one and the very same according to his humane substance absent from heauen when he was in earth and forsaking the earth when he ascended to heauen And a little after how could he ascend but as a locall and true man evidently employing that he cannot be a true man who is not Locall and circumscribed in one place And indeed if the Body of Christ be aboue in Heauen and in many places here on earth at one time as at London Paris Rome else-where and not in the severall spaces betweene either it will follow that there are as many distinct bodies of Christ as there are places wherein it is or that his Body is many hundred miles off and separated from it selfe either of which is most vnreasonable and absurd For as Saint Paul saith there is but one Lord and heauen and earth are many miles asunder Besides it would follow that the Body of Christ is out of that which containeth it consequently that that which containeth it containeth it not which is a meere contradiction Nay if that Mathematicall principle be true as vndoubtedly it is that those bodies which touch the same point doe also touch one the other it will necessarily follow that the Priests fingers which touch the Body of Christ in London must needs at the same time touch his fingers who holdeth the same in Rome And so shall not only the Body of Christ be in divers places at once but by vertue thereof those things also that are many hundred leagues a sunder shall actually touch one the other Vnto these and the like absurdities for the saluing of them you haue nothing to oppose saue only the Omnipotence of God to whom nothing is impossible But withall you forget that this hath beene the ordinary refuge of the heretiks who as Tertullian saith faine what they list of God as if he had done it because hee could doe it whereas we should not because hee can doe all things therefore beleeue he hath done it but rather search whether he haue done it or no. True it is God is omnipotent but by doing what he will as Augustine saith not by suffering what he will not Whence also some things he therefore cannot doe because he is omnipotent He cannot deny himselfe saith Saint Paul and it is impossible that he should lye And This impossibility saith Ambrose is not of infirmity but of maiesty because his truth admitteth not a lye nor his power the note of inconstancie So that whatsoever is repugnant to the Nature and Truth of God because he is Almighty he cannot doe And such are all contradictions both the parts whereof cannot possibly be true at once but if the one be true the other must needs be false Hence it is held for an vndoubted Maxime in Schooles that God cannot doe those things that imply contradiction the reason because so he should be false himselfe Now this Doctrine of yours implies in it innumerable contradictions as by and by shall be demonstrated among the rest this that the same Body at the same time shall in heauen haue shape quantity distinction of parts circumscription and all other essentiall properties of a Body and yet in the Sacrament shall be destitute of them all Both of which if vpon presumption of Gods Omnipotence you will needs still beleeue I must plainely tell you that to build on his Power with impeachment of his Truth is not Faith but Infidelity Thirdly it destroyeth the Nature of a Sacrament For proofe whereof I will vse no other grounds then those which your owne men and Bellarmine in particular haue laid for me To the constitution of a Sacrament of the new Testament three things among sundry other saith he are necessarily required First there must be a Signe that is as Saint Augustine defineth it a thing which besides that shape or kinde that it offereth unto our sences of it selfe causeth some other thing to come into our minde Whence it followeth both that the Signe is something knowne and that it is a thing differing from that which it signifieth or whereof it is a signe Secondly that this signe must be sensible or visible For a Sacrament is intrinsecally and essentially a ceremony of Religion and a Ceremony is an externall act Wherefore the Fathers every-where teach that Sacraments are certaine Footsteps or Manuductions vnto things spirituall Invisible Thirdly that the signe must hold due analogie and proportion with the thing signified according to that of S. Augustin If Sacraments had not a certaine similitude of those things whereof they are Sacraments they were altogether no Sacraments And hence is it that the Fathers call them Anti-types that is things of like Forme and liuely expressing that which they present These things being thus granted out of them I frame this argument That which destroyeth the signe in the sacrament by confounding it with the thing signified making it invisible and insensible and holding no analogie or proportion with that whereof it is a signe destroyeth the nature of a Sacrament But your doctrine of the Reall Presence by Transubstantiation doth