contradiction or resistaunce But the scriptures do teache vs cleane contrary For they all testifie vnto vs that Christe our Sauiour hauyng offered one oblation or sacrifice for synnes is set downe on the right hande of God for euer tariyng there till his fooes be made his footstoole as it hath been sufficiently proued before Thei doe therefore alledge in vaine the omnipotencie and almightie power of God for to proue thereby their deuillishe and moÌ„strous opinioÌ„ beyng in this point like vnto the anabaptistes which wheÌ„ thei be so sore pressed with the scirptures that they knowe not whiche waie to escape doe flye streight waie vnto the spirite hauyng then none other thyng in their mouthes but the spirite the spirite So these ioly felowes when they be beaten with the scriptures that they haue not one worde to saie will by and by with a great circumstaunce of wordes and fetchyng aboute alledge the omnipotencie and almightie power of God settyng foorth his wonderous works miracles that he hath wrought by it that so they may vnder the shadowe of them deceaue and blinde the poore vnlearned people whiche haue no vnderstandyng nor perceiueraunce of thynges These be for the moste parte the goodly argumentes and reasons that they doe vse if god hath doen this thyng or that thyng then will they bryng in some excellent miracle that god did worke in tymes paste may not he by his omnipotencie and mightie power bring to passe that the natural body of his sonne Christe should be in the Sacrament ye may see howe these newe fangled felowes do most shamefully deny the omnipotencie of God. These and other like thynges they doe daiely vomite out againste the true ministers of Gods worde in their railyng bookes and vpon their Alebenche where as they themselues are vtter enimies and subuerâ—ours of the omnipotencie and almightie power of god For thei do preache and daily shewe teache and write and also with fyre and sworde compell men to beléeue that christe can not geue vnto vs his fleshe to eate excepte his naturall body that he tooke of the virgine Marie that died vpon the crosse and ascended vp into heauen be there in the Sacrament â–ª really and substancially in déede more like a monstrous thyng then an humaine body Wheras on the contrarie we doe both beléeue and teache that our sauiour christ is able by his euerlasting and almighty spirite whensoeuer we doe worthely receiue his Sacrament to feede with his most precious flesh and blood both our soules and bodies vnto life euerlastyng and yet that hee needeth not therefore to come downe from heauen nor to be after suche a monstrous fashion in the sacramentall bread and wine For as the blood of our sauiour christ doth cleanse vs from all our synnes and yet we neede not to haue it really present with vs for to be washed or bathed in it so Christ our sauiour accordyng to his promise doeth daily or whensoeuer we doe come worthely to his holy Table feede both our bodies and soules with the wholsome and heauenly foode of his pretious body and blood and this doeth he by his eternall and almightie spirite so that he needeth not therefore to come downe at the becke and commaundement of euery iuglyng Papiste and to be really present in a péece of their sterched breade after that they haue with gapyng and blowyng spoken foure or fiue wordes vpon it Let any man that hath any sparke of the spirite of GOD iudge whether this maner of feedyng vpon the body and blood of Christ in the holy Sacrament whiche as I saide is doen by his eternall spirite doth not in all poinctes agrée with the holy Scriptures and with the almightie power of God who is neuer wont sith that of his owne nature he is most true to do or worke any thyng againste his owne worde and sacred Scriptures wherby we are certified that the heauens muste holde our Sauiour Christe till all thynges be restored againe that God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophetes since the worlde began The examples that they doe bryng of the walkyng of our Sauiour Christ vpon the waters or of his commyng in to his disciples and apostles when the doores were faste shut if they be well considered and looked vppon it shal be easie for to perceaue and vnderstande that they make nothyng for them but rather against them For when our Sauiour Christe did walke vpon the Sea although he did it by his diuine and godly power yet had he at the same present houre his true and naturall body with due proportion of lymmes and all other dimensions that doe pertaine to a mans body so that he coulde then be seene with the bodily eyes of his apostles taken vp sensibly into the Boate that they were in But no suche thyng will thei alowe in their monstrous being of christe his true and naturall body in their Sacrament Therefore this example maketh not for them but against them Now againe where they saie that our Sauiour Christ did go in to his apostles through the doores beyng faste shut here they make a shamefull lye For neither in the Gréeke nor in the Latine we shal finde that it is written through the doores beyng fast shut but the doores beyng shut or when the doores were fast shut Whereby the Euangelist doth signifie vnto vs the tyme that our Sauiour Christe came in to his disciples For therby may we vnderstande that it was verie late in the night when he came in to them as when any of vs doth saye I came home by candle light or when all the doores were fast shut yet no man is so foolishe as for to construe vppon his wordes that he had light borne afore hym or that he went in through the doores but by this maner of speaking we be wont to gather that it was late in the night when he came home Moreouer we do reade in the booke of the Actes that the apostles were put in the common prison at Hierusalem but the angell of the Lorde by night opened the doores of the prison and brought them foorth the doores of the prison beyng shut fast againe as sure as it was possible and yet none of the kéepers that were standyng without before the doores and kéeping them with al diligence did espie it when it was doen. Likewise in the same booke we finde written that when Herode would haue brought foorth Peter for to put hym to death the angell of the Lorde did come vnto hym as he slept betweene twoo souldiours bounde with two chaines and the keepers that watched and warded the prison standyng without before the doores And as soone as the angell smote Peter on the side and waked him his chaines fel of from his handes and also that when he and the angell were paste the firste and seconde watche and were come to
bread is referred to the fleshe and the kinde or forme of wine to the soule Againe it is taken or receaued vnder both kindes for to signifie that Christ did take vpon hym both an humaine body and an humaine soule and also for to signifie that the receauyng of this sacrament is auaileable both to the fleshe and also to the soule For if it were only receiued vnder one kind it shoulde be signified that it is auaileable onely for the tuition and safegarde of the one Hearken what Gerardus Lorichius one that is a great defendour of Transubstantiation a papist for his life saieth to this matter They be false Catholiques saieth this man that are not ashamed by all meanes to hinder the reformatiō of the Churche Thei to the intent the other kynde of the sacrament maie not be restored vnto the laie people spare no kynde of blasphemies For they saie that Christe saide onely vnto his apostles drinke ye all of this but the wordes of the Canon be these take and eate ye al of this Here I beseche them let them tell mee whether they will haue these wordes also onely to pertaine vnto the apostles Thā must the laie people abstaine from the other kinde the bread also Whiche thyng to saie is an herisie a pestilent and a detestable blasphemie Wherfore it foloweth that eche of these words was spoken vnto the whole church Thus far Lorichius the papistes owne doctour Let them make what shift soeuer they will or can they shall neuer be able to cleare them selues but that they be most abominable prophanatours of the Lordes Sacramentes and misteries and also most detestable and accursed sacriledgers sith that they do not only robbe the christian people for whom our Sauiour Christ did shed his most precious blood of the cheefe and most principall part of his Sacrament but also doe abstayne them selues from it whensoeuer they list hauyng no commaundement of the Lorde for to doe any suche thyng Therefore we may turne the saying of S. Basill against them who saieth these wordes Who so forbiddeth the thing that God commaundeth and who so commaundeth the thing that God forbiddeth is taken as accursed of all them that loue the Lorde Where you haue done the like against the commaundement of the Lorde and commaunded what he hath flatly forbidden your whole religion declareth for through your owne cōmaundementes ye make Gods commaundementes of litle force yea you haue done contrary to your owne lawes and decrées which do excommunicate all those that dare presume to take halfe of this sacrament and leaue the other halfe vnreceaued The blessed martyr Saint Ciprian doeth say Howe shall we teache exhort and prouoke them saieth he to shed their blood for the confession of the name of Christ if we do deny or wyll not geue vnto them the blood of Christ when they should fight and stande manfully in the quarell of their maister and Lorde Christe Or howe shall we make them apt to drinke the cup of martyrdome if we do not permit nor suffer them to drinke the cup of the Lorde in the Church by the right tha◠they haue to communicate with vs May not all men see and perceiue by these fewe words of this holy and blessed martyr what wrong and iniurie these antichristes do vnto vs Haymo saith Appellatur calix communicatio propter participationem quiae omnes communicant ex illo The cup is called the communication because of the participation for that euery man receaueth of it This saith he and yet no Protestant nor Caluenist If any warre doth chaunce for the name of Christ as is at this day in Fraunce and Flaunders or if any persecution for his religon sake doth happen they wyll geue vs good leaue to stande in the forefront of the battayle yea they wyll thrust vs forwardes and be ready them selues to shed our blood and yet they will not as much as suffer vs once to receaue the mysticall cup of the Lordes blood whereby we shoulde be animated and encouraged to shed our heart blood in the quarell of his trueth Besides this any childe may easely perceaue by these fewe aucthorities by me alledged that they were woont in the Primatiue Churche to minister indifferently vnto all men of what condition or estate soeuer they were the Communion in both kindes and that it was counted a playne sacriledge that is to say a playne robbing of Gods glorie to do otherwise For they did alwayes sticke to the institution and ordinaunce of the Lorde tyll at the length in the abominable and sacrilegious counsell of Constance a most wicked and vngodly decree was made to the contrary Many other reasons are they wont to bring for the defence of their accursed and detestable sacriledge If the mysticall Cup say they were indifferently ministred vnto al men and women that come to the Lordes boorde it might chaunce that it shoulde be at one tyme or other spylled whiche thing coulde not happen without a great slaunder in the Churche And therefore for auoyding of this offence that might happen by reason many hath the paulsie and fallyng sicknesse it hath bene appointed by the fathers that the Sacrament shoulde be only ministred vnder one kinde Belike our Sauiour Christe the wisedome of the father when he did first institute his Sacrament coulde not by his eternall spirite foresée such thinges nor yet the blessed Apostle Saint Paul when he did aboue .xxvj. yeres after his maisters ascention write vnto the Churche of the Corinthians Might not wée by as good a reason bicause that many offences do dayly arise by the preaching of Gods worde put downe the Scriptures altogether as antechrist is wont to do where soeuer he beareth any rule Might we not with as iust cause sith that many do surfet by meate and drinke and in their drunkennesse do worke mischéefe take awaye cleane from them the vse of meate and drinke Shall we because that good thinges may through the naughtinesse and negligence of men be misused take away the right vse of them or abolishe therefore the institution and ordinaunce of GOD who hath ordeyned and appointed such thinges for the comfort health of men Let them geue a straite charge to their ministers that they be sober and discrete when that thei go about such holy mysteries and that they take good heede to them selues that no such offences do arise through their negligence or rashe behauiour If they would do so and suffer the holy institution of the Lord to stande whole then shoulde they do well and please God highly who requireth nothing else but a true obedience towardes his statutes and lawes whereas in doing as they do they declare them selues to be voyde of the spirite of God and of all due obedience that ought to be in all faithfull christians and true seruauntes of God. For we must be subiect to God in obedience ioyned
saieth he had not some certaine similitude or likenesse of the thynges whereof they be Sacramentes they should be no Sacramentes and of this similitude many times they haue the names of those thynges them selues As then the Sacrament of the body of Christe is after a certaine maner the body of Christe and the Sacrament of his blood after a certaine maner his blood So the Sacrament of faith is faith All these aucthorities are of them selues plaine enough and néede no further exposition Therefore sith that I haue sufficiently proued both by the holy Scriptures and also by the aucthorities of the auncient fathers that the Sacramentes are called by the names of the thinges whereof they be Sacramentes I wyll be so bolde to conclude that Christe our sauiour dyd at his last Supper call bread his body and the wine his blood because that they were by his holy institution made the sacramentes of his body and blood And vnto this doeth Theodoretus agrée as it hath béen declared before wheÌ„ he saith He that did call his body wheate and bread and himself a vine doth honour the bread and wine with the name of his body and blood not chauÌ„ging the nature but addyng grace vnto the nature S. Chrisostome hath euen the like wordes whereby we may also gather that the bread and wine being coÌ„secrated that is to say being applied to that holy vse that God hath instituted and ordeined for that is the true consecration as one very well sayde consecratio tota actio Christi est whatsoeuer the papistes can prate and scoulds to the contrary be called the body and blood of Christe because that being duely ministred and worthily receaued thei bring with them selues the grace vertue and propertie of his most precious fleshe and blood whose nature and propertie is to bryng immortalitie and life euerlasting that is to say to viuiâ—â—e and quicken all faithfull beleuers both in soules and bodies And this doth S. Ambrose meane when he saieth Thou doest receaue the Sacrament in a similitude but thou obteynest the grace and vertue of the true natural body of Christ and also of his blood and that eating the bread as we ought to do we are fed vnto immortalitie whiche is a propertie of the diuine substaunce This also doth saint Cyprian meane when he writeth on this maner The same bread that the Lord did reache foorth vnto his disciples beyng chaunged not in outwarde appearaunce but in nature was by the almightie power of God made fleshe Which wordes notwithstanding that they be aleaged of the papistes for to mainteyne their butcherly and grosse doctriâ—e of transubstantiation withall haue none other meanyng but that the bread remayning bread styll as it was before as it doth appeare outwardly vnto the eye the nature of it is cleane altered chaunged For whereas the propertie nature of the bread is to féede the body only and to mainteyne or continue the life of it beyng applied to that holy vse that Christ hath instituted ordeyned in his holy misteries it doth feede both the soules bodies vnto immortalitie life euerlasting so that by it not only our soules do receaue a life that neuer shall haue ende but also our bodies are made partakers of vncorruption as Ireneus doth testifie saying As the bread which is of the earth after that the name of god is called vpoÌ„ ouer it or receauing the name or calling of god is no more coÌ„mon bread but the bread of thankes geuyng consistyng of two thinges that is to say of the heauenly and earthly so our bodyes receauyng the bread of thankes geuing are no more corruptible hauyng a hope of resurrection Who woulde not saie that the nature and propertie of the bread is wonderfully altered and chaunged The like doeth Sainct Augustine wryte of the water of baptisme saiyng Vnde ista tanta virtus aquae vt corpus tangat cor abluat nisi faciente verbo Whence commeth this so greate vertue of the water to touche the body and wash the soule but by workyng of the worde here is a wonderfull alteration and chaunge The propertie and nature of the water is to washe awaie the filthines of our bodies to quenche our thirste and to serue vs in other thinges that parteine to this mortall life to moyst the grounde and to make it fruictfull but beyng rightly ministred and worthely receaued in the Sacrament of baptisme it washeth awaie the filthinesse of the soule and maketh the inwarde man cleane from all sinnes through the working spirit of God and yet it remaineth water still no parte of the substaunce thereof beyng chaunged so ought we to vnderstande of the sacramentall bread and wine For though beyng duely ministred worthely receaued they haue the nature propertie and grace of the precious fleshe and blood of Christ yet as Theodoretus saieth they remaine still in their former substaunce shape and figure Whereunto the olde writer Emisenus doeth agree affirmyng plainely that the corruptible creatures of bread and wine are by the consecration or worde and secret power of the inuisible priest so chaunged and turned as we be chaunged in baptisme where though we be renued by the holy ghost and made newe creatures yet we remaine stil the same in substaunce that we were before And so with the blessed Martir Ciprian he calleth the visible creatures of bread and wine the body and blood of Christ bicause of the excellent nature vertue propertie and grace of his most precious fleshe and blood that thei do receaue by the mightie word and secret power of the inuisible Priest who is our Sauiour Iesus Christe hym selfe For this excellent propertie I saie vertue and grace that the creature of bread beyng rightly ministred and worthely receaued doth obtaine by the almightie power of God. The blessed Martir sainct Ciprian with the other auncient fathers doe saie that the bread is made fleshe Else if we shoulde take his wordes so grossely as our papistes doe we should be faine to confesse that the blessed body of Christe beyng made of bread should haue his beginnyng originall and ofspryng of the corruptible creature of bread as I haue sufficiently proued already before Wherefore Saincte Ambrose saieth Sunt quae erant in alium mutantur in substaunce they are meaning the Sacrament the same they were before but in accident or qualitie they are turned into another thyng for before it was common meates For mans table nowe is turned to be meate for the Lordes table and in another place he saieth Ante consecrationem alia species nominatur post consecrationem corpus christi significatur before the consecration it is named by another kynde but after consecration it doeth signifie the body of Christe Sainct Chrisostome agreeyng herewith saieth Si incorporei essemus c. If we were bodilesse god would geue vs these thynges bare and bodylesse but for
