all that by your false doctrine ād sleight haue bē entrapped ād deceaued Yowe promised that yow wolde yelde to him that wolde bringfurth to yowe one scripture or one doctour or one Coūcell c. as yow knowe This being nowe doē by me ād other I wish that yow maie yeld your self prisoner not in warrelike maner to vs but in lowlie maner to Christe ād his dere spouse the catholique Churche by acknowleging their faith and professing their religion to saue your soule which we shal be most ioifull to vnderstād ād for your soch cōuersiō yelde to God most hūble thanks Yf yow doo not yet let me wish yow for some better staie of your self hereafter to haue this olde saing in minde Ante victoriam ne canas triumphum THE PROLOGVE TO THE GENTLE READER THe Phylystynes gentle Reader moued sore and great Haereilques moue Ware against the Churche warre against the Israelites The heretikes against the catholique Chruche of God from whome ys comed furth a newe Golyath mightie in hys owne cōceit with reprochfull woordes to reuyle the hoste of oure lyuyng God and to blaspheme hys holie name to raill at hys holie mysteryes and to comdemne hys holie ordināces who with impudēt mouthe trusting in the strēght of spere and sheilde blustereth oute soche blasphemouse woordes as the like to my knowledge Crā mer hys auncetour onelie excepted neuer dyd phylistyne before hym He alone cometh oute and prouokyng Israēl to battaill maketh proclamation Proclamacion of the newe Goliath thus Yf any learned man of all our Aduersaryes or yf all the learned men that be a lyue be hable to bring anye one suffycyent sentence oute of anye olde catholique Doctour or father or oute of anye olde generall Councell or oute of the holye scriptures of God or anye one example of the primatyue churche wherbye yt may be elerely and playnly proued that ther was anye pryuate masse in the wholl worlde at that tyme for the space of syx hundreth years after Chryste c. and a fewe articles recited he proceadeth thus or that the people were then taught to beleue that Chryste bodye ys reallie substantiallye corporallye carnallye or naturallye in the Sacrament or that hys bodie ys or may be in a thousand places or mo at one tyme and sofurth proceadeng to laye oute hys matters enombreth xv articles all whiche foure onelie excepted be agaynst the holie Sacrament of Christes blessed bodie and bloode And for that he wolde not seem to faynte in hys doyng he saieth that he for hys parte wolde not onelie not call in anye thing that he had then saied but also woldelaie more matter to the same and so addeth he twelue mo artycles to the former all whiche one onelie excepted be also against the blessed Sacramēt and the mynystraciō of the same whiche hys proclamation with the addycion he knytteth vppe thus Yf any one of all oure Aduersaries be able to auouche anye one of all these articles by anye soch suffycient anthorytie of Scriptures Doctours or Councells as I haue required as I saied before so saie I nowe agayn I am content to yelde vnto hym and to subscrybe VVhiche stoute bragge as some of hys likes I suppose myslyked and manye good catholique men I knowe thought yt arrogant So I thynking the same like litle Dauid not in faith might and powre not in vertue and syngular fauour of God but as the least and yongest of my breatheren in the house of my ffather not bearyng thys vyle reproche so arrogantlie and shameleslie made against the hoste of God of a good zeale hauyng sure trust in my lord God whose cause for my powre I wolde gladlie defende hanyng some stones gathered together in my sheperdes bagge I come in the name of God against thys Goliath and for thys tyme putting thys stone oute of my bagge into my slyng I cast yt at hym whiche I trust shall so hytte hym in the forehead wher ys the seat of shamefastnesse yf anye be in the man that he shall be ashamed so to reuyle the wholl churche of God agayn I saie the wholl Churche for theise hys lucyferouse woordes be not spoken onelie against soche as were or be of the catholique Churche in Englōde but to the contumelye of all the wholl catholique Churche of Chrystendome whersoeuer ys or hath ben professed and taught the reall presence of Chrystes blessed bodie and blood in the holie Sacrament And for that hys cheif force ys bent agaynst that Sacrament whyche ys our comforte foode and nutryment to euerlasting life I haue also bent my self therin cheiflie to withstande hym not medling moche with anye other matter Wherunto yet when I prepared my self and consydered one of the Articles of hys proclamaciō wher in effect he saieth that neuer mā was condemned as an herytyke for saynge that the Sacrament was a fygure a pledge a tokē or a remēbrance of Chrystes bodie I began to be abasshed First at his craft ād subletie vsed in so weightie matter of faith wher all symplycitie and playn dealing shoud be vsed for if he referre theise his woordes to the syxe hondreth yeares next after Chryst that in those ther was neuer man cōdemned for ā heretike that saied that the Sacramēt was a figure a pledge a tokē a remēbrāce yt ys true for in all that tyme neuer was ther heretike that so saied in that sense that this proclamer ād his likes doo saye yt wherfor that ys but a craftie toye to bleer the eye of the hearer to make him beleue that mē in those daies were not for so saing cōdemned wher in dede none did so saye and where none did so saie none coulde be condemned for yt Moche like argumēt might a felō make for hym self in these daies saing that Chryste in whō after his resurrectiō was the fullnesse of auctoritie and power as he hym self wittnesseth dyd neuer cōdemne anye of his Apostles or dysciples to deathe for felonye wherfore he being a chrystian man aught not be condemned for felonye This argument hath a trueth for Chryste cōdemned none of them for none of them were felons but yt lacketh force for though they not so offending were not condemned yet thys felon so offending maye iustly be condemned Likewise though none with in those syxe hondreth years for as muche as they so saied not were not condemned yet this proclamer so sainge maye wel be condemned And here I will ioyn issue with hym that if he can bring one within those sixe hondereth yeares that saied as he saieth was not condemned I will subscrybe Secundly I abasshed at hys impudencye for if the man be so impudent as to saie that neuer man was yet hitherto indged and condemned for an heretyke that saied the Sacrament was a figure in that sense that he and hys complyces do take yt namelie to be a figure withoute the verie presence of the bodie of Christ the contrarye whereof ys knowen to all the worlde and
that we be all Theodidacti that ys to saie taught of God and of his Spirit so that yt shall not nede for one man to teache an other or for one to learn of an other Of whiche mynde this Aduersarie semeth also to be in that he woolde the scriptures shoulde be commō to all men Whiche doctrine yf yt were true then ys my pourpose here vain and superfluouse which ys to seke oute the true meening of the scriptures by the holie fathers and doctours Wherfore as a preamble to this rude worke I haue thought good to discusse and by discussion to make plain to the vnlearned Reader that the scriptures be obscure darke and harde to be vnderstāded and for that cause not of all men indifferentlie to be red Wherbie yt shall appeare that my pourpose shall be to good effecte And for the better cōpasing therof I minde to shewe to the vnlearned the waie to atteign to the true vnderstanding of the scriptures and that doen to proceade to my matter principallie intended And wher our cheif pourpose ys to treact of the blessed Sacrament this 1. Scriptures to be hard prooued by seuen argumentes 2. maie iustlie be the first argument that the controuersies therof in theise oure daies moued whiche be to manie do make yt more then manifest that ther be difficulties in the scriptures Yf difficulties then be they not plain The secōde the disciples whiche heard Christes owne disputacion of this mysterie proceading oute of his owne mouthe as oute of the liuelie welspring ād who for that they were disciples shoulde better haue disgested Cristes woordes then the people of the Iewes who groslie saied Quomodo potest hic dare nobis carnem suam ad manducandum howe can this man geue vs his flesh to eate Yet they the disciples I meen in the ende of the disputacion saied Durus Ioan. 6. The disciples vnderstode not Christes owne woordes est hic sermo quis potest eum audire This ys an hard saieng who can abide to heare him So that neither the people of the Iewes nor yet the verie disciples of Christe whiche shoulde moch haue exceaded the other did atteign to the trewe vnderstanding of Christes woordes carnall reason preuailing against humble and lowlie submission to faithe Vpon the whiche woordes of the disciples Chrystome saieth Quid ergo est Durus difficilis intellectu quē capere non posset eoram imbecillitas plenus formidinis Chrysost in 6. Joan. What then ys this woorde harde A saieng not easie to be vnderstanded and whiche being full of dread their imbecillitie coulde not beare or take Yf then the woordes whiche Christe spake being the gospell although vnwritten were as Chrisostome saieth not easie to be vnderstanded what more easinesse maie we thinke to be in thē nowe being the gospel written And further yf we trulie saie that the scriptures be easie and plain for euerie man to vnderstande yt shoulde appeare that yt was no great benefet 3. that Christe did to his Apostles in opening their wittes that thei might vnderstande the scriptures Neither was it anye great matter that he Luc. 24. did to the two disciples that went to Emaus vnto whome beginning at Moyses and the prophettes he interpreted in all scriptures whiche were written Jbid. of him But certenlie yt was agreat benefet that Christe did at theise two sundrie Christes interpreting of the scripturs and opēnig of wittes to vnderstād them argueth the difficultie 2. Petr. 3. tymes geue in openyng theyr wittes to vnderstand the scriptures to the one and in interpreting the scriptures to the other For withoute this benefet neither the one nor the other coulde haue atteigned to that gifte Wherfore the depenesse of the scriptures weighed and oure infirmitie considered we maie verie well conclude with saincte Peter that as he wittnessing the epistles of saincte Paule be hard so be the rest of the scriptures harde Of this the chamberlain of queen Candace of whome ys made mencion in the actes of the Apostles beinge so well affected to the scriptures that passing from Hierusalem homewarde and sitting in his chariette he was reading 4. Acto 8. them and yet vnderstoode them not had good experience That he vnderstoode them not yt dothe well appeare by his owne confession For Philippe beinge moued by the Spirit of God to ioin him self to his chariette heard him reade Esaie the Prophete and asked him saing vnderstandest thowe what thowe readest and he aunswered and saied howe can I except I had a guide wherefore when Philippe was with him in his chariette and the scripture was red the camberlain asked him saieng I praie thee of whome speaketh the Prophet this of him self or of some other man Philippe opened his mouthe and beganne at the same scripture and preached vnto him Iesus This place teacheth vs that not onelie by the saing and doing of the chamberlain but also by the doing of the holie Goste the scriptures be obscure Philippe sent by the holie Gost to expownd the Scriptures to the Eunuche and harde For the holie Spirit of God dothe nothing in vain wherfore when the same Spirit mercifullie beholding the good affection of this man and knowing the scriptures to be soche as he coulde not vnderstand them withoute an interpretour did send Philippe vnto him to open and declare that vnto him that was obscure and dake before yt dothe inuinciblie proue oure pourpose Whiche facte of the holie Goste had ben vainlie doen yf the scriptures were plain and easie of all men to be vnderstanded Nowe yf this man coulde not vnderstande them withoute an interpretour no more can anie other common man doo And then what dothe yt auaill the scriptures to be commonlie red withoute an interpretour The Apostles them selues when our sauiour Christe spake vnto them of 5. Ioan. 16. The Apostles vnderstood not Christes liuelie voice his passion and resurrection as yt appeareth in the xvj of Iohn coulde not vnderstande him For when he saied vnto them After a while ye shall not see me and again after a while ye shall see me For I go to the Father then saied some of them emongest them selues what ys this that he saieth vnto vs after a while ye shall not see me and again after a while ye shall see me and that I go to the father they saied therfore what ys this that he saieth after a while we can not tell what he saieth As this maner of speache beinge vttered by the liuelie voice of Christe was darke vnto the Apostles so the same beinge nowe written in deade letters ys yt not trowe ye as darke to manie as yt was to them till yt be opened and declared yf yt were not easie to them that heard Christe himself speake yt howe shoulde yt be easie to the vnlearned that do but read yt For as saincte Hierom saieth Habet nescio quid latentis aenergiae viua vox in dures discipuli de Autoris ore
again perceaue how wickedlie he Oecol hys wresting of S. Ambrose opened hath abused S. Ambrose in wresting him to his wicked pourpose In this fame sermon wher these woordes be written which as yeperceaue be very plain and of that force that they coulde not well be wrested by the craftie engines of Oecolampadius immediatelie after folowe other woords whiche he perceauing that he might wrest left oute all this that ys before alleadged and tooke onely this that foloweth whiche when yt ys applied to this that ys before rehersed then iudge Reader whether yt be not violentlie wrested from the true mening of sainct Ambrose or no. Thus he alleadgeth Mihi ille panis Dei descendat de coelo qui dat vitam huic mundo Non Iudaeis non Synagogae descendit sed Ecclesiae descendit sed populo minori Nam quomodò Iudaeis descendit Ambr. ibid. panis cùm omnes qui illum manducarunt hoc est quem Iudaei putarunt Manna in deserto mortui sunt Quomodò Synagogae descendit cùm omnis Synagoga interierit aeterno ieiunio fidei defecerit Denique si accipissent panem verum non dixissent Domine semper da nobis panem hunc Quid petis Iudaee vt tribuat tibi Panem quem dat quotidie dat semper in teipso est vt accipias hunc panem Accede hunc panem accipies eum De hoc pane dictum est Omnes qui se elogant à te peribunt Si elongaris ab eo peribis Si appropinquaris viues Hic est panis vitae Qui vitam manducat mori non potest Quomodò enim moritur cui vita cibus est Quomodò deficiet qui habet vitalem substantiam Accedite ad eum satiemini quia panis est Accedite ad eum potate quia fons est Accedite ad eum illuminemini quia Lux est Accedite ad eum liberemini quia vbi Spiritus Domini ibi libertas Accedite ad eum absoluimini quia est remissio peccatorum Qui sit iste quaeritis Audite ipsum dicentem Ego sum panis vitae qui venit ad me non esurâ—et qui credit in me non sitiet vnquam Audistis eum vidistis eum non credidistis ei ideo mortui estis That bread of God descend vnto me from heauen whiche geueth life to the worlde He hath not descended to the Iewes not to the Synagoge but he hath descended to the Church he hath descended to the inferiour people For howe hath that bread descended to the Iewes seing that all that haue eaten yt that ys whome the Iewes thought to be Manna in the wildernesse are dead Howe hath he descended to the Synagog seing that all the Synagog hath perished and with the hungar or fast of faith hath failed or decaied Yf they had receaued the trewe bread they had not saied Lorde geue vs allwaie this bread What doest thowe aske O Iewe that he shoulde geue vnto thee The bread whiche he geueth to all whiche he geueth dailie whiche he geueth alwaies yt ys in thy self that thow maist take that bread Come vnto this bread and thowe shall receaue yt Of this bread yt ys saied All that make themselues farre from thee shal perish Yf thow make thy self farre from him thow shalt perish yf thow drawe neer to him thowe shalt liue This bread ys the the bread of life He that eateth life can not die Howe can he die vnto whome life ys meate Howe shall he faill that hath that liuelie substaÌ„ce Come vnto him aÌ„d be filled for he ys the foode Come vnto him and drinke for he ys the well Come vnto him and be lightned for he ys the light Come vnto him and be made free For wher the Spirit of God ys ther ys fredome Come vnto him and be absolued for he ys the remission of sinnes Who thys ys do ye aske Heare him saing I am the bread of life he that cometh to me shall not bungar and he that beleueth in me shall not thirst at anie time Ye haue heard him ye haue seeÌ„ him aÌ„d haue not beleued him Therfor ye are dead Thus moche of S. Ambrose ys alleaged of Oecolampadius whiche for that yt hath none of those expresse woordes which be in the rest of S. Ambrose which I haue before alleadged Therfor he tooke this part of S. Ambrose that he might the better wrest yt and left that whiche I haue alleaged bicause he could not so well blind the eie of his reader with the wresting of yt Nowe what wolde ye thinke of a man that so vseth anie holie authour as to bring him against a matter or raither as seming to speake against a matter who in dede speaketh nothing against yt but in the next line speaketh so manifestlie and so plainlie with yt that the wrester ys ashamed and dare not bring him furth and reporte that that there he saieth but knowing that he ys for the trueth will bring him furth as though he were against the trueth There ys no other thing but that he ys an Angell of Sathan transforming himself into the Angell of light and by swete woordes entrappeth the heartes of the simple and of soche as be not ware and circumspecte And therfore yowe must thinke that yt ys necessarie to be vigilant and by earnest prayer to desire the Lord of all Spirittes to geue yowe grace to discern betwixt spirittes I meen betwixt the spirit of trueth and the spirit of errour and so to flie the euell and cleaue to the good And when ye see soche wicked wresters so to abuse the authours thinke as ye haue iust cause that their matter ys naught who seke by soche naughtie meanes to maintein yt Nowe I wish that yf the reader be learned he wolde read these two allegacions in sainct Ambrose yf he be not learned reade them as they be here alleaged For so moche as Oecolampadius alleadgeth foloweth in sainct Ambrose immediately after that that I alleadged euen as yt doth here Nowe ioin them together as one as they be in dede and then iudge yf they teach not the presence of Chryst in the Sacrament and Manna to be a figure of the same howe soeuer Oecolampadius wolde wrest yt to the contrarie This also by the waie ys to be noted that where this and the rest of the Aduersaries of Gods trueth teache that ther ys no difference betwxit the Difference betwene Manna aÌ„d the blessed Sacrament Sacramentes of the olde lawe and the newe as touching anie more excellencie or woorthinesse in the one then in the other but that the one signified Chryst to come the other as comed that sainct Ambrose here noteth a more difference saing that Manna was not the true bread but our bread ys the true bread that was a shadowe our the very thing that gaue not life our geueth life Be not these differences shewing the one more excellent then the other Did not Origen
