shall not euer haue me with you For as coÌ„cernyng the preseÌ„ce of his fleshe the churche hade hym but a fewe dayes now it holdeth hym by faithe though it see hym not Thus muche S. Augustine speaketh repeting one thing so often and al to declare and teache how we should vnderstande the maner of Christes being here with vs which is by his grace by his prouidence by his diuine nature and how he is absent by his natural body which was borne of the virgin Mary died and roose for vs is ascended in to heauen and ther sitteth as is in the articles of our faithe on the right hande of God thence from non other place sayeth S. Augustine he shall com on the later daye to iudge y e quycke the dead At y e which daye the righteous shall than lifte vp their heades and the light of Goddes truthe shall so shyne that falshead and errours shalbe put in to perpetual confusion righteousnesse shal haue the vpperhande and truthe that daye shal beare awaye y e victorie al thenemies therof quyte ouerthrowne to be troden vnder foote for euermore O Lorde Lorde I beseche the hasten this daye than shalt thow be glorified with the glorie due vnto thy holy name and vnto thy diuine maiestie and we shal syng vnto thee in al ioye and felicitie laude and praise for euer more Amen Here now wold I make an ende For me thinkes S. Augustine is in this mater so full and playne and of that autoritie that it should not nede after this his declaracion being so firmely grounded vpon Goddes worde and so well agreing with the other auncient autors to bring in for the coÌ„firmacion of this mater any moo and yet I sayed I wolde allege three of the latin churche to testifie the truthe in this cause Now therfore y e last of all shalbe Gelasius which was a bishop of Rome but one that was bishop of that sea before y e wicked vsurpacion and tyrannye therof spredde burst out abrode in to all the worlde For this man was before Bonifacius yea and Gregorie the furst in whose dayes bothe corruption of doctrine and tirannical vsurpacion did chiefly growe and hade the vpperhande Gelasius in an epistle of the twoo natures of Christ Contra Eutichen writeth thus The sacramentes of the body and blood of Christ which we receaue are godly thinges wherby and by the same we are made partakers of the diuine nature and yet neuerthelesse the substaunce or nature of the bread wyne dothe not departe nor go awaye Note these wordes I beseche you and considre whether any thing can be more playnly spoken than these wordes be agaynst the errour of traÌ„substanciacion which is the grouÌ„de and bitter roote wherupon spring all the horrible errours before rehearsed Wherfore seing that y e falshead dothe appeare so manifestly and by so many wayes so playnly so clearlye and so fully that no maÌ„ nedeth to be deceaued but he that will not see or will not vnderstande Let vs all that doo loue the truthe embrace it forsake the falsehead For he that loueth the truthe is of God and the lacke of the loue therof is the cause why God suffreth men to fall in to errours and to perishe therin yea and as S. Paule sayeth why he seÌ„deth vnto them illusiones y t they beleue lies vnto their owne condemnacion bicause sayeth he they loued not the truthe This truthe no doubt is Goddes worde For Christ hym selfe sayeth vnto his father Thy worde is truthe The loue and light wher of almightie God our heauenly father geue vs lyghten it in our heartes by his holy spirite through Iesus Christ our Lorde Amen Vincit Veritas The. blessed martirs prayer Note Math. 2â— Mar. 14. Luce. 22. â— Cor. 11. Note what it is to lye The slauÌ„derous lies of the papistes wherin the controuersy consisteth Answer to the chief question ArgumeÌ„t Maâ— â–ª Antho. const Gardiner Act. 2.20 The. 2. reason The. 3. ArgumeÌ„t The papistes affirme they wotte not what Gardiner to the 48. obiection Petre and Paule had no such priesthode as the papistes haue Note well the Papistes errour confuted Aug. De Doc. christiana li. 3. ca. 16. Gardiner in his answers to the 161. 22â— obiection Note The Lordes cuppe as the priestes say 2. Thess. 2. Prayer Psal. 67. The masse sacrifice iniurious to Christes passioÌ„ Hebr. 9.10 Gardiner in the answer to the. 15. obiection Gard. to the. 13. obiection God makers agree not among them selues Gardiner a Neutral or Iacke of bothe Sydes Gard. to the. 84 obiection Godmakers agree against the truthe Note The consent of the olde autors Origene Eccl. Hist. Li. 6. ca. 3 The papistes obiection against Origene An other obiection Gard. to the. 166 â–ª Gard. in the same place Li. 3. ca. â—6 Chrisosto In opere imperfecto ho. 11. in Matth. Gardi to the â—98 obiection Gard. in the same place Gard. to the 201. obiection Theodores Dial â— D. More man in the conuocacion house Distinc. ca 4. Statuimus Tertullian â–ª Gard. to the .16 obiection Augustine Question â–ª 57. Cap. 13. Contra Maximinum li. ca. 2â— Gelasius Io. 17.
