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A68831 The vvhole workes of W. Tyndall, Iohn Frith, and Doct. Barnes, three worthy martyrs, and principall teachers of this Churche of England collected and compiled in one tome togither, beyng before scattered, [and] now in print here exhibited to the Church. To the prayse of God, and profite of all good Christian readers.; Works Tyndale, William, d. 1536.; Barnes, Robert, 1495-1540. Works. aut; Frith, John, 1503-1533. Works. aut; Foxe, John, 1516-1587. Actes and monuments. Selections. 1573 (1573) STC 24436; ESTC S117761 1,582,599 896

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not in me and in whom I abyde not let hym not say or thynke that he eateth my body or drinketh my bloud They abyde not in Christ which are not his members And they are not hys mēbers which make them selues the mēbers of an harlot And these are also the very wordes of Bede Here it is playne proued agayne by the authoritie of S. Austen and Bede that the wicked and vnfaythfull which are not the members of Christ doe not eate hys body nor drinke hys bloud and yet they do eate the sacrament as well as the other Wherefore you must néedes graunt that the Sacrament is not y e naturall body of Christ but a figure tokē or memoriall therof Now good Christen people count not thys new learning which is firmed by such olde Doctors and faythfull fathers Now were this inough for a Christen man that loued no contention But because there are so many sophisters in y ● world which care not what they say so they holde not theyr peace I must néedes set some bulwarke by thys holy Doctor to helpe to defend hym for els they will shortly ouerrunne hym as they do me and make hym an hereticke too Therefore I will alleage hys master S. Ambrose Saint Ambrose sayth Non iste panis est qui vadit in corpus sed ille panis vitae aeternae qui animae nostrae substantiam fulscit That is It is not thys bread that goeth into the bodye but that bread of euerlasting life whiche vpboldeth the substance of our soule Furthermore the great clerke Prosper confirmeth the same saying Qui discordat a Christo nec carnem Christi manducat nec sanguinem bibit etiamsi tamtae rei sacramentum ad iudicium suae praesumptionis quotidie indifferenter accipiat That is He that discordeth from Christ doth neyther eate hys fleshe nor drinke hys bloud although he receaue indifferētly euery day the sacrament of so great a thing vnto the condemnation of hys presumption And these are also the very wordes of Bede vpon the xj Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians Now you may sée that it is not S. Austens minde onely but also the saying of many moe And therefore I trust you will be good vnto hym And if ye condemne not these holy fathers then am I wrongfully punished But if you condemne thē then must poore Frith be content to beare the burthen with them ¶ The mynde and exposition of the old Doctours vppon the wordes of Christes maundey ANd where M. More sayth that if Christe had not ment after the plaine literal sece that both the hearers at that tyme and the expositours since and all Christē people beside this xv c. yeare would not haue taken onely the litterall sence beyng so straunge and maruelous that it might seme impossible decline from the letter for allegories in all such other thynges beyng as hee sayth and as in deede they be so many farre in nomber mo As touchyng y e hearers they were deceiued and vnderstode him not I meane as many as tooke his wordes fleshly as you do And they had their aunswere of Christ when they murmured that his wordes were spirite and lyfe that is as S. Austen sayth spiritually to bee vnderstand and not fleshly as is before declared And as for the expositours I thinke he hath not one of the old fathers for him but certaine new felowes as Dominie S. Thomas Decam and such other whiche haue made the Pope a God And as I haue shewed S. Austen maketh full for vs and so do all the old fathers as Occolāpadius hath well declared in his booke Quid veteres senserint de Sacramēto eucharistiae And some of their sayinges I shall alledge anone And where you say that all Christen people haue so beleued this 1500. yeares that is very false For there is no doubt but that the people thought as holy S. Austen and other faithful fathers taught them Which as I said make with vs. Notwithstādyng in déede sith our Prelates haue bene made Lordes and haue set vp their lawes and decrées contrary to the prerogatiue of all Princes lyke most sutle traytours haue made all mē beleue that they may make lawes and bynde mens consciences to obey them and that their lawes are Gods lawes blindyng y e peoples eyes with two or thrée textes wrongfully wrested to aduaunce their pride where they ought to obey Kyngs and Princes and be subiect to their lawes as Christ and his Apostles were euē vnto y e death Sith that tyme I say they haue made men beleue what