Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	body_n	soul_n	true_a	7,689	5	4.8842	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A68090	An apology or defence for the Christians of Frau[n]ce which are of the eua[n]gelicall or reformed religion for the satisfiing of such as wil not liue in peace and concord with them. Whereby the purenes of the same religion in the chiefe poyntes that are in variance, is euidently shewed, not onely by the holy scriptures, and by reason: but also by the Popes owne canons. Written to the king of Nauarre and translated out of french into English by Sir Iherom Bowes Knight.; Apologie ou défense pour les chretiens de France de la religion reformée. English	Gentillet, Innocent, ca. 1535-ca. 1595.; Bowes, Jerome, Sir, d. 1616.	1579 (1579)	STC 11742; ESTC S103023	118,829	284

their mouthes doe crash and crush betweene their teeth the very naturall body of our Sauiour And vpon this doctrine they conclude that we ought to worshippe the bread of the supper which they tearm the holy hoast Because say they it is the very body of our Lord Iesus Christ. But the Protestants allow not this Transubstantiation of the bread into flesh nor of the wine into bloud nor consequently the worshipping of thē as though Iesus Christ were personally enclosed within the compasse of the boast For they say that euery Sacrament is called a Sacrament because it is a signe of a holy thing In so much that the outward signe is to be conceiued by the eye and the thing signifyed which is inward and spirituall is to be conceiued by the mind And that therfore in the holy supper the bread and the wine are the signes which we see with our eyes receue with our mouthes but the body and the bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ be the thinges signifyed the which we comprehend and receue by the mind as true spirituall foode ordayned to feede the soule and not the body Now to receaue and eate this spirituall meate and to cause it so to disgest in our soules which are spirites as it may geue them such nourishmēt as may make them liue euerlastingly like as the food it self and our soules that receaue it are spirituall thinges so must the eating therof be spirituall also And to make this spirituall eating to become effectual we must not imagine that our soules are remoued from hence and conueyed vp to heauen nor that God leaueth his place in heauen to come downe to vs heare below for the minde of man doth wel execute his workes though the thing that it worketh vpon be farre distant from it As for example we see how it doth truely and effectually vnderstand the thinges that are farre from it by distance of place by meanes of the habilitie or power of reasoning which serueth it as an Instrument to ioyne it to the thing that it worketh vpon how farre of so euer it be by distance of place And euen as reason serueth the minde as an Instrument to couple it to the thing that it ameth at in vnderstanding euen so likewise doth faith serue the minde for an Instrument to receaue and take hold of the body and bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ in the spirituall meate drinke notwithstanding that he be in heauē on the right hand of his father from whence he will not come vntill the last day This māner of eating then which is done spiritually by the meanes of faith is no lesse reall than if it were done carnally by the mouth of the fleshly body because the spirituall actions of the minde bee no lesse reall and true than the corporall and fleshly actions of the body which are perceyued by the eyes The third difference touching the supper doth consist in the manner of receiuing it For the Catholicques I alwayes meane the scholedeuines do hold opinion that the lay people that is to saye those whiche are no priestes ought not to communicate but only with the sacrament of bread And that the priestes as beyng more worthy ought to communicate both with bread and wine And yet least the lay people should be difcontented with this partage they say that the body of Christ is not without bloud but that the bloud doth alwayes accompany the body and that so by consoquence the lay people in receiuing the sacrament of the body receiue also the sacrament of the bloud They hold opinion also that the priest ought to receiue this holy sacramēt euery day And that it is sufficiēt for the lay people to receiue it once a yeare and that it is not sufferable that they shoulde touche the sacrament with their bare handes But the Protestantes do in no wise allow such parting of it nor yet their fond shift of consequency but hold opinion that the holy sacrament as wel of the bloud as of the body of Christ ought to be distributed vnto all the faythfull without any distinction of lay people or priestes because that otherwise the supper of the Lord should not be celebrated whol but by halfedeales And therfore that it is good and necessary to receiue it as often as they may that men may be the oftner put in minde of the excellent misterye of our redemption and be made partakers of the heauenly foode whiche geueth euerlasting lyfe to our soules Likewise they say that in asmuch as Christ sayd Take ye