hartes they haue not And therefore they eate and drinke their owne iudgement Againe he saith Reâ—s erit non paruipretij sed sanguiniâ— christi qui violat commaculat animam christi sanguine passione mundatam He is guilty of no small price but euen of the blood of Christ that defileth his owne soule that was made cleane by the passion and blood of Christe Athanasius also saieth Adorantes dominum neque ita vt dignum est eo viuentes non sentiunt se reòs fieri dominicae mortisâ— Worshippyng our Lorde and not liuyng so as it is meete for our Lorde they feele not that thereby they are made guiltie of our Lordes death So that we may easely perceiue by these testimonies that Saint Paules meanyng is that the wicked resortyng vnworthely to the holy misteries and hauyng no regarde what is meant thereby and maketh no more accounte of it then if he did eate and drinke at an Alehouse vppon an Alchentche is guiltie of the Lordes body and blood for so Sainte Augustine speaketh of the water of baptisme Baptismum multi habent noâ— ad vitam aeternâ—m sed ad panam aeternam noÌ„ bene vtentes tanto bono That is to saie some haue baptisme not to life euerlastyng but to paine euerlasting not well vsing so good a thing Thus you haue hearde out of these auncient fathers what it is to be guiltie of the body and blood of the Lorde Whereby our Pope catholikes may learne that they all receaue this sacrament vnworthely that thei are all guilty of the body and blood of the lorde and so eate and drinke their owne damnation For they doe moste shamefully alter and chaunge the holy institution and ordinaunce of our Sauiour Christe not onely in this that they doe without any grounde of the scriptures take awaie the cup of the lorde froÌ„ the laitie or laie people for whom he did shead his precious blood as wel as for our gallaunt maisters of the Cleargie but also in this that thei doe suffer their shauelinges to eate and drinke vp all alone blessyng the people with an emptie Cup and sendyng them home againe as much fooles as they came But if they be guiltie of the body and blood of the lorde if they eate and drynke there I meane in the Sacrament their owne damnation and yet doe not vnderstande nor perceaue in what perill they be and that very damnation doth hang ouer their heades it ought to be no marueyle vnto vs For GOD hath geuen them ouer into a reprobate sence hee hath made their wisedome meere foolishenes And why bicause that thei haue preferred their owne wisdome before the wisdome of our sauiour christ who is the wisdome of the heauenly father ¶ The .xvj. Chapiter ¶ The Sacrament ought to be ministred to all the people in both kyndes OUr Sauiour Christe did appointe institute and ordeine that his holy sacrament should be receaued in both kindes and that the faithfull shoulde take the misticall cup and deuide it among themselues For these are his wordes Take this and deuide it among you Whiche thyng they did immediatly For as the blessed Euangeliste Saint Marke doth write thei al dranke of it No no will these wise folkes saie it needeth not to be so For sith the bread is the naturall body of Christe it can not be without blood If the people then doe receaue the bread beyng made the body of Christe they doe per concomitantiam for so thei tearme it whereby they signifie that the body cannot be without the blood nor the blood without the body receaue both the fleshe and blood together and haue no neede to receaue the misticall cup for that were to receaue the blood of Christe twise In deede Christe our sauiour had not the wit to perceaue so muche or else his mynde was so much vppon his death and passion that he shoulde suffer the next daie that he wiste not well what he did O ye blinde bussardes and wicked obstinate enemies of al trueth wil yet set the wisdome of god to schole or if it be so as ye saie that the one is sufficient so that receauing the one we receaue both together what néede haue your shauen Madianites of suche sippyng and lickyng as thei vse in their abominable and blasphemous Masses If by our goodlie concomitantiam the flesh and blood are so conteined and ioyned together vnder the accidentes of bread as ye say that no man can receaue the sacramentall bread but he must receaue both the bodie and blood together why do your Priestes both sippe and licke vp the blood seuerallie by it self in the Chalice why is it not as lawfull for the laitie or laye people to drinke the Cup of the Lorde as ye make it lawfull for your annoynted gentlemen was it not as well instituted for vs as for you or for either Doth not the wisdome of God saie himself drinke ye all of this And Marke writeth that according to the lordes commaundement they dranke all of it Yea saie they but this was spoken to the apostles onely who alone were there present we reade not that their were any besides them in the company of Christ or that fate with hym at boorde when he did institute this sacrament Sith thaÌ„ that the priestes are the apostles successors it is most requisit that they should communicate in both kyndes that the laitie or laie people of whom none was with christ at the first institution of the sacrament do content themselues with one kinde Uerely this is well hit If thei do put awaie the laie people from the misticall cup bicause that none of them was present with christ at the firste institution of his sacrament how dare thei be so bold to minister vnto them the sacramentall bread sith that Christ did geue it to none of the laitie then nor commaunded afterwards that the one should be more geuen vnto them then the other Or how doth it chaunce that when your sacred apostles doe communicate without Masse and receaue the Sacrament at their holy brethrens handes they do vtterly refuse the misticall cup of the precious blood of our Sauiour Iesu Christe Are they the apostles successors onlie whyles they say Masse do thei not run into the curse the of Pope Gelasius whose wordes are these we haue vnderstanded that some hauyng onely receaued the holye portion of the body do abstaine from the cup of the holy blood But sith that they are moued by a fonde superstition whiche I knowe not thus to abstaine either let them receaue the whole Sacrament or be put from all For there can be no deuision of this one Sacrament and high misterie without greate sacriledge The glose that is written vpon this Canon doth also saie It is not without a iuste and necessarie cause that the Sacrament is taken vnder both kyndes For the kynde or forme of
vnto him that is signified by them Saint Ciprian therefore saieth full well Before prayer the priest with a preface prepareth the hartes of the brethren saying vnto them Lift vp your heartes that when the people aunswereth We lift them vp vnto the Lorde thei may be put in minde to thinke of nothing else but of the Lorde Chrisostome also saith Clamamus in conspectu sacrificij Sursum corda We crie a loude in the sight of the oblation Lift vp your hearts S. Augustine vpon the Psalmes saith Let vs lift vp our heartes if ye be risen againe with christ he saieth vnto the faithfull he saieth vnto them that receaue the body and blood of our Lorde If ye be risen againe with Christ sauour those thynges that are aboue where Christe is at the right hande of God seeke for the thinges that bee aboue not for the things that be in earth Their owne manipulus curatorum saith thus Before the Canon the Priest saith Lift vp your hartes As if he woulde saie who so will receaue this Sacramente ought to haue his hearte lifted vp vnto God. But lette vs graunt vnto them by waie of disputation that the naturall body and blood of Christe bee really present vnder the formes of bread and wine yet we shall alwaies bee in feare to commit Idolatrie if at least their doctrine be true For they saie excepte the Priestes doe pronounce the wordes of consecration which words they be in doubt of them selues and cannot wel tel which they be vpon the creatures of bread and wine Cum intentione consecrandi That is with an intent and mynde to consecrate they be not made the body and blood of Christe but remaine still nude nude and bare creatures of bread and wine Therefore Holtcot saieth vpon the maister of sentences Laicus adorat hostiam non consecratam The laie people saith he worshippeth a wafer that is not coÌ„secrated And therfore that perill and daunger of Idolatrie may be auoyded at all tymes Thomas de Aquino in a certaine booke geueth vs counsell that we worship it with a condition saiyng Lorde if thou be there I doe worship thee if thou be not there I worship thee not Is not this a sure and certaine doctrine thinke ye and most worthy to be mainteined with fire and sworde and with suche sheddyng of innnocent blood Repeâ—t then ye Magistrates and rulers of the people and be sorie in your heartes that euer ye consented to the death of so many Martyrs that in these our daies haue been most cruelly put to death for the truethes sake and crie God mercie betimes lest ye with the beaste and hir false Prophetes whose slaues ye are now become though some of you perceaue it not be cast for euer into the lake that burneth with fire and Brimstone which is the seconde death There be some in the world that alledge Saincte Ciprian to proue that the Sacrament must be worshipped And these wordes of his doe they bryng foorthe The Sacramentes as muche as in them is can neuer be without the proper vertue nor the diuine maiestie can in any wise absent it self from the misteries It foloweth then saie they that they must be worshipped sith that the diuine maiestie is neuer absent from them I would faine aske these greate doctours of diuinitie why they doe not then worship the water of baptisme wherin we are apparelled with Christ renewed with the holy ghost and receiue free remission of our synnes I am sure that the diuine maiestie of God is no more absent from the Sacrament of baptisme then from the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christe And yet none of them all will graunt that the water of baptisme should be worshipped Christ our sauiour who is the trueth hymselfe and can not lie doth saie in his Gospell He that loueth me keepeth my worde and my father shal loue hym and we will come to hym and dwell with hym Againe He that eateth my fleshe and drinketh my blood dwelleth in mée and I in hym These also are sainct Iohns wordes whosoeuer confesseth that Iesus is the sonne of god God dwelleth in hym and he in God. By these textes we doe learne that God the father God the sonne and God the holy Ghoste dwelleth in all the faithfull beléeuers yea I dare saie a thousande tymes more effectuously then in the inuisible elementes of water or bread or of wine And yet no godly honour ought to be doen vnto them for that were a plaine Idolatrie Christe our Sauiour saiyng Thou shalt honour the Lorde thy God and hym onely shalte thou serue and worship Now all men maie see that the saiyng of Saincte Ciprian helpeth them nothyng for to maintaine their Idolatrous worshippyng of the sacrament excepte they will also graunte that the water of Baptisme and euery true christian man must be worshipped also But peraduenture some man wil aske will ye haue no maner of honour to be doen vnto the Sacramentes I doe aunswere that we doe sufficient honour vnto them when we doe receaue them with an vnfained faith and as Christ hath instituted them submitting our selues obediently vnto his holy institution and ordinaunce If we doe otherwise we receaue them vnworthely â–ª to our vtter vndoing and condemnation If then S. Ambroses saiyng after they receaue the Sacrament vnworthely that handle the misteries otherwise than Christ hath instituted If they be also guiltie of the body and blood of the Lorde that come to this holy Supper not obseruyng the institution of hym that is the aucthour of it where shall our Pope catholiques become How shall they escape damnation For none in all the whole worlde if we consider well what hath been saide before doe more abhominably and shamefully breake the ordinaunce of God then they doe Can they therefore haue a deuout mynde towardes hym that saieth Ye shal not doe euery thing as ye thynke best but that whiche I commaunde you that shall ye doe onely I am the Lorde your god Adde nothyng vnto it nor take ought awaie from it but leauing them to the righteous iudgement of hym that with the fire of his wrath did consume Nadab and Abihu in the sight of all the people bicause that thei had offered straunge fire which the lorde had not commaunded them I will goe through by the helpe of God with the rest of their obiection We saide before that thei eate the bread of the Lorde and drinke his Cup vnworthely that come to the holy misteries not hauing truly examined themselues or that come to them without true faithe in the merites of the deathe passion and blood shedding of our Sauiour Iesu Christe and that presume to take or receaue them without true repentaunce vnfeyned confession of their synnes and without amendement of their owne liues I saide also that after the saiyng of Saincte Ambrose thei
vnder the lawe and twoo thousande yere after the Lawe the worlde shall endure and no longer let vs not thinke that any mortall and synfull man is able to tell precisely the daie or tyme that he shall come or at howe many yeres ende he shall come to iudgement The Apostles themselues beyng tickeled with vaine curiositie would faine haue knowen it But saieth our Sauiour Christ vnto them it is not for you to knowe the times or the seasons which the father hath put in his own power If it had béen necessarie that we should haue knowen it our heauenly teacher maister would not haue hidden it from vs But sith that he hath hidden it nor woulde in any wise reueale it vnto vs it is a plaine token that it is not necessarie for vs to know it Leauyng then suche vaine and curious enquiryng of things that pertaine nothyng vnto vs let vs endeuour our selues to knowe those thynges that God will haue vs to knowe that we maie in all thynges frame our liuyng and conuersation accordyng to the blessed will of our heauenly father and so bee founde acceptable nor be ashamed when he shall render vnto euerie man accordyng to his workes Uerely there is no time of sluggardenesse left vnto vs. We see that the same departyng that the blessed Apostle Sainct Paule doeth speake of is come to passe alreadie For howe many nations and people be fallen away from the Empire of Rome or rather is there any Empire of Rome at all Againe howe many kingdomes Landes and Countries haue vtterly forsaken the highest Emperour of all I meane Iesus Christe our onely sauiour with his Gospell The .xxxij. Chapiter ¶ The Pope is Antichriste and that man of synne whiche shal be 〈…〉 before Christes commyng to iudgement MOreouer is not the man of sinne the sonne of perdition opened alreadie and exalted aboue all that is called God or that is worshipped sittyng as GOD in the temple of God and shewyng hymselfe as God For 〈◊〉 the doynges of the fleshely Idoll of Rome and ye shall finde that he is the same man of synne the same sonne of perdition and aduersarie For why In his decrees and lawes in his beggerly statutes and traditions he doeth exalte hymselfe aboue all the holy Lawes and ordinaunces of almightie god and aboue the Testament of the holy one of Israell whiche is confirmed and sealed vp with the moste precious blood of the onely begotten Sonne of God our Sauiour Iesu Christe but hym shall the Lorde consume with the breath of his Nosethrilles that is the spirite of his mouth and also destroye with the appearyng of his commyng For a taste you shall sée out of their owne bookes whether the Pope of Rome be that sonne of perdition that doeth exalte hymselfe aboue God or no. Franciscus Zarabella saieth the Pope doeth what hym listeth yea though it be vnlawfull and is more then a god Pope Nicolas saieth It is well knowen that the Pope of the godly prince Constantine was called God to beléeue that our Lorde God the Pope might not decrée as he decreed it were a mattter of heresie Againe their late Chapiter at Trident one Cornelius Bishop of Bitonto in an oration openly pronounced these wordes Papa lux venit in mundum The Pope is the light that is come into the worlde but men haue loued darkenesse more then light Againe Panormitane saieth these wordes Christe and the Pope make one Consistorie and kéepe one Courte and synne onely excepted the Pope can doe whatsoeuer God hymselfe can doe Againe in their Councell holden at Laterane in Rome one Symon Begnius the Bishop of Modrusia saieth thus vnto Pope Leo Ecce venit Leo de Tribu Iuda radix Dauid c. Te Leobeatissime Saluatorem expectauimus c. Beholde the Lion is come of the Tribe of Iuda the roote of Dauid c. O most blessed Leo we haue looked for thee to be our Sauiour Againe the Pope suffered the Embassadours of Sicilia to lye prostrate on the grounde thus to crie vnto him as if it had been vnto christ Qui tollis peccata mundi misereri nostri Qui tâ—llis peecata mundi dona nobis pacem O thou holy Pope that takest awaie the sinnes of the worlde haue mercie vpon vs Thou that takest awaie the sinnes of the worlde geue vs peace Wherefore we maie saie of hym as Sainct Gregorie writeth of antichriste Cum sit damnatus homo nequaquam spiritus Deum se esse mentitur Where as he is a damned man and not a spirite by liyng he faineth himselfe to be God Anselmus also saieth Simulabit se religiosum vt sub specie decipiat pietatis I mò se deum esse dicet se adorari faciet atque regna caelorum promitet That is Antichriste shall faine hymselfe to be holy that he maie deceiue men vnder the colour of holinesse Yea and hee shall call hym selfe God and shall cause hymselfe to be worshipped shall promise the kingdome of heauen Therfore to ende Eusebius saieth Hoc est argumentum eos odisse Deum quod velint seipsos appellari deos This is a token that they hate God For that thei will haue themselues called by the name of god In the meane season lest we doe perishe among them that receiue not the loue of the trueth vnto whom God of his righteous iudgement sendeth strong delusion that they shoulde beléeue lyes and so be damned bicause they beléeue not the trueth but haue pleasure in vnrighteousnes Let vs sticke fast vnto the Gospel of our sauiour Christ and vnto the wholsome doctrine of the holy Ghost whiche is the power of God to saluation to all them that beléeue The .xxxiij. Chapiter ¶ The strength and operation of the holy Ghoste workyng in vs. WHom I do also beléeue to be the Lorde and geuer of life to procéede from the Father and the Sonne and to be of one substaunce with them both beyng true and naturall God without beginnyng and without endyng by whom the Father woorketh all thynges in the Sonne by whom he doeth create moue mainteine viuifie and quicken all creatures by whom he doeth call and drawe vnto hym his elect and chosen renueth them into a newe life iustifieth and sanctifieth them enricheth them with many and sundrie giftes also strengthneth them til thei come to their perfect saluatioÌ„ who dwelling in vs doth with his light illuminate our mindes that we may learne and knowe perfectly what treasour of gods bounteous mercifulnesse we doe possesse and enioye in Christe So that we maie by good right call hym the keye wherewith all the riches of the heauenly kyngdome is opened vnto vs and the eye wherwith we doe see and beholde them And for this cause he is called now the earnest penye and Scale bicause that he doeth seale vp in our mindes and consciences the certitude or certaintie of
