The Sacrament of the Lords Supper, Text (4 of 4)

The Sacrament of the Lords Supper · Text (4 of 4)

The master of the sentē ces defēdeth the recautacion of Bere…garius by a figure.And the mayster of the sentences in the fowerth booke where he goeth aboute to heale this sore, saieth that these thynges must bee attributed, not to the bodye of Chryste, but to the outewarde signes, whiche oute warde signes the transubstanciatours selfes put to be onelyonly accidentes. And so he maketh therof a figuratyue speche. But this fyguratyue manier of speking yf we dooe vse neuer so aptely or conueniently, and duely, interpretyng the sayinges of the fathers when they vse woordes of high reuerence in speaking of this sacramente: our aduersaires make a wounderfull out crye at the matier, allegeying that we dooe corrupte and marre and also falsifye the auncient fathers wrytynges, not with standing that thei them selues dooe here flee to the same ancores and refuge, and wil hauehave a trope or figure to be where none ought to be, namely in the openyng and declaryng of a doctryne, and in framyng of a recantacion, whyche ought of all other thynges to bee moste clere & plain. Therfore we passe litell of that Councell seeyng they erred so grosely.The Co… seil of Constaunce aunswered vntounto The Aduersaryes dooe also obiecte the Synode or Counsel of Constaunce wher Wicliefe was condemned, p. lxxxiiiand Iohn Husse and Hierome of Praga were there bothe of them burned for diuers articles, but chiefely for that they helde opinion againste this transubstanciacion, whiche was there constituted and established by a full decree. But as touchynge this counsayle, we cannot but calle it false and periured,The coūsell of Constāce false for swor…e and cruell. consideryng that it caused those twoo men to be put to death that wer come thither vnderunder false conduict, which also the Emperour toke very greuouslye: For he hadde promised for them that they shoulde safelye returne home agayne, and was become suertye for theym, or els the Bohemes would neuer hauehave permitted ne suffred them to go to that counc…ll.The falsehood & periurye …f the Councell of Constaunce. And that they dydde there make a constitucion and decree of transubstanciacion, is a token & argument that the same is but a …ewe determinacion come vp but of late.

Neither is it of anye sorte that manye menne saye it was there but confyrmed by a decree,The opiniō of transubstanciacion is not olde. and not firste constituted, because that vnderunder the forsayde Nycolas Bishoppe of Rome in the counsayle of Uercelles and Rome, the same sentence and decree of transubstanciacion hadde been manifestlye ynough declared.

For truelye we graunte that this opinion before the counsayle of Constaunce did (I cannot tell howe) after a sorte but breake foorth, and so was violentely and parforce thrust into the Churche: But because it was not fullye receyued, but had eueryevery where manye contradictions and gainsayinges: they iudge it necessarye to bee established agayne by a newe decree, and that veray cruely, euen with fyre and deadlye threatenynges.

But agai…st this councell we obiecte the generall and vniuersall councell holden at Florence vnderunder Eugenius the fowerth bishoppe of Rome, who was there presente, and there was also presente the Emperoure of the Grekes together with the Patriarkes of Constantinople, and many Bishops mo of the Easte partes. In the whiche counsell the Churche of the Grekes was reconciled and ioigned to the Churche of the Latines, and there they agreed as touchyng the discorde and controuersye that had been concernynge the holye Ghost. And in the actes of the counsayle it is to be seen that after the Bisshoppes of the Easte parties and y^e Latines had agreed vpō certain articles: y^e Bishop of Rome than beyng would hauehave proceded ferther & would hauehave driuen them to traicte of transubstanciation, & to receiue it as the Latines did beleue it. But here the grekes stiffely w^t stode hym, & wold in no wyse traict of any suche matier. Neither could they be moued nor induced by any argumentes to cōsent therunto. And whā the letters or instrumentes of vnitie, concord & agrement betwene thē should be made & published… the sayed Greke Byshops made a speciall prouiso, y^t in no wyse ther should be any menciō made of this matier of transubstanciation: which was also obserued, as appereth in the Bulle of Eugenius, which begīneth Exultent caeli et letetur terra. &c. where in he reioyceth in the behalfe of Cristian nacions for this most happie chaunce, that y^e churche of the grekes & the churche of y^e Latines wer …ome to a cōcord & vnytee agayn. Wherof it foloweth y^t if the transubstanciacion had been a matyer of suche weyght & effycacy: y^e Romisshe churche woulde neuer hauehave come to a tonement and been coupled wyth the p. lxxxiiiiChurche of the Grekes not receyuing thesame. For nowe of dayes they saye it is a veray pernicious and a detestable H…resie not to admit transubstanciō. Nor it is not to be thought nor supposed, that the Latine churche would hauehave coupled her self with heretiques and been one with them. By this also is the argumēt made voyde and of none effecte, whiche they broughte of the vniuersal consent and agrement of the churche. For it is not true which they affirme, that all Christen churches did conspire and agree in this article of transubstanciacion. For that same auncient churche which was in the tyme of the fathers (as we hauehave shewed) did neuer ymagine nor deuise any suche matier: Also the Greke churche of the East parties was not in like opinion that we hauehave been in. Besydes al this, to their argumentacions they adde mooste hyghe prayses of the diuine and godly power,To the Argument of …he diuine power. to induce the people to beleue so greate a myracle. But this is an argumente moste weake and feble, for the thynge whiche they ought chiefely to hauehave shewed, they hauehave neuer yet hitherto truely proued, whiche it is, that god will dooe it, and that the holye scriptures dooe promise suche a thyng vntounto vsus. For these woordes whiche they allege that is to wete, This is my body, th…se woordes (I saye) are the matier that is in controuersie, & maye hauehave another menyng wherefore the argumente is of no strength ne force. And we shall declare the weakenesse of thesame by a certaine example. The Lord said vntounto Nicodeme,Beholde a similitude of Nicodeme. that no manne coulde …ntre into t…e kyngdome of heauen, excepte he wer borne of newe. Than N…codeme began to demaunde: how can a mā whan he is old en…re agayne into his mothers wōbe.

It might hauehave been saied vntounto hym: Chryste hath euen now affyrmed that it shall so be whi dooest than doubte of the power of God, by the whyche all thinges wer created. By the same power of God maiest thou vndoubtedlye bee borne againe out of thy mothers wombe. But the matyer was not so handeled: But Chryste declared that all thys shoulde bee dooen by a spyrytuall regeneracyon. For although he made mencion of the water whyche parteyneth to baptisme, Yet did he most manyfestly teache, that the regeneracion must be dooen by the spirite. And euen so dooe we see it happen herein thys matier of the sacramente.

Chryst commaundeth vsus to eate hys fleash, and he takynge the breade in hys hande, sayethe: This is my bodye. Now the transubstanciatours said: It cannot bee that the bodye of Chryste shoulde bee to gether with the bread, Wherefore, it must nedes folow that the nature of the breade, bee turned by transubstanciacyon into Chrystes body. And that it is so transubstauncyated, they wyll nedes parswade men by an argumente of the power of God,Why the fathers speakin…g of this sac…amente dooe so magnifie the power of god. because he is hable to doe it. But in the meane whyle, the transubstanciatours dooe thus obiecte agaynst vsus We dooe not thys alowe, (say they,) for Chrysostome, Ambrose, & Cyrillus, whan they traict of thys mutacion: the lykewyse remit vsus to the power of god, & magnyfye the same power of god w^t wunderful high laudes & praises. But to thys we aunswer, y^t the fathers speake veray wel, for vndoubtedly, it belongeth to y^e power of God so to chaunge breade and wyne that they bee made sacramentes, whyche they wer not afore: neyther is it the worke of nature that bread and wine should p. lxxxvso mightely and so effectually signifie offre and represente the bodye and bloud of our lorde to bee comprehended wyth our myndes and wyth our feith. Wherefore the holy ghoste dooeth here entremeole hymself: & the lordes institution and ordinaunce in this beha…fe, is of great strength and vertue: & the wordes beeyng at the fyrst pronounced by the inspiracion of God and now repeated agayn by the ministre dooe weorke no smalle effecte. Ye maye to the premisses putte our conuersion and chaungeyng into Christe whan we dooe receiue the communion, all whiche thynges are ferre aboue the power & strength of nature. And now wher as the supernatural power of the lorde maye bee required to al these thynges: these men applye y^e sayd power of God to transubstanciacion. But thys is a muche lyke thyng as it we should make an argumente and should reason, (as the logicians termes bee) ab vniuersiliore ad particularius, that is to saie, from the more general to the lesse general affirmatyuely, that is, by the waye of affirmyng a thyng to bee thus or thus, whiche is the wourstkynde of argumente that can bee made: as for exā …le there can not bee a wourse ar…umēte thē to sa…. Thissame is a tree: ergo it is an applee tree. For it maye bee a theritree, or an oke tree, or some other tree. But contrarie wyse, to saye: this in an aple tree. Ergo it is a tree, is a veray good reason and a well framed argumente. So, to saye: Goddes wyll is to dooe suche a thyng or suche a thyng: ergo he can dooe it, is a perfeicte good reason. But the…e can not bee a lewder manier of arguyng, then to saye. God is of power to dooe suche a thyng: ergo he wyl dooe it, or dooeth it.

For God is of power euen now at this daye to heale all diseases and sicknesses of all men, to make the dum to speake, to restore sight vntounto the blynde, and to reuiue men that are dead, (as Christe reised Lazarus, and as he wrought the thynges afore spoken… and many other miracles, while he liued here on yearthe.

But to say that he so doeth wer false: and to require that he should so dooe, wer a tēptyng of hym not ferre differing from blasphemie.

But to returne to thys matier that we now hauehave in hande, it maye ferther bee sayed that in Baptisme also is required the same power of god. For it is not a weorke of nature, that water should bee made the fountaine of our regeneracion… or newe birth in Christe.

But here some persones can not euen veray wel heate, that baptisme should bee after thys sorte cōpared with the sacramente of Eucharistia, For although they can not saye nay but that Chri…e is present in baptisme also, and is there geuen vntounto vsus. (for it is wryten ye as many as are baptised hauehave dooen christe on vponupon you: yet is Chryste (saye they) after a more excellent …orte in the sacramente of Eucharistia … then he is in the sacramente of baptisme: & therefore the breade is transubstanciated, and yet is it not necessarie, that the wat…r in baptisme shoulde bee transub…ianciated.

To whom we aunswer, that it is not muche to bee passed p. lxxxvion in whether of bothe sacramentes Christe bee after a more excellent sorte conteined, then in the other, so that he bee graunted to bee present in theym bothe.