all this Ergo it also destroyeth the nature of the Sacrament The Major or first Proposition is by you as wee haue now shewed yeelded vnto vs and cannot bee denied The Minor or second Proposition I thus proue in every particular And first that it destroyeth the signe For if any remaine either it is bread or the Accidents of bread or the body of Christ for there is not a fourth But bread it cannot bee for the Element is not a signe vntill it be consecrated and bread is no sooner consecrated but forthwith it ceaseth to be And if it be not then neither is it a signe for of that which is not nothing can be affirmed Againe the Accidents of bread as Colour Savours measure and the like are not it For besides that it is impossible that Accidents should haue any subsistence without their subiect the Being of an Accident being to be in its subiect it is very strange and vnconceauable if they could how the meere Accidents of bread should represent and signifie the body of Christ. The rather because the signe was ordained by Christ to bee a helpe vnto our Faith and to lead vs as it were by the hand vnto the thing signified Whereas the Accidents of bread without the substance thereof are rather lets and hinderances vnto vs and with no more reason can bee called signes of Christs body then a darke cloud that keepeth off the light of the Sunne from our eyes may bee called a signe or Representation of the Sunne Adde herevnto that such a signe is required as is materiall and elementall according to that of S. Augustin The word being added to the element it is made a Sacrament So Hugh so Bellarmin so the rest Now to call Accidents by name of Elements is a new straine of Philologie vncouth
Mutation and the like I. D. Had you attentiuely read my Answer you would never haue said I excepted to two or three Passages only For I excepted to all the passages of Ignatius Cyril of Hierusalem in his Catechismes Ambrose de Sacramentis and Mysterijs initiandis Eusebius Emissenus Cyprian de caena Domini the Canon of the Nicen counsell and Magnetes as suspected by your owne Rabbies not to be the men whose names they beare Againe of Damascen Theophylact Euthymius Nicephorus and Rupertus as being Punies and too young to be Fathers besides those many Passages which are miserably either curtald or rackt or falsely alleaged Neither are their words so plain for you as you pretend For I haue made it to appeare that some of them say nothing at all for you some speak rather against you then for you and to those that seeme to say any thing I haue opposed a whole grand Iury speaking farre more plainely on our side For what words can be more plaine then these This is my body that is the figure of my Body that Christ said This bread is my body which your owne men grant cannot bee true vnlesse figuratiuely vnderstood that Bread and Wine still are what they were that the Nature of bread continues that the nature of bread and wine cease not to be but continue in the propriety of their nature that the signes after consecration depart not from their proper nature but remaine in their former substance figure and forme and suchlike many But perhaps your Fathers speake as plainely Let vs try that They say that the Body flesh and bloud of Christ is truly in the Sacrament Ergo a Reall Presence Who denies it Transubstantiation is that which you should proue which Reall Presence inferres not This you say you vnderstand not The more is your dulnesse For Really and Corporally are not all one and that which is Spiritually present is Really present vnlesse you will say that a spirit is Nothing Is not the Bloud of Christ really present in Baptisme to the washing away of sinne Is hee not Really also present to the Faith of every true beleever even out of the Sacrament Doubtlesse he is and none will deny it but he that never felt the vertue and efficacy thereof What should let then but the Flesh of Christ may bee present in the Eucharist Really and yet not after the Corporall manner Nay what if I should yeeld you a corporall presence Would that necessarily inferre a Transubstantiation Nothing lesse For it may be by consubstantiation the flesh being there together with the Bread without turning the Bread into Flesh. Neither may you deny this to be possible vnlesse you will deny the Omnipotency of God and your Transubstantiation withall for therevpon doe you build it Transubstantiation therefore and the Reall presence are not all one Yea but the Fathers vse the tearmes of Conversion Mutation What then Ergo Transubstantiation A pittifull consequence For this is to argue from the Generall to Speciall as if you should say It is a colour therefore it is blacke there being many colours besides blacke Learne then that Change is a generall word and there are divers kindes thereof of Substance by Generation and corruption of Quality by Alteration of Quantity by Augmentation and Diminution of Place by Lation Now he that