appeere These be his very woordes I shal make confession before al you reuerende and holy fathers geue me I pray you a good absolution It chaunced me once about midnight sodainely to awake than the Deuill Sathan began with me this disputation Heare said he Doctor Luther very well learned thou knowest thou hast saide priuate Masses .xv. yeres almost daylie What if such priuate Masses be horrible ydolatry what if there were not present the body and bloud of Christ but thou haddest honored onely bread and wine and haddest caused other to honor it to whome I aunswered I am an annoynted priest and haue receyued vnction and consecration of a Byshop haue done all these things by commaundement and obedience of mine elders Why should not I consecrate when I haue pronounced the wordes of Christ and haue said Masse in earnest this thou knowest All thys saide he is true but the Turkes and Gentiles doe likewise all things in their temples of obedience and in earnest The priestes of Hieroboam did all they did of a certain zeale and intent against the true priestes in Hierusalem What if they ordering and consecrating were false as the priestes of the Turkes and Samaritanes were false and their seruice of God false and wicked First said he thou knowest thou haddest than no knowledge of Christ nor true faith and for fayth thou wast no better than a Turke For the Turke and all the Deuils also beleeue the story of Christ that he was borne crucified and dead c. But the Turke and we damned spirites doe not trust to hys mercie nor haue not him for a mediator and sauiour but feare him as a cruell iudge Such a faith and no other haddest thou when thou receauest vnction of the Byshop and all other both they that did annoynt were annoynted thought so and no otherwise of Christ Therfore ye fled from Christ as a cruell iudge to blessed Mary the saints they were mediators betwene you and Christ thus was Christ robbed of his glory thys neyther thou nor no other Papist can denie I would reade more of this booke but for troubling you He that list to knowe what may bee sayde against priuate Masse let him learne here of the Deuill ynough For here is all that hath yet beene sayde of any other and more to The Deuils derlings were ashamed to say halfe so much as their father Sathan least they should be called blasphemous lyers as he is But by this booke Luthers owne confession set forth in print by himselfe to the worlde ye may know that the Deuill was the first that euer barked against the sacrifice of the church which is the Masse knowing that his kingdome of sinne and iniquitie coulde not stande if this sacrifice most aduersarie to it were not defaced and destroyed But what colour had Luther to publishe this shall wee thinke he was so madde as to father that vpon the Deuill that he would haue perswaded for truth to the worlde I shall tell you shortly his fonde deuise in this point as it foloweth fiue or sixe leaues hereafter He sayth he knoweth the Deuill is a lyer but he sayth his lyes be craftie he vseth to alledge a truth which can not be denyed and with that to colour his lye which he perswadeth And therefore sayth he the Deuill lyeth not when he accuseth as that I had committed horrible ydolatrye in saying priuate Masses but the lye is when he did afterward tempt him to dispaire of Gods mercy But sayth Luther I will not dispaire as Iudas dyd but amend that I haue done amisse and neuer say priuate Masse againe O what a cloke of mischiefe is this all grounded of lyes and falshood He sayth the Deuill lyeth not when he accuseth If that be true then he sayde true when he sayde that Luther being a preacher many yeares neuer had true fayth in Christ till he fell from the Masse nor neuer trusted in Christes mercy nor neuer toke him for a sauiour but a cruell iudge Of this the Deuill did accuse him whether he was a lyer herein or no iudge you Also in his accusation he sayde the body and bloud of Christ were not present in the sacrament when such annointed priestes did consecrate and that they honored onely bread and wine with many other damnable lyes and heresies which whoso shall read the booke may finde in great plenty and yet by Luthers principle the deuill neuer lyeth when he accuseth Foure falsehoodes you affirme in lesse then twentie lynes togither of your printed Copie CROWLEY Foure lyes affirmed in lesse then twentie lines togither in this part to conclude withall And so manyfest falsehoodes that scarcely any one of your Auditorie could be so ignorant but that the same must perceyue that you lyed falsely the communion by your owne confession in this Sermon more then once was heard of and vsed euen from the Apostles tyme. For Dionisius