they erred Christ himselfe sheweth Verse 64. and the manner wherein they failed hee declared in the 64. verse was because they did not eate him spiritually by faith For said he But there are some of you which beleeue not 4 Thus then we may be fully resolued that the manner of eating which Christ meant was spiritually by faith which hee made plaine vnto them not onely in that 64. verse but almost throughout the whole Chapter for wee may there see that whensoeuer he spake of eating still hee added beleeuing onely to manifest vnto them that by eating Eating and beleeuing is both but one thing he meant beleeuing Also that they might the more plainely haue vnderstood that by eating and beleeuing he meant but one and one onely thing he expounded it vnto them by that one onely effect which he declared both eating and beleeuing hath For as in the 54. verse he said Whosoeuer eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud hath eternall life and I will raise him vp at the last day So in the 40. verse he said This is the will of him that sent me that whosoeuer seeth the Sonne and beleeueth in him should haue euerlasting life and I will raise him vp at the last day Wherefore seeing he shewed them so plainely that the effect of eating and beleeuing was but one and the same thing they might the more easily haue vnderstood that by eating and beleeuing he meant but onely one and the same thing and so consequently that they should eate him spiritually by faith and not after a carnall and corporall manner 5 And thus Christian Reader haue we found out the true meaning of those words of Christ touching the eating and feeding on him euen by conferring place with place and verse with verse which is doubtlesse the most surest way for the bringing the truth to light euen by expounding one Scripture by another For as Saint Chrisostome saith a Chrisost in his 12. Hom. Genesis The holy Scripture expoundeth it selfe and suffereth not the Reader to erre And as Saint Augustine saith b August in his Bocke of questions 83. the 69. quest The circumstances of the Scriptures is wont to giue light and to open the meaning As also in another place c 3. Booke 29. Chap. of Christian doctrine Darke places are to be expounded by more plaine places The surest way of expounding the Scripture is to expound one Scripture by another But the Papists refusing to take this course haue most grossely erred in the true vnderstanding of Christ and also most ignorantly charged vs to hold that heresie of those obstinate and blind Capernaites whereas indeede themselues hold the heresie For their heresie was as we see that Christ meant a corporall kinde of eating euen as they hold but we hold cleane contrary and therefore not we but they are of the fellowship of those first Authors of that heresie who as the Text declareth did therein so fall from Christ as that they forsooke his company Wherefore all that will wilfully fall away from Christ let them with those cauilling Capernaites hypocriticall Disciples and our counterfait Catholiques hold that heresie 6 But now forasmuch as it is an vsuall thing with them whensoeuer they see themselues conuicted by Scripture to tell vs that no Scripture is of any priuate interpretation and therefore vnlesse we can shew them that the same Scripture is so expounded by the ancient Fathers they will not admit it be the sense made neuer so plaine Let them therefore heare how the ancient Fathers testimonies doe expound those words of Christ 7 Saint Origine writing vpon those words Except ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his bloud ye haue no life in you saith d Origen in his 7. Hom. vpon Leuiticus Consider that these things written in Gods Booke are figures and therefore examine and vnderstand them as spirituall and not as carnall men for if you vnderstand them as carnall men they hurt you for euen in the Gospell there is found a letter that killeth for if you follow the letter or words of this that Christ said Except ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his bloud this letter killeth Againe Origine vpon the same words saith e Orig. in his 7. Booke vpon Leuiticus This letter killeth but if thou take it spiritually it killeth not but in it is a quickning spirit vnderstand therefore spiritually those things that be spoken Also Saint Augustine vpon the same words saith f Augustine in his 3. Booke of Christian doctrine Now this saying of Christ Except ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his bloud ye haue no life in you seemeth to command a haynous and a wicked thing therefore it is a figure Againe writing vpon those words It is the spirit that quickneth the flesh profiteth nothing thus he expoundeth them g Vpon the 98. Psalme Ye shall not eate this body that ye see neither shall ye drinke that bloud that they shall shed which crucifie me I haue commended vnto you a certaine Sacrament being spiritually vnderstood it will giue you life Againe h In his 27. Treatise vpon Iohn When you shall see the Sonne of man ascend vp where he was before then shall you vnderstand that he giueth not his body in such sort as ye imagine neither that he is to be consumed by bits and morsels Also fully to resolue all true Christians that Christ meant that none could eate him effectually vnto saluation but such onely as eate him spiritually he saith i In his 26 treatise vpon Iohn He that eateth inwardly not that eateth outwardly he that eateth in heart not that presseth with the teeth to beleeue in Christ that is the eating the bread of life prepare not your mouthes prepare your hearts And againe he saith k In his 26 treatise vpon Iohn Our Lord called himselfe the bread that came downe from heanen exhorting vs to beleeue in him for to beleeue in him that is the eating the bread of life he eateth that beleeueth in him Also in reprouing all those in particular that would eate Christ carnally he saith l In his Booke against the Iewes 9 cap. Why doest thou prepare thy belly and thy teeth beleeue and thou hast eaten Therefore saith Saint Chrisostome m Chrisostome in his 46. Hom. vpon Iohn If any man vnderstand those words of Christ carnally he shall surely profit nothing thereby for what meane these words The flesh profiteth nothing he meant not his flesh God forbid but hee meant of all these that fleshly and carnally vnderstand those things which Christ spake and what is carnall vnderstanding else but to vnderstand them as they be spoken And therefore it is which in another place he saith n In his 14. Hom. vpon Iohn God will not that we vnderstand the words of holy Scripture simply and plainely as they lie but with great
bee the Christian state of Rome in her latter daies for that the Angell there said Shee offered to the World the abomination and filthinesse of her fornication in a Golden Cup that is as the learned expound it her idolatries and whorish Doctrine and Religion in the name of Christ which cup Erasmus declareth Heathenish Rome disdayned once to handle and abhorred what good soeuer was offered to her therein therefore he could not otherwise vnderstand but that the Angel meant the Christian Church of Rome in her latter dayes which vnder the glittering and golden shew of the name of Christ poysoned a great part of Christendome with that whorish filthinesse of her Heathenish Fornication Reuelat. 17.2 Reuelat. 