changed in nature Athanasius writing of the miracle that happened aboute a certeine image of our sauiour whome certeine Iewes M. Iuell in a towne named Berytus in Syria nailed vnto a crosse and so long continued their malice in persecuting the same after the maÌ„ner of their fathers crueltie towardes Christ him selfe or ourefalse Christians behaueour towardes his saide image in these our daies that water at the length and bloud issued in greate quantitie oute of the syde thereof hath these wordes Nec esse â—liter aestimandum est à veré catholicis praeterid quod à nobis scribitur quasi ex carne sangâ—ine Christi aliquid possit in mundo inuâ—niri â–ª nisiâ—illud quod in ara per manus sacerdotum quoâ—idie spiritualiter efficitur That is Neither is it by true catholikes otherwise to be thought then we haue allreadie written As though there might be founde anie parte in the whole world of Christes â—â—eshe and bloud sauing that which 〈◊〉 on the altar by the handes of the priestes dailie spiritually made Thus much touching this matter hath Athanasius But this auctoritie I knowe yow will assaie to auoide by cauilling apon the worde spirituallie made In which sence yowe will saie yow denie not but that Christes fleshe and blood although not on the altar is yet neuertheles present on your communioÌ„ table But ageinst this sorie shifte we replie that Athanasius saide not in this place that Christes fleshe and bloude was spirituallie on the altar which if he had so long as he excluded not the corporall presence also had made nothing ageinst vs for we bothe knowe and graunte that after bothe those manners his blessed bodie is there but that by the priest the same was spirituallie made as though by the adiectioÌ„ of this worde spirituallie he woulde take awaie all occasion of offence â–ª from such either weake or frowardâ— consciences as happelie might imagine some other kinde of making Christes fleshe and bloud then by the omnipotent power of goddes moste holie spirite And that this was the meaning of Athanasius and no other it shall most manifestlie apon the knowledge of the cause for which he spake these wordes appeare It is apparent by the place that he was of this minde whereas the bishop of Berytus caused diuerse vessels of glasse to be made and parte of this blood that issued out of the image to be put in the same and to be distributed in to diuerse partes of the worlde that all men might vnderstande the marueilouse worcking of almightie god that that bloud which was showed in manie places in his time and saied to be of Christes was parte of this whereof he wrote For truelie quoth he sauing on the altar there is no where elles in the worlde any other parte of Christes fleshe and bloud Now I praie you good Readers iudge in differentlie if Christes true fleshe and true blood had not bene in the sacrament but a signe or a representation thereof onelie is it likelie that Athanasius would haue made an exceptioÌ„ of that which was not at all that he would haue written so foolishelie as no noddie would haue spoken Euerie exception must be of some thing conteined vnder the rule bothe lawe and reason saie from the which the exception is made And therefore if one would saie there is no man that runneth sauing such a horse he that should so saie would be counted but an asse We may therefore boldely conclude that this auncient father and learned doctour bothe spake and ment of Christes bodie trulie naturally and corporally present in the sacrament seing that otherwise to haue made in that place any mention thereof had not onelie bene impertinent and nothing to the purpose but fond also and a thing moste ridiculouse Eusebius Emissen of this matter in a certeine homelie of his hath these wordes Sicut autem quicunque qui ad fidem veniens ante verba baptismi adhuc in vinculo est veteris debiti his verò commemoratis mox exuitur omni faece peccati ita quando benedicendae verbis coelestibus creaturae sacris altaribus â—â—pâ—nuÌ„tur antequâm inuo eaâ—ione summi nominis consecrentur â–ª substanâ—iâ— illic est panis viâ—i post verba autem Christi corpus sanguis Christiest Quid mirum autem est si ea quae verbo creâ— râ— potuit possit crâ—atâ— conuertere The which wordes in our tongue sounde thus much Euen as he that comming to our faithe what so euer he bâ— before the wordes of baptesme pronounced is yâ—t still in the daunger of the bande of his olde debâ—e and the same being once rehersed is now quit thereof and free from all spot of sinne so when the creatures ar laide on the holie altars to be blessed with the heauenlie wordes before theie be by the calling on the name of the highest consecrated there is the substance of breade and wine But after the wordes of Christ pronounced there is his bodie and bloud Terribilis est locus iste M. Iuell This is a terrible place and able alone to breake the backes and stoppe the mouthes of all that brutishe broode crept in to the world from the filthie neaste of Luther or Caluin his winges This one auncient father wer hable if we had no other to discredite yow before all the world which haue so impudentlie auouched that we haue not all emongest vs so much as one auncient writer to affirme no not colourablie the doctrine of the catholike churche concerning transubstantiation Doeth not Eusebius in this place so affirme it truelie without all manner of colour that euen the taking awaie of our sinnes by baptesme is by him compared with the departure of the substance of breade and wine in the sacrament If therefore there remaine after the wordes of consecration anie substance of breade and wine saie also that after baptesme our olde sinnes remaine still For so reasoneth here Eusebius that the one is as true as the other otherwise his similitude should halt and be of no force And if yow yeat make strange to graunt thereto doe not his wordes that followe manifestly conuince this to be his meaning where he asketh this question what meruell is it if he that could create all thinges with his worde be able to turne and conuert one thing in to an other But of that greate nombre of testimonies which might be here for the confirmation of this truthe brought out of Eusebius this one for this time maie suffise The nexte auctoritie that I will here alleage shalbe takeÌ„ out of that valiant champion of Christes churche and holie bishoppe of Millaine S. Ambrose Who is in this matter for vs so plaine both in the controuersie of the presence and also of that other of transubstantiation as he that fauoreth those opinions most can not whatso euer he be to that effect expresse his minde more fullie His wordes I will here trulie reherse as theie ar in his
worckes to be founde worde for worde in englishe This breade saieth hâ— is breade before the wordes of consecratioÌ„ after the which of breade is made the fleshe of Christe Let vs therefore proue that which we saie How can breade be made the bodie of Christe By consecration But this consecration with what wordes or with whose is it done By the wordes of our lorde Iesus For thorough all the rest which ar spoken thanckes ar offred vnto god praiers ar made for the rulers for the people and for other thinges But wheÌ„ the priest is come to the consecration nowe vseth he no longer his owne wordes but the wordes of Christ. It is therefore Christes worde that maketh this sacrament What worde of Christe Trulie that wherebie all thinges wer made that whereby our lorde commaunded and heauen was framed that wherebie the sea and lande was created and euerie other creature fourmed Seest thow therefore of what power Christes worde is If it be of such force that of nothing it is able to make some thing howe much more is it able to turne those thinges which wer before made in to some other thing Thus far S. Ambrose The same S. Ambrose in an other place hath these wordes Thow wilt perhappes saie I see an other thing howe doe yow tell me that I take the body of Christe And this remaineth yet for me to proue Howe manie examples vse we therefore to persuade that it is not that which nature hath fourmed but that which blessing hath consecrated and that the force of blessing is greater then that of nature because by blessing eueÌ„ nature it selfe is changed Moses helde in his hande the rodde he cast it from him and it becam a serpent againe he toke it by the taile and it returned to the nature of a rodde And after this example with manie other to this ende by him out of the holie scriptures alleaged he coÌ„cludeth in this sorte If mannes blessing wer of such force that it was able to conuerte nature what siae we to that diuine consecration where the verie wordes of our sauior doe worcke This thought S â–ª Ambrose a proufe strong ynough to coÌ„uince the truthe of this sacrament And although the substance of the rod being turned in to the substance of the serpent lost also there with all his first outewarde nature the accideÌ„tes I meane which in this miraculouse change in the sacrameÌ„t is otherwise where theie remaine for our infirmities sake saufe and sounde yet was this in his iudgement no let why he might not well reason after this sorte Moses goddes seruant was able to turne a rod in to a serpent Therefore god his maister is able to turne breade in to his fleshe Neither thought he it anie iuggling because to sight breade and wine remained still as that blasphemouse tongue which of late hath taken apon him to be your champion M. Iuell ageinst a certeine treatise by a notable learned man made in the defence of the catholike faithe in certeine pointes by yow not so much by learning impugned as by malice maligned hath termed it but the miraculouse worcking of god aboue nature And yet this good man forsoothe maie not abide in anie wise to be noted one that should put anie manner of mistrust in the omnipoteÌ„cie of god but that he graunteth as freelie as we doe with Abraham Isaac and Iacob that god is able to perfourme what so euer he doeth promise that no worde is impossible to him that he hath done what so euâ—r his will was to doe And therefore he saieth that theie that so râ—porte of him and his compagnions thâ—ie must nedes doâ— it either of hatefull blindenâ—s orignorant malice Truelie good readers this man semeth to me to be like a makeshifte that falling into a companie of others making merie braggeth and boastâ—th of his purse wherein is neuer a crosse that he hath to spende as largelie as the best and will beare his parte as franâ—kâ—lie as the proudest what so euer he be and yeat for all his high lookes and greate bragges made before when it commeth to the gathering of the shotte he slippeth faire and well awaie and leaueth the honest companie to paye for all Euen so I praie yowe marâ—ke when it commeth to the reconing of this heauenlie bancket where is prepared for vs the moste pretiouse bodie and bloude of oure sauiour Christe where is required of vs for the shotte that faithe as saithe holie S. Basile that Christes wordes This is my bodie teache vs let vs I saie marcke howe well for all his bragges he paieth his parte Forso theyowe shall see If Christe had made his bodie in the sacrament to appeare like a bodie and his bloud to taste and showe like bloude if he might haue sene it with his eyes as the people of Israel sawe the rodde as thâ—ie tasted of the water if Christe had euer done anie such miracle before as this is that is to saie if he had turned the substance of one thing in to an other and left still vnchanged the qualities of th'other thing that it was before that it might not haue semed a iuggling if finally he had had anie neceâ—sitie to constreine him to worcke anie suche change then he woulde haue beleued as we doe notwithstanding all the apparence of impossibilitie to the contrarie These be the conditions requisite to the faith of this protestant But here it is a worlde to see while he would seme humblie to graunte the omnipotencie of god and to deliuer him selfe and his companions from that note of infamie whereinto by long struggling ageinst the same theie ar runne with all men while he patcheth and cobbleth with his rotteÌ„ lingells a nombre of clouted ifs and is like the false tincker that mendeth one hole and maketh two newe or craftie Couper that to fasten one whoope looseth three he tumbleth hedloÌ„g in to a greate heape of absurdities whereof euerie one is as greate as that which he thought to haue auoided and wherein yeat he sticketh not withstanding For if thow beleuedest man as thowe vainelie braggest that thowe doest that god wer omnipotent wouldest thow so limite and restreine his power that he shoulde not change the nature and substance of a thinge onlesse he change the accidentes thereof withall Wilt thow first see blood and taste it as did the children of Israel the water and then after beleue O notable faithe to becoÌ„pared with the gray ne of a mustered seede whose guydes the eyes and other fallible senses be Quid memorabile facis si videas credas what greate act doest thow to beleue after thowe hast seene I maye say to yow as Theophilus the B. of Alexandria sayd vnto one Autolicus to whome he wrote Thus saide the Iues of Christ our sauiour hanging apon the Crosse. Descendat nunc de cruce vt videamus credamus Let him come downe now from the crosse that we maye see