which is referred to the hand and Eate ye which is referred to the mouth the faythful ought to receiue the Sacrament into their owne handes and the custome of the Primitiue Church was to receiue the sacrament with their owne hands as witnesseth Eusebius Thus you see in effect what the doctrine aswell of the protestantes as of the catholiques is concerning these three poyntes of the supper of our Lord whiche are in controuersie amongest them And now may a man easely iudge by comparing the one doctrine with the other which of thē doth best yeld god his due honor For if the bread were changed or transubstantiated as the Catholickes tearme it into the very body and bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ it should follow by their doctrine that he should come euery day down from heauen to be handled and eaten of a Million of Priestes and to be bruised and crushed betwixt their teeth yea and that he might also be eaten of mise and gnawen with wormes which are thinges to much against reason and too too intollerable to be heard For it were a thing very vnbeseeming the maiestie of the sonne of God to be so cōmonly conueid through the hands Mouthes and Bellies of so many Priestes full often foule and filthy both in body and soule And that his precious body should be subiect to be eaten of mice and gnawn with worms And therfore the Protestants doe best yeald Christ his due honor for that they vphold that his body is gone vp into heauen and there sitteth at the right hand of his father and that frō thence he neither doth nor will remoue vntill the last day when he shal come to iudge both the quick and the dead And therfore that our worshiping of him must be in heauen and we must lift vp ovr hartes on high and not worship him in the priests hands or in the pix Likewise they much more honor the supper of the Lord than doe the Catholicks because they doe so often celebrate the same that not by half deales but wholly vtterly abhorring the broosing and crushing of the flesh and bones of our Sauiour betwixt their teeth as a doctrine more meete for the barbarous people of America and the Canibals than for Christians Neither will they say they beleeue the contrary of that which naturall sence doth teach vs that is to say that the things which we see with our

ceremonies for the Catholicks beleue that if a childe dye before he be baptised he cannot be saued and that in case of necessity women may Baptise And they woulde haue Baptisme ministred with coniured water such as had bene kept all the yere in a vessell which they call a font within the Churche affirming that the euil sprites be coniured to go out of the bodies of the little Infants which are baptised And that they muste be held all naked ouer the fonte in the tyme of the christning and that both salte and spittle should be put into the mouthes of the babes Al which things the Protestaunts do vtterly disallow because as touching the infāts which die vnchristened if they belong to Gods election which goeth both before their natiuitye also before theyr conception they be with him and are partakers of his saluation although they die vnbaptised For Gods election cannot be disapoynted Besides this it is not their fault if they be not baptised but the negligence of their Parentes or by chaunce of soden death And as concerning women their sect and nature doth exclude them frō publick charges which onely belong vnto men And therfore are they altogether vnmeete either to preache in Churches or to Minister the Sacramentes And touching the children of Infidels it is not reasonable to receaue them into the church to be members of christ vntil they acknowledge him to bee their heade and make cnofession of their faythe and consequently be of conuenient yeares because that being borne of vnbeleuing Parents they haue no warraunt or witnes that they belong to the couenant of god Neither doe the protestantes allow the forementioned ceremonies And their reasō is for that they beleue that god is the only cause whereof and whereby we receiue the benefite of generation and the remission of originall sinne in baptim without the ayd of hallowed water or of any of the other Ceremonies Nay which more is they take it to be a defiling of the holy baptisme to adde thereunto any other ceremonies then the institution of God that it ought to be ministred purely and simply according to his ordinaunce For wee ought to doe this honour vnto God namely to beleue that whatsoeuer hee hath ordeined is perfect and that thereto there ought nothing to be added nor aught taken away And therefore it doth appeare that in this poynte of Baptisme the Doctrine of the protestantes doth much better yeelde God his due honor then doth the doctryne of the Catholickes For the Protestantes mind not to restrayne the election of God to those onely which are Baptised but doe extend it to the children of the faythfull forasmuch as it is a thing very reasonable to be beleued that if the fathers and moothers bee of the household of God their children are so likewise But the Romish Catholicks do hold on the contrary that the children whiche die before they be baptised be not of the household