grace in shamelesse lyes But heere I would beseech the diligent reader to iudge betweene vs and them indifferentlie Bellarmine the great Rabbi of the seminarie at Rome and the goâ—â—ah of that vncircumcised congregation gathereth what euer hee couldâ— find with his owne trauels or the trauels of the whole seminary which bee report serued him what euer had anye shew for his purpose Hee hath gathered together aboue a hundreth and nine places of all which I dare promise the diligent reader that hee hath not two which speaketh the thing which hee woulde haue In them all hee hath neither founde transubstantiation of the elements nor accidents without subiects nor subiects without accidentes nor the bodie of Christ rent with teeth nor that the accidentes are the outward signes in the sacrament nor that â—he bodie of Christ is at one time both in heauen and all other places where the sacrament is ministred nor any other of these new theoremes of the Romaine faith without a glose and that sometimes impertinent sometimes obscurer then the text sometimes repugnant to the text and alwayes peruerting the true sense of the author I hope that no man will count these allegationes equiualent except they proue all the theoremes and appendices of transubstantiation as cleerelye as wee haue done Notwithstanding whate uer they or we can doe in this kinde is no proofe of the truthe but a witnes of the consent of tymes Nowe in this place followeth next to be considered howe this monstrouse opinion of transubstantiation began to insinuate it self into the heartes of men in the ages following for from this time forth it beganne dailye to grow and to gather strength In the mysterie of the sacrament there is such a secrete sacred coniunction of Christs blessed flesh with the seales as we can not well vnderstaÌ„d nor is lawful for vs curiously to enquire but reuerentlye to beleeue that his bodie is the bread which came downe from heauen and giueth life vnto the worlde On Christs parte by the secret and vnseene efficacie of his diuinitie hee conuaieth him selfe into our soules to feede them vnto eternall life On our parts there is an action iointly of the soule and bodie the one receauing the elementes with the mouth of the bodie the other receauing the body and bloode of Christe bee the moâ—th of fâ—ith In this action the whole powers of the soule and body are occupied at one instant applying all the comforts of the senses to the soule The mouth tasting sweetnes presents sweetnes to the soule the stomach receauing refreshment mindeth the soule of refreshment The vitales receauing strength comfort life offers to the soule the strength comfort life that floweth from the bread of which who-so-euer eateth shall neuer hunger nor thirst againe To printe this analogie into our heartes and to lift our senses from the sensuall consideration of these present obiects to the spirituall contemplation of his absente flesh it pleased the wisdome of our Sauiour to name the figures of breade and wine his bodie and blood broken and shed for the faithfull partakers of these mysteries And that he doth not changing the substance as these men woulde haue vs weene but turning the vse of bodilie meate to present to our deepe speculation the meate that feedeth the soule to eternall life This besides the places alredie cited Theodoret about foure hundreth yeares after Christ teacheth as resolutelie as euer did either Zuinglius or Caluin his wordes ar these faithfullie translated because they are ouer long to set downe in his owne language Our Sauiour changed the names to the bodie giuing the name of the signe and to the signe giuing the name of the bodie His purpose is mantfest for he would haue them who did participate his diuine mysterie to haue no eye to the thing which they sawe but bee changing the names to appreheÌ„d the change made be grace For calling his naturall bodie bread meate and calling him self a vine hee honoured the signes with the names of his bodie and blood not changing their natures but adding grace to nature This example of our Sauiour all true preachers in all ages who laboured to instruct the heartes of men in these mysteries followed when they sawe the mindes baselye contented with the externall action manie tymes they amplifyed the presence of Christe with hyperbolicall argumentes of his diuine power to lift the heart from the elements to the thing presented be the elements For as mariners betweene two dangers in the seas beareth of that which they moste feare towardes that which they leaste suspect euen so these teachers drew the people froÌ„ the elements subiect to the sense towards a bodely presence contrarie to sense neuer surmizing that men woulde bee so credulouse as to take such hyperbolical amplificationes for simple suthes The deuill who hath alwaies beene reddie of good to take occasions of ill watered this weede with all helpes Firste hee bred in the heartes of men such a colde regarde of these holye mysteries that few resorted to