The Sacrament of the Lords Supper, Text (1 of 4)

The Sacrament of the Lords Supper · Text (1 of 4)

p. i¶ A discourse vpō the Sacrament of the Lordes Supper solemnely handled at the Uniuersitie of Oxforde by Doctour Peter Martyr Uermila Florentine, and in the sayde Uniuersite, placed by the Kinges maiest…e, Edward y^e syxte to reade ope… Lectures in Diuinitie, who discoursed thereof as hereafter foloweth whan he had finished the declaracion of the leuenthe Chapiter of the fyrste Epistle of S. Paule to the Chorinthyans.

THe cont…ncions y^• hauehave arisen concernyng the sacramēt of y^e lordes Supper hauehave vndoubtedly this only intēt & purpose, that the manier and waye maye be vnderstanded, how the bodye and bloude of the Lorde are ioyned & coupled with the similitudes of breade and wyne: or (as other Scholemē terme it) with the matiers Sacramentall. And forasmuche as it is well knowen to all men that thissame is called the Sacramente of the Lordes body and bloude, therfore r…quisite it is, that these thīges be by same manier of way cōteined in this Sacrament. But we in the searching oute hereof shall not rehearse all thinges that are in this mattier tossed to & fro, lest the thing which of it selfe is darke enough, maye be made more entriked and doubtfull, and least the discoursyng of it maye growe to an endlesse mattier and botomlesse. The order therfore & dispo…icion of the doctrine of this present traictise shall be reduced to fower principall poinctes.

i.¶ Fyrst and formoste we shall traicte of suche cō iunction and vnion, wherby they commonly affirmed the bread and the wine to be chaunged by transubstā ciacion into the body & bloud of Christ which semeth to be the highest & moste perfecte poynct of the Sacrament with the materiall thynges.

ii.Secondarily we shall searche and trye out another determinacion which supposeth the wyne and the breade (as touching their perfect and true natures) to be reserued and kept still in the sacramente, and so to remaine therin, that they hauehave annexed and ioyned vntounto them the very true bodye and bloude of Christe (as they speake it in theyr termes) naturally, bodely, & really, that is to saye in very persone.

iii.Thyrdly shall be considred and weyghed the assercion of some others, whiche affirme that the premisses are by none other meane but a sacramentall waye coupled together, that is to wete, in the waye of betokening and repres…ntyng onelyonly.

iiii.Fourthly and last of all shall a iudgemente and determinacion be brought in, whereby there shal of y^e opinions perteynyng to the seconde and third sentēce be gathered as much as may in this mat…er of y^e sacramēt seme to make for the religiō of a christiā man. We shall therfore begynne at the opinion of transubstanciacion, partlye because it is of the grosser sorte, and partlye because it is but of a late tyme c…m vp, & finally, because the other two sentences do perfectly consent and dooe with egual endeuour defeact it substancially.

p. iiOf this sentence of transubstanciacion it is writen by the Moister of the sentences in the eight,…e opiniō that auoucheth transubstanciacion. the ninthe, the tenthe, and the leuenth distinctions of his fourth boke. And (in a briefe summe to speake it), thus in effect sayeth the booke. Whyle the minister thereunto deputed and ordeined, pronounceth the wordes of the Lordes institucion ouer matier and stuffe due and conueniente for the purpose, that is to wete, ouer bread & wyne, so that he hauehave an intenciō (as they terme it) so to do: the substaunce of breade and wyne is conuerted and chaū ged into the substaūce of y^e body and bloud of Christ, and is in suche wise chaunged, that the accidentes of y^e substaunce aswell that it is turned into, as also that it is turned out of, doe still remayne without a subi…cte: whiche accidentes neuerthelesse manye wryters hauehave determined to rest in y^e body of Christ that the breade is tu…ned into. But in dede that supposiciō is for this reason a false supposicion, because that Christes body doeth not recraue any suche accidentes. Some others hauehave laboured to constitute and appoynte the ayer as the naturall fundamente and subiecte of the saied accidentes: which thing lykewise because it can not be proued, al those for the moste part that are maynteyners and defendours of this sentence, dooe agree that they are but as byhangers, and dooe remayne withoute a subiecte.

Than ferther they wyll these accidentes whiche are seen, felt, & tasted, to signifie vntounto vsus the very true bodye of Christe, whiche they conteyne within them couered and hidden. From this they procede ferther, and affirme this body of Christ y^e lyeth hyd vnderunder the sayed accidentes to be a signe aswell of the verye selfe body of Christ that hāged on the crosse, as also of his body misticall, that is to saye, of the congregation and felowshyp of the electe sorte and predestinate. Wherupon the May…er of the sentences affirmeth some thynge here to be that is onelyonly a signe, and that same doeth he put to be the likenesses and matiers visible: and some other thyng agayne, that is bothe the thynge and the signe too, that is to wete, y^e body of Christ that is hidden vnderunder the accidentes. For the sayde bodye, if it bee referred to the visible lykenesses of breade and wyne, is the thyng self…: and in case ye hauehave respect to his body misticall, it is a signe. Another thynge also there is (sayeth he) whiche a man can by no m…anes saye to be a signe, but to be the thyng onelyonly, that is to weete, the body misticall, because it is so signifyed, that it is a thing present and no more a signe of any other or ferther thing to come. The rest of the wordes whiche are sette before or after in the executing of these misteries he affirmeth to bee not of anye n…ce…sitie of the Sacramente, but to be onelye thankes geuynge and prayers enterlaced. And yf ye demaunde of them how s… great a body maye possibly be conteyned in suche a litle piece of breade, they aunswere that it is no… by the waye of quantitie, nor yet as other thinges that doe fyll vp a roome or a place, or (as they terme it) definiti…ely, that is to saye, by circumscription of place, but by the waye of substaunce, and sacramentally as they cal it. Neither doe they take it for thinges contrarie to reason that in this Sacrament two distincte bodyes should be conteyned in one selfe place. For they are constreined to take that for one of theyr posions and conclusions. For emiddes the accidentes of the breade there is a p. iiithing of quātite…, yea and the same of quantitee corporal. Agayne they thynke it nothing agai…st reasō, that one self body be verely in dinerse & sōdry places at once. And graunt they do, that a man of full groweth and statu…e, (as Christe was on the crosse and as he shall come to iudge the world) is in veray true dede (though inuisibly) conteyned not onelyonly in a litell cake of breade, but also in the very least piece therof. Many thynges mothere might yet be here brought in cōcernyng this sentence, but thus muche I thynke to be sufficiente for our discoursyng at this time.

Who so requireth any ferther to knowe of this mattier maye seke it in the Maister of the sentences in the places aboue cited with his expositours innumerable.

Now the Argumentes that they bringe for this conuersion or transubstanciacion, The Argumentes for tra…substanciaciō.are these.

Fyrst & formost. The holy scripture doth enforce it. For in y^e sixt of Iohn y^e lord promised y^t he wold geue i.his fl…she not onelyonly for the lyfe of the worlde, but also to be eaten: and added these wordes thereto: Except a manne eate my fleashe and drinke, my bloud, he shal not hauehave life.

He moreouer affirmed hymselfe to bee the bread from heauen, yea and the liuely breade, whiche the father hadde geuen, in which place he promised in playn wordes that he wolde geue hymselfe to be eat…n after the lykenesse of bread: and the thyng that he promised he did truely and vprightly perfourme, as the Euangelistes do beare witnesse that it was done at his last supper. And that y^e thing which is geuen to eate, is the lordes body, Paule doeth playnly shew whā he saieth: Whoso eateth and drinketh it vnworthilye, shall be guiltie of the bodye and bloude of the Lorde. And agayne: He eateth and drinketh iudgemente agaynste himselfe in that he maketh not a difference of the Lordes bodye. But all the strength and pith of this argumente they auouche to consist in these wordes, in which it is sayd: This is my body: which wordes they wil ī any wyse to be cleare & to hauehave no nede of any ferther exposicion or declaracion. And to vsus (say they) for the reuerence y^t we oughe to the word of God, it is behouable to beleue the wordes. For the Euangeliste Mathew Marke, and Luke doe with a full consent agree vponupon those wordes, yea and the Apostle Paule also in his former Epistle to the Corinthians. And onlesse it were a mattier of great weyght and importaunce, and so to be taken as it souneth without any ferther or other circūstaunce, the Apostles wold neuer with so greate concorde hauehave agreed among themselues. That if it were a thing lawful with tropes, that is to say, with figurate maners of speakynges to defeact or auoyde it: than shal nothyng (saye they) be safe ne sure for the Heretiques but that they wyl corrupte it with counterfaicte exposicions.

ii.Secondarily such propos…ciōs as these, This is my body, ought so to be taken, y^t the former part of the clause, & the later part, doe represent & specifie one selfe thyng: and that the whole proposicion or clause be (as in the schoole terme it is called) Identica, that is p. iiiito saye, of suche sorte, that one and thesame thynge is ment and signifyed by bothe partes of it, except there be some thyng founde commyng eyther before or after in the processe of it, that muste driue vsus to some trope or allegorie, whereas in this place is founde no suche thyng. Yea and in case a mā vieu rightly as he should dooe the processe that foloweth: it rather calleth vsus backe to the simple and playne vnderstandynge of the wordes as they lye. For thus goeth the texte forthe: Whiche is deliuered for you. And manifest it is, that the very true and selfe body of Christe it was, that was deliuered for vsus.

Thirdly suche thynges as by nature and kynde iiiare distincte thynges, and (as the Logicians in theyr terme call it) disparata, that is to saye, so disseuered, that their natures disagree, and hauehave some contrarietie one to the other, as (for example) a manne, a horse, and a stone: al suche thynges (I say) are of suche rate y^t it cannot by any meanes be truely sayd, that the one is the other. For it cannot in any manner of speakyng be truely sayed that a man is a stone, or a stone is a man. And that breade and Christes body are of this rate, that is to saye, are thynges of two distincte and contrarie natures, no man nedeth to doubte. Wherfore it shall neuer be true to saye of breade, that iiii.it is Chistes body. And therefore whan the lorde pronoūced these wordes, This is my body, it must of necessitie be, that the substaunce of bread was gone.

