present in the Eucharist now they may be present there and yet the bread and wine not lose their Substance And 't is very unlikely that these Propositions of the Apostles infer that that which he calls bread and Chalice should be in Substance one and the same thing with the body and blood of the Lord that contrarily they evidently presuppose that they are different Subjects For if the bread which one eats unworthily were the very body of Christ this language would be cold and impertinent he who eats of this bread unworthily is guilty of the body of Christ and doth not discern the body of Christ since upon this account it would be to say that he who eats the body of Christ unworthily is guilty of the body of Christ and doth not discern the body of Christ Secondly I say that that which they draw from this Text besides it s not being the Question cannot be concluded from thence For he who receives the Baptism unworthily as Simon the Magitian did doth wrong to Christ and is guilty of it and nevertheless no body can conclude from thence that the Substance of Jesus Christ is really present in the Baptism They who sin voluntarily after they have received the knowledge of the Truth Heb. 10.26 put the Son of God under their feet and hold the blood of the Testament for a prophane thing And no body can conclude from hence that the Son of God or his blood is really present under the feet of these wicked wretches Luke 10.12 John 13.20 He who despiseth the Apostles despiseth him that sent them and who receiveth him that he hath sent receiveth the same that sent him and nevertheless every one confesseth that the Substance of Jesus Christ was not really because of this present in the Apostles nor in those whom he sent They who sin against their Brethren Mat. 18.5 and wound their weak Consciences sin against Christ 1 Cor. 8.12 And nevertheless every one avoweth that the Substance of Christ is not for all this really present in their Consciences or in their persons And then why should one any more infer that the body and the blood of the Lord are really present in the Eucharist because they who take it unworthily are guilty of his body and do not discern it who seeth not that this is an abusing of the Lord to reject those who appertain to him or to despise that which he hath instituted and that which hath relation to himself As 't is an abuse to a Prince to despise his Embassadors his Seal his Arms or his Essigies And it is not sufficient that the Eucharist be the Sacrament of Christ the communication of his body and of his blood the memorial of his death that which all confess to render this Proposition true whosoever receives it unworthily is guilty of the body of the Lord and doth not discern it without affirming as our Adversaries do that this body and this blood are really present there 5. Finally They produce the meaning of the Lord in the 6th of St. John John 6.51 and so on I am the living bread which came down from Heaven if any one eats of this bread he shall live eternally and the bread which I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world and that which followeth to the 59 Verse presupposing that the Lord spake of the Eucharist they conclude from thence that the Eucharist is not then bread and wine in Substance but the body and blood of the Lord. But this Argument is so weak that it hardly deserves to be considered For it supposeth a dubious thing and concludes wrong which are the most irregular faults that can be in reasoning First then he supposeth that the Lord speaks of the Eucharist in the 6th of St. John which appears in no place in that Text where the Evangelist makes no mention any where of the Holy Sacrament it seemeth rather that one might induce the contrary from it For the eating upon which the Question is is necessarily efficacious to Salvation if any one eats of this bread he shall live eternally Joh. 6.50 He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood he hath eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day He dwells in me and I in him Vers 54. Vers 56. As the living Father hath sent me so I live because of my Father and he whr shall eat me shall live also because of me Now the eating of the Eucharist is not necessarily efficacious to Salvation many eating it to their judgment and condemnation Vers 57. 1 Cor. 11.29 This is not that then about which the Question is in the 6th of St. John Moreover the eating which the Lord means was necessary to those to whom he spoke for the obtaining Salvation Joh. 6.53 if you eat not the flesh of the Son of man and drink not his blood you have no life in you now the eating of the Eucharist was not necessary to those to whom he spoke for the obtaining Salvation it being clear that according to the Doctrine even of our Adversaries Baptism Faith and good Works are sufficient for them for the obtaining Salvation It is not then the eating of the Sacrament which our Lord spoke of in the 6 of St. John as many very famous Interpreters have considered both Antient and Modern and even amongst our * Aen. Syl. since Pius II. Epist 130. Cusan ep 7. ad Boh. John de Ragus Orat. cor Concil Bazil Cajet in Joh. part 3. q. 80. art 8. Gabriel in Can. John Hesseltus l. de commun sub una specie Jansen concord Evang c. 59. Ruard Tapper Art 15. Vald. T. 2. de Sacram c. 91. Armac l. 9. c. 8. Adversaries and understand it a spiritual eating of the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus which is done by Faith And indeed the Lord shewed evidently that by eating his flesh and drinking his blood he signified coming to him believing in him and meditating on him since in his own discourse he ascribes the same effects to these actions as to those of eating his flesh drinking his blood Who comes to me saith he shall not hunger John 7.35.41 47. and who believes in me shall never thirst Whosoever seeth the Son and believeth in him hath eternal life and therefore I will raise him up at the last day But although that which they presuppose viz. that the Lord in the 6 of St. John spake of the Sacrament of the Eucharist were as clear and true as it is obscure and doubtful I always say that they do not argue pertinently First they do not conclude that which is in Question For the Question is not whether the body and blood of Christ are present in the Eucharist which is that which they conclude but whether the bread and the wine lose their nature there and are there changed into the substance of the body and blood of the Lord
