A Dispute Upon Communicating at our Confused Communions, Chapter 2
CHAP. 2. Of the distributing of the elements.
THe firſt innovation, is that libertie,The elements distr…buted by the Apoſtles among themſelves. is denied to the communicants to divide the elements among themſelves. Howbeit it be permitted to us to ſitt. The cuppe after which Chriſt proteſted he would drinke no more, was the communion cuppe, or the laſt paſchall cuppe, which was changed into the Communion cuppe, and conſequentlie one, and the ſame. It was the cuſtome of the Iewes to abſtaine that night from taſting anie thing after the laſt paſchal cuppe. Christ alluding to that cuſtome changing this cup, into the euchariſtical, proteſted he would drinke no more wine in this life. The Evangeliſts Matthew, and Mark expreſly ſubjoyne this proteſtation to the communion cuppe. Luke inverteth the order, as the Ieſuites themſelves do confeſſe, rendering this reaſon, that the proteſtation of not drinking more might be joyned with the proteſtation of not eating more. Now Chriſt bad the communicants divide this cuppe among themſelues. And howbeit he had not commanded in expreſſe termes, yet it may be collected of the forme of his ſpeach, when he biddeth them, ſpeaking in the plural number, drink al, of it, and ſayeth not, take thou, drinke thou; as if he had beene delivering it to everie one ſeverally. It was divided among the Apoſtles by themſelues, reaching it from hand to hand, as the laſt paſchal cuppe, which was changed into this euthariſticall, was carried from hand to hand. Fuit per proprias Apoſtolorum manus ab uno ad alium delatus: Tom. 3. pag. 861.ſayeth the Ieſuite Swarez. It were ridiculous to ſette downe the cuppe upon the table, that the neareſt might take it up, as I hauehave ſeene ſome where done. Nay, I ſhould ſay ſuperſtitious, as if the cup were prophaned, if it be reached out of the hand of a lay man (as they call him) but a Chriſtian Brother, as they ſhould call him, & that it were holie to take it from off the table. If we will then divide the cuppe, as the Apoſtles divided it, and ſhewe our ſelues neither ridiculous, nor ſuperſtitious, wee muſt divide it by reaching from hand to hand. The bread is not holyer then the wine, and Chriſt ſaide in the plurall number, Take yee, Eate yee, as he ſayde, Drinke yee, Divide yee, and not take thou, eate thou, as, if hee had been ſpeaking to everie one ſeverally. Therefore rightly doe Beza,Beza epist. 12. Toſſan. in Mat. 26. Piſc. in Mat. 26. Toſſanus, Piſcator, and others, gather that Chriſt gaue onelyonly to the neareſt, and they to the nexte and ſo forth.
But yee will ſay,The objection of repreſē tation of Christs perſon anſwered. the miniſter repreſenteth Chriſts perſon, therefore he ſhould giuegive the elements out of his owne hands. It followeth not: For as M. David Lindſay ſayeth, He in whoſe name the command is uttered, is properly the giver, and propiner, becauſe by his authoritie it is given, and by the warrant of his word it is received. When the King drinketh to any of his ſubjects, Proceedings at P…rth aſsemblie. pag. 60. 61.and ſends it by the hands of his ſervant, the ſervant is not properly the giver, and propiner, but the deliverer of the gift and propine. And therefore concludeth, that it may be delivered from hand to hand by the communicants amonge themſelues, which could not be, if the former ſequel were good. It is ſaid, Gen. 39. that all that they did, Ioſeph was the doer of it, becauſe what was done, was done by his appointment. Pilate gaue the bodie of Chriſt, that is, commanded to be given. Mark. 15.45. Matth. 27.17. Matthew ſayeth, that Chriſts Diſciples gaue the fiue loues, and two fiſhes to the fiue thouſand, Matt. 14 19. And yet the Euangeliſt Marke ſayeth 6.41. that Chriſt gaue them to the Diſciples to ſet before them. Chriſt himſelfe, whoſe perſon, yee ſay, the miniſter repreſenteth, when he was preſent in perſon, gaue not to everie one ſeverally, but bade them eate, drink, & divide among themſelues. The Apoſtles at that laſt Supper repreſented not Chriſts perſon, for he was there preſent in perſon himſelf, but al faithful communicants to the end of the world.Proceedings pag. 59. The Apoſtles, ſayeth M D. L. were in that ſupper not as diſpenſators of the myſteries of God, but as ghueſts, as the faithfull, as diſciples, and as communicants. But what Chriſt bad his Apoſtles doe as communicants, when he was preſent in perſon, hee biddeth all c…mmunicants doe, when there is another to repreſent his perſon. It when there was ſo few communicants, he commanded them to divide, what would he hauehave d…ne if he had celebrate to fiue thouſand? When miniſters are receivers …mong other