delated to the King bee ane Doctour Austine they wrote to him a confession of their faith most sounde and Catholicke mistake me not I meane not Romane Catholicke but that which Christ deliuered to his Apostles and the Apostles to the Church and the Church to this houre hath kept pure and cleane as they receaued it and vnmingled with the dregges of mans witt But to our purpose they who setled at home gote noe long rest They were dayly and heauely persecuted by the Bishopes Arelatensis Narbonensis Aquensis Albanensis They possessed two townes called Cabriers and Merindoll till our dayes that is to saye till the yeare one thousand fiue hundreth fortie fiue and the vaile of Angroinguâ— The Bishope had accused theÌ„ to the Parliment of Aix for defection from the Catholicke faith The Parliment had giuen out sentence that they should haue beene destroyed man woman and childe And their Towns Trees euerted be the rootes This bloodie sentence laye ouer fiue yeares and was once attempted be the President Casson and afterwaâ—de forbidden be the King as ouer câ—uell against innocent people At last one Mineres Lord of Opede a bloody tyrant and their mercilesse enemie at the request of the Bishope delated them to the King falsly that they were all in armes against his Maiestie and bee moyen of the Cardinal Turnonius got the Kings letters patent to take the forces provided for the English warres to meete them This bloodie monster atchiued with crueltie the thinge which hee had begunne with a lye and put to the sworde those two townes and two and twentie villages about without mercie of sex or age It were horrible and tedious to tell the perticulares Let them who would know that read Slâ—idan or she booke of Martyres Onely for a taste hee burned fortie wemen in a barne of which many were with child The like crueltie was vsed againste the rest of them in PiedmoÌ„t in Vallies of Angroing Lucern Perouse and Sainte Martynes Aboute the same time Anno one thousand fiue hundreth fortie fiue Thus were that innocent people with the greate regrate of their neighboures destroyed among whome the Lord till then had preserued to himselfe a Church worshiping and seruing him according to his owne word Nowe hauing deduced this doctrine to our owne times it remaineth to open the hidden mynes through the which these men hath drawen this rotten water as out of the well of life where-with this eight hundreth yeares they haue poysoned many milliones of soules The foundation that they laye to raze this monstruous worke on is the wordes of the institution This is my body which is broken for you To mentaine in these wordes a literall sense they pervert the true sense of many places of scripture and to null a figure in this place they force many monstruous figures on other places they denye common sense they pervert nature and at one worde they mingle heauen and â—arth together Before I buckle with their arguments I hope this reason shal satisfie any minde that will heare reason that these wordes are not evident ynough to lead our faith to such a monstruous 〈◊〉 Noe scripture that will 〈◊〉 anadâ—â—â—t â—ther meaning is of â—ufficient importance to lead the heart of a Christian to a persuasion contrary to sense and abhorring from nature But these words of the institution wil beare an otheâ— meaning Ergo these words of the institution are not of sufficient importance to leade the heart of a Cristian to a persuasion contrarye to sensâ— abhorring from nature That the words will beare an other meaning admitting both a figure and the letter is proued alreadie That the persuasion is monstruous no man seeth not That â—eeing breead feeling bread and tasting bread it is not bread which thou eatest but the very flesh of Christ which thou neither seest feelest nor tastest is againste sense To rend with thy teethe and put downe into thy foule bellie the precious bodie of Christ which was broken for thy sinnes beside Cannibal crueltie were impious inhumanitie And therefore the scripture that must induce the faith to beleeue a thinge so contrarie to faith should be single simple pregnant and vncontrouleable And now to their arguments The first is that all sacraments shuld consist of simple and plaine wordes without ambiguitie but figuratiue wordes are not plaine and simple without ambigâ—itie Ergo Sacraments shuld not consist of figuratiue wordes Firste this argumente