one should hold up a true piece of Gold which is discoloured so by Sulphur that it looks but like Silver and should be informing us that this is a piece of true Gold we should before he hath spoke his words conclude it was but Silver So it would have been prejudice in our Lord's Disciples to have concluded of the determinate nature of that which he held in his Hands when he was going to tell them what it really was viz. his Body before he had fully pronounced the Proposition saying This is my Body Which the Sacramentarians and our Author do rashly determining the thing which appears as Bread to be so in Substance upon the exhibiting the Species and saying This which notwithstanding when the Proposition is finished is in the Sacrament made and declared to be the Body of Christ This therefore being a Pronoun demonstrative it is enough that it exhibits something unto us under a certain outward appearance without signifying distinctly and clearly the whole nature of the thing for it is the propperty of the Attribute or thing that is affirmed of another to add clearness to the subject or thing of which it is affirmed by explaining the nature of the thing intended to be demonstrated in the Proposition more fully otherwise the Proposition would be ridiculous as if one should say this Bread is Bread or this my Body is my Body This therefore in the Proposition This is my Body only discovers some Real Thing which appears in such a manner as for instance the Species of Bread to the Senses which our Saviour who was Truth it self who did know the truth of all things and could alter the nature of any Created thing by his Word declares fully unto them to be his Body tho' under such an appearance so that whether the change was made before or at that very instant of time when our Lord spake the words the latter of which is the general opinion of Catholics the Proposition is strictly true in a proper Sense I shall only premise one thing more before I examin the Authors pretended proofs from Scripture because I would by no means make the breach betwixt us wider than it is which is this That Catholics acknowledge a Figure in the Sacrament no less than Protestants Thus the Bread and Wine before Consecration being distinct things and separate one from the other do resemble Christs Body and Blood separated upon the Cross and his Soul separated from his Body altho' they could not do this in their own nature and till after the first Institution they were exposed upon the Altar for such a use as might make us consider them as such resemblances since there is not so much of natural likeness as to call the Idea of the Passion into our mind We believe also that after Consecration Christs Body in the Sacrament under the Veils of the Species of Bread and Wine is a Figure Similitude or Examplar of the same Body of Christ as it suffer'd upon the Cross in like manner as his Body when newly born was a Resemblance and Exemplar and express Image of his Body at full growth But this we conclude not from those words of our Lord This is my Body which must still be understood in a proper Sense but from the nature of the thing it self after the Institution known to be made From whence we firmly believe the Body of Christ to be there it being of the nature of a Sacrament to represent and exhibit somthing more unto us than what it outwardly appears to be I now proceed to consider the Expressions which the Author produceth out of Scripture by which he would prove a Figurative Presence of Christs Body in opposition to a Real one in the Catholic Sense And this being the main Proof upon which those who have renounced the Authority of the Church do pretend to build their Faith since they allow that nothing ought to be admitted as an Article of Faith which is not clearly deduced from hence and consequently nothing ought to be condemned as contrary to the Christian Faith but what is manifestly repugnant to this From hence then it is that he should bring an evidence which is able to overthrow the Authority of so many Councils and several of them General ones as have determined this Point against him and to shew plainly that the whole true visible Church of Christ which hath for near MDCC years received the Doctrin of the Real Presence of Christs Body hath erred in so necessary a Point of Faith and been guilty of Idolatry even grosser than that of the Heathen World as the Author pretends notwithstanding the Evidence of the same Holy Scripture that the Holy Spirit shall lead it into all Truth and that the Gates of Hell shall not be able to prevail against it Let us see therefore how well he acquits himself in this vast enterprise of so great concern to the Christian World. His Argument from Scripture is this there are other expressions in Scripture which are taken figuratively therefore this must be so taken Out of the innumerable like expressions in Holy Scripture as he is pleased to term them he citeth two very different sorts The first are barely figurative such as are used in ordinary human discourse as well as Scripture without preparing of the mind of the Hearer beforehand that he may receive them Then he compares the words of our Lords Institution to a Dream or Vision of the Night that was to be interpreted which indeed hath something more of resemblance than the former expressions which he alledgeth because it being known that the things which are represented in Dreams and Visions are not real but imaginary yet since they are sometimes considered as representing real things that are to come to pass they are of the nature of Signs of Institution and so may come nearer to the Case in hand But he seems to be soon weary of these resemblances which being so different in nature one from the other are not like to agree to the same third thing the Sacrament Then he flies from Scripture to Justin Martyr's Testimony concerning the ancient form of the Passover used by the Jews Yet he knows not whether he should stick to this expression which is Sacrifical or Sacramental and so most likely to resemble the Sacramental about which he argues or the former which are not so For he begins his Periods thus Whether we consider the like expressions in Scripture as where our Saviour saith c. or whether we compare these words with the ancient form of the Passover And I am sure these are not of a like nature with the other Surely there is no Man of common Sense that can admit of such a sort of Proof as this from one Author that so fluctuates in his judgment since it hath the visible Character of Falshood in its very Front and condemns the Real Presence of Christs Body in a proper Sense which was never