they list and made articles of the faith at their pleasure One article must be y e they be the Church and can not erre And this is the grounde of all their doctrine But the truth of this article is nowe sufficiently knowen For if Quéene Katherine be kyng Henries wife then they do erre and if she be not then they haue erred to speake no more cruelly It is now become an article of our fayth y e the Pope of Rome must be y ● head of y e Church the Vicare of Christ that by Gods law It is an article of our fayth that what soeuer hee byndeth in earth is bounde in heauen in so much that if he curse wrongfully yet ye must be feared and infinite such other which are not in our Crede but blessed bee God that hath geuen some light into our Princes hart For he hath lately put foorth a booke called the glasse of truth whiche proueth many of these articles very foolishe phantasies and that euen by their owne Doctours so I trust you shal be proued in this poynt of the Sacrament for though it be an article of our fayth it is no article of our Crede in y e xij articles wher of are sufficient for our saluatiō And therefore we may thinke that you lye without all ieoperdye of damnation Neuerthelesse seing his mastership saith that all make for him and I say cleane contrarie that all the olde fathers make against him or at the lest wise not with him It were necessary that one of vs should proue his purpose But indeede in this poynt he would loke to haue the vauntage of me For he thinketh that men will soner beleue hym which is a great man then me which am but a poore man and that therfore I had more néede to proue my part true then he to proue his Well I am content and therfore geue eare deare reader and Iudge betwéene vs. First I wil begin with Tertulian because he is of most antiquitie Tertulian speakyng of Christ sayth Nec panem reprobauit quo ipsum corpus suum representat That is to say Christ him selfe did not reproue or discommend bread whereby he doth represent hys very body For the vnderstandyng of thys place you must knowe that there was an hereticke called Marcion which dyd reproue creatures and said
graffed in Christ the roote of all goodnes In Christ God loued vs his elect and chosen before the world began and reserued vs vnto the knowledge of his sonne and of his holy Gospell and when the Gospell is preached to vs openeth our hartes and geueth vs grace to beleue and putteth the spirite of Christ in vs and we know him as our father most mercyfull and consent to the law and lone it inwardly in our hart and desire to fulfill it and sorrow because we can not which will sinne we of frailtie neuer so much is sufficient till more strength bee geuen vs the bloud of Christ hath made satisfaction for the rest the bloud of Christ hath obteyned all thyngs for vs of God Christ is our satisfaction redemer deliuerer sauiour from vengeaunce and wrath Obserue and marke in Paules Peters Iohns Epistles in the Gospell what Christ is vnto vs. By faith are we saued onely in beleuyng the promises And though fayth be neuer without loue good workes yet is our sauing imputed neither to loue nor vnto good workes but vnto faith onely For loue and woorkes are vnder the law which requireth perfection and the ground and fountayne of the hart and damneth all imperfectnes Now is fayth vnder the promises which damne not but geue pardō grace mercy fauour and what soeuer is contayned in the promises Righteousnes is diuers for blynd reasō imaguieth many maner of righteousnesses There is the righteousnes of workes as I sayd before when the hart is a way and is not felt how the law is spirituall and can not be fulfilled but from the bottome of the hart As the iust ministration ▪ of all maner of lawes and the obseruyng of them for a worldlye purpose and for our owne profite and not of loue vnto our neighbour without all other respect and morall vertues wherein Philosophers put their felicity and blessednes whiche all are nothyng in the sight of God in respect of the lyfe to come There is in like maner the iustifying of ceremonies whiche some imagine their owne selues some counterfaite other saying in their blynd reasō such holy persons dyd thus and thus and they were holy men therfore if I do so likewise I shall please God but they haue none aūswere of God that that pleaseth The Iewes seke righteousnes in their ceremonies which god gaue vnto them not for to iustifie but to describe and paynt Christ vnto thē of which Iewes testifieth Paule saying how that they haue affection to god but not after knowledge for they go about to stablish their owne iustice and are not obedient to the iustice or righteousnesse that commeth of God which is the forgeuenesse of sinne in Christes bloud vnto all that repent and beleue The cause is verely that except a man cast away his owne imagination and reason he can not perceaue God and vnderstand the vertue power of the bloud of Christ There is a full