whether it were necessarye for Christe to iâ—stitute the communion vnder boeth the kyndes or not If it were necessarye as I thynke you wyll not denye then is it also necessarye that al as manye as shall be admitted to that communion do also receyâ—e it vnder boeth kâ—ndes Othereâ—s were the one parte instituted in vayne For other vie is there none of thys sacrameÌ„t but to be receyued of the faythful beleuers to remembre the deathe of Christe thereby and to certifie theyr owne consciences of the part they haue with him in al hys deserninges of the couplinge togyther of al the fayethful meÌ„bres of Christes churche into one body by faith But if you be so shaÌ„les that you wyl deny that Christ did necessarilie instituted the coÌ„mmion in boeth the kyndes then wyll I saye vnto you that he could not otherwyse haue declared vnto vs the misterye of hys â—leshe and bloud theÌ„ by boeth the kyndes For what other thyng is the mistery of the flesh and bloud of Christ then that lyke as the body lyueth by breade and brothe receyâ—ed by the mouthe so doeth the soule lyue by the merites and deseâ—â—ynges of Christe in the fleshe receyued by faieth as by the mouth of the soule And thys is it that Christe speaketh of Iohn .vi. Except ye eate the flesh of the sonne of man and drynke his bloude you shal haue no life in you So that if he woulde by visible signes declare vnto vs that his fleshe bloude are the necessarie fode of oure foules no remedye he muste nedes do it by the necessary fode of oure bodyes Seynge therefore that the broth or lycoure is as necessarye for the sustinaunce of our bodyes as the breade is it could not be but necessary to institute this Sacrament or misterye in boeth Well now I am sure you wyll not denye the necessitie of institutynge the communion in boeth the kyndes But thus perhappes you wyll say wyth your scholmaisters that as the Apostels who onelye were presente at the institution therof were priestes so is it onelye necessarye that priestes receyue it in boeth the kyndes For the wordes of the supper beynge spoken to the Apostles must extend no farther then to theyr successours If al the Apostles were priestes then is it like that the ordre of knaue traitour priestes hath bene deriued euen frome the Apostles tyme. For there was one amonge them that was a knaâ—e a traitour And therupoÌ„yoâ—â— ground I am sure that a knaâ—e priest may celebrate receyue the sacrameÌ„t in both the kyndes bycause he is the successoure of one of the Apostles whyche was a knaue Buâ— nowe to the purpose That all the Apostles were priestes I deâ—â—â— For Iudas whoe was no membre of Christe coulde not be a prieste Here if you wyll saye that then manye of oure priestes at thys daye be no priestes bycause some of theym be membres of the deuyl I wyl not greatly stycke to grauÌ„t you thaâ— conclusion For if you speake of a prieste whyche is signified by thys worde Sacerdos I say the church of Christ knoweth none other priesthode but that whych â—s spoken of in the fyrste of the reuelations And of that ordre is none that is not the tru membre of Christe And suche one offereth hys owne membres an acceptable sacrifice to God And euery one that offereth this sacrifice is a prieste of thys ordre thoughe he be neyther shauen nor annoynted And such priestes were al the apostles Iudas only excepted they onelye are the apostâ—es successours that offer this sacrifice And therfore ought they aâ— â–ª they only to receiue both the kindes of the communion For amongest other theÌ„ these can ther be no communion of Christes bodye and bloude though they deuoure neuer so manye sacramentes to theyr owne condemnation But if you speake of a prieste which is signified by this word presbiter that is to say an elder I wyll say your priests for the most part are elderly inough and so old musty barters that they wil hold no newe wyne And so are they not the successoures of the Apostles vnlesse it were of the Apostle Iudas the traytoure for they were elders able to gouern the people with Godly doâ—trine and ensample of lyfe I coÌ„clude therefore that as manye of your priestes as are not the true membres of Christe are as good priestes as Iudas was apostle and do God as good seruise in sellynge hys Sacramentes as Iudas dyd in sellyng his sonne Wel let vs returne to the words of the supper to proue whether they wil birefe vs of the one parte or nâ— The wordes spoken