aunsweared as which indeede if it bee well weighed is not onelie vntrue as in respect of it selfe because though glorification implie a most excellent and heauenlie estate dooth not yet for all that destroye the essentiall properties of bodies glorified but most absurde and false also as in regard of vs. For if the glorification of Christs bodie haue remooued or taken awaye that essentiall propertie to witte that it shoulde truelie and indeede bee tied vnto a place then the like shall bee perfourmed and the same effect followe in all the glorified bodies of the faithfull after the resurrection because our Sauiour hath not onelie glorified his owne bodie for himselfe hee rising therein a mightie conquerour ouer death and hell and nowe triumphantlie ruling and raigning in the heauens in all maiestie but for our sakes also hath atchieued that greate honour wee hauing from him this assured promise in his worde Philip. 3.21 that God shal chaunge our base and vile bodies that they may bee fashioned like vnto his glorious bodie according vnto the mightie working whereby hee is able to subdue all things vnto himselfe But to saye that our bodies glorified after the rising againe of the same in the generall day of iudgement shall be euery where a rashe and vncertaine yea a beastlie and blasphemous assertion because it ascribeth that vnto vs which is proper and peculiar onelie to GOD for vnto hym alone it perteineth to fill heauen earth and all places alwayes and at one tyme as infinite places of Scripture doo plainelie prooue therefore this opinion also concerning Christes glorified bodie beeing euerie where or in infinite places at one time must of necessitie be suche likewise 4 Fourthlie it dooth directlye destroy and as it were at one blowe blotte out and deface all those Articles of our moste pretious Faith and Christian religion whych doo concerne Christes assured ascension into Heauen hys maiesticall sitting at the right hande of the Father and his glorious comming agayne from thence together wyth that infinite number of moste playne places of GODS holie woorde that out of the writinges of the Prophetes and Apostles may bee drawen for the proofe of those moste comfortable and necessarie pointes To deale wyth euerye one of these by themselues shortely and in fewe woordes I woulde faine knowe if our Sauiour Christ be here vpon earth in respect of his bodilye power and presence howe hee can iustlie as in regarde of the same hys bodye bee sayde to haue ascended into Heauen Or let them tel vs if hee remaine wyth vs in hys flesh how hee can bee truelye saide in hys manhoode to sitte at the right hande of hys Father in Heauen Or howe it can bee in religion or reason affirmed that our Sauiour shall come from Heauen with great power and glorie to iudge the quick and the dead seeing he is here on earth already The Scripture telleth vs for his ascension Actes 1.9 that in the sight and beholding of the blessed Apostles yea whiles they looked stedfastly towards heauen he was taken vp Let them shew so much for his bodilie abode vpon earth and proue it by such substantiall witnesse and wee are readie to yeelde Besides we knowe by the worde and therefore beleeue it that as he was seene go into heauen Actes 1.10 so shall he come againe but hee was seene to ascend thither bodilie and therefore so shall hee returne from thence againe I suppose they will not saye that our Sauiour had two bodies one that hee tooke wyth him an other that hee left heere for that were to make him altogether monstrous and men scrupulous none knowing in whether of them hee perfourmed the work of their redemption And to saye that that one blessed bodie of his was diuided is as absurde and erronious because it can not be so but that the whole bodie it selfe must be impaired and mangled at the least if not destroyed and so the woorke of saluation ouerthrowne To stand vpon anie naked interpretation touching the right hand of God will not serue their turne for there being nothing meant thereby in this article of our beleefe but the great glorie that is in heauen prepared for the saints and that most excellent blessednesse that belongeth to them whereof our sauior Christ was in a most full measure made by his ascention into heauen as in respect of his humanity absolute partaker what could they gaine Doo they imagine that it would heervpon insue that Christ should be euerie where and by consequent on earth but they are deceiued for why doo they not as well consider the word sitting which implieth locall residence in a place or doo they not know and beleeue that heauen it selfe is not euerie where but locall rather or will they not see that without warrant of the word yea contrarie to the same which in sundrie places opposeth heauen and earth one of them against another or sence of humane iudgement they iumble and confound them togither Reason will lead vs to this that none can be said to goe vp into the place where he is or to come downe from it when he remaineth there And though wee minde not to subiect our sauior speciallie as in respect of his eternall Godhead to humane sence yet by the same we may and ought to be ledde not to destroy the essentiall properties of his manhood Now then whether shall wee beleeue this trueth of the Lord or mens