infirmities sake to auoide that horror and feare which if we should receaue theÌ„ in their owne likenes and not vnder the for me of thiÌ„ges wherewith we ar better acquainted we wer of all likelihood suer to fall into I caÌ„ not here passe ouer in sileÌ„ce that notable and euident testimony of this worthy bishop and learned father vttred to this purpose by him in an other place in thiese wordes Antequâm coÌ„secretur panis est vbi auteÌ„ verba Christi accesserint corpus est Christi Ante verba Christi calix est vini et aquae plaenus vbi verba Christi operata fuerint ibi sanguis efficitur qui plaebeÌ„ redemit that is to say before that it be coÌ„secrate it is breade but wheÌ„ the wordes of christ ar come vnto it it is christes body Before the wordes of Christ there is a cup filled with wine and water as sone as Christes wordes haue wrought their effect there is made that bloud which redemed the people If these auctorities alleaged out of S. Ambrose be not able to stop the mouthes of our aduersaries if they will yeat nedes presse vs with their faithelesse howes and whies and will deale with almightie god so streightly that they will graunt him to be hable to doe no more theÌ„ their simple wittes caÌ„ atteine to the maÌ„ner of the doing whereof I shall yeat moste humblie desier them to beare with me if I alleage once againe the same excellent and learned bishop S. Ambrose I meane most plainely refelling all such faitheles Caparnaites as leaning more to fraile reason then firme faithe haue their doubtefull mindes euer waltering and tottering in the truthe of this sacrameÌ„t His wordes ar these Nunquid naturae vsus praecessit quum Iesus dominus ex Maria nasceretur Si ordinem quaerimus viro mixta foemina generare consueuerat Liquet igitur quôd praeter naturae ordineÌ„ virgo gener auit hoc quod coÌ„ficimus corpus ex virgine est Quid hic quaeris naturae ordinem in Christi corpore cum praeter naturam sit ipse D. Iesus partus ex virigine That is when our lorde Iesus was borne of the virgin Marie was naturâ—s vsage practised If we seke after her ordre women haue first the companie of men and then so conceiue and bring furth after It is manifest therefore that the virgin brought furth besides the course of nature and this bodie which we doe consecrate is the same that was borne of the virgin Whie demaundest thow here in the sacrament the order of nature to be kepte in Christes bodie where as besides nature oure lorde Iesus him selfe was borne of the virgin Hetherto haue yowe harde of what minde holye S. Ambrose was touching the controuersie moued in these our infortunate daies about the moste blessed sacrament of Christes bodie and bloud In whome I haue taried somewhat the longer for that that bothe he proueth moste manifestlie the presence when he affirmeth that Chrstes fleshe in the sacrament is so verilie his true fleshe as Christe was the true sonne of his father and excludeth all figures all signes all representation when Christ was in none of these senses his fathers sonne and also the chaÌ„ge and alteration of the breade and wine in to the true substaÌ„ce of Christes fleshe and bloud by alleaging th'examples which had otherwise bene in vaine of Moses rodde turned in to a serpeÌ„t the yron flotting aboue the water the bitternes of the waters of Marath turned into swetenes and such like with answer to such carnall obiections as ar wont to be commonlie made ageinst this truthe and last of all for that of all other he giueth moste plainelie vnto vs the cause whie in this greate miracle our lorde god chaungeth not the accideÌ„ts but onelie the substance By all which thinges he giueth vs moste manifestly to vnderstaÌ„d that he ment no lesse theÌ„ he spake For otherwise if Christes bodie had not bene trulie there but a signe thereof not in veritie but in imagination all his proufes to proue the same had bene nedeles whereas he might and for his greate wisdome and learning no doubte would to all such as either had doubted of the presence or traÌ„substantiatioÌ„ with much more facilitie haue answered with our aduersaries that there was no chaÌ„ge at all in nature or substance nor no presence there of Christes true bodie then to haue heaped together a nombre of examples whereof euerie one conteined a true chaunge in nature to haue proued that which was not or to haue alleaged the miraculouse conception of Christe or to giue anie cause why his bodie appeareth not like a bodie wherebie to bring the simple people in to a perniciouse and damnable errour But forasmuch as his greate trauailes taken in the defence of Christes church ageinst the wicked Arrians doe well witnes to his posteritie how far he was from all such impietie we must nedes conclude that S. Ambrose did not onelie so write but also beleue that in the blessed sacrament after the wordes of consecration is the verie true and naturall bodie of our lorde Iesus Christe the substance of breade and wine passing into the substance of his fleshe and his bloud From S. Ambrose let vs goe one steppe farder to S. Austen He in a certeine place examining these wordes of the Prophete A dor ate scabellum pedum eius worshippe ye his fotestole psalm 98. hath these wordes Suscepit enim de terra terram quia caro de terra est de carne Mariae carnem accepit Et quia in ipsâ— carne hiâ— ambulauit ipsam carnem ad manducandum ad salutem dedit nemo autem illam carneÌ„ manducat nisi prius adorauerit inuentuÌ„ est queÌ„admoduÌ„ ado retur tale scabelluÌ„ non solum non peccemus adoraÌ„do sed peccemus noÌ„ adoraÌ„do That is to saie for he toke earthe of earthe because fleshe coÌ„meth of earthe and of Maries fleshe he toke fleshe And forasmuch as he walcked here in that fleshe and hath giuen to vs the same fleshe to be eaten to our saluation and no man eateth it but he first worshippeth it the meanes is founde how such a fotestole of our lordes maie be worshipped and we not onelie not sinne in worshipping it but sinne in not worshipping it Heare yow M. Iuell S. Austen telling yow that Christes fleshe is here giuen to vs to be eaten the same that he toke of the virgin Marie the same that he caried about with him in this worlde Heare yow not your selfe vanquished which take from it all manner of worship in the sacrament and violentlie wrest these wordes of S. Austen to Christes bodie in heauen which interpretation how far it goeth from the minde of the author to omit all other proufes your owne selfe haue well declared when you graunte that there he must be worshipped where he is eaten which seing it is here in earthe what moued
by expounding his plaine wordes by a figure vnder colour of some other places where such allegories must nedes haue place and wer no otherwise to be taken so did they take from Christes blessed parson his omnipotent godhead and would not graunte him to be equall with almightie god his father but the plaine textes of scripture which proued his godhead they expounded wrong and frowardlie not onelie by some other textes that semed to saie otherwise but also as this man doeth now by some allegories affirming that he was called god and the sonne of god in the scripture by such maÌ„ner of speaking as the scripture for some propertie calleth certeine other personnes goddes and gods sonnes in other places as where god saide to Moses I shall make the Pharao his god and in an other place Thowe shalt not backbite or sclaunder thy goddes And where he hath I haue saide that yowe be goddes and the sonnes of the highe god all of yowe But surelie if this maÌ„ner of reasoning maie be allowed for good that because of allegories vsed in some places euerie man maie at his pleasure drawe euerie place to a figure we shall shortlie bring the scripture from a faire flat figure I feare me to a sorie simple cypher Yea saith he if we had not these examples with a greate nombre mo in the holie scripture to iustifie our manner of interpretation yeat the verie wordes which the spirite of god by singulier prouidence hath vsed in the Euangelist and S. Paule doe leade vs vnto this sence rather then vnto that that yow haue deuised For in the second parte of the sacrament whereas Mathewe and Marc saie This is my blood of the newe testament that Luke and Paule vtter in this maÌ„ner This is the newe testament in my blood Which can not be otherwise vnderstand but that the sacrament is a testimonie or pledge of his last will and gift of our saluation confirmed by his moste pretiouse blood Wherefore if yow saie neuer so often times with Mathew and Marc This is my bodie This is my blood We will repete as often with Luke and Paule who wer ledde with the same spirite This is the newe testameÌ„t in my bodie and blood Hetherto haue reached the wordes of your frende M. Iuell Who if he repete neuer so often the wordes of Luke and Paule shall spende but his winde in wast and gaine when all is doeÌ„ not so much as one ynche towardes the furderance of his and your heresie in this pointe For if he repete their sainges trulie theie varie in wordes from the other two but in the second parte of the sacrament and saie but onelie This is the newe testament in my blood â–ª and then can he noâ— wot ye well as here he falselie doth repete which theie neuer saide This is the newe testament in my bodie and blood and so adde to the holie scripture the worde â—odie And then the case standing thus that all fower agree in the first parte of this sacrament and call it Christes bodie and two in the later calling it his bloud and all so far as no one denieth it to be his blood a man maie aske of your frende whie he should rather sucke out a figure in those wordes of the first parte which all fower agree apon onelie because in the second parte two doe speake figuratiuelie then so to interprete that figuratiue speche of those two vsed in the cup as to giue place to the literall sense by two in the