them as it appeareth be the grieuous complaintes of the fathers of that age and lawes made be sundrie emperours to mende that fault Be this meanes he so incensed the harts of them who had the haÌ„dling of them yâ— no man thoght his eloqueÌ„ce sufâ—icieÌ„t to amplify the preseÌ„ce of Christ in the sacrament with high speeches to imprint a reverent estimatioÌ„ of these sacred mysteries in the dull heartes of the people This continued well nye three hundreth yeares without suspition of ill With the opinion of a corporall presence the deuil drew in be little and little that the verie bodie of Christ offered to the father in the masse was a sacrifice propitiatorie for the quick dead and the people as wee are all borne to superstition and idolatrie imbraced that more gredelie then any truth The Clargie spying the masses to become good marchandise and hopeing for greate cheates to the kitcâ—in bee that market put to their shoulders lifted the sacrifice aboue the sacrament So this weede grewe dailie as weedes commonly growes fastest till few could find the truth that onely such as diligently sifted the Scripturs and fathers of former times It was long before men grew so brasen faced as to denye the figure in the words of the institution The first that wee reade to haue commed so farre was Damascene about the yeare eight hundreth After him followed Pas casius and Theophylact wel nye a hundreth yeares These men broke the yce to them that followed but pearsed not into the depth of this diuinitie Transubstantiation of the elements accidents without subiects and subiects without accideÌ„tâ— the monstruous brude of the Romane Church were not yet clecked She had not yet sit vpon that egge neither was these men yet so well resolued as vpon all occasions to sing one song They disseÌ„ted in many things from them that followed and in sundry thinges from themselues At
beleeuâ— that if GOD had showen so notable a iudgment on Iohn Knoxe in the pulpite and presence of such a frequent assemblie as vseth to be in the Church of Edinburgh the people woulde not haue onely abhorred his doctrine but stoned him selfe out of the towne Or can anye man that hath a mans harte that is reason and vnderstanding beleeue that if Iohn Caluin had vsed that manifest iuglarie which ye are not ashamed to publish in the face of the Sun in the congregation at Geneua that that people who found the moyen in a priuate grudge to banish him their towne for certaine yeares would not on such a notorious cause as that haue either stoned him in the streetes or expelled him at the leaste with shame for euer But this is a note of gods iudgment that hee hath so besotted your senses that you haue not the wittes to caste a probable collour vpon your lyes This was an other cause that made me leaue my purpose to confute your booke For if I had gone fordward I sawe that I was to meete with many slanders which was not worth the hearing nor reading and needed no other to confute them then the mouth that toulde them if the hearer had but halfe a nose to smell alye as whote as a foxe Yet hauing spent many dayes and nights in gathering materialles to that worke I resolued not to lose them but with some trauell contriued them in this forme which you see hoping that the power of reason and truth might not onelie staye such from that erroure as your sectaries had made to doubt but also make you and them to doubt of that which you teach so confidently if you would read as aduisedly as you haue bequeathed your selfe vnconsideratlye to that abhomination And heare I charge you in the bowels and mercies of lesus Christ as you will answere in the great daye of the Lorde if you doubt indeed which is not likely for anye matter that wee can see in your bookes to haue turned you or left the truth for any particular to open your eyes againe to the light and to returne to the grace from which you are fallen I haue heere deduced the truth of this question whereon standeth the foundatioÌ„ of the Romane religion from Christ to our owne times I haue taken this paines partlie for our people partelye for you to whome I wishe the good that a Scholar should to his maister And therefore I praye you as you loue to liue for euer to leaue the way of death euerlasting Otherwayes in the court of conscience where truth will be reuealed the popes indulgence will doe no good I must beare witnesse of your wilfulnes and proude contempt of the reuealed truthe The Lorde giue you a harte to loue him better then men Yours if you be Christes ALEXANDER HVME The diduction from the fountaine OVR Lord and maister Iesus Christe that night that hee was betrayed into the hands of the highe preiste to continue in his Church a solemne remembrance of his blessed passion which hee was shortly to suffer instituted at his last supper with his disciples after that hee had finished the lawe of the pascall Lamb in place there of a newe Sacrament in the Elementes of Breade and Wine In this and with this after an vnspeakable maner be a secret