Another reason also that is made, is this: In saying This is my body, Christ did not without a due cōsideracion vse this word, is, whiche is in grāmer a verbe substantiue, that is to saye, it playnly signifieth being, & it is of y^e present tēse, y^t is to say it signifieth y^• tyme that is no we presente. For els he might euen aswell hauehave sayed: This signifyeth or betokeneth my body, or, this repr…sēteth my body, or, this is a figure of my body, or, this is a signe and tokē of my body, or he might hauehave sayed: This breade is my body. &c. all whiche maniers and phrases of speakynge forasmuche as he did eschewe, the saying is to be playnlye taken as he pronounced it withoute any ferther addi…ion, circumstaunce, or menyng.

v.Furthermore if the substaūce of bread (saye they) shoulde remayne still than shoulde two soondrie substaunces yea & the same corporal substaunces of quā titie be together in one thyng & shold enterchaūgeably ent…r and p…rce the one through the oth…r, whiche inconuenience is taken awaye, by puttynge and aduouching of transubstanciacion.

vi.Agayn. There should be no small peryll towarde, l…ast the people should fall into ydolatrie. For wheras the body of Christ is to be adoured and worshipped, in case ther should any bread there remayne, thā shold the breade also be adoured and wurshipped, which to do w…re ydolatrie.

vii.Agayne. It semeth to be a thynge not well standyng with the dignitie of Christes bodye, y^t it shoulde in this wyse be coupled or mengled either with bread, or with wyne.

viii.They also take an argument out of the forme, the nature and the ordre of doing sacrifice. For if the body p. vof Christe be offred vp by the mynister: it is necessary that he hauehave it there, and that he there presente it vntounto the sight of God, excepte we will saye that he offereth no more but a thyng onelyonly signifyed and betokened or a thing represented vnderunder a shadowe.

After all this they roare with an open mouthe ix.that auncient fathers are altogether on theyr syde.the fathers are cited for transubstanciaciō.

And afore al others they cite Irenaeus, Ir…neus.who in his .v. booke sayeth thus: Whan the cup beyng mingled and the bread beeyng broken dooeth receiue of the woord of God, there is made the Sacramente of Christes bloud and body. And afore in his fourth boke he sayed in a manier the selfe same thing. Tertullianus Tertullia.also sayeth in the fowerth booke that Christe of the breade taken into his handes, and distributed vntounto his disciples, made his owne bodye. And Origines Origines.vponupon Matthew in the twenty sixt chapitur, saieth: This bread which God the soonne confesseth to bee his owne body. &c. Cyprian in his Sermon of the Lordes supper,Cyprianus. saieth: This common bread beeyng cha…nged into fleashe & bloud, procureth lyfe. And eftsons in the same Sermon: This breade whiche the Lorde gaue vntounto his disciples beeyng not in fourme and similitude but in nature chaūged by the almightifulnesse of the wor…e, became fleashe. Ambrose in his fowerth booke of the sacramentes.Ambrosius. Breade it is before the wordes of Consecracion: but as soone as consecracion is come to it, it is of breade made the fleashe of Christe. And many thynges mo of lyke sorte he hath in his litell traictises of the Sacramentes. Chrisostomus also in the sixtienth Homelie of the Sacramente of Eucharistie,Chrisostomus. whiche Homelie is to be found in the sixth tome of his weorkes as thei bee nowe sette foorth, aff…rm…th this Sacrament to beelyke vntounto a piece of waxe put into the fyer, where no part of the substaunce of waxe remaineth, but is all together made lyke to the nature of fyer. And euen so (…aieth he) by this substaunce of Christes bodye, the breade and the wyne is cōsumed clene awaye. Augustine also in the prologue of the twentye .iii. Psalme saieth,Augustine. that Christe bore and held vp hymselfe in his ow…e handes whan he did at his last supper institute and ordein this Sacrament. And in the .xc. and eight Psalme, expouninge the wordes, worship ye the stoo…e of his feete, he auoucheth that the …eash of Christe is to be worshipped in the Sacramente. Whiche wer not a thyng of cēgruence, if th…re wer bread still remainyng in the Sacramente. Also in the third booke of the Tr…ni…ie he affirmeth that there can not any Sacrament bee made, but by vertue of the spirite weorkyng together with the woorde. Hilarius also in h…s sixth boke of the Trinitie,…ilarius. affirmeth Christ to bee in vsus after the veritie of nature, and not onelyonly through the agr…eablenesse of will: and aduoucheth vsus at the Lordes bourd truely and veraily to …ceyue the woorde beeyng become f…ashe. Leo Bishoppe of Rome in his twoo & twentieth Epistle to the Clergie and people of Constantinople wry…eth in this manier:Leo. R…ceyuyng (sayeth he) the vertue and strength of heauenly meate, leat vsus passe and bee turned into the fleash of hym, who became our fleash. Thei aduouche furthermore that Damascenus is ful and whole on their syde. Theophilactus also is brought in of them,Throphilactus. who dooeth in moste plain termes make mencion of transubstanciacion. Now as for A…selmus and hugo de Sancto Victore, p. viwho hauehave been wryters of a later tyme, there is no doubte, but that thei bothe are aduouchers of transubstanciation, wherefore thei allege aswel the auncient fathers as the newe to make all on their syde.

Thei cite ferthermore general councels,The councel Ephesine. that is to wete, the councell that was holden at Ephesus againste the Heretique Nestorius, where Cyrellus Cirillus.an auncient father of the churche was present and chiefe president of the councell. And the same Cyrillus hath many thynges concernyng this matier. And emong all other thinges he chiefly affirmeth that we beyng made partakers of the holy bodye, and of the precious bloud of Christe, dooe not nowe receiue common fleashe, nor the fleashe as it wer of a sanctified man, but fleashe that dooeth veraily sanctifie and make holy, and that is nowe become the verai propre fleashe of the verai soonne selfe. Thei allege morouer the councell of Vercels holden vnderunder Leo Bishop of Rome the nynth of y^t name,The councel of Uercels. where the Archedeacon Berengarius was condemned, of whose recantacion it is also mencioned in the decrees, in the title de consecratione, that is, of consecracion in the second distinccion, and in the fowerth of the sentences. Besides this thei bring in for thē the Romain councel Lateranense,The coūcell la…erane…se holden vnderunder Innocentius Bishoppe of Rome the third of y^• name, who maketh:plaine mētion of trāsubstāciaciō in the Decretalles, in the title de Trinitate in the chapitur that begynneth thus, Firmiter. &c. and also in the title de celebratione Missarum, that is, of the celebraciō of Masses, in the chapitur thus beginning, Cum Martha. &c. The councell also holden at Constance, The coūcell of Constācewher Wi…lief was cōdemned because he denyed this transubstanciacion.

xi.Thei cite in lyke manier for theyr parte, (as the… affirme) the consente of the whole churche, wherwith Duns was so throughely moued and persuaded in the fowerth of the sentences, Du…s.that a though transubstancion could not by any scriptures or argumentes bee firmely and euidently proued yet he gaue ouer and graunted it, because he would not bee against the consent of the churche.

xii.And hereto they frame a wonderous great and large argumente gathered of the almightifull power of God, for that he is able to dooe muche greater and higher thing…s then this.

xiii.Thei bring in also many soondry miracles, that hauehave at times ben shewed for testimonie of this truth: as for examp…e: that this Sacram…nte in the handes of Gregorie bishop of Rome did at his prayers turne into a fyng…r of fleashe: and that there hath at sometymes in this Sacrament appered a litel preatiechild: and a…so that this Sacramente beeyng for the nonce pricked with sharpe thinges, hath at tymes dropped bloud.

xiiii.Thei ferther talke many thinges of Christes bod… glorified which body the Apostle Paul… in this his former Epistle to the Corinthiās calleth a spirituall bodye, wherby thei would fain shewe and declare, that Christe might verai well do suche a thyng, as to deliuer vntounto vsus his bobye couered: and as it wer hidden with sensible accidentes.

xv.Thei yet ferther allege and brynge in for their purpose, that it is not put in the greke simply and onelyonly. This is my bodye, but this article, the, is put thereto, so that it is sayed in Greke not foreign p. viialone, but thus, foreign, as if ye should saie in Englishe, the bodye of me. And the Grekes dooe euer cō monly vse to adde suche articles, whan they will properly and effectually signifie or expresse the thyng that thei speake of, whiche phrase of speakyng by articles, the Latin men hauehave not, but our Englishe toung, and the moste parte of other toungues hauehave them.

Thei go yet ferther, and allege, that Christ made xvi.promise vntounto his Apostles, saying: I Wil be with you vntill the ende or consummacion of the worlde. Whiche wordes (saye thei) are not to bee referred to his godhead onelye, (for the Apostles theimselfes knewe that point well enough and doubted nothyng of it) but because thei wer sad and heauie for his bodily departure, therefore he comforteth thē, saying that he will bee present with them afterwarde, euen in his body too.

Besides the premisses, in case transubstanciacion should xvii.bee taken awaye, and breade there remayne, than forasmuche as the sayde breade cannot bee the bodye of Christe: there should bee leaft onelyonly a significaciō: and in this case, the Sacramentes of the newe law should not hauehave in them anye thynge that were not to bee founde in the Sacramentes of the olde Lawe. For the olde Sacramentes did conteyne a significacion of Christe too. Yea and if a man hauehave respect to the outewarde lykenesse or semblaunce: the sayd olde Sacramentes wente muche more nerer to the liuelye signifying or fyguryng of Christe, then dooeth breade and wyne. For their brute beastes were kylled, and the bloud of thesame was…hed foorth, whereas in bread and wine there dooeth no manier suche thing happen.

xviii.And forasmuche as Christe promised in Peter that the feith of the Churche should not faile, and forasmuche as the said Churche is the moste derely beloued spouse of Christe: it semeth to them a wonderous case howe he hath of so longe continuaunce leafte the Churche in this Idolatrie, and hath not in so longe whyle reueled and shewed the trueth of the matier agaynst so great an abusion.

xix.Thei argue f…rthermore in this manier. If the substaunces of breade and wyne beeyng conserued & still remainyng, the trueth of the thynges, can not bee there present, (as it is afore concluded:) than shall there bee nothyng more found ne had in the Sacrament, thē in other common meates and repastes. For in them al so the feithfull shall well vnderstande the significacion of breade and wyne. And thus the dignitie of the Sacramentes, perishe and come to nothyng.

xx.Finally thei allege, that the worde of God ought to hauehave his ful strength and power inuiolably conserued & kept: whiche if it bee taken away, than doeth not transubstanciacion remaine. Ambrose in his treactise of the sacramentes, Amb…ose.affirmeth the woord of God, to bee a woord of suche operacion and weorkyng that the bread and wyne both remayne still thesame that they bee, and yet bee chaunged into another thyng. Which wordes one Algerius a writer of late time enterpreteth and expouneth in the seuenth chapitur of the first booke of his weorke that he wrote of this sacramente: saying, that the bread & the wyne remaine stil as touching their accidentes, p. viiiand are chaunged into an other thyng, or into a bett…r thyng, as touchyng their substaunce.

