A Defense of our Arguments Against Kneeling in Receiving the Lords Supper, Defense 3
Defence of our third Argument.
CHRIST said in the plurall number, Take ye, eat yee; not take thou, eat thou, in the singular number, as the minister speaketh to the communicant kneeling▪ He produceth Musculus, saying that Christ gave the bread to every one of the Apostle… severally. But the same Musculus acknowledgeth that Christ gave the cup to the nee▪ rest, and not to every one severally. Now as Christ sayd, take ye, drink yee all of this, so he said, Take yee, eat yee. Gabriel Bi…l xLect 3…. in Can. miss…Swarez yTom 3. p. 702. 90….the Iesuit, and Cajetanus zIn Mat. 26.have devised another forme, which will sort better with the phrase of the Evangelists. To wit, That Christ did breake the bread in so many peeces, as there were communicants, layd them in a plate, and reached the plate to them, saying, Take ye, eat ye. And as for the cup, they acknowledge it was given onelyonly to the neerest, and that the words were so spoken generally to all. The D…ct. saith, that Christ speake first generally▪ Take ye, eat ye, and then he gave the bread to very one of them severally. Otherwise (saith he) Christ should have given the b…e…d before it was a Sacrament, meaning before hee had said. This is my bodie. But I would demand, if Christ said first generally, Take yee, eat yee, this is my body, if he said againe, Take thou, eat thou, this is my body, when hee gave to every one severally: as many of t…e schoolemen adstricting the power of cons… cration, as they call it, to the five words, Hoc est enim corpus meum, do feine, that Christ spake these words twice. Which Swarez refuteth; aTom. 3. p 702 vbi nu…la ratio cogit, non oportet (ordinem tex us) mutare …raesert… cum ab Evangelistis. & Pa…lo tanta conse…sio…e observatus …it.because it changeth the order of the …xt set down with so …ull consent of Paul and the Evangelists, no reason enforcing them so to do. Or did Christ in giving severally, utter the Gregorian prayer, or what said he? Likewise when he gave the cup, …e behoo…ed according to his imagination first say generally▪ Take ye, drink ye all of this, This cup is the new Testament, &c. and then give it severally to every one; and then what said he? Did he repeat the same words: or utter the Grego…ian prayer for the cup, or wha said he? Is not this Popish shifting of the Doctors, violence done to the t…x…. As if the text were not cleer of itself, that Christ in the very act of giving did joyn the words of promise▪ this is my bodie, to the element consecra'ed before by prayer, and then they eate of it. Swarez without any violence done to the text, saith better, agreeing with his div…ce of distributing the bread, when he saith bIbid. I. ta que postquā Christus accepit & bened. xii pa…ē, illum insufficientes partes distribuit, & in pa…ina acc…modate posuit, ac po…rexit discipu. is, …tcens verba cōsecrationis, quibus fi i… is singul… suam partem acceperu…t & communicarunt.After the Lord had taken the bread, and blessed it, hec divided it insufficient number of peeces, and ordered them a the Plate, and reached them to his Disciples, saying the words of consecration, which being finished, every one received his own part, and communicated. What is further alledged by the Doctor against this third Argument, shall be answered in defence of the fourth reason, as in a place more convenient.
The Doctor casteth by, in a dark corner, two of our reasons, as not worthy to be answered, or ranked in order, & number with the rest. First we say, that where kneeling is in use, the Sacramentall breaking after that ksgiving is not enioyned, so far as we can find in their Service books, when as other rites invented by man are injoyned. And for practise, Paraeus testifieth that the Lutheran Kirkis have it not, but have the bread cut in small pecces before it be brought to the hands of the Minister, which is not that Sacramentall breaking instituted by Christ. The Doctor …aith that he and some other of his followes doe break the bread. But I would demand, if that be the common order of the Kirks where kneeling is in use. Next if it be a breaking in the own time, and place, that is betwixt the thankesgiving, and giving with these words, This is my body, as Christ gave it. For the Papists have a kind of breaking after all the words are finished. For belike it is heresie to breake it before they have said; Hoc est enim corpus meum.
The second reason disdainfully rejected by the Doctor, is this, that kneeling hath brought in a change upon the sacramentall word, changing the enunciative forme of the words, T…is is my body into a prayer uttered in the act of delivery of the el ments to the communicant, The body of our Lord Jesus, which was given for thee, prese…ve thy body and soule unto life everiasting. He bringeth in Perkins approring the m…tter of Doctrine conteined in this prayer. So doth Perkins many other heads o… doctrine cōcerning this sacrament. But where doth Perkins allow this kneeling, or forming any such d…ctrinall poynt in a prayer, to displace the comfortable words of the promise conceived by Christ himselfe. He sayth, that he and his fellowes utter the words of promise before the giving of the …read, and in the act of giving use the prayer. But he speaketh without a warrant. Mr. …alloway sayd, we shal say, Take this as a pledge … Christs body, and that, sayd hee, will hold out all idolatrous thoughts, suppose yee kneele. And who appoynted that prayer to be uttered in the act o… giving? There is no such ordinance in our K…k; The Doctor who will be conforme to English …orma…ties, before ever he be enioynee, is not a rule to others. It is strange, that the worth…est preachers should be persecuted for kneeling before that all the rest of the formes belonging to it, or depending on it, b… brought in, without the which it cannot bee put in practile, It agreeth not with the Scottish forme, and the English hath not ye… been prescribed, But to come to the Doctor his forme. That is ou… question; wherefore th… vvords of the promise are not uttered in the act of distributing, when the bread is given to the communicant, according to the order of the institution, a Christ himselfe did, but other vvords are put in their place. To reheare the vvords o… the institution, and the words of promise among the rest, may very well se…v… to shew what warrant we have out of the word to minister that holy action, but it is not t…e ministration it selfe, as Christ ministred that action. I wish it were well observed, that in the English service-booke the words of the institution are rehearsed in forme of a prayer to God, in a contnuall tenor with the prayer begun in other words before, just according to the order observed in the Canon of the Masse. And so the words are reh…arsed not to the communicants as Christ uttered them to the Apostles, but prayerwise to God, as the Priest doth when he offereth the sacrifice of the Masse, which is a great absurdity, and abuse of holy Scripture. There the words of promise are uttered in an enunciative forme, but to God; as if there could be no consecration before the rest of the celebration, except these words be pronounced with the prayer. I dare be bold to affirme, that the sacrifice of the Masse had never entred into the Kirk, if this double action, one of consecrating with rehearsal of the words of the institution all at once, without the rites correspondent to the words; another of distributing with other words, had not first entred. The first turned into sacrificing, the second onelyonly remained to be called the sacramental service, or communion.