second parte and all in the first so firmelie and by so full consent agreed and arrested apon But of this he as it semeth him selfe being notignorant if the matter should be by him left thus rawe that there is no man so euell aduised but he had rather vnder stand two by fower then so manie by two he laboureth merueilouslie to proue that the olde writers haue so vnderstande those wordes of Christe as he dothe To be shorte we denie not nor euer did that the olde fathers haue some times apon considerations called this sacrament a figure a signe a similitude an example but neuer in that sense we saie to take awaie the veritie of his blessed bodie therein For as it wer but a homelie pece of logick to saie that Christe wer no true man because S. Paule saith that he was made in similitudinem hominuÌ„ after the likenesse of men as by occasion of that text and other Marcion and Appolinaris the heretikes did as witnesse Tertullian and S. Ambrose or to reason that he wer not of the same substance with god his father and very god him selfe with Arrius and his mates because the same S. Paule calleth him the image of god and figure of his fathers subtance so truly to reason in the sacrament that because it is called a figure a similitude a representation that therefore it is not his true body is an argumeÌ„t most false and faulty And all were it so that we had not these places of the scripture and the fathers maÌ„ner of speaking and manie other which plainelie teache vs that the selfe same thing maie be a figure of it selfe as the bodie of Christe in the sacrameÌ„t inuisiblie offred on the altar is a figure of the same visiblie offred on the crosse yet of fine force excepte we woulde discredite a greate parte of the auncient writers as though they had written contrarie to them selues should we haue bene driuen to haue founde out this answer Seing of them all that call it in one place a figure it will be harde to bring furth anie that calleth it not in diuerse other the veritie and thing it selfe As for his similitude fetched froÌ„ the courte well maie it be fine and he please him selfe therewith but other men I suppose such as haue more learned then deintie eares he should haue pleased a greate deale better if although in sluttishe eloquence yet plainelie and trulie he had vttred better sense For I for my parte and therein I thinck I maie be bolde to measure other by my selfe had rather drincke a cup of holsom beere in a sluttishe cup then a draught of poisoned wine in a fine golden goblet But I praie yow for yow I am suer knowe him when yow happen apon him nexte aske of him how he is able to proue the like change in the parchement of his lettres patentes as hath bene proued to be in the breade and wine in the sacrament It hath bene showed oute of the holie martir S. Ciprian that this breade is changed not in the outewarde shape but in the inwarde nature that by that change it is made fleshe It hath bene proued by Eusebius Emissenus and holy S. Ambrose that before the wordes of consecration there is the substance of bread and wine but after those wordes the bodie and blood of Christe The same hath bene sufficientlie proued by diuerse other Let him now if he can finde
saieth This is my bodie and not contented there with least some man might otherwise construe his wordes because he had at other times spoken by figures addeth the selfe same which shalbe betraied for yowe then which wordes if all the worlde would lay their heades together to deuise howe he might haue spoken more plainelie theie shall neuer finde the waie they bring vs a glose cleane contrarie to the texte that it signifieth his bodie that it is a figure thereof But what seing as S. Ambrose saieth oure lorde Iesus witnesseth vnto vs that we truly receaue his body and bloud shall we dout of his credite and witnes Naie we haue other councell and better by Cirillus who biddeth vs not to doute whether this be true or no but to embrace in faith the wordes of our Sauior who for as much as he is the truthe it selfe we maie well be suer can not lie Thus maie yowe see good Readers what it is to deale with heretikes whose propertie is alwaies to crie for scripture and in whose mouthe there is nothing so coÌ„mon as verbum domini verbum domini the worde of the lorde the worde of the lorde and yet when all is done and their request satisfied that is scripture brought to them theie ar not asshamed such is their impudencie either to saie that it is at all no scripture or that it maketh nothing ageinst them or to call that euident for them that in the iudgement of as manie as either ar wise or learned is moste euident ageinst them And of this disease if yowe had not M. Iuell bene daungerouslie sicke yowe would neuer haue put me or anie man elles to the paine to labour anie farder in the boulting oute of that truthe wherein Christe hath so plainelie opened him selfe as neither hath he nede by anie other to be expounded nor easelie can anie such I trowe be founde as shalbe hable more plainelie to expresse the same then hath Christe him selfe our maister allreadie doen. Notwithstanding because bothe yowe and your compaignions like cauilling Capernaites stande apon Christes meaning which as yowe saie was not all one with his wordes and also on this that we haue no olde writers to mainteine as it pleaseth yowe to terme it oure newe doctrine of Christes reall presence in the sacrament I shall assaie to make yow vnderstande at the least those good people whome yow haue so far abused that we haue agreate sorte more that saie with vs that Christes blessed bodie after the wordes of consecration duelie by the priest pronounced is reallie substantiallie and corporallie the same that was borne of the virgin Marie the same that he walcked in here in earthe the same that as him selfe witnesseth was deliuered for vs to be crucified on the crosse present in the sacrament then euer yow or the best that taketh your parte shall in susteining the contrarie be hable of them all to giue a right answer to anie one And here I shall first alleage that auncient writer Tertullian in whome writing aboue thirtene hundred yeares sence I finde to this purpose these wordes Caro corpore sanguine Christi vescitur vt anima de Deo saginetur non possunt ergo separ ari in mercede quas opera coniungit that is to saie Our fleshe feedeth on the bodie and bloude of Christe that the soule also maie be made fat by feading on god theie can not therefore be separated in rewarde which haue bene ioined and coupled together in worcking Note here I beseche yow good readers ageinst our aduersaries that would shift of this place with their olde accustomed answer that the breade is called his bodie for that it signifieth and representeth no lesse vnto vs those wordes of Tertullian where he saieth that the bodie and the soule can not be seuered in receauing their rewarde whome one office oâ— ministerie ioineth together If the bodie fede apon bare breade as our aduersaries affirme and not apon Christes blessed bodie and blood as Tertullian saieth howe then caÌ„ theie be saide to concurre in one ministerie where as either of them fedeth diuerâ—lie on diuerse thinges Or will yowe saie M. Iuell that flesh can fede apon signes or figures Trulie whether it can or no I durst referre the resolution hereof to your selfe if being shut vp without meate or drincke two or thre daies in some close roume it might be my chauÌ„ce to come to your speâ—he at the last I thincke yow would beâ—hrowe him that would râ—ake yow such an aâ—gument Yowe haue thought earnestlie apon meate all this while therefore yowe haue eaten your fill And would con him but little more thancke that would painte on the walles of your chambre the signe of a fat capon and bid yow eate and spare not But was Tertullian thincke we of this minde alone No trulie For besides him we haue to confirme the faithe of the churche in this pointe all the auncient writers as manie as by occasion make anie mention of this moste blessed Sacrament Emongest whome I â—hall next alleage S. CipriaÌ„ that holie and blessed martir Who in his worcke De duplici martyrio touching this matter hath these wordes Reliquit nobis edendam carnem suam Reliquit biâ—â—nduÌ„ sanguinem vt per eadem alâ—remur per quae sumus redempti Christ hath left vs his fleshe to eate â–ª and his bloude to drincke to the entent we might be noorished by the same thinges by the which we wer redemed Trulie if we be noorished by the same thinges by the which we haue bene redemed then ar we not noorished we maie be bolde to saie with a signe or figure of his bodie which onelie and nothing elles these newe founde vpstartes would make vs beleue to be in this Sacrament The same holie martyr in an other place hath to the same purpose these wordes The breade which our lorde deliuered to his disciples being changed not in forme or shape but in nature by the omnipotencie of the worde is made fleshe This place of S. Cyprian serueth me to double vse For bothe it manifestle proueth the reall presence and which yowe also denie and call a newe inuention vâ—knowen to thauncient fathers and first harde of in the councell holden at Laâ—er 〈◊〉 vnder Innocentius the thirde the transubstantiation of the breade into Christes naturall fleshe Your coÌ„mon answer that the base creatures of breade and wine be after the consecration changed and transmuted from common breade to be a Sacrament to be a signe a remembraâ—nce a signification of Christes bodie and bloude yea to be in the steade of his bodie it selfe whereas before the consecration it was no such thing can serue yowe no longer For all this induceth no change in the nature or substance of the breade no more then if a cartar to daye should be turned into a kinge to morowe or placed in his seate of maiestie to represent his parson he coulde be saide to be
