10. That Water which was by our Lord converted into Wine is still called Water Joh. 2. 9. The Angels are called Men Gen. 19. 8. because they appeared in the shape of Men according to the usual Language of Sense very many instances of which are to be found For our Saviour had fully instructed them before that the Bread which he would give them was his flesh Joh. 6. 51. The Apostle also saith again v. 17. For we being many are one Bread and one Body for we are partakers of that one Bread and that one Bread can signifie nothing here but the Body of Christ which indeed is but one altho' appearing in innumerable place of the World at the same and at several times because it is still animated by the same one Soul and Divinity of Christ which cannot be said of the Bread in the Sacrament if but mere Bread for then it would not be one Bread or Loaf but many and of several sorts being received at very many places at the same time And the true reason here why they are called one Bread and one Body or Society of Christians is because they are all partakers of that one Bread viz. the Body of Christ and therefore also all inspired with the same Spirit But in the Authors Sense it would be no reason but they should rather have been many Bodies because they did Eat of so many Breads So that we see he hath still the same success in bringing those Texts of Scripture to uphold his cause which are the most pregnant proofs against him He then proceeds to teach the Catholics how they might argue in his new way from a Sign already Instituted and known as so to an AEnigma or dark saying taken from things of a disparate and really different nature and of no acknowledg'd Resemblance that is from Chalk to Cheese but they beg his Pardon for that Well but the same Apostle in the next Chapter after he had spoken of the Consecration of the Elements still calls them the Bread and the Cup in three verses together as often as ye Eat THIS Bread and Drink THIS Cup v. 26. Whosoever shall Eat THIS Bread and Drink THIS Cup of the Lord unworthily v. 27. But let a Man Examin himself and so let him Eat of THAT Bread and Drink of THAT Cup v. 28. It is true it was Bread Metaphorically but it was still this Bread with an Emphasis not such Bread as you ordinarily Eat but the Body of Christ which he told us was truly Meat or Meat indeed the true Bread from Heaven John 6. 32. It was a Cup but it was this Cup that is his Blood which was truly Drink or Drink indeed as he also hath taught us John 6. 55. and after examination let the true Christian Eat of that Bread and Drink of that Cup which will strengthen his Body and Soul both much more than the ordinary Bread and Wine can his Body only Our Saviour himself when he had said This is my Blood of the New Testament immediately adds but I say unto you I will not henceforth Drink of this Fruit of the Vine that is of the true Vine as our Lord is pleased to call himself or of that Wine which by the Words of Benediction becomes my Blood being Originally the Fruit of the Vine or possibly it may refer to the unconsecrated Wine that was left in the Vessels until I drink it new that is fresh and newly Consecrated again with you in my Fathers Kingdom or after my Resurrection as some with the Author interpret the place but as others more generally till I drink of that new Wine of another sort and nature in the Kingdom of my heavenly Father where we shall drink of the River of his pleasures Psal 36. 8. and therefore the Authors following observation is nothing worth For after the Apostles were satisfied that they really drank the Blood of our Lord in this Sacrament and fed upon his Real Body it was an easy and familiar Metaphor to call them Bread and Wine because the outward Species gave a sufficient hint for the understanding of this Figurative Speech suitable to the Language of Sense in the instances above mentioned out of Scripture and because there was true Spiritual nourishment conveyed to the faithful by the Body and Blood of our Saviour thus received as there is Corporeal nourishment received by the Natural Bread and Wine which we take for the refection of our Bodies DISCOURSE Besides if we consider that he celebrated this Sacrament before his Passion it is impossible these words should be understood literally of the natural Body and Blood of Christ because it was his Body broken and his Blood shed which he gave to his Disciples which if we understand literally of his natural Body broken and his blood shed then these words this is my Body which is broken and this is my Blood which is shed could not be true because his Body was then whole and unbroken and his Blood not then shed nor could it be a propitiatory Sacrifice as they affirm this Sacrament to be unless they will say that Propitiation was made before Christ suffered And it is likewise impossible that the Disciples should understand these words literally because they not only plainly saw that what