affirmeth a Change doth not presently affirme Change of Substance for it may be some other either of Quality or Quantity or Quantity or Place The Fathers therefore speaking of a Change in the Sacrament may as well meane a Change of Alteration in the Vse and Uertue of the Elements as of Substance by way of Transubstantiation And so for ought the Fathers say Transubstantiation may still be a brat of the Lateran Councells disputed of perhaps before but neuer beleeved as an Article of Faith till then N. N. I allow no authority after 600. yeares Ergo I acknowledge the next 1000. to be contrary in this and all other controversies betwixt vs. I. D. To speake plainely I allow no Authority at all as Infallible but only that of Christ and his Apostles Those that afterwards succeeded were all of them subiect vnto errour and cannot be the ground of our Faith as I haue elsewhere answerably demonstrated Howbeit those of the first 600 yeares wee reverence more and rather admit then those of the 1000 following because they were freer from errour as liuing neerer the Apostles times and before the first discouery of Antichrist which was about the yeare 607. when Boniface the third purchased of that bloudy tyrant Phocas the title of Vniversall Bishop and with it the supremacy over all Churches Whereof his predecessor Gregory the great seemed to prophecy when writing against Iohn B. of Constantinople for vsurping that title he gathereth from thence that the times of Antichrist are at hand After which discouery although errours every day crept in apace yet wee yeeld you not that all your opinions instantly and at once leapt into the Church For as Rome it selfe was not built in a day so neither was that huge heape of Romanish impieties raised in one age It was a good while after this before Transubstantiation began to appeare Damascen in the East not contenting himselfe with the old language of the Church fell a coyning of new Phrases yet reached not home to Transubstantiation A hundred yeares after Amalarius in the west maintained in plaine tearms that the simple nature of Bread and wine is turned into a reasonable nature to wit of the body and bloud of Christ. And herein was he seconded by Paschasius Radbertus and others Yet could they not carry it so clearly but that they were mightily opposed by the most famous writers in their times whose names you haue in mine Answer But specially by Bertram vnder Carolus Calvus of whom Turrian the Iesuit thus to cite Bertram what is it other then to say the heresie of Calvin is not new And a good time afterwards againe by Berengarius on whose side many disputed both by word and writing and those not of one nation only but English French and Italians as Mathew of Westminster saith But all these Antichrist who was now in his height bare downe and at length anno 1215. vnder Innocent the third in the Lateran Councel was the Idol set vpon its base and adored So lately with so much adoe was your doctrine of Transubstantiation brought in and established N. N. For 900. yeares was no outward face of a Church in England but the Catholike In which it were vncharitable to say that none knewe the meaning of Scriptures and Fathers as well as we or all liued in ignorance till the true light came in with Luther Yet in this last age England hath yeelded many learned men among others an vnkle of yours and Master of Arts who left all his hopes for his conscience and would not bee perswaded to returne to his great possibilities which
warrant it By Scripture You haue barred your selfe from all hope of succour thence For it is obscure equivocall ambiguous every way vncertaine By Naturall Reason The Articles of Faith are aboue Reason and the Naturall Man is not capable of them By the Spirit then That is the thing you so much jest at in others And if by your doctrine you cannot assure your selfe that you are in the present state of Grace neither can you know whether you haue the spirit of God or no. What then may be your last refuge The testimony of the Church touching her selfe Ridiculous for no mans testimony may be admitted in his owne cause And what a reasoning is this You beleeue the Articles of Faith Why Because the Church biddeth you doe so How followeth this Because shee cannot erre And how proue you that Because she saith shee cannot erre If this bee not to expose the Christian Faith vnto the laughter of Atheists and prophane men I know not what it is Will you nill you when you haue said all you can say either you must haue no certaine ground at all for your Faith or you must rest vpon the Scriptures as the finall resolution thereof Returne therefore I beseech in the feare of God returne vnto the sure anchor-hold of your salvation Abandon those frothie generalities of your seducing authors which at the best are but coniecturall and labour to stablish your Conscience vpon the testimony of him that will not that cannot deceiue you Pray vnto him