diuine efficacie hee deliuered also to their Faith his precious Bodie and Blood to vnite them and al that should succeede them to be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh to nourish their soules vnto eternal life In this mystery there is such a secret coÌ„iunctioÌ„ betweene the elements and his precious flesh that in al ages it hath exercised the hearts and minds of men in the deep contemplation thereof some to life and some to eternall death and condemnation For seeing the glorie and excellencie of our omnipotent God consisteth in the highest perfection of mercie and iustice his infinite wisdome hath tempered his worde and Sacraments to minister matter to both Therefore betweene his elect whose heartes he illuminates with the light of his spirite and those whome he hath left to the iudgment of their owne fenses and illusions of errour there hath risen out of this cloude greate stormes to exercise his Church that it might not lye sleeping in the sonne of securitie It is fortie yeares and morâ— since the Lordâ— beganne to sowe in this countrie being then ouerwhelmed in the mists of ignorance the seede of his eternall trueth Now seeing our vnthankfulnes hee suffereth the enemie to repaire home againe and to sowe darnel in his haruest He is busie and we are secure Wherefore to meete his practises and to arme the simple against his sophismes I haue chosen this argument of reall presence as of greatest importance to confute all papistrie For if the naturall bodie of our Sauiour is not in the sacrament as they call it of the altare they haue no sacrifice for the quick and deade and wanting that their market of masses this fiue hundreth yeares hath beene a faire of false wares In this disputation I will vse no rethoricall colloures to fill mens eareâ— with wordes but shortely will ayme my arguments to the poynt hoping that in all sounde iudgementes weight of reason will be more effectuall then the ratling sound of emptie words I will deduce the truthe of this poynte out of the well of truth and then will proue the Church to haue receiued it from Christ and his Apostles and notwithstanding the craft and crueltie of the enemie to haue kept it sincere and pure to our times Lord shew to me the the light of thy truth put weight in my wordes and force in may arguments to beare thy truth through the middest of thy enemies and to confounde the wisdome of the wise Our Lord and Sauiour at the institution of this Sacrament tooke breade and after that hee had giuen thankes broke it and gaue it to his disciples saying Thus is my body which is broken for you this doe ye in remembrance of me The wordes this is my bodye the Church of Roome taketh literallie â—ffirming that the breade is turned into the very natural reall body of christ hauing no nature thereof but collour sauour taste and other inseparable accidents Wee on the other side take them figuratiuelie denying that there is anye change of the substance but that the bread remaineth bread representing to our soules the bodie of Christ to feede our soules to eternall life As for the wordes them selues without other inforcements they are capable of both senses we grant that if both scripture nature did not denye they maye be taken literallie Againe that they may be taken figuratiuely if the peruersnesse of the aduersarie will not grant other scripturs in the same forme will easilie conuince He that saide of the bread This is my bodie saide likewise of him selfe I am a vine I am a doore and Paull saith the rock vvas Christe But
saieth Athanasius that hee ment not that they should eate his very bodie he telleth them that it shuld returne to heauen againe and that they should not haue it to eate Which thing August setteth down most plainely answering the same Capernaites Si ergo videritis filium homiâ—is ascendentem vbi erat Prius quid est hoc hinc apparet vnde fuerant scandalizati Illi enim put auerunt illum erogatâ—rum corpus suumâ—ille autem dixit se ascensurum in coelum vâ—ique integrum Cum videritis filium hominis ascendentem vbi fuerit prius certe vel tunc videbitis quia non eo modo quo putatis erogat corpus suum Certe vel tum intelligetis quod gratia eius non absumitur morsibus That is if you see the sonne of man ascending where he was before What is that heerof appeareth the ground of their offence For they thought that hee would exhibite to them his owne bodie But he telleth them that hee was to goe whole to heauen as if he woulde saye when you see the sonne of man ascending where hee was before then shall you see that he will not so bestowe his bodie as you thinke then shall you vnderstand that his grace can not bee consumed peecemaall or bit and bit This is that Christ him self teacheth The poore shall you haue alwaies but me you shall not haue alwayes that which Peter teacheth That the heauens must hould him while al things be restored This is that which our beleefe teacheth That he sitteth at the right â—and of his father Heere their distinction of his