fantasies that go about to peruert our persuasions and deceiue our vnderstandings Let men of the worlde deeme what they lust this is the truth that God hath sanctified vnto vs in his word and I doo stedfastlie beleeue it in my heart and will throgh Gods goodnesse and strength alwaies confesse the same with my mouth that from the very time of Christes ascension into Heauen Acts. 3 2â— The Heauens must conteine his naturall bodie vntill the time that all things be restored that is euen to the worlds end 5 Fiftlie I say that this opinion dooth vniustlie depriue vs of all such spirituall graces and comforts for our consciences as God the father in his sonne Christ by sending the Holie ghost the third person in the deitie hath not onelie promised but in good time wil performe and bestow vpon the whole church generallie and euerie sound particular member of the same yea if we wey it well we shall finde that it is the ruine and bane of the church it selfe both in the whole bodie of it and in the seuerall parts Our sauior himselfe in most plaine and expresse terms faith Iohn 16.7 I tel you the truth it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the comforter will not come vnto you but if I depart I will send him vnto you Hee that knoweth anie thing of truth is well acquainted with this that generallie all the word but most especiallie the comfortable promises conteined in the same be as it were the life
question in controuersie whether this doctrine concerning the reall presence of Christes very fleshe in many or all places at once can stand wyth the truth of Christs flesh whether wee consider it after or before the glorification thereof Now we stoutly and safely deny that Christs fleshe at any tyme can be in many or in all places at once and wee saye that it can not by anye necessary or fitte consequence bee gathered either from this hys walkyng vppon the waters or in that hee entered into the place where hys disciples were the dores being shut or in that hee arose againe the stone of the Sepulchre or Toombe Iohn 20.19 Math. 28.2 Certain reasons alledged for proofe of his assertion not beeing remooued or rolled awaye by mannes handes And of thys wee haue sundrye reasons for firste these myracles seeme rather to bee doone in the waters themselues made harde and firme not onelie vnder Christs feete but vnder Peters also than in Christs owne bodie the like whereof also is to bee saide touching the wall and sepulchre Matth. 14.29 the heape or weight whereof did sodainely yeeld vnto the body of the creator Moreouer though we shold grant that they were to be seene in the very body of Christ yet doth not the withholding of a bodily weight or the withdrawing of it for a time or else this thinnesse as a man woulde say of a bodilie heape either abolish a bodie it selfe sith it dooth at any hand take away the quantitie of a body or implie contradiction as they are woont to say in the schooles But we affirme that a true and very bodie can neither want quantity or circumscriptiblenesse but it shal cease to be a bodie neither can it be at once in one place as circumscribed and in an other place as not circumscribed but that we must of necessitie conclude both that it is a bodie and that it is not a bodie which are assertions meerelie contrarie The summe of all these thinges is this or tendeth to this ende namelie that this opinion of the reall consubstantiation of Christes flesh with bread and wine is most false and vntrue as by meanes whereof the trueth of Christes fleshe is vtterlie abolished Now againe The second reason against consubstantiation See the first before pag. 65. euen by this most weightie argument following may this forgerie and deuise be confuted namelie because it plainlie and wholie standeth vp against the analogie and proportion of faith so little need or iust cause haue the defendors thereof to call vs backe to the power and force of faith Acts. 1.11 Marke 16.19 The scripture witnesseth in manie places that Christes flesh ascended vp aboue the heauens and that there also at this day it remaineth we may not therefore seeke for it in earth otherwise it should not be an ascending but a vanishing away for the time Certeinlie A generall rule no man can trulie be said to come or go vp thither where he now was or to go away descend or be absent from the place where he remaineth Looke therefore in how manie places these things are spoken of Christ according to his flesh and that without anie figuratiue kinde of speech by so manie most strong and inuincible testimonies there is confirmed vnto vs the true taking away of the bodie of Christ from vs and also that reall dotage of the presence of Christes flesh vpon the earth that is to say thys opinion which the Dokits Marcionits mainteine sufficientlie confuted Of these see before pag. 70. As for that that they vrge against vs An obiection answered saieng How absurd is that that Christes flesh is now in heauen and no where else It is easilie answered that we speake no otherwise than Peter Acts. 3.21 Acts. 1.11 yea than the angels themselues haue spoken And though they say further that by this meanes we shut vp Christ as it were in a prison where as yet notwithstanding the right hand of God that is to say his heauenlie power and authoritie whereat he sitteth is euerie where What for all this Answer vs this and tell vs whether that being on the earth absent from heauen for he had not ascended thither where he was then present or whether that being in the virgins wombe or wrapped vp in swadling clothes lieng in the crib he was shut vp in prison Yea sith euerie bodie is conteined in his owne place yea things without bodies are yet notwithstanding included in the proprietie of their nature for onelie the Godhead is infinit what can follow else of this their most absurd argument and reason Absurditie in reason by the aduersaries argument than that all things are full of prisons and prisoners And though we should say that vnder the termes of sitting at the right hand Philip. 