to the godhead to be lesse then the Father Of this point be the Fathers Irencus Ambrosius Ierononius Vigilius Augustinus and almost all the rest most sufficient witnesses As sayth Irenens the soule is present to the flesh dying and suffreth nothing so the godhead of Christ is present with the manhood suffring and suffering nothing onely rested Ambrose of that vpon S. Iohn Hereafter you shall see the sonne of man sitting on the right hande of the vertue This sitting doth so appertayne to the man sayeth he that in no case it is applyed to the Godhead which is infinite for God that is euer euery where cannot goe from place to place Ierâ—me Christ did die according to that he could die Vigilius agaynst Vtiches he one and the same sonne of God the Lord Jesus Christe both died according to the fourme of a seruaunt and died not according to the fourme of god Austen vpon that of S. John. None went vp into heauen but he that came down from heauen the sonne of man which is in heauen â–ª he was here sayeth S. Austen by flesh in heauen by Godhead yea euery where by Godhead and a little after shall not man Christ be called the sonne of God which his fieshe alone deserued to be called in the graue For what else doe we confesse when we say that we beléeue in the only begotten son of God which was crucifyed and suffered vnder Pontius Pilate died and was buryed what was buryed of him but his flesh without his soule And more playnly afterwardes who is he by whome the world was made Christe Jesus but in the fourme of God who was nayled to the crosse vnder Pontius Pilate Christ Jesus but in the fourme of a seruaunt Who was net lefte in Hell Christ Jesus but in soule alone Who lay thrée dayes dead in the graue and rose agayne the same Christe Jesus but in flesh alone Christ is sayd in ech one of these but all these be not two or thrée but one Christ Whereby it is playne the certayne properties or peculier graces of the one nature may be ascribed to the other in word thorough the vnion of the person but cannot agree in déede thorow the difference of the two natures The which Vigilius doth most playnly expresse agaynst Vtiches Then according to the property of nature onely the flesh died only the flesh was buried but according to the vnion of the person God dyed and was buryed For the person of the word is in the flesh which died Also according to the propertie of the nature the word came downe from heauen not the flesh And according to the property of the nature the flesh died and not the word but according to the vnion of the person both the flesh came downe from heauen and the word dyed and was buried Then when we saye that God died and suffred Let not Nestoreus be afrayde For we speake according to the vnion of the person Againe when we say that God neyther died nor suffered Let not Vtiches dreade for we speake according to the proprietie of the nature To this purpose writeth Theodorete you are to vnderstande that the vnion of the two natures doth make the names and proprieties common you will not say I suppose that the fleshe of God came downe from heauen For it was made in the Virgins wombe Howe then doeth the Lorde saye if you shall see the sonne of manne go vp the ther where he was before And againe none goeth vp into heauen but he that came downe from heauen the sonne of manne which is in heauen this he meaneth not of the flesh but of the godhead And the godhead is of God the father how then doth he call him the son of man They be reckned common to the person thorowe the vnion which be peculier to the seuerall natures So we are to expounde the rest in this sorte as the Fathers do The word became fleshe What is the mind what is the meaning of this spéeche was the deuine nature made the humayne nature God forbidde Naye it did take vnite to the selfe the humaine nature God did purge his church by his bloude What meaneth this hath the deuine nature bloud God forbidde that anye body should so think but God did purge his church by the bloude of that nature which he did appropriate by inâ—arnation or taking our flesh vpon him They nayled to the crosse the GOD of glory what is the the sence of these wordes was the godheade pierced or nayled to the woode God forbidde Nay that nature was so affected which the godhead did take to the self of the virgins wombe Wherefore thorowe the vnion of the person such things maye be spoken in worde but they cannot agrée in déede Neyther doth that of saint Basill of the birth of Christ disagrée with these How is the godheade in the fleshe as the fyre is in the yron not transitiuely but distributiuely For the fyre doth not runne into the yron but abyding in the place doth imparte and bestowe the peculier facultie vppon it Howe then was not God the word fylled with bodily weaknesse as the fyre doth not get to it selfe the proprieties of the yron IroÌ„ is black and colde and yet fyred it becommeth bright and hotte So the humayne nature of the Lorde was made partaker of the denine nature but did not poure into the deâ—â—e nature the owne weaknesse And so I see certaine proprieties dispersed but I doe not vnderstand all for after the vniting of the godhead the body of Christe was hungrie coulde thirstie wearie and gréeued and this is true of Christ the voyce My Soule is heauier euen vnto death And nayled vpon the crosse he sayeth I am dry He suffred truely he dyed truely hée was compassed about with place truly I would therefore gladly learne why the two natures should be sayd to be deuided because the seuerall proprieties of ech nature be set downe after his rysing agayne rather then they were wheÌ„ the seuerall proprieties of eache nature were set downe before his death For I reasoÌ„ thus the body of Christ liuing vpon earth was in one certayne and peculier place but the Godhead was in euery place And yet none will say that the person of Christ was then deuided why then may we not likewise say that the body of christ being in heauen is in one certayn and peculier place and yet not deuide the person of Christe For in Christes person being vpon earth perfecte God and perfect man were coupled together As S. Paule doth exceleÌ„tly say to the Colossians In him doeth dwel all the fulnesse of the Gohhead bodily The true full and absolute Godhead did dwell in the true full and absolute body comprised in one certayne and peculier place and yet was there no renting of the person of Christ What ground then haue these lameÌ„table and bitter outeryes that the persoÌ„ of Christ is denided