receiue this Sacrament vnworthely that handle the misteries otherwise than the lorde hath instituted and ordeined them and that they be guiltie of the body and blood of the Lorde which as this father doeth write is to be punished for the death of Christe or to suffer the punishment that they shall suffer and haue that did put him to death and did shed his most precious blood that come to this holy Table not obseruyng the institution and ordinaunce of Christe and without a christianlike conuersation The .xviij. Chapiter ¶ How the vnworthy receiuers are guiltie of the body and blood of Christe although he be not corporally in the Sacrament NOwe let vs sée whether the vnworthy receauers of this holy Sacrament can not eate and drinke their owne damnation or be guiltie of the body and blood of Christ except our Sauiour both God and man fleshe blood and bones as he was borne of the virgin Marie be there vnder the formes of bread and wine really present Christe our sauiour did say with his owne mouth Uerely I say vnto you whatsoeuer ye doe to one of these litle ones ye do it vnto me Shal we say therfore that Christ is naturally fleshe blood and bones in euery poore body that lieth impotent and sicke or that goeth from doore to doore It were too much madnesse so to say As then our Sauiour Iesus Christe is either refreshed or despised in his poore néedie members so is he honoured or dishonoured in his Sacramentes And as he doth recken and impute that to be done vnto him that we do vnto his poore néedy members so doth he recken and impute that to be done vnto his body blood that is doen vnto the sacrament of the same In an other place he saieth vnto Saul who persecuted his Church Saul Saul why doest thou persecute me Christ was then risen from death and coulde die no more or yet be persecuted of any man and neuerthelesse he saith Why doest thou persecute me Shall we by and by descant vpon these words that Christ our Sauiour is really in euery one of his faithfull members that be persecuted If we should so do all the world might count recken vs for mad and out of our right wittes We may say then as we did before As our sauiour Christ doth impute that persecution to be done vnto his owne body and vnto his owne person that is done vnto his faithful members so if we do with an vnworthy and vnreuerent receauing with a presumptious or wilfull disobedience towardes his institution and ordinaunce pollute and defile his holy Sacramentes he will impute it to be done vnto the very thinges that thei do signifie and not to the visible signes elementes The Lorde him selfe saith He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye He were a very idiote that woulde vpon the occasion of this text affirme and mainteyne that euery one of the faithfull is really the apple of the Lordes eye We do rather learne by this text that God doth loue his elect and chosen as dearely as a man doth loue the apple of his owne eye that he will as sore punishe the cruel tyrantes of the worlde that persecute and hurt them as he woulde punishe them that should hurt the apple of his owne eye Which as it is a dreadfull saying for the tyrantes and persecutours of Gods people so is it very comfortable for all those that suffer persecution here in this worlde for righteousnesse sake Many like textes haue we in the Scriptures as when S. Paul saith A man praying or propheciyng and hauing any thing on his head ▪ doth dishonour his head And before he sayd that the head of euery man is Christ. It shoulde folowe then by their owne doctrine that Christ coulde not be dishonoured except he were really and substantially in euery mans head that doth pray or prophecie But thei will neither perceaue nor vnderstande that this maner of speaking that the holy ghost doeth vse here in this place is borowed of the common phrase and speache that is vsed among men If I shoulde send a gift or a present vnto a man if he woulde not take it but refuse it despitefully or cōtemne it I would veryly thinke that he had contemned and disdayned me and not my gift or present But what woulde I thinke if he shoulde cast it into the dirt and treade it vnder foote When an earthly king doeth sende foorth his broade seale among his subiectes thereby to declare his princely fauour towardes them and that he will helpe ayde ▪ and succour them in all their necessities and troubles and deliuer them from all peryls and daungers as much as in him lyeth If any man shoulde despitefully take it breake it in péeces and cast it into the myre or estéeme it no more than other common waxe Woulde it not be saide that he should commit treason against the kinges person And yet no man will say that the kinges person is there really vnder the waxe or that the waxe is the kinges person So the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christe is the true seale of our heauenly king wherby he doeth seale vp vnto vs all the benefites of his precious death passion and bloodsheeding and also certifie vs that if we will take holde vpon him by faith he will deliuer vs from all our enimies both bodyly and ghostly and as long as we be in this mortall warre fighting against the whole worlde Satan the deuill and the fleshe féede and comfort vs with the heauenly foode of his most precious body and blood and at length make vs felowe heires with him of his heauenly kingdome Therefore if we do handle it vnreuerently not considering who is the aucthour of it nor who it is that offereth him selfe so mercifully and louingly vnto vs Is it marueyle that the holy Apostle saith that we are guiltie of the body blood of the Lorde that is to say that we are before the iudgement seate of almightie God because of our vnthankfulnesse and vnreuerent handling of the holy misteries counted as guiltie as if we had slaine the body of the only begotten sonne of god and shed his most precious blood vppon the crosse And yet it foloweth not that the body and blood of Christe be really present there in the Sacrament The Apostle Saint Paul doeth write that thei that fall away from the knowen trueth do crucifie a new the only begotten sonne of god Shall we therfore say that thei haue our sauiour Iesus Christ among them and that thei nayle him vpon the crosse as the Iewes did vnder Pontius Pilate when thei did by the handes of the Gentiles put him to a most shamefull death That were to great a blasphemie against the glorious resurrection of our sauiour Iesu Christ who rising againe from the dead dieth no more death hath no more power ouer
saieth he had not some certaine similitude or likenesse of the thynges whereof they be Sacramentes they should be no Sacramentes and of this similitude many times they haue the names of those thynges them selues As then the Sacrament of the body of Christe is after a certaine maner the body of Christe and the Sacrament of his blood after a certaine maner his blood So the Sacrament of faith is faith All these aucthorities are of them selues plaine enough and néede no further exposition Therefore sith that I haue sufficiently proued both by the holy Scriptures and also by the aucthorities of the auncient fathers that the Sacramentes are called by the names of the thinges whereof they be Sacramentes I wyll be so bolde to conclude that Christe our sauiour dyd at his last Supper call bread his body and the wine his blood because that they were by his holy institution made the sacramentes of his body and blood And vnto this doeth Theodoretus agrée as it hath béen declared before wheÌ„ he saith He that did call his body wheate and bread and himself a vine doth honour the bread and wine with the name of his body and blood not chauÌ„ging the nature but addyng grace vnto the nature S. Chrisostome hath euen the like wordes whereby we may also gather that the bread and wine being coÌ„secrated that is to say being applied to that holy vse that God hath instituted and ordeined for that is the true consecration as one very well sayde consecratio tota actio Christi est whatsoeuer the papistes can prate and scoulds to the contrary be called the body and blood of Christe because that being duely ministred and worthily receaued thei bring with them selues the grace vertue and propertie of his most precious fleshe and blood whose nature and propertie is to bryng immortalitie and life euerlasting that is to say to viuiâ—â—e and quicken all faithfull beleuers both in soules and bodies And this doth S. Ambrose meane when he saieth Thou doest receaue the Sacrament in a similitude but thou obteynest the grace and vertue of the true natural body of Christ and also of his blood and that eating the bread as we ought to do we are fed vnto immortalitie whiche is a propertie of the diuine substaunce This also doth saint Cyprian meane when he writeth on this maner The same bread that the Lord did reache foorth vnto his disciples beyng chaunged not in outwarde appearaunce but in nature was by the almightie power of God made fleshe Which wordes notwithstanding that they be aleaged of the papistes for to mainteyne their butcherly and grosse doctriâ—e of transubstantiation withall haue none other meanyng but that the bread remayning bread styll as it was before as it doth appeare outwardly vnto the eye the nature of it is cleane altered chaunged For whereas the propertie nature of the bread is to féede the body only and to mainteyne or continue the life of it beyng applied to that holy vse that Christ hath instituted ordeyned in his holy misteries it doth feede both the soules bodies vnto immortalitie life euerlasting so that by it not only our soules do receaue a life that neuer shall haue ende but also our bodies are made partakers of vncorruption as Ireneus doth testifie saying As the bread which is of the earth after that the name of god is called vpoÌ„ ouer it or receauing the name or calling of god is no more coÌ„mon bread but the bread of thankes geuyng consistyng of two thinges that is to say of the heauenly and earthly so our bodyes receauyng the bread of thankes geuing are no more corruptible hauyng a hope of resurrection Who woulde not saie that the nature and propertie of the bread is wonderfully altered and chaunged The like doeth Sainct Augustine wryte of the water of baptisme saiyng Vnde ista tanta virtus aquae vt corpus tangat cor abluat nisi faciente verbo Whence commeth this so greate vertue of the water to touche the body and wash the soule but by workyng of the worde here is a wonderfull alteration and chaunge The propertie and nature of the water is to washe awaie the filthines of our bodies to quenche our thirste and to serue vs in other thinges that parteine to this mortall life to moyst the grounde and to make it fruictfull but beyng rightly ministred and worthely receaued in the Sacrament of baptisme it washeth awaie the filthinesse of the soule and maketh the inwarde man cleane from all sinnes through the working spirit of God and yet it remaineth water still no parte of the substaunce thereof beyng chaunged so ought we to vnderstande of the sacramentall bread and wine For though beyng duely ministred worthely receaued they haue the nature propertie and grace of the precious fleshe and blood of Christ yet as Theodoretus saieth they remaine still in their former substaunce shape and figure Whereunto the olde writer Emisenus doeth agree affirmyng plainely that the corruptible creatures of bread and wine are by the consecration or worde and secret power of the inuisible priest so chaunged and turned as we be chaunged in baptisme where though we be renued by the holy ghost and made newe creatures yet we remaine stil the same in substaunce that we were before And so with the blessed Martir Ciprian he calleth the visible creatures of bread and wine the body and blood of Christ bicause of the excellent nature vertue propertie and grace of his most precious fleshe and blood that thei do receaue by the mightie word and secret power of the inuisible Priest who is our Sauiour Iesus Christe hym selfe For this excellent propertie I saie vertue and grace that the creature of bread beyng rightly ministred and worthely receaued doth obtaine by the almightie power of God. The blessed Martir sainct Ciprian with the other auncient fathers doe saie that the bread is made fleshe Else if we shoulde take his wordes so grossely as our papistes doe we should be faine to confesse that the blessed body of Christe beyng made of bread should haue his beginnyng originall and ofspryng of the corruptible creature of bread as I haue sufficiently proued already before Wherefore Saincte Ambrose saieth Sunt quae erant in alium mutantur in substaunce they are meaning the Sacrament the same they were before but in accident or qualitie they are turned into another thyng for before it was common meates For mans table nowe is turned to be meate for the Lordes table and in another place he saieth Ante consecrationem alia species nominatur post consecrationem corpus christi significatur before the consecration it is named by another kynde but after consecration it doeth signifie the body of Christe Sainct Chrisostome agreeyng herewith saieth Si incorporei essemus c. If we were bodilesse god would geue vs these thynges bare and bodylesse but for
with his grace that was not due founde all men synners beyng hymself onely frée from synne and a deliuerer of synners And againe in a nother place he hath these words Opera manuum mearum non commendo Timeo enim ne cum inspexeris plura inuenias peccata quà m merita Lorde I commende not the workes of my handes For I am afraide least when thou shalt beholde them thou shalt finde mo synnes then good deseruynges So saith sainct Hierome Si consideremus nostra merita desperandum est If we beholde our owne merites we must be driuen to desperation Origene also affirmeth the same saiyng Ego vix mihi persuadeo vllum opus esse posse quod ex debito remunerationem deposcat I doe scarcely beleue that there can be any woorke that maie of duetie require rewarde Againe hee saieth Quia omniae conclusae sunt sub peccata nunc non in meritis sed in misericordia dei salus humana consistit For as much as all men are shut vp and cloased vnder sinne now the saluation of man standeth not in mans merites but in Gods mercie Barnarde saieth Non est quo gratia intret vbi iam meritum occupauit That is There is no meanes for grace to enter where merite doth keepe place VValdensis one of the Popes owne Doctours saieth these wordes Quid dignum facimus vt participes caelestibus fieri inuencamur Apostâ—lo dicenâ—e existimo quod non sunt condignae passiones huius temporis ad futuram gloriam quae reuelabitur in nobis Reputo igitur saniorem Theologum fideliorem catholicam scripturis sanctis magis concordem qui â—alâ— meritum simpliciter abnegat That is to saie what worthy thing doe we that we may be faunde in the felowship of the heauenly spirites the Apostle saieth I iudge that the afflictions of this tyme are not worthy of that glorie that shal be reueiled in vs Therfore I take hym to be the souÌ„der deuine the faithfuller catholike and more agreable to the holy scriptures that vtterlie denieth all such kynde of merite These testimonies are plaine against all the meritmongers of Rome Louane Let vs take heede therefore of their daungerous and heriticall doctrine leaste while we go aboute to stablishe our owne righteousnesse beyng ignoraunt of the righteousnesse of God and haue not submitted our selues to the righteousnesse of god And thereby shall heape to our selues wrath in the daie of trouble For Christe saieth Saincte Paule is the ende of the Lawe for righteousnesse vnto euerie one that beléeueth The .xlj. Chapiter ¶ Faith onelie iustifieth vs before God. YET these Papistes and Iustiâ—iaries will saie stil that although we finde in holy scripture that faith iustifieth yet we fynde not quod soâ—â—fides iustificat that faith onely iustifieth so that this worde onely or alone hath been newly added by heretiques whoÌ„ they doe commonly call Solifidians These iooly felowes doe nothyng but seeke a knotte in a Rushe as the prouerbe is for although we haue not expressie this worde sola only or alone yet haue we many other wordes that are equiuolent or equiualent that is of the same importaunce and force For when the holy ghost saieth that we are iustified fréely by the grace of God through the redemption whiche is in Christe Iesu whom God hath set foorth to be a purchaser of mercie through faith in his blood doeth he not exclude al maner of workes deseruinges or merites from our iustification attributyng it onely vnto faith â–ª whereby we doe apprehende and take holde on the grace and mercie of God so surely fealed vp vnto vs with the blood of that immaculat lambe our Sauiour Iesu Christe in the selfe same Chapiter he saieth againe we conclude that a man is iustified by faithe without the workes of the lawe Who doeth not see that he doeth here also put awaie all maner of thinges from our iustification faith onely excepted But the Papistes in this pointe are like vnto the Arians which bicause those wordes â–ª â—omoâ—fias consubstantialis be not founde in the Scriptures will in no wise admitte nor alowe them although the thinges signified by them are moste infalliblie and certainely conteyned and set out in the booke of god And therfore the Apostle writyng to Titus saieth Not by the workes of righteousnes whiche we had doen but accordyng to his mercie he saued vs that wee beyng iustified by his grace should be made heires accordyng to the hope of eternall life Againe he saieth God hath saued vs and called vs with an holy callyng not accordyng to our workes but accordyng to his owne purpose grace which was geueÌ„ vnto vs through Iesus Christe afore the worlde was Truely whersoeuer this purpose of God is their woorkes merites and deseruinges can take no place in the iustification or saluatioÌ„ of man Whereby we may gather that by the frée mercie and goodnes of God apprehended and taken holde vpon by faith we are deliuered froÌ„ euerlastyng damnation and made felowe heyres with his sonne Iesus Christ our Sauiour whose righteousnes he doth impute vnto vs making vâ—heires of his eternal euerlasting kingdome of heauen All these things I say and beleue do we obtaine only by faith without any merites goyng before Let vs see nowe what the holy learned Fathers of the Churche so many hundred yeres ago haue taught vs thereof Saint Ambrose saieth Iustificati sunâ— gratis quia nihil operantes neque vicem reddentes sola fide iustificati sunt dono deâ— They are iustified freely bicause workyng nothyng nor making any recompence they are iustified through faith onely by the gifte of god Againe in the same place these be his wordes Sic decretum dicit à deo vt cessante lege solam fidem gratia dei posceret ad â—alutem This was Gods determination that the lawe beyng at an ende the grace of God shoulde require faith onely vnto saluation Againe Sola fides posita est ad salutem Onely faith is laide or appointed vnto saluation Theodoretus saieth Non vllis operibus nostris sed per solam fidem mystica bona consequuti sumuâ— â–ª Not by any workes of ours but by only faith we haue gotten the mistical good things S. Basile saith Haec est nostra integra perfecta gloriatio in deo quando propriae iustitiae nos inopes agnoscimus Sola autem fide in christum iustificati This is our ful perfect reioysing in God when we acknowledge that we are voyde of any our owne righteousnesse and are iustified by only faith in Christe Nazianzenus saieth Credere solum est iusticia Only beléeuyng is righteousnes Origene also saieth these wordes â–ª where nowe is thy boastyng it is shut out Paule saieth that the iustification of only faith is sufficient So that a man onely beleuyng may be iustified although he haue doen no good workes