fervently and proceed in a syncere loue of the truth and you shall surely finde that if you be not defectiue to your selfe God will never faile you For my part I haue done what belongs to mee I haue planted I haue watered it is God that must giue the increase And to his mercy in Christ Iesus I commend you An advertisement to the Reader Vnto the Section of Pag. 27. I there freely confessed I could not certainly answere for want of Doctor Mortons booke Since that time I haue met with it and thereby I perceaue that though I answered only by conâ—ecture yet I coniectured not amisse Yet now farther be pleased to vnderstand first that the Doctor citeth not Bibliander as my adversary vntruly chargeth him but only answereth a passage quoted by his adversary Breerly out of him And he answereth in effect as I doe saue that he bringeth in Bellarmine confessing that which to my good man seemeth so strange namely that all Protestants acknowledge in the Eucharist a Sacrifice Eucharisticall or of thanksgiuing Secondly touching those Rabbins R. Cahana R. Iudas and R. Simeon hee belyeth the Doctor it is Breerly that cites them not hee Neither doth he Positiuely say that their testimonies make directly for Transubstantiation But conditionally if they were such Now that they are not such hee proueth For consulting with D. Smith D. Layfield and M. Bedwell very learned Hebricians about this matter they after their painfull and industrious search into the cited places returned vnder their hands this answere R. Cahana in that booke on the 49 of Gen. is not cited nor hath hee there any thing to that purpose R. Iudas in that booke on the 25 of Exod. hath no such thing nor in the whole Parasha Terumah R. Simeon wrote no booke carrying the title of Revelatio Secretorum And thus you see while simple Papists will beleeue nothing but what their guides tell them what pretty tales of Robin Hood they devise for them O that God would be pleased to soften the seared consciences of the one and to open the blindfolded eyes of the other Farewell IOHN DOWNE FINIS A Testimony taken from M. Perkins on Heb. 11. v. 7. to be added to those annexed to the first Sermon But how doth God worke this faith By his word For as God is the author and worker of Faith so God hath appointed a meanes whereby he workes it and that is his word which word of God is the only ordinary outward meanes to worke faith And that word of God is two wayes to be considered either as revealed by God himselfe as to Noah here or else being written by God is either preached by his Ministers or read by a mans selfe in want of preaching and these are all one and are all meanes ordained of God to worke faith and that not only to beginne it where it is wanting but to augment it where it is begunne END So much doth the originall word beare and therefore our last translators haue set it in the Margent M. Smith Preacher at Barstaple Ezech. 14.14 and 28 3. Ver. 1. V. 2. Ioh. 5.28.29 1 Chron. 28.9 ver 13. V. 14. V. 15. V. 16. V. 17. V. 18. 1. Tim. 4 16. Phil. 2.15 psal 34.5 Prov. 4.18 Math. 13.43 43.20 148 36. 2. Cor. 4.17 1. Pet. 5.4 1. Cor. 9.25 Act. 15.5 vers â— vers 4.6 vers 7. c. vers 13.14.15 vers 19.20 Num. 25.1 c Lev. 17.10 In Preachers plea. In Baron â—1 16. n. 23. Duplic cont Stapl. l. 1. c. 6. Act. 13.27 Deut 33.10.11 2 King 23.2 Nâ—h 8.3 Elias Levita Ben. Maimon Apol. against T.C. Eccles. Polit. l. 5. Hom. 1. p. 1. Marâ— 16.15 2. Cor. 2.16 2. Tim. 4.1.2 Defens eccles author l. 3. c. 7. Trois verites l. 3. c. 4. par 3. Confront ibid Canon 4. Can 11. In ans to the Abstract Esa. 29.12 Id. 61.1.2 Paraen ad Gentes l. 17. Strom. l. 1. p. 1. Doct. Christ. Prol. Cont. Bellar. contro 1. Confront l. 3. c. 4. In Rhem. Test Ro. 1. 15. Cont. Bellar. con 1. q. 6. c. 9. De Idol Eccl. Ro. ep ded Advers Cost de Script De S. script Against peril of idol p. 1. Preface to the Reader Rom. 15.4 Preface to the Reader Deut. 13.11 17.1 6.6 Ioh. 5.39 Col. 4.16 1 Thes. 5.27 Act. â— 27.15.21 Mat. 24.15 Eph. 3.4 Confes. l. 8. c. 12. Cont. Lindâ—n In vita sua Acts Mon. Preach plea. Def. of AdmoÌ„ Preach plea. Act. 2.41 Iob. 33.23.24 Contra Char. l. 3. c. 4. Prov. 29.18 Esaiah 1.1 1. Cor. 1.21 Duplic cont Stapl l. 2. c. 10 De S. Script Rom. 10 13.14 Ps. 19.1.2.3 Rom. 1.20 Deut. 17.11 2. Thes. 2.8 Act. 13.27 Rom. 10.8 Ioh. 19.37 Rom. 3.19 Heb. 12.5 Rom. 9.27 Ioh. 5.39 Heb. 4.12 Luc. 16.29 Gal. 4.21.22 Confront l. 3. c. 4. Ibid. De verb. scrip In Rhem. Test. Rom. 1.15 Dupl contr Stapl. l. 2. c 10. De script q. 5. c. 8. arg 2. Cont. A.D. c. 9 1. King 17.6 Ioh. 19.6 Act. 2.4 Act 9.3 c. Gal. 1.12 Dupl cont Stap. l. 2. c. 6. In the way to the true Ch. In Ps. 26. Ep. 3. Dial. cum Try phon L. 7. in Iulian Hom. 1. in Ioh De Script q. 2. c. 14. arg 5. De verb. scrip â—ut 28. Cor. 2.4 Dupl contr Stapl. l. 1. c. 9. 2. Pet. 1.15 Deut. 31.11.12 Ier. 36.2 c. V. 19. V. 5. Ioh. 20.31 Cap. 18. Comment in Psal. initio Ser. 35. Iohn 6.63