he gave them was Bread and Wine but they saw likewise as plainly that it was not his Body which was given but his Body which gave that which was given no his Body broken and this Blood shed because they saw him alive at that very time and beheld his Body whole and unpierc'd and therefore they could not understand these words literally If they did can we imagine that the Disciples who upon all other occasions were so full of questions and objections should make no difficulty of this matter nor so much as ask our Saviour how can these things be that they should not tell him we see this to be Bread and that to be Wine and we see thy Body to be distinct from both we see thy Body not broken aud thy Blood not shed From all which it must needs be very evident to any man that will impartially consider things how little reason there is to understand those words of our Saviour this is my Body and This is my Blood in the sense of Transubstantiation nay on the contrary that there is very great reason and an evident necessity to understand them otherwise I proceed to shew ANSWER Besides if we consider that our Lord celebrated this Sacrament before his Passion it is impossible that these words should be understood otherwise than properly of the real Body and Blood of Christ because it was his Body broken and his Blood poured out which he gave to his Disciples which if we understand as figurative only of his natural Body broken and his Blood shed then these words this is my Body which is broken and this is my Blood which is shed could not be true because his
Eternal Logos Thus evidently did our Saviour seem to this Learned Man to speak all along to the very end of his Discourse of a Really Eating his Flesh and Drinking his Blood and not of the manner of Eating as if it never came nigh them but only they thought of Flesh and Blood God knows how far distant from them and so Eat the human Flesh of Christ by meer thinking of it and Drank his Blood after the same imaginary manner Thus to avoid the Catholic Tenent of Transubstantiation which he could bear no more than the Jews and yet verifie the Words of Christs Bodies being receiv'd verily and indeed and such other Expressions found in the Catechism and Homelies of the Church of England which he thought himself bound to maintain he was driven to distinguish a double Body of Christ the one Human and Natural the other Spiritual and Divine but both Real as has been said before Good God what Chimera's will not a mind preoccupated with Error frame to it self rather than submit to the Truth Luther indeed tells us of about ten Opinions of the Sacramentarians in his time and a Book was Publisht in the Year 1527 in which were reckon'd no less than 200 several Expositions of the Sense of these words Hoc est Corpus meum This is my Body What we would gladly know of our ADversaries with whom we have now to deal is which of these now two hundred and one Opinions it is that they maintain or whether they have any other yet in store for Error hath no End different from all these For surely after all they must be forc'd to allow that there is but one True Sense of our Saviours Words viz. either that it is his very true Substantial Body which is taken and received or a figure only what vertue soever they please to assign to it If the former they fall in with the Catholics or Dr. Moors Tenet if the latter what Vertue soever they assign to a Figure it is not the Real Body nor the Body Really Present Let them speak plain that the World may understand them The Faithful are not to be deluded with Ambiguities in a Point of so great concern to their Immortal Souls Reader be pleased to observe concerning the manner and Method of the Ensuing Treatise and Answer that the Discourse against Transubstantiation is faithfully here reprinted Section by Section and a Reply made to the Sections in their Order Also that because the Discourser against Transubstantiation would delude unwary Christians by making them believe that Catholics have no proof for this Doctrin from Scripture this first Part which is chiefly concerning Scripture Authority is publisht by it self to be consider'd distinctly to which in convenient time the Second Part is to be added Some ERRATA'S to be Corrected Pag. 18. in Marg. for Preface read Introduction p. 27. last line read under the species p. 42. in the Hebrew Citation read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bis p. 60. read Relicks Observe that in the Marginal Notes p. 43. 