the bookes de Sacramentis was wont to say thus If there bee so great force in the speech of our Lord Iesus that the things which were not began to be how much more operatiue is it that things still be what they were and yet bee changed into another things But now because that clause that things still bee what they were make sore against Transubstantiation in the Roman Edition and that of Paris an 1603. that clause is cleane left out and S. Ambrose must no longer say so S. Chrysostom or the Author of the imperfect worke vpoÌ„ Mathew was wont to haue these words If it be so dangerous to transferre vnto private vses those holy vessels in which the true body of Christ is not but the mystery of his body is contained how much more c. But what is become of them now In the edition printed at Antwerp by Ioannes Steelsius anno 1537. at Paris by Ioannes Roigny 1543. and by Audoenus Parvus 1557. not a syllable of those words in which the true body of Christ is not but the mystery of his body is contained appeares Why Because they make so strongly against your Reall Presence So likewise where he vsed in the elder impressions to say the sacrifice of bread and wine now in these latter editions hee is forced to change his language and to say the sacrifice of the body and bloud of Christ. More examples I might easily produce but these are sufficient to shew that Vincentius Lirinensis had good reason when hee gaue this Caveat But neither alwaies nor all kind of heresies are to bee impugned after this manner but such only as are new and late when they first arise while by straightnesse of time it selfe they be hindred from falsifying the rules of the ancient Faith and before that their poison spreading farther they attempt to corrupt the writings of the Ancient But farre spread and inveterate heresies are not to be set on this way forasmuch as by long continuance of time a long occasion hath layne open vnto them to steale away the truth But returne we againe to the matter from which we haue a little digrest The Fathers say you differed not in points essentiall True Neither doe we as is aboue shewed yet by your leaue their differences were not alwaies in petty matters vnlesse Rebaptization Communicating of infants the Popes vniversall iurisdiction and the like bee of small consequence with you Their differences were not so bitter as ours No were When they proceeded not only to curse one another but to fire bloudshed and banishment also And when casting off the rule of pietie they did nothing but increase strife threats envy and quaâ—rels every man with all tyranny pursuing his ambition whereby as S. Basil saith the Church of God was vnmercifully drawne in sunder and his flock troubled without all care or pittie Lastly say you they differed in matters vndecided by a generall Councell What then No danger No danger Then belike a man may safely beleeue all he lists before a Councell determine it The very high way to Atheisme For so the very Articles of the Creed during the first three hundred yeares after Christ should be but disputable points and not necessary For vntill Constantine the great there were no generall Councels By the same reason your Adoration of Images was no matter of Faith till the second Councel of Nice about 800 yeares after Christ nor Transubstantiation till the Councell of Lateran some 1200 yeares nor Merit nor Iustification by workes nor the most of your Tenents till the Trent Councell aboue foureteene hundred yeares after Christ. If they were I require you to shew what generall Councell had before determined them If you cannot then are you but novellers and hold not the ancient Faith The truth is Councells cannot make that an Article which was not but whether they decree or not decree whatsoever God affirmeth in his word as soone as it commeth to our knowledge is absolutely and vpon paine of damnation to be beleeued And it is horrible sacriledge and impiety to thinke that it is not necessary to beleeue God vnlesse a Councell of the Pope say Amen vnto it Yea but say you we nor haue nor can haue generall Councels No more can you nor any Church in Christendome without the generall consent of Christian Princes Synods of our owne Churches we may haue and haue had by the indulgence of our Princes More then this you cannot haue For you are but a handful of the Christian world and the greatest part thereof neither is nor will bee subject vnto you When you can get the Greek Church and that in Prester Iohns countrey with the Armenians and others to submit themselues vnto the Popes omnipotent and vbiquitaâ—y power then may you peradventure haue hope to call a generall Councell But that I think will be at the Greek Kalends that is in plaine English at Nevermasse Howsoever say you if you may not relie on the Fathers because of their differences neither may you on vs because of ours If this be a sound reason as I confesse it is neither may you rely on the Church of Rome because of