come vnto the practise of the churche and recordes of she fathers D. of the latter .ix. hundreth yeres They crie so thicke and thréesolde against you that you are not able to abide them And therefore you were woonte to disgrace them art By what aucthoritée I pray you woulde you haue them all discredited It sanorth of a maruerlous arrogancie to discredite them all Can your doctrine creepe no other wayes into credit vnlesse you deface the practises of the churche and the aucthoritée of the fathers for the space of .ix. hundreth yeres and odde Haue you no other meanes to get honor but to dishonour so many auncient fathers as haue written this latter .ix. hundred yeres Know you not the scripture Qui masedixerit patrives matri morte morietur And what malediction is there greater then to blase that our learned fathers that liued so godly in praiers fastyngs almesdéedes continuall studie of doctrine that hath their common agréementê for the space of .ix. hundred yeres and more disceiued Christes flocke know not the right faieth but trayned the people to the state of dampnation And I pray you if they were so many yeres disceiued and yet giuen all the while to spiritual exercises more then you as it appereth by their workes or any now a daies what assurance can you make vs that you do now know the truth Beynge a man far vnderneth them in all peinâ—tes and one that hath not continued here muche as I here say aboue fortie yeres and not bestowed the fourthe parte of that time neither as I here in studie of the scriptures or olde doctours Shal you with .ix. or .x. yeres studie in the matters of doctrine thinke your selfe able to sit as a iudge to controll all such doctours and the doctrine whiche they haue left in recorde for the space of .ix. hundred yeres No man gaue you such aucthoritée but your self Luther and Melancthon tooke vpon them to be reformers of religion in all poinctes But if you marke them they make no mattier of necessitée to communicate the laytie with bothe kindes They acknowledge that a general couÌ„sell may take order in it as a thynge indifferent And hauyng no scripture for the prouse of the necessitée thereof They confirme also the being of christê body in a thousaÌ„d places at once meanyng therin as the catholskes meane If you had acquainted your self with Abraham and Isaac 13. Cay that sayed that quaecunque promisit deus potens est facere What so euer God promiseth he is able to performe it Or with the Angell that saied vnto Mary in as greate a mattier as this is Non est impossibile apud deum omne verbum There is no worde vnpossible vnto God as well as you haue acquainted your selfe with Ismaell and Agar that se no farther then the trade of common nature or if you had marked but the very rule of nature how of an antecedent grauÌ„ted all necessarie consequence doo by force of reason issew there hence you woulde neuer put the mattier in question Wée finde in scripture that eur sauiour saied in the consecracion of the blessed sacrament This is my bodie that shall be desmered for you And when the sence of this sentence is as the catholike churche teacheth the very reall presens of Christes body to be in the blessed sacramente vpon this sence once setled many labelles doo necessarily hange not expressedly had in scripture but by drifte of reason out of the first veritie gathered And so did saincte Chrisostome S. Ambrose S. Basill and S. Bernard when they vnderstode the sence of Christes wordes concerning the consecracion to be as the holy catholike churche vnderstoode it And not to haue powre in the parlour at Hierusalem onely where the sacrameÌ„t was first instituted but in all places where the thinge was so practised as Christ began it Therunto they sawe they muste néedes confesse by drifte of argumente that Christes body is in diuers places at once and of the remainders of the accidentes you néede no other proufe but your owne sensis your iye and your tastyng And of the alteracion of the substance of breade the fathers in diuers ages saw it so depende vpon the first veritie that they haue omitted no varietée of termes to expresse it and to brynge it into the knowledge of the worlde They haue transmutation transelementation mutation conuertion faction afteration transsubstanciation and diuers other such that are not to be rehersed now You haue taken vpoÌ„ you to controll that counsell of Constance alredie but now you will controll the greate counsel of Lateran where were so many learned clarkes as there were neuer more gathered together And the counsell of Valense and the counsell of Rome sub Nicolao and the generall counsell of Florence and the counsell of Basill In the whiche all your errours concernyng the holy sacrament are ouerthrowen Concernyng your doubte how Christes hodie is in diuers places at once sithen you beléeue no counsel that hath determined that mattier nor auncient fathers Grekes us Latins I will sende you to your great god Luther in a littell booke that he wrote against the Swinglians of the sence of the woordes of the supper of christe They yet remayne vndefaced There he answereth you at the ful Or els to Brentius that great Cane in the exposition of the article of thassention in the first of the Actes where he enterpreteth thereof at the full thoughe very farre in diuers poinctes from the sence of the churche Yet may he not suffer that blinde reason of yours to haue his force in no case It is but a very fonde daliance to braule vpon the labelles before you agrée vpon the originall veritée The trew sence of this littell sentence This is my body that shal be desiuered for you Is the roote and the originall of all suche labelles as wée teache not mencioned in scripture expresly but bulted out by drifte of argument as these are 〈◊〉 similitude for â—uwritteÌ„â—â—eeâ—â—â—â—â— that offend you so sore When the maister saieth to his seruaunt make redie that I may dine he speaketh nothynge in these wordes of scommynge of the potte of cleans water for the potage of the earbes to be chopped of scaldynge and drawynge the Capons of makyng after of hewyng of woodde of laiyng the clothe and other thynges necessarie belongyng to his dinner And yet if the seruaunt woulde leaue the potte vnscommed herbes vngathered make potage with stinkyng water put the Capon vpon the broche fethers guttes and all because his maister made no expresse mencion of the particular orderyng of all these I wéene no man woulde alow his wit or honestie Because in his maisters first commaundement all suche necessaries are imploied And so wée answer you as your mother the catholike churche hath taught vs. Wée néede not to shew you of accidentes remainynge without any subiecte nor of Christes body being in diuers places at once nor of the adoracion of the holy sacrament
in the sacrament bee they neuer so farre a sunder and yet can not any one alone minister it in one church withoute company to celebrate with him because Christes institution was otherwise Wil ye say here that company to eate vp the pascal lambe was not of the substance of the sacramente but an ornament to commend it or set it forth and might be altered by spirytual gouernours Although the Iewes weare very bolde in altering many ceremonies yet wée reade not that euer they durst aulter this chiefe sacrament as you take vpon you to alter change and take away by your spirituall gouernours all the partes of the Lordes Supper as I wyl declare to you in order by the doctrine of this your defense of pryuate masse The sacrament as it is in vse hath two partes the mattier and the forme the mattier is bread and the body wine and the bloud of Christ The forme of ministration is that the minister should take the mattier and with the wordes of the gospel geue it to them present as Christ dyd This forme say you may be altered by your spiritual gouernours For sometime the prieste may receiue alone with out the people sometime the people without the priest somtime both together So that no certaine forme of ministration is nedefull as you say in this sacrament to be kepte The mattier also ye signifie may bee altered at your pleasure For to receiue the sacrament of the bloud is not of the substance of Christes institution For if it weare the churche could not alter it as you doo commonly in ministringe to the people and as you coniecture by Tertus and Ciprian that they dyd in the prymatiue church Likewyse the sacrament of the body is not so muche of the substance but that vpon considerations the church may commonly omitte it and minister the wine only For so you séeme togather by the history of the chylde in Ciprian to whiche the prieste gaue only wine as you say So that the sacrament of the lordes supper by your doctrine either hath no parte that is of the substance of it but consisteth only of mutable accidences or els your churche is of such power that it may cleane alter and take away Christes institution For if you haue considerations for which ye may commonly leaue out the wine and vse bread only and other considerations for which ye may omit breade and vse wine only when bothe those considerations come together then may you take away bothe breade and wine and defraude the people of the whole sacrament or in stede of that may point them another What is this but with exceding arrogancie to make your spiritual gouernours omnipotent in alteringe and transposinge the sacramentes by Christ ordeyned Howe much more comely weare it for you reuoking your errour to say with Ciprian If we wil walke in the sight of Christe in the order of his sacramentes we must not swarue or departe from his preceptes and instructions geuinge thankes for that hee instructinge vs what we ought to doe hereafter doth pardon vs for that offence which by simplicitie we haue before committed Where you indeuour to proue 7. Cap. that there may be communion in the sacrament although it be receiued alone in th one part you make your comparison as you haue done before betwene thinges of nature very dyuers that is betwene praier and the lordes supper In