56 58 63. the word infra hath relation to the Second Part of the Answer which is not yet Published Transubstantiation DEFENDED In Answer to a Treatise Intitled A Discourse against Transubstantiation DISCOURSE Concerning the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper one of the two great positive Institutions of the Christian Religion there are two main Points of difference between Us and the Church of Rome One about the Doctrine of Transubstantiation in which they think but are not certain that they have the Scripture and the words of our Saviour on their side The other about the administration of this Sacrament to the People in both kinds in which we are sure that we have the Scripture and our Saviour's Institution on our side and that so plainly that our Adversaries themselves do not deny it ANSWER COncerning the Sacrament of Union the Lord's Supper which is the chief of those several positive Institutions of Religion which Christ hath Ordained in his Church there are many great differences even between Protestants themselves it is no wonder therefore if there are as many between Protestants and Catholics Of these the Author gives two instances the one about the Doctrine of Transubstantiation the other about the Administration of this Sacrament to the People in both kinds As for that of Transubstantiation he would have done well to have told us in what supposition he means to take the Word in his Discourse If he suppose the True Real and Substantial Presence of Christs Body in the Sacrament and take the Word Transubstantiation precisely as it signifies that Presence not with the Bread but by it's being chang'd into his Body this is a difference indeed and the only proper one in this supposition between him and Catholics in this matter But then if he would have proceeded sincerely and as one that was really Master of so much sense as he talks of in this Treatise he should have held to his Point and not impugned what he supposes but if he suppose no such Real or Substantial Presence of Christs Body and under the name of Transubstantiation fight expresly against the Real Presence through his whole Discourse as it is evident he doth and therefore ought to have call'd it a Discourse against the Real Presence and it's consequence Transubstantiation and not a Discourse only against Transubstantiation then the difference is not only as he would make it with the Catholics but with the Lutherans also and those of his own Communion as King James Bishop Andrews Mr. Thorndike and many others who profess'd to believe the Body of Christ to be present in the Sacrament no less truly than Catholics do But however he compose this difference with them yet the Catholics as for their Tenent do not think only as he says but are certain as I shall shew in the Process of this Discourse that they have the Words of our Saviour which they do not doubt to be Scripture on their side And for the other Point viz. the Administration of the Sacrament in both kinds they are sure that neither he nor any of his party have or ever can prove from the Scripture and our Saviours Institution that he laid a Command upon all the Faithful to receive it always in both kinds and this they constantly affirm But before I leave this Paragraph I cannot but desire the Reader to take notice of two things first That how sure soever the Author makes himself that he hath the Scripture and our Saviours Institution on his side yet his good friend Dr. Tillotson in his Rule of Faith which he makes Scripture only to be speaking in his own Name and that of his Party saith We are not Infallibly certain that any Book for example S. Matthew or any other of the Evangelists is so Ancient as it pretends to be or that it was Written by him whose Name it bears or that this is the sense of such
Messias the Lamb of God that was to take away the sins of the World. Now the Bread and Wine not having been at all discovered to be such Signs of our Saviours Body and Blood to the Disciples nor consequently considered as so it was against the Rules of human discourse to say they were his Body and Blood if no more was meant than that they were Signs of them and as absurd as for Moses before the formal Institution of the Paschal Sacrifice recited at large in Exod. 12. to have said to the People upon Sacrificing a Lamb This is the Lords Passover Or This Passover is your Saviour For it was to be known and considered as a Passover Sacrifice and as a Type of the Messias before he could reasonably have affirmed thus of it 3. The Jewish Passover was a Type of this Sacrament and so it is generally acknowledged by the Fathers to be now that there should be a Sign of a Sign only a Type of that which it self was but a Type Instituted by Christ is very unreasonable to imagin especially since we do not now live under a Law of Shadows and Figures but of Verity and substance Since therefore the Paschal Lamb was really and in a proper Sense the Sacrifice of the Lords Passover according to that true Paschal Form in Holy Scripture because a true Paschal Sacrifice was offered by the Jews as well for a grateful acknowledgment of their past benefit as of one that was certainly to come since this Passover Sacrifice was really a Saviour or Salvation to the Jews as well as a Type of the Messias since the Lamb drest in the Paschal Supper was not only call'd but really