which they cannot infer from it although one should grant them what they could draw from it it being clear as we said before that the body and blood of the Lord may be present in the Eucharist and the bread and wine not change their Substance But I say lastly that this which they would conclude from it cannot lawfully be inferred For if because we eat the body of the Lord and drink his blood in the Supper it follows that the substance of his body and his blood is really present there then in the same manner it will follow also that it is present in the Souls of all those who believe in him since that according to many Fathers and the most part of the Doctors of Rome to believe in Jesus Christ is to eat his flesh and drink his blood Eph. 2.17 and since according to St. Paul it is by faith that Christ dwells in our hearts it will follow that the Substance of Christ is really present in our Baptism since that those who are baptized put on Jesus Christ Gal. 3.27 Rom. 6.3 and are buried with him in his death it will follow that the Substance of his blood is really present in the Souls of all the truly faithful chosen according to the Providence of God since they are sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.2 Apoc. 7.14 and in the Souls of those who are come from tribulation since they have washed their long robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Now if one can eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus Christ in believing and have him dwelling in his heart and put him on and be buried with him and be sprinkled with his blood and be washed and made white in his blood and nevertheless not touch really the substance why may not one in the like manner eate his flesh and drink his blood in the Eucharist without his being there bodily Who seeth not that these ways of speaking signifie only vertue of the death of the Lord in them to whom he communicates himself by faith and the Spirit giving them the same effects in respect of the spiritual life which Meats Vestments Liquors and Water with which one is cleansed in respect of the temporal life gives us sustaining and preserving us making sin die in us covering the nakedness of our Souls fortifying our hearts cleansing and purging us from all spiritual filthiness let us conclude then that this famous Transubstantiation the principal piece of the Roman Religion is neither expressed nor presupposed in Scripture it being not less impossible to discover it there by the light of Reason than by that of Sense CHAP. V. That the Adoration of the Consecrated Eucharist is not taught in the Scriptures FRom whence it follows that the Adoration of the Host the Sovereign Service of their Religion cannot be proved by Scripture since it hath no other ground than Transubstantiation it being clear that they should not adore this Substance covered with the Accidents of Bread and Wine if they believe it to be a true Substance of Bread and Wine and not that of the body and blood of Christ Jesus CHAP. VI. That the Scripture doth not teach in any part of it the fire of Purgatory 1. LEt us come now to the fire of Purgatory where they will have the Souls of the faithful satisfie for the temporal punishment of their sins before they enter Heaven 'T is sad to see them sweat to finde in the Scripture something wherewith to blow up light and maintain this fire For this Opinion impassions them in such a manner that they that see it in all the places where a Pit a Lake a Prison a Goal a Fire purging refining a refining pot c. are spoken of The Lord proposing to us the form of the true Sancitification required in his Church in the 5th of St. Matthew Matth. 5.25 26. Commands us amongst other things to have a heart clean from all hatred malice anger towards our neighbours threatning them with grievous torments who shall never so little offend them protesting that nothing ought to be in more commendation than to live in concord and good friendship with them adding Agree thou with thine adversary quickly whilst thou art in the way with him for fear that thine adversary should deliver thee to the Judge and the Judge deliver thee to the Officer and thou be put into Prison verily I say unto thee that thou shalt not come out thence till thou hast paid the last farthing This Prison say they is the Purgatory But who seeth not that this is to suppose not to prove it For why should we understand Purgatory by this Prison rather than a true properly named Prison where the wicked Pay-masters and Cheaters are often put for their stubborness with much loss and scandal which they might escape in agreeing lovingly and betimes with their Adverse-party Chrysost Theophyl Euthym. upon this passage Barrad Harmon Evang. T. 2.1.7 c. 17. as our Lord Commands in this place and the Apostle in the first Epistle to the Corinthians St. Chrysostom and many others take it simply so and even this Jesuit Barradius But if one would take the passage Allegorically as an Image of the Judgments of God against them who will not use charity towards their Brethren why should not we understand by this Prison either the chastisements in which our Lord locks up sometimes men in this life for having neglected the duties of Charity towards their Neighbours or even the pains of Hell in which he will confine for ever after this life all those who have not used mercy towards their Brethren Maldon Mat. 5.25 To let in Luke 12. Annot. 