first daye is feare the seconde is truth and the thirde loue The day of feare is the daye of power and the day of the father The daye of wisedome is the daye of truth and the day of the sonne The daye of loue is the day of mercie and the daye of the holye ghost Surely the daye of the father and the daye of the sonne and the day of the holye ghost is all one in brightnesse of the Godhead but in lightening our minds the father hath one daye the sonne an other and the holy ghost the thirde Not that in any respect we ought to beleeue that the trinity which in substance cannot be seuered in working maye be seuered but that the distinction of the persons maye be vnderstoode by the difference of the workes When the consyderation of the Almightie power of God doth stirre our hartes to prayse God it is the day of the father But when the wisdome of God doth light our harts with the séene knowledge of the truth it is the day of the son And when the mercy of God consydered doth fyre our hartes with loue it is the day of the holy ghosâ— Power doth terrify Wisedome doth lighten Mercy doth glad In the day of power we die by feare In the daye of wysedome we be buryed from the noyse of thys worlde by the contemplation of truth In the day of mercie we rise agayne by the loue and desyre of eternall ioy For therefore Christ died the sixt day laye in the graue the seuenth daye and rose agayne the eyght daye that in semblable maner first power in that day by feare should outwardly kil vs from carnall desyres and then wisedome the next daye shoulde inwardly burie vs in the graue of contemplation And last of all mercie in that day should cause vs quickned to arise agayne by Fayth and by the desyre of the loue of god For that the sixt day is the day of labour the seuenth day the day of rest and the eyght daye the daye of rysing againe ⧠A Prayer SHyne we beséech thée O almighty and mercifull God of our Lorde Jesus Christ that father of glory vpon our minds and hearts with the beames of thy heauenly grace and geue vs the spirite of wisedome and vnderstanding thorough the knowledge of thee that the eyes of our heartes being lighted we may knowe what is the hope of the calling and howe riche is the glory of the heritage of thy sayntes and that excellent greatnesse of thy power towardes vs which beléeue according to the might of the force of thy strength which thou shewed in Christ wheÌ„ thou diddest raise him from the dead and diddest set him at thy right hand in heauen farre aboue all Empyre power aucthoryty and dominion and euery name that is named not onely in this world but also in the world to come Graunt this moste mercifull father for thy best beloued sonnes sake our onely aduocate and sauioure Christ Jesus So be it ⧠Whether the naturall aud glorifyed body of Christ is in all or manye places at one and the same time NIcâ—pherus doeth write that Vtiches and Dioschorus the greate enemyes of the councell of Calcedon went to Alamordaruâ— a King of the Saracenes a little before conuerted to the fayth and babtized to infect him with their herisyes But the good King well instructed and strongly propt vp with the grace of God contynued a zelous and constant professour of Christ At the last when by no meanes he could rid himselfe of the crafty and importune souldyours of Sathan he fayned that he must needes goe speake with certayne straungers soone after retourning to Vtiches and Dioschorus tould them that he had receaued strange newes that Michaell the Archaungell was dead Vtiches and Dioschorus cryed out and sayd they were lyes For it was vnpossible that an Angell should dye Then sayd the King what mad men be yee that confesse that Christ was crucified and dead and yet denye that he was a man. The same in déede though not in euery respect falleth out with them which graunt that Christ hath a natural body but deny that the same body is comprised in one place Vtiches denied that Christ was a maÌ„ but he doeth not denye that he was crucifyed and dead These doe denye that Christes body is bounded or in one place but they doe not deny that it is a naturall body I doe not therefore sée how they can shifte their selues of the â—utikian heresy or the confounding of the two natures in Christ which take away place and circumscription from the naturall body of Christ In worde they say that the two natures in Christ be distincte and that the seueral properties of ech of the natures be distinct but in déede they confound them all in traÌ„sferring the whole force of the Godhead into the body Truth it is that the glorifyed body is moresubtill and nimble then the not glorifyed body as S. Augustine doeth wel say But yet a body and a body bouÌ„ded with the boundes of place Aristotle doth say and very truely that euerybody muste needes be as it were hedged about with a place the same S. Austen writeth to Dardanus take away spaces of places froÌ„ bodyes and they shal be no where and because they shall be no where they shall not be at all But if the nature of the body of Christ be weighed by it selfe it is so as you say Notwithstanding if you looke to the power of God by that and from that it may haue force to be euery where For who can set any bounde to the power of God which made the heauens the earths the seas of nothing The aunswere is easie no manne calleth in question the strength and power of God but we inquire what his will is our question is not whether God coulde haue the naturall body of Christ to be in euery place at one time but whether God woulde haue it so Wherefore that I maye be frée from al quarels and slaunders euen at the dore of my spéeche I doe openly and plainely protest that we doe not thrust or binde the bodye of Christ into any straight prison of the Firmament but that we beléeue and confesse that the same is in the most large and noble Countrie of the lyuing farre aboue all the heauens subiect to the sences Also that we do not part the manhood froÌ„ the Godheade or the Godheade from the Manhood but that we doe most certainly beléeue that these two natures be euer knitte and lincked together in one parson of Christ perfyte God and perfyte man Thirdly that we doe not in any respect diminishe that great and infinite power of the great and mightye God but that we do honour him as god almightie and eternall And yet we are loth to be reckned in the number of those which the Poet Horase doeth speake Whilst Fooles doth auoyde one faulte they fall into another I meane that I would neither speake
coulde be parted it should be a body and if it were a body it should be absolutely in place and it should be great and haue quantity and if it had quanttâ—y it could not auoyde circumscription Here Austen in his thirteth Treatise vpon saint John the Lorde Jesus is aboue but here is also the truth the Lorde For the bodie of the Lorde in the which he rose againe must needes be in one place but the truth is dispersed I reason thus out of Theodorete the incorruptible the impatible the immortall the glorifyed the worshipped body of the Lorde is circumscribed as it was being vpon earth Therfore whatsoeuer bodye of Christ you meane it is comprehended in one place Out of Cirill thus If the Trinity be a body it is in place it hath quantitie it hath circumscription But the humaine nature of Christ ioyned with the Godhead and being glorifyed and made immortall is a body Therefore it is in place it hath quantitie it hath circumscription Out of Austen the body of the Lorde in the which he rose againe must be in one place Ergo the immortall and glorifyed bodye of Christ is contained in one place Neyther is this to part the natures of the manhoode and Godhead of Christ but to set downe the seuerall properties of eche nature For I doe not meane that the humane nature is in place seuered from the deuine nature but is euer ioyned to it But yet the humanitie doth not fyll all places which the Deity doeth fill This maye well appere by this similitude although it be not like in all pointes for you be to vnderstande that a symilitude néedeth not to be like in all pointes but onely in those properties the which is vsed to make plaine The bodie of the sunne abydeth euer in the globe or circle in the FirmameÌ„t but the beames of the sunne doe walke thorow the whole worlde the vertue of the sunne doth comfort féede and nourishe euerye lyuing creature vppon the face of the whole earth and yet neyther the beames nor the vertue of the sunne be parted from the bodie of the sunne Euen so the body of Christ is placed in heauen as in a most bewtifull and gorgeeâ—s Throne but the godhead of Christ doth not onely fill the heauens the ayre the sea the earth and the places vnder the earth but also doeth comfort nourishe all and euerye creature in all and euery the saide places and yet the godhead is not parted from the bodye although the body fyll not so many places as the godhead doth That famous and learned prince Iustinian spied thys that two thinges might be ioyned together and yet the one not to fyll so manye or the same places as the other And thervpon in his most excellent booke Called the Institutions of Iustinian doeth most wisely and discreetely order that when the bodies bowes of the trée hang ouer one mans close and the roote of the trée hangeth in an other That the trée should be his in whose close the roote groweth For this purpose then the body bowes of the trée be in Mâ—uius his close the roote of the trée groweth in Titius his close and yet the body and the bowes be not seuered from the roote but ioyned to the roote although the roote doth not fill any place in Meâ—â—â—s his close as the body and bowes doe Euen so then the body of Christ resteth in Heauen but the godhead doth fyll al other closes places they be not seuered but remayn ioyned together For although the Godhead being of much more excellâ—â—y and efficacy than the beames of the sunne and more fruitefull then the rootes of trees doe poure the force vppon all places and thinges notwithstanding the body is not present neither doeth â—il al the same place This is a more familier resemblaunce The body of the Candle is set in the Candle sticke but the light of the Candle fylleth the whole house The body of Christ abydeth in heauen the light of the Godhead fylleth the whole world The light of the Candell is not parted from the body of the candle neither is the Godhead of Christe parted from the body of Christ but as the light shineth ouer all the house and is not seuered from the Candle being onely in the Candlestick for the godhead shineth ouer the whole world and yet is not seuered from