theirs But you mistake the matter much if you thinke wee require men to relie on our bare authoritie That privilege belongs vnto Christ only and vnder him to those holy Pen-men of the Bible that wrote by inspiration To vs appertaineth to proue what we say by their authoritie and when wee haue so done to require assent and not before If Scripture and sound deduction from it according to the art of reasoning together with the proofe of the sense thereof by the circumstances of the place and the analogie of Faith will not moue you we can but pittie your wilfulnesse and leaue you vnto God till he turne your heart and haue mercy vpon you For certainely miserable is the case of that man who knowing the Scriptures to be Gods word and hauing the vse of right reason shall refuse triall both by the one and the other preferring therevnto the authoritie of man which may erre it selfe and lead others into errour N. N. Your conclusion is you meane not to forsake the religion taught in that Church which is descended from Christ and his Apostles by succession but with Litinensis to preferre it before all things That you will follow vniversality Antiquitie and consent in your beleefe that faith which hath beene held from time to time in all places in all seasons by all or the most Doctors of Christianity That Church which as S. Augustine saith had her beginning by the entring of nations got authority by miracles was increased by charity and established by continuance and hath had succession from S. Peters chaire to our time That church which is knowne by the name of Catholike both to friends and foes even Heretikes tearming her so calling themselues for distinctions sake Reformers Illuminates Vnspotted brethren In
Iesus whom yee haue crucified both Lord and Christ. Howbeit this power the Father giues not as the former Donatione naturali by naturall donation sed gratuitâ by free voluntary gift And therefore as notwithstanding the former he was co-equall with the Father so in regard of this hee is subiect to the Father Wherefore in this respect hee saith Pater major me est my Father is greater then I and though he be Lord of all yet the Father calleth him his Servant And the Schoole in regard of his humane nature saith that he is Subiectus sibi ipsi subiect to his owne selfe But it will be obiected that Christ obtained his kingdome by conquest how then could he receaue it from his Father by gift Wherevnto I answere first that the right title he had was from the gift of the Father before he went about to conquer it secondly that the power also whereby he conquered it hee receaued from the gift of his Father In regard whereof the Father sticketh not to challenge the conquest vnto himselfe Sit thou saith he vnto the Sonne on my right hand vntill I make thine enimies thy footstoole Which yet is thus to bee vnderstood that the Father by the Sonne and the Sonne vnder his Father by power receaued from him hath subdued and mastered all his enimies But when receaued he this power from him and how long was he to hold it He receaued it then when hee receaued his vnction His Vnction he receaued in the instant of his Incarnation For assoone as the Personall vnion began so soone was he annointed with the oyle of gladnesse aboue all his fellowes that is with the fulnesse of all such graces as were fit for the menaging of so great power as wisdome counsell zeale of iustice strength and the like And no sooner was he annointed but presently hee was a King Melchizedeck a king of righteousnesse wise to doe iudgement iustice It is true he suppressed this power for a time For the Word emptied himselfe of his glory and his humane nature was to suffer many things Wherevpon it is said He could doe no miracle in his owne country nor might not send his Disciples into the way of the Gentiles It was as a sword in the sheath or as Dauids authority before Sauls death At times indeed he shewed some tokens thereof as in stilling the Sea commanding spirits raising the dead and the like yet the execution thereof could not be plenarie till after his resurrection and when he was set at the right hand of his Father Licet Christus quantum ad divinitatem c. saith Lira Although Christ according to his divinity had from all eternity this power in heauen and earth and authoritativè by way of authority had it he also as man from the first instant of his conception yet executivè by way of execution hee had it not before his resurrection but would be subiect to possibility for our redemption But how long was this power to continue with him Forever For as he was a priest so also was he to be a King for ever after the order of Melchizedecke Thy throne ô God saith David is for ever and ever a text which Saint Paul to the Hebrewes applyeth vnto Christ. And Daniel His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not passe a way and his kingdome that which shall not be destroyed And the Angell Gabriell Hee shall raigne over the