th'apostles time there was priuate masse in the church although there wer none to receiue with the priest That this learned doctour with other priestes saide Masse when none did communicate for that I am suer yow will denie by this coÌ„plaint of his vttred in these wordes it may moste euidently appeare Frustraâ—â—betur quotidiana oblaâ—io frustra 〈◊〉 ad altare Nemo est qui communicat thâ— daily offering is had in vaine we stand at th'altar in vaine There is none that receiueth with vs. Yf there wer daily oblation yea when none receiued why beare yow vs in hand M. Iuell thâ—t for that long space of six hundred yeares the priest might neuer offer the same without company to coÌ„municate with him Yf that were true how did Chrisostome and the other priestes of Antioche offer yt and that daily that yow may vnderstand a necessitie that enforced them thereto whether the people came or no Yf they receiued not them selues how could he haue said that there was none that did receiue with them But here yow will aske me perhapps how I dare alleage this place which saieth that the oblation was had in vaine because there was none to communicate To this I answere that being first taken for graunted which in no wise you can denie that is that daily this oblatioÌ„ was had whether any came or no that this holy doctour in this place is not to be vnderstand as though simply he ment the oblation to be in vaine but in a respect forasmuch as they came not who wer loked for to haue byn partakers thereof concerning this expectation it was had in vaine and the priestes stode in their churches not at the table but at the altar in vaine Aâ—d that this was the very â–ª meaning of Chrisostomes wordes and not as you falâ—lie surmise there nedeth no other reason to perswade any reasonable man then the learning the vertue and great wisedomâ— of the man him selfe For if the sacrifice had byn offered by him in vaine so often as there was none to be partaker thereof with him what a heynouse act had this bene of him especially staÌ„ding at liberty without any more necessitie to offer theÌ„ the laie man hath to receiue if it were true that yow and your compani affirme Shall we not rather thinck if he had so ment that he would vtterly haue absteined before he would by celebrating and receiuing practise the abuse of so preciouse a iewell Woulde he not rather when he came to the altar haue sent the people awaie with a drie communion when he sawe none redie to receiue Would he not at the least haue bene as circumspect in procuring warning to be giuen to him by them that were disposed to receiue if offering without communicants he should haue offered in vaine as yow and yours our new Rabbins ar about your apishe communion No no Let no man thinck but that he was well ware that to offer the bodie and bloud of Christ in vaine had bin a fault nothing inferior to the receiuing of it vnworthily whereuÌ„to he was not ignoraÌ„t that S. Paule threateneth damnation If he would giue his owne life as he saide him selfe before he would giue our lordes bodie to an vnworthy man and that he would haue his blood shedd out of his bodie rather then he would giue to the vnworthy oure lordes blood we may easely coniecture how hardlie he would haue bin brought to haue offred the same in vaine To this testimony of Chrisostom shall I adde one more and so after come to those obiections which yow bring for the maintenaunce of the contrary Leontius a bishop of the Grieke church writing almost a thousand yeares sence the life of that vertuouse Patriarke of Alexandria Iohn the almoisner or almoise geuer for that name obteined he for his charitie towardes the pooer reporteth emongest other thinges of him how that he being on a certeine time at Masse perceiuing after the reading of the ghospell that the people went out of the churche and fell to talking and babbling in the churcheyarde went also out of the churche after them and spake to them being all amased in this wise Filioli vbi oues illic pastor aut intrate intro ingrediemur aut manete hic ego quo que manebo Ego propter vos descendo in sanctaÌ„ ecclesiam nam poteram facere mihi Missam in Episcopio Children that is to say where the shepe ar there is the shepherde either therefore get yow into the churche and we will goe to gether or bide yow still here and I will tarie with yow It is for your sakes that I come to the holy churche for to my selfe coulde I haue saide Masse in my house at home Here I trust you will at the length yealde and graunte M. Iuell that priuate Masses wer laufull and in vse in the primitiue churche For first that the Masse here spoken of was priuate the worde mihi missam facere say or ceâ—ebrate Masse to my selfe doeth well declare He saide not I might say Masse to my frindes to my kinsfolckes to my household seruauntes but mihi to mine owne selfe And when you heare him sâ—ie that he might doe it I trust yow thincke it was not vnlaufull But now I come to your obiections ageinst the priestes sole or alone receauing of the sacrament After yow haue taken your pleasure in triumphing ouer oure pouertie as yow thinck yow bring furth your store And because yow will make the matter sure and out of all doubte yow vse our owne friend as a witnesse against vs the Masse booke forsothe where yow saie the priest according to the direction of that booke turning him self to the people saith Dominus vobiscum item Oremus Orate pro me fratres sorores what then M. Iuell Ergo what so euer praiâ—rs be vsed about the ministracioÌ„ of the sacrament ought to be the coÌ„mon requestes of all the people What inferre yow hereapon Ergo the priest maie not saie Masse without he haue some to communicate with him That ergo is false M. Iuell and not trulie deduced out of the premisses But I crie yow mercy this is yow saie but by the waie before yow entre into the matter Here yow did but dribb and flurt your other arrowes taken oute of the same quiuer Accipite edite Habete vinculum charitatis vt apti sitis sacrosanctis misteriâ—s that is take eate haue ye the band of charitie that ye maie be mete for the holie misteries And last of all other those wordes that ar spoken by the priest after the Agnus dei Haec sacrosancta commixtio c. This holie commixtion and consecration of the bodie and blood of our lorde Iesus Christ be vnto yow and to all that receiue it health of bodie and soule these ar they that paye home and cleaue as a man would saie the verie face of the white I shall now rehearse first your wordes as in
that will afterwardes carpe and reproue the same proue he maie wel him selfe a foole or maliciouse or not catholike but me an heretike shall he neuer proue Hetherto S. Hierome with whome if one would after this sorte expostulate What meane yowe S. HieroÌ„ to boaste so much apon the iudgemeÌ„t of one who as he is a maÌ„ although learned yet not the learnedest in the world so maie he both dâ—ceaue and be deceauid Whie saie yow that who so euer â—â—ndeth faulte with your faithe â–ª after Damasus the popes approbation and allowance thereof shall neuer be hable to proue yowe an heretike Maie not many heades finde out that wherein one hath failed Me thincketh I saie to him that should thus question with him I heare him expounding his owne wordes and answering for him selfe in this wise What arte thow man that findest faulte with my wordes and vnderstaÌ„dest not my meaning Am I thinckest thow he that will pinne my faithe to anie mans backe what so euer he be Doe not I knowe as well as thow that Damasus is a man that he maie deceaue and be deceauid yea truelie But on thother side as I knowe all this rightwell so am I not ignoraÌ„t that he that sitteth in Peters chaire that the B. of Rome in matters of faithe can not giue wrong iudgement And therefore cease to maruell if apon the trust of this priuileage I chalenge all the whole worlde and saie that of them all there is no one that can proue me an heretike whome Damasus being thus qualified hath alowed for a good christian It is not Damasus so hath this qualitie to be the chief gouernour of Christes churche altered him that I stay my self apon It is Peter it is Christ him self If apon anie other persuasion I had vsed thiese wordes â–ª well might I haue bene saide to haue abused my self But that this was euen from the beginning my meaning and not inueÌ„ted sence for my defence loke once again to my wordes where I saie not simplie I desire to be corrected of the but of the which holdest Peters faithe and seate nor yeat spake of the alowing of my faithe by Damasus but apostolatus sui iudicio by the iudgement of his seate of his apostleship Thus much touching S. Hierom. of whose minde if any man yeat doubte in this coÌ„trouersy him shall I praie to take the paines for his better instruction to reade a certeine other epistle of his to Damasus and apon these wordes which he vttred of Peters chaire Quicunque extra hanc domuÌ„ agnuÌ„ comederit prophanus est who so euer eateth the lambe he meaneth receiueth the blessed body and bloud of Christ out of this house he is prophane to serche for the iudgement of Erasmus where he shall finde in expresse wordes that S. Hieromes opinion was that all churches should be subiect to the churche of Rome S. Austen as before yow hard called Peter B. of Rome heade of the churche he tolde Bonifacius his successor that he was placed in Christes churche aboue the rest of the bishoppes And did he not well de clare by sending to the same Bonifacius his boke written ageinst the two epistles of the PelagiaÌ„s to be iudged and examined by him that he tooke him for no lesse in deede then he had pronounced of him in wordes For trulie S. Austens learning being such as in his age there liued not his matche for the perusing of his worckes bothe had he had little neede oâ— his helpe and if he had had much there liued yet manie to haue bene consulted thereapon better learned then he and more nearer to him toe then was Rome to the place where he had his abiding had it not bene that persuading him selfe as did S. Hierome in the like case before he had made his full and sure account first that his iudgement in that that he was Peters successor and heade of the churche was by the verie mouthe of Christ him selfe warranted in matters of faithe neuer to erre and nexte that his worcke being confirmed by auctoritie such as was his should so quell and beate downe to the grounde the heretikes his aduersaries as with the worlde they should neither be hable to susteine their credite gotten nor after that gaine newe Theodoritus saide of the B. of Rome Vos enim summosesse conuenit for yow must be the chiefest of all other and of the churche it selfe that it was the greatest the noblest of all other and that which gouerned all the worlde It is euideÌ„t that he wrote as he thought wheÌ„ being vniustly deposed he appealed to the B. of Rome desired his helpe and that he would coÌ„maunde him to appeare before him there to pleade his cause and showe his righte as he did in dede and was restored by him By these auctorities it appeareth M. Iuell that the fathers of Christes churche be not so thinne soweÌ„ on our side as yow beare the worlde in hande theie ar seing that I haue here brought yow not one alone as yow demaunded but manie not their bare wordes which although of theÌ„ selfe moste plaine and manifest might perhappes haue bene subiect to your wrangling interpretations but their seuerall actes and deedes the best expositors of their owne mindes confirming most manifestly the same Will yow haue nowe some allowed example of the primitiue churche to testifie the same What better examples can yowe haue then that in all controuersies arising either betwene bishop and bishop priuatelie or in the whole churche publickelie sence the beginning the B. of Rome hath bene onelie he to whome the parties grieued wer they catholikes or heretikes good or bad haue had recourse for helpe What better examples then that emongest so manie appeales made vnto him there is not so much as one instance to be giuen of some one that laufullie and orderly appealed from him and whose such appeale toke effect Who hath cited to his coÌ„sistorie euen from the fardest parte of the Easte churche and as Theodoritus writeth ecclesiasticam secutus regulâ—â— folowing the rule of the churche offenders and transgressors of the holie canons The B. of Rome Who is it without whose licence and consent the primitiue churche forbad councels to be holden or bisshoppes to be condemned Trulie the pope The whole councell of Nice affirming the same if we will giue credite to Athanasius who was present thereat and affirmeth it to be so although the canon thereof for of 70. there agree apon we haue onelie at this daie 20. be perished and not nowe to be had Where I can not but note by the waye the circumspect manner of writing vsed by Athanasius who saieth not that the councell of Nice decreed or ordeined this but onelie that by their iudgemeÌ„tes they coÌ„firmed and renewed the same His wordes ar these In Nicena synodo 318. episcoporuÌ„ concorditer ab omnibus roboratum â–ª it was in the councell holden at Nice by ful consent of all the
