must referre you to the places of other auncient Fathers which make the case cleare Tertul. contra Marcionem Lib. 4. August Tom. 6. contra adimantum Manichaei Discipulum cap. 12. Tom. 8. in Psal 3. Tom. 2. epist. 221. Cyp. de Coena Domini Hesichius in Leuit. Lib. 3. cap. 2. Ambros de Sacramentis Lib. 1. cap. 5. Chrisost ad Caesarium August in Ioh. Tract 25. Tract 26. To cōclude Erasmus a mā of great learnyng iudgement sayth thus In synaxi Transubstantiationem sero definiuit ecclesia In the holy ministration it was long and very late before the church determined the Article of Transubstantiation Their owne breath bloweth agaynst them Doctour Tonstall sayth It was no heresie to deny their Transubstantiation before their late Councell of Lateran Doctour Fisher sometyme Byshop of Rochester sayth The very presence of Christes body bloud in the Masse can not be proued by any Scripture This deuelish doctrine was neuer receiued in the Church til Pope Leo Pope Nicholas Pope Innocent Pope Honorius and Pope Vrban Antichristian prelates thorow their tyranny brought it in and compelled the Christiās with fire and faggot as the maner of the tyrānicall Papistes is to receiue their abhominable doctrine It is not much more then fiue hundred yeares since their grosse opinion of the Sacramēt begā first to be attēpted was throughly receiued and agréed vpon about the yeare of our Lord 1215. in the Councell of Laterā which was holden in Rome where were gathered together a mōstrous swarme of Pharisaicall Papistes about the number of thirtene hūdred pildpates of the which number eight hūdred were mōkes channōs fryers a broode of chickēs of the Popes owne hatching Last of all came pope Vrban the monke in the yeare of our Lord a thousand two hundred thréescore and foure and he made vp all the market For he ordained a feast called Corpus Christi in honour of the Sacrament so that euer after that tyme the Sacramēt was no more taken for a signe figure and token of Christes bodye but for Christ himselfe God and man And therefore was it reuerenced worshiped honored sensed and knéeled vnto as they taught the people at their vnsacred sakeringes S. August sayth touching the fathers of the olde law Abraham Moses Aaron and other receiued the bodye of Christ truely and effectually long tyme before that Christ either had receiued fleshe of the blessed virgin or had ordained the Sacrament and that euen the selfe same bodye that is receiued now of the faythfull Of this matter S. Paule speaketh They did all eate of the same spirituall meate And did all drinke of the same spirituall drinke For they dranke of that spirituall rock that folowed them and that rocke was Christ S. August also of Christian children and other faythfull that neuer receiued the Sacrament writeth thus nulli est aliquatenus ambigendum tunc vnumquemque fideliū corporis sauguinisque domini participem fieri quando in Baptismate efficitur membrum Christi c. No man may in any wise doubt but that euery faythfull man is than made partaker of the body and bloud of Christ whan in Baptisme he is made a member of Christ and that he is not without the felowship of that bread and of that cup although before he eate of that bread drinke of that cup he hepart this world being in the vnitye of Christes bodye for he is not made frustrate of the Communion and benefite of that Sacrament while he findeth that thing which is signified in the Sacrament The enemies of the crosse of Christ mightfully obiect Onlesse ye eate the fleshe of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud ye shall haue no lyfe in you I aunswere if there be no other eating of Christes bodye whereby wée shall liue but onely fleshly eating with mouth and teath than what lyfe hath Abraham Isaac Iacob Moses Aaron and other holy Patriarches Prophets that were before the comming of Christ what lyfe haue a great nūber of holy martyrs what lyfe haue Christian Children that being baptised in the bloud of Christ depart this lyfe before they can receiue the Sacrament Shall we say they haue no lyfe Or shall we condemne them of euerlasting death Or shall we thinke they shall neuer rise agayne And shall we denye Gods election S. August speakyng of our fathers sayth Visibilē cibum Manna spiritualiter intellexerunt spiritualiter esurierunt spiritualiter gustauerunt They vnderstode Manna the visible meate spiritually they hungred it spiritually they tasted it spiritually I aske the defenders of transubstātiation what body Christ gaue whether mortall or immortall I reason thus if he gaue his body he gaue his mortall body or his immortall body But he gaue not his mortal body neither his immortal body Therfore he gaue not his body I proue thus he gaue not his mortall body accumbebat mensae for it sate at the table He gaue not his immortall body nō dum resurrexerat for it was not yet risen Therfore he gaue not his body Therfore it is a figuratiue spéech