of the breade are these Take ye eate ye thys is my bodye whych is broken for you And of the cup is sayed Dryuke euery one of you of thys for thys is my bloude in the new testament which shalbeshed for manye into remissioÌ„ of sinnes â–ª Now tel me if any of the true meÌ„bres of Christ may lefully be de feated of any of these parts If ye may wyth hold any part froÌ„ theÌ„ it must be the bread ra ther theÌ„ the wine For it is saied of the wine Drynke euery one of you of thys Euen as though he would haue said Take hede you be not defeated of thys parte There shall come bribours that shall withholde it froÌ„ a great nuÌ„bre of your successours saying that I spake these wordes to you onely to suche as shoulde beare the name of my ministers And therfore they heynge none of youre successours and yet boestynge them selues to be your onely successours shall vsurpe to them selues thys part of your communion But teach you in al the world that the wordes whych I speake vnto you I speake vnto as many as shal trulye professe my name Drynke you euery one of this Wherfore I conclude that it is a thynge of necessitie that the communion be ministered in boeth the kyndes to all the fayethfull membres of Christ And that if is the an abuse to minister it to anye of them vnder one kynde onelye But because I perceiue wheÌ„se this great erroure of yours springeth I shal somwhat speake therof For asmuch as saye you vnder eyther of boeth the partes is conteined whole Christ body and bloud it must nedes folow that it is none abuse to minister to the people vnder one kynde onely An assertion worthy a fleshly philosopher sauourynge more of Aristotle theÌ„ of Christ For if it were graunted that the sacramentall breade were turned into a lyueynge bodye then woulde Aristotle saye that there must nedes be bloud in the same or els some other humoure of the same nature to supply the office of bloude Hetherto Aristotle taketh youre parte But when you saye that in the bloude muste nedes be whole Christe boeth bodie and bloude there Aristotle leaueth you For he is not of the opinion that the whole ought to be presente wyth euerye part though he affyrme the partes to be necessarylye presente wyth the whole
wyne is the Sacramente for that you saye is turned into the bodye and bloude of Christ but the forme of bread wine which remayneth you say is the sacramente of the same substauÌ„ce turned into the body bloud of christ A syra ther said you wel The forme of bread and wine is the sacrameÌ„t of Christes body bloud Nowe muste we knowe what the fourme of a thinge is The Philosophers say that the fourme of euery thing is that inseperable qualitie that maketh the thing differ to be knowen froÌ„ al other thinges not of the same kinde so that we may be bold to name the thynge after those inseperable qualities But bycause it is so harde a thing to finde these true differences that the Philosophers are coÌ„strained to say that ther is no true difference that is to saye that ther can be no qualitie so appropriate to any one kynd that it may be found in that kynd onlye and in euery of that kynde we muste of necessitie take those qualities for the fourme of thinges whiche be mooste appropriate to them are found in fewest thinges of other kynd As the fourme of man is the power to receyue reason Whiche power is founde is none other kind of thing sauing in spirits Onely spirites man haue the power to receiue reason Wherfore they onely are called reasonable Bi this we se that the fourme of bread and wine muste nedes be that qualitie that is most appropriate to theÌ„ that qualitie muste nedes be the power to nourishe Which power as it is not found in theÌ„ onely but in all other kindes of sustinauÌ„ce also so is it fouÌ„d must chiefly in bread broth so that vnder those names are coÌ„teined all maner of thinges wherupon man feadeth and without these no fode can be pleasaunte to the bodye for any longe tyme. The power therefore to nouryshe is the fourme of breade wyne And the fourme of breade and wyne is the sacramente of the bodye and bloude of Christe Therefore the power to nowrishe is the Sacrament of the bodye and bloude of Christe If you alowe thys fourme of breade and wyne to be the sacrament of the bodye and bloud of Christ then am I of the same opinion with you For no doubt Christ willed vs to certifi our coÌ„scieÌ„ces by the nourishmeÌ„t we fele in bread and wyne