18.3 and the third verse of the eighteenth Chapter And thus wee see the foure principall poynts which fully resolued that most learned Erasmus and may also as fully resolue all men that by Babylon the Mother of whordomes and abominations of the Earth the Angel meant Christian Rome in her latter dayes Now let vs heare how Erasmus concludeth of Christian Rome thus he saith 6 This whorish Woman d Erasmus vpon the 17. chap. Sect. 1. hath decked and garnished her selfe not like Peter and Paul with diuers and many vertues but with Siluer and Gold and pretious Stones and Pearles And the Cup of Gold which she offereth to the World is not the loue of Christ the Christian Faith nor the Law of God but her owne Decrees and Ordinances that she may play the Whore at her pleasure with pompe authoritie and lust without all shame or feare beyond all measure and all vnder the pretence and name of Christ Againe he saith e Erasmus vpon the 16. chap. Sect. 3. The whole order of Bishops and multitude of Spirituaell Pastours which by their office and calling ought to maintaine and support the true Doctrine of God haue bent themselues their whole life and state vtterly against the Doctrine of the Gospell that nothing can bee more vnlike the state of the Apostles in doctrine religion or life then is their order and state Againe he saith f Erasmus vpon the 16. chap. Sect. 2. This second beast with his two hornes is twice as had as the first for as much as through her two hornes it had power both of bodie and soule ouer the Doctrine and ouer the politique Lawes with mouth and hand against God the temporall gouernement Christ and his Ministers And againe he saith g Erasmus vpon the 27. chap. Sect. 1. The bloud of the holy Prophets and Preachers hath this Whore the Papacie shed without measure till she was so drunke therewith that shee tooke and esteemed her tyrannie for godly zeale Therefore he concludeth with the very head of the Romish Church thus h Erasmas in the words going before For the name of the Christian Church he hath deserued anonother name euen to be called the Whore of Babylon the Mother of all abominations idolatrie and of falling into Heathenish superstition And thus Christian Reader thou seest most apparantly proued that by Babylon is meant the Christian Church of Rome now in her latter dayes Now let vs intreat a little of the fall of Babylon for that will make this matter yet more apparant 7 This Angel in the seauenteenth Chapter hauing finished his testimonie touching spirituall Babylon Saint Iohn in the beginning of the eighteenth Chapter saith thus And after these things â—euelat 18.3 I saw another Angel come downe from heauen hauing great power so that the Earth was lightened with his glorie and he cryed out mightely with a loud voyce saying It is falne it is falne Babylon the great Citie and is become the habitation of Diuels and the hold of all foule spirits and a cage of euery vncleane and hatefull Bird for all Nations haue drunke of of the Wine of the wrath of her Fornication and the Kings of the Earth haue committed Fornication with her Now wee heard before by the other Angel that Christian Rome is Babylon therefore if this also be spoken of Christian Rome then is Christian Rome so wonderfully falne as that she may rightly be called Babylon And that it may appeare indeed that this Angel did also speake of Christian Rome let vs heare how Erasmus doth interpret his words thus hee saith i Erasmus vpon the 18. chap. Sect. 1. This is spoken principally against the second Regiment of Rome which vnder the pretence of the name of Christ hath delt so rebelliously against all faithfull Christians And a little after k Jbidem Now is it knowne that shee hath beene an Habitation for the wicked vnfaithfull and filthie Sodomites And againe l Erasmus vpon the 18. chap. Sect. 3. With this Babylon haue Princes and Prelates yea whole Kingdomes committed Whordomes So that by this wee see most apparantly that the same which is here spoken touching the wonderfull great fall of Babylon is spoken of Christian Rome 8 True it is that some do vnderstand this to be meant of the fall of the first beasts power the Heathenish Empire which was ouerthrowne by Constantine the Emperour when hee was conuerted to Christianitie about three hundred yeares after Christ but this cannot bee for by Constantines meanes the Romaines became Christians therefore if wee should vnderstand it of that time and state wee should vnderstand that the Angell called Rome Babylon and the habitation of diuells in respect that it was wholly become the habitation of Christians and that the Christians were those diuels foule spirits vncleane and hatefull birds which were most ridiculous so to say Againe those words of the Text which say And is become importeth a time when shee was not so which could not be meant of that time when she was Impious and Pagan for then she was no better but of a time after when she was risen and fallen And that it may appeare Rome risen and fallen that Christian Rome vnder the Popes did so fall as that shee became this hellish habitation none can make it more of credite nor more apparent then the Romanists themselues haue done as wee shall now see by these their owne testimonies following 9 Their Bernard which liued almost a thousand yeres after Heathenish Romes dayes writing of the state and manner of the Romans in his dayes sayth thus m Bernardinus de considerat ad Eugenium lib. 4. The Romaines are wise to doe euill good they know not how to doe they are irreligious towards God presumptuous against holy things they be Wolues not Sheepe And a little after speaking of the Pope and of his spirituall Pastours hee saith n Jbid. Of such art thou Shepheard if I durst speake all they be rather the pastours of deuils then of sheepe And againe complaining of the diueâ—lishnesse of his time and the ripenesse of the Church of Antichrist among the Romaines he sayth further thus o Bern. Serm. 6. in Psal 91. It onely remayneth that the
the person of Christ he saith Esay 63.3 Chapter 63.3 I haue trodden the Wine-presse alone and of all people there is none with me Or that which the Authour to the Hebrewes saith of Christ Heb. 1.3 Chapter 1.3 He hath purged our sinnes by himselfe or that which he saith Heb. 9.26 Chapter 9.26 He hath put away sinne by the sacrifice of himselfe Wherefore as I said if we must imbrace their doctrine for truth then must we reiect the doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles as erroneous But what saith Saint Ambrose to this partnership in taking away sinne euen thus he saith Å¿ Ambrose in his 9. Booke 76. Epistle The Lord remaineth alone for no man can be partner with God in forgiuing of sinnes this is Christs onely office that hath taken away the sinnes of the World Therefore to restraine the power of Christs sacrifice to that onely one sinne of Adam that so the multitude of our transgressions might be done away by the sacrifice of their Masse is vtterly to ouerthrow the proper prerogatiue of Christ and the whole vertue of his death and passion in which the matter of remission of sinnes iustification and saluation doth onely consist For as the Apostle Saint Paul saith Colossians 1.22 Colossians 1.22 In the bodie of his flesh through death he made vs holy and vnblameable and without fault in the sight of God and set at peace through the bloud of his Crosse both the things in earth and the things in heauen Wherefore to bring in any other sacrifice for sinne but onely the oblation of Christs body broken and his bloud shed and that offered by himselfe once for all is vtterly to ouerthrow all whatsoeuer Christ hath done for mans redemption to cast mens mindes into a doubtfull wauering of their saluation to proue the Prophets and Apostles false witnesses and finally to dissolue the whole harmony of the Scriptures both Propheticall and Apostolicall Hebrewes 9.14 For in that the holy Ghost saith Hebrewes 9.14 Christ offered vp himselfe it is cleare that no sacrifice can serue for sinne but where Christ himselfe is the Priest Also seeing hee saith verse 22. Without shedding of bloud there is no remission of sins Cap. 9.22 if Christ himselfe should come amongst vs and offer himselfe neuer so often and not shed his bloud it could doe vs no good Againe seeing hee saith likewise thus of Christ Verse 25. Not that he should offer himselfe often Cap. 9.25 for then must he often haue suffered since the foundation of 〈…〉 he offering himselfe neuer so often without as 〈…〉 death could doe vs as little good Therefore wâ—â—â—â—eeth not but that the sacrifice of the Masse whereat Christ is not the Priest nor in which the bloud of Christ is shed nor he suffering death how often soeuer it be celebrated for our sinnes profiteth iust nothing at all nor doth any good Nay rather who seeth not what hurt it doth in that men are induced to looke for that there which indeede is not there to be had For whereas they make the multitude to beleeue that they sacrifice in their Masse the very body of Christ for their sinnes the Scripture denieth him to be