the bodye being onely in Heauen Neyther be these my deuises but that great Clearke S. Augustine doth plainly distinguish the two natures of Christ in the selfe same manner writing to Dardanus We do not think that it was sayd according to the humayne nature which God the word tooke of the Virgin Mary This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise for Christ as man was not that day in Paradise but in Hell according to his soule in the graue according to his flesh Nowe if by S. Augustine Christ according to his Godhead were in Paradice or heauen according to his flesh in the graue and yet his Godhead and flesh not parted what partition should this bréede of the Godhead and Manhood to say that the naturall body of Christ is now only in heauen and his Godhead both in heauen and all other places Also it is right to beleeue and without any partitioÌ„ of the two natures that when his naturall body was here vpon earth onely and not in Heauen For according to that Christe sayd I haue not yet gone vp to your God and my god your Father and my Father His Godhead was then both in Earth and in Heauen And why doth it not as well stand with right fayth and without any particioÌ„ of the two natures Now to beleeue that his body is onely in Heauen according to the saying of the Aungell in the Acts of the Apostles Whom the Heauens must holde c. and yet his Godhead to be both in Heauen and in Earth and in euery place For the same S. Augustine sayeth a little afterwards to the same effect Doubte not that man Christ that is christ according to his humayn nature is now there from wheÌ„ce he shall come by the testimony of the Aungell in the same sorte as hée was séene to goe that is in the same fourme and substaunce of fleshe According to this fourme we may not beleue the Christ is euery where For we must take great héede that we maynteyne not the deity of the man so that we take awaye the truth of the body Neither doth it follow that euery thing that is in â–ª GOD should be euery where where as God is For the Scripture speaketh moste truely of vs that we liue mooue and be in God and yet be we not euery where as God is Albeit that man is an other way in God for God is an other way in that man after a certayne proper and peculier manner For god and man is one person and both be one Christ one euery where according
to his godhead in Heauen according to his Manhood And in the ende of the Epistle assure your selfe that Christ is euery where as god and in some place of Heauen for the truth of his body And vppon S. Iohn according to the presence of maiesty we haue Christ euer according to the presence of his flesh it was well sayd to his Disciples Yée shall not haue me euer with you In his booke intituled of the substance of Godheade which is also ascribed to S. Augustine we ought to beléeue and confesse that the sonne of God according to the substance of his godhead is inuisible without body without circumseription but according to his manhoode we ought to beleeue and confesse that he is visible hauing body hauing place and all the parte of man truely Likewise Cirillus wryting vpon saint John doth distinguish the same two natures in the same sorte saying Christ is not here by the presence of the flesh which notwithstanding is euerywhere by the presence of maiestie And Beda in a certaine Homely at Easter The same God man was taken vp in body which he toke froÌ„ the earth but remaineth with the saints vpon earth by his godhead by the which he fylleth both the heauen earth And Fulgentius to Thrasimundus Christ one and the same man locall of man which is God infynite of the father one and the same according to his humayne nature absent in heauen when he was in earth and leauing the earth when he went vp into heauen but according to his deuine and immeasurable nature neither leauing heauen when he came downe from heauen nor leauing earth when he went vp into heauen And Vigilius agaynst Vtiches it differeth very much to be circumscribed wyth place to be euery where bicause the word is euery where but the fleshe is not euerye where it is manifest that one and the same Christ is partaker of both Natures and that he is euerywhere according to the nature of his godheade and contayned in place according to the nature of hys manhod Saint Austen doth name the maner of Christes true body and doth call Christ locall Cirillus affirmeth that he toke away the presence of hys body Gregorie denyeth that he is in this worlde by the presence of his flesh Beda doeth auouche that he was taken vp according to his manhood Fulgentius doth affirme him to be a man locall and to haue a humane nature local Vigilius doth most euidently saye that his fleshe is not euery where But you will say all these thinges be vnderstode visibly and of a visyble presence Truely that is more absurde then the other which doth plainely appeare by viewing the Antithesis or setting of the sentences one against another Vigilius doth say the worde is euery where the fleshe is not euery where Put to visible the sence will be most absurde for you must say the worde is euerye where the fleshe is not euery where visybly neyther yet the worde is euerye where visibly and so Vigillius hath set downe no difference of the two natures For his sence muste be the word is euery where inuisybly the flesh is euery where inuisybly Waigh that of saint Gregorie Christ is not here by the presence of his humayne nature you expound it by the visyble presence for you make this the Antithesis Christ is not here in visible presence of his fleshe which is euery where by the inuisyble presence of his godheade For the not visyble presence and the inuysible presence be al one So there