righteousnes when the law is fulfilled from the ground of the hart This had neither Peter nor Paule in this life perfectly vnto the vttermost that they could not be perfecter but sighed after it They were so farreforth blessed in Christ that they hungred and thyrsted after it Paule had this thyrst he consented to the law of God that it ought so to be but he found an other lust in his members cōtrary to the lust desire of his mynde that letted him and therefore cryed out saying Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of death thankes bee to God through Iesus Christ The righteousnes that before God is of value is to beleue the promises of God after the law hath confounded the conscience As when the temporall law ofttymes condenmeth the thefe or murtherer bringeth him to execution so that he seeth nothyng before him but present death and then commeth good tydinges a charter frō the kyng and deliuereth hym Likewise when Gods law hath brought the sinner into knowledge of himselfe and hath confounded his conscience opened vnto him the wrath and vengeaunce of God then commeth good tydinges the Euangelion sheweth vnto him the promises of God in Christ and how that Christ hath purchased pardon for him hath satisfied the law for him and peased the wrath of God And the poore sinner beleueth laudeth and thāketh God through Christ and breaketh out into exceedyng inward ioy and gladnes for that he hath escaped so great wrath so heauy vengeaunce so fearefull and so euerlastyng a death And he henceforth is an hūgred and a thurst after more righteousnes that he might fulfill the law mourneth continually commendyng hys weakenes vnto God in the bloud of our Sauiour Christ Iesus Here shall ye see compendiously and playnly set out the order and practise of euery thyng afore rehearsed The fall of Adam hath made vs heyres of the vengeaunce and wrath of God and heyres of eternall damnatiō And hath brought vs into captiuitie and bondage vnder the deuill And the deuill is our Lord and our ruler our head our gouernour our Prince yea and our God And our will is locked and knit faster vnto the will of the deuill then could an hundred thousand chaines bynde a man vnto a post Vnto the deuils will consent we with all our hartes with all our myndes with all our might power strēgth will and lust so that the law and will of the deuill is written as well in our harts as in our members and we runne headlong after the deuill with full seale and the whole swyng of all the power we haue as a stone cast vp into the ayre cōmeth downe naturally of his owne selfe with all the violence and swyng of his owne wayght With what poyson deadly and venemous hate hateth a man hys enemy With howe great malice of mynde inwardly do we slea and murther With what violence and rage yea and with how feruent lust commit we aduoutrie fornication and such like vncleannes with what pleasure and delectation inwardly serueth a glotton his belly With what diligence deceaue we How busily seke we the thinges of this world What soeuer we doe thinke or imaginne is abhominable in the sight of God For we can referre nothyng vnto the honour of God neither is his law or will written in our members or in our hartes neither is there any more power in vs to folow the will of God then in a stone to ascende vpward of hys owne selfe And beside that we are as it were a slepe in so depe blindnes that we cā neither see nor feele in what misery thraldome and wretchednes we are in till Moses come and wake vs and publish the law When we heare the law truly preached how that we ought to loue and honour God with all our strength and might from the low bottome of the hart because he hath created vs and both heauen and earth for our sakes and made vs Lord
heretickes and corrupteth with false opinions contrarie vnto the professiō of their Baptisme and the light wherewith they should expounde the Scripture is turned into darkenes in their hartes the doore of the Scripture locked the welles stopped vp yer they come at it And therfore because their darknes can not cōprehend the light of Scripture as it is writtē Iohn i. The light shyned in darknes but the darknes could not comprehēd it they turne it into blynd ridles and read it without vnderstandyng as lay men do our Lady Mattines or as it were Marlynes prophecies euer their myndes are vppon their heresies And when they come to a place that soūdeth like there they rest and wring out wonderfull expositions to stablishe their heresies with all after the tale of the boy that would fayne haue eaten of the pastie of lamprese but durst not vnto the belles sang vnto him Sit downe Iacke boy and eate of the lamprey to stablishe his waueryng conscience withall Is it not a great blyndnes to say in the begynning of all together that the whole scripture is false in the litterall sence and killeth the soule Whiche pestilent heresie to proue they abuse the text of Paule saying