their meaning is that no man can because Christ is head of the vniuersall church be vnder him head of the whole but may well be of some particuler churche as Kinge Henrie was and the Quenes maiestie now is then demaund of them what reason they haue to leade them to say that a particuler membre of the churche as the churche of England can be no more may haue an other head beside Christ and the whole bodie maie not and why one mēbre maie haue two heads more then one bodie Finally if at that time they flattred the king and gaue him that which neither they could giue nor he receiue and abused his good nature to the destruction of so manie notable men as for th' onelie refusall to saie as they said by most exquisite and painefull tormentes lost ther liues saie vnto them that they yet at lenght acknowledge their fault and admonish that good ladie our maistres that she consent not to vse that title which because it belongeth to Christ she may not haue or if theie thinck and will stand in it that she may without offence that they doe yet at the least confesse that reason of theirs to be very weake and of no strenght Christ is head of the churche therefore it maie haue no other Except they will perhappes say that he is head of all other churches and hath onelie lest oures headles so that because he is not head thereof we ar out of the feare of falling into that inconuenience of hauing manie and maie therefore choose some one emongest our selues whome we list Thus I trust good readers you see sufficiently proued that Christes pleasure is for the repressing of heresies and calming of tempestuouse schismes that there be one head of his churche here in earthe supplieng his corporall absence for the time his honor in the meane season nothing thereby the more diminished then it is in other thinges wherein he also vseth the ministerie and seruice of men It foloweth now that I show to yow who is and of right ought to be that head if first I doe yow to vnderstand that it must necessarilie be a priest and that so by iust consequence neither laye man woman nor childe can be capable of that office THAT THE HEAD OF CHRISTES CHVRCHE HERE IN EARTH MVST NEEDES BE A PRIEST GRegorius Nazianzenus that auncient father and maister to S. Hierom in a certein oration that he made of the femelie ordre that ought to be in Christes churche hath thiese wordes Nemo delphinum vidit terram sulcantem neque bouem in vnda laborantem quemadmodum nec solem in nocte crescentem aut decrescentem siue lunam interdiu ignis flammam emittentem whych is in englishe to saie thus much There is no man that euer sawe the dolphin forsaking the sea plowe the lande or the oxe leaue the earth to swymme and labour in the water no more then the sonne in the night rising or falling or the moone in the day shining And as thiese kepe the ordre and course to them by god and nature appoincted the dolphin the water the oxe the land the sonne the daie the moone the night without entremedling them selues ether in others function so is there saith he in christes churche an ordre taken that one shalbe a head to rule and giue councell some other in place of feete to goe some handes to worcke other some eares to heare and eyes to see some shepherds to feede other some shepe to be fedde some in one office some in an other This most bewtifull order in Christes churche is on our behalfes as many as wilbe accompted membres thereof inuiolably to be obserued onlesse in obedience towardes our creator we will by brute beastes suffer our selues to be vanquished and ouercome This is that ordre whereapon dependeth the welfare or illfare of the whole worlde This is that ordre which so long as it remaineth whole and not broken so long common wealthes florishe so long vnitie and peace ar norished so long Christes true religion triumpheth as contrary wise the breache thereof when the feete that should goe will vsurping th'office of the head presume to giue councell the eyes wil heare the eares wilbe eyes the head wil goe the shepe feede their sheppherds the scholer teache his maister is in verie dede the breakeneck of all good ordre and common quiet This is that orderly cōiunction of one membre with an other and euerie one in his owne place which although it be and euer hath byn a greate mote in Satans eye yet neuer durst he or any of his directly impugne it And therefore hath he by those his ministres whome in thiese our daies he hath sturred vp ageinst Christ and his truthe found out such a bie waie as wherebie he maie bothe remoue this let whych hindreth so much his course and seeme yet neuertheles to stād stoutelie in the defence thereof For what doe our aduersaries trow yow expressely mainteine that ordre is naught that the scholer should teache the maister the shepe feede ther shepherd that thinges should be so iumbled together and such a hochepot made of all estates that it should be lawfull for euerie man to comptroll one an other in his