of God although theyr Fathers and moothers were Agayne whereas the Catholickes enable women to baptise which they call christening in doing wherof they committe vnto them one of the chiefe charges in gods house to wit the ministring of the sacrament wherby we be graffed into the bodye of Christes church and made the members of his bodye and meyny of his householde The Protestantes will not graunt to admit women into any of the publick charges in Gods household specially seeing that euen by the ciuill lawes which in that poynt agree with the law of nature women be disabled to take vpon them the executing of anye publick office euen in the houses or dominions of earthly princes Moreouer wheras the catholickes as much as in them lieth not onely receyue such into the churche by baptisme as are faythles and haue no knowledge of Christ neither they nor their Parentes but also bestow baptisme vpon bels after such a maner as they thē selues haue inuented for it The Protestantes cannot finde in their hartes to defile Gods house so much as to receiue infidels into it or to avowe those to be the mēbers of Christ who haue no fayth in them neither themselues nor their Parentes for asmuch as it were to vnseemely a thing to avow such a one for a member of a body as acknowledgeth not the heade there of Finally the Protestantes yeeld this honor vnto holy Baptisme instituted by God that they will in no wise adde any thing to it besids gods ordinaunce nor defile it with spittle oyle salt coniured water and such other Ceremonies As the Romishe Catholickes doe Besides this the word of God doth teach vs that Christ receiued little Children whiche were not Baptised and that he pronoūced of them that the kingdome of heauen doth belong vnto them and that God doth promise his blessinges vnto all the faythfull and to their children yea euen vnto the thousandth generation So as those infantes shall neuertheles be saued though they dye vnchristened seeing they be comprysed in the couenaunt of God. The same word doth also teach vs that Christ gaue commission of baptising and preaching not to the holy virgin his mother nor to any other of the women that resorted to his Sermons but to his Disciples and Apostles And therfore women ought not to take vpon them to baptise seeing that as saith the Apostle None ought to vsurpe any charge or degree of honor without lawfull calling therunto And the same word doth declare further vnto vs that those which doe not beleeue in Christ nor come of beleuing parents ought not to receaue Baptisme forasmuch as baptism is no other thing but the zeale of faith And lastly the same word of God doth teach vs that in the tyme of the Apostles Baptisme was alwayes ministred with common water That is to say without any charme or particular blessing For the Apostles and disciples of Christ did baptise men on the banckes of Riuers or in the first water that they found fit for the purpose Also it doth teach vs that God is the God of the faythful and of their Children So as little Infantes begotten and brought forth of beleuing or faythfull Parentes doe belong to God to hys couenaunt euen from their moothers womb And so by consequence their bodyes as is aforesayd cannat be possessed with ill spirites And therefore it is needles to dryue them out by coniurations as the priests of the Catholicks do Likewise the Protestantes say also that to hold the tender babes all naked ouer the font specially in winter is often time a cause of their death and that those which do practise that Ceremony be oftē guilty of murder which is forbidden by the commaundementes of god Likewise they disalow the salte the oyle the spittle and the other ceremonies aswell for that they cannot but be hurtful to the little childrē as also because they be filthy and fōde ceremonis and haue no groūd in the word of God. Also

S. Ciprian all custome although it be neuer so auncient adde receiued ought to be set aside in respect of the truth all custome which is contrarye to the truth ought to be abolished There is yet another Canon which singeth thus In vayne do they alledge custome which are ouercome by reason as though custome were of greater force then the truth Or as though in spirituall thinges we should not follow that which hath bene reuealed by the holy Ghost Certaynly it is a true thing that reason and truth are to be preferred before custome But if custome be confirmed by the truth it ought to be constātly kept and retayned There is yet another Canō which speaketh fitly of this matter takē out of S. Ciprian saying thus The custome that is crept into any place ought to be no impediment but that the truth shold be preferred and get the vpper hand for custome without truth is nothing els but a geuing of contynuaunce vnto error Wherfore let vs leaue the error follow the truth knowing that in Esdras truth getteth the vpper hand according as it is written Truth preuayleth and getteth the mastery and lyueth for euer and shall indure world without end To come to an end I wil adde this one Canon no more For I should not haue done very soone if I would rehearse all the Canones that are to purpose touching this matter And thus