ys not taken for that loue that a man flattereth him self to haue when he thinketh he loueth his neighbour but for that charitie that S. Paule spake of when he saied Qui diligit legem impleuit He that loueth hath fullfilled the Lawe This loue causeth a man to ioin in vnitie with God and man Yt causeth obedience to an ordinarie power Yt causeth a man also to flee all corrupt licenciouse and voluptuouse life Wher this charitie ys not be his faith neuer so sownde he ys no woorthie receauer Wherfor Scismatiques and contemners of ordinarie power and voluptuouse or corrupt liuers be no woorthie Two things to be considered in S. Paules woordes receauers Thus moche being saied of woorthie and vnwoorthie receauers ther remaineth two other thinges in S. Paules woordes to be spoken of the one ys what ys receaued the other the peine inflicted for vnwoorthie receauing The thing to be receaued ys signified when he saieth This bread and the cuppe of our Lorde The peine that he shall be giltie of the bodie and blood of our Lorde For the first what the bread and the cuppe of our Lorde ys yt was opened in the exposition of the last scripture that S. Paule ment therby the bodie and bloode of our Lorde Whiche exposition shall here again be verisied and iustified by a nombre of holie Fathers to the entent the trueth receaued in Chrystes Parliament house maie be well knowen and the vntrueth of the aduersarie as well perceaued and seen The second whiche ys the pein inflicted to the vnwoorthie receauer forasmoche as yt shall be plainlie opened and declared by soche auncient writers as I shall alleage I will to auoide prolixitie omitte to speake of yt my self and referre the Reader to the expositions of the Fathers For the whiche consideracion also forasmoche as S. Paule repeteth this text again I haue thought good for the ease of the reader to ioin them together in exposition onelie letting him vnderstand the difference betwixt them that in this text the pein as ys saied of the vnwoorthie receauer ys declared in the other both the pein and the cause also ys opened Of both whiche full declaracion shall be made by the Fathers But before I entre into the exposition of these Fathers I wish the Reader The Sacramentaries abuse S. Paules woordes in two poinctes to vnderstand that the Aduersarie hath also abused this scripture in two poinctes The one that by cause S. Paule calleth the Sacrament bread Therfor yt ys after yt ys consecrated materiall bread the other whiche ys more stowtelie then trulie mainteined they saie that euell men doe not receaue the bodie of Chryst in the Sacrament These their wicked assertions by Gods grace shall be plainlie ouerthrowen For yt shall be ineuitablie proued that by the bread and cuppe that S. Paule speaketh of ys vnderstanded and meāt the bodie and bloode of Chryst whiche being by S. Paule receaued of euellmen yt must necessarilie folowe that euell men receaue the bodie of Chryst in the Sacra And here maie we see the miserable strictes that men teaching an vntreuth be brought vnto who for the maintenāce of that vntrueth are enforced to fall into manie moo For the damnable heresie inuented against the presence of Chryst in the Sacrrment they are compelled to denie the plain woordes of S. Paule as ye shall in the processe perceaue But let vs heare the holie Fathers agreeablie shewing their learninges and faith in vnderstanding S. Paule of the whiche the first coople shall be saincte Cyprian and Origen S. Cyprian writing to certain Martirs and confessours and lamenting the rash admission of certain that had offended to the recipit of the holie Sacrament writeth thus of them so had admitted the offendours Illi contra euan gelii Cypr. li. 3. epist 15. legem vestram quoque honorificam peticionem ante actam paenitentiam ante exomologesin grauissimi atque extremi delicti factam ante manum ab Episcopo clero in paenitentiam impositam offerre pro illis Eucbaristiam dare id est sanctum Domini corpus prophanare audent cùm scriptum sit Qui ederit panem aut biberit calicem Domini indignè reus erit corporis sanguinis Domini They against the lawe of the Gospell and yowr commendable peticion before they had doen penannce before they had made confession of their most greuouse and extreame offence before anie hand was putt vpon them of the Bishoppe and the cleargie vnto penance they were so bolde both to offre for them and also to geue vnto them the Sacrament which ys as moch as to prophane the holie bodie of our Lorde Forasmoch as yt ys written He that eateth the bread and drinketh the cuppe of our Lorde vnwoorthilie shall be giltie of the bodie and blood of our Lorde Of this holie Father and martir S. Cyprian if yowe will learn what ys to minister the Sacrament to anie vnwoorthie person yt ys saieth he to prophane to holie bodie and blood of our Lorde That yt ys prophaned in so doing he prooueth by this scripture of S. Paule He that eateth and drinketh vnwoorthilie shall be giltie of the bodie and bloode of our Lorde A thing ys prophaned when yt being holie ys occupied aboute vnholie or cōmon vses As a church dedicated to God to be made a stable The ornamentes The practise of prophanaciō ys lament ablie to be seē in Englond of the same to be applied to the vanitie of mans pride as to make beddes hanginges or cooshinges The plate of yt as king Balthasar did with the plate of the temple to make them vessells for the bankettes of men So the bodie of our Lorde saieth S. Cyprian ys prophaned forasmoch as yt being holie ys cast into an vnholie thing whiche ys the vnwoorthie receauer Now if by the bread spokē of in S. Paules sentēce were not vnderstāded the bodie of our Lorde to what pourpose should S. Cypriā alleadge that text as therby to prooue the bodie of Chryst prophaned That thing ys prophaned that ys deliuered and so abused Yf thē not the bodie of our Lorde be deliuered in the Sacramēt but mere materiall bread than ys the bread prophaned and not the bodie But Cypriā saieth the bodie ys prophaned wherfore the bodie ys deliuered And here I wish the ministers of Chrystes Churche to take hede and to be verie circūspect that they looke well to whō they ministre this holie Sacramēt leest they be dot onelie giltie of the prophanaciō of the holie bodie of our Lorde but also be in verie dede not feeders but deceauers not deliuerers frō sinnes but heapers and increacers ther of as S. Cypriā saieth in the same li 3. epla 15. epistle Ea enim cōcedere quae in pernitiē vertāt decipere est Nec erigitur sic lapsus sed per Dei offensam magis impellitur ad ruinam To geue or graunt those thinges that turne to a mans destructiō ys to deceaue
I saie that I wolde not beleue the Gospell but that the authoritie of the Churche moueth me therunto no more wolde I beleue the Fathers expownding the scripturs but that thervnto I am moued by the Churche Then yt foloweth well that as I ought to beleue the Gospell for the authoritie of the Churche so ought I to beleue the doctours for the autoritie of the Churche And here to ouerthrowe your contempt of them and your self also I do oftentimes conferre the expositions of the later Fathers with the expositions of the elder fathers and finding them alltogether grauelie against youre euell doctrine to consent and yt to confute as hereticall and deuelish I let your light mockes and skornes flie home again to yowe as fleshflies to their carien Against your thirde wickednesse I meen your cōtempt abuse and vntrue handling of the holie scripturs I come in euerie place where mencion ys made of the bless Sacrament with the wholl processe ther conteined In the vi of S. Iohn the xxvi of S. Matth the xxiiii of S. Luke the x. and xi of the first epistle to the Corinth the v. to the Ephesians and the xiii to the Hebrues somoch as the Fathers expownd to appertein to the holie Sacr. I produce not truncatelie and falselie but fullie and trulie euery sentence and euery woord submitting my self to the authoritie of gods woord ād not bi sleight subdewing yt to mine owne autoritie But here the learned perchaunce maie merueill that I wold ioin with yowe in the scripturs considering the auncient counsell of Tertullian who wolde not that anie catholique shoulde entre into disputacion with an heretique with the scripturs Nihil proficit congressio scripturarum cum haereticis nisi planè vt aut stomachi quis meat euersionem aut cerebri c. To ioin saieth he in disputacion with heretiques with scripturs yt doeth nothing auaill except a man will turne vppe side down either his stomacke or his brain what shall thowe gain thowe great learned man in the scripturs when yf thowe defend anie thing yt shall be denied of the contrarie part yf thowe denie anie thing yt shall be defended c. And after he concludeth thus Ergo non ad scripturas prouocandum est c. We maie not therfor appeall to the scripturs neither maie we appoinct our disputacion in them in the which ther ys either none or vnceten victorie or not verie certen For this cause and for that S. Hierom saieth that Scripturae non in legendo cōsistunt sed in intelligendo the scripturs cōsist not in reading but in vnderstanding I haue trauailed by diligent scarching of the fathers from the Apostles to this our time to trie oute by ther common consent howe the scripturs are to be vnderstanded and so haue I as by a line drawen from hand to hand descended from age to age that the true vnderstanding of them receaued and approued in all that diuersitie of ages and places might be perceaued and knowen In this my doing I haue fulfilled the counseill of Vincentius lyrinen who for remidies against errours among other willeth that if anie errour hath ben committed in the olde time either by certain men or by anie one wholl citie or by anie Prouince to reforme that the decrees of auncient generall Councells must be sought and yf none soche can be founde as in these daies though they be fownd they be not regarded then saieth he operam dabit vt collatas inter se maiorum consulat interrogetiue sententias c. He shall gene diligence to seke and learn the iudgemēts of the elders and cōferr thē together but of those elders onelie which although they were in diuerse times and places abiding yet in the Cōmunion and faith of one catholique Churche were allwaies allowed as masters or men of autoritie And what soeuer he shall knowe what not one or two of them but what alltogether with one consent haue holden written and taught openlie cōmonlie and continuallie let him vnderstand that that ys without all doubt to be beleued Thus he As this counseill ys on my part fulfilled in that I haue searched and conferred the iudgements of the fathers and fownd them though they were in diuerse ages and places fullie and whollie agreeng in the matters of the presence of Chrysts bodie and blood in the blessed Sacrament of the oblacion of the same and of other articles apperteining ther to whiche as in this worke yt maie be clerlie perceaued not one or two but euery one of them haue not obscurely but manifestlie not in one place or at one time but cōmonlie and continuallie holden taught and written So wolde wolde I that yowe M. Iuell if yowe regarde the Fathers of the primitiue Churche in dede as yowe bragge in woorde that yowe I saie shoulde receaue and embrace these scripturs as expownded and deliuered to yowe by their hands and their expositions to accept as a cleer and certen vndoubted trueth whiche trueth so opened by thē I bring furth against your vntrueths and not the bare scripture alone as Tertullian wolde I shoulde not This I trust yowe shall well perceaue if leauing your corruted affection apart yowe will with a cleer eie and vpright iudgement read this worke wherin yowe shall see all the Fathers that commonlie haue expownding the scripturs written of these articles of the Sacrament whiche yowe in your iolitie I will not saie more arrogantlie than as a chrystian preacher should mekelie and lowlie more rashlie then wiselie or aduisedlie with so great bragge wttered in your sermon all soche Fathers I saie shall yowe see aswell grekes as latines aswell auncient as of later time with one cōmon consent and agreement so expownding the scripturs as though they had ben in one time and had cōspired vpon one sense and vnderstāding all those shall yowe see impugning your negatiues ād by the scripturs affirming the catholike doctrine and faith catholiquelie and vniuersallie professed ād thus shal the trueth of the scripturs ouerthrow the vntrueth of your heresies Nowe I haue in a generall maner shewed your offences whiche moued me to write against yowe in like generalitie I haue shewed howe I do procead against yowe the specialitie of your offences and of the processe aunswerable to the same yowe shall finde in this worke though simplie without coolour yet plainlie without craft declared Yf my trauaill herein obtein not his enrēded effect namelie your conuersiō and amēdement and to doo yowe that good that yow maie be staied frō running to pertual damnacion yet staing other that by your pestilent heresies might be brought to that wofull daūger I shall not onelie do thē that good I wish but also helpe to make your dānaciō the easier whiche howe greuouse yt shall be he knoweth best that knoweth howe manie soules yowe haue brought to damnaciō Yf yowe being obdurated persist in your impietie yt cā not be auoided but yowe doe yt of malice hauing ben aduertised and
teache ye the scriptures to the hard and therby diswade men from the reading of them seing that Chrysostom in a nombre of places moste earnestlie exhorteth men to the reading of the scripturs and doth not feare them with the obscuritie and difficultie therof An aun ∣ swere I am not ignorante gentle Reader that Chrysostom doth so Neither do I forgett that Erasmus being very earnest that the scriptures should be red of the common people vseth for this pourpose both the doyng and authoritie of Chrysostom Wherfore I shall first aunswer thee for Chrysostom and after Erasmus Although Chrysostom exhorteth yow to read yet he maketh yow no warrantise of the easinesse of the scriptures that ye maie vnderstand interprete and expownd them and frame to your self a doctrine soch one as shall like your phantasie But as all ready ye haue heard he teacheth that the scriptures be hard and obscure But ther be two causes why Chrysostom willed the people to read One that he expownding the scriptures to his people he thought it shoulde be commodiouse to them for the better vnderstanding of the scripturs if they wolde read that scripture before they came to hym whiche he wolde expōde vnto them An other that they shoude read them to folowe thē To these pourposes and with this entent with Chrysost in psal 90. the remembrance also that they be full of difficulties and therfore circumspectlie to be red it were tollerable they shoulde be red But otherwise to folowe their phantasies to be doctours and framers of a faith and doctrine to them selues with the contempte of them whom God hath called and placed to be teachers that Chrysostom willeth not as in the next chapiter folowing ye shall heare him saie As for aunswer to Erasmus ther neadeth no better to be made thē Alfonsus Alfonsus maketh And yet first to saie to Erasmus yt ys merueilouse that he cōfessing the scripture to be hard as he dothe in the argument of the epistle of sainct hierom to Paulinus and in the argument of the epistle of saincte Paule to the Romans wher he dothe with soche maner of woordes set furth the difficultie of that epistle and yet truely that it wolde raither discourage a man from the reading of it then otherwise moue or prouoke him to read yt ys merueilouse I saie that he wolde the cōmō rude and vnlearned people shoulde read that that he teacheth to be so hard In the whiche for lacke of vnderstanding manie of them either they spend their labour in vain or ells vainly abuse the scriptures to errour and heresie according to the vanitie of their minde So that to confesse the scriptures to be hard and withall to will them to be common to the rude people yt hath but litle shewe of reason Yf they were easie and plain as Luther falslie teacheth yt might seme consonante to reason that the people might medle with them for that that for the easynesse therof they might wade through them Alfonsus aunswereth thus that although sayncte Chrysostom wolde the the people shoulde read the scriptures as in that tyme yt ys no good collection that it aught to be so at this time For oftentimes yt ys seen that an order or a lawe taken reputed to be good for the maners of the people and condicion of the tyme at one tyme ys lefte and not put in execution at an other time As in olde tyme yt was vsed to kepe night watches at the monumētes of holie Martyrs the name wherof whiche we call Vigills yet remaneth Vnto the hwich all maner of ages men women bachelers maidens and children repaired and came Whiche thing was so estemed in the time of saincte Hierom that when Vigilantius depraued yt saincte Hierom wrote verie sharpelie against him for yt And yet afterward the maners of of the people so requiring these Vigills were lefte Why then dothe not Erasmus as well seke to haue these Vigills reuiued and restored seing they were vsed in the tyme of sainct Hierom and of Chrysostome as well as the other was In the time of sainct Augustin children were communicated but nowe yt ys not in vse The Apostles made an ordinaunce at Hierusalem that strangled and bloode shoulde be forborne and not eaten of but yet yt ys not nowe in vse for that the condicon of the tyme and of the people ys otherwise Discipline and publike penance were in vse in the olde daies in the churche but we be loth now to haue yt again in vse So true yt ys that the people in the time of Chrysostom did read the scriptures but yt foloweth not therfore that yt ys good and expedient that yt be so nowe For the condicion of the time and maners of the people be farra different Whiche two ostentimes as they do alter chaunge cause alteracion of orders and lawes as yt semeth to the rulars expedient Yt ys the office of the people to heare and learn and so by that mean to knowe the lawe of their Lord God as the scriptures do testifie and putting yt in practise to vse due obedience toward God and his officers as the next chapiter more at large shall declare THE SYXTE CHAPITER DECLARING HOWE the people shall come to the vnderstanding of the scriptures ALmightie God who in moste goodlie wise disposith all thinges and ordeineth nothing in vain hathe thus appointed that the lawe shoulde be in the mouthe of ther preist and that the people shoulde learne yt of him as yt ys written Yf ther ryse a matter Deuteron 17 Matters of doubt must be refered to the preistes to harde for thee in iudgemēt betwene bloode and bloode betwē plee and plee betwē plague ād plague and the matters come to strife within thy gates Thē shalt thow rise ād get thee vppe vnto the place which the Lorde thy God hath chosen and come vnto the preistes the leuites and vnto the iudge that shall be in those daies and aske and they shall shewe thee the sentence of iudgement And thow must doo according to that whiche they of that place which the Lorde had choosen shewe thee And thowe shalt obserue to doe according to all that they enforme thee accordinge to the sentence of the Lawe which they teache thee and according to the iudgement which they tell thee shalt thowe doo and bowe not frō that whiche He that wil not heare the preist shall die they shewe thee neither to the right hande neither to the lefte And that man that will do presumptuouslie and will not harken to the preist that standeth ther before the Lorde thy God to ministre or vnto the iudge that man shall die and thowe shalt put awaie euell from Israel And all the people shall heare and feare and shall doo no more presumptuouslie Accordinglie to this also allmightie God saieth by his prophet Malachie Malac. 2. Labia sacerdotis custodient scientiam et legem requirent ex ore eius quia Angelus domini
yt he beleueth not yt to be that bread that yt ys saied to be Hitherto Tertul Whose litle sentence although yt doth ouerthrowe three or foure assertions of the Auersaries in this matter of the Sacrament Yet we shall here touche but two that be to the pourpose here The first ys that good deuoute godlie people had the Sacrament reserued in their houses oftē to receaue as their deuotiō to God moued thē secretly by them selfs For at that time the churche was not so settled nor had The Sacrament reserued in priuate houses in the Primitiue church soche peace that the chrysten people might frelie come together and receaue openlie Wherfor for the excercising of their faith and deuociō and doing of their duetie to God they had the Sacrament home to their houses and ther reserued yt to receaue when they thought good And this maie ye verie well gather of this that Tertullian saieh Shall not thy housband knowe what thowe secret he doest receaue before all meat For the better vnderstāding of whiche saing yowe must suppose and knowe that Tertulian writeth to this woman as though she had an insidell to her housbande and she a Chrystian Vnto whom she wolde not haue her doinges knowē in this behalf Nowe to couer this matter frō soche an ynfidel good people wolde secretlie by thē selues receaue that they for soche pourpose reserued and so yt appeareth that for soche cause reseruacion of the Sacrament might be and was moche vsed in the primitiue churche The seconde note ys for the presence whiche ys wher he saieth And yf he knoweth yt yet he beleueth not yt to be the bread that yt yssaid to be Wherby Ioan. De lapsis serm 5. A miracle wrought in the Sacrament reserued we are taught that yt ys an other maner of bread then yt appeareth For yt appeareth to be but earthlie bread but in dede yt ys heauenly bread the bread of life euen that bread yt self that saied The bread which I will geue ys my flesh which I will geue for the life of the worlde But to return to the matter of reseruacion we haue plain testimonie ther os in sainct Cyprian who reporteth thus Cùm quaedam arcam suam in qua Domini Sanctum erat manibus indignis tentasset aperire igne inde surgente deterrita est ne auderet contingere When a certain woman did attempte with vnwourthie handes to open her coafer in whiche was the holie thing of our Lorde ther arose thence a fire and so feared her that she durst not touche yt Thus sainct Ciprian Do ye not heare that this woman had the Sacrament kept in her coafer Perceaue ye not the great power of yt that wher she wolde but opē the coafer with vncleā handes she was feared awaie with a fire that rose frō thence Ys ther anie mean for the Aduersarie to auoid this Perchaunce he will cauille and saie that Ciprian speaketh not of the Sacrament but of some other thing whiche he calleth the holie thing of our Lorde But yf he wolde so seke to auoide he shoulde shewe him self to vain For Ciprian speaketh ther alltogether of the Sacrament in somoche as he reporteth foure miracles together which God had wrought aboute the Sacrament And albeit in this sentence he dothe not by expresse woordes call yt the bodie of our Lorde as he dothe in manie other places yet he so termeth yt Oecolamp and Cranmers doctrine reproued by S. Cipr. Vide sup cap. 23. as he reproueth the doctrine of Oecolampadius and Cranmer and very likly of this Proclamer also For he calleth yt the holie thing of our Lorde and they saie ther ys no holinesse yn yt For yt ys a dumme creature Thus though in woordes they pretende tofolowe the olde Fathers yet in very dede they slatlie against saie them But to proceade in the prooff of reseruaciō yt maketh moche for yt that sainct Ambrose reporteth of his bother Satyrus who as he saieth being a singular mā in godlinesse and affiānce toward God and being in dānger vpō the Ambr. in oratione funebr de obi tu sratris sui sea yet not fearing death but desierouse not to be destitute of that blessed Sacramēt yf yt should so please God to call him went to the christians that were ther in the shippe ād desired to haue that Godlie Sacramēt of the faith full not that he wolde please his curiouse eies in loking vpō soche a mistery Satyr had part of the Sacrament reserued in the shippe and was saued ther by from drowning but that by soche a Sacramēt he might obtein the helpe of his faith Whiche whē yt was geuē him he caused yt to bownde in a stole ād so hāged yt aboute his necke ād whē shippwracke happened he sought not for a loose boorde of the shippe to swimme vpon and so to helpe him self but for that he had sought the armour of faith alone he did so committe him self to the sea and thinking him self safe enough by the helpe of the Sacrament he desiered no other helpe and as sainct Ambrose saieth his hope did not forsake him nor deceaue him For he was the first that eschaped oute of the sea ād came to the land Thus moche in effect reporteth sainct Ambrose In whiche his reporte yt ys more thē manifest that the Sacramēt was reserued and as yt maie be supposed for a good time Yf yt maie be reserued three or foure daies why maie yt not be reserued longer As the wholl reporte for that yt ys made by so holie and woorthie a man ys woorthie to be remembred So be two or three things wourthie of speciall note The first ys that this good man the Brother of saincte Ambrose wēt to the chrystians in the shippe ād obteined of thē to haue ād to carie the Sacramēt with him Yf to reserue the Sacrament had ben so heinouse a matter as this Proclamer and his complices make yt wolde they trowe ye haue cōmitted soche an offēce as to haue yt reserued in the shippe ād to deliuer yt to Satirus to be so reserued And further yf the reseruing of this Sacrament Sacrament reserued in the shippe had ben against the ordre of the churche wolde Saincte Ambrose to the praise of his Brother report yt as a thing well and Godlie doen No trulie yt ys not to be thought in so godlie and so learned a father but raither yt ys to be thought that the Brother of sainct Ambrose doing no other thing but that was by the same sainct Ambrose cōmended did agreable to the maner of the Churche Therfor saincte Ambrose to his Bothers praise and to the example of S. Ambrose cōmēded the doing of his brothe Satyr the posteritie to doo soche like vertuouse workes did write this matter and made a boke to remain to kepe the thing in memorie By this then yt maie appeare that the reseruacion of the Sacrament was in vse in the churche
the institucion of the same Wherfore leauinge this as sufficientlie spoken of for this time I will speake breislie of the other parte of this diuision The seconde parte was that some thinges be added to the ministraciō not altering or chaunging the Substance of yt but to cause and prouoke deuociō and semely behauiour towarde so woorthie an institucion As for example In the Baptisme of Chryst ther were neither exorcismes neither praiers neither geuing of name neither anie like Ceremonies In the Baptisme wher Peter baptised three thousāde we reade of no Ceremonies vsed neither praiers Act. 2. Likewise in the last supper we finde not manny Ceremonies This we reade that Surgit à coena ponit vestimenta sua cùm accepisset lin theum praecinxit se Ioan. 13. He rose from supper and laied a side his garmentes and when he had taken a towell he girded him self and putting water in to a basen he beganne to washe the feet of his Disciles And after he had washed them he puteth on his garmentes again and satte down to the Supper of the institucion of the Sacrament In the whiche we neither read that any praies were made nor that Chryst had any other then his owne garmentes vpon him when he ministred Nowe the Churche hath in vse not onelie that the minister hath some other garmentes vpon him beside his vsuall garmentes in the ministracion of these Sacramentes but vseth also certain Ceremonies and praiers not vsed in the institucion of them whiche all are doen to helpe our infirmitie imbecillitie and weaknesse and to lifte vs vppe to some higher cōsideracion and estimacion of these Sacramētes then we shulde atteing vnto yf they were but barelie ministred Soche ys our grossenesse that wher we see no difference in externe and outwarde cowntenance we iudge the thinges internlie or inwardlie to be of like condicion or at the leest not moche better the one then the other Wher then these Ceremonies be added to the substance of the Sacrament for causes before saied yt ys not therfor to be saied that Chrystes institucion ys altered whiche in substance still remaineth wholl neither ys the Churche to be exclamed vpon therfor with reproche no more then yt ys for that yt ordeineth the Sacrament to be receaued fasting for the whiche saincte Augustine saieth Liquidè apparet quando primum acceperunt Discipuli corpus sanguinem Domini non eos accepisse ieiunos Nunquid tamen proptered Ad Ian calumniandum est vniuersae Ecclesiae quòd à ieiunis semper accipitur Yt doth plainlie appeare that whē the Apostles did first receaue the bodie and bloode of Chryst they did not receaue thē fasting Ys therfor the vniuersall Churche to be reproued bycause the same bodie and blod of Chryst ys nowe receaued fasting Yf the Churche by the iudgement of saincte Austen ys not to be reproued though yt altered the maner of the receauing of the bodie and blood of Chryste howe moche lesse ys yt to be reproued for the adding or putting to of certain godlie Ceremonies for the better and more deuoute maner of receauing Seing then the vniuersall Churche hath putte to the ministracion of the Sacramētes aswell of Baptisme as of the bodie and bloode of Chryst certain praiers and garmētes for the admoniciō of the people that heauēlie thinges be in doinge and so to stirre vppe their deuociō and not therbie altering the substance of the Sacramentes they be without all doubte to be accepted regarded and reuerenced and the Church therfor not to be reproued THE SEVEN AND TWENTETH CHAP. AVNSWEring other argumentes and obiections of the Proclamer I Haue as me semeth satisfied the request of the Proclamer For in this matter I haue produced the examples of the primitiue Churche the sainges of diuerse of the auncient Fathers the decrees of sondrie Councells Whiche be not obscure or doubefull sentences but plain and manifest And nowe that we haue proued the doinges of the Churche in this behalf to be laufull and weldoē let vs nowe heare what proof he bringeth against the Churche In his sermon amonge other thinges conteined in the exclamaciō ther he saied saieth thus Yf anie learned man of all our Aduersaries or yf all the learned men that be a liue be hable to bringe anie one sufficient sentence oute of any catholique doctour or oute of anie olde generall Councell or oute of the holie scriptures of God or anie one example of the primitiue churche wherbie yt maie be clerelie and plainlie proued that the Sacrament was then or nowe aught to be hanged vppe vnder a Canopie I promised then that I wolde geue ouer and subscribe vnto him The office and callinge of him that spake these woordes the place they were spoken in the weight of the matter that was spoken of will not suffer the man as I suppose to fauoure reseruacion couertlie and with a gibing mocke onelie to inweigh against the maner of reseruacion I neuer knewe anie of his opinion and doctrine denieng the presence but he made clean worke and denied all the rest that apperteineth to the Sacrament Yt ys then to be thought that this article of the proclamacion impugneth as well reseruacion yt self as the maner of yt But this Proclamacion including a lawe that no soche reseruacion shoulde be in the Churche what prof what grownde hath yt annexed Yt ys no small matter to improue the ordre of the wholl Churche obserued nine hundret yeares and aboue Wherfor yt ys like that he hath made some great proof against yt and specially his office and place withall considered I neuer sawe a man dispossessed that had ben in possession time oute of minde but he should shewe good matter that wolde dispossesse him and the The Proclamer impugned Reseruaciō without reasō or authoritie other onelie to stande to his possession and not be driuen to shewe his euidence What sheweth this proclamer trulie nothinge what no scripture no doctour no Councell that the Churche shoulde breake this ordre None at all but his bare proclamacion and yet therwith driueth the Churche to shewe An imperiouse maner After this maner he maie breake mo good ordres in one daie thē he will make while he liueth Well by cause yt ys to shamefull to break aunciēt orders of the Church without some proof I will applie one of his great proues made in his sermō to one pourpose to serue this also In his saied sermon to improue priuate Masse as he list to tearme yt he alleageth this saing of Chryste Hoc facite Doo this wherunto he addeth his Fol. 34. exposition saing that ys to saie practise this that I haue here doen and that in soche forme and sorte as ye haue seen me doo yt Thus moch this Proclamer As by this his exposition yf yt were aught wourth he maie seem to proue that forasmoche as Chryst did not receaue alone but gaue also to the Apostles the ministre maie not receaue alone