was moost despitefully and opprobriously hanged betwéene twoo theeues and counted among the wicked beyng a very scorne of men and the out cast of the people that the Prophecies of Dauid and Esaie might be fulfilled ¶ The seconde Chapiter ¶ Christes death and passion is a sufficient Sacrifice for all mankynde BUT as I doe beleue that the onely begotten sonne of GOD did suffer this mooste shamefull and opprobrious kinde of death vpon the crosse So this shall be my beleue and my faithe as longe as I liue that his bitter passion and bloudshedding is an omnisufficiente Sacrifice for the redemption of all mankinde and that who soeuer doeth acknowledge any other Sacrifice for synne he shall haue no parte in this moste perfect and consummate Sacrifice which beyng offered once for euer can be offered no more Except we will make the precious death and bloudsheddyng of the onely begotten sonne of God to bee of no more vertue efficacie and strength then the bloud of the brute beastes that were offered in the olde lawe whiche as the Apostle doeth testifie hauyng but the shadowe of good thynges to come and not the thynges of their owne fashion can neuer with the Sacrifices whiche thei offer yere by yere continually make the commers therevnto perfecte For would not then those Sacrifices haue ceased to haue been offered bicause that the offerers beyng once pourged should haue no more conscience of synne We see here plainly that the causes why the Sacrifices of the old lawe were offered more then once that is to saie many tymes often were the insufficiencie of theim and also bicause that thei could not make the commers therevnto perfect nor purge their consciences from deade woorkes for to serue the liuyng God. And therefore euery Prieste was readie daiely ministeryng and often tymes offered one maner of offeryng whiche could neuer take awaie synnes but our sauiour Iesus Christ being an high Priest of good thynges to come did by his owne bloud enter once for all into the holy place and hath founde eternall redemption so that hauyng offered one Sacrifice for synnes he is sette downe for euer on the right hande of God and frō henceforthe tarieth till his foes be made his foote stoole For with one onely offeryng he hath made them perfecte for euer that are sanctified That the saiyng of the Prophete might be fulfilled where the lorde hymself doeth speake these wordes Beholde I will bring forthe the braunche of my seruaunt For loe the stone that I haue laied before Iehosua vppon one stone shall bee seuen eyes beholde I will hewe hym out and take awaie the synne of the lande in one daie This braunche that the Lorde doeth speake of here is our Sauiour Iesus Christe who is the braunche of Dauid of whom he did come touchyng the fleshe He is also the sure rocke and stone wherevpon all the faithfull beleuers are builded hauyng the eyes of their faithe whiche be signified by the seuen eyes that should be vpon the stone fastened still vpon hym as vpō their mightie deliuerer and omnisufficient sauiour And this rocke or stone did the lorde hewe out when he did deliuer his onely begotten sonne vnto the bitter death of the Crosse whereby he did take awaie the synnes of the lande in one daie Therefore sithe that full remission and forgiuenes of synnes is purchased vnto all true and faithfull beleuers by this one onely Sacrifice I dare conclude with saincte Paule that there is no more offeryng for synne and that thei that go aboute to perswade the simple and ignoraunte people that thei dooe offer euery daie in the Churche an expiatorie satisfactorie or propitiatorie Sacrifice for the synnes bothe of the quicke and of the deade as thei are moste shamefull and abhominable lyers for why the holy ghost doeth testifie plainly that there is no more offeryng for synne so are thei most cruell and detestable murtherers of the onely begotten sonne of GOD whom as thei will make vs to beleue and that with fire and sworde thei doe offer daiely in their blasphemous sacrifice of the Masse For these are the very wordes of the holy Apostle Christ is not entred into the holy places that are made with handes whiche are but similitudes of true thynges but is entered into very heauen for to appeare now in the sight of God for vs not to offer hym self often as the high Priest entered into the holy place euery yere with straunge bloud for then muste he haue often suffered since the worlde beganne These wordes doe plainly declare that our sauiour Iesus Christe can not bee offered excepte he doeth suffer also and be slaine How many tymes then and in how many places doe these folke slea and murther our sauiour Iesus Christe I doe here let passe that thei will bée counted of the people although thei dare not saie so theim selues to bee of more dignitie worthinesse then the onely begotten sonne of God for he that offereth must be of more worthinesse then the sacrifice that he dooeth offer for the person is not accepted bicause of the Sacrifice but the Sacrifice is accepted bicause of the person whiche is made acceptable and worthie onely and solely through faithe in our Sauiour Iesus Christe who beyng holy harmelesse vndefiled separated from synners and made higher then heauen needeth not daiely as yonder Priestes to offer vp Sacrifice firste for his owne synne and then for the synnes of the people for that did he once for all when he offered vp hym self ¶ The third Chapiter ¶ The meanes whereby the death and Sacrifice of Christ maie be applied vnto vs. ANd as he is a Prieste for euer after the order of Melchisedech and needeth no successour for he indureth euer and hath an euer lastyng Priesthoode beyng able therfore to saue theim fully and perfectly that come vnto God by him so is his Sacrifice euer of one efficacie strēgth and vertue and worketh still a moste perfecte saluation in theim that take a sure holde vpon it by faithe And none other meanes doe I knowe whereby the Sacrifice I meane the benefites of Christes death passion and bloudsheddyng can be applied vnto vs but the true preachyng of Gods woorde and the right ministration of the Sacramentes accordyng to the Lordes institution and ordinaunce The trueth hym self saiyng Goe ye into all the worlde and preache the Gospell to all creatures he that beleueth and is baptized shall be saued Againe thus it behoued Christ to suffer and to rise again from death the third daie and that repentaunce and remission of synnes should bee preached in his name amongest all nations And in an other place goe therefore and teache all nations baptisyng them In the name of the father of the sonne and of the holy ghoste teachyng theim to obserue all thynges what soeuer I commaunde you And in the Gospell of Ihon these bée
Morauians Both Origene and also Cyprian were wonte to minister the Communion vnto the litle children that were brought in the armes of thâ— Parentes when thei came to receiue the sacrament geuyng vnto them not onely the misticall bread but also the misticall Cup. And in Saint Augustines tyme they did commonly minister the Sacrament in both kyndes vnto the young infantes and children when they were baptized And all this did come to passe bicause the auncient fathers and great learned men did take the saiynges of our Sauiour Christe after the rigour of the letter Whereof it did come also that some did thinke that if a man after that he was baptized had once receiued the sacrament he could neuer be damned or at least he should once be deliuered from damnation bicause that our Sauiour Iesus Christe did saie I am the bread of life whiche is come downe from heauen he that shall eate of this bread shall liue for euer They did alwaies sticke vnto the bare letter saiyng that our Sauiour Christ who had promised the same could not lie But Saint Augustine doth both reproue and also confute that errour These men are like to the person of Trumpington who readyng the .27 Chapiter of Mathew on Passion sonday as they call it and when he came to these wordes Eli Eli â—ama-sabacthani called the Churche wardens to hym and saide truely this booke doth appertaine to the Bishop of Ely for his name is here I will scrape out his name and put in our owne parishes name and so he did then he began to reade againe Trumpington Trumpington Lama-sabacthani Thus wee may see what absurdities men be wonte to fall into for lacke that they do not examine throughly the meanyng of the scriptures but will goe still to the rigour of the letter Saint Hierome saieth very notablie Non in verbis scripturarum est euangelium sed in sensu The gospell standeth not in the bare wordes of the Scriptures but in the meaning Therfore we maie saie vnto them as Saint Ciprian once saide to the Nouatian heretiques Andite Nouatiani apud quos scripture câ—lestes leguntur potiùs quam intelliguntur Hearken hereto ye Nouatian heretiques amongest whom the heauenly Scriptures are read rather theÌ„ well perceiued or vnderstanded For if folowyng the doctrine and opinion of the Papistes touching the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ we would take after the rigour of the letter the same that our Sauiour Christ doth speake of the eatyng of his fleshe and of the drinkyng of his bloud without all doubt wee shal be faine to confesse that all thei that haue once receiued the Sacrament shal be saued and that all they that neuer receiued it and so die shal be damned for euer Whereby it must needes folowe that it is no lesse necessary to minister the Sacrament of the body and blood of christ vnto the children then to baptize or christen them Wherfore I should thinke good that they should aswell geue aucthoritie vnto the Midwiues to minister the Lordes supper vnto the infantes in time of necessitie as thei geue them aucthority to minister baptisme whiche is a Sacrament of no lesse efficacie and dignitie then the other is yea rather by their doctrine it is of more vertue and strength For I haue not yet read that euer they condemned any bicause that they had not receiued the Sacrament of the Euchariste wheras they doe sende all them to the deuil that die without the receiuing of baptisme thought they would neuer so faine haue come to it But wheras we spake before of Midwiues how they baptized by the aucthoritie of the papistes in tyme of necessitie I speake it not so as that I doe allowe their doynges for I am of a cleane contrary mynde and doe saie with sainct Paule that none ought to take aucthoritie vppon them in the Churche to vse any ministration vnlesse they are called lawfully as Aaron was Christe gaue aucthoritie to his Apostles onely to baptize and to preach Sainct Paul in no wise would haue a woman to speake in the congregation muche lesse to minister a Sacrament whiche must be alwaies doen with doctrine for they must go both together Therefore was it rightly condemned flatly forbidden in the councell of Carthage without any maner of exception that women should once presume to baptize any at all And where they hang so much of necessitie if the childe be readie to dye that then she may and ought to do it Saint Augustine doubteth whether it be lawfull or no for them to do it at that instant of necessitie for his wordes are these Et si laicus necessitate compulsus baptismum dederit nescis an pie quisquaÌ„ dixerit esse repetendum Although a laye man compelled by necessitie do geue baptisme I can not tell whether a man may godly say that it ought to be iterated Howe the custome was before that Augustine was borne is gathered of Tertullian that it is not permitted to a woman to speake in the Church nor teache nor to baptize nor to offer that she shoulde not clayme to her self the execution of any mans office much lesse of the priestes Of the same thing Epiphanius is a substantiall witnesse where he reproueth Martion that he gaue women libertie to baptize Many foolishe women and men do say if the infantes dye without baptisme they are depriued of Gods grace and of their saluation Not so God pronounceth that he adopteth our infantes to be his owne before they be borne when as he promiseth that he wyll be a God to vs and to our séede after vs In this worde is conteyned their saluation for the first foundation of our saluation is neither faith hope loue nor feare of God but the election of GOD by whiche are saued not only they which of full yeres of vnderstanding do beleue hope loue feare call vpon heare and obey god c But also infantes albeit that they be taken out of this life without baptisme wherfore let vs not hang so much vpon creatures that we exclude and doubt of our creatour and for our foolishe good intentes sake will suffer sacramentes to be ministred by women cleane and besides the expresse worde of god Wherefore I do holde and beleue that it is no more méete and lawfull for a Midwife to baptize children in tyme of necessitie then it is for her to preache publikely and minister the Euchariste openly or otherwise But let vs come againe to the saying of our sauiour Christ â–ª that they haue alwayes in their mouthes for to condemne and cast away the poore séely infantes and children of the christians which dye without baptisme It is to be vnderstanded yea they that will consider diligently and weigh the absurdities that do ensue and followe of the exposition of them that do vnderstande it of baptisme going thus to the rigour of the letter shall
did talke with the woman of Samaria and also when he did bidde them that were in the Temple that they should come to drinke those liuely waters did vse the same maner of speakinges for to declare vnto vs also to what ende he did institute the signe of water in baptisme And that this is true that I saie I doe take Iohn for my witnesse who expoundyng the wordes of his maister did saie that by those waters he did vnderstande the holy ghost which they that beléeued should receiue Thirdly by this figuratiue maner of speaking he doeth instruct and teache vs what a Christian man that is regenerated by the holy spirite of god ought to be comparyng the water and the winde whiche are creatures moste fine cleare and pure with the earth whiche is an element more grosse more heauy and more materiall These wordes then doo signifie as muche as if he should saie that in steede of that grosse earthy and corruptible man he must be renewed and made altogether a newe creature heauenly spirituall and perfect differyng asmuche from hym that is earthy and corruptible as the water and winde do differ from the earth and that this muste bee doen by the holy ghost who is that true water that worketh this purifiyng in vs. But let vs graunt vnto them that this texte ought in déede to be vnderstande of the visible baptisme what shall they get by it Doeth not the maister of Sentences hym selfe hauyng all questions that coulde be moued vpon this texte affirme that this place ought to be vnderstanded of them that could be baptized and did not estéeme it The doctours themselues perceauing what absurdities inconueniences should folowe if thei would vnderstand this texte of the outward baptisme only goe to the rigour of the letter were faine to confesse that there be .iij. maner of baptismes that is to say the baptisme of water the baptisme of the holy Ghost the baptisme of blood Wherby they doe confesse that there is some other baptisme besides the baptisme of water whereby a man maie be saued There is the baptisme of the holy ghost and of faith which can be without the baptisme of the water whervpon the maister of Sentences doth alledge S. Augustine saiyng Thou doest aske whiche is greater faithe or the water I doe not doubt but that thou wilte aunswere faith If that then which is lesse can sanctifie how much more shall that which is greater be able to doe it that is to saie faith of the whiche Christ saieth he that beléeueth in mee though he were dead yet shal he liue Here againe wil thei alledge Saint Augustine against me who writeth on this maner We doe not beléeue that any Cathechumene hath life euerlastyng though he dye in good workes except he be baptized or suffer Martyrdome Againe we doe beléeue that there is no way of saluation but for them that are baptized I thinke thei be not so ignoraunt but that thei know what their owne Doctours are wonte to aunswere to this place among whom one Holcot by name doeth openly withstande Saint Augustine sayng that his exception is not sufficient and that a man that knoweth and beléeueth in our sauiour Iesu Christe can bee saued by some other meanes then by martyrdome though he dye without baptisme Yea moreouer hee is of opinion that if a man shoulde beléeue perfectely that he were baptized although he were not yet he shoulde be out of the daunger of damnation and saieth plainely that this faithe should serue him vnto saluation though it were founded vpon a falshoode Therefore the maister of Sentences aunswering to such obiections saieth that these wordes of Sainct Augustine must be vnderstanded accordyng to the declaration that he geueth in other places where he doeth intreate more largely of this matter And therefore he doeth write that these thinges must be vnderstanded of those that had tyme to make them selues to be baptized and did it not For if any man hauyng faith and charitie would be baptized and can not beyng preuented by some necessitie the mercie and goodnes of almightie god doth recompence that whiche doth lacke of the Sacrament For when he is able to paie if he paieth not he remaineth bounde still But if he cannot and yet hath a good wil to do it god who doth not bynde his power vnto the Sacramentes shall not impute it vnto hym I haue alledged euen the very wordes as thei are written in the booke of the maister of Sentences who doeth proue also by Saint Augustine that the inuisible sanctifiyng hath been in some and hath profited them without the visible Sacramentes saiyng on this wise and maner The visible sanctifiyng which is doen and wrought by the visible Sacramente may be without the inuisible but it profiteth nothyng Yet we must not therefore contemne and despise the visible sacrament for the despiser and contemner of it can not be sanctified inuisibly And as for maister Holtcot although he doeth allowe that which the other haue written of the baptisme of blood yet doeth he sufficiently declare that he that beyng vnbaptized doeth shed his blood for the name of Iesu christ is not baptized by that blood that he hath shed but that the Churche doth holde hym for baptized bicause that he hath sufficiently declared that he did not despise baptisme but that he would gladly haue receiued it if it had been possible for hym sith that he hath shewed suche a faith in the gospell of our Sauiour Iesu Christe There is yet a place that they be wont to alledge out of a certaine booke that goeth vnder the title and name of Sainct Augustine The wordes are these holde this for a suertie and doubt in no wise of it that not onely they that doe alreadie vse reason or be of yeres of discretion but also the little infantes that begin to liue in their mothers wombe and die there with out the Sacramente of holy baptisme whiche is geuen in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost or they that without it passe foorth of this worlde after that they be borne shall be punished with euerlastyng fire For although they haue no actuall synne of their owne yet haue thei drawen by their conception and byrth the damnation of Originall synne Let them turne them selues which way soeuer they list and yet thinking to maintayne and vpholde the Lymbe of the litle infantes they do vtterlye ouerthrowe it and that vnawares to them selues For whosoeuer is aucthour of this booke that they do father vppon Saint Augustine the same that thei do alleadge and bring out of it doth vtterly cast them in their owne talke For if these wordes be true after the sence that they geue vnto them the litle infantes dying without baptisme shall not onely be depriued of the fruition of Gods glorie and of all other ioyes of heauen but also