there or any where else but in heauen Heb. 10.12 For as the Authour to the Hebrews saith Chap. 10.12 This man after hee had offered one Sacrifice for sinnes sitteth for euer at the right hand of God and from thence tarrieth till his enemies bee made his foote-stoole which as Saint Luke sheweth Acts 3.21 is till the end of the World and therefore how can they come by his body to offer in their Masse As for that they say it is easily to be come by because by the words of consecration the bread is transubstantiated into the body of Christ and the wine into his bloud is easily confuted by Saint Chrysostome Theodoret Pope Galasius and their Bishop Fisher Chrisostome saith t Chrisostome Ad Caesatima Monachum The bread when it is sanctified by meanes of the Priest it is exalted to the name of Lords body yet the nature of bread doth still remaine Againe he saith v Hom. 11. on Matthew The very body of Christ it selfe is not in the holy vessels but the mistery thereof is there contained Theodoret saith * Theo. in Diologue 1. The sacramental signes goe not from their owne nature after sanctification Pope Galasius saith x Gala. against Eutiches There leaueth not to be the substance of bread and wine nor the nature of wine Their Bishop Fisher saith y Fisher against Luther No man shall proue by the very words of the Gospell that any Priest in these our dayes doth consecrate the very body and bloud of Christ And a little after hee saith Neither is there any word found here meaning in the new Testament to proue that there is the true presence of Christs flesh and bloud in our Masse So that by this who seeth not how impiously they delude the ignorant in making them to beleeue that they haue the body of Christ in the Pixe or Priests boxe to sacrifice for their sinnes and cause them also to commit idolatry in adoring the bread for Christ 6 Now therefore Christian Reader forasmuch as thou heardest before that the holy Ghost maketh it a necessitie that so often as Christ is offered for sinne hee must as often be crucified to death it is cleare that the Papists necessitie of daily offering bringeth in with it a necessitie of daily crucifying and killing of Christ Wherefore in ordayning an order of daily sacrificers of Christ what else doe they but establish an order of daily crucifiers and killers of him in which therefore it is euident they shew themselues much more horrible and vile then Iudas did in betraying of Christ For notwithstanding Iudas for filthie lucre deliuered his Maister to be crucified yet did he not seeke to procure an order for the continuall crucifying of him neyther to iustifie his action did hee contend with the gaine sayers but with great horrour of conscience condemned it as euill and after a sort repented and brought againe the money the hier of his fact and deliuered it backe to the owners but these murtherers not onely contend for the necessity of that they doe but also haue receiued great summes of money oftentimes to sacrifice and consequently to crucifie Christ and yet haue they not by restoring any part thereof shewed so much as that signe of Iudas his outward repentance Moreouer it is very cleare that this their doings hath a farre worse effect then Iudas his action had for Iudas his action in respect of Gods determinate counsell furthered mans saluation but the necessitie of daily sacrificing for sinne vnder the Gospell vtterly ouerthroweth mans saluation Malac. 1.11 And yet notwithstanding they sticke not to say that this is that Sacrifice of the New Testament which the Prophet Malachie fore-tolde God had appoynted the Christian
Gentiles to offer vnto him in euery place whereas it is cleare it is meant of the whole spirituall worship and seruice of GOD vnder the Gospell which consisteth of preaching praying and thankesgiuing as may plainely appeare by these auncient Fathers interpretations vpon the same place of the Prophet Tertullian saith z Tertullian in his Exhortation vnto Chastitie The pure Sacrifice that Malachie speaketh of that should be offered in euery place is the preaching of the Gospell to the ende of the World Saint Hierome saith a Hierome vpon the first of Malachie The Prophet Malachie meaneth heereby that the prayers of holy people should be offered to God not onely in Iewrie but also in all places Also Iustinus Martyr saith b Iustinus Martyr in Dialoguo cum Triphone Esaias promised not the restoring of a bloudy Sacrifice but the true and spirituall Sacrifice of Praise and Thankesgiuing Therefore we see that the spirituall Sacrifice vnder the Gospel is preaching praying and thank esgiuing To conclude whereas they would haue made the world to belecue that their Masse and the vse thereof is but the application or applying of the Sacrifice of Christs Death and Bloud vnto vs wee see it tendeth to the vtter destroying of Christs Sacrifice for that they make their Sacrifice of the Masse the very substance of the thing it selfe CHAP. X. Tending to resolue all men that the words of Christ in the sixt Chapter of Saint Iohns Gospell touching the eating his flesh and drinking his bloud are onely but figuratiue speeches as also those his other words when he instituted the Sacrament and deliuering the Bread to his Apostles said Take eate this is my body which is giuen for you 1 OVR Sauiour Christ Iohn 6.59 teaching in the Synagogue at Capernaum deliuered these words vnto the Iewes saying I am the liuing Bread that came downe from heauen If any man eate of this Bread hee shall liue for euer and the Bread that I will giue is my flesh which I will giue for the life of the world Verse 51. Againe Except yee eate the flesh of the Sonne of Man Verse 53. Verse 54.55.56.57 and drinke his bloud ye haue no life in you And againe Whosoeuer eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud hath eternall life and I will raise him vp at the last day For my flesh is meate indeede and my bloud is drinke indeede he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud dwelleth in me and I in him As the liuing Father hath sent me so liue I by the Father and he that eateth me euen he shall liue by me 2 Now in these words Christian Reader we are chiefly to obserue these three things First that the scope and drift of our Sauiour Christ was to enduce the Iewes to haue vnderstood that he was the second person in the Godhead equall with the Father and that it was of necessity vnto saluation that they should eate and feede on him as he was God And this is it which he said I am the liuing bread which came downe from heauen If any man eate of this bread he shall liue for euer Secondly he would they should haue knowne that he being the second person in the God-head had taken into his diuine nature flesh and bloud and that it was also of as great a necessity vnto saluation that they should eate and drinke the same and feede on his flesh and bloud And this is it which he also said Christ must be eaten as he is God as hee is man and as he is both God man Except ye eate the flesh of the Son of man and drinke his bloud ye haue no life in you Thirdly he would they should haue perceiued that as he was both God and man so it was also of as great a necessity vnto saluation that they should feede on both his natures vnitedly together And this is it which hee further said vnto them He that eateth me euen he shall liue by me By which we see it euident and plaine that none can be saued but those that doe eate Christ not onely as hee is God but also as hee is man and also as he is both God and man Eaten then he must be of necessity as both the Papists and we confesse but the manner how hee must be eaten is all the matter in question whether spiritually by faith or corporally with the mouth and teeth 3 The Iewes supposing Christ had beene man onely when they heard him say hee was the bread of God that came downe from heauen to giue life vnto the World To eate feed on Christs flesh is to beleeue that by the suffering in his flesh hee tooke away the sinne of our flesh and that he that did eate thereof should not die they were offended but when he added further and said And the bread that I will giue is my flesh which I will giue for the life of the World of which whosoeuer shall eate shall