said that Christ was a crafty iuggler that made thinges to appere to mens sightes that in dede were no suche thynges but formes onely figures and apparances of them But to conclude in fewe wordes this processe of our senses let al the Papistes lay their heades togither and thei shal neuer be able to shew one article of our faith so directely contrary to our senses that all our senses by dayly experience shall affirme a thynge to be and yet oure fayth shall teache vs the contrary thervnto Nowe for as much as it is declared how this Papisticall opinion of Transubstantiation is against the woorde of God agaynst nature against reason and agaynste all our senses wee shall shewe furthermore that it is agaynst the fayth and doctrine of the old authors of Christes churche begynnyng at those authors whiche were nerest vnto Christes tyme and therefore myght best knowe the truthe herein Fyrst Iustinus a great learned man and an holy martyr the oldest author that this day is knowen to write any treatie vpon the sacramentes and wrote not muche aboue one hundred yeres after Christes ascension He wryteth in his seconde apologie that the bread water and wine in this sacrament ar not to be taken as other cōmon meates and drinkes be but they bee meates ordeyned purposely to geue thankes to god and therfore be called Eucharistia and be called also the body and bloude of Christ. And that it is laufull for none to eate or drynke of them but that professe Christ and lyue accordyng to the same And yet the same meate and drynke saith he is chaunged into our fleshe and bloud and norisheth our bodies By which saiyng it is euident that Iustinus thought that the bread and wine remained still for els it could not haue been tourned into our fleshe and bloud to nourishe our bodies Next hym was Ireneus aboue 150. yeres after Christ who as it is supposed could not be deceiued in the necessary pointes of our faithe for he was a disciple of Polycarpus which was disciple to saint Iohn the Euangelist This Ireneus foloweth the sense of Iustinus wholly in this matter and almoste also his woordes sayenge that the bread wherein we geue thankes vnto God although it be of the yearth yet whan the name of God is called vpon it it is not than common bread but the bread of thankes geuyng hauyng two thyngs in it one earthly and the other heuenly What ment he by the heauenly thyng but the sanctification whyche cometh by the inuocation of the name of God And what by the earthly thynge but the very bread which as he sayd before is of the earth and which also he saith doeth nourishe our bodies as other bread dothe whiche we doo vse Shortely after Ireneus was Origen about 200. yeares after Christes ascension Who also affirmeth that the materiall bread remaineth saiyng that the mattier of the breade auayleth nothyng but goeth doune into the bealy and is auoided dounewarde but the woorde of God spoken vpon the breade is it that auaileth After Origen came Cyprian the holy martyr about the yeare of our Lorde 250. who wryteth against theym that ministred this Sacrament with water onely and without wyne For as muche sayth he as Christ sayd I am a true vyne therefore the bloud of Christ is not water but wyne nor it can not bee thouhgt that his bloud wherby wee bee redemed and haue life is in the cuppe whan wyne is not in the cuppe whereby the bloud of Christ is shewed What woordes could Cyprian haue spoken more plainly to shewe that the wyne doth remayne than to say thus If there bee no wyne there is no bloud of Christ And yet he speaketh shortly after as plainely in the same Epistle Christ sayth he takyng the cuppe blessed it and gaue it to his disciples saiyng Drynke you all of this for this is the bloud of the newe testament whiche shall bee shedde for many for the remission of synnes I say vnto you that from hencefurth I wyll not drynke of this creature of the vyne vntyll I shall drinke with you newe wyne in the kyngdome of my father By these woordes of Christe sayth sainct Cyprian we perceiue that the cuppe whiche the Lorde offered was not onely water but also wyne And that it was wyne that Christ called his bloud whereby it is cleare that Christes bloud is not offered if there be no wyne in the Chalise And after it foloweth Howe shal we drynke with Christ newe wyne of the creature of the vyne if in the sacrifice of God the father and of Christ we do not offre wyne In these wordes of sainct Cyprian appereth moste manyfestly that in this sacrament is not only offered very wyne that is made of grapes that come of the vyne but also that we drynke the same And yet the same geueth vs to vnderstand that if we drynke that wyne worthely we drynke also spiritually the very bloud of Christ whiche was shed for our synnes Eusebius Emissenus a mā of syngular fame in learnyng about CCC yeres after Christes ascention did in fewe wordes set out this matter so plainely bothe howe the bread and wyne be conuerted into the body bloud of Christ and yet remayne styll in their nature and also howe besydes the outwarde receiuyng of bread and wyne Christ is inwardely by fayth receyued in our heartes al this I say he doth so plainly set out that more playnnesse can not be reasonably desyred in this matter For he sayth that the cōuersion of the visible creatures of bread wyne into the body and bloud of Christ is lyke vnto our cōuersion in baptisme where outwardly nothyng is changed but remayneth the same that was before but all the alteration is inwardely and spiritually If thou wylt knowe sayth he howe it ought not to seme to the a newe thyng and impossible that yearthly and corruptible thynges be turned into the substance of Christ loke vpon thy selfe which art made newe in baptisme whan thou wast farre from life and banished as a straunger frō mercy and fro the way of saluation and inwardely wast dead yet sodeynly thou beganste another lyfe in Christ and wast made newe by holsome mysteris and wast turned into the body of the churche not by seyng but by beleuynge and of the childe of damnation by a secrete purenesse thou waste made the chosen sonne of God Thou visibly dyddest remayne in the same measure that thou haddest before but inuisibly thou wast made greater without any increase of thy body Thou wast the self same person and yet by increace of faythe thou wast made an other man Outwardely nothynge was added but all the chaunge was inwardly And so was man made the son of Christ and Christe fourmed in the mynd of man Therfore as thou puttyng away thy former vilenesse diddest receaue a newe dygnitee not feelyng any change in thy body and as the curynge of thy
expounding these wordeÌ„s thei vary amoÌ„g them selfes which is a tokeÌ„ that thei be vncertain of their owne doctrine For some of them saye that by this pronoune demonstratiue this Christ vnderstode not the bread nor wyne but his body and bloud And other som say that by the pronoune this he ment nether the bread nor wyne nor his body nor bloud but that he ment a particular thyng vncertayne whiche they cal Indiuiduum vagum or Indiuiduum in genere I trow some Mathematicall quiditee they can not tell what But let all these Papistes together shew any one authoritee either of scripture or of auncient author either Greke or Latin that saith as thei say that Christ called not breade and wyne his body and bloud but Indiuiduum vagum and for my part I shall geue theim place and confesse that they say trewe And if they can shewe nothynge for theym of antiquitee but onely their owne bare wordes than it is reason that thei geue place to the truthe confirmed by so many authoritees both of scripture and of auncient writers which is that Christ called very material bread his body and very wyne made of grapes his bloud Nowe this beyng fully proued it must nedes folow consequently that this maner of speking is a figuratiue speeche For in playne and proper speche it is not true to saie that breadde is Christes body or wyne his bloud For Christes body hath a soule life sence reason but bread hath neither soule nor life sense nor reason Likewise in playne speche it is not true that we eate Christes body and drynke his bloude For eatynge and drynkynge in their proper and vsuall signification is with the tong teeth and lyppes to swalow diuide and chawe in peeces whiche thyng to do to the fleshe and bloudde of Christ is horrible to be heard of any christian So that these speches To eate Christes body and drynk his bloud be speches not taken in the proper signification of euery worde but by translation of these wordes eatyng and drinkyng from the signification of a corporal thyng to signifie a spiritual thyng and by callyng a thyng that signifieth by the name of the thyng which is signified therby Which is no rare nor straÌ„ge thyng but an vsual maner and phrase in coÌ„mon speeche And yet least this fault shulde be imputed vnto vs that we doo fayne thynges of our owne heades without authoritee as the Papistes bee accustomed to do here shalbe cited sufficient authoritee as well of scripture as of olde auncient authors to approue the same Fyrst when our sauiour Christ in the sixte of Iohn sayd that he was the bread of life the wheÌ„che whosoeuer did eate should not dye but liue for euer that the bread whiche he would geue vs was his fleshe and therefore whosoeuer should eate his fleshe and drynke his bloud should haue euerlastyng lyfe and they that should not eate his fleshe and drynke his bloud should not haue euerlastyng life When Christ had spoken these woordes with many mo of the eatyng of his fleshe and drinkyng of his bloud both the Iewes mani also of his disciples wer offended with his wordes and sayd This is an hard saiyng For howe can he geue vs his fleshe to be eaten Christ perceiuing their murmuring heartes because they knewe none other eatyng of his fleshe but by chawyng and swalowyng to declare that they should not eate his body after that sorte nor that he ment of any