The letter killeth because that text was become a ridle vnto them and they vnderstode it not When Paule by this word letter vnderstode the law giuen by Moyses to condēne all consciences and to rob them of all righteousnes to compell them vnto the promises of mercy that are in Christ Heresie springeth not of the Scripture no more then darknes of the Sunne but is a darke cloude that springeth out of the blynde hartes of hypocrites and couereth the face of the Scripture and blyndeth their eyes that they can not behold the bright beames of the Scripture The whole summe then of all together is this If our hartes were taught the appoyntment made betwene GOD and vs in Christes bloud whē we were Baptised we had the kay to open the Scripture and light to see and perceiue the true meaning of it and the Scripture should be easie to vnderstand And because we be not taught that professiō is the cause why the Scripture is so darke and so farre passyng our capacitie And the cause why our expositions are heresies is because we be wrong taught corrupt w t false opiniōs before hand and made heretickes yer we come at the Scripture and haue corrupt it and it not vs as the tast of the sicke maketh holesome and well seasoned meate bitter werish and vnsauery Neuertheles yet the Scripture abydeth pure in her selfe and bright so that he which is sounde in the faith shall at once perceiue that the iudgemēt of the hereticke is corrupt in their expositions as an whole man doth feele at once euen with smelling to the meate that the tast of the sicke is infected And with the Scripture shal they euer improue heresies and false expositions for the Scripture purgeth her selfe euen as the water once in the yeare casteth all filthynes vnto the sides Which to be true ye see by the authoritie of Paule 2. Timo. 3. saying All the Scripture was giuen of God by inspiration and is good to teach with all to improue and so foorth And by the example of Christ and the Apostles how they confounded the Iewes with the same Scripture whiche they had corrupt vnderstode them amisse after their own darknes and as ye see by the example of vs now also how we haue manifestly improued the hypocrites in an hūdre h textes which they had corrupt to proue their false opinions brought in besides the Scripture and haue driuē them of And they be fled and openly confesse vnto their shame that they haue no Scripture and sing an other song and say they receaued them by the mouth of the Apostles Vnto whiche stopping oyster I aunswere here grosly seyng they are aunswered before That as he were a foole which would trust him to tell his money in his absent that hath pyked his purse before his face euen so sithe ye haue corrupt the open Scripture before our eyes and takē with the maner that ye cā not denie we were madde to beleue that which hath lyen xv C. yeares as ye say in your rottē mawes should now be holesome for vs ye haue chewed and mingled it with your poyson spetel Can ye beare vs in hand and perswade vs thinke ye with your sophistry to beleue that ye should minister your secrete traditions without grounde truly when we see you minister the open Scripture falsly Can ye bewyche our wittes with your Poetry to beleue that ye should minister your secret traditions for our profite when wee see you corrupt the open Scripture to the losse of our soules for your profite Nay it is an hundreth tymes more likely y ● ye should be false in secret things thē in open And therefore in the very Sacramentes whiche the Scripture testifieth that Christ him selfe ordeined them we must haue an eye vnto your hand how ye minister them And as wee restore the Scripture vnto her right vnderstandyng from your false gloses euen so deliuer we the Sacramentes and ceremonies vnto their right vse from your abuse And that must we do with the Scripture which can corrupt no mā that commeth therto with a meke sprite sekyng there onely to fashion him selfe lyke Christ accordyng to the profession and vowe of our Baptisme But contrarywise hee shall there finde the myghtie power of GOD to alter hym and chaunge hym in the inner man a litle and litle in processe vntill he be full shappen after the image of our Sauiour in knowledge loue of all truth and power to worke therafter Finally then for as much as the Scripture is the light and life of Gods elect that mightie power wherewith God createth thē and shapeth them after the similitude likenes and very fashion of Christ and therfore sustenaunce comfort and strength to courage them that they may stād fast and endure and meryly beare their soules health wherewith the lustes of the flesh subdued and killed and the spirite mollified and made soft to receiue the print of the image of our Sauiour Iesu And as much as the Scripture is so pure of it selfe that it cā corrupt no man but the wicked onely which are infect before hand and yer they come at it corrupt it with the heresies they bryng with them And for as much as the complaynt of the hypocrites that the Scripture maketh heretickes is vayne and fayned the reasons wherewith they would proue that the laye people ought not to read the Scripture false wicked and the frute of roten trees therefore are they faythfull seruauntes of Christ and faythfull Ministers dispēsers of his doctrine and true harted toward their brethren which haue giuen them selues vp into the hand of God and put them selues in ieoperdy of al persecutiō their very lyfe