house of Iacob forever and of his kingdome there shall be no end Yea but doth not the Apostle say that when he shall haue put downe all rule and all authority and power then the kingdome shall be delivered vp by him to God even the Father and that then the sonne himselfe shall also be subiect vnto him It is true hee saith so But we are further to know that the kingdome of Christ containeth in it two things the mediatory function of his Kingly office and his Kingly glory That he shall lay aside for then there will be no further necessity nor vse thereof He shall not need to fight any more with the prince of darknesse nor to governe his Church as formerly by the word and sacrament For God as he is now something in vs so then shall he be all in all vnto vs. But this hee shall hold for ever as being by the acts of his mediation iustly acquired and according to covenant bestowed vpon him by his Father As therefore the Father even now raignes although he haue delivered the kingdome to the Sonne even so then shall the Sonne also raigne although he deliver vp his kingdome vnto the Father And thus hath Christ omnem potestatem in omnia in omnia secula all power over all things and vnto all eternity The vse of this point briefly may be this First seeing Christ vsurped not this power but receiued it by lawfull donation from his Father therefore neither should wee presume vpon any office or place vntill wee be lawfully called therevnto Should we runne without sending wee should but incurre the displeasure of God be authors of much confusion and mischiefe in the Church Secondly seeing he receiued this power together with his Vnction it may lesson vs not to affect any calling till wee be annointed with sufficient gifts for the discharge thereof Go teach baptize all nations saith our Saviour to his Apostles but withall he furnisheth them with cloven tongues and filleth them with the Holy Ghost To adventure on a businesse without due abilities as it proceedeth from abundance of boldnesse so will it be recompenced with equall measure of shame Lastly seeing his power continueth for ever and of his kingdome shall be no end wee may take knowledge that it will bee in vaine for any to oppose themselues vnto it Hell gates shall never be able to prevaile against it how much lesse the policies of mortall men or their strongest attempts For that which is eternall is invincible and can never be destroyed And thus much of the third point A quo from whom The fourth and last is Quorsum to what so great power was given him For wee may not thinke that God doth vse magno conatu nihil agere with much a doe to effect nothing And if nature which is but the creature of God doe nothing in vaine and wise men ever propound some end vnto their actions much more ought we to iudge so of him who is both the author of nature and wisdome it selfe An end therefore was intended and that doubtlesse of highest consequence For otherwise what need so great power and glory to atchieue it If in the creation dixit factum est the word was no sooner said but the thing was done yet here not words no nor so great power without his glorification will not serue the turne this it seemes is of a higher straine then that What then may it be This that to as many as are
waies First by his profession of conformitie and obedience to his Fathers will whereof wee haue already spoken sufficiently Wherein seeing he fayleth not and it is his Fathers will as we haue shewed that he should giue them eternall life vndoubtedly it is his will also Secondly by giuing himselfe for vs. For if then hee was content with the expence of his dearest blood to ransome vs whē we were his enimies how much more now is it his will pleasure to saue vs hauing of enimies made vs friends and begun the spirituall life in vs Thirdly by conioyning vs vnto himselfe in so straight a bond of vnion that we are of his bone and of his flesh For it may not bee imagined that he hateth his owne flesh but loueth all the members of his body so dearely thas as long as hee is able hee will surely preserue them aliue Fourthly by his mediatory intercession For as he prayed for Peter that his faith might not faile so he intended the same vnto all beleeuers as appeareth in the sequele of this prayer where he saith I pray for them also which shall beleeue in me through their word and requests his Father also to keepe them Which hee would never haue done but that he earnestly desired their preservation in life Fiftly by his care and desire that wee should every way be conformed to him that as he died and rose againe and from thenceforth dieth no more so wee should first dye to sinne and then liue to righteousnesse and afterward spiritually never dye more Lastly by sending vnto vs the holy Ghost to lead vs into all truth to comfort vs and to consecrate vs vnto him both Soules and Bodies FINIS A GODLIE DISCOVRSE OF SELFE-DENIALL OXFORD Printed by I. L. for E. F. 1633. LVKE 9.23 And he