Thou also saieth he hast through the blood of thy Testamente lette the prisoners out of the pitte where no water is what he will haue to bee vnderstanded by this lake or pitte men maie iudge many waies and that after the right faithe But I thinke that nothyng can better bee vnderstanded by it then the drie and as it were the barraine profunditie of the depenesse of mans miserie where the streames of righteousnesse are not but the mudde of iniquitie And of this pitte it is spoken in the Psalme and he hath saieth he broughte me ▪ out of the pitte of miserie and out of the myre and claie Hitherto Augustine Thus you may easely perceiue that this saiyng of the Prophete nothyng appertaineth vnto the deade whiche are alreadie deliuered from those miseries that are signified by the waterlesse pitte but vnto the liuyng For he saieth directlie after Turne you to the strong holde ye prisoners of hope Whiche woordes can not bee applied to the deade but to the liuyng onely For the Prophete biddeth them turne into the holie lande where the citie and temple are where God will defende them Sainct Hierome therefore saieth to all them that doe hang vpon bare wordes of the scriptures Nec putemus in verbis scripturarum esse Euangelium sed in sensu non in superficie sed in medulla non in sermonum folijs sed in radice rationis That is Neither lette vs thinke that the Gospell cōsisteth in the wordes of the scriptures but in the meanyng not in the barke but in the pithe not in the leaues of wordes but in the roote of the meanyng Peter cōfirmeth this saiyng So that ye first knowe this that no prophecie in the scripture is of any priuate interpretation Thus much as concernyng the place of the Prophete Zacharie As for the place in the Actes of the Apostles what is saied aboue vpon the Psalme maie suffice for that that was spoken by Dauid in the Psalme was prophetically spoken of Christ not that his soule should goe and preache or bryng out any soule from hell that was nothyng the Prophetes meanyng But he prophecied there onely of the death and resurrection of Christe For so dooeth saincte Peter open and expounde it saiyng Therefore seyng he was a Prophete and knewe that God had sworne with an othe to him that of the fruicte of his loynes he would raise vp Christe concernyng the fleshe to set hym vpon his Throne He knowyng this before spake of the resurrection of Christe that his soule that is his person or bodie should not be left in graue neither his fleshe should se corruption Here note that where in one place he calleth it by the name of the soule or bodie immediately he nameth it fleshe Thus you maie see howe one Scripture openeth another So Hierome saieth Moris scripturarum obscuris manifesta subnectere that is It is the order of the scriptures after harde thynges to ioyne other thynges that bee plaine Sainct Augustine also saith Solet circumstantia scripturarum illuminare sententiam The circumstaunces of the scriptures is wont to giue light and to open the meanyng M. Theodorus Beza translateth that verse Non derelinques animam meam in inferno thus Non relinques cadauer meū in sepulchro For as he saith Nequ◠enim Petrus hic disputat de animi immortalitate sed de corporis resurrectione eaque eiusmodi vt nulla praecesserit corruptio Peter faith he doeth not here in this place dispute of the immortalitie of the soule but of the resurrection of Christes bodie in suche maner that no corruption could or should corrupte it Againe he saieth Dico igitur nunquam praetermissuros fuisse Euangelistas istiusmodi historiam descensus animae Christi ad inferos arbitror quod cum veterum pace dictum sit somnia esse quacunque de hac re apud illos cōmemorantur that is Therefore I saie that the Euangelistes would neuer haue ouer passed or lette slippe with silence suche an historie of the descendyng of the soule of Christ into hell if it had been so and I iudge say by the leaue of the auncient fathers what soeuer of this matter thei haue written or remembred amongeste them to bee but dreames and phantasies c. Therefore sainct Augustine giueth this counsaile Nemo de Christo creda◠nisi quod dese credi voluit Christus That is Lette no man beleue more of Christe then Christe hath willed thee to beleue And this bee spoken as sufficiente for this present vpon this place of the actes Nowe lastly is that place of S. Peter where he saieth that Christ was put to death concernyng the flesh but was quickned in the spirite by the which he also went and preached vnto the spirites that were in prison Herevpon they blowe vp the Trumpet but yet stay a litle thou must note gentle reader that here is no mention made Anima Christi of the soule of Christe but that he went tantum spiritu onely in his spirite For as M. Caluin saieth Sunt autem haec longe diuersa animam Christi venisse et Christum praedicasse spiritus sui potentia These are saith he great differences to say that the soule of Christe to haue come And to say Christe to haue preached by the power of his spirite Nowe friendly reader here is the difficultie in these two wordes Spiritus carcer the spirite and the prison Understande that by this worde spirite is not meant nor taken in this place for the soule of Christe but for the power of his Godhead For it was not his soule that was able to quicken him self but the spirite of god quickned him that is his godly and diuine power that quickned his humanitie Paul openeth this very plainly to the Cor. saying Christ was crucified concernyng his infirmitie yet liueth he through the power of god c. Where Peter nameth it the spirite Paul calleth it the power of god And he calleth it the operation of God which raysed and quickned him from the dead And to the Romanes he shewth that the vertue of the spirite was not onely shewed in the person of Christe but is shewed also vpon vs all saying If the spirite of him that raysed vp Iesus from the dead dwell in you he that raysed vp Christ frō the dead shall also quicken your mortall bodies because that his spirit dwelleth in you By these places we may vnderstande what Peter meant by the spirite that is Gods diuine power and might and not the soule of Christ. Nowe in that Peter calleth it a prison is not to be taken here that he vnderstandeth by it the place of hell for the damned but he aludeth it to that place of Genesis where it is sayde Non permanebit spiritus meus in homine inaeternum quia caro est My spirite shall not striue with man because he is but fleshe So that
it is a common phrase of speache in the Scriptures that Peter here vseth for the Prophete Esai hath the like saying Vt aperires oculos caecorum educeres de conclusione vinctum de domo carceris sedentes in tenebris That thou mayest open the eyes of the blinde and bryng out the prisoners from the prison and them that sit in darknesse out of the prison house And in another place he saith Vt dicetis his qui vincti sunt exite his qui in tenebris reuelamini That thou mayest say to the prisoners go foorth and to them that are in darknesse shewe your selues Saint Paul in a maner vseth the like phrase saying Before saith came we were kept vnder the lawe and shut vp vnto the faith which should afterwarde be reuealed Our sauiour Christe vseth it often where it is written The spirite of the Lord is vpon me because he hath annoynted me that I should preache the Gospell to the poore he hath sent me that I shoulde heale the broken hearted that I shoulde preache deliueraunce to the captiues and recoueryng of sight to the blinde that I shoulde set at libertie them that are bruised Saint Peter him selfe in the fourth Chapter folowing speaketh of this matter but yet in other wordes saying For vnto this purpose was the Gospell preached also vnto the dead that they myght be condemned accordyng to men in the fleshe but myght lyue accordyng to God in the spirite that is to say the Gospell was preached not to the dead bodyes in the graues nor to the soules in hell but to them of tyme past which nowe are dead to the entent that they might haue béen condemned or dead vnto sinne in the fleshe and might haue liued to God in the spirite which two are the effect of the Gospell And in his seconde Epistle he calleth them the worlde of the vngodly saying Neither hath spared the olde worlde but saued Noe the eyght person a preacher of righteousnesse and brought in the flood vppon the worlde of the vngodly c. So nowe we may perceaue by the conference of those places what Peter meaneth by the spirites that were in prison that are all those whiche were in the prison of sinne and death c. For Peters onely purpose in this place is to set foorth the vniuersall preaching of repentaunce which was preached in the tymes of Noe euen with the same open and vniuersall preachyng that was dooen in all the worlde in the tyme of Christ the sonne of God after his resurrection from the dead For the sonne of God did preache in the tyme of Noe in the spirite that is by his spirituall preachyng of repentaunce did call the spirites that were in prison that is those wicked men that were shutte vp in the prisone of wickednesse and synne and for their synfulnesse are worthie of death and hell So saieth Titleman Veniens ad illos incredulos homines qui tunc in tenebrosa caligine errorum snorum iacebant demersi â–ª veniens inquam spiritu praedicauit eis ad poenitentiam reuerti vt possent cum Noe saluari inspirando Prophetas Noe qui ex ore domini populum a mâ—lis reuocare quaerebant That is Commyng to those vnbeleuyng men whiche then did lye drowned in the darekenesse of their errours Commyng I saie in spirite did preache to them to tourne to repentaunce that thei might bee saued with Noe inspiryng the Prophetes and Noe did seeke to call the people backe from their euilnesse by the mouthe of god Also he setteth foorth the mercifull goodnesse and long sufferaunce in that he called theim to repentaunce by Noe whiles the Arke was a preparing by the space of a hundred and twentie yeres whiche leuitie goodnesse and long sufferaunce of GOD they did despise and neglecte for whiche the flood of Goddes vengeaunce came vpon them that were disobedient in the tymes of Noe. The verie texte it self plainly declareth that this exposition is true For if wee marke the woordes of the texte as they lye in order it will soone open Peters whole meanyng The wordes are these But was quickened in the spirit by whiche he also went and preached vnto the spirites that were in prisone then immediately followeth what those spirites were whiche saieth he were in time passed disobedient when once the longe sufferyng of God abode Now he sheweth when it was in the daies of Noe. Then he declareth the tyme and how long thei were disobediente while the Arke was preparyng saieth he Which latter wordes maketh it plaine For he saieth he preached in the spirite to the prisoners that were disobedient while the Arke was a makyng So that it appeareth that those prisoners were a liue at the makyng and preparyng of the Arke And duryng all that tyme of a 120. yeres Christe preached to them in his spirite by Noe the eight persone a preacher of righteousnesse to tourne them from their synnes and so bee saued And because they would not in their life tyme obey Gods worde are cast now after their life into iudgemente of hell fire as wee haue saied before And by the same argumente Peter goeth aboute to moue the Iewes by their example to bee obedient to Goddes callyng that calleth theim by his spirite through his Preachers and Ministers by his long sufferaunce to repentaunce and amendement of life whiles thei are here in the earth Otherwise for their disobedience nowe in their life tyme vnto the preachyng of his Ministers shall be damned after this life as thei are Christe our Sauiour dooeth teache this plainely at whose mouthe Peter learned this that nowe he hath taughte in this Epistle to the Iewes When as he spake of the ende of the worlde saiyng As the daies of Noe were so likewise shall the commyng of the sonne of man be For thei did eate and drinke marrie and giue in mariage vnto the daie that Noe entred into the Arke And knewe nothyng till the floodde came and tooke them awaie so also shall the commyng of the sonne of man bee And then immediatly after he giueth this coÌ„maundement to theÌ„ saiyng Wake therefore for ye knowe not what houre your maister will come Therefore bee ye also readie for in the houre that ye thinke not will the sonne of man come Nowe wee maie see that all this is spoken to that ende to moue vs by their example to tourne from our synnes and wicked life and not to proue hereby that the soules of any of the righteous before Christes commyng were in hell and so Christes soule must fetche them out whiche are but the imaginations of men For so saieth Erasmus Talia multa circa hanc adiecticiam particulam quidam commenti sunt narrantes quos Christus abduxerit quos ibi reliquerit quae quibus ad singulos circulos sit loquutus c That is Many suche maner of thinges haue certaine men
for vs he therefore had a loue to vs euen then when wee were enemies to hym and wrought wickednesse Therefore after a marueilous and diuine maner he loued vs euen then when he hated vs For he hated vs in that we were suche as he had not made vs and because our wickednesse had on eche side wasted awaie his woorke he knewe how in euery one of vs bothe to hate that whiche our selues had made and to loue that whiche he had made Thus farre Augustine Whereby we haue to learne what a comfortable doctrine the Predestination of GOD is whiche many can not abide of whom saincte Paule long before spake of Also howe so euer we bee synners by our owne faulte yet we remaine his creatures And howsoeuer we haue purchased death to our selues yet he made vs vnto life So is he moued by méere and free louyng of vs to receiue vs and also to reconcile vs by his sonne Christ into his fauour Therefore in respecte of our corrupte nature and then of euil life added vnto it truely we are in displeasure of God guiltie in his sight and borne to dampnation of hell But because the lorde will not loose that whiche is his in vs he findeth yet somewhat that he of his onely goodnesse maie loue vs without any goodnesse or worthinesse that is in vs through his Sonne Christe our onely Sauioure To this saincte Augustine saieth Due res sunt homo peccator Quod audis homo fecit deus Quod audis peccator ipse homo fecit dele quod fecisti vt deus saluet quod fecit oportet vt oderis in te opus tuum ames in te opus dei Theâ—e are twoo thynges Man and Synner That thou hearest man God made it That thou hearest synner Man hymself made take awaie that thou haste made that God maie saue that he hath made It behoueth that thou hate in thy self thine owne woorke that thou maiest loue the woorke of God in thee Hereto Dauid saieth Beholde I was borne in iniquitie and in synne hath my mother coÌ„ceiued me Pourge me with Hysope and I shall bee cleane Washe me and I shall bee whiter then Snowe â–ª c. This doctrine well waighed will easely teache vs that all the righteous Soules departed in the faithe before Christes commyng were in heauen And therefore no neede for Christe his soule to goe into hell to fetche them out for in that place thei neuer were nor none of Goddes predestinate and electe children was or euer shall bee For whom the Lorde euer loued saieth the Scripture be loueth vnto the ende Nowe if any man should aske me when Christe wente downe to hell I will aunswere hym When he praied to escape death he began to goe downe and so all his sufferynges that he suffered afterwarde in bodie and soule for our synnes was his goyng into hell For he felt the burden and waight of Gods wrathe for our iniquities in suche sort that no paine tormente griefe sorrowe nor punishement that euer synne and disobedience had deserued in hell But that it was laied vpon Christ for vs to bryng vs vnto God whiche paines and torments he felt in his bodie and soule Wherby we maie gather how greeuous and terrible tormentes he suffred wheÌ„ he knewe himselfe to be arained for our cause before the iudgemente seate of god For there can bee imagined no more dreadfull bottomelesse depth then for one to féele hymself forsaken and estraunged from God and not to bee hearde when he calleth vpon hym euen as if God hymself had conspired his destruction Euen thither wee see that Christe was throwne downe so farre that by inforcemente of paine and tormentes of hell did sweate and his sweate was like droppes of bloud trickelyng doune to the grounde And he was compelled to cry out My God my GOD why haste thou forsaken me c. Here thou maiest note that in the Crede we reade not in the singuler nomber descendit ad infernum hee descended into hell as thoughe it did speake of a place certaine where into he was gone but in the plurall nomber descendit in inferna he descended into the helles Comprehendyng all that was before saied in many woordes how he suffered vnder Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried in this one woorde helles Now gentle Reader I praie thee not to take me in this my writyng that I dooe deny this Article of Christes descendyng into hell for I doe constantly beleue it and will in no wise God willyng denye it but affirme that he descended into hell accordyngly But of the maner of his descension into hell is our question They saie his soule went downe thither whiche thei can not proue by the woorde of God and therfore I can not beleue it But I saie this that the force efficacie and strength of his death and passion did pearce vnto the damned soules in hell through his diuine power and godheade to the greater increase and certifiyng of their eternall and iust damnation For I saie vnto thée in the worde of God and lye not that all Christes sufferynges sorrowes and passions that he sustained here for vs vpon the earth and vpon the Crosse in body and in his soule for our sinnes was his going downe into the helles â–ª Wherefore let vs constantly beleeue this that he was once in the flesh a verie man like vnto vs in al thing sinne only excepted and came downe for vs men and for our saluation that he did verely suffer passion of bodie and soule that he hath verely died and been buried And that he hath been verely reuiued againe and the verie same soule retourned againe into his owne naturall bodie and after did ascende vp into heauen and there sitteth on the right hande of the father to make daiely and continuall intercession for all his electe and to saue all them that come to God by hym c. As many therfore as be Christians haue giuen their faith vnto Christ in their Baptisme vnder the witnesse of a greate meany There they promised to forsake the fleshe the world and the deuill If now thei will bee at league with the synner and at agreement with the deuill and the euill doer thei haue broken their firste promise and are founde vnfaithfull for wherevnto thei are ouercome his seruauntes thei are whether it bee of synne vnto death or of obedience vnto righteousnesse And for their faithe thus violated giuen vnto the immortall God God againe will breake with them his couenaunte of mercie if in tyme thei repente not Lette vs holde therefore vnitie in doctrine Secondlie vniuersalitie in ioynyng of voyces Thirdlie consente in spirite and iudgement For the Papistes haue tourned vnitie to diuision Uniuersalitie to singularitie Consente to open and plaine discention And so vnder the name of the faithe thei persecute the faithe c. For if thou doest forsake Christes Shippe and wilt rowe
