Defense of the True Doctrine of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, Book 3 · Chapter 8 – Chapter 9
And althoughe the true sense and vnderstandyng of these wordes,Chap. 8. be sufficiently declared before,Christ called breade his body, and wyne his bloud. when I spake of Transubstantiation, yet to make the mattier so playne, that no scruple or doubt shal remaine, here is occasion giuen, more fully to intreate therof. In whych processe shall be shewed, that these sentences of Christ, This is my body, This is my bloud, bee fyguratiue speches. And although it be manyfest ynoughe by the playne wordes of the Gospel, and proued before in the processe of transubstantiation, that Christe spake of bread, whan he sayde, This is my body, lykewise that it was very wine, whiche he called his bloud: yet least the Papistes shuld say, that we sucke this out of our owne fingers, the same shall be proued by testimonye of all the olde authors, to be the trewe and olde faithe of the catholike churche. Where as the schole authors and Papistes, shall not bee able to shewe so muche as one worde of any auncient author to the contrary.
Fyrst Ireneus, Irenaeus contra Valent. lib. 4. ca. 32writyng agaynst the Ualentinians in his fourthe boke saithe, that Christe confessed bread, whiche is a creature, to be his body, and the cup to be his bloud. And in the same boke he writeth thus also. Cap. 34.The bread wherein the thankes be geuen, is the body of the Lorde. And yet agayne in the same booke he saithe, Cap. 57.that Christe takyng bread, of the same sorte that our bread is of, confessed that it was his body: And that that thing whiche was tempered in the chalice, was his bloudde.
And in the fift boke he writeth further, Lib. 5.that of the chalice, (which is his bloude) a man is norished and doeth growe by the bread, which is his body.
These wordes of Ireneus be most plaine, that Christe takynge very materiall breade, a creature of God, and of suche sort as other breade is, whiche wedd vse, called that his body, when he sayde, This is my bodye. And the wyne also whiche doothe feede and noryshe vsus, he called his bloudde.
Tertulian likewise in his booke written agaynst the Iewes,Tertulianus aduersus Iudaeos? saith that Christe called bread his body. And in his booke against Martion he oftentymes repeteth the selfe same wordes.
Cyprianus ad Magnū …. 1. epi. 6.And S. Cyprian in the firste boke of his epistles, saith the same thyng, that Christ called such breade, as is made of manny cornes ioyned togither, his body: and suche wyne he named his bloudde, as is pressed out of many grapes, and made into wyne.
Lib. 2. Epist. 3.And in his second boke he saith these wordes: water is not the bloud of Christe, but wyne. And agayn in the same Epistle he sayeth, that it was wyne whiche Christe called his bloude. and that if wyne bee not in the chalice, than we drynke not of the fruit of the vyne. And in the same epistle he sayth, that meale alone, or water alone, is not the body of Christe, excepte they be both ioyned togither to make thereof bread.
Epiphanius also saith, Epi…phan. in Ancorato.that Christ speakyng of a lofe, whiche is round in fashion, and can not see, here, nor feele, sayde of it, This is my body.
And Saynt Hierome,Hieron ad Hedibiam. writynge Ad Hedibiā, saieth these wordes. Let vsus mark, that the bread which the Lord brake, and gaue to his disciples, was the body of our Sauiour Christ, as he sayd vntounto them: Take and eate, this is my body.
And S. Augustine also saith, Augusti. de trinita li. 3. cap. 4.that althoughe we may sette foorthe Christe by mouthe, by wrytynge, and by the sacramente of his bodye and bloud, yet wee call neyther our tounge nor wordes, nor ynke, letters, nor paper, the body and bloudde of Christe, but that wee calle the bodye and bloudde of Christe, whiche is taken of the fruite of the yearth, and consecrated by mysticall prayer. And also he sayth,De verbis a p…stoli, sermo. 2. Cyrillus in Ioannem li. 4. ca. 14. Theodoretus dialogo. 1. Iesus called meate, his body, and drynke his bloudde.