that hys bodye and bloude do in lyke maner nouryshe the soule But if you wyll haue that fourme to be the sacramente of the bodye and bsoude of Christe whythe consisteth in coloure quantitie taste suche other theÌ„ I wyl saye you erre not knowing the scriptures For the Manna wherewyth the chyldren of Israell were fed .xl. yeres in the wildernes was the sacrameÌ„t of Christ to come as appeareth by the wordes of Christ Iohn .vi. when he sayed I am that lyueynge breade that came frome heauen â–ª Your fathers dyd eate Manna in the wylderues and yet are they deade but he that eateth of thys breade shal neuer dye and yet was not the fourme therof which was as a CoriaÌ„der seede nor the taste whyche was as honye the sacrament of Christe to come But the wonderful strenght that it beynge but a dewe froÌ„ heauen had to noureyshe alone wythout any other kynd of sustenaunce In lyke maner the vâ— candelstyckes and the .vii. starres which Iohn sawe in hys renelations were the sacramentes of the .vii â–ª congregations and theyr preachers and yet was it not the fashion of the candelstyckes but the vse wherunto they serue that was the Sacramente of the .vii. congregations For as the candelstycke serueth to beare and sustaine the light of the place wherein it is that all that enter in there may se thereby so doeth the congregation of Christe serue to beare vpon theim the sonne of God the onelye lyghte of the worlde that all men maye se theyr good coÌ„uersation For he that taketh hys crosse and foloweth Christe beareth Christe and is a true Christofer and hys conuersation is the lyghte of the worlde So the seuen starres not the fashion of theym but the proprietie they haue to geue lyghte in the dareknes of the nyght is the SacrameÌ„t of the preachers of the seuen congregations For lyke as the starres do shewe lyght in the darknes of the nyght so do the true preachers of the coÌ„gregations shewe lyghte in the darcknes of ertoure as well by theyr doctrine as Godlye conuersation of lyuynge Thus may you se if you do not willinglye shut the eyes of your conscience agaynst the trueth that notwythstandynge we haue the true Sacramente of the bodye bloude of Christe in thys realme Yet in the abuse the thyuge that is so tyranouselye defended to be it is not it but rather a most detestable idole for asmoch as it spoyleth christ â—t hys glory for hys most victoriouse conquest atchined on the crosse and is nothinge agreable to the institution of Christe Shaxton The .x. Article THE churche of Christe maye and doeth order some priestes to be ministers of the sacrameÌ„tes although the same do not preache nor be not admitted therunto Crowley In very dede that church whych you take for the church of Christ may doth ordeine some priestes yea almooste all priestes to be ministers of the Sacramentes although the same do not nor can not preache nor be not admitted therunto That your churche hath alwaies ordeyned such priestes appeareth by the greate numbre of monkes friers and chanoÌ„s and other sacrificatours which hath bene euen sence that churche of yours began fyrst to florysh And that they may do it appeareth by theyr dayly practise For as manye Idle knaues as they can get they annoynte and yet they complayne of the scarcitie and lacke of hyrlynges chaplayâ—es and morowmas gentilmen At an ordres geâ—ynge shal you scarsely se .iiii. that shal take holye orders euen in the same place where were wonte to be lxrx We shall saye they with in a while haue non to serue our cures And what call they seruynge of a cure For so the to saye masse mattens and euensonge on the holye daye to make holye water and holye breade to coniure the fonte and volowe the chylde to shrine housell annointe the sycke to saye dirige and masse and burye the dead But the chiefe poynte is to kepe well the Easter booke and se that the tythes be not slacke lye payed As for preachynge shall be nothynge of the curates charge But one thing he must beware of That he suffer none of the new learninge nor that vse anye englyshe bookes in hys paryshe thoughe he knowe not newe from olde nor whether the Englyshe bookes be good or not Onelye he muste presente the readers of theym to the ordinarye and saye they be heritikes bycause they reade englishe bokes excepte it be Roden hode Beues of hampton Guy of Warwyke the nutbrown may theyr festifall or some other lyke And all thys maye youre churche do for there is no