86. 89. Jansen Concord Evang. c. 40. Stella in Luc. T. 2. c. 12. See also Salmeron T. 5. Tractat 37. as the Jesuit Maldonat Cardinal Tolett Bishop Jansenius expound it who confess ingeniously that this place cannot be urged for Purgatory and the Cordelier Stella confessing that which is indeed most evident that these words Thou shalt pay the last farthing simply signifie Thou shalt be punisht to the rigour they shall not pardon thee any thing so that they do not infer by any means that the Criminal of whom this dispute is ought at any time to go out of prison but they suppose only that he shall go out if he pays the last farthing of his debt and by consequence he shall never go out if he cannot pay it And as as to that which is said that he to whom we have not used Charity shall be our enemy and shall deliver us to the Judge 't is the same manner of speaking like that in the Proverbs and repeated in the Epistle to the Romans that he who doth good to his enemy Prov. 15.21 Rom. 12.20 Luke 16.9 heaps coals of fire on his head and like that in the fixth of St. Luke That those to whom we give alms
them that we as well as our Doctors reject them formally and precisely and wish that they had never been spoken off and that they may be Aeternally buried in the cave of errors from whence they came For as Eating good meat is sufficient to preserve the life of man nor is it necessary for him to know Hemlock Aconite or Antimony or to know poysons 't is enough that he is not so unhappy as to eat of them even so 't is in Religion for to obtain salvation 't is sufficient for a man that he believe the holy and wholsome truths communicated to us by the Lord Jesus there is no need that he should know particularly the innumerable poysons which the enemy hath scattered in the World nor that he should know exactly to what degree every one of these false doctrines are poysonous 't is enough for him that he is so happy as to believe none of them To speak properly the express and formal rejection of an errour makes no part of Faith for then Faith would have been imperfect before the birth of the error Before Mahomet came into the World the Faith of Christians was intire and sufficient although it was ignorant of the seducements of that Impostor and though it knows nothing of Marcion of Manicheus of Arrius nor of Pelagius yet it is sufficient to salvation provided that it believes firmly that which Jesus Christ hath revealed There is then a great difference between those propositions which supposeth and affirmeth the truth and those which reject the error The reason why our Fathers have ranked them in the body of the same declaration was not because they were ignorant of this difference but another occasion obliged them to do it for being separated from the Church of Rome and afterwards having been calumniated of holding diverse very strange opinions vide Epist 10. the K. which is in the beginning of our Confession of the year 1559. in fine to make the King their master his subjects their fellow Citizens see clearly what their thoughts were about Religion they not onely declared the belief they had of Christianity and of every one of the articles of which it consisted but also what they thought of the doctrine and communion of the Pope from which they had withdrawn themselves We ought then to distinguish carefully these two sorts of articles which this reason joyns and mixeth together some affirmative and positive declaring that which we believe others negative and exclusive declaring that which we do not believe the first lays down that which is our Faith the second rejects that which is not so For example these are of the first sort that there is a God that he ought to be worshipped with all our affections that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and God Eternal that he was made man that he hath taken our nature in the womb of the holy Virgin that he dyed to expiate our crimes that his blood hath washed and purged our souls from all sin that he is risen and ascended into heaven and there reigns at the right hand of the Father that sins are pardoned to men by the grace of God when they believe in the Gospel that believers are obliged to live holily that Charity is necessary for salvation that the Lord hath ordained that we should be baptised in the name of the Father Son and holy Ghost for the remission of our sins and that he hath likewise commanded us to celebrate the memory of his death in taking eating and drinking the Sanctified bread and wine that this bread and this wine are the communication of his flesh and of his blood that those who believe and live according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ shall have Aeternal salvation and that those who believe not in him shall perish But these following are of the second sort That we ought not to adore the Host of the Church of Rome nor invoke their dead Saints that the mass is not an expiatory sacrifice for the sins of men that the Pope is not the head and spouse of the universal Church that he hath no power neither directly or indirectly over the temporals