ye doe take this worde hell for death it selfe and for the extremest and greatest perils daungers griefes dolours and anguishes that a man can suffer here in this worlde and whereby hee maie bee brought vnto his death and consequentlie for the guiltinesse of synne for the sting and power of death for the iudgement and wrath of god and for the bottomlesse Pit of all miseries and calamities when our sauiour Iesus Christe was so outragiously dealte withall when he did sweate blood when his soule was heauie euen vnto the death and when he was hanged most opprobriously despitefully and shamefully betwixt twoo theeues as forsaken of God and al creatures without aide helpe or comforte and so hangyng on a tree did geue vp the ghoste bearing the curse anger and furie of God whiche is a verie hell and féelyng vpon hym the condempnation paines and tormentes that were due vnto vs for our synnes then went he in deede downe into hell whiche thought to ouerwhealme hym but it coulde not bicause he was without sinne Or if ye take this worde hell for the graue and sepulchre then did our sauiour Christ go downe into hell when he was laide in the graue and descended into the lower partes of the earth as the Apostle doth witnesse and testifie Or if ye doe vnderstande by it the estate and condition of the dead then did our sauiour Iesus Christe go downe into hell when he died But moste specially when he did by his diuine power and godly might make all the elect whose soules were in Abrahams bosome to feele the efficacie strength and vertue of his death that he suffered for them and the fruites of his passion and bloodsheddyng Or if ye will take hell in this place which the Latines do expresse by this worde Inferna in the plurall nomber for the place of the damned I saie that our sauiour Iesus christ went downe vnto them I meane vnto the reprobate and damned when they did feele perceaue and vnderstande through his diuine and godly power that they were depriued of the merites of his death and passion and of the grace health and saluation that he had brought and purchased vnto his electe and chosen children And when he did by the vertue efficacie and strength of his death and bloodshedding breake the Serpents head accordyng to the promise that was made vnto our firste parentes Adam and Eue that is to saie when he did so ouerthrowe Sathan the deuill and all the power of hell that hee and his can no more preuaile against the chosen and electe of God nor yet against his true church faithfull congregation Then went he in déede downe into hell and did harrowe it whiche is a phrase and manner of speakyng that many doe vse but verie fewe doe vnderstande it for why they doe not perceiue that it is borowed of an olde custome and fashion that was vsed commonly among auncient kynges and princes when thei did make any notable warre against their enimies for then if they had taken any citie or towne they were wont not onely to beate it downe euen to the grounde but also to plowe it sowe it with Salte and to harrowe it as the like ye maie reade in the booke of Iudges howe Abimeleche sowed Salte so we reade of Fredericke Oenobarbus the Emperour that ouerthrewe Millane and sowed Salt there for that cittie toke parte with Alexander the thirde being Pope against Caesar and harrowed it after the Salte was sowen thereby to declare that the same citie or towne was brought into vtter desolation and that it should neuer be builded anie more 〈◊〉 Therfore when it is saide that our sauiour Iesus Christ did harrow hell the meanyng of it is though it be vnderstanded of fewe that Christe our sauiour did giue suche an ouerthrowe vnto sathan the deuill that he did so bruse and breake his head and that he hath gotten such a victorie ouer all the whole power of hell that it is no more able to hurte or hynder the children of God for vnto them onelie this viâ—â—â—ie is gotten hell hauyng still his full power ouer the vnfaithfull reprobate than a citie or towne that is beaten downe euen to the grounde and whiche is ploughed so wen ouer with Salte and harrowed is able to recouer it selfe or to harme the enimies that haue serued it so We must not yet imagine that our sauiour Iesus Christ did in his owne person go downe into the hell of the damned and that breakyng the yron gates he did bryng out in a rowe the patriarches and other faithfull fathers of the olde Testament for they were not there but were in the bosome of Abraham whiche as the trueth doeth saie hym selfe is a place of ioye rest and comforte suche a space beyng betwixt it and hell that the one can haue no accesse vnto the other And as for those that saie that the soule of our Sauiour Christe did suffer in hell fire although they dooe bryng and alledge certaine reasons and argumentes for them selues whiche at the firste maie séeme to haue some colour for to â—â—sell the eyes of the simple and ignoraunt yet can I in no wise allowe their opinions and iudgement in this pointe ¶ The .vj. Chapiter ¶ Reasons and argumentes of those that holde that Christe went downe to hell in his soule Aunswered THeir reasons and argumentes are these sith that our Sauiour Christe saie they did come into this worlde for to deliuer mankinde from euerlastyng damnation it was necessarie that for to make satisfaction vnto the iustice and righteousnesse of God he shoulde beare the whole malediction curse and damnation that all mankinde did deserue but the malediction curse and damnation that our sauiour christ did beare in the bodie when he did suffer his death and passion was not sufficient for the synne of man whiche he hath deserued and doth deserue euerlasting damnation is not onelie in the fleshe and in the body of man but most specially in the soule Therefore it hath not béen ordained of God that the body and fleshe onely should suffer punishment but also the soule Sithe then that man was iudged and condemned bicause of his synne to suffer euerlastyng punishment both in body and soule It was also requisite that Christe for a full satisfaction for our synnes shoulde suffer the same that we shoulde haue suffered Whiche thyng he had not doen if he had not suffered punishment as well in the soule as in the bodie Whervpon they do conclude that as he hath suffred in the body here vpoÌ„ the earth so he did also suffer in soule beneath in hell that the satisfaction might be whole perfect and full And of this opinion many of the auncient and late writers haue been Bede maketh mention of it in a certaine place not affirmyng that it was so but alledgyng onelie the opinion of some and yet without namyng
vnto death to those that beléeue not But howsoeuer men liste to take it this shal be my beléef that the goyng downe of Christ into hell is our deliueraunce from thence For excepte our sauiour Christe had been enuironed and compassed aboute with the sorowes and paines of hell and in a maner ouerwhelmed with them for a while hell would haue swallowed vs vp vnto euerlastyng damnation we should haue perished vtterly both in body and soule wee should neuer haue escaped the tyranny of Sathan nor be healed of the deadly wounde that we haue receiued of that olde venimous serpent the deuill and enimie to our saluation So that I denie not that article of Christes discention but of the maner howe is the question for when it is saide he will not leaue his soule in hell he speaketh not of his discendyng into hell of the damned but that he shal rise againe from the dead that is he shall not leaue hym in death or liyng continuallie in the graue For the soule in that place is taken for the whole naturall man c. For seeke all the scriptures from one ende to a nother and ye shall neuer finde that Christ in body or soule discended into hell but that he died and rose againe the thirde daie accordyng to the Scriptures For you shall note that the East Churche had it not the Counsell of Nicen Creede hath it not nor the Counsell of Ephesus c. But to be short ye shal vnderstande that christ descended into hell three maner of waies Videl Firste in power as when the Uaile of the Temple did rent in twaine from the top to the bottome and the earth did quake and the stones were clouen and the graues did open them selues and many bodies of the Sainctes whiche slept arose and came out of the graues after his resurrection and went into the holy Citie and appeared vnto many Secondly in spirite when as he saide my soule is heauy euen vnto the death and when he cried my God my my God why hast thou forsaken mee The thirde in person when as he was laide in the graue as we reade that thei tooke the body of Iesus and wrapped it in linnen clothes with the odours as the maner of the Iewes is to bury Paul saith now in that hee ascended what is it but that he had also descended first into the lower parte of the earth This deare brother is my beleefe grounded vpon the worde of GOD and not vpon men or mens dreames or phantacies And reporte not that I doe denie any article of the faithe God forbid I should wherfore reade with iudgement and with the spirite of mildenes come not pre iudicio but with iudicio Some there be againe that be of opinion that the soule of Christe went not downe into the hell of the damned but that it went onely downe for to deliuer the Patriarkes and other holy fathers of the olde Testament out of the Lymbe ▪ and also for to deliuer the soules of them that were of lesse perfection then the Patriarkes and other holy fathers out of the paines of purgatory where they were kepte for to make satisfaction for those synnes that they had done no penaunce for in this worlde But as for Lymbe I knowe none but Abrahams bosome whiche to saie truely is that moste blessed life whiche they that dye in the faithe that Abraham did shall enioye after this worlde ¶ The .vij. Chapiter ¶ Christe is our true Purgatorie and the Papistes Purgatorie is false AS for Purgatorie I knowe none other but the blood of Iesu Christe our onely sauiour that doth cleanse vs from all our sinnes Againe none other fire doe I know in all the Scriptures that hath any vertue or power to purge synnes but the fire of his holy spirite wherewith he promised to Baptize his elect and chosen and the fire of his sacred and diuine word whereof hym selfe speaketh on this maner ye are cleane bicause of the woorde that I haue spoken vnto you This is true purgatorie wherein all muste be purged afore that they can enter into the kingdome of God. That other Purgatorie that they haue inuented of their owne heades without and against Gods worde is a most deuillishe and abhominable blasphemyng against the merites and bloodshedding of our sauiour Christes death and Passion For by it the onely begotten sonne of God is made an vnperfect sauiour and of lesse aucthoritie power and strength then they will haue that fleshely ydoll of Rome and most pernicious antichriste to be vnto whom they dare attribute and giue full aucthoritie and power to absolue men and to graunte vnto them a ful pardon of all their synnes euen a poena a culpa that is to say to deliuer them not onely from the offence it self but also from the paine or punishment that is due vnto it Whereas poore Christe who hath shed his heart blood for vs and who hath troden the Wine presse alone is scarcely able by their doctrine to forgeue vs our offences at least he cānot release vs of the paine For if it be of his forgeuing we must suffer the paines that be due vnto our synnes in the fire of Purgatorie till we haue made satisfaction for them or till we haue bought them out at the antichristes handes and at the handes of his shauelinges or els we muste make a full satisfaction for them here in this worlde whiles we are here yet a liue if at least we entend for to escape that whot burning fire of theirs So that euery waie Christe shall be but halfe a a Sauiour and God his father a moste abhominable and deceitfull lyer for he saieth at what tyme soeuer a synner doth repent hym of his synne from the bottome of his harte I wil put his wickednes out of my remembraunce so that it shall no more be thought vpon How is this promise fulfilled I praie you if he doe so cruelly punishe our wickednes and offences in the fire of purgatorie after that he hath forgeuen and pardoned them Is this to thinke no more vpon them what can these deuillishe and abhominable Sophisters alledge nowe for them selues will they saie that GOD is a lier and that he doeth not performe and fulfil his promises moste truely either they must saie so what startyng holes soeuer they can finde out or els confesse and acknowledge that their doctrine is most detestable and also blasphemous against the trueth of Gods promises and against the merites of the moste precious death passion and bloodsheddyng of his onely begotten sonne our Sauiour Iesu Christe And in a nother place this moste mercifull Father and bounteous Lorde who is alwaies true and most faithfull in all his promises doeth crie out saiyng I am he I am he that taketh awaie thy wickednes and that for mine owne sake and thy synnes will I remember no more Here
and saith either they be sayinges of lying men or the wonders of deceitfulll â—eâ—uls Thus thou mayest plainly sée howe vainely and deceitfully Rabanus Archbishop of Magunce reciteth out of Gregorie the first and of Beâ—ta with the rablement of all the papistes the apparitions of soules departed to mainteyne their fained purgatory and praiyng for the dead which I confesse to be most flat against the written worde of God. By all these testimonies which without all dout haue a most sure grounde and foundation in the worde of God and agree in all pointes with his holy Scriptures All they and especially Saint Augustine doth playnely ouerthrowe their newe forged purgatorie prayer for the dead and apparitions of soules ¶ The .x. Chapiter ¶ Children that are dead borne or dye befâ—â—â— that they can 〈◊〉 to baptisme are 〈…〉 nor yet go into the popishe limbe ALso the Lymbe of the children that either be styll borne or else dye afore that they can receaue baptisme these after the doctrine of the papistes shall neuer enter into the kingdome of heauen but shall be euerlastingly deteined kept in a Lymbe besides the hell of the damned Where though they shall not nor do not feele the paynes and tormentes of the vnquenchable fire of hell as the other damned do yet they shal be depriued for euer of the fruition of Gods glorie and of all other 〈◊〉 and ioy of heauen cursyng continually both father and mother and the houre that euer they were conceiued and begotten so that it were better that a whole citie yea a whole realme should perishe and â—â—icke downe than that one onely childe shoulde deceasse and dye vnbaptized Thus they do blasphemousâ—y preache and teache and set foorth by writing not onely to the great derogation of Gods mercie but also to the great discomforting of the poore seely parentes vnto whom such thinges haue by the prouidence of God happened chaunced either through sicknesse or by some other casualtie and mischaunce that both men and women are at all times subiect vnto in this wretched miserable worlde yea for to declare and testifie openly vnto all men that they do not holde them for true members of the body of Christe â–ª but for such as be euerlastingly banished from the socretie and felowship of all faithfull Christians and of all the blessed spirites and soules thei will in no wise suffer them to be buried in their hallowed grounde I meane among other Christians but cause the poore afflicted parentes to burie them in a ditch or in a doung hill as a dise stinckyng caâ—â—on how much better into more conformable or agreeyng vnto the Gospell of christ were it to teache the poore miserable and afflicted Parentes that there can bee no faulte offence or trespasse but onelie in breakyng the Lordes commaundementes and that where no despising of his holy â—â—â—â—tution ordinaunce is there he doth accepte the good will of them that would gladly haue obeied his lawes and commaundementes if they had not been â—etted by some vrgent and vnexchuable necessitie If then any infantes or children bee preuented by death afore that the faithfull Parentes can bryng and offer theim vnto God by baptisme whiche aboue all thynges they would haue had if it had béen possible by any meanes to be ministred vnto their fruict séede and issue whom they knowe to be comprehended with them vnder the couenaunte that God hath made with Abraham and with all faithful beleuers we must not by and by with suche cruell temeritie and rashnes that hath no grounde but only vpon the foolish perswasion of men folowyng their owne fantasies and dreames holde them for damned and cast awaie For besides that which hath béen said already we must consider and way not with our Ballaunces but with the true and infallible Ballaunce of gods holy word and sacred scriptures that we bee not saued by the outwarde ceremonies of the Sacramentes but by the vertue strength and efficacie of the Lordes couenaunt that he hath made with vs saiyng vnto our father Abraham I will be thy God and the God of thy seede after thee Wherunto he hath added his sacraments as heaueÌ„ly seales of his blessed will fauour towardes vs and our seede whose God he affirmeth hymself to be as well as ours Sainct Paule saieth that faithe was imputed vnto Abraham for righteousnes How was it then imputed when he was circumcised or vncircumcised not when he was circumcised but when hee was vncircumcised after he receiued the signe of circumcision as the seale of the righteousnes of the faithe whiche he had when he was vncircumcised that he should be the father of all them that beleeue not beyng circumcised that righteousnes might be imputed to them also So we see why the sacramentes were ordeined to be as seales and witnesses to our weakenes of Gods promises made vnto vs and our seede for euer so the Lorde saide vnto Abraham In thy seede all nations shal be blessed If then we do take holde by faith vpon his holy couenaunt we and our children shal be saued by the vertue strength and efficacie of it though it were so that by some casualtie or chaunce not commyng through our owne fault we shoulde be put from the outwarde seales or sacramentes of it In déede if it were so that we might conuenientlye receyue the Sacramentes that the Lorde instituted and ordeyned in his worde and yet would not receyue them but contemne them and despise them as thinges nothing parteyning vnto vs I woulde not say for all the goodes in the worlde that either we or our seede shoulde enioy the benefites of the couenaunt For that were a playne contempt or rather a rebellious stubbournnes which we can in no wise excuse before god who doth alwayes punishe most sharply and with all seueritie the contemners of his holy institution and ordinaunces But if we be preuented by death or beyng letted by some other vrgent necessitie or cause can not rightlye come by them nor receyue them I do stedfastly beléeue that the omitting of them shall not be imputed vnto vs The Lorde had ordeyned in his lawe that all men children should be circumcised addyng vnto it a verie terrible threatenyng when he saieth Euery man childe that hath not his foreskin cut of his soule shall perishe from his people bicause he hath broken my TestameÌ„t And yet it is not to be thought but that many died afore they came to eight daies olde at which age not afore they ought to bee circumcised that all men children that died amonges the Isralites euen after this Lawe was made not hauyng their foreskinnes cut of accordyng to this lawe did perishe or were damned for how many thousand besides the infirmitie of naturall death were slaine drowned in the great riuer Nylus in Egipt by the commaundement of that cruelty of Pharao afore that their foreskinnes could be cut of shal
teache Moyses another lesson For wheÌ„ he was comming to the fierie bushe he did bid him to put of his shoes because that he stoode in a holy place whereby we are admonished of two thinges First howe that God doth preferre our bare skinne which he hath sanctified with the blood of his sonne before the skinne of dead beastes which shall neuer rise againe nor be partakers of the glory that the children of God shall haue at the general resurrection of all fleshe both in their bodies and in their soules Secondly howe that we ought to put away all dead workes from vs if we will truely and as we shoulde do handle holy thinges or if we loke for to obteyne true holynesse at Gods hande These godly lessons should thei teache the people when thei come to the Communion and as true and faithfull Pastours thei should endeuour themselues to deliuer them from the abominable superstition of these false apostles whiche according to the doctrines and preceptes of men be woont to say Touche not eate not handle not ¶ The .xvij. Chapiter ¶ Againste woâ—shippyng of the Sacrament NOw to speake of the detestable Idolatrie that they doe with all tyranny and crueltie compell men to commit making them to worship a péece of bread in steede of the liuyng God creatour of all thynges it will be necessarie for whereas the Sacrament of the body and blood of christe was instituted and ordeined for to put vs in remembraunce of the death passion and bloodsheddyng of our sauiour christ and that we should in it being duely ministred and worthely receiued be made partakers of all the merites thereof that is to â—aie be put in full possession of all that he did purchase by the death of his bodie and by the sheddyng of his blood thei make of it a plaine ydoll causing the simple ignoraunte people to geue godly honour to the corruptible elements of bread and wine which thyng they can not deny but to be directly against all the scriptures which doe alwaies teache vs to lifte vp our heartes and mindes vnto the Lorde that is to saie vnto the thynges that by the Sacraments are signified vnto vs and not vnto the visible elementes and signes of them For as sainct Chrisostome saieth The Infidell when he heareth of the water of baptisme thinketh it to be onely plaine water but I that beléeue in Christe doe not onely see water but also the cleansyng of the soule by the spirite of god I consider christes buriall his resurrection our sanctification righteousnes and the fulnes of the spirite the thing that I see I iudge not with my bodily eies but with the eyes of my minde Thus farre he Sainct Augustine therefore plainely saieth to them that hang so vppon the visible signes Ea demum est miserabilis animae seruitus signa pro rebus accipere This is a miserable bondage of the soule to take the signes in steede of the thynges that be signified And for this cause were they wonte to saie Lift vp your heartes all the people or congregation aunswered We haue lifte them vp vnto the Lorde To be shorte Christe our sauiour who sayeth that he hath shewed and declared vnto vs all that he hearde of his father maketh no mention at all of this worshippyng but sayeth onlye Take eate c. The blessed Apostle S. Paule who doeth sette forth at large the whole institution of his master Christ saieth not Let a man fall downe on his knees and worship the bread and wyne But let a man examine him selfe that is to saye descend into his owne conscience and trye his owne hart and so let him eate of this breade and drinke of this cuppe If any suche worshippyng had ben requisite and necessarie both Christ our Sauiour himselfe and also his Apostle woulde not haue left it out vnspoken of Whereby we may conclude that all that thei do in the honouring of the misticall bread and wine is a méere inuention of theirs and a most detestable idolatrie which ought in no wise to be suffered in the church of christ For by it the honour that is due vnto the liuing God only the creatour and maker of all thinges and vnto his sonne Iesus Christ our Lorde and Sauiour is geuen vnto the dumbe and insensible creatures and corruptible elementes of bread and wine That they are corruptible creatures Saint Augustine saith If we beholde the visible creatures as the bread and the wine wherein the sacramentes are ministred who seeth not that thei be corruptible But if we consider the thinges that are wrought thereby who séeth not that thei can not be corrupted Saint Origene saith The meate that is sanctified by the word of God by prayer according to the materiall part that is in it passeth into the belly and so foorth into the priuie c. Therefore let vs folowe S. Chrisostomes councell where he saieth Nolimus creatorem cum creatura confundere ne illud audiamus seruierunt creature potius quà m creatori Let vs not confounde the creature and the creatour both together lest it be saide of vs they haue honoured a creature more then their creatour For saith he in a nother place creatures are to worship the creatour to be worshipped But here thei will say that thei worshippe not the bread and the wine but the body and blood of Christe that be there really present vnder the formes of bread and wine for to be receaued of the faithfull communicantes Be not these Saint Augustines wordes say they No man doth eate the fleshe of christ except he worship it first not only we do not sinne if we worship it but rather we do sinne if we worship it not They can neither proue by this place of Saint Augustine that the body and blood of Christe be really present vnder the formes of bread and wine nor yet mainteine their idolatrous worshipping of the Sacrament by it For all faithfull christians being commaunded to lift vp their heartes do worshippe the fleshe of Christe in his Godhead sitting in glorie on the right hande of the father before that thei feede vpon it by faith through the mightie operation of the eternall spirite of god And that this is the meaning of Saint Augustine it may easyly appeare by that that foloweth For by and by after he saith that wee ought not to sticke long in the fleshe but to clyme vp higher vnto the godhead of christ And verely their very wordes that they do vse afore that thei go about or euen when thei go about their holy misteries saying vnto the people Lift vp your heartes do vtterly condemne them For by them folowing in this point the custome of the auncient Catholique Churche thei doe exhort the people that thei sticke not vnto the visible elementes and signes of bread and wine but that thei lift vp their heartes and mindes