visible and vnuisible presence is a dreg of mans braine Christ him self neuer taught vs of that vnuisible preseÌ„ce And wee will not learne such deep mysteries at men who may deceaue and be disceaued that Christ can doe it we denyâ— not but that he will doe it we will beleeue no man but him self of whome we are sure that he will not lye Clemens Alexandrinus saith Duplex est sanguis domini alter carnalis quo redemptiâ— sumus alter spiritualis quo uncti sumus Et hoc est bibere Iesu sanguinem participem esse in corruptionis domini There is two sortes of the Lordes blood the one carnal where with we are redemed the other spirituall wherewith wee are anointed To drinke the Lords blood is to bee partaker of his puritie and incorruption Cirill saith Num humanae carnis coÌ„mestioneÌ„ hoc nostrum sacramentuÌ„ pronuncias et ad crassas cogitationes vrges irreligiose mentes â—orum qui crediderunt Et attentas tu humanis rationibus tractare ea quâ— sola et purafide accipiuntur Callest thou our Sacrament caniball barbaritie and presest irreligiouslie the minds of them that beleeue to grosse thoughts and aseyes thou to handle that with humaine reason which is receaued by pure faith onely Ambrose saith Fide tangitur Christus â—ide videtur non tangitur Corpore non oculis comprehenditur Christ is touched be faith and seene be faith Hee is not handled with the handes nor seene with the eies August saith Dominus dixit se panem qui descendit de câ—lo hortans vt credamus in illum hoc est manducare panem vivum qui credit in illum manducat The Lorde saide that he is the bread which came downe from heauen exhorting vs to beleeue in him for that is to eate the breade of life that came downe from heâ—uen He that beleâ—ueth in him eateth him Bee these places you see that to eate Christ is to beleeue in Christ and pertake his puritie and that hee is eaten onely be faith not with the teethe Theodoret saith Christus naturam panis non mutat sed naturae addit gratiam Christe changeth not the nature of the breade but to nature addeth grace And againe Post consecrationem mystica signa non exuunt naturam suam manet enum prior substantia forma et species The mysticall signes after consecration puteth not of there owne nature for the former substance forme and shape abideth Ambrose saith Sunt que eraut et sn aliud commutantur they are the same thing they were before that is breade and wine and are turned to on other that is turned to an other vse to present to vs the bodie and bloode of our Sauiour to feede our soules spirituallie Gelasius saith in sacramento manet panis et vini substantia In the sacramentes the substance of breade and wine remaineth Irenaeus saithâ— Quemadmodum qui est aterra panis percipiens vocationem domini iam non est communis panis sed eiu haristia ex duabus rebus constans terrena et celestâ— sic et corpora nostra percipientia cucharistiam iam non sunt corruptibilâ—a spem resurrectionis habentia As the breade growing out of the earth receauing the Lords institution is no more common breade but the eucharist consisting of two things the one earthlie the other heauenly So our bodies receauing the eucharist are no more corruptible hauing hope to rise againe Be these fathers it is cleere that the substance of the bread abideth and that the eucharist that is the communion of thankes giueing consisteth of an earthlie and a heauenly thing To conclud this matter Chrysostom saith in Vasis sanctificatis non ipsum corpus Christiest sed mysterium eius continetur In the sacred vessels the verie bodye of Christ is not but a mistery thereof And August saith more peremptorily Non hoc corpus quod videtis manducaturi estis non bibituri sanguinem quem fusuri sunt qui me crucifigent sed sacramentum vobis aliquod commendaui You are not to eate the bodie which you see nor to drinke the blood which they are to shed who will crucifie me But I commended a certaine mysterie to you c. In these places which I haue quoted you haue plainely without any glosse al that we teach and beleeue of this sacrament That the words of the institution are figuratiue That the action of eating and drinking these mysteries is spirituall That the bodie of Christe is receaued bâ— faith not be the mouth That the wordes of the institution are to bee taken literallie That the body of Christe which suffered for our sinnes is in heauen not in the SacrameÌ„t That to eat the flesh of Christ is to beleeue in him That the substance of the breade and wine abideth and is not transubstantiated And lastly that the body of Christ is neither in the holie vessels nor eaten be them who receaueth this sacrament All these thinges I haue heere proued I saye in plaine categoricall wordes which the aduersaries can not avoide without most odious and absurd gloses which the actours neuer knewe nor thought Yet not-withstanding they vendicat these fiue hundreth yeares as the other fiue hundreth also vntill the dayes of Berengarius and beareth the ignorant in hand that all is theirs without contradiction They haue such a confident