the tother where ye confirme generall communion betweene all sainctes you proue that no man denieth There man be communion in the benefite of prayer say you though one doe pray alone A. therfore in the Lordes supper also Who séeth not that prayer and the Lords supper in the vse of them be nothinge like That praier is a common action which done of one alone maye stretch to the benefite and commoditée of many we haue aucthority in the scripture and example in Christe him selfe but that the Lordes supper is suche a commoÌ„ action we neither haue authoritie nor example in gods worde By as good a reason wée may proue that a man may baptise him selfe withoute a minister because one may pray alone without one to guyde him in the forme of his prayer Or that ones baptisme may profite another that is not baptised as a mans prayer may profite him that prayeth not But you must consider that there is greate difference betwene the nature of sacrament and other common good workes The sacraments haue an external forme by christ apointed in the administratioÌ„ of them which wée may not alter In other good workes and godly exercises it is not so And yet you recken them vp together as though they weare in all poyntes like As praier baptisme penance confirmation fastinge almes déedes c. Another mans praâ—â—r or almes dâ—â—de may profite you I graunt and procure gods grace for you May an other mans baptisme therfore receiue you into the church or an other mans penance satisfy for your sinnes I thinke you wyl scant affirme it although ye be ready to affirme straunge thinges No more therfore can your receiuinge profite another that receiueth not Christe taught vs and his holy worde commaundeth vs to pray on for another But he neuer saide receiue the communion or bée baptised one for another To confirme your purpose you bringe an article of our crede B. that is I â—eseue the communion of saincted By this you proue that there is a communion of all good thinges betwene them that are in place and time farre distante whiche wée deny not But to vnderstande how lytle this communion of saintes doeth serue your purpose of sole receiuing it behoueth to consider what communion is It is called of the Grekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and may be defined to be a societie of a company or multitude whiche by certaine lawes and couenantes are all partakers of one thinge As amonge Marchantes that vpon certaine condicions occupy iointly and are partakers of like gaine and damage So all Christian men haue a certaine societie or coniunction whiche consisteth in this that they are all partakers of one saluation and all members of one mistical body the head wherof is christ Iesu The lawes couenantes wherby wée be all thus knit and ioigned together are the word of God the sacramentê vsed according to Christes institucion Therefore all churches of the worlde haue the same worde of God and the same sacramentes by them through faith are graffed into one and the same body of Christe thoughe they be thousandes of miles a sunder By the word of God our faith is instructed By baptisme wée be receiued first into the societie of christian communion and made members of the misticall body By the Lordes supper wée haue from time to time heauenly foode ministred vnto vs and as it were liuely spirite from the head of this body Iesu Christe He therfore that is baptised in India hath the same baptisme that wee haue and beyng graffed into the same
holy misteries For when it is once departed from the true sence of gods worde it draweth in as it were by linkes a number of other absudities none of which can haue any profft in scripture seing the first roote of them came not out of the true sence of scripture Euen so when you had deuised and geuen to Christes wordes another sence then the meaninge of them doth importe no maruel if the same reason doo leade you to a multitude of other doctrines not only beside the worde of god but expressely against it Whether that interprefacion that you make uppon these wordes doo more agrée with the scripture and grounde of our faith then that which we teach any indifferent man that is not contentiously bente to the one parte or to the tother may easely discerne Your sence is when Christ saith This is my body that the naturall substance of the breade which Christ toke was turned into the naturall substance of the very body that Christ dyed in notwithstandinge that the colour taste forme and power to norâ—she that were before in the substance of bread doth still remanynâ— â–ª And yet under those qualities and accidences of bread is really conteined the natural body of Christ hauing neither bignes nor any proportion or sensible qualitie rightly apperteininge to such a body To expresse this your meaning you vse to say that the bread is transsubstantiate into the body of Christ In what tonge or language was it euer séeue In what authour was it euer redde that Sunâ— es fui the verbe substantiue might be iuterpreted by transsubstantiare Or if the proprietie of the worde wil not in any wise admit that sence what one sentence or clause haue you in all the course of the bible that vnder the like wordes can receiue the like interpretacion Or what prouses can you bringe by conference of other places of the scripture that these â—â—â—des in this place ought of necessitie in this maner to be interpreted If neyther the proprietie of the tounge can beare the sence nor you can bring any examples or prouses out of the wordâ— of god where vpon men in so weightis a matter may stay their consciences is it not extreame crueltie in you vnder payne of damnasion to compel them to beleue it Here you will burden vs with the aucthoritie of the holy catholike churche which as you say hath alway receiued alowed that interpretacion Vnto this I answer that the catholike churche of Christe neuer generally receiued the meanynge of any sentence but that they gathered the same either by examples of the like or els by grounded reasons taken out of the scripture declared that of necessitie it must be so vnderstanded This rule was appointed to the churche by Christe and his Apostles who in their doubtes willed men Serutari scripturas to searche the scriptures Therfore when the churche decreed against the Arrians and other Heretikes that in this sentence In principio erat verbum the woorde was in the beginnynge that Verbum was to be taken for the person of the sonne of God Or when they decréed that the sonne was eiusdem substantie cum patre of the same substance with the father they stayed not onely vpon their owne consente and aucthoritie but brought a greate number of prouses out of the scripture that it must of necessitie be so taken as it appereth in Cyrill and other of the holy fathers Now then if this that you defend be the iudgement of the catholike church it hath vndoubtedly good proffe in the scripture or if you can bringe for it no such testimony oute of the worde of god it is euydent that you doo wrongfully father this interpretatioÌ„ vpon the holy catholike churche and vnder the couert of that name you doo promote set forth your owne errour And this much for your opinioÌ„ On the tother parte when wée interprete Christes wordes wée say it is a figuratiue spéeche and suche as the holy ghost often vseth in the institucion of sacramentes and ceremonies or in the deseriuyng of other misteries The figure is named Metonymia when the name of the thynge is geuen vnto the signe When these wordes therefore be laied vnto vs This is my body wée say it is moste true But mistically sacramentally figuratiuely not really and accordyng to the naturall substance For this interpretacion wée haue a number of examples out of the canonicall scriptures God speakynge of circumsicion saieth This is my couenante And yet was circumsicion not the couenante indéede but the signe testimonie wherby they were assured to be the people of God and partakers of his promisses The Paschale lambe is called the Passeouer and yet was it but a testimony and remembraÌ„ce of the greate benefite of God in passyng his plague from them This is the victorie saieth S. Paule that ouercome the world euen your faith And yet is not our faith the victorie it selfe but the instrument or meanes wherby the victorie is gotten In like maner diuers other places As I am a vyne God is a consumyng fier The seuen kine be seuen yeres And that S. Paule hath to the Corinthes Petracrat Christus The rocke was Christe And yet was not the rocke Christe himselfe really onlesse ye will take it as hee there doeth indéede for the spirituall rocke For that spirituall rocke was Christe himself verely and indéede not only in a misterie or signification So in the Lordes supper if you take bread for spirituall bread as Christe doth in the .vi. of Iohn I will say with you that it is really and essentially the verie true body of Christe it selfe and not onely mistically If wée had not these many examples with a greate number mee in the holy scripture to iustifie our maner of interpretacion yet the very wordes whiche the spirit of God by singuler prouidence hath vsed in the Euangelist and S. Paule doeth manifestly leade vs vnto this sence rather then to that you haue deuised For in the seconde parte of the sacrament where Math. and Marke say This is my bloud of the new Testament That Luke and Paule vtter in this maner This is the new Testament in my bloud Whiche can not be otherwise vnderstande but that this sacrameÌ„t is a testimonie or pledge of his laste will and gifte of our saluacion confirmed by his moste precious bloud Wherfore if you say neuer so often times with Math. and Marke This is my body This is my bloud wee wyll repete as often with Luke and Paule who were led with the same spirit This is the new Testament in my body and bloud This interpretacion and meanyng of Christes wordes which wée gather by conference with other places of holy scripture is confirmed also by the consent of the aunciente fathers in many places Whose testimonies I wil recite more copiously partely because you séeme to signifie that they altogether make for you in this mattier partely that all men may se how vniustly your sorte