other that was eaten vp and drunken euen of his owne selfe The body of Christ say they only when it is glorified and immortall can be euery where or in mo places then in one at once but it was not then glorified nor yet immortall for why he died the next day after howe coulde it be then all at once sitting at the boorde and in the handes and mouthes of all his Apostles rounde about him As for the first absurditie thei go about to put away by S. Augustines wordes which are these Christ was borne in his owne handes when commending or deliuering his body he did say This is my body For he did beare the same body in his owne handes As it is then no absurditie to say that Christ did beare him selfe or the same body that he gaue them in his owne handes so it ought to seeme no straungenesse if we say according to the scriptures and the fathers that christ did eate his owne body For as being borne in his owne handes he did declare that there was somewhat in him more excellent than in other men which though thei can be borne with other mens handes yet thei can not be borne in their owne so by eating his owne body which thing no mortall man is able to do he did shewe openly that he coulde worke aboue the possibilitie of man. I am well content to graunt that Christ our Sauiour did eate his owne body as he did beare him self in his own hands But howe was he borne in his owne handes For when he did coÌ„mende or deliuer the same body of his and also his blood he toke that in his handes which the faithfull do knowe and bare him selfe after a certayne maner when he did say This is my body These are Saint Augustines very wordes as hée wrote them also whereby he doth let vs to vnderstande how we ought to take his wordes before For adding this worde quodammodo after a maner he doth signifie therby how Christ did beare his fleshe in his owne handes that is to say Sacramentally For as he saieth in another place Except the Sacramentes shoulde haue a similitude of the thinges whereof thei be Sacramentes thei shoulde be no Sacramentes and by reason of this similitude or likenesse thei receaue many times the names of the things whereof thei be Sacramentes For as the Sacrament of the body of Christ is Secundum quendam modum after a certaine maner â–ª the body of Christ and the Sacrament of his blood his blood so is the Sacrament of faith faith By the Sacrament of faith he vnderstandeth baptisme which because of the similitude or affinitie that it hath with the thing whereof it is a Sacrament is called by the name of it When he saith then that Christe did beare him selfe in his owne handes after a certaine maner his meaning is that he did beare the Sacrament of his body But then peraduenture thei will say againe that if it were so Christ did no more then another man is able to do For any man is able to beare the signes of his owne body It is true that any man is able to beare his owne signe but we speake here of a sacrament which bringeth with it self the efficacie nature vertue strength of the thing that it is a Sacrament of For which properties it taketh the name of the thing it selfe which can not be sayde of the bare signe of a mans body Therefore all that the papistes are able to bring here for to â—asill the eyes of the simple and ignoraunt people is méere sophistication and iuggling Yet I am in doubt that thei will replie and say If a Sacrament doth bring with it selfe the nature efficacie vertue and strength of the thing that it is a Sacrament of being because of those properties called by the name of the thing it selfe what needeth Christ to eate the Sacrament of his owne body whose nature propertie and vertue is to worke bring life Was not Christ the life it selfe Chrisostome writing vpon the blessed Euangelist Saint Matthewe doth say That Christ him selfe did communicate that is to say eate drinke of the mysticall bread and wine for to make his Apostles to receaue the misteries without any maner feare or dread of conscience For before when he spake of the eatyng of his fleshe and of the drinkyng of his blood many being offended with that forsooke him and went away Left then the same shoulde happen nowe he did eate drinke with them of those visible creatures of the whiche he did say through grace as Epiphanius writeth This is my body and this is my blood Besides this thei will not denie that baptisme is a Sacrament wherin the worthy receauers are renewed by the holy ghost doe receaue free remission of their synnes and are made the children of God. Was not christ that newe Adam whom all we that séeke to be renewed must put on And vnto whom the holy Ghost was not geuen by measure Was not he that vnspotted Lambe in whose mouth no guile was founde was not he the true and naturall sonne of God What needed hee then to be baptized Had not he aboundantly and of his owne nature all those thynges that are geuen vnto vs in baptisme And yet did he with the Publicanes and Synners come to Iohn Baptiste for to be baptized of hym in the water of Iordane Therfore as he was baptized for to sanctifie our baptisme and for to certifie vs that we should al be baptized most truely and moste effectuously in his baptisme that he was baptized withall in his passion which was his death and bloodshedding whereby we are purged from all our synnes So besides the cause alledged before of Sainct Chrisostome he woulde communicate with vs that is to saie eate and drinke of the misticall bread and of the misticall wine for to signifie vnto vs sith that he was not onely partaker with vs of the coÌ„mon meates and drinkes but also of the holy misteries whiche he himselfe had instituted and ordeined that we are in deede fleshe of his fleshe and bone of his bones and that therefore we neede not to feare or to doubt if we continue stil his true members vnto the ende feedyng in those misteries whiche he hym selfe woulde be partaker of vppon his fleshe and blood through a liuely faithe but that we shal be partakers with hym both in bodies and soules of the glorie and ioyes of his heauenly kingdome Now as touching the seconde absurditie I knowe that for the auoydyng of it they will flée to the common refuge that is to saie vnto the omnipotencie of God whiche as I saide wil helpe them no further than their doctrine doth agrée with the holy Scriptures whiche testifie vnto vs that the body of Christ is in all thinges like vnto ours synne onely beyng excepted
leape dice carde sweare fight runne abrode in the night breakyng vp dores and windowes and burne mens houses one of his Cardinals he gelded he put out anothers eies whiche was his Godfather he cut of ones hande of a nother a tongue of others a finger a nose an eare in his dice plaiyng he woulde call vpon euil spirites and drinke to the deuil beyng thus Pope and an vnholy father nine yeres three monethes and fiue daies was striken of the deuill as they saie as he was a bed with a nother mans wife and so died within eight daies after most miserablie So of this fathers godly life came that prouerbe vp as merie as Pope Iohn VVhat was Pope Sergius â–ª not a man without al vertue and learnyng kept not he a whore in the tyme of his Popedome called Morozia and had by her a bastarde whiche was Pope long after hym called Pope Iohn the .11 This filthy tyraunt did many villanous actes VVhat was Pope Marcellinus not a greate Idolater what was Syluester the .2 not a greate coniurer and gaue hymselfe body and soule to the deuill and by the deuils procurement was made Pope was not Pope Liberius an Arrian heritique was not Pope Leo likewise an Arrian Pope Caelestinus was he not a Nestorian heretique was not Pope Honorius a Monothelite heretique Pope Iohn the .22 was not he reproued as an heretique at Paris concernyng the soule of man I praie you what was Pope Hyldebrande was he not an aduouterer a Churche robber a peâ—iured man a murtherer who poysoned sixe other Popes his predecessours to make hym selfe roome to the holy seate was he not a greate Sorcerer and a reneger of the faith was not Pope Vrbanus a tyrannous murtherer that tooke fiue of his Cardinals aliue and put them into Sackes and threwe them into the Sea I coulde speake of Pope Stephen of his handlyng of Formosus his predecessour in cuttyng of his fingers and heade and threwe his carkasse into Tyber and of many others of them but that I should occupie and consume muche ynke and paper about a sorte of filthie liuers therefore Pope Adrian the .4 was wont to say Succedimus noÌ„ Petro in pascendo sed Romulo in parricidio VVhat should I speake of their holy Cardinals are thei not Ruffians tosse pottes whore maisters and buggerers with yong boies like vnto the Sodomites al the world knoweth it VVhat should I saie of others their Priestes how shamefully thei liued in their holy orders were not a nomber of them theeues periurers murtherers buggerers with boyes Mares and Sowe pigges some of them haue been arained at the Barre for it in Excester and els where as the recordes can testifie some of them were no small chickens in the Popes Coube what saie you to those holie Fathers at the last councell of Trydent whiche were solemply gathered together as thei saide to reforme matters of religion and suppressyng of vice was not two of those holy fathers taken at that tyme in whordome the one was striken downe with a Club the other taken with the maner by the husbande and hanged by the necke out of a greate Lucane window in the streete VVhat shoulde I saie not long agone of one in VVinchester a great D. of the Papistes who would drinke nothing but water thrise a weeke who vnder the colour of virginity of wearing a shurte of heere and hanging his shrowde at his beddes feete and mortifiyng his body with straightnes of life kepte three whores at once in his Chamber to serue him and his fellowes at neede whiche whores were fetched out by certaine Iustices of peace This is as true as men vse to eate meate vpon a Boarde To conclude and leaue troublyng of your Lordeships chaste and Godly eares we will saie of their whole Cleargie as some of their owne doctours haue written Venalitate Curiae Romane inanitèr praeficiuntur Lenones Coqui Stabularij equorum pueri Through the briberie of the Courte of Rome Bawdes Cookes Hostlers Horsekepers and children are placed in offices to gouerne the Churche Thus I haue rather geuen an inkelyng hereof then opened the particuler secretes of the matter for as saint Barnarde saith Quâ— in occulâ—â— fiunt ab Episcopis turpe est vel dicere The third cause is for that of late one IhoÌ„ Blackeal borne in Excester did open penaunce at Powles Crosse And then and there before all the congregation openly for that I detected his horible vices and manifested theÌ„ to certaine of my friendes to the ende that he might be better reclaimed from his lewde and wanton life and so to satisfie the whole congregation with open repentaunce crauyng their praiers vnto god for him cried and breathyng out against me many foule and sclaunderous reportes to the greate griefe of the godly and ioye of the wicked Papistes But hereby easely appeareth the nature of the wicked malicious For when any coÌ„uersion is made through gods spirite by any sinner they will enuy and vse railyng words againste that conuert as the wicked Scribes and Pharisees did And will speake euill of them bicause saieth Peter they runne not with them vnto the same excesse of riote therefore speake thei euill of you If I had been altogether as wicked as he declared openly yet he and all other enuious men ought not to haue sorrowed but ioyed not to haue enuied â–ª but loued Gods good workyng in mee with the aungels of heauen This wicked man will not light a Candle to seeke a sinner but rather will bryng a fier brande to consume his brother with his flamyng wordes but as Dauid saieth whoâ— burning Coales shall consume that same tongue that will bee the portion for euer for all suche lyers and sclaunderers A sclaunderer is worse then a Rauen who eateth men beyng dead but a wicked slaunderer eateth men beyng a liue But let vs examine Reuerend Father howe this lewde man followeth the Counsell of Salomon that saieth Despise not a man that turneth hym selfe awaie from synne nor cast hym not in the teeth with all but remember that we are all worthy blame the like doctrine Paule teacheth Brethren if a man be fallen by occasâ—ion into any faulte ye which are spirituall restore suche one with the spirite of meekenesse considering thy selfe lest thou be tempted also The Lorde saith by his prophet that he will not remember nor make mention of the former life of a sinner after his conuersion But this enuious and sclaunderous man will haue in remembraunce thinges past and make mention of that was neuer doen spoken noâ— saide to the greate infamie of the Gospell bicause I am called although vnworthy to be a preacher thereof Vpon which reportes and manifest sclaunders spoken the Queenes maiesties commissioners immediatly sent for mee to come before them and vppon my apparaunce he then beyng in the Marshal see a prisoner founde suche subtill and craftie meanes
or Hell. That christes soule should not néede to goe downe thither to fetch them out And also declared that Christ vsed the like woordes vpon the Crosse by whiche is declared that his soule departyng from his bodie wente straight into heauen and not into hell the place of the dampned But that the efficacie vertue and power of his death and passion did pearce through and into the verie hell it self by his diuine power and Godheade that all the damned soules felt their full paine and iuste damnation for their infidelitie And Sathan hym self felt all the power and strength of his tyrannie and darkenesse was weakened vanquished and fallen to ruine and vtter decaie c. And that the soules of all them that died in the faithe of Christe beyng in heauen felte the fulnesse of their redemption how it was now fullie perfected and ended for them c. This beyng by me taught it was noysed abroade in the peoples eares and that by no meane men that I hadde denied an article of the Creede and that I was an open heretique and suche a one as was not worthie of life but cruell death When those reportes and false rumours came vnto mine eares I besought God to strengthen me in his faith and giue me pacience knowyng well that after the waie which they call heresie so worship I and teache the God of my fathers beleuyng all thynges whiche are written in the lawe and the Prophetes I also considered with my self what will this people saie and reporte when as thei shall happen to reade my booke wherein this article of Christes deseension into hell is handeled that thus beginne to condemne and iudge me before they haue knowen or heard the trueth opened vpon the occasion whereof I cleane altered my former preface to the reader that I had made before made this as an apologie or defence thereof against suche as will or shall carpe against it Wherefore I beseche thee frendly reader to lende me thy eares to heare me thy eyes to see me thy tongue to reade me thy mynde and harte to iudge me with an vpright iudgemente accordyng to the truthe of Goddes woorde whiche as Dauid saith is a Lanterne vnto our féete and a light vnto our pathes that is it that giueth wisedome vnto the simple it is that that giueth lighte vnto the eyes by it the seruaunte of God is made circumspecte our Sauiour Christe willeth vs to searche the scriptures for those are thei that beare witnesse of hym For the mynde muste bee taught and instructed of the will of God by the woorde like as the eyes are taughte and instructed by outwarde thynges For as Augustine saieth Titubat fides si diuinarum scripturarum vacillat authoritas If the aucthoritie of the holie scriptures wauer then dooeth faithe stumble I will nowe accordyng to my small skill saie of this matter somewhat more largely then I haue saied alreadie in my booke whether sufficient or insufficient I shall praie thee to stand an indifferent iudge To thee it is dedicated and for thy sake it is written Here must I saie vnto thée euen as S. Hierome somtime said to his reader in the like case Quaeso lector vt memor Tribunalis domini de iuditio tuo te intelligeÌ„s iudicanduÌ„ nec mihi nec aduersario meo faueas neue personas loquentiuÌ„ sed causam consideres That is I beseche thee good reader that remeÌ„bryng the iudgement seate of the Lorde and vnderstandyng that as thou iudgest so thou shalt bee iudged thou fauour neither me nor myne aduersarie And that thou regarde not the persons but the cause onely Firste thou shalte vnderstande gentle reader that this Article of Christes descendyng into helle is not reade as Rofinus saith in the Romaine Crede nor yet in the Nicen Crede the Easte Churche had it not the Counsaile of Ephesus and Constantinople left it out For wee maie reade by the writynges of the olde Fathers that that parte whiche is reade in the Crede was not in olde tyme so muche vsed in the Churches yet I doe confesse it is a necessarie article meete to haue a place in the Crede as a thyng that conteineth a verie profitable misterie of a waightie matter Sainct Cyprian vnto this saieth Sciendum sane est quod in Ecclesia Romana Symbolo non habetur addituÌ„ descendit ad inferna Sed neque in Orientis ecclesiis habetur hic sermo Knowe ye for certaintie that the Churche of Rome hath not added this in the Crede he descended into hel No neither yet the Easte Churches hath added this kynde of speache in the Crede Unto this Erasmus fullie agreeth saiyng Atque adeo quum Symbolum Nicenae sine Constantinopolitanae Synodi nihil aliud sit quam huius Symboli explanatio ne illic quidem quicquam est quod huic particulae respondeat Ipsa denique inconcintas sermonis arguit ab alio quopiam intertextum emblema That is Moreouer although the Simbole or Crede of the Sinode holden at Nice or the Sinode holden at Constantinople is none other thyng then a declaration of this Simbole or Crede called the Apostles Crede yet there is not so much as any thyng that is correspondent to this particle Finallie the verie incoÌ„cinnitie and vnhandsome ioyning or hanging together of the speache and oration is an euident argumente that this parcell or particle he descended into hell was put in among the other Articles by some other man As is supposed by Thomas of Aquine and immediately after he sheweth the cause why the auncient fathers put not this Article into the Crede he descended into hel Quia vetustissimi patres magna Religionâ— cauebant ne quid asseuerarent duntaxat in Symbolo quod non esset euidenter expressum in sacris literis vtriusque testimenti Talâ—â— sunt articuli omnes hoc vno excepto That is because the fathers of auncientest tyme with great Religion toke heede were warâ— that thei would not affirme any thyng namely in the Crede whiche was not expressed in the Scriptures of bothe Testamentes Suche maner Articles are all the other onely this one he descended into hell excepted Thus farre Erasmus Sainct Augustine in his booke de Fide Symbolo expoundyng the Crede of the Apostles comming to the Article of Christes sufferynges declareth of his pacience and humilitie in sufferyng death euen the death of the Crosse to take awaie the horror of death from vs and that he was crucified and buried vnder Pontius Pilate addyng Pilates name for the certaintie of the tyme and that he laie in a graue and before that in the wombe of his mother in whiche graue and bellie neuer none laie before nor after c. But of this article of Christes descention into hell he neuer speaketh worde of it nor yet reciteth it for if it had been an Article putte in the Crede at the
