10. That Water which was by our Lord converted into Wine is still called Water Joh. 2. 9. The Angels are called Men Gen. 19. 8. because they appeared in the shape of Men according to the usual Language of Sense very many instances of which are to be found For our Saviour had fully instructed them before that the Bread which he would give them was his flesh Joh. 6. 51. The Apostle also saith again v. 17. For we being many are one Bread and one Body for we are partakers of that one Bread and that one Bread can signifie nothing here but the Body of Christ which indeed is but one altho' appearing in innumerable place of the World at the same and at several times because it is still animated by the same one Soul and Divinity of Christ which cannot be said of the Bread in the Sacrament if but mere Bread for then it would not be one Bread or Loaf but many and of several sorts being received at very many places at the same time And the true reason here why they are called one Bread and one Body or Society of Christians is because they are all partakers of that one Bread viz. the Body of Christ and therefore also all inspired with the same Spirit But in the Authors Sense it would be no reason but they should rather have been many Bodies because they did Eat of so many Breads So that we see he hath still the same success in bringing those Texts of Scripture to uphold his cause which are the most pregnant proofs against him He then proceeds to teach the Catholics how they might argue in his new way from a Sign already Instituted and known as so to an AEnigma or dark saying taken from things of a disparate and really different nature and of no acknowledg'd Resemblance that is from Chalk to Cheese but they beg his Pardon for that Well but the same Apostle in the next Chapter after he had spoken of the Consecration of the Elements still calls them the Bread and the Cup in three verses together as often as ye Eat THIS Bread and Drink THIS Cup v. 26. Whosoever shall Eat THIS Bread and Drink THIS Cup of the Lord unworthily v. 27. But let a Man Examin himself and so let him Eat of THAT Bread and Drink of THAT Cup v. 28. It is true it was Bread Metaphorically but it was still this Bread with an Emphasis not such Bread as you ordinarily Eat but the Body of Christ which he told us was truly Meat or Meat indeed the true Bread from Heaven John 6. 32. It was a Cup but it was this Cup that is his Blood which was truly Drink or Drink indeed as he also hath taught us John 6. 55. and after examination let the true Christian Eat of that Bread and Drink of that Cup which will strengthen his Body and Soul both much more than the ordinary Bread and Wine can his Body only Our Saviour himself when he had said This is my Blood of the New Testament immediately adds but I say unto you I will not henceforth Drink of this Fruit of the Vine that is of the true Vine as our Lord is pleased to call himself or of that Wine which by the Words of Benediction becomes my Blood being Originally the Fruit of the Vine or possibly it may refer to the unconsecrated Wine that was left in the Vessels until I drink it new that is fresh and newly Consecrated again with you in my Fathers Kingdom or after my Resurrection as some with the Author interpret the place but as others more generally till I drink of that new Wine of another sort and nature in the Kingdom of my heavenly Father where we shall drink of the River of his pleasures Psal 36. 8. and therefore the Authors following observation is nothing worth For after the Apostles were satisfied that they really drank the Blood of our Lord in this Sacrament and fed upon his Real Body it was an easy and familiar Metaphor to call them Bread and Wine because the outward Species gave a sufficient hint for the understanding of this Figurative Speech suitable to the Language of Sense in the instances above mentioned out of Scripture and because there was true Spiritual nourishment conveyed to the faithful by the Body and Blood of our Saviour thus received as there is Corporeal nourishment received by the Natural Bread and Wine which we take for the refection of our Bodies DISCOURSE Besides if we consider that he celebrated this Sacrament before his Passion it is impossible these words should be understood literally of the natural Body and Blood of Christ because it was his Body broken and his Blood shed which he gave to his Disciples which if we understand literally of his natural Body broken and his blood shed then these words this is my Body which is broken and this is my Blood which is shed could not be true because his Body was then whole and unbroken and his Blood not then shed nor could it be a propitiatory Sacrifice as they affirm this Sacrament to be unless they will say that Propitiation was made before Christ suffered And it is likewise impossible that the Disciples should understand these words literally because they not only plainly saw that what he gave them was Bread and Wine but they saw likewise as plainly that it was not his Body which was given but his Body which gave that which was given no his Body broken and this Blood shed because they saw him alive at that very time and beheld his Body whole and unpierc'd and therefore they could not understand these words literally If they did can we imagine that the Disciples who upon all other occasions were so full of questions and objections should make no difficulty of this matter nor so much as ask our Saviour how can these things be that they should not tell him we see this to be Bread and that to be Wine and we see thy Body to be distinct from both we see thy Body not broken aud thy Blood not shed From all which it must needs be very evident to any man that will impartially consider things how little reason there is to understand those words of our Saviour this is my Body and This is my Blood in the sense of Transubstantiation nay on the contrary that there is very great reason and an evident necessity to understand them otherwise I proceed to shew ANSWER Besides if we consider that our Lord celebrated this Sacrament before his Passion it is impossible that these words should be understood otherwise than properly of the real Body and Blood of Christ because it was his Body broken and his Blood poured out which he gave to his Disciples which if we understand as figurative only of his natural Body broken and his Blood shed then these words this is my Body which is broken and this is my Blood which is shed could not be true because his