was the Body of the Passover Sacrifice or Paschal Lamb according to the foremention'd expressions of Esdras and the Rabins which notwithstanding we can by no means allow to be Paschal Forms of constant usage since they so vary from one another much less of Divine Institution because no such are used in Holy Scripture since the Bread which the Jews Eat when they used that Phrase This is the Bread of Affliction was Real Bread and all that Eat this Bread as they ought to do were really afflicted when they seriously consider'd what their Fathers suffer'd in Egypt because they also for their own sins deserv'd to suffer as much this Bread also being the same which their Fathers did Eat viz. unleavened Bread Surely none can be so hard of belief as to imagin after serious consideration that there was less of truth and reality in our Lords words This is my Body in which as is not improbable he might imitate some of these Phrases than there was even in these expressions which were used under the Law of Types and Shadows And to shew the Analogy the more perfectly and not to represent it partially as our Adversaries do we are further to consider That as the Bread of Affliction which was yearly Eaten by the Jews at the time of the Paschal Solemnity was really Bread and of the same kind with that which their Fathers did Eat in Egypt and was also a Memorial of the first Bread of this kind which their Fathers did Eat As the Paschal Lamb that was yearly drest and really Eaten was the Real Body of the Passover Sacrifice thus yearly offer'd and was also to put the Jews in mind of the first deliverance wrought upon the first Paschal Offering so Christians when they renew the Sacrifice of Eucharist feed upon Christs Real Body which is the Antitype of the Paschal Lamb and at the same time Remember that first Oblation which Christ made of the same Body altho' in a different manner upon the Cross DISCOURSE And nothing is more common in all Languages than to give the name of the thing signified to the Sign As the delivery of a Deed or Writing under hand and Seal is call'd a conveyance or making over of such an Estate and it is really so not the delivery of mere Wax and Parchment but the conveyance of a Real Estate as truly and really to all effects and purposes of Law as if the very material Houses and Lands themselves could be and were actually delivered into my Hands In like manner the names of the things themselves made over to us in the new Covenant of the Gospel between God and Man are given to the Signs and Seals of that Covenant By Baptism Christians are said to be made partakers of the Holy Ghost Heb. 6. 4. And by the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper we are said to Communicate or to be made partakers of the Body of Christ which was broken and of his Blood which was shed for us that is of the real benefits of his Death and Passion And thus St. Paul speaks of this Sacrament 1 Cor. 10. 16. The Cup of blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ But still it is Bread and he still calls it so v. 17. For we being many are one Bread and one Body for we are partakers of that one Bread. The Church of Rome might if they pleased as well argue from hence that all Christians are substantially changed first into Bread and then into the natural Body of Christ by their participation of the Sacrament because they are said thereby to be one Bread and one Body And the same Apostle in the next Chapter after he had spoken of the Consecration of the Elements still calls them the Bread and the Cup in three verses together As often as ye Eat this Bread and Drink this Cup v. 26. Whosoever shall Eat this Bread and Drink this Cup of the Lord unworthily v. 27. But let a Man examin himself and so let him Eat of this Bread and Drink of that Cup v. 28. And our Saviour himself when he had said this is my Blood of the New Testament immediately adds but I say unto you I will not henceforth Drink of this fruit of the Vine until I Drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom that is not till after his Resurrection which was the first step of his Exaltation into the Kingdom given him by his Father when the Scripture tells us he did Eat and Drink with his Disciples But that which I observe from our Saviour's words is that after the Consecration of the Cup and the delivering of it to his Disciples to Drink of it he tells them that he would thenceforth Drink no more of the fruit of the Vine which he had now Drank with them till after his Resurrection From whence it is plain that it was the fruit of the Vine Real Wine which our Saviour Drank of and Communicated to his Disciples in the Sacrament ANSWER Here since neither the Authority of the Fathers nor the Word of God can afford the Authors cause any relief he at length flies to the Laws of Men
