The Anatomy of the Mass, Book 1 · Chapter 20
CHAP. XX, Anſwers to ſome examples brought out of the Scriptures by our adverſaries for to prove that the body of Chriſt hath beene ſometimes in two ſeverall places.
TO cloake this abuſe, they ſay that as God hath made that ſometimes two bodies have filled and occupied but one place, ſo hee can make that one and the ſame body be in ſeverall places at once: and thereupon they alleage for example that Chriſt entred in at the doores ſhut, John 20.19. and conſequently did penetrate the wood of the doores. But they falſifie the Scripture. S. John ſaith not that Chriſt entred in at the doores ſhut, but that hee entred in when the doores were ſhut. foreign.It may be that he went in by ſome other place than by the …ore. It may be that the wood of the doore, or the ſtones of the wall yeelded into him, the creature yeelding and o…eying the Creator, asaHieron. ad Pammach. adv. Joh. Ieroſol. Deum tranſire per clauſam portam, & creatu… ram cedere creatori. Hierome ſaith, God went in at the doore ſhut, the creature having yeelded to the Creator. By ſaying …hat he entred in at the doore ſhut, hee meant the doore yeelded to him, or that …ee opened it at his coming in. So if I ſay, a muddie brooke runnes thorow a cleare water, I meane it marred it as it went thorow. But the beſt is alwayes to ſticke cloſe to the holy Scriptures.
Againe, they alleage to the ſame purpoſe, that Chriſts body coming out of the Sepulcher, paſſed thorow the ſtone that ſtopped the mouth of the Sepulcher, without taking away or removing the ſtone. Matth. 28.2. But this place is likewiſe alleaged falſly: For Saint Matthew in the very ſame place ſaith the cleane contrary. There was (ſaith he) a great Earthquake: For the Angel of the Lord deſcended from heaven, and came, and bforeignrolled back the ſtone from the doore of the Sepulcher. And Marke, chap. 16.4. ſaith the ſame.cThom. 1. Concil. Edition. Golonan. 1567. pag. 814. Revoluto monimenti lapide, tertio die caro reſurrexit. Leo the firſt Biſhop of Rome, in his 95 Epiſtle to Leo Auguſtus, acknowledges it, ſaying that in the third day the fleſh of the Lord aroſe againe, the ſtone of the monument being rolles backe.
In vaine do they alleage that Chri… walked upon the waters. For what i… that to prove that his body may be in ſeverall places at one and the ſame time▪ He that walketh upon the waters, is not for that farre from himſelfe. If Chriſt by his divine power▪ hath made the waters firme under his feete, or ſuſtained his body that it might not ſinke, he hath not for that placed his body in ſeverall places, nor changed the nature of his body. If I keepe up and uphold with my hand a ſtone above the water, that changes not the nature of the ſtone, and doth not take from it its weight and heavineſſe.
For to prove that the body of the Lord hath beene ſometimes in two ſeverall places at once, they alleage the 23 chapter of the Actes, verſe 11. where it is ſaid,foreign. That the night following, the Lord ſtoode by Paul: from whence they doe inferre that Chriſts body being in heaven, ſtood nevertheleſſe by Saint Paul on earth. In ſpeaking thus, they preſuppoſe without proofe that the Lord of whom is ſpoken in this place, is Chriſt onelyonly, and not God ſimply without diſtinction of perſons. Yea even in re…raining this word, LORD, to Chriſts perſon, there is nothing in that place that obliges us to underſtand this of the body of Chriſt, rather then of his divine nature and vertue. Might not …he ſonne of God ſpeake and make himſelfe ſenſible to Saint Paul by his divine vertue, without a locall and bodily approach? The Greeke word foreign,Act. 12.7. & Luc. 2.9. foreign Act. 23.27. foreign. whereof Saint Luke makes uſe, ſignifieth not onelyonly to ſtand by one, but alſo to come upon him unlook'd for, to relieve and ſuccour him, and make him feele his favour, as may be ſeene Acts 12.7. Luke 2.9. Acts 23.27. In all theſe places the Greeke word ſignifieth to come upon unlooked for. Now the Roman Church doth not beleeve that Chriſt comes unto the Sacrament, but beleeves that hee is made in it.