Prince of Physitians saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 time is that wherein season is it may not be doubted but God hath ordained such a time for it as was every way most seasonable And truly did S. Augustin say Omnia proprijs locis temporibus gessit Saelvator our Saviour acted all things in their proper times and places Let vs therefore a little more particularly enquire touching this time and season and here first in what age of the world secondly in what yeare of his owne age thirdly and lastly in what time of that yeare he suffered As touching the age of the world it was not instantly vpon the creation thereof nor yet soone vpon the fall of man but a long time after euen towards the end of foure-thousand yeares and the beginning of the last age of the world called therefore in Scripture the fulnesse of time and the last daies This time was of old foretold by the Prophets For although the incarnation and suffering of the Messias was for a while preached indefinitely without designation of any certaine time as namely vnto Adam and Abraham yet afterward it pleased God to reveale it more definitely as by Iacob the scepter shall not depart from Iudah nor a law-giuer from betweene his feet vntill Shiloh come and by Daniel that seauenty weekes after the going forth of the Commandement to restore build Ierusalem being well neere expired the most holy should be annointed and Messias be cut off At the end of which time there was a generall expectation of the Messiaâ— among the Iewes as appeareth by Scripture 〈…〉 that very time he came and suffered in the flesh as by the same Scripture is purposely declared Some that are counted skilfull in Chronologie and the computation of times place the Passion of Christ in the yeare of the world three thousand nine hundred fiftie and three Others I knowe reckon otherwise but the numbâ—â— of yeares where in they differ is so small that it is little oâ— nothing at all to be reckoned of Haply you will demand why it pleased God rather to appoint this time then any other I answer because this time was of all other the most seasonable fitting The time before the fall and while man stood yet in his integritie could no way be fit For as our Saviour saith He came not to call the iust and againe the whole need not the Physitian There being therefore as yet no sicknesse nor wound neither was there any need of physicke or salue Had man persisted in his innocencie Christ had never beene incarnate nor had suffered To haue suffered soone after the fall would also haue beene very inconvenient For it was reason that man sinning by pride should haue a time to humble him to see his miserie to seeke helpe and to exercise his faith The dignitie also of our Saviours person was such and the worke of redemption so important that so much haste could not wel stand with either And if Christ suffering so lately shall at his second comming scarce finde faith on the earth what a scarcity of faith would there haue beene and how cold would charity haue waxed by this time had hee suffered so long agoe and presently vpon the fall For which cause also it was not to bee deferred vnto the last period of the world least in the interim religion and the knowledge of God should quite bee extinguished Besides it 〈◊〉 â—it that some time should be allowed betweene the worke of our redemption and glorification to the end that the power of God our Saviour might bee praised and spread abroad our faith exercised and tried not onely in regard of things past and present but future also and our thankfulnesse testified by our faithfull and diligent serving of him The duest time therefore was by the wisdome of God chosen and Christ came and suffered neither too soone nor too late but in that season when both Iewes and Gentiles were come to their ripenesse the one to be broken off by reason of their incredulitie the other to be grafted in through Gods goodnesse and mercy For as touching the Iewes they were now growne to such an height of impietie that as Iosephus saith had the Romans neuer so little deferred their desolation either the earth would haue swallowed them or a deluge of waters haue drowned them or fire from heaueÌ„ haue consumed them for Sodom was never so abominable As for the Gentiles their fulnesse was now come in they were growne white and ready for the harvest and the calling of them so long delayed was now to be commenced And so much for the age of the world As touching the yeare of his age wherein hee suffered it was if wee may beleeue Irenaeus about the fiftieth which he voucheth to be an Apostolicall tradition But indeed he is fowly mistaken as is generally agreed vpon by all Where by the way may bee obserued what small credit is to be giuen to Fathers in point of tradition The ground of his opinion was that of the Iewes Thou are not yet fiftie and hast thou seene Abraham But they spake at randome and after the manner of disputers grant him more then might