c. that is I am a straunger and a pilgrime in the earth as all my fathers haue bene And therfore as a pilgrime he hasted vnto the common countrey of all saintes requiring for the filthines that he had receaued in this bodely mansion that his sinnes might be forgeuen him before he departed from thys lyfe For he that here hath not receaued forgeuenesse of hys sinnes shall not be there He shall not surely be there for he can not come vnto euerlasting life for euerlasting lyfe is the forgeuenes of sinnes And therfore he sayth forgeue me that I may be cooled before I depart Here may you euidently perceaue that S. Ambrose knew not of purgatory nor of any forgeuenesse that should be after thys lyfe But plainly affirmeth that he y t receaueth not forgeuenesse of hys sinnes here that is in thys life shall neuer come in heauen And for a more vehement affirmation he dubleth hys own wordes saying He that here hath not receyued forgeuenesse of hys sinnes he shall not be there he shall not surely be there He meaneth that he shall neuer come to Heauen which here hath not his remission SAint Hieromes minde may sone be gathered by hys exposition of the ix chapter of Ecclesiastes vpon thys text The dead haue no part in thys world nor in any worke that is done vnder the Sunne There addeth Sainte Hierome that the dead can adde nothing vnto that which they haue taken with them out of this life for they can neither do good nor sinne neyther can they encrease in vertue or vice Albeit sayth he some wyll contrarie thys exposition affirming also that we may encrease decrease after death Here are thrée things to be noted first that the Text sayth that the dead are not partakers of any work that is done vnder the sunne And there may you sée that all suffrages offringes and diriges for the dead are in vaine and profite them not for they are partakers of nothing vnder the sunne Secondarily you may sée S. Hieromes own minde that the dead can neyther do good nor euill neyther encrease in vertue nor vice And so is purgatory put out for if they can do no good what should they do in purgatory And agayne if they can not encrease in vertue they be lyke to lye long in purgatorye Peraduenture some man would thinke that they do no good but onely that they suffer good To that I aunswer that he that suffereth good doth good for if a man should suffer hys body to be burnt for the fayth of Christ would you not say that he did a good déed and yet doth he but suffer Thirdly ye may note that S. Hierome was not ignorant that certeine as they which did fayne purgatory would denye hys exposition and say that we might encrease and decrease in vertue and vyce after death yet notwithstanding he held his sentence condemning theyr opinion whych thing he would not haue done specially sith he knew that he should haue aduersaries for it except he had bene sure that his sentence was right Sée I pray you how that not onely scripture but euen theyr owne doctoures condemne this phantasticall purgatory and yet my lords are not ashamed to say that all make for them NEuerthelesse I wyll go further wyth hym Be it in case that all the Doctours dyd affirme purgatory as they do not what were my Lord the nearer hys purpose Verely not one iote for the authoritie of doctors by my lordes owne confession extendeth no further but is onely to be admitted whilest they confirme theyr wordes by Scripture or els by some probable reason For my Lorde writeth on this maner Article xxxvij The Pope hath not so allowed the whole doctrine of S. Thomas that men should beleue euery poynte he wrote were true Neither hath the church so approued eyther S. Austine or S. Hierome nor any other authors doctrine but that in some places we may dissent from them for they in many places haue openly declared themselues to be men and many times to haue erred These are my lordes owne words Now sith the doctours somtime erre and in certayne places are not to be admitted as he graunteth himselfe how should we know whē to approue them and when to deny them If we should hang on the Doctoures authority then should we as well alow the vntruth as the truth sith he affirmeth both Therfore we must haue a iudge to discerne betwéene truth and falsehode And who shoulde that be the pope Nay verely for he being a man as well as the Doctours were may erre as they did and so shall we euer be vncertaine Our Iudge therefore must not be parciall