the answere is cleare and reddie Christes flesh is the meare of the soule and not of the bodie of the minde and not of the mouth It is eaten be hearing chawed bee vnderstanding and digested bee faith saith Tertullian This our Sauiour teacheth him selfe who knew it better then the pope without sauing his holinesse and all the Iesuites to helpe him I am the breade of life saith he he that commeth to me shall not hunger and hee that beleeueth in me shall neuer thirst Out of which words this argument floweth To come to Christ and beleeue in him is to eate the breade of life that thou neuer hunger nor thirste againe But to come to Christ and beleeue in him is not to eate with thy tethe the reall flesh of Christ which was borne of the Virgine Marie Ergo to eate the reall flesh of Crhiste which was borne of the Virgine Marie with thy teeâ—hâ— is not to eate the bread of life that thou neuer huÌ„ger nor thirst a gain And a little after he that beleeueth in me hath euerlasting life I am the bread of life Which Syllogisme adding the proposition may haue this forme Whosoeuer beleeueth in the breade of life hath euerlasting life But I am the breade of life Ergo Whosoeuer beleeueth in me hath euerlasting life where you â—ee beleeuing for eating But that which followeth in the rebuke of them who tooke him to speake of a carnall and fleshlie eating is most pregnant It is the spirit which quickneth the flesh profiteth no thing the wordes that I speake are spirit and truth That is to saye it is the spiritual eating of my flesh that quickneth and giueth life the fleshlye and carnal eating of it can doe you no good For my wordes are spirituâ—ll and liuelie that is effectual to life In all that cap. he that will marke attentiuely shal finde that whole discourse with the câ—pernaites to be spiritual and the difference betweene them and him to bee their carnall concept of his spirituall wordes Hee shall finde the meate spirituall the life that it feedeth spirituall and the teethe that eateth spirituall There he shall finde that hee that eateeth not his flesh hath no life in him that is no spirituall life and hee that beleeueth in him hath eternall life that is to eate the breade of life that came downe from heauen and giueth life vnto the worlde Thirdlye Maister Rainolds againste Maister Robert Bruce reasoneth thus Christes bodie is there present where it is broken But it is broken in the sacrament Ergo it is present in the Sacrament To the maiore we answere that it is present in the Sacrament as it is broken in the Sacrament But it is broken onely in a figure and therefore is present onely in a figure But to the faithfull Christ presents in deede bee a divine communication with the Sacrament his verie bodie to feede the soule Bvt if he wer bodily in the Sacrament then the wicked would also participate his bodie which thing Christ himselfe denieth in Ioan. c. 6. v. 56 Fourthly the same man in the same place reasoneth out of the wordes of Moses concerning the olde couenante and the wordes of Christe concerning the newe thus That whereof Christe spoke is the bloode of the newe TestameÌ„t as â— whereof Moses spoke was the blood of the olde But yâ— whereof Moses spake was the verie bloode of the olde Testament Ergo that whereof Christe spoke was the verie bloode of the newe Testament Of this argument we deny the minor The blood of both couenants waâ— one the bloode of Christ Iesus who made the vnion in the olde Lawe betweene god them maketh the vnion in the new Testament betweene god and vs. The blood of beâ—es in the olde testameÌ„t was not the very blood of the covenant And therefore this man hath founde a knife to cut his owne throate The wine of the newe Testament is the bloode of the newe couenant as the bloode ofâ— beues and sheepe was the bloode of the olde couenant But the bloode of beues and sheepe was not the very blood of the olde couenant but a figure thereof Ergo the wine in the new Testament was not the very blood of the couenant but a figure thereof Lastly they cast vp to vs incredulity and not beleeuing the omnipotencie of Christ. They beare the worlde in hande that wee denying Christe to turne the bread into his bodie are more incredilous then sathâ—n who beleeued that he coulde make breade of stones To cast this sweete simile into the teethe that it came from These men are as captious as the devill Hee reasoned a potentiae ad actum If thou arte the Sonne of GOD command that these stones bee made breade they follow the same â—rade hee was the sonne of God Ergo he changed the breade into his flesh The question is not heare what Christ could doe but what he would doe We know and confesse as wel as they that Christ can doe what he will but will not doe all that he can To proue that Christs will was to doe a thing as I haue said so contrarious to nature so refuted bee sense it behooueth the testimonie to be without exception That Christ was borne of a virgine that he walked on the waters that hee turned