sayth this Canon If only Christ ought to be heard then must we not depend vpon the thinges which other men that haue been before our time haue thought meete to be done but rather vpon that which Christ hath done who is before all For we ought not to folow the custome of men but the truth of God specially seeing that he saith by the mouth of Esay the Prophet In vayn doe they honor me by teaching the commaundements and doctrines of men And in very deede this Cannon should make the whole rable of the Canonistes Decretistes Sarbonists Sophistes and others which handell the bookes of the Romish diuinity to blush for shame that they should strayne them selues to vphold the doctrines which haue bene apparātly inuented by men For this one Cannon doth arregne them and cōdemne them al in few wordes Now to come to an end of this treatise I pray the Romish Catholikes to vouchsafe to looke aduisedly into the poynes hertofore by me discussed and to examine and ponder them throughly and without passion if it be possible For in so doing I am sure that as many as haue any naturall discression in them shall find that the Religiō of the Protestants is a farre other thing then they haue hitherto taken it to be or than it hath bine borne them in hand to be And when they shall perceaue that the sayd Religion at the least is neither wicked nor hereticall nor new as euen the most simple may easely discern by the points before treated of it may be a iust occasion for them if they be not strangely bereft of their right wittes to incline to liue henceforth in peace and concord with the professors of the sayd Religion And herewithall I beseech them to haue earnest consideration of twoo thinges The one is that without a good peace and concord betwixt the Catholicks and the Protestants the state of the Realme of Fraunce will not only run wholy to ruine but also come to vtter vndoing and destruction And he that seeth not this is very grosse ignorant For Ciuill warres when they contynue do neuer bring forth other effectes than the changes and destructions of common weales vnles some good and vertuous men that are louers of the common weale doe fortune to preuent such vnhappy and euil destinies by procuring some good and reasonable pacification as the histories do yeald vs infinite examples therof The other thing to be considered of is this That euery perticular person ought to bethink himselfe that he hath a soule to saue and that he ought to seeke the way of his saluation For to what purpose serueth it to haue gotten honor glory riches and other contentments of the world to him that followeth the way of damnation to his own wretched soule Now he that is determined to seeke the saluation of his soule will he say that he is contented to beleeue as his Curate doth beleeue Such resolution were to foolish and beastly Or will it suffice him to say that he will liue as his Predecessors haue done and follow custome That were also a wronge way and is already condemned by the Canones heretofore alleadged Then ought we to determine with our selues to follow the truth and to imbrace the true doctrine of Christ Iesus but lord Sauior or else we shall neuer attayn to saluation And when we be thus resolued we must take heed that our passions doe not blinde the eyes of our vnderstāding cause vs to take blacke for white For if we say stil we haue bene led and brought vp in this Religiō my father grand fathers which were good men haue died in the same I haue borne Arms and ventred my life to mayntayne it it were not now for my honor to follow the Religion agaynst which I haue fought I am of the opiniō that there is no ill in the religion that I hould I am now to olde to learne any other and such other trifling excuses we do greatly deceaue our selues for they are nothing auaileable before god with whom we may not dally in this sort For such shiftes of descant serue to no other ond but to trifle our mindes and to lull them a sleep in ignorance and darckenes that they may haue no skill of their saluation when they depart this world What is then to be done that we may come into the path of saluation we must seek the truth And where shall we find it euē there whether Christ did send vs whē he sayd search the Scriptures The father of all mercy who hath created and made vs for of his owne glory and honor sake geue vs all such grace that being inlightened by hys holy spirit we may be well edified in the pure doctrine of Iesus Christ hys sonne our Sauiour to the ende that being true Christians in name and effect we may liue in good vnitye peace brotherly and christianly loue together in his holy seruice Amen Τελοσ Tit. liu lib. 1. in praefacione Esd 3. cap. 3. 4. Trip. hist li 2. cap. 5. 〈◊〉 ●nne 〈◊〉 be co●●●●●ed w●●●●●t bei●●●eard speake nun 〈…〉 Molin de mon. Fran. art 154. 155. 156. e. sicut e. excomunicamus Ex. de haeret Aut. Gazaros C. de haret Diu. Inst. lib. 5. cap 1. The pagans condemned the christiās without hearing thē speake The decrees of Gratian authorised by the pope Annal. sur l. an 1168. The old canons are better thē the nevv We must not iudge of God as of man. Amb. in epist. ad Ro. c. 1. Math. 7.18 1. Iohn 2.1 Rom. 8.32 1.