But now it behoueth vsus to see by what argumentes and reasons on the contrarie parte,Reasons agaynst tra… subs…anciacion. this sentence is clerely defeacted and vtterly made void. Firste and formoste the holye scripture purporteth that here is breade:The fyrst a… gumente. Ergo it is not true, that the substaunce therof is chaunged into another thyng.

The Euangelistes auouche and affirme that Christe toke breade, and brake it,Paul doeth …iue s…nd…e times cal it b…ead. and gaue it to his disciples… and Paule dooeth fiue soondrie tymes make expressemenciō of it callyng it eueryevery where by the name of breade. First he saieth:i. Corin. x.1 Cor 10 Is not the breade whiche we breake a Communion or participacion of Christes body? And in thesame place. All we are one breade, and one body, which cōmunicate of one bread.i. Cor. xi.1 Cor 11 In another place. As oftē as ye shal eate this bread, ye shal shewe the Lordes death vntill he come. Also, whosoeuer shal eate this bread and drinke this cuppe of the Lorde vnworthilye, shall be guiltie of the bodye and bloud of the Lorde. Lastly. Leat a mā examine himselfe, and so leat him eate of that breade, and drinke of that cuppe. Forasmuche as these wordes and saiynges of Paule are clere and open: therfore if an Aungel from heauen shall preache other doctrine, accursed bee he.

In dede I could here hauehave brought in, that is often and in soondrie places of Scripture mencioned of breakyng bread:To breake breade a cō mon ph…ase of the Hebrues. but yet because I se that suche phrase of speakyng maye be taken in another sence, as it wer spoken of the vulgar and common foode of people, as for example, in the fiftie ninth chapitur of the prophet Esai: Breake thy bread vntounto the houngry: and in the fowerth chapitur of the Lamentacions of Hieremie. Their litel babes craued breade & there was none to breake it vntounto thē: therfore I leaue out all suche places, & will allege for this purpose none but strong reasons and substanciall. Forasmuche therfore as the places of Paule aboue cited are plain and euident, thei ought to bee taken accordyng to the playn woordes without any ferther gloses A sophistical obiecciō.or addicions But some make a sophisticall cauillacion that it is called by the name of breade because of the natures whiche are chaunged, and (to vse thesame phrase of speaking that suche sophisters dooe) thei affirme thesame to be a denominacion a termino a quo that is frō the point that it came fro: that is to saye, it hath the name of breade because it was once breade, and now chaunged from breade or out of breade. And for confirmacion herof thei allege other lyke places out of Scripture: As whan the Serpent that was made of Aarons rodde deuoured the Serpentes of Pharao his Magians or wisemen, whiche thei also had made of their roddes, it is sayed in the Scriptures, that Aarons rodde deuoured the Serpentes of the Magia…s Also man is in diuerse and many places of Scripture called yearth, because that mans body was fyrst made therof, Also the woman was called of Adam, a bone, p. ixof his bones, and fleashe of his fleashe, because God fourmed and shaped hir therout.A… aūswere to the obiecciō afore goyng. But these and all other lyke obieccions are made in vaine. For in the holy scriptures is conteyned open and playne mencion of these conuersions, so that the necessitie of the storie and of the woordes enforceth & driueth vsus to suche tropes that is to saye, to suche phrases of speakyng, and therfore we admitte and receiue them. But nowe leat these felowes likewise on their part first declare and proue out of the holy scriptures suche a conuersiō or chaūge to bee made, that is to wete of breade and wyne into the body and bloud of Christ: and than will we graūt and yelde vntounto them the abouesaid tropes also, which is, that it is called breade not because it is breade still, but because it was breade afore. And to thesame effect and purpose it is, that thei ferther allege. If a mā had geuen me wyne, which wyne did immediately weaxe soure, I hauyng in my punch…on or vessel thesame beyng now turned into vineagre, might verai well saie: This is your wine not for that it is wyne at this present, but because it had been wyne to fore. But there of the conuersion of wyne into vine agre the sense of tastyng dooeth iudge, whiche thyng in the sacramente doeth not happen, where neither any of the fiue senses nor any reason,A…other sophis…ical obieccion nor yet the holye Scripture enforceth vsus to confesse or graunt any suche cōuersion or chaūge to bee made. They obiect also another place out of the second chapitur of S. Ihons ghospell. Whan the maister of the feast had tasted the water that was now made wyne. &c. Wherby thei well declare & proue the wyne newely made of Christ by miracle to kepe yet styl the name of water. But the Euangeliste did not saye water and there leaue,The aūswer but he sayed, water now made wyne. But in al the holy scriptur…s they shall not fynde anye suche declaracion concernyng the Sacrament, that the breade is saied to be conuerted or chaunged into the body of Christe. Thei take also their refuge sometimes vntounto the sixth chapitur of Ihon,Another obiecciō. so that thei affirme the Apostle in the places aboue cited to name it breade, not wheaten breade, nor any other common breade, but the Lordes body, whiche in the sixth chapitur of Ihon is called by the name of bread, where Christ saied: I am the bread of life.The answer But agaynst thē it maketh that Paule saieth: The bread whiche we breake, is it not a participacion of Christys bodye?The m…teriall b…eade of the Sacrament. Whiche cannot conueniently agree with Christes body, that it should bee broken, forasmuche as it is written: a bone of hym shall ye not breake. But these so fewe and high witted men, althoughe thei hauehave foūd in the sixth chapitur of Ihon that Christe called himselfe breade, yet where will thei finde (I beseche you) that he hath at any tyme called hymselfe wyne? For in this supper the one parte of the Sacrament is called wyne, although by a straūge manier of speaking, as appereth in those woordes in the gospell expressed: I wyl not from hensefoorth drinke of this frui…te of the vynetree. c&. And it is a thyng out of doubt to all men lyuyng that o…te of the vine trees is produced & brought foorth, not accidentes, but the substaunce of wine. Morouer by this reason it should be vtterlye p. xmad… frustrate & voyd that is with a great & general agreemente spoken of the aunciente fathers which is,A confirm… cion of the au…swer afore goyng. that by these outwarde and materiall tokens of this Sacrament, is signified and represented the misticall bodye of Christe… by lyke reason as breade is made of the mele of many cornes of wheat, and wyne is made of the iuice of many grapes together, whiche thinges in the accidentes hauehave no suche veritee. For the accidentes of wheate or grapes do… not yelde bread or wine, but the substaunce of them. Now dooe we not a litle meruayle at suche manier of men, who if at any tyme thei heare vsus bryng in for oure parte any suche lyke places, as for exaumple. The sōne was Christ: The lambe or the hoste is the passeouer. Circumcision is the couenaunte: with other like plac…s: by and by they crye with an open mouthe y^t suche manier allegories serue nothyng for this place: and now th…imself…s dooe on eueryevery syde bring bothe tropes and allegories euen by whole heapes.Another obiecciō. Thei ferther allege that breade is here taken for eueryevery suche thyng as maye conueniently bee eaten, as in the Hebrewe toungue. LEHEM is taken for al kynd of meat.LEHEM. But clere agaynst theim make the Euangelistes, who restreygne this kynde of meate,The answer and referre it to bread onelyonly. An other sorte dooe imagine that by the woord breade are signified onelyonly the accidentes and figure or fourme of breade. But these men harpe altogether vponupon one stryng that thei firste begonne withall: and y^e verai same poynte that is yet in controuersie and not agr…ed vponupon, thei take as a thyng fully graunted vntounto them: whiche is, that the accidentes are there without a subiecte, whiche point their part had been firste to proue. And as for miracles are not to be heaped vp together without a necessitie.

The second argumente.An other argumente is. The olde fathers had the same Sacramentes that we hauehave, and yet emong thē there neded not any suche transubstanciacion, that either the stone, or the water that flowed oute of the stone, or y^e Manna shoulde suffre any transubstanciacion, whiche thyng at that could not bee dooen. Wherfore suche transubstanciation is not requisite to oure Sacramentes neither. The first proposicion and parte of this argument we reade in Paule, whiche is, that the fathers of the old lawe and we had one and the selfe same meate. But our aduersaries saie naye,Another obieccion and wil y^t our Sacramentes bee vtterly and many soondrie waies distinct and differyng from the misteries of the olde fathers: Whiche thyng we also graunte vntounto theim, as well for the diuersitee of the outwarde and materiall signes,The aūswer as also for the difference of the tymes, and for certain other propertees. Neuerthelesse as touchyng the matier or substaunce of the Sacramentes,Sac…amentes of the fathers vnderunder the old law and our Sacramētes to bee all one. whiche wer receiued of the holy patriarkes, we saye, that it was vtterly one and the verai same meate, and the veraie selfe drynke, with the matier or substaunce of our Sacramente. Austen wryteth vntounto Marcellinus of the diuersitee and diff…rence of these Sacramentes, that to a manne, hauynge anye sparke of fine witte in his heade it maie suffise that it was conueniente that Christe were with one sorte of Sacramentes foreshewed whan he was yet to come, and with another sorte of Sacramentes to bee declared after he was come.

p. xiIn whiche place Austen semeth onelyonly to hauehave regarde to the difference of the tymes. Also thesame Austen in his litell traictise of the vtilitie and profite of dooynge true penaunce, writeth in verai plaine woordes, that the olde fathers whan thei had Manna, did eate the self same thyng that we dooe nowe eate. For (saieth he) thei didde eate the selfe same spirituall meate. And what is it to saye the selfe same, but that it is thesame whiche we also dooe eate? And for that it might to some persone appere and seme a thyng vnconuenient, that we shoulde hauehave no more nowe then the Iewes than had, he stil beateth vponupon the testimonie of Paule aboue alledged, to whom (saieth Austen) it was not enoughe to saie, that the olde fathers had a spirituall meate, but he thought it good to adde moreouer and saie, thei had the same self meate that we dooe rece…ue, to thende we should vnderstande that the said old fathers in their Manna did eate thesame thyng, that we dooe eate, and therfore he added this terme, the selfe same meate. &c. Neither doeth it make any thyng againste vsus that certaine affirme him to speake of a spirituall eatyng, because that the Patriarkes didde beleue in Christe to come.