said to them all if any will come after me let him deny himselfe and take vp his crosse daily and follow me THese are the words of our blessed Lord Saviour Iesus Christ and they containe in them Counsell of singular importance given vnto all those that purpose to come after him Vpon what occasion it was giuen is not so fully recorded by our Evangelist S. Luke but what is defectiue in him is perfecty supplied by two other Evangelists S. Mathew and S. Marke by Saint Mathew in his sixteenth Chapter by S. Marke in his eighth It was this Our Saviour had signified vnto his Disciples not obscurely and darkly as at other times but in expresse and plaine tearmes that he was ere long to goe vp to Ierusalem and there to suffer many things of the Elders chiefe Priests and Scribes and at length to bee put to death by them Herevpon S. Peter being as the Fathers obserue of him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more hot and hastie then the rest of his fellowes presently takes his Master aside consulting only with flesh blood begins to schoole him Master pittie thy selfe this may not be vnto thee But Christ turning about and looking vpon his Disciples first in the hearing of them all sharply rebukes him Get thee behinde me Satan thou art a scandall vnto me for thou savourest not the things that be of God but those that are of men and then addressing his speech as my Text saith vnto them all he giueth them this wholsome and soueraigne Counsel If any of you be disposed to come after mee hee may not with Peter follow his owne carnall reason nor presume by his advise and counsel to guide and direct me nor finally must he timorously and fearefully shrugge and shrinke at the mention of the Crosse no hee must resolue to deny his owne selfe to take vp his Crosse daily and to follow me otherwise it is but in vaine to thinke of comming after me This was the occasion of the Counsell and this is the context and coherence of the words in this history In them it may please you further to obserue with me these three particulars First the Parties to whom the counsell is giuen secondly the forme of words wherein it is deliuered and lastly the counsell it selfe The Parties Hee said vnto them all the forme of words If any will let him the counsell Let him deny himselfe take vp his Crosse daily and follow me In the first yee haue the generalitie of the Counsell He said vnto them all in the second the Liberty of them that are counselled if any will let him in the last the conditionall necessitie of the counsell if any will come after me he must of necessity deny himselfe take vp his cross daily and follow me Of these in order as God shall assist and the time permit The Parties to whom the Counsell is giuen are All He said vnto them all What All All his Disciples as it seemeth by S. Mathew for saith he Then said Iesus vnto his Disciples But S. Mark further affirmeth that hee gaue it to the multitude also When saith hee hee had called the people vnto him together with his disciples hee said vnto them And these are St Lukes All all the Disciples all the People all the present auditory The present auditorie will some say Thē it concernes not vs who were none of that auditorie Yes vs as well as them for although Christ at that time spake only to them that were present yet the holy Evangelists haue written it for vs also Yea it is clear that our Saviour intended it vniversally vnto all men for that which Matthew and Luke deliver hypothetically and conditionally thus if any will come after me let him the same Saint Marke vttereth in a Categoricall and simple forme thus Whosoever will come after mee as if hee should say Every man without exception So that as our Saviour elsewhere said What I say vnto you I say vnto all Watch in like sort is hee to bee vnderstood here that what he spake vnto his auditorie then was generally meant vnto all mankinde if any whatsoever he bee will come after me he must deny himselfe take vp his crosse daily and follow me I haue seene an end of all perfection saith David in his hundred and nineteenth psalme but thy word is exceeding broad Broad as in sundry other respects so especially in this that it stretcheth and reacheth vnto all men There is no speech nor language saith the same David in the nineteenth Psalme where the voice of the Heavens is not heard their line is gone out throughout all the earth their words vnto the end of the world The Sunne which God hath placed therein goeth forth from the end of heauen and compasseth about vnto the ends of it and nothing is hid from the heat thereof This doth the Apostle Saint Paul in his tenth to the Romans apply vnto the word preached by the Apostles plainely implying that no man in the world of what condition soever is priviledged from the authority thereof When God first gaue the law vnto