2.9 there is meant the verie selfe same thing which the apostle simplie and without trope saith that Christ to wit as he is man hath receiued that is to say a name aboue all names yet it should be no lesse fond and absurd thervpon to gather and conclude the presence of Christes flesh in euerie place A similitude that if we would affirme that the bodie of some king is as large and wide as the bounds of his kingdome are brode But say they Another obiection answered Christ being present gouerneth all things We answer that is true as he is God and yet the person of Christ is not for al that rent in sunder or diuided For euen Christ man being euerie where the Lord is present also euerie where much more in the supper In what respect Christ is present euerie where howbeit not as in respect of the manhood it selfe but as in regard of another that is to say as he is one person not in himselfe as in regard of his manhood but in the verie nature of the Godhead it selfe of which the humanitie was so assumed that it is one subsistence or being togither with it as a little while ago we declared Therefore the man Christ is in deed present to wit as he the selfe same is Christ God and yet the manhood of Christ is not now in anie other place than in heauen The third obiection answered Ephes 4.10 But it is yet further obiected that Christ went vp into heauen to fulfill all things I grant it wherevpon also I gather that hee fulfilled not all things till he ascended and that therefore the definition of the personall vnion taken from habituall grace as they call it of which we haue said some what before is false and fond Yea I gather this further that if he did truelie and in deed ascend that that his flesh was not in heauen before he ascended thither that it ceaseth to be on the earth after that he ascended from thense into heauen But say they he ascended to fulfill or fill all things The same obiection vrged yet answered therfore he filleth
all things We answer that he performed that for which he ascended that is to say he filled or fulfilled the whole mysterie of our saluation which the prophets foretold and the full state whereof as in respect of that for the performance of which Christ came into the world is finished by Christs ascension as it had the beginning of it from his comming into the earth But if we had rather refer these words which also we may do to the frute that followed his ascension into heauen by which not as a seruant but as a sonne he tooke vpon him and entered into the kingdome and gouernment then we shall perceiue that he therefore ascended Iohn 14 2â— that sending downe the Holie ghost he might bestow vpon his church all necessarie gifts for he ascended that he might euen lade men with his graces Ephes 4.8 and heape vp benefits blessings and gifts vpon them which seeing the apostle himselfe speaketh euen in so manie words as it were what man in his right wit would beleeue them that will transfer that to the verie person of Christ which is spoken of the office of his kingdome and the mightie and effectuall power thereof The fourth obiection answered Luke 24.31 But they yet further say he was taken out of their sight or he vanished away from it I grant it but if from hense they may gather this their presence in all places or in manie places or that which they call maiestie euerie where it is woonderfull and pitifull to behold what monstrous opinions in a verie short space haue sprong vp why may not we affirme the same likewise touching Philip Acts. 8.39.40 for he suddenlie did so banish out of the Eunuches eies sight that he was found afterward at Azolus And what was woont sometimes to be tide the prophets themselues appeareth by the example of Elias his disciples 2. Kings 2 3. The fift obiection Acts. 7.35.36 An other place they obiect Stephan saw Christ therefore he was on the earth I denie that for he being on earth saw him set in heauen as the holie historie declareth And to what purpose I pray you should he see him in heauen if he be at his side on the earth So that this miracle is to be considered not in the verie bodie of Christ but in Stephans eies Neither did that rite and ceremonie of the church vsed from all antiquitie whereby men with a loud voice were admonished to haue their hearts lifted vpward saieng Lift vp your hearts The vse of these words Lift vp your hearts in the celebration of the supper tend to any other end but to cause men to mount vp to heauen For to what purpose should that saieng Lift vp be vsed if wee had that in our mouths and in our