firste would sainct Augustine haue left it out thinke you or at least â–ª neuer to haue spoken woorde of it in this place hauyng suche an occasion and oportunitie as he had in entreatyng of the beleife I can neuer beleue that for of al the old writers he was moste precise and vigilante in suche poinctes of Religion that touched faithe So that it must euidently appeare that it was putte in by some aftercommers as Erasmus before hath saied Whereby we maie vnderstande the care of the godlie ones then that woulde not putte foorth or affirme any thyng whiche could not bee proued by the Scriptures So Hierome saieth Omne quod loquimur debemus affirmare de scripturis sanctis What soeuer we affirme we must proue it by the holie scriptures For Augustine saieth Sine scripturarum autoritate nihil definiendum est Nothyng is to bee determined or affirmed without the aucthoritie of the holie and sacred scriptures And likewise Saincte Paule saieth Now is the righteousnesse of God made manifeste without the Lawe hauyng witnesse of the Lawe and of the Prophetes Whereby is gathered that all truthe and righteousnesse of Gods Religion and our faith in the redemption of his sonne muste haue the witnesse of the Lawe and the Prophetes that is to saie the holie Scriptures will euer acknowledge and allowe it And whereto it giueth no witnesse that is alwaies false and erronious For as sainct Hierome saieth Hoc quia ex sacris literis authoritatem non habet eadem facilitate refellitur qua probatur Seyng this saieth he speakyng againste those Fathers that did affirme that that Zacharie whiche Christ spake of beyng the sonne of Barachie was Iohn Baptists father hath no aucthoritie out of the scriptures it maie bee as easely denied as affirmed Therefore I saie searche the holy scriptures as they of Berea did as coÌ„cernyng this matter in question and yet thou shalte neuer bee able to finde there that euer Christe our Sauiour in bodie or soule descended into hell after his death to the place of the daÌ„pned or into any Limbo Onely thou shalt finde there that he died and rose againe the thirde daie c. Some will here replie and saie What sir you saie not truely Are there not scriptures sufficient to proue he descended into hell although there are sondrie places yet there are fower principall places as in the Psalmes in Zacharie in the Actes of the Apostles and in Saincte Peters Epistle I praie you saie thei is it not writen in the Psalme thus Non derelinques animam meam in inferno I doe graunte it is so written but it followeth not hereby to proue that his soule or that Christes soule should goe vnto hell the place of the damned for soule in this place doeth not signifie the soule of Christe but it signifieth the bodie or persone of Christe and by hell he vnderstandeth not the place of the damned but the graue or sepulchre and therefore Stephanus translation hath Non relinques corpus meuÌ„ in sepulchro thou shalte not leaue my bodie or persone in the graue So hath the Tygurian translation also For this Hebrue woorde Nâ—pesch signifieth a bodie or person as you maie reade in Leuiticus and in Numeri Also for this worde Soule in that place and many others is taken for the whole naturall man for we reade in Genesis that all the soules that came with Iacob into Egypt whiche came out of his loynes were in the whole thréescore and sixe foules that is thréescore and sixe persons or bodyes And in the Actes it is sayde There were added to the Churche by Peters Sermon about thrée thousande soules that is thrée thousand persons And so Peter vseth the same when he saith Wherein fewe that is eight soules were saued in the water that is eight persons or bodyes S. Paul also vseth that worde saying Let euery soule be subiect vnto the higher powers c. That is let euery body or person be subiect c. By this you may soone perceaue what Dauid meaneth by this word soule that it shoulde not lye in the graue for euer but shoulde rise vp againe So Iob saieth in matter one although in other wordes where he saieth Though after my skinne wormes destroy this body yet I shall see God in my fleshe As for this worde Hell it is taken in diuers significations in the Scriptures as you may â—ée in my booke where I do intreate of this article but in this place it signifieth not the place of the damned but the graue wherein he was buryed So likewise S. Cyprian dâ—eth expounde that worde hell saying Vis tamen verbi eadem videtur esse in eo quod sepultuâ— dicitur That is howbeit there séemeth to be the same strength of the worde hell in that he is sayde to haue béen buryed As for the place of Zacharie where he saieth Thou also shalt be saued through the blood of thy couenaunt I haue loosed thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water serueth litle and nothyng at all for the proofe of Christes descention into hell For the Prophetes meanyng is in that place that God saueth his Churche by the blood of Christe whereof the blood of the sacrifices was a figure and is here called the couenaunt of the Churche which he did make with Abraham promisyng vnto him that all nations should be blessed in his séede which is our sauiour Christ. And so Zacharie compareth the babylonicall ouerthrowe wherein the people was oppressed to a drie pyt So that he vnderstandeth by the prisoners not any soules in hell but the children and seruauntes of God which were and are captiues vnder Sathan the deuyll mans enemie who was prefigured before by that cruell tyraunt Pharao and by the king of Babylon And by the waterlesse pit he vnderstandeth the goulfe of all miseries calamities whence it is impossible for man to come out by any meanes without the helping hande and out stretched arme of Gods almightie power And that you shall not thinke this to be of my owne exposition I wyll shewe you what S. Augustine saith vppon this place Alio loco ad ipsum Christum in spiritu Propheâ—ia loquens de remissioâ—e peccatorum per eius sanguinem Tu quoque inquit in sanguine Testamenti tui â—misisti vinctos tuos de lacu in quo non est aqua Quid per hunc locum velit intelligi possunt diuersa sentiri etiam secundum rectam fidem Mihi autem videtur non eo significari melius nisi humanae miseriae siâ—cam profundiâ—atem quodammodo sterilem vbi non sunt fluentia iustitiae sed iniquitatis lucum Dâ— hoc quippe lacâ—â— in psalmo dicitur eduxit me de lacu miseriae de luâ—â— lâ—mi that is to saie And in an other place speakyng of the spirite of prophecie vnto Christe hym selfe touchyng the remission of synnes through his blood
vnto it and beleued that thei should bee saued by the blessed promised seede haue all entered into the heaueÌ„ly ioye whiche hath been purchased vnto them and vs by our sauiour Iesus Christe And for thy better learnyng good reader marke this what I saie Although our Sauiour Christe hath been offered vp vpon the Crosse for to make satisfaction vnto the righteousnes of God for vs at the tyme that was appoincted him of the father yet was he slaine and offered in the presence of God froÌ„ the beginnng of the world For it is written The Lambe was slaine from the beginning of the world Againe Iesus Christe yesterdaie and to daie the same also is for euer In this the Apostle coÌ„prehendeth all the whole tyme passed â–ª presente and to come Iesus hym self had respecte hereto when he saied your father Abraham reioyced to see my daie and he sawe it and was glad Uerely verely I saie vnto you before Abraham was I am that is to say not onely God but the mediatour betwene GOD and man appoincted from before all eternitie For although in respect of vs he was crucified in the fulnesse of tyme and in the latter daies yet in the presence of God he hath been alwaies crucified and his Sacrifice hath been euerlastingly present with hym For in God is no difference of tyme as is in vs because that all thynges are presente vnto hym and for that he is aboue and beyonde the tyme and out of it For a thousande yeres are vnto hym but as as one daie So sainct Augustine saieth Apud deum autem nihil deest nec praeteritum igitur nec futurum sed omne praesens est apud deum That is With God there is nothing wantyng nothyng paste or to come but all thynges are presente c. Wherefore euen as the death and passion of Christe dooeth serue vs now vnto saluation whiche beleue that he hath been crucified for vs although he hangeth no more on the crosse So bee ye certaine and sure that it hath profited them â–ª that haue liued before that he was Crucified whiche beleeued that he should come and dye for them as wee dooe beleeue that he is come and hath died for vs. Therefore wee ought to acknowledge no iij. iiij.v.vj.vij.viij.ix.x or a xj places as if some soules had been lodged in hel some in Limbo some in a darke place in hell where was no paine Some in Paradise some in heauen some in earth belowe some in Purgatorie fire some in the water some in the ayre some in houses and cloisters and some in fieldes c. But notwithstandyng all these phantasies of mens deuises Christ giueth vnto them all their lodgyng either in Abrahames bosome or in the vnquencheable fire of hell that is to saie either in heauen or hell For so Augustine saieth Duâ— quippe habitâ—tiones sunt vna in igne aeterno alia in regno aeterno There are but twoo habitations one is in the euerlastyng fire of hell the other is in the euerlastyng kingdome of heauen Wherevpon wee maie gather that Christes soule wente straighte beyng separated from his bodie into heauen and not to helle For he saieth hym self to the Theife that honge on the crosse after he desired to remember hym when he came into his kyngdome to daie shalte thou bee with me in Paradise Also Christ commended his soule into the handes of his father His bodie was laied in the graue his soule was in heauen for so he saied the Theife should bee there that daie with hym c. And so he desired his father in his praier that al thei whiche his father had giuen vnto hym might bee with hym euen where hee is c. Now I maruaile what parte should goe into helle then The principalleste cause of this erroure is as I iudge for that thei thinke and suppose God the father did neuer loue vs nor fauour vs before we and thei were reconciled to hym by the death of his sonne whiche is cleane contrary For GOD the Father did with his loue preuente and goe before as the efficiente cause of our reconciliation in Christe Yea because he first loued vs therefore he afterwardes reconcileth vs vnto hym self And for this cause sainct Paule saieth God setteth out his loue towardes vs seyng that while wee were yet synners Christe died for vs And sainct Ihon saieth God so loued the worlde that he hath giuen his onely begotten sonne that who soeuer beleeueth in hym should not perishe but haue euerlastyng life For the free election of Goddes loue is the efficient cause of our Saluation Christes obeidience the materiall cause our callyng by the outwarde woorde the formall cause Our sanctification by the holie Ghoste the finall cause Herevnto agreeth that saiyng of saincte Augustine where he saieth Quapropter incomprehensibilis est dilectio qua diligit Deus neque mutabilis Non enim ex quo si reconciliati sumus per sanguinem filâ—â— eius nos caepit diligere sed ante mundi constitutionem dilexit nos vt cum eius vnigenito etiam nos filij eius essemus priusquam omnino aliquid essemus Quod ergo reconciliati sumus deo per mortem Christi non sic accipiatur quasi ideo nos reconciliauerit ei filius vt iam amare inciperet quos oderat Sed iam nos diligenti reconciliati sumus ei cum quo propter peccatum immicitias habeamus Quod vtrum verum dicam attestetur Apostolus Commendat inquit dilectionem suam deus erga nos quoniam cum adhuc peccatores essemus Christus pro nobis mortuus est habebat itaque ille erga nos charitatem etiam cum inimicitias aduersus eum exercentes operaremur iniquitatem Proinde miro diuino modo quando nos oderat dilegebat Oderat enim nos quales ipse non fecerat quia iniquitas nostra opus eius non omni ex parte consumpserat Nouerat simul in vno quoque nostrum odisse quod feceramus amare quod fecerat that is to saie in Englishe The loue of God is incomprehensible and vnchaungable For he began not to loue vs since the tyme that wee were reconciled to hym by the bloud of his sonne but before the makyng of the worlde he loued vs euen before wee were any thyng at all that wée might also bee his children with his onely begotten sonne Therefore whereas we are reconciled by the death of Christe it is not so to bee taken as though the Sonne did therefore reconcile vs vnto hym that he might now beginne to loue vs whom he hated before But wee are reconciled to hym that alreadie loued vs to whom wee were enemies by reason of synne And whether this bee true or no that I saie lette the Apostle beare witnesse He doeth commende saieth he his loue towardes vs because when we were yet sinners Christe died
of them howbeit I thinke that he did vnderstande Origene Ierome and Tertullian But nowe we will sée howe well this doth agree with the person of Christe our Sauiour Firste and formoste if they will haue the punishmentes paines and tormentes that Christe suffered to be in all pointes corespondent vnto those synners for whom Christ died had deserued it had not been onely necessarie that he shoulde haue suffered here in the body vppon the earth And that the soule should also haue suffered in hell for a while but that hee shoulde haue suffered both in body and soule euerlastyng punishmentes with the damned But God his father did content hymself with the paines and tormentes that he was in for a while hauyng a respecte not onely vnto the paines that he did suffer but vnto his righteousnes innocencie and obedience whiche caused hym to take and allowe the paines whiche our Sauiour Christe did suffer for a tyme as sufficient for to obtaine and purchase vnto the faithfull beléeuers a full deliueraunce from euerlastyng paines and tormentes which thei had deserued through their synnes Moreouer it was no néede at all that the soule of our Sauiour Christe shoulde goe downe into hell for to suffer there for it hath suffered punishment enough here vpon earth sithe that in it I meane in his soule he did beare the same iudgement and condempnation that we had deserued for the bodie did not suffer without the soule yea if the sorowes and paynes of the one could bee separated from the sorowes and paynes of the other whiles the body and soule be ioyned together by life we should haue a iuste occation to saie that the soule did suffer afore the body and that the sorowes and griefes of the body did proceede and come firste of the soule For els what did these wordes meane my soule is heauie vnto the verie death whereof came this wofull sweate that did runne downe to the grounde as droppes of bloud and the complainte that he made to GOD his father in the Garden Wherof did also come that greate feare trouble and horror that he was possessed withall as the Euangelistes doe testifie vnto vs If he had not bene in an extreame agonie and much greater then mans wisdome can comprehende What neede should he haue of the Angels for to comfort hym Againe who would not wonder and marueile to sée christ our sauiour so sore affraide and troubled as the Euangelistes doe set hym foorth vnto vs for the death that he should suffer if he should haue had respect to none other thing but onely vnto the death Doe we thinke that there was lesse hearte lesse corage constancie and manfulnes in our sauiour christe then in many thousande of Martyres that haue gone so ioyfully and merely vnto their death for his sake But what doe I speake of Martyres howe many wicked doers doe we sée daiely goe to their death whiche they haue deserued with their wicked and abhominable doynges moste manfully and with suche a face and countenaunce that ye would thinke that they did goe to a feaste or banquet Shall we saie that the sonne of god had lesse corage then these haue in so good a cause as he did die in It must needes be then that there was some greater thing then death of the Crosse which was at hande somewhat there was I saie that was of more weight and importaunce then that whichâ— did appeare outwardly His body was not yet in the handes of the tormentours he had onely the death before his eyes and as it were an imagination of it whiche troubled hym nothyng so muche as the dreadfull iudgement of God which he knewe he must needes beare When he did then enter into this agonie then did heâ— begynne already to descende and go downe into this horrible hell where he was deteined and kepte a while for our sakes for what greater hell can one imagine to be vnto man than to féele gods wrath throughly kindled against hym to be faine to beare his terrible iudgement and furie and to bee in the same estate that our sauiour Christe was in when he did crie out saiyng My God my God why hast thou forsaken mée Although he was true and naturall God and also true and naturall man so that his godhead could not be separated from his manhoode yet the humanitie was then as if it had been vtterly forsaken of the diuinitie and left succourlesse and as if it had been both in body and soule driuen downe into the bottomlesse pit of hell and geuen ouer of God. Therefore it was no neede that the soule of christ should goe downe after any other sorte for to suffer the paines and tormentes that we had deserued For the places doo not agrauate the paines or make them more heauie and greeuous but the heauie and intollerable burden of Gods wrath and iudgement wheresoeuer it is felte or whersoeuer men are faine to beare it Therefore they that doe affirme that the soule of our sauiour Christ must néedes of necessitie suffer in hell do plainelie declare that they knowe not what hell is nor what our sauiour christ did suffer for them nor yet what the vertue and efficacie of his death and passion is I allowe better the opinion of them whiche saie that this is to be vnderstanded of a spirituall descendyng or goyng downe whereby it was declared and preached through the efficacie vertue and power of christes holy spirite vnto the soules of the reprobate that were in the vnquenchable fire of hell that their vnbeléefe and stubburnnesse was the cause of their eternall and euerlasting damnation and that they should haue no deliueraunce from it by the death and passion of the onely begotten sonne of god our sauiour Iesu Christe where vnto the wordes of sainct Peter seemeth well to agree saiyng Christ hath once suffered for synnes the iuste for the vniust for to bryng vs to God and was killed as pertainyng to the fleshe but was quickened in â—he spirite in whiche spirite he also went and preached vnto the spirites that were in prisone whiche were in tymes past disobedient So we perceiue by these wordes of the Apostle that both the damned and saued had alone maner of féeling of the death and passion of Christ but yet to diuers endes for the one that is to the godly that were in Abrahams bosome was certified by the diuine power and godhead of Christe that nowe was the fulnes of tyme come to fill vp the measure of their ioye and euerlastyng saluation that they long looked hoped and thirsted for And to the damned was preached christ crucified but to the encreasing and augmentyng of their owne damnation for that they had no parte or portion by his death of gods fauour But rather an heauie iudgement bicause as S. Paule saieth Christe is Odor mortis ad mortem his c. That is the sauour of death