I vrge their owne wordes agaynst them By and by after they haue confessed that the bread is the body of Christ essentially substantially and in déede and the wyne his naturall bloud they adde Sed inuisibiliter ineffabiliter non vt in loco non qualitatiue aut quantitatiue But inuisiblely and vnspeakeablely and not as in a place not in quātitie or in qualitie Note I pray you how fitly these thynges agrée how the one is subuerted by the other For if the true and naturall body of our Lord which he tooke of the virgin Mary dead buried risen ascended into heauen so they say be present in the Sacrament assuredly that same body must haue quantitie and qualitie must be contained in a place except that body was not naturall or els now beyng in glory hath put away all truth of a body The Angels testifie of the glorified body of Christ Surrexit nō est hic ecce locus vbi posuerunt eum He is risen he is not here behold the place where they had put him Christ him selfe sayth behold my handes and my féete that it is euē I my selfe handle me and sée for a spirite hath not flesh and bones as ye sée me haue If this body haue not place qualitie quantitie it is not the substantiall naturall and true body of our lord Read S. August epist. 57. ad Dardanum Tom. 2. Thus much concernyng the Lordes Supper Also these men teach that we are not iustified by fayth onely This doctrine is false Therefore they breake the net They call vs Solifidiās We may call them Nullifidians I argue thus the righteous man liueth by his fayth Therefore fayth iustifieth Abraham was iustified by fayth Therfore other are iustified by fayth Abrahā is the father of all beleuers The antecedent is proued Abraham beleued God and
Petrus misericordia motus sayth Epiphanius Peter beyng moued with pitie more than with zeale and trueth sayd he would refuse none immediatly vpon their repentaunce Meletius moued with trueth zeale affirmed that he would receiue none except they shewed the fruites of true repentaunce by long triall and proofe of amēdement Epiphanius sayth farther Cōtigit Petrum martyrium subire decessit beatus ille It fell out that Peter suffered Martyrdome and died a blessed man and they that held with Peter were called the Catholicke Church they that dyd sticke to Meletius were called the Churche of Martyrs very few stode with Peter the most of the prisoners stode with Meletius who called his Church the Church of Martyrs which were such as would take vp Christes Crosse and folow him The Church of Rome beyng moued neither with pitie zeale truth reasō nor honesty but onely with ambition and couetousnesse refuseth none so they will shew thē selues to be of that Catholicke Church Traytours murtherers théeues coseners cutters adulters baudes strumpets and all other gracelesse persons may vpon the sayd cōditiō haue safe accesse to Rome and be of that Church Whereas these men alledge Succession of place and persons not beyng hable to proue Succession of true doctrine we may say their Succession is nothyng worth For that is not a iust Succession which lacketh the puritie of the Apostolicke doctrine right vse of the Sacramentes Succession of doctrine is the true and infallible marke of the true Church Irenaeus sayth they are not alwayes true Ministers which séeme so to be but they which kéepe the doctrine of the Apostles S. Paule sayth fayth commeth not by Succession but by hearyng and hearyng commeth not of legacie or inheritaunce from Byshop to Byshop but of the word of god He sayth also be ye folowers of me as I am a folower of Christ S. Ambrose sayth Non habent haereditatem Petri qui fidem Petri non habent They haue not Peters inheritaunce that haue not the fayth of Peter Chrisost sayth The pulpit maketh not a Minister but a Minister the pulpit Christ sayd to the Iewes boastyng that they were the séede of Abraham you are of your father the deuill They are not alwayes godly that succéede the godly For S. Paul sayth in the Actes I know this that after my departyng greeuous wolues shall enter in among you not sparing the flocke Also of your owne selues shall men arise speakyng peruerse thyngs to draw away disciples after them He spake this at Miletum to the bishops of Asia Christ sayth that by Succession desolation shall sit in the holy place and Antichrist shall preasse in to the roome of Christ Manasses succéeded Ezechias Hieroboam succéeded Dauid at this day by Succession the Turke possesseth and holdeth the foure Patriarchall seates or seas of the Church Alexandria Hierusalem Constantinople and Antioche Iohānes Saris buriensis sayth In Romana Ecclesia sedent Scribae Pharisaei By Succession the Scribes and Phariseis sit in the Church of Rome Thus you sée how Antiquitie Vniuersalitie and Succession helpe the cause of the shakers of the shyp It foloweth in the text Now when he had left speaking he sayd vnto Simon launch out into the deepe and let downe your nettes to make a