apon D. Coles wor des in the margeÌ„t of your boke that no B. of Rome before S. Gregories time would euer be called vniuersall biâ—shop finallie then would yowe not so ignorantlie haue confounded together these termes vniuersall bishop and heade of the churche as though theie had in that place signified all one thing The which that theie doe not no maÌ„ doeth more plainelie expresse then S. Gregorie him selfe who writeth of S. Peter after this maÌ„ner The charge saith he and supremacie of all the whole churche was committed to him and yeat was he not called vniuersall apostle Lo M. Iâ—ell if you had taken the paines to haue scanned the place of S. Gregorie alleaged by yow by this and such other would yow euer haue brought in to the lighte this deade mouse this false argument and vntrue consequent There was neuer anie B. of Rome called or that would be called by the name of vniuersall bishop therefore â–ª theie be not or ought not to be heades of the churche Seing that S. Peter as saithe S. Gregorie had the charge of the whole churche although he wer neuer called by the name of vniuersall apostle If S. Peter might be heade of the churche and without anie absurditie haue the charge thereof as S. Gregorie thought although he wer not called vniuersall apostle whie should yow thicke it now anie more impossible for the pope to be called head of the churche although he be not called vniuersall bishoppe And so haue yowe by the waie an answer to your wise demaunde also that is if no B. of Rome would euer take apon him to be called th'vniuersall bishoppe or heade of the whole churche for the space of six hundred yeares after Christe where then was the heade of the vniuersall churche all that while or howe it coulde then continue without a heade more theÌ„ nowe For we saie vnto yow that that is moste false and vntrue which yowe lay for a grounded truthe that is that no B. of Rome woulde euer be called by the name of heade of the churche within the first six hundred yeares after Christe as hath bene sufficientlie proued before and that also as we haue declared yowe abuse your selfe in the framing of your saide questioÌ„ in taking for all one the heade of the churche and the vniuersall bishoppe And thus haue yow one cause whie this place of S. Gregorie maketh nothing ageinst the supremacie of the B. of Rome And other cause is for that that Iohn the B. of Constantinople by this name or title of vniuersall bishoppe vnderstoode him selfe onelie to be a bishoppe and none elles Which meaning neither in the first six hundred yeares nor at anie time sence anie B. of Rome that I could yeat heare of euer had And that this is the true meaning of S. Gregorie and not forced by me the verie wordes of the same man written to Iohn archebishop of Constantinople doe well witnesse with me Qui enim indignum te esse fatebaris vt episcopus dici debuisses ad hoc quandoque perductusâ— es â–ª vt despectis fratribus episcopus appetas solus vocari that is to saie for thow Iohn B. of Constantinople which once grauntedst thy selfe to be vnworthie the name of a bishoppe art nowe at the length comme to that passe that thowe labourest to be called a bishop alone And a little after Thow goest about saieth he to take awaie that honour from all other which by singularitie thow desirest vnlaufullie to vsurpe to thy selfe Thus maie yowe see M. Iuell howe this place being by th'author him selfe expounded fardereth yow nothing at all and also by suche auctorities and reasons as haue for our parâ—e bene before alleaged vnderstand howe vnaduisedlie it was saide of yowe that the catholikes as sure as god is god if theie would haue vouchesaufed to folowe either the scriptures either the auncieÌ„t Doctours and couÌ„cels would neuer haue restored again the supremacie of the B. of Rome after it was once abolished Doe yow not hereby giue occasioÌ„ to meÌ„ to thinke that your lacke of faithe and mistrust in goddes omnipotency in other thinges groweth euen thereof that yow thincke god is not god For towching the supremacie hauing in the scriptures nothing in the councels as little in the fathers writinges onelie thiese fewe wordes that might se me to impugne the same and yet doe not howe will yow be able to discharge so manie auctorities of the fathers such consent of councels such conformitie of examples and force of reasons as haue bene and maie be brought ageinst yow howe will you satisfie your owne conscience which telleth yowe that so manie ceremonies so manie ordonances so manie decrees of bishoppes of Rome as Thomas Beacon otherwise called Theodore Basile or by what name so euer he be elles termed hath heaped together deliuered by them to the worlde some of them as emongest a nombre that which of all other yowe make lest account of holie water within little more then a hundred yeares after Christe and the most parte in the pure state of the primitiue churche would neuer haue bene by such common and generall confent without contradiction of anie receiued by the whole worlde vsed and frequented in all the churches scattred and dispersed thorough out the same onlesse the authors thereof had had vniuersall auctoritie to establishe that which hath bene vniuersallie receiued Thus hauing hetherto touching the supremacie saide so much as maie presently serue for your chalenge leauing the rest for a whole booke either by me when god shall sende better laisure or some other better able when he shall thincke best to be thereof made I shall nowe passe to the nexte article in question THAT THE PEOPLE VVAS TAVGHT VVITHIN THE FIRST SIX HVNDRED YEARES AFTER CHRISTE TO BELEVE that in the Sacrament of the altar for so dothe S. Austen terme it is conteined Christes bodie reallie substantiallie corporalie and carnallie TErtullian an auncient writer of Christes churche reporteth of heresie that the nature thereof is either when it is pressed with the auctoritie of scripture to denie it platlie to be scripture or if she receiue it with additions and detractions to the framing of her purpose to peruert it or finally with false gloses and vntrue expositions in such sorte to water it that it maie seme to haue a far other sense then had euer the holie ghost the author thereof This lesson and manner of olde heretikes was neuer I trowe more diligently put in execution or earnestlie practised theÌ„ in this our most miserable and wretched time nor in anie controuersie more perspicuouse and easie euen at the eye to be perceiued then in this of the moste blessed sacrament of Christes owne bodie and bloude For when our aduersaries demaunde of vs scripture for the confirmation of our parte and we bring them the wordes not of Peter not of Paule not of anie of thother apostles but of Christe him selfe that
and theÌ„ beleue And except you may see fleshe and bloud is it iuggling what yow meane herebie I knowe not of this suer I am that greate blasphemie it is so to terme thâ— miraculouse worâ—king of almightie god besides the horrible presumption to apointe god in what sorte he shall doe his miracles and last of all extreme folly to saie that he rather iuggleth that turning the substance of one thing in to another leaueth yeat vnchanged the olde for me which no iuggler is able to doe then he that altereth the fourme although he can not the substance which dailie experience telleth vs that euerie iuggler to our sight doeth So that almightie goddes worcking is moste vnlike to iugglers iuggling and rather might yow haue saide that Moses wand was aiuggling sticke for that that commonlie iugglers seme to doe as Moses did then that in this high misterie consisting all in faithe anie such false dealing should take place Yow that call this iuggling so far vnlike theretoe if Christe I feare me had turned in this sacrament in dede the accidentes and outewarde forme which euery Iuggler promiseth and semeth to doe in his trickes your false faithe is such that yowe woulde not haue letten to haue called that plaine iuggling besides other pretie termes that yowe kepe in store But leauing yow to your trickes of liegier de main wherein considering your excellencie we will in no wise contende with yow but wisshing yow yeat like a frinde to make some more store thereof and quietly hereafter to kepe them in your iugglers boxe till yowe meete with such companie as whose eyes yowe maie be able easelier to dymme tell me I praie yowe familierlie whether for all your greate bragges yowe mistrusted not the omnipotencie of god when yowe made this weake reason that it was not his will to haue his bodie present in the sacrament because in all the scripture beside yow reade of no such miracle that one thinge was changed into an other reteining still the qualities of the first Is not trowe yow god in good credite with you of whose miracles you beleue no one till he haue doeÌ„ two what neded yow to haue asked this question where he did the like before had yow not douted of his habilitie Is this Abrahams faithe is this Isaac his is this Dauid his that yoweboast your selfe to haue what scripture haue yow where anie of them did this Did our blessed ladie wheÌ„ she had receiued that strange message that she being a moste pure and immaculate virgin should conceiue and bring furth a childe desire first to see it done in an other And yeat emongest all the miracles that euer wer doen before or sence was there euer anie so strange Ar theie now blinde or maliciouse that charge yow with mistrust in goddes power Haue theie not righte good cause to saie that yow see no farder then Ismael and Agar that confesse yourselfe not to beleue this miracle because Christ neuer did the like before Your last reason is of all other moste vnreasonable and maketh me to thincke that sence the time that I last spake with yowe there is some mischaunce happended vnto yow that hath sore broosed your heade and let our your witte For who I praie yow hath made yow at anie time a councelor to god that so presumptuouslie yowe dare affirme that there was no necessitie whie Christe should worke such a miracle as to giue vs his bodie reallie and carnallie in a sacrament to be eaten Is this all the thanâ—kes that yow giue him for so greate a benefite and pretiouse a iewell that he might haue chosen being at libertie not constreined by necessitie whether he would haue doen it or no Trulie these reasons so 〈◊〉 and weake haue betraied yow and giueÌ„ vs to vndâ—rstand that the chiefe staie why yow beleue not this truthe is euen that which yow would so gladlie kepe from our knowledge that is to wit lacke and defect of power which yow persuade your selfe to be in god to the perfourmance of so greate a miracle And euen as the heretikes Basilides Cerdo and Marcion because theie could not atteine to the vnderstanding how a virgin might bring furth toke the occasion of their heresies to saye that Christ toke no fleshe of the virgin Marie and therefore suffred not in a true but in a fantasticall bodie so fareth it with yow and your companie who because yow can not see howe Christes bodie maie be in the sacrameÌ„t reallie present and in manie places at onee falle flat to the deniall thereof and bring it to a simple figure or fantasticall vnderstanding Now let vs returne againe to S. Ambrose from whome your peuish proctour M. Iuell hath made me somwhat to straie The same holie bishoppe hath touching this matter in an other place these wordes Sicut verus est dei filius D. noster Iesus Christus noÌ„ quemadmodum homines per gratiam sed quasi filius ex substaâ—â—ia patris ita vera caro sicut ipse dixit quam accipimus verus est potus c. Euen as our lorde Iesus Christ is the true sonne of god and not as men ar by grace but as his sonne of the substance of his father so is it true fleshe and true drincke which we receaue as he him selfe hath witnessed But thow wilt peraduenture obiect as euen Christes owne disciples did at that time when theie harde their maister saie Excepte ye eate the fleshe of the sonne of man c how is it true fleshe I whiche see the similitude of bloud see not true bloud in deede First of all I tolde the of Christes worde which is in operation so mighty that it can change and alter yea the common and accustomed ordonances of nature Afterwarde when the disciples could not abide this communication of their maisters theie departed But onelie Peter saide Thow hast the wordes of life euerlasting Least therefore more might saie thus as though there should be a certeine horror and fearefulnes of bloud but yet the grace of redemption should remaine therefore trulie thow receiuest this sacrament in a similitude or likenes but so that thowe receiuest also the grace and force of his true nature Hetherto S. Ambrose in whose wordes two thinges there ar especiallie to be noted first that of the true presence of Christes bodie in the sacrament he toke him selfe to be so suer that euen as certeine a truthe as it is that Christe was the true sonne of god not by grace onelie or adoptioÌ„ so certeinlie and trulie he toke his bodie to be present in the sacrameÌ„t not by grace or spirituallie alone but truelie and reallie The seconde poincte that is diligentlie to be obserued is whie Christe contrarie to his accustomed maner of worcking in his miracles changeth not here in this sacrament the outewarde shape and forme but onelie the inward nature and substance which is as this holie doctour saithe for oure