destroyeth vtterly the naâ—ure of a Sacramente For as August teacheth all Sacramentes are visible signes of vnvisible graces that is seene figures of graces which are not seene As for plainesse figuratiue speeches are many tymes playner then they which are without all figure As for the wordes whereon we stand there is no speeche more vsuall when men presentes themselues be lots then this is I and that is thou Mistake me not I haue proued alredie sufficiently that the sacrament is not a naked figure As for ambiguitie will these men set the eternall worde of GOD to the schoole and â—each him to speake What if the spirite of God will haue his word so tempered that it may be the sauoure of life to them that liue and the sauoure of death to them that dye Doubtlesse his sheepe knowes his voice and hee goeth in and out before them He maketh them rest in greene pastores and leadeth them to the still waters As for his enemies he hath tempered their cuppe with galle and madâ— the worde of life to bee a block in their way He hath left ambiguities for heritickes to waken his Church out of the dreame of securitie It is good saith he that offences be but woe to them bee whome they come And in this poynte it is a wonder to see how God hath infatuated the â—ense of these men to seeke a knot in a rushe and to force a senslesse sense on his worde against sense Secondly out of the same words they make this argument That which Christ divyded amongst his disciples was his bodie broken for them But his essential bodie was broken for them Ergo that which he deuided among his disciples was his essential bodie All this we confesse to be most true as our Sauiour spake it that is sacramentallie That which he deuided amongst his desciples was sacramentally or figuratiuelye his bodie which was broken for them that is his reall and essentiall bodie in a figure but not bee transubstantiation or mutation of the bread into his bodie Thirdely they vrge hard this letter I am the bread that came downe from heauen And againe my flesh is meate in deede gathering that therefore his essentiall body is in the sacrament This enthymem I haue done what I can to caste into a syllogisticall moulde for I wouâ—defaine playe faire playe and displaye their arguments in their best geere But it will not bee for mee without a manifest and seene blemish Yet if it can bee for I acknowledge my owne weaknesse
nature I am persuaded that these men will not saye that the substance of the water is also changed in Baptisme into the bloode of Christ how-be-it the reason be as good to saye this as that Bee these examples I woulde haue the circumspect reader warned that when he readeth in any of the fathers that the nature of the breade is changed in the Sacrament hee take it not for substance alwayes I will giue the an example or two of the moste peremptorie places that these men hath and which maye begâ—â—le a wise and circumspect reader Harding against Iewell alleadges out of Câ—prian these wordes Panis iste quem dominus discipulis porrigebat non effigiâ— sed natura mutatus omnipotentia verbi factus est caro This breade which the Lord gaue to his disciples changed not in shawe but in nature be the omnipotencie of the worde was made breade Where firste note that hee calleth it breade which hee gaue his disciples which thing as this day were heresie in Rome Secondly that hee saith not the substance of the bread is changed but the nature of it which being created to feede the bodye of man to temporall life is now changed be the omnipotencie of the worde that is Christ to feede the soule to eternall life Thirdelye where hee saieth the breade was made flesh it proues not a chaÌ„ging of the one substance into the other For Iohn saith of the sonne of God that the worde was made flesh which not-withstanding was not turned into flesh Lastly the hyperbole of the omnipotencie of the worde sundrie of the fathers vseth of the water in Baptisine which abideth water still and is not changed into the blood of Christ. Beda saith Panis et vini creatura in sacramentum â—arnis et sanguinis Christi ineff abili spiritus sanctificatione transfâ—rtur The creature of breade and wine be the vnspeakable sanctification of the spirite is translated to the Sacrament of Christes bodie and bloode Where you see as hyperbolicall wordes not to change the breade and wine into the bodie and blood of Christ but into the Sacrament of his bodie and blood Maister William Rainold againste Maister Robert Bruce alleadgeth two places out of Ambrose which being weighed in these confiderations will proue no transubstantiation Ambrose comparing the efficacie of Christes wordes with the words of Elias at laste concludeth if his wordes were of such force that they caused fire to come downe from heauen shall not Christes speach be of sufficient force to alter the nature of the elements First the Latine worde which hee interpreteth nature is species elementorum The shapes of the elements which it is certaine to the sense remaineth vnchanged and so the wordes beareth a manifest hyperbole It is true that Ambrose in that place vseth sundry high amplifications not to persuade the breade to be transubstantiated into the essentiall bodie of Iesus Christ but from the authoritye and power of the consecratoure to settle into the heartes of men a dreadefull account of the consecration That this is his drift it is plaine in the same place Where he saith ante benedictionem rerborum coelestium alia species nominatur post consecrationem corpus Christi significatur Before the celestiall blessing an other forme is named after consecration Christs body is signifyed saith hee not in deede transubstantiated For that which doth signifie his bodie can not be the same thing which it signifieth In the other place Ambrose teacheth that the consecration is made bee the wordes of Christe the selfe same whereby all things were created and after a long induction concludeth it was not the body but breade before secration but after when Christs words came there to then was it the bodie of Christ. and addeth thou seest then how many wayes the speach of Christe is able to change all thinges This long induction of Christes power as I haue saide is to noe other ende but bee the powerful consecration of the elements to settle a resolute persuasion in our heartes of Christs presence which is the vnseene subiect of our faith That Ambrose knewe not transubstantiation of the elementes it is plaine in that same cap also Where he saith Si tantavis in sermone domini fuit vt inciperentesse quae non â—rant quanto magis operatorius est vt sinâ— quae erant et in aliud commutentur If there was such power in the worde of the Lorde to make thinges beginne to bee that they were not howe much more powerfull is it to make thinges byde that which they were before and to be changed into an other Where note that he saith the bread and wine abideth the thinge which they were that is breade and wine which these men denieth And a little after warde hee saith similitudinem pretiosi sanguinis bibis Thou drinkest the lâ—kenesse of that precious bloode In the cap. following also hee calleth it figura corporis et sanguinis A figure of the bodie and bloode of our Sauiour Iesus Christe If Ambrose had thought the elementes of breade and wine to be the essentiall and reall body of Christ hee woulde neuer haue called them similitudes and figures thereof If these men woulde buckle that opinion on Ambrose or anye other father let them produce him in his monstruous coloures of accidents without their naturall subiects and subiectes without their naturall accidents and substance changed into substaÌ„ce For we are surely persuaded that transubstantiation was neuer beleeued before these strange theoremes were vniuersallie receaued And if they cannot find these theoremes which muste haue rung in all the pulpits and schooles if that doctrine had beene receaued before the counsell of Rome which condemned Berengarius let them pardon vs to thinke that that doctrine was not till theÌ„ knowne in the own complexion To conclude this matter of the fathers it is no wonder that these men presumâ—â—g on the ignorance of their readers draw the amplifications of the fathers to their bent seeing they blush not to take Calvin and Maister Robert Bruce whome all men knoweth to dissent from them at such stottes Maister Rainolds quoteth out of Caluines institutiâ—ns foure or fiue places which if hee had written a thousand yeares before would make a greater shew for their transubstantiation then anye thinge that father Robert Bellarmine hath founde among all the fathers and more pregnant then these places which I haue answered of Cyprian and Ambrose The firste is in the mysterie of the Supper saieth Caluin Christ that is Christs bodie and blood be the signes of bread and wine is truly deliuered vnto vs. And al-be-it it may seeme incredible that in such distance of places he shoulde passe downe to vs Yet let vs remember howe farre his power exceedeth our sense and that our minde cannot comprehend let our faith conceaue Againe in his holy supper hee willeth me vnder the symboles of breade and wine to take eate and drinke his bodie and