hands which we seeke for The sixt obiection answered 1. Corinth 15.8 Acts. 9 4.5 c. August in psal 54. Againe Christ was seene of Paule as he went to Damascus Augustine shall answer this for vs. He writing vpon the fourth and fift psalmes saith The head that was in heauen cried alowd for the bodie that was in the earth Much like vnto this forme Acts. 22.17 is that which they yet obiect namelie that Paule saw the Lord when he praid in the temple therfore the Lord was in the verie temple we confesse that he saw him but in a vision or trance It was therfore a spirituall vision neither belongeth it anie whit at all to this present matter in hand and yet though we say it was a spirituall vision we meane not that Paule saw any false or forged thing Hitherto also we must refer other words of the same apostle seeming â—o tend to the same end for they may receiue the same answer likewise The last shift of the aduersaries fullie answered They run at the last to the same starting hole or shift which I call by that name as in respect of them that doo abuse it of the almightie power of Christ And when we set against them this sure ground that God cannot performe somethings then they throw out against vs bitter outcries as though that we were manifestlie and altogither blasphemous and euill men For mine owne part I would require this one thing of them The authors request to the aduersaries standing vpon two parts that they would with an vpright mind suffer such as amongst vs shall answer them and that they would not be caried so friuolouslie yet weaklie the Lord knoweth against such as whose life God be thanked for it freeth them from all suspition of blasphemie The first reason If euerie one denie the power of God that saith there is something which God cannot doo then they certeinelie were blasphemers that said God deceiued God lied and that he could not die Yea but they will say that in as much as these things are not of anie part of his power but rather imbecilities and wants this is not to make GOD weake or feeble but most mightie rather And this certeinelie is the same that long ago amongst others Theodoretus Theodoret did answere the Eutychian heretiks who defended this verie selfe same doctrine by the verie selfe same reason Let vs stay heere then a while and as we say in the prouerbe pitch our staffe for a season It is without all controuersie or doubt that God who at the first made all things of nothing is able vtterlie to turn all things vp side downe yea euen with his verie becke or breath to abolish and destroy them all and yet for all that he cannot effect or bring to passe this that that which hath beene should not be Certeine things that God cannot doo or that some one thing should be and not be at one the selfe same time or that it should at one and the selfe same time be such a thing and not such a thing The reason is because of two contradictorie speeches one of them must of necessitie be false Numbers 23.19 but sith he is God in deed he cannot lie and therefore he cannot either will or do such things as are contradictorie contrary one of them to another Wherefore he shall conuince GOD of lieng and himselfe of follie woosoeuer he be that will cloke and couer Gods almightie power with this deuise by which Christes bodie is circumscriptible and yet it shall in deed togither be present in manie places at once which properlie belongeth to that onelie infinit nature whereby also this is forged framed to wit that the bodie is finite and infinite great and not great yea a bodie and not a bodie The second reason And this I dare aduouch further Whatsoeuer God would once haue without exception to be vnchangeable that cannot be changed by him much lesse can it be abolished or doone away the reason is because God cannot depart from himselfe or be contrarie or vnlike vnto himselfe And I make this without all doubt or
the spirituall graces not onelie offered but giuen also vnto vs therin and this likewise to be wrought in vs though our sauiour be in heauen in respect of his bodie Acts. 3.21 Psalm 39.12 we heere as pilgrims strangers on the earth by the wonderfull vnsearchable working of his holie spirit in vs and by the meanes of a liuelie assured faith both which being knit togither doo easilie ioine togither thinges that be as farre asunder in respect of distance of place as one end of the earth is from the other and as farre asunder as heauen and earth themselues are or else how could we either beleeue the holie catholike church and feele the communion of saints seeing it commonlie falleth out that the members of that holie fellowshippe are sundered one of them from another in respect of great distance of place or be assured that Christes righteousnesse is become ours seeing he is in the heauen and wee on the earth if by faith we did not take holde of the same and applie it vnto our selues Besides if men should imbrace this sacramentarie opinion what were it but to euert as the trueth of Christes promises so the certeinetie and assurednesse of his word who in plaine termes calleth this holie sacrament his bodie Wherfore be it far from vs to approoue of anie such dotage as defaceth the trueth of the word derogateth from Christe and vtterlie destroieth our owne faith than which what can be more horrible