shall be punished with vnquencheable and euerlasting fire Therefore what shall it néede to forge a newe Lymbe for them Many Doctours consideryng the great rigour that he did vse against the litle infantes haue been of another opinion much contrary in so much that some among them did not sticke to call Saint Augustine Carnificem infantium that is to say an vnmerciful tormentour of infantes though he be worthy that men should speake of him more reuerently But first and formost it is vncertaine whether this booke out of the which this sentence is taken be saint Augustines or not For the stile and phrase of this booke doeth nothing resemble the phrase that Saint Augustine doth vse in those bookes that be certainely knowen to be his For this holy doctour doeth alwayes with great modestie and sobrietie both write speake of those thinges that do parteyne vnto the Church vnto the saluation of men being neuer woont to affirme anye thing rashly without some sure grounde or foundation in Gods worde which thing he doth not obserue in this booke For what Scriptures doth he aleadge for to proue that rigorous sentence that he doth geue against those poore infantes that dye without baptisme And yet he saith holde this for a suretie and not only in this place but also in many other thorowout al the whole booke hauing alwaies these words in his mouth holde for a suretie beléeue vndoubtedly I do here let passe many other reasons that did moue many great learned men to doubt of the aucthour of this booke But let vs graunt that it is Saint Augustines Ye haue hearde already howe he doeth trimme their newe forged Lymbe that they do assigne vnto the poore séely infantes that either be styll borne or dye without baptisme Againe we must not thinke that he him selfe wyll haue these wordes of his to be taken after the rigour of the letter And therefore we must consider what occasions he might haue to write after the same sort For if the necessitie and vnablenesse doth excuse them that be of age why shoulde young infantes be more vnexcusable which haue yet a more reasonable excuse then they that be of yeres can haue For when they dye being little ones either in their mothers belly or out of it was it long of them that they were not baptized Hath God conceaued a greater hatred against those poore séely infantes which are onely infected with originall sinne than against them which being of age haue besides originall sinne ten hundred thousande talentes weyght of their owne actuall sinnes Although the baptisme of water were as necessarie vnto saluation as ye do make it yet if there be some exception for the one by what right or reason shoulde it be denied vnto the other when the cause and excuses be a like But we must weigh and marke that in Saint Augustines time there were many that had not the Sacramentes in such estimation and reuerence as they ought to haue them As in these our dayes we see that some folke do attribute so much vnto them that they make of the visible signes and corruptible clementes a Iesu Christ and an ydoll and some againe do take them but for bare signes without any vertue or efficacie estéeming them no more then they estéeme the common badges or cognisaunces that the seruauntes or souldiours doe weare for to declare what Lordes or maisters thei doe serue And in this thing the Anabaptistes excéeded aboue al other not onely in this that thei would be baptized againe but most chiefly in that that thei doe vtterly condemne the baptisme of yong children and will haue it to be deferred till they come to yeres of discretion whose doctrine is no more to bee allowed then the doctrine and opinion of them that doe affirme that yong infantes that dye without baptisme are euerlastyngly banished from the kyngdome of God. For sith that the infantes are sanctified by the holy spirite of God beyng washed in the blood of his onely begotten sonne our Sauiour Iesu christ and comprehended in the couenaunt that he hath made with vs and our séede by the vertue and efficacie of which couenaunt beyng confirmed by the bloodsheddyng of the onely begotten sonne of God we looke onely to bée saued why should the seale of this euerlastyng Testament be denied vnto them nowe more then it was to the children of the Hebrewes Bicause forsooth that they doe not beleeue nor be able yet to make any profession of their faith What if I should reason after this forte without faith it is impossible to please GOD but litle infantes and babes doe please God in so muche that our sauiour christ rebuked them that would not suffer them to bee brought vnto hym I might then conclude that they haue faith though they cannot yet declare it outwardely And Saint Augustine doth plainely saie that they haue faith whose wordes are these Infantes habent fidem propâ—er fidei sacramentum The litle infantes or children haue faith bicause they haue the Sacrament of faith As then the children of the Hebrewes were circumcised in their infancie and childehoode afterwardes were brought vp in the knowledge of the Lawe of God and in his true religion and worshippyng so it is behoueful that the infantes and children of the Christians be baptized and receaue the Scale of the euerlasting couenaunt For sith that by the faith of the parentes though but one of them did beléeue they are sanctified afterwards that thei be brought vp in the true religion of Christe As it appeareth that it was doen in the olde auncient catholike church wherof confirmation did come that children after certaine yeares were presented to the Bishop and renderyng an accompte of that faithe of theirs whiche their parentes or fréendes in baptisme professed to haue them baptized therein haue handes layde on them whiche is nothyng els but prayer made for them so saieth Saincte Augustine Quid enim est aliud manum impositio quà m oratio super hominem For what is laiyng on of handes els but praier ouer a man Whiche thyng is now tourned among the Papistes to be one of the Sacramentes to make vp the number of their fiue fained Sacramentes yea and such a Sacrament thei affirme it to be that it is greater then Baptisme for this they write them selfe in their owne bookes Sacramentum confirmationis dicitur esse maius baptismo quia à dignioribus datur in digniore parte corporis That is to saie the Sacrament of confirmation is said to be greater then the Sacrament of baptisme and afterwarde the cause is added bicause it is geuen of worthier persons and in the worthier parte of the bodie here we maye easely sée an heresie of Donatus mainteined by the Papistes which will haue Sacramentes to take their force and aucthoritie in respecte of the person that ministreth it not onely the maister of sentences saith this but also
I am with you alwaies vnto the worlds ende can not be vnderstanded of the naturall presence of his fleshe but of his diuinitie and godhead onely ¶ The .xiij. Chapiter ¶ Christes humane body can be but in one place at once â–ª and noâ— in many and diuers places NOW will I come to their gaie painted reason whereby they goo aboute to proue that whersoeuer the diuinitie and godhead of Christe is â–ª there muste his manhoode be also bicause that they bee so ioyntly ioyned together that thei cannot be separated one from another But I entende God willyng tâ— proue nowe â—oth by naturall reason by the Scriptures and also by the auncient Fathers that it is not the propertie and nature of those thynges that be so ioyntly ioyned together that the one can not bee separated from the other that wheresoeuer the one is there the other must be also For first and formost the body of the sonne and light of it are so ioyntly ioyned together that the one caÌ„not be separateâ— from the other yet it foloweth not that whersoeuer the light of the sonne is there the body of the sonne must be also And herevpon may I gather a goâ—â—y similitude 〈◊〉 yâ—méete for our purpose For as the Sonne 〈…〉 in the â—lement according to the order that God hath appointed among his creatures doth with his light refreshe comfort quicken and viuifie all thynges here vppon the earth so our Sauiour Christe Iesus who is the true sonne of righteousnesse beyng still vntill the tyme that GOD hath appointed on the right hand of his father touchyng his manhode that is to say aboue in heauen in the place of beatitude felicitie and ioye raigning there with the father in coequall glory and maiesty doth continually assiste ayde and comforte his Church by his holy spirite beyng alwaies present with his electe and chosen by his diuine maiestie prouidence and inuisible grace whom he doth not cease through his almightie power the spirite beyng the worker of it to féede still with the wholsome foode of his most precious fleshe and blood And yet as it were moste noysome and hurtefull vnto all the whole earth if we had here belowe the bodie of the sonne so is it not expedient that the churche and congregation of the faithfull should haue Christe still present here touchyng his humanitie and manhoode For so saieth he hymselfe It is expedient for you that I goe hence for vnlesse I goe awaie the comforter shall not come Againe they can not deny but that the eye and the sight of it be so ioyintly and inseparably ioyned together that as long as the eye is whole and sounde the one can not be separated from the other will they saie therefore that the eye is in all places that the sight doeth reache too Seueritie and mercie are in God so ioyntely ioyned together that the one cannot be separated from the other and yet they that feele his seueritie doe not feele his mercie that is to saie whom he doeth accordyng to his righteous iudgement punishe euerlastingly in hel fire them doeth hee vtterly banishe and put awaie from his bounteous goodnes and mercie But nowe will I come to the Scriptures and worde of God. When our Sauiour Christe did talke with Nicodemus where was hee touchyng his humanitie and manhood in heauen or in earth I am sure that they will not saie that he was in heauen And yet he saith No man ascendeth into heaueÌ„ but he that came downe from heauen the sonne of man that is in heauen Here do we manifestlie see that the Godhead of Christe was then in heauen and yet no man will saie that his humanitie and manhoode was there For he did then in it talke with Nicodemus here vppon the earth Againe when Lazarus was dead Christ beyng then away from Iurie did saie to his Apostles Lazarus is dead and I am glad for your sake that I was not there that ye maye beléeue Christ at the same time that he spake these words was in his humanity or manhoode conuersaunte with his Apostles out of the lande of Iurie that is to saie farre froÌ„ among the Iewes that sought his death and yet without all paraduenture he was in his Godhead present with Lazarus when he departed When that Marie Magdalene came to the graue to embalme the body of Christe did not the Angell saie vnto them non est hîc he is not here he is risen as he saide come and sée the place where the lorde was laide And beholde hee goeth into Galilée before you there ye shall see him here is plainely opened that his humaine nature was not in the Sepulchre and at Galile and doubtlesse his diuinitie and Godhead was both in the graue and at Galilée too Therefore that auncient father Fulgentius saieth Christ beyng one and the same is a locall man of man that is to saie touchyng his manhoode that he tooke of man he is conteined in place Who is God incomprehensible of the father beyng one and the same touching his humanitie or manhood was absent from heaueÌ„ when he was in earth and leauing the earth when he ascended vp into heauen but touching his incomprehensible and diuine substaunce he was not absent from heauen when he was in the earth â–ª nor forsaking the earth when he went vp into heauen And that hee might shewe vnto his Apostles that his humanitie or manhoode was locall that is to say conteyned in place he did say I go vnto my father and vnto your father Againe when he had sayde Lazarus is dead he did adde by and by And I am glad for your sake that I was not there But declaring the incomprehensiblenesse of his diuinitie or Godhead he did say Beholde I am with you alwayes vnto the worldes ende Howe did he ascende vp into heauen but that because being the same he is locall and true man And howe is he alwayes with his elect but that bicause being the same Christ he is incomprehensible and true God Wherevnto Saint Augustine doth agrée saying Doubt not but that Christ being man is there from whence he shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead Holde faithfully and beare in remembraunce the christian confession howe that he rose againe the thirde day he ascended into heauen and sitteth on the right hande of the father and that he shall come from none other place but from thence to iudge the quicke and the dead and that he shall so come the angelicall voyce testifiyng the same as he was seene to go vp into heauen that is to say in the same shape and substaunce vnto the which he gaue immortalitie but he did not take away the nature of it we must not thinke that touching his shape and substaunce he is euery where for we must beware that we do not so defende the diuinitie of man that thereby we shoulde take away the
Christe had meant some other thyng then the bare wordes do sounde but one or other woulde haue expounded them Againe how could it be that they that do eate of that bread and drinke of that Cup vnworthilie shoulde be guiltie of the body and blood of Christ and receaue their damnation bicause they make no difference of the Lordes body excepte the verie naturall body and blood of the Lorde were there present in the holy communion Firste and formost I graunt that the worde of the Lorde must be fulfilled and that it must néedes be as the truth saith But then we muste take the wordes of that the Lorde doeth speake in their right sence and according to the meanyng that he hath spoken them and not after the vaine imagination of of mens wittes For that holy father Tertullian saieth we must not bryng our owne sences to the readyng of Scriptures but we muste take the sence that the Scripture doeth geue by conferryng one Scripture by another and therefore he saieth Oportet secundum plura intelligi paâ—ciora The fewer places must be expounded by the mo Saint Hierome also saieth Non in verbis scripturarum est euangelium sed in sensu The Gospell standeth not in the bare wordes of the Scriptures but in the meanyng Saint Augustine also saith Solet circumstantia scripturaruÌ„ illuminare sententiam The circumstances of the scriptures is wont to geue light and to open the meanyng Else it will bee verie straunge as when he saith I am the dore I am the true vine we might by as good reason imagine that hee is a materiall dore and a material vine and that his Apostles are vine brauÌ„ches because that he saieth and ye are the braunches Againe ye are speakyng to his Apostles the Salte of the earth Againe when Paul did saie and the rocke was christe men readyng or hearyng the same might haue surmised that the Apostles were verie Salt that the Rocke whiche the Isralites dranke of in the wildernes was very Christ in deede why bicause that the wordes doe sounde so and seeme vnto the ignoraunt to signifie so Therfore if we will haue the true and liuely worde of god to take effect we muste with diligent conferryng of the Scriptures searche out the meanyng and right sence of it as wee haue saide a little aboue out of the Fathers else we may saie long enough euen vntil our heades do ache this is gods word thus and thus did the Lorde say before that we can proue any thyng And whereas they doe boast and crake so much of their witnesses which do al with one consent rehearse these words of the lordes institution This is my body after one maner and fashion they do in that point but deceaue the poore simple and ignoraunt people For although thei doe nothyng varie in the repeatyng of these wordes This is my body yet when they rehearse the wordes of our Sauiour Christe whiche he spake touchyng the Cuppe they doe sufficiently declare howe these wordes of Christe ought to be taken and vnderstanded and what is the true sence and meanyng of them For where Matthewe and Marke doe saie in the persone of Christ This is my blood both Luke and the blessed apostle S. Paul as faithfull interpreters of our sauiour christes wordes doe saie