flexible nor ignoraunt and so are all naturall men excluded but he must be inalterable euen searching the bottome ground of all thing Who must that be Verely the scripture and woord of God which was geuen by his Sonne confirmed and sealed by the holy Ghost and testified by miracles and bloud of all martyres This word is the iudge that must examine the matter the perfit touchstone that tryeth al thing and day that discloseth all iuggeling mistes If the doctours say any thing not dissonant from this woord then it is to be admitted and holdē for truth But if any of theyr doctrine discorde from it it is to be abhorred and holden accurssed To this full well agréeth S. Austen whiche writeth vnto S. Hierome on this wise Deare brother I thinke that you wil not haue your bookes reputed lyke vnto the woorkes of the Prophetes and Apostles for I the Scripture reserued do read all other mens workes on that maner that I doe not beleue them because the author so sayth be he neuer so well learned and holy except that he can certifie me by the Scripture or cleare reason that he sayth true And euen so would I that other men should read my bookes as I read theirs These are S. Austēs wordes And thus haue I proued both by S. Austen and also by my Lordes owne wordes that no man is bound to beleue the Doctors except they can be proued true either by Scripture or good reason not repugnaunt to Scripture Therefore let vs sée what Scripture or good reason my Lord bryngeth to approue his doctours withall For els they can not helpe hym as we haue declared both by S. Austen my Lordes owne confession although they all made with hym as they do not First he bringeth in the sinne agaynst the holy ghost Math. 12. And Paule 1. Cor. 3. And. 1. Iohn 5. And Apoca. 5. which textes I passe ouer because I haue aunswered vnto them before in the seconde booke agaynst M. More THe first reason that my Lord hath which is not before soluted for as I sayd the reasons that are already dissolued will I now ouerhyp is this which he groundeth on diuers Scriptures Of the soules that are departed some
were in number but 25. thousand And the Israelites were 400. thousand fighting men which came into Silo and asked of God who should be theyr Captaine agaynst Beniamin And they being but 25. thousand slue of the other Israelites 12. thousand in one day Then fledde the children of Israell vnto the Lord in Silo made great lamentation before hym euen vntill night and asked hym counsell saying shall we go any more to fight agaynst the tribe of Beniamin our brethren or not God sayd vnto them yes goe vp and sight agaynst them Thē went they the next day fought agaynst them and there were slaine agayne of the Israelites 18. thousand men Then came they backe agayne vnto the house of God and sat down and wept before the Lord and fasted that day vntill euen and asked hym agayn whether they should any more fight agaynst theyr brethren or not God sayd vnto them yes to morrow I will deliuer them into your handes And the next day was y e tribe of Beniamin vtterly destroyed sauyng 600. men which hid thē selues in the wildernes Here it is euident that the children of Israell loste the victorye twise and yet notwithstanding had a iust cause and fought at Gods commaundement Besides that Iudas Machabeus was slaine in a righteous cause as it is manifest in the first booke of the Machabées And therfore it can be no euident argument of the vengeance of God that he was slaine in battell in a righteous cause and therefore me thinketh that thys man is too malaparte so bluntly to enter into Gods iudgement and geue sentence in that matter before he be called to counsell Thus haue I sufficiently touched hys Preface for those pointes y e he afterward touched more largely haue I willingly passed because I shall touch thē earnestly hereafter Now let vs sée what heproueth ¶ It ys a great wonder to see vppon how light and sleight occasiōs he is fallē vnto these abhominable heresies For he denieth not nor cā not say nay but that our Sauiour sayd him selfe my fleshe is verely meate my bloud is verely drinke he denieth not also that Christ him selfe at his last Supper takyng the bread into his blessed handes after that he had blessed it sayd vnto his disciples Take you this and eate it this is my body that shal be geuen for you And likewise gaue thē the chalice after his blessyng and consecracion and sayd vnto them this is the chalice of my bloud of the new testament which shal be shed out for many do ye this in remembrance of me ¶ It is a great wonder to see how ignoraunt their proctour is in the playne textes of scripture For if he had any Iudgmēt at all he might wel perceiue y ● when Christ spake these wordes my flesh is verely meate and my bloud is verely drinke he spake nothing of y e sacramēt For it was not institute vntill his last supper And these wordes were spokē to y e Iewes long before ment them not of y e carnall