his eyes Whervpon belcuing the mysteries of the Chrystians to be merueillouse and wonderfull the next daie he came to S. Basill and desired to be baptised and made a chrystian Thus we maie perceaue that the workes of God be great and merueillouse who vnto this Iewe but suspecting the chrystians to eate flesh and drinke bloode in their mysteries made yt soch to him as he suspected yt to be and to appeare soche to his seight as yt was couertlie to other in verie dede But he sawe yt with his bodilie eye for his instruction that the true Chrystian seeth with his faithfull eye to his saluacion But to return to our first matter so great was the fame that the Chrystians did eate mānes flesh in their mysteries that to deliuer thē frō the enuie that was cōceaued against thē for the same Iustinus the holie martyr was enforced in his Apollogie made vnto Antonius Pius to reueil and declare vnto him all the wholl order of the mysteries of the chrystians and what was their faith therin whiche thing was not vsed in those daies to be declared to anie prophane man and infidel but allwaies kept secrette so moche as yt might be And yet vpon this enforcemēt this Iustinus declared the matter so plainlie as no man of his auncientie to soche men more plainlie as shortlie here after ye shall perceaue As these thinges then hitherto saied do proue by the same that Chryst ys present in the Sacrament and so consequentlie that the woordes of Chryst haue ben and so ought to be vnderstanded in their propre sense withoute trope or figure So wolde I wish them of all chrystians in these daies to be receaued And as by these thinges we maie be moued So by other reasons we maie from the contrarie vnderstanding be disswaded Among manie of whiche I wil bring but one or two that Rupertus doth make and the first ys this Nonne Ioannes Euangelista dicit in Apocalipsi Si quis apposuerit ad haec apponet super illū Rupert li. 6. in Joan. Apoca. 22. Deus plagas scriptas in libro isto Et si quis diminuerit de verbis prophetiae libri huius auferet Deus partem eius de ligno vitae de ciuitate sancta de ijs quae scripta sunt in libro isto Nunquid minùs timenda est hic illa maledictio vt non detrahamus vel apponamus quidquam verbis dicentis Hoc est corpus meum quod pro vobis tradetur Hic est sanguis meus noui testamenti qui pro multis effundetur in remissionem peccatorum Cùm enim illo dicente Hoc est corpus meum nos subauditionem apposuerimus dicentes figuratiuum vel per similitudinem dictum Cùm inquam illo dicente Hoc est corpus meum nos dixerimus hoc signisicat corpus meum nonne multum est quod apponimus vel praua demutatione detrahimus sensum generamus quem tantus Author Deus homo nusquā est locutus nec ascendit vnquam in cor eius Dothe not the Euangelist Iohn saie in the Apocalipse Yf anie man shall adde vnto these thinges God shal adde vnto him the plagues that are written in this booke And yf anie man shall minishe of the woordes of the booke of this prophecie God shall take awaie his parte oute of the booke of life and oute of the holie To the woordes of God maie nothing be added nor diminished citte and the thinges whiche are written in this booke Ys this maledictiō or curse lesse to be feared here that we diminish not or putte any thing to the woordes of him that saied This ys my bodie whiche shall be deliuered for yow This ys my bloode of the newe testament whiche shall be shedde for manie in the remissiō of sinnes For when he saieth This ys my bodie we shall putto an vnderstanding saing a figuratiue bodie or that yt ys spoken by a similitude when I saie he saieth This ys my bodie we shall saie this signifieth my bodie ys yt not moche that we putto his woordes or by an euell chaunge take from them and make a sense whiche so great an Authour God and man in no place hath spoken neither at anie time did yt ascende in to his heart Thus Rupertus This ys the first reason of this Authour whiche yf yt be well weighed and the thing well considered howe moche we by figures tropes and significacions do alter and chaunge howe moche we putto in woordes and diminish in substance howe the exposition denieth that the text affirmeth we haue good cause to feare the malediction of God spoken by S. Iohn who beareth not soche expositions denieng what he hath saied nor soche gloses confownding his text Wherfore we maie well be dissuaded from soche expositions or rather deprauacions and the rather that their ys no warrant to beare vs so to expownde these woordes of Chryst as of the circumstance of the place maie be perceaued whiche this Authour vseth as an other reason to moue vs not so to vnderstande Chrystes woordes of his supper as the Aduersarie dothe expownde them And thus he saieth Cùm obijcit quis suisue scriptitat in sedulis quod itidem dixerit eadem veritas Ego sum vitis tam audacter quā imperitè in argumentum mendosum illud attrahit cum statim subsequentia verba dicentist Sicut palmes non potest ferre fructum à semetipso nisi manserit in vite sic nec vos nisi in me manseritis manifestè per similitudinem compellant intelligi praesertim cùm non signanter dixerit Ego sum haec vitis sicut signanter dixit Hoc est corpus meum hic est sanguis meus apposita protinus descriptione verae proprietatis de corpore inquiens quod pro vobis tradetur de san guine autem qui pro multis effundetur Igitur ne veniant super nos plagae nouissimae neque apponimus neque diminuimus quicquam diuinae definitioni vel descriptioni quam incarnatum Verbum ore proprio deproinpsit Imo quia perfecta charitas foras mittit timorem non tam plagarum timore qunm veritatis amore confitemur quia panis iste corporeus postquam signauerit eum Pater vinum hoc expressum acinis praesentibus mox vt eodem signo signatum est per manus ecclesiae dicentis vt nobis corpus sanguis fiat dilectissimi filij tui Domini nostri Iesu Christi etc. vsque in memoriā mei facietis corpus sanguis eius qui huius traditionis author est hoc sacrisicium ipse Christus est cuius passione vt sacrificium fieret à Deo Patre in veritate signatum est Whē one obiecteth and writeth yt also in his bookes euen as boldlie as vnlearned These woordes J am a vine Ioan. 15. are proued by the circūstance to be a similitudi lie that the same trueth mening Chryst saieth also I am a vine he draweth yt
will therfor leaue him and heare the minde of his yocke felowe whom we Hieron ad He did q. 2. haue in this place appointed to be S. Hierō who writeth thus Nos autem audiamus panē quem Dominus fregit deditue Discipulis suis esse corpus Domini saluatoris ipso dicente ad eos Accipite comedite Hoc est corpus meū calicē illū esse de quo iterum locutus est Bibite ex hoc omnes Hic est sanguis meus noui testamenti qui pro multis effundetur Iste est calix de quo in Propheta legimus Calicē salutaris accipia alibi Calixtuus The bread which our Lord gaue was his bodie ād the cuppe hys blood inebrians quà m praeclarus est Si ergo panis qui de coelo descendit corpus est Domini vinum quod Discipulis dedit sanguis illius est noui testamēti iudaicas fabulas repellamus c. But let vs heare that bread which our Lord brake and gaue to hys Disciples to be the bodie of our Lord our Sauiour forasmoch as he saied vnto thē Take and eate This ys my bodie And the cuppe to be that of the which again he saied Drinke ye all of this This ys my blood of the newe Testament which shall be shedd for manie This ys the cuppe of the which we read in the Prophete I wil receaue the cuppe of saluacion And in an other place Thy cuppe inebriating ys verie noble Yf therfore the bread that descended frō heauen ys the bodie of our Lord and the wine which he gaue to his Disciples ys his blood of the newe Testament let vs repell the Iewish fables Thus moch S. Hierom. For the better vnderstanding of this saing yt ys to be considered that a certain vertuouse woman named Hedibia sent to sainct Hierom to be resolued in certain questions Among the which she desiered to be instructed how the saing of Chryst in S. Matthew was to be vnderstanded wher he saied I will not from hencefurth drinke of this generacion of the vine vntill that daie in whiche I shall drinke yt newe with yow in the kingdome of my Father To the answeringe wherof he declareth vnto her first the fond opinion of some that vpon that place inuented a fable that Chryst shoulde reign a thousand yeares corporally in which time of his reign he shoulde drinke wine and so shoulde be fullfilled hys saing that he wolde drinke no more wine Heresie of the Millenaries vntill he dranke yt in the kingdom of his Father in the whiche he shoulde then reign But sainct Hierom well vnderstanding howe great and howe weightie a matter was spoken of in the place wher from these woordes were taken namely of the bodie and blood of Chryst and being greued that yt being so great a worke of God so great a benefitt to man shoulde be intermengled and obscured with soche vain inuentions of soche fables he openeth the true sense of the place and moueth the good woman Hedibia that all soche phantasies reiected and forsaken she shoulde regarde the woordes of Chryst and credit them and that the bread and wine that Chryst spake of in that place were no soch thinges as vpon which soch vain fables should be grownded but they were the bodie and bloode of Chryst forasmoch as he that can speake but trueth saied Thys ys my bodie Thys ys my bloode Now cōsider with me yf Chryst had geuē to hys Apostles but Bread ād wine S. Hierom his woordes weighed ād conferred with the doctrine of the Protestātes as figures of hys bodie and blood wolde S. Hierō being required to geue the true vnderstāding of the scriprure ād he taking vpō him so to doe wold he trowe ye haue saied Let vs vnderstād that the bread which our Lord gaue to his Disciples was his bodie ād that the wine which he gaue was hys blood except we should beleue ād vnderstād thē so to be in dede Were this an opening of the true vnderstanding of the scriptures Were yt not raither an hiding or a darkning of the scriptures to bid vs to beleue one thing ād the scripture biddeth an other He biddeth vs beleue that yt ys the bodie ād blood of Chryst that Chryst gaue to his Apostles ād the scriptur as the Aduers saieth biddeth vs beleue that they be but figurs Wold S. Hierō being alwaies an enemie to heresie teache soche an heresie Wolde not he raither if the trueth had ben so haue taught this vertuouse woman the trueth of the matter that she sought at his hand and saied vnto her This vnderstand that the bread and wine which Chryst gaue to his Apostles were but figurs of the bodie and bloode of Chryst and not the thinges themselues And alleaging Chrystes woordes This ys my bodie This ys my bloode wolde he not if they had ben so to be vnderstanded haue saied these woordes are spoken by a figure they be figuratiue speaches and are thus to be vnderstanded this ys a figure of my bodie this ys a figure of my bloode To instructe thē that Nomenciō of figuratiue speache in S. Hierōs woordes wolde learn the true vnderstāding of this scripture if yt were so to be vnderstanded this were the right waie of teaching But here ys no soche woorde here ys no soche maner of teaching And yt ys to be thought that S. Hierō was not ignorant howe to teache neither was he ignorāt of the trueth that in this place shoulde be taught Wherfor seing he knewe the trueth and knewe howe to teache yt and nowe he was in place to teache and had good occasion being as ys saied therunto required for somoche as he willeth vs to vnderstande that the bread and wine whiche Chryst gaue to this Apostles were his bodie and bloode and the cause why we shoulde so vnderstāde thē ys the woorde of Chryst saing This ys my bodie This ys my bloode Let vs thinke and beleue that the trueth of this matter ys that his bodie and bloode be present verilie in the Sacramēt and that the woordes of Chryste are to be vnderstanded withoute figure simplie and plainlie as they lie And that yt ys the bodie of Chryst the woordes which S. Hierom vseth as the conclusiō of the matter dothe also prooue For thus he concludeth Si ergo panis qui de caelo descendit c. Yf then the bread that descended from heauen be the bodie of our Lorde and the wine that he gaue to his Disciples be his bloode of the newe testamēt let vs cast awaie Iewish fables As who might saie forasmoche as these woordes of Chryst speake of no cheering nor banquetting that the Iewes doe dreame shall be in Chrystes worldlie kingdom but they speake of the bread which Chryst gaue to his Apostles which they saie to be his bodie and of the wine which they saie to be his bloode therfor let vs cast awaie soche vain fables and cleaue to the true
healthe in the remembrance of our Lordes passion suffred for vs. Whiche thing when yt ys brought by the handes of men to that visible forme yt ys not sanctified that yt maie be so great a Sacrament but by the Spirite of God woorking inuisiblie Hitherto sainct Augustin Of whome ye see that we are taught that thoug Chryst be by diuerse meanes settfurth and preached as by scriptures preachinges and by the Sacrament yet these thinges be not all of like degree For ther ys none of these called the bodie of Chryst but onelie the bread that ys consecrated by the mysticall praier that ys by the woordes of Chryst Thys ys my bodie that onelie ys called the bodie of Chryste Oecolamp craftilie abuseth S. Augustin Nowe Oecolampadius wolde that bicause sainct Augustin saieth that Chryst ys preached by scripture woorde and Sacrament that these three be of one sorte no more being in the Sacrament then in the other two But note I praie thee gentle reader howe he abuseth sainct Augustin to proue that hys wicked sainge Of this place of sainct Augustin nowe alleadged he taketh onely thus moche Paule might by signifieng preache our Lorde Iesus Chryst otherwise by hys toung otherwise by epistle otherwise by the Sacrament of his bodie and blood And vpon thys he growndeth hys argument and wolde be seen well to haue confirmed Not toung nor writing nor soche other shewing furth Chryst be called his bodie but bread and wine consetrated hys doctrine But all the rest of sainct Augustines woordes whiche folowe whiche ouerthrowe all his building he craftelie lefte oute For yt foloweth Yet doe we call neither his toung neither his epistle nor his writinges the bodie of Chryste but onely we call that the bodie of Chryste that ys taken of the fruictes of the earth and ys by the mysticall prayer consecrated that doe we call the bodie of Chryst All thys doth he leaue oute Soche was the synceritie of the man in alleaging the holie Fathers So good ys the cause that he defended that the doctours muste be mutilated and brought oute in peice meall or ells yt coulde not stand Ys yt not merueilouse that he coulde bring this place of sainct Augustin whiche although the first peice taken alone seemeth somwhat to sownde to his pourpose yet the wholl taken together ys alltogether against him Alas that euer anie man wolde so deceaue the people of God and by soche frawde and abuse of the holie writers make them to embrace erroure in stead of trueth weigh the place throughlie and yowe shall perceaue howe yt mainteineth the catholique trueth of the presence of Chrystes boin the Sacrament verie moch Ye haue nowe heard that neither the worde written nor the woorde spoken though Chryst be preached by them be called the bodie of Chryst but onely the Sacrament ys called the bodie of Chryst And why yt ys called the bodie of Chryste he declareth Not bicause saieth he by the handes of man yt ys brought to be a visible forme but bicause yt ys sanctified and made so great a Sacrament by the inuisible woorking of the holie Goste Note these two poinctes that S. Augustine saieth that the bread ys sanctified and made so great a Sacrament And again that he saieth yt ys so sanctified and made by the inuisible worke of the holie Goste Ther ys great difference betwixt the sanctificacion of the Sacrament yt self and the soule of man that receaueth the Sacrament Now Oecolampadius and Cranmer saie that the Sacramentes being dumbe Oecolamp and Cranmer their heresies creatures receaue no sanctificacion but onely the sowles of men They saie also that the holie Gost woorketh not in the thinges that be the Sacramentes but in the men that receaue the SacrameÌ„tes Thys they saie bicause they wolde auoid the presence of Chryste in the Sacrament which ys made ther present by sanctificacion of the bread But against these their saings S. Augustin saieth that the same bread that ys made by the handes of men ys sanctified S. Augustin plain against Oecolamp aÌ„d Cranmer and receauing sanctitie ys made so great a Sacrament Against them also he saieth that the holie Goste woorketh inuisiblie in the bread I wolde now learn of the Aduersaries what S. Augustine meneth by calling the SacrameÌ„t so great a Sacrament and what worke yt ys that the holie Goste woorketh inuisiblie in the bread The woorkes of the holy Gost be no trifles Yt ys great and miraculouse that he woorketh And what he woorketh S. Iames in his Masse S. Basill also and Chrysostom in their Masses by their humble praiers doe declare S. Iames thus Spiritum tuum sanctissimum demitte nunc Domine in nos in haec sancta dona proposita vt superueniens sancta bona gloriosa sua praesentia sanctificet Diuus Iac. in Missa efficiat hunc panem corpus sanctum Christi tui calicem hunc preciosum sanguinem Christi tui Sende downe now o Lord thy most holie Spirit vpon vs and vpon these holie giftes settfurth that he coming ouer them maie with his holy good and gloriouse presence sanctifie and make this bread the holie bodie of thy Chryst aÌ„d this cuppe the preciouse blood of thy Chryst Thus S. Iames. S. Basill and Chrysostome haue the like woordes See ye not nowe then howe the bread ys sanctiâ—ied See ye not what ys the worke of the holie Goste Perceaue ye not howe that S. Augustine vpoÌ„ good cause called the Sacrament so great a Sacrament ys yt not a great Sacrament Bread sanctified contrarie to Cranmers assertion aÌ„d Oecolamp in which by worke of the holie Gost ys made present the bodie of Chryst To haue hidden this trueth Oecolampadius by peice meall brought in S. Augustine But now ye haue seen the catholique faith well testified the falshead of the Aduersaries detected and to return to oure matter and to conclude ye perceaue this Sacrament by mystical praier which ys by Chrystes woordes to be consecrated the effecte of which consecracion being the bodie of Chryste as ys saied the woordes must nedes be taken without figuratiue sense Thus if my iudgement faill me not ye haue hearde two other noble men of Chrystes schoole and Parliament house very plainlie testifieng the enacted trueth of the vnderstanding of Chrystes wordes yea so plainly that yt caÌ„not but moch confirme the good Chrystian and confute the Pheudochristian But to go forwarde I will ende with these two and call other two THE FIVE AND FIFTETH CHAPITER tarieth in the exposition of the same woordes by Chrysostom and Sedulius NOw among the learned Fathers of the greke church we are descended to Chrysostome of whome I maie saie as besore ys saied of S. Ambrose that he ys so full of godlie testimonies testisieng to vs the true vnderstanding of Chrystes woordes that as I knowe not whiche of them first to take so doe I merueill that they being so manie the Proclamer coulde for shame saie
