The Confutation of the 13 Articles, Article 3
Shaxton. ¶ The thyrd Article.
THe ſame bleſſed Sacrament beinge conſecrated, is & oughte to be worſhypped and adoured, wyth Godly honour, wher ſo euer it is, for as muche as it is the bodye of Chriſte, inſeperably vnited to the deitie.
Crowley.
In the ende of thys article, you poynt as it were wyth your finger, wher you would hauehave hym to take holde by the other that went before ſaying. For aſmuche as it is the bodye of Chriſte, inſeparablye vnited to the deitie. But I thynke it beſte for you to ſeke oute ſome corner to hange hym in, for here you can hauehave no ſure handfaſte. For if you be remembred, I hauehave cutte of the knagges that you poynted vpō. I wyll not deny (yea I wyll proteſte and defende) that the Sacramentes of the body and bloude of Chriſt be reuerente thynges, and that they onghte to be reuerently vſed amonge the fayethfull membres of Chriſte, but to honoure and adoure theym wyth diuine honoure, I ſaye is no leſſe then deteſtable Idolatrye.
For as onelyonly God is diuine, ſo muſt diuine honoure be geueu vntounto hym onelye. If theſe Sacramentes therefore be not God. What can it be leſſe then Idolatrye, to honour thē wyth diuine honoure?
That they be not Gods is ſufficiētly proued in your other articles, & yet ſhalbe more playnlye proued here. Fyrſte if they were God, then were that nowe breade and wine (the worke of mans hande) that ſhall to morowe be God, the creatoure and maker of all mankynde. So that I ſhall thys day be able to make the thynge that to morowe ſhall be able to make me, yea and that in deede made me at the fyrſte.
I ſhall grind wheate & preſſe grapes, & with the one parte therof ſhall I fyll my ſtomake and be drunke, and wyth the other I ſhall make me a God, and an almyghtye creator and maker. What is thys better, then to cut downe a tre and to warme me at the fyre of the one parte therof, and to make me a God of the other? But I thynke verye ſhame wil cōpel you to recant certaine of youre former words, & to ſay that you meane not, that the ſubſtan̄ce of the bread is turned into the ſubſtaunce of god, but that it is (thorowe the almighty word of god ſpokē by the prieſt) turned into the ſubſtaūce of the body of Chriſt. And that you infer thereupon the eſſentiall preſēce of the deitie, for that they be inſeperably vnited togyther. A fyr, if you wyl graūt me thys, I ſe well you wyll not ſtande to your fyrſte Article: wherin you affirme, that after the wordes of conſecration, ther remaineth no ſubſtaunce of breade and wyne but the onelyonly and verye ſubſtaunce of Chriſte God and man. For if you ſaie that the ſubſtaunce of the breade is not turned into the ſubſtaunce of the godhead: thē is he none otherwyſe in the bread after the conſecration then he was before. Before the conſecration the breade was not to be honoured with diuiue honour: therfore it is not to be honored with diuine honour at all. But here you wyl ſaie that although the ſubſtaūce of the bread be not turned into the ſubſtaunce of the godhead yet is God otherwiſe preſēt in the Sacramēte after the cōſecration, then it was before. For the ſecond perſon in trinitie beinge incarnate, and remaynynge inſeparablye vnitted to the father and to the holye Goſte. it muſte neades be that the manheade of the ſame perſō beynge riſen agayne from death is inſeperablye vnited to the Godheade, ſo that the Godheade is alwayes eſſentiallye preſente wyth the bodye.
All thys is true, but it foloweth not of thys, that the Godheade is otherwyſe preſente in the bread after your conſecration (as you cal it) then it was before, bicauſe the bodye wherein Chriſte is incarnate, is not nor can not be ſubſtanciallye preſente there. For that were as much to ſaye, as that the body wherin Chriſt is incarnate, is ſo mixed with the deite, that it is in al places at once, as the deitie is. Whyche ſayinge is agaynſte the doctrine of Athanatius in the Creede that you ſynge and reade daylye in your prime. Wherin he ſayeth. Deus et homo vnus eſt Chriſtus, non confuſione ſubſtantie, ſed vnitate perſone.
That is, Chriſte beinge but one, is boeth God and manne. Not by the mixture of the ſubſtaunce, but by the vnitie of the perſon. If the ſubſtaunce therfore of God and man be not myxed togyther: then is not the manheade ſo large to be in all places, as the deitie is. For of it owne nature it can be but in one place at once.