should be no Antithesis no fyght nor repugnauncie of these sentences but that the ancient fathers ment a manifest Antithesis a great repugnancie who is so dull that he doth not vnderstande or so blinde that he doeth not sée sythence by the same they auouch and establish two diuers natures in Christ The one of perfyte God the other of perfyte man Whereby it is euident that the iudgement of the auncient fathers is that Christ his body is not at al in earth but sittteth on the right hande of God the father in heauen not in an Juâ—riâ— or golden throne or in kingly or costly apparel as the symple fansie but in great glorie and power as the faythfull beléeue This is proued by that of Christ in the twenteth of saint Mathewe I leaue the worlde and I go to my Father and agayne ye shall haue the poore euer with you but ye shall not haue me euer Also I go to my father and your father to my GOD and your god Likewise saint Marke wryteth that the Lorde Jesus is taken vp into heauen and sytteth at the right hande of the Father And S. Paule exhorteth all men to seeke Heauen where Christe sitteth at the righte hand of GOD the Father Euen so the authour to the Hebrewes 10. doeth saye we haue such a high priest which sitteth in Heauen at the right hand of the throne of maiesty And a little after he had offred one Sacrifyce for sinne he sitteth for euer at the right hand of God from henceforth looking that his enemies be made his footescoole whome the heauens must hold vntill the time of restoring of all thinges as it is in the seconde of the Actes of the Apostles All this is spoken to set down the diuers properties of the two natures in Christ his deuine nature and his humaine nature and to shew that a man may well expresse the seuerall properties of eche nature and yet in no case part the one from the other But I pray you is there no supernaturall property in the body of Christ hath it no prerogatiues Did the wonderfull vnion of the most holy godhead poure no vertue no force into it Verie many but yet not suche as cannot agree with the humaine nature as saint Austen doth excellently say he gaue to it immortalitie but toke not awaye the nature of it And againe we muste take great héede that we do not affirme the deitée of the man so that we take awaye the truth of the body Therfore the naturall body of Christ is made immortall gloryfied sanctified quickned but it is not made eternall vnmeasurable increat or infynite for these ouerthrowe the humaine nature And that certaine things be so peculiar to the godheade that at all they doe not agrée to the manhood but be applyed only in phrase or speech and contrary that certayne thinges be peculiar to the manhood and doe not at all agree to the godhead but be applied to it onely by phrase or speech is manifest In the firste of John. He it is which comming after me was before me Neyther to be before John doeth agrée to the manhood of Christ in déede neither to be after John to the godhead This is also manifest by these sayings before Abraham was I am and the father is greater then I neyther doeth it agrée to the manhood in déede to be before Abraham nor
that his godhead and manhood be plucked asunder because we auouch that the naturall body of Christ is in heauen at the right hand of God the Father and yet his godhead to be euery where did not his godhead then fill heauen and earth when his naturall body was in a corner of the earth wheÌ„ it lay in the graue And may not nowe the Godhead fill the whole world and his naturall body be onely in heauen and the two natures not seuered Away then away with quarrels and let truth preuayle and tryumphe by the which the two natures of christ tyed togeather with the merueylous bonde of the vnion be distinguished but not seperated And truely to continue in the same resemblance of saint Basill the fyre doth not chaunge all the properties of the Iron for the Iron fyred and hotte is heauy falleth downward is a solidde and thicke body This is S. Basils meaning that these forces of the fyre be transferred into the Iron of the which the nature of the yroÌ„ is capable not those which ouer throwe the nature of the yron And in like manner that those forces and proprieties of the godhead be transferred into the body of Christ of the which the nature of the body is capable not those which ouerthrow the nature of the body For we must â—uer haue recourse to that worthy shying of S. Austen he gaue immortallity to his body but he tooke not awaye the nature of the body neyther is the godhead of the man so to be mainteined that the truth of the body be destroyed But why do I stand vpon this poynt why doth my spéech so long waÌ„der why doe I not open the spring of this controuersy For al this conteÌ„tion floweth froÌ„ the question aboute the presence of the naturall body of Christ being in the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ For if that matter be once ordered and adiudged the other will soone be ended But that is a matter of great importaunce of the greatest in the worlde it oughte not to be handled but warely and reuerently most warely and most reuerently Your good name shal be rent with the bad spéeches not only of the enemies but of the enuious I refer that to god The matter is very hard The questyon to too darke discoursed in Sermons Jossed in disputations varyed of through all Christendome and as it should séeme of passing great difficulty God will helpe out with that whose both helpe we most humbly pray and busines most faythfully do out of whose most blessed and most certayne most true wordes all the reste of our spéeche shall grow It is written in the .26 Chapter of the Gospell after S. Mathewe in this wise when Jesus had