for it where we shall see him immediately cast himself and be non-suited at the very beginning of his Trial. He tells us that the delivery of a Deed or Writing under Hand and Seal is called a Conveyance or making over of such an Estate that is of a Title to such an Estate and that it really is so that we deny unless there be possession also given as I shall presently shew And yet what do we affirm more of Christs words in the Sacrament This is my Body which is given for you c. which we have taken from his own mouth by the Hands of inspired Pen-men Sealed by himself with Miracles and delivered to his Church than that they are a Conveyance or making over of his Sacred Body to us and that they are so really not only in Sign or Figure He proceeds to tell us That this Delivery of a Deed or Writing under Hand and Seal is not the Delivery of mere Wax and Parchment but the conveyance of a Real Estate as truly and really to all effects and purposes of Law as if the material Houses and Lands themselves could be and were actually delivered into my hands Well but we say that a Deed of Feoffment takes not effect to all purposes of Law without Livery and Seisin neither doth it convey an Estate without that nor a Deed of Release neither unless the Purchaser be put in Possession before hand by a Lease and then too not by the Common Law but so necessary is Possession deemed for the through Conveyance of an Estate that in case of absence from the Land or the like the Law-makers have by a particular Statute necessarily provided to give Possession otherwise for it is not necessary to the making a Man in Possession of an Estate that he should hold his Land and House in his Arms or stand always upon the Premises But I hope the Author will not so far endeavor to invalidate the Common Assurance of the Nation as to maintain that because the Man hath thus a Conveyance of a real Estate to all effects and purposes of Law therefore he must not enter upon it dwell in the House Reap the Fruits of the ground and nourish himself therewith I imagin the Purchaser will not be put off so In like manner the words of Christ delivered as his Act and Deed by the Priest his Substitute in the Consecration of the Sacrament for the use of those that are to Communicate is not the bare delivery of so many Words only but the making over of a real Title to them to the thing which is meant by them that is the Body of our Lord as truly and really to all effects and purposes of the Gospel as if it actually hung upon the Cross before their Eyes in that Form and with the same configuration and quality of parts as it once did Shall they therefore be hindred from taking immediate Possession of what is thus made over to them No this were too great a Sacriledge against God and violation of the property of a Christian They shall receive Christs Body and Blood that they may dwell in him and he in them They shall partake of the Fruits of the Sacrament as of a goodly Heritage of their own since Christ hath given them a just Right and Title to it and shall cherish their Souls and Bodies therewith to Immortality Those who are contented only to hear of or to see this goodly Land and not to go and possess it Those who will leave their Fathers House the Catholic Church and go abroad to feed upon Husks and imaginary vertue are the objects of our pity So indeed there is a sort of a Fiction in Law in the Authors way of conveyance of a Tenant by Deed or Lease of possession who notwithstanding hath nothing to do to enter upon the Estate or enjoy it if the Author be contented with such a Title only in the Sacrament I am sorry for him And thus the Similitude is reasonably applied as for our Adversaries way who saith that as the delivery of a Deed or Writing under Hand and Seal is call'd a Conveyance or making over of such an Estate he should have prov'd that the Deed is called the Estate it self and not only the Conveyance of an Estate if he would have made this phrase any thing suitable to that of our Lord This is my Body in like manner the names of the things themselves made over to us in the New Covenant of the Gospel between God and Man are given to the Signs and Seals of the Covenant whereas there is no Analogy between these things nor truth neither in this instance It is just as if one should say that Tenterden Steeple were like the Goodwin Sands I confess I have often admired with my self at this sort of Similitude which Protestants are mighty big with pretending to Illustrate their fond opinion about the Sacrament clearly hereby which being examined proves as you see but a mere Tympany of the Brain The Author having before told us that nothing is more Common in all Languages than to give the name of the thing signified to the Sign proceeds now to give us examples of this out of Holy Scripture by Baptism saith he Christians are said to be partakers of the Holy Ghost Heb. 6. 4. And so they really are and their Bodies are his Temples But since Baptism is the Sign and the Holy Ghost the thing signified according to him why doth he not bring us one instance out of Scripture of Baptisms being called the Holy Ghost as they pretend that Bread in the words of Institution is called Christs Body For this which he hath brought of Baptism is no Example to his Common Rule We may reasonably conclude that if the Sacrament of Baptism had been so very like this of the Eucharist as they would have it it would have been Instituted in a like Form but it is quite otherwise For neither Water nor Baptism it self are called in Holy Scripture the Holy Ghost neither is there any Form of Cousecration of the Element delivered Indeed by the Sacrament of the Lords Supper we are also said to Communicate or to be made partakers of the Body of Christ which was broken and his Blood that was shed for us but that is his Real Body and Blood together with all the real benefits of his Death and Passion which do thereby accrue to us And thus St. Paul speaks of this Sacrament 1 Cor. 10. 16. The Cup of blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ That is after Consecration it really is so altho' the Apostle calls it Bread by a Metaphor that being to our Souls what the ordinary Bread is to our Bodies true nourishment so also it is said that Aarons Rod devour'd the other Rods Exod. 7. 12. altho' it was then become a Serpent v.