communicants, they differ nothi…g from other Chriſtians.Chryſoſt. in 2 Cor. hom. 18. Nihil differt ſacerdos a ſubito, quando fruendum eſt horrendis myſterijs, ſayth Chryſostome. They are not then miniſters in actu exercito, but ſimple communicants. The Deacons about Iuſtinus Martyrs time, that is in the next age after the Apoſtles, gaue both the bread and wine to the communicants in the quarters he remained, whereas before the Deacon carried onelyonly the veſſels wherein the elements were contained, as appeareth in the L…turgie aſcribed to S. Iames. They uttered no words at the delivery, neither were they yet made halfe Prieſts, as they are now in the Popiſh and Engliſh Church. Now the Deacons repreſented not Chriſts perſon, but onelyonly the miniſter, or as he calleth him, the Preſident of the brethren. It was not then thought neceſſarie that the Paſtor ſhould deliver the elements out of his owne hand, which ought to hauehave been done, if none but he who repreſented the maſter of the feaſt ſhould deliver. Yea long after Iuſtinus time the Deacons diſpenſed the wine. Sometimes the Euchariſt was ſent to the ſick by a Lay man, as we may ſee in the hiſtorie of Serapion. Euſeb. hist. In. 6. cap. 36.The Monks of S. Bennets order retaining the ancient forme of celebrating upon Thurſday before Eaſter, communicate ſitting breaking bread, and reaching the cuppe to other, Panem azy num frangentes, De origine exrorum circa coenam. cap.& calicem in vlcem propinantes, & in totum veleris coenae veſtigium prae ſe ferentes, as teſtifieth Bullinger. Frier Rainerius teſtifieth likewiſe of the Waldenſes, of whom I made mention before,Rainerius in ſumma. that as for the ſacrament of the Euchar…ſt in conventiculis ſuis celebrant, verba illa Evangelij recitant…s in menſa ſua, ſibique mutuo participantes, ſicut in Chriſti coena, that is, the Leoniſts (for ſo he caleth the Waldēſes) celebrate the ſacrament of the Euchariſt in their conventicles (ſo it pleaſed the Popiſh Frier to call the aſſembly of the perſecuted) rehearſing the words of the Goſpell at their table, and dividing to other, as was done at Chriſts ſupper. Ye ſee then this ſuperſtition had not ſo farre prevailed, but the Lord had ſome who were not carried away with the ſtream, but kept in the Spoonke in the time of darknes. To ſay that the breaking of the bread is a myſterie, & ought therefore to be performed onelyonly by the miniſter, it followeth not: for the taking, eating, drinking of the communicants are myſteries. And Auguſtine ſayth, that when the Wine is powred into the mouths of the faithfull, the ſhedding of Chriſts bloud is repreſented. Next it is to be conſidered, that fraction or the breaking of the bread is not onelyonly myſticall, ſignifying the torments and renting of Chriſts body, but alſo ſerveth for diſtribution. And becauſe bread was diſtributed by breaking, to break in the Scripture ſignifieth to diſtribute by breaking, or to break and diſtribute, when the word giving is not added. As Eſay 58.7. Break thy bread to the hungry, that is, diſtribute breaking, or break and diſtribute thy bread to the hungry. Lament. 4.4. The little children asked bread, and there was none to break to them, that is, to breake and diſtribute to them, or to diſtribute breaking, Mark. 8.19. Chriſt ſayth, When I brake the fiue leaues among the fiue thouſand, that is, brake and gaue to the diſciples to ſet before the fiue thouſand to be further broken and eaten. Hence it is, that in the Scripture to break is taken for to eate, or to take foode, as Ierem. 16. ver. 7. Neither ſhall men break bread for them, that is, they ſhall not celebrate a funerall banquet for them, nor reach unto them the cup of conſolation. And Act. 2.46. They brake bread frō houſe to houſe, that is they celebrated love feaſts. But manie interpreters vnderſtand the 42. ver. and Act. 20.7. of the celebration of the ſupper. And ſo after this figure of ſpeech is meant ſometime, not onlie the act of breaking, but alſo the end to diſtribute and eate. Siclyke the Apoſtle 1. Cor. 10. The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the bodie of Chriſt? That is, the bread which we breake, diſtribute, and eate, is a ſigne, and ſeale of the communion of Chriſts bodie, as is well obſerved by the interpreters. Panis quem Frangimus, 1. Cor. 10.6. idem eſt atque inter nos dividimus. Gloſſa in Math. 26.The bread which we breake, that is, the bread, which we diuide among us, ſayeth Robertus Stephanus. Humbertus in his Book written againſt Nicetas a Monke ſayeth, that in the Apoſtles times the faithful brake bread dayly, and had not a perfect maſſe two dayes in the weeke onlie. Quotidie perſeverantes in templo, & frangentes Panem circa