shape but in nature that by a spirituall meanes the same fleshe and bloud is daily made by the handes of the priest apon the altar that before the consecration there is bread and wyne that after there is the body and bloud of Christe with such like that yet I say for all this I haue proued no thing because forsooth I haue not vouched your termes Really substantially corporally carnally or naturally If yow flee to this bare and miserable shift then shall yow doe all men to vnderstand that yow ar driueÌ„ to an Exigent when to defend your diuelish doctrine yow ar faine to cauill apoÌ„ wordes and termes which also you shall but wrangle about in vaine the thing it self being most euidently proued which those termes and wordes could doe no more then signify Besides that yow shall well showe your selues to be muâ—h either more foolishe or maliciouse then wer those faithelesse Capernaites Of whome there was yet no one emongest them all so voide of wit or fraight with malice who hearing our sauiour coÌ„mend to them the eating of his fleshe and drincking of his bloud beleued not streight waies thoroughly that he ment as he said of his true and naturall fleshe and bloud all wer it so that he neuer mencioned your termes Really naturally substantially corporally or carnally And truly to say the truthe I see no cause why yowe might not also if yow listed renew Marcion his heresie again and say with him that Christ suffered not in a true but in a fantasticall body if such pleas on your parte may be allowed that except certein termes such as yow list to demaunde can be founde otherwise let the truthe be vttred in wordes neuer so apt or propre yow will neuer graunt theretoe For the Euangelistes I pray you M. Iuell which of them euer told vs in describing Christes death and passion that his body was nailed on the crosse Really substantially with the rest of your termes And will you therefore with Marcion deny that he suffred in a trewe body onlesse we can finde to yow such termes as you demaunde Or if yow saie that in this article of our faithe you make no such demaunde but that yowe holde your selues fully contented with such wordes as you finde vttred in the scriptures for the expressing thereof Why then beleue you not as well the veritie of this article being by Christes owne mouthe first by the voice of his churche sence in all ages confirmed as you doe the Euangelistes touching the suffring of his blessed body Or why might not Marcion denieng Christes body on the crosse then haue bidden Tertullian and other that stroue against him proue it by these termes Really substantially corporally carnally or naturally aswell as you denieng it nowe on the altar driue vs to the prouing the presence thereof there by the same Especially the wordes vttered by the Euangelistes to ascerteine vs of the true suffring of Christes body on the crosse being no more manifest to that effect then ar the wordes of Christ to the other that is to giue vs to vnderstand of the true being of the same apon the altar Well yet shall I euen in this point assay to satisfie if it may be your deintie and delicat appetite Although this must I nedes by the way confesse that the auncient wryters vsed not thiese termes so commonly as the latter haue doen. For in that pure and vnspotted age of the primitiue churche when no heretike durst once open his mouthe to impugne this veritie there was not to say the truthe like occasion as sence Berengarius his time hath bin ministred Or rather the innocency and parfect simplicitie of those dayes thought it not necessary for them to vse your termes corporally carnally with the rest which had said the same body that suffred death on the crosse the same that walcked here on the earth whereas it might probably be thought that they whom such wordes should not persuade to yelde in this point to the truthe would not faile also in such wise to cauill and wraÌ„gle about the other that had they bene vsed neuer so often they would yet by one shift or other seme to auoid them and so coÌ„tinue in their olde heresie still And this I feare me will hereafter appeare by your doinges how euer for the time yow dally with your dilatory exceptions which being brought to wise meÌ„nes scanning be not all worth a blew point or a rotten rushe But nowe I come to your termes The first which is realiter Really is a barbarouse word and therefore of likelihod not to be founde in the learned eloqueÌ„t worckes of the auncient fathers Which thing maketh me to thinck that if in your chalenge M. Iuell yow ment good faith yow will not take it in euell parte if for that which caÌ„ not be had I giue you an other as good I meane for this terme really the word truly or verely For in right iudgement they signifie I dout not all one thing This being presupposed your chalenge touching this term may be answered by the words of our Sauiour where he entreateth of this most blessed sacrameÌ„t and in expresse wordes taught his disciples that his flesh which he would giue them and they should eate should be truly meate and his blood truly drinck Which if it be so then is it not by fiction or imagination as yowe and your companions dreame but in true and to speake after your manner in reall existence If yow say that the wordes of Christ be here by me racked and violently wresteâ— to a far other sense then him self had in them then turne I yow ouer to trye that matter to Hilarius that worthy Bishop of Poyctiers in Fraunce Who reasoning ageinst the heresy of Arrius as I doe now ageinst yours applieth them after this sort to the same purpose De naturali in nobis Christi veritate quae dicimus nisi ab eo discimus stultè atque impiè dicimus Ipse enim ait Caro mea verè estesca sanguis meus verè est potus De veritate carnis sanguinis non est relictus ambigendi locus Nunc enim ipsius domini professione fide nostra verè caro est verè sanguis est The which wordes in our English tongue sound thus Of the naturall veritie of Christ in vs what so euer it be that we teache except we learne it of him we teache bothe foolishly and wickedly For he saith him self my flesh is truly meate and my blood is truly driÌ„ck Of the truthe of his flesh and bloud there is not any place left to dout For now both by the testimony of our lord hiÌ„ self and by our faith it is truly his flesh and truly his bloud Hetherto Hilarius by whom in this place may be gathered good readers first that in the primitiue churche apon these wordes of Christ my flesh is truly meat c. the fathers and bishops of that age
lord redeeme vs with his bloud neither the cup of the sacrament is any part of his bloud nor the bread the coÌ„munication of his body For bloud there can not be without there be vaines fleshe and other substance such as man is made of This place of Irenaeus good readers let it not I beseche yow belightly runne ouer For if any one of the rest prooue all M. Iuelles termes and more then he demaundeth toe by flesh and vaines this is it For the better vnderstanding whereof reteine well the cause that moued this auncieÌ„t father and learned bishop to write as he did The cause was the absurde doctrine of them that taught that Christ had no naturall fleshe such as we haue against whom he reasoned thus If he had no true body of such nature as oures is of then was not his bloud shed on the crosse then doe we not eate his fleshe nor drinck his bloud in the sacrament For as there could be no bloud shed on the Crosse so there can be none dronck on the altar except there be vaines fleshe and other substance of man Here haue yow proued to yow M. Iuell that Christes fleshe and bloud is present in the sacrameÌ„t in humain substance therefore substantially that there be vaines and fleshe such as bloud vseth to issue furth of therefore corporally carnally and realâ—y Of the which wordes of Irenaeus yow may if it please you gather also that so confessed a truthe it was emongest all men in that age that Christes blessed body was truly present in the sacrameÌ„t yea euen with the heretikes theÌ„ selues that the true suffring of the same apon the crosse was holden for no more certein and vndouted a truthe And truly if it had not so bene a pooer argument had Irenaeus made to induce any man to beleue that Christ had a true naturall body as we haue because there is fleshe vaines bloud and the very substance of man in the sacrament Whereas he ageinst whome he should so haue reasoned might haue bidden him goe proue first the grounde that he toke for the fundation to builde his reason apon that is that Christ wer present in such sort in the sacrameÌ„t and then to come to him again afterward But well wist he that the heretikes theÌ„ selues could not denie it and therefore he so reasoned After this manner of reasoning disputed Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria ageinst Origen who was in this errour that he thought the bodies should be after their resurrectioÌ„ mortall again and that after many other yeares passed ouer they should vanishe away and become nothing His wordes ar these Nec vanitatem appellamus substantiam corporalem vt ille astimat alijs verbis in Mâ—nichaei scita concidens ne Christi corpus suâ—iaceat vanitati cuius aedulio saturati ruminamus quotidieverba diceÌ„tis Nisi quis comederit car neÌ„ meaÌ„ etc. that is neither doe we call corporall substaÌ„ce vanitie as he thincketh OrigeÌ„ he meaneth falling thereby although in other wordes in to Manichaeus doctrine lest by that meanes Christes body might be subiect to vanitie with the foode whereof being filled we chewe daily the wordes of Christ saing except yow eate my fleshe c. What had here Theophilus ment to obiect to Origen that by this opinion of his it would follow that Christes body which we receiue and eate in the sacrament should vanish away and become vaine if it had bene there not in substance but in a figure or baresigne If he