eatyng or drynking of his bodye or bloud but of the spirituall eating which is done by fayth and not with tothe or bellye Wherof S. Austyn sayth vppon his gospell of Iohn why preparest thou other tothe or bellye beleue and thou hast eaten him So y e Christes words must here be vnderstāded spiritually And that he calleth hys fleshe very meat because that as meate by the eating of it disgetting it in our bodye doth strengthen these corruptible mēbres so likewise doth Christes fleshe by the beleuing that it taketh our sinne vpon it selfe suffered the death to deliuer vs strengthen our immortall soule And likewise as drinke when it is dronken doth comfort and quicken our frayle nature So likewise doth Christes bloud by the drinkyng of it into the bowelles of our soule that it is by the beleuing and remembring that it is shed for our sinnes comfort and quicken our soule vnto euerlasting lyfe And this is the eating and drinking y e he speaketh of in that place And that it is so you may perceaue by the text following which sayth he that eateth my body drinketh my bloud dwelleth in me and I in him which is not possible to be vnderstād of the sacrament For it is false to say that he y e eateth the sacrament of his body and drinketh the sacrament of his bloud dwelleth in Christ and Christ in hym For some man receiueth it vnto his condemnation And thus doth Saint Austen expound it sayinge Hoc est enim Christum manducare in illo manere illum manentem in se habere This is the very eating of Christ to dwell in him to haue him dwelling in vs So y e who so euer dwelleth in Christ y e is to say beleueth y ● he is sēt of God to saue vs from our sinnes doth verely eate and drinke his body and bloud although he neuer receiued the sacrament This is y e spirituall eating necessary for all y ● shal be saued for there is no man that cōmeth to God wtout this eating of Christ that is the beleuing in hym And so I denye not but that Christ speaketh these wordes but surely he ment it spiritually as Saint Austen declareth and as the place playnely proueth And as touching y e other wordes y e Christ spake vnto hys disciples at the last Supper I deny not but y ● he sayd so but y ● he so fleshly ment as ye falsly faine I vtterly deny For I say y e his wordes were then also sprite life were spiritually to be vnderstāded y e he called it his body For a certaine propertie euen as he cauled him self a very vyne his disciples dery vine braunches and as he cauled himselfe a dore not y e he was so in dede but for certaine properties in the similytudes as a mā for some propertie sayeth of his neighhours horsse this horsse is mine vp and downe meaning that it is in euery thing so like And lyke as Iacob builded an aulter and cauled it the house of God as Iacob called y e place where he wrastled with the aungell the face of God and as the pascall lambe was cauled the passing by of the Lord. And as a broken potsherd was cauled Hierusalem not for that they were so in dede but for certaine similitudes in the properties and that the very name itself might put men in remēbraunce what is ment by the thing as I sufficiently declared in my first treatise He must nedes confesse that they that beleue that it is the very body and his very bloud in dede haue the playne wordes of our sauiour him selfe vpon their side for the ground foundacion of their fayth That is very true and so haue they y e very wordes of god which say that a broken potsherd is Hierusalem and that Christ is a stone
could vsed all maner of cruelnes to haue destroyed mée Neuertheles at y e last hée deliuered mée y ● roole for to reade Thē was all y e people y ● stoode there called to heare me For in y e other iij. dayes was there no man suffered to heare one worde that I spake So after their commaundement that was geuen mée I red it adding nothing to it nor saying one word that might make for myne excuse supposing that I should haue founde the Byshoppes the better After this I was commaunded to subscribe to it to make a crosse on it Then was I commaunded to goe knéele downe before the Byshop of Bathe and to require absolution of hym but hée woulde not assoyle mée except I woulde first sweare that I woulde fulfill the penaunce that hée shoulde enioyne to mée So did I sweare not yet suspectinge but the●e men had had some cromme of charitie within them But when I had sworne then enioyned hée mée that I should returne that nyght agayne to pryson And the nexte day which was Fastingam Sonday I should doe open penaunce at Paules And that the worlde shoulde thynke that I was a marueylous haynous heretyke the Cardinall came the next day with all y e pompe and pride that hée could make to Paules church and all to bring mée poore soule out of consayte And moreouer were there commaunded to come all y e byshops that were at London and all the abbots dwelling in London that dyd weare miters in so much that the prior of S. Mary