the preaching of the Church as touching the Proposition of things to be beleeued but not as the reason of beleeuing For they who propound the doctrine of Faith withall admonish that that doctrine is revealed from God and that God not themselues is to be beleeved And what Is not the holy Catholike Church it selfe an Article of the Creed If it bee why should the rest of the Articles need to be sustained by an higher Principle more then it For if you may be bold to question any of them vntill it be resolued by the Churches authoritie I hope I may be as bold to question the Churches authoritie vntill it be warranted by some farther Principle I demand therefore why you beleeue the Church Because forsooth her authority is infallible And how know you that it is infallible Here of necessity you must either vouch her owne testimonie or betake you to some other thing To stick vpon her testimonie without farther enquirie is absurd For seeing her voice is not the first veritie that being the Prerogatiue of him only who is from all eternity her veracity must needs bee as doubtfull as her infallible authority And indeed this as a very learned Divine exemplifieth it were as if one whose authority is questioned taking vpon him to bee a law-giuer should first make a law and thereby giue himselfe power and afterward by vertue of that power exercise authority over others But if to establish the Churches authority you seek out of her to some other thing as suppose the Scriptures for so I remember you answered me being demanded the same Question then haue I obtained what I would namely that the Church is not the first ground of Faith because by your owne confession there is a former to wit the Scripture Neither is it true that Catholike men hold the Churches authority to be the first Ground For although some pretended Catholikes those I meane who call themselues Roman catholikes may so conceaue of their Church vnderstanding by the Church the Roman church yet neither are they true Catholikes neither is the Roman church the Catholike church neither doe any true Catholikes ground their Faith so True catholikes they are not because they hold a new Faith not that which Catholikely hath beene held in all ages as appeareth by those twelue new Articles lately added to the Creed vnknown vnto the purer times of the Primitiue church Neither is the Roman church the Catholike Church Not in regard of time for Christ had his Church when Rome was not yet Christian. Nor in respect of place for Catholike is Universall Roman Particular that the Church of the whole world this of one Citie or Diocese only Nor lastly in regard of her authority ouer al other Churches for that which she challengeth is but vsurped the Church of Africk in a Councell of two hundred and seuenteene Bishops of whom S. Augustine was a principall with much indignation reiected it and the Greeke church hitherto could never be drawne to acknowledge it And as for those that are true Catholikes they build not their Faith vpon so weake a Ground but rest both it and the Church her selfe vpon the Scriptures The Apostle S. Paul buildeth the whole Houshold of God vpon no other foundation then that of the Prophets and Apostles Knowe thou saith Origen that Christ alwaies appeareth on the mountaines and hills to teach thee that thou seeke him no where but in the mountaines of the Law and Prophets And the Auhor of the imperfect worke on Mathew The Lord knowing the confusion of things that would happen in the latter daies commandeth that such Christians as will receaue assurance of faith fâ—ie to no other thing but the Scripture And Tertullian Take from Hereticks that which they haue common with the heathen that they be content to stint all questions by the scriptures only and they cannot stand And S. Hierom The church of Christ hath for her cities the Law the Prophets the Gospell Apostles she passeth not beyond her limits that is the holy scriptures S. Augustine in the scriptures we learne Christ in the scriptures we learn the Church And againe I say not if we but if an Angell froÌ„ heauen shall deliuer any thing of Christ or his Church or of faith manners besides that which ye haue receiued in the Scriptures of the Law and Gospell let him be accursed And againe he affirmeth that the Church is to be proued by the Canonical bookes of Scripure and nothing else and that they only are the Demonstration of our cause the very foundation and ground plot whereon we are to build N. N. For proofe of this ground Saint Augustine handleth this matter in a speciall booke to his friend Honoratus deceiued by the Manichees as himselfe also sometimes had bin and he entituleth his booke De vtilitate credendi His discourse is this Suppose that wee now first of all did seeke vnto what Religion we should commit our soules to bee purged and rectified Without all doubt wee must begin with the Catholike Church for that shee is the most eminent now in the world there being more Christians in her this day then in any other Church of Iewes Gentiles put together And albeit among these Christians there be