The Sum of Christian Religion, Aphorisms · Article 10
ARTICLE. X. Of the Lords Supper.
I. WE beleeve the holy Supper to be the communion of the bodie and bloud of Chriſt, which is by taking the bread broken, and the cup being (a) bleſſed, in memorie of Chriſts death till he (b) come; that is to ſay, that it is the other Sacrament of the New Teſtament, inſtituted by Chriſt, by which he teſtifieth to us, who receive the conſecrated bread and wine, with a faithfull remembrance of his death, that he feeds us with his bodie, which was given for us, and with his bloud, which was powred out for us; and that hee quickneth (d) us, that with him, and amongſt our ſelves, we may grow up into one (e) bodie, and that the covenant begun with God in Baptiſme, may remaine (f) ratified to us for ever.
Teſtimonies of Scripture.
(a) 1 Cor. 10.16. The cup of bleſsing which we bleſſe, is it not the communion of the bloud of Chriſt? the bread which we breake, is it not the communion of the body of Chriſt?
(b) 1 Cor. 11.26. As often as you ſhall eat of this bread, and drink of this cup, you ſhall declare the Lords death untill he come.
(c) Matth. 26.26. Mark 14.22. Luke 22.17. 1 Cor. 11.21. While they were eating, he took bread, and bleſſed, and brake it, then gave it to his diſciples, and ſaid, Take, eat, this is my body.
(d) John 6.54. He that eateth my fleſh, and drinketh my bloud, hath life eternall, and I will raiſe him up at the last day.
(e) John 6.56. Who eateth my fleſh, and drinketh my bloud, he abideth in me, and I in him.
1 Cor. 10.17. Becauſe there is one bread, we being many are one bread and one body: for we all partake of that one bread.
1 Cor. 12.13. We have all drunk into one ſpirit.
(f) 1 Cor. 11.25. This cup is the New Teſtament in my bloud.
II. We ſay alſo, that this Sacrament conſiſteth of externall ſignes, and of the promiſes of grace in the word annexed to the (a) ſignes; and, conſequently, of a twofold food, and a twofold eating or taking: to wit, an externall of bread and wine, which is done by the mouth of the bodie, out of the hand of the Miniſter, as our ſenſe witneſſeth; and an internall ſpirituall of Chriſts bodie and bloud, which is by faith, out of the hands of God himſelfe: and by the externall, it is both ſignified, exhibited, and ſealed in the lawfull uſe of the Sacrament, as the promiſe annexed to the Symboles (b) witneſſeth.
Teſtimonies of Scripture, and of others.
(a) Apolog. August. Confeſ. tit. De uſe Sacram. &c. And becauſe in the Sacraments there are two things, to wit, the ſigne and the word; the word in the New Teſtament is the promiſe of grace added to the ſigne. The promiſe of the New Teſtament, is the promiſe of the remiſſion of ſins, as this Text ſaith: This is my body, which is given for you: This is the cup of the New Teſtament with my bloud, which is ſhed for many to the remiſsion of ſins. The word then offers remiſſion of ſins; and the ceremony is as it were the pledge of the word or feale, as Paul calls it, ſhewing the promiſe.
(b) Matth. 26. &c.
III. For, whereas all Sacraments are ſeales of grace promiſed in the (a) Goſpel, it is not to be doubted, but theſe words of promiſe in the Supper, This is my body, which is given for you. This is my bloud, which is powred out for you, &c. are the very ſame Evangelicall promiſe in (b) John, [The bread which I will give you, is my fleſh, which I will give you for the life of the world: for my fleſh is meat indeed, and my bloud is drinke indeed,] being covered with the ſacramentall ceremonie, and confirmed with a ſymbolicall eating, for the greater ſafetie or aſſurance: but that it ſpeaketh of the ſpirituall food of Chriſts bodie and bloud, which is by faith, is (c) manifeſt.
Teſtimonies of Scripture, and of others.
(a) Rom. 4.11. And he received the ſigne of circumciſion, the ſeale of the juſtice of faith received in the fore-skin.