spittell and an other moncke which I thinke was of Tower hill were there also in their myters And to set the matter more forth that the world should perfectly know perceiue that the spirituall fathers had determined my matter substancially The byshop of Rochester must preach there the same day and all his sermon was agaynst Lutherians as though they had cōuicted me for one The which of truth and afore God was as farre from those thinges as any man could bée sauing that I was no tyrāt nor no persecutour of Gods worde And all this gorgyous fasing with myters and crostaues abbotts and priors were done but to blinde the people and to outface mée God amend all thinges that is amysse I had béene well content to haue suffered all these thinges so I might haue come to a charitable end But I must returne agayne after this to prison there remayne tyll my Lord Cardinals farther pleasure The which pleasure I did abide fyrst and last ▪ 2. yeares and thrée quarters yet could neuer bée at any poynt with thē For I sent vnto y ● byshop of London that was then certayne worshipfull men of the Cyty of Lōdon whose names bée these Mayster Lambert which hath béene Maior M. Raynold which hath béene shreue M. Palmer M. Petyt M. Iones and M. Pernell And desyred these men in the way of charitie to goe to the Byshop of London and to desire him to bée good and gracious vnto mée And if I had offended I would bée glad to make amends asmuch as hée should reasonably require of mée Desiring hym to shew thē what hée would of his charitie require me to doe they for to bée bound vnto hym y e I would kéepe it This they dyd But what aunswer y e they had of hym they bée men aliue for the most part they can tell And amongst all other maister Petit sayd vnto the byshop Alas my Lorde it is a petuous case If a man come in the daunger of your lawe there is no remedy to helpe hym out Yes sayd● the byshop What is that sayd maister Petyt This is a yong man hath good frendes which would bée right lothe to haue him cast away wherefore if there bée any remedy deuise you it and we wil bée bound for him At this the byshop was astonyed and sayde at the last that hée would speake to my Lorde Cardinal for mée Then these mē offered him to goe with him and to bée bounde for mée Hée sayde it should not néede But neuertheles hée spake so vnto them or they departed that whē they came home there was not one of them that durst geue mée so much bread meat as hée durst geue his dog nor yet speake one word to mée Immediatelye after this the byshop founde y e meanes that I was sent to northāpton there to remayne as in a perpetuall prison Thus most gracious prince haue they handled me your poore Oratour I beseche your highnes to bée good and gracious vnto mée iudge if this bée charitable dealyng thus to cōdemne mée for an heretyke not to shew mee the poynt wherefore But euen with a violent tyrannye to compeil mée to doe confesse what they will or els to bée put to death And if there bée any of them yet y e will come forth and proue any of these articles heresye I will not refuse to suffer any payne that your grace shall iudge me worthy Thus our Lord Iesus Christe preserue your noble grace euermore Amen Onely fayth iustifieth before God NOw if your grace doe not take vppon you to heare the disputation the probation of this article out of the groūd of the holy Scripture my Lordes the Bishops will condēne it afore they read it as their maner is to doe with all thynges that pleaseth them not and which they vnderstand not and then crye they heresy heresie an hereticke an hereticke hée ought not to bée heard for his matters bée condemned by the Church by his holy fathers and by all long customes and by all maner of lawes Vnto whom with your graces fauour I make this aūswere I would know of them if all these things that they haue reckened can ouercome Christ and his holy worde or set the holy ghost to schole And if they can not why should not I then bée heards that doe require it in the name of Christ and also bryng for me his holy worde the holy fathers which haue vnderstand Gods worde as I doe Therfore though they will not heare me yet must they néedes heare them In holy Scripture Christ is nothing els but a Sauiour a redéemer a iustifier a perfect peace maker betwene God and man This testimony dyd y e aungell geue of him in these wordes Hée shall saue his people from theyr sinnes And also S. Paule Christ is made our righteousnes our satisfaction and our redemption Moreouer the Prophet witnesseth the same saying For the wretchednes of my people haue I striken him So that here haue we Christ with his properties Now if we wil truly cōfesse Christ then must we graūt with our hartes that Christ is all our iustice all our redemption all our wisedome all our holynes all alonely the purchaser of grace alonly y e peace maker betwéene God and man Briefely all goodnes that we haue y e it is of hym by him and for his