Areopagita was saint Paules scholer you say that he speaketh of it in his Hierarchie more then once The action that you call Massing and we priuate Massing was written against by many before it was brought into the Church and by some after it was in vse many yeres before Luther was borne as by Barthram Husse Wycklife and Berrengarius And although it haue pleased Pigghius and such other to blowe abroad this slaunderous lye to the discrediting of all Luthers doctrine as much as in them lyeth and you also to dubbe their lye in the presence of your Prince who could be contented to heare whatsoeuer euill might be reported of that man and such as he was yet there is none that will examine the booke that you speake of but the same shall be inforced to say that it can not iustly be gathered thereof that Luther did eyther sée the Deuill with his bodyly eyes or heare him with his bodily eares But such is the priuiledge of the Popes Prelates when they haue the sworde on their side they may vse all vntruth in perswading the people but especially princes to thinke that all is lyes that the enimies of Antichrists religion haue eyther spoken or written You are bolde therfore to lashe out these thrée lyes before your Prince and to make vp the matter with the fourth affirming that he learned of the Deuill all that he hath spoken against your holy Masse And when you thinke that you haue gotten your selfe some credit in this matter by reading a péece of Luthers booke and leauing of before you come to that wherein his meaning is made plaine you conclude that hereby it may be known that the Deuil was the first that barked against the Masse as against the greatest aduersarie of his kingdome which could not stande vnlesse that aduersarie were defaced and destroyed The diligent reader of this mine aunswere may easily sée howe the Masse hath defaced and destroyed the kingdome of the Deuill in those places where it hath bene most vsed and in those persons
Priests onely Make thée no grauen Image sayth he yes say you we will haue our Churches full c. Wherefore if God haue disceyued you it is not bicause you haue beléeued his worde but bicause you haue loued lyes more then truth and therefore God hath iustly giuen you ouer In efficaciam erroris euen to the force and strength of error 2. Thess 2. as saint Paule wryteth And so is your error a iust punishment for the credite that you gaue vnto lyes And although God neyther doth nor can disceyue any man in such sort as you doe meane yet he sayth that in such meaning as I haue written Ezech. 14. he doth disceyue such as you are for the wickednesse of such people as you haue instructed Thus hauing spoken something of the scriptures WATSON Diuision 29 as this short time would permit there remayneth also the second thing which I sayde moued mee to continue in thys fayth which is the authorities of auncient fathers that haue flourished in the preaching of Gods truth in all ages with authorities I thinke verily in no age haue bene so curiously sought so diligent founde out and so substantially wayed as in this our time And all this is bicause the oppugnation of the truth in this matter hath extend it selfe not onely to the scriptures but also to the doctors to euery particle and title of the doctors whose wrytings haue bene so scanned tried that if any thing could haue bene gathered piked out of their books eyther by liberal writing before this mistery came in contention or by misconstruction of their words or by deprauatiō of their meaning that could seme to make against our fayth herein it was not omitted of some but stoutly alledged amplified inforced and set forth to the vttermost that their wittes coulde conceaue which if God hath not infatuat leauing them to speake so as neyther fayth nor reason could allow lyke as they haue with their vanities seduced a great sort the more pittie so they should haue vndermined and subuerted the fayth of a great many mo that were doubting and falling but not cleane ouerthrowne thankes be to almightie God Of these authorities although with a little studie and lesse labour I could at this time alledge a great number yet cōsidering the shortnesse of the time which is almost spent I shall be content to picke out a fewe which doe not onely declare the minde of the author but also conteyne an argument to proue and conuince the truth of our fayth and such an argument as neyther figuratiue speeche nor deprauation of the wordes or meaning can delude And first I shall begin with the weakest that is with the suspition of the Gentils Tertullian in his Apologie teacheth howe the Gentiles did accuse the Christen men for kylling of yong children ertul. apol Capit. 