he ther ys no soche thing of beleife ther. for aboute other thinges to be beleued either Chryst him self or the Euangelistes doe stand in the declaracion as in the matter of the incarnacion and birth of Chryste of his baptisme of his passion and death of his resurrection of his ascension and soche other Wherfor saieth he their ys no soche great worke of faith wrought in the Sacrament But see howe the spirit of erroure blinded this man and whether he Crammers spirit and Chryso stomes compared led him Yf he had ben led by the same spirit that Chrysostom was led by he shoulde haue seen that that Chrysostom did sec Chrysome as ye haue hearde saied that Chryst had spoken manie and great thinges of this Sacrament before to the Apostles and therfor nowe when Chryst went to the perfourmance of his promisse made before and in fewe woordes saied Take cate This ys my bodie Theie were mindefull of his promisse made before and of his great instruction geuen vnto them for their beleif in that behalf so that being sufficientlie instructed and therfor redilie prepared when Chryst spake the woorde and commaunded them to eate his bodie they were not troubled for their saith was staied So that Chrysostom coulde see manie and great thinges that Chryst had spoken of this matter But this other man blinded with the great mist of heresie coulde se nothing wher Chrysostom sawe manie thinges and great thinges Therfor yowe that be yet or haue ben seduced here by this great piller of that sect be aduertised that if he being a learned man and yet the wicked spirit so blinded him that wher Chrysostome saied that Chryst did speake manie and great thinges of this Sacrament whiche yet this learned man coulde not see one of them yowe that be learned see one of yowr best learned meÌ„ blinded and beware in time But yowe that be vnlearned of this moche more doe yowe be ware Foryf the learned be deceaued by the Deuell and blinded and led oute of the waie of trueth moche more the vnlearned maie be deceaued and blinded as was yowr first fownder in this our time Luther by name who saied that the sixt chapiter of S. Iohn was whollie to be set a part as in whiche ther was no sillable that spake of the Sacrament Yet Chrysost saieth Chryst spake manie and great thinges of the SacrameÌ„t And in all the Gospell ther ys noplace that speaketh of yt before the supper but the sixt chapter of S. Iohn Wherfor Luther gropeth also in the darke and can not see one sillable of S. Iohns sixt chapter speaking of the Sacrament which speaketh moche of yt whiche thing also ys by expresse woordes testified of S. Augustine who saieth thus speaking of the supper of Chryst Ioannes de corpore sanguine Domini Aug. li. 3 â–ª de Conseuse Euang. Chryst spake of his bodie and blood plentisullie in the sixt of S. Iohn hoc loco nibil dixit sed planè alibi multo vberiùs de iis Dominum locutum esse testatur Iohn spake nothing in this place of the bodie and bloode of our Lorde But in an other place he plainly testifieth that our lorde verie plentifullie spake of these thinges Wher note breiflie by the waie that S. augustine saieth not that S. Iohn spake of the Sacrament of Chrystes bodie and bloode but of the bodie and bloode of our Lorde by expresse and plain woordes and ther with fignifieth the same bodie and blood to be spoken of both in the sixt of S. Iohn and in the other Euangelistes wher they treacte of the last supper of Chryst And thus ye haue perceaued the authour of that booke not onely blinded but also directlie saing contrarie to Chrysostome in these two places iointly alleaged and also to S. Augustine And therfor once again I wish yow to be warned that seing the sainges of your cheif masters be clean contrarie to the sainges of the cheif masters of Chrystes Church beware of them suspect them flie farre from them Ye haue good cause so to doe yf yowe consider the matter well And now to yowr farder instruction in this poinct and to the more confutacion of the aduersaie and declaracion of the trueth I will craue yowr pacience to heare one other place of the same Chrysostom wherin ye shall both more plainly perccaue both that the vi of Iohn and also the woordes of the supper doe manifestlie speake of the bodie and bloode of Chryst in the Sacrament Thus he writeth Hac de causa desiderio desideraui hoc Pascha vobiscum Chris homil 83. in 26. Math. comedere qno vos spirituales faciam Ipsequoque bibit exâ—… ne auditis verbis illis dicerent Quid igitur sanguinem bibimus carnem comedimus ac ideo perturbarentur Nam quando prius de iis verba fecit multi solummodò propter verba scandalum passi sunt Ne igitur tunc quoque id accideret primus ipse hoc fecit vt tranquillo animo ad commumcationem mysterioram induceret For this cause with desire haue I desiered to eate this passeouer with yowe by the whiche I maie make yowe spiritual He also dranke of yt lest when they had heard these woordes they shoulde saie what therfor doe we drinke bloode and cate flesh And ther for they shoulde be troobled for when he did first speake of these thinges also manie alonlie for his woordes were offended Lest therfor that also shoulde then happen he himself first did this thing that with quiett minde he might induce them to the partaking or communicacion of the mysteries Thus moche Chrysostome In whiche saing I will first note to yowe for the sixt of S. Iohn that after I maie the more at large open his minde to yowe for the presence That Chryst spake of his bodie and blood in the SacrameÌ„t IoaÌ„ 6. Chryst spake of his bodie and bloode in the sixt of S. Iohn these woordes of this authour doe teach vs wher he saieth Quando de iis prius verba fecit multi solummodò propter verba scandalum pasi sunt When he first spake of these thinges manie euen alonely for the woordes were offended Wherby yowe maie perceaue that Chrysostome sheweth here that Chryst spake before of this mysterie of his bodie and bloode in that place wher manie onelie were offended for the woordes Wher that was yt ys clere to all men that can read the Gospell that yt was ther wher they saied Durus est est hic sermo quis potest eum audire This ys an harde saing who can abide yt wher yt ys manifest Joan. 6. that they were according to Chrysostoms saing offended onely for the woordes of Chryst whiche made them to saie that yt was an hard saing So that wher Chrysostom in the other sentence saied that Chryst had spoken great thinges of this mysterie but opened not in what place here by circumstance he sheweth the certen place This I
the tables and the cōmunion of the sacramentes there to be in a darke maner set furth yf thowe do not again aske all of me but so requirest those thinges that be doen as yt ys mete in the shadowing and figures to see Therfor bicause he had saied of the Sea and of the clowde and of moyses he added fardermore And all haue eaten one spirituall meate as thowe saieth he ascending from the bathe or washing of waters doest runne to the table So they also going vppe from the sea came to a newe and a merueilouse table I speake of Māna and again as thow hauest a wonderfull drinke the wholsome bloode so they also had a wonderfull nature of drinke Hitherto Chrysostome Who hath declared euery part of these matters that here are to be sett furth In the beginning of his saing he confowndeth the Aduersarie in that he so plainlie saieth that the veritie must haue a certain excellencie aboue the figure Thē forasmoche as Baptisme ys the veritie and the sea the figure Baptisme ys more excellent then the sea Likewise Manna and the water being the figure of the Sacrament of the bodie of Chryst and of his bloode then the Sacrament of the bodie and blood of Chryste ys more excellent then Manna for the veritie ys more excellent then the figure That Manna and the water be figures of the Sacrament he dothe most manifestlie declare when he Oure drinke the wholsome blood of Chryste saieth I will shewe thee the tables and the cōmunion of the Sacramentes ther to be in figurs sett furth And proceading to shewe what Sacramentes be settfurth there he dothe applie the one to the other saing As thowe coming vppe saieth he from the fonte of baptisme runnest to the table So they from the sea to Manna As thowe hauest a wonderfull drinke whiche ys the wholsom bloode of Chryst so they the water of the stone In this ys plainly taught whiche be the figures whiche be the verities The Sea Manna and the waters be the figures Baptisme Chrystes bodie and Chrystes bloode be the verities For although Chrysostom in the applicacion of Manna doth but put the table as the veritie what he ment by the table he well declareth in the applicacion of the water to the veritie where he saieth As thowe drinkest wonderfull drinke the wholsome bloode So they the water Wherby as in this by expresse woordes he declareth the bloode to be the veritie of the water being the figure so by the table wherin that holie Sacrament ys ministred he ment the bodie of Chryst whiche after a fewe lines he opēly speaketh saing Sicut autem dixit quòd omnes per mare transierunt Sic nobilitatem Ecclesiae praefigurauit cùm dixit Eundem cibum spiritualem comederunt Hoc idem rursus insinuauit Sic enim in Ecclesia nou aliud corpus diues aliud verò pauper neque alium quidem sanguinem ille alium autem iste Sic Itunc non aliud quidem accipiebat Riche and poore eate all one bodie and drinke all one blood diues Manna alium verò pauper neque alterius fontis iste particeps erat alterius verò in digentioris ille As he hath saied that all haue goen through the sea so he hath perfigurated the nobilitie of the churche when he saied They haue eaten all one spirituall meat he hath insinuated the same again for so yt ys in the Church For the riche man receaueth not one bodie and the poore man an other neither he one maner of blood and this an other So also then the riche mā did not take of one Manna and the poore man of an other neither was this man partaker of one fountain and he of a woorse In this saing Chrysostome making an other comparison betwixt the figure and the veritie he sheweth what he ment by the table in the place first alleaged For here he calleth yt the bodie saing that the riche man doth not receaue one bodie and the poore man an other no more then the riche man did receaue one Manna and the poore man an other but as all eate one Manna in the figure So all indifferentlie eate one bodie in veritie For the poore lazar receaueth that same bodie of Chryst that the kinge dothe Whiche by the waie to note I wish all men of power and honour to remēbre and consider that God contemneth not the miserable and wretched but receaueth all and dispiseth none but the wicked And as he ys no acceptour of persons in the receipt of his Sacramentes no more ys he in the receauing to his glorie For poour Lazarus was in the bosom of Abraham when the great riche man was in tormentes But to return to our matter Chrysostome yet in the same homelie declaring why S. Paule maketh mencion of these thinges saieth Sed cuius gratia horum memoriam adsert beatus Paulus Ob causam quam principio Chry. Jbid. vobis dixi vt discas quòd neque Baptisma neque peccatorum remissio neque scientia neque sacramentorum Communio neque sacra mensa neque fruitio corporis neque participatio fanguinis neque aliud horum prodesse nobis poterit nisi vitam rectam admirabilem omni peccato liberam habeamus Neither the fruitiō of Chrystes bodie nor the partaking of hys blood auaileth without good lif But wherfor doeth S. Paule make mencion of these thinges for the cause whiche I tolde yowe in the beginninge that thowe shouldest learn that neither Baptisme neither remission of sinnes neither knowledge neither the cōmunion of the sacramentes neither the holie table neither the fruicion of the bodie neither the partaking of the blood neither anie thing of these can auaill vs except we haue a life right and comēdable and free from all sinne Thus Chrysostom In whiche his saing ye perceaue how plainlie he teacheth the receipt of the bodie and bloode of Chryst in the Sacrament reallie and in very dede and not figuratiuelie or spirituallie And this ys the proofe of yt Chrystes bodie maie be 〈…〉 For he saieth that the receipt of the bodie and blood of Chryst profiteth nothing except we haue a godlie life withal Nowe the spirituall receauing of Chryst includeth a godlie life with all For to receaue Chryst spirituallie ys hauing the remembrance of Chrystes passion and death to receaue him by faith and charitie whiche can not be withoute a godlie life For where perfect faith and perfecte charitie ys ther ys a man of perfecte and holie life and he that ys of that sorte receaueth Chryst spirituallie But here Chrysostom speaketh of the receipt of the bodie of Chryst withoute holie life whiche must nedes be spoken and ment of the bodie of Chryst in the Sacrament Whiche as yt was receaued by Iudas he being then a wicked man so maie yt be receaued of other that be wicked and not of holie life but then as Chrysostome saieth yt profiteth nothing but yt raither hurteth
foure of them by other some fiue of thē by other some all of thē but also soch sinall nombre as some of thē do suffer to remain they be by thē so robbed and so spoiled that neither are they greatlie to the honour of God and Chryst neither to the profect or comfort of his people For when generallie they teach that the sacramentes geue no grace to the receauers of thē litle ys God honoured in his sacramentes litle ys his people holpen by receapt of thē As when speciallie they saie Baptisme wasiheth not or taketh not awaie originall sinne and that the Sacrament conteineth not the verie substanciall bodie of Chryst but onely a bare sign or token of yt what commoditie or aduantage can come to vs oute of soch spoiled sacramentes left so bare and so poore that Luther in assert art 2. they can geue a man nothing But yet though these sacramentes be so spoiled they are not in very dede spoiled to the faithfull catholique but vnto him they are riche and plentifull geuing that measure of grace that God through the merite of Chrystes death hath appointed to be geuen to them that faithfullie and woorthilie receaue them For as Manna tasted in euery mans mouth according to his desire so the Sacramēt sauoureth to life according to the faith of the receauer But vnto these wicked robbers and spoilers of sacramentes which through vnbelief esteme them no better then S. Paul did the sacramentes and Ceremonies of the olde lawe which he called weak and vnprofitable ordinaunces to them they are as though they were poore for that they lacking faith robbe and spoile thēselues of soch benefit ād grace as might come vnto them by the sacramentes which now through their vnbeleif ys not geuen vnto them Of the high and most noble Sacrament of Chrystes bodie and bloode I merueill that the Aduersaries feared not so blasphemously to abase yt as to saie that yt ys a Sacrament no more excellent thē the Sacramentes of the old lawe In so saing note with me I praie thee gātle reader what opiniō or estimaciō he hath of Chrystiā religion As before ys saied S. Paule calleth the ceremonies of the olde lawe weake ād vnprofitable ordinaūces Yf then the ordinances of the Chrystian religiō be of no more excellencie then the ordinances of the Mosaycall religion then wher no difference of excellencie ys the things maie equallie be estemed And so by this estimaciō and iudgemēt all the sacramētes and ordeinances of the new lawe for that they are no better then the ordeinances of the olde lawe are weake ād vnprofitable ordeinances For wher equalitie of condicion and state ys ther maie well be equalitie in denominacion What then ys our Chrystian religion yf yt be no better adorned and magnified then with weak and vnprofitable ordeinances Yf they will saie that as long as the thinges were not cōmed which they figured so lōg they were not vnprofitable but whē Chryst was once cōmed Oiection and they ceassed any longer to figure or signifie thē their office being doen and expired they were vain and vnprofitable and so S. Paule ment of them But as for our sacramentes they do their office still for they figure and signifie thinges doen by Chryst that ys comed as the other did of Chryst to come And therfore they be not vnprofitable ordeinances Although this solucion hath some coloure yet yf the Aduersarie will look in S. Paule to the Hebrues he shall finde him calling the lawe and the ordeinances of the same weake and vnprofitable euen when they did their office ād figured Chryst to come bicause they brought not the obseruers of the same Hebrae 7. to perfection The commaundement that went before saieth S. Paule ys disalowed bicause of weaknesse ād vnprofitablenesse for the law brought nothing to perfectiō To the which pourpose he saieth again The lawe hauing the shadowe of good thinges to come and not the very facion of the Ibid. 10. thinges thēselues can neuer with these sacrifices which they offre make the cōmers therunto perfect So then the cause why S. Paule calleth the ordeinances of the lawe weak and vnprofitable was bicause they brought not the obseruers of thē to perfectiō and not bicause they ceassed to signifie and to figure And what difference betwixt weake and vnprofitable as here S. Paule calleth thē and weake and beggarly as he termeth thē to the Galathians Thē yf these ordeinances in the time of their vse before the coming of Chryst were weake and vnprofitable or weake and beggarlie and our sacramentes be no better then they then our sacramentes be as they be weake and vnprofitable or weake and beggarly That our Sacrament of Chrystes bodie and blood ys no better then the Paschall lābe Oecolamp by expresse woords doth cōfesse saing Panis autē nosteragno illorum spiritualium est praeciosior Propterea non magis praedicandus Owre bread ys not more preciouse then the lambe of those spirituall therfor no more to be praised Oecolamp in Exposi verbor Cana Dom. This then being the wicked doctrine of the Aduersarie this wicked conclusion ys deduced out of the same that our Sacramentes of the new lawe be but weake and vnprofitable as the Sacramentes and ordeinances of the olde lawe were O wicked blasphemie o detestable saing geuing occasion of contempt of the wholl religion of Chryst A saing more like to ouerthrowe the honour of God the deuociō of mā the cōforte and hope of all Chrystiās and so consequently all the whol religion then to edifie anie one of these Yf the Aduersaries had not minded the plain subuersion and destruction of the Chrystian religion though they had robbed the holie sacramentes of their efficacie ād made thē as they do as bare as the ordinances of the lawe yet they might haue cōmended thē iustly and truly aboue the other bicause these did signifie Chryst present and were instituted by Chryst himself Esaie was an holie Prophet and an holie martyr who so liuely so plainlie and clerely preacheth of Chrystes natiuitie and passion that of some he ys thought more mete to be called an Euangelist then a prophet Hierimie also was an holie prophet so holy that he was sanctisied in his mothers wombe who also excellently prophicied of Chryst Daniel ys knowen of all men to be an notable holy prophet who as certenly appointed the time of Chryst as a man wold haue appoincted to a thing with his fingar And yet Iohn the Baptised ys called of Chryst not onelie a Prophet but more then a Prophet and why bicause the other did prophecie certenly of Chryst but this man did pointe to him with his fingar saing Ecce agnus Dei ecce qui tollit c. Behold Ioan. 1. the lambe of God behold him which taketh awaie the sinnes of the world Chrysostome also assigneth an other cause why Chryst called S. Iohn more then a Prophet Quum dixisset Prophetis illum esse