draught Christ hauing ended his heauenly Sermon certifieth vs of the truth of the same and declareth himselfe to be God the Lord of heauen earth the sea and all that is in them Hee sayd vnto Simon launch out into the déepe Christ was able to geue fishe to Simon without launching out of his net and without his labour ▪ but his will was to haue him launch out his nette c. That which is sayd to Peter is sayd to al Launch out into the deepe c. Euery man of what estate and condition soeuer he be is commaunded paynefully to follow his vocation with fayth Man forthwith after his creation was set to labour The Lord tooke man and set him in the pleasant garden of Eden to dresse it and to kéepe it It was sayd to Adam after that he had tasted the forbiddē fruite In sudore vultus tui vesceris pane thou shalt eate thy bread with the sweate of thy face The same is sayd to euery man Man is borne vnto trauaile sayth Iob as the sparkes flye vpward Whē thou eatest the labours of thy handes thou shalt be blessed it shall be well with thée Our Sauiour Christ sayth the kindome of heauē is like to a man that is an housholder which went out earely in the morning to hier labourers into his vineyard This housesholder is God the father The kingdome of heauen in in this place is the preaching of the gospell of Christ The labourers are all men The vineyard is the Church Why stād you heare all the day idle goe ye also into the vineyard apply your vocation with fayth in Christ Iesu Laboure while you haue time when the night commeth no man can labour Idlenes is the mother and nourisher of all vices which thinge hath bin obserued in the Primitiue Church where it was ordayned that euerye one should liue of his owne labour The which also the auntient Romanes kept straightly as writeth Cicero in his booke of lawes wherein he affirmeth that in tyme past no Roman durst goe by the streates if he bare not a shew whereon he did lyue to th end that it might be knowen the he liued of his owne labour and not by the sweate of others In consideration thereof the Consull did beare a battell axe before him The priest a hat in manner of a Coyfe The Tribune a mace The Cutler a sword The Smith a hammer The Tayler a payre of sheares The Oratour a booke All godly men heretofore haue laboured and also haue continued in spirituall exercise Noha planted a vineyard The kinglye prophet Dauid laboured euen from his youth The Apostle Paule sustayned great labours Reade of that vertuous and painefull woman in the last chapter of prouerbes she eateth not her bread with Idlenes A good lesson for good huswiues to remember A good lesson for ill huswifes to follow But what shall I say of the holye of all holyes is it not written Iesus fatigatus exitinere Iesus being weary of his iorney c Such was his labour he trauailed sometyme among the Iewes sometyme among the Samaritanes he trauailed to the sea side to the moūtaynes to the wildernes so much trauailed he that his handes féete and whole bodye did sweate droppes lyke bloud trickeling downe to the ground and all for the redemption of miserable man to destroy the works of the deuill It is writtē to the praise of Cyrus king of Persia that in tyme vacant frō the affaires of his realme he with his owne handes had planted innumerable trées which long before he dyed brought forth aboundāce of fruite And for the cunnyng and delectable order in setting of
It is a familie of blasphemy a familie of falshode a familie of pride a familie of idolatrie a familie of ignoraunce and follie a familie of mallice to be short a familie of all vice and vilanie That this is true their fruites declare The trée is knowne by the fruite For proofe I refer you to the bookes or rather bables of H. N. whom they name the true Prophet of GOD where as he is a false and lying Prophet I promised to prosecute the Argumēt that the Romish Catholickes are not the true Church as I haue already proued that they shake the shyp of Christ so I infer they break the net of the gospell I argue thus they commit Idolatrye Therefore they breake the net After that the popish priest hath spoken these v. wordes Hoc est enim corpus meū Which is one word more thē euer Christ left and is of so great vertue as they say that without that word there can be no perfect consecration where as notwithstandyng Christ his Apostles the Primitiue Church and the Gréekes neuer vsed this word Enim It is a superstitious additiō of the Papistes most wickedly leauyng out these most necessary wordes that Christ hymselfe spake namely Which is betrayed for you Do this in remembraūce of me After the the priest I say hath spoken the former wordes hath blasted breathed and blowed vpō the bread he knéeleth downe to it and worshyppeth it saying in Latin Agnus Dei qui tollis c. O Lambe of God that takest away the sinnes of the world haue mercy vpon vs Thrise doth he call the bread which he holdeth in his handes the lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world This is abhominable Idolatry The authour of this Idolatrous leuation or liftyng vp of the bread aboue the priests head was Pope Honorius the third about the yeare of our Lord 1210. He commaunded that the host should be lifted vp aboue the priestes head at Masse and that all the people should fall downe and worship it Antichrist sheweth him selfe Here all men may sée how auncient a thyng their holy sackeryng is which is coūted the best and chiefest part of their Masse whereas in déede it is the most wicked and abhominable part of the patched paltrye of their maskyng Masse The lying Papistes therfore may be ashamed to bragge that their deuilishe Masse came from the Apostles seing that it is proued to be a new and late inuention of Antichrist The worde Masse is not in the Byble And as hath bin sufficiently proued there was no tidinges of any Masse priuate in any doctour or Coūcell by the space of six hundred yeares after Christ Their oblation they call Sacrificium nouum A new sacrifice Their Masse booke hath these wordes Acceptum sit omnipotenti Deo hoc sacrificium nouū O that this new sacrifice might be thankfully taken of almightye god They may truely call it a new sacrifice for it was neuer heard of before that a wafer cake and a sponeful of wine mingled with water should be an oblation and sacrifice for the saluation of the liuing and for the rest and quietnes of all the faythfull that are dead I know they will say they commit not idolatre for that which they hold vp is the verye naturall bodye of Christ God and man Therfore may they iustlye worship it I aske them how they proue it to be the verie body of Christ They answere by the vertue of these wordes Hoc est enim corpus meum a goodly profe I reply Christ spake these wordes of the bread as the holy scriptures and all auncient writers doe witnes It is agaynst the veritye of a naturall bodye to be in moe places then one at once as he must be in a hundred thousand places at once if their doctrine be true The article of our faith is that Christ is ascēded vp into heauen and sitteth on the right hand of God the father almighty and from thence shall come c. Our sauiour Christ tolde his disciples oft a litle before his passiō that he should leaue the world and goe to his father S. Marke sayth Christ was taken vp into heauen and sitteth on the right hand of god Wée reade in the Actes This Iesus which is taken vp from you into heauen shall so come as you haue séene him going vp into heauen Of these wordes of the angells we learne that as Christ went vp visiblye and was séene with the corporall eyes of his disciples so lykewise when he commeth agayne from thence he shall come visiblye and be séene with the corporall eyes of all men But neuer man sawe him yet comming downe with his corporall eyes Therefore neuer came he downe corporall since his ascention S. Stephan sawe him Where not in the popishe pixe nor in their singing bread but in heauen S. Paule heard him frō whence from heauen S. Peter sayth that heauen must holde Iesus Christ till the tyme that all thinges be restored which god hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began This tyme is till the daye of iudgement If therefore they will haue Christ bodily at their Masses they must tary till the day of iudgement This doctrine that the sacrament of the alter as they terme it is the true naturall reall carnall corporall and substantiall bodye of Christ is a dreame of Antichrist the Byshop of Rome and cannot be proued neither by holy scripture nor by auncient fathers You haue heard the holye scripture clearely denyeth it The fathers also deny it Clemens Alexandrinus sayth Duplex est autem sanguis domini alter enim est carnalis quo redempti sumus ab interitu alter vero spiritalis quo scilicet vncti sumus hoc est bibere Iesu sanguinem esse participē incorruptionis domini verbi autem virtus est spiritus quemadmodum sanguis carnis The bloud of Christ truely is of two sortes the one carnall wherby wée are redéemed from death the other spirituall wherewith we are annoynted For to drinke the bloud of Iesus is to be parttaker of the Lords immortality The spirite is the vertue of the worde as bloud is of fleshe Theodoret an auncient father sayth thus Christus naturam panis non mutat Christ chaungeth not the nature of the bread Gelasius sayth Non desinit esse substantia vel natura panis vini It ceaseth not to be the substance or nature of bread and wine Origen that old learned father sayth Si secundum literam sequaris id quod dictum est Nisimanducaueritis carnem filij hominis non habebitis vitam in vobis litera illa occidit If accordyng to the letter you vnderstād that saying Except ye eate the fleshe of the sonne of man and drinke his bloud ye haue no lyfe in you That letter killeth It is the Spirit that giueth life the flesh profiteth nothyng For shortnesse of tyme I