he saieth knowe ye that when the soule is departed from the body either is it by and by put in Paradise or els it is thruste into â—ell for hâ—â— synnes But to staie lonâ— vpon the foolishe and lippe labour praier for the dead it shall be needelesse for although they I meane the Papistes haue deuised diuers and sundry lyes as ye may â—eadâ— in their legends â–ª how that the soules of the dead appeared to their fréendes willyng them in any wise to proâ—â—â—e Masses and 〈◊〉 for them for that they were in the paines of 〈◊〉 and so vnder 〈…〉 robbed the peoples purses and did their soules lesse good â–ª yet I saie they haue no warrant in gods boke for their 〈◊〉 ¶ The .ix. Chapiter ¶ Against praiyng for the deade â–ª and apparitions of the dead after their departyng hence FOR if praier were so necessarie for the deade no doubte holy scripture would haue made mention thereof as it doeth of all other thynges needeful for vs to learne Sainct Paule saieth I would not haue you ignoraunt brethren concernyng theim which are a sleepe that ye sorowe not as men without hope for if we beleeue that Iesus is dead and is risen euen so theim which sleepe in Iesus will GOD bryng with hym and in the ende he concludeth with this Counsell wherefore comforte your selues one another with these wordes Here Paule had a good occasion to moue the people to praie for the dead if it had been necessarie for when he had comforted them with the hope of the resurrection he woulde haue saide comfort your freendes soules or the soules of the dead with your praiers almes déedes Masses Diriges but he neuer spake worde of all this but simplie saide comforte your selues one another in this life meanyng with the worde of God which certifieth vs that we shall all dye yet rise againe at the ioyfull and general resurrection with these our brethren and sisters and meete the Lorde in the Clowdes wherefore the Scripture saith the dead hath no parte in this world not in any worke vnder the Sunne Sainct Hierome vpon that place saieth the dead saith he can adde nothyng vnto that which they haue taken with them out of this life for they can neither doe good nor synne neither encrease in vertue nor vice c â–ª To what ende then doe our praiers extende or what good doth it them when in hell they can not increase in good nor in heauen to vertue so either it â—â—â—teth not or needeth not Sainct Ambrose saieth vpon these wordes I am a straunger in the earth as all my Fathers wâ—re therefore saieth he as a pilgrime he hasâ—ed to the common coâ—â—trie of the saintes He that hath not here receiued forgeuenesse of his sinnes shal not be there for he cannot come into euerlasting life for euerlastyng life is the forgiuenesse of our synnes But S. Ciprian plainely saieth Quando ist huc excessum fuerit nullus iam locus paenitentiae est nullus satisfactionis effectus Hic viâ—a aut amittitur auâ— tenetur hic saluti aeternâ— cultu dei fructu fidei prouidetur That is as muche to saie after we be once departed out of this life there is no more place of repentaunce there is no more effecte or workyng of satisfaction life is here either lost or won euerlastyng saluation is here prouided for by the due worshipping of God and the fruictes of faith and a litle before in this same place he saith againe Transierunt omnia illa tanquam vmbra erit tunc sine fructu paenitentiae dolor paena inanis ploratio inefficax depracatio That is all those thynges passe awaie as a shadowe meanyng pride riches vaineglory whiche he speaketh of before then he shall be without fruict of repentaunce grief of paine and in vaine weepyng shall be then and praier shall be of no force Thus good people you see by Scriptures and Fathers how vaine praier is for the deade but yet the Pope hath for money all thynges to sell. For as one saieth of Rome Roma dat omnibus omnia dantibus omnia Romae cuÌ„ praetio Rome giueth al things to them that giue all thynges at Rome will passe for money for it is an olde saiyng Curia Romana non captat ouem sine lana The Courte of Rome will not take the shéepe without the â—leese And there full well was Rome painted out of his trade of marchaundise by one Baptista and yet he was no Caluenist but a Papist which saieth Vonalia nobis templa Sacerdotes Altaria Sacra Coronae Ignis Thura praeces Caelum est venale Deusque That is amonges vs in Rome Churche Priestes Alters Masses Crownes Fire Incence praiers and heauen are set to sale yea God hymself among vs maie be had for monie But I leaue this for that the breath of Rome declareth his owne stinche the Lord hath opened all her sleightes that they which cannot see maie yet feele and vnderstande it Well by these testimonies then you maie see that praier for the dead auaileth nothyng and that the Popishe Priestes haue no Pater noster without a Penie And as for the apparitions of soules it is false for after they be deliuered of the burden of the fleshe thei are in ioye and felicitie and wander not abroade as foolishly is surmised Heare therefore what Saincte Chrisostome an aunciente doctour saieth to this Quid ergo respondebimus ad illas voces anima calis ego sum excipit non anima defunctiest quae ista dicet sed demon qui hec vt 〈…〉 decipiut effugit moâ—â— Quare â—â—ularum haec verba imò desipientium ducendit sunt patrorum ludibria iterum non potest anima a corpore separata in his regionibus errare iustorum anima in manu dei sunt infantium similiter non enim peccarunt Peccatorum verò post hunc exitum continâ—â— abducuntur quod à Lazaro Diuite planum efficitur c. That is what shall wee saie therefore to those voyces which saie I am suche a soule â–ª he aunswereth that voice that speaketh these thynges is not the soule of any person departed but it is the deuill which doth faine these thynges to deceiue the hearers wherefore suche wordes are to be counted olde wiues tales and foolishe fables of children for the soule separate from the body doth not wander in this worlde for the soules of the righteous are in the hande of God likewise soules of infantes for they haue not synned the soules of the synners after their departure are straight waie caried to their place whiche plainely appeareth by Lazarus the righteous and the wicked riche man. Saint Augustine also saith that the spirite of Samuel which the woman sorcerer raysed to Saul was noâ— the soâ—le of Samuell but the deuyll which appeared in Samuelâ— likenesse for to deceyue Saul And therfore he pronounceth playnly
represent his body with bread whiche no man can denie to be a creature but Christe doth represent his body with bread Ergo the bread is not naught but a good creature of God to be vsed with thankes geuyng But how soeuer the matter goeth Tertullian doth plainely affirme here that Christe doth represent his body with bread And vnto him doeth S. Hierome agree saiyng He taketh bread whiche comforteth the hearte of man that as Melchisedech had doen in the figure of hym when he did bryng foorth bread and wine so he shoulde represent the veritie of his body and blood No man will saie that the thyng that doeth represent and the thing that is represented be all one except it be the papistes as Doctour Harding Cope Marshall and Shakestockes I woulde saie Shackelocke who goeth about by Columellas wordes to proue as VVinchester did such a thyng but if the saiyng of that prophane writer shoulde take place in this matter it should folowe that the bread should but represent it selfe and none other thing as Columella will haue Vt Villicus semper se representet That the Bailife of husbandry shoulde alwaies represent hymselfe whiche is no more in our englishe but that he shoulde be alwaies present We are not woont to saie that a kyng doeth represent hymselfe or his owne person But of a Lorde or of a iudge that sitteth in iudgement we say commonly that the same Lorde or iudge doeth represent the kynges person not as a plaier that doeth represent an Emperour or a kyng in a stage or footplaie but bicause of the kynges aucthoritie and power that is geuen vnto hym Euen so in the Sacrament we saie with the auncient Fathers that the bread doth represent the body of Christ not as a bare naked figure or signe whiche thyng all the rablement of popishe papistes doe most slanderously laie to our charge but bicause that beyng duely ministred and worthely receaued it bringeth with it selfe the nature propertie vertue and grace of the body of christ as Ambrose doth testifie with these wordes Thou doest receaue the Sacrament for a similitude but thou doest obteine the vertue and grace of the true nature And bicause that thou doest receaue bread thou arte in the same foode made partaker of the diuine substaunce These be the causes wherefore we saie with the olde Fathers of the auncient catholique Churche that the bread doeth represent the body of Christe But as it needeth not that a kyng be really or personally present for to haue his aucthoritie or power to take place among his faithfull and obedient subiects so is it nothyng necessarie that wee shoulde haue the naturall body of Christe really present vnder the formes of bread and wine For without it that is to saie though it be sittyng still accordyng to the Scriptures on the right hande of the father we haue by the vertue of his institution and the mighty workyng of his spirite there in the Sacrament the verie propertie vertue and grace of the naturall fleshe and blood of christ most effectuously ministred vnto vs to the euerlastyng comfort and nourishment both of our soules and bodies The same auncient writer and father I meane Tertullian in his fourth boke against Martion writeth after this maner Christe takyng bread and distributyng it did make it his body saiyng Hoc est corpus meum hoc est figura corporis mei This is my body that is to saie the figure of my body And vnto hym will I ioyne Sainct Augustine that all men maye see what shameful lyars Doctour harding other the papistes are who are not ashamed to saie that none of all the auncient fathers neither before nor sence did expounde these wordes of christ as Tertullian did expounde them in that place The wordes of Sainct Augustine are these Adhibuit ad conuiuium in quo corporis sanguinis sui figuram discipulis commendauit tradidit And he did admit or receaue hym vnto the banquet wherein he did commēde and deliuer vnto his disciples the figure of his bodie And in another place he saith againe So the blood is the soule as the Rocke was Christe and yet the apostle saieth not the rocke did signifie Christe but the Rocke was Christ So may I expounde that this precepte or commaundement was geuē in a signe Non dubitauit Dominus dicere hoc est corpus meum cum daret signum corporis sui For the Lorde did not doubte or sticke to saie This is my body when he did geue the signe of his body In their owne distinctions thei haue these wordes Dicitur corpus christi sed improprie vt sit sunsus vocatur corpus christi id est significat corpus christi That is to saie in englishe it is called the body of Christe meanyng the Sacrament but improperly as the meaning of it may be thus it is called the body of christ that is to saie it doeth signifie the bodie of Christ. These sayinges neede no exposition at all For they are so plaine that the very children in the streete be able to vnderstande them and also to perceaue and espie out the shamefull leasinges of our disguised papistes who care not what they say so that they may séeme to say some what for to deceaue the simple and ignoraunt people withall and for to mainteyne their great graundfather Antechristes kingdome of proude Rome For ye must vnderstande that this is the only marke that they shoote at all the packe of them that they may set vp them selues as gods and bryng all mens heades vnder their girdles And no doctrine they thinke wyll serue better for that purpose than this grosse and Capharnaiticall doctrine of transubstantiation and of the corporall presence of Christes body in the sacrament For who woulde not stande in feare of them and reuerence them as gods that can with fiue wordes make Christ both God and man of a péece of bread whensoeuer they list And therefore it is written in a booke of theirs these wordes O howe honourable howe worshipfull and excellent is the dignitie of priestes if they will liue priestlike in whose handes as it were in the virgines wombe the sonne of God is incarnated or taketh fleshe And then by and by after it foloweth Iste qui creauit me dedit mihi creare se qui creauit me sine me creatur mediaente me cum ergo tante dignitatis fit sacerdos quod creator fit sui creatoris totius creature ▪ ipsum perdere vel damnare inconueniens est That is to saie in Englishe He that made mee gaue mee power to make hym and he that made mée without mée is made by the meanes of mée Seeyng then that a Priest is of so greate dignitie that he is the maker of his maker and of euerie creature to destroye or to condemne hym it is not conuenient euen the like you may reade in another
life the fleshe auaileth nothyng The like phrase of speache he vseth of the water of baptisme and although Christe was but once crucified yet would Chrisostome haue vs to thynke that we see hym daiely whipped and scourged before our eyes and his body hangyng vppon the Crosse and the Speare thruste into his side and his blood to flowe out of his glorious side into our mouthes after which maner S. Paul saieth that Christe was painted and crucified before our eyes These phrases of speache Chrisostome vsed most of any aucthour And now to their seconde obiection out of Crisostome that the papistes make whiche is this Elias saieth he when he was taken vp into heauen dyd leaue his cloke behinde him but our sauiour Christ when he ascended vp into heauen dyd both cary vp his fleshe with him and did also leaue it here behinde him It is easy to be aunswered For as he did cary vp our fleshe so he did leaue his fleshe here behinde him whiche we are our selues For as S. Paul saieth We are members of his body of his fleshe of his bones And truely as it ought to be vnto vs a singuler comfort â–ª that the most infallible scripture doth certifie vs that we are meÌ„bers of his body fleshe of his flesh and bones of his bones so it ought to be vnto vs the greatest reioysing in the worlde that he is in our fleshe ascended vp into heauen And as for that they aleadge out of S. Iohn where he saith Except ye eate the fleshe of the son of man drinke his blood ye haue no life in you Againe my flesh is meate in deede my blood is drinke in déede Lyra their owne doctour shal aunswere this place them to where he saith Haec verba nihil directè pertineÌ„t ad sacramentaleÌ„ vel corporaleÌ„ manducationem Nam hoc verbuÌ„ dictum fuit antequà m SacrameÌ„tum Eucharistiae esset institutum Ex illa igitur litera de sacrameÌ„tali coÌ„munione non potest fieri argumentum efficax These wordes of Christ in the .vj. chapter of S. Iohn directly pertaine nothing to the sacrameÌ„tall or corporall eating For these wordes were spoken long before the sacrameÌ„t was ordeyned Therefore of this place there can be made no good sufficient argument touchyng the sacrameÌ„tall Communion Sainct Augustine saith vpon these words of of Iohn There must be declared saith he the maner how to discerne a proper speache from a figuratiue wherin must be obserued this rule that if the thyng whiche is spoken bee to the furtheraunce of charitie then it is a proper speache and no figure So that if it be a commaundement that forbiddeth any euill or wicked act or commaundeth any good or beneficiall thyng then it is no figure But if it commaunde any ill or wicked thyng or forbyd any thyng that is good or beneficiall then it is a figuratiue speache Now this saiyng of Christe Except ye eate the fleshe of the sonne of man and drinke his blood you shall haue no life in you seemeth to commaunde an hainous a wicked thyng therefore it is a figure commaundyng vs to bee partakers of Christes Passion keepyng in our mindes to our greate comforte and profite that his fleshe was crucified and wounded for vs The like he hath in other places Thus one that hath but halfe an eye may easily vnderstande and sée the grâ—sse opinion of our papistes ¶ The .xxiij. Chapter ¶ The godly in the olde lawe did eate and drinke the same fleshe and blood of Christ that we do nowe in the newe Testament OUR forefathers in the olde Testament did eate him as veryly and truely in their sacramentes as we do in ours to the eternall saluation of all their soules that dyd faythfully beléeue in the promised seede Iesus Christ. Therfore S. Paul sayd they dyd all eate of the same spirituall meate did all drinke the same spirituall drinke for they dranke of the spiritual rocke that folowed them and the rocke was Christ So we may easily perceaue that they did eate the same meate that we do because the substaunce of theirs and our Sacramentes are all one So Sainct Augustine plainely affirmeth in these wordes Sacramenta illa fuerunt in signis diuersa in rebus quae significabantur paria Their Sacramentes were in outwarde tokens diuers but in the thynges tokened all one with ours Likewise Leo saieth Mysteria pro temporum ratione variata sunt quum fides qua viuimus nulla fuerit aetate diuersa The sacramentes are altered accordyng to the diuersitie of the times But the faith whereby we liue in all ages was euer one To conclude saint Augustine sheweth that their Sacramentes of the olde lawe were promises of suche thynges as should afterwardes be accomplished Our sacramentes of the newe Lawe are tokens that the same promises bee already accomplished The same Sainct Augustine in another place aunswereth to a certaine question as this Quomodo in coelum manum mittam vt ibi sedentem teneam He saieth Fidem mitte tenuisti How shall I reache my hande into heauen that I shall holde hym sittyng there Reache out thy faith and thou holdest hym Saincte Ambrose agreeyng hereto saieth Fide tangitur fide videtur non tangitur corpore non oculis comprehenditur He is touched by faith he is seen by faith he is not touched with body nor comprehended or seen with eyes Sainct Augustine saieth Habet fides oculos suos Faith hath her eyes and Barnarde saith Visio anime intellectus est The séeyng of the soule is vnderstandyng Therfore I am sure none wyll say that the fathers in the olde law did eate christ in their sacrameÌ„t butcherly as the papistes affirme yet you sée by these aucthorities that the substauÌ„ce of their sacraments ours are al one wherfore learne this lesson that Christ is in the bread figuratiuely he is in the faithfull worthy receauer spiritually and that he is in heauen corporally sittyng on the right hande of God his father to make dayly intercession for vs Let vs now lift vp the eyes of our faith into heauen and reioyce that our fleshe is ascended vp thither ¶ The .xxiiij. Chapter ¶ VVhat comfort we haue by Christes ascention into heauen WE are surely taught that by his ascendyng vp he hath opened heauen vnto vs which by Adams fall was shut vp vnto all fleshe and that sith â–ª hee is entered into Heauen with our fleshe as it were in our name or behalfe we do in a maner as S. Paul doeth testifie sit with him in the heaueÌ„ly seates being alreadie in full possession of heauen in him that is our head For we haue receaued it by faith possessed it by hope and are therein confirmed by holynesse of life Secondly we do beholde his diuine godly power wherein doth consist all our might vertue and strength and all our
all in Gods worde Therfore we may well conclude that it is an abhominable synne And therefore Sainct Augustine saieth full well Non est iusta oratio nisi per Christum Oratio autem que non fit per Christum non solùm non potest delere peccatum sed etià m ipsa fit in peccatum there is no iust or right praier but that that is made by Christ that praier that is not made vnto God by Christe not onely doeth not put awaie sinne but also is turned into sinne And no marueile for what greater blasphemie can there be in the world then to robbe the only begotten sonne of God of his glory and to geue it vnto dead creatures but as the glorie of Christe doth consist in this that he is our omnisufficient Sauiour for none other name vnder heauen is there geuen vnto men wherby thei must be saued so it doth consist in this that he is an omnisufficient and most perfect mediatour able to obteine at his fathers hande all maner of thynges that are necessarie for the saluation both of our bodies and soules They therfore that seeke any other mediatours besides hym doe robbe hym of his glory and so commit a most detestable sacriledge Is it then marueile that the more that they praie after this maner the more the wrath of God is kindeled against them Againe in what case must they néedes stande that seeke other wayes for to come vnto God vnto the seat of his mercie than he himselfe hath appoynted in his sacred worde But his heauenly and eternall wisedome saith vnto vs that he is the way the trueth and the life and that none commeth vnto the father but by him It can not be then but that they must be farre out of the way that seke to come vnto God by any other meane or way then by Christe and that in stéede of commyng vnto God they go the plaine dunstable high way vnto the deuyll and that most deseruingly sith that they will not go that plaine and sure way that God him selfe appointed vnto them saying This is the way walke in the same Why do they not sith that they wyll alwayes séeme to be such folowers of the auncient fathers of the primitiue church print in their mindes that golden saying of Saint Ambrose where he saith on this maner Christe is our mouth whereby we speake vnto the father our eye wherewith we sée the father our right hande whereby we offer our selues vnto the father without whose intercession neither we nor all the saintes haue ought to do with god Do they not learne by the wordes of this auncient writer and father of the Church that if we wyll speake vnto the father Christe must be our mouth If we wyll see the father he must be our eye Or if we wil offer our selues vnto the father he must be our right hande It is so farre of that he shoulde appoynt any of the saintes to be either our mouth our eye or our right hande that rather he doeth boldly affirme that except Christe doeth make intercession all the saintes haue nothing to do with god For why Saint Paul saieth That as there is but one God of all so there is but one mediatour betwixt God and man These be his wordes For there is one God and one mediatour betwixt God and man which is that man Christ Iesus who gaue himselfe a raunsome for all men Here we doe both sée and learne that as there is but one God so there is but one mediatour betwixt God and men which is our sauiour Iesus Christ the only begotten sonne of God who was made man for to set God and man at one and for to make attonement betwixt them For when we wyll ioyne two thinges together which do differ or be of contrary natures there must be some third thing that doth approche holde of the nature of them both or else there can be none attonement no agréement nor true coniunction betwixt them specially if the natures be repugnaunt and contrary one vnto another But what agréement can there be betwixt God and man looke what agréement there can be betwene consuming fire and thornes betweene light and darkenesse betweene righteousnesse and vnrighteousnesse betwéene blessyng and cursyng betweene death and life Paradise and Hell euen the same can be betwixt God and man if we doe consider man in his corrupted nature Therefore it was most necessarie that we should haue a mediatour for to make this agreement and coniunction which mediatour shoulde bee partaker of both the natures but yet without sinne and whiche should be both perfect God and perfect man for to make this coniunction and alliaunce betwixt God and man But there is no such sauyng onely our sauiour Iesus Christ. Therefore it doeth necessarily folow that none other can be our mediatour aduocate and intercessour but he alone Whiche thyng hath been sufficiently proued already by the wordes that haue been aleaged nowe out of Sainct Paule For they signifie asmuche as if he should haue saide after this maner As there is but one God whiche neuerthelesse is sufficient for all creatures as one only Sunne serueth for all the whole worlde so there is but one mediatour whiche is Iesus Christe who alone hath paide our raunsome and is meete for this office The same thyng doeth that blessed Euangelist sainct Iohn meane when he saieth that we haue an aduocate with the father Iesus Christ which is righteous Upon whiche place S. Augustine writeth on this wise He beyng such a man did not saie ye haue an aduocate with the father but if any man doth synne we haue saieth he an aduocate with the father He said not ye haue mée for your aduocate But brethren we haue an aduocate with the father Iesus Christe the righteous and he is the satisfaction for our synnes Hoc qui tenuit haeresim non fecit hoc qui tenuit schisma non fecit He that holdeth this committed no heresie he that hath holden this hath committed no schisme These are Sainct Augustines wordes wherby we maie gather that it is neither heresie nor schisme to cleaue vnto Christe alone as vnto an omnisufficient mediatour aduocate and intercessour as our Popecatholikes doe make it nowe persecutyng them with fire and sworde that will haue none other mediatour nor intercessour but hym onely whom the Scriptures and worde of God doeth appointe The .xxvj. Chapiter ¶ Christe is both our mediatour of saluation and also of intercession NOW ye shall haue the trickes of the deuilles sophistrie We doe not denie saie they but that Christe is the onely mediatour betwixt God and man But howe ought this to be vnderstanded Christe is onely the mediatour of redemption saie they for it is he onely that hath redéemed vs and by his death and bloodshedding hath made attonement betwéene god and vs but the blessed virgin Marie and other sainctes in heauen are