of Kings and States of the world that neither he nor the Church which adheres to him have the right of never erring in the Faith nor are they the reason and grounds of our Faith that it is not for the merits of our works that our sins are forgiven us or that grace or life is given to us that the bread which we break and the cup which we bless in the Church loseth not their substance that none of those who communicate at his table ought to be hindred from drinking of the Cup of the Lord that neither the chrism nor the penitence nor the ordainor the marriages nor the extream unction are Sacraments that believing souls departed this life are not burned in the fire of Purgatory Since we believe the first Articles and that we preach and recommend them to men we are obliged to shew the truth of them and since the most part of them are so obscure that we have not natural light enough to discover and perceive them it remains that we prove that God hath revealed them to humane kind For these are the three sources of all our knowledge sence reason and the revelation of God now 't is neither the sins nor reason of man that demonstrates to us that Jesus Christ is the son of God or that those who believe his Gospel shall have the happy Aeternity We cannot prove the truth of it then but onely by the means of revelation Now all Christians and namely those of the Church of Rome with whom we dispute in this Treatise confess that the writers of the Old and new Testaments were inspired by God and did write by the revelations of the Spirit now we cannot more clearly ground the Truth of the Articles upon which our Faith consists then by shewing that they are taught in these divine writings T is for this we acknowledg our selves obliged and of which 't is most easie to acquit our selves as we hope to make appear in this book And as for the other Articles which are of the second sort it belongs to us to justifie and make appear that the holy Scripture teacheth no where to believe what it self rejects as it teacheth no where that there is a Purgatory or that the Pope is the Monarch of the Church or that the Mass is a propitiatory sacrifice For having once shewed that we shall have clearly justified that we have been obliged to exclude such opinions of our Faith since we hold that all the things which we ought to believe as necessary to our salvation are taught in the Scriptures for that if these be not found there Rome is in the wrong to believe and preach it as necessary and have reason not to receive it in our belief T is an unjust cavilling to demand this of us further that we
Religion which he hath given us to obtain this consists in Faith and Charity that the Father appeased by his Obedience receives to mercy all those who knowing their misery and repenting of their Sins do confide in his bounty and believe in his promises that he pardons them gratis all their faults and treats them as if they had never offended and these being animated and enlivened by Faith live afterwards holily and Christianly in Piety towards God and Charity towards their Neighbours according to the Gospel of Christ For he wills that all his Faithful love and serve God with one love and soveraign adoration and that they have a true Charity towards all men carefully keeping themselves from violating their dignity Life Chastity Estates or Honour neither in Deed Word nor Thought every one subjecting themselves to their Order and Laws of their Civil Societies and to the state of the Country where they live but that they entertain a particular amity with the rest of the Faithful cherishing them as their own Brethren uniting themselves to them that so there may be but one Body in Religion and that for this end there be amongst them Pastors and Supervisers who have the overlooking of their Communion administring to them as well the divine Doctrine as the holy Sacraments which the Lord hath left as tokens of his grace and marks and seals of his Covenant having commanded that his faithful Servants should be baptized in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost for the remission of their sins and that they should eat the Bread and drink the sanctified Wine in commemoration of his Death and communication of his Flesh and Blood We believe that although the truth of these things is most clear yet men are so blinded by the Passion of their malice that they would never understand them if the HOLYSPIRIT true God eternally blessed with the FATHER and the SON did not inlighten their understanding opening their hearts that the light of this heavenly Doctrine may enter in and that God affords them this grace of his own good pleasure giving it when to whom and in what measure it seemeth good to him We believe that to those who shall have believed and lived according to this holy doctrine God will give his Salvation preserving them and taking care of them and when they depart this Life gather their Souls into his repose expecting the last day in which having raised their Bodies will lift them up with Jesus Christ their Head into an incorruptable Heaven there to live eternally in his Glory but the Wicked and incredulous shall perish being punished with the Devil and his Angels in the torments of Hell Reader if thou art conversant in reading the Holy Bible say in thy Conscience whether it be not too great a boldness to deny that these things are clearly contained there onely hearing them named do you not as soon perceive that these Divine Books and especially those of the New Testament are full of them How hard is it to find one verse which layes not down some of these instructions Nevertheless because they will have it so we