This cup is the newe Testament in my blood Which wordes if they be well considered and marked doe open the vnderstandyng of all the whole matter For as the Cup or that whiche is in the Cup is the newe Testament by the newe Testament hee doeth vnderstande the frée remission of our sinnes that we haue through the merites of his death passion and bloodshedding so the bread is the body of Christe But the cup doeth onely signifie and represent vnto vs the newe Testament that is to say the forgeuenes of our sinnes whiche we haue in the blood of Christ whereof we are made partakers in his holy and blessed Sacrament therefore we can conclude none otherwise but that the bread doeth onely represent and signifie vnto vs the blessed body of christ which was broken for vs the vertue of which body is communicated and geuen vnto vs by the due ministration and worthy receauyng of the holy and blessed Communion Againe if the multitude of witnesses ought to take place three of the chéefe Euangelistes do testifie vnto vs that our Sauiour Christe did saie Ye shall not haue me alwaies with you vnto whom we may adde Peter for the fourth whose wordes are these Repent ye therefore and turne that your sinnes may be done awaie when the time of refreshyng commeth whiche we shall haue of the presence of the Lorde and when God shall sende hym whiche before was preached vnto you that is to wit Iesus Christ who must receaue heauen vntill the tyme that all thynges whiche God hath spoken by the mouth of his holy prophetes sence the worlde began be restored againe Here Doctour Harding with the residue of the louanistes â–ª wil replie and saie why sir this place of Peter maketh litle or nothyng for you for this worde oportet in the Actes whiche signifieth must dooth not importe so much as you woulde inferre of necessitie as may euidently appeare by Saint Paul where hee saieth Oportet Episcopum esse vnius vxoris virum A Bishop must be the husbande of one wife Here you maye see saie they that oportet doeth not importe suche a necessitie as you make that he that neuer was maried may be a Bishop Here gentle reader vnderstande thou that this place of Paul by them alledged is not alike whiche these Papisticall Louanistes goe about to compare For in comparyng of the Scriptures we must not consider the naked words but the meaning thereof for as saint Hierome saieth Ne putemus in verbis scripturarum esse euangelium sed in sensu That is let vs not thinke the Gospell standeth in the words of the scriptures but in the meanyng For this place of Sainct Paul by them alledged doeth declare of what equalitie a Bishop ought to be But in the other place S. Peter teacheth vs the place where Christe must necessarily be vntill the ende of the worlde whiche wee ought to beléeue to be true accordyng to our Creede And this comparison of this worde oportet doth no more aunswere this place of Peter in the Actes then if I woulde saie of you being here present Oportet te hîc esse You must néedes be here which importeth such necessitie for the time that you can none otherwise be but here And yet our Popecatholiques goe aboute in wordes to auoyde this necessitie with an other oportet in another sence as this Oportet te esse virum bonum You must be a good man here oportet doeth not in verie deede conclude anye such necessitie but that you may be as euill a man as a papist Thus you maie see
contradiction or resistaunce But the scriptures do teache vs cleane contrary For they all testifie vnto vs that Christe our Sauiour hauyng offered one oblation or sacrifice for synnes is set downe on the right hande of God for euer tariyng there till his fooes be made his footstoole as it hath been sufficiently proued before Thei doe therefore alledge in vaine the omnipotencie and almightie power of God for to proue thereby their deuillishe and moÌ„strous opinioÌ„ beyng in this point like vnto the anabaptistes which wheÌ„ thei be so sore pressed with the scirptures that they knowe not whiche waie to escape doe flye streight waie vnto the spirite hauyng then none other thyng in their mouthes but the spirite the spirite So these ioly felowes when they be beaten with the scriptures that they haue not one worde to saie will by and by with a great circumstaunce of wordes and fetchyng aboute alledge the omnipotencie and almightie power of God settyng foorth his wonderous works miracles that he hath wrought by it that so they may vnder the shadowe of them deceaue and blinde the poore vnlearned people whiche haue no vnderstandyng nor perceiueraunce of thynges These be for the moste parte the goodly argumentes and reasons that they doe vse if god hath doen this thyng or that thyng then will they bryng in some excellent miracle that god did worke in tymes paste may not he by his omnipotencie and mightie power bring to passe that the natural body of his sonne Christe should be in the Sacrament ye may see howe these newe fangled felowes do most shamefully deny the omnipotencie of God. These and other like thynges they doe daiely vomite out againste the true ministers of Gods worde in their railyng bookes and vpon their Alebenche where as they themselues are vtter enimies and subuerâ—ours of the omnipotencie and almightie power of god For thei do preache and daily shewe teache and write and also with fyre and sworde compell men to beléeue that christe can not geue vnto vs his fleshe to eate excepte his naturall body that he tooke of the virgine Marie that died vpon the crosse and ascended vp into heauen be there in the Sacrament â–ª really and substancially in déede more like a monstrous thyng then an humaine body Wheras on the contrarie we doe both beléeue and teache that our sauiour christ is able by his euerlasting and almighty spirite whensoeuer we doe worthely receiue his Sacrament to feede with his most precious flesh and blood both our soules and bodies vnto life euerlastyng and yet that hee needeth not therefore to come downe from heauen nor to be after suche a monstrous fashion in the sacramentall bread and wine For as the blood of our sauiour christ doth cleanse vs from all our synnes and yet we neede not to haue it really present with vs for to be washed or bathed in it so Christ our sauiour accordyng to his promise doeth daily or whensoeuer we doe come worthely to his holy Table feede both our bodies and soules with the wholsome and heauenly foode of his pretious body and blood and this doeth he by his eternall and almightie spirite so that he needeth not therefore to come downe at the becke and commaundement of euery iuglyng Papiste and to be really present in a péece of their sterched breade after that they haue with gapyng and blowyng spoken foure or fiue wordes vpon it Let any man that hath any sparke of the spirite of GOD iudge whether this maner of feedyng vpon the body and blood of Christ in the holy Sacrament whiche as I saide is doen by his eternall spirite doth not in all poinctes agrée with the holy Scriptures and with the almightie power of God who is neuer wont sith that of his owne nature he is most true to do or worke any thyng againste his owne worde and sacred Scriptures wherby we are certified that the heauens muste holde our Sauiour Christe till all thynges be restored againe that God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophetes since the worlde began The examples that they doe bryng of the walkyng of our Sauiour Christ vpon the waters or of his commyng in to his disciples and apostles when the doores were faste shut if they be well considered and looked vppon it shal be easie for to perceaue and vnderstande that they make nothyng for them but rather against them For when our Sauiour Christe did walke vpon the Sea although he did it by his diuine and godly power yet had he at the same present houre his true and naturall body with due proportion of lymmes and all other dimensions that doe pertaine to a mans body so that he coulde then be seene with the bodily eyes of his apostles taken vp sensibly into the Boate that they were in But no suche thyng will thei alowe in their monstrous being of christe his true and naturall body in their Sacrament Therefore this example maketh not for them but against them Now againe where they saie that our Sauiour Christ did go in to his apostles through the doores beyng faste shut here they make a shamefull lye For neither in the Gréeke nor in the Latine we shal finde that it is written through the doores beyng fast shut but the doores beyng shut or when the doores were fast shut Whereby the Euangelist doth signifie vnto vs the tyme that our Sauiour Christe came in to his disciples For therby may we vnderstande that it was verie late in the night when he came in to them as when any of vs doth saye I came home by candle light or when all the doores were fast shut yet no man is so foolishe as for to construe vppon his wordes that he had light borne afore hym or that he went in through the doores but by this maner of speaking we be wont to gather that it was late in the night when he came home Moreouer we do reade in the booke of the Actes that the apostles were put in the common prison at Hierusalem but the angell of the Lorde by night opened the doores of the prison and brought them foorth the doores of the prison beyng shut fast againe as sure as it was possible and yet none of the kéepers that were standyng without before the doores and kéeping them with al diligence did espie it when it was doen. Likewise in the same booke we finde written that when Herode would haue brought foorth Peter for to put hym to death the angell of the Lorde did come vnto hym as he slept betweene twoo souldiours bounde with two chaines and the keepers that watched and warded the prison standyng without before the doores And as soone as the angell smote Peter on the side and waked him his chaines fel of from his handes and also that when he and the angell were paste the firste and seconde watche and were come to
the yron gate that leadeth into the citie it did open vnto them of his owne accorde Shall wee saie nowe that an Angell was able so to open and shut againe the doore of the prison that the apostles were in that none of the keepers coulde perceaue nor espie it when it was doen And that our Sauiour Christ who is the Lorde of al angels was not able to open and shut againe the doore of the Parlour where his apostles were either by the ministerie of his angels or by his owne diuine and godly power but that he must be seen and hearde when hee was doyng of it Shall the yron gate of Herodes pryson open of his owne accorde vnto Peter and vnto the Angell and shall not the doore of the Parlour where the apostles were gathered together open and shut againe of his owne accorde vnto the onely begotten sonne of god but that either it must be opened by mans hand or els the sonne of God must creepe through it Here then do we learne that all power is geuen vnto our sauiour Christ both in heauen and in earth and that all creatures be subiect and obedient vnto him For he did declare no lesse by this miraculous commyng in to his apostles and disciples Therefore when they do say and all to mainteyne their monstrous doctrine that Christe went through the doores as they were fast shut whiche thing they do by false interpreting of the Scriptures as it doth appeare both by the Gréeke and Latine text they do not a litle derogate to his diuine and godly power For they make that he coulde not come to his apostles the doores being shut fast except he should put away from him all the properties of his true and naturall body that he tooke of vs in the virgins wombe of whom he tooke his vndefiled substance specially sith that after their doctrine and saiynges he went through the same doores beyng shut as he is in their sacrament where they will haue his body to bee without his due proportion of lymmes and all other dimentions that doe pertaine to a perfecte mans bodye whiche is nothyng els but to take awaie altogether the veritie truth of his manhoode But let vs graunt vnto them that he went as they will haue it through the doores as they were made faste what shall they get by it For after our sauiour Christ was gotten in and the apostles were abashed and affraied supposing that thei had seen a spirite he saide streight waies vnto them why are ye troubled and why doe thoughtes arise in your hartes Beholde my handes and my feete that it is euen I my selfe Handle mee and see for ▪ spirites haue not fleshe and boones as ye see mee haue And when he had thus spoken he shewed them his handes and his feete Now hauyng the scriptures so plaine vnto vs as we haue whiche doe witnesse vnto vs that our sauiour Christe hauing in his owne person pourged our synnes is set downe on the right hande of the maiestie on high wee are abashed at their doctrine and be afraied lest they will haue vs to receaue and worship a false Christe we are troubled at the straungenesse of this newe learning of theirs and thoughtes doe arise in our heartes Therfore if they will haue vs to be without trouble in our consciences and myndes if they will haue vs to beléeue and credite them let them so worke that we maie handle and see hym let them shewe vs his handes and his feete and then the battaile is fought and the victory theirs For Saincte Augustine saieth plainely without any darke speakyng Christum secundum humanitatem visibilem corporeum localem atque omnia membra humana veracitèr habentem credere conuenit confiteri That is to saie in englishe we muste beléeue and confesse that christ accordyng to his humanitie is visible hath the sustaunce and properties of a body is conteined in place and verely hath all the members and the whole proportion of a man Therfore let them as we haue said shewe vnto vs that we may see Christ in the cake or otherwise the feelde is ours the ouerthrowe and shame theirs ¶ The .xv. Chapiter ¶ What it is to be guiltie of the body and blood of Christe BUt now I will come to their common obiection that thei be wonte to make out of the eleuēth chapter of the first to the Corinthians where the apostle doth say whosoeuer shal eate of this bread or drinke of this cup vnworthely shal be guiltie of the body and blood of the lorde or he shal eate and drinke his owne damnation bicause that he maketh no difference of the Lordes body How coulde it be saie they that they whiche doe eate of this bread drinke of this cup vnworthely should be guiltie of the body and blood of Christe or that they should eate or drinke their owne damnation bicause that they make no difference of the Lordes body excepte the verie natural body and blood of Christe were there present in the holy Sacrament I will first declare what it is to receaue this holy Sacrament vnworthely and then will I aunswere at large to al the rest They eate and drinke vnworthely this holy and blessed sacrament that come vnto it not hauyng truely examined their owne selues that come vnto it without faith in the merites of the death passion and bloodsheddyng of our Sauiour Iesus Christe or without true repentaunce vnfained confession of their synnes vnto God without amendement of their owne liues and without loue and charitie Thei do also receaue vnworthely that handle the misteries otherwise then the lorde hath instituted and ordained them For they can not haue a deuoute mynde to God that presume to minister or receaue the Sacramentes and misteries otherwise then the aucthour of them hath appointed For there shal be a iudgement where euery man shall geue aunswere howe he hath receaued euen at the day of the Lorde Iesu Christ. For they that come to it not obseruyng the tradition ordinaunces and institution of the Lorde and without a christian like conuersation are guiltie of the body and blood of the Lorde Sainct Ambrose saieth But what is it to be guiltie of the body and blood of the Lorde euen to bee punished for his death For he is dead for them that set nought by his benefit Saint Ciprian also saieth ▪ Impijs in morte christi nullus superest quaestus iustissimè eos beneficia neglecta condemnant That is to saie the wicked haue no gaine by the death of Christe but the benefites that they haue despised doe most iustely condemne them Saint Augustine plainely saieth Habent foris sacramentum corporis christi sed rem ipsam non tenent intus cuius est illud sacramentum Et ideò sibi iudicium manducant bibunt Outwardely they haue the Sacrament of Christes body but the thyng it selfe inwardely in their