had not bene there corporally and substaÌ„tially to what purpose seing he spake of corporall substance mencyoned he his body in the sacrament and not rather the same being in heauen which no heretike could haue denied Truly we can no lesse doe but thinck that both for his greate learning and wisdom he would so haue doen had he not bene fully persuaded that the same body which is in heauen is in the same substance the same truthe of nature and in the same moment in the blessed sacrament of the altar Eusebius Emissenus when he taught the people that the visible creatures of breade and wyne ar turned in to the substance of Christes body and bloud said he not that Christes body is in the sacrament substantially Or Chrisostome when he taught the people QueÌ„admodum si caeraigni adhibita illi assimilatur nihil substaÌ„tiae remanet nihil superfluit Sic hic puta mysteria consumi corporis substantia Euen as wax if it be cast in to the fier becommeth like to the fier nothing of the substance remaineth nothing abundeth euen so thinck that here in the sacrament the misteries ar consumed with the substance of Christes body was his meaning thinck we any other I passe ouer here the testimonies for this matter that â—ight be brought out of the workes of that noble bishop Cirillus Bishop of Alexandriâ—â— who in sundry places there of absteineth not from thiese termes corporaliter substantialiter carnaliter corporally substantially carnally and diuerse other because I hope these which allready haue bene alleaged shalbe sufficient Or if this suffise not then beseche I you M. Iuell and your companions to drawe vs out in writing a forme of wordes to proue that Christes bodye and bloud ar present int the sacrament such as your selues will promise if we be hable to proue by the scriptures fathers or councels to stand to simply without adding thereto gloses distinctions or interpretacions When I minded here to haue knyt vp this knot behold it cam to my remembraunce that I had yet answered nothing to the foolishe and vnsauory reasons of your aduocat who so euer he be who more stoutely then wysely beareth out euen to the hard hedge this diuelish doctrine of yours First forsooth he beareth vs in hand that Christ when he sayed This is my body the same which shalbe betrayed for yow ment not that we should receaue his very true naturall and fleshly body but vsing a figure called Metonymia gaue the name of his bodie to the signe that is to the breade And this interpretation he saith maie be proued by a nombre of examples out of the canonicall scriptures as in one place where circuncision was called a couenauÌ„t being in deede but a signe and testimonie thereof in an other the paschall lambe called the passeouer Christe him selfe a vine a rocke with suche like But here note I beseche you good readers what a straÌ„ge kinde of reasoning this is In the scriptures is vsed a figuratiue kinde of speche in one two three fower or mo places Ergo Christ in that place where he instituted the sacrament is to be vnderstaÌ„d by a figure Or thus the scriptures speake figuratiuelie in some places Ergo in all and no where otherwise This kinde of Sophistication in arguing is the olde shift of the wicked Arrians who like as this man taketh awaie now from the blessed sacrament the verie bodie and blood of Christe
auteÌ„ ministri adsint pro viribus quas eis dominus subministrat omnibus subuenitur alij baptizaÌ„tur alij recoÌ„ciliantur nulli dominici corporis coÌ„muni one fraudantur that is to sai If the ministres be present according to the strength that god hath giuen theÌ„ all men ar holpen some ar baptised other some ar recoÌ„ciled none ar deceiued of the communion of our lordes body Much more might here be saide touching this point wer it not that I am lothe to trouble yow with the ofteÌ„ repeating thereof that I feare me you ar sory to haue hard so much as once And therefore if this satiâ—fie you not for the rest I remitte you to that learned worcke of late sette furth at Loâ—ainâ— wherein you haue I doubte not allready for this matter founde such stoare of testimonies such weight of auctorities as in your owne iudgement yow maie haue cause to thincke tâ—at yow holde by the worst ende of the staffe Your obiections also ageinst the catholike faithe in this article because they arre there with like dexteritie answered and soluted I here passe ouer in silence One I excepte emongest the rest which because yow mencioned it not in your sermon where vnto the author without wandring any farder kept him selfe he also in his booke speaketh not of The place that yow bring ageinst vs is yow say out of Theophilus Alexandrinus and is alleaged by yow without cotation after this sorte Si Christus mortuus fuisset pro diabolo non negaretur illi poculum sanguinis If Christe had died for the diuell the cup of the bloud should not haue bene denied him Here M. Iuell good faithe and true dealing woulde that yow shoulde haue coted to vs this place But I feare me it will so fall oute in the ende that in all Theophilus worckes there shall no such place be founde True it is that these wordes we finde in him Si enim pro demonibus crucifigitur vt nouorum dogmatum assertor affirmat quod erit priuilegium aut que ratio vt soli homines corporieius sanguinique coÌ„municent non demones quoque pro quibus in passione sanguinem suum 〈◊〉 That is to say for if Christ wer crucified as this 〈◊〉 of newe doctrine affirmeth for the diuelles also what priuileage haue men or what reason shoulde there be why they onelie should be partakers of his body and bloud and not the diuelles also for whome in his passion he should haue shed his bloud If this be the place that you meane why alleage you it so falsely and corrupte bothe th'authors wordes and minde If this be not it then showe vs where we shall finde it which if yow coulde doe then shoulde yow be answered in this wise that in Theophilus time the vse of this sacrameÌ„t was indifferent to be receiued as the deuotioÌ„ of the receiuor thereof serued him either vnder bothe the kindes or one alone as a thing by Christ so left and the libertie whereof the church directed by the holy ghost had not as then in any wise restreined So that at those daies the prieste had doen him opeÌ„ wrong to whome desiring bothe the kindes he woulde haue giuen but onely one yea if it had bene the diuell that he had denied it to if Christ had died for the diuell But now I praie yow applie this testimony to the present state of the churche which nowe is and you shall see how handsomly it fitteth yow Theophilus Alexandrinus when the churche had as yet not restreined the vse of this sacrament touching the laie people to one kinde was of the minde that in this case to denie to the diuell if Christe had died for him the cup had bene a disordre Therefore now that the churche hath decreed that they shall communicate vnder onely one he is also of the same minde Thus must yow reason if yow deale truly which if you doe how little this place maketh for your purpose a meane wit wilbe easely able to iudge Thus much touching this present controuersy nowe to the next which is as by our aduersaries it is termed of priuate Masse THAT THERE VVAS MASSE SAIDE VVITHIN THE FIRST SIX HVNDRED YEARES ALTHOVGH THERE VVER none that did receaue with the priest OVr lorde be thancked therefore truthe which well may be for the tyme pressed but neuer shalbe vanquished hath at the length with much a doe gotteÌ„ of her enemies maugre their heades the confession of that which hetherto they haue all so stoutely denyed For now relinquishing and geuing ouer their olde plea that the Masse is a new inuention the name strange and to the auncient doctours vnknoweÌ„ they flee to an other shyft as here by their common proctour M. Iuell yowe may good readers perceiue and saye that there was no priuate Masse in all the whole world for the space of six hundred yeares or more after the apostles time Here M. Iuell forasmuch as this terme priuate which by reason of the equiuocation that it hath might haue brought vs into some doubte how yow had vnderstand it is by yow expounded in diuerse places of your sermoÌ„ to be taken for the priestes sole or alone receiuing of the â—acrament without company and so as yowe take it as this worde priuate is contrary to publike or common to many And yowe herein stick not scrupulously in the other significations thereof as some of your fellowes doe that is that that Masse is no lesse priuate which is saide in priuate mennes houses out of the church or which is done especially for some one man or woman but seeme honestly to confesse that S. Austen mencioneth these two kinde of masses the first in his bookes de ciuitate Dei where he reporteth that a priâ—st of his diocesse saide Masse in a ferme or house of the countrye troubled with euell sprites who immediatly thereapon none otherwise theÌ„ do the heretikes of our time auoyded the place and were no more hard of Where we might also stande apon this till the contrary were proued that the priest receiued then alone For by the place it appeareth not of any that receiued with him The second in his bookes of confessions Where he telleth vs that he offred for his mother after her deceasse sacrificiuÌ„ praetijnostri the sacrifice of our raunsome Forasmuch I saie as yow seme not to pitche in these last pointes I shall assaye to satisfie yow in the first and then after to answere such obiections as you make for the fortifieng of your parte Yow saie that within the first six hundred yeares after the apostles and more there was no Masse saide in the churche vnlesse there were some that did receiue with the priest Against this I reason thus Chrysostome liued within the space of fower hundred yeares after the apostles time but Chrysostome and the priestes in his time sayd Masse when none did communicate ergo to you M. Iuell within the first six hundred yeares after