disapprove of the Definition made in King Edwards time and that they were for a Real Presence And of this we can make no doubt when we peruse the Writings of those Pastors who succeeding them till this very time have given so full an account of their Faith in this weighty instance and yet have past uncensur'd nay have been of greatest esteem in their Church And how indeed can we imagin that Men of the least sincerity would leave an Article of infinite concern to Mens Immortal Souls in so undeterminat a Sense that Christians might believe which they pleas'd either that Christs Body was thus Really present in the Sacrament which if it were not they incurr'd the guilt of gross Idolatry or that it was not so which if Really it was they were guilty of Infidelity in not believing Our Lord upon his Word and a breach of the first Commandment in not Worshipping the second Person in the Trinity presenting himself to us in this Sacrament according to that saying of the Great St. Augustin concerning this matter Peccamus non adorando We sin in not Worshipping Such an Equivocation as this in an Assembly of Christian Pastors upon the proposal of so great a Point must needs have been of far more dangerous consequence to Christians than the Ambiguous Answers of the Delphic Oracle were to the Heathen World. This far then the business is clear'd that the Real and not Virtual Presence only of Christs Body in the Sacrament was the Doctrin of the English Church for what some Men amongst them of great Latitude in Belief have maintain'd to the contrary doth not prejudice the truth which the more sound of that Communion have generally asserted And notwithstanding that their Late Clergy in the Year 1661. in compliance to the Dissenting Party by the chief management of the late Lord Shaftsbury's Politic Spirit were induced after hard solliciting to receive an Additional Declaration tho' not Printed in their Rubrick Letter at the end of their Communion Service yet since they would not by any means be brought to receive the former Declaration of King Edward the Sixth's time without the change of those words It is here declared that no Adoration is here intended or ought to be done unto any Real and Essential Presence of Christs Natural Flesh and Blood into these which follow It is here declared that no Adoration is here intended or ought to be done either unto the Sacramental Bread and Wine there Bodily Received or unto any Corporal Presence of Christs Natural Flesh and Blood the words Real and Essential as you see being changed into Corporal this cannot but reasonably be imagin'd to be done out of Caution to the Present Church her maintaining still a Real and Essential Presence of Christs Body in the Sacrament whereas those in the latter time of King Edward seem to have denied it Moreover tho' it be said in this last Declaration that the Sacramental Bread and Wine remain still in their very Natural Substances and therefore may not be Adored yet if by Natural Substances or Essences here is no more meant as the words may very well be understood and are shewn by Catholics to be understood in the Authorities of Theodoret and Gelasius than the external and sensible Essences or properties of Bread and Wine and not the internal Substance or Essence this Declaration will not be repugnant either to the Real Presence or to Transubstantiation and the Adoration will be terminated neither on the Internal or External Essences of Bread and Wine but upon Christ the only begotten Son of God Really Present in the Blessed Sacrament which the Council of Trent it self hath declared to be the Sense of the Catholic Church as to the Point of Adoration Again if the last part of this Declaration wherein it is said that the Natural Body and Blood of Christ are in Heaven and not here it being against the Truth of Christs Natural Body to be at one time in more places than one be yet urg'd to prove that the above mention'd Real Presence of Christs Body in the Eucharist is not at present the Doctrin of the English Church I answer that whereas it is there said that the Natural Body and Blood of Christ are in Heaven and not here meaning in the Sacrament if by Natural Body be there understood Christs Body according to the Natural manner of a Bodies being present and according to which tho' in a glorified state it actually exists in Heaven we do not say that the Body of Christ is here in this Sacrament in that natural manner any more than the Doctors of the English Communion but if no more be mean't by the words Natural Body but the very true and as we may call it Essential Body of Christ tho' present in a supernatural manner proper to the Sacrament it is a very bold assertion to say absolutely that it is against the Truth of it to be so or that this cannot possibly be true since we know so little to what the Omnipotence of God which could convey this very Body into the Room where the Disciples were the Doors being fast shut can extend it self and yet the Body be the very same Body in verity of Nature which is in Heaven the Presence of which in the Sacrament a late Eminent Author of the English Church sufficiently intimates that some he might have said very many of their Divines have maintain'd notwithstanding the vain endeavors which the Answerer to the Treatise Printed at Oxford to shew the sentiment of the Church of England Divines in this Point has us'd to wrest them to another Sense For after having told us his own Opinion viz. that all which the Doctrin of his Church meaning the Church of England implies is only a Real Presence of Christ's Invisible Power and Grace so in and with the Elements as by the Faithful receiving of them to convey Spiritual and Real Effects to the Souls of Men he subjoyns if any one yet thinks that some at least of our Divines have gone farther than this i. e. do seem to speak of the Presence of the very same Body which is in Heaven let them know says he it is the Doctrin of our Church I am to defend and not of every particular Divine in it Now altho' by those wary terms of every particular Divine and seeming to speak he endeavors what he can both to diminish the number and their clear acknowledgment of the Presence of the same Body in the Sacrament which is in Heaven yet he could not but know that the Asserters of it were very many and still are even since the Declaration and such as may be presumed to know the meaning of it as cunningly worded as it is as well if not better than himself and for this besides what I have had by particular converse with divers I will appeal to the sincerity of those who have heard the Determinations which
