The Catholic Doctrine of the Eucharist in All Ages, Book 3 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IV.
The Sixth Proof taken from the Greeks, employing on other Subjects, the ſame Expreſsions as on the Euchariſt. Mr. Arnaud's Tenth Deluſion manifeſted.
THE only way to judge of the meaning of Authors, when 'tis matter of Debate, is to examine their Style in other like Matters, it being impoſſible, but in comparing their expreſſions ſome of 'em will give light to others. Had Mr Arnaud followed this method, he would never have valued ſo highly ſeveral expreſſions in Greek Authors; for he would have ſeen at the ſame time, that they deliver themſelves almoſt after the ſame manner on other Subjects, where there's no Tranſubſtantiation to be ſuſpected. I know 'tis a hard matter for a Perſon that is prejudiced, to conſider the queſtion he handles, in thoſe reſpects which are diſagreeable to him; but beſides that this prejudice is a fault, and therefore to be avoided, eſpecially when men write on a Publick Account, or take upon them to inſtruct People; beſides this, I ſay, there are ſeveral conſiderable matters which ſo offer themſelves to be ſeen, that we cannot abſtain from beholding them; and 'tis more eſpecially in reſpect of theſe, that mens neglect is blame-worthy, becauſe 'tis affected, and is inconſiſtant with the Rules of Sincerity. As for inſtance, how can we approve of Mr. Arnaud's proceeding, who has ſcarcely mentioned a word in his Book touching that prodigious ignorance which has overſpread the Eaſt, in matters of Religion? How can we approve his taking no notice of that multitude of Emiſſaries, wherewith all that Country has been filled, for I know not how many Ages together, nor of the means uſed for the propogation of the Romiſh Doctrines, nor the progreſſes they made. Theſe are things he could not be ignorant of, and are not matters of ſmall importance; ſeeing the Judgment to be made of this whole Controverſie, does in ſome meaſure depend thereon. But not to rehearſe what we already mention'd, how can we bear with him, when he paſſes over in ſilence ſeveral Greek expreſſions, like unto thoſe from which he would draw advantage, and yet are applied to Subjects which have not the leaſt relation to Tranſubſtantiation. Theſe expreſſions offered themſelves to him, and there needed little deliberation to determine what uſe was to be made of them, and what rank they hold in the deciſion of this Controverſie. Yet has he taken no notice of them, for his deſire of vanquiſhing has far exceeded his love to Truth.
BUT howſoever 'tis certain the Greeks ſpeak almoſt after the ſame manner concerning the Church (it being likewiſe the Body of Chriſt) as they do concerning the Euchariſt. Cabiſilas is one of the Authors Mr. Arnaud has quoted with moſt complacency, having filled a long Chapter with Paſſages taken out of him, he alledges amongſt others, theſe words of his 38 Chapter, The Church is repreſented in the Myſteries of Religion, not as in the Signs, but as the Members are marked by the Heart, the Tree by the Root, and the Vinebranches by the Vine, foraſmuch as the Myſteries are the Body and Blood of Chriſt, and that this Body and Blood are the Nouriſhment of the Church. So far is his Allegation; but 'tis requiſite to hear Cabiſilas himſelf in the full extent of his Diſcourſe, to judge of the Style of this Author, and Mr. Arnaud's Deluſion. The Church, ſay's he, is repreſented in the Myſteries of Religion, not as in the Signs, but as the Members are in the Heart, the Branches of the Tree in the Root, and the Vine-leaves in the Vine, as ſpeaks our Lord. For here is not only a Communion of Names, or a reference of likeneſs, but 'tis the Identity of the thing it ſelf; For the Myſteries are the Body and Blood of Jeſus Chriſt. Now they are the real nouriſhment of the Church, and when ſhe partaketh of them ſhe does not change them into a humane Body, like unto other Food, but ſhe her ſelf is changed into them, foreign, foraſmuch as the moſt excellent part has the predominancy. Behold the iron, when 'tis joyned with the fire, it becomes fire, and it does not make the fire become iron, for the fire effaces all the properties of the iron; ſo in like manner if any one could ſee the Church of Chriſt in that reſpect, whereby 'tis united to him, and partakes of his Fleſh, he would behold nothing but the Body of Chriſt, and therefore St. Paul ſay's, you are the Body of Jeſus Chriſt, and each of you are his Members; For when he calls him the Head and us the Members, he does not repreſent to us thereby the cares of his Providence, nor our ſubjection to him in the ſame ſence as we call our ſelves the Members of our Parents, or Friends, by an hyperbolical way of ſpeaking; But he means what he ſays; That the faithful by the efficacy of this Blood, live the Life which is in Jeſus Chriſt, and have their real dependance on him as their Head, and are clothed with this Body.