7. and eating of their fleshe he sayth thus Dicimur sceleratissimi de Sacramento infanticidij pabulo inde We are reported and accused as most mischeuous and wicked men for the sacrament of kylling of children and eating their fleshe and drincking their bloud Historia Ecclesiast lib. 5. Capit. 3. Eusebius also in this historie of the Church wryteth of one Attalus a martyr who being roasted in an yron Cradell with fyre put vnderneath when the sauour of his burnt fleshe came to the smelling of the people that looked on he cryed with a lowde voyce to the people Lo this is to eate men which you doe which fault ye make inquisition of as secretly done of vs which you commit openly in the mid daye By this accusation we may vnderstand that our sacramentes and misteries in the beginning of the Church were kept very secret both from the sight and knowledge of the Paganes that mocked and scorned them and also of those that were Catechumini learners of our fayth and not yet baptized for many great causes which I shall not neede to rehearse nowe And yet for all the secret keping of them being so many Christen men and women as there was they could not be kept so secret but that some ynkeling of them came to the eares of those that were Infidels and vnchristened insomuch that where as in deede and verie truth by the rules of our religion we did eate the fleshe of Iesus Christ our Lorde and drinke hys bloud ministred vnto vs in the sacrament the Gentiles as they were curious to know new things so they came to knowledge of the rumour of our doings eyther by the bewraying of some false brethrē or else by the simplicity of other that of zeale without knowledge would haue conuerted the vnfaythfull to our fayth heard secretly that wee christen men in our misteries did eate mans flesh and drinke mans bloud which they for lack of faith and further instruction began to compasse in their wittes how it was possible so to doe and therefore some of them blinded by their owne foolishe suspicion conceaued and published amongst other as it was most likely vnto them that we in our secret misterie did kill yong children eating their flesh and drinking their bloud and therevpon accused certayne before the Magistrates of thys heynous crime which they coulde neuer trie out to be true as they did accuse But for our purpose it appeareth plainly that we would neuer haue kept our misteries so secret if they had beene but ceremonies of eating of bread wine nor they would neuer haue accused vs of such beastly and vnnatural crimes being men of such reason learning and equity as they were if there had not bene some truth in their accusation which in deede was true for the substaunce of that they alledged but not for the maner of the thing for it was and is true that we in our misteries eate fleshe and drinke bloud but yet we doe not kill and murder yong children and eate their flesh and drinke their bloud And therfore I alledge the sayings of Tertullian and Eusebius the which is also in Origen the sixt booke contra Celsum to declare the accusation of the Gentils against vs concerning the eating of fleshe and drinking of bloud which could neuer haue commed into their heads so to haue done if there had not bene a truth in that matter which they by their reason could neuer see otherwise then they alleged which we by our faith do plainly see and know as it was ordeined by Christ our Lord. And for that cause Tertullian did cast in a vaine worde saying that we were accused of the sacrament of kylling of children which worde Sacrament standeth there for no purpose but to declare vnto vs that this their accusation did rise for lack of the true and precise knowledge of our Sacrament which is true concerning the eating of fleshe and drinking of bloud but not true concerning the kylling and murdering of children CROWLEY After you haue something spoken of the scriptures how much to the purpose let the readers
and sanctification both of our bodies and soules And concerning the drinking of Christes bloud really saint Cyprian writeth an other argument which I thinke can not be auoyded by any figuratiue speeches Cyprian ser de caena he sayth thus Noua est huius Sacramenti doctrina scâ—olae euangelicae hoc primum magistereum protulerunt doctore christo primum haec mundo inuotuit disciplina vt biberent sanguinem Christiani cuius esum legis antiquae authoritas districtissimè imterdicit Lex quippe esum sanguinis prohibit Euangelium praecipit vt bibatur c. Origen also writeth this same thing verie plainely vpon Numeri hom 16. Origen in Numeros hom 19. The Englishe is this of Cyprian The doctrine of this sacrament is new the Euangelicall schoole taught this lesson first of all this