Rejoinder to Bristows Reply, Part 2 · Book 3 · Chapter 16
CAP. XVI.
By the manner of our tarying in Christ, it is proued, that wee receiue his reall flesh into our bodies.Sander.
The tarying of Christ in vsus, and wee in him, Chry… Fulke.sostome in Ioan. H. 46. calleth a mingling wt him: which Cyril declareth by a similitude of powring wa… vponupon melted waxe, in Ioan. lib. 4. Ca. 16 and of a litle leaue… which tempereth the whole lump of dowe: so a litle of the blessing draweth the whole man into it selfe, and filleth vsus with h… grace, and so doeth Christ dwell in vsus, & we in him. By a litle of that blessing, Cyril meaneth a smal portion of the sacramentall bread, or that which semeth bread as Sander. will hauehave it. And by these interpretations (saith he) it cannot be auoided, but that the heauenly food which we receiue into our mouthes, is the reall substance of Christs flesh. For it is called benedictio, the blessing, which worde is not meant of an inward vertue, comming from heauen, but of that which seemeth bread, and is visibly receiued. To all this I answere, first, that the termes of mingling, and similitudes of powring waxe & of leauen, must hauehave a spirituall vnderstanding, or else they will breede monstrous absurdities. And vntounto the term… blessing, I say it is taken for the externall Sacrament, euen as the bodie of Christ, the flesh of Christ, the bloud of Christ. &c. by the figure synecdoche of the most principall parte of ye Sacrament, not in respect of that which seemeth breade, and is visibly receiued, but of the spirituall blessing, whereof they are partakers which receiue the Sacrament worthily. Therefore saith Cyrill, a litle blessing draweth vsus into it, and filleth vsus with his grace, and so Christ tarieth in vsus and we in him. I aske howe, but by his grace? For Sander wil confesse, that which seemeth bread to tarie but a little while in vsus: likewise, that the bodie of Christ tarieth no longer in vsus then the kindes or shewes of bread and wine tarie in vsus: Where▪ fore the tarying of Christ by grace in vsus, proueth not his reall receiuing of Christs flesh into our bodies. Yea, Sander saith himself: A litle of that blessed foode being receiued worthily of vsus, is not so properly said to tarie in vsus, as we to tari… in it, for that though it be small in forme yet in vertue it is great. I pray thee Sander, tell vsus what is that blessed food thou speakest of, which doeth not properly tarie in vsus? For of his flesh, Christ saith, that it is meate in deede, & that hee tarieth in him which eateth it. And what is that which is smal in forme, the bodie of Christ, or the external sacrament, which thou callest the shewes of bread and wine, which in deede are small in forme? The bodie of Christ, I suppose thou art not so mad, to contract into smaller quantitie then it is, and as for the accidents or shewes of bread and wine, what vertue is in them? And in deede, yt onelyonly worde of Cyrill, A litle of the blessing, meaning thereby the externall Sacrament, for the internall vertue thereof, ouerthroweth Popish transubstantiation, & carnall manner of receiuing into the mouth. For by a little of the blessing, he meaneth not a litle of the bodie of Christ, nor the bodie of Christ in a litle quantitie, but a litle of the consecrated bread and wine, which by diuine and spirituall operation, is of infinite vertue to conuert vsus into an heauenly and spirituall nature, aunswerable to our regeneration, which is testified vntounto vsus in baptisme. But Sander replyeth, that if the Sacrament were wheaten bread, it could not be true that a litle therof should drawe the whole man vntounto it. I answere, if it were nothing but wheaten bread, it could do no such thing: but Cyril calleth it by the name of that which it is more principally, as it is a Sacrament, that is a blessing, which draweth the whole man to it, and filleth him with grace: E… ho… modo in nobis Christus manet, & nos in Christo, and by this meane doeth Christ dwell in vsus and wee in him. To the terme of tarying naturally, vsed by Hilarie, I hauehave answered before. Theophylact I force not of, as beeing a late writter, although he say nothing in effect more thā Chrysostom and Cyrill. But Sander still vrgeth, what ioyning as of waxe & leauen, what mingling can bee made of things so far distant as heauen & earth? If you say, by faith & spirite, either you giuegive a cause of ioyning (saith Sander) which may stande with the cause alleaged by Christ, or else you correct his cause and put a better. I answere, we neither ad to, nor correct the cause of ioyning alledged by Christ, but expresse ye verie same which he doth: The wordes which I speake, are spirite & life, but there be some among you that beleeue not. Nay (sayth Sander) our tarying in Christ is assigned to eating, and not onelyonly to beleeuing. But we replie, that this eating is not corporall eating, but eating by faith & spirite, which may be without eating the Sacrament, and yet eating the fleshe of Christ, not leauing the eating thereof (as Sander saith) and staying vppon feeding by faith alone, which is an absurde saying, for by faith wee feede vponupon Christ through the vertue of his holy spirite.