And thys is it that. S. Auſtine ſpeaketh…d Darda…ine of in thys wyſe. We muſte beware that we do not ſo ſet vp the diuinitie of the māhead, that we take awaye the veritie of the bodye For it is not conſequent, that the thyng that is in God ſhould be ſo in all places as God is. For the ſcripture doeth moſte truelye recorde of vsus, that welyue, moue, & be in hym and yet be we not in all places as he is.
But man is in God after one ſort, and God is in man after an other ſorte. After a certain peculier ſorte. For one perſon is boeth God and man, and boeth are one Chriſte Ieſus. In all places, in that he is God, but in that he is man, in heauen. If thys be not ſufficiente, heare yet more of the ſame Auguſtine. As concernynge hys manhode, he was in earth and not in heauen (where he is nowe) when he ſayd. No man aſcendeth into heauē ſauynge onelye the ſonne of man whyche is in heauen, who dyd alſo deſcende from heauen. I paſſe ouer here, manye teſtimonies of the auntiente doctours, wherby is manifeſtlye declared the locall nature of the body of Chriſt, and that it is, nore can no more be in all places at once now, then it myght when he yet liuinge vponupon the earth.
But perchaunce you wyl not be aſhamed to ſaye that it myght euen then be in all places at o…ce. For in verye dede your Articles declare no leſſe but that you thynke it to hauehave bene in .xiii. places at once, the nyghte before he ſuffered. Whych thyng graunted, it muſt nedes fo…owe, that it beynge a mortall bodye, myghte be and was in manye places at once.
But to ſatiſfye you in this matter, I would you ſhould thorowlie ſcanne the wordes of Chriſte to his Apoſtles, when he told them that Lazarus was deade. For youre ſakes (ſayeth he) I am glade that I was not there. Now thinke you by theſe wordes, dyd chriſt ieſte wyth hys diſciples, or dyd he ſpeake in earneſte? If he meaned good fayth by them (as I ſuppoſe you wyll ſaye that he dyd) howe can you denye but that his body was then locall and coulde not be in all places at once? For if he dyd not ieſte wyth hys diſciples in theſe wordes, he meante none other thinge by thē, but that hys diſciples ſhoulde beleue him to be God, for that aboue the nature of man, he beynge abſente, knew without any mannes relation, that Lazarus was deade. And ſo the verye wordes do ſounde. For he addeth. That you maye beleue. As he ſhoulde hauehave ſayed, and as the texte lyeth in dede. I reioyſe for your ſakes, that youre fayeth maie be confyrmed in the opinion of my diuinitie, knowynge that I was not ther preſente in body, and canne tel you of the death of Lazarus, wythout relation of anye that was ther. Now tel me, if Chriſt might hauehave bene in many places at once in his mā head: what ſhould it hauehave holpē the fayth of the Apoſtles, to ſaye that he was not there? This matter is to manifeſte. Wherefore I thyuke it but waſte laboure to go aboute to make the daye brighter. For thed aye birdes can holde theym ſelues contente wyth thys lyght. As for the lurkinge night byrds that fle the lyghte: the encreaſe of lyghte ſhoulde but driue them into darcker corners.
Wherefore I ſhall deſyre the Lorde of hys infinite mercye to open theyr eyes and to take the vaile from theyr hertes that they maye be able to abyde the lyghte, and to receyue into their hertes, the trueth of Goddes worde, confeſſynge wyth the fayethfull mē bres of Chriſte, that the ſonne of God the ſeconde perſon in trinitie is and euer hathe bene God, equale with the father and the holy Goſt. And that although (as he is God) he can not be conteyned in anye place, but is immenſe, increat, almighty, and euerlaſting. Yet as he is man, he is and muſte neades be in one o…ely place at once, and beinge aſcended into heauen, is locally ther and not here as he was locallye here and not there, before hys aſcention.
Thys is oure fayeth in Chriſt Ieſus, the onelye ſonne of God, whome we honoure, and beleue to be honoured, neythere in the mounte of Samaria, neyther in Hieruſalem but in ſpirite and veritie.
Wherefore when you ſaye come o…te into the deſerte, for loe there Chriſte worketh miracles, in our bleſſed Ladyes chapel, And when you ſaye knele downe before the pyxe, for lo ther is Chriſte reallie preſente: we ſay vntounto you that our ſhepeherde Chriſt hath geuen vsus warnynge to be ware of you wherefore we wyll not beleue you. But we beleue & confeſſe that he ſytteth on the right hande of God the father, wher he muſte be honoured in ſpirite, tyll he come to iudge the quicke and the dead and that no diuine honoure oughte to be geuen to any creature in heauen, earth or in hell.