Apolog. Auguſt. Confeſ. tit. De uſu Sacram. &c. The word in the New Teſtament is the promiſe of grace, as above.
(b) John 6.5. I am that living bread that came downe from heaven; if any man eat of this bread he ſhall live for ever: But the bread which I will give is my fleſh, which I will give for the life of the world.
(c) John 6.35. I am that bread of life: he that cometh to me ſhall not hunger, and he that beleeveth in me ſhall never thirſt.
IV. Chriſt never promiſed in the Goſpel any orall manducation of his fleſh, but by expreſſe arguments rejected (a) it; and therefore never eſtabliſhed it by the Sacrament of his Supper: And doubtleſſe they ſin grievouſly, who at this day diſturb the Church with their orall manducation, which to acknowledge is no waies neceſſary to ſalvation to any, but rather pernicious to many.
Teſtimonies of Scripture.
(a) John 6.61, 62, 63. When Jeſus knew in himſelfe that his diſciples murmured at it, he ſaid unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if you ſhall ſee the Son of man aſcend up where he was before? It is the Spirit that quickneth, the fleſh profiteth nothing: the words that I ſpeak unto you, they are ſpirit, and they are life.
V. The particle This, as we teach and beleeve, doth demonſtrate the bread which Chriſt brake; and that it is the true bodie of Chriſt, not by converſion into the bodie, nor by any reall co-exiſtence with the bodie, but by a ſacramentall way; becauſe it is the Sacrament of Chriſts bodie, or a ſacred ſigne of it: So the Apoſtle interprets Chriſts (a) meaning, when he calls the cup, The New Teſtament, that is, the Sacrament of the New Teſtament; the bread, The communion of Chriſts (b) body, that is, the Sacrament of that communion. So (c) Auſtine: The Lord (ſaith he) doubted not to ſay, This is my bodie, when he gave the ſigne of his bodie. So (d) Prosper ſaith, The bread is after a manner called the bodie of Chriſt, and the ſacramentall action is called the paſſion, death, and crucifying of Chriſt; not in a reall veritie, but in a ſignifying myſterie.
Teſtimonies of Scripture, and of others.
(a) 1 Cor. 11.25. This cup is the New Teſtament in my bloud.
(b) 1 Cor. 10.16. The bread which we break, &c.
(c) Auguſt. cont. Adimant. cap. 12.
(d) Prosper in Decret. de Conſecrat. diſt. 2. cap. Hoc eſt.
VI. And whereas Chriſts bodie neither in the bread, nor under the ſpecies of bread, but rather in the word of promiſe is exhibited to us, to be eaten by faith; the wicked indeed eat the ſignes to their owne condemnation, by abuſing of which they ſin againſt Chriſt himſelfe; but being deſtitute of faith, they receive not his bodie: Of which notwithſtanding, by the Apoſtles teſtimony, they are guilty, not that they receive it, which by their infidelitie they tread upon, but becauſe they unworthily eat that bread, which is the ſymbole or (a) ſigne of it.
Teſtimonies of Scripture.
(a) 1 Corinth. 11.27, 29. Whoſoever ſhall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, ſhall be guilty of the body and bloud of the Lord. Alſo, Who eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himſelfe, not diſcerning the Lords body.
Hebr. 10.29. Of how much ſorer puniſhment, ſuppoſe ye be ſhall be thought worthy, who hath troden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the bloud of the covenant, wherewith he was ſanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the ſpirit of grace?
VII. Therefore we diſ-approve thoſe other doctrines which teach: 1. That Chriſts bodie is in the bread,foreign. or under the accidents of bread corporally preſent by conſubſtantiation, or by tranſubſtantiation. 2. That Chriſts bodie is properly carried in the Miniſters hands. 3. That it is eaten by the bodily mouth. 4. That the Pronoune [This] doth ſhew an uncertaine individuum or ſingularitie, or an indeterminate ſubſtance. 5. That [This] demonſtrates both the bread, and alſo Chriſts bodie lurking inviſibly in the bread. 6. That wicked men do properly eat Chriſts bodie.