First b…cause these felowes ca… not vponupon any sure foundacion es…ablishe their carnall eatyng of Christe.

And Secondarily for that the olde fathers didde not onelyonly beleue in their hearte in Christe to come, but did also receyue a token and signe of the thynge whiche thei beleued, that is to wete, Manna or Water. Wherefore the thing didde not passe by feythe onelye: and so Austens sentence and sayinge standeth styll in his force, that the meate of the olde fathers was not onelyonly spirituall as ours is, but also the selfe same that we eate, Neither is it of any great force or effecte if thou obiecte out of thesame Augustine vponupon the thirtie seuenth Psalme, in the Prologue, wher he putteth difference betwene the newe and olde Sacramentes: where he semeth to assigne three pointes of difference. First, that in the one a Salueour is promised, and in the other he is geuen. And afterward he saieth that our Sacramentes are more easie, fewer in numbre, more full of maiestee, and more blisseful. And at last he addeth, that the others wer as toyes or iapes in childrens handes: but in our Sacramentes to bee conteyned some thyng of more vtilitee and substancialnesse. And these circumstaunces are to bee vnderstāded as touchyng the first point concernyng the promissiō of Christ to come. But not withstādyng that thei had not yet in verai dede receyued him i… …eashe: yet neuerthelesse to the fathers beleuyng in the said promission, he was spiritually geuen to meate. But our Sacramentes are saied to geue Christe, euen because thei testifie that he is come already, and is no more to be looked for as though he wer not come. Now that our Sacramentes are fewer in noumbre, it is a thing certain, and also, that thei are more easie then the old Sacramentes. Thei also signifie and represēt a more maiestie, because the woordes that are spoken be more open and plain, then thei wer in the old Testamente. Now as for y^e happines of ours is a great dele more, so that we are in a great dele better case with our Sacram…ntes, then the olde fathers wer with theirs. For we are free frō the yoke of the ceremonies: and we liue altogether growyng to the last houre and ende of the p. xiiworld, and are vndoubted more nere vntounto the kyngdome of Christ. Th… holy ghost also dooeth now in this later tyme more plentefully abounde, and the Churche or holy congregation is in this tyme larger then it was than, wherof Christ saied in the ghospell to his disciples. Many kynges & Prophetes hauehave desired to see the thynges that ye see. &c. The Sacramentes morouer of the law, wer as a man might saye, as to yes or iapes in the childrēs handes: because it behoued the rude tyme of the old fathers to be exercised and trayned vnderunder a greater noū bre of ceremonies, vnderunder soondrie elementes, & vnderunder manifold waies of nourturing and framing, euen as children hauehave commonly muche more businesse in breakyng and trainyng, then elders hauehave. But by all these circumstaunces it is not concluded ne proued that the Sacramentes of the olde fathers (at the leste wyse as touching the thing and substaunce of the misterie) had not thesame thynges conteyned in them, that our Sacramentes now hauehave.

For Cyprian in the third Epistle of the second booke hath these wordes folowyng:Cyprian. Oure Lorde Iesus Christ offered the self same thyng, that Melchisedech had offered, that is to wete, breade and wyne, that is to saye, his bodye and bloud. Augustine Augustine.also in the sixtenth chaptur of the ninetienth booke againste Fausins thus saieth: Oh in how great an errour thei ierre & swerne, whiche thynke that because the signes and sacramentes are chaunged, therfore the thynges selfes are dyuerse and not all one. And in the one and twētieth chapitur of the twentieth booke of the same weorke. The fleashe and bloud of this sacrifice before the comming of Christe was promised by Hostes and sacrifices of likenesses: at the tyme of Christes passion it was geuē in verai trueth: and euer sens the asc…ndyng of Christe into heauen, it is celebrated by the Sacramente of his memoriall. The same Austen in the twentye sixthe trai… tise vponupon Ihon sayeth: Those Sacramentes wer diuerse and not al one in the signe: but in the thyng that is signifyed, thei are eguall and euen all one. Thesame Austen a litell after: Thesame meate than (sayeth he, & the same drinke: but that was to suche as vnderstood and beleued it: but to them that vnderstood it not, that same was than onelyonly Manna, and that same was than onelyonly bare Water and nothing els, but to the beleuing and feithfull, it was euen the veraisame that it nowe is. For at that tyme was Christ yet to come, but now he is come: To come, and comed alreadie are distincte wordes: but Christe is bothe than and nowe, all one: And Bertram Bertramone of the wryters in these later tymes thus wryteth. Yet neuerthelesse that our aunciente fathers of the olde lawe did eate the selfe same spirituall meate that we dooe, and dranke the selfe same spirituall drinke that we now dooe, Sainct Paule dooeth earnestly affirme. But thou wilte peraduenture aske this question: whiche selfe same meate and drinke? Ueraily y^e veraiself same which the people of the beleuing sort doe at this day eate & drinke in the Churche or cō gregacion. For it is not leefull in any wyse to vnderstande that thei should bee diuerse or distincte meates and drinkes, seyng that one and the selfe same Christe it is whiche did bothe than fede with his fleashe, and geue drinke of his bloude to the people in the wildernesse, p. xiiiand baptised in the cloud and in the sea; & dooeth now at this present in the Churche and congregacion of the beleuing sorte fede the people with the bread of his bodie, & geueth thē drinke of y^e water of his bloud. And thesame Bertram not many lines …nsuing saieth in this wyse: A wondrefull matier truely, and a thyng aboue the reache of mannes capacitee reason or estimacion. He had not yet taken the nature of man vpō him: he hadde not yet tasted death for the saluacion of the worlde: he had not yet redemed vsus with his bloude: & yet the olde fathers in the wyldernesse didde through spirituall meate, and drinke inuisible, eate his bodye, and drinke his bloud, as the Apostle Paul witnesseth where he cryeth. The selfe same spirituall meate. &c. And thesame Bertram anon after saieth in this manier: For the selfe same Christe whiche at this daye doeth in the feithfull congregacion through his almightifull power spirituallye turne breade and wyne into the fleashe of his body and into the liquour of his own bloud: the self same Christ did at that time inuisibly weorke Manna that was geuen from heauen to bee his bodye, and the water powred doune from heauen to bee his owne bloud.

We se ferthermore that in the sacrament of baptisme is geuen the holye ghoste, and the remission of sinnes:The thirde argument against transubsta…ciacion. and yet can we not saye that the holye ghoste & the remission of sinnes lye secretly hid in the waters. Yea and in baptisme we putte on Christ vponupon vsus: and yet dooeth no man saye that the water suffreth anye transubstanciacion. But the aduersaries allege Christ to bee after one sorte in the Sacrament of his supper,Another ob…cciō. and after another waye in baptisme, whiche poynt I wyll not denie, so that thei graunte hym to bee in baptisme too. As touching the manier of Christes beeyng in the Sacramētes, my plain mynde is, that Christ in baptisme is geuen to vsus, as a mediatour, and a reconciler and (to speake in a more apte time) a regeneratour, that is to saye, as o…e that begeatteth vsus of newe: and in the Sacramente of his supper he is distributed vntounto vsus, as a meate and a foode.

The fourth argum…nte.Moreouer these transubstancioners doe with their transubstanciation crepe verai nere to the trope and manier of speakyng of the Heretiques of Marcions secte. For thei saie: It semeth bread & looketh lyke breade, and yet is none, whiche selfe same thynge Marcion the Heretique did saie of the fleashe and body of Christe, that it was not a body and fleashe in verai true dede, but did onelyonly appere to be a body and fleashe, and yet was none.

The fifthe a…gument against transubstanciacio….Christ is no iugler, neither doth he mocke or daly w^t our senses. But whan he was arise again from death to life, he proued & declared his resurreccion by our sē ses. Fele my body (saied he) & loke wel vpō it. For a spirite hath not any fleashe & bones, his Apostles might hauehave saied: We fele it, & we se it, it appereth fleashe, & it is like a body: but yet it is not fleash in dede. And so Christes profe had ben nothing worth, w^t the whiche he would hauehave it tryed y^t his body was not a fantasticall bodye, but a verai body in dede. And that he had resumed & takē again his verai owne body, & not any other manier body he declared by a plain profe shewed to y^e yie by printes & holes of the nailles, & by y^• open hole in his side. The which argument & profe of Christes making should be of no strength at al nor effect, if ther wer yet a place left for such iugling castes, as y^e aduersaries p. xiiiiwold hauehave here in this matier of y^• sacramēt.

The fathers also & old writers dooe hold y^t Christ was very mā,The sixthe argumente. because he had y^e properties & accidētes of mans nature: as for exāple, because he hūgred, slept woūdred, was sory, wept, & suffred; which argumentes wer nothing worth at al, if suche accidentes be not sufficient profes, y^t where suche accidētes be, there is al so a substaūce to whō thesame be accidētes: as if a mā cānot argue thꝰ: thesame forme or fashiō which was wōt to be in bread: doth yet remain, thesame tast, & the same colour: ergo it is bread. For the Heretiques will not d…nie, but graūt, y^t Christ was hungry, y^t he slept y^t he wōdred, y^t he wept, and y^t he suffred: but whē you will therupon cōclude, y^t he was verai mā: thei wil denie your argumēt. For thei wil saie y^t these properties might be foūd in Christ, though a substaūce to which thei should appertaine (I meane mannes nature) wer not there present in hym.

Thei saie vntounto y^e fourth argumēt cōcerning Marcion y^t he might take occasiō of his errour out of y^e ghospel,In obiecciō of the aduersaries. wher it is writē of Christ y^t he walked vpō water aswell as it had ben vponupon land & neuer weat his fote, he was lifted vp into heauen, & escaped frō y^e Iewes handes y^t thei could not se him: & yet ought not those places …saie thei) to bee blotted out of the ghospell for the daungerous vnderstanding of the saied Marcionites.