blesse and brake it If I shoulde aske you what he brake I doubte not but you woulde answere that he brake breade and sayed take ye eateye thys is my body But if I should aske you what it was that he called hys bodye then I know your answer woulde be after youre olde maner that the same breade that he toke and brake was it that he called hys bodye But I wyl shew you a lyke thyng to proue whether you can learne to vnderstand this place of scripture by a simile Apelles toke pensell and paper and drewe theron sayed This is Venus Nowe aske I you whether thys that Apelles spake of were Venus in dede or hyr Image I doubte not you wyl saye not Venus but hyr Image Then tell me Was the pensell and paper hyr Image or the luniamentes that Apelles The lines you saye drawen on the paper and not the paper otherwise theÌ„ the glasse is the Image of a mans face whyche appeareth therin Euen so say I of these wordes of Christ Thys is my bodie He toke breade he brake it gaue it to his disciples said This is my bodye As who should say this breade brokeÌ„ geueÌ„ to you receiued of you is a cleare image of mi body which is by the wil of my father brokeÌ„ frely offred geueÌ„ to you by faieth receyued of you so that in like maner as this breade is receyued into the body and naturally nourisheth the same so doth it declare to you by that naturall propertie that my bodye eaten by fayeth that is by beleuynge and trustynge vpon saluation by my sufferynges in the bodye doeth nourish the soules of as manye as do so eate it In lyke maner toke he the cup after supper saying Thys cup is the new testament in my bloude Here maye you if you haue anye lytle glitteryng of the spiritual knowledge easilye perceyue that Paule knewe of no traunsubstantiation in thys misterie For he reporteth that he learned of the Lord all that he taught the Corhinthyans coÌ„cernynge thys misterye and yet he reporteth that Christ sayed of the cuppe Thys is the newe testamente in my bloude And thyuke you that if Paule were here he woulde say that he beleued the substaunce of the cup to be chaunged into the substaunce of the new testament I knowe well you do not thynke it For your opinion is that by the vertue of those wordes the wyne whiche is in the cup is turned into the verye bloude of Christe And yet do not the wordes appertayne any thynge at all to the wyne vnlesse you wyll admitte the fygure whereby the thynge that conteyueth is taken for the thyng conteined And so doynge you must saye that the wine is the newe Testament in Christes blander and not the bloud it self So that if you wyl nedes haue traunsubstaÌ„ciation it must be of the substaunce of wyne into the substaunce of the new testament That is the certentye wherby oure consciences are certified of the promise of God made to vs in the scripture Wyth thys transubstanciation we could beare if so be you would not denye that the substaunce of breade and wyne doeth stil remayne declarynge vnto vs sensibly by visible sygnes the thynge that is in the scripture taught vs by wordes For immediatly after Christe â–ª sayeth Do thys so ofte as ye shall drinke to the entente to remembre me therby That is to saye So ofte as you wil make youre selues partakers of one cup of wyne to the entente tu call to your remembraunce thereby the greate misterie of the participation you haue in me and al thinges that I haue or shal do for you do it after this forsayed fourme So that by thys are condempned as wel the priuate masses wherin one ministreth and receyueth al as the freshly transubstaneiation whereupon is grounded the sacrifice for the quicke and the dead as shall be declared more at large in the seuerall articies concernynge the same To perswade one that were wyllyng to learne thys were sufficiente But seyng that you your schomaisters are more readye to burn me al other that seke your soul health God geue you a better mynde then to accept our dortrine I am coÌ„strained to labour to drawe you by force of argumeÌ„ts none otherwyse then Hercuses drewe the froward Cerberus out of hell I wyll therefore make thys argument grounded on the definition of breade Breade is a confection made of manye graynes vnited or made into one bodye by the myxture of water and force of fyre hauynge in it the vertue to nourishe the sensible bodyes But thys confection remayneth after the consecration as you call it Ergo there remayneth breade That