Eternal Logos Thus evidently did our Saviour seem to this Learned Man to speak all along to the very end of his Discourse of a Really Eating his Flesh and Drinking his Blood and not of the manner of Eating as if it never came nigh them but only they thought of Flesh and Blood God knows how far distant from them and so Eat the human Flesh of Christ by meer thinking of it and Drank his Blood after the same imaginary manner Thus to avoid the Catholic Tenent of Transubstantiation which he could bear no more than the Jews and yet verifie the Words of Christs Bodies being receiv'd verily and indeed and such other Expressions found in the Catechism and Homelies of the Church of England which he thought himself bound to maintain he was driven to distinguish a double Body of Christ the one Human and Natural the other Spiritual and Divine but both Real as has been said before Good God what Chimera's will not a mind preoccupated with Error frame to it self rather than submit to the Truth Luther indeed tells us of about ten Opinions of the Sacramentarians in his time and a Book was Publisht in the Year 1527 in which were reckon'd no less than 200 several Expositions of the Sense of these words Hoc est Corpus meum This is my Body What we would gladly know of our ADversaries with whom we have now to deal is which of these now two hundred and one Opinions it is that they maintain or whether they have any other yet in store for Error hath no End different from all these For surely after all they must be forc'd to allow that there is but one True Sense of our Saviours Words viz. either that it is his very true Substantial Body which is taken and received or a figure only what vertue soever they please to assign to it If the former they fall in with the Catholics or Dr. Moors Tenet if the latter what Vertue soever they assign to a Figure it is not the Real Body nor the Body Really Present Let them speak plain that the World may understand them The Faithful are not to be deluded with Ambiguities in a Point of so great concern to their Immortal Souls Reader be pleased to observe concerning the manner and Method of the Ensuing Treatise and Answer that the Discourse against Transubstantiation is faithfully here reprinted Section by Section and a Reply made to the Sections in their Order Also that because the Discourser against Transubstantiation would delude unwary Christians by making them believe that Catholics have no proof for this Doctrin from Scripture this first Part which is chiefly concerning Scripture Authority is publisht by it self to be consider'd distinctly to which in convenient time the Second Part is to be added Some ERRATA'S to be Corrected Pag. 18. in Marg. for Preface read Introduction p. 27. last line read under the species p. 42. in the Hebrew Citation read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bis p. 60. read Relicks Observe that in the Marginal Notes p. 43. 56 58 63. the word infra hath relation to the Second Part of the Answer which is not yet Published Transubstantiation DEFENDED In Answer to a Treatise Intitled A Discourse against Transubstantiation DISCOURSE Concerning the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper one of the two great positive Institutions of the Christian Religion there are two main Points of difference between Us and the Church of Rome One about the Doctrine of Transubstantiation in which they think but are not certain that they have the Scripture and the words of our Saviour on their side The other about the administration of this Sacrament to the People in both kinds in which we are sure that we have the Scripture and our Saviour's Institution on our side and that so plainly that our Adversaries themselves do not deny it ANSWER COncerning the Sacrament of Union the Lord's Supper which is the chief of those several positive Institutions of Religion which Christ hath Ordained in his Church there are many great differences even between Protestants themselves it is no wonder therefore if there are as many between Protestants and Catholics Of these the Author gives two instances the one about the Doctrine of Transubstantiation the other about the Administration of this Sacrament to the People in both kinds As for that of Transubstantiation he would have done well to have told us in what supposition he means to take the Word in his Discourse If he suppose the True Real and Substantial Presence of Christs Body in the Sacrament and take the Word Transubstantiation precisely as it signifies that Presence not with the Bread but by it's being chang'd into his Body this is a difference indeed and the only proper one in this supposition between him and Catholics in this matter But then if he would have proceeded sincerely and as one that was really Master of so much sense as he talks of in this Treatise he should have held to his Point and not impugned what he supposes but if he suppose no such Real or Substantial Presence of Christs Body and under the name of Transubstantiation fight expresly against the Real Presence through his whole Discourse as it is evident he doth and therefore ought to have call'd it a Discourse against the Real Presence and it's consequence Transubstantiation and not a Discourse only against Transubstantiation then the difference is not only as he would make it with the Catholics but with the Lutherans also and those of his own Communion as King James Bishop Andrews Mr. Thorndike and many others who profess'd to believe the Body of Christ to be present in the Sacrament no less truly than Catholics do But however he compose this difference with them yet the Catholics as for their Tenent do not think only as he says but are certain as I shall shew in the Process of this Discourse that they have the Words of our Saviour which they do not doubt to be Scripture on their side And for the other Point viz. the Administration of the Sacrament in both kinds they are sure that neither he nor any of his party have or ever can prove from the Scripture and our Saviours Institution that he laid a Command upon all the Faithful to receive it always in both kinds and this they constantly affirm But before I leave this Paragraph I cannot but desire the Reader to take notice of two things first That how sure soever the Author makes himself that he hath the Scripture and our Saviours Institution on his side yet his good friend Dr. Tillotson in his Rule of Faith which he makes Scripture only to be speaking in his own Name and that of his Party saith We are not Infallibly certain that any Book for example S. Matthew or any other of the Evangelists is so Ancient as it pretends to be or that it was Written by him whose Name it bears or that this is the sense of such