bread is referred to the fleshe and the kinde or forme of wine to the soule Againe it is taken or receaued vnder both kindes for to signifie that Christ did take vpon hym both an humaine body and an humaine soule and also for to signifie that the receauyng of this sacrament is auaileable both to the fleshe and also to the soule For if it were only receiued vnder one kind it shoulde be signified that it is auaileable onely for the tuition and safegarde of the one Hearken what Gerardus Lorichius one that is a great defendour of Transubstantiation a papist for his life saieth to this matter They be false Catholiques saieth this man that are not ashamed by all meanes to hinder the reformatiō of the Churche Thei to the intent the other kynde of the sacrament maie not be restored vnto the laie people spare no kynde of blasphemies For they saie that Christe saide onely vnto his apostles drinke ye all of this but the wordes of the Canon be these take and eate ye al of this Here I beseche them let them tell mee whether they will haue these wordes also onely to pertaine vnto the apostles Thā must the laie people abstaine from the other kinde the bread also Whiche thyng to saie is an herisie a pestilent and a detestable blasphemie Wherfore it foloweth that eche of these words was spoken vnto the whole church Thus far Lorichius the papistes owne doctour Let them make what shift soeuer they will or can they shall neuer be able to cleare them selues but that they be most abominable prophanatours of the Lordes Sacramentes and misteries and also most detestable and accursed sacriledgers sith that they do not only robbe the christian people for whom our Sauiour Christ did shed his most precious blood of the cheefe and most principall part of his Sacrament but also doe abstayne them selues from it whensoeuer they list hauyng no commaundement of the Lorde for to doe any suche thyng Therefore we may turne the saying of S. Basill against them who saieth these wordes Who so forbiddeth the thing that God commaundeth and who so commaundeth the thing that God forbiddeth is taken as accursed of all them that loue the Lorde Where you haue done the like against the commaundement of the Lorde and commaunded what he hath flatly forbidden your whole religion declareth for through your owne cōmaundementes ye make Gods commaundementes of litle force yea you haue done contrary to your owne lawes and decrées which do excommunicate all those that dare presume to take halfe of this sacrament and leaue the other halfe vnreceaued The blessed martyr Saint Ciprian doeth say Howe shall we teache exhort and prouoke them saieth he to shed their blood for the confession of the name of Christ if we do deny or wyll not geue vnto them the blood of Christ when they should fight and stande manfully in the quarell of their maister and Lorde Christe Or howe shall we make them apt to drinke the cup of martyrdome if we do not permit nor suffer them to drinke the cup of the Lorde in the Church by the right tha◠they haue to communicate with vs May not all men see and perceiue by these fewe words of this holy and blessed martyr what wrong and iniurie these antichristes do vnto vs Haymo saith Appellatur calix communicatio propter participationem quiae omnes communicant ex illo The cup is called the communication because of the participation for that euery man receaueth of it This saith he and yet no Protestant nor Caluenist If any warre doth chaunce for the name of Christ as is at this day in Fraunce and Flaunders or if any persecution for his religon sake doth happen they wyll geue vs good leaue to stande in the forefront of the battayle yea they wyll thrust vs forwardes and be ready them selues to shed our blood and yet they will not as much as suffer vs once to receaue the mysticall cup of the Lordes blood whereby we shoulde be animated and encouraged to shed our heart blood in the quarell of his trueth Besides this any childe may easely perceaue by these fewe aucthorities by me alledged that they were woont in the Primatiue Churche to minister indifferently vnto all men of what condition or estate soeuer they were the Communion in both kindes and that it was counted a playne sacriledge that is to say a playne robbing of Gods glorie to do otherwise For they did alwayes sticke to the institution and ordinaunce of the Lorde tyll at the length in the abominable and sacrilegious counsell of Constance a most wicked and vngodly decree was made to the contrary Many other reasons are they wont to bring for the defence of their accursed and detestable sacriledge If the mysticall Cup say they were indifferently ministred vnto al men and women that come to the Lordes boorde it might chaunce that it shoulde be at one tyme or other spylled whiche thing coulde not happen without a great slaunder in the Churche And therefore for auoyding of this offence that might happen by reason many hath the paulsie and fallyng sicknesse it hath bene appointed by the fathers that the Sacrament shoulde be only ministred vnder one kinde Belike our Sauiour Christe the wisedome of the father when he did first institute his Sacrament coulde not by his eternall spirite foresée such thinges nor yet the blessed Apostle Saint Paul when he did aboue .xxvj. yeres after his maisters ascention write vnto the Churche of the Corinthians Might not wée by as good a reason bicause that many offences do dayly arise by the preaching of Gods worde put downe the Scriptures altogether as antechrist is wont to do where soeuer he beareth any rule Might we not with as iust cause sith that many do surfet by meate and drinke and in their drunkennesse do worke mischéefe take awaye cleane from them the vse of meate and drinke Shall we because that good thinges may through the naughtinesse and negligence of men be misused take away the right vse of them or abolishe therefore the institution and ordinaunce of GOD who hath ordeyned and appointed such thinges for the comfort health of men Let them geue a straite charge to their ministers that they be sober and discrete when that thei go about such holy mysteries and that they take good heede to them selues that no such offences do arise through their negligence or rashe behauiour If they would do so and suffer the holy institution of the Lord to stande whole then shoulde they do well and please God highly who requireth nothing else but a true obedience towardes his statutes and lawes whereas in doing as they do they declare them selues to be voyde of the spirite of God and of all due obedience that ought to be in all faithfull christians and true seruauntes of God. For we must be subiect to God in obedience ioyned
teache Moyses another lesson For wheÌ„ he was comming to the fierie bushe he did bid him to put of his shoes because that he stoode in a holy place whereby we are admonished of two thinges First howe that God doth preferre our bare skinne which he hath sanctified with the blood of his sonne before the skinne of dead beastes which shall neuer rise againe nor be partakers of the glory that the children of God shall haue at the general resurrection of all fleshe both in their bodies and in their soules Secondly howe that we ought to put away all dead workes from vs if we will truely and as we shoulde do handle holy thinges or if we loke for to obteyne true holynesse at Gods hande These godly lessons should thei teache the people when thei come to the Communion and as true and faithfull Pastours thei should endeuour themselues to deliuer them from the abominable superstition of these false apostles whiche according to the doctrines and preceptes of men be woont to say Touche not eate not handle not ¶ The .xvij. Chapiter ¶ Againste woâ—shippyng of the Sacrament NOw to speake of the detestable Idolatrie that they doe with all tyranny and crueltie compell men to commit making them to worship a péece of bread in steede of the liuyng God creatour of all thynges it will be necessarie for whereas the Sacrament of the body and blood of christe was instituted and ordeined for to put vs in remembraunce of the death passion and bloodsheddyng of our sauiour christ and that we should in it being duely ministred and worthely receiued be made partakers of all the merites thereof that is to â—aie be put in full possession of all that he did purchase by the death of his bodie and by the sheddyng of his blood thei make of it a plaine ydoll causing the simple ignoraunte people to geue godly honour to the corruptible elements of bread and wine which thyng they can not deny but to be directly against all the scriptures which doe alwaies teache vs to lifte vp our heartes and mindes vnto the Lorde that is to saie vnto the thynges that by the Sacraments are signified vnto vs and not vnto the visible elementes and signes of them For as sainct Chrisostome saieth The Infidell when he heareth of the water of baptisme thinketh it to be onely plaine water but I that beléeue in Christe doe not onely see water but also the cleansyng of the soule by the spirite of god I consider christes buriall his resurrection our sanctification righteousnes and the fulnes of the spirite the thing that I see I iudge not with my bodily eies but with the eyes of my minde Thus farre he Sainct Augustine therefore plainely saieth to them that hang so vppon the visible signes Ea demum est miserabilis animae seruitus signa pro rebus accipere This is a miserable bondage of the soule to take the signes in steede of the thynges that be signified And for this cause were they wonte to saie Lift vp your heartes all the people or congregation aunswered We haue lifte them vp vnto the Lorde To be shorte Christe our sauiour who sayeth that he hath shewed and declared vnto vs all that he hearde of his father maketh no mention at all of this worshippyng but sayeth onlye Take eate c. The blessed Apostle S. Paule who doeth sette forth at large the whole institution of his master Christ saieth not Let a man fall downe on his knees and worship the bread and wyne But let a man examine him selfe that is to saye descend into his owne conscience and trye his owne hart and so let him eate of this breade and drinke of this cuppe If any suche worshippyng had ben requisite and necessarie both Christ our Sauiour himselfe and also his Apostle woulde not haue left it out vnspoken of Whereby we may conclude that all that thei do in the honouring of the misticall bread and wine is a méere inuention of theirs and a most detestable idolatrie which ought in no wise to be suffered in the church of christ For by it the honour that is due vnto the liuing God only the creatour and maker of all thinges and vnto his sonne Iesus Christ our Lorde and Sauiour is geuen vnto the dumbe and insensible creatures and corruptible elementes of bread and wine That they are corruptible creatures Saint Augustine saith If we beholde the visible creatures as the bread and the wine wherein the sacramentes are ministred who seeth not that thei be corruptible But if we consider the thinges that are wrought thereby who séeth not that thei can not be corrupted Saint Origene saith The meate that is sanctified by the word of God by prayer according to the materiall part that is in it passeth into the belly and so foorth into the priuie c. Therefore let vs folowe S. Chrisostomes councell where he saieth Nolimus creatorem cum creatura confundere ne illud audiamus seruierunt creature potius quà m creatori Let vs not confounde the creature and the creatour both together lest it be saide of vs they haue honoured a creature more then their creatour For saith he in a nother place creatures are to worship the creatour to be worshipped But here thei will say that thei worshippe not the bread and the wine but the body and blood of Christe that be there really present vnder the formes of bread and wine for to be receaued of the faithfull communicantes Be not these Saint Augustines wordes say they No man doth eate the fleshe of christ except he worship it first not only we do not sinne if we worship it but rather we do sinne if we worship it not They can neither proue by this place of Saint Augustine that the body and blood of Christe be really present vnder the formes of bread and wine nor yet mainteine their idolatrous worshipping of the Sacrament by it For all faithfull christians being commaunded to lift vp their heartes do worshippe the fleshe of Christe in his Godhead sitting in glorie on the right hande of the father before that thei feede vpon it by faith through the mightie operation of the eternall spirite of god And that this is the meaning of Saint Augustine it may easyly appeare by that that foloweth For by and by after he saith that wee ought not to sticke long in the fleshe but to clyme vp higher vnto the godhead of christ And verely their very wordes that they do vse afore that thei go about or euen when thei go about their holy misteries saying vnto the people Lift vp your heartes do vtterly condemne them For by them folowing in this point the custome of the auncient Catholique Churche thei doe exhort the people that thei sticke not vnto the visible elementes and signes of bread and wine but that thei lift vp their heartes and mindes
him Againe as if a wilfull and rebellious subiect should no more esteeme or regarde his princes seale than other coÌ„mon waxe or haue it in no greater reuerence than the seale of some priuate man it might rightly be saide that he maketh no difference of his princes person that is to say that he doth no more estéeme him than he doeth other men yet it néedeth not that the kinges person be there really present So when we come to the Lordes boorde if we do take vnreuerently the misticall bread and wine as other common meates appoincted for the belly then make we no difference of the Lordes body we doe not esteeme the worthines price and vertue of it which in the holy misteries is so freely and so liberally offered vnto vs. And therefore it is no marueile that in steede of grace in steede of forgeuenesse of our sinnes and of life euerlastyng we doe eate and drinke our owne damnation They saieth sainct Paul that sinne after that they haue receaued the knowledge of the trueth loking for another sacrifice for sinnes do esteeme the blood of the Testament as a prophane and vnholy thyng that is to saie they make no difference of it they haue it in no more estimation then the blood of Calues and of Goates He that would gather vpon this place that they haue the blood of Christe really among them were a very Idiot foole and well worthy to be laughed to scorne of all men In like maner although the vnworthy receauers of the sacramentes doe eate and drinke there their owne damnation bicause that they make no difference of the Lordes body yet it foloweth not therefore that the body of Christ must needes be there really present vnder the formes of bread and wine Yea if it were there or if the bread and wine were really the body and blood of our Sauiour Christe the vnworthy receauers could not eate and drinke there their owne damnation but rather they should eate life and drinke life sith that the trueth hymself doth saie he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath life euerlastyng Againe he that eateth mée liueth through mee And therefore sainct Augustine saieth The Sacrament of the vnitie of the body and blood of Christe is taken from the Lordes body to some men vnto life euerlastyng and to some men vnto destruction But the thyng it selfe whereof it is a Sacrament is to all men vnto saluation and vnto no man to destruction whosoeuer is partaker of it These wordes are plaine and doe sufficiently declare vnto vs that if the bodye and blood of our Sauiour Christ were really present vnder the formes of bread and wine or that the bread wine were transubstantiated or really chaunged into the naturall bodye and blood of Christe the vnworthy receauers coulde not eate and drinke their owne damnation but rather as I saide before they shoulde eate and drinke life euerlastyng and haue saluation For the fleshe and blood of Christ whereof the bread and wine are Sacramentes is to all men vnto saluation and to no man vnto destruction as we learne here by S. Augustines wordes ¶ The .xix. Chapiter ¶ Whether the Papistes haue still the â—ame body in the Sacrament that was giuen vpon the Crosse. NOw that I haue sufficiently aunswered to their obiections I will aske them this question whether they haue still the same body that Christâ— did geue at his last supper or not I am sure that they will aunswere that they haue still the same body Then will I aske them againe whether the body that Christ did geue at his last supper was mortall or immortall If they saie that it was immortall they shal be proued liars by the Scriptures whiche doe testifie vnto vs that his body that he tooke of the virgine Marie was put to death the next daie If they saie that it was mortall sith that they haue the same still in their Sacrament it shoulde folowe that the body of Christ were not yet glorified but mortall still and subiect vnto death They are driuen to confesse either the one or the other that is to say that either it was mortall or immortall For it could not be both at one time no not when he did shewe a taste of his glorie vnto his disciples vpon the mount Thabor For as Vigilius Martyr saith One nature or substaunce can not receaue diuers and contrary things in it selfe at one time Therfore let them geue what aunswere soeuer thei will thei can not escape but that thei shal be proued most shamefull lyars both wayes and that the body that thei boast them selues to haue in their Sacrament can not be the true body of Christe that he toke in the virgins wombe of whom he toke his vndefiled substaunce for as it was then mortal when he did institute his holy Supper so is it nowe glorified and immortall and in it doth our Sauiour Christ fit nowe on the right hande of the father for euer tyll his enimies be made his footstoole But a newe phantasticall body of their owne imagination and forging haue thei and none other If thei will flee to the omnipotencie or almightie power of God as thei be woont to do alwayes when thei are put to their trompes thei haue learned before howe farre foorth it will helpe them The almightie power of God and his sacred and holy worde are so ioyned and knit together that as he is able to do whatsoeuer he doth promise in his worde so will he do nothing nor can do nothing that is contrarie vnto it as the wordes of Theodoretus by me alledged before do sufficiently declare Againe wheÌ„ our Sauiour Christe did at his last Supper institute his holy Sacrament he was there present him selfe in his true and naturall body talking with his Apostles and also eating and drinking with them of the mysticall bread and of the mysticall cup of the which being insensible creatures voluit dicere per gratiam he did vouchsafe through grace to say This is my body and This is my blood For as he had befoâ—e called his body Wheate and bread and him selfe a Uine so did he then honour the bread and the wine with the names 〈◊〉 his body and blood Chrisostome saith also before the bread be â—â—â—ctified we call it bread but after that by the meane of the 〈◊〉 the heaueÌ„ly grace hath halowed it it is discharged from the name of bread and is vouchsaued to be called by the name of our Lordes body notwithstanding the nature of the bread remayneth still Ireneus saith Christe confessed bread which is a creature to be his body and the cup to be his blood Reade Ciprian ad magnum which speaketh most plainely hereof also Shall they not be faine to saie then if they will haue their doctrine to stande that Christ had then twoo bodies one that did eate and drinke and the
