Answer to the Devilish Detection of the Bishop of Winchester, Treatise · Part 21
❧ Of the pure ſacrifice of Malachie the prophete.
BVt you do eſtabliſhe your maſſe and▪ ſacrifice (as you ſuppoſe) verie ſtrong lie, by the prophete Malachie, whom your doctour Damaſcē doeth alledge for the vnbloudie ſacrifice. And you brynge hym in againe here in the ende of your boke though he ſpeake cleare agaynſt you.
Theſe be hys wordes after he hath rebuked the prieſtes of couetouſneſſe.
I hauehave no pleaſure in you ſayeth the Lord of hoſtes, I wyll allowe none offeringe of Malach. i.your handes: For from the eaſte to the weſt, my name is greate amonges the heathen. And euerye where do they bren incenſe and offer vntounto my name, euen a pure offeringe. For greate is my name amonge the heathen (ſayeth▪ the Lorde of hoſtes) and you hauehave poluted it in your wordes.
The phariſeis to whom this was ſpoken: thought them ſelues and theyr ſacrifices ſo acceptable in the ſight of God, that they deſpiſed al other people (as you do nowe. And therfore this text ſerueth agaynſt you boeth. Act. x.That enerie wher, in euerie nacion and people (as Peter was taught in the Act. the pure offeringe in ſpirite and trueth, ſhalbe offere… So that we maye truelie ſaie, that Malachie doeth make agaynſte you, teacheing that (a… al prophecies are general) as the Iewes preiſtes were refuſed for their couetouſneſſe: ſo ſhall you for yours. And as he declared that their ſacrifices & ceremonies, where vpō they boaſted & bragged ſo much, ſhoulde ceaſe: ſo are yours now at the ſame point He declared alſo, that God ſhould be honoured in ſpirite & trueth thorowout all nacions: euen as we hauehave an example of. C xx. M. in Niniue, of diuers priuate perſons in diuers cōtreyes, as Naamā in Siria, the wydow of Serephtha Iethro the father inlawe of Moyſes, Hira of Tirus & the quene of the ſouth. which though they were not of the outwarde Iſraell dyd neuertheleſſe magnifie the name of the lord, & offer the ca…ues of their lyps offering: a pure offeringe of thākes geueing & offering theyr own bodies a liueinge ſacrifice, holie & acceptable vntounto God, & this is the pure offeringe that the prophet Malachie did ſpeake of… ▪ vii.
I will not ſtriue with you about your doctours any more becauſe I intēd to auoide the infinite contēcions whiche I perceyue doe a riſe of them. Notwithſtandinge here is a iuſt occaſiō offered (as ther hath ben many times) where Gregorie Nazianzeue, calleth faſteynge Gregorie Nazianzene, for faſteynge(in Chriſte) a bulworke and defence againſt tētaciō. As though chriſt which could not ſinne neaded any ſuch bulworke. And yet ſo far as we know, he was tempted when he was faſteynge. The ſame Gregorie, calleth faſteyngein vsus apurgacion or cleanſeynge. What ſhould we cōtēde about this mattier? Lyke as it pleaſed God to gyue powre vntounto Moyſes to faſt. xl. dayes twyſe in the mountayne, not for the a voydeinge of tentacion: but for to ſet forthe the gloriouſe lawe and wyll of the father, then to be publiſhed. And Elias beynge ſent to anoynte a Kynge ouer Siria, & a Kynge and a prophet ouer Iſraell, by whō boeth thefe kingdōes ſhouldbe cleane tered & chaunged, did faſte fortie dayes from all maner meate, for the declareinge of the powre of God in his workes.
So did it pleaſe Chriſt of his owne powre to faſte fortie dayes that the Iewes ſhoulde The cauſe whie Chriſte faſted.hauehave none occaſion to thinke hym inferionre to thoſe. ij. theyr greateſte prophetes, in the publiſheynge of his goſpell and glad tithinges vntounto the worlde, and his renewynge of all thinges: Not to the entent that we ſhould folowe him, and therby hauehave purgaciō of oure ſynnes, For beſyde that it is impoſſible to folowe him (without an eſpeciall worke of the ſpirite) either in that he faſted. xl. dayes or in that he was neuer hongrie: this were a plain deniall of the benefite of his paſſion, and the ſettinge vp of our owne worke which is vnperfect. For what great mattier is it to eate meate but once eueri daye and drinke. ij. or. iij many hauehave ſo liued in the olde tyme.
And what holineſſe is it to eate fiſh onelyonly? do not cormor…ntes and ſuch as lyue by the ſea ſyde lyue ſo lykewiſe?
Chriſt hath cōmaunded vsus to folowe him Lerne where in to folow Chriſte.in louelove, peace, merciemercy, and ſuch lyke: but in this example (as a thinge impoſſeble) we hauehave no ſuch cōmaundement, except we be drawn into wildernes by the ſpirit as Chriſt was, or by any other worke of God we be deſti…te of fode & the cōfort of creatures: then Lo the example of Chriſte may ſtrength vsus, and teach that not by bread onelyonly do we liue but by eueryevery worde that proceadeth out of the mouth of God.
Woulde God that true faſteynge and prayer were taught and vſed, and popeiſh abuſe aboliſhed, for trueth and falſhode can not be coupled to gether. But you biſhopes muſt bear the blame for all theſe thynges if it be not amended ſhortly. For you hauehave taken the charge of the flocke.