Himself or by his Disciples if no more had bin meant than so as he did in the case of Parables less difficult to understand than this would have bin if it had bin by our Lord proposed as one but proceeds to deliver this profound Mystery to them in more express words using a vehement Asseveration to confirm the truth of it Verily verily I say unto you except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of man and drink his Blood ye have no life in you Whoso eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood hath eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last day For my Flesh is truly meat my Blood is truly drink He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father So he that eateth me even he shall live by me This is that Bread which came down from Heaven not as your Fathers did eat Manna and are Dead He that eateth of this Bread shall live for ever All which words being used by our Lord to clear the doubt and answer that Question of the Jews How can this man give us his Flesh to eat I cannot imagin how the Real Presence of Christs Body and its Manducation in the Sacrament could have bin more fully Asserted in order to the disposing of his Disciples to believe the Sense of the Reality when he should Institute his blessed Sacrament And so the Fathers interpret this place And do not say that the Manna mentioned in the 58 verse which was miraculously sent from Heaven was a Type of ordinary Bread made by the Hands of Men and set upon the Table which is of a far more Ignoble Nature and less Significant than the Manna which thus came down from Heaven but of the Real Body of Christ in the Sacrament which was the true Bread from Heaven that nourished to Immortality After our Saviour had spoke thus to them many of the Disciples themselves to whom Christ did not think fit as yet to reveal the manner of feeding upon his Body in the Blessed Sacrament thinking that he meant that his Body was to be eaten in a gross manner like the Capernaites cried out this is a hard saying who can hear it To whom as well as to the Jews who before are said to murmur at him because he said I am the Bread which came down from Heaven and that ask how this Man could give them his Flesh to eat our Lord replies doth this offend you and then clears the Doctrins to them as far as he judg'd convenient for the confirmation of such high Mysteries about which they were to exercise a strong and a lively Faith by saying thus v. 62. What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before As if he should have said if you do not yet believe that the Son of Man came down from Heaven yet when you see him ascend thither again you will be more ready to believe that it was really God who came down took Flesh and dwelt amongst you which Solution had relation chiefly to the former of the Mysteries viz. his Incarnation but withal insinuates that such as believe not his words touching the holy Sacrament and think it impossible for him to give his Body to be eaten in so many places at once being yet on Earth would be much more Scandalized and Tempted after they saw or knew him to have Ascended into Heaven Therefore to clear the latter Mystery and Solve their doubt who thought like the Capernaites that Christ was to have cut pieces of flesh from his body and to have given them to be eaten or that thought his Body to be that of a mere Man he tells them v. 63. It is the Spirit that quickneth the Flesh profiteth nothing that is the Flesh which he had told them before that they must eat altho' not in the gross manner without the Spirit profiteth nothing not but that by the Spirit quickning it it profits very much Suitable to that of St. Paul. 1 Cor. 8. 1. Knowledge puffeth up but Charity edifieth that is Knowledge without Charity puffeth up altho' when Chariy is joyned with it to enliven it it edifies and Charity it self edifieth by Knowledge For if these words of Christ were to be taken in the Sense of the Sacramentarians they would derogate no less from his Incarnation Manhood and Death than from the Real Presence of his Body in the Sacrament in all which without doubt the flesh profiteth very much Wherefore our Lord goes on to tell them here that the words which he spake unto them were Spirit and Life therefore not to be understood in the gross carnal Sense before mentioned which some of his Disciples took them in For it is the use of the Scripture to call Mans natural Sense carnal Reasoning and resisting or not reaching to the belief of Supernatural Truths Flesh and Blood as Matth. 16. 17. Flesh and blood revealed not this to thee c. but the words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and Life therefore not to be carnally understood But as by the Word of God the World was Created and Nature hath been since often chang'd so there is no doubt but Christ could by it change the Bread into his Body as he did daily by ordinary Natural Nutrition but here in a supernatural way Our Lord therefore said unto them that their Fathers did Eat Manna in the Wilderness which was but a Type of this Heavenly Manna in the Sacrament and yet they did Spiritually feed upon Christ the Messias for it is said 1 Cor. 10. 