Sects and Heresies and all of them would seeme to be Catholikes and doe call others besides themselues Hereticks yet all grant that if wee consider the whole Body of the World there is one Church among them more eminent then all other and more plentifull in number and as they which know her doe affirme more sincere also in the truth But as concerning truth wee shall dispute more afterward now it is sufficient for them that desire to learne that there is a Catholike Church which is one in it selfe wherevnto diverse Heretickes doe faine and devise divers names whereas they and their Sects are called by peculiar names which themselues cannot deny Whereby all men that are indifferent and not letted by passion may vnderstand vnto what Church the name Catholike which all parts desire and pretend is to bee given Thus St Augustine c. I. D. So maine a point as is the last resolution of faith ought to haue beene better warranted then by the single authority of one Father who how eminent soever hee was in his time yet is not his sole word of strength enough to beare vp such a weight Why did you not vouch the testimony of Saint Paul or Saint Peter or some other of the holy penmen of Gods booke which cannot deceiue you then Saint Augustine or any other of the antient Fathers who both haue erred themselues and may mislead you But thus it is with Papists the more the shame the bare name of a Father swayes them more then the clearest passage of holy writ Howbeit this I say not as if we feared the triall of the Fathers for be it known vnto you wee haue more
the Church may be without them So was it for some while after Christs Ascention for then neither was the Christian Church so Eminent as that of the Iewes nor was it Vniversall as being confined within Iudea nor great in number as consisting but of a very few nor in Possession of the name Catholike it being a word of a latter date and such as could not well be giuen it vntill it was growne Catholike So will it be also if wee may beleeue your owne writers in the time of Antichrist For then the Church shall bee darkned all externall communion with it shall cease there shall be no Sacrament in publike places all the glory and dignity of Ecclesiasticall order shall lye buried none shall come vnto the solemnity of the Lambe an innumerable multitude shall cleaâ—e vnto Antichrist even all besides the elect and those whose names are written in the booke of life But lastly whether these things be Markes or no is not now much materiall for it makes little to the purpose wee haue sufficiently proued that the Church is not the last Resolution of Faith As touching the second point that the Church may be beleeved securely for that shee can neither deceiue nor bee deceiued I demand what you meane by the Church If the company of all true Beleeuers that now are and heretofore haue beene including the holy Apostles together with them then I grant it For these were so lead by the Spirit into all truth that they could not possibly erre in any matter of Faith that was either to be taught by them or knowne by vs. But if you meane the Present Church in every age successiuely after the Apostles as here Saint Austin doth referring his friend Honoratus therevnto then I distinguish Either you must vnderstand thereby the whole number of true beleeuers who for the present life in the world or the Society and Fellowship of those that in their time rule and sway most in the Church If you take it in the former sense I grant what you say to be true in Fundamentall points but not in such as are not absolutely necessary nor preiudice the Foundation of Faith If in the latter then I affirme that the Church may both deceiue and be deceiued even in Doctrines of highest consequence neither can with such security bee beleeued Witnesse the time when the whole world groaned vnder Arianisme and the greatest part of the Prelates together with Liberius Bishop of Rome subscribed therevnto Neither doth the passage you alledge out of Saint Austin inferre the contrary For although the surest course to put an end to all labours and turmoiles be to follow the way of Catholike discipline which hath flowne downe to vs from Christ by his Apostles yet the Authority that swayeth most in the Present Church doth not alwaies either follow this way her selfe or direct others vnto it as for example it did not in the time aboue mentioned of the Arian heresy And thus much in answere vnto your generall ground N. N. Now I will shew first out of the old Testament how it was prefigured and prophecied and in the new both promised againe exhibited and confirmed by the intendment interpretation of the gravest and most ancient Fathers that haue lived in the Church of God from age to age who vnderstand so the said Figures and foreshewing of the old Testament As for example the Bread and Wine mysteriously offered vnto almighty God by Melchizedek King and Priest who bare the type of our Saviour The shew-bread