well be admitted The common receaued opinion is that hee suffered being three and thirtie compleate in the beginning of his foure and thirtieth Howbeit Scaliger and that as it seemes not without good reason addeth one yeare more and placeth his Passion in the beginning of his fiue and thirtieth For taking it as granted that at his Baptisme he was full thirtie betweene that and his Passion he findes as hee supposeth fiue Passeovers The first in the second of Iohn And the Iewes Passeover was at hand The second in the first of Iohn After this there was a feast of the Iewes which he proueth to be Easter by that in the former Chapter Say not yee there are yet foure months and then commeth harvest The third in the twelfth of Mathew and the sixt of Luke where his Disciples walking through the corne fields plucked the eares of corne The fourth in the sixt of Iohn And the Passeouer a feast of the Iewes was nigh The fift and last was that wherein he was crucified Which being so then Christ being baptized in his thirtieth compleate and dying in the fift Passeouer after his suffering must of necessity be in the beginning of his fiue and thirtieth But about this I will not contend The oddes of one yeare cannot be great Enquire wee rather why hee suffered at this age First because it was vnfit that old age should creepe into that nature which was so neerely vnited vnto the eternall sonne of God Secondly to testifie how dearely he loued vs that was content then to die for vs when as yet he was in the very flowre and vigor of his age Thirdly mystically to teach vs that as hee grew in age and stature and then being come
shall be saved and no other Ye see brethren what a large field I haue to expatiate in but the time forceth me to be briefe In other Churches vpon whom the Crosse now lieth heauily this theam perhaps requires a larger handling yet is it not vnseasonable in this our peace to touch it in a few words in regard of the hopes of our enimies and our owne feares if need be to prepare vs for the Crosse. And thus much of the second counsell The third and last is let him follow me This many happily would thinke and many indeed doe thinke to be all one with comming after Christ for what is it to follow but to come after Were it so then were I here to make an end But I suppose there is a farther matter intended in it and therefore let me intreatâ— your patience to adde a word or twaine concerning it Wee are to follow Christ non pedibus sed affectibus not with our feet but with our hearts and affections and we are to follow him Docentem Ducentem both teaching leading vs. For it might be demanded if we must deny our owne selues that is our reason and wills with all their ability and power who then shall direct vs who shall guide vs For our minds being blind we cannot of our selues see the way and our wills being in bondage vnto sin we cannot walke in the way Wherevnto Christ readily returneth this plaine answere Follow me I will be your Teacher I will be your Leader First then Christ is our Teacher even hee who is every way most sufficient to teach He is the eternall word of his eternall Father the very Truth it selfe and the substantiall Wisdome of God He is made of God the grand Counseller of the Church the Angell of the covenant the Apostle of our profession the only Prophet and Doctor of the Church He came out of the bosome of the Father and knoweth all his counsells in him are hid all the treasures of wisdome and knowledge and he hath received the Spirit without measure Being therefore such a Teacher him are we to follow and we are to follow his teaching Audiendo credendo by hearing and beleeuing whatsoever he saith The divine oracle from heaven expressely commandeth vs to heare him This is my beloved sonne in whom I am well pleased heare yee him And our Saviour affirmeth that whosoever are his sheepe heare his voice and will not heare the voice of any other implying that whatsoever heareth him not is none of his sheepe But it is not sufficient to heare vnlesse we also Beleeue that is assent to all that he saies assuring our selues that whatsoever hee affirmes is true and whatsoever he commands is iust To beleeue is the first ground of Christianity He that beleeueth not cannot vnderstand the mysteries thereof O portet discentem credere he that will be a scholler must beleeve his Master if hee will not hee deserues to bee turned out of schoole Christ will not be argued with be it aboue reason or seeme it against reason yet will he be absolutely beleeued And reason for being God who neither can deceiue nor be deceived his bare word is more certaine then a thousand demonstrations Certainely they are none of Christs sheepe that doe not Beleeue and without Faith it is impossible to please God to be iustified in his sight or to obtaine life everlasting Therefore whosoever will come after Christ must thus follow him docentem teaching So must he also Ducentem follow