To whō we make aūswer,The aūswe… y^t it is described in y^e gospels y^t Christ did worke these kinde of myracles once or twyse & no more: but ye holde y^t these miracles bee wrought cōtinually w^tout any intermission. And the thinges y^• are writtē in y^e holy scriptures we hauehave not imagined nor inuēted of our own heade, and therfore ought we not to be blamed or accused as geuers of y^t or any other lyke occasion. But in suche as we inuente of oure owne brayne, in suche thynges as we expounde after our owne fansie, and suche thynges sette foorth to bee holden for a doctrine not hauing Goddes woorde expressely for vsus: then had we nede to bee well aware, leste we open a gappe, and minister occasion to Heretiques.

The seuenth argument against transubstanciacion.Morouer by this meane of transubstanciacion the nature or propertie of a Sacramēte is clene destroied for Austen writynge vponupon Iohn saieth thus of it: The woorde of God commeth and is to the elemente and so becommeth it a Sacramente. It is the nature of a Sacramente to bee made of these two thynges. But after these mennes myndes, the el…mental thynges (as breade and wyne) be gone: and than ought Austen not to hauehave saied. The wordes come to the elemente: but he should rather hauehave sayed the woordes take awaye the elemente.

The eighte argumente.And when thei put awaye the natures of the elementes… the analogie that is to saye proporciō and reason of their significacion is cleane destroied and commeth to nothyng.What proporcion a…d reason there is of the signes and the thinges in this Sacramente. Bread dooeth therefore signifie the bodye of Christe, because it fedeth and maketh strong and is a great sustenaunce to mannes life, which propertee and operacion we can not attribute or applye the accidentes of breade… as to witnesse of it, or to the taste of it. Again in that that many cornes or graynes bee put together and so breade made of them: there maye bee a significacion in it to represent or signifie a bodie mystical and suche significacion can not bee conteyned in the whytenesse or the taste, or the other accidentes p. xvof breade. Wherupon it was that Paule sayed: we beeyng many folke are one lofe or one bread and one bodye: because we bee partakers of one loffe or breade.

In baptisme, water is called lauachre or founteine of regeneracion or (as ye might saie) of a second byrth:The propo…cion of the outwarde signes to the thing in baptisme. and because the substaunce of the water dooeth still remayne: it agreeth verai well, which thyng would not so well agree with the accidentes of water.

Now where Christ saied This is my bodye,The nynthe argumente. the aduersaries takyng away the substaunce of bread and wyne, dooe muche abuse the latine verbe substantife, Est, and muche contrarie to the propre significacion that would hauehave est, to signifie transubstanciatur is chaunged in substaunce, or to stand for conuertitur, whiche is in Englishe it is cōuerted, or for transmutatur, it is chaū ged for whiles thei are in pronouncing those woordes of the Lorde: This is my body: the breade is not yet all this whyle Christes bodye. Wherefore if thei should take est, in his true and propre significaciō: they should speake that thyng, whiche is false and not true. Which consideracion hauehave moued and driuen some of …he schoole men to hold and affirme that the verbe, est, should bee takē for one of these verbes: fieri, to be made mutari, to bee chaunged, or conuerti, to bee turned.

Morouer,The tenthe argumente. this power and strength and efficacie to chaunge the substaunce of breade in to fleashe thei attribute to those fewe woordes of the Lorde: so that as often as the saied woordes be repeted or rehearsed, so often is thesame chaunge of transubstanciacion made. And yet hauehave thei not any one woorde in all the holye Scriptures of any suche thyng to bee dooen, or that it maie so bee dooen. That if any other mā should pronounce thesame woordes whiche Paule, Matthewe, Marke, or Luke doe recite: yet would thei not thinke y^t ther wer any consecracion made. For thei bynde al the strength and force of the mat…er to the wordes of their Canon, that is to saie, of their rule of their massyng. But this we doe certainly knowe, that the Sacrament is than had, whan we do those thinges which Christ did and commaunded to bee dooen. But Christ didde not onelyonly speake the saied wordes: but he also gaue thākes he brake bread, he did eate bread, and gaue bread vntounto others to eate. And where we bryng in nowe manye circumstaunces that wer dooen: al these pointes eueryevery one of them doe concurre and renne together to make y^e veritee of the Sacramente: neyther oughte any one pointe or iot of the premisses to bee omitted or leafte vndoen.

I leat passe here to saye that thei knowe not whether the consecracion, is accomplished and made perfeicte with the woordes of Christe, or by prayers.

Theuleuēth argumente.Morouer, thei put theimselfes forth, to a great daungier. For an euell prieste and suche an one as wer a deceiptefull merchaunte, might passe ouer those woordes of consecracion and recite neuer a one of theim, or might chaunge theim, or els might turne them a cō trarie waye.

The twelft argumente.Farthermore wher these woordes require that the Minister whiche should consecrate must hauehave (as thei bee woont to speake or to call it) a certaine intenciō or purpose to make the body of Christ of it: he might yet hauehave his mynde rennyng vpō some other matiers, p. xviand thynke nothyng at all vponupon any consecracion whiles his mynde w…r so wandering. He mighte also perchaunce bee of the mynde, that he would not hauehave any suche consecracion to bee made, or to come to passe.

Th…i dooe also by puttyng this transubstanciacion, The .xiiii argume…te against tra…substanciacion.fall into many vnreasonable inconueniences and suche as thei can by no meanes wynde out of. For they hold that one same selfe body maye be in infinite and innumerable places to gethers and all at one tyme.

But to helpe saue all thyng vprighte,The euas…ō of the s…ra… substan…iacio…ers. thei allege for themselues that this maketh nothynge agaynste them nor is any disauauntage vntounto thē. For (saie thei) though Christes bodye bee there: yet it is not there per modum quanti, that is to saye after the maner of bodyes hauing their …ull quantitee of bignesse and stature. And this must nedes be a woonderous matier, howe thei can holde and mainteine that a bodye it is, and a body hauing a quantitee and bygnesse, and that it is veraily and really there presente, and yet not after the manier of bodies hauing quantitee. And forasmuche as thei putte and holde it as a doctrine that Christes bodye is there veraily and really present, and corporally presente, and carnally presente (as their te…mes be) but not pres…nt locally (that is to saie, occupiing suche ful roome and place as other bodies of quantitee do:) what is he that can not perceiue and vnderstand, that all those gloses are thinges imagined & inuented onelyonly for to bee euasions and stertynge holes from good argumentes and reasons that are to the contratie?

Thei make an obieccion,An obiecciō of the aduersa…i…s. y^t this is not a thyng so vnpossible. For y^• humaine & mortal body of s. Ambrose,A miracle of S. Ambrose bodye. … god doeth create in the bealies of the eaters and drinkers of those holy cakes either fleagme or some other natural humour, suche as maie be turned into bloud: wherewith the parties maie bee fed and nourished in their bodyes.

The fiftēth argumente.If it should so chaunce, that this Sacramente should be burned, (as in the time whan Hesichius liued,Hesychius. it was) as himself writynge commentaries vponupon the third booke of Moses called Leuiticus witnesseth, (and the selfe same thing hath Origenes also writing vponupon the same booke:Origenes) than will the…e vndoubtedly some ashes be… left of the burnyng of it, and so should a certain substaunce be produced and made of accidentes, whiche hauehave no substaunce theimselfes.

The sextēth arg…mente.It maie also chaūce y^t wormes or some kind of vermin maie be egendred of this consecrated bread: and thā also thei will saie y^t suche substaunce was pro…u…ed or brought forth and made of accidentes. How beit some of thē (as thei be bold and aduent…rous) dooe feigne and deuise that the former substaunce of bread which was therin before the consecracion, doeth in suche ca…e… returne again by miracle: and so maie the saied vermyn (saie thei) happen to come of it. But if it belefull in this sort to multiply & to feigne miracles: thā eueryevery man that lusteth, maie easily become a profunde clerke in scripture. For he will hauehave a miracle in store for …uery strong argument that shall be made against hym, so that he will hauehave an euasion & stertyng hole, from al suche reas…ns as s…all bee brought against hym.

The .xvii. argumente.Besides this, thei are not o…ely busie with miracles: but also th…i dele with captious and deceipt…ful p. xviiisubtilties of sophistrie: as namely Duns Duns.beeyng driuen to a narowe streight to aunswere concerning the pronouncyng of those wordes, This is my body, & to tell what thyng it is, that is mente, and limited, or specified, by this worde this, & wherunto this word this, is in that saying referred, or what it dooeth importe: at last after muche a dooe he aunswereth,The wordes of Dūs are these. Aliquod sīgulare īdiuiduum general… oris substantiae, quod cum praedicaro idem r…ferr, aut pro eodem (vt loquuntur) supponit: neq differunt inter se quae significantur per subiect… ̄ & praedicatū, nisiper var… as concipiendi rationes. that it is a particular thing or porcion of a substaunce y^t cō teineth in it a certain generalitie of a good large extēt, and that the thyng that is imported by this woorde, this, is the verai same thyng in effect and in menyng, y^t foloweth after: so that y^e thing signified, imported, and limited, by this woord, this, and these wordes, my bodye, are (saieth Duns) all one thyng, and hauehave no manier of difference betwene them, sauyng that the woordes are placed the one before the other, and so in that behalfe, are soondrily conceiued in our reason. &c.

But see I praie you, into what thynges, & howe ferre thei ieoperde, and yet for all that, thei can not so escape. For they hauehave not tolde yet, what is limited and imported by the word, this, when it is saied: This is my body, Fisher late Bishop of Rochester wrote, that in this and suche lyke proposicions or sentences, whan one thyng is turned and chaunged into another thyng, it is not vnconuen…ente or any thyng agaynst reason,Fisher Bisshop of Rochester. that by the woorde, this, there bee limited, signifyed, and imported the thyng that it was before the chaunge. And after that sorte he admitteth this clause, This is my bodye, that by the woorde, this, there is signified and imported the breade that it was before the consecracion, and y^t thesame bread is chaunged into Christes body, whyle the residue of y^e woordes, that is to wete, is my body, are in pronouncing. But …han saie I agayn, that the proposiciō or sentence, this is my body, is not sette foorth in his due fourme y^t it ought to be. For in y^t case, it ought to hauehave ben sayed, …his is made my body, or this is chaunged into my body: For els it is not (saie I) a right nor an apt manier of speakyng, to saie: this is my body, seeyng that by their owne confession and grauntyng, it is not his bodye, vntyll y^e resid…e of the woordes bee all spoken, and perfeictlye pronounced euen to the last syllable.