might stand very well with demonstration of the breade hee saith it demonstrateth a thing which he calleth Indiâ—duum vagum and to expounde him selfe to the capacitie of the simple he calleth it also Indiuiduum in genere or Indiuiduum entis Induiduum insignitum Indiuiduum Iudiuidui vnum substantia and 〈◊〉 entis Which deepe diuinitie I can not expounde to men that hath noe other but their mother tongue except Indiuiduum vagum maye bee some wandring vagabounde In this matter there is much more diversitie of opinions which woulde bee tedious to reckon vppe particularlye Some saieth that the bodie of Christe is rent with the teethe and some saith no. Some saith that the accidents of bread wyne doth nourish some saith no. Some saith that as soone as it commeth to the toothe the bodye of Christ returneth bee a miracle and some saie no. Some saie that Christe is in the Sacrament in quantitie and qualitie as hee was on the Crosse and some saie no. Some saâ—e that hee did consecrate be a diuine power and some saie no. Some saie that he consecrated bee his blessing and some saie no. And some saie that he did consecrate bee vertue of the â—iue wordes hoc est enim corpius meum and some saie no. To make them siue they added enim of their owne because the poet testifieth that numero deus impare gaudet God delighteeth in an odde number how-be-it the poet ment three not fiue But to goe fordwarde Some saieth that the naturall bodie of Christ is in the Sacramente naturallie and some saie no. Some saith that the substance of the breade is turned into the substance of Christes bodie and some sâ—â—e no but that it vanisheth to no-thing and that the bodye of Christâ— succedeth into the place of it There are manye moe doubts which I would aske of the Maisters of this theologie to bee resolued me be cleare 〈◊〉 timonie of scripture First whether the breade be changed materia et forma or materia onely Secondlye if the forme bee changed whetâ—er it bee changed into the forme of Christs bodie Thirdelye if the essentiall forme of breade be that which maketh bread to be called breade and distinguisheth it from flowre and wheate whether colour â—auer taste substance friabilitie and vertue to feede be not that essentiall forme Fourthly whether the breade be turned into whole Christ God and man Fifthly if into his manhoode onelye whether that bee not a separation of hiâ— vnseparable natures Sixthly if into his diuinitie also how a peece of corruptible bread can turne into the incorruptible and eternall essence of the deitie Seuently if the deitie assumes the humane bodie made of breade as hee did the fleshe borne of the Virgine Marye whether there be now as many Christs as hath beene hostes consecrated since the firste which Christe did conâ—ecraâ—e him selfe Eightly if not what can become of them being all immortall and incorruptible Nynthelye whether they haue vniuersall knowledge of all thinges paste present and to come Tenthlye whether Gregorie the seuenth that sweete birde did sinne asking of it certaine secret matters and casting it into the fire because it would not answere I coulde here moue many moe questions As whether the bodie of Christe in the wafer cake be formatum or informe If it bee formatum whether it hath the forme of a liuing or deade bodie If of a liuing bodie whether it liueth vitam vigetatiuam without which sensitiua and rationalis can not continue vn fed without a miracle With manye moe such strange conclusiones vpon this strange assertion But these I will superseede till I haue gotten a resolute answere to the former ten out of the vndoubted truthe of God These strange concequences made Cuthbart Tonstall Bishope of Durham a man in his time amongst the learnedest and wisest to thinke and write de modo quo id fieret meaning the bodye of Christ in the Sacramente fortasse satius esse curiosum quenque suaerelâ—nquere coniecturâ—â— sicut liberum suit ante conciliuÌ„ later anum In which words thou mayest first note