water into wine these are the exemples of their induction the spirit of truth that cannot lye hath tâ—stified in plaine tearmes If that spirit had testified as plainely that in his last Supper hee turned the breade into his bodie and left nothing to our taste but accidents we should beleeue this as well as that and bee Gods good helpe haue stoode as surely to it as all the Iesuites since the first Iesuit Ignatius Laiola But seeing these proofes are noâ— thing but figured scriptures turned to their naked skinne wee hope that all Christians will abhore that vgly sinne to rend with mercilesse teethe his flesh that hath borne the horrour of hell â—o purchase mercie to vs. Heare they woulde faine buckle on vs an absurditie out of the words of the institution which we may not passe by In the wordeâ— This is my body which was broken for you The prononne this demonstrateth that which was broken for the sinnes of the elect But in our opinidion the pronoune this demonstrateth the breade Whereof say they it will follow that breade was broken for the sinnes of the elect Firste the maiore is not true for the pronoune this demonstrates not the thing but the figure of the thing tha was broken for the elect Secondly there is a parte of the maiore left out of the conclusion which should haue been expresseâ— Ergo the bread is the bodie which was broken for yâ— elect which conclusion is true in a figure And heare it is a world to see the blindnesse of these men for of their liâ—erall sense this absurditie will followe without a warde The pronoune
nature I am persuaded that these men will not saye that the substance of the water is also changed in Baptisme into the bloode of Christ how-be-it the reason be as good to saye this as that Bee these examples I woulde haue the circumspect reader warned that when he readeth in any of the fathers that the nature of the breade is changed in the Sacrament hee take it not for substance alwayes I will giue the an example or two of the moste peremptorie places that these men hath and which maye begâ—â—le a wise and circumspect reader Harding against Iewell alleadges out of Câ—prian these wordes Panis iste quem dominus discipulis porrigebat non effigiâ— sed natura mutatus omnipotentia verbi factus est caro This breade which the Lord gaue to his disciples changed not in shawe but in nature be the omnipotencie of the worde was made breade Where firste note that hee calleth it breade which hee gaue his disciples which thing as this day were heresie in Rome Secondly that hee saith not the substance of the bread is changed but the nature of it which being created to feede the bodye of man to temporall life is now changed be the omnipotencie of the worde that is Christ to feede the soule to eternall life Thirdelye where hee saieth the breade was made flesh it proues not a chaÌ„ging of the one substance into the other For Iohn saith of the sonne of God that the worde was made flesh which not-withstanding was not turned into flesh Lastly the hyperbole of the omnipotencie of the worde sundrie of the fathers vseth of the water in Baptisine which abideth water still and is not changed into the blood of Christ. Beda saith Panis et vini creatura in sacramentum â—arnis et sanguinis Christi ineff abili spiritus sanctificatione transfâ—rtur The creature of breade and wine be the vnspeakable sanctification of the spirite is translated to the Sacrament of Christes bodie and bloode Where you see as hyperbolicall wordes not to change the breade and wine into the bodie and blood of Christ but into the Sacrament of his bodie and blood Maister William Rainold againste Maister Robert Bruce alleadgeth two places out of Ambrose which being weighed in these confiderations will proue no transubstantiation Ambrose comparing the efficacie of Christes wordes with the words of Elias at laste concludeth if his wordes were of such force that they caused fire to come downe from heauen shall not Christes speach be of sufficient force to alter the nature of the elements First the Latine worde which hee interpreteth nature is species elementorum The shapes of the elements which it is certaine to the sense remaineth vnchanged and so the wordes beareth a manifest hyperbole It is true that Ambrose in that place vseth sundry high amplifications not to persuade the breade to be transubstantiated into the essentiall bodie of Iesus Christ but from the authoritye and power of the consecratoure to settle into the heartes of men a dreadefull account of the consecration That this is his drift it is plaine in the same place Where he saith ante benedictionem rerborum coelestium alia species nominatur post consecrationem corpus Christi significatur Before the celestiall blessing an other forme is named after consecration Christs body is signifyed saith hee not in deede transubstantiated For that which doth signifie his bodie can not be the same thing which it signifieth In the other place Ambrose teacheth that the consecration is made bee the wordes of