thys coÌ„fectioÌ„ remayneth I take wytnes of my Lorde of winchester in hys boke wrytten on thys matter And if you thinke hym not an Authour Autentyke make an experieÌ„ce vpon me Let me haue daylie a sufficiente weyghte measure of that consecrated breade wyne and shute me vp frome all other kynde of sustinaunce But thys one thyng I would desyre That the breade and wyne ye consecrate be free from all kyndes of poyson For thoughe I do knowe that God is able to preserue me frome all maner of poyson yet wyl I not neyther maye I tempte my Lorde â–ª God so far But if you do poyson me I shall gladlye suffer it for the trueth sake If all thys wyll not content you I praye you gyue eare to Gelasius who writeth on thys wyse Surely the Sacramentes of the In the ce cel holdeâ— Rome bodye and bloude of Christe be diuine thinges and therfore are we by them made par takers of the diuine nature and yet doeth it not sease to be the substaunce either of bread or wyne but they do remayne in the propertie of theyr nature And no doubt the Image and similitude of the bodye and bloude of Christe are celebrated in the action of the misteries What thynge woulde you haue more plainlye spoken But if you wyll not beleue S. Paule who calleth it breade and the cup of the Lorde euen after the consecration it is not lyke that ye wyll geue credite to Gelalius although in dede you and all such are wont to gene more credite to the iudgment of men that lyued not these manye hundred yeres bicause of theyr antiquitie then to the verye trueth which was before theÌ„al wherby al mens spirites should be tried Wherefore I would you shoulde not lacke testimonies of theÌ„ And to do you pleasurewithal I wil resite you i. or .ii. testimonies by the which you may perceiue that you haue erred in this your atticle and in yuur letter to the kinges highnes also wherin you say that this your opinion hath bene the vnifourme consent of the whole churche euen frome the Apostles tyme. Saynte Chrisostom whom I am sure you â—pon Math wyll not repute amonge theim whome you call heritykes sayeth So sone as the inner eyes se the bread they flye ouer the
creaturs and thynke not on that breade which the baker hath baked but on hym that called him selfe the breade of lyfe who is signified by the misticall breade Saynte Ambrose also â—pon the Sacrament writeth these wordes Thys bread that goeth into the bodye is not so scrupelouslye sought of vs but the breade of eternall lyfe whyche vpholdeth the substaunce of oure soule Saint Augustine also writeth on this â—n the .xxviii â—â—rmon vpon 〈◊〉 Lorddes â—ordes in â—uke wyse Vse you thys bread dayly or do you after the custome of the Grekes in the easte parte who receyue it at the yeares ende If you thinke these meÌ„ to be none of the church why do not your honourable Lordes burne theyr bookes as well as they dyd the Bible wyth other pore mens bokes wherein was nothynge els conteyned but that is also in these mennes bokes But to what purpose were it for me to spende muche tyme in reprouyng your honourable fathers doyngs seynge my lyfe tyme would not suffice to do it anye thynge to the purpose And to pull you backe agayne froÌ„ your detestable blindnes I thynke it impossible For Paule writyng to the Hebre. sayth It is not possible that they whych be once illuminate and haue tasted of the heauenlye gyfte and be made partakers of the holye Gooste and that haue also tasted of the good worde of God and of the powers of the worlde to come are slypped out agayne to be brought againe vnto peniteÌ„ce for that in asmuch as in them lyeth they haue crucisied the son of God anewe for theyr owne pleasure hauynge him in dirision Thys notwythstandynge the mercye of God is vpon all hys worckes and thynges not possible to maÌ„ are possible to God who knoweth the secretes of your herte whether you fell of weakenes thorowe the feare of death or of contempte If of weakenes as it is our partes to iudge then dispayre not For God hathe aboundaunce of mercye in store wherin you shal haue your part if you repente I woulde wyshe that youre scholemaisters and you myght be wonne by this my laboure But if your hertes be so stony that the truth can take no rote therin it shal suffice me if other the symple membres of Christ hauynge light may escape the stumblynge stockes that you haue layed in theyr waye For theyr sakes therfore chiefely and for you and suche other if it