him Leading Hee leadeth and guideth vs two waies Spiritu Exemplo inwardly by his Spirit outwardly by his example By his Spirit first For as Saint Paul saith As many as are lead by the spirit of God are the sonnes of God but if any haue not the spirit of Christ he is none of his Now as the word of Christ sounds outwardly to the eare so doth the Spirit of Christ speake inwardly to the heart He helpeth our infirmities and after a secret and vnconceivable manner suggesteth and putteth good motions into our minds exhorting and persuading vs to the practice of all holy and good duties Which direction of the spirit we are to follow Obediendo by obedience Not to obey the good motions of the Spirit is to resist him to greeue him and to quench him but to cherish the sparke that he hath kindled in vs and to yeeld obedience vnto his holy inspirations and perswasions this is indeed to follow him Which if we doe not wee are yet in the flesh and if wee bee in the flesh we are not in Christ Iesus for they only are in Christ who walke not after the flesh but after the Spirit As Christ leadeth by his Spirit so doth hee also goe before vs by his Example Longum iter per praecepta breve efficax per exempla the way of precept is long and tedious but of example short and effectuall But whose example are we to follow Mans It is not safe for be he neuer so good yet may he erre himselfe and mislead vs. Gods That indeed is safe because he cannot erre nor misguide vs but he is invisible cannot be seene Therefore he became man that being visible in the flesh he might giue vs example Which we are to follow imitando by imitation For as Augustine saith Summa religionis est imitari quem colis It is a chiefe point of religion to imitate him whom wee worship But wherein are we to imitate him In creation of the world in redeeming mankind in meriting for others In working miracles and the like as it is reported of that mad Salmoneus Qui nimbos non imitabile fulmen Aere cornipedum cursu simularat equorum who would needs counterfeit Iupiters thundring and lightning by driuing his chariot over a copper bridge darting torches at the faces of men No if wee would burst our selues with pride we cannot imitate God in these things Potestas subiectionem maiestas exigit admirationem neutra imitationem saith Bernard the power of God requireth subiection his maiesty admiration neither imitation How then Appareat Domine bonitas tua cui possit homo quia ad imaginem tuam creatus est conformari let thy goodnes o Lord appeare wherevnto man being created after thine owne image may be conformed To be breefe wee are to imitate Christ in all those holy duties which hee commandeth and whereof he hath made himselfe an example They are all summed vp in one word Obedience this hee commanded this he practised And he practised it both actiuely and passiuely and in both is he to be imitated He obeyed the law of his father the Morall law as being the sonne of Adam the Ceremoniall as being the sonne of Abraham And this actiuely exampling vs to walke even as he walked in all duties by God enioyned vs. It would bee too long to particularize in all those
much strengthens and confirmes you I. D. By Catholike you still meane Roman for Catholike Roman are now growne convertible tearmes a mystery that the Primitiue Church never so much as dreamed of But what No outward face in England for so many hundred yeares together but Roman What face then I pray was it which it bare some 650 yeares since when the Saxon Homilie of Aâ—lfrick Abbot of Malmsbury not only agreeing with Bertram in this matter of the Sacrament but also for sundry passages expresly translated out of him was publikely appointed to be read vnto the people vpon Easter day before they receaued the Communion Or when the Bishops at their Synods deliuered vnto their Clergie the same doctrine out of two other writings of the same Aelfrick the one whereof saith thus That housel is Christs body not bodily but spiritually Not the body which hee suffered in but the body of which hee spake when he blessed the bread wine to housel the night before his suffering and said by the blessed bread this is my body and againe by the holy wine this is my blood c. The other likewise saith thus The Lord which hallowed housel before his suffering and saith that the bread was his owne body and the wine was truely his bloud halloweth dayly by the hand of the Priest bread to his body and wine to his blood in spirituall mystery as we read in bookes And yet notwithstanding that liuely bread is not bodily so nor the selfe-same body that Christ suffered in nor that holy wine is the Saviours bloud which was shed for vs in bodily thing but in spirituall vnderstanding Both bee truely that bread his body and that wine also his blood as was the heavenly bread which we call Manna that fed forty yeares Gods people and the cleare water which did then run from the stone in the wildernesse was truly