haue euerlasting life they raged and murmured among themselues saying How can this man giue vs his flesh to eate This is an hard saying who can heare it But when our Sauiour perceiued their carnall vnderstanding in which they so grossely erred in the manner of eating by imagining they should haue eaten him with their mouthes and teethes as their Fathers did eate Manna then in the 58. verse fully to resolue them that he meant no such kinde of eating he said The Iewes erring in the māner of eating could profit nothing by the matter they should eate Not as your Fathers did eate Manna And yet more fully to resolue them that indeede he meant a spirituall kinde of eating in the 57. verse he said plainely thus As the liuing Father hath sent me so liue I by the Father and he that eateth me euen he shall liue by me By which words he declared vnto them that as he did not liue carnally by the Father but spiritually so should they liue spiritually by him Howbeit The cause was they would none of his interpretations such was their peruersenesse that they would none of his interpretations but because he had said they must eate his God-head they would no otherwise vnderstand but that hee meant they should eate it carnally and also because hee had said they must eate his man-hood they would no otherwise but that they should eate his flesh corporally then said Christ further vnto them It is the spirit that quickneth the flesh profiteth nothing Meaning as they vnderstood it should bee eaten for otherwise his flesh was as profitable as his Godhead vnto those that did eate it after that manner as hee meant else would he not haue said Whosoeuer eateth my flesh hath eternall life and except ye eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his bloud ye haue no life in you But therefore they failing in the manner could profit nothing by the matter they should eate The manner wherein
Popes principality and supremacy which he challengeth from Peters authority is fabulous For it is cleare that if Christ would haue had vnder him any such singular vniuersall head ouer his Church now by reason of this present occasion had been the onely time to haue made it knowne but in that he said in so plaine and expresse words It shall not be so among you he made it plaine to the contrary Hence it was that Saint Bernard applyed these words of Christ and also the words of Peter himselfe against that false challenge of the Pope saying a Bernard 2. Booke of consideration Peter could not giue that he had not did he giue Lordship heare what he saith Not as ouer Gods heritage but being a patterne to the flocke And least said he to the Pope thou thinke it to be spoken onely in humility and not in truth it is the voyce of the Lord in the Gospell The Kings of the nations raigne ouer them but you shall not be so It is plaine saith he the Apostles are forbidden Lordship therefore goe thou and vsurpe greedily vnto thy selfe either Lording it Apostleship or being Apostolike Lordship thou are flatly forbidden either All which most euidently declareth that the Popes vniuersall supremacy which he claimeth from Saint Peter is flat forgery 3 Secondly they say To Peter onely Christ committed the Keyes of the Kingdome of Heauen For the clearing of which point we are first to make knowne what those Keyes are for by that the most ignorant may the more easily iudge whether to the rest of the Apostles Christ did not also giue the Keyes Luke 11.52 Christ himselfe in the 11. Chapter of Saint Lukes Gospell Matthew 16.19 declareth the first key to be Knowledge and in the 16. Chapter of Saint Matthews Gospell the second to be Power For the first key to wit knowledge it is cleare by Saint Iohn in his 17. Iohn 17.8 Chapter of his Gospell that Christ gaue it as well to the other Apostles as to Peter For in praying for them all in generall he vttered these words to his Father I haue giuen thy words vnto them which thou gauest me Iohn 15.15 and they haue receiued them Againe Chapter 15. speaking to all his Apostles in generall he said All things that I haue heard of my Father haue I made knowne vnto you Likewise in the 14. Iohn 14.26 Chapter speaking to them all in generall he said These things haue I spoken vnto you being present with you but the comforter which is the holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance which I haue told you So that hereby it plainly appeareth that Christ gaue this first key to all the Apostles in generall and therefore not to Peter alone 4 Now touching the second key namely the power of binding and loosing remitting and retaining sinnes it is as cleare that Christ gaue it indifferently to all the Apostles Matthew 16.19 For as Saint Matthew in his 16. Chapter sheweth that he said to Peter Whatsoeuer thou bindest on earth shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer thou loosest in earth shall be loosed in heauen Matth. 18.18 so in the 18. Chapter he declareth that Christ spake these very same words to all the Apostles saying Whatsoeuer ye bind in earth shall be bound in heauen and whatsoeuer ye loose in earth shall be loosed in heauen And likewise Saint Iohn in his 20. Chapter witnesseth that he said also to them all in generall Whose sinnes soeuer ye remit they are remitted vnto them Iohn 20.23 whose sinnes ye retaine they are retained Therefore it is manifest that Christ gaue this key also to all the other Apostles as well as to Peter And therefore it is which Saint Origine saith b Orig. in first Treatise on Matthew This saying to thee will I giue the Keyes is common to all the rest of the Apostles and the words that follow as spoken to Peter are common to all Likewise Saint Augustine saith c August 124. Treatise vpon Iohn When they were all asked Peter alone doth make answer and it was said vnto him And I will giue thee the keyes as though he alone had receiued authority to bind and loose whereas he had spoken that for them all and receiued this as bearing in himselfe the person of vnity Wherefore in another place reprouing those Romane heretikes of his time who would needs haue those words to be spoken to Peter alone and him to be the Rocke on which Christ said he would build his Church said d Augustine in his Booke of the troubles of the Christians Wretched men whiles in Peter they vnderstand not Christ that is the Rocke and whiles they will not beleeue that the keyes are giuen to the Church they haue quite lost the Keyes out of their hands e In his Treatise vpon Iohn For said he if this was said onely to Peter to thee will I giue the Keyes thou the Church hath them not And thus much touching the second point But now before I come to the third point I must craue pardon to digresse a little for that because the Pope challengeth from the authority of the keyes to haue an absolute power to forgiue sinne and to giue the kingdome of Heauen I thinke it very needfull to open that mistery of the vse of the Keyes and how farre their powers doe extend 5 Thou knowest Christian Reader that the vse of Keyes are to open and to shut to let in and to keepe out such as are not meete to come in Now from these metaphors and their properties haue the spirituall keyes their titles and resemblances of properties and doe in this manner both open and shut to wit by the sentence of the Law to shut the locke of excommunication against open offenders and by the sentence of the Gospell to open it againe to those that openly repent confesse their sins And this is it which their Haymo saith f Haymo in Homely vpon the feast of Peter and Paul By Keyes we must vnderstand knowledge and power to discerne between good and bad that those whom thou seest to abide in the true faith thou shalt iudge them worthy of Heauen and those whom thou seest to depart from the true faith thou shalt iudge them worthy of hell fire The Bishops saith he g Ibidem binde men when they separate them from the society of the Church and keepe them from receiuing the body and bloud of Christ he looseth them when as after repentance made he receiueth him in againe into the fellowship of the Congregation and admitteth him to the Lords Table And this is now all the power the Church hath by the two Keyes as for sinne Christ himselfe hath said Matthew 16.19 18.18 it is both bound and loosed in heauen by God himselfe Howbeit we denie not that it is done