that before the counsell of Laâ—eran no man was troubled for denying the reall presence and secondly that this wise man how-be-it hee dare not condemne the Church of Rome yet he thinketh it had beene better to haue left it free as it was before then to haue bounde men to vnnaturall inconueniences Scotus subtilis one of the greatest auctoures of the Romane faith plainelie attributeth this head of their beleefe to the Church of Rome and proueth it because the scriptures may haue an easier and in all appearance a truer meaning De sacramentis saith he tenendum sicut tenst sancta Romana ecclesia Naâ— verba scriptura possent saluari secundum sensum faciliorem et veriorem secundum appareatiam Wee muste houlde the Sacramentes as the holye Church of Rome doth houlde For the scriptures maye bee salued in an easier sense and truer be appearance Fisher Bishope of Rochester one of their Martyres confesseth the like that the scriptures hath nullum verbum quo probctur in missa veram fieri carnis sanguinis prâ—sentiam Not one word to proue the true presence of Christes flesh and bloode in the Masse Thus thou seest gentle reader that these men who were of greater account in he Romane Church then M. Iohn Ham or M. Gilbert Broune or any of our apostat doctours who neither for 〈◊〉 nor letters are worthye to beare their bookes confesseth that which I haue beene all this while prouing that the Romane Church neuer receaued this truth out of the scriptures And therefore seeing this poynte is so cleare that the enemies of it confesseth it I woulde request all men that hath a care to liue in Christ be Christ to avoide the poysoned doctrine of these masters who can not denye but that the soule of their religion that is the sacrifice of their Masse is a deuise of mans braine without witnesse or warrant from the authore of life and truthe Lorde opon our eyes to see the truthe and 〈◊〉 leeue it to professe it and obeye its to loue it and liue bee it through Iesus Christ our Lord and Sauiouâ— Amen Page 44. In imitio carrige Summoned him againe to Rome to a counsell of 114. Bishopes held in Basilit a Constantiniana â—â—ntra maxim lib. 3. cap 2â— 2. Cor 10 3. â—â— Ioan 〈◊〉 26. Maâ—â— 14 25. lib. 4. dist â— in A. 1 Cor 11 27 Ion 6. 33 35 40 47 50 51. 56 58 1 Cor 11. 17. De resur â—arnis Di variis locis in math hoâ— 9 in Ioan tract 25. De â—oena domâ—ni Psal. 33. contrae maximinum Super levite 56 quest Ioa◠〈◊〉 36. Psal 3â— contra ad â—mant 12 Mat hom â—3 Dial 1 â—pitaph fâ—atris lib. 3 cap 16 lib 4 â—omil 7 in leâ—it De consee â—ift â— Ioan hom 27. Ioan lib 4 cap 14 ad iouiâ—i anum lib 2 lib 1 epieâ—â— 6 lib 2 epiâ—â— 3 lib 5 cap 1 mat cap. 15 lib. 9. cap 22 Ioan lib 11 cap 3 De peccat in spirit sanctum in paedagogio lib 2 cap. contrâ— nestor anatheâ— 11 Lue lib 10 loâ—n tract 2â— Dial 2 câ—p 24 Dial 1 cap â— De iis qui initiantur contra euâ—ichaâ— lib 4. cap 34 Dial3 cap 19 Dial 3 cap 15 Dialâ— cap 8 M Iohn hammiltoÌ„ con Ioan 6 De resâ—â— carnis Ioan â— 53 〈◊〉 48 〈◊〉 63 vers 53 vers 47 vers 33. cap â— sect â— Exod 24 8 〈◊〉 22 2â— M Iohn hammiltoÌ„ of the L. supper M Iohn hammilâ—on ibid. ad 〈◊〉 epist â— in Genel â—omil 24 In Psal 97 De conseâ— distinct 2 quid sit In Act hom 2â— De conse distâ—nct 2 quia pass De saceâ—â— lib 3. De virtâ—eâ— vit â—om 5. In Ioan lib 2 cap 42 Articul 10 sect 2 Cap 1 In octaâ—â— epiphan Cap â— sect 5 De iis qui untiantur cap. 9 De sacrâ— lib 4 cap 〈◊〉 Cap â— sect 2 Instiâ—uâ— 4 lib cap 17 sect 10 〈◊〉 11. Ibid sect 31 Cap 6 sect â— Ibid sect â— Cap 19 〈◊〉 â— Cap 3 sect 1 Cap 18 sect 1 Ad Daâ—d In Ioan tract 3 In Psal 98 Actes â— vers 〈◊〉 Cap 1â— sect â— Cap 1â— sect 3 Luk 24 vers 39 1â— 28 â—17 11 14 12 â— 16 1 Cor 11 â—0 Pag 〈◊〉 Pag 286 Pag 34â— Pag 191 Math 8 8 Math 4â—â— Iohn 6 53 Iohn 15 Maâ—◠〈◊〉 Mat 12 〈◊〉 Pag 295 Pag 298 〈◊〉 298 Pag 287 Pag 369 Pag 380 〈…〉 Mar â—424 Iohn 6 â—6 Actes 32â— W R. Cap 19 sect 1 Tho Aquinas in 3 quest 76 art 30 Stella cleâ—icorum Antoâ—◠〈◊〉 Peâ—â—us de plaud Hug of clunice Gratian de cons dist 2 can â—go Beâ—â—n 〈◊〉 Caieâ—aâ— et alii De eucha â—ist sentence 4 â—ist 13 De captivâ— babil
