil Trident. restitutum Pij quinti iussu editum pa. 23. col â— to the wordes of institution sayeng Hoc est enim corpus meum as may appeare in their misfall or masse booke and that not their old ones onelie but in one newlie furbished by the decree of the councel of Trent and published abroad to beholde the light like an vntimelie birth by the authoritie and commandement of Pope Pius the fift 3 And as the noueltie of this fained fantasie of transubstantiation is a brand good enough to worke the discredit thereof euen as though it had beene bored thorow the eare or worne a paper for forgerie and deceit so the grosse and palpable absurdities which follow the same opinion are sufficient and strong enough of themselues to make it out of credit with all persons indued with holie wisedome and right vnderstanding and to cause theÌ„ to esteeme of it not onely as a thing false and eronious but very vngodlie and blasphemous also To reckon vp all or largelie to discourse vppon the particulars neither is it my purpose neither is it almost possible so fertile a soile is this point in falshoode and yet I minde to touch some and that in suche sorte also as the vanitie and falshoode of this greate corruption may thereby easilie appeare to all suche as will not be wilfully blinded or stoppe their eies and eares at the brightnes and sound of truth At the least my hope and persuasion is that though I preuaile not either with the malicious blinde or simple ignorant yet I shall confirme and strengthen my brethren who together with me as in many other pointes of our christian religion so in this haue embraced the truth of God to our coÌ„forts 1 First I saye that this assertion of Transubstantiation or reall presence of Christes naturall bodie dooth
aunsweared as which indeede if it bee well weighed is not onelie vntrue as in respect of it selfe because though glorification implie a most excellent and heauenlie estate dooth not yet for all that destroye the essentiall properties of bodies glorified but most absurde and false also as in regard of vs. For if the glorification of Christs bodie haue remooued or taken awaye that essentiall propertie to witte that it shoulde truelie and indeede bee tied vnto a place then the like shall bee perfourmed and the same effect followe in all the glorified bodies of the faithfull after the resurrection because our Sauiour hath not onelie glorified his owne bodie for himselfe hee rising therein a mightie conquerour ouer death and hell and nowe triumphantlie ruling and raigning in the heauens in all maiestie but for our sakes also hath atchieued that greate honour wee hauing from him this assured promise in his worde Philip. 3.21 that God shal chaunge our base and vile bodies that they may bee fashioned like vnto his glorious bodie according vnto the mightie working whereby hee is able to subdue all things vnto himselfe But to saye that our bodies glorified after the rising againe of the same in the generall day of iudgement shall be euery where a rashe and vncertaine yea a beastlie and blasphemous assertion because it ascribeth that vnto vs which is proper and peculiar onelie to GOD for vnto hym alone it perteineth to fill heauen earth and all places alwayes and at one tyme as infinite places of Scripture doo plainelie prooue therefore this opinion also concerning Christes glorified bodie beeing euerie where or in infinite places at one time must of necessitie be suche likewise 4 Fourthlie it dooth directlye destroy and as it were at one blowe blotte out and deface all those Articles of our moste pretious Faith and Christian religion whych doo concerne Christes assured ascension into Heauen hys maiesticall sitting at the right hande of the Father and his glorious comming agayne from thence together wyth that infinite number of moste playne places of GODS holie woorde that out of the writinges of the Prophetes and Apostles may bee drawen for the proofe of those moste comfortable and necessarie pointes To deale wyth euerye one of these by themselues shortely and in fewe woordes I woulde faine knowe if our Sauiour Christ be here vpon earth in respect of his bodilye power and presence howe hee can iustlie as in regarde of the same hys bodye bee sayde to haue ascended into Heauen Or let them tel vs if hee remaine wyth vs in hys flesh how hee can bee truelye saide in hys manhoode to sitte at the right hande of hys Father in Heauen Or howe it can bee in religion or reason affirmed that our Sauiour shall come from Heauen with great power and glorie to iudge the quick and the dead seeing he is here on earth already The Scripture telleth vs for his ascension Actes 1.9 that in the sight and beholding of the blessed Apostles yea whiles they looked stedfastly towards heauen he was taken vp Let them shew so much for his bodilie abode vpon earth and proue it by such substantiall witnesse and wee are readie to yeelde Besides we knowe by the worde and therefore beleeue it that as he was seene go into heauen Actes 1.10 so shall he come againe but hee was seene to ascend thither bodilie and therefore so shall hee returne from thence againe I suppose they will not saye that our Sauiour had two bodies one that hee tooke wyth him an other that hee left heere for that were to make him altogether monstrous and men scrupulous none knowing in whether of them hee perfourmed the work of their redemption And to saye that that one blessed bodie of his was diuided is as absurde and