one should hold up a true piece of Gold which is discoloured so by Sulphur that it looks but like Silver and should be informing us that this is a piece of true Gold we should before he hath spoke his words conclude it was but Silver So it would have been prejudice in our Lord's Disciples to have concluded of the determinate nature of that which he held in his Hands when he was going to tell them what it really was viz. his Body before he had fully pronounced the Proposition saying This is my Body Which the Sacramentarians and our Author do rashly determining the thing which appears as Bread to be so in Substance upon the exhibiting the Species and saying This which notwithstanding when the Proposition is finished is in the Sacrament made and declared to be the Body of Christ This therefore being a Pronoun demonstrative it is enough that it exhibits something unto us under a certain outward appearance without signifying distinctly and clearly the whole nature of the thing for it is the propperty of the Attribute or thing that is affirmed of another to add clearness to the subject or thing of which it is affirmed by explaining the nature of the thing intended to be demonstrated in the Proposition more fully otherwise the Proposition would be ridiculous as if one should say this Bread is Bread or this my Body is my Body This therefore in the Proposition This is my Body only discovers some Real Thing which appears in such a manner as for instance the Species of Bread to the Senses which our Saviour who was Truth it self who did know the truth of all things and could alter the nature of any Created thing by his Word declares fully unto them to be his Body tho' under such an appearance so that whether the change was made before or at that very instant of time when our Lord spake the words the latter of which is the general opinion of Catholics the Proposition is strictly true in a proper Sense I shall only premise one thing more before I examin the Authors pretended proofs from Scripture because I would by no means make the breach betwixt us wider than it is which is this That Catholics acknowledge a Figure in the Sacrament no less than Protestants Thus the Bread and Wine before Consecration being distinct things and separate one from the other do resemble Christs Body and Blood separated upon the Cross and his Soul separated from his Body altho' they could not do this in their own nature and till after the first Institution they were exposed upon the Altar for such a use as might make us consider them as such resemblances since there is not so much of natural likeness as to call the Idea of the Passion into our mind We believe also that after Consecration Christs Body in the Sacrament under the Veils of the Species of Bread and Wine is a Figure Similitude or Examplar of the same Body of Christ as it suffer'd upon the Cross in like manner as his Body when newly born was a Resemblance and Exemplar and express Image of his Body at full growth But this we conclude not from those words of our Lord This is my Body which must still be understood in a proper Sense but from the nature of the thing it self after the Institution known to be made From whence we firmly believe the Body of Christ to be there it being of the nature of a Sacrament to represent and exhibit somthing more unto us than what it outwardly appears to be I now proceed to consider the Expressions which the Author produceth out of Scripture by which he would prove a Figurative Presence of Christs Body in opposition to a Real one in the Catholic Sense And this being the main Proof upon which those who have renounced the Authority of the Church do pretend to build their Faith since they allow that nothing ought to be admitted as an Article of Faith which is not clearly deduced from hence and consequently nothing ought to be condemned as contrary to the Christian Faith but what is manifestly repugnant to this From hence then it is that he should bring an evidence which is able to overthrow the Authority of so many Councils and several of them General ones as have determined this Point against him and to shew plainly that the whole true visible Church of Christ which hath for near MDCC years received the Doctrin of the Real Presence of Christs Body hath erred in so necessary a Point of Faith and been guilty of Idolatry even grosser than that of the Heathen World as the Author pretends notwithstanding the Evidence of the same Holy Scripture that the Holy Spirit shall lead it into all Truth and that the Gates of Hell shall not be able to prevail against it Let us see therefore how well he acquits himself in this vast enterprise of so great concern to the Christian World. His Argument from Scripture is this there are other expressions in Scripture which are taken figuratively therefore this must be so taken Out of the innumerable like expressions in Holy Scripture as he is pleased to term them he citeth two very different sorts The first are barely figurative such as are used in ordinary human discourse as well as Scripture without preparing of the mind of the Hearer beforehand that he may receive them Then he compares the words of our Lords Institution to a Dream or Vision of the Night that was to be interpreted which indeed hath something more of resemblance than the former expressions which he alledgeth because it being known that the things which are represented in Dreams and Visions are not real but imaginary yet since they are sometimes considered as representing real things that are to come to pass they are of the nature of Signs of Institution and so may come nearer to the Case in hand But he seems to be soon weary of these resemblances which being so different in nature one from the other are not like to agree to the same third thing the Sacrament Then he flies from Scripture to Justin Martyr's Testimony concerning the ancient form of the Passover used by the Jews Yet he knows not whether he should stick to this expression which is Sacrifical or Sacramental and so most likely to resemble the Sacramental about which he argues or the former which are not so For he begins his Periods thus Whether we consider the like expressions in Scripture as where our Saviour saith c. or whether we compare these words with the ancient form of the Passover And I am sure these are not of a like nature with the other Surely there is no Man of common Sense that can admit of such a sort of Proof as this from one Author that so fluctuates in his judgment since it hath the visible Character of Falshood in its very Front and condemns the Real Presence of Christs Body in a proper Sense which was never
Lords words should be taken in the Figurative Sense of these expressions but contrarywise in a proper Sense I shall lay down these distinctions and Rules to shew the disparity by Signs are either Naturally so as black Clouds are a Sign of Rain Smoak is a Sign of Fire or else so only by Institution and agreement concerning which latter I again distinguish That of Signs of Institution some have so much of Natural Resemblance as that they may fitly be chosen to signifie and represent altho' not enough to exhibit the Idea of the thing upon the bare sight or mentioning which afterwards by Institution they are to signifie unto us Thus a living Creature Sacrificed Typifies or signifies Christ Crucified upon the Cross and some have not Thus the word Moses doth signifie such a Man where there is no Natural Resemblance between these Letters compounded into a word and the person Represented by them but this depends upon mere Institution and compact amongst Men. 2. All rational Discourse used amongst Men is founded upon the imperfect penetration at least into the Minds of those with whom we discourse and the presumed Knowledge of them For we regulate our Speech according to the apprehension that we believe those with whom we converse have of it If we believe Mens Minds to be prepared to understand our Discourse then we utter it to them if they are notable as yet to perceive what we say then we must either prepare them beforehand or else give a distinct and formal explication of our words soon after we have uttered them otherwise we abuse our Auditors From whence it follows 3. That that sort of improper Discourse wherein we give the Sign the name of the thing signified or to the thing signified the name of the Sign being very rare to make it intelligible it is required 1. That the Sign be plainly Instituted 2. It must be justly presumed that those to whom we speak regard the thing as a Sign or else we ought to advertise them that we intend to use it as so For there is no example either