verifie them Article by Article and to the end that they should not as t is their custome wrangle with us about words we will produce passages of Scripture in those very words into which the Interpreter of our Adversaries hath translated them and then say a little upon every point contenting our selves to mark the rest in the Margint For if we should gather together all the places of Scripture where these Doctrines are positively laid down or hinted we must transcribe almost all of them and as to the Scripture it self we suppose the truth of it without disputing it in this Treatise where the business is only to prove that the Articles whose belief we esteem necessary to Salvation are all found in the Book which we hold for the Rule and principle of our Faith For that is sufficient to bring to nothing the calumny of these new Disputants who to convince the Scripture of imperfection and constrain us by the same means to have recourse to the Authority of their Church crying incessantly that we our selves who make so much account of Scripture cannot prove by it all the things which we believe necessary to Salvation CHAP. II. Of the Essence and Nature of God Of his Qualities and Works 1. FIrst then as to the Article of the Essence and Divine Nature the Scripture layes down at the first word that there is one God in saying that he created the Heaven and the Earth in the beginning and speaks of him every where as of a thing whose being and subsistance every one knows and understands holding them not only for impious and irreligious but for meer fools and sense-less creatures who think there is none Psal 13. Heb. 14. 1. The Scripture makes him Act and speak in infinite wayes and manners from the beginning to the very end teaching not onely that he is but that there is none besides him who truly is all the rest not being but in him and by him So long then as there are passages in Scripture which attribute to God some quality action or word and of this kind there are an infinite number they are so much the stronger and evident proofes of this truth See Duet 4.39 6.4 â—sa 45.5.6.21 John 17.3 and many other places Heb. 11.6 It behoveth him that comes to God to believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him Act. 17.27 28. God is not far from any one of us for in him we live move and are 1 Cor. 8.6 We have one God who is the Father from whom are all things and we in him Exod. 3.14 The Lord said to Moses I am that I am then he said thou shalt tell the Children of Israel he that is hath sent me to you Esaiah 37.16 Lord of Armies the God of Israel who art set upon the Cherubims thou art alone God of all the Kingdoms of the earth thou hast made the Heaven and the earth Esaiab 43.10 11. There was no God formed before me nor shall be after me I am I am the Lord and there is none other Saviour but me Psal 89. Heb. 90. 2. Before the Mountaines were made and the earth and world were formed from age to age thou art God 2. That Godis Eternal Gen. 21.33 See Ex. 15.19 Job 36.26 Psal 9. Heb. 10 8.37 38. Heb. 90.2 Abraham c. called upon the name of God Eternal Psalm 101. Heb. 102. 27 28. The heavens shall perish but thou shalt be permanent and all of them shall wax old as a garment and thou shalt change them as a vesture and they shall be changed but thou art the same thou art and thy years fail not Rom. 16.26 Esai 41.4.43.10.44.6 and 48.12 1 Tim. 1.17 Re. 1.8 By the commandment of the Eternal God 1 Tim. 6.16 God onely hath immortality 3.
in the word of doctrine For the Scripture saith thou shalt not tie the throat of the Ox that treadeth out the corn and the work man is worthy of his hire 1 Cor. 9.13 14. Do you not know that those who do Sacrifices Gal. 6.6 eat the things which are sacrificed and they who are busied at the altar partake with the altar so likewise our Lord hath ordained that those who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel See the verses 7 8 9 10. Of the same Chapter 8. That the Faithful ought to reject the Ministers who preach any other thing then the Gospel of Jesus Christ Gal. 1.8 If we our selves or an an Angel from Heaven should preach other wise then we have preached to you let him be accursed So as we have said before now also I say again if any one preach to you any thing but that which you have received let him be accursed 1 John 4.1 Beloved believe not all spirits but try the spirit whether they are of God For many false Prophets are come into the World 2 John verse 10. If any one comes to you and brings not this Doctrine do not receive him into your house nor salute him CHAP. IX Of the holy Sacraments Baptism and the Eucharist 1. That Christians ought to be baptized in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost MAt Mark 16.16 28.19 Go and teach all men baptizing them in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Examples of this are common in the books of the New Testamentperticularly in the Acts of the Apostles where we read that those who believed the Doctrine of Jesus Christ and received it were baptized Acts 2.38 41. and 8.12 13. and 9.10 and 10.47 and 16.15 2. That Baptism gives remission of sins and the Grace of the Holy Ghost Acts 2.38 Peter said to them repent and be every one baptized and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost Rom. 6.3 Mar 6.16 1 Pet. 3.21 Ehh. 6.26 Know you not brethren that all of us who have been baptized in Jesus Christ have been baptized in his death for we are buried with him in death by baptisme so that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father we also should walk in newness of life Gal. 3.27 You all who were baptized in Christ have put on Christ Col. 2.11 