And as he maye bee in the one wythout any transubstanciacion of the elementes, that is to saye, of the naturalle thynges that the sac…amente is made of: euen so maye he bee in the other too.

That if ye wyll nedes striue about the dignitee of the sayd two sacramentes whether of them is the more excellent: than maye the excellencie of baptisme bee proued by argumentes tyght effectuall and pitthye. For fyrst, it is a greatter matier to bee generate and borne, then it is to bee nourished.

Secondely baptisme was honoured and notified, wyth a noumbre of miracles at once: for the heauens opened at the baptisyng of Christe, the voyce of the father was hearde, and the holy ghoste was seen in the lykenesse of a doue: whyche thynges did not happen at the i…stitutyng and ordeinyng of the sacramente of …ucharistia.

And yet dooe not we speake all thys to the derogacion of thys sacramente, (for it is a sacramente of most hyghe dignitee, and a sacramente moste woorthie and mete to bee chiefly had in honour and reuerence:) but all thys is spoken to thys o…ely ende and purpose that we maye make a full aunswer vntounto the obiectiō y^• was brought against vsus of y^e power of god. We hauehave also declared alreadie afore out of S. Austen in the thyrd booke of the Trinitee, & the tenth chapitur, that … of wyne should so growe & multiplie by hys steightes of iugleyng, that all the wholle cuppe should bee full to the veray brymme, yea and renne ouer too.

Yea and whan an other bigger cuppe was brought vntounto hym that would hold more in it: thys Marcus would so hādle y^e matier that the bigger cuppe should bee full too, wythoute puttyng of any more liquour vntounto it then was afore. What man would saye that thys felowes was euer the more approued or confirmed by these miracles? If we will come to the stories of the Gentiles, we reade that there hath riuers and streames of bloud renne along vponupon the grounde,Certain miracles wrought by Ethnites & Gentiles. and that Iuppiters thumbe hath spinned out with bloud. Liuius telleth that in Rome our time it did …aine flesh. Quintus Curtius reporteth that at the citee of Tyrus whan it was besieged of Alexander the great, a lofe of breade did openly in the syght of them all sweat out and droppe bloud whan one of Alexanders soldyars cutte the lofe And Apollonius Thyraneus is reported y^t whā he was at the parliamente before Domitianus the Emperour, he vanished away sodeynly, and could no more bee found.

Thus there bee miracles and woondres infinite which the Gentiles myght in this case bryng in to confirme theyr worshyppyng of Idolles. And therefore all suche miracles as these men affirme to make for the confirmyng and establishyng the supersticion of transubstanciacion, we vtterly reiecte and dissallow.

Neither is it muche to bee regarded, that they bring in for this purpose, of a miracle showed of Gregorie p. lxxxviiibyshop of Rome.

For it is wryten in hys life, that the lordes breade, or (if ye wyll so calle it) the sacramente of Eucharistia, was turned into a finger of fleashe.

Whyche thyng if it wer so dooen for either of the two causes whiche (as aboue sayd) we dooe receiue, there is no great earnest strife to bee made for the matier.

Albeeit that same life of Gregorie is a matier of no great weyght or force to bee passed on.

For if we wyll beleue Uincentius the said life of Gregorius was wryten an hundred yeres after he was dead of our Ihon of Rome a deacon, and sent to a certan Emperour beeyng a Germain.

But putte the case that it was so in ded. If our aduersaries wyll therof conclude by the shewyng of the finger of fleashe, that the fleashe of Christe dooeth corporally and bodyly lye hidden vnderunder the accidētes of the breade than myght a bodye by this kynde of miracles conclude, that vnderunder the sacramentall similitudes and signes there is bothe coles and ashes conteined, because that thys holy breade was ones turned into these thinges in Cyprians tyme, (as hymself wryteth:) I beleue also that the sleightes and illusions of vyle lewd felowes are not vnknowen, whyche they hauehave often tymes vsed to deuise and inuente miracles.

In an other argumente they layed veray sore to our charge the dignitee and excellencie of Christes bodye glorified, whyche from the tyme of hys resurrection foorth ward is called hys bodye spiritual, whiche dignitee and excellencie of Christes bodye glorified we dooe in no wyse denye.

Yet wyll we putte you in remembraunce of that that Austen hath in an epistle to one Cōsētius, where Austē affirmeth that Christes bodye glorified is not after suche sorte a spiritual bodye, that it passeth into the nature of a spirite. For a certain kynde of bodye there is, whyche of S. Paule in the fifteenth chapitur of hys former epistle to the Corinthians is called Corpus animale, Corpus animale.as if ye should saye in englyshe, a bodye en…ewed wyth a solle whyche the translatours of the bible dooe for the more plainer vnderstandyng of the vnlearned calle a naturall bodye, and yet in the self same place of Paule, it is sayed of Adam that he was made a lyuyng solle, and suche a man is in the secound chapitur of the same epistle called Animalis homo, and it is translated in englishe, a natural man. But the sayd place of S. Paule where… suche a bodye endewed with a solle is called Corpus animale, is not so to bee vnderstanded, as though t…e bodye dooeth passe and chaunge into the nature of the solle. And agayn, the same austen in the twentieth chapitur of the thyrteenth booke de ci…it…te dei, that is to saye, of the citee of god, wryteth in thys manier. The solle sometymes, whyle it foloweth the appetite of the fleashe, is called carnal and fleashely not y^• it is chaunged into the nature of fleashe: euen so the bodye is called spiritual, not because it is chaunged into the nature of the spirite, but because it wyll bee altogether obedient to the spirite, to fulfille the desire & wille of the spirite. And Hierome in an epistle to Pammachius, whyche epistle was made in defense of the trueth agaynst Ihon the bishop of Hierusalem, who sayeth that the solles of suche as arose, had eueryevery one of thē a bodye of ayer, whiche was not subiect neyther p. lxxxixto touchyng nor to the syght, and Hierome (I saye) in thys epystle dooeth by all possible meanes contente to proue, that Christe after hys resurrection had a veray true bodye in dede, and the same also visible. And Hierome aunswereth to an obiection whyche obiectiō was thys: If Christes bodye after hys resurrection was in suche sorte visible and was the same veray bodye that he had whan he was aliue afore:Luke. xxiiii.Luke 24 Wherefore was it not knowe… at what tyme he shewed hymself lyke a pilgryme to the two disciples goyng to the castle of Emaus? To this doeth Hierome thus make aunswer. Because theyr yies wer holden, that they should not knowe hym: as if he should hauehave sayed: as touchyng the nature of hys bodye, it was bothe visible, & myght hauehave been knowen: but the lette y^t was, was in thesame veray epistle to the Corinthiās. Yet neuerthelesse our sacramentes hauehave many prerogatiues and many poyntes of dignite aboue the sacramentes of the olde lawe. For fyrst and formoste they bee firme and stable, and shall no more bee chaunged vntounto the worldes ende: secondly they dooe not shewe of a thyng that is to bee dooen and yet to come, but of a thyng dooen alreadie. Our sacramentes also bee more simple and plain, and they perteine to a larger and a greatter noumbre of people. And forasmuche as they bee more clere & open then y^e olde sacramentes, they stiere vp in vsus a greatter feith, and therof foloweth a more plenteous aboundance of the spirite. And that they bee more clere and open dooeth not procede (as the aduersaries imagyn to theymselfes in theyr braines) of the outward prefiguracion of the …ignes, because that the same is more euident then the old was: but of the nature of y^e woordes that are there ꝓnounced. For by the said woordes our redēptiō is shewed to bee perfeict, & it is shewed with more clere & more open wordes, then the common sorte of people emong the fathers of the old lawe did vnderstāde. Than if the thyng bee more clere expouned and declared in woordes: the outward represētacion is not so greatly to bee regarded.Wh…e… the Churche made …awe been leaft in anecdout our of god. Besides this they made it a matier of woondre how it might bee possible that the Churche should bee so long in an errour, and that no light nor small errour if it should so bee as we saye. Whiche thyng for all that they would not so greatly meruaill at, if they would thynk on the woordes that Christe s…ake of hys last commyng.

Thynkest thou (sayeth Christe) that whan the sonne of man shall come, he shall fynde feith vponupon the yearth? He doeth al…o shewe that there …a… in tyme to come bee so great an errour in the Churche that if it bee possible, euen the veray elect and chosen shall bee deceiued to and seduced. And leat these men (I beseche you) tell vsus: what manier of Churche, and in what state did Christe fynde the churche at hys fyrst cōmyng? Had not y^e Scribes, the Pharisees, the Priestes, and the Bishops corrupted all together? had they not peruerted all true religion wyth theyr tradiciōs? Yet is it not to bee thought that the Churche hath at any time been vtterly forsakē or leaft in errour. For there hath been euermore from tyme to tyme many good people, wh… this geare hath muche myslyked, & that hauehave openly cryed out against it. And lyke as at hys fyrst cōmyng there was Symeō Anne the wedowe, Ioseph, and the virgin Marie, Elizabeth, & Ihon the Baptiste, whiche wer godly folkes p. xc& deuout, and had special good opinion of god, so that the Churche could not bee saied to bee vtterly forsakē: euen so hath it been dooen in these last tymes. For the wholle vniuersal Curche is not leauened wyth tradicions of men. They saye morouer that as touchyng that it is ordeined but to signifie & betokē, the selfsame betokenyng maye bee dooen by breade and wyne at al meates whan men dyne and suppe, and therefore no cause to bee, why we should so hyghly esteme the sacrament of Eucharistia But thys argumente is as weake and as feble an argumente as is possible to bee. For at cōmon repastes there is not the lordes institucion, there is no ordeinaunce of a sacramente, there is not heard the lordes woordes, nor there is not there any promisse of god: therefore bee not these twoo to bee compared together. Lastely there was an argument brought of the vertue and efficacie of goddes woorde, whyche (as Algerius citeth and allegeth in the seuenth chapitur of his first booke) is called of Ambrose uerbum operatorium as if ye should saye in englishe a word of workyng & of operaciō, as by the whiche worde the breade & wyne whiche remaine stil in their natures are yet neuerthelesse chaunged into another thyng. But as touchyng the woordes of Ambrose we accepte them with good wille. For we also putte that y^e breade & the wyne dooe remaine stil in their owne natures, not (as the trāsubstāciatours affirme) as touchyng the accidētes, or the lykenesses & fourmes of breade & wyne, so y^t y^e chaūge is made by alteraciō & remouyng away of the substaunce: but that we affirme & aduouche the propre natures of breade & wyne to bee kept still, & the haungyng to bee onelyonly sacramental through grace.