erronious because it can not be so but that the whole bodie it selfe must be impaired and mangled at the least if not destroyed and so the woorke of saluation ouerthrowne To stand vpon anie naked interpretation touching the right hand of God will not serue their turne for there being nothing meant thereby in this article of our beleefe but the great glorie that is in heauen prepared for the saints and that most excellent blessednesse that belongeth to them whereof our sauior Christ was in a most full measure made by his ascention into heauen as in respect of his humanity absolute partaker what could they gaine Doo they imagine that it would heervpon insue that Christ should be euerie where and by consequent on earth but they are deceiued for why doo they not as well consider the word sitting which implieth locall residence in a place or doo they not know and beleeue that heauen it selfe is not euerie where but locall rather or will they not see that without warrant of the word yea contrarie to the same which in sundrie places opposeth heauen and earth one of them against another or sence of humane iudgement they iumble and confound them togither Reason will lead vs to this that none can be said to goe vp into the place where he is or to come downe from it when he remaineth there And though wee minde not to subiect our sauior speciallie as in respect of his eternall Godhead to humane sence yet by the same we may and ought to be ledde not to destroy the essentiall properties of his manhood Now then whether shall wee beleeue this trueth of the Lord or mens fantasies that go about to peruert our persuasions and deceiue our vnderstandings Let men of the worlde deeme what they lust this is the truth that God hath sanctified vnto vs in his word and I doo stedfastlie beleeue it in my heart and will throgh Gods goodnesse and strength alwaies confesse the same with my mouth that from the very time of Christes ascension into Heauen Acts. 3 2â— The Heauens must conteine his naturall bodie vntill the time that all things be restored that is euen to the worlds end 5 Fiftlie I say that this opinion dooth vniustlie depriue vs of all such spirituall graces and comforts for our consciences as God the father in his sonne Christ by sending the Holie ghost the third person in the deitie hath not onelie promised but in good time wil performe and bestow vpon the whole church generallie and euerie sound particular member of the same yea if we wey it well we shall finde that it is the ruine and bane of the church it selfe both in the whole bodie of it and in the seuerall parts Our sauior himselfe in most plaine and expresse terms faith Iohn 16.7 I tel you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the comforter will not come vnto you but if I depart I will send him vnto you Hee that knoweth anie thing of truth is well acquainted with this that generallie all the word but most especiallie the comfortable promises conteined in the same be as it were the life
is effectuallie made ours whilest we apprehend and lay holde of it by a sound and sure faith applieng the same also vnto our owne hearts and euen in like sort is Christ God and man togither withall his merits not onelie offered but laid holde of in the word and sacraments yea and comfortablie felt likewise to the spirituall sustentaion and nourishment of our soules whereof also this is a good reason that of like thinges there is alwaies and so should be continuallie a like consideration The second place obiected is that sentence reported by the three euangelists Matthew Marke and Luke and Saint Paule himselfe also reciting the institution of the supper which our sauior Christ vsed saieng This is my bodie Matth. 26.26 Marke 14.22 Luke 22.19 1. Cor. 11.24 which they vrge in the letter after this sort Hath not Christ said it in plaine termes and shall not I beleeue it though that my carnall vnderstanding can not conceiue the same To all which I answer first that the question is not of the bare woordes or letter for we as well as they confes the same and what man hath there beene that euer doubted thereof yea what heretike euer was there that would not or did not allege the letter of the text for the mainetenance vpholding of his heresie or error but of the true sence and right meaning thereof which whether they or we haue gaine shall I hope appeare anon to the vpright reader Secondlie we confesse also that we are bound to beleeue all such things as are cōprehended in gods word yea though our sensuall reason cannot in deed comprehend the same for be it farre from vs to labor to bring the incomprehēsible truth of the eternall maiestie within the strait bounds and limits of mans vnderstanding no though he were regenerated and had receiued a great measure of the graces of Gods holie spirit and yet in such sort must we beleeue them all that to such ends also as the lord himselfe hath appointed at no hand stretching thē further than the Lord would haue vs for that is to be wise in our owne eies to make our selues more sharpe sighted than God nor yet restreining them to narrower purposes than the Lord hath laied them out for for that were at the least great vnfaithfulnesse both towards the Lord himselfe and men also neither yet failing in the allegation of them either in the matter maner or ende for if wee do so we doo nothing else therby but heape vp iust condemnation against our owne soules but reuerently receiuing them and faithfully