discipline was neuer known to the world before our master Christ who was the first teacher of it that christen men should drinke bloud the eating of which bloud the authoritie of the olde law doth most straightly forbid for the law forbiddeth the eating of bloud the gospell commaundeth bloud to be droken c. Nowe this is most certayne that the law did neuer forbid the drinking of Christes bloud figuratiuely but did commaunde drinke offerings which were figures of hys bloud and the Iewes dranke of the water that came forth of the stone which was a figure of the bloud that came foorth of Christes side which bloud as Chrysostome saith is in our Chalice Id est in calice quod fluxit è latere Chrysost in 1. Cor. hora. 24. illius nos sumus participes the same thing is the Chalice that flowed out of Christs side and we are partakers of the same Nor the law did neuer forbid the drinking of Christes bloud spiritually by fayth but set foorth the fayth of Christ being a schoolemaister to Christ pointing to him in whome they should beleeue and receaue all grace But to make short the lawe forbad the externall and reall drinking of bloud which the gospell commaundeth saying except ye eate the fleshe of the sonne of man drinke his bloud ye shall not haue lyfe in you Iohn 6. and drinke ye all of this This is my bloud of the newe Testament Therefore it foloweth necessarily that the drinking of this bloud is not figuratiuely nor yet onely spiritually but really by the seruice of our bodies as Chrysostome sayth Si vederit inimicus non postibus imposutum sanguinem typi sed fidelium ore lucentem sanguinem veritatis Christi templi postibus dedicatum Chrysost ad Neophytos multo magis se subtrahit If our enimie the Deuill shall see not the bloud of the figuratiue Lambe sprinckled vpon the postes but the bloud of Christ the truth shyning in the mouth of the faithful much more he will runne away There is a place of the prouerbs which as diuers authors doe expound Prouerb 23. maketh much for the reall presence of Christs body and bloud in the sacrament the place is this after the Greeke which these authors folowed Cùm sederis ad mensam potentis sapienter intellige quae apponuntur mitte manum tuam sciens quia talia te oportet praepare When thou sittest at the table of a great man vnderstand wisely what things are set before thee and put to thy hand knowing that thou must prepare such like things againe Saint Augustine vpon saint Iohn August in Ioh. tract 47.48 and Chrysostome vpon the Psalme and Hesechius and other mo whose wordes it were to long to rehearse in Latine doe expound thys place of the prouerbs thus Who is this great man but Iesus Christ our Lorde Gods sonne Chrysost in Psalm 22. Hesichius li. 6 Capit. 22. and what is the Table of this great man but where is receyued his body his bloud that hath giuen his life for vs And what is to sit at the Table but to come to it humbly and deuoutly and what is to consider and vnderstand wisely what things be set before thee but discerne the body and bloud of Christ to be set there verily in truth and to know the grace vertue dignitie of them and the daunger for the misvsing of them and what is to put to thy hand knowing that thou must prepare such like againe but to eate of them knowing that christen men in the cause of Christ and defence of the truth are bounden to shed their bloud and spend their liues for their brethren as Christ hath done the same for vs before the like as we haue receaued at Christes table his body and his bloud so ought we to giue for our brethren our bodies and bloud This comparison of taking and giuing the like againe auoydeth all the tryfling cauillations of these figuratiue speeches that the simple peoples heads be combred withal Here is no place for eating onely by fayth for the martyrs did not onely beleue in Christ but also in verie deede gaue their bodies and shed their bloud really for Christ I am wearie of telling you of your subtile dealing in cyting sentences out of the auncient fathers Saint Austen in the .xj. CROWLEY treatise vpon Iohn sayth as you haue cyted but the wordes which go before and should open saint Austens meaning August in Ioh. tract 11. you holde from your hearers and readers He sayth thus Ipsis ergo se credit Iesus qui nati sunt denuò Iesus therefore doth betake himselfe to them that be borne a newe And afterwarde he sayth Qui ergo renati sunt noctis fuerunt diei sunt tenebrae fuerunt lumen sunt Iam credit se illis Iesus non nocte veniunt ad Iesum sicut Nicodemus non in tenebris quaerunt diem c. Those therefore that be borne anewe did belong to the night and doe now belong to the day they were darkenesse and are now light Nowe Iesus doth