of sainct Paule whiche ys Calix cui Bened. HAuinge intended to sett furth in this booke the exposition of soche scriptures as be in the epistles of S. Paule which speake of the Sacrament of Chrystes bodie and bloode to searche oute the vnderstanding of the fathers whether they speake of yt as taking yt for a bare signe or figure of the bodie and bloode of Chryst orells as a Sacrament conteining the thing that yt signifieth I haue thought good if anie scriptures do come betwixte soche not to trooble the Reader with the exposition of them for that they be impertinent to owre matter but ouerpassing them to go to the next text to our matter apperteining Wherfor hauing now doen the scriptures in the beginning of the tenth chapiter I passe ouer to this text Calix benedictionis cui benedicimus nonne coÌ„municatio sanguinis Christi est Et panis quem frangimus nonne participatio corporis Domini est ys not the cuppe of blessing which we blesse partaking of the bloode of Chryst ys not the breade whiche we breake partaking of the bodie of Chryst For the better vnderstaÌ„ding of this text yt ys to be obserued that S. Paule trauailing to abduce the Corinthians from certain vices and euells whiche he hath remeÌ„bred vnto them to haue ben in the Iewes and for the whiche Sacrifice of the church proued by S. Paule they were punished of God enombring theÌ„ particularly and among other noting Idolatrie dehorteth them from yt sainge Fugite ab Idolorum cultura Flie froÌ„ the honouring of Idolls And for that the Corinthians were moche defiled and moche offended other by their resorting to the banquettes of Idolls and partaking of the Idolathites they thinking that for asmoche as they had learned that vnto the chrystian all meates are clean that they might do so S. Paule doth not onely dehorte them from yt but also by argument taken of the sacrifices of the Iewes and of the partaking of the same whiche might not stand with the partaking of Idolathites proueth that they maie not be partakers of the sacrifice of the chrystians and of the sacrifice of Idolaters And here entring to speake of an high misterie of the chrystian religion whiche ys not to be spoken to the weake and the carnall but to the wise and spirituall as in this epistle he testifieth saing Animalis homo non percipitâ—ea quae sunt Spiritus Dei The naturall man perceaueth not the thinges that belong to the spiritt of God Wher of the one he saieth thus Et ego fratres non potui 1. Cor. 2. loqui vobis quasi spiritualibus sed quasi carnalibus tanquam paruulis in Christo lac vobis potum dedi non escam Nondum enim poteratis And I coulde not speake vnto yowe bretheren as vnto spirituall but as vnto carnall Euen as vnto babes in Jbibid 3. Chryst I gaue yowe milke to drinke and not meat for ye were not theÌ„ stroÌ„g And of the other he speakith thus sapientiam loquimur inter perfectos We speake wisdome among them that are perfect Euen so nowe entending to speake of an high wisdome he warneth them with this saing vt prudentibus loquor vos ipsi iudicate quod dico I speake vnto them that are wise or haue discrecion Iudge ye yowr selues what I saie Ys not the cuppe of blessing whiche we blesse she partaking of the bloode of Chryst Ys not the breade whiche we breake partaking of the bodie of our Lorde As who might saie For as moch as ye are called to the chrystian religion and be made partakers of the misteries of the same and are nowe becomed wise in Chryst Iudge ye as wise men what I saie do not ye drinking of our Lordes cuppe in our sacrisices partake of the blood of our Lorde Chryste and eating of that bread of the chrystian sacrifice do ye not partake of the bodie of our Lorde yt must nedes so be For all that be partakers of sacrifices are partakers of yt to whom the sacrifice ys offred This I proue vnto yowe Consider and remembre the sacrifice of the carnall Israelites Aare not they whiche eate of the sacrifices whiche were offred emong them partakers of the aultars euen so yowe partaking of the sacrisices of Idolls which sacrifices are offred to deuells But I wolde not that ye shoulde be ioined in felowshippe with Deuells for if ye so be ye sustein great dammage and losse and what ys that Ye can not be partakers of Chryst For ye can not drinke of the cuppe of oure Lorde and of the cuppe of Deuells Ye can not be partakers of the table of the sacrifice of our Lorde and of the sacrifice of Deuells Wherfore if ye desire to be partakers of our Lordes bodie and bloode in eating of his bread and drinking his cuppe in his sacrifice leaue to be partakers of the sacrifices ofred to Idolls Wherby ye are made partakers and be ioined to Deuells For as ther ys no companie betwixt light and darknesse so ys ther no agreement betwixt our Lorde God and the Deuell neither maie God and Beliall dwell together And as he that beleueth hath no part with the infidel neither righteousnes felowshippe with vnrighteousnesse no more dothe the temple of God agree with Idolls As in this maner of periphrasis the wholl minde of S. Paule in this place ys settfurth and made clere and plain howe and by what perswasioÌ„ he laboured to diswade the Corinthians from Idolothites So also yt ys manifest that in his sentences in the processe of this chapiter whiche he vseth as argumentes grownded vpon the Sacrament that he vnderstandeth no trope or figure of the bodie and blood of Chryst but the very thinges theÌ„ selues in very dede And as he by that the carnall Israelites eating of their sacrifices were partakers of the same proueth that eaters either at our lordes table or at the table of Deuells be partakers of the same So doth he as well accompt that that ys vpon the table of our Lorde to be a sacrifice as either the sacrifice of the Israelites offred to God or of the gentiles offred to Deuells Yf yt be not so what awaileth or of what force ys the argument diduced from the sacrifices of the Iewes For if the eating of the sacrifice of the Iewes maketh them partakers of the aultar what proueth that that either Idolothites of the table of Idolls or the cuppe and bread of our Lorde his table doth make either the receauers of the one or of the other partakers of theÌ„ if that bothe the one and the other be not sacrifices as that ys froÌ„ the whiche the argument ys diduced and vpon the whiche yt ys grownded yt ys an euell maner of disputacion to go aboute to proue like effectes of vnlike causes but of like causes to proue like effectes yt ys a good maner of disputacion if due ordre and circumstance be obserued To make the matter plain what ys the cause that the Israelites
were made partakers of the aultar the answer ys bicause they did eate of the sacrifice Again to applie to the other what ys the cause that the christians be partakers of the bodie and bloode of Chryst shall the answer be bicause they eate a peice of bread and drinke a cuppe of wine no the causes be not like and that cause can not make vs partakers of the bodie and bloode of our Lorde As the Israelites and infidels had their sacrifices so the chrystians haue their sacrifice euē the bread and cuppe of blessing What ys the cause then That that ys like the other whiche ys this Bicause the chrystians do eate of the sacrifice therfore they be partakers of the sacrifice whiche ys the verie bodie and bloode of Chryst For so sainge ther ys a good argument to be made from the liklihood of the causes in eche of thē to the like effectes of eche of them As thus to saie The Israelites bicause they did eate of the sacrifice they were partakers of the Aultar So the Corinthians bicause they did eate of Idolathites whiche were sacrifices of Idolls they were partakers of Idolls Of like maner the christians bicause they eat of the sacrifice of Chryst they be partakers of the bodie and blood of Chryst And thus the disputacion of S. Paule ys of force and prouerh well his entēt And that S. Paule did aswell take the bread of our Lorde and his cuppe to be a sacrisice of the chrystians as the Idolathites of the Corinthians to be the sacrifice of the Infidells euen this doth strongly proue yt that he setteth the table and the cuppe of our Lorde against the table and cuppe of deuells Ye can not saieth he drinke of the cuppe of our Lorde and the cuppe of Deuells Ye can not be partakers of the table of our Lorde and of the table of Deuells In the whiche maner of speache as by the cuppe and table of Deuells he vnderstandeth the sacrifice doen to Deuells so must yt nedes be that by the table and cuppe of our Lorde he vnderstandeth the sacrifice doen to our lorde As yt might in plain maner thus haue ben saied Ye can not eate and drinke of the sacrifice that ys offred vnto God and of the sacrifice that ys offred to Deuells For except they were both sacrifices the setting of the one against the other were of no great force And again yf S. Paule did not aswell take the cuppe and table of our The cuppe and table of oure Lorde takē for the sacrifice of oure Lorde Lorde to be a sacrifice as the cuppe and table of Deuells to be a sacrifice he wolde not haue vsed like termes to them bothe but as he had vnderstāded a difference or diuersitie in the thinges so wolde he haue vsed a diuersitie in woordes and tearmes to expresse and declare the same But for somoche as he vnderstanding therby the sacrifice of deuells called the same the cuppe and table of Deuells yt ys manifest that he calling the meat of our Lorde by the like terms vnderstood the thing also to be like that ys to be a sacrifice In this opening of the text gentle Reader thowe perceauest two thinges Reall presence and sacrifice proued by S. Paule to be here learned of S. Paule The one ys the presence of Chrystes bodie and bloode in the Sacrament the other ys that the same bodie and blood be a sacrifice But that yt maie appeare to yowe that this ys not my owne dreame or phantasie in thus vnderstanding S. Paule but the comō sentence of the Fathers of Chrystes Parliament house we shall for triall therof and for better setting furth of Gods trueth and the faith catholique heare the sainges of a In 10. 1. Cor. good nombre of them And first of the auncient Father Chrysostom who expownding this text saieth thus Maximè his sibi verbis fidem facit horrorem Eorum autem huiusmodi est sententia Quod est in calice id est quod à latere fluxit illius sumu◠participes Calicem autem benedictionis appellauit quoniam cùm prae manibus cum habemus cum admiratione horrore quodam inenarrabilis doni laudamus benedicentes quia sanguinem effudit ne in errore permaneremus Neque tantùm effudit sed nos omnes eius participes effecit Itaque si sanguinem cupis inquit noli Idolorum aram brutorum animalium coede sed meum altare meo sanguine aspergere Quid hoc admirabilius Dic quaeso quid amabilius Hoc amantes faciunt cum amatos intuentur alienorū cupiditate allectos propriis elargitis suadent vt ab illis abstineant Sed amantes quidem in pecuniis vestibus possessionibus hanc ostendunt cupiditatem in proprio sanguine nemo vnquam Christus autem in hoc curam vehementem in nos dilectionem ostendit With these woordes he doth gette greatly vnto him self both creditte and feare Of those woordes this ys the mening That that ys in the chalice ys yt that flowed from the side and we are partakers of yt But he hath called yt the cuppe of blessing For when we haue yt before our handes with admiracion and certein A plain saing of Chrysostō for the Proclamer horrour of the vnspeakeable gift we laude blessing that he hath shedde his bloode that we shoulde not abide in errour Neither hath he onely shedde yt but he hath made vs all partakers of yt Therfore if saieth he thowe doest desire blood do not sprenkle the aultar of Idolls with the slaughter of brute beastes but sprenkle mine aultar with my bloode Saie I praie thee What ys more merueilouse then this What ys more louing This do louers also whē they see these whom they loue allured with desire of straunge thinges when they haue geuen frely to them of ther owne they moue thē that they abstein from the other But louers shewe this desire in money in apparell in possessions but in his owne blood no man at anie time hath doen yt But Chryst in this also hath shewed his care and vehement loue towardes vs. Thus moche Chrysostom God for euer and allwaies be praised who although yt be his pleasure Note here that this ys the meaning of St Paules woordes that that ys in the chalice which flowed out of Chryctes side that his church shall be vexed and tried with the fire of tribulacion as at this present yt ys miserablie afflicted shaken and torne yet he leaueth yt not destitute of sufficient staie and comforte of trueth wherby yt maie bothe defende yt self and impugne the enemie as in this authour expownding this scripture we maie well perceaue Doste thowe reader marke the expositiō of the text S. Paule saieth Ys not the cuppe of blessing whiche we blesse a partaking of the bloode of Chryst Chrysostome saieth of these woordes this ys the meaning That that ys in the cuppe ys yt that flowed oute of the side
allwaies standing and abiding which so being setfurth were called the Masses of Basill and Chrysostome so that not the lack of an ordeinance of Masse as though ther were none before moued Proclus vbi supra them to make this ordre but the lacke of deuocion in the people as yowe shall perceaue by the testimonie of the auncient Father Proclus thus reporting Posteri abiecta fidei firmitate feruore negotiis huiusce seculi curis mundi mancipati immersi Missae longitudinem vt dixi pertaesi vix conueniebat ad audienda Domini verba Quare D. Basilius medica quadam ratione vsus breuiorem eam concisiorem reddidit Haud multò post Pater noster Ioannes cui aurea lingua cognomen dedit curam ouium vt pastorem decet magna alacritate animi suscipiens ac hominum naturae socordiam atque ignauiam prospiciens fibras omnes radices huius praetextus sathanici prorsus auellere voluit Quare multa praecidit vt breuior esset constituit ne sensim homines libertatem ocium maximè amplectentes fallacibus furiosis Aduersarii sermonibus decepti ab hac Apostolica diuina traditione deficerent quod multis saepe accidisse variis in locis ad hunc vsque diem deprehendimus Men of later daies leauing the feruencie and sowndnesse of faith being seruilelie geuen and drowned in the businesse and cares of this world as I haue saied being wearie of the lenght of the Note the decaie of deuocion the cause of the shortning of the Masse by S. Basill ad Chrysost Masse they skantlie assembled or came to heare the woord of our Lorde Wherfor S. Basill vsing the waie of a good phisition made yt breifer and shorter Not long after our Father Iohn whose golden toung hath geuen him a Surname taking vpon him the charge of the shepe as yt becometh a good sheperd beholding the slacknesse and sluggishnesse of the nature of men he wolde vtterlie remoue or pluck awaie all the rootes and small stringes of this intencion of Sathan Wherfor he cutt of manie thinges and ordeined that yt shoulde be shorter leste by litle and litle men embracing libertie and idlenesse and by the deceiptfull and furiouse woordes of the Aduersarie deceaued shoulde fall from this diuine and Apostolique tradicioÌ„ which thing euen vnto this time we haue perceaued to happen to manie Thus moche he in whom yowe perceaue plain testimonie to be made both of the Masse of S. Basill and of S. Chrysostom And not that onelie but also as I haue noted yowe maie perceaue the cause whie these two holie men made these ordeinances of Masse TradicioÌ„ of the order of Masse obserued froÌ„ the time of the Apostles Last of all yt ys to be noted as well woorthie yt ys so to be that the Masses of these two holie Fathers be not newe Masses but they be both euen that same Masse that by the diuine and Apostolique tradicion was first setfurth and commended to the catholique Churche to be practised but that by the se men the small deuocion of the people ther vnto enforcing them they be drawen shorter Wherbie we maie learn howe the auncient Churche did retein and abide in the tradicions of the Apostolique and primitiue Churche and did for no other pourpose make the order of the Masse receaued from the Apostles shorter but to kepe the people that they shoulde not for lack of faith and deuocion by the temptacion of Sathan fall from the diuine and holie tradicion of the Masse as nowe by the like means Englond hath doen. CoÌ„cil CstaÌ„tin sext caÌ„ 32. Of these Masses as also of the Masse of S. Iames we haue yet not one or two or twentie witnesses onelie but we haue a nombre euen the wholl vi Councell of Constantinople wher the Fathers making