our mediatours of intercession I woulde faine knowe of them where they learne this in the holy Scriptures and worde of god I am moste sure that as they cannot finde in all the Scriptures that we ought to praie vnto the dead sainctes So shall they finde that Christ is there appointed to be our aduocate and intercessour euen after his glorious resurrection and ascension when he had alreadie performed all maner of thynges that parteine to our saluation and to the redemption of all mankynde For S. Paule saieth It is Christe whiche is dead yea rather whiche is risen againe whiche is also on the right hande of God and maketh intercession for vs And to the Hebrues he saith plainely that Christ our soueraigne Bishop and high priest liueth for euer for to make intercession for vs Else what should his continuall appearyng before the face of God for vs whereof he speaketh in the ninth Chapiter of this same epistle profit or auaile vnto vs Againe Sainct Iohn the Euangeliste who did write his Epistles a greate while after Christes ascension when our attonement was already made and our peace fully purchased doth sende vs to none other aduocate but only to Iesus christ the righteous He saith not there in that place If any of you do sinne ye shal haue me who am the deare beloued disciple of Christ and did sleepe vpon his brest to be your aduocate vnto the virgin Marie his mother whom he did commit vnto me and whiche dyd loue me so well that she toke me for her sonne Againe he doth not say Get you to the virgin Marie or to my felowes the Apostles or to the Patriarkes and Prophetes â–ª that be alreadie dead and in glorie with God but putting him selfe in the number of sinners he saieth If we haue sinned we haue an aduocate with the father Iesus Christe the righteous He had not forgotten the wordes of his maister whiche he him selfe had set foorth by writyng For Iesus Christ did not say All that ye shall aske my father in the name of my mother or of the Patriarches and Prophetes or of myne Apostles and Disciples it shal be geuen vnto you but he saieth Whatsoeuer ye shall aske the father in my name it shal be geuen vnto you And S. Paul doth not only testifie vnto vs that he did in the time of his flesh offer vp prayers supplications with strong crying and teares and that he was hearde but also he doth write as it hath been alredie aleaged that he is on the right handâ— of God where he doeth incessantly make intercession for vs. Moreouer where S. Paul doth say â–ª that there is one mediatour of God and men whiche is that man Iesus Christ hath he not a respect vnto the prayers that he had spoken of before For after that he had sayde that we must pray for all men for a confirmation of that saying he addeth by and by that there is one God and one mediatour And none otherwise doth S. Augustine expounde it when he saith Christian men do pray one for another in their prayers But he for whom no man doth pray but he for all men is the onely and true mediatour Paul the Apostle although he were a chiefe member vnder the head yet because that he was a member of the body of Christe and did knowe that the high and true priest of the Church was entred not into the holy places that be made with handes which were but similitudes of true thinges but into very heauen he doeth also commende hymselfe vnto the praiers of the faithfull Paulus non facit se mediatorâ—m inter populum deum sed rogat vt prose orâ—nt inuicem omnia membra corporis Christi Paul maketh not hymselfe a mediatour betwéene God and the people but requireth that thei praie all one for a nother beyng all the members of the body of Christ bicause that the members are carefull one for another and if one suffereth thei doe all suffer with it And set the mutuall praiers of al the members that be yet here labouring vppon the earth ascende vp vnto the head which is gone before into heauen In whom is the satisfaction for our synnes For if Paule were mediatour the other Apostles also shoulde be mediatours and so there shoulde be many mediatours Neither coulde the reason of Paule stande where he saieth For there is one God one mediatour of God and men that man Iesus Christe in whom we are also one if wee keepe the vnitie of faith in the bonde of peace Haec Augustinus c. And in another place hee saieth these wordes At verò sacerdotem si requiras super caelos est interpellat pro te qui in terra mortuus est prote But if thou seeke for the Priest he is aboue in heauen where he maketh intercession for thee which vpon the earth died for thee Here any man may sée if he wyll sée at least howe substantiall their distinction is and what grounde it hath in the scriptures worde of god Besides all this I might reason against them vpon the right vnderstanding of this word Intercession whiche among the Latines signifieth nothing els but the letting of a matter that it goeth not forwardes When we say then that Christe maketh intercession for vs our meaning is that that he doth by the merites of his death passion and bloodshedding let or stop the wrath and vengeaunce of God that it beÌ„ not powred vpon vs for our filthy sinnes and offences Againe we say that he maketh intercession for vs when he suffereth not the ears of the father to be stopped vnto our prayers but causeth them to be hearde and accepted And it is a maner of speaking borowed of the auncient Romanes For when the Consules and Senatours of Rome went about to make any decrée or lawe that did séeme to be preiudicial and hurtfull vnto the common weale then the officers of the people called Tribunes were woont to let that decrée or lawe that it should not go forwardes and thereof did come intercessio Tribunorum that is to say a let or prohibition of the Tribunes that some matter might not go forwardes Euen so that almightie and most righteous God the father of sauiour Iesu Christ hath euery day and euery houre â–ª a most iust occasion by reason of our detestable enormities to destroy vs both bodyes and soules and by his determinate decrée and sentence to condemne vs to the euerlastyng punishmentes of hell fire But we haue in the Senate house of heauen a most mightie aduocate which doth continually appeare before the face of God for vs that so he may by his omnisufficient intercession stop this determinate decrée and sentence of that righteous iudge that it do not proceede and go forward against vs. But what if any man besides the Tribunes had taken vpon him or presumed in the olde Senate
crie and craue for mercie but no mercie shal be graunted them No lesse rigour doubtelesse shal be vsed against them if for a smale offence they wil be reueÌ„ged to the vttermost For as the scripture testifieth he that seketh vengeauÌ„ce shal finde vengeaunce of the Lorde who shall surely kepe vnto him his synnes Which thyng Christe our Sauiour teacheth vs by a a liuely parable or similitude when he bringeth in the kyng that doth call his 〈…〉 and accounte and vnto whom one was brought that did owe hym tenne thousande talenteâ— whiche he forgaue hym â—â—ite bicause that heâ— had besought him But this man was full of mischief would not shewe the like mercie vnto his felowe seruaunts that did owe hym but an hundred pence and therefore his lorde was angrie and deliuered hym vnto the Iailers tyll he had payde the vttermoste farthing Euen so shall my heauenly father do vnto you doeth our Sauiour Christe conclude excepte ye doe from the bottome of your heartes forgiue your brethren their trespasses The thirde sorte of people which shall receaue iudgement without mercie are the iusticiaries worke mongers which seeke to be saued and iustified by their owne workes and merites and which being ignoraunt of the righteousnesse of god doe go aboute to set vp their owne righteousnesse and so wyll in no wise be subiect to the righteousnesse that is auaileable before god They doubtelesse shal be called to a strayte rekcnyng and accounte For why all they that are suche doe remaine styll vnder the curse of the Lawe as sainct Paule wryteth saiyng As many as be of workes that is to say as manie as go aboute to be iustified by the workes of the lawe are vnder the curse For it is written Cursed be euery man that continueth not in all thynges that are written in the booke of the lawe to do them Beyng then vnder the curse and malediction of God bicause that thei did most vnthankefully refuse the mercifull meane that he had of his mere goodnesse appointed vnto them for to be iustified by they muste needes runne into euerlastyng condemnation Doth not the trueth hymself saie that though we did all that he commaundeth vs yet we are vnprofitable seruauntes But who in all the worlde is able to doe the tenth parte of that whiche God doeth require of vs and with that perfection as he will haue it to be doen not one man liuyng in the world What are we then but a thousande tymes worse then vnprofitable seruauntes They therfore that go aboute to be iustified by their owne beggerly workes and stincking righteousnes whiche before God is as the filthie cloutes of a menstruâ—us woman are most worthy to finde Christe whom they will make but a patched and an vnperfeate Sauiour a moste rigorous and extreme iudge whereas if mistrustyng our owne righteousnes merites and doynges we do flee and appeale to the onely mercie of God takyng a sure holde thereupon through faith in our sauiour Christe and saâ—yng vnfeinedly with Dauid and Iob O Lorde enter not into iudgement with thy seruauntes for in thy sight shall no man liuyng bee iustified If I would iustifie my selfe my owne mouth shall condemne mee if I would bee perfect he should iudge me wicked Lo though he slea me yâ—t wil I trust in him I wil reproue my waies in his sight it is so farre of that we ought to feare the daie of iudgement and commyng of our heauenly and eternall iudge or that those greuous sentences and saynges ought to be dreadfull vnto vs that rather our sauiour and iudge biddeth vs to looke vp and lifte vp our heades assuryng vs that then our saluation is at hande Yea that we might bee the more certaine of it he promiseth that al his commyng he will sende his Aungelles with a greate voice of a Trumpe and that thei shall gather together his chosen and predestinated children froÌ„ the foure windes and from the one ende of the worlde to the other Where soeuer wee shall be then I meane when our Sauiour and iudge shall come whether it bee in the bowelles of the earth or any where else here in this vale of miserie wee maie bee sure that wée shal bee gathered together vnto hym there for to receiue our full and perfecte saluation bothe in bodie and soule Let vs not therefore suffer our enemie Sathan to driue vs to any desperation by puttyng vs in remembraunce of the dreadfull daie of iudgemente But rather in the conflict and agonie of our consciences let vs haue alwaies before the eyes of our faithe besides the goodly and comfortable saiynges that haue been brought in alreadie that Christe shall not onely come as a iudge but as a moste benigne and mercifull sauiour of his people And therefore saincte Paule dooeth write that from heauen wee looke for a Sauiour euen the Lorde Iesus Christe who shall chaunge our vile bodies that thei maie bee fashioned like vnto his glorious bodie In the meane while lette vs take heede to our selues that our hartes bee not ouercome with surfettyng and drunkennesse leaste that daie dooe come vpon vs vnwares For it shall come as a snare on al them that sitte vpon the face of the earth Therefore wee haue neede to watche and praie that wee maie bee readie when he commeth and that wee maie stande before him hauyng and vsyng the weapons that fainct Paule ministereth vnto vs whiles wee are here warryng againste the fierie dartes of the deuill our enemie where he saieth Take vnto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to resist in the euill daie and hauyng finished all thinges stande faste and your loynes girde aboute with veritie and hauyng on the breaste plate of righteousnesse and your feete shodde with the preparation of the Gospell of peace Aboue all take the shield of faithe wherewith ye maie quench all the fierie dartes of the wicked And take the helmet of saluation and the sworde of the spirite whiche is the woorde of God and praie all waies with all maner of praier and supplication in the spirite and watche therevnto with all perseueraunce and supplication for all sainctes And in an other place he saieth Take heede therefore that ye walke circumspectly not as fooles but as wise redeemyng the tyme For the daies are euill Be ye not drunke with wine wherein is excesse but bee ye fulfilled with the spirite speakyng vnto your selues in Psalmes Hymnes and Spirituall songes syngyng and makyng melodie to the lorde in your hartes By Psalmes he vndestandeth complaintes to God narrations and expostulations by Hymnes he properly conteineth thankes giuyng by songes he also conteineth praises and thaÌ„kes giuyng â–ª but not so largely and amply as Hymnes doe So now we are aliue if we stande faste in the lorde saieth saincte Paule and no damnation nor troubles nor yet the gates of hell
shall not preuaile against vs because we are builded vpon the sure rocke and stone ¶ The. xxxi Chapiter ¶ The subtile meanes that Sathan vseth to bryng vs into securitie IN any wise lette vs giue no eares to the liyng doctrines of Sathan the Deuill who doth all y euer he can for to bryng vs into a carnall securitie and to make vs beleue that the same daie is not yet at hande And that he might the better bring this his purpose to passe he did cause his idle brained Monkes and Friers to write and that without any grounde or foundation of Gods woorde of the signes and tokens that shall come before that daie wherein thei followe onely the vaine imaginations dreames of their owne heades Therefore we ought in this poinct to giue no credite vnto them but to contente our selues with the infallible woorde of GOD wherein Christe our Sauiour dooeth sufficiently teache vs what signes and tokens shall come before that dreadfull daie whiche wee see all to bee come to passe alreadie so that wee ought to looke for none other euery daie and euery houre but that the same daie shall come sodainly vpon vs all For firste where as our Sauiour saieth That there shal be signes in the Sunne in the Moone and in the Starres and that in the earth the people shal bee in suche perplexitie that thei shall not tell whiche waie to tourne theim selues Dooe we not see all these thynges to be fâ—lfilled alreadie What signes there haue been in the Sunne in the Moone and in the Starres since the ascendyng vp of our Sauiour Christe and euen in these our daies it is not vnknowen vnto theim that reade the histories Againe in what perplexitie all the worlde is now at this present daie and tyme so that no man almoste can tell whiche waie to tourne hym self wee dooe see it euen with our owne eyes Yea wil some man replie we haue not yet séen the sunne to be darckened nor the Moone to lose her light nor the starres to fall downe from heauen which thynges must all come to passe before that day as our sauiour Christ him selfe doth testifie Elyas Enoche be not yet come which are prophecied to come againe before that latter daie of iudgemente therefore we neede not yet to looke for it It is not vnknowen that many bothe of the auncient and also of the latter writers which in these our daies haue written vpon the scriptures and woorde of God doe expounde this place The Sunne shal be darckened and the Moone shall lose her lighte c. Of our Sauiour Iesus Christe hym self of his Churche and of the ministers thereof For as the naturall Sunne is darckened with the cloudes that doe arise from the waters and from the earth so our Sauiour Christe whiche is the true sonne of righteousnesse is wonderfully darckened with the mistes and cloudes of mens traditions and dreames â–ª so that many tymes his comfortable light is cleane taken awaie from the eyes of our soules and consciences By the Moone thei doe vnderstande the Churche For as the Moone doeth naturally receiue her light of the Sunne so al the light all the true wisedome and vnderstanding or heauenly knowledge that the Churche hath it hath it of our Sauiour Christ and as if the Sunne be dackened the Moone of necessitie must lose her light So when the chearfull light of the true sonne of righteousnesse is taken awaie by mens inuentions and superstitious doctrine and Popishe traditioÌ„s without all doubt the Churche muste vtterly lose her light it muste needes bee without all heauenly vnderstandyng and knowledge it must nedes be in horrible darckenesse and in the shadowe of death After their exposition it is saied that the Starres doe fall from heauen when the ministers of Goddes woorde whiche ought to shine in the Churche bothe with life and doctrine as the Starres doe shine in the Elemente doe fall from the Goâ—pell and true worde of God vnto mens inuentions and dreames and vnto earthly doctrines of the deuilishe Papistes either for hope of worldely honour promotion dignitie or els for shame as Doctour Hardyng now dooeth and others of his side Or els for feare of any trouble persecution or losse of liuynges For if accordyng to the letter the naturall Starres should fall from heauen no man should be lefte aliue againste the commyng of our Sauiour Christe sithe that accordyng to the excellent doctrine of Astronomie euery Starre is bigger then the whole earth and so the Scriptures that saie that as the daie of Noe and of Sodome was so shall the commyng of the sonne of man be could not be verified If we should followe this exposition whiche is bothe learned and also moste godlie are not all these thynges fulfilled alreadie Is not our sauiour Christ whiche is the true sonne of righteousnes vtterly taken awaie by the hypocriticall and superstitious doctrine of that Antichriste of Rome Is not the Churche altogether depriued of the light of Gods woorde beyng ouerwhelmed with the thicke darckenesse of beggerlie Traditions and Popishe dreames What should wee saie of them that ought as Starres to shine in the churche of Christ Are thei not in a maner fallen all from the heaueÌ„ly doctrine of Gods woorde and his Gospell into the vaine phancies of corrupted and earthly men We maie be sure then that the daie is at hande But goe to Let vs take it as Chrisostome doth expounde it whiche writeth that it is saide that the Sunne shal be darkened the Moone shall lose her lighte and the Starres shall fall downe from heauen because that the commyng of Christ shal bee so glorious and so bright that in comparison of it the light of the Sunne of the Moone and of the Starres shall bee but darkenesse that is to saie the Sunne then the Moone and the Starres shal bee as though thei were not at all As when the Sunne is vp whiche is the moste excellent light although the Moone and the Starres doe remaine still in the element yet are thei not seen but are euen as though thei were all falled downe from heauen It is also moste plaine and euident that by the darknyng of the Sunne of the Moone and of the Starres the greate and horrible vengeaunce of GOD is signified as we reade in Esay Ieremie Ezechiell Amos Ioel and Micheas the Prophetes For when god poureth his vengeaunce vpoÌ„ the earth it seemeth vnto them that are touched with it and that are in perplexitie and trouble that all the whole worlde is in the like case and that the Sunne is darkened the Moone hath lost her light the Starres be fallen downe from heauen that the earth doeth quake and tremble vnder theim To bee shorte thei thinke that all thynges goe to ruine with theim not because that it is so in deede but because that thei bee pressed with no lesse agonie and anguishe then if those