suche carnall eatyng he sayd thus vnto theim What if you see the sonne of man ascende vp where he was before It is the spirite that geueth life the fleshe auayleth nothyng The wordes whiche I spake vnto you be spirit and life These wordes our sauior Christ spake to lift vp their myndes froÌ„ yearth to heauen froÌ„ carnal to spiritual eatyng that thei should not phaÌ„tasy that they should with their trethe eate him preseÌ„tly here in yearth for his flesh so eateÌ„ sayth he should nothyng profite them And yet â—o thei should not eate him for he would take his body away from them and ascend with it into heuen And there by fayth not with teeth they should spiritually eate him sittyng at the right hand of his father And therfore sayth he The wordes whiche I do speake be spirite and life that is to say are not to be vnderstand that we shall eate Christ with our teethe grossely and carnally but that we shall spiritually gostly with our fayth eate him beyng carnally absent from vs in heauen And in suche wyse as Abraham and other holy fathers did eate him many yeres before he was incarnated and borne As S. Paule sayth that they did eate the same spiritual meate that wee do and dranke the same spirituall drynke that is to saye Christe For they spiritually by their fayth were fed and norished with Christes body and bloud and had eternal life by him before he was borne as we haue nowe that come after his ascencion Thus haue you hearde the declaracion of Christe him selfe and of sainct Paule that the eatyng and drinkyng of Christes fleshe bloud is not taken in the common signification with mouthe and teethe to eate and chawe a thyng beyng present but by a liuely fayth in heart and mynde to chawe and degest a thyng beyng absent either ascended hence into heauen or els not yet borne vpon yearth And Origene declaryng the sayd eatyng of Christes flesh and drinkyng of his bloud not to be vnderstand as the wordes do sound but figuratiuely wryteth thus vpon these woordes of Christ Except you eate my fleshe and drinke my bludde you shall not haue lyfe in you Considre saith Origen that these thinges written in gods bokes are figures and therefore examine and vnderstande them as spirituall and not as carnall men For if you vnderstand them as carnall menne they hurte you and feede you not For euen in the gospels is there founde letter that kylleth And not only in the olde testamente but also in the newe is there found lettre that slayeth him that doth not spiritually vnderstande that whiche is spoken For if thou folowe the lettre or woordes of this that Christe saide Excepte you eate my fleshe and drinke my bludde this lettre kylleth Who canne more plainlye expresse in any wordes that the eatinge and drinkinge of Christes fleshe and blood are not to be taken in common significacion as the wordes pretend and sound than Origene doth in this place And S. Iohn Chrysostom affirmeth the same saying that if any man vnderstand the woordes of Christ carnally he shall surely profite nothyng therby For what meane these woordes The fleshe auaileth nothinge He ment not of his fleshe god forbid but he ment of them that fleshely and carnally vnderstode those thynges that Christe spake But what is carnall vnderstanding To vnderstand the woordes simply as they be spoken and nothinge els For we ought not so to vnderstande the
other common bread but for the dignitee whervnto it is taken it is called with addition Heauenly breade the breade of lyfe and the bread of thankes gyuyng The fift that no man ought to be so arrogant and presumptuous to affirme for a certayn truth in religion any thynge whiche is not spoken of in holy scripture And this is spokē to the great and vtter condemnation of the Papistes which make and vnmake newe articles of oure faithe from tyme to tyme at their pleasure without any scripture at all yea quite and cleane contrary to scripture And yet wyll they haue all men bounde to beleue what so euer they inuent vpon peryll of damnation and euerlastyng fyre And they woulde constrayne with fyre and fagotte all men to consent contrary to the manyfest woordes of God to these their erroures in this matter of the holy sacramente of Christes body and bloude Fyrst that there remaineth no bread nor wyne after the consecration but that Christes fleshe and bloud is made of them Seconde that Christes body is really corporally substancially sensibly and naturally in the bread and wyne Thyrdely that wycked persones doo eate and drynke Christes very body and bloude Fourthly that priestes offer Christ euery day make of him a new sacrifice propiciatory for syn Thus for shortnes of tyme do I make an end of Theodoretus with other olde auncient writers which do moste clerely affirme that to eate Christes body and to drynke his bloude be figuratiue speches And so be these sentences like wyse whiche Christe spake at his supper This is my body This is my bloudde And meruail not good reder that Christe at y e time