of fice No no they be wiser then so I warrant you For although in deede all their driftes tend to that ende yet couet they to make men beleue that they minde nothing lesse For if they should openly pretend so much then wer the matter at an end and ther credit vtterlie lost And therefore for the sauegard thereof they would cast before our eyes such a mist that we should beleue those that be in very dede scholers to be maisters shepe to be shepherdes the feete to be the head and the head to be the feete and that vnder such gouernement there wer of ordre no breache at all This is no newe or strange practise good christian readers but vsed euen from the beginning and continued dailie by that old enemie to mankinde and wily serpent the Diuel to set vp vice and ouerthrow vertue Thus cloketh he pride with the name of clenlinesse couetousnes he termeth frugalitie prodigalitie liberalitie adulterie in other men solace in priestes and such as haue uowed the contrary he couereth it with the honorable title of matrimonie although the auncient fathers of Christes churche haue not doubted some of them to call it not as doe the diuels ministres mariage but adulterie as dothe S. Ambrose S. Basil and Theophilactus some of them as S. Hierom S. Austen and Chrisostom not adulterie onelie as doe th' other but sacrilege and incest This practise I say of the diuel their fathers doe those his ministres most diligentlie imitate those clawebacks and princes parasites whose fauour when they labour to winne that vnder the shadow thereof their heresie may finde the better entreteinement and to the poysoning of the worlde the freer passage they vse
worckes to be founde worde for worde in englishe This breade saieth hâ— is breade before the wordes of consecratioÌ„ after the which of breade is made the fleshe of Christe Let vs therefore proue that which we saie How can breade be made the bodie of Christe By consecration But this consecration with what wordes or with whose is it done By the wordes of our lorde Iesus For thorough all the rest which ar spoken thanckes ar offred vnto god praiers ar made for the rulers for the people and for other thinges But wheÌ„ the priest is come to the consecration nowe vseth he no longer his owne wordes but the wordes of Christ. It is therefore Christes worde that maketh this sacrament What worde of Christe Trulie that wherebie all thinges wer made that whereby our lorde commaunded and heauen was framed that wherebie the sea and lande was created and euerie other creature fourmed Seest thow therefore of what power Christes worde is If it be of such force that of nothing it is able to make some thing howe much more is it able to turne those thinges which wer before made in to some other thing Thus far S. Ambrose The same S. Ambrose in an other place hath these wordes Thow wilt perhappes saie I see an other thing howe doe yow tell me that I take the body of Christe And this remaineth yet for me to proue Howe manie examples vse we therefore to persuade that it is not that which nature hath fourmed but that which blessing hath consecrated and that the force of blessing is greater then that of nature because by blessing eueÌ„ nature it selfe is changed Moses helde in his hande the rodde he cast it from him and it becam a serpent againe he toke it by the taile and it returned to the nature of a rodde And after this example with manie other to this ende by him out of the holie scriptures alleaged he coÌ„cludeth in this sorte If mannes blessing wer of such force that it was able to conuerte nature what siae we to that diuine consecration where the verie wordes of our sauior doe worcke This thought S â–ª Ambrose a proufe strong ynough to coÌ„uince the truthe of this sacrament And although the substance of the rod being turned in to the substance of the serpent lost also there with all his first outewarde nature the accideÌ„tes I meane which in this miraculouse change in the sacrameÌ„t is otherwise where theie remaine for our infirmities sake saufe and sounde yet was this in his iudgement no let why he might not well reason after this sorte Moses goddes seruant was able to turne a rod in to a serpent Therefore god his maister is able to turne breade in to his fleshe Neither thought he it anie iuggling because to sight breade and wine remained still as that blasphemouse tongue which of late hath taken apon him to be your champion M. Iuell ageinst a certeine treatise by a notable learned man made in the defence of the catholike faithe in certeine pointes by yow not so much by learning impugned as by malice maligned hath termed it but the miraculouse worcking of god aboue nature And yet this good man forsoothe maie not abide in anie wise to be noted one that should put anie manner of mistrust in the omnipoteÌ„cie of god but that he graunteth as freelie as we doe with Abraham Isaac and Iacob that god is able to perfourme what so euer he doeth promise that no worde is