Chrisostome saieth in whiche vessels is not the very body but the mistery of it For if those wordes were litterally to bee vnderstanded as you say then should the holy vessels that conteyne the sacramentes haue in them not only the mistery of Christes body and bloud but his very body really in dede Which Chrisostome denieth In the. 83. Homil. vpon Mathew the same doctour saith Si mortuus Iesus non est cuius simbolum aut signum hoc sacrificium est If Christ be not deade of whom is this sacrifice a figure and signe And vpon the. 22. psalm Vt quotidie in similitudinem corporis sanguinis Christi panem vinum secundum ordinem Melchisedech nobis ostenderet in sacramento That hee might dayly shew vs in the sacrament bread and wine accordynge to the order of Melchisedech as the similitude of his body and bloud As before hee vsed Symbolum signum misterium so he hath here Similitudinem Likewise Dionisius de ecclesiastica Hierarchia cap. 3. Per venerabilia signa Christus signatur sumitur By those reuerent signes Christe is signified and receiued Ambrose also De hijs qui imciantur misterijs cap. 9. Ipse clamat dominus Iesus Hoc est corpus meum Ante benedictionem verboruÌ„ caelestium alia species nominatur Post consecrationem corpus Christi significatur Our Lorde Iesus crieth this is my body Before the blessing of the heauenly wordes one kinde is named after consecratione Christes body is signified In the. 4. boke also De sacramentis cap â–ª 8 The same Ambrose saith Fac nobis hanc oblationem ascriptam rationabileÌ„ acceptabilem quod est figura corporis sanguinis domini nostri Iesu Christi Make to vs this offering alowable reasonable acceptable whiche is the figure of the body and bloud of our lord Iesus Christ Here he acknowlegeth the sacrament to bee a figure In the. 6. boke De sacrameÌ„tis cap. 1. He hath these wordes also Ideo in similitudinem quidem accipis sacramentum sed verae naturae gratiam virtutemque assequeris Therefore thou receiuest the sacrament as a similitude but thou atteinest the grace and vertue of the true nature in dede This sentence of Ambrose conteineth our whole doctrine of the sacramente of Christes body and bloud whiche is that it is a figure or signe of his body and yet not a bare or naked figure but suche a one as there by we atteine in déede the full grace and benefite of his body that suffred for vs and was crucified vpon the crosse and haue our soules fed and norished with the same to euerlastinge lyfe Origine vppon Mathew saieth Panis sanctificatus iuxta id quod habet materiale in ventrem abit in sesessum encitur c. The sanctified bread saith he according to that it hath material passeth into the bealy and is auoyded oute of the body But accordinge to the prayer that commeth to it it is profitable makinge that the minde vnderstandeth and hathe regarde to that is profitable Neither is it the matter of the breade but the word spoken ouer it that profiteth him which receiueth it not vnworthely And thus much haue I spoken of the typicall and figuratiue body Much also may be sayd of the liuely worde it selfe whiche was made fleash and very meat in deede whiche meate he that eateth shal surely liue for euer whiche no yll man canne eate c. Here note you firste that Origine saieth that the mattier of the consecrated breade of the sacrament passeth into the bealy and is auoyded out expresly againstâ— your interpretacion of Christes wordes wherby ye say the breade is transsubstantiate and no mattier of it leftâ— but onely accidencies Secondly that he calleth the sacrament Typicum symbolicum corpus the typicall and figuratiue body Thirdely that he affirmeth constantly that no ill man can eate the very flesh of the seconde person in Trinitie And yet that is one of the necessarie labels that your sorte doeth teache to depende vpon your wrongefull interpretacion of Christes wordê Wherfore Origine with this one sentence teareth of diuers of your counterfaited Labels that you stitche to Christes testamentes by drifte of reason without the warrant of his holy worde More ouer Austine de doctrina Christ lib. 3. cap. 9. After he hath declared that in the new Testamente God hath lefte vnto his people but few sacramentes and ceremontes and the same to be vnderstande not carnally seruilely accordyng to the letter and there for example hath mencioned baptisme and the celebracion of the Lordes body and bloud in the ende he addeth these wordes In whiche saith he as is folow the letter and to take the sygure for those thynges that are signified by them in a poincie of seruile infirmitie so to interprete the signes euill is the poincie of wandrynge erronâ— As he counteth it a fonde and wicked errour not to interprete the sigkes well and accordynge to Gods worde so by a streight litteral sence to take the signes for the thynges signified he esteemeth a seruile infirmitie What can be more plainly spoken against that interpretacion that you make vpon these woordes of Christe wherby you doo binde vs to a seruile litterall sence of this worde Js and in suche forte take the signes of this sacramente for the thinges signified as you affirme breade and wine whiche S. Augustine and the other Doctours call the externall signes cleane to be tourned into the body bloud of Christ The same Augustine contra AdimaÌ„rum Manich. The Lorde faieth this is my bobie when he gaue the signe of his body Also vpon the. 98. psal he speaketh in this maner Ye shall not eate that body that you se not ye shal not drinke that bloud that they shall shedde It is a misterie that I tell you whiche shal reliue you if you vnderstande it spiritually Wyll you not yet vnderstand from whence our men receiued this interpretacion will you not yet perceiue that wée sucked not it out of our owne singers but were led vnto it by the testimonies of holy scriptures and teachyng of these aucient fathers Will you not cease vniustly to bourden vs that wée cauill and dally vpon titles and sillables whereas your self in this sentence woulde driue vs to suche an vnderstandyng of this one sillable Js as the like is not in the whole Bible But ye will aledge for your selfe as you signifie in you writyng that Ambrose Cyprian Chrisostome and other auncient fathers haue in this case vsed the termes of transmutacion alteration conuersion transelementation c. Wherby they haue plainly declared theyr meaninge to bee as yours is and that no bread there remayneth but only the substance of Christes body True it is in déede that those holy fathers vsed such wordes not for that they were of your opinion but only to th end they might more reuerently as méete was and more liuely expresse the dignitie and effect of that heauenly mistery wherin Iesu
congregation came together that they might receiue according to Christê institution That this was S. Paules minde it appeareth by his first proposition and reason and by the conclusion that he addeth in the ende When ye come together saieth he ye can not eate the Lorde supper wher firste it is to be noted that to the celebracion of the sacrament they resorted together and were not priuately in sundry corners He addeth the reason why they coulde not at their méetinges celebrate the Lordes supper Because euery man is occupied in eatynge his owne supper Herein Paule blameth them not onely for immoderate féedynge of their owne meate but also for the disordered vsyng of the Lordes supper in partes where as they should be together as Christ and his Apostles were This he declareth more plainly in that conclusion that he inferreth vpon the rehersall of christes wordes in ordering the sacrament For he saieth Therfore my bretherne when ye come together to eate the Lordes supper do you tarie one for an other What can more plainely declare that S. Paule tooke the right vse of the sacrament to be a common receiuynge together and not a seuerall vse by one man alone As if he had said In christes supper ye se the maister together with the disciples the table and the meate common to all not so muche as Iudas the traitour excluded one lofe and one cuppe discributed amonge the whole companie Therfore when yee come together ye must imitate the concorde and equalitie that he then vsed If he thought it an abuse in the Corinthes to receiue in partes he woulde counte it a farre greater abuse for .x. or xii to receiue eache of them seuerally in one church at one time as though they were of diuers religions or membres of diuers misticall bodies If the Corinthes in receiuyng by partes were blamed of Paule for that they séemed one to contemne an other may not pristes be as iustly blamed because they séeme in their priuate Masse to disdeine and contempne the people I wil now therfore conclude with Cyprians wordes If so be both it be ordeined by christe and the same confirmed by the Apostle that wee should do in this sacrament as our Lord did wee finde that wee steepe not that is commaunded if we do otherwise then Christ did Séeyng then Christe vsed company in ordeinyng the sacramente of that holy feast and supper Priestes also ought to haue company in ministring the same For the aucthoritée of the primatiue churche to confirme that this is the right vse of the sacramente Proufes againste priuate masse out of the fathers I will in this place bringe in onely twoo witnesses which shall not speake of this mattier lightly or by the way but of very purpose declare the maner that then was vsed amonge the people of God alowed and confirmed by godly and holy fathers In so much that if any other maner had ben then vsed they coulde not haue omitted the same especially séeyng they professed to declare that maner of christians therin Iustine the martir in his Apologie descriueth it thus After prayer wee safute eache other with a kiffe then breade and the cuppe mixed with water is brought to the chief brother which after he hath taken geuing praise and thankes vnto the father of all in the