in Scripture or ordinary human Discourse of a like expression to this of our Lords by which at the very first constituting any thing into a Sign it is called the thing signified without preparing the minds of the Auditors to understand it so To apply these Rules to the case in hand we must observe that this Dream or Vision of Pharaohs was a Sign of Institution it having been appointed by God to signifie something to him Again indeed this Sign had some sort of fitness in it's own nature to be made a Sign of what it was to represent even more than Bread hath to represent Christs Body yet it could not exhibit to Pharaohs Mind the thing which it was to signifie without some explicit interpretation of good Authority and it was so obscure a Sign that none of all his Magicians could give it Therefore Pharaoh proposes this to Joseph as a Dream Gen. 41. v. 22. Advertising him of what he saw in a Dream which Joseph undertaking to Interpret Pharoah could not but consider his words as an Interpretation of this Sign of Institution therefore by the Second and Third Rules beforementioned it was very rational for him to put the Predicate in the place of the Subject the Sign for the thing signified by saying the Seven good Kine are Seven Years and the Seven good Ears of Corn are Seven Years that is they signified or represented Seven Years of Plenty since it is very well known that in the Hebrew Language things are commonly said to be that which they do signifie and represent But then it must be known beforehand that they do only signifie and represent otherwise it cannot be understood when they only express a Resemblance and when Identity On the contrary if in the expression of our Lord This is my Body the Bread had been a Sign of Institution tho' it have some remote resemblance yet since it could not of it self before plain positive Institution bring the Idea of the thing supposed to be represented to the Mind therefore since there was no such foregoing Institution or action to prepare the Minds of the Apostles to consider it as so and these words of Christ are no explication of a Sign of Institution but must be the Original Institution it self of a Sign if any had been here made and the Apostles were no ways advertised before-hand to consider the Bread as a Sign since the Predicate therefore could not rightly here be put in the place of the Subject much less a Pronoun Demonstrative be used according to a former Rule therefore these words This is my Body according to the known Rules of human Discourse which it were Blasphemy to say our Lord would swerve from so as to speak absurdly do signifie that That was his Real Body which he held in his hands and not a Sign only of his Body as our Adversaries falsly pretend Neither do I believe that any sensible man who had never heard before of this figurative Sense which the Author and Sacramentarians have so often inculcated into their Followers as to make them prejudiced in the Case would upon reading the Institution of the Sacrament in the Gospel or if they had heard Christ speak the words ever have imagined that by these words This is my Body no more was to be understood than that this which Christ held in his hands was only a Sign of his Body any more than our Saviours Apostles and Disciples could be made to understand the like words John 6. 51 52. I am the living Bread that came down from Heaven And the Bread that I will give is my Flesh which I will give for the life of the world the Jews therefore strove amongst themselves saying how can this Man give us his Flesh to eat in that Sense But would have understood his meaning to have been thus This which hath the outward appearance of Bread is really my Body This which hath the resemblance of Wine is my Blood. Not as the Author fallaciously proposeth the meaning This Bread signifies my Body this Cup signifies my Blood But that he should enjoyn them to do that which they then saw him do That is offer up hereafter his Real Body and Blood under the Species of Bread and Wine by way of an unbloody Sacrifice for a Memorial of that Bloody one of his Body and Blood which he was soon after to offer up upon the Cross And in this great Mystery a true Christian one that hath an humble Soul rightly disposed for the Belief of our Lords words as St. Augustin had who speaking of our Lord saith Christ was carried in his own hands when recommending to them his very Body he saith This is my Body For he carried that Body in his hands such a one I say can readily believe that our Saviour did properly and really hold himself in his hand and give
natural organized and visible Body was then whole and unbroken and its Blood not then shed yet that very Body as broken in the Sacrament was said to be then given for them that very Blood as there poured out was said then to be poured out for the remission of sins Therefore it was a propitiatory Sacrifice although offered before as well as after Christ had suffered to Pay the full Price of our Redemption because its whole nature did consist in the relation which it had to the Sacrifice that was offered up for us upon the Cross from which it received all its vertue It was very possible therefore for our Lords Disciples to understand these words properly because although they plainly saw that what he gave them had the Species of Bread and Wine yet they believed him when he said that it was his Body that was given for them although his Body at the same time gave what was given his Body broken and his Blood poured out for them although they saw him alive at that very time and beheld his Body whole and unpierced because he had plainly told them so who had the Words of eternal Life and could not deceive them and for this reason they could not but understand his words properly Otherwise can we imagin that the Disciples who upon all other occasions were so full of questions and objections if they could have conceiv'd that these words were to be understood in a parabolical or improper Sense would not have desired an Explication of them of our Lord as they did of other Parables which were more easy to be understood than these words in such a Sense nor so much as ask our Saviour how can these things be That they should not tell him we see This to be Bread and That to be Wine and we see thy Body to be distinct from both we see thy Body not broken and thy Blood not shed what therefore should be the meaning of these words or that our Saviour the true Guid and greatest Lover of Souls or any of his Apostles after him should never have given any Explanation of them I have already shewed in answer to the Author that the words of our Lord This is my Body could not according to the Rules of Human Discourse be taken Figuratively so as to Signifie this is a Sign of my Body unless the Apostles had bin before-hand prepared to understand them as so There are no words Recorded by any of the Evangelists to dispose them to believe the words in such a sense nor any indeed that relate to the matter unless it be some sayings of our Lord in the Sixth Chapter of Saint Johns Gospel that were delivered before the Institution of the Eucharist which I shall now consider for the further Clearing of the Point as also those words of Saint Luke This do in remembrance of me used by our Lord at the time of the Institution and prove that none of these expressions do at all favor our Adversaries Figurative Sense but the clean contrary We Read in the Sixth Chapter of Saint John's Gospel that our Saviour had prepared the minds of his Disciples before-hand by two great Miracles both which tended towards the strengthning of their Faith in the Sacred Eucharist the Former being a Figure of this Sacrament since in it he multiplied Five Loaves so as to make them feed five thousand persons altho' the fragments which remained filled twelve baskets and were more in quantity than the five Loaves were at the first so that they needed not to doubt but he could feed as many thousands as he pleas'd with his own precious Body exhibited under the Species of Bread in the blessed Sacrament and yet his Body be still one and the same The latter shewing them that he could Convey his Body how and whither he pleased which made them ask him when they saw him on the other side the Sea without taking Ship at the shore Rabbi when camest thou hither Then he proceeds to instruct them in Three of the greatest Mysteries of Religion 1. His Incarnation or coming down from Heaven and taking Human Flesh upon him from verse 27. where he also gives them a hint of the blessed Sacrament that meat that perisheth not to v. 51. 