More ouer Cyrill vponupon Sayncte Iohn saith, that Christe gaue to his disciples peces of bread, saiyng: Take, eate, this is my bodye.
Likewise Theodoretus saith, Whan Christe gaue the holy mysteries, he called bread his body, and the cuppe myxt with wyne and water, he called his bloude. By all these forsaid authors, and places, with manny mo, it is playnely proued, that whan our Sauiour Christe gaue breadde vntounto his Disciples: sayinge: Take, and eate, this is my body, And lykewise when he gaue them the cuppe, sayinge: Diuide this amonge you, and drynke you all of this, for this is my bludde: he called than the very materiall bread his bodye, and the very wyne his bloudde.
That bread (I say) that is one of the creatures here in earth amonge vsus, and that groweth out of the earth, and is made of many graynes of corne, beaten into flower, and mixed with water, and so baken & made into bread, of such sort as other our bred is, that hath neither sence nor reason, & finally that fedeth and nourisheth our bodies, suche bread Christe called his bodye, whan he sayd, This is my body. And such wine as is made of grapes pressed togyther, and ther of is made drynke, whiche norisheth the body, suche wyne he called his bloud.
This is the true doctrine, confirmed as well by holy scripture, as by all auncient authors of Christes churche, bothe Grekes and Latines, that is to say, that when our Sauiour Christe gaue bread and wyne to his disciples, and spake these woordes, This is my bodye, This is my bloude. it was very bread and wyne whiche he called his body and bloud.
Now let the Papistes shewe some authoritee for their opinion, eyther of scripture, or of some auncient author. And let theim not constrayne all men to folowe their fonde deuises, onelyonly bycause they sai, It is so, without any other groūd or authoritee, but their owne bare wordes. For in suche wyse credite is to bee geuen to Goddes worde onelyonly, and not to the worde of any man.
As many of theym as I hauehave redde (the byshop of Wynchester only excepted) doo say, that Christe called not the bread his body, nor wyne his bloud, whan he said, This is my body, This is my bloude, and yet in expounding these wordēs, thei vary amōg them selfes: which is a tokē that thei be vncertain of their owne doctrine.
For some of them saye, that by this pronoune demonstratiue (this) Christ vnderstode not the bread nor wyne, but his body and bloud.
And other som say, that by the pronoune (this) he ment nether the bread nor wyne, nor his body nor bloud, but that he ment a particular thyng vncertayne, whiche they cal Indiuiduum vagum, or Indiuiduum in genere, I trow some Mathematicall quiditee, they can not tell what.
But let all these Papistes together shew any one authoritee, either of scripture, or of auncient author, either Greke or Latin, that saith as thei say, that Christ called not breade and wyne his body and bloud, but Indiuiduum vagum, and for my part I shall geue theim place, and confesse that they say trewe.
And if they can shewe nothynge for theym of antiquitee, but onelyonly their owne bare wordes, than it is reason that thei geue place to the truthe, confirmed by so many authoritees, both of scripture and of auncient writers, which is, that Christ called very material bread his body, and very wyne made of grapes, his bloud.
Chap. 9.Nowe this beyng fully proued, it must nedes folow consequently, that this maner of speking is a figuratiue speeche.Breade is my body, wyne is my bloud, be figuratiue speeches. For in playne and proper speche, it is not true, to saie, that breadde is Christes body, or wyne his bloud. For Christes body hath a soule, life, sence, & reason: but bread hath neither soule, nor life, sense, nor reason.
Likewise in playne speche it is not true, that we eate Christes body, and drynke his bloude. For eatynge and drynkynge in their proper and vsuall signification, is with the tong, teeth, and lyppes, to swalow, diuide and chawe in peeces: whiche thyng to do to the fleshe and bloudde of Christ, is horrible to be heard of any christian.