name of the sunne and holy ghost for a space he continueth in thankes geuynge After praiers and thankes geuyng the whole company saieth Amen When the ministers geuynge of thankes and the peoples well wisshynge is finisshed those whiche wee call deacons gene parie of the breade and cuppe ouer whiche thankes is geuen vnto euery one that is present yea and suffer the same to be caried to them that be absent This nourishment we call Eucharistiam the sacrament of thankes geuing A litle after he declareth the same thyng agayne On sunday saith he companies of the towne and countrey come together Where lessons of the prophetes and Apostles be redde When the clarke ceaseth the minister exhorteth and allureth them to the imitation of so holy thinges Afier we all arise and pray Then as I said bread and wyne mixed with water is brought foorth and the chiefe minister so muche ae he can praieth and geueth thankes the people syngyng Amen Then the thynges consecrated are distributed to al present and be sent by the Deacons to those that be absent The same forme and maner of celebracion of the sacrament with very little difference is witnessed by Dionisius who in Ecclesiastica Hierarchia after he hath descriued a few other circumstances and noted that only they taried in the churche whiche weare méete for the sighte and communion of the deuine and holy sacrament addeth this After hee hathe she wen the gifts of those diuine workes he hoth commeth to the communion of the same hym selfe and also allureth other When the dynine communion is bothe taken and geuen it endeth in holy thankes geuinge Woulde a man desire any plainer testimony of the vse of the Lordes supper in the primatiue Churche Doth not all thynges agre with the institution of christe and example of the Apostle Is here any coniecture either of the laitée receiuing vnder one kinde or of sole receiuynge by the priest or of sacrifienge the body and bloud of Christe for quicke dead Is here any worde or ceremony that signifieth suche vse to haue bene at that time Yet as I sayd these men write not of this mattier by the way but of purpose vndertake to shew the maner of the churche in their daies And wyll you yet continew to affirnie that wee haue no colour or title in the scripture and fathers for the reproffe of your priuate masse But ye wil vrge after your maner to haue an expresse sentence that forbiddeth the priest to receiue without company I answere Christes institucion the example of the apostels the common vse of the fathers was other wayes therfore the prieste should not communicate without other Ye haue no expresse commaundmente that forbiddeth you to baptisme in the name of the father only but that christes institution was otherwise Wyl ye therfore say that ye may withoute offence baptise in the name of the father only If christes institution in baptisme be a sufficient forbidding of the contrary to be vsed why should not his wordes and mauer vsed in the supper forbidde you to doe the contrary Ciprian as I haue sayde taketh it for a full prohibition of the contrary and if you wil not ye must of necessitie weaken his reasoninge against those that he writeth which dyd bringe euen as good reasons and as holy considerations for their parte as ye be able to deuise any for yours Now that I haue in this manner-layed the foundacion of our proofes I wil procede to examine the residew of your argumentes againste vs. In recityng the aucthoritie of Chrisostome you brynge in a similitude or comparison 4. Cap. which of how small force they be in
by spiritual gouernours But to apointe a geometricall measure of place a prescripte proportion of tyme or one certaine number that may serue for all churches times and ages is far aboue our reache And therfore I leaue it to be deuised of suche profound and curious braines as you and yours haue Which beside the worde of god and contrary to his workynge in his creatures can compryse accidences without subiectes and bodies withoute fashion quaÌ„tity or measure with other suche highe misteries whiche neither scripture nor any necessitie of reason doth teache For in déede our wittes are so simple as in gods misteries we can sée no more then his holy word leadeth vs vnto Nexte is that you burden vs with Erasmus aucthoritie 8. Cap. and chalenge vs that wée wyll not beléeue his reporte Sir it séemeth very straunge to mée that you whiche haue so muche hated Erasmus A. as ye haue often chased him out of grammer schooles and dryuen him into the fire should now in your néede take helpe and succour at hys hand Answere to Erasmus Tertullian Cyprian and Ciril Truly wée doo now esteme Erasmus as wee haue alwayes for a man of excellent learning and a singular instrument prouided of god to begin the reformacion of his church in this latter time and yet thinke wee not all his opinions to be true For you I thinke doo esteme Tertullian and Origen and that right worthely And yet if ye wyl graunt all that they write to be true I wyl proue you an heritke Notwithstandinge we deny not that whyche Erasmus saieth in this mattier and knew whens he had his assertion before you tolde vs. How little it serueth your purpose I wyll shew hereafter You confirme Erasmus opinion with that Tertullian wryteth in his 2. boke Ad vxorem of the Paynimes wife that was Christened and euery day priuely receiued the sacrament at home in her house And also with the history that Ciprian rehearseth of the woman that vnreuerently opened the cheste where in shee kepte the Lordes body To this also ye adde Cirilles aucthority for reseruation Out of these places you sucke not onely soole receauinge but also mynistringe vnder one kinde reseruation yea and reall presence also Of soole receiuing Firste for soole receiuinge it behoueth to consider that in the time of Tertullian B. Ciprian and all that age the church was in much trouble vexacion and persecution so that they could not haue their ecclesiasticall assembles and congregations for common praier and ministracion of the sacramentê so conueniently as afterwarde in time of peace For euery Paynime especially if his wyfe childe or seruaunt were tourned to Christianitie was ready and sought occasion to bewray them and bringe them in trouble as it may appere by the same booke of Tertullian that you alledge Therfore they were oftentimes compelled of necessitie to send the sacrament to such as were absent and either durst not or might not conueniently come as ye may perceiue by Iustine the Martir that the fashion was in his time Hereof it came that dyuers receiued alone in their houses But nor these places nor any other that you be able to alledge can proue that there were ministers or priestes priuately celebratinge with other standinge bie that receiued not That whiche these persons receiued at home was parte of that was distributed in the common celebration where company were and vppon case of necessitée sent by the ministers to them beinge absent But you should bringe such places as might proue that the common minister in place of the lordes supper dyd celebrate and receiue alone other beinge present and not partaking For suche a sole receiuinge is your pryuate Masse that you pretende to striue for Now therefore let vs sée how aptely your argument gathered vppon these places doeth conclude your purpose Women and lay men somtime in case of necessitie priuately receiued at home parte of that which was sent from the common celebration therfore common ministers as often as they liste oute of necessitie may consecrate and receiue alone in the common place of prayer when the people is present and doth not communicate I thinke your selfe may easely se of what force this collection is That may be graunted to a lay person receiuinge that may not to a pryest ministringe that sometime in necessitie whiche may not alwayes at pleasure that at home where none is that may not in the church where many be Wherfore these testimonies are but weake groundes to builde pryuate Masse vppon You wyll perchance obiecte that such receiuing in houses was vsed when the churche was in quiet and without persecutioÌ„ I graunt you as the maner is that facions brought in by necessitie or some greate consideration be oftentimes kept and folowed with abuse when neither necessitie doth constraine it nor good consideracion can mainteine it and so was it in this matter Hierome against Iouinian mencioneth that in his time some vsed to receiue in their houses but he earnestly inueigheth against that maner Why saith he doe they not come into the church he Christ sometime abrode in the common place somtime at home in the house c. In Socrates the. 2. boke we reade that Sinodus Gangrensis condemned Eustathium for that contrary to the ecclesiastical rules he graunted licence to coÌ„municate at home So that hereby it may apeare that a custome that in necessitie to some persons is eyther tollerable or pius error is at another time and to other persons vntollerable and Impia prophanatio If you dilygently examine that maner of receauinge in theyr houses at that tyme which ye thinke to make with you you shal wel perceiue it not a lytle to make against you When they did celebrate as Iustine before rehearsed doth witnesse they dyd not only distribute to them that were presente but by the deatons sent it to such as could not be present Did they not in this point declare a necessitée of partakinge if it were possible at euery ministratioÌ„ In so muche that when their place would not receiue all or other necessary cause did let them to come to the common place of prayer yet that they might be partakers of the Lordes supper they sent it to them where they were How well doth this fashion agree with your priuate masse Wherin ye neither cal nor proffer nor send to the people but so doo it all alone in sight of the hole congregacion as though it weare a thinge that nothing appertained vnto them Now then you may euidently se that none of these aucthorities hetherto alleged doth prove directly your Masse that is a sole receiuinge in the celebration of the sacrament But how necessary that time of the churche dyd thinke it to bee that the people should bee partakers with the prieste that Epistle signitieth that you attribute to Anacletus where it is this wrytten Peracta consecratione omnes communicent qui noluerit ecclesiasticis carere liminibus Sic