A brief declaracion of the Lordes Supper written by the syngular learned man and most constaunt Martir of Iesus Christ Nicholas Ridley Bishop of London prisoner in Oxforde a litel before he suffred deathe for the true testimonie of Christ. Roma 8. For thy sake are we killed all daye long and are compted as shepe appointed to be slayne Neuertheles in all these thinges we ouercome through him that loued vs. Anno. 1555. To the Reader VNderstande good reader that this great clearke and blessed Martir bishop Nicholas Ridley sought not by setting furthe this notable godly piece of learned worke the vayne glorie of the world nor temporal frendship of men for his present aduauncement muche lesse he hunted hereby for Bishoprikes and benefices as all his aduersaries the enemies of Christes truthe and ordinaunce the Papistes cōmonly doo but hauing consideracion of the great charge of soule committed vnto him and of thaccompte therof which the iustice of God wolde require at his handes intending therwithall to be founde blameles in the great daye of the Lorde seing he was put aparte to defende the Gospel he not only forsoke landes goodes world frendes and him selfe withall and testified the truthe specified in this boke by his learned mouthe in the open presence of the worlde but also to leaue a sure monument and loue token vnto his flocke he hathe regestred it by his owne penne in this forme ensuyng and sealed it vp with his blood Forasmuch than as he hath approued him selfe no vayne disputour no wethercocke nor hipocrite seyng he hathe willingly geuen his lyfe for the truthe and inasmuche also as his loue and most constaunt christian conscience speaketh frely vnto thee gentill reader I beseche thee for Christes sake and thyne owne lende him thine indifferent heart and pacient hearyng ⧠MAny thynges confounde a weake memorie a fewe places well weighed and perceaued lyghten the vnderstādyng Truthe is ther to be searched wher it is certayne to be hade Though God dothe speake the truthe by man yet in mannes worde which God hath not reuealed to be his a mā may doubt without mystrust in god Christ is the truthe of God reuealed vnto man from heauen by God hym selfe and therfore in his worde the truthe is to be founde which is to be embraced of al that be his Christ biddeth vs aske we shall haue searche and we shall fynde knocke and it shal be opened vnto vs. Therfore our heauenly father the autor and fountayne of all truthe the botomles sea of al vnderstanding sende downe we beseche the thy holy spirite in to our heartes and lyghten our vnderstanding wyth the beames of thy heauenly grace We aske thee this O merciful father not in respecte of our desartes but for thy deare sonne oure saueour Iesus Christes sake Thou knowest O heauenly father that the controuersie about the Sacrament of the blessed bodye and blood of thy deare sonne our saueour Iesu Christ hathe troubled not of late only y e churche of Englāde Fraunce Germanye and Italie but also many yeares agoo The fault is ours no doubt therfore for we haue deserued thy plague But O Lorde be mercifull and releue our myserie with som light of grace Thow knowest o Lorde how this wicked world rolleth vp and downe and releth to fro and careth not what thy will is so it maye abyde in wealthe If truthe haue wealthe who are so stowte to defende the truthe as they But if Christes crosse be layed on truthes backe than they vanyshe awaye straight as waxe before y e fire But these are not they O heauenly father for whom I make my most moane but for those sely ones O Lord which haue a zeale vnto thee those I meane which wold and wishe to knowe thy will and yet are letted holden backe blynded by the subtilties of Satan and his Ministers the wickednesse of this wretched worde and the synful lustes and affectiones of the fleshe Alas Lorde thow knowest that we be of our selues but fleshe wherin ther dwelleth nothing that is good How than is it possible for mā without the O Lorde to vnderstande thy truthe in dede Can the natural man perceaue the will of God O Lorde to whom thow gauest a zeale of thee geue them also we beseche thee y e knowlage of thy blessed will Suffre not thē O Lorde blyndlye to be ledde for to stryue against thee as thow diddest those Alas which crucified thine owne sōne forgeue them O Lorde for thy deare sonnes sake for they knowe not what they doo They do thinke Alas O Lorde for lacke of knowlage that they doo vnto the good seruice euen whan agaynst thee they doo most extremely rage Remembre O Lorde we beseche the for whom thy martyr Stephan did praye and whom thyne holy Aopstle Paule did so truly and earnestly loue that for their saluacion he wished hym self accursed for them Remembre O heauenly father the prayer of thy deare sonne our saueour Christe vpon the crosse whan he sayd vnto thee O father forgeue them they knowe not what