2. The Real Presence of his Body and Manducation thereof in the Sacrament which wonderful Presence there the Fathers did ever compare to the Incarnation it self from v. 51 to v. 59. 3. The Ascension is mentioned to Prove the two former Mysteries v. 62. Our Saviour having styled himself the Bread of Life towards the beginning of the Discourse of the Incarnation v. 33 and 35. after some Explication made of this Repeats it again twice v. 49 and 51 to inculcate it the better into his Disciples minds And then instructs them how they should be partakers of this Bread not by believing only that the Son of God came down from Heaven and was made Man taking upon him Human Flesh but by feeding upon his Flesh in the Sacrament which being a deep Mystery that they might not doubt of the truth of it he explains to them what he meant when he said v. 51. I am the living Bread which came down from Heaven if any man eat of me he shall live for ever not by telling them that by this Bread is meant the Doctrin which he taught or that by eating this Bread is to be understood the believing of this Doctrin in a Metaphorical or parabolical Sense as the Socinians and Sacramentarians fondly imagin or in like manner as he Explained the Parable of the Sower that Sowed good Seed telling them that the Field is the World the good Seed are the Children of the Kingdom or as when he had said I have meat to eat which ye know not of he explained himself by saying my Meat is to do the Will of him that sent me putting the Predicate in the place of the Subject in the manner before hinted and saying the Bread is my Word or the Doctrin that I teach but quite otherwise he assures them that the Bread that he will give them is his Flesh which he promiseth to give for the life of the world and which by an Elegant Metaphor Christ calleth Bread because it was to afford nourishment to the Soul and Body both in a Spiritual manner in the Sacrament as the ordinary Bread was to nourish the Body in a carnal manner by way of corporeal digestion out of the Sacrament And there is no doubt but the Jews understood our Lord in a proper Sense when they said v. 52. How can this Man give us his flesh to eat Our Saviour did not answer this doubt by telling them as he easily might have done in the Sacramentarian way that no more was meant but believing stedfastly in his Death and applying to themselves the merits of it and which Explication he would have certainly given them then or afterwards by
Himself or by his Disciples if no more had bin meant than so as he did in the case of Parables less difficult to understand than this would have bin if it had bin by our Lord proposed as one but proceeds to deliver this profound Mystery to them in more express words using a vehement Asseveration to confirm the truth of it Verily verily I say unto you except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of man and drink his Blood ye have no life in you Whoso eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood hath eternal Life and I will raise him up at the last day For my Flesh is truly meat my Blood is truly drink He that eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood dwelleth in me and I in him As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father So he that eateth me even he shall live by me This is that Bread which came down from Heaven not as your Fathers did eat Manna and are Dead He that eateth of this Bread shall live for ever All which words being used by our Lord to clear the doubt and answer that Question of the Jews How can this man give us his Flesh to eat I cannot imagin how the Real Presence of Christs Body and its Manducation in the Sacrament could have bin more fully Asserted in order to the disposing of his Disciples to believe the Sense of the Reality when he should Institute his blessed Sacrament And so the Fathers interpret this place And do not say that the Manna mentioned in the 58 verse which was miraculously sent from Heaven was a Type of ordinary Bread made by the Hands of Men and set upon the Table which is of a far more Ignoble Nature and less Significant than the Manna which thus came down from Heaven but of the Real Body of Christ in the Sacrament which was the true Bread from Heaven that nourished to Immortality After our Saviour had spoke thus to them many of the Disciples themselves to whom Christ did not think fit as yet to reveal the manner of feeding upon his Body in the Blessed Sacrament thinking that he meant that his Body was to be eaten in a gross manner like the Capernaites cried out this is a hard saying who can hear it To whom as well as to the Jews who before are said to murmur at him because he said I am the Bread which came down from Heaven and that ask how this Man could give them his Flesh to eat our Lord replies doth this offend you and then clears the Doctrins to them as far as he judg'd convenient for the confirmation of such high Mysteries about which they were to exercise a strong and a lively Faith by saying thus v. 62. What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before As if he should have said if you do not yet believe that the Son of Man came down from Heaven yet when you see him ascend thither again you will be more ready to believe that it was really God who came down took Flesh and dwelt amongst you which Solution had relation chiefly to the former of the Mysteries viz. his Incarnation but withal insinuates that such as believe not his words touching the holy Sacrament and think it impossible for him to give his Body to be eaten in so many places at once being yet on Earth would be much more Scandalized and Tempted after they saw or knew him to have Ascended into Heaven Therefore to clear the latter Mystery and Solve their doubt who thought like the Capernaites that Christ was to have cut pieces of flesh from his body and to have given them to be eaten or that thought his Body to be that of a mere Man he tells them v. 63. It is the Spirit that quickneth the Flesh profiteth nothing that is the Flesh which he had told them before that they must eat altho' not in the gross manner without the Spirit profiteth nothing not but that by the Spirit quickning it it profits very much Suitable to that of St. Paul. 1 Cor. 8. 1. Knowledge puffeth up but Charity edifieth that is Knowledge without Charity puffeth up altho' when Chariy is joyned with it to enliven it it edifies and Charity it self edifieth by Knowledge For if these words of Christ were to be taken in the Sense of the Sacramentarians they would derogate no less from his Incarnation Manhood and Death than from the Real Presence of his Body in the Sacrament in all which without doubt the flesh profiteth very much Wherefore our Lord goes on to tell them here that the words which he spake unto them were Spirit and Life therefore not to be understood in the gross carnal Sense before mentioned which some of his Disciples took them in For it is the use of the Scripture to call Mans natural Sense carnal Reasoning and resisting or not reaching to the belief of Supernatural Truths Flesh and Blood as Matth. 