domos. Ecce verax Evangeliſta teſtatur ſub Apoſtolis fidelis quotidie oraſſe, & panem fregiſſe. Et vos, qui estis, qui dicitis duobus tantum diebus hebdomade miſſam perfectam fieri debere, reliquis imperfectam? I will now retort the objection drawen from the repreſentation of Chriſts perſon. Who ever ſaw a great Lord, or King inviting inferiors to his table to ſit with him, riſe, and goe alonge to ſerve, and miniſter. Chriſt before he ſate downe to ſupper recommending humilitie to his Diſciples aſpiring to preferment, waſhed their feete, but when he came to the table again he ſate among thē, and kept his place, as maſter of the feaſt: for now they were in the act of feaſting. When the miniſter cometh from his owne place, and goeth along delivering the Elements, how doth he act in the meane time the perſon of Chriſt the Maſter of the feaſt. There can be no reaſon for this guiſe, but that the Miniſter muſt breake order, and put off the perſon, which he ſhould act in his owne place, and take vponupon him an other office, leaſt the Sacrament ſhould be polluted by the deliverie of the communicants, or as if the cuppe had greater vertue, when Iohn who lay in Chriſts boſome receaved it out of his hand, then when Bartholemew receaved it from Thomas, or ſome other. In this order then yee may ſee great miſorder, and groſſe ſuperſtition. Iuſtlie therefore was that ignorant woman rebuked by one of the Miniſters of Edinburgh not manie yeeres agoe for ſtriving to be neereſt him, at table.
We have yet farther to conſider, to wit, the end,The end, and vſe of distributing by the communicanst. and uſe of the diſtributing of the communicants. To drinke of one cuppe repreſenteth a communion in one common benefite, but not that communication of mutuall dueties of love, and freindſhip, as doth the reaching of the cuppe from one to another. The ghueſts of old intertaining others courteouſlie at civill banquets reached a cuppe of wine to other, which they called Phitoteſia, becauſe it was a ſymbole of love, and freindſhip, which name a man may juſtlie impoſe vponupon the communion cuppe, ſayeth Stucklius. Antiqui. convivialium lib. 3. cap. 10.Chryſoſtome recordeth, that the communicants kiſſed one another, when the Sacrament was celebrated. Oſculum pacis porrigere, tempore quo celebrantur Sacramenta, Lib. 1. de compunct. cordi,in vſu eccleſiae eſt: and to embrace other, propterea & miſterijs, alter alterum amplectitur ut vnam multi fi…mus. Ierome making mention of kiſſing, and joyning of hands.Homil. 51. ad populum Antiochenum. Quiſquam ne tibi invitus communicat, quiſquamne extenſa manuvertil faciem, & inter ſacras epulas Iudae oſculum porrigit. Paulinus alſo making mention of joyning hands, Tunc ambo nexi ad invicem dextras damus. Ad Theoph. Alexandrinum.The kiſſe was the common form of ſalutation among the Orientall people as with vsus the ſtriking of hands, or embracing. The men kiſſed the men & women kiſſed others at the communion.Paul corm ad Cithe…am. This kiſſe was leſt of, and in ſtead therof hath ſucceeded the kiſſing of the Pax at the maſſe. Seing ſignes & proteſtations of love were thought requiſite at this banquet of love, ought we not to be the more careful to retaine that ſigne which Chriſt himſelf hath recommended to vsus at the inſtitution.
Yee are guiltie of this innovation for your part, howbeit it be permitted to you to ſitt.The communicant guiltie where there is want of the right manner of distributing. For yee concurre with your Miniſter as actor to thruſt out this dividing, and diſtributing of the Elements by the communicants, and to bring in miſorder in turning the Miniſter out of his proper place, to vphold ſuperſtition in deliverie of the Elements out of his owne hands. The reſetter intertaineth the thiefe. The Miniſter giveth, thou receiveſt, and both concurre to ſpoile the Kirk of her libertie, in this day of controverſie, when ſhe is ſtriving to hold faſt her poſſeſſion. When others ſhall be eyther moved by thy example, or forced to quite this libertie, then ſhall the Kirk be ſpoiled of it, and the poſteritie ſhall never recover this libertie againe for anie thing man can ſee. Yee will ſay, your Miniſter will not give it other wiſe, but out of his owne hand. But I ſay againe, that hee would not giuegive it at all, if hee had not a a receiver. What if hee would not giuegive it into your hande, but in at the mouth, or clothed it with hoode, and belles, or a ſurplice, ought yee to receave it, and follow your Miniſter, and aſſiſt him to bring in innovations into your particular congregation, contrarie to the receaved order of the whole church which yee are bound to defend by your profeſſion, and the confeſſion of our faith.