alleadging them in that iuste measure weight and proportion that the Lorde himselfe hath left them vnto vs euen as his onlie lawful and currant coine which we can not clip imbase or impaire anie manner of waye without high treason against his eternall maiestie Nowe concerning the wordes and the plainenesse of them I say that other wordes both in the old and new Testament are as plaine as they which yet notwithstanding must be otherwise interpreted than the woords themselues seeme to import or else not onelye absurdities in reason but errors in religion will insue therevpon For example in the booke of Exodus the paschal lambe with the ceremonies belonging thereto is called The Lords passeouer Exod. 12.11 whereas nowe we knowe and no manne can choose but confesse that it was not the Lordes passeouer in deede but signified and sette out the same rather For the Lordes passeouer was his ouer-passing or passing by the Israelites houses marked wyth the bloud of the Lambe to the Egyptians there to destroy the first borne So likewise in the newe Testament Iohn 15.5 Christ sayth of hym selfe I am the vine than the which what can bee more plaine And yet wee acknowledge wyth our mouthes and beleeue in our heartes that Christ was no naturall vine but rather that hee calleth himselfe so in a certaine resemblaunce because looke what propertie the fruit of the vine hath in respect of our bodies to witte to comforte menne and to make them glad heartes the same hath Christ and the fruites of his grace receiued by Fayth in respect of our soules namelie to replenishe our heartes wyth all Spirituall ioye and gladnesse both of this life and of the life to come And as the braunches of the vine haue nothing of themselues but all that they haue they haue it from the vine it selfe so none whosoeuer they be can bring foorth fruit but by abiding in him and beeing made fruitefull thorow hys grace And euen in like manner is the bread of the Lordes Supper called hys bodie because as wee haue saide before looke what proper and peculiar office the bread hath or yeeldeth to our naturall bodies namely to nourish and strengthen the same the like dooth Iesus Christes bodie broken taken hold of by Faith Spirituallie communicate vnto our soules namelie it feedeth and strengtheneth them to the assured hope and feeling of eternall life And this maner of speech attributing that to the signe which is proper and peculiar to the thing signified is very vsuall in the Scripture as a man meanely conuersant in the same may plainelie perceiue the cause whereof is the straight analogy proportion agreement which is between the signe the thing signified and not anie other respect of consubstantiation transubstantiation or any such like fantasticall dotage Besides all these thinges the very circumstaunces of time place person and manner of dooing doo sufficientlie sette out the vanitie and vntrueth of this grosse interpretation For this Sacrament beeing instituted by Christ him selfe a little before his death in the presence o◠the Apostles who had all their senses satisfied in the beholding hearing and feeling of the naturall bodie of our Sauiour Christ in the visible elements of bread and wine he himselfe sitting at the tabl◠with them and not onely in their hearing speaking these woordes but also in their sight and presence actuallie breaking the bread it coulde not be that that bread offered vnto them as the pledge of his bodie shoulde be his naturall bodie or bodie of flesh vnlesse you will saye that Christ had two bodies one sitting at the Table instituting the action of the Supper and administring the same in his own person and an other borne in his handes and deliuered vnto the Apostles than the which what can be not onely more absurde and blasphemous in respect of our Sauiour Christ himselfe he being by this means made a monster and not become man but also more vnprofitable or vncertain to vs as which might iustly prouoke vs to dout whether of his bodies were crucified for our transgressions And thus as wee doo for good causes before specified as you see reiect this grose sense so for the instruction of the ignoraunt and strengthening of the weake we wil in a fewe lines putte downe the true meaning of these wordes For the better performaunce whereof I woulde haue this to
saide a posse ad esse the consequence or reason is not good which were sufficient aunsweare to this friuolous and vaine obiection mannes reason in the blindnesse and corruption of it beeing endued wyth strength and force enough to aunsweare the same besides this I say wee that are truelie taught of GOD both by his worde and spirite do knowe that though wee beleeue that the Lorde can doo whatsoeuer pleaseth him both in heauen and in earth which serueth wonderfully to magnifie hys almightie power in the exceeding excellencie thereof and greatlie to strengthen our weake faith in the dayes of our calamities and distresses yet notwythstanding we firmelie beleeue that hee will not onelie doo nothing but that hee can not doo anie thing in regarde of vs contrarie vnto that will of his that hee hath reuealed for vs in his word For euen as a manne of might on earth hauing giuen foorth hys speache of assurance in the woorde of a Prince or Christian though perhappes to one farre inferiour to himselfe is yet notwythstanding tied thereby not as in respect of his power for that remaineth as greate after as before but as in regarde of his credite and