16. 17. Flesh and blood revealed not this to thee c. but the words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and Life therefore not to be carnally understood But as by the Word of God the World was Created and Nature hath been since often chang'd so there is no doubt but Christ could by it change the Bread into his Body as he did daily by ordinary Natural Nutrition but here in a supernatural way Our Lord therefore said unto them that their Fathers did Eat Manna in the Wilderness which was but a Type of this Heavenly Manna in the Sacrament and yet they did Spiritually feed upon Christ the Messias for it is said 1 Cor. 10. 3 4. That they did all eat the same Spiritual Meat and did all Drink the same Spiritual Drink for they Drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ and yet they are Dead all of them a Temporal some of them an Eternal Death also and those of them which now live the Life Eternal received this Life from the Son of God who hath now given us the Antitype of that Manna which the Children of Israel did eat viz. his own Body in the Sacrament something of a far more excellent nature to feed upon which will be to our Bodies as well as to our Souls the Seed of Immortality the Instrument and Pledge of our Resurrection Ascension and Glorification Yet as our Lord said to his Disciples there are some of you which believe not so we may say still of the Sacramentarians who notwithstanding all that Christ hath said will admit of nothing but Signs and Figures of imaginary vertue whom nevertheless our Saviour hath no further instructed in any such easie Sense as this which might certainly have prevented their relapse as well as that of the Jews his Disciples and which if any such Sense had been to be admitted would most certainly have been given that they will not believe our Lord and therefore they go
away and will walk no more with him in the Communion of his Church Having thus made it to appear that these words of Christs Institution This is my Body according to the Rules of human discourse ought to be taken in a proper Sense not only if considered in themselves but especially if we regard what Christ hath said before touching the Sacrament to dispose his Apostles thus to believe them it will necessarily follow that those words also of the Institution This do in remembrance of me which relate chiefly to the Priests Power and Duty as the other did to the Body of Christ in the Sacrament and which St. Paul explains in these words As often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye shew the Lords Death till he come ought not to be considered as a determination of the former words of the Institution in a Figurative Sense after the Sacramentarian way but as a Declaration of one great end of the Sacrament viz. The calling to mind and setting forth of Christs Death till he comes which is so far from being a Reason to prove that Christs Body is not Really there that on the contrary this Commemoration and Annunciation is founded upon the Real Presence of Christs Sacrificed Body and Blood in this Sacrament since without this it could not be done so effectually in Christs Church as now it is For as the Jews in eating the Peace-Offerings did remember that they were slain for them so by Offering here the Real Body of Christ after the manner of an unbloody Sacrifice we commemorate and set forth in this lively Exemplar that Bloody Sacrifice which Christ himself offered in a different manner upon the Cross and receive the benefit thereof which we need not to question since he gives us daily of this Victim to feed upon in the Blessed Sacrament tho' without the horror of Blood. Shall Christians then under a pretence of Celebrating the Memory of the Passion in the Eucharist evacuate Christs Institution by taking away from this pious Commemoration that which he out of his tender love hath given us as most efficacious in it for the good of our Bodies into which this Sacrifice of Christs Body being received Sanctifies them and Consecrates and prepares them for a Glorious Resurrection as wells as for the good of our Souls Ought we not to consider that Jesus Christ doth not only Command us to remember him but likewise that we should do this by feeding upon his Sacramented Body and Blood since he doth not say that Bread and Wine should be a Memorial of his Body and Blood but that in doing what he prescribes us to do which is that in Receiving his Body and Blood we should remember him And what more precious and lively Memorial could he give to his Disciples and to all his beloved Children what better Legacy could he bequeath them at his departure out of the World than this If the the Primitive Christians were inflamed with Zeal and Devotion when they approached to the Monuments where the Bodies only of Holy Martyrs lay Intombed more especially if they could but touch any of their precious Reliqus being by this means stirred up to a Pious Memorial and imitation of their Holy Lives and Deaths and therefore did Religiously preserve the smallest pieces and even the Nails of that Cross upon which Christ suffered Commemorating thereby his Holy Passion how much more then should our Memory and Love be excited when we approach to the Holy Altar and know that we Receive there tho' veiled under the Sacred Symbols the very Body and Blood of our Lord who Sacrificed himself for us enlivened and quickened by his Grace and Spirit I could now proceed to shew for the further confirmation of what I have here alledged from the Authority of Holy Scripture that unless the words of St. Johns Gospel above mentioned as also the words of our Saviours Institution be taken in the Sense of the Reality or Transubstantiation that there is no promise to be found in Holy Writ of any Spiritual vertue to accompany this Sacrament so that our Adversaries whilst they are so eager to oppose the Reality do as much as in them lies destroy the nature and end of this Blessed Institution and have no argument at all to use against the Socinian who denies the Real Vertue as well as the Real Presence of Christs Body in the Sacrament Which is the reason why I do sometimes term this Vertue which the Author without ground conceives to be in this Ordinance tho' separate from Christs Real Body Imaginary because there is no reason to conclude the vertue of the Body to be here from Scripture unless the Body be so too not that I would derogate at all from the vertue of Christs Body which by reason of the Hypostatical union is Infinite But this task is already performed by a Learned Modern Author And the Reader may easily discern the Truth of what I have here asserted by inspecting such places of Holy Scripture as relate to this Sacrament into the number of which they will not allow the sixth Chapter of St. Johns Gospel to be admitted Having therefore thus explained those places of Holy Scripture which relate to the Blessed Sacrament as also those other Forms of speaking both of Divine and Human Authority which the Author is pleas'd to compare with the Words of our Lords Institution and shew'd upon comparing them together that they will not at all fit his purpose but prove the quite contrary to what he would have them to do I shall now sum up such of the Reasons and Arguments for the understanding the Words in which our Saviour Instituted this Blessed Sacrament in a proper Sense as the Catholic Church