Some men holde that Christes bodye is reallye ioyned with the signes and the materiall stuffe of the Sacramente,The .xviii. ar…umen…e… aga… trā subs…anciacion. that is to wete: with the substaunces of bread and wyne remayning still in the Sacramente. And that sorte of men dooe thus argue againste transubstanciacion … What excellencie (saye thei) or priuilege hath the accidentes of breade, that is to saye, the whitenesse, the roundenesse, or the taste. &c. that thei can bee ioyned with Christes dodye, and the substaunce and nature of breade maie not so? Or what dignitee and priuilege hauehave the accidentes of the bread, which same priuelege maie not or ought not… euen aswell be attributed and graunted to the substaunce and nature of the breade… And if it so be, that the accidentes maie remaine still, why than maie not also the substaunce of bread remaine aswell? Yea, & many of the olde fathers p. xixand writers dooe suppose, that the breade dooeth remaine in dede, yea and they dooe thereof take a similitude to shewe that bothe the natures, that is to were, the nature of man, and the nature of god, dooe verailye & truely remaine in Christe, and so remaine, that the one passeth not into the other. The myndes and verdites of whiche aunciente wryters w… shall here …nsuynge bring in, as shall apperteine, …che in their due places.

Thei fal also into another inconuenience,The. xix. argume…te. what thing it is that is broken ī the Sacrament in which is neither rime nor reason (as the prouer…e saith.) For whan they breake the Sacrament, I demaund of thē, what thing it is that is broken there? In this poynte thei stande in greate doubte, and some there bee, that hath sayed (as the Maister of the sentences witnesseth in the fourth booke) that the substaunce of Christes body it is that is broken there, but this opinion is disproued & ouerthrowē of the said Maister of the sentences, Christes bodye is nowe past beeing subiecte to any breakīg or other casualtees.in that y^t Christes bodye is immortal, & therfore it can not now any more be subiect to any suche thinges as breaking, or to any other newe casualtees Some others againe there hauehave been, which hauehave affirmed that same breakyng not to be a true breakyng in verai dede: but onelyonly to appere so to bee, and to seme so to our sight. But this saying also maye goe emongst the refuse, because we maye not of congruence appoynte or make in this matier a perpetual and an endlesse fashion of mocking and deludyng Christen people. But at last they saye, that it is nothyng but the accidentes onelye that are broken. And whereas they put and hold the quantitee that is in the Sacrament to bee a quantitee in manier onelyonly Mathematicall, that is to saie, not reall nor materiall in dede, but separated and deuided from all materiall substaunce, that maie bee seen or felte, and consisting in our imaginacion onelyonly and in our vnderstandyng, whiche quantitee if it bee diuided or broken in pieces, it is onelyonly so conceiued in our reasō, & by vertue of our vnderstādyng: these breakers of the Sacrament, do so breake the said quantitee that the partes & pieces ther of maie moste manifestly and moste euidentlye be seen to bee veraily and truely broken in dede, and soondred one from another.

The .xx. reasō.It is reade in the Prophete Hieremy: Leat vsus put woodde into his breade, which place is cited and rehearsed bothe of Tertullian and also of Lactanci…s:Tertullian. Lactantius. and thei make this exposicion vponupon it, that it was spokē of the wood of y^e crosse, which was put to Christes body, and these two wryters dooe hold, that the mencion whiche is there made of breade, is for because that with breade or through the vse of a certain breade, Christ would geue hymself vntounto vsus Christian people.

The transubstanciatours take the figures of the olde Testamente clene awai…And the same twoo wryters dooe hold that in the Prophete Hieremies wordesis conteyned a figure, a signe, or a token of the bread of the sacrament, which breade whan these transubstanciatours dooe take awaye, & leaue behynd vntounto vsus, onelyonly the figure or shape and fashion of breade, and not breade selfe: than they make one figure to bee a significaciō of an other figure: and so no substanciallnesse at al can be founde to appere in the mat…er. And y^e selfsame thyng maie there be gathered out of that place, whiche is oftentimes alleged and cited of olde writers concernynge Melchisedech who brought foorth breade and wine, whose figure is not accordingly obserued nor kept of these men, whan thei p. xxput away the breade and the wine, and saie there is none suche there present in the Sacramente. And the same self thyng foloweth …e panibus propositionis, that is to saie, of the Shewe bread that was commaunded in the olde testament, in the .xx…iii. chapitur of Leuiticus.The .xxi. …rgumente.

We will now eftsons brynge in for our purpose another reason takē of baptisme. We did a litel before argue, that to make baptisme a true sacrament, it was not r…quisite that the substaūce of the water shuld be chaunged:what chāge here is ī vsus at our baptisme. and now we will make a reason by the verai pa…ti…s selfes, whiche are baptised: of whome the scripture plai…ly saieth, that thei dooe cast of, and put awaie the olde man, and are regenerate, that is to say, newe borne againe: and yet is there not conceiued or imagined in the…m any manier transubstanciacion, that any of them are chaunged into an …ther substaunce of bodye. And yet yf ye aske a naturall Philosophier, how generacion is diffin…d,Generacio… what it is. that is to saye, what manier of thing generacion is: he wil aūswer & say y^t it is a kind of natural mouing wherby a newe substaūce is gottē & brought foorth. Wherefore it is nothing to be meruailled, that Nicodemus tripped and stumbled by misū derstandyng Christes woordes,Nicodemus in whiche wordes it was told him, y^t he must be new borne again. For whā he considered & thought in his mynde, that there was a newe generaciō mēcioned and talked of, for one that was a mā of perfect generacion & substaunce already, & so ferre striken in yeres …he staggr…d at the matier & began to be in a great doubt… That if we interprete or expoune the said regeneracion & newe birth, to be none other but a spirituall birthe and natiuitee: why canne we not abyde to dooe the same in this Sacramente of th…nkes geuing? and why dooe we not applye it all to a spirituall eatyng?

The agreable…s of baptis…e & the sacrame…t of thā kes geuingI hauehave a great fansie in this behalfe to ioyne together these two Sacramentes of baptisme & of thankes geuing because that y^e apostle Paul in the x…i. chaptur of this Epis…le knitteth them bothe together whan he saieth: We all are baptised into one bodye, and all we hauehave drounke into one spirite: Neither dooeth it make your part any thing the strō ger, if ye wyl saye, that we are baptised into one body, meaning a body mystical: For Christ is not absent frō the mysticall bodie neither, forasmuche as he is the heade thereof. And Paule in another place in moste plaine woord…s saieth, that in baptisme we put on Christ vponupon vsus.

Furthermore we see that all suche men as write vponupon S…ripture dooe bring in many thynges out of the sixth chapitur of Ihon concernynge this Sacramente of thankes geuing,The .xxii. a…gumente. yea, there is none of the old wryt…rs, whiche in declaryng the saied sixth chapitur of Ihon doeth not wryte largely of the Sacramente of thankes geuyng: Wherupon we frame and make this reason: Suche thynges as are there in the sayed sixth chapitur spoken either dooe belong to this sacrament, or els dooe not pertaine to it. If it doe noth…ng pertayne vntounto it: to what purpose is it to cite the wordes of Iohn therfore, or to make any discourse of the Sacramente vponupon those places? But if on the other syde it do… pertayne to the Sacrament of thankes geuyng: than forasmuche as the eatyng that is there spoken of, is onelye a spirituall eatyng, that is to were… p. xxithrough feith, and in feith onelyonly, by which f…ith y^e verai true bodye and bloude of Christ is r…ceiued and …aten: why should any manne bryng vp any other newe fashion of receiuing it, & im…gin a carnall eating, wher with thesame bodye should be… taken againe? For if we graunte that some godly and f…ithfull man doeth come to the sacramente: than shal these men be constreined and driuen to saie, that he eateth Chris…es bodye twise, first with a spirituall eatyng in feith, and afterwardes with their carnall eating, which carnal eating thei hauehave not yet hitherto proued. And thus ye se that thei laye suche blockes in their owne waye, that thei cannot in anye true sense cite or allege the saied sentences which are conteined in the vi. chapi. of Ihons gospell concernyng the Sacramente.

And besydes the premisses whiles th…i set vp a transubstanciacion, The .xxiii. reasō agaīst transubs…anciaciō.thei hauehave no lesse but euē the same checke for their errour, thē y^• Capernaites had. For the saied Capernaites also doe deuise in their mynde vponupon,The errour of the Cape… naites concer…ing the eat…ng of Ch…is…es fl…as…e. I can not tell what manier a corporall or bodily eating of Christes fleashe, from the whiche opinion and imaginacion Christe called them backe by and by, whan he saied, that his woordes wer spirite and lyfe, and that the fleashe profited nothing. Yea and ferther he did caste foorth vntounto them an expresse mencion of his ascending vp into heauen, saying: what if ye shall se the sonne of manne ascendinge vp into heauen, where he was before? but these men saie that thei are nothing of the opinion that the Capernaites were of.In obiecciō of the aduersaries. For the Capernaites (saie these men) did thinke that Chistes fleashe should bee cutte and mynced in pieces, and shoulde bee toren with mens teeth: and therfore it stoode againste their stomakes,The answ… and thei did abhorre the thyng. But of the speciall imaginacion of the Capernaites (whatsoeuer it wer) our men cannot hauehave any perfecte knowlage: but a verai lykely matier it is, that the Capernaites did carnally vnderstand the matier. And therfore thei wer admonished with mencion of Christes ascendinge vp into heauen. Why dooe not these men than take suche lessons for their instruccion out of that place, whiche dare affirme and saye, that thei eate Christe both carnally and corporally? what doeth it skill or what difference is it, whether one take Christes bodye by piece meale; or whether he swalowe it down al whole, if he mene the thyng carnally & fleashly, as y^e Capernaites did?