And in thys our assercion we dooe nothyng derogate or diminishe frō the efficacie of the lordes woordes: but yet we dooe not thynke that it is to attributed vntounto them as to a kynde of enchauntimente or coniu…yng, that how soeuer, or in what soeuer place they bee pronounced by a prieste or ministre ouer breade & wine wyth a mynde and intencion to consecrate, they shal by and by hauehave that effecte. For the wholle matier depē deth of y^e lordes instituciō, & of the action or workyng of the holy ghoste. Now as for Algerius he is a man not muche to bee passed on for he was after the tyme of Berengarius, & maketh mencion of Berengarius …ecantacion in hys wrytyng. Than morouer of what a great and good iudgemente he was, it is manifest of a certain argumente that he maketh. For in the one and twenteeth chapitur of hys fyrst boke he wyllyng and labouryng to proue y^t aswel the godly as the vngodly dooe receiue Christes bodye in the sacramente, (whyche in dede foloweth necessaryly if there wer a transubstanciacion:) take a similitude (sayeth he) of the outward voyce or woorde that a man dooeth speake, & of talke that is made by sounde of the ayer. Unto what soeuer persones suche woordes dooe come, it conteineth and hath wyth it hys owne propre sense and menyng. But if it come to men of good vnderstādyng, thesame dooe heare it wyth some profit, for they dooe well perceiue the thynges that are spoken. But in case it come to the vnlearned, and to men that lacke knowelage, it dooeth neuerthelesse beare wyth it the ꝓpre sense of the wordes, but yet it is wythout any profit to the hearer, because he is not a man of capacitee to vnderstande it. Thys man lacketh here for hys argumente y^e woordes p. xcibeare theyr sense and menyng wyth thē: but he dooeth not marke that the sense is not included or enwrapped really (as the terme is) in the sonne or in the caractes of the lettres, but onelyonly by the waye of signifiyng. Whyche self same thyng if it should bee sayed vntounto hym of the breade and the wyne in the sacramentes, that they offre vntounto vsus the bodye of Christe by the waye of signifiyng or betokenyng & none other wyse: he shal bee conuinced in hys owne similitude and comparison. And by thesame also it is proued that the wyeked dooe not receiue the lordes bodye, euen lyke as vnskilful or ignoraunt persones whan they heare talke in greke or latin, dooe not perceiue the sense and menyng therof. Wherupon conclude, that there could not any thyng hauehave been spoken more strongly on our syde thē thys similitude of Algerius. Thesame Algerius also in the fyrst chapitur of the second booke aduoucheth that the accidentes in thys sacramente dooe not veraily and truely susteme rottenesse or mouldryng away, but onelyonly that it so appereth vntounto vsus, and yet is not so in dede, whyche thyng euen the veray scholemen would not hauehave sayed. For what other thyng is thys, but to establishe a perpetual illusion and blyndyng of mannes senses? Thus than we nede not muche to passe of Algerius, though he labour by all meanes possible to ratifie and sette vp hys transubstanciacion. We hauehave now traicted of the fyrst opinion, and that at large. For the sayd opinion of transubstanciacion remoued and taken away, there shall there wyth also many supersticions bee taken away. Of the other twoo opinions we shal not talke so muche at length. For whether of thē bothe bee putte or affirmed, we doee not so greatly passe, so that it bee well vnderstanded as it should bee. We shall at thys present onelyonly shewe of them, as ferre as we maye see ī it what we iudge mete to bee eschewed or to bee receiued in either of them. There hauehave been many whiche hauehave reteined and kept still in the sacramente the substance of breade and wyne, but they hauehave ioygned the bodye & bloud of Christe wyth these materiall signes remainyng still in theyr owne natures: & these hauehave they ioygned together with a veray streight and fast knotte, but yet (as I trow) not in suche sorte, that of y^e boke beeyng so ioygned together there should bee made one substaunce or one nature.

foreignYet neuerthelesse they hauehave sayed that the bodye and bloud of Christe are present in the breade & wyne really (as they terme it) bodyly, and naturali.

Some others again hauehave ioygned them together onelyonly by the waye of betokenyng. Of these twoo determinacions the former is fathered vponupon Luther, & the later vponupon zwynglius:Of the conte…cion betwene Luther and zwynglius. albeeit I hauehave heard of persones right credible, that neither Luther was in veray dede of so grosse an opinion in thys mat…er, nor zwynglius of so slendre and light a belief concernyng the sacramentes. And theyr saiyng is, that Luther bowed & lened vntounto phrases of speakyng by y^e figure hiperbole (of whiche figure we hauehave afore noted) and to suche phrases of speakyng as in the veray woordes did after a manier excede the trueth, because he supposed that zwynglius and others mynded to stablishe the sacramentes to bee naked & vain signes, wheras zwynglius neuer went about any suche matier. Yea & zwynglius again on y^e other syde feared lesce Luther would putte suche thynges as might bothe bee derogatiue & preiudicial to the trueth of the humain nature in Christ a…d also would enclose the bodye of Christe in breade, whereby supersticion myght yet stil bee more and more nourished: and therefore he semed more slendrely to geue honour to this sacramēte. And thus did the contencion betwene them enk…endle more then was behoufful, and was the cause of many great euils, wheras yet neuerthelesse the contencion and strife was in veray dede about wordes, rather then about the thyng self. We shall therefore remoue our discoursing vponupon these two opinions from the said two persones. For we dooe not affirme that either zwynglius or els Luther wer of suche opinions as aboue sai…d, but we shall onelyonly examin the said sentences and opinions suche as they are carryed about and supposed to bee.

These persones whiche dooe so grossely ioygne the bodye of Christe wyth the outward and material signes: to the ende that they maye the better wynde out of all entangleynges, are woont to beyng in for theyr purpose two similitudes or comparisons. The fyrst similitude is thys: If one hauehave a potte or a pitcher ful of wy…e, & pronounce these woordes: Thys is wyne he shal make no lye at all, because he …eweth the …era… wyne in dede conteined in the potte. And euen lykewyse shal it bee, if thou take a piece of glowyng iron, and shewyng foorth the fy… thou saie these woordes. This is fyer there shal ī this case no thing agai…st reasō bee spokē or ꝓnoūced of thee. And euē so do these men saye y^t it is to bee vnderstāded, that y^e lorde saieth… This is my bodye: and so dooe they manifestely admitte y^e …ope or …iguratiue manier of speakyng called Synecdothe, (of which also we hauehave d…clared afore.

For whan they shewe the thyng whyche theimselfes suppose to bee compouned, that is to saye, made of two sondrie partes (as in thys sacrament of breade and of Christes bodye. &c.) it is not a true proposicion or clause, to saye: Thys is the bodye of Christe, but as touchyng the one parte of the thyng that is shewed forth in syght. Yet neuerthelesse it is to bee knowen, that these similitudes or comparisons are not taken of these men, as though they wer of the opinion, that they dooe in all pointes or all manier of wayes agree wyth the thyng that the comparison is made by: for theimselfes dooe earnestely affirme and reasō that Christe is not th…re present locallye, that is to saye, after suche sorte as thynges are commonly in places conuenient for theyr likenesse and quantitee: but onelyonly diffinitiuely, that is to saye, by the waye of determinacion and assignemente, whyche they vnderstande than to bee so, whan a thyng is encompaced wyth the measure and largenesse of a place aunswerable in all pointes to hys likenesse, but yet it is sayed to bee there, because the nature or the beeyng of it is for that present deputed & assigned to y^e place, or because it woorketh and hath hys operacion in that place: whyche propretee dooeth nothyng at all agree wyth the wyne in a potte: for there it hath hys ful place and ful roome wyth whyche it is encoumpaced. Besides thys, these men woul not saye that Christes bodye is so in the breade, that it maye hauehave hys name of the qualitees or accidentes of the breade. For the bodye of Christe beeyng in the cake of breade can not truely bee called whyte, round, or baked, whyche thyng neuerthelesse we see chaunce vntounto fyer that is entremiengled wyth read p. xciiiglowing yron. For the fyer that is in hoate glowing yrō doth so folow the facion of the yron as for exaumple the lengthe, the bredthe, and the thyckenesse of it, that it maye well be named of suche facion or shape as y^e yron hath. Wherby it do manifestly appere, these similitudes in this sentence and opinion not to bee taken of these men so as it maye be applyed to aunswere and agree in all poyntes: but onelyonly that a true and a reall coniunction of the Sacrament and of the thyng signifyed by the sacramente maye be shewed and proued: whiche as soone as it is graunted, it foloweth by and by, that aswell the godly as the wieked sorte do receiue Christes bodye. The first that is that the godly do receyue Christes bodye, because they thynke this real coniunction of Christes bodye and the sacrament to bee sufficiently proued by the lordes woordes: the secounde, that is, that the bodye of Christ is geuen to the wieked also, aswell as to the godly, they see to folowe necessarily. But we hauehave now alreadye shewed the contrarie, whiche is, that these wordes of Christe dooe not necessarilye dryue or leade vsus to anye suche se…se: and it is proued by effectuall and pitthy reasons that the wieked dooe receyue onelyonly the elementes, that is to saye, the outwarde and materyall signes, as breade and wyne and nothyng els.

These menne are woont also thus to argue: If the woordes of scripture bee taken as figuratiuelye spoken: than maye it easely be brought to passe, that many preceptes of the lawe maye bee subuerted and fordoen.Gene. xvi.Gen 16 For Abraham might hauehave sayed of circumcision whan it was commannded: This is a figuratiue manier of speakyng, and I shall fulfyll and satisfie this commaundement yf I circumcise my hert, & cutte awai the eiuel desires and vices of y^e fleash. Also whā the choice of meates was commaūded,Leut. xi. the Isralites might hauehave said that the execucion of that commaundemente might consiste in a morall obseruacion or keping of it: as if thei did not cōmitte those synnes which wer assigned and noted to be in these vnclene beastes y^t wer for bidden thē,Whether tropes dooe empeache y^e commaūndementes of God. and so neither circumcision nor the choice or deuersytee of meates had taken place. But y^t this a feble reason, maie herof be wel proued, because that by veray the lettre self, and bi the expresse wordes of the text, it is euidently to be gathered that the wordes are not spoken by any trope or figure.