12. You being circumcised with a circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of Flesh viz. by the circumcision of Jesus Christ being buried with him by baptism in which also you are risen together by the Faith of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead 3. That the Faithful ought to eat the bread and drink the sanctified wine in commemoration of the death of the Lord. 1 Cor. 11.23 c. I have received from the Lord that which also I give you that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread and having given thanks he brake it and said take eat this here is my Body which shall be given for you Mat 26 26 27 28. Mar. 14.22 23 24. Luk. 22 17 18 19 20. do this in remembrance of me Likewise also he took the chalice after he had supped saying this chalice is the New Testament in my blood I do this every time that you drink of it in remembrance of me For every time that you shall eat this bread and drink this chalice you will shew forth the Lords death till he comes c. Let a man then try himself and so eat of this bread and drink of this chalice 4. That the bread and wine of the Eucharist are the communication of the Body and blood of Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 10.16 The cup of blessing which we bless is it not the communication of the blood of Christ and the bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of the Lord. CHAP. X. Of the Holy Ghost Of the necessity of his light to have Faith Of his Nature and Person 1. That the malice of man is so great that of himself he neither understands nor believes the heavenly Doctrine preached by the Apostles of Jesus Christ nor can he live in piety according to the Gospel JOhn 3.3 Verily verily I say unto thee that who is not born again cannot see the Kingdome of God John 6.44 No one can come to me except the Father who hath sent me draw him Rom 8 7. The wisdome of the flesh is an enemy to God for it is not subject to the Law of God nor in truth can it be 1 Cor. 2.14 The Animal man doth not comprehend the things which are of the Spirit God for they are to him folly and he cannot understand them in as much as they are discerned spiritually 2. That the Spirit of God which gives to men the graceof understanding believing the Gospel and of living according to the Doctrine of the Lord. 1 Cor. 2.7 8 9 10. We speak the Wisdome of God which is a mistery which is hid c. Which none of the Princes of this World hath known for if they had known if they had never crucified the Lord of glory but as it is written the things which the eye hath not seen nor the ear heard and which are not entered into the heart of man are those which God hath prepared for those which love him but God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit Matth. 11.25 At that time Jesus answered and said O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth I thank thee that thou hast hid these things from the wise and understanding and hast revealed them to little Children Matth. 11.17 Thou art blessed Simon Son of Jonas for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee viz. That Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God but my Father which is in heaven John 1.12 13. Those who believe in the name of God are not born of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but are born of God Acts 16.14 The Lord opened the heart of Lydia to understand the things which Paul said Phil. 1.29 It is given to you for Christ not onely to believe in him but also to indure for him Phil. 2.13 'T is God that worketh in you to do and to will according to his good will Ezech. Jer. 31.33 and 32.39 11.19 20. And I will give them a heart and will put into them a new spirit and I will take away the heart of stone from their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh that they may walkin my commandments and keep my judgments and do them and that they be my people and that I be their God 3. That the Holy Ghost is a person distinct from the Father and the Son John 14.16 17. I will pray the Father saith our Lord Jesus Christ and he shall give you another comforter to
understood but of his true body Cajetan ibid. From whence saith Cajetan one cannot evidently conclude that the words mentioned ought to be understood properly since that these relative words which are given for you do not shew us that it is properly the body For the relative which doth not signifie the conjunction of the predicate with the Subject but this relates to the predicate only viz. My Body and with the truth of this relation remains the true proposition mentioned This is my Body taken only in a Metaphorical sense as it appears by the example now the Stone was Christ For if the Apostle had added who hath been crucified who is risen and who is ascended into Heaven in saying now the Stone was Christ which hath been crucified c. nevertheless the underwritten Proposition now the Stone was Christ should be understood Metaphorically and not properly Even so in our dispute are the words of the Lord This is my Body which shall be delivered for you This addition which shall be delivered for you doth not restrain the precedent Proposition to a literal sense for it is nevertheless as true though it were spoken in a Metaphorical sense only Thus far Card. Cajetan So all that one can lawfuily and necessarily conclude from the words of the Lord is that the bread of the Eucharist is the Mystery the Sacrament and the memorial of his body which we believe and confess with all Christians and which the Lord expresly pronounceth himself in the following words in saying Do this in remembrance of me as from the words of St. Paul the Church is the body of Christ one cannot evidently infer any thing Mat. 13.37 38 39. 