expounds them as are plainly deduced from the Nature and End of this Holy Institution and the Manner of expressing it in Holy Scripture which I intreat the Christian Reader seriously to consider of and so conclude this Head of Discourse 1. Because Christ the great Lover of Souls never spake to his Apostles and Disciples in Figures and Parables which had any obscurity or difficult Sense especially if the Discourse related to the Practice of a necessary Duty with an intention to keep them in Ignorance but that their humble and well disposed minds might be the more excited and inflamed with a desire of inquiring into and understanding the true meaning of what he said and that they might the better retain it And because in all such cases even of less difficulty than this of the Sacrament as particularly in the Parable of the Sower of Seed altho' the Mystery concerning the success of the Gospel which was herein prefigured was not necessary for every one to know as that of the Eucharist was Christ did fully explain himself to his Disciples who were also to instruct others Therefore since the words of the Institution of the Blessed Sacrament if understood Figuratively as the
away himself but not from himself with his own hands by reason of the natural Connection and Concomitance which his Sacred Soul and Divinity have with his Body and Blood under the visible Species of Bread and Wine DISCOURSE Or whether we compare these words of our Saviour with the ancient Form of the Passover used by the Jews from Ezra's time as Justin Martyr tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Passover is our Saviour and our refuge Not that they believed the Paschal Lamb to be substantially changed either into God their Saviour who delivered them out of the Land of Egypt or into the Messias the Saviour whom they expected and who was signified by it But this Lamb which they did eat did represent to them and put them in mind of that Salvation which God wrought for their Fathers in Egypt when by the slaying of a Lamb and sprinkling the Blood of it upon their Doors their first-born were passed over and spared and did likewise foreshew the Salvation of the Messias the Lamb of God that was to take away the Sins of the World. ANSWER The Author having tried several very different sorts of expressions in Holy Scripture with which he hath offer'd to compare the words of our Lord's Institution seeming not at all to be satisfied in his Mind about their Analogy to these yet not able to discover any of a nearer resemblance being at a great loss hath recourse to the Authority of an Ancient Father and now he will either find one or make one if he can for his purpose For considering that our Saviour had just before this Institution celebrated the Passover it might seem reasonable to conclude that he should now imitate that manner of speaking which he used so very lately Therefore it is but finding or coyning a Paschal Form of Institution suitable to the saying of our Lord This is my Body and he may think his work is done What pity it is that he could not discover one in all the Scripture or Fathers for his purpose but that he must be forc't to use such pitiful Sophistry as he here doth to impose upon his Reader in this manner Whether saith he we compare these words of our Saviour with the ancient Form of the Passover used by the Jews from Ezra's time as Justin Martyr tells us But where doth he tell us so There 's not a word said by him that that which is cited here was an Ancient Form of the Passover or that it was used by the Jews from Ezra's time this is a pure Invention of the Authors which you will be fully convinced of by consulting Justin Martyr himself about the words which were by the Jews left out of those Interpretations of Ezra's or Esdras's wherein he expounds the Law of the Passover and which run thus Esdras said to the People This Passover Sacrifice is our Saviour and our Refuge but if you think and it enter into your Heart to conceive that we render him abject in a Sign and afterwards place our hope in him let not this place be forsaken for ever saith the Lord of Hosts and if you do not believe his words nor hearken to his Preaching you will be had in derision by all Nations This is all that the Father saith of the matter where we find not one word said of what the Author cites as being an Ancient Form of the Passover used by the Jews but only that in these words Esdras expounded the Law of the passover to the People neither is here the least mention made of it's being used by the Jews from Esdras's time all this is the mere Fiction of our Author who did not consider that Holy Scripture and Learned Authors amongst his own party give us an account of the Paschal Forms that were used which are quite different from this which no Author gives us as one but himself For Exod. 12. 11. God saith It is the Lord 's Passover or more explicitly Ver. 26. 27. It shall come to pass when your Children shall say unto you what mean you by this service That ye shall say it is the Sacrifice of the Lord 's Passover And Ver. 13. It is said the Blood shall be to you for a Token or Sign and when I see the Blood I will pass over you And Dr. Hammond tells us that the Lamb drest in the Paschal Supper and set upon the Table was called The Body of the Passover or the Body of the Paschal Lamb not the Body of Christ of which notwithstanding it was a Sign and Type another Paschal Form he tells us was This is the Bread of Affliction referring to the unleavened Bread Which Forms are nothing like this Expository Phrase of Esdras cited by Justin Martyr Well but altho' this be not a Paschal Form yet it is a certain expression which Esdras used concerning the Passover and I shall now shew so great a disparity between it as so considered and that of our Lords Institution as will plainly discover how falsly it is urged here to prove that our Lords words are Metaphorical For 1. These words were true in a proper Sense which our Adversaries will not allow Christs to be The Passover was a Saviour or Salvation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a way of speaking used by other Authors and explained in the following word and a Refuge to the Jews in a strict Sense God having appointed it as a means and Instrumental cause at least of their deliverance at it's first Institution and it was a Salvation and Refuge to those who afterwards used it aright Why then may we not likewise conclude from hence that that which Christ gave to his Disciples when he said This is my Body was really his Body 2. All the Jews who had a right understanding of things considered the Sacrifices that were offered as Types of Christ the Messias and this of the Passover more signally as so as appears from this Authority of Esdras out of Justin Martyr in these words If you think that we render him abject in this Sign and afterwards place our hope in him Therefore it was not at all unreasonable to Attribute the thing signified to that which they regarded in their minds as a Sign by saying This Passover Sacrifice is our Saviour and our Refuge Not that they could have any ground from hence to believe the Paschal Lamb to be substantially changed either into God their Saviour who delivered them out of the Land of Egypt or into the Messias the Saviour whom they expected and who was signifyed by it But this Lamb which they did Eat being known to be a Sign of Institution did represent to them and put them in mind of that Salvation which God wrought for their Fathers in Egypt when by the slaying of a Lamb and sprinkling the Blood of it upon their Doors their first-born were passed over and spared and did likewise foreshew the Salvation of the