For as concernynge circumcision, the eighte daye from the childes byrth was determinately and precysely appointed, and there is added that y^e league and couenaunte of the lorde should bee carryed of them in the verai fleashe selfe, by whiche woordes it is euydent that verai true circumcision in dede was commaunded. And as touchynge the choice or dyfference of meates, the condycions of the beastes there mencyoned aswell the clene as the vnclene, are so playnly and expressely described, and concernynge the transgressours of that commaundemente, there is an ordre of puryfiynge them so dystinctely and plainly sette oute, that there is no place leafte of doubtynge or mystakynge of it.

Austēs rule how to take the woordes or the letter of the holye scripture.We hauehave also Austens rule of christen doctryne whereby he sheweth that vnlesse the woordes seme to commaunde any vndecente or wyeked thynge, or els to forbid some good worke, it must be taken as the lettre goeth without any trope or figure.

p. xciiiiWhiche rule yf it be laied to the meates and to circuncision: it shall declare that the woordes of God are to bee taken simplye and plainly as they sounde wythout any figure. They allege morouer that in the prophetes and in the histories there bee tropes and figures easie and readie to bee admitted because that in them the holy ghoste fareth after the manier of menne, and dooeth accomidate him selfe to the famylier mannier of speakyng that men vse, to thentente he maie the more vehemently and the better expresse the thynges that are to bee spoken: but in doctrines and in preceptes or rules it maie not so bee.

For there say they must all thynges bee taken simply and plainly as the wordes soūd, without any ferther addicion or circumstaunce.

But this sentence of theirs is not firme and sure, no nor yet vniuersall. For as touchynge preceptes and lessons geuynge, the lord sayeth: Take hede and beware of the leauen of the pharisees. &c. where he dooeth moste manifestlye vse a trope and a fygure of speakynge, yea and suche an one, that the Apostles selfes were there ouerseene in takynge and vnderstanding of it. He cōmaunded moreouer in the seuenteenth chapytur of Mathewe they should beware of false Prophetes for, (sayed he) they shall come vntounto you in shepes clothing but īwardly they are rauenynge woulfes. &c. In whiche precepte who perceyueth not a plain fyguratyue speche? And in geuynge of doctrynes also and in structions, there is no doubte, but that tropes and fygures are vsed.

Paule sayeth in the newe testamente, The stone was Chryste: We are one breade: and of God it is wryten, that he is a burnyge fyer,

whether the bodye of Christe bee eue…y wher or not.After thys they contende that the bodye of Christ may be in all places & that by the woordes of Christ to Necodeme in the thyrde chapitur of Iohn, where it is sayed: No man ascendeth vp into heauē but he that came downe frome heauen, that is to saye, the Sonne of man, which is in heauen. Be holde (say they) the sonne of man that is to saye, Chryste, euen in hys humanite talked wyth theym, and yet was in heauen too. For hys humayn nature cannot bee seperated frome the deuyne nature of hys godhed: therefore wha…soeuer is affirmed of the one, muste in lyke manyer bee veryfied of the other. But thys is our aunswer, that we goo not a bout in any wyse to deuide these twoo natures the one from the other, but yet it foloweth not, that what soeuer is verified and truelye saied of the one, oughte also to bee attributed to the other. Thys wyll we graunte wyth a good will, that the diuyne nature & godhede of Chryste is eueryevery where: Yet will we not attribute the same to hys bodye in hys humanytee. And this dooeth Austen moste plainly teache in an epistle of his to one Dardanus And as touching that whyche is alleged out of the thyrde chapitur of Iohn, the same Austen dooeth interprete and expoune it, y^t it must be vnderstanded of his deuine nature, that the soonne of man was in heauen. Neither dooeth Chrysostome take it any other wyse whan he expoundeth p. xcvthys place. For he affyrmeth that to bee in heauē is not alttributed vntounto the sonne of man but according to this most excellent nature of the godhed. But how weake thys argumente is, that these twoo natures are ioygned together: ergo what so euer is graunted to the one, must olso bee altributed to the other: maye bee well shewed and proued by other argumentes. The bodye or balle of the sunne that shyneth in the skye, & the lyght of the same sunne hauehave betwene them selues a naturall and a moste high coniunctyon: and yet the same bodye of the sunne dooeth not really and verayly reache to al places that y^e light dothe extende it self vntounto. Item the bodye or substaunce of our yie and the sight of thesame are verai nere coupled and knitte together: and yet for al that our sight cometh and reacheth to many thynges, whyche our bodily yie doeth not extende it self vntounto Thei argue furthermore y^t many thinges ought to be geuen, graunted, & attributed to the body of Chryste a boue the cōmon course & cōdyciōs of other bodies. And y^t for two causes, partely because it is glorified, & partely for y^t it hath y^e word ioygned vntounto it For aunswer wherof we confesse y^t many thīges must be attributed & confessed of it: but as for this, y^t it should be eueryevery wher, can not bee attributed vntounto it wythout preiudice of the nature of a true humayn and naturall bodye. And in case we shoulde graunte somuche vntounto Chrystes humayn bodye it should not make fore hys dygnytee, but rather quyte and clene to the derogacyon and destructyon of it: For than shoulde he bee as it wer thruste oute, and depriued frō his true nature. Furthermore thissame coulde make but litle for our aduersaires purpose in this matier. For although we should graūt that the body of Christe might hauehave this prerogatiue to bee in manye places at once. Yet shoulde it not folow that God wil so doe in this sacrament. Yet ferther they laboure and trauaile to proue this corporall presence of Christe in the Sacrament by the similitude of a teacher that readeth a lecture to an audience: who in that that he maie extende his woordes to many hearers, doeth also in thē cōmunicate and vtter vntounto all his hearers and audience all that lyeth in his mynde to vtter vntounto them so that all the sayde audience eueryevery one of them maye fully and perfectly vnderstande the botome of his hert as well one as another. In lyke manier (say they) doeth our lorde in the wordes that are pronounced ouer the Sacrament.

He dooeth (as it were) enwrappe his bodye in them, that by the same it maye be conueyghed vntounto all those signes or cakes of breade, and maye so bee communicated and distributed vntounto all the receyuers thereof, howe manye soeuer bee of them.

If therefore suche a gyfte or power (saye they) bee geuen and graunted to a scholemaister, or a preacher beyng but an yearthly and a mortall man: why shall not thesame bee muche more geuen to Christe? But in this comparison is a righte greate dyuersitie. & oddes. And besides y^t also (as we hauehave sayed) before the woordes dooe not carye nor conueyghe thynges nor dooe not conueyghe the conceites of the mynde to the hearers, but onelyonly by the waye of signifyinge and betokenyng.

And where as they goe aboute afterwardes to establishe and confyrme that the bodye of Christe is p. xcviin all places by the fyrste chapitur of the Epistle to the Ephesians, where it is sayed that Christ is made the heade of the Churche whiche is his body & the fulnesse of him that fylleth all in all thinges.The Greke wordes bee foreign. &c. is of no force at all to this purpose. For there it is not signifyed ne ment that the bodye of Christe filleth all thynges, and is in all places as they doe bryng in and conclude vponupon it. But because the significaciō of this Greke word or participle foreign is indifferente to bee taken twoo manier of wayes, (for it is a verbe common (as the Gramarians call it,) that is to say, of suche nature, that it may signifye eyther dooyng or sufferyng (as ye lust.) For ye maye chose whether ye will take it and Englishe it, fillyng, or els beyng fylled: If ye Englishe it, beynge fylled: than shall the sense and menyng of it bee, that Christe beeyng the heade of the churche, is in his membres made full and perfect in all poyntes: not that he is made perfecte on his owne behalfe, (for he is bothe perfeicte and full enough as touchyng hymselfe) but it is to be vnderstanded that he is fulfylled and made perfeyct as touchyng vsus that are his bodye, and his membres. For as the heade is cōpared vntounto Christe, & he called the heade: euen so is the congregation called the fulnesse of Christe because it fulfylleth and maketh vp his mysticall body. But if ye Englishe it fyllynge: than shall the sense bee, that Christe is the heade of his Chuche, because he fylleth and maketh perfeicte his gyftes & vertues in all his membres. Neyther can the sense bee that he is in all places after his humanitee. And I thynke that the same maye well be proued by the scriptures.

For Christe dooeth manifeste saye and graunte that Lazarus dyed while he was absente from thence. That yf the aduersaries wyll contende that he hadde not at that tyme a glorifyed bodye:Chris… as touchinge his manhoode, is not in eueryevery place. it maketh not muche to the matier. For he had neuerthelesse the god head ioygned vntounto his bodye. But to putte the mattier out of all doubtes, the Aungell euen after his resurrection sayed vntounto the weomen: he is arisen, he is not here. And agayne he shall goo before you into Galilee. And agayn: he was taken vp out of their sight whan he ascended into heauen. Therfore he filleth not all thynges, neither is he in al places after his humanitee. Thei are woont also to allege a place out of the fourth chaptur to the Ephesians. He that came downe is euen the same also that ascēded vp euen aboue all heauens to fullyll all thynges. Which place for all that proueth nothyng agaynst vsus, and it is exponnded two manier of wayes. Fyrste that to fulfyll all thynges bee referred to al those thynges which were prophecied and wryten of Christe, whereof a litell before he rehearsed a scripture saying: he is gon vp on high, and hath led captiuitie captiue, and hath geuen giftes vntounto menne. And yf ye wyl referre it to places than ye must vnderstande it of certayne kyndes of places, and not of eueryevery singuler place according as this saying here folowyng is spoken. the lorde will hauehave all men to be saued. Therfore we muste saye that Christe sō tyme hath occupyed the middle partes, sometyme the p. xcviivpper partes and sometyme the lowest partes, in the sepulchre. But now the transubstanciatours saie that they hauehave nothynge to dooe here wythall. For they saye not that the bodye of Chryste is euerye where, but onelyonly he that is in al places where this sacrament is. Howbeit it is agaynst theym neuerthelesse. For yf it so bee (as they affirme,) that it is not repugnant to the bodye of Chryste to bee at one tyme in the twentie or fiftie sōdry places at once:If Christes bodye maye bee in many places at once than it maye bee in eueryevery place whiche also D…us perceiued ynough. than shal it not be repugnant for the same body to bee in an houndreth places, or in a thousande, and consequentlye in all places, and so shall they make Chrystes bodye to bee infynite. Neither can thei well fynde faulte with this manyer of arguynge or reasoninge as though this fourme of arguyng were not good. For Hierome vseth euen the same manier of resonyng against Iohn the byshop of Hierusalem, where he mindeth to proue that oure bodyes after the resurrection maie endewe without fode. For (sayth he) Helias and Moses could by the power of God continue without meate by the space of fowertie dayes: therfor maie an other man by thesame power of God bee susteyneth longer. And yf he may continue longer: than it foloweth, that he may continue alwaies if it bee the wyll of God that he shall so dooe. But leat vsus returne again to our aduersaires the transubstanciatours They because they se that vponupon this so nere a coniunction or couplyng together of Christe with the sacramente, it foloweth that the same sacramente maye bee wurshypped: (For yf the lorde bether conteined really & corporalli, what his he that woulde not wurshyp hym? (they teache that we maie indi…ferently at our pleasures either doe it, or leaue it vndoē.