Christe the selfe same whereby all things were created and after a long induction concludeth it was not the body but breade before secration but after when Christs words came there to then was it the bodie of Christ. and addeth thou seest then how many wayes the speach of Christe is able to change all thinges This long induction of Christes power as I haue saide is to noe other ende but bee the powerful consecration of the elements to settle a resolute persuasion in our heartes of Christs presence which is the vnseene subiect of our faith That Ambrose knewe not transubstantiation of the elementes it is plaine in that same cap also Where he saith Si tantavis in sermone domini fuit vt inciperentesse quae non â—rant quanto magis operatorius est vt sinâ— quae erant et in aliud commutentur If there was such power in the worde of the Lorde to make thinges beginne to bee that they were not howe much more powerfull is it to make thinges byde that which they were before and to be changed into an other Where note that he saith the bread and wine abideth the thinge which they were that is breade and wine which these men denieth And a little after warde hee saith similitudinem pretiosi sanguinis bibis Thou drinkest the lâ—kenesse of that precious bloode In the cap. following also hee calleth it figura corporis et sanguinis A figure of the bodie and bloode of our Sauiour Iesus Christe If Ambrose had thought the elementes of breade and wine to be the essentiall and reall body of Christ hee woulde neuer haue called them similitudes and figures thereof If these men woulde buckle that opinion on Ambrose or anye other father let them produce him in his monstruous coloures of accidents without their naturall subiects and subiectes without their naturall accidents and substance changed into substaÌ„ce For we are surely persuaded that transubstantiation was neuer beleeued before these strange theoremes were vniuersallie receaued And if they cannot find these theoremes which muste haue rung in all the pulpits and schooles if that doctrine had beene receaued before the counsell of Rome which condemned Berengarius let them pardon vs to thinke that that doctrine was not till theÌ„ knowne in the own complexion To conclude this matter of the fathers it is no wonder that these men presumâ—â—g on the ignorance of their readers draw the amplifications of the fathers to their bent seeing they blush not to take Calvin and Maister Robert Bruce whome all men knoweth to dissent from them at such stottes Maister Rainolds quoteth out of Caluines institutiâ—ns foure or fiue places which if hee had written a thousand yeares before would make a greater shew for their transubstantiation then anye thinge that father Robert Bellarmine hath founde among all the fathers and more pregnant then these places which I haue answered of Cyprian and Ambrose The firste is in the mysterie of the Supper saieth Caluin Christ that is Christs bodie and blood be the signes of bread and wine is truly deliuered vnto vs. And al-be-it it may seeme incredible that in such distance of places he shoulde passe downe to vs Yet let vs remember howe farre his power exceedeth our sense and that our minde cannot comprehend let our faith conceaue Againe in his holy supper hee willeth me vnder the symboles of breade and wine to take eate and drinke his bodie and
The same waye he misshapeth the argument of the Actes but of that alredie Lastly hee answereth three places of Iohn with an answere and that as wee saye hough inoughe The firste place is I leaue the worlde and goe to my father The second is I am no more in the worlde The thirde is I goe to my father and will praye â—im to send an other comforter to abide with you All this he answereth that Christ be the worlde meaneth his conuersation in the worlde with men to giue or take anye bodily helpe as hee did before his paâ—sion It is true that be the world hee maye meane that but that hee meaneth that onely is as vntrue For hee left the worlde as hee went to his father so the text speaketh plainlye But hee went to his father body and soule Ergo hee left the worlde and as hee speaketh in the second place he is no more in the world bodie and soule The last place yealdeth an other argument which how-be-it he is answered sufficientlye yet I can not omitt Christ going to his father did not that in his humanitie which hee sent the other comforter to doe But hee sent the other comforter to abide with them for euer Ergo Christe in his manhoode bideth not with them that is with his Church for euer â— which he most needes doe if he were daylye receaued in the Sacrament The 19. cap. he beginneth with a great contempt of the arguments which he is to deall with Calling them Iudaicall heritical founded vpon manifest lyes some derogatorie to Christs glorie and all without pith or power The peeuish ignorance whereof as hee speaketh in the former chap. he imputes to Maister Robert as the onelie author of them M. Robert is better knowne amongst them to whom