3 4. That they did all eat the same Spiritual Meat and did all Drink the same Spiritual Drink for they Drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ and yet they are Dead all of them a Temporal some of them an Eternal Death also and those of them which now live the Life Eternal received this Life from the Son of God who hath now given us the Antitype of that Manna which the Children of Israel did eat viz. his own Body in the Sacrament something of a far more excellent nature to feed upon which will be to our Bodies as well as to our Souls the Seed of Immortality the Instrument and Pledge of our Resurrection Ascension and Glorification Yet as our Lord said to his Disciples there are some of you which believe not so we may say still of the Sacramentarians who notwithstanding all that Christ hath said will admit of nothing but Signs and Figures of imaginary vertue whom nevertheless our Saviour hath no further instructed in any such easie Sense as this which might certainly have prevented their relapse as well as that of the Jews his Disciples and which if any such Sense had been to be admitted would most certainly have been given that they will not believe our Lord and therefore they go
away and will walk no more with him in the Communion of his Church Having thus made it to appear that these words of Christs Institution This is my Body according to the Rules of human discourse ought to be taken in a proper Sense not only if considered in themselves but especially if we regard what Christ hath said before touching the Sacrament to dispose his Apostles thus to believe them it will necessarily follow that those words also of the Institution This do in remembrance of me which relate chiefly to the Priests Power and Duty as the other did to the Body of Christ in the Sacrament and which St. Paul explains in these words As often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye shew the Lords Death till he come ought not to be considered as a determination of the former words of the Institution in a Figurative Sense after the Sacramentarian way but as a Declaration of one great end of the Sacrament viz. The calling to mind and setting forth of Christs Death till he comes which is so far from being a Reason to prove that Christs Body is not Really there that on the contrary this Commemoration and Annunciation is founded upon the Real Presence of Christs Sacrificed Body and Blood in this Sacrament since without this it could not be done so effectually in Christs Church as now it is For as the Jews in eating the Peace-Offerings did remember that they were slain for them so by Offering here the Real Body of Christ after the manner of an unbloody Sacrifice we commemorate and set forth in this lively Exemplar that Bloody Sacrifice which Christ himself offered in a different manner upon the Cross and receive the benefit thereof which we need not to question since he gives us daily of this Victim to feed upon in the Blessed Sacrament tho' without the horror of Blood. Shall Christians then under a pretence of Celebrating the Memory of the Passion in the Eucharist evacuate Christs Institution by taking away from this pious Commemoration that which he out of his tender love hath given us as most efficacious in it for the good of our Bodies into which this Sacrifice of Christs Body being received Sanctifies them and Consecrates and prepares them for a Glorious Resurrection as wells as for the good of our Souls Ought we not to consider that Jesus Christ doth not only Command us to remember him but likewise that we should do this by feeding upon his Sacramented Body and Blood since he doth not say that Bread and Wine should be a Memorial of his Body and Blood but that in doing what he prescribes us to do which is that in Receiving his Body and Blood we should remember him And what more precious and lively Memorial could he give to his Disciples and to all his beloved Children what better Legacy could he bequeath them at his departure out of the World than this If the the Primitive Christians were inflamed with Zeal and Devotion when they approached to the Monuments where the Bodies only of Holy Martyrs lay Intombed more especially if they could but touch any of their precious Reliqus being by this means stirred up to a Pious Memorial and imitation of their Holy Lives and Deaths and therefore did Religiously preserve the smallest pieces and even the Nails of that Cross upon which Christ suffered Commemorating thereby his Holy Passion how much more then should our Memory and Love be excited when we approach to the Holy Altar and know that we Receive there tho' veiled under the Sacred Symbols the very Body and Blood of our Lord who Sacrificed himself for us enlivened and quickened by his Grace and Spirit I could now proceed