It needs not now be demanded of Mr. Arnaud, why he cut ſhort this paſſage of Cabiſilas, ſeeing the reaſon manifeſtly appears; for if we take but the pains to compare what he alledges from this Author touching the Euchariſt with what I now related touching the Church, we ſhall ſoon find that theſe laſt expreſſions are far ſtronger and ſignificant than what he ſay's concerning the Sacrament. He excludes the bare communion of name and reſemblance between Chriſt and the Church, and eſtabliſhes a perfect Identity. He ſay's the Church is changed into the Body and Blood of Jeſus Chriſt. He uſes the compariſon of iron inflamed, which others apply to the Euchariſt, and as if he deſign'd to make us underſtand that the Church is Chriſt's Body in a litteral and complete ſenſe, he aſſures us this is no Hyperbole, and that St. Paul ſpeaks the ſame thing. I am greatly deceived, if there can be any thing found ſo preſſing and comprehenſive in relation to the Euchariſt, either in this Author, or any other of the true Greeks; and this ſhews on one hand, how vain and groundleſs Mr. Arnaud's Triumphs are, and on the other, how requiſite and neceſſary a thing it is, for men to ſhew the Subſtantial Converſion, clearly, and expreſly in the Doctrines of a Church before it be concluded ſhe believes it.
CABISILAS is not the only man who ſpeaks after this manner touching the Church, for others borrow his proper Terms to explain themſelves fully like him; for we may find the ſame paſſage at large, in the firſt Anſwer of Jeremias the Patriarch of Conſtantinople to the Divines of Wittemberg.
PHOTIUS ſpake likewiſe to the ſame purpoſe, and Oecumenius after him, as appears by the Commentaries of the latter of theſe, on the Tenth Chapter of the firſt Epiſtle to the Corinthians; The Apoſtle, ſay they, tells us, that the Bread is the Communion of the Body of Jeſus Chriſt; but foraſmuch as it ſeems that that which is communicated is of a different nature from him to whom 'tis communicated, he would now ſhew us that we do not communicate, but that we are all of us foreign, the ſame Body of Jeſus Chriſt: For as one piece of Bread is made of ſeveral Grains, ſo we likewiſe altho ſeveral, are made one and the ſame Body with Jeſus Chriſt: I believe there's few expreſſions to be found amongſt the Greeks in the Subject of the Euchariſt, which exceed theſe.
BUT beſides what I now mentioned touching the Church, we muſt likewiſe conſider the manner after which the Greeks do expreſs themſelves concerning the Book of the New Teſtament, or Volumn of the Goſpels, when the Deacon who carries it in his hand lifted up enters into the Church., This entrance is called foreign, the ſmall entrance, deſigning to repreſent by this Ceremony the coming of the Son of God into the World. They bow before this Book, and ſpeak of it as if it were our Saviour himſelf, crying out altogether at the ſame time, foreign. Come let us worſhip Chriſt, and fall down before him, Save us O Son of God. Aſſoon as they begin to read, the Biſhop throws off his Mantle, and Simon of Theſſalonica giving an account of this action, tells us, 'tis to give a publick teſtimony of his Servitude; For, ſay's he, when our Lord himſelf appears ſpeaking in his Goſpel, and is as it were preſent, the Biſhop dares not cover himſelf with his Mantle. Iſidorus de Pélusé uſed almoſt the ſame expreſſions before him, when the true Shepherd himſelf appears, ſay's he, in the reading of the Holy Goſpel, the Biſhop throws off his Mantle, to ſignifie that the Lord himſelf the Prince of Paſtors, our God and Maſter is preſent. I do not believe the Book is tranſubſtantiated, and yet they ſpeak and behave themſelves, as if it was our Saviour himſelf; which already ſhews us that the Stile of the Greeks is always very myſterious, and that we have no reaſon to impute Subſtantial Converſions to them, every time they make uſe of exceſſive Terms.