holde his peace go out of the house or tarie within the doores to eate this or that meate to put on this or that garment c. Yea to synne or to abstaine from the grosse actes of synne as murther adulterie fornication false witnes bearing and such like c. Whiche notwithstandyng we muste confesse and acknowledge to be the giftes of god And here also the power of God is alwaie to bee marked whiche brought to passe that Balaam could not go thither whither he would neither Zacharie returnyng out of the Temple coulde speake as hee had a good will to doe Here are condemned in this behalfe the Manichies who denied that free will was to a good man the beginnyng of euill and also the Pelagians who affirme that an euill man hath fréewyll enough to keepe a good commaundement both these are reproued by the holy scriptures whiche saie against the Maniches God made man righteous and good againste the Pelagians If the sonne of God shall make you free you shall be frée in deede and againe without mee ye can do nothyng For â–ª man had lost those excellent benefites that the Lorde had geuen vnto hym at the first So that after his fall of a wise man he became a foole of a iuste man an vniuste of a righteous man a sinner of a true man a lyer of a perfect man in all thynges he became vnperfect of a free man he became a bondslaue of a liuyng man he became a dead man of a blessed and good man he became a cursed and a wicked hauing after that a will altogether wicked which neither coulde nor would agree vnto the will of God But wholy vnto the wyll of the deuill the world the fleshe and synne whiche of hymselfe can doe nothyng but wickednesse bicause it is altogether fleshly bounde and captiue solde vnder synne Beholde nowe gentle reader the free will or that I maie better saie the bounde will of man in the state of this present life All these doctrines considered well I will nowe drawe to an ende of this my simple iudgement with the saiyng of sainâ—â— Augustine the golden candle in gods catholique church where he saieth these wordes Quid tantum de naturae possibilitate praesumitur vulnerata saucia vexata perdita est Vera confessione non falsa defensione opus habet What doe men so muche presume of the possibilitie of nature It is wounded it is mangled it is troubled it is loste It behoueth vs rather truely to confesse it then falsely to defende it And in a nother place he saieth Tutiores viuimus si totum deo damus non autem nos illi ex parte nobis ex parte committimus We liue in more safetie if we geue all vnto God rather then if we commit our selues partely to our selues and partely to hym In the Counsaile holden at Miluente it was godly decreed touchyng this controuersie and matter If any man doth say saie they that the grace of God can bee geuen by humaine inuocation or mans calling vpon God And not that the grace of God it self doeth woorke or bryng to passe that God is called vpon of vs he doeth gainesaie Esai the Prophete or the Apostle speakyng the same I am founde of them that soughâ— me not and did appeare plainly vnto them that did not aske for me or after me What can bee more plainly spoken of the vnablenesse of man before he be regenerated or borne a new by the spirite of god And beyng renewed by the spirite of God he wyll giue them faith to beleeue hope to trust repentaunce of synnes amendement of life and a hatred to all iniquities and synnes that it shall not raigne in them nor haue dominion in theim so that their wickednesse shall neuer be imputed vnto them And all this will he dooe for his sonne Iesu Christes sake our onely mediatour and aduocate who came into this worlde to fulfill the whole Lawe for vs for he did fulfill it in deede we by imputation He by merite we by mercie he by workes we by grace Therefore wicked are they and voide of the spirite of God what soeuer they be that will seeme to extoll integra naturalia of man so farre as though it were in mans posse and esse to satisfie the whole law and suche are our lubberly Louanistes and rebellious Papistes whom God conuert or soone confounde for Iesus Christes sake ¶ The .xliiij. Chapiter ¶ Of the generall resurrection bothe of the godlie and wicked at the laste daie WHO at his laste commyng shall by his almightie power raise vp againe our vile and mortall bodies and make them conforme and like vnto his glorious bodie that is now in heauen on the right hande of the father Which after the meanyng of the scriptures and of the Articles of our faithe ought to bee vnderstanded after this maner That as the bodie of Christe whiche he tooke in the virgines wombe was by his almightie power raised vp againe immortall and glorious all infirmities that it was subiect vnto being cleane putte awaie and taken of So these mortall bodies of ours euen the same that wee tooke of the substaunce of our synfull and mortall mothers shall at the daie of the generall resurrection of all fleshe bee raised vp againe accordyng to the mightie working of the Lorde whereby he is of power to subdue all thynges vnto him selfe So that we maie boldely saie with Iob. We are sure that our redéemer liueth And that we shall rise out of the earth in the latter daie that we shal be clothed again with this skinne and see God in our fleshe yea that we our selues shal beholde hym not with other but with the self same eyes not with an other but with the same verie bodies whiche we caried from our mothers wombe with the self same bones whiche nowe wee haue yet neuerthelesse that transformed and â—haunged made of mortall immortall or incorruptible of vile and lothsome glorious as ye maie reade and proue by those Scriptures noted in the margine and many other places besides where these thynges are sette foorth so plainely that it were shame for any man to doubte of the matter And there doe wee learne also that as the righteous and faithfull shall rise againe vnto immortalitie glorie and honour So the vnrighteous and reprobate shall rise againe with their verie bodies vnto euerlastyng shame and bodie and soule shall goe into hell with the deuill and his Aungelles there to abide euerlastyngly and to bee tormented with hym in hell with fire whiche neuer shall be quenched where shall bee bitter weepyng and gnasshyng of teethe and shall be liuely touched with the worme whiche neuer dieth which is the seconde death As the glorious risyng againe of the righteous and faithfull is called life euerlastyng thereby to signifie vnto vs that we shall not bee raised
vp at the daie of iudgement for to dye againe as thei did whom Christe the Prophetes and Apostles had raised vp againe But in one immortall eternall and perdurable life for euermore to raigne euerlastynglie with God in bodie and soule And therefore am I well assured â–ª and constantly beleeue and doubtyng nothing at all knowing that who soeuer doubteth of his saluation made by Iesus Christe he shall neuer be saued as of this matter wee haue largely intreated of before in the article of forgiuenesse of synnes Wherefore as I am sure and certaine that Christe is deade and risen againe and doubte it not in any condition euen so am I sure and certaine of my Saluation made by hym and that infalliblie I shall bee saued and shall goe into euerlastyng life with the same bodie and soule that nowe I haue beyng then made immortall and glorious and raigne with Christe Iesus my onely Sauiour in his eternall and perdurable kyngdome that he hath prepared for me and all his electe and predestinated before the beginnyng of the worlde by his precious death and bloodshedding To whom therfore with the father and the holy ghost bée all praise glorie and honour worlde without ende So bee it Come quickely Lorde Iesus come quickely Reuel 22. Vigilius contra Eutichen lib. 1. Haec est fides professio catholica quam Apostoli tradiderunts Martyres roborauerunt fideles hucusque custodiunt This is the faithe and catholique profession whiche the Apostles haue deliuered the Martyrs haue confirmed and the faithfull keepe vntill this daie Cyprianus ad Cornaelium lib. 1. Sacerdos Dei Euangelium tenens Christi praecepta custodionâ—â— occidi potest non potest vinci The Priestes of God holding the Gospell and kéepyng the Commaundementes of Christ maie well be killed but conquered they can not be Luk. 21. â—â— 2. Cor. 12. Exod. 25.3 â–ª 4 5 6 7 8 1. Cor. 3.17 Ephe. 2.21 Cap. 5.26 Matth. 25.15 The causes that made the aucthour to set foorth this booke First cause Matth. 3.12 Barnard super cant Serm. 66. Matth. 7.15 Matth. 23.27 2. Cor. 11.13.14 Iosua 9.3.4 Papistes haue Iacobs voyce but Esaus hart and handes Eusebius Woulde all princes were of this minde 1. Peter 3.15 Order fit for papistes The fruits of time seruyng hypocrites They wyll dissemble a point with Leontius Iosâ—a 9.21 1. Iohn 4.1 Zach. 11.17 Ministers shoulde be preachers Barnard Sermo â—8 1. Tim. 4.16 Seconde cause 2. Sam. 16.5 Matth. 5 1â— Matth. 15.3 Matth. 7.3 Turpe est doctori cum culpa redarguit ipsum Pope Bonifacius A whore Pope Pope Iohn 12. Pope Sergiuâ— Pope Marcellinus Pope Syluester Pope Liberius Pope Leo. Pope Caelestinus Pope Honorius Pope Ioh. 22. Pope Hyldebrand Pope Vrbanus Poâ—e Stephen D. Boorde Aureum Speâ—â—luÌ„ in Antilogia Barnard ad Clerum in Sino RhemeÌ„ The thirde cause The .vi. of August Anno. 2591. â— Cor. 5. Luk. 15.1 Matth. 9.11 1. Peter 4.4 Luk. 15.10 Psal. 114.10.11 Eccle. 8.5 Galat. 6.1 Ezech. 18.21 Blackeall hath foure wiues aliue at once Blackeall is a Pillorie knight Blackeall vseth â—eales to counterfeit CoÌ„missions Blackeall is a chopper of benefices He is a raker for mens money He is a common caryer about of whores and harlottes He is ashamed of his owne name Matth. 3.7 Barnard in Serm. 4. 1. Pet. 2.5 Rom. 12.1 August 1. Cor. 4.10 â–ª 11.12.13 Wisd. 2.24 Rom. 16.17 1. Cor. 4.18 2. Cor. 10.2 Galat. 1.7 2. Cor. 2.11 Eccle. 2.1 Psal. 109.4 Luk. 23.46 Heb. 2.14.15 1. Cor. 15.55 Colo. 1.13.14 Ioh. 5.24.25 Reuel 14.13 Iohn 19.30 Actes 24.14 Psal. 119.105 Psal. 19.7.8.9.10.11 Wisd. 10.21 Iohn 5.39 Actes 17.11 August de doctr christia lib. 1. cap. 37. Hieron aduer error Iohan. Hierosolymitani Cyprian in Symbo expositio Erasmus in Symbolum cathechesis 4. In eodeÌ„ loco August de â—â—de Symbo cap. 5. Phil. 2. â— Hieron iâ— psal 98. August in epist. 157. Rom. 3.21 Hiero. in Matth. 23. Iohn 5 3â— Actes 17 1â— â–ª Psal. 16.10 Zach. 9.11 Actes 2.31 1. Peter 3.19 Leui. 21.1.11 Num. 9.10 Gen. 46.26 Actes 2.41 1. Pet. 3.20 Rom. 13.1 â—ob 19.20 Cypr. in Symbo Zach. 9.11 Gen. 17.9 August de ciuit dei lib. 18. cap. 35. Psal. 59.2 Zach. 9.12 Hiero. in Epist. ad Gala. cap. 1. 2. Peter 1.20 Act. 2.30 Act. 2.30 31 32 Hieron in Esai cap. 9. August in lib. 83. questio quest 64. Theodo Beza in Act. 2. In â—odeÌ„ loco August de tempore Serm. 145. 1. Peter 3.18.19 Erasmus is very corrupt vpon this place but it seemeth that he well vnderstandeth it not for he saith in the margene it is locus durâ—s Caluin in com 1. Pet. 3. 2. Cor. 13.4 Coloss. 2.12 Rom. 8.11 The Greke worde signifieth an high towre where watche is kept Gen. 6.3 Isaiah 42.7 Isaiah 29.9 Gala. 4.3.23 Luk. 4.18 Isa. 61.1 1. Pet. 4.6 2. Peter 2. â— Matth. 28.19 Mark. 16.15 2. Peter 2.5 Franciscus Titlemanus Hesselensis in 1. Peter 3. Rom. 2.4 2. Peter 3.15 1. Pet. 3.18.19 Gen. 6.3 2. Pet. 2.5 Eccle. 2.20.21 Matt. 10.20 Luk. 10.16 Matt. 10.40 Iohn 13.20 Matth. 24.37.38.39.42.44 Luk. 17.26 Mark. 13.33 1. Cor. 10.11 Erasmus in Symbolum In eodeÌ„ loâ—â— Hebr. 13.8 Iohn 8.58 Ephe 2.20.21.22 1. Cor. 3.11 Reuel 1.11 2. Pet. 1.21 1. Peter 3.19 Iohn 15.26 cap. 16.7.8.13 Ioel. 2.12.13 Matth. 3.3 cap. 28.19 Mark. 16.15 Actes 2.36.37.38.39.40.41 Rom. 1.16 1. Cor. 18. 2. Cor. 3.6 Hylarius lib. 4. de Trinita Erasmus in Symbol In eodeÌ„ loco Richard. Pampolitanus in Symbo Luk. 16.26 Wisd. 3.10 Deut. 33.3 wisd 3.1.2.3.4 Rom. 8.1 Luk. 23 4â— Hebr. 11.6 1. Cor. 10.3.4 Leo de nattitate domi Serm. 3. August in Ioh. tract 26. August de utilitate poeniton cap. 1. Chrisost. in LucaÌ„ Tom. 6. Hom. 15. Gen. 3.15 Gen. 15.4 cap. 17.7.8.9.10 2. Sam. 7.12.13 14.15.16 Galat. 3.6 Eccle. 4.4 Reuel 13.8 Hebr. 13.8 Iohn 8.56 Hebr. 11.10 Galat. 4.4 Psal. 90.4 2. Peter 3.8 August in lib. qustio 85. quest 15.16 In lib. de predestinatione gratia cap. 5. In lib. de triplici habitaculo cap. 5. Luk. 16.22 Wisd. 3.10 cap. 5.2 Matth 25 4â— August de verbis Apost Serm. 18. Luk. 23. 42 43 46 53 Iohn 17.24 1. Iohn 4.29 Deut. 4.37 Rom. 5.8 Iohn 3.16 The efficieÌ„t The materiall The formall The finall cause of our saluation 1. Peter 1.2 August in Ioh. tract 110. Rom. 5.8 Rom. 5.8 2. Tim. 4.3 â— Iude. 1.10 Rom. 10.32 August in Ioh. tract 12. and in psal 137. Psal. 51.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.13.14 Isaiah 53.3.4.5.6 Matth. 8.17 1. Peter 2.21.22.23.24 â— Peter 3.18 Luk. 22.44 Psal. 22.2 Matt. 27.46 1. Tim. 6.13 Hebr. 2.7 Cap. 4.15 Luk. 1.31.32 Cap. 2.11 Matth. 1.21 Cap. 26.38 Iohn 19.40.41.42 Cap. 27.17 Cap. 21.1 Luk. 24.51 Actes 1.9 Rom. 8.34 Hebr. 7.25 1. Tim. 5.12 Rom. 6.16 2. Peter 2.19 Matth. 10.33 Luk. 9.62 2. Peter 2.15 Hebr. 6.4 Cap. 10.26 Ephe. 4.5.6.7 2. Sam. 15.1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8 Psa. 21.11.12 Prou. 21.29 Psal. 121.5.6.7.8 Psal. 127..1 Psal. 118.10 Eccle. 2.16 Iohn 14.24 Deut.
asmuche as we haue soules fastened vnto our bodies therfore God geueth vs thynges spirituall vnder thinges visible Sainct Augustine to put all out of doubte that we eate not grosly nor drynke verily or carnally the body and blood of Christe as the Papiste affirmeth saith these wordes Non hoc corpus quod videtâ—s manducaturi estis bibiturs illud sanguinem quem fusuri sunt qui me cruciâ—igent Sacramentum aliquod vobis commendaui That is to saie Ye shal not eate this body that ye sâ—e mee to haue nor yet shal ye drinke that blod whiche they shall shed that crucifie mee it is a sacrament that I geue or deliuer vnto you therefore hee â—aide in his tracâ—es vppon Iohn Aliud est sacramentum aliud res sacramenti The sacrament is one thyng and the thyng of the sacrament is another Wherefore he geueth this lesson to all saiyng In sacramentis videndum est no quid sint sed quid significent In the sacramentes wee maie not looke what they are but what they doe signifie Nowe all men may see howe shamefully the papistes doe belye vs saying and writyng that we do make of the Sacrament but a bare figure and signe For this is our faith and beléefe that if a man doth truely examine himself that is to say ponder weigh and consider with his owne mynde whether he acknowledgeth him selfe to be a sinner or not and whether he hath an inwarde gréefe and an vnfayned repentaunce or sorow for his sinnes whether he hath forgiuen from the bottome of his heart all his enimies and reconciled him selfe vnto them that he hath offended whether he be determined to restore againe vnto his neighbour al that he hath taken away from him wrongfully by any maner of meanes whether he be mynded for the loue that he beareth vnto God to liue afterwardes vertuously according to his holy coÌ„maundements forsaking sinne and the worlde but aboue all thinges whether he hath a true faith in the mercie of God and in the name of his sonne Iesu Christ and whether he beleueth stedfastly that Iesus Christe is his only sauiour redéemer intercessour aduocate and mediatour betwixt God and him finally whether he hath a desire to liue and dye in the onely doctrine of Christ forsaking all other false and erronious doctrines with all kinde of deuillishe superstition and idolatrie and so eate of this bread and drinke of this cup our faith I say and beléefe is that such a man doeth féede most effectuously vppon the body and blood of Christe our onely sauiour and yet it néedeth not therefore that his naturall body and blood be really present vnder the formes of bread and wine For as in the holy Sacrament of baptisme if it be duely ministred and worthely taken we receaue the holy ghost by whom we are renued or made newe creatures we obtayne frée remission forgeuenesse of our sinnes and are apparelled with Christ whom we do put on there and yet no man wyll say that the water is any of these thinges or that it is turned into them So in the holy misteries when we come worthely vnto them we are most wholsomly fed with the precious bodye and blood of our sauiour Christ yet if we shoulde say that it coulde not be doen vnlesse the bread and wine were transubstantiated into the very body and blood of Christ or except his body and blood be there really present vnder the formes of bread and wine we might moste iustely be likened vnto the Iewishe ruler and gouernour whiche thought that excepte Christ should come in his owne person his sonne could not be healed For christe our sauiour is able by the vertue of his holy institution and by the mightie workyng of his eternall spirite to doe all these thinges as he sitteth on the right hande of his father And for the obiections that some make out of Chrisostome where he saieth doest thou see bread doest thou see wine doe they auoyde beneath as other meates doe God forbid think not so for as waxe if it be put into the fire it is made like the fire no substaunce remainyng nothyng is lefte so here also thinke thou that the misteries be consumed by the substaunce of the body they are easyly aunswered and yet our papistes thinke by these wordes of Chrisostome that they haue the conquest because he saith that we sée no bread nor wine but as waxe in the fire they be consumed to nothing so that no substaunce remayneth If thei had rehearsed no more but the very next sentence that foloweth in Chrisostome which craftyly and deuillishly they leaue out the meanyng of the Doctour would easyly haue appeared which wordes that folowe are these Wherfore saith he when you come to these misteries do not thinke that you receaue by a man the bodye of Christe but that with tonges ye receaue fire by the Angels Seraphin Thinke that the blood of saluation floweth out of the pure and godly side of Christ and so comming to it receaue it with pure lippes casting downe your eyes liftyng vp your mindes mournyng priuily without speache and reioysing in our heartes Nowe if the papistes wyll gather of the wordes by them recited that there is neither bread nor wine in the Sacrament then we may aswel gather of the wordes that folowe that there is neither Priest nor Christes body For as in the former sentence Chrisostome saieth that we maye not thinke that we see bread and wine so in the seconde sentence he saith that we may not thinke that we receaue the body of Christ of the priestes handes Nowe if vpon the seconde sentence the papistes will say it can not be truely gathered that in the holy coÌ„munion there is not the body of Christe ministred by the Priest then must they confesse also that it can not be well and truely gathered vpon the first sentence that there is no bread nor wine But all these thynges be together in the holy Communion Christ hym selfe spiritually eaten and drunken and norishyng the right beléeuers the bread and wine as a sacrament declaryng the same and the priest as a minister thereof wherfore Chrisostome meant not absolutely to deny that there is bread and wine or to deny vtterly the Priest and the body of Christe to be there But his intent was to drawe our myndes vp towards heauen that we should not consider so much the bread wine Priest and body of Christe as we should consider his diuinitie holy spirite geuen vnto vs to our eternall saluation And therefore in the same place he vseth so many tymes these wordes Thinke and Thinke not willyng vs by these wordes that we should not fixe or set our thoughtes and mindes vpon bread wine Priest nor Christes body but to lift vp our heartes higher vnto his spirite and diuinitie without the whiche his body auaileth nothyng as he saieth hym selfe It is the spirite that geueth