to shew for the further confirmation of what I have here alledged from the Authority of Holy Scripture that unless the words of St. Johns Gospel above mentioned as also the words of our Saviours Institution be taken in the Sense of the Reality or Transubstantiation that there is no promise to be found in Holy Writ of any Spiritual vertue to accompany this Sacrament so that our Adversaries whilst they are so eager to oppose the Reality do as much as in them lies destroy the nature and end of this Blessed Institution and have no argument at all to use against the Socinian who denies the Real Vertue as well as the Real Presence of Christs Body in the Sacrament Which is the reason why I do sometimes term this Vertue which the Author without ground conceives to be in this Ordinance tho' separate from Christs Real Body Imaginary because there is no reason to conclude the vertue of the Body to be here from Scripture unless the Body be so too not that I would derogate at all from the vertue of Christs Body which by reason of the Hypostatical union is Infinite But this task is already performed by a Learned Modern Author And the Reader may easily discern the Truth of what I have here asserted by inspecting such places of Holy Scripture as relate to this Sacrament into the number of which they will not allow the sixth Chapter of St. Johns Gospel to be admitted Having therefore thus explained those places of Holy Scripture which relate to the Blessed Sacrament as also those other Forms of speaking both of Divine and Human Authority which the Author is pleas'd to compare with the Words of our Lords Institution and shew'd upon comparing them together that they will not at all fit his purpose but prove the quite contrary to what he would have them to do I shall now sum up such of the Reasons and Arguments for the understanding the Words in which our Saviour Instituted this Blessed Sacrament in a proper Sense as the Catholic Church expounds them as are plainly deduced from the Nature and End of this Holy Institution and the Manner of expressing it in Holy Scripture which I intreat the Christian Reader seriously to consider of and so conclude this Head of Discourse 1. Because Christ the great Lover of Souls never spake to his Apostles and Disciples in Figures and Parables which had any obscurity or difficult Sense especially if the Discourse related to the Practice of a necessary Duty with an intention to keep them in Ignorance but that their humble and well disposed minds might be the more excited and inflamed with a desire of inquiring into and understanding the true meaning of what he said and that they might the better retain it And because in all such cases even of less difficulty than this of the Sacrament as particularly in the Parable of the Sower of Seed altho' the Mystery concerning the success of the Gospel which was herein prefigured was not necessary for every one to know as that of the Eucharist was Christ did fully explain himself to his Disciples who were also to instruct others Therefore since the words of the Institution of the Blessed Sacrament if understood Figuratively as the
Protestants and particularly the Author would have them to be must need be allow'd to be obscure and difficult because they differ so much among themselves as well as from the Catholic Church about the meaning of them and yet none of the Evangelists nor St. Paul altho ' varying in expressing the Words of Institution have inserted any words which in the least explain the Sense to be Figurative or Parabolical hence it follows That the Church hath great reason to understand them properly 2. Because now just upon our Lords Passion it was the Time for Figures and Shadows to vanish and for Truth and Reality to appear And our Lord was Instituting the Great Sacrament of Christian Religion he could not therefore speak with too much force and efficacy especially since he now spake to his Apostles in private to whom he was used at such times to speak very plainly 3. Because Christ was making his Last Will and Testament which was to be expressed in such plain and distinct Terms that there might be no just reason for his Children to contend about their Legacy And can we be so unworthy as to imagin that in this his Last and Kindest Bequest he left us no more but a Morsel of Common dry Bread to eat and a little ordinary Wine and Water to drink in remembrance of him whereas a kind and good natur'd Man will leave his most precious Jewel to his dear Friend to remember him by when he departs from him to take a long Journy and to make any considerable stay A good Father when he is to dye thinks all his best Goods and Possessions too little to leave his Children He was also delivering a Commandment to observe which that it might be rightly executed ought to be promulged in a manner very intelligible 4. Our Lord was near his Death and therefore it was a time to avoid Obscurity in Speech