I write then that the lauishing tongue of a railing Romane priest whose mouth runnes ouer with the venome of the whoores câ—ppe can impaire an hair-breadth of his name As for the arguments which hee in spyte calleth peeuish there is in them more quicknesse and sound pith to beare the conclusion through all the Popes seminaries than there is colour of probabilitie in all Maister Reinolds booke à capite ad calcem that is from the first word before to the last word for euer But to the purpose The first is Of an vnseene vnheard â—orporall presence no spirituall effect can flowe for that is Maister Rob. meaning But the effect of the sacrameÌ„t is spiritual Ergo the effect of the sacrament can not flowe from an vnseene vnheard corporall presence This argument is in festino in the second figure so the maior and the minor this Priest lyke a Doctour of the Popes divinity makes no answere The conclusion he condem neth of Iudaisme as making as stronglie against the incarnation death and passion of our Sauiour I would rather there were neither Pope nor Cardinal in the world then that were true Christ came in the flesh to doe a bodely work not onely a spirituall To performe the law to plant the gospell to suffer death and at a worde to offer sacrifice after the order of melchisedech were works to be performed in our flesh And so it was of necessitie that he tooke our flesh subiect to iniuries sicknesse death and all the illes that hell and deathe coulde inflict But Christe in the Sacrament hath no bodelie work to doe and therefore needeth no bodie in the Sacrament to effect the whole worke of the Sacrament This argument for as peuish and pithlesse as it pleased Maister Rainoldes to call it let him doe what hee can will leaue noe roume in the Sacrament for Christs reall bodie The second is that if the breade and wine are changed into the bodie and bloode of Christe there remaineth noe signe of feeding and nourishing which is a thing necessarie to the essence of a Sacrament This argument hee calleth false in euerie paâ—te and parcell thereof and flat repugnante to the firste And why for-soothe because if Christs corporall presence can not worke a spirituall effect what neede we a signe of it See the wit of a sophist Is this the sharpnes that some commendeth bee the cleane contrarie if he were present bodily wee neede noe signe of his bodie But now that he is absent in bodie the signe is giuen vs to minde vs of his bodie and the greate worke of our redemption which hee accomplished in his bodie And so the deepe contemplation of that bodie and that worke moued and wakned in vs be grace from Christ worketh in our heartes the spirituall effâ—ct of that Sacrament But saitâ— he the accidents moueth the senses and not the substance as ordinarie meate doth nourish bee meanes of the accidents And therefore accidentes are the signe in the sacrament more properlye then the substance And this hee proueth be the brasen serpent This is like the rest of it his collection is quite contrarye to his text The brasen serpent is a figure of Christe Ergo accidents is a figure of Christe without a subiect Howe so is a brasen serpent an accident No but it hath no thing of a serpent but the externall figure which is an accident Well libelled Sir William Did God ordaine that shape onely to be the figure of Christ The texte saith Moses made a serpent of brasse and set it vp for a signe not the shape of a serpent And because it hath no thing of a verie serpent but an accident will it follow that it is no thing but a bare accident Be such Logicke ye may well defende the corporal presence of Christ in the Sacrament and a greater absurditie then that if a grâ—sser and greater coulde be deuised But to Maister Robert his argumente That which can not nourish corporrallie can not bee a signâ— of spirituall nourishmente But accidentes of breade and wine â—an not nourishe corporally Ergo the â—ccidents of breade and wine can not be a signe of spirituall nourishment To this hee answereth that meates doth nourish bee meanes of accidentes But that is doubtfull and if it were certaine yet that reason can sounde to no sense but such as haue prostituted their reason to serue Antichrist Meates doth nourish be accidentes Ergo accidentes doth nourish If the Pope him selfe or the fattest Cardinall in Rome were so fed but fortie dayes hee woulde counte accidentes a warish meate He asketh Maister Robert where he findeth in all the euangelistes or the writtinges of Paule that this Sacrament was ordained to signifie spirituall nuriture which saieth hee was indeede apoynted to nourish spirituallie Heare Maister Robert asketh him againe where he readeth in the whole bodie of the Bible that this Sacramente is appoynted in deede to nourishe spirituallie As for the firste Maister Robert needeth no other proofe then the name of a Sacramente for the other I doubt me that euer Maister Rainoldes will â—inde any warrant from God and his word The thirde is if their had beene such a wonderfull