called the forme of the Crosse a Sacrament c Aug. in Serm. De Sanctis 19. Leo called the Vowe of Virginitie a Sacrament d Leo inter Decreta Leonis cap. 14. Saint Bernard hee called the washing of feete The Sacrament of daily sinnes e Bern. in Serm. de Coena Dom. And yet besides these other fiue were many moe called Sacraments Saint Hillarie f Hilar. in Mat. Cannon 11.12 23. in diuers places of his writings calleth Prayer a Sacrament Fasting a Sacrament Weeping a Sacrament and the whole tenure of the Scriptures a Sacrament For as the Iewes before the comming of Christ had brought into a custome to call their Oblations and whatsoeuer tended to the worship and seruice of God Sacrifices So after the comming of Christ had the Christians brought into a custome to call almost all whatsoeuer tended to the worship and seruice of Christ Sacraments Saint Augustine speaking of these and other such new deuices which were then crept into the Church saith g August in his 219. Epistle Albeit they be not against the faith yet with seruile burdens they so oppresse our very religion which God of his mercy would haue to be free vnder few and most manifest Sacraments of diuine seruice that the state of the Iewes is much more tolerable for the Iewes notwithstanding they knew the time of libertie yet were they subiect onely to the pacts and burdens of the Law of God and not to the deuices of men Againe hee saith h In his third Booke of Christian Doctrine 6. cap. Our Lord and his Apostles haue deliuered vnto vs a few Sacraments instead of many and the same in doing most easie in signification most excellent in obseruation most reuerend as is the Sacrament of Baptisme and the celebration of the Body and Bloud of our Lord. Againe in another place hee saith i De Symbolo ad Catechumenos These be the two Sacraments of the Church If these two then not Scauen 2 Furthermore that it may plainely appeare that the true Christian Church is to be knowne onely by hauing two Sacraments and not Seauen Let vs heare what Saint Chrysostome saith his words be these k Chrysost of the Workâ— vpon Matth. hom 49. All those things which appertained to Christ indeede haue the Heretikes in their Schismes Churches the Scriptures of God Bishops and other order of Clerkes likewise Baptisme and the Sacrament of thankesgiuing and to conclude Christ himselfe So that hereby we see it plainly proued that to Saint Chrysostomes time which was about two hundred yeeres before the Papists had a Church the true Church of Christ was knowne by hauing two Sacraments and not Seauen and therefore the Popish Church by retaining seauen Sacraments is apparently knowne to be not the true Church of Christ That man of God Martin Luther which before had beene a Papist speaking of this matter saith thus l Luth. Babilonicall Captin In proper speach those we call Sacraments which are promises with signes annexed the rest that haue no signes are bare promises wherefore speaking hereof precisely and strictly there are onely two Sacraments in the Church of God Baptisme and the Bread forasmuch as in these onely we find the signes ordayned of God and also the promise of remission of sinnes But here because it may be they will obiect and say that Luther was but of a latter hatch and but of lesse then one hundred yeers standing let them heare what he saith that liued but in one age next after the Apostles Tertullian by name thus he wrote against Martion the Heretike m Tertull. lib. 4. against Marti How doest thou breake marriage neither coupling the man and the woman together nor being coupled otherwise admitting them to the Sacrament of Baptisme and thankesgiuing Note saith the Translatour how he striketh away fiue of the Popish Sacraments which of their owne heads they haue deuised Yea and let them heare what hee saith that liued in the next age after that S. Cyprian by name thus hee saith n Cypr. lib. 2. Epist 1. ad Stephan Then may they be throughly sanctified and become the children of God if they be new borne by both the Sacraments Now in that hee saith both it is cleare that hee acknowledged but onely two Sacraments But why should wee trouble the Reader any longer about this matter seeing the question is resolued by these two Writers of their owne Bessarion and Paschasius Bessarion saith o Bessa of the Euchar. We reade that these onely two Sacraments were deliuered vs plainely in the Gospell Paschasius saith p Pascha of the Supper of our Lord. These be the Sacraments of Christ in the Catholique Church Baptisme and the Body and Bloud of our Lord. Therefore forasmuch as by Scripture they cannot proue their fiue ceremonies to be Sacraments nor by the auncient Fathers before the rising of Antichrist the number of Seauen onely and that we haue proued that for foure hundred yeeres next after Christ there was but onely our two Sacraments in the Christian Church that must needes be a counterfeit Christian Church and of a latter hatch that will be knowne to be the true Catholique Church by retaining more then two nay then three times two Sacraments And that indeed it may more plainely appeare that by retaining more then two it is not the true Church one of the Popes owne Pen men describing the true Church by her owne notes and markes saith thus * Nicol. Cusanus De potestate Ecclesiae Romanae Epist. 1. In this sensible world that is heere beneath wee must learne by sensible Tokens to know the very Church of Christ for otherwise we are not able to reach the truth And a little after This Church standeth of them that declare by sensible and outward tokens that they be partakers of Christ as they be that confesse Christ to be the Sonne of God And therefore this Church hath certaine holy Tokens or Sacraments ordained to that end that thereby wee may know them that be of Christ so farre forth as by such Tokens coniecturall knowledge may be gathered Therefore I say That this Church of Christ by this coniecturall iudgement is counted holy notwithstanding wicked men and Hypocrites couer themselues vnder the same outward tokens And what those tokens are he expresseth in these words following And receiue Baptisme and the Lords Supper as well as the Godly And thus much for this point Now let vs see what wee can say to the Sacrament of the Altar or Masse 3 Their Masse they would beare the world in hand was the ordinance of Christ and formed and framed by the Apostles and that Saint Peter said their Masse at Rome and Saint Iames at Ierusalem But how true this is these words of their Iohannes Boemos will plainly demonstrate q Iohan. Bohem. In his Booke of the beginning of things cap. 1â— The Masse saith hee so call they the Sacrifice was
first vsed to be done in such simple sort as is yet accustomed on Good-Friday and Easter euen with certaine Lessons before it But then Pope Celestinus put to the office of the Masse Thelesphorus Gloria in excelsis But Hilarius of Pictauia made Et in terra Samachus ordayned it to be sung The Salutations which by the tearme of Dominus vobiscum be made seauen times in the Masse were taken out of the Booke of Ruth by Clement and Anaclet and put in in their places Galasius made vp all the rest to the Offertory in the same order they be vsed except the Sequences and the Creede whereof Nicholas put to the first and Damassus the next according to the Synode of Constantinople Another added the Confiteor Gregory linked on the Offertory Leo the Preface Gelasius the great Cannon and the lesse The Sanctus blessed Sixtus and Gregory the Pater noster Sergius tacked on Agnus and Gregory the poste communion The closing vp of all with Ite missa est Benedicamus Deo gratias was Leoes inuention Now forasmuch as themselues witnesse that their Masse was but the inuention of man and not fully framed and finished of more then sixe hundred yeares after the decease of all the Apostles How vntrue must it needes be that Saint Peter and Saint Iames said this Masse or that the antiquitie thereof came from Christ and his Apostles Now that wee may see also whereunto it tendeth and know the better how to answer vnto it let vs obserue their owne definition