enim apostoli statuerunt sancta Romana tenet ecclesia After consecration saith hee let all be partakers which wil not be excommunicate For so the Apostles decreed and the holy churche of rome obserued The same wordes by some are attributed to Calixte Doo you not heare excommunication threatned to all that doo not communicate Doo you not heare that the Apostles decreed it and the holy church of Rome obserued it And wil you yet stand so stubburnly in your assertion that there was priuate masse in the primatiue church Wil you haue better witnesses of that time then Iustine then Dionisius then Anacletus then Calixte then the other holy fathers before mencioned would Ambrose haue blamed the people for not resortinge to the sacramente dayly Would Chrisostome haue saide that they which be present and not receiue doo wickedly and impudently Would they haue commonly vsed as Iustine saith to send to those that could not be present if Christes institution and the maner of the prymatiue churche had ben such that the minister might celebrate alone without callinge or offeringe and people without offence bee present and not communicate as you of longe time haue vsed it Surely say what you wyll and alledge as ofte as you liste the aucthoritée of your holy mother the churche of Rome so many hundred yeres I thinke very few that haue feare of god and care of their saluation wyl geue credite vnto you Especially seinge you can bringe no better testimonies for your purpose then in this defence you haue vsed Agaynst coÌ„munion vnder one kinde An other poincte that you picke out of these aucthorities of Tertul. and Cyprian is for ministrynge vnder one kinde wherein wée haue the institucion of Christe expresly against you as wée had in the other For in the Euangelistes and S. Paule wée se testified that Christ tooke breade and gaue with it his body and afterwarde tooke the cuppe and gaue with it his bloud and willed them to obserue vse the same Here you muste of necessitie flée to your â—lde place of refuge that is that to receiue vnder bothe kindes is not of the substance of the sacrament but such a thynge as may be altered by spirituall gouernours For Christes bodie say you is not without his bloud therfore he that receiueth his body vnder forme of breade receiueth his bloud also Per concomitantiam Therfore you say the people is not defrauded of that Christes will was that they shoulde receiue yea and for good consideracions honorable to the bloud of Christ they receiue it more conuenient then vnder bothes kindes O profounde and déepe sette reason wherin you séeme to make your selfe wiser than Christe him selfe that ordeined the sacrament While you will séeme with your gay gloses to glorifie the bloud of Christe you cleane take away the right forme and maner of his sacramente These are the vanities wherwith God iustly doeth punish you for your rashenesse in leauyng his worde and folowyng the phantasies of your owne braine But it should haue béen your obedience to Goddes worde to consider that the communion of Christê body and bloud is not the worke of nature in this Sacrament For what so euer is here geuen in these thynges is to be taken by faith and is offered to vs in the wordes of Christes promisses So much is geuen vs as God appoincted to giue Of whose will and pleasure wée know no more then his wordes declare vnto vs. But Christ as I saied tooke twoo partes of the sacrament in one of the whiche he saied wée shoulde be partakers of his body in the tother of his bloud and lefte his prescripte and appoincted wordes as well for the tone as for the tother Wherfore wée must more trust him than mans subtill deuise You alledge a perpetuall societie of the body and bloud whiche ye call Concomitantiam It is your owne deuise and not Christes promisse in his sacrament In Christes naturall body that is in heauen I know his flesh is not without his bloud But in the sacramente whiche is no naturall worke how will you assure me that the flesh and bloud is ioinctly signified and geuen to mee vnder one parte onely seyng Christ himself who knew as wel as you the ioincte condicion of his flesh and bloud did notwithstandyng in twoo sundrie external thinges geue the communion of them to his disciples Therefore the faieth of the communicantes in the tone parte receiueth the body of Christe trustynge to Christes promisses The same faith in the other parte receiueth the bloud beléeuyng also our sauiours wordes therin It hath respecte to Christes wordes and promisses it looketh not how the body and bloud is in Christe naturally What grounde shal our faith haue if we leaue the worde of God Oh ye will say our holy mother the churche hath so ordeined it Yea but I say to you that if your mother the churche of Rome be the folde of Christe and if the shéepe therof be his shéepe they will heare his voyce and obey his worde If they doo not alledge the name as ofte as ye wyll I will say you be shéepe of an other folde and not of his For he saith Oues meae vocem meam audiunt He saith not they heare them selfe their owne deuises but they heare my voyce Remember what Cyprian saith Only Christe is to be hearde in this And wee must not looke what other did before vs but what Christe did before all other When we doubt we must haue recourse to the order taken by Christe and by the Apostles in their wrytinge But ye will say the churche hath aucthoritie to alter diuers thinges especially beyng indifferent and not of the substance of the sacramente Yea but Cyprian saith the preceptes of this sacrament bee Grandia magna And if he be called least in the kingdome of god that altereth one of the least commaundementes what shal be sayd of him that taketh awaye these great and weightie commaundementes Ciprian wrate against those that were called Aquarij water drinkers which vsed only water in stede of wine in the ministration of the sacrament But they offended not so much as you doe For they altered only the licour and that vppon holy considerations They kepte the wordes and promysses of Christe But you take away the one parte cleane and leaue out the wordes and moste comfortable promysses of Christes bloud to bee shed for vs. If then Cyprian were so earnest againste those vsers of water in stéede of wyne how muche more earnest woulde hee haue ben againste this maner if it had ben common in his time Here those places that you recite may séeme to helpe you and to make againste vs. For where Tertullian speaketh of the Paynimes wife hee mencioneth bread only And wheÌ„ Ciprian reporteth that the woman kept the lordes body in her coffer it may séeme to be vnder one kinde These are but coniectures and the same very vncertaine For oftentimes in the
shall sit in them Mountaines woddes marriceâ— prisonâ— denneâ— are more safe for me For in those the Prophetes either vosuntarely abydinge or cast thether by violence did prophesie by the spirite of god How could a man more plainely declare that the true churche both then was and after shuld be vexed and persecuted by those that in sight and power of external gouernment were taken for the church At is notable also that Augustine hath Deciuit dei lib. 20. speaking of Antichriste Rectius putant etiam latine dici sicut in graeco est non in templo sed in teÌ„plum dei sedeat â—â—nq ipse sit templum dei quod est ecclesia Some thinke it were better spoken in Latine as it is in the Greâ—e as to say that Aâ—â—ithriste shoâ—th sit not in thâ— temple of God but as the temple of God aâ— thoughe himselfe were the temple of God â–ª which is the churche What Bernarde dyd thinke of the churche in his time aboue 400. yeares agoe it appereth in viuers places There is no sounde parte now faith he in the clergie it remaineth therfore that the man of sinne be reuealed And in an other place All my friendes vt now become my foes all my mainteinere â—â—e now become aduetsariâ—â— â–ª The 〈◊〉 of Christe â—o seruice so Antichrist If I should â—â—eite out of authourâ— and Histories al such testimonies as serueth to this purpose I shoulde be a greate deale longer then this place requireth I will therfore at this time omitte them Seting therfore it doeth euidently appere that in the latter time they shall beare the name of the churche whiche in déede be not the right churche wée must booke diligently that wée gene not ouer to euery power that wil claime the name of the churche but consider whither the true marke of the holy churche be amonge them What is the true marke of Christes churche Christe the true pastour noting whiche were his shéepe faseth 〈◊〉 sheepe will here my voyce And as by his worde and voyce he calleth them into his folde so by his sacramentes there he marketh them The right churche therfore as the folde of Christe hath the true worde of God and vse of his sacramentes accordyng to the same for the due markes therof So much then as the worde of God and vse of the sacramentes be corrupted amonge ady people or congregacion so farre shall that company be from the shate of the true and perfit churche of Christe Therfore it is easie to iudge what is to be thought of them that leaue the worde of God and worship him well nere altogether with their owne deuised phaÌ„tasies That the scripture which is the voyce and worde of God is the true triall of the church wée haue good authoritie in the auncient fathers S. Augustine contra PetilianuÌ„ cap. 2. The controuersie is betweene veâ— the Donatisteâ— saith he where the churche is Therefore what shall wee dot shall wee seeke if in our owne wordes or in the wordes of out forde Iesus Christe the head therof thinke wee ought rather to seeke it in his wordes that is trueth and best knoweth hie body Therfore they be not to be compted the churche that with