they doo With this forgeuenesse O good Lorde geue me I beseche the thy grace so here briefly to set furthe the sayenges of thy sonne our saueour Iesu Christ of his Euāgelistes and of his apostles that in this aforesaide cōtrouersie the light of the truthe by y e lanterne of thy worde maye shyne vnto al them that loue the. Of the Lordes last supper do speake expressely the euāgelistes Matthewe Marke Luke but non more playnlye nor more fully declareth y e same than dothe S. Paule partly in the 10. Chaptre but especially in y e 11. Chap. of his furst epistle to y e Corinthianes As Matthewe and Marke doo agree muche in wordes so do likewise Luke and S. Paule But al. iiij no doubt as they were all taught in one schole inspired w t one spirite so taught they all one truthe God graunt vs to vnderstande it well Amen Matthewe setteth furthe Christes supper thus Whan euē was come he sate downe w t the .xij. c. As they did eate Iesus toke bread and gaue thankes brake it and gaue it to the disciples and sayed Take eate This is my body And he toke the cuppe gaue thankes gaue it to them sayeng Drynke ye al of this for this is my blood of the newe testament that is shedde for many for the Remission of synnes I saye vnto you I will not drynke hencefurthe of this frute of the vyne tree vntil that daye whan I shall drynke that newe in my fathers kingdome And whā they hade sayed grace they went out c. Now Marke speaketh it thus And as they eate Iesus toke bread blessed and brake and gaue to them and saied Take eate This is my body And he toke the cuppe gaue thākes and gaue it to them and they all dranke of it And he sayed vnto them This is my blood of the newe testament which is shedde for many
many as be or shalbe partakers therof that is y t to all y t do beleue on his name which are not borne of blood as S. Io. sayeth or of y e wil of y e fleshe or of y e wil of maÌ„ but are borne of God though the selfe same substaunce abyde styll in heauen and they for the tyme of their pilgrimage dwel here vpon earthe By grace I saye that is by the gyfte of thys lyfe mencioned in Iohn and the propreties of the same mete for our pilgrimage here vpon earth the same bodye of Christ is here preseÌ„t with vs. Euen as for example we saye y e same Sunne which in substauÌ„ce neuer remoueth his place out of the heauens is yet present here by his beames light and naturall influence where it shyneth vpon the earthe For Goddes worde and his Sacramentes be as it were the beames of Christ which is Sol iusticiae the SuÌ„ne of ryghteousnes Thus haste thou hearde of what sorte or secte so euer thou be wherin dothe stande the principall state and chiefe point of all the controuersies which do ê“prely perteyne vnto the nature of this SacrameÌ„t As for the vse therof I graunt ther be many other thinges wherof here I haue spoken nothyng at all And now least thou iustly mightest complayne and say that I haue in opening of this mater done nothyng elles but digged a pitte and haue not shut it vp again or broken a gap haue not made it vp agayne or opened y e boke haue not closed it agayne or elles to cal me what thou lustest as neutrall dissembler or what so euer elles thy lust learnyng shall serue to thee to name me worse Therfore here now I wil by Goddes grace not only shortly but so clearely â–ª playnly as I caÌ„ make y e to know whether or y e aforesaid two answeres to y e former principal state chief poiÌ„t dothe lyke me best yea and also I will holde al those accursed which in this mater y t now so troubleth y e churche of Christ haue of God receaued the keye of knowlage yet goo about to shutte vp y e doores so y t they theÌ„ selues wil not entre in nor suffre other that wolde And as for myne owne parte I coÌ„sydre bothe of late what charge cure of soule hathe ben coÌ„mitted vnto me wherof God knoweth howe sone I shalbe called to geue accoÌ„pte also now in this worlde what perile dauÌ„ger of y e lawes coÌ„cernyng my life I am now in at this pÌ„seÌ„t tyme. What folye where it thaÌ„ for me now to disseÌ„ble w t God of whoÌ„ assuredly I loke hope by Christ to haue euerlastiÌ„g life Seing y t suche charge dauÌ„ger bothe before God maÌ„ doo compasse me in rouÌ„de about on euery syde therfore God willing I will frankely frely vttre my mynde though my body be captyue yet my toÌ„gue my pen as long as I maye shall frely set furthe that which vndoubtedly I am persuaded to be y e truthe of Goddes worde And yet I wil do it vnder this protestacion call me protestauÌ„t who iusteth I passe not therof My protestacion shalbe thus that my mynde is euer shalbe God willing to set furthe syncerely the true sense and meanyng to the best of my vnderstanding of Goddes most holy worde not to decline from the same either for feare of worldly daunger or elles for hope of gayne I doo proteste also due obedience submission of my iudgement in this my wryting and