grace in shamelesse lyes But heere I would beseech the diligent reader to iudge betweene vs and them indifferentlie Bellarmine the great Rabbi of the seminarie at Rome and the goâ—â—ah of that vncircumcised congregation gathereth what euer hee couldâ— find with his owne trauels or the trauels of the whole seminary which bee report serued him what euer had anye shew for his purpose Hee hath gathered together aboue a hundreth and nine places of all which I dare promise the diligent reader that hee hath not two which speaketh the thing which hee woulde haue In them all hee hath neither founde transubstantiation of the elements nor accidents without subiects nor subiects without accidentes nor the bodie of Christ rent with teeth nor that the accidentes are the outward signes in the sacrament nor that â—he bodie of Christ is at one time both in heauen and all other places where the sacrament is ministred nor any other of these new theoremes of the Romaine faith without a glose and that sometimes impertinent sometimes obscurer then the text sometimes repugnant to the text and alwayes peruerting the true sense of the author I hope that no man will count these allegationes equiualent except they proue all the theoremes and appendices of transubstantiation as cleerelye as wee haue done Notwithstanding whate uer they or we can doe in this kinde is no proofe of the truthe but a witnes of the consent of tymes Nowe in this place followeth next to be considered howe this monstrouse opinion of transubstantiation began to insinuate it self into the heartes of men in the ages following for from this time forth it beganne dailye to grow and to gather strength In the mysterie of the sacrament there is such a secrete sacred coniunction of Christs blessed flesh with the seales as we can not well vnderstaÌ„d nor is lawful for vs curiously to enquire but reuerentlye to beleeue that his bodie is the bread which came downe from heauen and giueth life vnto the worlde On Christs parte by the secret and vnseene efficacie of his diuinitie hee conuaieth him selfe into our soules to feede them vnto eternall life On our parts there is an action iointly of the soule and bodie the one receauing the elementes with the mouth of the bodie the other receauing the body and bloode of Christe bee the moâ—th of fâ—ith In this action the whole powers of the soule and body are occupied at one instant applying all the comforts of the senses to the soule The mouth tasting sweetnes presents sweetnes to the soule the stomach receauing refreshment mindeth the soule of refreshment The vitales receauing strength comfort life offers to the soule the strength comfort life that floweth from the bread of which who-so-euer eateth shall neuer hunger nor thirst againe To printe this analogie into our heartes and to lift our senses from the sensuall consideration of these present obiects to the spirituall contemplation of his absente flesh it pleased the wisdome of our Sauiour to name the figures of breade and wine his bodie and blood broken and shed for the faithfull partakers of these mysteries And that he doth not changing the substance as these men woulde haue vs weene but turning the vse of bodilie meate to present to our deepe speculation the meate that feedeth the soule to eternall life This besides the places alredie cited Theodoret about foure hundreth yeares after Christ teacheth as resolutelie as euer did either Zuinglius or Caluin his wordes ar these faithfullie translated because they are ouer long to set downe in his owne language Our Sauiour changed the names to the bodie giuing the name of the signe and to the signe giuing the name of the bodie His purpose is mantfest for he would haue them who did participate his diuine mysterie to haue no eye to the thing which they sawe but bee changing the names to appreheÌ„d the change made be grace For calling his naturall bodie bread meate and calling him self a vine hee honoured the signes with the names of his bodie and blood not changing their natures but adding grace to nature This example of our Sauiour all true preachers in all ages who laboured to instruct the heartes of men in these mysteries followed when they sawe the mindes baselye contented with the externall action manie tymes they amplifyed the presence of Christe with hyperbolicall argumentes of his diuine power to lift the heart from the elements to the thing presented be the elements For as mariners betweene two dangers in the seas beareth of that which they moste feare towardes that which they leaste suspect euen so these teachers drew the people froÌ„ the elements subiect to the sense towards a bodely presence contrarie to sense neuer surmizing