their owne wordes will san they he the churche but they whose doctrine â—â—â—réeth with the worde of Christe that is head of the churche In like maner hath Chrisostome in Mat. cap. 14. wherfore saith he in this thâ—â— off chaifâ—ouâ— men ought to resorte to the seâ—â—â—â— tureâ— â—ecause in this time since theresie is come into the churches there can be no other proufe of true christianitie nor any other refuge for christian men desyryng to know the tune faith but onely the holy for iptureâ— for before it was she wed by many meanes which was the churche of Christe which was gentilitie But now to them that will knowe whiche is the right churche of Christe there is no meanes but only by the scriptures S. Augustine hath the like in many wordes in the. 16. cap. contra epistolam Periliani whiche I let passe here for breuiries sake The place beginneth in this wise Vtrum Donatistae ecclesiam teneant non nisi diuinatu scripturarum canonicis libris ostendant Quianee nos ppterea dicimus nobis credere oportere quod in ecclesia Christ sumus c. Wherfore a Christian conscience that in this daungerous time wyll walke safely must take the word of god to be his only state must â—ake the holy scripture to be as well the rule whereby his shall measure the true paterne of the church as the very touchstone wherby he must trie al the doctrine of the same For god in time paste spoke by his prophetes many and sundry waies but last of all by his dere sonne Whose doctrine how perfite it was the woman of Samaria witnesseth sayinge When Messias commeth he shall telâ—â— all thinges And the same Messias hym selfe saieth I haue made knowen to you all that I haue heard of my father And therefore sendinge his Apostles hee saith Teach them to obserue all that I haue commaunded As if he had sayd ye shall declare vnto the gentils not whatsoeuer shal seeme good to your selfe but those thinges that I haue commaunded you Those thinges therfore are to be hard those thinges we must stay vppon In those we must séeke our saluation and life What soeuer is not agreinge with them must be cast of and compted of no forse So saieth Origine Wee must nedes cal the holy scriptures to witnes In Hierem Hom. 1. For our senses and declaracions withoute those witnesses haue no credite So saith Hierom. That hath not aucthoritie in the scripture in euen as lighily contenmed as it is spoken And againe in psal 86. Consider what hee saith Which were in it not which be in it So that except the Apostles whatsoeuer should be spoken afterwarde let it bee cutte of let it not haue authoritie Therfore be one neuer so holy after the Apostlee bee hee neuer so eloquent he hath not authority Because the lord wyll make his declaracion in the writinge of people and princes that were in it In that place Hierome at large declareth that the doctrine of god must bee proued by such wrytinges as were in the churche vntil the Apostles time and those that after folowed to bee of no sufficient authority were they neuer so holy Let vs stay therefore vpon the canonical scriptures and holy worde of god For saith S. Cyprian Hereof arise schismes because we selâ—e not to the head nor haue recourse to the springe nor kepe the commaundementes of the heauenly maister Let he aske Peter saith Ambrose let vs aske Paule if we wyl finde out the trueth And Christ him selfe biddeth vs searche the scriptures and not presume of our owne spirite vppon vnwritten verities beside the worde of god What credite is to bee geuen to those that so speake Chrisostome teacheth vs. As Christ saith he when hee vnderstode that they sayde
commonly of hym that hee was a deceiuour to purge him selfe of that suspicion witnessed that hee spake not of him selfe because he spake out of the lawe and prophetes euen so if any man sayinge that he hath the holy ghost speaketh of hym selfe and not out of the gospele wee must not beleue him For as Christ said the holy ghost shall not speake of him selfe but shall declare vnto you those thinges that it hathe hearde That is those thinges that I haue spoken he shal confirme These wordes of Chrisostome cleane ouerthroweth the ground of all your vnwriten verities beside the worde of god much more such doctrines as be expresly against the same as is your sole receiuinge and communion vnder one kind Wherfore neither your multitude of sundry nacions and great learned clerkes neither the continuance of .ix. C. yeres if it were so neyther the name of your holy mother the churche which you so often repete can bee any sure proufe of your doctrines without the expresse testimonies of the scripture to witnes the same For the holy ghoste whiche you assure your churche of doth not speake of himselfe saith Chrisostom but confirmeth that Christe spake before After that you haue at your pleasure in sundry partes of your treatise charged him that you write against with folly rashnes arrogancie and impudency euen in those pointes that the same crimes may bee more iustly retourned to your selfe and yours in this place also you indeuour to debase and imminishe his estimation extenuatinge his age continuance in study of holy scripture and maner of life in comparison of your late holy fathers which you doo greatly extolle Such is your shiftes when the matter will not healpe it selfe to transferre your talke to the persons by scorneful disdeining of other to procure your self aucthoritie What your opinion is of him your writing declareth but they whiche haue bene of longer and better acquaintance with him then you are doo right well know and in his behalfe doo protest that .xx. yeres sence he was able fully to haue answered stronger argumentê for these matters then any that you haue brought at this time But whatsoeuer hee is to you god bee praised in him he so liueth as the most malicious of your parte cannot iustly blame him and his learnings is suche as when the matter shal be tried I doubt not but it wil fal out that he with his .xl. yeres age and such other whom in like maner you disdaine shal shewe more true diuinitie then a many of your hoare heades and greate reading clerkes as you thinke whose aucthoritie and name alone ye iudge sufficient to beare downe whatsoeuer shall bee brought against them Towarde the ende you shewe your opinion of reall presence of Christes 13. Cap. Of reall presence body in the sacramente and in that parte blame vs as though we had more acquainted our selfe with Ismael and Agar as you say then with Abraham and Isaac thereby signifâ—yng that we misdoubted the almightie power of god in bringinge that to passe whiche he promiseth or speaketh in the institution of his sacramentes But I muste néedes iudge this to bee in you eyther ignorant blindnes or hatefull malice Blindnes if you doo not vnderstande and sée that in this controuersie wée stay not vpon gods omnipotency malice if you know it and vpbrayde vs with the contrary We graunt as fréely as you with Abraham and Isaac That god is able to performe whatsoeuer he both promise Wee graunt as freely as you with the Angell Thâ—â— no worde it 〈…〉 to god We graunte as fréely as you with Dauid That god hath done whatsoeuer his 〈…〉 We grauÌ„t with the holy fathers that 〈◊〉 greate and merueilous mutation and change is made in this sacrament by the power of gode worde Wee detest euen as muche as you all such as sée no more but common bread or a bare signe in this holy supper neither can wee thinke well of you when you doo so falsely charge us with that assertion But how can you shew that it was gods holy wil to haue so many miracles wrought as you without necessitie doo make in this sacramente Yea and of such sorte as be contrary to the maner of all those miracles that the holy scrinture mencioneth to bee wrought by his diuine power Moyses turned his rodde into a serpent but all that were presente sawe that it was a serpent He made water miraculously to come out of the rocke but al the children of Israell saw and tasted of the water Christe tourned water into wine but all the company dranke and felte it to be wine The same is to bee saide of all the residew of merueylous workes And when gods power had miraculously tourned these thinges that into the whiche they were tourned reserued and kepte that nature that was agreable to suche a thinge The serpent had the very nature of a serpent the water was of such nature as it behoued water to be the wins lost not the right nature of wins Otherwise it may séeme rather a iudglinge then miraculous workinge You neuer reade in all the course of the scripture that gods power tourned the substance of any thinge and left the qualitées of the other thinge that it was before sauing onely in this case that you imagine it God is able to turne darkenes into light and light into darkenes but it were madnes to require at gods almightie power to make lighte and not to haue a shininge that is to make lighte to be light and not to be light all at ones or to make light darkenes all one This were nothing but to peruert the order of gods wisedome Doo you not this in the sacramente when you apoint the body of Christ to be without quantitée proportion and figure or to be in a thousand places at ones which is proper only to his diuinitie Is not this to take away the nature of a body from his body and in déede to affirme it to be no body And yet wee say not but that god is able to worke that also if it be his pleasure But we say it was not gods wil and pleasure in ordeining the sacrament to haue it so For neyther is there any necessitie that should constraine him to it nor doth his word teach vs that ouer hee did the like Oh ye wyll say we muste beleue Christes wordes This is my body which be of as great power now as they were in the parlour at Hierusalent to make the very body of Christe really and carnaly present and so the Catholike church say you doth teache vs. Wherefore vpon this veritie once setled diuers other thinges must of necessitie followe by drifte of reason although they bee not expressely mencioned in scripture as the adoration of the sacrament the turninge of the substance of bread and wine the beinge of Christes body in many places at onâ—â— c. In déede in such is the vanitie of mans reason in gods