betake himselfe to them and they come not to Iesus in the night as did Nicodemus they doe not séeke the light in darkenesse c. By these words it is playne that Austen ment nothing lesse then to teach that which you gather of his words Yea speaking of the same wordes that are written in the sixt of Iohn he sayth Dominus autem exposuit eis dixit Spiritus est qui viuificat caro autem non prodest quicquam cum dixisset Nisi quis manducauerit carnem meam biberit sanguinem meum non habebit in se vitam ne carnaliter intelligerent Spiritus est inquit qui viuificat caro autem nihil prodest Verba autem quae locutus sum vobis spiritus vita sunt And the Lord declared vnto them and sayde It is the spirite that gyueth lyfe the flesh doth profite nothing at all when he had sayde Except a man doe eate my flesh and drinke my bloud he shal not haue any lyfe in himselfe least they should vnderstand him carnally
vpon this place And Lyranus who was a Iewe borne doth expound it after the letter And the ordinarie Glosse Hierony in Prouer. 23. foloweth saint Hierome who vnderstandeth by the mightie man the teacher of Gods worde and by the things set before them the worde of God c. Fearing to be long therefore you might well haue spared all this and the applying of your comparison of taking and gyuing the like agayne with boasting that it auoydeth all the trifling cauillations of figuratiue spéeches c. WATSON Diuision 33. I neede not stand longer in so playne a matter although I could alledge much more out of all the auncient fathers yea more plainer then these I haue touched if any can be playner If I did but tell the bare names of the sacrament which the aucthors giue it I should proue manifestly that it were the very body and bloud of Christ and not bread and wine Ignatius calleth it Medicamentum immortalitatis Ignatus ad Ephesios antidotum non moriendi a medicine of immortalitie a preseruatiue against death Dionisius Ariopagita S. Paules Scholer calleth it hostia salutaris the sacrifice of our saluation Dionisius Hier. Eccle. Capit. 3. Iustinus Apolo Origen in Luc. hom 38. in Mat. bo 5. Cyprianus de lapsis de caena Iustinus martyr saith it is caro sanguis incarnati Iesu the flesh bloud of Iesus incarnate which names be giuen to it of the scripture and all other wryters Origen calleth it Panis vitae dapes saluatoris epulum incorruptum Dominus the bread of lyfe the deynties of our sauiour the meate that is neuer corrupted yea our Lord himself Cyprian calleth it Sanctum domini the holy one of God gratia salutaris the sauing grace Cibus inconsumptibilis the meate that can neuer be consumed Alimonia immortalitatis the foode of immortalitie Portio vitae aeternae the portion of eternall life Sacrificium perpes holocaustum per manens a continuall sacrifice an offering alwaies remaining Christus yea he calleth it Christ The great generall counsell at Nice calleth it Agnus Dei qui tollit peccatum mundi Concilium Nicenum the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the worlde Optatus an olde author giueth it diuers names as in this sentence Quid tam sacrilegium quam altaria dei frangere radere Optatus li. 6. remouere in quibus vot a populi membra Christi portata sunt vnde à multis pignus salutis aeternae tutela fidei spes resurrectionis accepta est What is more sacrilege then to breake the aultars of God as the Donatistes did or to scrape them or to remoue them vpon the which aultars the vowes of the people that is to say the members of Christ are borne from which aultars also the pledge of eternall saluation the defence and buckler of faith and the hope of resurrection be receaued Hilarius calleth it cibus dominicus our Lordes meat Hilarius li. 8. Basilius in Missa verbum caro the worde made flesh Saint Basill in his Masse calleth them sancta diuina impolluta immortalia super celestia viuifica sacramenta Holy sacraments godly pure vndefiled immortall heauenly and giuing life What wittelesse and vngodly man would giue these names to bread and wine Saint Ambrose calleth it gratia dei Ambrosius de obitu fratris the grace of God not an accidentall grace receaued of God into mans soule but the verie reall sacrament he calleth the grace of God the which his brother Satirus being vpon the sea and his ship broken seeking for none other ayde but onely the remedy of fayth and the defence of that sacrament tooke this grace of God of the priestes and caused it to be bound in a stole which he tied about his neck and so trusting in that committed himselfe to the waters by vertue wherof he escaped drowning and afterward of a Catholike Bishop he receaued that same grace of God with his mouth Chrysost 1. Cor. 10. Chrysostome O with what eloquence doth he vtter this matter heare but this one place Ipsa namque mensa animae nostrae vis est nerui mentis fiduciae vinculum fundamentum spes salus lux vita nostra The verye table sayeth he meaning the meat of the table is the strength of our soule the sinewes of our minde the knot of our trust the foundation our hope our helth our light and our lyfe What names what effectes bee these and in an other Homely he calleth it Rex coeli deus Christus Ad Ephe. Ser. 3. the king of heauen God himselfe Christ which he sayth goth into vs by these gates and dores of our mouthes Cyrillus calleth it sanctificatio viuifica the very sanctification that giueth life Cirillus li. 4. Capit. 