since he was not to continue any longer amongst them to interpret it 5. Our Saviour in the choice of these words had not only regard to the Apostles but he likewise spake them to all the Church in all succeeding Ages and knew certainly when he pronounced them how they would always construe them and yet for the confirmation of the Sense of the Reality did never suffer it to be call'd in question so much as privately for almost a Thousand Years when also the whole Body of his Pastors who were endu'd with extraordinary Light and Assistance of his Holy Spirit to enable them to interpret aright the Divine Misteries had already just before in Three Councils agreed upon this Sense as that which had been constantly receiv'd in the Church ever since our Saviours Time and which was more explicitly declared against that one Dissenter who sometime after appear'd against it but was ashamed of his Opinion and recanted Lastly if we consider as hath been now fully prov'd That all the places of Holy Scripture as also all other Forms of Human Discourse which are alledged by our Adversaries as like to this of our Lords Institution are wholly different from it shewing them the quite contrary to what they pretend them for and that our Saviour did neither before at or after the Institution any ways prepare or dispose his Disciples to understand these words in a Figurative Sence it must needs be very evident to any Man that will impartially regard things that because Christ ever spake reasonably and in a manner conformable to good Sense and his Power infinitely exceeds the capacity of our Minds therefore there is no Reason to understand those words of our Saviours THIS IS MY BODY and THIS IS MY BLOOD in a Metaphorical Sense as the Author and the Sacramentarins do but an evident necessity to believe them in that proper Sense which necessarily inferreth Transubstantiation as the Catholic Church doth since Scripture interpreted by the Rules of Human Discourse as also the Tradition and Authority of this Church oblige us so to do The latter of which is to be the Subject of the Second Part of the Answer to the Discourse against Transubstantiation The Contents of the First Part of the Answer to the Discourse against Transubstantiation 1. IT is shew'd that our Adversary doth not rightly state the Point Page 1 2. What is meant by Transubstantiation 4 3. The Argument from Sense shew'd to be Senseless ibid. 4. The Catholic Faith is ridicul'd by the Adversary 7 5. The Real Presence and Transubstantiation depends on Gods Veracity 9 6. No Transubstantiation an Article of Faith with our Adversaries and establish'd with Penalties 10 7. The Method of the ensuing Discourse 11 8. The Necessity of understanding our Lords words in the Sense of the Real Presence or Transubstantiation 13 9. The Sense of the Schoolmen corrupted and their Problematical Discourse mistaken for their Conclusion by the Adversary 16 10. The Disparity between the Figurative Expressions in Holy Scripture and the words of Institution This is my Body shews that the Latter are to be taken properly 25 c. 11. Principles upon which the ensuing Discourse is grounded ibid. 12. How Catholics interpret the words of Institution and how Protestants 26 13. In what Sense Catholics allow a Figure in the Sacrament 28 14. Rules to judg of Metaphorical Expressions by 31 2. 15. The Application of the forgoing Rules by which it appears that those merely Metaphorical Expressions of our Saviors being a Door a Vine c. are not at all like to the Form of Consecration This is my Body 33 c. 16. A Metaphor conveys no Spiritual Vertue Page 36 17. The Exposition of Pharaoh's Dream doth not resemble the Sacred words of Consecration This is my Body ibid. 18. Distinctions and Rules for the following Discourse of the Nature of Signs ibid. 19. Application of the foregoing Rules and Distinctions 37 20. The Analogy which the words of Institution This is my Body might have to the Paschal Form in Scripture or to those Phrases cited from Esdras or any of the Rabins doth not prove that Christs words here are taken Figuratively and not in a proper Sense 40 21. A Deeds being call'd a Conveyance doth not prove that the words This is my Body are not to be taken properly 46 22. Texts of Scripture examined and prov'd not at all to favour the Sense of the Author of the Discourse against Transsubstantiation 47 23. Christ's Body being broken and his Bloud being poured out for the Remission of Sins before he was Crucified proves the Sense of the Reality or Transubstantiation 52. 24. The 6th Chapter of S. John's Gospel interpreted as relating to the Blessed Sacrament 54 c. 25. The words Do this in Remembrance of me explain'd 59. 26. The Real Vertue of Christs Body in the Sacrament cannot be prov'd from Scripture unless the Real Presence of his Body it self be admitted 60 27. Further Reasons from Scripture for the proper Sense of the words of Institution which necessarily