in all other myne affaires vnto those of Christes church which be truly learned in Goddes holy worde gathered in Christes name and guided by his spirite After this protestacion I doo playnly affirme and saye y t the seconde answer made vnto the chief question and principal poynt I am persuaded to be the very true meanyng and sense of Goddes holy worde that is that the naturall substaunce of bread and wyne is the true material substaunce of the holy sacrament of the blessed body blood of our saueour Christ and the places of scripture whervpon this my faithe is grouÌ„ded be these bothe coÌ„cerning y e sacrameÌ„t of y e body also of y e blood Furst let vs repete the begynnyng of the institucioÌ„ of the Lordes supper wherin al y e three euaÌ„gelistes and S. Paule almost in wordes doo agree sayeng that Iesus toke bread gaue thaÌ„kes brake and gaue it to the disciples sayeng Take eate this is my body Here it appeareth playnly that Christ calleth very bread his body For that which he toke was very bread In this all meÌ„ doo agree And that which he toke after he hade geuen thankes he brake and that which he toke and brake he gaue to his disciples that which he toke brake and gaue to his disciples he sayed hym self of it This is my bodye So it appeareth playnlie that Christ called very bread his body But very breade caÌ„not be his body in very substauÌ„ce therof therfore it must nedes haue an other meaniÌ„g Which meanyng appeareth playnly what it is by the next sentence that foloweth imediatlye bothe in Luke in Paule And y t is this Doo this in remeÌ„brauÌ„ce of me Whervpon it semeth vnto me to euident that Christ did take bread called it his bodye for that he wolde therby institute a perpetual remeÌ„braunce of his body specially of y e singular benefite of our redempcion which he wolde than procure and purchace vnto vs by his body vpon the crosse But bread reteynyng still his owne very natural substaunce maye be thus by grace and in a sacrameÌ„tal significacioÌ„ his body wheras elles the very bread which he toke brake and gaue them could not be in any wise his natural body For that were confusion of substaunces and therfore the very wordes of Christ ioyned with the next sentence folowing bothe enforceth vs to confesse the very bread to remayne still and also openeth vnto vs how that bread may be and is thus by his diuine power his body which was geueÌ„ for vs. But here I remembre I haue red in some writours of the contrarie opinion which doo denye that y t which Christ did take he brake For saye they after his taking he blessed it as Marke doth speake And by his blessing he chaunged the natural substaunce of the breade in to the natural substaunce of his bodye and so although he toke the bread and blessed it yet bicause in blessing he chaunged the substaunce of it he brake not the bread which than was not ther but only the forme therof Unto this obiection I haue two playne answers bothe grounded vpoÌ„ Goddes worde The one I will here rehearse the other answer I will differre vntil I speake of the SacrameÌ„t of the blood Myne answer here is takeÌ„ out of y e plaine wordes of S. Paul which dothe manifestlye confounde this fantastical inuencion furst inueÌ„ted I wene of Pope Innocentius after confirmed
yet is not their nature chaūged but abydeth stil. And wher is thā the papistes transubstantiacion The same wrytour in y e secōde dialoge of y e same worke against thaforesaid heretike Eutiches wryteth yet more playnly agaynst this errour of transubstanciacion if any thing can be sayed to be more playne For he maketh the heretike to speake thus against hym that defendeth the true doctrine whom he calleth Orthodoxus As the sacramentes of the body and blood of our Lorde are one thing before the inuocacion and after the inuocaciō they be changed and are made an other so likewise the Lordes body saythe the heretike is after the assūpcion or ascension in to heauen turned in to the substance of God the heretike meaning therby that Christ after his assension remayneth no more a mā To this Orthodoxus answereth thus sayeth to y e heretike Thow art taken sayeth he in thyne owne snare For those mystical symboles or sacramētes after the sanctificacion doo not goo out of their owne nature but they tarye and abyde still in their substaunce figure and shape yea are sensibly sene groped to be y e same they were before c. At these wordes the papistes doo startle and to saye the truthe these wordes be so playne so ful so cleare that they can not tell what to saye but yet they will not ceasse to goo about to playe the cuttles and to cast their colours ouer them that the truthe which is so plainly told should not haue place This autor wrote saye they before the determinacion of the churche As who wold saye what so euer that wicked man Innocentius the Pope of Rome determined in his congregacions with his monkes and friers