Himself or by his Disciples if no more had bin meant than so as he did in the case of Parables less difficult to understand than this would have bin if it had bin by our Lord proposed as one but proceeds to deliver this profound Mystery to them in more express words using a vehement Asseveration to confirm the truth of it Verily verily I say unto you except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of man and drink his Blood ye have no life in you Whoso eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood hath eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last day For my Flesh is truly meat my Blood is truly drink He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father So he that eateth me even he shall live by me This is that Bread which came down from Heaven not as your Fathers did eat Manna and are Dead He that eateth of this Bread shall live for ever All which words being used by our Lord to clear the doubt and answer that Question of the Jews How can this man give us his Flesh to eat I cannot imagin how the Real Presence of Christs Body and its Manducation in the Sacrament could have bin more fully Asserted in order to the disposing of his Disciples to believe the Sense of the Reality when he should Institute his blessed Sacrament And so the Fathers interpret this place And do not say that the Manna mentioned in the 58 verse which was miraculously sent from Heaven was a Type of ordinary Bread made by the Hands of Men and set upon the Table which is of a far more Ignoble Nature and less Significant than the Manna which thus came down from Heaven but of the Real Body of Christ in the Sacrament which was the true Bread from Heaven that nourished to Immortality After our Saviour had spoke thus to them many of the Disciples themselves to whom Christ did not think fit as yet to reveal the manner of feeding upon his Body in the Blessed Sacrament thinking that he meant that his Body was to be eaten in a gross manner like the Capernaites cried out this is a hard saying who can hear it To whom as well as to the Jews who before are said to murmur at him because he said I am the Bread which came down from Heaven and that ask how this Man could give them his Flesh to eat our Lord replies doth this offend you and then clears the Doctrins to them as far as he judg'd convenient for the confirmation of such high Mysteries about which they were to exercise a strong and a lively Faith by saying thus v. 62. What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before As if he should have said if you do not yet believe that the Son of Man came down from Heaven yet when you see him ascend thither again you will be more ready to believe that it was really God who came down took Flesh and dwelt amongst you which Solution had relation chiefly to the former of the Mysteries viz. his Incarnation but withal insinuates that such as believe not his words touching the holy Sacrament and think it impossible for him to give his Body to be eaten in so many places at once being yet on Earth would be much more Scandalized and Tempted after they saw or knew him to have Ascended into Heaven Therefore to clear the latter Mystery and Solve their doubt who thought like the Capernaites that Christ was to have cut pieces of flesh from his body and to have given them to be eaten or that thought his Body to be that of a mere Man he tells them v. 63. It is the Spirit that quickneth the Flesh profiteth nothing that is the Flesh which he had told them before that they must eat altho' not in the gross manner without the Spirit profiteth nothing not but that by the Spirit quickning it it profits very much Suitable to that of St. Paul. 1 Cor. 8. 1. Knowledge puffeth up but Charity edifieth that is Knowledge without Charity puffeth up altho' when Chariy is joyned with it to enliven it it edifies and Charity it self edifieth by Knowledge For if these words of Christ were to be taken in the Sense of the Sacramentarians they would derogate no less from his Incarnation Manhood and Death than from the Real Presence of his Body in the Sacrament in all which without doubt the flesh profiteth very much Wherefore our Lord goes on to tell them here that the words which he spake unto them were Spirit and Life therefore not to be understood in the gross carnal Sense before mentioned which some of his Disciples took them in For it is the use of the Scripture to call Mans natural Sense carnal Reasoning and resisting or not reaching to the belief of Supernatural Truths Flesh and Blood as Matth. 16. 17. Flesh and blood revealed not this to thee c. but the words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and Life therefore not to be carnally understood But as by the Word of God the World was Created and Nature hath been since often chang'd so there is no doubt but Christ could by it change the Bread into his Body as he did daily by ordinary Natural Nutrition but here in a supernatural way Our Lord therefore said unto them that their Fathers did Eat Manna in the Wilderness which was but a Type of this Heavenly Manna in the Sacrament and yet they did Spiritually feed upon Christ the Messias for it is said 1 Cor. 10. 3 4. That they did all eat the same Spiritual Meat and did all Drink the same Spiritual Drink for they Drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ and yet they are Dead all of them a Temporal some of them an Eternal Death also and those of them which now live the Life Eternal received this Life from the Son of God who hath now given us the Antitype of that Manna which the Children of Israel did eat viz. his own Body in the Sacrament something of a far more excellent nature to feed upon which will be to our Bodies as well as to our Souls the Seed of Immortality the Instrument and Pledge of our Resurrection Ascension and Glorification Yet as our Lord said to his Disciples there are some of you which believe not so we may say still of the Sacramentarians who notwithstanding all that Christ hath said will admit of nothing but Signs and Figures of imaginary vertue whom nevertheless our Saviour hath no further instructed in any such easie Sense as this which might certainly have prevented their relapse as well as that of the Jews his Disciples and which if any such Sense had been to be admitted would most certainly have been given that they will not believe our Lord and therefore they go