that men woulde bee so credulouse as to take such hyperbolical amplificationes for simple suthes The deuill who hath alwaies beene reddie of good to take occasions of ill watered this weede with all helpes Firste hee bred in the heartes of men such a colde regarde of these holye mysteries that few resorted to them as it appeareth be the grieuous complaintes of the fathers of that age and lawes made be sundrie emperours to mende that fault Be this meanes he so incensed the harts of them who had the haÌ„dling of them yâ— no man thoght his eloqueÌ„ce sufâ—icieÌ„t to amplify the preseÌ„ce of Christ in the sacrament with high speeches to imprint a reverent estimatioÌ„ of these sacred mysteries in the dull heartes of the people This continued well nye three hundreth yeares without suspition of ill With the opinion of a corporall presence the deuil drew in be little and little that the verie bodie of Christ offered to the father in the masse was a sacrifice propitiatorie for the quick dead and the people as wee are all borne to superstition and idolatrie imbraced that more gredelie then any truth The Clargie spying the masses to become good marchandise and hopeing for greate cheates to the kitcâ—in bee that market put to their shoulders lifted the sacrifice aboue the sacrament So this weede grewe dailie as weedes commonly growes fastest till few could find the truth that onely such as diligently sifted the Scripturs and fathers of former times It was long before men grew so brasen faced as to denye the figure in the words of the institution The first that wee reade to haue commed so farre was Damascene about the yeare eight hundreth After him followed Pas casius and Theophylact wel nye a hundreth yeares These men broke the yce to them that followed but pearsed not into the depth of this diuinitie Transubstantiation of the elements accidents without subiects and subiects without accideÌ„tâ— the monstruous brude of the Romane Church were not yet clecked She had not yet sit vpon that egge neither was these men yet so well resolued as vpon all occasions to sing one song They disseÌ„ted in many things from them that followed and in sundry thinges from themselues At
this demonstrates that which was broken for the elect But the pronoune this demonstrates the bodye of Christe vnder the shape of bread Ergo the bodie of Christ vnder the shape of breade was broken for the elect This is al to my remembrance which they can drawe from the scriptures with any shew of reason or probability But heare to get more elbowe-roome and mâ—e startling holes they appeale to the Church all writers of all ages A large forrest in deede where their is many bushes to hide a lye First for the Church they will prese vs to accept the Church of Rome If they had anye such promise as Ierusalem hath manye that The spirite of the Lorde shoulde neuer departe from her and that hee woulde set his tabernacle their for euer the worlde woulde bee ouer little to holde them But seeing Ierusalem is fallen not-with-standing these promises wee may well doubt of Rome that hath no promise And seeing Rome hath had 7. Kings was set on seauen hilles was drunken and is drunken with the blood of the saintes and was the greate citie which regned ouer the Kinges of the earth it is verie suspitious that she is the seate of the scarlet whoore And therefore let them set their harts at rest for wee will not admit the shadowe of her name As for the writters of all ages we will not refuse them on certaine conditiones We acknowledge the scriptures the onely well of truth and life If any man bring vs water out of their cesterns we haue example of him that sent vs to the scriptures onely to suspect poyson We will ken noe strange fire that is no new doctrine in the Lords sanctuarie without the warrant of the woâ—de of truth For wee count 〈◊〉 authoritie of man no not of all men sufficient to giue lawes to the conscience Onely God is Lord ouer iâ— and able to conâ—roll iâ— He that seeth not the hearte can not binde the heart to any lawe if these men who woulde so faine laye on vs the yocke of mans authoritie can produce one man with warrant from him that made man not to be a man that is in no thinge to erre and be disceaued we will take his worde when wee haue seene and tryed his warrant But if he dwelleth in neighboure rowe among his brethren they must pardon vs to trye his golde with