that he that is not worthy to receiue the blessed body of Christe in the sacrament is not worthy also to be praied for Whereas all men knowe that theÌ„ more vnworthy he is of the one the more worthy he is of the other if the sicke be worthy to haue a phisicioÌ„ and not the hole that by the meanes thereof he maie become worthy to receiue that of which he was before vnworthy If we so sticke in the barcke and rinde and come no nearer to the pith what sense will yow make S. Ambrose to haue in saieng that he that is not worthy to receiue the sacrament daily is not worthy to rceiue the same once in the yeare Might it not so happen that many a good man which now receiueth worthily once in the yeare shoulde by this meanes not receiue worthily once in his life But of this maÌ„ner vsed in speaking or writing haue we not in some of these fathers expresse testimonies namely in Chrisostome who trauailing in a certeine place of his worckes to persuade the true and reall presence of Christes body in the sacrameÌ„t vseth these wordes Seest thow not thy lorde offred vp the prieste doing his priestly office pouring oute his praiers the people rounde aboute him imbrued and made redde with that pretiouse bloud which wordes I knowe yow will easely graunte with vs to be not in all pointes simply true but yet not discommendable or vnsemely being spokeÌ„ as sensibly as might be the more firmely to persuade the truthe of that which although it be there as truely as though it had bene sene was yet hidde and to carnall eyes inuisible But what needeth it here to alleage the manner of speaking of the auncient and olde fathers seing that yow M. Iuell and your coÌ„panions oure newe maisters and yong fathers vse the same or not much vnlike in your cisguised communion And yeat for all your terrible thundre boultes shotte ageinst them that being present receiue not yow see neuer a one the more for feare thereof departe oute of the churche yea he that I thinke should wer well like perhappes to heare thereof to his coste before his Ordinary But there is not the simplest in a parishe but he knoweth that youre meaning is not to driue theÌ„ oute of the churche as youre wordes sounde but to stirre theÌ„ vp thereby the oftener to come to youre schismaticall communion and therefore they tarrie still Or elles if this be not youre minde of so many that be present coÌ„tinually thereat and be not partakers thereof why haue yow punished all this while noâ—â—e An other cause that hath moued me thus to vnderstand these fathers is for that the practise of the churche appeareth to haue bene in their time such as that the people was willed euen then to be present at the church and to heare Masse at the leaste on the Sundaies when they stoode neuerthelesse at libertie touching the receauing of the sacrament any oftener then thrise in the yeare as appeareth by the councell holden at Agatha in Fraunce aboute Chrisostomes daies and by S. AusteÌ„ neere also vnto the same time S. Austens wordes arre these In die verò nullus se a sacra Missarum celebratione separet neâ—ue otiosus quis domi remaneat On the Sunday let no man absente him selfe from the holy celebration of the Masse nor remaine within the doores idle And alittle after he addeth Adhuc quoâ—ue quod detestabilius est ad ecclesiam aliqui venientes non intrant non insistunt praecibus non expectant cum silentio sanctarum MissaruÌ„ celebrationem that is to say Besides all this which is a thing more to be detested some coÌ„ming to the church entre not in they praie not they tarie not out with silence the celebrating of the holie Masses And thus it appeareth the vse of the churche being at that time such as the people was by ordre bounde to heare Masse on the SuÌ„day whether they receuid or no that in no wise these fathers can be so vnderstande as though they ment to driue them vttrely from the Masse whither the churche had bounde them to come but onely to put them in remembraunce so to come and so to be present thereat as in times past in that olde feruency of deuotion they had bene wont Thus much for the first answere Secondarily to the places before alleaged I saie that â—â—â—ing graunted which denied by vs yow shall neuer be able to proue that in the primitiue churche such as woulde not receiue with the priest wer not suffred to be present at the mass Year is it no good reason to saie that therefore it must necessarily be so now Seing that in those thinges which haue by Christ bene left indifferent of which this is one the spirituall gouernours haue power to change and alter as occasion giueth Will yow see it proued by examples There was a time when to absteine from bloud and straÌ„gled meates was a thing so necessary to be obserued that it was by a solemne decree of the apostles enacted and as light a matter as some will perhappes make thereof yeat added the apostles thereto this weight and poise of wordes Visum est Spiritui sancto nobis it hath semed good to the holy ghost and to vs. Yea the text hath that they accounted such abstinence inter necessaria in the nombre of those thinges that were necessary to be obserued euen as to absteine from fornication Of the continuance of this decree in his force the place mencioneth nothing so that thereof can be gathered no other but that it was a lawe made to endure for euer although at this daye it be not practised well yow wote pardye Were it well done thincke yowe now to reason thus In the apostles time the churche absteined from bloudinges and stiffled meates Therefore we must in these dayes doe the like Yeat wer this truly a stronger reason drawen from an ordonaunce and commaundement of the apostles then is youres leaning apon examples if yow had any such which as they neuer had their beginning of any commaundement or precept of the holie scriptures but by them lefâ—e at libertie were by the spirituall gouernours as the present time required drawen to a necessitie so by the same apon contrary occasion maie at all times be released But yow haue at all no such commaundement in the whole scripture that soundeth that waies that the prieste maie not saie Masse and receiue the sacrament alone without companie or that no man maie be present with the prieste at his Masse there with him to communicate spiritually onlesse the same will also communicate sacramentally For that yow alleage most fondly for the proufe of the contrary that Christ gaue this holy sacrament not to one alone but to many being together and that he saide farder by the waie of charge Doe this that is yow saie Practise this that I haue here done and that in such ordre and
vultibus omnium iracundiam ac ferociam miram prae se ferentibus Sic opinor discedunt milites à concione ducis ad praelium exhortati Quis vnquam vidit in eorum concionibus quenquam fundentem lachrimas tundentem pectus aut ingemiscentem I neuer was that is to saye in any of their churches but some times I haue sene them coÌ„ming from the sermons as possessed of some euell spirite the countenaunces of them all declaring a certeine angre and cruelty So I wene vse the souldiours to departe from the oration of their capitaine when they haue bene exhorted to the battell whe euer sawe in any of their sermons any of them weeping knocking his breaste or yet sighing Thus much hath Erasmus touching youre newe gospell I passe ouer here in silence the infamouse companie of common minstrelles and entrelude plaiers who be all brothers of youre fraternitie membres of youre corporation and in so good credite emongest yow that they haue their charge of dispensing the worde as well as yow So farre furth that in youre filthy and dirty donghill of stincking martyrs yow call players one of the engines set vp by god ageinst the triple crowne of the pope to bring him downe Let the ciuile lawes note such marchantes with infamie Yeat emongest yow they maie goe for honest men Let the canons forbidde them to accuse euen them that be faultie Yeat youre churche admitteth them to blaspheme Christes sacramentes to sclaundre and speake euell of his ministres I meane not here bishoppes onely and priestes but princes also and other magistrates to whome vnder god the charge of the common wealthe hath bene committed Finally let S. Cyprian saie as long as he list that it is neither agreable to the maiestie of god nor discipline of his gospell that such be admitted to the holye communion whereby the honour of the churche should by their filthy and infamouse coÌ„tagion be defiled yeat is not youre communion so pure but that that honest kinde of men maye beâ—re yow company and sitte with yow euen at one messe nor youre churche so honorable or doctrine â—o parfecte that yow nede to feare the blemishing thereof in to whose handes or mouthes so euer it shall happen to come But all this I saye I passe ouer and shall goe forwarde in prosecuting of other causes that make me to abhorre youre doctrine THE nexte cause hathe bene apon the consideration of the parson of him that yow boaste to haue bene the author and founder of youre religion Was not he a lewde lecherouse frier an apostata Maried he not if by so honest a name I maie call so filthie a deede a nonne an acte besides the commaundementes of the scriptures so vnderstanden by the churche by the ciuile lawes also by Iouinian the emperour twelue hundred yeares agoe lacking three vnder the paine of deathe moste seuerelie forbidden Was he not one that passed all other in pride Deserued he not trowe yow for these qualitees that fauor and good grace at his fathers handes of the obteining whereof in diuerse passages of his worckes he reioiseth so much as of the conference that he saithe he had with his saide father the diuell when by force of his reasons he was constreined to write againste the Masse of the familiaritie that he showed him when it pleased him to kepe him so manie yeares companie as betwene them manie busshels of salt were eaten The which time we maie not thinke neither to hane bene idellie speÌ„t betweâ—ne them but as first in the Masse that so afterwarde he enstructed him sufficientlie in the rest Emongest which enstructions was it not trowe yow a lesson meete for such a scholemaister Si vxor nolit aut non possit ancilla venito If the wife will not yealde to her husbande the due debte of mariage or be not able let the maiden come And againe for the husband on the other side that if he be in that case that he can not reÌ„dre to his wife the same that she shall first aske leaue of him to repaire to his brother or some other of his bloude for such carnall companie and that finally if she can not obteine it she shall get her a waie and marie clam Is not this trowe yow proufe good ynough that youre doctrine commeth from the diuell while youre selues graunte to haue receiued it froÌ„ Luther and he bothe by wordes and deedes that he had it from him Boaste now of him as long as yow list call him the man of god claime him for youre patrone and founder terme him prestantissimus vir ad illustr andum orbem terrarum a deo datus the moste excellent man and sent euen from god to lighten the darckenesse of the worlde as in youre Apologie you doe For as we enuie not youre fortune so persuade we oure selues that had all the worlde till his comming bene as yow woulde beare vs in hande it was ouerwhelmed with errours god woulde yeat haue chosen an other manner of piece to bring it in frame againe then he either in his life or doctrine showed himself to be and that he which shoulde haue done such an entreprise ought to haue conferred with the holie spirite of god not with the cursed and wicked spirite of Sathan THE roote of this youre doctrine was it not auarice mixed with enuiouâ—e hatred whilest Luther the author thereof partlie for that the office of publishing certeine indulgences graunted by Leo then pope was taken from the order of the Augustine friers of the which he was one and committed to the friers preachers of the ordre of S. Dominicke wherewitheall no small gaine went also awaiâ— together from them partelie of enuie that theie of that religion shoulde be thought meter for the execution thereof then he or his And of such rootes shall we loke for good fruite Cast youre eye apon other countries where youre religion is now embrased Considre diligently by what meanes it founde first there entreteinement in some apon desier of reuengement in other by couetousnes by lechery and such like vices and in none by charitie and youre selfe I trust will saye with me that I had good reason to be moued by this consideration AN other cause why I haue abhorred youre doctrine and yeat doe is for that I finde by the auncient histories and alowed recordes of the fathers writinges that in many pointes of the same and in youre manners beside yow agree with the olde heretikes that haue heretofore troubled the churche of god with the Iues with the Ethnikes and paganes with tyrauntes and infidelles with Antichrist yea with Sathan him selfe If yow demaunde of euery one of these seuerall examples beholde here they follow Simon Magus To beginne first with Simon whome for his knowledge in Magike the histories haue called Magus for as much as of all heretikes he maye be rightly called the father as he that liuing in