among the Iewes that only could bee eaten of them that were sanctified And the Bread sent miraculously by an Angell to Elias whereby he was so strengthned as hee travelled forty daies by vertue only of that Bread These three sorts of bread to haue beene expresse Figures of this Sacrament of the true flesh of Christ therein contained doe testify by one consent the ancient Fathers as Cyprian â—lemens Alexandrinus Ambrose Hierom Chrysostom Augustine Cyrill Arnobius Euseb. many others as my author fetâ—eh downe Three other figures not expressed in the forme of Bread but other things more excellent then Bread as the Paschal Lamb the blood of the testament described in Exodus and to the Hebrues and fulfilled by Christ when he said This cup is the new testament in my blood and againe this is my blood of the new testament The Manna also sent by God from heaven was an expresse figure of this Sacrament as appeareth by the words of our Saviour and of the Apostle I. D. This Argument seemeth to be of great esteeme among you for who almost vrgeth it not and that with great confidence It standeth thus Melchizedecks Bread and Wine the Shew-bread Elias his Bread the Paschal-Lambe the Bloud of the Testament and Manna bee Figureâ— of our Sacrament Ergo Christ is corporally and locally present therein by way of Transubstantiation The consequence you maintaine in the next Section the Antecedent in this Wherevnto I answer first that the Legall sacraments and ceremonies if we may beleeue Scripture directly respected Christ So saith S. Paul They are a shadow of things to come but the Body is of Christ. And again Sacrifice and offerings thou wouldest not but a Body hast thou prepared me And hence is it that he doubteth not to call Christ our Passeouer or 〈◊〉 Lambâ— and to affirm that the Rock whereof the Israelites dranke in the â—â—ldernesse was Christ. Yea our Saviour himselfe plainly professeth that the Brasen serpent did prefigure him and that he was the Bread or Manna that came downe from heauen But that those Sacraments and Ceremonies are Types Figures of ours otherwise then by representing the same Substance together with ours I suppose if you searched every corner of Scripture neuer so narrowly you should never finde it therein Adde herevnto that our SacrameÌ„ts are themselues Figures being as S Augustine saith one thing and signifying another Whence it would follow that the old Sacraments being Figures of the New they should be Figures of Figures and Sacraments of Sacraments which standeth not greatly with reason For thus the Circumcision of the foreâ—kinne should figure the Water of Baptisme and water Christ and curious heads might runne on infinitely and as Irenaeus sometime obiected vnto the Heretikes of his time might ever bee devising of types vpon types and figures vpon figures Lastly if the Sacraments of the old Testament were but Signes of ours it would follow that they were ordained rather for the benefit of the Christian then the Iewish Church which is absurd For of our Sacraments which you say is the thing signified by theirs benefit they never reaped any as neuer being partakers of them and to leaue vnto them no more but bare signes that is emptie shels without the kernell how it might availe them I cannot conceaue Certainely all Sacraments
Chrysostome doe proue not only this but the Resurrection also of our Bodies by the truth of Christs Flesh in the Sacrament for that our Flesh ioyning with his Flesh which is immortall shall bee immortall also I. D. The truth of Christs Flesh in the Sacrament and the Coniunction of our Flesh with his Flesh neither is nor ever was by vs denied And therefore to heap vp Fathers for the proofe thereof is but to spend your labour to no purpose That you should proue is the Presence of Christ by Transubstantiation Which hitherto you haue but little aymed at In the Sacrament say these Fathers our Flesh is ioyned to Christs Flesh Ergo our Flesh shall rise againe The Antecedent is true and the sequele is good But what ioyning doe they meane The taking of Christs flesh into the mouth They neuer dreamt of it And if it were so it would follow that all they that eat Christ Sacramentally among whom how many Reprobates are there shall rise againe vnto life everlasting For I hope you will not say that the sacred Flesh of Christ doth quicken any vnto everlasting death How then is it By eating him not only Sacramentally but also spiritually and by Faith For by this meanes Christ becomes the food of our soules which redounding vpon the Flesh by making it the Temple of the Holy Ghost and an instrument of righteousnes fitteth and prepareth it to a glorious Resurrection Hence our Sauiour He that eateth my flesh drinketh my bloud hath life everlasting and I will raise him vp at the last day And the Apostle S. Paul If Christ bee in you the Body indeed is dead because of sinne but the spirit is life because of righteousnesse But if the spirit of him that