For (saye they) although he bee there in dede yet is he not there to any suche ende or purpose that he shoulde bee wurshipped. If ye take and eate the Sacramente, it is enoughe yf ye dooe also wurship it, ye dooe not amisse. But that that we putte of the Sacramentes is a thynge of more certainetee, whiche is, that in oure wurshippinge we maye not directe our mynde towardes the outewarde signes: but yf any manne at the tyme of the ministracion of the sacramente beeyng well and rightly instructed afore of this mysterie directe his mynde to wurshippe Christe reygning in heauen: he dooeth well, yea, he is bounde to wurshippe Christe who declareth himselfe vntounto him. Neither is there any Idolatry committed in so dooyng, as Paule teacheth in the Epistle to the Corinthians whan he sayeth: If anye man come into youre congregacion beeyng an ignoraunt & vnlearned person, and heareth you altogether speake with tongues: vndoubtedly (wil he saie) these felowes are all out of their wittes, neither shal he be any thyng edifyed. But if he heare you proph…cieng and perceyue that the secretes of his herte are opened, than will he fal downe on his face, and worship god.

He wyll not in this case wurshyp the men that so prophecie or preyche: but for asmuche as the lorde doth there open hym selfe vntounto him he will turne hym selfe to wurshyp God.

p. xcxBut nowe to bee brief,The reasōs against the second opi…ion that was propouned in the beginninge of this w… orke. the reasons wherfore thys so grosse a supposicion and opinion semeth not to bee true are these here folowyng.

Fyrst, for that this reall and corporall presence bringeth no maner of vtilytye or benifite vntounto vsus, whiche we hauehave not by that other spiritual presence. For in the sixt Chapiter of Iohn, the lorde hath promised euerlastyng life vntounto them that eate hym,The first reson against the grosse opiniō of the corporal presence of Ch…ist in the sacramente and he hathe promised moreouer that he wyll abyde in them, and that they shall abyde in hym. And what canne we require more then thys? Secondly, it could not otherwise be graunted that both we and the fathers of the olde lawe had one maner of sacramētes: For they coulde not hauehave obteined this real and bodily presence,The seco…d for somuche as the sonne of God had not yet taken the nature of man and fleshe vponupon hym.

Moreouer… it should folowe that both the godly and the vngodly do eate the body of Christ.The thirde reason. Also ouer and aboue that spirytuall eatyng whyche wee hauehave in the Syxte Chapiter of Iohn,The fourth they brynge in an other fleshely and bodelye eatynge of Christe, whiche can not bee proued: whereas thys and y^• other are but all one, sauynge that in the latter there bee added outward material signes to confyrme the thyng so muche the better.

Also it shoulde folowe that whyle thei yeld so muche vntounto the woordes and y^e letter,The fifthe. they wade in y^e same dificultee and hardenese, that y^e transubstancyatours are entangled wyth all, whan they saye: Thys is my bodye. For thei shall not bee hable so to winde out or vntangle theim selfes, but that they hauehave condycyon and repugnaunce emonge theym selfes.

For they shall not be hable plainly to declare what thei dooe demonstrate and shew by those wordes, nor howe the woordes bee true whan thei are in pronouncynge, vnlesse thei will admitte a trope or a fyguratyue manier of speakyng.

Ferthermore thei dooe by this opinion scattre the bodie of Christ about to be in many places at once yea and eueryevery where at once.The reason agains…e the corporal p…esence. Neyther is it to any effecte, if they sayd: not localli, that is to saye, in the waie of occupinge a roome, or of filling a place. For though it shoulde be there, as the Aungels are said to bee in a place: yet the same is not agreable for any creature, as hath ben proued here afore by examples of Didimus, Basilius, Austen to Dardamus, and of Cyrillus.

The seu…nth reasonThe woordes of the scrypture dooe not driue ne lede vsus to suche a grosse and a corporall presence. And feith commeth by the word of God: wherfore feith is not bound to embrace any suche presence.

And besydes this, the fathers dooe teache otherwyse.The eighte reasō. For what manier of bodye there is in the sacramente of Eucharistia, Ciprian declareth it in hys sermon of the lordes Supper whan he sayeth:Cyprian. who continually euen vntounto this present daye dooeth create, sanctyfie, and blesse his bodye, distributynge thesame to the godly receauers. Now Christes verai owne propre bodye is not of newe created, nor sanctified, nor deuyded.Chrisostome Chrisostome vponupon the fifth chapitur of Matthew in the eleuenth homely of his work that is called vnperfecte hath these woordes: If therfore it be so daungerous a thynge to remoue and applye to pryuate vses and occupynge these halowed vesseles in the whyche is not the veray true bodye of Chryste p. xcixbut onelyonly the mistery of his bodye conteined. &c. And howe we ought to clyme vp into heauen, when we do receyue the communion, if we wyll hauehave the fruicion of Christes bodye, thesame Chrysostome dooeth also expounde in his fower and twentieth homilie vponupon the fyrste Epistle to the Corinthians and the tenthe chapitur where he thus sayeth: he geueth a commaū dement vntounto vsus that with al possible concord and lo…e we come vntounto him, and that we beeyng made Angels in this lyfe, should flygh vp into heauen or rather aboue the heauens. For (sayth he) whersoeuer the carkesse is, there wyll the Eagles be also. The lorde he calleth a carkesse, because of his death. For vnlesse he had dyed, we should not hauehave arisen agayn. And he calleth vsus Eagles to shew that whosoeuer commeth to this body, must earnestly endeuour to clyme vp on high, and muste hauehave no felowshyp with the yearthe, nor bee drawen to the thynges that are beneth, as it were one styll crepyng by the grounde: but that he must alwayes flighe vp to the thynges that be aboue and must beholde the sunne of righteousnesse, and also muste hauehave the yie of the hert most sharpe and quicke. For this is a table for mounting Eagles, and not for pratlyng Iaies. Also thesame Chrysostome vponupon the syx and twentieth chapitur of Matthew in his fower skore and thyrd homelie: They were takynge theyr iourneye out of Egipt into Palestine, wearyng therefore the wede of a wayfaryng man: and shall th… …oū tyng be frō heuen doun to the earth? And in the thyrd booke entiteled de sacerdotio, that is, of priesthode: Thinkest thou that thou art… conuersaunt and abidynge emong mortall men in yearth? wylt thou not rather sodainly bee remoued vp into heauen. Dooest thou not cast a waye all thynkynge of the fleashe, and beh…ldest with a single minde and with a pure hert the thinges that are in heauen?Austen. Austen vntounto Bonifacius hath all these thynges after thesame ordre & tenour, saying: y^e tyme of Ester drawyng nigh, we saye: thys daye, or the daye after to morowe, did Christ dye. On the sondaie we saie: Thys daye arose Chryste from death. And, Baptisme is feith, and, the sacramente of the bodye of Chryste is Chrystes bodye.

The thinge that is absente is spoken of the thing presētWe see that in all these forsayde saiynges, the thynge absente is really spoken of the thinge presente. The same Austen vponupon the fifty fowerth psalme: The head was in heauen and sayed: why dooest thou persecute me? we are in heauen wyth hym thoroughe hope, and he is in yearth wyth vsus thorough louelove.

And in y^e hundreth and nyneteenth epystle to Ianuaryus: Wherfore did he vntounto that persecutour whome he threwe downe wyth hys voice, and did in amanier eate hym transportynge hym into hys bodye.

Wherfore (I saie) dyd he to that persecutour calle down from heauen, and saye: Saule Saule why dooest thou persecute me? &c. Also vponupon Iohn in the thirtieth treactise, and the same is cyted in the tytle of the decrees de consecratione, that is to saye, of consecracion, in the seconde distinccion in the chapytur begynnynge prima qu…dem: The lorde is aboue, howebeit the lorde beeynge the trueth is here also.

For the lordes bodye whereyn he arose muste nedes bee in one place: But his trueth is dyspersed, and spred abrode in all places.

p. xcviiiItem vponupon Iohn in the fiftyeth treactise, thus he sayeth: For after hys maiestee after his prouidence, after hys vnspeakeable and inuisible grace it is fulfyl ledde that was spoken of hym: Beholde I am wyth you vntounto the worldes ende: But after the fleashe whyche the woorde tooke vponupon him accordynge to hys beeyng borne of the virgyn as touchynge hys beeynge taken of the Iewes, beeynge nailled vponupon the tree, beeynge taken down frome the crosse, beeynge wrapped in lynnen clothes, beeynge layed in the sepulchre, and as touchynge that he was manifested and did plainly appere after his resurreccion, it is fulfylled that he saied: Ye shall not hauehave me alwayes presente with you.

Wherfore, because he was conuersaunt in hys bodyly presence by the space of fowertye dayes wyth his disciples, and they awaiting vponupon hym (by seyng him, but not by folowing him) he ascēded vp into heauen: bothe true it is that he is not here, (for he sitteth there on the right hāde of his father) & also y^t he is presēt there, for he is not gone awai with y^e presēce of his maieste. Otherwise, after y^e presēce of his maieste we hauehave christ alwais with vsus: & after the presēce of his fleash it was rightly said of him to his disciples: But as for me ye shal not alwayes hauehave with you.