17. August Epist 163. And S. Augustine calleth it Pretium nostrum the price of our redemption which Iudas receaued What should I trouble you any longer in so plaine a matter Why should these holy fathers deceaue vs by calling this sacrament with so glorious high names if they ment not so but that it was but bread wine they lacked no grace that had so much grace as to shed their bloud for Christes fayth they lacked no wytte nor eloquence to expresse what they meant Thus did they with one consent after one maner alwayes speake and write by whose playne preaching and wryting the whole worlde of Christendome hath beene perswaded and established in this faith of the reall presence these fiftene hundred yres If they haue seduced vs meaning otherwise then they wrote then may we iustly saye that they were not martyrs and confessors in deede but verie Deuils erring themselues and bringing other also into errour But good people the truth is they erred not but taught vs as they beleued the very truth confirming and testifying that faith with their bloud that they had taught with their mouth And if there be anye errour it is in vs that for the vnlearned talking and witlesse sophisticall reasoning of a fewe men will headlings destroy our soules forsaking and not contynuing in that faythe whiche was taught by the mouth of Christ sealed with his bloud testified by the bloud of martyrs and hath preuayled from the beginning against the which Hell gates can not preuayle Nowe there remayneth something to bee saide concerning the thirde part which is the consent of the catholike Church in thys point but I am sorie the tyme is so past that I can not nowe say any thing of it in my next daye God wylling I shall touch it and also proceede in the matter of the sacrifice which I hope to God to make so plaine that it shall appere to them that will see and be not blinded forsaken of God to be a thing most euident most profitable to be vsed and frequented in Christs Church and that such slaunders and blasphemers as be shot against it shall rebound I hope vppon their owne
quasi Sacerdos vt peccata nostra dimittat hic in imagine ibi in veritate vbi apud patrem pro nobis quasi aduocatus interuenit Here in this worlde there is a shadowe here there is an ymage there in heauen is truth the shadowe in the law the ymage in the Gospell the truth in heauen Before a Lambe and Calfe were offered now Christ is offered but he is offered as man and receauing passion and he offereth himselfe as being a priest to take our sinnes awaye here in ymage there in truth where with the father as an aduocate he maketh intercession for vs. The same thing he wryteth also vpon the .38 Psalme So that it is very plaine without al controuersie that Christ doth offer himselfe now most perfitely in heauen for vs being our aduocate to the father face to face as saint Iohn sayth 1. Iohn 2. Ipse est propitiatio pro peccatis nostris he is a sacrifice propitiatorie for our sinnes he sayth not he was but is and after the most perfitest maner that can be in respect whereof the very true and reall oblation for our redemption vpon the crosse is an ymage So that by this we see by the plaine scripture that Christ offered himselfe three wayes besides the oblation of himself in his supper which is the point we he about to declare And euen so is he offered of man three wayes likewise First figuratiuely in the oblation of the olde testament When Abraham being about to offer his owne deare sonne and by Gods prouision offred in his stede a Ramme and when Melchisedech offered bread and wine and the Iewes the pascall lambe and their burnt offerings what did they offer but Christ in figure whose passion those offerings did signifie Which offerings did of themselfe worke nothing inwardly and therefore were called Iustitia carnis the righteousnesse of the fleshe but by them they did protest their sinne and declared their fayth of whome they looked to haue remission Secondly we offer Christ mistically in our daylie sacrifice of