a canon against the Armenians and Hydroparastas whiche semed to misunderstand Chrysostome for the true vnperstanding of the matter saie thus of Chrysostom Non docet sanctus Pater per solum vinum oblationem fieri quandoquidem suae Ecclesiae vbi est illi pastoralis administratio tradita aquam vino miscendam tradidit quando incruentum peragi sacrificium oportet precioso honorando nostri redemptoris sanguine aqua contemperationem attendens quae in totius mundi viuificationem effusa est peccatorum redemptionem Et in omni Ecclesia vbi spiritalia luminaria refulserunt hic ordo diuinitus Wine and water why they were mixed in our Lordes cuppe traditus seruatur The holie Father teacheth not that the sacrifice shoulde be doen with wine alone forasmoche as he gaue order to the Churche wher he was Bishoppe that water shoulde be mingled with wine when the vnbloodie sacrifice ys to be doen considering the coÌ„temperacion of the perciouse and honorable blood and water which was shedde for the life of the worlde and the remission of sinnes And in euerie Church wher spirituall lights did shine this order setfurth by diuine tradicion ys kept In that the Councell saieth that Chrysostom gaue order to the Churche wher he was Bishoppe to mengle water with wine they vnderstand his Masse wherin soch order was vsed And let the Proclamer and all his complices note this saing well that this order setfurth by diuine tradicion was kept in euery Church wher spirituall lights did shine wherby maie be gathered that in Englond wher this order ys contemptuouslie banished ther be no spirituall lightes but carnall and earthlie smoking Turffes Of S. Iames and S. Basill thus yt foloweth in the same Councell Nam et Iacobus Domini nostri Iesu Christi secundùm carnem frater et Basilius Caesariensis Archiepiscopus cuius gloria omnem terrarum orbem peruasit mystico nobis in scripto tradito sacrificio ita peragendum in sacro mysterio ex aqua et vino sacrum poculum aediderunt et qui Cartagine conuenerunt ita apertè tradiderunt Iames the brother of our Lorde Iesus Chryste after the flesh and Basill the Archbyshoppe of Cesaria whose prayse ys gon throughout all the worlde in the mysticall sacrifice deliuered vnto vs in writing did setfurth the holie cuppe so to be vsed with water and wine And the holie Fathers which were together at the Councell of Cartage did euen so apertlie and openlie setfurth Thus the Councell Here now in the whol ye see that not onelie S. Iames and S. Basil and also ChrysostoÌ„ did seâ—surth the holie mynistracioÌ„ in writing but also taught that the cuppe in the same mynistracion should be mixed with water and wine as a diuine tradicion coming from the Apostles which tradicioÌ„althogh vsed of the Apostles and receaued of the auncient Fathers this Proclamer and his felowes doe reiect And yet to bleer the eies of meÌ„ he ys euer prouoking to the Apostles and the Primitiue Church when yet he himself will not come near yt And here reader consider that if this Proclamer intended the restitucion
wherof note gentle reader as before ys saied that as S. Iames and S. Clement directe their communicacion in praier to God the Father so doth S. Basill Chrysostom and S. Ambrose so also doth the catholique Church The schismaticall Church of the Proclamer and his felowes doth not so but reherseth historicallie the woordes of the scripture Yf yt should be asked whie the Proclamer and his likes refuse to folowe herin the auncient maner of the primitiue Church the imitaciō of whiche Protestāts why they folow not the maner of primitiue Church they so moch pretend and so often haue yt in their mouth yt ys easie to aunswer that they so doo bicause innouaciō which delighteth yt self with thown inuencions and desiereth nouelties and liketh allmost nothing that before was fownded ād setled by the Fathers which also pleaseth the people thursting chaunges of thinges occupieth their heades Other cause whie they shoulde not kepe the same forme maner and order of consecracion as the Apostles their Disciples and the Fathers did whie they should not cōtinew their peticion and praier in the time of consecraciō to god the father as they did whie theie vse not soch phrase and maner of woordes as all or most or some of thē did whie they put not water to the wine as all they did I cā none assign But to conclud hitherto yt maie be perceaued that the catholique Church in nothing varieth from the Apostolique primitiue and auncient Church and that the hereticall Church in nothing as touching consecraciō agreeth THE SIXE AND THIRTETH CHAP. DEclareth what was the intencion of the Apostles and Fathers in and aboute the consecracion in the Masse THe order by me appointed now requireth that we search what was the faith ād intenciō of the Apostles and Fathers of the primitiue Church aswell Grekes as Latines in and about the cōsecracion Yt ys a world to see how the Proclamer like a commōiester trifleth with soch a weightie matter Ah mercifull God that wise men can not see the deuelish wicked intēts of this heretical brood Brentius and Caluine contemne the woordes of the formes of Sacraments The Proclamer mocketh and skorneth the intencion of soch as mynistre the sacraments Yet when these two be taken awaie what sacrament haue yowe But that I tread not oute of my path leauing to entre the disputacion of intencion and faith generallie in all sacraments I will onelie here declare the intencion of the consecracion of the B. Sacrament by the practise of the Apostles and fathers And without all circumstances breiflie to entre into the matter we will first see the intent and faith of S. Iames what he thouht to be wrought in the consecracion of the Sacrament Which his goodlie praier wilfullie declare wherin he praieth thus Miserere nostri Deus omnipotens miserere nostri Deus seruator noster misere nostri Deus secundùm magnam misericordiam tuam demitte super nos et super haec dona proposita Spiritum tuum sanctissimum Dominum viuificum S. Jacobus in Missa vnà tecum Deo Patre et vnigenito Filio tuo assidentem simul regnantem consubstantialem ac coeternū qui locutus est in lege et Prophetis et in nouo tuo testamento qui descendit in specie columbae super D. n. Iesum Christum in Iordanis stuuio mansit super eum qui descendit super Apostolos tuos in specie ignearum linguarum in coenaculo sanctae gloriosae Syon in die Pentecostes Ipsum spiritum tuum sanctiss demitte nunc quoque Domme in nos in haec dona sancta proposita vt superueniens sancta et bona et gloriosa sua praesentia sanctificet et efficiat hunc panem corpus sanctum Christi tui et calicem hunc preciosum sanguinem Christi tui vt sit omnibus ex its sumentibus in remissionem peccatorum et in vitā aeternam Haue mercie vpon vs o God allmightie haue mercie vpon vs o God our Sauiour haue mercie vpon vs o God according to thie great mercie and send downe vpon vs and vpon these proposed giftes thy most holie Spiritt our liuing Lorde sitting and reigning and euerlasting together with thee S. Iames beleued by the worke of the holie Gost the bread and wine to be consecrated into the bodie ād blod of Chryste God the Father and thy onelie begotten Sonne who hath spokē in the law and in the Prophets ād in thie new testament which came down in the shape of a done vpon our Lord Iesus Chryst in the floud of Iordane ād abidde vpon him who came downe vpon thy Apostles in the shape of sierie toungs in the parlour of the holie and gloriouse Syon in the daie of pentecost The same thy most holie Spiritt o Lorde sende down also vpon vs and these holie proposed gifts that he coming vpon them maie with his holie good and gloriouse presence sanctifie and make this bread the bodie of thy Chryst ād this cuppe the preciouse blood of thie Chryst that yt maie be to all that receaue of yt remission of sinnes and life euerlasting c. Allthough in this praier of S. Iames manie things might be fownd woorthie of note yet yt shall suffice for this present that we obserue that he vpon the consecracion had the same maner of intent and faith that the catholique Church how hath that ys that the bread and wine set vpon the aultar by the miraculouse woork of the holie Gost be made the bodie ād blood of Chryst Which thing ys so liuelie and fullie spoken and vttered that yt nedeth no farder declaraciō This onelie maie be added that yf ther were no more doē by the consecracion but that the bread and wine be made a sacramentall bread and wine that ys onelie figurs and tokens of the bodie and blood of Chryst S. Iames wold neuer haue so earnestlie praied for the coming down of the holie Gost to sanctifie that bread and wine he knowing that the bread and wine might without the speciall sanctificacion of the holie Gost verie well be figurs of Chrystes bodie and blood as manie other things were in the olde lawe Neither wolde he haue praied that the holie Gost by his holie presence should make the bread and wine the bodie and blood of Chryste yf he had entended or beleued Chrysts institucion to haue but figures Yt were in my iudgement a mockrie of God to desire that the bodie and bloode of Chryste might be ther and wolde not haue yt in dede but onelie the figurs of yt But whie do I saie so moch in so plain and clere a mater As ye nowe perceaue by S. Iames his praier that his entent and faith was that Chrystes verie bodie and verie blood were consecrated on the aultar so shall ye see that S. Clement came to the aultar with the same faith and entent wherupon he praied thus Rogamus vt mittere digneris sanctum tuum Spiritum super
in the Communion of Chrystes bodie and bloode and also that sacrifice shoulde be offred for them This doctrine S. Augustine saith Sith yt can not be denied but that praier for the dead ys good yt cannot again be denied but they be naught that saie yt ys euel shoulde not be doubted of yea yt ys so certen a doctrine that in an other place he saieth yt can not be denied Thus he writeth Neque negandū est defunctorum animas pietate suorum viuentium releuari cum pro eis sacrificium mediatoris offertur vel eleemosinae in ecclesia fiunt Neither ys yt to be denied but that the soules of the dead are releiued by the godlinesse of their frendes liuing when the sacrifice of the mediatour ys offred for them or ells almose dedes be doen in the Churche Yf by the iudgement of S. Augustine yt be not to be denied then yt ys a doctrine to be receaued and holden of a good chrystian And wicked maie he be iudged that reiecteth yt contemneth yt and derideth yt The time shall come that soche shall desire to be refresshed as did the riche glotten but they shall not be heard But that I maie once make an ende of this matter of the value of the Masse to the dead though a iust volume might be made of that that therin maie be saied yet this maie suffice to him that will be satissied For first ys shewed that the praier and sacrifice for the dead was vsed of the Apostles For proof wherof ys produced the praier of S. Iames Masse and to confirme that ther ys added both the testimonie of Chrysostom and also the maner of praing for the dead described by S. Dionise S. Paules Disciple Asterwarde for the farder declaracion of the practise of the Churche the authorities of the Masses aswell of S. Basill as of Chrysostom be alleaged And that the continuance and generall receipt of this practise maie be perceaued to be good and the refusall of yt to be euell aswell in the greke Church as in the latin Epiphanius and S. Augustine be brought furth as wittnesses testifienge that Aerius mainteining the cōtrarie doctrine was reputed esteemed and nombred among heretiques Against soche like persons did the Councell of Carthage publish a decree And that this practise might most clerelie be perceaued to be frequented in the churche the decree reported by S. Cyprian and the practise of the same decree by S. Cyprian vpon Geminius Faustinus and Victor ys added which inuinciblie prooueth praier and sacrifice to be vsed for the dead in the holie auncient churche Finallie for the proofe of the countinuāce of this sacrifice from the Apostles time to the time of S. Ambrose and S. Augustine not onely mencion ys made what S. Ambrose wolde haue doē towarde and for Faustinus sister and what was doen of S. Augustines Mother but also two places be alleaged in the which the certentie of this matter ys so taught that yt ys neither to be denied nor doubted And good cause whie we shoulde neither denie yt nor doubte of yt For yt was receaued ād obserued of the vniuerfal Churche Nowe reader when thowe seist this matter so plainlie and so euidentlie testified to thee that thus yt hath ben taught thus yt hath be doen thus yt hath ben vsed and yet all this not withstanding that the Aduersarie raigeth and raileth against yt and that that by these Fathers was taught to be heresie of him to be taught to be averitie that the Apostles and Fathers commaunded to be vsed that he commaundeth to be refused that the holie Fathers had in reuerence that he hath in contempt I suppose thowe neadest no farder aduertisement but when thowe seist him so stowtlie so arrogantlie and therfor hereticallie impugn this being so certen a trueth thowe maist iustlie thinke that he ys not ledde of the spiritt of trueth who medleth not as ys saied with falsheade but he ys ledde with the lieng spiritt And therfor iust cause hauest thowe to suspect all that he saieth and to no parte of yt to geue creditte as spoken of him but as spoken of other whose doctrine agreeth with the doctrine of the Spiritt of trueth taught in his schoole the holie Churche And nowe to ende I will ioin this yssue yf either the proclamer or anie Yssue ioined with the proclamer for praier for the dead other of his adherentes can bring anie one catholique and auncient Father that saieth that soche as departe in the saith of Chryst are not to be praied for or that sacrifice ys not to be offred for them or that charitable almosse doeth not profitt thē Let them I saie bring one aunciēt and catholique Father so writing and I dare and will not onely for my self but for asmanie as be catholique and learned promisse that we will subscribe Again reader I beseche thee if thowe be learned marke if thow be vnlearned enquire if euer anie Aduersarie in anie booke made anie argument of authoritie against this matter other then mocking lieng denieng and reproouing by voluntarie reason and will warrant if thowe wilt weigh and marke thowe shalt finde none Yf then in that side ys nothing but willfullnes and on this side thowe seist graue auncient and weghtie authoritie call vnto God for his grace and staie wher authoritie ys and flee from thence wher noisom wilfullnes reigneth THE FOVRTETH CHAP. TREACTETH OF priuate Masses as the Proclamer tearmeth them and solueth his argumentes HAuing nowe somwhat saied of two principall partes of the Masse namelie consecracion and oblacion ther remaineth the thirde principall parte to be spoaken of whiche ys receauing As touching that the Sacrament shoulde be receaued ther ys no controuersie betwixt vs and the Aduersarie For on both sides yt ys affirmed that yt shoulde be receaued But the controuersie ys aboute the maner of receauing Which standeth in two poinctes The one whether of necessitie yt must be receaued vnder bothe kindes The other whether of necessitie yt must be receaued of mo then one at once Of the first we haue spoken at large in the second booke Of the other shall be reacted here In this matter for that the catholique Church permiteth preistes in their common ministracion to receaue the blessed Sacrament alone and sekemen for their necessitie to doe the like yt liketh the Proclamer as yt hath doen other his likes with might and main to accuse the Church of transgression and breach of Chrystes ordinance And here we be all that euell ys for our so doinge Here the Proclamer triumpheth vpō vs in his own conceipt pressing and crushinge vs as he suppseth euen to the grownde so lowe that he thinketh we shall neuer be able to stand on foote again against him and hath as to him appeareth so stopped our mouthes with scriptures and the practise of the primitiue Churche and the authorities of auncient Fathers that we shall likewise neuer be able to open our mouthes against him But as