We may likewiſe ſee here another Example of what I ſay, even in the very Bread of the Euchariſt before its Conſecration. The Greeks have two Tables, one which they call the Protheſis, and th'other the great Altar. They place on the former of theſe, the Symbols, and expreſs by divers myſtical actions part of the Oeconomy of the Son of God, that is to ſay, his Birth, Life, and Sufferings. They ſolemnly carry them afterwards to the great Altar, where they conſecrate 'em, ſo that before this 'tis but ſimple Bread and Wine, yet on which, they repreſent the principal paſſages of the life of Chriſt, and they ſay themſelves that then the Bread and Wine are but a Type or Figure; Yet do they ſpeak concerning them almoſt after the ſame Germa… …n Theor.manner before they are conſecrated as after. Germain the Patriarch of Conſtantinople, calls them, the Body and Blood of Jeſus Chriſt, he ſay's, that the Saints and all the Juſt enter with him, and that the Cherubins, Angels, and all the Hoſt of immaterial Spirits march before him, ſinging Hymns, and accompanying the great King our Saviour Chriſt, who comes to his Mystical Sacrifice, and is carried by mortal hands. Behold, ſay's he, the Angels that come with the Holy Gifts, that is to ſay, with the Body and Blood of Jeſus Christ, from Mount Calvary to the Sepulchre. And in another place, the Tranſlation of Holy Things, to wit, of the Body and Blood of Jeſus Chriſt, which come from the Protheſis, and are carry'd to the great Altar, with the Cherubick Hymn ſignifies the entrance of our Saviour Chriſt from Bethany into Jeruſalem. He ſay's moreover, that our Saviour is carried in the Diſh, and ſhews himſelf in the Bread, foreign. And as yet 'tis no more than Bread and Wine un-conſecrated.
ARCUDIUS obſerves, ſome call this Bread the dead Body of Jeſus Arcud. lib de Euch. c. 20 & 21.Chriſt. He ſay's farther, that Gabriel de Philadelphia, calls it, the imperfect Body of Christ, and proves the Symbols are called in this reſpect, foreign, the holy, divine, and unutterable Myſteries, which are the ſame names they give them after their Conſecration.
WHEN they carry them from the Protheſis to the great Altar, the Quire loudly ſing that which they call the Cherubick Hymn, in which are theſe words, Let the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, Jeſus Chriſt our God draw near to be ſacrific'd, and given to the Faithful for Food. At which time their Devotion is ſo exceſſive, that Arcudius did not ſcruple to accuſe the Arcud. lib. 3. de Euch.Greeks in this reſpect of Idolatry. Goar clears them of this crime, yet ſay's himſelf, that ſome bow, others kneel, and caſt themſelves proſtrate on the ground, Goar in Euch. notis in Miſſ. Chryſ.as being to receive the King of the World inviſibly accompani'd with his Holy Angels, that all of 'em ſay their Prayers, or recommend themſelves to the Prayers of the Prieſts, and that they uſually ſpeak to our Saviour Chriſt, as if he was perſonally preſent, praying to him in the words of the good Thief, Lord Remember me when thou comeſt into thy Kingdom. The Prieſts anſwer, the Lord God be mindful of us all, now and for ever.
THEY repeat theſe words without ceaſing, till he that carries the Symbols is ent'red the Sanctuary, and then they cry out, Bleſſed is he, that cometh in the name of the Lord. And yet ſo far there's not any Conſecration, and much leſs a Converſion of Subſtance.