thus they define it A propitiatory Sacrifice a Sacrifice to satisfie Gods iustice for sinne and to reconcile him and his people together by the daily or often offering the body of Christ for the sinnes of the quicke and dead 4 Now touching this definition wee are aduisedly to consider how it can possibly stand with the truth for if it be of necessity vnto saluation to haue the body of Christ daily or oftentimes offered for sinne then is it certaine that Christ by the Sacrifice of his death vpon the Crosse did not take it away and then are all these Scriptures confounded which denie it needfull to haue any more oblations for sinne or the body of Christ any more offered for the same namely where the Authour to the Hebrewes saith Chapter 10.14 Heb. 10.14 Heb. 10.1 Heb. 9.26 For with one oblation hath he consecrated for euer them that be sanctified and where hee also saith Chapter 10.10 We are sanctified euen by the offering of the body of Iesus Christ once made and againe where he further saith Chapter 9.26 Now in the end of the World hath hee appeared once to put away sinne by the sacrifice of himselfe Heb. 10.18 and also where he concludeth of this point thus Chapter 10.18 Where remission of these things is there is no more offering for sinne Wherefore if it be true that of necessity Christ must continually be offered for sinne then are these testimonies most vntrue but in that they are yea and Amen they most truly declare the definition of their Masse to be false and that the necessity of daily sacrificing for sinne is not grounded vpon the truth Also seeing that vnder the Gospell there must not onely be but one onely oblation for sinne but also but once offered and that by Christ himselfe the Papists are condemned for notorious heretikes that will haue so many thousand oblations and so many times offered by others For doe they not thereby make that one Sacrifice of Christ vpon the Crosse as insufficient for the taking away of sinne as the daily sacrificing the bodies of beasts and shedding the bloud of Calues in Moses Law which were daily offered because they serued onely for sinnes past and not for sinnes to come and therefore as the holy Ghost saith Hebrewes 10. made nothing perfect Wherefore who seeth not but that the bringing into the Church the necessity of daily sacrificing for sinne bringeth in with it the vtter ouerthrow of the efficacie of Christs death and bloud-shedding But forasmuch as the holy Ghost speaking of the daily offering of Christ for sinne saith Hebrewes 7.27 Which needed not daily as those high Priests to offer vp sacrifice first for his owne sinnes and then for the peoples for that did he once when he offered vp himselfe their daily sacrificing for sinne is not onely superfluous and vaine but also most hereticall and blasphemous 5 But what shall we say now haue they nothing to answere yea verily for thus in effect they say r Thomas of Aquine De venerable Sacra Alter cap. We acknowledge and confesse that Christ by the sacrifice of his death freed vs from the guilt of originall sinne that is from that one sinne of Adam but for the malediction of all our actuall transgressions that to be taken away by the blessed sacrifice of the Masse which being true then are wee more beholden to their sacrifice then to Christs sacrifice For if Christ by his sacrifice tooke away onely the guilt of that one sinne and left vs guilty of many thousand sinnes what hath he done for vs but the sacrifice of the Masse 1. Epistle of Iohn 1. chap. 7 verse which taketh away the whole multitude of our sinnes that is it which wee are beholden to indeede But how true it is that Christ by the sacrifice of his death and bloud-shedding cleansed vs but from that one sinne onely these words of Saint Iohn will make it plaine where hee saith 1 Epistle 1 Chapter 7 verse The bloud of Christ cleanseth vs from all sinne and also these words of Saint Paul Titus 2 Chapter 14 verse Titus 2 chap. 14 verse He redeemed vs from all iniquity and likewise these words where hee speaking of our condemnation by originall sinne and the restoring vs againe by Christ saith Romans 5 Chapter 16 verse om 5.16 ver Neither is the gift so as that which entred in by one that sinned for the fault came of one offence to condemnation but the gift is of many offences to iustification 5 Againe if it be true that the suffering and death of Christ serued but for the healing the wound of originall sinne and not also for our actuall transgressions then is not this true which the Prophet Esay saith Chapter 43.5 He was wounded for our transgressions he was broken for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was vpon him and with his stripes we are healed Therefore it is very cleare that if the Papists doctrine be true the doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles are meerely false But if we shall beleeue them that Christ by his sacrifice vpon the Crosse did satisfie the wrath and iustice of God for one part and they by their sacrifice vpon the Altar for another part and so Christ with them and they with Christ as fellow-helpers and copartners together doe fully satisfie Gods iustice for all sinne how shall we beleeue the Prophet in another place where in
wisedome and discretion And that indeed it may more plainely appeare that by retaining more then two it is not the true Church one of the Popes owne Pen-men describing the true Church by her owne notes and markes saith thus * In Ioh. Hom. 39. In this sensible world that is here beneath we must learne by sensible tokens to know the very Church of Christ * Nicol. Cusaenus De potestate Ecclesiae Romana Epist 1. For otherwise we are not able to reach the truth And a little after This Church standeth of them that declare by sensible and outward tokens that they be partakers of Christ as they be that confesse Christ to be the Sonne of God And therefore this Church hath certaine holy tokens or Sacraments ordained to that end that thereby we may know them that be of Christ so farre forth as by such tokens coniectured knowledge may be gathered Therefore I say That this Church of Christ by this coniecturall iudgement is counted holy notwithstanding wicked men and hypocrites couer themselues vnder the same outward tokens And what those tokens are he expresseth in these words following And receiue Baptisme and the Lords Supper as well as the godly And thus much for this point Now let vs see what we can say to the Sacrament of the Altar or Masse And thus we see that those words of Christ are spiritually to be vnderstood and not carnally as the Papists vnderstand them neither doe I see how they can properly apply those words to the Sacrament for that we see the scope and drift of Christ was onely there to draw them to the knowledge of him as he then was to wit both God and man and that he being God was become man to satisfie the wrath and iustice of God for man in the same flesh that man had offended in that so they might haue beleeued that he was the same Messias and Sauiour foretold by Moses on whom they did relie but no one word of the Sacrament therefore it seemeth to me those words doe not directly concerne the Sacrament or Sacramentall eating And the rather also may they be of my minde for that these of their owne side haue thus written Michael vehe o Michael vehe contra Lutherum of eating the Sacrament Christ in the sixt Chapter of Saint Iohn spake nothing And this he there proueth Their Doctor Doring saith p Doring in Psal 110. That saying hath no foundation or warrant in the words written by Saint Iohn Therefore to speake of the receiuing of the Sacrament in true vnderstanding it hath no force And a little after For this was spoken long before the Sacrament was ordained Therefore out of those words they can make no good proofe touching the communion of the Sacrament seeing the Sacrament at that time had no being Wherefore let vs now come to the words which properly and directly appertaineth to the Sacrament or Sacramentall eating Which when Christ deliuered the Sacrament to his Apostles were these 1 Cor. 11.24 Take eate this is my body which is giuen for you or as Saint Paul saith Which is broken for you 8 Now touching these words Christian Reader