taken bread and blest he did breake and gaue to the Disciples and sayd take ye eate ye this is my body And taking the Cup after he had geuen thanks he gaue to them saying drink all ye of this For this is my blood of the new Testament which is shed for many for the forgeuenesse of sinnes And in the .14 after S. Marke when Jesus had taken the bread and geuen thanks he did breake and gaue to them and sayd Take yée eate yée this is my body and when he had taken the Cuppe and geuen thanks he gaue to them and sayd Drinke ye all of this and he sayde to them this is my blood of the newe testament which is shead for many And in the .22 after S. Luke when he had taken bread and geuen thankes he brake and gaue to them saying This is my body which is geuen for you doe you this in remembraunce of me Likewise also the cuppe after he had supped saying This cuppe is the new testameÌ„t in my blood which is shed for many Lastly saint Paule to the Corinthians the .xj. Chapter and the fyrst Epistle The Lorde tooke breade and when he had giuen thankes he brake and said Take ye eate ye this is my body which is broken for you do ye this in remembrance of me Likewise also the cup after he had supped saying this cup is the newe testament in my bloude Doe ye thys as often as you shall drinke in remembraunce of me For as oft as you shall eate this bread and drinke of this cup you shall shewe the Lordes death vntill his comming I haue set downe the whole words of the holye ghost done out of greeke into Englishe worde by worde That so good a foundation being layde the rest that foloweth myght be the more fyrmly builded thervpon Let vs nowe view and waigh all these things Christ toke the same bread in his hande which was vpon the table Christ gaue to his Disciples the same breade and whiles he was giuing the breade to his disciples he speaketh as before whiles his Disciples eate this breade whiles they did broose it with their téeth and swallowed it into their stomaks where was christ was be not at the table did he not speak to theÌ„ did he not both eate drink with them was he not séene hearde and touched In which place was the bodye of Christ In the mouth and stomack of his disciples or at the table where they both sawe Christ and heard Christ if you say in both places Then this followeth That eyther Christ had two bodies or else that there was two christs both which aunsweres be very vngodly and absurde But you wil say the words be plaine for Christ saide plainely and distinctly This is my body This is my bloude Neyther is it lyke that Christ woulde speake doubtfully in the last talke that he had with his disciples I graunt the words be plaine after the maner of misteries in the which things subiect to the sense doe represent and shewe things which be taken onely of a godly minde and by a religious fayth I graunt that Christ gaue his bodye and that his Disciples toke it and eate it not after a naturall and grosse maner but after a supernaturall that is he heauenly and spirituall What then doe you denie that the breade is the bodye of Christ That the wine is the bloud of Christ not I truely But I saye that they be so in truth of religion sacrament and mistery and not by chaunging of nature element or substaunce For Christ doth call the breade his body but he doth not say that it is chaunged into his bodye Then you call it breade and the holye writer of this holy Storie doth himselfe call it breade the wordes be these He toke breade he gaue thankes he brake he gaue doth he not meane by this circumstance of wordes to make the matter plaine I praye you what toke he bread What brake he the same bread What gaue he the same bread For that that he toke that he brake and that that he brake that he gaue to hys Disciples and that that he gaue to his disciples that did his disciples eate But bicause it is a mistery
departure leaue hys Churche doubtfully Not I truely Why then do you talke of figures and troupes and figuratiue speeches and spirituall senses â–ª Not euerye figuratiue speeche is doubtfull and it is as great a faulte to refuse a figure when the place geueth it as to force a figure when there is none And it is most manifest by Saint Luke and saint Paule that the second speech of the Cup or wine is figuratiue and hath a spirituall sence For bothe they expounding the briefe wordes set downe by saint Mathew and S. Marke expressely saye that Christ saide this Cup is the newe Testamente in my blood And what sence or meaning can these wordes haue but this that in this sacrament there is deliuered vnto Christians a visible and most certayne signe or seale of that new inuisible truse will grace and mercie which God hath made and assured hys church of in these more mylde and gracyous dayes and would seale and ratify with the bloude of his sonne For the words in S. Luke doe proue this sence which he addeth of Christ saying Doe this in rememberance of me and also of saint Paule Ye shall thewe the Lordes death vntill he come Neyther here do I doubt that the true godly learned wil thinke that I haue not spokeÌ„ reuerently of this most holye and blessed misterie For I geue more honor and reuerence to it by a great deale then any that doth fansye a grosse and carnall presence But some will saye that I ouerthrowe all bring all to naught and make the holy sacrament nothing else but a péece of bread and a little wine that is a most false and malicious slaunder For I most certainely beléeue it to be one of the most precious Jewels that Christ left to hys church and that both the body and blood of Christ is truely and effectually exhibited by the power and grace of God and truely and effectually receaued by the fayth of the christian