For the Churche had hym after the presence of the fleashe but a few dayes: now it holdethe and hathe him styll throughe seithe, but with the bodelye yies it seethe hym not.…amine this place by Austēs workes. And thesame Austen agayne vpō y^e Epistle of Iohn wel toward the ende of the epistle: Therfore our Lord Iesus Christ did for this cause ascend into heauen, because he sawe, that many would honour him: and he sawe that their honouryng of hym is vnprofitable vntounto them, if they trample and trede his membres on yearth. And to the ent…nte that no man should erre, and whan he wurshipped the head in heauē, he should trede the feete on yearth: he tolde where his membres should be. For he spake his last woordes euen whan he was readye to ascende vp into heauen: and after the same woordes he spake nomore vponupon yearth. The head beeyng about to ascēd vp to heauen commended his membres on yearth. Thou fyndest hym to speake, but it is in heauen, & down from heauen. And why? because his membres wer troden vponupon yearth. For vntounto Paule beyng a persecutour of hym, he saied frō aboue: p. ciSaule, Saule, why dooest thou persecut me? I am ascended vp into heauen, but I doe yet styl lie as an abiect on the earth I sitte here at the right hande of my father, but there on yearth I dooe yet still houngre, & thirst, and am as a straungier How than did he commande his bodie on yearth whā he was about to ascēde vp to heauē? Whan hys disciples demaunded of hym: lorde, wylt thou at this tyme restore the kyngdome of Israel? And he beeyng euē at the veray point to bee gon frō theim, thus aunswered: It belongeth not to you to knowe the tymes, whiche the father hath putte in hys owne power. But ye shal receiue power of the holy goste, why …he shall come vponupon you. And ye shal bee witnesses vntounto me in Hierusalem. See ye what waie he spredeth his bodie abrode, and see ye where he wil not hauehave himself troden vponupon. Ye shall bee vitnesses vntounto me in Hierusalem and in all Iewrie, and in Samaria, and euen vntounto the worldes ende. Beholde what way I lye abiect, that dooe ascende, for I doee ascende because I am the head, my bodye lieth yet styl: what waye or in what place lyeth it? truely through out all the yearth. Unto Austen dooeth Cyrillus cons…nte, who wryting vponupon Ihon in the syxth booke & the fowerteenth chap. thus sayeth: here is to be marked, that although he conueyghed hence the presence of hys bodye: yet by y^e maieste of hys godhed he is alwaies present wyth vsus, as hymself whan he was at y^e pointe of de…arting awaye frō hys disciples ꝓmiseth, saiyng: Beholde, I am wyth you all the daye vntyl the cōsūmatiō of the worlde. And the same Cyrillus in y^e nynth boke vpō Ihon & y^e .xxi. chap. Christe sayed that he would bee wyth hys disciples but a litell space, not because he should goe from them altogether, (for he is still wyth vsus continually vntyll the ende of the worlde:) but because he should not liue nor bee cōuersaunt wyth theym, as he had been before. For the tyme was now at hande that he should departe away from them vp to heauē vntounto his father. And the parte of al feythfull is to beleue, that although he bee absent from vsus in bodye, yet neu…rthe lesse all thinges are rewled by his power, & we by y^• same power gouerned, and he euermore pr…sent wyth all them that louelove hym. And therefore it was that he sayed.

Uerayly verayly I saye vntounto you, wheresoeuer there shall bee two or three gathered together in my name: there am I in the middes of them. For lyke as euen at that tyme whan he was conuersaunt on yearth as a p. ciiman, he did also fyl heauen, and forsoke not the coumpaignie of the Aungels: euen so at this present though he bee in heauen wyth hys fleashe, ye the fulfilleth the yearth & is psēt with thē that louelove hym. And it is to bee marked, y^• although he should goe away after hys fleash onelyonly (for as we hauehave alreadie saied, he is continually psent wyth vsus by y^e vertue of hys godhed:) yet he sayed that he would for a litell space remaine wyth hys disciples namyng hymself in plain woordes because no mā should presume to deuide Christe into twoo sonnes.

And wyth these men agreeth Uigilius, who in the fyrst booke against Eutiches wryteth in thys manier. The sonne of god after hys humanitee departed away from vsus: but after hys godhed he sayeth vntounto vsus. Beholde, I am wyth you vntyl the ende of the worlde. And the same man not many lines a…ter sayeth: For whom he leaft and from he departed in hys humanitee, theym hath he not leaft nor forsaken in hys godhed. For after the fourme and shape of a seruaunte or bondeman whyche he tooke away from vsus into heauen, he is absent frō vsus: but after the fourine & shape of god he goeth not away frō vsus, but he is psent wyth is euen vponupon yearth. And yet aswell beeyng present as absent he is one & the same vntounto vsus. Again in the fowerth boke: If the nature of the woorde & of the fleashe bee but one nature: how happeneth that wheras the woorde is eueryevery where, y^e fleashe also is not found eueryevery where? For whā he was on yearth, certes he was not in heauen, and now, because he is in heauen, certes he is not on yearth. And so ferreforth is he not on yearth, that as touchyng the fleashe we looke for Christ to come down frō heauen whom after the word, we beleue to bee wyth vsus vponupon yearth.

Therefore after your opinion, eyther the woorde is conteined and encoumpaced in some certain place together wyth hys fleashe: or els the fleashe is eueryevery where together wyth y^e woorde. For one nature dooeth not receiue in it self any thyng that is contrarie to it, or of a sondrie sorte from it. And of a muche sondrie sorte and ferre vnlyke bee these two th…nges, to bee encompaced or conteined in a determinat place, and to bee eueryevery where. And forasmuche as the woorde is euerywhere, and his fleashe is not eueryevery where: it appereth that one & the same Christe is of bothe natures, and that he is in veray dede eueryevery where after the nature of hys godhed, and to bee conteined wythin the circuit of a place after the nature of hys humanitee and manhoed and also that created he was, and yet hath no begynnyng: and to bee subiect to death, & yet of suche immortalitee that he can not die. And within fewe lines after thus he sayeth: This is the catholike feith and confession, whyche the Apostles taught and deliuered, whyche the Martirs confirmed and whiche the feithful dooe kepe and holde euen vntounto thys present. Besides these also Fulgētius vntounto kyng Trasinnudus in the second book:…ulgentius One and the same man placeable as touchyng that he was borne of mā, whyche is god infinite as touchyng y^t he was begottē of the father. One and the same man after his humain substaunce abs…nt from heauen whan he was conuersaunt on yearth, & forsakyng the yearth whan he was ascended vp into heauen and after his godly and infinite substaunce neither leauyng heauen whan he came down from heauen, nor bearyng the yearth whan he p. ciiiascended vp into heauen. Whiche thyng maie by the moste true and assured woordes of the lordes self bee knowen, who to shewe hys humanitee placeable, saied vntounto his disciples: I goe vp vntounto my father and your father, my god and your god. Also whan he had saied of Lazarus: Lazarus is dead, he added thereto, and saied: I am glad for your sakes, that ye maye beleue, because I was not there. And to declare the infinitenesse of his godhed, he saieth vntounto his disciples: Beholde I am with you al the daies vntil the consummacion of the worlde. How did he ascende vp into heauen, but that he is a veray man in dede & placeable? Or how is he present wyth his feithfull, but that he is veray true god in dede and infinite? And the same fulgentius in y^e third booke: Christe beeyng one and inseparable, did after hys onelyonly fleashe aryse out of the sepulchre: and thesame Christe beeyng one and inseparable, did after the wholle and perfeict nature of man whyche he tooke vponupon hym… forsake the yearth locally, and ascended vp into heauen, and sitteth on the right hande of god, and after the self same wholle and perfeict man he shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead, and to croune the feithfull and godly. Finally Bernard vpō the cāticles of Salomon in the three and thirtieth sermō thus sayeth:Bernarde. I also hauehave the woorde, but in fleashe I hauehave it, and the trueth is sette afore me, but it is in a sacramente. The aungel is fatte fed with the fatte of the wheate and is now saciated and filled wyth the graine self and I must in the meane whyle bee contented wyth a certain rynde of the sacrament, wyth the branne of the fleshe, wyth the chaffe of y^e lettre wyth the vaylle of feyth. And these thynges are of suche sorte, that beeyng tasted of they bryng death, vnleste thei hauehave takē some sawce bee it neuer so litel of y^• **By the first fruictes of the spirite, is ment some litel taste or porcion of the spirite, though it bee not yet the ful gift & perfectiō of the spirite. Rom. viii.Rom 8fyrst fruictes of y^e spirite. **He alludeth to the historie of the potte of pottage made wyth colloquintida in the land of Gylgal & swetened of …liseus wyth puttyng mele into the potte reade .iiii. King. iiii.There is vtterly to me death in y^e potte… except it bee swetened w^t the mele of the ꝓphete. And within a litel after, he sayeth: But w^t how great aboundaunce soeuer these thynges growe in fatnesse, yet dooe not we wyth lyke pleasauntenesse receyue the rynde of the sacramente, and the fatnesse of the wheate self: feyth and hope: remembrance of a thyng, and the presence of the same euerlastyngnesse, & transitorinesse: the true visage, & a glasse: y^e image of God, & y^e shape of abōdman: for in al these thynges my feyth is ryche but my vnderstāding is veray pore. And (I praie you) is vnderstāding and beleuing of egual sauourynesse, seyng y^t beleuing is vntounto merite, & vnderstāding vntounto rewarde? Thou seest as ferre oddes to bee betwene the ꝓuenders, as there is betwene y^e places. And as the heauēs are exalted in heigth frō the yearth: so are y^• inhabitours in them. Here thou seest that Bernard dooeth in plain & open wordes make a cōtrariousnesse betwene y^e remēbraūce of a thing, & the psence of the same: and so betwene certain other thynges whyche dooe greatly auaille to thys matter. But let vsus returne to our aduersaries. They hauehave of the fathers & aunciēt wrytters of the Churche whō to laye agaynst vsus y^t is to wete, Ireneus who affirmeth the sacramente o… Eucharistia, to cōsiste of two thynges, y^e one yearthly, & the other heauē ly, whiche self same thing Gelasius also doeth suppose But al this doeth not cōclude, sauing y^t if thou take al y^e whole sacramēte together, & make one thyng of the p. ciiiisigne & the thing signified thereby: thā dooe we graūte y^e same to cōsiste of two thynges.How the sacramente is sayed to cō sist of two thinges the one yearthli & the other heauenly. But if thou wouldest afterward putte as great & as nere a coniūctiō betwene y^e bread & Christes bodi, as there is betwene the diuine nature and the humaine nature in Christe: this poincte wer in no wyse to bee graūted. For thā there should of necessite one substaūce or subiecte bee made of y^e bread & of Christes bodie, so y^t they should neuer be plucked asonder or disseuered y^e one from y^e other: whiche thinges wer vttrely against al reasō. Out of y^e rest of the fathers they obiecte for the most parte y^e self same thinges that y^e trāsubstāciatours cited before. But now leat vsus see what those ꝑsones whyche embrace y^e thyrd opiniō, dooe saye against these men. Fyrst & formeste thei dooe not admitte y^e said scatering abroade of Christes bodie in suche sorte, y^t it maye bee euerye where:Obiections against this opinion of the co…pora… p…esence of Christe in the sacramente. because it is a thing repugnāt to y^e nature of mā. And Austē to Dardanus doeth in moste plain woordes wryte to y^e cōtrarie. Secōdly they wyl nedes hauehave, y^• y^e eating whyche is putte in y^e sixth of Ihon, & thys last eatyng at y^e lordes supper bee vtterly al one: sauing that here in this later eating, there bee added outward …ignes of breade and wyne. And y^e thyng they proue by thys argumente, because Ihon for somuche as he had once afore made mē ciō of y^e eating whiche he wryteth of, dooeth not afterward in y^e later parte of his ghospel make any mēcion of y^e instituting of y^e sacramēt as the other Euāgelistes doe. For he had sufficiētely wrytē al y^e geare afore. And the summe of the doctrine whiche the others had leaft vnspoken, Ihon did supply in the said sixth chapitur. Neither is there any cause (saye they) why any person should allege y^• cōmuniō to bee therefore superfluous.The vtilitees of receiuing the cō munion. For by often receiuing of the communion we celebrate

The lordes memorial, and thankes geuing, and the mynde is stirred vp by the representaciō of suche thynges as are there dooen, neyther bee there conteined therin dom…e signes, but speakyng signes.