which they would haue also litterally to be taken and not figuratiuely to be vnderstood it will plainely appeare that they are but figuratiue speeches First for that when as Christ deliuered the bread and said Take eate this is my body which is broken for you his body was not then broken but was broken the next day after Secondly for that it was his very bodie that deliuered the bread which he called his body and it is certaine he had not two bodies therefore in calling the bread his body and the wine his bloud they were onely such figuratiue speeches as he vsed at other times as when he called himselfe a doore Iohn 10.7 Iohn 15.1 Iohn 10.11 Apoc. 5.5 Apoc. 14.1 Gen. 33.20 Iudg. 6.24 Rom. 4.17 a vine a shepheard c. and where he is called a Lyon a Lambe c. And as are vsed in many other places of the Scriptures as Genesis 33. Where Iacob called the Altar which he had set vp The mighty God And likewise in Iudges the 6. where Gideon called his Altar Iehouah which were none of them so but figuratiuely And therefore it is which Saint Paul saith Romans 4. God calleth those things which be not as though they were euen as himselfe also did when he called the stonie Rocke Christ which as Saint Augustine saith q August in his 57. question vpon Leuit. Gen. 17.10 Was not Christ by substance but by signification And as God himselfe did Genesis 17. where he called circumcision which was but the Sacrament or signe of his couenant The Couenant Therefore it is certaine that those words of Christ in calling bread his body and wine his bloud were but the like figuratiue speeches And that the Reader may be the more fully resolued that they were indeede but figuratiue speeches let him diligently obserue these testimonies of the auncient Fathers 9 Tertullian saith r In his Booke against Martion Iesus tooke bread and giuing it among his Disciples made it his body saying This is my body that is to say saith he a figure of my body Saint Ambrose saith Å¿ Ambrose 4. Booke 5. Cha. of Sacraments The Priest saith Make vnto vs this oblation to be acceptable which is the figure of the body and bloud of Christ Theodoret saith t Theodoret in his 1. Dialogue It is cleare that they are the figures of those things whereof they beare the name So that howsoeuer as Saint Cyprian saith u Cyprian de vnction Chrismatis Christ in his last Supper gaue to his Apostles with his owne hands Bread and Wine which he called his Body and Bloud yet on the Crosse he gaue his very body to be wounded with the hands of Souldiers that the Apostles might declare to the World how and in what manner bread and wine may be the flesh and bloud of Christ and the manner hee straight wayes declareth thus that those things which doe signifie and those things which are signified by them may be both called by one name And therefore it is also which Saint Augustine saith * August 57. question vpon Leuit. A thing which signifieth is wont to be called by the name of the thing which it signifieth And in another place x In his 23. Epistle to Benifacius For if Sacraments had not some similitudes or likenesse of those things whereof they be Sacraments then they should be no Sacraments at all but for their similitude and likenesse commonly they haue the names of those things whereof they be Sacraments Therefore saith he after a certaine manner of speech the Sacrament of Christs body is Christs body the Sacrament of Christs bloud is Christs bloud And in another place thus y In his 18. Book 48. Cha. of the City of God All signes and tokens seeme in
a manner to beare the persons of the things themselues that they signifie So the Apostle saith The Rocke was Christ for that the Rocke whereof it was spoken signified Christ And thus we see the matter made as cleare as the Sunne that shineth at noone day that those words of Christ in calling bread his body and wine his bloud were onely but figuratiue speeches and therefore the bread and wine are onely but figures of his body and bloud But yet forasmuch as the Antichristians haue so besotted the multitude in making them to beleeue that after the words of consecration the bread and wine is transubstantiated into the naturall body and bloud of Christ let vs heare a little further what the Fathers say more fully to this point 10 Saint Ambrose hereof saith thus z Ambrose in his Booke of those things that are declared by the mist ries the last Chap. Before consecration another kinde is named but after consecration the body of Christ is signified Theodoret saith a Thâ—odo in his 1. Dialogue Christ did honour the visible tokens with the names of his body and bloud not changing the nature but adding grace vnto nature Againe he saith b In his 2. Dialogue The sacramentall signes goe not from their owne nature after sanctification Also Saint Chrisostome saith c Chrisost ad Caesatium Monachum The bread before it be sanctified is called bread but when it is sanctified by the meanes of the Priest it is deliuered from the name of bread and is exalted to the name of the Lords body yet the nature of bread doth still remaine And therefore in another place he saith plainly thus d In his 11. Hom. vpon Mathew The very body of Christ it selfe is not in the holy vessels but the mistery or sacrament thereof is there contained But that which is more then all this the Pope himselfe saith euen Gelasius by name e Gelasius against Eutiches There leaueth not to be the substance of bread and wine or the nature of wine and indeed the image or representation of the body and bloud and the likenesse thereof is published in the ministration of the misteries Therefore it is which their Bishop Fisher saith f Fisher against Luther No man shall be able to proue by the very words of the Gospell that there is the true presence of Christs flesh and bloud in our Masse To conclude Saint Augustine saith g August in his Booke of profit of repentance It is a dangerous matter and a seruitude of the soule to take the signe instead of the thing that is signified And here haue we sufficient experience in the Papists who by taking the signe for the thing it selfe commit most horrible idolatry in adoring the bread for Christ CHAP. XI Tending to resolue all men that wee ought not to pray to Saints but to God onely neither to worship Saints but God alone And that it is Sacriledge to doe either 1. A Great part of the World Christian Reader hath of long time been carried away with the multitude of Popish delusions amongst which this is one Namely to say We must goe to God by the mediation of Saints as by noble men we goe vnto a King Hereby haue they drawne the people to impart the glory of the Creator to the creature euen to pray to Saints whereas they should pray onely to God For so hath the Lord commanded vs saying Psalme 50. Psalme 50.15 Call vpon me in the day of thy trouble and I will heare thee and thou shalt glorifie me Now therefore seeing the Lord commandeth vs to come vnto him why should we goe first to any other yea first or last Againe seeing the Lord accounteth it a part of his glory to be prayed vnto is it not a stealing from him a chiefe part of his glory to pray vnto others yea verily And therefore all those that make any intercessioÌ„ to Saints can no more look to obtaine any good at the hand of God then theeues can looke to obtaine good at the hands of those from whom they robbe and steale 2 Our Sauiour saith Matthew 23. One is your Doctor Matthew 23.8 Acts 3.22 1 Cor. 1.30 euen Christ Saint Luke saith Chap. 3. Him must wee heare in all things Saint Paul saith 1 Cor. 1. He is our wisedome Now if Christ be our Doctor and Teacher and him whom wee must heare in all things and also our wisedome by which we are to be directed then ought we to learne of him both to whom we should pray and also the manner how to pray And hereof haue we a plaine example in the Apostles who knowing that the whole World was to be taught by him desired him to teach them how to pray Luke 11. â— Master said they teach vs to pray as Iohn also taught his Disciples and Christ being as willing to teach them as they were to learne began thus to instruct them not onely in the manner how but also to whom they ought to pray When ye pray said he pray vnto your Father which is in