doo terme vs Figuratores because wée interprete that sentence by a figure wheras it is not our deuise but the exposicion of all the aunciente fathers of the primatiue churche First I will beginne with Augustine contra Adimantum cap. 12. There it appereth that Adimantus vsed Moyses wordes Sanguis est anima trumake this sonde argument â—loud is the â—â—oule saith Moyses 〈◊〉 flesh and bloud saith Paule shall not possesse the kyndome of God Therefore the soule shal not possesse the kyngdome of God Auguâ—tnes answer to that argument is that this sentence Sanguis est anima must be vnder standed figuratiuely and not litterally as he in that argument tooke it To proue that he vseth these wordes of Christe Hoc est corrusmeum Saiyng in this wise Possum interpreâ—â— illud praeceptum in signo positum esse NoÌ„ enim dubitauit dominus dicere hoc est corpus meum cum daret signum corporis sui I may saieth Austine interzete that precept to consiste in a signe or figure For the lorde bonbted not to say This is my body when he gaue the signe of his body As if he had saied in a farre greater mattier then this that is in institutinge the sacrameÌ„t of his death and our redemption the lorde doubted not to vse a figure and to say this is my body when be gaue the signe of his body Therfore this sentence â—loud is the soule man soner be interpreted figuratiuely So that the meaninge of it is that bloud is the signe of the soule or life and not the very soule in déede The same Augustine in his exposition vpon the thirds psalme Iudam inquit adhibuit ad conuiuium in quo corporis sanguinis sui figuram discipulis suis commendauit Hee admitted Iudas to that feast wherin he commended to his disciples the figure of his Body and bloud The same exposition Tertullian maketh moste euidently in hys forth booke againste Martion Panem inquit acceptum distributum discipulis corpus suum illum fecit Hoc est corpus meum dicendo Hoc est figura corporis mei Christe saith Tertullian made that bread that he toke in his handes and gaue to his disciples his body sayinge this is my bodie that is to say the signe of my body What can bee playner then this exposition of this auncient father if men did not study rather to mainteine partes then to confirme trueth His purpose was there to proue against Martion that Christ had a true body in deds because in the sacrament hee ordeyned the signe or figure of his body and therfore afterward he addeth Figura autem non esset nisi veritatis esset corpus That should not be a figure of his Body onles hee had a very true body in deede Augustine againe in 23. Epistle to Bonifacius Si inquit sacramenta similitudinem quandam earum rerum quarum sunt sacramenta non haberent omnino sacramenta non essent Ex hac autem similitudine plerumque rerum ipsarum nomina sortiuntur Sicut ergo secundum quendam modum sacramentum corporis Christi corpus Christi est sacramentum sanguinis Christi sanguis Christi est ita sacramentum fidei sides est And a littell after Sicut de ipso Baptismo Apostolus Consepulti inquit sumus Christo per baptismum in mortem Non ait sepulturam significamus sed pror sus inquit consepulti sumus Sacramentum ergo tantae rei non nisi eiusdem rei vocabulo nuncupauit If sacramentes had not a certaine similitude of those thinges where of they be sacraments they should not be sacraments at all And for this similitude or likenes they commonly haue the names of the thinges them selfe Therefore as the sacrament of Christes body after a certaine fashion is Christes body and the sacramente of hys bloud is his bloud so the sacrament of faith is faith c. As the Apostle speaketh of Baptisme We bee buried saith he in death to Christ by baptisme He faith not we signifie burial but plainely we be buried Therefore he doth nothinge els but terme the sacrament of so great a thing by the name of the thinge it selfe Sainct Augustines meaninge is to declare to Bonifacius that Baptisme might bee called by the name of faith and that therefore the Infante baptised might be truly affirmed to beleue or to haue faith because it had Baptisme the sacrament of faith This he proueth by comparison with the sacrament of Christes body and bloud Which for a similitude or likenes hée saieth is called the body and bloud of Christ that after a certaine fashion adding that Baptisme in like manner is faith And yet no man wyl be so vnwise to say that Baptisme is faith in déede really Wherfore the like is to be iudged of the sacramente of the Lordes body wherby S. Augustine proueth it This also is diligently to be noted that Augustine saith all sacraments generally be vttered by name of the thinges them selfe because of a certaine similitude or likenes therfore Paule saith not we signifie our buryall but wée be buried callinge the sacrament by the name of that thing as Austine saith Againe in Libro sententiarum prosperi as it is recited in the decrées De consecratione distine 2. cap. Hoc est The same father hath these words Coelestis panis qui est caro Christi suo modo nom inatur corpus Christi cum reuera sit sacramentum corporis Christi Vocaturque ipsa immolatio carnis quae sacerdotis manibus fit Christi passio mors crucifixio non rei veritate sed significante misterio The heauenly bread which is the flesh of Christ after a fashion is named the body of Christ where as in dede it is but the sacrament of his body And the offeringe of the fleash which is done with the priestes hands is called the passion the death the crucifiynge of Christ not in veritie of the thinge but in a signifiynge mistery The glose in expounding these words of Augustine saith this Caeleste sacramentum quod vere repraesentat Christi carnem dicitur corpus Christi sed improprie vnde dicitur suo modo non rei veritate sed significante misterio Vt sit sensus vocatur corpus Christi id est significat It is called the body of Christ saith he that is to say it signifieth the body of Christ To this I wil adde Chrisostome Operis imperfecti Homil 11. Si inquit vasa sanctificata transferre ad priuatos vsus peceatum est in quibus non est verum corpus Christi sed misterium corporis Christi continetur quanto magis vasa corporis nostri c. If saieth hee it be sinne to transferre holy vessels vnto priuate vses in whiche is not the true body of Christ but that mistery of his body is conteined how muche lesse should wee c. What can more plainly declare the figuratiue sence of those wordê of christ hoc est corpus meuÌ„ then that
Christ by his vnfallible promisse vnfeinedly geueth to the faith of his people the very fruition of his body and bloud with the hole benefite of his precious death and passion and by the workinge of the holy ghost merueilously ioyneth vs in one body together with him Is not this thinke you a merueilous change and to mans estimation a miraculous worke when by the power of the holy ghost worde of god of commen breade and wine such as we daily féede our bodies with is made the dredful and reuerent sacramentes and mysteries of Iesus Christ wherby as I saide he doth not by a bare signe only but verely and in déede endow is faithfull people and make them partakers of his body and bloud Yea and that in such sorte that euen as truly as the bread doth norishe our body and euen as truly as the wine doeth comforte our spiritê so truly and vnfeinedly doeth the heauenly foode of his body and bloud toren and shed for vs by fait h in time of that holy supper no ryshe strengthen and comforte our soule and by the wonderfull workinge of his spirite make our bodies also apte to resurrection Truly when I earnestly consider the effecte of this sacrament as it must néedes be by the trueth of Christes promises I confesse I am not able with wordes to vtter so muche as in my minde I doo conceiue and together withal eschew the absurditie of your reall presence and transsubstantion Wherfore I merueile not if those holy fathers fearinge no suche inconueniences but lokinge rather pithely to expresse the thinge dyd vse those earnest wordes and manners of speakinge and yet mente not as you now of their wordes doo gather All though no similitude can sufficiently declare the thinge I wyll for the simplar forte so muche as I can indeuour by a comparison to set for the that I do conceiue If a temporal prince for certaine causes mouinge him would geue you a thousand pound land by the yere and for that purpose had caused the wrytinges to be made The same wrytinge vntill it bee confirmed by the prince is nothinge but common parchment and inke framed into letters by some inferiour mans hand neither doth it bring any effect but when the prince hath once added to his seale confirmed the graunt it is no more called parchement or common writing but the kinges letters patents And now hath that reuerence that all to whom they be shewed doo veile there bonetes as bringinge with it some parte of the princes maiesty Such a change is now made in those trifelinge thinges that before no man estemed You also to whom this lande should bee geuen would not thinke this writinge common parchement blotted with inke but the perfite déede of your prince wherby you were assuredly possessed of the foresaid lands Moreouer when the prince at the deliuery of the same should say sir here is a thousand pound land that I geue fréely to you and to your heires I thinke you would not be so fonde to thinke either that the Prince doeth mocke you because you sée not the laÌ„ds presently or els to conceiue with your selfe that you haue the landes really inclosed within the compasse of your writing For the kinges aucthoritie in the writyng geueth you as ful possession of the landes as though you helde theÌ„ if it were possible in your hande And you in this case might iustly saye to your friende shewing your letters patents Lo here is a thousande pounde lande that my prince hath geuen me If then there bee so greate a change made in framyng the couenant déede