Besides thys there is there conteined a certain token or pledge wherbye the Christianes dooe note theym selfes ioygned and knitte together emong themselfes and with Chryste, & besydes this, they professe their feyth concernyng the bodye of Chryste nailled on the crosse, and concernynge his bloud that was shed forth for our redempcion For it is not enough to beleue with the herte, but confession is made wyth the mouth too, and not onelye wyth the mouthe, but also wyth outewarde dooinges. Neither dooe these men admitte that the others saie, whiche is, that the wycked also dooe receiue the bodye of Christe.The wicked dooe not receiue christes bodye. For our senses and reason dooe not reache vntounto hym, therefore it remaineth that he is receiued by feith. Of the whyche feith, forasmuche as the said parties are destitute, they can hauehave nothing but the outeward signes. And Paule wryteth thus. Whoso eateth this breade vnwoorthyly. &c. and sayeth not, whoso eateth the bodie of Christe vnwoorthily.

Ferthermore thei meruaille at these men whiche folowes the cōtrarie opinion, that they should attribut remission of synnes vntounto the saied corporal or bodyly eatyng of Christe. For that is too admitte a worke y^t is accepted for y^e veray weorkyng or doyng of it, wheras remissiō of synnes is not had but through feyth. Thei dooe afterward lene and staygh altogether vponupon the speakynges of Paule, whan the lorde biddeth this to p. cvbee dooen in remembraunce in hym, and his death to bee shewed til he come, whyche wordes seme vntounto them to declare the absence of Christes bodye, and not hys presence. But we hauehave elswhere geuen aduertisemēte y^t thys argumente is nothyng so strong nor substancial an argumente, excepte it bee vnderstāded of the bodie of Christe really, corporally, and naturally present.

For els forasmuche as it is receiued by feith, it is not vnderstanded to bee vtterly absent, though hys abydynge bee in heauen as touchyng his nature and his substaūce. For he is eaten spiritually, & is thereby in veray true dede ioygned and knitte vntounto vsus.

They allege after this the fathers who dooe in plain and manifest woordes geue a determinate sentence, and saye precisely, that here is a type or countrepaine, a signe, & a figure of Christes bodye. And they bryng in for theyr purpose twoo similitudes or comparisons, One is of a frende, vntounto whom his frende that is absent is yet neuerthelesse sayed to bee present whā his mynde or thought renneth on hym. Also they putte many lookyng glasses whiche are in a circuit round about one and thesame man, whose looke and face is multiplied throughe out all these glasses eueryevery one of them, though the man moue not out of his place. In dede I cōfesse that these are similitudes though some what to cold to agree well wyth thys misterie. For a frende cōprehēded and cōceiued in a mannes thought and beeyng stille rennyng in his mynde, dooeth not weorke any alteracion or chaunge in the partie that is the thynker on his frende, nor fedeth or nourisheth hys mynde, nor also dooeth so renewe hys bodye, that he maye bee made apte or hable to receiue the resurrecctiō. And y^e same y^t is cōteined ī a glasse, is but a veray slēdre & light shadowe, neither ought so slēdre a thing to be compared w^t our ioygning & coupling to Christ. For the spiritual presence of Christe whiche we putte, hath the power of the holy ghoste annexed vntounto it, whyche dooeth moste streightly couple vsus vntounto hym. Yet the sayd similitudes are not vtterly to bee reiected for somuche as they maye by some manier of meanes induce & lede vsus to the trueth so y^t thei be vnderstāded, not to bee altogether ful egual w^t the thyng self. For y^e said similitudes dooe notifie vntounto vsus how thys receyuyng of Christe is doen by feyth, & w^t the mynde. And mētion they make of two manier of couplynges of vsus wyth Christe. The one is, that by feith we enbrace his bodie nailled on the crosse, & hys bloud shed foorth for our redēpciō. The other is, y^t y^e veray sonne of god toke our veray true nature vpō him, & by this meanes there is entred & begonne a natural cōmuniō betwene vsus & Christe, wherof there is a mēciō made in y^e secōd chap. of the epistle to the Hebrewes. But there is a certain thyrd knittyng together whiche we entre and beginne wyth Christe by eatyng hym spiritually, of whiche they dooe not make so often mencion though thei dooe not altogether hold theyr peace of it. But of thys thyrd knittyng of vsus wyth Christ we shal traicte here a litel after. That if these men bee demaunded the question, whether Christe bee present in the lordes supper or not: thei saie he is, but thei saye this by y^e figure synecdoche, because y^e one parte of Christe, that is to saye his godhed, is veraily & truely psent there. Otherwyse in expounyng our lordes saiyng, this is my bodye thei vse y^e figure of metonimia, (of whiche we hauehave afore spokē) vsing y^e name of y^e thing self ī stede of y^e signe. And thei seme to graūt veray Christe hymself in suche wyse to p. cvibe there psēt, as y^e sūne, whiche kep…th himself stil ī his owne circle, is neuerthelesse saied to be present to the worlde, & y^e same to gouerne w^t hys goyng about & w^t his lighte. And how veraily feith maye make y^• thyng psēt, they thynke theymself…s to hauehave sufficiētely declared out of y^e epistle to y^e Galathiās where Paule saied y^• Christ was described & sette out before theyr yies, & crucified euē emōg theim. Now remaineth y^t b…twene these two opiniōs & determinatiōs we shewe what is by our iudgemēt either to be auoided, or to be receiued: not y^• I mynde to checke singular and moste excellent men that hauehave been or to geue any geacke eyther to Luther or els to zwynglius. For as thouchyng zwynglius I doe certainly knowe, y^• in hys boke he putteth y^e signes in this sacramēt in no wyse to be void or vain signes, as I hauehave aboue sayed. And also it hath beē tolde me of mē y^t hauehave beē cōuersaūt w^t Luther, y^• he of a trueth made none other cōiūctiō betwene y^e bodye of Christe & y^e outward signes, but a coniunctiō sacramētal. But how the contencion betwene theym was increased and enkiēdled, y^• time serueth not now to reherse it. Setting therefore these men asyde, whiche neuer can bee praised ynough, we wil …reacte of y^• opiniōs euē as they are recited at large, & tossed to & fro in y^e world. Wherfore in y^e former opinion, I dooe in no case approue ne allow y^e grosse copulatiō of y^e bodye of Christe w^t the breade, so y^t it should be naturally, corporally, & really cōteyned in y^e same breade. For y^e holy scripture doeth not cōstreigne vsus to stablishe any suche doctrine: & to multiplie & heape vp so many miracles without testimonie of goddes woorde, standeth not wel w^t the rule of diuinitee. Besides thys, suche a presence is not necessarye, neither hath it any efficacye as touching our saluacion. Also that the vngodly should receiue the bodye of the lorde I doe not admitte. For whatsoeuer the lorde hath instituted he hath done it that it myght bee to our saluacion: but the carnall and corporal eating is not for the saluacion of the vngodly: ergo Christe hath not instituted the sayd eating of hys bodye in suche sorte. And whatsoeuer the vngodly dooe there eate corporally, it maye not bee said that thei eate the bodye of Christe, except ye wyll geue vntounto the outward signe or matier of the sacramente, the name of the thyng. Morouer we wyl not graūte y^e bodie of Christe to bee euerye where, or to bee dispersed thorough out al or many places, because this is contrarie and repugnaunt to the condicions of mannes nature.

Neither also is it to bee thought that there is any difference betwene the spirituall eatyng whyche is wryten in the syxth chapiter of Ihon, and that whyche the lorde did institute at his last supper: sauing that to the sam… doctrine and promise whiche he had taught before, he did now at hys last supper adde y^e said outward signes, & putte y^e thing ī executiō, whiche he hath taught before. Also y^t th…y speake doubtfully cōcerning the adoracion or wurshippyng of the sacramente, ought not to bee admitted. For we hauehave taught afore bothe plainly and clerely, what is to bee thought cōcernyng that mattier. And thus muche of this opinion frō the whiche I iudge to bee excepted and auoided all these pointes whiche I hauehave now rehearsed.