The .xxiiii. argumente against transubstanciac… on.This also commeth now in place to bee considered, that Christ saied vntounto his Apostles, a litell before his passion, that he would leaue the worlde, and wold departe a waye from theim: which woordes of Christ should bee safe, if he wer still remayning here emonge vsus by chaungyng of the breades substaunce into the substaunce of his owne fleashe,Christe leaf… the worlde. An obiecciō. as th…se men woulde hauehave it. Thei hauehave customably vsed to aunswer, that Christe leafte the worlde as concernyng the state or propeties of mortalitee, and of familiaritee with mortal men, and of bodily conuersacion. In these are good subtil and fine puinctes of sophistrie but thei make nothyng at all for the purpose.The answer For when Christ had spoken these wordes: Philip aunswered: Loe nowe thou speakest plainely, and without any parables. But yf Christes woordes wer to be vnderstanded after your mynde: and interpretacion: his talke hadd been darke, and his wordes spoken in parables. p. xxiiMorouer, if Christ doe in suche sorte tary & remaine corporally w^t vsus in the sacrament: than by the same or lyke reason he maie also tary both in our hertes and al so in vsus. Therfore he might euen by himself in his owne persone hauehave rewled and gou…rned the churche after his ascension, and yet stil vntounto this daie, & might hauehave stande corporally with his Apostles, and hauehave been present with them, after his asc…nsion. Yet neuerthelesse he saied that he wold geue theim another that should bee with thē in his stede, menyng that he wold sende downe the holy ghoste, whiche holy ghoste had not been necessarie, if Christe all togethers both in his godhead and manhood wer here present, as these mē would hauehave it. For seeyng that his fleashe and bodye is in eueryevery one of vsus, yea and also his godhead is present with vsus by a certaine communitee (as their owne doc…rine is: he might hauehave wrought by his owne persone… without any inspiracions or admonicions of the holy ghoste.

Marie the mother of Christe beyng a moste blissed virgin,The .xxvii. argumente. whan she had heard of the Aungell that y^• soonne of god shoulde bee incarnate, and shoulde take the nature of man vponupon hym, and that she was chosē to conceiue & to bring forth y^e sōne of god: she thought in her minde y^• these thinges wer verai straunge & wō derful. And therfore she demaunded of the Aūgel how this thing should bee doen.Some merueiling or sō question, shoulde be made in the scripture about t…āsubs…anciacion. Than forasmuche as this chaūge of bread into Christes body is no lesse worthy to be weighed, nor is no lighter thē y^e misterie of Christes incarnacion & natiuitee to bee borne of a virgin: it is a matier wōderous y^• there is not in y^• holi scripture either sū wōdering or els some questiō made about it. Neither is this beleuyng of transubstanciacion commended vntounto vsus in any the writinges either of the Euangelistes, or of the Apostles: though it be a ma…ier of great weyght and importaunce. Neither dooe we harken or passe vponupon some mens wordes,An obiecciō whiche saie, that the question was moued before in the sixth chap. of Iohns gospel. For thei wil wrest or turne away the aūswere which was there made of spiritual eatyng, to this sacramentall eatyng, which sacramental eating thei put to bee muche differing frō that other spiritual eating.

The answerTherfore that question and aunswer, maketh all on our syde: but it nothyng profiteth these men, who doe feigne another maner of eatyng muche differyng from that spirituall eating For thei imagin this carnall eating wherof we now talke.

The .xxvi. argumente.There folowe also other inconueniencies and vnreasonable thinges of these mens feigning or inuenciō. For Christ said: I wil that where I am, there my seruāt shold be also. And this he spake more then once or twise to his Apostles, and it is reade in the reuelacion of Sainct Iohn (called the Apocalipse) of certain Martirs: Sequunt… dum quocum que ie…it: that is, thei folowe hym whether soeuer he goeth. Wherof it might be argued and concluded that this chaūging from one substaunce to another substaunce, as from bread into fleashe, shoulde not onelyonly bee into Christes bodye, but also thesame should redound towardes all the Saintes also, that is to saye, all holy persones. Wherwith if thei be offended, leat them on gods behalfe lea…e Christ in heauen with his Sainctes, and holy ones, or els the Sainctes will folowe after hym because that whersoeuer he becometh, thither doe thei p. xxiiialso folowe hym. But than saye thei: And so we doe: we leaue Christ in heauen visible, and in his maiestie and glorie: but yet we put hym here in the Sacramēt inuisible. And than as concernyng suche thynges as bee obiected of Sainctes and Martirs folowinge Christe, thei saye, that it is al true, as touching Christ so f…rrefoorth as he is visible in heauen in his glorie & maiestie. But this aunswer standeth vponupon a weake & rotten foundacion: for it supposeth that the bodye of Christe, beyng but one bodie, maie bee in many places at one tyme, whiche thing the auncient fathers & writers denie. It presupposeth also, that Christe is w^t vsus as touchyng his bodye and fleashe, whereas Christe sayed, that as touchyng those thynges in that behalfe he would sende another in his stede, meanyng the holy ghoste.

Neither can thei by their reason auoyde but that Christe had two bodyes.The .xxvii. argumente. For at the Supper when he had taken breade in his handes, if thesame breade had by transubstanciation ben chaunged into the substance of Christes body: than should it folow and bee true, that himselfe should with his owne bodye hauehave borne and caried his owne bodye:How Christ beareth him el…e in his owne hades and how he eateth himselfe. and so should ye nedes graūt, that one and the selfesame body it was that did beare and holde it in his handes, and that was borne and holden in his handes and yet can it not by any reason or possibilitie be true, that one and thesame bodye is bothe the doer and the sufferer in respect of one thyng,An obiecciō of the aduersaries. and bothe at one tyme. And thus we see into what …nconueniencies thei cast themselfes.The a…swe… Thei bee woont to bryng for their parte the woordes of Austen, vponupon the Psalmes, whiche wordes of Austen are, that Christe bore himselfe in his owne handes. But if that place bee well considered, whiche is vponupon the threescore and thirtenth psalme. It is there writen that he bare hymself in his own handes: quodam modo that is to saye, after a certaine manier, or after a sorte or fashion: & so much do we graunt. For he bore and helde in his handes the Sacrament of his bodie: but he did not beare ne hold his verai true bodye, proprie et reasiter, that is to saye, properly and really. And here might one bryng in agayne these menne also, that by their reason, forasmuche as Christe receiued the Sacramēt and communion with his Apostles, it should folowe that Christ didde eate hymselfe.…n obiecciō. But herunto this was wount to be their aūswer.…he answer These thinges are exercises of our feith. But we saie vntounto them againe, that we hauehave ferre other manier sētēces of the scripture, wherin our feith may exercise it s…lfe:The true exe…cises of ou… feith. rather then in such thinges as are of mannes fantasticall deuise and inuencion. We beleue that the soone of god was incarnate of a virgin, that he was borne of a virgin, that he suffered for vsus, that he died, that he was raised vp from death to life again, & that he ascended vp into heauen, with many thinges more of suche lyke sorte, in which our feith dooeth sufficiently and aboundauntly exercise it selfe.

And forasmuche as this chaunge from substaūce to substaunce can not with our senses be altered vntounto,The .xxviii. argumente. neither mannes reason can vnderstande it, neither experience dooeth teache it: how shall it be perceiued? I knowe y^t ye will saye, y^t it maie be vnderstāded & cōprehēded or conceiued by feith. But in case y^e matier must go by feithe, that same feithe cannot bee had without gods word, & ī gods word ye hauehave not one iot for you

p. xxiiiiMorouer wheras Christe made this sacrament of twoo partes,The .xix. argumente. y^t is to wete, his bodie for one parte, and his bloud for the other parte: it doeth by thesame thyng appere plainly enough, y^t the matier muste not bee taken or vnderstanded by this kynde of transubstanciation. For in the real… and carnall bodye of Christ: these twoo partes be not deuided or soondred the one from the other.An obiecciō. But a poore shifte thei hauehave and a stertyng hole: & thei saye, that there is as muche conteyned in any one of these two partes: as ther is in y^• other parte. In dede we heare theim thus affirme & this to holde: but y^e wordes of scripture doe not teache any such matier,Another obiecciō. but onelyonly at y^e bread there is mencion made of y^e body, & onelyonly at y^e cup, there is bloud perticulerly mē cioned & specified: but thei hauehave yet a ferther aunswere to obi…ct against vsus, which is as touchyng y^e bread, y^t by the strength, and vertue of the wordes,The answer there is a transubstanciacion of bread into Christes body or īto Christes fleashe merlye and really and of it selfe: and then y^t bothe the bloud and the soule & the deitie or godheade of Christ do folow after, euen as a shadow is wonte to go w^t the body in the Sunshyne.Per co…comitanciam. And than also concerning the cup, thei saye, that by the strength and vertue of the wordes, there is first of all and properlye a mere transubstanciacion & chaunge of the wine into bloud: but afterwardes the body foloweth withall,Against co… comitaunce that the schoole men speake of to be of trāsubstanciacion. and is there also, and the solle, and the deitee or godhead, euen by thesame reason and waye as the bloude and solle and godheade didde folowe with the transubstanciacion of the bread into Christes body, as is afore sayed.

Whiche the schoolemenne in their terme dooe saye to bee dooen per concomitantiam, Per concomitanciam.as yf ye should saie in Englishe) by a necessitee of folowyng after, so that euen lyke as a bodye cannot goe into the Sunshine, but that the shadow of thesame body must nedes folowe and goe withall: so canne not the bodye (saie thei) bee but the bloud goeth withal: nor y^e bloud be, but y^t the fleash & bodye goeth w^tall. And thus by this their subtill and fine sophisticall manier of speakyng, th…i make Christ not so wyse nor prouident, as he might or should hauehave been in that that he deliuered and gaue in twoo soondrie partes, no more then is in either of thesame partes seuerally conteined. And oute of their owne feynyng and imaginaciō it sprang, that afterwardes thei deuided y^e sacramēt, & by ministring vntounto the laye people the one parte of the Sacramente onelyonly, thei perswaded the same and made them bele…e, that thei receiued as muche in that one parte, as if thei had receiued both partes of the Sacrament according to Christes institucion. It maie also ferther be saied against theim, that by this their inuencion and imaginacion, thei open a wyndoore, and dooe minister occasion to many opinions of straunge feyned doctrine. For there is none opinion, nor no pointe of doctrine whereunto thei maie not tye and linke an infinite sorte of thinges w^t their terme of concomitaunce afore mencioned. And (as we saied before) it would therby folowe that all the Sainctes are present in this Sacramente for as much as thei cōtinually frō time to time follow & awayte vponupon Christ. But one argument and reason there is, sufficient an hable enough wherwith to beate theim from their purpose: whiche is, that this is a point of their owne inuencion and teaching, but the Scripture hath not, made ne dooeth make any menciō p. xxvof any suche geare.