to heare or fearefull to thinke 2 The second extremitie is that of consubstantiation some affirming that there is deliuered to the people they receiue togither with the substance of bread the verie substance of Christes verie naturall bodie so that there is as it were an intermingling or mixture of both the substances in the action of the supper But this opinion is iustlie to be disliked and reprooued not onelie because of the absurdities which it hath common with the heresie of transubstantiation whereof we will speake in the next place but also because it is quite and cleane contrarie to common sence reason confounding and iumbling togither two seuerall distinct substances and making the lesse to wit the substance of the bread to comprehend the greater that is Christes humane bodie yea euen his verie Godhead heauen and earth is not able to conteine Besides it dooth vtterlie take away an essentiall propertie of Christes bodie Isaiah 66.1 Acts. 7.49.17.21 for if Christ in respect of his humanitie be like vnto vs in all things sinne onelie excepted Hebr. 4.15 and we know by the light of reason vnderstanding that God hath bestowed vpon vs yea by verie experience that our bodies are circumscriptible and tied to a place it must needs follow that Christ in respect of his manhood or Christ as he is man is and must be tied to a place and not be in euery place as he must needs be if these mens assertions be true which is nothing els in deed but vtterlie to destroy Christs body which also I prooue against them thus Whosoeuer taketh away the essentiall propertie of anie thing taketh away also the verie thing it selfe This proposition is prooued by this marime in logike If the definition of a thing which cheeflie consisteth of the essentiall propertie of the thing be taken away then the thing it selfe also defined falleth away as for example If reasonable liuing creature which is the definition of a man be taken away what shall become of man or where shall he appeare which is the thing defined whereof also there is good reason because the essentiall propertie is it that constituteth or maketh the thing Hitherto the maior proposition as we say in schooles with the proofs thereof Now foloweth the minor or second proposition But these men take away the essentiall propertie of a thing to wit of a bodie which is to be circumscriptible or tied to a place which is in deed an essentiall propertie of the bodie of man and therefore of Christes bodie as hee is man whilest they will haue him as he is man in sundrie places at one time If anie man will denie this it may easilie be prooued both by their owne writinges in sundrie places and also by the definition of a bodie which is a quantitie that may be diuided according to the threefold measuring receiued amongest men that is length breadth and thickenesse and likewise by the description of a place which is defined to be a nighnesse or touching of the thing conteining and the thing conteined The conclusion therfore is that in taking away place from the bodie of Christ which they doo whilest they place it in euerie place whereas in the nature thereof it can be but in one place at one time they doo vtterlie destroie the bodie or humanitie of Christ or at the least confound it so with the Godhead as Eutyches did that they make a confusion whereas in all trueth and vprightnesse there shoulde remaine a distinction of the proprieties of either nature in his blessed person But of this inough in this place because it is somewhat philosophicall and because also in the next section we shall haue occasion to deale with the like 3 The third extremitie is that of transubstantiation mainteined altogither by the Romish catholiks as they will be called who hold that the bread and wine the substance thereof vanishing away and nothing being left but the accidents or qualities thereof as in the bread roundnesse whitenesse c and in the wine rednesse moisture c are changed and that by the power of certeine words spoken by the preest as they name him ouer the elements they are turned into the verie naturall bodie and bloud of our sauior Concerning this point and the branches therof I minde to speake both more particularlie and more fullie because it is one of the popish opinions that greatlie at this present troubleth the christian world and namelie our flourishing isle of England and also because in the daies of persecution heeretofore both within this land and elswhere it hath beene the common knife that the wicked haue vsed to cut the throtes of the godlie withall as it were the hatchet to chop off their heads It may be that in this my poore trauel some may be conuerted from falshood to truth and so be saued in the day of Christ or if that gratious effect followe not in the aduersaries yet I hope the friendes and louers of truth shall by this meanes be somwhat staied that they be not caried away with certaine inticing and inchaunting wordes in the mouths of some seducing spirites whom Antichrist Satans eldest sonne hath thrust into the worlde to peruert men from the truth and obedience of God 1 First for the name of Transubstantiation I feare not to affirme that it is verye newe and neuer heard of before the days of pope Innocent the third who was about the yeare of our Lorde 1205