receyuer But such men deale with me as they such other deale with good preachers which to pull downe the pryde of mans harte telleth him that he is nothing but dust earth ashes and smoke and grasse and then a worldling wyll saye that that preacher maketh a man no better then a beast Whereas the preacher mente this onely of the one parte of man that is his body wisedome beautie glorye pompe and porte which in déede be nothing else but dust and grasse smoke that fade and perishe away and not of the seconde parte of manne that is hys soule which is immortall and eternall and certainly as man hath two partes the first the bodys which is visible fading the seconde his soule which is inuisible and eternall euen so this holye and blessed sacrament hath two partes The fyrst of the element of breade and wyne which is visible and fading the second the grace and fruites and benefites of the bod of Christ rent and his blood shed for the raunsome of man And as he that sayeth the body of man is meere flesh and fading flesh and nothing but flesh deeth not deny the immortality of â—â—e so de therby nor make whole man nothing the but body and flesh for he meaneth onely of the fyrste and fading parte of man which is sensible and not of the second part of man which is insensible euen so he that sayeth that the elemente of breade and wyne be n 〈…〉 re bread and wyne fading bread and wyne and nothing but bread and wyne doth not therby deny or take away the grace and benefyte of the body and blood of Christ nor make that blessed sacrameÌ„t nothing else but bread and wyne For he meaneth onely the fyrst and fading part of that sacrament which is sensible and not of the seconde which is insensible And let any indifferent man iudge whether he speaketh more honourably or doth more set forth the maiesty of that sacrament which sayth that free forgeuenesse of all our sinnes and a sure possession of eternall life springing froÌ„ the free mercy of God is deriued and poured into christian heartes by that sacrament and as a Conduite thorough the force of a true liuely fayth in the death and merittes of our only Sauyoure Christ Jesus or he which by fancying of a real carnal or corporall presence doth binde and tye al the grace and power to creatures I confesse with all my harte â— Christ hath left vnto his church nothing eyther if a man consider profite more fruitfull or if swéetenesse more pleasant or if honour more glorious then the most holy and blessed sacramente of the body and blood of Christe by the which the moste aboundaunt grace and mercy of God is dropped into holy and faythfull soules but to speake otherwise of creatures then can be iustified by the word of god is wicked and damnable And such as would haue al things litterally vnderstood let them view the wordes well and neyther this worde Cuppe nor Is can be litterally vnderstood which also Thomas Aquinas there Archscholeman doth confesse saying By that that is contayned in this Cuppe is remembred the new Testamente confyrmed by the bleed of Christ For this worde cuppe he sayeth that that is contayned in the Cuppe For this worde Is he sayeth is remembred is represented or is sygnifyed And although in others they condemne necessary plaine figures yet they themselues be forced to immagine vnnecessary to to straunge fygures fyrst where the Tert sayeth Hoc meaning this bread they will not haue it so but theyexpound it to be indiuidium vaguÌ„ which is not any certayne determined thing but onely one certayn thing at large in generality where y text doth say Est is they saye transubstantiatur transelementatur is chaunged into the substaunce the nature of the element is changed These wordes take ye eate ye this is my body they turne thus this is my body take ye eate ye by a fygure called Husteron Proteron which setteth that behind that should goe before He blessed sayeth the text he transubstantiated he chaunged the substaunce saye they he brake sayeth the text the accidentes the formes or sheaues of bread say they Do ye sayth the text sacrifyce ye say they This word bread hath a Quatermon of fygures Fyrst because it was bread Secondly because the Infydell taketh it onely to be bread Thirdly because the fourme and shewe of bread remayneth stil Fourthly because the forme or shew of bread doth nortish as perfectly as though it were bread Frangitur is broken sayth the Texte frangebatur it was broken or videtur frangi séemeth to bée broken say they Now seemeth to be broken is as much as is not broken Then the word of the Text Is is broken their word or expositioÌ„ Is is not broken and this is a to too straunge kinde of fygure For Is broken and is not broken imply a playne and full contradiction Much like as the glose expoundeth the Texte statuimus
but had not his purpose then he plucked forth the shirt of Iuâ—ius Caesar all to bée sprinckled with blood and sayd the forth before the eyes of the people which as soone as the people behealde with their eyes they were inflamed by and by as it were with the seÌ„sible old loue of their good Soueraigne and ran fourthwith fyred the houses of the traytors and killed them Euen so when the Preacher setteth forth the graces and mercies of God obtained to man by renting of the blessed body and shedding of the precious blood of the vnspotted Lambe Christ Jesus it moueth man much but when the said Preacher doth pluck forth the shirte of Christ be sprinckled with blood that is by breaking of bread sheweth to the eye how his body was broken and by drinking of the Wyne how his blood was shed it inflameth man as it were with the sensible old loue of his grand Soueraigne Christ Jesus The like example is drawen out of the holy writ wheÌ„ the Leuites