that must be for so Duns sayeth holden for an article and of the substaūce of our faithe Some do charge this autor that he was suspected to be a Nestorian which thing in Calcedon counsail was tried and proued to be false But the fowlest shifte of all and yet the best that they can finde in this mater whan none other will serue is to saye that Theodorete vnderstandeth by the worde substaunce accidētes and not substaunce in dede This glose is like a glose of a lawer vpon a decree y e text wherof beginneth thus Statuimus that is We decree The glosse of the lawer ther after many other prety shiftes ther set furthe which he thinketh will not well serue to his purpose and therfore at the last to cleare the mater he sayeth thus after y e mynde of one lawer Vel Dic sayeth he Statuimus id est abrogamus y t is or expoūde we do decree that is we abrogate or disanull Is not this a goodly and worthy glose who will not say but he is worthy in the lawe to be reteyned of counsail that can glose so wel and fynde in a mater of difficultie such fyne shiftes And yet this is the lawe or at least the glose of the lawe And therfore who can tell what perile a man maye incurre to speake against it except he were a lawer in dede which can kepe him self out of the briers what wynde so euer blowe Hitherto ye haue hearde three wrytours of the Greke churche not all what they doo saye for that were a labour to great for to gather and to tedious for y e reader But one or two places of euery one the which how playne how ful and how cleare they be against the errour of transubstanciacion I referre it to the iudgement of the indifferent reader And now I will likewise rehearse the sayenges of other three olde auncient wytours of the latine church so make an ende And furst I will begynne with Tertullian whom Cipriane the holy martyr so highly estemed that whan so euer he wolde haue his boke he was wont to saye Geue vs now the Maister This olde wrytour in his .4 boke agaynst Marcion the heretike saieth thus Iesus made y e breade which he toke and distributed to his disciples his body sayeng This is my body That is to saye sayeth Tertullian afigure of my body In this place it is playne that after Tertullianes expolicion Christ ment not by calling the bread his body the wyne his blood that either the bread was the naturall body or the wyne his natural blood but he called thē his body and blood bicause he wolde institute thē to be vnto vs sacramentes that is holy tokens and signes of his body and of his blood that by them remēbring and firmely beleuing the benefites procured to vs by his body which was torne crucified for vs and of his blood which was shedde for vs vpō the crosse and so with thākes receauing these holy sacraments according to Christes institucion might by the same be spiritually nouryshed and fedde to the encrease of all godlynesse in vs here in our pilgrimage iournaye wherin we walke vnto euerlasting lyfe This was vndoubtedly Christ our saueours mīde and this is Tertullianes exposicion The wranglyng that the Papistes doo make to elude this sayeng of Tertullian is so farre out of frame that it euen wearieth me to thinke on it Tertullian wryteth here saye they as none hathe done hitherto before him This sayeng is toto manyfest false for Origene Hilarie Ambrose Basil Gregorie Nazianzene saint Augustine and other olde autors lykewyse doo call the sacrament a figure of Christes bodye And where they saye that Tertullian wrote this whan he was in a heate of disputacion with an heretike couetyng by all meanes to ouerthrowe his aduersarie As who saye he wolde not take hede what he dyd saye and specially what he wolde wryte in so hyghe a mater so that he might haue the better hande of his aduersarie Is this credible to be true in any godlye wyse man How muche lesse thā is it worthy to be thought or credited in a man of so great a wytte learning and excellencye as Tertullian is worthilye estemed euer for to haue ben Lykewyse this autor in his furst boke agaynst the same heretike Marcion wryteth thus God did not reiect bread which is his creature for by it he hath made a representaciō of his body Now I praye you what is this to saye that Christ hathe made a representacion by bread of his body but that Christ hade instituted and ordayned bread to be a sacrament for to represent vnto vs his body Now whether the representacion of one thing by an other requireth the corporal presence of the thing which is so represented or no euery man that hathe vnderstanding is hable in this point the mater is so cleare of it self to be a sufficient iudge The seconde doctour and wrytour of the latine churche whose sayenges I promysed to set furthe is S. Augustine of whose learning and estimacion I nede not to speake For all the churche of Christ bothe hathe and euer hathe hade hym for a man of most singular learnyng witte and diligence