be possible that you maye be brought from your blyndenes I haue enterprised thys daungerouse labour And for that thys Article as it is fyrst so is it the chefe and principall wherof the most parte of the other do depende and hange I am the more earnest in the confutation therof knowynge for certentie that the consciences boeth of you and of your honourable scholmaisters are on my syde But feare to lose the Lordlyke lyuynges of thys worlde preuayleth agaynste vs boeth You say with the pharises Ne forte Romani But I doubt not the good mould shal brynge forth fruite by receyuyng the seed Knowynge that neither the God head can be made of any other substaunce nother the breade and wyne turned into Christes fleshe and bloude at all tymes when it shal please the prieste to play a masse mooste superstitiouslye breathynge out the wordes that oure Sauioure Christe spake to no suche purpose For as S. Augustine â—pon Iohn the .xxx treaâ—ise sayeth it maye be in one place onelye And as the same Augustine writeth to Dardanus We muste take good heede that we make not so diuine a thynge of thys bodye that we denie it to be a body For it foloweth not that all thynges whyche be in Christe shoulde be in all places at once as Christ is For then shoulde we also be in all places at once For the scripture doth truely record of vs that we lyue moue and be in hym It is manifest therfore that notwithstanding the wordes pronounced by the prieste the breade and wine remaine in their natural propertie euen after the consecration as you call it Shaxton ⧠The seconde Article THe sayed blessed Sacramente beynge once consecrated is remayneth styl the very body and bloud of our sauioure Christ althoughe it be reserued not preseÌ„tly distributed Crowley Thys Article is a braunche of the otheâ— and is not in credite wyth theÌ„ that haue the other in suspition Wherefore haueynge sufficientlye spoken of the other it shall not nede me to tarye longe vpon thys Neuertheles bicause I perceyue you go aboute to hange an other article vpon thys I shal by the healpe of God make hym so bare that your other shal take no holde therat Wher as you saye therfore that thys Sacramente beynge once consecrated remayneth styl the verye bodye and bloude of Christe I muste ashe you this questian Whether the bodye and bloude of oure sauioure Christe be corruptible and maie putrifie or not I am certayne of it you wyll saye no. Well then muste I aske you an other question If the Sacramente be longe kepte paste the tyme that breade and wyne wyll naturallye be swete wyll it not be mouldy râ—tten and sower I doubte not but you wyll saye yea For your holy father made a lawe that you shoulde shyfte the pyxe euerye moneth puttyng into it newe consecrated cakes and spende the olde the wine maye not be kept at al but preseÌ„tly spent wheÌ„ it is consecrated bycause it will sone be sower Is not all thys true I am sure you can not deny it Wel then wyl I coÌ„clude wyth this questioÌ„ If the substaunce of the sacrameÌ„te I meane the naturall substaunce maye be musty rotten and sower and the bodye and bloud of Christe whyche you saye is the onelye substaunce of the Sacramente can not by anye meanes putrifie I praye you tell me howe the bodye and bloud remayneth in the Sacrament beynge reserued and what thynge it is that doeth therin receyue putrifaction Perchaunce you wyll answere me as youre scholmaisters are wonte to answere when men saye they fele see and taste breade and wyne in the Sacrament The qualities say they do remain but the substaunce is chauÌ„ged into the bodye and bloude But when the Sacramente shall be corrupted I thynke your scholemaisters you wil saye that the substaâ—â—ce remaineth and the qualities be chaunged That is to saye the bodye and bloude of Christe whych as you say is the onelye substaunce of the Sacramente remayneth vncorrupted but the qualities that is to saye swetenes clearâ—es whytenes al other the qualities of breade and wyne do corrupte Would God youre greate maister Aristotle myghte heare you make thys answere I doubte not he woulde beare no more wyth you then he dyd wyth hys maister Plato in the opinioÌ„ of the eternitie of the worlde But you wyll saye perchaunce What shoulde we do wyth Aristotle in these matters Aristotle was a manne that builded altogyther vpon reason but in thys thynge we muste stycke to fayeth and let reason passe But wyth your patience