of an earthly prince If his seale doo bryng such force effecte to his gifte and letters patentes How much more merueilous change alteracioÌ„ or transmutacion muste wée thinke it to bee when the base creatures of breade and wine be consecrated into the sacrament of the euerlastyng couenante and testament of Iesu Christ wherin he geueth vs not earthly vanities but the precious foode of his body and bloude remission of sinnes and the heritage of his heauenly kingdome how muche more of effecte must this sacrament be that is sealed with the promisse and wordes of our sauiour Christ who is truth it selfe and cannot deceiue any that trusteth in him Wherefore to expresse this change of the externall elementes into so heauenly misteries to shewe the effecte of this sacrament to withdrawe the ignorant mindes of the people from the prophane cogitacion of a bare signe in this mattier the auncient fathers had good cause to vse suche wordes And yet therein doo they nothyng at all defende your miraculous workes that you deuise to be made in the Lordes supper As for the similitude wherewith you woulde declare the necessitie of your Labels depending vpon the first founded absurditie it is both of as smal force as other that you before vsed and you handle it with more sluttish eloquence then is méete for suche a mattier as this is For the drawyng of the Capons the scumming of the potte the stinkyng water the hewyng of wodde the puttyng on the broche with guttes garbage and al. c. Be phrases and termes more méete for the kitchinne then for the Diuinitee schoole and such as your self I thinke woulde not haue vsed if your mockyng spirite had not so rauisshed you as you wist not what you did If wée had resembled your Labels whiche you cutte out by drift of reason vnto so base mattiers you woulde haue sayd that wée had rayled and done otherwise then it became vs. But sens your selfe doth so take them wée must thinke that God oftentimes moueth his aduersaries to vtter trueth against them selues But if the same maister that you imagine to commaunde his seruaunte to make readie that hee may dine did meane onely that he should set vpon the table suche colde meate as was in the house because he saw no cause or necessitie of greater prouision And the seruaunte vpon his owne foolish head would mistake his maisters commaundement conceyuing that he woulde haue great straungers did kill his Capons Chickens and other prouision aboute his house and busied himselfe with more labour then thanke to make them readie Doo you not thinke I pray you that he might iustly be compted an vnprofitable seruaunt and worthy by correction to bee taught more witte for that he putteth his maister to greater chargies and himselfe to more paines then the mattier required if he had rightly vnderstanded his maisters will and commaundemente Euen so sir those thynges that you say foloweth by force of reason and argument vpon the first sentence do folow indéede only vpon that sence that your selfe doth imagine mistakyng your maisters wil and pleasure and not vpon that meanyng that Christe himselfe would haue his wordes to be taken in For all that he woulde haue done may be sufficiently done without the working of so manie miracles as you in this case would driue his omnipotencie vnto Wherefore wée are not
nor of many other trifling doubtes you make because all such doubtes are answered to the ful in the oryginall veritie of Christes words being in the nature of the veritée necessarily imploied As these are agaynste the whiche you may kicke till you be very but it lieth not in you to alter the nature of Christes owne wordes If you had found in the scripture spoken by Christe concerninge the blessed sacrament This is not my body but the figure of my body beyng absent in substance and onely present to your imaginacions by the sight of the bread You might haue triumphed and blowed vp your horne lustely in euery pulpit and made your auaunte that you had bin able to controlle all christendome But now the letter is very playne against you and the sence of the letter also as the fathers do recorde in all ages and generall counsels to As may appere by your owne mistrust for the space of the last .ix. hundred yeres and odde I take God to iudge I wrote not this for any malice to suche as are otherwise â—ente I pittie them rather and dayly pray for them that they may embrace the catholike faieth But when I perceiued Goltas in his brauerie hauynge truste in his bigge bones and stronge weapons braggyng many times as though there were none of the Israelites hable to matche him Notwithstandynge there are very many that coulde haue handled him better then I beyng a man of small learnyng troubled with much businesse yet I thought it my dutie for the honour of my mother the catholike churche to hurle out foure or fiue stones in Dauids sling against this champion not to hurte him in the forhead as Dauid did Golias but to crushe in péeces certeine vntruethes that he taught Wyshyng him as wel to doo as I woulde my self And all my countrey men of Englande to be ware least they fal into the snares and trappes that our ghostly enemie laieth abrode euery where not onely to hurte their bodies but to hurle downe bothe body and soule into the déepe dongeon of hell The whiche I beséeche God moste hartely géeue all men grace to auoyde Amen An Answere in defence of the truth Againste the Apologie of priuate Masse LONDINI Mens NoueÌ„b 1562. The cheefe poinctes touched in this defence of the trueth Against priuate Masse or soole receiuing by the minister in the common place of praier Why the doctours call the sacrament of the Lordes supper by the name of oblacion or sacrifice Against communion vnder one kinde Of reseruacion of the sacrament Against the argumentes of multitude and longe continuance of time Against the alledging of the aucthoritee name of the church What is to be attributed to the auncient fathers Of reall presence and interpretacion of christes wordes Hoc est corpus c. ⧠The preface to the Reader IT is wel knowen to a greate number partly by presence in hearinge partely by wrytinge set forth of the same that a worthy learned man and Bishop of this Realme stoutly in dede as the matter required and clerkly also as learning and knowlage taught him did openly protest in certaine Sarmons not to the furtheraunce of vntrueth as malice carpeth but to the confusion of falshodde as the ende proueth that if any of those things which he then rehearsed could be proued of the contrary side by any sufficient authoritie of the scriptures olde doctours and auntient councels or by any alowed example of the primatiue church then he would be contented to subscribe and yelde to their doctrine This his doynge as no lesse was to be loked for sum men depraued many dispraised all they misliked that mainteined suche superstitious errours as false teachinge hath trained people in the space of certaine hundred yeares And in dede seinge they harde their doctrine so plainely defaced and their wilfull misleadynge of Christian men so openly to be noted a man maye thinke they had good cause to startle at the matter and somewhat to loke aboute them leste they seemed altogether carelesse Wherfore as dyuers haue dyuersly shewed theyr mislikinge so one of that partie hath in writing priuely spred abrode an answere to the forsaide offer or protestatioÌ„ for priuate masses wherin he both perswadeth him selfe and would haue other also to beleue that he hathe so fully satisfied the parties request as it maye seeme greate folly and as he termeth it impudencie any longer to staye vpon it One of the copies of this answere by occasion as it fortuned not many monethes sence lighted into my hands which I vnderstande is so spred abrode in dyuers places of this Realme as there be fewe mislikers of the trueth but they haue it and make such accompte of it as a greate number of the vnlearned sorte staie their consciences there vpon Who the aucthour is or what maner of man I neither knowe nor can gesse more then he witnesseth of him selfe in the entraunce of this treatise Where he signifieth that once he imbraced that religion which he now detesteth and writeth against In that parte me thinketh he doth deale as fonde men sometime are wonte to doe which to displease their enemies sticke not to hurte them selues also So he to discredite the doctrine that he is reuolted from geueth such testimonie of his owne naughtie life and conscience as he would be lothe to heare at any mans mouth but his owne All that time saieth he neither regarded god nor good relygion nor any good conscience beside What malice it is to charge the doctrine that by hipocrisie he professed with the cause of his euill doinge I will not declare with suche wordes as the matter requireth This muche I will saye that he learned this of olde Adams greate councellour Who at the beginninge beinge blamed for his disobedyence seemed to bourden God him selfe with the cause of it and excused his owne folly by that thinge whiche his maker had geuen him to his comforte and commoditie In like manner when this mans conscience as it seemeth by hys owne wordes accused him of lewde liuinge and lacke of the feare of god to excuse his owne ill disposed minde he casteth the faute vpon the doctrine of the gospell whiche God did open vnto him vndoubtedly to his great commoditie if he would haue taken it And vnder this pretence bothe forsaketh it him selfe and by his example exhorteth other to eschew it But as the wicked life of a man to his owne greate harme may be a blotte to the religion that he professeth so God forbidde it should be compted a full reprofe of the same or a iuste cause to be of all other reiected If it were so men should refuse Christianitie because dyuers not of the basest sorte but of the heades of the Churche as their owne histories witnes haue ben of horrible and wycked life But we muste thinke that the hipocrisie and traiterous couetousnes of Iudas and his felowes is a confusion to them selfe but no iust reproche to