WHILST the Symbols are ſtill on the Table, they ſeparate a Particle from the reſt of the Bread in remembrance of our Saviour, and call the remainder the Body of the Virgin Mary. They afterwards lay another ſmall piece on the right ſide of the firſt, in honour of the Holy Virgin, to the end they may ſay, in effect ſay's Goar, foreign, The Queen is at thy right hand, in a Vestment of Gold wrought with divers colours. They ſet by another ſmall piece in honour of St. John Baptiſt, another in honour of the Apoſtles, and ſeveral others for a remembrance of other Saints. Goar tells us, they ſeparate Goar ibid.nine pieces after this manner, beſides thoſe of our Saviour, and the Bleſſed Virgin his Mother, and that this is done to repreſent the whole Celeſtial Court. They afterwards carry all theſe to the great Altar, where the Conſecration is performed; but when they ſpeak of theſe Particles, they call one of 'em the Body of the Virgin Mary, th'other the Body of St. John, th'other the Body of St. Nicholas, and after the ſame manner all the reſt. I know Goar denies they are thus called, affirming the Greeks ſay only foreign, the Particle of the Virgin, and not the Body of the Virgin, I know likewiſe that Arcudius ſeems not to be agreed in this Point, and perhaps the Latins have at length caus'd the Latinis'd Greeks to leave this way of ſpeaking. But Goar himſelf ſay's, that ſome amongſt the Latins have been ſo ſimple to imagine, that the Greeks believe the real Preſence of the Body of the Bleſſed Virgin in her Particle of Bread; and what likelihood is there, Perſons endued with the leaſt ſenſe, ſhould fall into this Opinion, if the expreſſions of the Greeks gave them not ſome reaſon for it? Arcudius aſſures us, that in Arcud. lib. 3. de Euch. C 9.his time, there was a certain Perſon in Poland, otherwiſe both Pious and Learned, who perſwaded a Lady of Ruſſia to receive no more the Sacrament from the hands of the Prieſts of her Religion, becauſe they adminiſtred not the Body of Jeſus Chriſt, but that of the Virgin Mary, and St. Nicholas, &c. This man's miſtake, to whom Arcudius gives another kind of Character than that of a Calumniator, was no otherwiſe occaſioned, but by the manner of ſpeaking uſual amongſt the Greeks, who called theſe Particles the Body of this or th'other Saint. For 'tis not likely he invented this Fable himſelf, which Hiſtor. Eccl. part. 4. p. 20.is ſo impertinent and ridiculous. Hottinger affirms, there's to be ſeen in the Library of Zurich a Manuſeript, which bears the name of one Peter Numagen, in which is expreſly mention'd, that the Greeks affirm, the remainders of the Conſecrated Bread, (which is to ſay, of that Bread from whence the great Particle has been taken in remembrance of our Saviour, and which they diſtribute to the People at the end of the Action, calling it foreign,) to be the remainders of the Body of the Virgin Mary. Guy Carmus relates the ſame thing, the thirteenth Errour of the Greeks, ſay's he, is, that they affirm the remainders of the Conſecrated Bread, are the remains of the Body of the Bleſſed Virgin.
GERMAIN the Patriarch of Conſtantinople, ſpeaks after this manner, Theoria rer. Eccleſ.we [need not doubt, ſay's he, but there are great ſpiritual bleſſings and advantages which do follow from the communication of this Bread, which is the Body of the Bleſſed Virgin. And the ſame kind of expreſſions are to be ſeen in Sacred Noſegay. lib. 4. c. 3.Boucher's relation touching the Greeks: They all of 'em, hold, ſay's he, a moſt ridiculous and extravagant opinion; for they believe that under theſe Particles of the Conſecrated Host, is really contain'd the Body of the Virgin, after the ſame manner as the Body of her Son under the principal parts of the ſaid Hoſt, ſo that they receive theſe Fragments with new Prayers and Preparatives in honour of the Mother of our Saviour. I do not doubt but that Boucher is miſtaken as well as thoſe mentioned by Goar, and this good man of Poland mention'd by Arcudius, in imputing to them ſuch a ridiculous Superſtition; but 'tis certain the occaſion of this charge was the manner of the Greeks expreſſing themſelves, who attribute to theſe Fragments and Particles of Bread, the name of the Body of the Virgin and Saints in the ſame manner as they call the great Particle our Saviour's Body.
NOW this manifeſtly ſhews we ought not to abuſe (as Mr. Arnaud do's) their Myſtical expreſſions; for ſeeing they apply them to the Bread, when as yet unconſecrated, and ſpeak of it as if it was our Saviour himſelf, behaving themſelves as if he was preſent in his Humane Nature; who then can find it ſtrange if they expreſs themſelves above the ordinary rate, concerning the Conſecrated Bread, which is the conſummation of the whole Myſtery? And ſeeing they are not ſparing of their Myſtical expreſſions touching the Particles of Bread: divided and ſet apart in honour of the Virgin Mary and Saints, what likelihood is there they ſhould be more reſerv'd in reſpect of that, which they conſecrate in remembrance of the Son of God, and on which they expreſs with ſo great Ceremony and Pomp, the whole Oeconomy of our Salvation? It is evident, that to attribute to them the belief of a real and ſubſtantial Converſion, according to the ſence of the Roman Church they muſt have explain'd themſelves in clear and proper Terms; for ſhould we be guided by Mr. Arnaud, who makes the moſt trivial matters ſerve for Proofs, and draws Conſequences from all Sides, either right or wrong, we ſhould run the hazard of being deceived, as well as thoſe that imagined the Greeks believed the real preſence of the Virgin Mary's Body, and that of St. Nicholas.