The .xx. Chapiter ¶ Against the carnall presence of Christe in the Sacrament THE Papistes will harpe still vppon these fewe wordes that our sauiour Christ spake in his last supper when he saide This is my body resemblyng in this pointe the Arians whiche when it was proued vnto them by many strong Scriptures that Christe our Sauiour is coequall with the father in substaunce in Godhead and power would alwaies haue their refuge to the fewe wordes that Christ our Sauiour spake of his humanitie saiyng Pater maior me est The Father is greater then I hauyng alwaies in their mouthes that sith Christ had spoken it it must néedes be so vnlesse we would make him a lyer Shall wee not finde the like in our transubstantiatours which wil haue the body of Christ at the becke and commaundement of euery iugglyng popishe Priest whensoeuer he pronounceth these fewe wordes Hoc est corpus meum This is my body And this is my blood with a full intent to consecrate to be really and substantially in the Sacrament vnder the fourmes of bread and wine the substaunce of them beyng really chaunged and turned into the very substaunce of the body and blood of the Lorde For if ye bryng neuer so many places of the scriptures whiche doe witnesse vnto vs that our Sauiour christ touching his manhoode is set downe on the right hande of his Father for euer vntill his enimies bee made his footstoole And that the heauens must holde him vntill all thinges be restored againe that God hath spoken by the mouth of all his prophetes since the worlde began and that till then wee ought not to looke for any corporall presence of his wherby it foloweth that the doctrine of them that will haue his true and naturall body and blood to be really present vnder the accidentes of bread and wine cannot be true straight waies they crye out in a rage saiyng Be not these Christes wordes This is my body This is my blood hath he not spoken them will ye make hym a lyer and a desembler or one that speaketh one thyng and meaneth another With many such like tragicall exclamations and outcries doe they fill the eares of the symple and ignoraunt hearers as though the whole difference doth consist in this whether Christe hath spoken these wordes or not or whether he must be a lier and dissembler If they haue any other meanyng then they seeme to haue outwardlye at the firste blushe not beyng conferred with other textes of the holy scriptures We doe confesse that these are Christes wordes and that he hath spoken them with his owne holy mouth But what then haue I not already proued by innumerable textes of the Scriptures that they must bee taken otherwise then thei sounde outwardly and that beyng taken without trope and figure thei can not stand with the rest of the scriptures which teache and testifie in so many places that Christe our sauiour can no more be here vppon the earth touchyng his manhoode vntill the last daie when he shall visibly as he was séen to go vp come againe to iudge the quicke and the dead But go too put the case that litle or nothyng hath been saide yet touchyng this matter They saie yea they vpholde and mainteine euen with fire and sworde that the bread and wine are transubstantiated and really chaunged into the very substaunce of the bodye and blood of Christe so that there remaines no more bread and wine after that the Prieste hath once gaped and blowen vpon them and spoken the words but onely the outwarde appearaunce and accidentes of them Is not this to saie yea and also most blasphemously to affirme mainteine and vpholde that the precious body and blood of Christ haue their beyng substaunce and beginnyng of the corruptible substaunce of bread and wine For whensoeuer one substaunce is turned into another the seconde substaunce that the first is turned into hath his beginnyng substaunce and beyng of the firste yea it hath of it his originall and ofspryng as for example When Moyses rodde was turned into a Serpent whereof had that Serpent his beginnyng substaunce and beyng whereof had he his originall and ofspring or was he before that the same miraculous transubstantiation and chaunge was made All men can not denie but that the same Serpent had his beginnyng substaunce and beyng and also his originall and ofspring of Moyses rodde and that it was not before that the same miraculous transubstantiation or chaunge was made The like maie we saie of the waters of Egypt that were turned into blood of the dust that was turned into lice For neither the blood nor the lyce were before that the same miraculous tournyng was wrought and doen and as thei beganne then so had they their beyng and substaunce of those thynges or substaunces that were turned into them Againe when our Sauiour Christe did in Cana of Galilee turne water into wine the same wine had his beginnyng of the substaunce of the water and was not before that the water was miraculously turned into it If then they will stifly mainteine that the substaunce of bread and wine are really turned into the substaunce of the body and blood of christ thei shall be faine to confesse that the same body and blood that thei haue in their Sacrament haue their beginnyng substaunce and being and also their originall and ofspryng of the corruptible and insensible creatures of bread and wine and that thā the same body blood doe beginne to be or to haue their being when by the almightie operation or working of the wordes those corruptible and insensible creatures be really and substauncially chaunged into them But the true and naturall bodie of Christe had his beginnyng originall and ofspryng in the blessed virgines wombe of whom he tooke his vndefiled substaunce is nowe glorified and is set on the right hande of the father but a body of their owne inuention and makyng whiche is as often made and shaped a newe as thei do pronounce the wordes of consecration as thei call them vpon the creatures of bread and wine cum intentione consecrandi That is with a full purpose and intent to consecrate Some of them to auoyde this inconuenience are wont to saie that the substaunce of bread and wine is not turned in to the substaunce of the body and blood of christ but that the substaunce of the visible creatures of bread and wine do vanishe awaie geuyng place vnto the substaunce of the body and blood of Christe If it were so then woulde not our Sauiour Iesus Christ haue saide This is my body but rather in this is my body or vnder the accidentes of bread and wine is my body and blood Againe that whiche they doe coulde not be called transubstantiation which is a reall chaungyng of one substaunce that is extant into another substaunce that is not extant but some other name should
they be compelled to geue vnto their monstrous iugglyng and excantation contrary to the myndes and writinges of their owne scholedoctours For Iohannes Scotus otherwise called Duns shewyng from whence this doctrine of Transubstantiation did come writeth after this maner It seemeth that men are chiefly moued to embrace or receaue this sentence bicause that we must holde of the Sacramentes as the holy Churche of Rome doth holde but the holy Churche of Rome doth holde that the bread is transubstantiated or really chaunged into the body of Christ and the wins into his blood Likewise Gabriell Biell writyng vpon the Canon after that he had shewed that it was vncertaine how the body of Christ was in the sacrament whether it was by the conuersion or turnyng of the visible creatures of bread and wine into it or by some other meane doeth saie plainely these wordes But bicause that we muste holde of the Sacramentes as the holy Church of Rome doeth holde sith that it hath decréed and determined that the bread is transubstantiated or really chaunged into the body of Christ therefore this opinion is receaued of all the Catholiques that there remaineth no substaunce but that it is truely and really chaunged transubstantiated and turned into the body of the Lorde Two thynges doe we here learne by the waie First that this monstrous doctrine of transubstantiation did come from Rome the greate Grandame of all abhominable errours heresies and abuses for this doctrine of theirs came neuer out of the worde of God for so saieth he hymselfe I meane Gabriel biell that all this their transubstantiation of substaunces of bread and wine Non inuenitur expressum in canone bibliae That is to saie it is not founde expressed saieth he in the Canon of the Bible And as for the antiquitie of this doctrine it is playnly set foorth by their owne doctour how olde it is For Tonstall saith of the maner meane howe this might be whether by transubstantiation or otherwise perhaps it had been better to leaue euery man that woulde be curious to his owne coniecture sicut liberum fuit ante concilium Lateranum as before the counsell of Laterane it was left at libertie Thus we sée howe auncient it is neuer hearde of in all the worlde vntyll their late counsell of Laterane holden in Rome vnder Pope Innocentius the thirde in the yere of our Lorde 1215. in the time of king Iohn king of Englande and neuer before So for the space of .xij. hundred and .xv. yeres the Churche of God was able to stand well without it So the great antiquitie of their transubstantiation is but thrée hundred fiftie and seuen Therefore all men may see howe much credite we ought to geue vnto it and againe howe worthie a thing it is that for it so many notable learned and other godly men and women shoulde thus cruelly be put to death murthered to the great decay of true religion throughout al realmes whose innocent blood crieth vengeaunce in the eares of god against those wicked papistes and also against the maiestrates that were the Popes butchers and hangmen Wherefore I say turne and repent with all spéede and aske mercie in Iesus Christe our sauiour that your blooddy handes may be made cleane by his blood and so washed from your sinnes Secondly we learne by the sayinges of these holy doctours of theirs that they that holde opinion that the substaunce of bread wine is not really chauÌ„ged but vanisheth away for to geue place vnto the substaunce of the body and blood of Christ do holde against the decrées and canons of the holy mother the Churche of Rome which doth holde that the bread and wine are transubstantiated really chaunged and turned into the substaunce of the body and blood of Christe the outwarde appearaunce and accidentes of them only remayning And therfore wyll they nyll they euen in spite of their smoothe shauen faces thei shal be fayne to confesse if not with their mouthes at least in their consciences that their Christe that they haue in their Masses and in their boxes and in their Sacrament is a bready Christ that is to say a Christ made of bread which hath a body of the substaunce of bread and wine wherewith they haue made all nations to commit most detestable idolatrie and to fal away from the true Messias and Christ whose true and naturall body hath his substaunce not of the corruptible substaunce of bread and wine but of the substance of the blessed virgine Marie his mother and now being glorified and immortal is on the right hand of the maiestie on high where by the mighty operation of his eternal spirite we do feede vpoÌ„ his flesh blood through faith as long as we continue true liuely members of his body but most specially when we do worthely receaue his holy mysteries which he him self hath instituted for a perpetuall remembraunce of his death and passion ¶ The .xxj. Chapiter ¶ The wicked doth neither eate nor drinke the body and blood of Christe IF these wordes This is my body shoulde be taken as they sounde whereby suche transubstantiation must néedes ensue and folowe that no bread and wine shoulde remayne but onely the body blood of Christ couered with the accidentes of bread and wine all the vngodlye and vnfaithfull hypocrites that receaue the Sacrament shoulde eate the fleshe of Christ and drinke his blood and so shoulde haue euerlasting life as it hath béen said before yea they should dwell in Chrst and Christ in them For he saieth He that eateth my fleshe and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him But it is most sure that the vnfaithfull hypocrites do not dwell in Christe nor Christe in them except he woulde haue Christe and the deuyll to dwell both together in one place whiche thing can not be saith Saint Paul to the Corinthians Therefore I may conclude that they do neither eate his flesh nor drinke his blood For as Saint Augustine saith Hoc est â—rgo manducare illam escam illum potum bibere in christo manere illum manentem in se habere That is to saie This is to eate that meate and to drinke that drinke to dwell in Christe and to haue Christ dwel in hym Againe in the same place he saith Ac per hoc qui non manet in christo et in quo non manet christus proculdubio nec manducat spiritualitèr carnem eius nec bibit sanguinem eius licèt carnalitèr visibilitèr premat dentibus Sacramentum corporis sanguinis christi And therefore he that dwelleth not in Christ and in whom christ dwelleth not without doubt doth not eate spiritually his flesh nor drink his blood though he doth carnally and visibly presse with his téeth the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ And in another place he doth shewe saith he what it is to eate his
asmuche as we haue soules fastened vnto our bodies therfore God geueth vs thynges spirituall vnder thinges visible Sainct Augustine to put all out of doubte that we eate not grosly nor drynke verily or carnally the body and blood of Christe as the Papiste affirmeth saith these wordes Non hoc corpus quod videtâ—s manducaturi estis bibiturs illud sanguinem quem fusuri sunt qui me cruciâ—igent Sacramentum aliquod vobis commendaui That is to saie Ye shal not eate this body that ye sâ—e mee to haue nor yet shal ye drinke that blod whiche they shall shed that crucifie mee it is a sacrament that I geue or deliuer vnto you therefore hee â—aide in his tracâ—es vppon Iohn Aliud est sacramentum aliud res sacramenti The sacrament is one thyng and the thyng of the sacrament is another Wherefore he geueth this lesson to all saiyng In sacramentis videndum est no quid sint sed quid significent In the sacramentes wee maie not looke what they are but what they doe signifie Nowe all men may see howe shamefully the papistes doe belye vs saying and writyng that we do make of the Sacrament but a bare figure and signe For this is our faith and beléefe that if a man doth truely examine himself that is to say ponder weigh and consider with his owne mynde whether he acknowledgeth him selfe to be a sinner or not and whether he hath an inwarde gréefe and an vnfayned repentaunce or sorow for his sinnes whether he hath forgiuen from the bottome of his heart all his enimies and reconciled him selfe vnto them that he hath offended whether he be determined to restore againe vnto his neighbour al that he hath taken away from him wrongfully by any maner of meanes whether he be mynded for the loue that he beareth vnto God to liue afterwardes vertuously according to his holy coÌ„maundements forsaking sinne and the worlde but aboue all thinges whether he hath a true faith in the mercie of God and in the name of his sonne Iesu Christ and whether he beleueth stedfastly that Iesus Christe is his only sauiour redéemer intercessour aduocate and mediatour betwixt God and him finally whether he hath a desire to liue and dye in the onely doctrine of Christ forsaking all other false and erronious doctrines with all kinde of deuillishe superstition and idolatrie and so eate of this bread and drinke of this cup our faith I say and beléefe is that such a man doeth féede most effectuously vppon the body and blood of Christe our onely sauiour and yet it néedeth not therefore that his naturall body and blood be really present vnder the formes of bread and wine For as in the holy Sacrament of baptisme if it be duely ministred and worthely taken we receaue the holy ghost by whom we are renued or made newe creatures we obtayne frée remission forgeuenesse of our sinnes and are apparelled with Christ whom we do put on there and yet no man wyll say that the water is any of these thinges or that it is turned into them So in the holy misteries when we come worthely vnto them we are most wholsomly fed with the precious bodye and blood of our sauiour Christ yet if we shoulde say that it coulde not be doen vnlesse the bread and wine were transubstantiated into the very body and blood of Christ or except his body and blood be there really present vnder the formes of bread and wine we might moste iustely be likened vnto the Iewishe ruler and gouernour whiche thought that excepte Christ should come in his owne person his sonne could not be healed For christe our sauiour is able by the vertue of his holy institution and by the mightie workyng of his eternall spirite to doe all these thinges as he sitteth on the right hande of his father And for the obiections that some make out of Chrisostome where he saieth doest thou see bread doest thou see wine doe they auoyde beneath as other meates doe God forbid think not so for as waxe if it be put into the fire it is made like the fire no substaunce remainyng nothyng is lefte so here also thinke thou that the misteries be consumed by the substaunce of the body they are easyly aunswered and yet our papistes thinke by these wordes of Chrisostome that they haue the conquest because he saith that we sée no bread nor wine but as waxe in the fire they be consumed to nothing so that no substaunce remayneth If thei had rehearsed no more but the very next sentence that foloweth in Chrisostome which craftyly and deuillishly they leaue out the meanyng of the Doctour would easyly haue appeared which wordes that folowe are these Wherfore saith he when you come to these misteries do not thinke that you receaue by a man the bodye of Christe but that with tonges ye receaue fire by the Angels Seraphin Thinke that the blood of saluation floweth out of the pure and godly side of Christ and so comming to it receaue it with pure lippes casting downe your eyes liftyng vp your mindes mournyng priuily without speache and reioysing in our heartes Nowe if the papistes wyll gather of the wordes by them recited that there is neither bread nor wine in the Sacrament then we may aswel gather of the wordes that folowe that there is neither Priest nor Christes body For as in the former sentence Chrisostome saieth that we maye not thinke that we see bread and wine so in the seconde sentence he saith that we may not thinke that we receaue the body of Christ of the priestes handes Nowe if vpon the seconde sentence the papistes will say it can not be truely gathered that in the holy coÌ„munion there is not the body of Christe ministred by the Priest then must they confesse also that it can not be well and truely gathered vpon the first sentence that there is no bread nor wine But all these thynges be together in the holy Communion Christ hym selfe spiritually eaten and drunken and norishyng the right beléeuers the bread and wine as a sacrament declaryng the same and the priest as a minister thereof wherfore Chrisostome meant not absolutely to deny that there is bread and wine or to deny vtterly the Priest and the body of Christe to be there But his intent was to drawe our myndes vp towards heauen that we should not consider so much the bread wine Priest and body of Christe as we should consider his diuinitie holy spirite geuen vnto vs to our eternall saluation And therefore in the same place he vseth so many tymes these wordes Thinke and Thinke not willyng vs by these wordes that we should not fixe or set our thoughtes and mindes vpon bread wine Priest nor Christes body but to lift vp our heartes higher vnto his spirite and diuinitie without the whiche his body auaileth nothyng as he saieth hym selfe It is the spirite that geueth