impossible to him that he hath done what so euâ—r his will was to doe And therefore he saieth that theie that so râ—porte of him and his compagnions thâ—ie must nedes doâ— it either of hatefull blindenâ—s orignorant malice Truelie good readers this man semeth to me to be like a makeshifte that falling into a companie of others making merie braggeth and boastâ—th of his purse wherein is neuer a crosse that he hath to spende as largelie as the best and will beare his parte as franâ—kâ—lie as the proudest what so euer he be and yeat for all his high lookes and greate bragges made before when it commeth to the gathering of the shotte he slippeth faire and well awaie and leaueth the honest companie to paye for all Euen so I praie yowe marâ—ke when it commeth to the reconing of this heauenlie bancket where is prepared for vs the moste pretiouse bodie and bloude of oure sauiour Christe where is required of vs for the shotte that faithe as saithe holie S. Basile that Christes wordes This is my bodie teache vs let vs I saie marcke howe well for all his bragges he paieth his parte Forso theyowe shall see If Christe had made his bodie in the sacrament to appeare like a bodie and his bloud to taste and showe like bloude if he might haue sene it with his eyes as the people of Israel sawe the rodde as thâ—ie tasted of the water if Christe had euer done anie such miracle before as this is that is to saie if he had turned the substance of one thing in to an other and left still vnchanged the qualities of th'other thing that it was before that it might not haue semed a iuggling if finally he had had anie neceâ—sitie to constreine him to worcke anie suche change then he woulde haue beleued as we doe notwithstanding all the apparence of impossibilitie to the contrarie These be the conditions requisite to the faith of this protestant But here it is a worlde to see while he would seme humblie to graunte the omnipotencie of god and to deliuer him selfe and his companions from that note of infamie whereinto by long struggling ageinst the same theie ar runne with all men while he patcheth and cobbleth with his rotteÌ„ lingells a nombre of clouted ifs and is like the false tincker that mendeth one hole and maketh two newe or craftie Couper that to fasten one whoope looseth three he tumbleth hedloÌ„g in to a greate heape of absurdities whereof euerie one is as greate as that which he thought to haue auoided and wherein yeat he sticketh not withstanding For if thow beleuedest man as thowe vainelie braggest that thowe doest that god wer omnipotent wouldest thow so limite and restreine his power that he shoulde not change the nature and substance of a thinge onlesse he change the accidentes thereof withall Wilt thow first see blood and taste it as did the children of Israel the water and then after beleue O notable faithe to becoÌ„pared with the gray ne of a mustered seede whose guydes the eyes and other fallible senses be Quid memorabile facis si videas credas what greate act doest thow to beleue after thowe hast seene I maye say to yow as Theophilus the B. of Alexandria sayd vnto one Autolicus to whome he wrote Thus saide the Iues of Christ our sauiour hanging apon the Crosse. Descendat nunc de cruce vt videamus credamus Let him come downe now from the crosse that we maye see
one other so verie a dizzard as him selfe that will saie the nature of the parchement of his lettres patentes to be chaÌ„ged in to earthe grasse wood waters worthe by the yeare a thousand pounde If there had bene no other change in this breade but that it is nowe as he saithe made of common and prophane holie and consecrate neuer woulde Chrisostom haue exhorted vs to worshippe that bodie on the altar which the wise men worshipped in the mangier neuer woulde S. Austen haue saide that theie sinne which worshippe it not By this maie it appeare that your friende is he M. Iuell that hath plaide the lourdeine with his maister and therefore well worthie the whip For where he had prouided for his geastes a moste preciouse and costlie feaste this honest companion stealeth all awaie and leaueth them in stede thereof a bare piece of bred And thus much to satisfie your chalenge in this pointe Now to the next article which is of the vse of the Sacrament vnder one kinde THAT VVITHIN THE FIRST SIX HVNDRED YEARES AFTER CHRIST THE COMMVnion was ministred vnder one kinde EVen as in the controuersie of the popes supremacy yow denie M. Iuell that there ought to be any other heade ouer the churche here militant in earthe then Christ him selfe which is the chief not as though yow knewe not right well that gouernement for the appeasing of schismes and repressing of heresies to be the best or as though if your god Iohn Caluin had had that auctoritie ouer all the worlde wer it twise as large againe as it is you would haue founde any faulte therewithall and not haue thought him able to rule the same well ynough but onely of a cancred hatred