raised vp Iesus Christ from the dead dwell in you hee that raised vp Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortall bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you And that this is the meaning of the Fathers appeares by that they say Our bodies come not into corruption but partake of life by being nourished with the body bloud of the Lord. For that our bodies in litterall sense should be nourished with Christs body is to make it the food of the belly not of the minde then which saith Bellarmine nothing can bee deuised more absurd And what I pray you is Nourishment properly Only to take meat into the mouth No but the alteration and conversion of the substance thereof into the substance of that which is nourished which to affirme of the Body of Christ is horrible impiety Of force therefore must the Fathers be vnderstood to speake of such a Nourishment by the body of Christ as is spirituall Now if the Nourishment be spirituall such is the Eating also and it is as absurd to say that the soule is nourished by bodily eating as that the body is nourished by spirituall eating Will you haue all in a word The things that wee eat with our mouth in the Sacramēt are not the causes but the pledges of our Resurrection So saith the great Councell of Nice We must beleeue these things to be the symbols or pledges of our Resurrection N. N. And the same S. Irenaeus doth proue farther that the great God of the old Testament Creator of heauen earth was Christs Father For proofe whereof hee alleageth this reason that Christ in the Sacrament did fulfill the Figures of the old Testament and that in particular wherein bread was a figure of his Flesh which he fulfilled saith Irenaeus making it his Flesh indeed I. D. The Marcionites whom Irenaeus confuteth taught that the God of the old Testament was not the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ and that the Creator was knowne but the Father of Christ was vnknowne Against this hee endeauoureth to proue that the Father of our Lord was he who created the world That this he intendeth manifestly appeareth by those words where hee saith Others saying that another besides the creator is his Father and offering vnto him those creatures that are here amongst vs shew that he is greedy and covetous of that which is anothers And among other arguments this he vseth for one Bread and Wine are the creatures of the Creator of the world which creatures Iesus Christ vseth in the Sacrament the one to be his Body and the other to be his Bloud and therein are they offered to his Father Ergo the Creator is his Father Were he not his Father he would never haue takē that which belongs vnto another or whervnto he had no right and convert it to his owne vse So that here your Author hath notably deceaued you For Irenaeus proueth Christ to bee the sonne of the Creator not by his omnipotence in turning Bread and Wine into his Flesh and Bloud a thing that neuer came into his thought but from his right and title to the Creatures which maketh nothing for Transubstantiation Touching the Figures of the old Testament and how they prefigured our Sacraments we haue spoken enough already N. N. What is so sacrilegious saith Optatus Milevitanus as to breake downe scrape and remoue the altars of God on which your selues haue sometimes offered and the members of Christ haue beene borne c. What is an altar but the Seat of the Body and Bloud of Christ And this monstrous villanie of yours is doubled for that you haue brokē also the chalice which did beare the Bloud of Christ himselfe When the mixed chalice and the Bread broken taketh the word of God the Eucharist of the bloud and body of Christ is made Bread receauing the calling of God is not now common bread but the Eucharist consisting of two things one earthly another heavenly the earthly thing is the old forme of bread the heavenly is the body of Christ newly made vnder that forme Let vs now consider also the persons to whom this Commandement was giuen they were those twelue Apostles whom Christ at his last Supper taught the new Oblation of the new Testament giuing them authority by this precept to consecrate to make present and to offer to God his body and bloud I. D. Where little or nothing is objected the answer is soone made Optatus saith that the altar is the seat of Christs body and bloud and that the chalice beareth his bloud Irenaeus saith that after consecration the Eucharist of the body and bloud is made that in it there is a heavenly thing and the Apostles had authority to make present the body of Christ. Ergo the body and bloud of Christ is really corporally locally and by way of Transubstantiation present in the Sacrament A poore and silly consequence which all the wity our author hath wil neuer be able to make good For those words of the Fathers may be salued and verified if Christ be Present any other way And Present hee is Sacramentally to the signes and spiritually to the Faith of