In the seconde opinion this I lyke not, that they dooe so seldome make mencion of the sacramental mutation of the breade & the wyne, whiche yet is no small matier. And the fathers whāsoeuer they seme to fauour p. cviithe trāsubstanciatiō. Yet hauehave a respecte vntounto y^e said sacramētal mutation. Also y^e holye scriptures dooe not cō temne it for Paule in the same place where he treateth of the sacramente,What thing is not approued in this opiniō as touching the corporal presence of Christe in the sacramente. The sacramentalle chaunge is a gr…at matier and approued by holy scripture. dooeth not onelyonly cal it the cuppe, but the cuppe of the lorde. We see also, that in the olde testamente thinges that wer offered, wer not onelyonly called holy, but also moste holy, wherefore they ought not to esteme this mutaciō to bee a small matier, seeyng that it is of so greate weyght & efficacie. But if they will excuse the matier, saiyng, that they dooe it because we should not cleue to muche vntounto the outward or material signes, it is to bee aunswered, that thys sore maie bee easely remedied by a doctrine whereby men maye bee instructed, that Christe is ioygned wyth vsus by a moste excelent coniunction or knotte whan we dooe communicate, in that that he abideth in vsus, and we in him: Secoundly in that that he is ioygned wyth vsus by the wordes,Christe is ioygned vntounto vsus by three thynges. and that by the waye of signifiyng or betokenyng. Thyrdly he is ioygned vntounto vsus by the material signes, and that also by the waye of signifiyng: whyche not wythstanding is lesse then that whyche belongeth to the woordes. Yea and the material signes take theyr signifiyng or betokenyng of the former cō ioynyng and couplyng whiche cōmeth of the wordes. If these thynges bee diligently, duely, and ordrely taught: there shall bee no daungier in the matier. I graunte that the writers of this opinion hauehave somtime treated and made mencion of thys sacramental chaūge but yet veray seldome. Morouer they hauehave not allwaies aydded therūto that efficacye whiche is due vntounto it.Of the efficacie of the sacrament. For these thynges are not made vulgare or comon signes, but suche signes as maye myghtily & strongly stiere vp y^t mynde. They wyl saie: thē shal ye attribute to muche vntounto the elementes & material thynges of this world. Wherūto we aunswer, y^t these thynges are not attributed vntounto theym for thē selfes, but for y^e lordes institutiō & ordinaunce, for the power of the holy ghoste, & for the clerenes & plainnesse of the wordes. If they demaūde where I finde, y^t y^e holy ghoste weorketh in thys matier:The holy ghoste weorketh at the receiuing of the communion. y^e aunswer there to is easie. For we hauehave alreadie putte & cōcluded y^t thys eatyng is spirituall. And how cā we eate spiritualli wythout y^e holy ghoste? As touching y^e instituciō of y^e lorde there is no doubte to bee made: & of y^e efficacie of the worde the scriptures speake in dyuers places. Paule sayeth, that the gospel is y^e power of god vntounto saluaciō, that is to wete, because god doeth by y^e instrumēte of y^e ghospel declare hys power. And what other thyng is y^e sacramēte of Eucharistia, but the ghospel, or the woord visible? Paule sayeth also, that fayth cōmeth by hearyng, & y^e hearyng by the worde of God, not y^t y^e worde maketh vsus beleue, (for it is the holy ghoste through whō we dooe beleue:) but he vseth y^e instrumēte of the wordes, & also of the sacramē tes, whiche are the wordes of God suche as maye bee cōprehended w^t our outwarde & bodyly senses. Who knoweth not also y^t by the worde of God the creatures are sanctified, as it is in y^e epistle to Timothe, whyche also must bee ryghthely takē. For the holy ghoste is he that sāctifieth in dede, neuerthelesse he dooeth it by the instrumēte bothe of the wordes & of the sacramentes. Therefore thys mutatiō or chaūge, maye not bee takē awaye frō the breade & the wyne, by y^e whyche they are made signes of the bodye & bloud of Christe effectual & myghty in operatiō, that is to saye, suche as by theym p. cviiithe spirite of the lorde woorketh in vsus myghtely, & not after y^e cōmon sorte, if …o bee, y^t we on our parte bee endewed, wyth feyth and godlynesse. For we dooe not here establyshe an efficacie whyche tyeth our saluaciō to y^e thynges of thys worlde. Neither leat any man here obiecte & saye: Seing thys receiuing of y^e cōmuniō is dooen by feyth, what shal they bee the better y^t do cōmunicate, seeying that in case they bee feythful, they hauehave Christ alreadie ioygned vntounto theym? For suche persones maie easily bee aūswered. Christe is in dede alreadie ioygned vntounto vsus, but he is daily by receiuing the cōmuniō more nerer & nerer ioygned vntounto vsus: & whan we dooe cōmunicate, he is more & more vnited & made one w^t vsus. Besides thys, in receiuing of it we doe fulfil the cōmādemēt of y^e lorde, who cōmaūded y^t we should eate & drinke thys sacramēt. Ye myght els saye euē the lyke of baptisme too. For whāsoeuer any man dooeth beleue, he is iustified w^tout delaye, & hath forgeuenesse of his sinnes: & yet notw^tstādyng he is not Baptised in vayne. If ye demaunde again, whether thys efficacye of y^e sacramēte of Eucharistia. Whether the efficacie of Eucharistia doe extēde equally & indifferently to all men.doeth extende equally & indifferētely vntounto al men: I aunswer, no. But it is accordyng to y^e rate & porciō of feithe in the parties that dooe cōmunicate, as Origen sayed vponupon the fifteenth chapitur of Mathewe. It is not y^e substaunce of thys sacramēte that dooeth profite, (sayeth he) but it is that whiche is by y^e worde & by prayer that heireth our myndes accordyng to the quātitee and porcion of our feith. There is yet another thyng that I would hauehave theim to beate in to y^e mindes of y^e people: which is, y^t through the cōmuniō we are incorporated, & (as ye would saye) enbodied vntounto Christe whiche worde of enbodyeng, is no straunge nor no newe deuised worde in scripture. For in Paule to the Ephesians it is sayd… that the Gentiles are made felowe heyres and concorporall wyth Christe: and the greke woorde therof is foreign For although we putte that the vnderstanding and takyng of Christes bodye is dooen by feyth: yet notwythstanding at thys conceiuing and takyng, there foloweth effectually a true coniunction (I saye) betwene vsus and Christe, (and not a feigned or ymaginatiue coniunction) whiche first perteyneth to the solle and then redoundeth vntounto the bodye.We are incorporated vntounto Christe whā we dooe cōmunicate.

And the same cōiunctiō and incorporacion of vsus wyth Christe, is commended vntounto vsus in the holy scriptures of Paule, vnderunder a comparison of the head and the bodye, whan he calleth vsus mēbres of one bodye vnderunder Christe whiche is the head: and vndre a comparison of the state and condicion of wedlocke, wherin twoo are made one fleashe. Whyche thyng to expresse, Cyrillus brought forth a like exaumple of molten wax whyche beeyng myxte wyth other waxe becōmeth of two substaūces one substaunce. Euen so is it Cyrillus mynde that Christe is ioygned vntounto vsus. And to this purpose dooe the woordes of Paule to the Ephesians make verai greatly. Where it is saied, that we are of his fleshe, and of his bones.Whether Christ be of our fleshe or we of hys fleashe. Which woordes at the first sight whan a man looketh on theim, seme to hauehave another menyng, and seme that thei ought to hauehave ben spoken another waie, that is to wete, that the sonne of God is of our flesh and of our bones because he toke fleashe of our kynde. But Paule vnderstode not bare and cōmon fleashe, but suche fleashe as wer clene from synne, fleashe apte to receiue the resurrectiō p. cixand immortalitee. Whyche kynde of fleashe the feithfull, forasmuche as they hauehave it not of theymselfes, nor yet by the procreation of Adam they doe chalenge & take it of Christ whā thei are incorporated into him by the sacramentes, and by feith. Thus than there happeneth a certain slidynge and issuynge of Chryste into vsus,The issuing of Christe in to vsus. and a certain spirytuall touchynge whyche Paule considered & wel weighed, whan he sayd to the Galathians: I lyue, yet not I, but Chyste lyueth in me.

Neyther it is necessarye that for these thynges Chryste shoulde bee dyspersed and scattered aboute throughoute infinyte places. For all that euer we dooe here teache is spirituall. And yet is it not a feygned thynge nor phantasticall. For phantasies, idolles, or thynges imagined and feigned, dooe not fede the solle as it is certayn that it is dooen herein this sacramente. For we hauehave saied, and dooe confyrme, that these materiall sygnes dooe moste truely sygnyfye, represente, and exhibite vntounto vsus the bodye of Chryste, to bee eaten: howebeit it is spiritually, that is, wyth the mouth of the solle to bee eaten, and not of the bodye.

If ye demaunde howe the fathers of the olde lawe coulde hauehave the selfe same thynge in theyr sacramentes that we hauehave: the aunswer is easy to bee made.

For we hauehave concluded that in thys sacramente the matier is not dooen corporallye, but spiritually. And it is read in the Apocalypse, that y^e lambe was offred frō the beginnīg of the world. The fathers of y^e old law awaited for thinges to come, & we remembre the thinges that now alreadie past. Finally this on…ly thing we shewe and declare necessarie to bee taken hede vntounto: whyche is, that the same whyche we dooe alwayes adde of the spirituall manier of receyuyng taken to bee preiudicyall or de…ogati…e vntounto the trueth. For Austen saied vponupon the fiftie fowerth psalme, that the lordes bodye is in a certain and determinate place, that is to wete, in heauen: but the trueth of the lordes bodye is euerye where. For wheresoeuer the faithfull bee, they conceyue and beleue that Chryste had a true bodye in dede whyche was geuen for vsus, and by feith thei eate thesame. Thus hauehave I said my minde what ought to be dooen accordyng to the scriptures in this matier of the sacramente. Whiche thinges I woulde wyshe the godly reader well to examine and pondre, & thesame to take in good pa…te. God of his goodnesse graunt that the Churche of Chryst maie once obteine to come to the truth, and also to a concord & peace concernynge thys sacrament. Whyche twoo thinges I dooe for thys cause wishe and desire, for that I considre the sacramente of Eucharistia, wherof we treacte, to hauehave ben hitherto ouerwhelmed, buried, & deformed with lyes, deceyptes, and supersticions, that it might bee rather estemed any other thynge then that whiche the lorde in his supper did institute.

Whiche churche to the entent we should not hauehave easely or soone pourged, the deuil beyng a most greuous enemie to all peace and trueth, hath sowen so many opinions, contencions, debates, Heresies, and battailes in manier euen to bloudshed & manslaughter: that an vniforme and reasonable consent and agrement therin suche as is mete for Christen people to hauehave, semeth p. cxin a manier vnpossible to be hoped for. Howebeit (alas) we suffre these thynges not without desert, for y^e that we hauehave dishonoured this sacramente two manier of wayes: partely in that that of this so excellent and so singuler a gifte of Christe, we hauehave erected and sette vp an execrable Idoll: and partly for that we hauehave vsurped these holye mysteries with an vnclene feith, with a conscience polluted with moste greuous synnes, without any due profe or examinacion of our selues. Wherfore I beseche almighty god, that he wil take pitie vponupon this great calamitie, & that he vouchesafe once to restore vntounto his Churche the Sacramente of Eucharistia truelye receiued and restored: and I beseche hym that he wyl graunt vsus the right vse thereof through Iesus Christ oure Lorde. Amen.

Finis.