his blood as Paul wrot in one of his Epistles Thus he Tell mee now good Sir was the face of the English Church Roman when such doctrine so crosse vnto Transubstantiation was by publike authority deliuered to the Clergie and commanded to be read vnto the people or was it at that time other then a Roman face truely Catholike and Orthodoxe You haue heard I suppose of those Christians whom anciently they tearmed Wâ—ldenses and Leonists Your Ranerius saith of them that they had beene of very long continuance even from Pope Sylvesters time or as some say ever since the Apostles so Vniversall also that there was scarce any country wherein they abounded not finally that where other Sects most fearefully blaspheamed God these made faire shew of religion liued honestly among men beleeued all things rightly touching God and all the Articles contained in the Creed onely they blaspheamed hated the Church of Rome What Was the face of this Church also Roman How so being so opposite vnto it Certainely it was rather the face of our Church For as your Poplinerius testifieth they differed very little from vs and in this point of the Sacrament they perfectly agreed with vs. It is true they were charged with many foule opinions but enviously and maliciously as appeareth by the publike Confessions of their Faith and by the testimonie of Cardinal Sadolet others who by commission were commanded to examin it It is true also that they were most barbarously and bloudily persecuted by the Roman Synagogue But what saith Michael Cesaenas who flourished some 250. yeares since There are two Churches the one of the wicked flourishing in which the Pope doth raigne the other of the godly afflicted Whence it plainely appeareth that there hath heretofore beene another face of the Church besides Roman if not visibly glorious yet at leastwise visibly persecuted You adde it is vncharitable to thinke that all this time there was no knowledge of the meaning of Scriptures and Fathers vntil Luther brought in the true light True neither is there any man that saith so Neverthelesse bee it spoken to the glory of God and the honour of the present times the meaning both of Scriptures and Fathers was never better knowne shall I say never so well knowne as now This I haue elsewhere proued both by the causes thereof and the testimonie of your owne men As for your nine hundred yeares questionles they were not the learned'st times The knowledge of languages quickly decayed and blindnesse and barbarisme crept in apace insomuch as by the testimonie of Genebrard Bellarmine Baronius there was never age more Vnlearned and vnhappy then the ninth Century wherein were no men famous either for wit or learning and whosoever studied the Mathematicks or Philosophie was presently counted a Magician Neither were some of the after times over much amended when the chiefest of their Schooles scarce knewe whether Saint Paul wrote in Greeke or in Latine as Ludovicus Vives saith and to haue skill in Greek was suspicious but in Hebrew almost heretical as Espencaeus But blessed be God who in the midst of these blindest times hath still preserued the light of his truth and though envy burst and split at it blessed be his holy name for that greater light of his Gospel which we haue receaued both by Luther and since Luther Hee was a noble champion of Christ Iesus and gat so much ground of the Papacie as I hope will never be recouered againe vntill by the brightnesse of our Lords comming it be vtterly destroyed If England in these latter times haue yeelded such learned men of your side you may be pleased to knowe that it hath afforded on our side also as learned Clarks in the knowledge of tongues all kind of literature whatsoever as any in your Church wheresoeuer if not excelling them Yea but yours were content to forgoe all their meanes and hopes for their conscience And did not ours trow you doe so also in Q. Maries daies Nay did not Archbishop Cranmer and sundry other Bishops to speake nothing of those of inferiour ranke chuse rather to loose their present honours and estates and themselues cruelly to be martyred in the fire then to perish their coÌ„sciences by subscribing vnto the Romish Apostacy As for your vnkle whose domestical example so much confirmes you I thinke hee was a man of no great note sure I am of no great fame either at home or abroad Yet were his deserts far greater I am not vnprovided of a domesticall example able every way to match him yea and over-match him too My mothers Brother I mean that vnvaluable Iewel whose name is renowned throughout all the Churches Who being Fellow of Corpus Christi Colledge in Oxford and Bachelour in Divinitie possessed also of a Benefice neere the Vniversitie and by reason of his eminence in learning as likely to rise as any yet hee readily forsooke Fellowship Friends Benefice Hopes and all for Christs sake and put himselfe into a voluntary exile all the raigne of Q. Mary