the Masse where Christ is by his omnipotent power presented to vs in the sacrament and of vs againe represented to his and our father and his passion renewed not by suffering of death againe but after an vnbloudy maner not for this ende that we should therby deserue remission of our sinnes but that by our fayth deuotion and this representation of his passion we most humbly pray almightie God to applie vnto vs by Christ that remission which was purchased and deserued by his passion before The hoste of these two sacrifices vpon the crosse and vpon the aultar is all one in substaunce but the maner is dyuers and the ende is dyuers that by this meanes as Christ himselfe hath instituted we might celebrate make commemoration of his passion This is onely the sacrifice of the priest by publicke ministration but verily and in affection it is the sacrifice of the whole Church which euerye member of the Church doth vse and frequent no man doth impugne it but he that professeth open warre against the Church Thirdly Christ is offered by man spiritually onely by the meditation of our minde when we thinke and remember his passion and in our deuout prayer beseech God to showe vs mercy for it Thus euery christen man and woman in all places and times vppon the aultar his owne heart ought to offer Christ to the father after which sort of spirituall oblation we be all both men and women priestes and kings being as saint Peter sayth Sacerdotium sanctum 1. Peter 2. offerentes spirituales hostias acceptabiles Deo per Iesum Christum An holy priesthood offering spirituall sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ Now considering these three wayes shall it be a good argument to inculcate one way and to reiect the rest To alledge one member of a deuision to the reiection of the other This is the peculiar maner of the heretikes the enimies of Christ as they did in the matter of the sacrament by the spirituall eating of Christ to confute and reiect the reall and corporall eating of Christs body in the sacrament Such shiftes and fonde arguments they haue to seduce the vnlearned withall which when they bee espyed and detected they appeare as they be Deuillishe and pernycious Sophistrie CROWLEY Whereas you go about to perswade your hearers that we abuse the wordes of saint Paule to the Hebrues your answere that you make to our obiection doth affirme that we do vse those scriptures aright Hebrues .9 Watson confirmeth our allegation of the scriptures For to what ende hath any of vs alleged them other then to proue that Christ was but once offered for the redemption of mans sinnes and that therfore he is not offered for sinnes in your popishe Masse These be the scriptures say you that they alledge agaynst the Masse as though those scriptures were of no weight in comparison of those that you haue to alledge for the Masse Or else that they were wrested so farre out of square that all the world might sée that they make nothing for the purpose But that the reader may sée that these scriptures so alledged as they be by vs against the Masse be of some force to proue that which we would proue by them I will vpon these scriptures and your answere forme this reason or argument An argumēt for watson to aunswere Whatsoeuer action is but once done is not done often or euery day But Christ is but once offered for sinne Ergo he is not offered often or euerye day for sinne Disproue this argument if you can You would make your hearers beleue that we go about to confute one truth by another But I trust to cause the reader to sée that you confirme one lye by another We graunt that it is true that Christ was offered but once for sinne and that that once must néedes be by shedding of his bloud Rom. 6. Hebr. 9. For as saint Paule fayth Stipendium peccati mors The rewarde of sinne is death He therefore that should take away sinne must die And without the effusion of bloud there is no forgiuenesse of sinnes Therefore Christ that should purchase forgiuenesse of sinnes must néedes haue his bloud shed according to the figures of the olde lawe which did all preach the shedding of the bloud of him that should purge vs and make vs cleane from sinne We do not by the affirming of this truth denie any other truth But if there be any that will say that Christ is offered for sinne any oftner then once or any otherwyse then by death and the shedding of his bloud then doe we alledge this truth grounded vpon the scriptures and confessed by you agaynst that falsehoode affirmed by such as say that Christ is offered for sinne oftner then once or any otherwise then by death and the shedding of his bloud If you can finde any imperfection in Christes one oblation once offered