vnto him and also for to speake and intreate for vs then the blessed virgin Marie his mother then his holy Apostles and Martyrs whiche haue all shed their blood for the maintenaunce of his trueth Doe we not reade that Adoniah did sende Bethsabe vnto Salomon her sonne for to intreate for hym Againe when Absalon was fled by reason of the shamefull murther that he had committed was not he reconciled againe vnto Kyng Dauid his father by the meanes of Ioab the chief Capitaine of the Kinges armie and by the wise talke of a woman of Thecua Be not these sufficient examples for to proue that wee ought not to come vnto Christe who is suche a mightie kyng and whom we offende so many waies without intercessours aduocates and mediatours These be the gaie painted reasons wherewith they dasell the eyes of the ignoraunt people Whiche séeme at the firste to be of some importaunce and waight but if they be duely examined and tried with the touchestone of Gods worde they shal be founde to be méere deceytes But or I proceede any further I will shewe what their intent is ▪ and that the chief and principal marke that they shoote at is to make themselues intercessours aduocates and mediatours betwixt the sainctes and vs For if we be once brought into that beléefe that we may not come vnto Christe nor direct our praiers vnto hym excepte we haue the Sainctes for our mediatours aduocates and intercessours wee shall also at length suffer our selues to be perswaded that we are not worthy to praie our selues vnto the saintes but that we must haue Monkes Fréers Nonnes and Priestes for to be mediatours betwixt them and vs And for this cause as we see daiely by experience doeth the poore simple and ignoraunt people bryng Golde and Siluer vnto them euen as thei that haue any thyng to doe in the Lawe be wont to offer giftes and presentes vnto Lawyers for to haue their matter to be discussed and heard Whereby we may knowe and see what the offpryng and originall of the inuocation of Sainctes is And that the couetousnes of Priestes is the mother and Nurce of all Idolatrie and superstition I do not denie but that we haue a commaundement to praie one for a nother whiles wee are yet in this life but yet we ought not to make marchaundise of our prayers or to thynke that they can haue any effect but only by the intercession of our Sauiour Iesu Christe or that we muste direct them to any other but to hym onely for to haue them offered vnto the father For we haue neither commaundement nor example in all the Scriptures that we shoulde direct our praiers vnto dead Sainctes For it might be that we shoulde call vpon many whom we knowe not whether thei be Sainctes or not or whether they be in Heauen or in Hell. But we are sure that our Sauiour Christe is in heauen Againe although we were neuer so sure that they bee in Heauen yet can no man tell whether they knowe what we doe here in this world or not whether they heare vs and be able to helpe vs or not For we learne rather the contrary in the Scriptures then otherwise But he whom we ought to direct our praiers vnto muste haue all these properties yea we must be assured and certified in our consciences that hee hath them els we shall neuer be quiet in our myndes Firste he muste bee of power and ablenesse to helpe and ayde vs I meane to graunt vs our petitiō and request For what should it auaile vnto vs to praie vnto one that were not able to helpe and aide vs Secondly he must be willyng to helpe aide and succour vs For what profite were it vnto vs if he were able to helpe vs a thousande tymes if he woulde not doe it Thirdly he must be such a one as can heare our praiers when soeuer they be made For what shoulde benifite vs though he were neuer so able to ayde and helpe vs if he could not heare our praiers what could also his good will helpe vs Fourthly hee muste be of abilitie to heare the praiers of all men in the worlde though thei should all praie together in one instaunce and minute of an houre For else he might bee letted from hearyng of our praiers by the praiers of other men and so many tymes we should praie in vaine bicause that geuyng eares to the petitions of other men he could not heare vs Last of al he must be such a one as knoweth better our neede necessitie then we our selues are able to declare But where shall we finde any either in heauen or in earth that hath all these properties but God alone and his sonne Iesus Christ our Lorde Therefore I maye boldly conclude that we ought to directe our petitions and praiers onely to God and to his only begotten sonne our Lorde and sauiour who is the onely meane and waie for to come vnto God the father Truely I would faine knowe of them why we should be more afraied to come vnto Christe then vnto any other Is there any that is mightier and wiser or more bounteous and mercifull then he is He biddeth all come to hym that be heauie laden and he will refreshe them and ease them Shall one synnes let vs to come vnto him Yes forsoothe say thei For it is written that God heareth not sinners But Christ is true and naturall God Ergo sithe that we are synners he will not heare vs except we haue some intercessours and mediatours to speake and intreate for vs. Because that thei haue alwaies in their mouthes this saiyng of the blinde man whom beyng thus borne Christe had made to see I would wishe all men to marke diligently all the circumstaunces of the place out of the which thei alledge this saiyng for there thei shall see that the Scribes and Pharisées went aboute to perswade the poore blinde man whom our sauiour Christe had made to see that Christe was a despiser of God and of his holie Lawes and ordinaunces and that therefore he was not of god This poore séelie soule then in the defence of our Sauiour Christe did bryng in this saiyng God heareth not synners As if he should haue saied if he that hath healed me were suche an vngodly persone as ye would make him that is to saie a despiser of God and of his holy statutes and ordinaunces then would not God haue heard hym but GOD did heare hym and did make me who was borne blinde from my mothers wombe to sée by the meanes of him therefore he is no suche abhominable synner as ye woulde make hym Whereby we maie gather that there bee twoo maner of synners some there be that be obstinate synners whiche doe moste vngodlie despise bothe God and his woorkes and also contemne his lawes and statutes of such doth the blinde man speake in that
infirmities how muche more are thâ—â— now hearde beyng in glorie with God How muche better did the blessed Apostle Saincte Iames reason when he did saie Helias was a man mortall euen as we are and he praied in his praier that it might not raine and it rained not on the earth by the space of three yeres and sixe monethes And he praied againe and the heauens gaue raine Doe we not rather learne by their example to praie boldely vnto God though we be compassed about with infirmitie as they were then otherwise The holy prophete Dauid doeth not saie that the fathers were hearde bicause that they praied to any of the Patriarches that were before them but bicause that they praied vnto God and trusted in him The same selfe lesson doth Iames geue vnto vs. Let vs therefore â–ª folowe their examples and we shal be hearde as they were As the arme of God is not shortened since so his mercie is not waxen lesse He is as readie nowe to heare them that call vppon hym in truth and veritie as he was then Haue we not besides al this a mediatour an aduocate that appeareth continually in the sight of God for vs It is vnpossible then but that we shal be hearde whensoeuer we call faithfully vpon our heauenly Father through our onely Mediatour and Aduocate Iesu Christ our Lorde ¶ The .xxviij. Chapiter ¶ How and wherein wee ought to honour the Sainctes NOwe when thei haue nothyng to saie for their inuocations to deade sainctes beyng conuinced by the holie scriptures thei crie out and saie beholde these newe preachers dishonoureth defaceth spoileth maketh none accompt of the holie and blessed sainctes in heauen and especially thei dishonor the blessed virgine Marie the sweete mother of Christe Iesus to whom was more grace giuen then to any other creature and maketh no more of her then of another woman c. Belie vs not ye papistes for we giue to them that honour as we are commaunded in the holie scriptures to giue them And therefore sainct Cyrill saieth very truely At sanctos Martyres neque deos èsse dicimus neque adorare consueuimus laudamus autem eos potius summis honoribus quod pro veritate straenue certarunt fidei synceritatem seruarunt that is to saie in Englishe But neither we saie that the holie Martyres are Gods neither haue we vsed to worshippe or honour them but wee rather praise them with greate reuerence for that thei haue striued earnestly for the truthe and haue kepte the sinceritie of the faithe of Christe And Saincte Augustine sheweth also howe we must honour them saiyng Honorandi ergosunt propter imitationem non adorandi propter religionem The sainctes are to bee reuerenced and worshipped for imitation that is to followe their godly doinges and conuersation and not to honour them for any religion to make them our Gods or aduocates and to haue our confidence in them this kinde of honour wée giue to the sainctes and none other And wheras you saie there was more grace giuen to Marie then to any other creature because she was the mother of Christe You maie also learne in the booke of God to bee the childe of God is a greate deale greater grace then to bee the mother of Christe Therefore sainct Augustine saieth Beatior ergo Maria fuit Percipiendo fidem Christi quam concipiendo carne Christi Materna propinquitas nihil Mariâ— profuisseâ— nisi faelicius Christum corde quà m carne gestasset Marie was more blessed in that she receiued the faithe of Christ then in that she conceiued the fleshe of Christe Motherly kindrede could haue doest Marie no good vnlesse she had borne Christ more blessedly in her hart then she bare him in her fleshe And in an other place he saieth Mater mea quam appellastis faelicem inde felix est quiâ— verbum dei custodiuit non quia in illa verbum caro factum est My mother whom ye haue called blessed therefore is blessed because she hath kepte the worde of God not because the worde in her was made fleshe Therefore Epiphanius saieth Christe saied vnto his mother woman what haue I to doe with thee My houre is not yet come Lest any man shoulde thinke our Ladie was of greater excellencie he called her woman as it were prophesiyng of the kindes and sectes of heresies that were to come in the worlde lest any man hauyng to greate opinion of that holie Saincte should fall into this heresie and into the dotage of the same For in deede the whole matter is but a mockerie and an olde wiues tale and sothely to saie nothyng els but the handelyng of an heresie Therefore Origene saieth Si mensuram transcenderit charitatis qui diligit qui diligitur in peccato est If loue passe the measure of charitie aswell he that loueth as also he that is loued is in synne The saied Epyphanius saieth further Let no man eate saieth he of this errour touching saint Marie for though the tree bee faire yet is not this fruite to be eaten Although Marie bee beautifull and holie and honourable yet is not she to bee adoured But these women worshippyng Saincte Marie renue againe the Sacrifice of wine mingled in the honour of the Goddes Fortuna and prepare a table for the deuill and not for God as it is written in the Scriptures thei are fedde with the meate of wickednesse And againe their women boult flower and their childreÌ„ gather stickes to make fine cakes in the honour of the Queene of heauen Therefore let suche women bee rebuked by the Prophete Hieremie and let them no more trouble the worlde And let them not saie we worship the Queene of heauen Thus he applied the wordes of the Prophete vnto the virgine Marie beyng Idolatrously abused by the heretiques called Collyridiani as she and other Sainctes are by the Papistes abused now in these daies This shall now suffice for to proue that Christ our Sauiour touchyng his manhoode whiche he did take of vs is and shal be vnto the worldes ende in heauen on the right hande of the father that is to saie in felicitie ioye and glorie beyng exalted aboue the heauens made lorde ouer all creatures bothe in heauen and in earth and hauyng receiued a name that passeth all the glorie that man can reporte And that as heauen muste holde hym vnto the tyme of the restitution of all thynges that God hath spoken by the mouthe of his holie Prophetes since the worlde began beyng neuerthelesse here among vs touchyng his diuinitie and godheade and feedyng vs by his eternall spirite and by the veritie of his holie institution and ordinaunce with the heauenly foode of his precious bodie and blood so he doth appeare alwaies in the sight of God for vs beyng an omnisufficiente intercessour aduocate and mediatour betwixte God and man so that we neede not to goe vnto
giue eare to Paule and in respecte of this spirite the Prophet saith Erunt omnes docti a Deo Thei shal bee all taught of god Who so euer besides dooeth not beleue that the doctrine of the holie ghoste conteined in the olde and newe Testament is sufficiente vnto saluation But regardeth it as vile and of no force nor yet aucthoritie but calleth nameth and reporteth it with these woordes and suche like blasphemie deade ynke a liuelesse matter a dumbe iudge that can not speake a blacke Gospell Inken diuinitie a nose of ware Doeth deny this article of our beléefe I beleue in the holie ghost that is to saie he doth denye the holie ghoste to be true and naturall God sithe that any insufficiencie or vnperfection is founde in his doctrine For why It is the propertie of God to dooe all thynges with most consummate perfection Whereby it doth folowe that he whiche doeth any thyng with vnperfection is no true and naturall god Thei therefore that deny the doctrine of the holie ghoste and also doe despise mocke scorne and speake vnreuerently of it conteined in the old and newe Testamēt not to be perfect or sufficient to saluation are plaine Macedonians For they deny the holie ghost to bee true and naturall god And all thei that followe this opinion and doctrine not contentyng theim selues with the moste true and infallible worde of God whiche is set foorth vnto vs by the holie ghost are not the true Churche and spouse of christ For the true Churche and spouse of Christe as it is borne of newe not of mortall seede but of immortall by the worde of God whiche liueth and lasteth for euer so is it builded vpon the sure foundation of the Prophetes and Apostles Christe Iesus hymself beyng the chief corner stone Wherefore we must learne firste of all to beleue God secondly to beleue hym as God thirdly to beleue in God wee must beleue GOD that is to saie that he is creatour of all thynges and that he is omnipotente We muste beleue God as God that is wée must beleue hym as he hath declared and opened hym self in his holy and sacred scriptures vnto vs To beleue in God that is to put our whole truste confidence and affiaunce onely in hym and to call vnto and vpon hym in all our troubles miseries and aduersities and vpon none other And also constauntly and assuredly to beleue in hym that by his power he susteineth vs by his prouidence he gouerneth vs by his goodnesse nourisheth vs and by his mercie saueth vs and indueth vs with all kinde of blessynges So that wee must beléeue in none but in God the father that loueth vs in God the sonne that redemeth vs and in God the holie ghoste that sanctifieth vs although three in persones yet one in essence and Godhead Sainct Agustine therefore saieth Credimus Paulo non credimus in Paulum credimus Petro non credimus in Petrum Wee beleue saieth he Paule but we beleue not in Paule we beleue Peter but we beleue not in Peter The .xxxiiij. Chapiter ¶ What is the true Churche of God and where it is THis then shal be my beliefe touchyng the true Catholique and vniuersall Churche All they that are begotten of newe with the immortall séede of Gods worde and are builded vpon the foundation of the prophetes and Apostles hauyng Christe for their chief corner stone by whose only spirite and worde they are guided and ruled in what countrie or nation vnder the heauens so euer then be are the true church of Christe we may also define and set forth the Churche after this maner The Churche of Christ is the holy congregation of the faithfull whiche by a true and liuelie faith are vnited incorporated in our sauiour Christe whose members they are And bicause that sauiour Christ is the true sonne of God all his members by hym are the sonnes of god Iesus Christe is the head and the true Christians are his body He is the Bridegrome and the faithfull are his spouses whiche he doth cleanse with his blood geuyng health and saluation vnto his bodie and sauyng his people from their synnes This Church is affixed or bounde to no seuerall place but wheresoeuer twoo or three are gathered in the name of the Lorde I meane of our sauiour Christ there the true Church is They therefore that doe aligate and bynde the true Catholique Church to this place or that place as though it coulde be no where els as our Papistes doe are in this thyng greately deceiued For though the whole worlde were so ouer whelmed with Idolatrie and superstition that there shoulde séeme to be no Church at all yet God hath alwaies his elect and chosen in one corner or other although they be vnknowen vnto the worlde Yea many tymes the faithfull congregation is vnknowen vnto the true and faithfull seruauntes of God as we maie see by the example of Elias the Prophete who complained that he was lefte alone But the Lorde made hym an aunswere that he had seuen thousandes left in Israell whiche had not bowed their knées vnto Baall Who woulde not then haue thought that the Churche had been at that tyme in Israell or in Samaria where foure hundreth and fiftie false Prophetes were continually which did feede at Iesabelles boorde or that there had been no Church at all yet we sée that God had euen at that tyme his flocke which he did preserue and keepe vnto hymselfe although they were scattered abroad and not scarcely knowen of the true and faithfull Prophetes of God. Therefore it were good to haue alwaies before our eyes the goodly saiyng of Hilary which writeth on this maner One thyng saieth he I warne you of beware of Antichriste It is not well that ye haue suche a pleasure in the walles It is not well that ye honour and reuerence the Church of God in houses and buildings It is not wel that vnder the colour of them ye doe bryng in the name of peace Is it to be doubted that antichriste shall sit in them The Mountaines the Woodes the Lakes the Prisons and mierie Doungeons are more sure for mee For the Prophetes remainyng in them or beyng let downe into them did there prophecie This then is my beliefe that although the true preachyng of Gods word and the right ministration of the sacramentes accordyng to the Lordes institution and ordinaunce are the moste infallible tokens and signes whereby the true Churche of God is knowen here vpon the earth yet many and sundrie tymes by the righteous iudgement of almightie God our sinnes and wickednesse deseruyng the same these signes and tokens are so taken awaie that it is impossible for the worlde to knowe where this true Churche of God is And yet notwithstanding God hath stil his flocke in one place or other he hath still his elect and chosen whom he doeth preserue and keepe in the