secret and he shall reward you openly Againe said he After this manner pray ye Matthew 6.9 Our Father which art in Heauen c. Now if Christ were wise enough to teach his Apostles then are wee to learne by his directions not onely not first to goe to Saints but not at all but onely to God the Father of Heauen Wherefore then this vtterly condemneth the Papists of most wretched impiety that will teach men first to goe to Saints Also it flatly condemneth them of arrogancy in taking vpon them to be wiser then Christ who in his heauenly wisedome knew best how to instruct Gods children in the right way for the most speedy and surest obtaining their petitions 3 It was not without great cause Christian Reader that St Paul said Christ is our wisedome For had â—e sent vs to the Saints departed yea had hee picked out of all the Patriarks and Prophets Abraham the Father of the faithfull to haue prayed vnto that by his mediation we might haue come to God what had it auayled seeing the Prophet Esay saith Chap. Esay 63.16 63. Abraham is ignorant of vs and Israel knoweth vs not Yea seeing Salomon the wise saith The dead know nothing at all But therefore wee see Christ did it not otherwise hee should haue condemned himselfe of Popish ignorance in sending vs to seeke helpe at their hands who are ignorant of vs and knoweth not how to doe vs any good Saint Augustine reprouing those heretikes of his time which sought for helpe of the dead declared plainely vnto them that they did but delude themselues and spend their labour in vaine for said he a August in his Book of the spirit soule 29. The soules of them that be dead are there where they doe not see nor heare what things are done or chance in this life Such is the care they haue for the
but saue his life For if Saint Paul should haue spoken those words to haue maintained a place of purging sinne then should hee haue vtterly confounded all his owne doctrine throughout all his Epistles where he so laboureth to proue that our sins are wholly purged by the bloud of Christ onely For first in the third Chapter to the Romans he saith thus of Christ Whom God hath set forth to be a reconciliation through faith in his bloud Rom. 3.25 Rom. 5.9 And in his 5. Chapter thus Being now iustified by his bloud we shall be saued from wrath through him And in the first to the Colossians thus Colos 1.13 Who hath deliuered vs from the power of darkenesse and hath translated vs into the Kingdome of his deare Sonne in whom wee haue redemption through his bloud that is the forgiuenesse of sinnes And in the same Chapter Verse 19.20 For it pleased the Father that in him all fulnesse should dwell and by him to reconcile all things vnto himselfe and to set at peace through the bloud of his Crosse both the things in earth and the things in Heauen And for a full conclusion of this point namely that wee are absolutely made perfect by Christs death and bloud he saith verse 22. In the body of his flesh Verse 22. through death he made vs vnblameable and without fault in the sight of God Now then this being true to wit that we are fully and wholly reconciled to God by faith in the bloud of Christ and our sinnes cleane washed away thereby so as that we are made vnblameable and without fault in Gods sight how absurd had it beene for Saint Paul to haue taught any other kinde of purgation Therefore it is cleare that those his words in the third Chapter to the Corinthians cannot be vnderstood of Purgatory 9 Furthermore as touching the truth of this doctrine namely that our sinnes are washed and cleansed onely by the bloud of Christ Saint Paul is not singular in this point for as we heard before out of the seauenth Chapter of the Reuelation that it was confirmed to Saint Iohn by the Angell of God from Heauen so likewise whosoeuer will reade the first Chapter of that Booke shall finde these words set downe concerning Christ Vnto him that loued vs Reuel 1.5.6 and washed vs from our sinnes in his bloud and made vs Kings and Priests vnto God euen his Father be glory and dominion for euermore Amen And in the 1 Chapter to the Hebrewes thus Heb. 1.3 Who being the brightnesse of the glory and the ingraued forme of his person and bearing vp all things by his mighty Word hath by himselfe purged our sinnes And in the first Epistle and the first Chapter of Saint Iohn thus Iohn 1. Epist 1. chap. 7. The bloud of Iesus Christ cleanseth vs from all sinne Wherefore then seeing that of the bond slaues of Sathan we are made Kings and Priests to God by the bloud of Christ and that Christ of himselfe and by himselfe hath so purged our sinnes as whereby wee are made vnblameable and without fault in Gods sight why should we nay rather how dare we beleeue it is done by Purgatory Againe seeing the holy Ghost saith By the bloud of Christ Verse 9. wee are cleansed from all sinne and in the verses following From all vnrighteousnesse And that Saint Paul saith Titus 2. Titus 2.14 He redeemed vs from all iniquitie why should we suffer our selues to be so deluded to thinke that there is any sinne vnrighteousnesse or iniquity at all left to be purged by their imagined Purgatorie or that there can be any vse at all thereof or be any such place 10 Saint Cyprian speaking of the matter of our purging saith thus m Cyprian of Christs passion Thy bloud O Lord seeketh no reuenge thy bloud washeth our sinnes and pardoneth our trespasses Also to shew that there can be none other purgation nor any place for the purging of sinne after this life he saith else-where n In his first Treatise against Demetrian After we be once departed out of this life there is no more place of repentance there is no more effect or working of satisfaction life is here either lost or wonne Also to the very same effect are those words of Saint Augustine o August vpon the 25. Psalme Let onely the price of the bloud of my Lord auaile me to the perfection of my deliuery And in another place thus p In his 10. Booke 22 Ch. of the City of God The victory is gotten in his name that hath taken man vpon him and that hath liued without sinne that in him and through him being both the Priest and the sacrifice remission and forgiuenesse of sinnes should be obtained and giuen that is to say saith he by the Mediatour of God and man that man Iesus Christ by whom the purging of our sinnes being made we are reconciled vnto God Well then if onely the bloud of Christ be auaileable to the perfection of our deliuerance from sinne and that the purgation thereof be so effectually made thereby as that our sinnes are washed away and all our trespasses pardoned and wee reconciled vnto God in this life and that here in this life euerlasting life is either lost or wonne and that after this life repentance comes too late and no satisfaction can be made to what end should God prouide a place after this life for the better perfecting of our saluation But therefore it is which Saint Augustine in another place saith q In his 54. Epistle to Macidonius There is no other place to correct our manners and conditions but onely in this life euery man shall haue that which he hath purchased vnto himselfe in this World And what vse then can there be of Purgatory Saint Ignatius saith r Ignatius in his 6. Epistle Alwayes reason requireth that whiles we haue space and time we should amend and correct our faults whiles in this life wee haue occasion giuen of repentance for it is truly said after death there is neither time nor place to confesse our sinnes And why then should wee beleeue that there is both place and time Saint Ambrose saith s Ambrose vpon good death He that here in this life receiueth not remission of his sinnes shall not be there in the life to come meaning Heauen Also Saint Hierome speaking of the same point saith thus t Hierome in his Booke vpon the 95. of Esay He that doth not obtaine remission of his sinnes whiles he yet liueth in the body doth perish to God and abideth to himselfe vnto euerlasting damnation And what auaileth Purgatory after this life then Saint Chrisostome likewise speaking of the same point saith u Chrisost in his 2. Sermon of Lazarus Whiles we be yet here we haue a godly hope but as soone as we are departed hence it lieth no more in vs for to repent nor