the true tuich stone which cannot deceaue nor bee disceaued Of this minde was August that hee woulde trye all mens writtinges were their names neuer so Catholicke be the scriptures and wisheth others to doe the like with his On this condition then we will admitt the testimonies of men to proue that this light as I haue saide be Christ and his Apostles once kindled in the Church for all that his enemies coulde doe was neuer extinguished since For the Church of God his true spouse maye be banished to the wildernesse but never vtterly destroyed It is true that our aduersaries heare musters the names of the fathers and bragges of al antiquity It woulde bee long and tedious to examine all their particulare allegations Therefore to be shorte I will set downe two obseruations which cutteth off what euer seemeth to make for them for six hundreth yeares after Christe of which I haue touched the one alredie declaring the causes how transubstantiation crap into the hearts of men That is that it is our parte when wee receaue these holy mysteries to lift our senses so from the elementes that we neuer let it enter into our thoughtes that wee receaue breade and wine but assure our consciences that Christ bee the secrete ministerie of his divinitie doth feede our soules with the true breade of his bodie to etâ—rnall life That is that which Chrysostom teacheth Oculifidei quando vident haec in effabilia bona ne sentiunt quidem hâ—c visibilia When the eyes of â—aith beholdeth these vnspeakable good thinges they no wayes feele the sensible thinges which are set before them This then being harde for our senses to mount aboue their owne obiects and to set their intention on graces so vnsensible to our corrupted instrumentes the fathers to stirre vppe this spirituall consideration in vs faleth out manye times in hyperbolycall speeches which they neither ment them selues nor any man of indifferent iudgment considering the drift of their words can suspect to haue bene their meaning In this forme Hierom saith Christus nobis quotidie crucifigitur Christ is dayly crucified vnto vs. Gregory saith Christus iterum in hoc mysterio moritur eius caro in populi salutem patitur Christ dieth in this Sacrament his flesh suffereth againe for the life of the people Chrysostom saith In his mysteriis mors Christi perâ—icitur In these mysteries the death of Christ is perfited August saith Vos estis in mensa vos estis in calice You are on the boorde you are in the cuppe Chrysostom in an other place saith Ecce aguâ—m dei mactatum a principiâ— mundi I am hauriture latere eius sanguis I am â—otus populus eius sanguine sparsus et râ—bore persusus est Beholde the Lambe of God slaine from the beginning Euen nowe the bloode is drawne out of his side even nowe the whole people is sprinkled with his bloode and spotted with the rednesse thereof Who can bee so grosse headed as to thinke that these men did meane as they spake That Christe is crucified that Christe is slaine againe that Christ suffereth in the Sacrament that the blood is drawen out of his side and that the people are sprinkled and made red there with Seeing then the fathers are some-times extraordinarie in this kinde of amplification we would pray the modest and discrete reader when he meeteth with such speeches in them either in his owne rerding or alleadged bee the aduersarie to weigh them with their owne circumstances and other places of the same authores to see if they haue anye hyperbolicall weight to settle them deeper into the hearte of the hearer The other thinge which I would commend to the discretion of the reader is the name nature which is not alwayes taken for substance bâ—t sundry times for the naturall power vertue or vse of thinges So Chrysostom saith of Elizaeus potuit vndarum mutare naturam vt ferrum sustinere cogeret He had power to change the nature of the water and to force it to beare yron Where you see that the water was not changed into a more solide bodie but the naturall liquiditie was altered that against nature it stood together and bore the yron So speaketh Ciril of the water in Baptisme Quem admodum viribus ignis intentius califacta aqua non aliter quam ignis vrit sic spritus sancti operatione aquae ad diuinam reformantur naturam As water whoâ—e bee the power of the fire burneth as sore as fyre it self so the water be the working of gods spirit is changed to a heauenly