spake in figures whan he did institute that sacrament seing that it is the nature of al sacramentes to be figures And although y e scripture be ful of Schemes tropes figures yet specially it vseth theim whā it speketh of sacramentes When the Ark which represented Gods maiestee was come into the army of the Israelites the Philistians said that god was come into the army And God hym selfe sayd by his prophete Nathan that from the time that he had brought the children of Israell out of Egypte he dwelled not in houses but that he was caried about in tentes and tabernacles And yet was not God hym selfe so caried aboute or wente in tentes or tabernacles but bycause the arke whiche was a figure of God was so remoued from place to place he spake of hym selfe that thyng whyche was to be vnderstand of the Arke And Christ hym selfe often tymes spake in similitudes parables and figures as whan he said The field is the worlde the enemy is the dyuell the sede is the worde of God Iohn is Helias I am a vine and you be the brāches I am bread of lyte My father is an husband mā and he hath his fanne in his hand and wil make cleane his flower and gather the wheat into his barne but the chaffe he wyll caste into euerlastyng fyre I haue a meate to eate whiche you knowe not Woorke not meate that perisheth but that endureth vnto euerlastyng life I am good shepherd The sonne of man wyl set the shepe at his right hand and the goates at his left hād I am a doore One of you is the deuil Whosoeuer dothe my fathers wylle he is my brother syster and mother And whan he sayd to his mother and to Ihon. This is thy sonne this is thy mother These with an infinite numbre of like sentences Christe spake in Parables Metaphores tropes and figures But chiefly whan he spake of the sacramentes he vsed figuratiue speches As whan in Baptisme he sayd that wee must bee baptised with the holy ghost meanyng of spiritual baptisme And lyke speeche vsed sainct Ihon the Baptiste saiyng of Christe that he should Baptise with the holy ghoste and fyre And Christ sayd that wee must be borne againe or els wee can not see the kyngdome of God And sayd also Whosoeuer shall drynke of that water whiche I shall geue hym he shall neuer bee drye agayne But the water whiche I shall geue him shall bee made within him a welle whyche shall spryng into euerlastyng lyfe And sainct Paule sayth that in Baptisme wee clothe vs with Christe and be buryed with him This baptisme washing and newe byrth by the fyre and the holy ghoste and this water that spryngeth in a man floweth into euerlastyng life can not be vnderstande of any material water material washyng and material byrthe but by translacion of thynges visible into thynges inuisible they must bee vnderstande spiritually and figuratiuely After thesame sort the mystery of our redemption and the passion of our sauiour Christ vpon the crosse aswel in the newe as in the old Testament is expressed and declared by many fygures and figuratiue speeches As the pure Paschal lambe without spot signified Christ. The effusion of the lambes bloud signified the effusion of Christes bloud And the saluacion of the children of Israel from temporal death by the lambes bloud signified our saluacion from eternall death by Christes bloud And as almightie God passyng through Egipt killed all the Egyptians heyres in euery house and lefte not one aliue neuerthelesse he passed by the children of Israels houses where he sawe the Lambes bloud vpon the doores and hurted none of them but saued them all by the meanes of the Lambes bloudde so lykewyse at the last iudgement of the whole worlde none shall be passed ouer and saued but that shall be founde marked with the bloud of the moste pure immaculate lambe Iesus Christe And forasmuch as the sheddyng of that lambes bloud was a token figure of the sheddyng of Christes bloud than to come and forasmuche also as all the sacramentes and figures of the old testament ceassed and had an end in Christ leste by our great vnkyndnes we should peraduenture bee forgetfull of the greate benefite of Christ therfore at his last supper when he toke his leaue of his apostles to departe oute of the worlde he dyd make a new wyll and testament wherin he bequeathed vnto vs cleane remission of all our synnes and the euerlastynge inheritance of heauen And the same he confirmed the nexte daie with his owne bloud and death And leste we should forget the same he ordeyned not a yerely memory as the Paschall lambe was eaten but ones euery yere but a dayely remembrance he ordained therof in bread wyne sanctified and dedicated to that purpose saiyng This is my body This cuppe is my bloud whiche is shed for the remission of synnes Do this in the remembrance of me Admonyshyng vs by these wordes spoken at the makyng of his laste wyll and testament and at his departyng out of the worlde bycause they should be the better rememored that whensoeuer we do eate the bread in his holy supper and drynke of that cup