prophecies plain speaches of his onelie begotten Sonne Iesus Chryst and the great nombre of assertions declaracions and expositions of most holie famouse auncient and learned Fathers shewed anie miracles for the confirmacion of the trueth of the blessed Sacrament And First let vs see for the presence of Chryst in the Sacramēt Sathan perswaded Luther that ther ys not present the bodie and bloode of Chryst but bread and wine let vs trie the trueth therof by Gods worke Amphilochius an holie Bishoppe who liued within the compasse of foure hondreth yeares after Chryst and therfor a good nombre of yeares more Jn vita Ba. The blessed Sacr. deliue red to a Jewe was verie flesh ād verie blood in seight then eleuen hondred agone writing the life of S. Basill testifieth that a certain Iewe desierouse to see the misteries of the chrystians came among an infinite multitude to the churche wher S. Basill saied Masse And feigning himself to be a Chrystian and being among them at S. Basills Masse sawe in the handes of S. Basill a childe diuided Neuer the lesse when the time of the communion came he stoode among other to doe as they did and when the Sacrament was deliuered vnto him yt was yerie flesh And when the cuppe was brought to him yt was verie bloode of whiche both as he might keping some parte when he came home he shewed them to his weif and tolde her what he had seen with his eies Whervpon beleuing that the misteries of the christians were woonderfull the next daie he went to S. Basill and tolde him all the wholl matter and desiered him that he might withoute delaie be christened and so he was and all his housholde Yt ys redd also in the liues of the Fathers that ther was a certain olde mā who although he were a great man yet he was simple and did erre in the matter of the Sacrament and saied that the consecrated bread which we doe receaue ys not the naturall bodie of Chryst but a figure of yt This his errour when two auncient men did vnderstand and knowe that his life and cōuersacion other wise was good they thought that he did yt innocētlie and simplie And therfor they went to him and rehersed his errour to him He graunted that he did so saie They perswaded him that he should not so beleue but as the catholike Church doeth We saie they beleue that that bread ys the bodie of Chryst and that cuppe his bloode in verie dede and not in The blessed Sacr. deliuered to a doubting chrystian appeared flesh figure But as in the beginning God taking a litle earth made man to his owne image and no man can saie but that man although he be made of the earth he ys the image of God Euen so the bread by cause he saied This ys my bodie we beleue that yt ys verilie his bodie The olde man saied except I maie know yt so to be in verie dede yowr reasons can not satisfie me Then they saied Let vs geue our selues to praier this weke that God maie vouchsaffe to reueill this mysterie vnto vs. After their praier they three came to the church And when the time came that they shoulde receaue the one lie porcion of the Sacrament deliuered to that olde man was verie bloodie flesh whiche when he sawe he was afearde and cried saing I beleue that the bread that ys on the aultar ys thie bodie and the cuppe ys thy bloode And furthwith the flesh in his hand was made breade and so he receaued yt and gaue thankes to God Let not the Aduersarie by skorning trauaill to reiecte this miracle or auoide the force of yt by slaunder saing that some papist hath inuented yt For as yt ys testified this was doen as the last rehersed miracle was with in the compasse of foure hundreth yeares after Chryst at whiche time yt were to moch wickednesse for the Aduersarie to think anie vain inuencions to haue ben deuised for the maintenance of the treuth of the Sacramet I omitte to alleadge here soche miracles as S. Cyprian and S. Ambrose reporte aboute the blessed Sacrament for that I haue made some mencion of them allreadie and again by occasion shall Manie goodlie miracles also be reported by S. Gregorie and manie were doen in his time aboute this blessed Sacrament whiche were to long to reherse These two therfor shall suffice to helpe vs to perceaue and vnderstand Gods pleasure and his holie trueth as concerning the presence of Chrystes bodie in the blessed Sacrament Sathan perswaded Luther not to honoure the bodie of Chryst in the Sacrament but what the Churche hath doen frō the Apostles time and what the holie Martirs and learned Fathers teach in this matter yt ys declared in the secōd booke Besides whiche knowledge so left vnto vs of God we shall Optatus li. 2. cont Donatist perceaue gods pleasure by miracle that the blessed Sacrament shoulde be honoured In the which matter yt ys verie notable that Optatus reporteth of the Donatistes who being cruell heretiques so farre misliked what was doen by the catholiques that violentlie inuading their Churches they commaunded the Sacrament to be geuen to the dogges But the iudgement of God Dogges after their eating of the Sacrament worowed their Masters that cast yt vnto them not suffring so heinouse an offence to be vnpunished so great contumelic to the dishonour of the blessed Sacrament to be vnreuenged The dogges vnto their owne masters whom before they loued and defended nowe being enemies fell on them as on straungers or theues and with all violence as though they had neuer knowen them waxed feirce on them and worowed them God herby as I take yt signifieng vnto vs that as rabbish men forgatte their duetie and honoure to their Lorde God so the vnreasonable creatures forgatt their loue to their masters Whether they haue offended and displeased God that in this our time haue as wickedlie abused the Sacrament as did these Donatistes they maie by this miracle easilie perceaue And this maie we perceaue also that as the dishonouring of the Sacrament offendeth and displeaseth God and therfor he punissheth yt So in the honouring of the Sacrament neuer anie Idolatrie was committed for we neuer readd yt punished Let anie of the Aduersaries if they can bring furth anie one sufficient example that euer anie one was punished of God for honouring Chryst in the Sacrament and then they haue doen somwhat but they neuer coulde yet nor neuer shall so weake ys their cause Against the Masse also Sathan perswaded Luther and good cause whie For by the Masse his power as well in extern or worldly thinges as in intern Sathan his power abated by the vertue of the Masse or spirituall thinges ys ouerthrowen For worldlie thinges we haue the testimonie of S. Augustine who as be fore ys mencioned testifieth that by the offring of the sacrifice of the bodie and blood of Chryste whiche ys the Masse the wicked power
communicateth vnder one kinde nor alone thinking that of necessitie yt must so be and cōtemneth the auncient practise of the primitiue Church and most fiercelie accuseth the wholl Churche for these thousand years of the transgression of Chrystes institucion and commaundement Thus ye maie see that the Masse of the catholique Church for the substanciall parts and poinctes of yt being conferred to the Masse of the Apostles and Fathers of the primitiue and auncient Church ys fownd to be fullie agreable and the Communion of the Schismaticall Church in all poincts disagreable Yf the Masse had disagreed or dissented in anie substanciall poinct thow maist be well assured gentle Reader that the Proclamer wolde not by so slender so impertinent yea and so vntrue conferences haue gone aboute to improue and disgrace yt as he doeth He conferred yt with the Masse of S. Iames but in soch sorte that yf he had neuer made pithier oracion in the disputacion at the Paruis in Oxforde I ween he shoulde neuer haue ben alowed for a generall Sophister But God be praised that his catholique Churche ys so appoincted that the enemies can not finde anie weightie matter iustlie to repugn or reproue yt But let vs see his conferences S. Iames saeth he saied Masse in the common toung as the people might vnderstand him They saie their Masse in a straunge toung that the people should not knowe what they mene This ys the first peice of his conference The man lackt good stuff to beginne his worke when he ys fain in the first shewe of all to place soch pelf Confider I praie thee gentle reader that yf yt shoulde be in question whether Plato were a man and his enemie shoulde come in and saie he was no man bicause he spake latin yt were but a fond argument and all together impertinent For the matter to be tried ys aboute the substance of Plato and not aboute anie accident and the enemie growndeth vpon the accident and leaueth the substance So the question here ys whether the Masse be good or no which ys about the substance of the thing and he cometh in with an argument of an accident that yt ys saied in latin and therfore yt ys not good what ys this to the pourpose Manie a thing ys good in yt self though yt be not of all vnderstanded The seuen liberal Sciēces be good though they be not vnderstanded of all men The holie scriptures be good in themselues though all men vnderstād them not Yea euen nowe when they be in the vulgar toung they will not speake so familiarlie no not to the mynisters that euerie mynister maie vnderstand them and yet they be good So ys the Masse likewise good though all the people vnderstand yt not This argument therfore proueth nothing against the Masse Yf he wolde rightlie haue proceaded he shoulde haue proued no Masse to be or that that ys called Masse to be in substance not good before he shoulde improue yt for being saied in an vnknowen toung as he tearmeth yt for yt ys meet yt be disputed whether the thing be before yt be disputed whether yt be of this maner of that Against his first comparison therfore we maie conclude that as S. Iames Masse saied in the hebrue toung was in yt self godlie and good though the greke or latin being at the same vnderstand not what was saied so the Masse nowe saied in the catholique Churche in the latin toung though the english or frenche man vnderstand yt not yet yt ys godlie and good in yt self His second comparison ys S. Iames spake oute the woordes of consecracion They in their Masse suppresse the same woordes and kepe them close Hetherto the Proclamer plaieth small game He had leuer in a weightie matter speake some trifling woord then saie nothing Malice will cast dust or what soeuer cometh to hand at his enemie in want of better weapon Here semeth a bare Armarie wher so weake a weapon ys bent against that whiche with all force he wolde ouerthrowe He hath small fauts to obiect against the blessed Masse when lowd speaking or softe speaking ys made a faute As before ys saied what ys this to the substance of the Masse As the Masse saied ys as good as the Masse songe so ys the Masse softelie spokē in substāce as good as the Masfe lowdlie The primitiue church praied manie praiers of the Masse secretlie spoken Ys not yowr owne Communion as good saied as songe yf ther were anie goodnesse in yt or ys yt not as good saied in a great congregacion wher some stand so farre of as they can not heare the woordes of consecracion whiche in that case are spoken as in soste silence to them as yt ys being song in a small congregacion where all the people maie heare Were all the Masses in the auncient Church throughlie oute spokē alowde Let the Proclamer looke the bookes and he shall finde yt otherwise Did S. Basill in his Masse pronounce the wholl action of cōsecracion with a lowde voice No when he began the Canon to entre toward consecracion he praied secretlie and the rule ys prefixed at the beginning of the praier Pontifex secretè The Bishoppe praieth this secretlie By imitacion wherof I thinke yt receaued throughout the catholique Churche to praie the praiers of the Canon secretlie And when S. Basill came to the consecracion did he speake the wholl processe with a lowde voice No part he spake with a lowde voice part with a secret or sost voice but this moch the Proclamer did not knowe percase whē he obiected this secrette speaking for a sault Yf he did he obiected yt more of malice then of trueth or wisdom Howe shender then thys comparison ys and of what weake force yt ys yt maie easilie be perceaued The thirde comparison ys this S. Iames in his Masse mynistred the Communion to the people They in their Masse receaue themselues alone This comparison in some vnderstanding ys true in some yt smelleth of vntrueth Yf yt be vnderstanded particularlie and not generally that ys that S. Iames somtimes when he saied Masse mynistred the Communion to the people yt ys true And so yt ys true that the catholique Church somtime mynistreth the Sacrament to to the people when Masse ys saied Yf yt be vnderstanded generallie that sainct lames at all times when he saied Masse mynistred the Communion to the people yt smelleth I saie of an vntrueth and so shall stand and be reputed vntill the Proclamer proue yt For I see so litle trueth in in him that withoute some better authoritie then his owne bare woorde I can not beleue him in this matter And that I thus doo I haue euen in this Masse saied withoute commucants matter good cause For as I finde that in the Churche of Constantinople Masse was dailie saied when the people did not communicate so doe I finde a rule made in the auncient Churche what the preist shoulde doo when ther were no
be accompted amonge euell receauers that otherwise thinke of the bodie of Chryst then ys to be thought of yt What ys to be thought of them that wher Chryst promised that the bread which he wolde geue shoulde be his fleshe whiche he wolde geue for the life of the worlde and by expresse woordes for the perfourmāce of the same promesse takinge bread saied plainlie This ys my bodie And S Paule as the wholl companie of the Fathers hitherto haue testified and mo yet shall testifie saieth that in the Sacrament ys the bodie of Chryst what I saie ys to be thought of them that will not thinke Chrystes bodie to be his bodie but withe the Ebionites and Cerinthians will make Chryst no God with the Manicheis will make him but a phantasticall figure and with the Nestorians will as they made a distinction betwixt the two naturs leauing the nature of man deuided and distincted from the Godheade so make the holie Sacrament distincted from Chryst wher in verie dede as God and man ys one Chryst So the blessed Sacrament as touchinge the Substance and Chryst ys all one the Substance of the Sacrament being none other but the verie substance of Chryst These euell receauers and abusers of Chrystes holie Sacrament as they abuse the thinge yt self So by slaunderouse tearmes doe they abuse them that well vse the same For the true Christians that honour God call they Idolaters Soche as acknowledge Chrystes verie bodie in the Sacrament call they grosse Capharnaites And soche as beleue the substance of bread by the omnipotencie of God to be chaunged and made the substance of Chryste they call Papistes But God geue them a better minde and the catholiques plentie of pacience patiently to suffre their railinges so long as God for our correction will permitte the same to continue And nowe to return to our matter this finallie ys to be noted in our Cassiod howe he vttereth Sainct Paules woordes Authour that alleging our text of Sainct Paule he vseth not the woordes of Sainct Paule but the meaning and vnderstandinge Thus he alleageth Sainct Paule Qui enim corpus Domini indignè manducat iudicium sibi manducat For he that eateth the bodie of our Lorde vnwoorthilie eateth his owne iudgement Note well that he saieth not he that eateth the bread but he that eateth the bodie of our Lorde expownding what bread Sainct Paule spake of in that scripture the bread I saie of Chrystes bodie as oftentimes yt ys allreadie saied What can be saied more plainer wolde the Proclamer haue anie plainer speache then this Let him note the woordes and the circunstance also and weigh yt well and he shall finde yt so plain that all his engines and wrestinges and all his subtilties◠with the aide of all his complices shall not be able to withstand the plain trueth of yt But Let vs heare Damascen speaking as plainlie as he and by like woordes openinge to vs the true mening of Sainct Paule This Damascen setting Damascen li. 4. ca. 14. furth the vertue goodnesse and power of the Sacrament saieth thus Si aurum offendat adulteratum per iudicialem correptoriamue ignitionem purgat vt non in futuro cum mundo damnemur Curat enim morbos omnimoda damna quemadmodum dicit Apostolus Si nos vtique iudicaremus non vtique iudicaremur Cùm iudicamur autem à Deo corripimur vt non cum mundo condemnemur Et hoc est quod dicit Quare qui participat corpus sanguinem Christi indignè iudicium sibi tosi manducat bibit Per illud purgati vnimur corpori Domini spiritui eius efficimur corpus Christi Nam spiritus viuificans est caro Domini quia ex viuificante spiritu concepta est Quod enim natum est ex spiritu spiritus est Hoc autem dico non auferens corporis naturam sed viuificationem diuinitatem eius ostendens Yf yt finde golde that ys corrupted by iudiciall and correptorie fieringe yt pourgeth yt that we be not in time to come condemned with the worlde For yt cureth diseases and all maner of hurtes as the Apostle saieth Yf we wolde iudge our selues we shoulde not be iudged but when we are iudged of God we are chasticed that we shoulde not be damned with the worlde And this ys yt that the Apostle saieth Wherfor he that receaueth the Damascen vttereth the woordes of S. Paule as other elders before bodie and blood of Christe vnwoorthilie he eateth drinketh his owne damnacion We being purged by that are vnited to the bodie of our Lorde and to his Spiritt and are made the bodie of Chryste For the flesh of our Lorde ys a quickning Spiritt bicause yt was conceaued by the quickninge Spirite For that that ys borne of the Spiritte ys a Spiritte This doe I saie not taking awaie the nature of the bodie but declaring his Godhead and power to geue life Thus he Leauing diuerse good and godlie notes in this sainge of Damascen to be considered by the Reader I hast me to note those thinges that be to the pourpose of this present cause Of the whiche the first and cheifest ys that he alleaging the sainge of Sainct Paule shewinge vs the exposition of the scripture and geuing vs the vnderstanding of the same and the right meninge of Sainct Paule speaketh yt by these woordes He that receaueth the bodie and blood of Chryst vnwoorthilie eateth and drinketh his owne damnacion In whiche maner of speache as an expositour aught to doe by vnwrestable woordes he declareth what Sathan wolde wrest and soo by plain woordes calleth that that Sainct Paule calleth the bread and cuppe of our Lorde the bodie and blood of Chryst he right well knowing that they be so in verie dede I trust the Proclamer will not here vpon this Authour cast the stinking mist of his figure considering that yt ys an exposition And the nature of an exposition ys to be plainer then the thing expownded And although both the text and the exposition speake the trueth yet he knoweth that what the text oftentimes speaketh obscurely or doubtfullie that must the exposition speake plainlie clerely and manifestlie Whefor he must nedes confesse that this Authour shewing the minde of S. Paule and expownding the bread and the cuppe to be the bodie and bloode of Chryst that yt ys plainlie so And wher diuerse of the adherēts of this Proclamer beare great Stomacke against this Authour for his plain trueth in manie matters Lett both him and them knowe that as in all pointes of this matter the wholl catholique Churche hath alowed him So ys he agreable to all that hitherto haue ben alleaged in the exposition of S. Paule which all be right auncient or hereafter shall be alleaged though they be not so auncient A Breif note also can I not but make of Damascen wher he saieth that we being pourged are by the receipt of the bodie of Chryste vnited to the same