1 Cor. 10. Apoc. 4.1 20. 17.9 28. Gen. 17.15 40.12 41.27 Exod. 12.11 Judg. 7.14 2 Kin. Heb. 2 Sam. 12.7 Ezt. 37.11 Dan. 2.38 4.19 7.24 except that the Church is the Mystery of the natural body of Christ and as they say ordinarily his Mystical body For it is an ordinary Phrase in the New Testament to say That the signe is the thing which it signifieth and the Image that which it represents drawn from the stile of the Old Testament which gives always to the Signe the name of the thing signified and reciprocally the name of the Signe to the thing signified 2. They alledge in the Second place the words of the Lord in St. Luke This Chalice is the New Testament in my Blood which shall be shed for you saying that because the Cup that is to say the Liquor which is in the Cup is shed for us it is then the blood of Christ and not Wine really and in Substance it being clear that is the blood of the Lord and not Wine which hath been shed for us But we have already shewed above that we ought to apply this word shed to the blood of Christ shed really for us on the Cross and not to the Cup notwithstanding the disagreeing of the Gender which is found between these words in the Original Texts although the Lord said that this which is in the Cup is shed for us it doth not follow nevertheless that it is not Wine in substance since that without putting any Transubstantiation in the water of the Holy Baptism one may as well say that it is shed for those who are baptized with it 3. They use in the third place the words of St. Paul 1 Cor. 10.16 The bread which we break is the communication of the body of the Lord and the Chalice of Benediction which we bless the communication of his blood For say they How is it that the Bread and the Chalice consecrated should communicate to us the body and blood of Christ if they are not in substance the body and blood of Christ But this Consequence is ridicule For 't is unlikely that it should follow from these words that the bread consecrated is no more bread but quite contrary the words evidently express that it is bread the Apostle saying expresly that it is bread broken for us which is the communication of the body of the Lord in the same manner as he adds in the following Verse Ibid. ver 18. That those of Israel which eat of the Sacrifices were partakers of the Altar it evidently follows not that the Sacrifices by the eating whereof they participated of the Altar were changed into the Substance of the Altar which would be absurd and prodigious but that they were Sacrifices having a Substance different from that of the Altar and what an extragavant speech would it be to say that those who eat the Sacrifices participate of the Altar as if the Sacrifice the Altar were one the same thing in substance for this would be to say that those who eat of the Altar are partakers of the Altar so would it also be a cold and impertinent Proposition to say that the bread which we break is the communication of the body of Christ as if this bread is in Substance one and the same thing with the Body of Christ For upon this account it should be said that the body of Christ is the communication of the Body of Christ As then the Sacrifices of the Hebrews communicated the Altar upon which they had sacrificed to those who eat them for those who eat were said the Apostle partakers of the Altar without losing their substance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or being changed into that of the Altar even so the Bread and the Chalice of the Eucharist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 communicates to us the Body and blood of the Lord of which they are the Sacraments without losing their first Substance or being changed into that of the body and blood of the Lord. And as those who eat the Sacrifices of the Hebrews communicated to the Altar in as much as they had part in the vertue and sanctification of the Altar without necessity of touching corporally the substance of the Altar it self So those who eat the bread and drink the Chalice of the Lord communicate of his body and of his blood in as much as they have part in the vertue and efficacie of his body and of his blood broken and shed for the remission of our sins without necessity of touching corporally their substance 4. But they lay great force upon that which the same Apostle saith in the following Chapter where speaking of the Eucharist 1 Cor. 11.27 29. Whosoever saith he shall eat of the bread or drink of the Chalice of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. And in the Verse beneath he adds that they discern not the body of the Lord. How can that be say they if the body and blood of the Lord be not really present in the Eucharist But first they conclude not that which is in Question The Question is whether the bread and wine change Substance and they conclude that the body and blood of the Lord are