wife was killed by the wickednesse of the Sabionittes he the said Leuite cut his wife into twelue péeces sent one péece to eche Tribe of Israell with this message that one might vpon necessity be lodged in the Citty of Gabia where his wife was not only most vngodly abused but also cruelly murthered which moued theÌ„ somewhat but when the messenger plucked forth the parts of the woman and shewed the head to one the arme to an other and so forth all the people by by were moued as one to reuenge that fact euen so when the preacher telleth the people of the whipping scourging of Christe of the nailing to the Crosse of the pearsing of his heart of the sweating dropping of water blood it moueth man much but when he sheweth vnto the eye in the wine as it were the droppes of Christes blood it moueth man a thousande times more to the remembraunce of his death and thanckfulnesse So that the Sacramentes be both most necessary for instruction and also for vse For he that contemneth to be renued by water and the holy ghost contemneth eternall saluation he that contemneth to eate of the sacramental bread and drinke of the sacramentall wyne contemneth to bée pertaker of the death passion of Christ For albeit the grace of God is not tyed to these ordinances yet because they were ordayned of our sauyour for the comfort and instructioÌ„ of his people and to moue them to be thankfull for the great benefites which they haue receiued froÌ„ God in christ to despise the same is to despise God and to run and to get eternal damnation and yet to bind God to the outward elementes and rytes is méere superstition And that this is not my doctrine but the ancient fathers I shall show briefelye and plainely by the most famous of them Origin which liued aboue xij hundred yeares agoe writing vpon the .xv. chapter of saint Mathew saieth thus it is not the materiall substaunce of bread but the worde which is spoken ouer it that is profitable to the man that eateth it worthely And this I meane of the Tupical and simbâ—â—icall body of Christ Origin ascribeth all grace to the force of the word the worthinesse of the Receauer nameth the materiall substaunce of bread and calleth it the Tupical that is figuratiue and simbolical that is sacramentall body Before the bread sayeth Chrisostome to Cesarius the Monke be hallowed we call it bread but after the grace of God hath sanctifyed it by the meanes of the Minister it is deliuered new from the name of bread and estéemed worth to be called the body of Christ although the nature of bread remayneth still Theodoreto in his first dyalogue writing against Vtiches saieth thus he that calleth his naturall body Corne bread and nameth himselfe a vine trée euen he the same hath honored the sacramentall signes with the names of his body bloud not chaunging in déede the nature it self but adding grace vnto the nature Theodorete doth saye that Christ did not in déede chaunge the nature of bread and wine but added grace vnto the nature by vertue whereof they receyued force to féede the soules of the faithfull receyuers which naturall breade and wine cannot doe Augustine vpon the 89. Psalme speaking in the name of our Lorde and Sauiour to his Disciples and recyting and expounding the wordes of the institution of this blessed sacrament sayth thus It is not this body that you doe sée that ye shall eate nor the bloud that the souldiours shall shed that shall crucify me that ye shall drinke but I doe commend vnto you a misterie which spirituallye vnderstoode shall giue you life Saint Augustine doth say that they did not eate of his naturall body for that was séene of them nor drinke his naturall bloode for that was shed of the souldiors And he addeth further to refute the bald gloses of the Scholemen that that is a misterie and is to be vnderstood spirituallye not really or corporally And although he take away the litterall sence and corporall pertaking yet doth he not take awaye the heauenly blessing and grace For he addeth which spiritually vnderstoode geueth life So that that is â—plaine slaunder that manye doe vrge against those that deny the reall and corporall presence make an heauenlye spirituall foode that they make nothing of this blessed sacrament For saint Augustine teacheth to vnderstande the wordes spiritually and yet affirmeth that spirituallye vnderstode they geue life The fyre simplie and naturally is adustine that is hath force to burne to the stone called Amanthos to the Vermine called Salamandra it is not adustie nor doth burne them Euen so the sacramentall breade and drinke be simply and properly spirituall but after a sort and by accident that is vnto the vnworthy receyuer it is not spiritual nor the body and bloud of Christ And the S. Augustine doth teach vs saying That Iudas did eate spiritual bread and he did eate the Lorde his bread but it was not to him spirituall it was not to him the Lorde Some also say we do make nothing of this most blessed sacrament Let any indifferent person consider who doeth more They ascribe and binde al the graces of the sacrifice to the intencion of the sacrificer For Gabriell Biell doeth saye that it belongeth to the priest to determine and limit the force vertue and grace of this sacrifice that it may be bestowed vpon such and suche néeding it as a rewarde to be geuen And Summa Angelica in the Masse The Masse sayeth he is auaileable vnto them vnto whom it pleaseth the Priest in his intencion to apply it We know teach beléeue and confesse in and by the faithfull recept of this blessed sacrameÌ„t that Christ his body is rent for our sins and that by his woundes we were all made whole that Christ in his bodye caryed our sinnes vpon the trée and by the