the persons to whome hee hath by his woorde after a sorte as it were bounde himselfe so is it wyth the Lord to vs-ward And the reason of this is not the abridgement or shortening of his power for be it farre from mortall men to presume in any thing though neuer so litle to restrain the eternal power of the immortall God but because his will and power I meane of the same as they are reuealed to vs by his woorde and particularlie by his promises made vnto vs therin concerning the same be in respect of vs so conioyned and knit together that looke whatsoeuer hee will doo that hee can doo and looke whatsoeuer he can do that hee will doo Oh howe vnreasonable is this that wee will giue earthlie Potentates leaue because of their high callings and excellent wisedome that wee suppose to bee in them nowe and then to hedge in the boundes of their power and authoritie by their woordes at their owne pleasure and will not graunt or yeelde so muche to the Almightie Surelie there is very great and good reason to the contrarie for as for menne by reason of the blindenesse and ignorauncie of their owne heartes they can not well tell when it is good either to straiten or enlarge themselues whereas GOD by reason of the fulnesse of goodnesse that is in him can not choose but doo good whether he inlarge or abridge himselfe But to make all this plaine by one or two examples in steade of manie we are all perswaded that God can not drowne the worlde anie more wyth the waters of an vniuersall floud because wee knowe by his woorde he will not for the more certaine and assured sealing vppe of the same in our heartes and not for anie discredite vnto hym or shortening of hys arme and power hee hath not onelie geuen vs his comfortable and sweete woorde of promise but hath sette his bowe in the cloudes Gen. 9.12 13 c to bee a moste effectuall pledge of the same vnto vs. Agayne wee all doo knowe and beleeue that though GOD in respect both of hymselfe and his almighty power with whome all thinges yea the most hardest are possible can if he would saue all men yet we feare not to saye and affirme that in respect of vs hee can not saue all menne because wee knowe by his reuealed will in his woorde that hee will not saue them all For some as well for the manifestation of hys iustice and iudgement against all vngodlinesse must bee the vesselles ordayned for destruction as well as others also for the declaration of his mercie in sauing whom hee will vesselles of saluation and eternall life And euen the like maie we conclude touching this matter of the Supper namelie that though wee were perswaded or shoulde graunt agaynst all trueth and reason that Christ as hee is GOD might doo what hee woulde or as hee is man might bee euery where yet because hee hath reuealed the contrarye in his woorde and namelie that hee will haue hys bodye to bee circumscriptible and tied to a place to wit Heauen yea which is more to a certaine place in heauen for though Christ as in respect of hys eternall Godhead fill Heauen and earth and the heuen of heuens is not able to conteine him yet in respect of his humane bodie though it be glorified he is must be conteined in some part of the heauens that therefore it can be no iniury at all to him neither any debasing of his omnipotent power to say that now he cannot be bodilie in the sacrament much lesse bodilie in so manie sacraments as be celebrated and ministred in so sundrie and infinit places at one time no more than it is to God the father in saieng that now he cannot drowne the world or saue the reprobat as hath beene before declared Thus much I thinke sufficient and inough to all these obiections being willing heere to finish this present short treatise sauing that I haue thought good in this place to adde euen as a chalenge to the aduerse partie and as matter of necessarie instruction to such as either be simplie ignorant for as for the malicious blinde it is almost impossible to reclame them or doo alreadie in some measure see the truth these three points following 1 First that I am readie in all holy loue largelie to answer anie thing that christianlie shall be further obiected concerning this question I say christianlie obiected for if anie shall either curiouslie or captiouslie propound anie thing I thinke it most conuenient rather to leaue such in their owne follie for a season till it shall please God at some one time or other euen extraordinarilie as it were to make them to see the same if it shall so please him than to spend time and to trauell in fatisfieng of their vaine curiosities 2 Secondlie that though this point of transubstantiation brought in by papists be great and grosse concerning the matter of the supper yet that they faile not alone heerein which might perhaps make their heresie lesse heinous but holde manie moe errors concerning that point some of them as palpable if not more grosse and blasphemous than this and some of them lesse To pursue them all and in a large sort I minde not at this present because it hath beene alreadie performed by men of great excellencie the Lord may heerafter giue a more fit occasion yet I will rehearse touch a few desiring the godlie reader with all holie wisdome to consider both of them and the rest of that sort 1 First in that they make it a sacrifice propitiatorie as they call it for the quicke â—nd the dead by which they doo not oneâ—ie scorne God deride men whilest they make men beleeue that God will be pleaâ—ed with