are Divine and Apostolique Since then that the Articles of our faith are in the Scriptures and those of Rome are not there it is clear that our Religion is certain and assured as founded upon the most authentick Instructions of Christianity and that it cannot be rejected without denying Christianity it self and that of Rome on the contrary in that wherein it differs from ours is doubtful and uncertain and cannot be imbraced with a full and intire faith 11. But I say in the second place that all this Dispute is out of our way For my designe is only to shew that our Beliefs are in the Scriptures and that those of Rome which we reject are not there to destroy the accusations of the Methodists who pretend that to establish our faith we are obliged to have recourse to other Principles than Scripture Whether the Beliefs of Rome be found in other Documents of Christianity as in Books of the Fathers or no 't is another Question 'T is sufficient at present for me that they are not found in Scripture Now this being so it is clear that I have had reason to reject them from my Confession since I receive nothing into it but what is taught in Scripture And this is sufficient as all may see to justifie our Faith by the Scriptures CHAP. XV. That the Articles of the Belief of Rome which we receive not into ours are contrary to the Scriptures and very far from being taught there BUt to fill up the measure of our proofs I will add in the last place that the Doctrines believed by the Church of Rome and rejected by ours besides their not being found in any part of the Scripture shake it divers ways destroying certain things which the Scripture lays down and laying down other things which it destroys This is so clear that whoever will consider the whole without passion and prejudice will incontinently perceive it 1. Vpon the Point of Sacrifice 1. ROme saith that Jesus Christ is and will be every day crucified in an infinite of places even to the end of the world The Scripture saith Heb. 9. â—5 26 27 28 7.27 That he hath not offered himself more than once and that he hath been once offered to take away the sins of many So as 't is ordained for men once to die Secondly Rome saith That Christ is now offered for our sins without suffering The Scripture saith Heb. 9.26 that if he hath been offered many times he must have suffered more than once Thirdly Rome saith That the remission of sins is obtained in his pretended Sacrifice Heb. 9.22 John 19.30 Heb. 1.3 9 26. without the effusion of blood The Scripture saith that without shedding of blood there is no remission Fourthly The Scripture saith that Christ dying on the Cross all was accomplished and before his Ascension into Heaven he himself hath purged away our sins and abolished them How then ought he still as Rome saith to be every day sacrificed for the same thing Fifthly The Scripture saith That none takes the honour of High Priest Heb. 5.4 and possesseth it but he who is called of God as was Aaron How is it then that the Priests of the Roman Church pretend this Dignity since they cannot make appear that God hath called them to it Sixthly The Scripture saith that Jesus Christ is eternal High Priest Psal 110.4 Heb. 5.6 7.3.24 25 28. that he lives eternally that he hath a perpetual Priesthood that he is consecrated for ever that he always lives a High Priest according to the Order of Melchisedec who remains a Priest for ever Why then doth Rome give Successors to him in this Office Seventhly Rome holds That the Priests bless and consecrate the body of the Son of God How doth this agree with that which the Scripture layeth down Heb. 7.7 That without all contradiction that which is least is blessed by that which is greater Are then the Priests of the Church of Rome greater than the Lord 2. Vpon the Transubstantiation and the real Presence 1. ROme sayeth that that which the faithful eat in the Eucharist is not bread The Scripture saith that it is bread 1 Cor. 11.26 27 28. Every time that you eat this bread and drink this Chalice you shew forth the Lords death till he come Wherefore whosoever shall eat of this bread c. unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man then examine himself and so eat of this bread and drink of this Cup. 1 Cor. 10.16 The bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of the Lord 2. Rome saith that that which the Lord made his Disciples drink in the consecrated Chalice was not wine The Scripture saith that it was the fruit of the Vine Mat. 26.27 28 29. Taking the Cup he gave thanks and gave it to them saying Drink all of this For this is my blood of the New Testament which shall be shed for many for the remission of sins And I say unto you that from this time I will not drink of this fruit of the vine till that day that I shall drink it new with you in my Fathers Kingdom 3. The Scripture saith that we shall not have the Lord always with us here on the earth Mat. 26.11 John 12.9 Acts 3.21 and that the Heaven must receive him until the time of restitution of all things How so if that which Rome holds is true that his body is yet perpetually kept here below upon their Altars and in their Pixes Fourthly The Scripture saith that the Lord is above sitting at the right hand of God his Father in a Sovereign Glory Rome saith that his holy Body is under the Species of a mean Creature inanimate and insensible that it enters into the Stomachs of mortal men yea sometimes of the most wicked and is subject to many other indignities which we hardly dare think on Is this to be in a state of Glory Fifthly Rome believes that the body of the Lord is entire under every crum of bread and in every drop of the wine of the Eucharist and that his head his feet and all the parts of his body are in one and the same place and that his body is altogether above in Heaven and here below in a thousand and a thousand places of the earth above visible here invisible Is this that which the Scripture saith that except in sin Heb. 2.17 he is like his brethren in all things that is to say to the faithful as every one confesseth is there ever a Believer whose body is capable of such accidents the flesh of the Believers is a true body and hath all the properties of it Now there was never seen a body of this nature which is held in a place much lesser than its proper quantity 3. Vpon the Adoration of the Eucharist THere is no need to add any thing to what I have