that you beare to the Catholike churche sometimes your mother a vaine pleasure that yow take to thwart her in her doinges and last of all because that gouernement serueth not your turn as yow finde faulte with priuate masses not as though yow alowed any but onely to banishe froÌ„ the fathers sight if it might be the laufull enheritor and to set vp the misbegotten bastard to abolishe and vtterly extinguishe the sacrifice of the newe testament which that crafty wily serpent forsawe so long before if he wer once able to quenche that burning charitie and earnest desire of often receauing the blessed body and bloud of Christ which then was so commonly emongest christian men in vse and he alas hath nowe obteined he should in time to come by his wicked membres be with the more ease able to bring to passe euen so in this present controuersy fareth it with your doinges When all the worlde maie see that you which charge vs so hotely with no lesse then that greate and heinouse crime of sacrilege as of robbing the laie people of Christes bloud in the communion which is notwithstanding an impudent lie robbe not onely them but the cleargy also except yow had rather call it by an honester name of exchaunge bothe of Christes body and bloud toe The which thing leauing to the indifferent reader by him at his laisure more earnestly to be weighed I shal nowe proue vnto yow that within the first six hundred yeares after Christe the sacrament of the altar was ministred vnder one kinde But here I must warne yowe of this one thing before hande that I meane in this article and the nexte to giue yow but onely a taste of oure proufes not a full bytte as in the two first I haue Which I praye you not to impute to want either of matter or good will but onely to this that when I was thus far entred in this simple treatise it was giuen me by a frinde to vnderstande that aswell in this point as in all the reast by yow chalenged yow haue of late by a notable learned man bene so applied with stoare of wholesome viandes that the wiser â—orte take yow to be rather in such termes as yow care more how to digest that which yow haue allready receiued then that yow once thincke of crauing any more Beare with me therefore if I beare with your weake stomacke Nowe to the matter Yow saye that to ministre the communion to the laitie vnder one kinde is an acte vnlaufull coÌ„trary to Christes ordinaunce and a thing in the primitiue churche neuer vsed or harde of But for proufe of the coÌ„trarie I reason thus Christ our sauiour ministred this sacrament vnder the onely kinde of breade his apostles practised the vse thereof after the same maÌ„ner The churche receuing it from them hath continued the same vsage Therefore it is laufull which we defende and blamed of our aduersaries without cause That Christ first ministred this sacrament vnder one kynde it appeareth by the historie of the ghospel where is mencioned howe that oure sauiour in the waye betwene Hierusalem and Emaus happening apon two of his disciples entred with them in to a certeine house where he ministred to them the sacrament vnder that one kinde of breade That this was the sacrament and not common breade these wordes of the euangelist Benedixit ac fregit porrigebat illis he blessed it he brake it and he deliuered it to them doe well proue Seing that those wordes he blessed and brake it ar in no place of the scripture to be founde applied by Christ or his apostles to prophane or common breade nexte for that the effect wrought by that breade that was the opening of their eyes doeth giue vs also to vnderstande that it was his blessed body and no other thing To these reasons I maye here adde the auctoritie of S. Austen Chrisostome Beda and Theophilactus all fower agreing that this was the blessed sacrament and not as the aduersaries woulde haue it common or prophane breade S. Austens wordes ar these Non autem incongruenâ—er accipimus hoc impedimentuÌ„ in oculis eoruÌ„ a Satana fuisse factum c. that is to saye We doe not verilie take it amisse to thincke that this miste was cast before their eyes by Sathan that they should not knowe Iesus but yeat euen suffred by Christ so to doe vntill they had receiued the sacrament of breade that being thereby made partakers of the vnitie of his body the lette or impediment of the enemie the diuell being remoued and taken awaye they might knowe Christ. Hetherto S. Austen with whome speaking incidently of this breade the vertue and holinesse thereof agreeth that learned bishop Chrisostom in an homely that he writeth apon the .7 chapitre of S. Mathewe in this wise Si auÌ„t tale esset quod de manu sacerdotis accipitur quale est quod in mensa manducatur c. If it wer such which is receiued at the priestes handes as the breade which is eaten at the table euery man would receiue it from the table and no man at the priestes handes Therefore oure lorde by the waye did not onely blesse the breade but he gaue it also from his