Another false and ilfauoured opinion also folow eth this saied transubstanciacion, The .xxx. reason against trans…bstaunciacion.in that thei hauehave supposed and thoughte, that after the receiuynge of the Sacramente, the Sacrament did remaine still, and that the breade or the likenesses of breade did really and veraily conteyne Christes bodye in it. Whiche thing not to be so but muche otherwyse, we proue by the vse of the other Sacramentes, where al the whole matier doeth co…siste onelye in the accion and dooyng: Whiche accion finished the sacrament doeth by and by cease, and doth nomore remaine a sacrament. First in baptisme, As sone as one is baptised in water accordinge to Christes woordes and ordinaunce: and the accion of baptisme once accomplished, it ceasseth immediately to bee a sacrament. And thesame thyng was lykewise in circumcision. For that sacrament also had his strength and vertue for so long tyme,Sacramentes are no longer Sacramentes, then whyle thei are in doyng. whiles it was in doyng and no longer. Neither will I disdeigne or thynke skorne for the proufe herof to take which thei themselfes calle sacramentes, as confirmacion, (whiche we hauehave vsed in Englishe to calle bishopping,) and also the sacramēt of extreme vn…tiō. (Which we hauehave accustomed to call enoylyng,) and also the sacrament of penaunce. With other like sacramentes, all whiche sacramentes we see to take place onelyonly for the tyme whyles they bee in doyng, and no longer.An obiecciō But they bee wonte to saye that this sacramente of thankes geuynge muste bee in this behalfe excepted.Thaūswere But how reasonably and howe Logician lyke the aduersaries so saye maye easely bee vnderstanded. For seyng that all the partes of other lyke exaumples and sacramentes… graunted, and an excepcion made of that same thing onelyonly which is in doubt and controuersie: Who seeth not, that it is vnconueniently doo…n, and onelyonly to defeacte out argument with a blyndcinque (as the common prouerbe sayth?) For it is in a manier as muche as yf one would graunt the firste partes and membres of an argumente: and yet deny the conclusion that by good reason must necessarily folow of thesame.

And by reason of this transubstancion beeyng suche a straunge and monstreous matier,The .xxxi. argumente. as the lyke hath neuer bee… heard of, the chiefe purpose and finall ende that Christe sette forth to vsus in holy scripture, is stopped and letted, which vndoubtedly was, that we should hauehave Christe and his deathe in remembraunce and in vse …mongst vsus.The chiefe end and purpose of the sacramente of thankes …eu…n…, For as the matier is now vsed all these mennes myndes is altogether occupied and bestowed in beleuyng of this transubstanciacion. Yea and some priestes ye maye see, whiche, whan thei come to ministring of the communion, they harpe altogether vponupon this onelyonly string, to beate into mennes heades to beleue this onelyonly poynte, leattyng passe other matiers and vses of this sacramente, whiche are muche more necessarie.

And because of this toye and fond imaginacion, the receyuyng of the Communion,The .xxxii. argumente. is more s…dome vsed then it should bee. For whan that toye and fantasie of transubstanciacion was once sonke and settled in mennes headdes, thei begonne streightwayes to thynke this in th…ir myndes: If Christe bee yonder bodylye and euen in verai fleashe couered with whitenesse and suche other accidentes of bread: howe can we be better occupyed then in goyng to the temple to see, p. xxvito wurship, to praie or call vponupon Christe, to light candels before hym, and to doe suche other thinges wher with we maie shewe foorthe the louynge hartes that we hauehave towardes Christe. Of the whiche opinion if thei had not been, but had thought it to bee (as in dede it is) onelyonly a sacramente: thei shoulde hauehave perceyued that thei coulde receyue no profite or commoditee of it, but by receiuynge it in the Communion:The often takyng of the communion is le… ted by supposing a trā substanciacion. and so should theyr myndes hauehave been muche more enflamed and enkiendeled to the receyuynge of the communion which is the veray true and onelyonly waye to fulfil & accōplishe Christes instituciō cōcernyng this sacramēt.

Ferthermore,The xxxiii. argumente. ye must call to your remembraūce and consideracion, that the tyme of Christes humilitie in whiche he abased and humbled hymselfe so lowe, is now past and gon. He reigneth nowe in heauen, and he hath now a name whiche is aboue all names. Therfore, what nede was it to bryng hym down againe, by meane of transubstanciacion (as touchyng the bodye) into the mouthes and bealyes of suche as receiue the sacrament of Communion? I knowe that thei bee wont to say,An obiecciō of the adu… saries. that Christe taketh no hurt nor derogacion therby, nor he taketh no filthinesse nor vnclennesse. I graunt that Christ can take no hurt ne derogacion:Thaūswe…e but yet is it not fit nor comely for Christ, to be holdē so long vnderunder the sayd accidentes (as thei saye he is) so long as thesame accidentes remain still in theyr perfeccion,The v…comly pulling dow…e of Ch…ist out of heauen eueryevery daye by tra…substa… ciacion. and as sone as thesame accidentes are dissolued or perished, the bodye of Christ immediatly to passe & vanishe a waie, (as thei say it doth.) But how cōmeth it to passe, y^• thei enforce and compel Christe daylye (& specially til .xi. or .xii. of the clocke, or till dyner tyme,) to come flighe down from heauen, and vp agayn continually?An obiecciō But they allege that a mā ought to put suche fansies and thoughtes out of his mynde, whereas themselues do putte them into mennes heades with their car…all and fleashly transubstanciacion. If they might be brought to beleue,Thaūswere that we ought there to dooe all thinges spirituallye: ther would no suche maner fausie or thought entre into any mannes mynde.

And whiles thei holde this their opinion: that Christes naturall and fleashely body is present in the sacrament:The .xxxiiii argumente. I woulde aske this question: whether thei holde it for any suche menyng, that his fleashly body should perce or entre into our mynde, or els that it should conueye it self and perce into our bodye? Thei can not auouche that Christes fleashely bodye entreth into the mynde: For in the mynde or solle nothynge can bee receiued fleashely and bodily. That if thei will affirme Christes body to p…rce and entre into our body: we demaunde of them, what operacion will it worke in our body?Sanctificacion begynneth of the …ll and not of the bodye and what effecte shall it weorke there? Thei will aunswere, that Christes bodye entreth into our bodyes, to the ende that a man maie be made holy thereby. But it is mete and conueniente that holynesse take his beginnyng fyrst of the minde or solle, and not of the bodye.

The .xxxv. argumente against transubstanciacion.Thei will ferther saie, that a certain strength and efficacie is thereby empriented in the bodye, throughe whiche efficacie the mynde is the better, and the bodye also is confyrmed and made strong. But if ye talke or mene of vertue,An obiecciō. it is nothyng necessarie y^t it be brought to passe or wroughtby the meane of transubstancion,Thaūswere seeyng it maye be brought to passe euen aswell without p. xxviiit.

And the olde writers whan thei did setie foorthe and teache the nature and propertie of the sacrament…: thei sayed,The .xxxvi. argumente. that an vnbloudy sacrifice was here sacrificed whiche thing wyll be founde ferre wyde,An vnblody sacrifice. yf we holde that the verai true and corporal bloud of Christ is conteyned in the Sacramente. Neither dooeth that pointe satisfie this matier, that thei affirme the sacrifice to bee vnbloudy, in that that Christe is not killed in it,An obiecciō neither is his bloud violently shedde or poured out. For though these thynges bee not doen yet the sacramente is not ministred (after their grosse and bluntishe opinion) without bloud.Thaūswere Wherfore it is playne y^t the old writers ment that onelyonly a memoriall or remē braunce of the true sacrifice is conteined in this sacramente, and that there is here a spirituall receiuynge of the true sacrifice whiche spirituall receiuyng is comprehended and vnderstanded by feith onelyonly.

Beside this,The .xxxvii. argumente. they bee woont to saye, that the body and bloud of Christe bee vnuisible and not seen, but to the yie, but with whitenesse, moisture, and suche other accidentes of bread and wyne, leste we shoulde seme to eate rawe fleashe and to drynke bloud. But I would not thynke these men to saie that we doe not eate rawe fleashe,whether we eate rawe fleash in the Sacrament (how soeuer thei painte and colour the matier) yf their transubstancio… bee a true & a perfeict chaūge in dede of the bread into fleashe, and of the wyne, into bloud. For it is neither declared of theim, neither shewed in the scriptures: howe that same fleashe is boyled or rosted. And yet it was wryten in the olde testamente of the lambe of passeouer, (which was a figure of this sacramente) that no rawe thynge shoulde bee eaten of that lambe.

We se also, that in this matier of thankes geu…ng Christe did ordeyne and sette vp a sacramente,It is mete that in the sacramētes all thinges be taken sacramentally whereby it commeth to passe, that all thynges therein muste bee vnderstanded and taken sacramentally. Neither should ther bee in Sacramentes any thyng more eyther graunted or required: then to the nature or propertie of a sacramente doeth apperteine.

The .xxxix. argumente.Moreouer, yf we would consider what Christe didde at that his last supper: We should soone and easely perceiue the matier. It is sayed y^t he gaue his body. If we ferther aske this question: What manier a body did he g…ue? thei can shape no readie answere to escape w^t out a foile. Some seme to saie, y^t he gaue suche manier a bodye as he than had, whiche vndoubtedlye was bothe passible (that is to saye, subiecte to hungre, thurst, colde, and other tormentes,) and also mortall, (that is to saye, subiect to death.) But suche manier a bodye (with suche manier properties as Christe had at that tyme) coulde not (as these menne dreame) bee fleashly and really conteyned in lytell cakes of breade. But some others (whiche thynke themselues men of a wyser sorte,) saie that Christe had in hymselfe a body bothe passible and mortall (as is aforesaid,) but yet thei saye, that in the breade he gaue his body gloryfied and spirituall.