Three Pillars and Arch-patriarchs of the Popish Synagogues, Treatise 1 · Book 3 · Part 31
Hesk.The one and thirtieth Chapter, endeth the exposition of this text by Theophylact and Anselmus.
I had thought to hauehave sayed nothing of these late writers,Fulk. but that Maister Heskins will make Theophylact so auncient, as to be three hundred yeres elder then Anselmus, which was Archbishop of Caunterburie almoste 500. yeres agoe, so that Theophylact shoulde be neere 800. yeres olde. But to confute his impudencie: Firste, you must vnderstande, that the Bulgars, of whom he was Bishop, were not conuerted to the faith before the yeare of Christe 865. and after their first conuersion, they agreed with the church of Rome, but in processe of time, they forsooke the church of Rome, and ioyned with the church of Constantinople. After this, Theophylact was there bishop, and although the histories bee not certeine what time he liued: yet it must needs be gathered, to be when the contention was hote betweene the Greekes & Romanes, about the proceeding of the holie Ghost, because that in his exposition vponupon the thirde of Iohn, hee inueygheth against the church of Rome, defending the Greekes about the proceeding of the holie Ghoste, and this was about the yeare of Christ 1049 when Berengarius liued and reproued the church of Rome for the carnall presence that then or not long before was begon to be grossely defended. But the chiefe matter he gathereth out of Anselme is, that he expoundeth the table in Saint Paule, for an altare, whereupon Maister Heskins will make a discourse of Altares, and proue the vse of them, euen from the Apostles times: And firste he beginneth with Dionyse the disciple of S. Paule, Eccl. Hier. part. 3. Cap. 3. Sed & illud, &c. But beholde that more reuerently, that after the venerable signes are layde vppon the altare, by which Christ is signified and receiued, there is present by & by a description of saintes or holy ones. It is meete that a false matter should begin with a counterfet doctour. I hauehave shewed before, that neither Eusebius, nor Hierome, nor Gennadius knewe any such Dionyse, by the space of fiue or sixe hundreth yeares after Christ; therefore his testimonie must be so many hundred yeares short of the Apostles times. But M. Hesk. wil not see that his Dionyse calleth the sacrament signes, by which Christ is signified and receiued. He can see nothing but the altar in yt saying. Next to Dionyse, he bringeth Ambrosius in orat. prępar…t. ad missa…t, a meere counterfeit, as Erasmus hath obserued, & therefore worthie of none answere. But before I proceede to the next author, that he citeth for the altar, which is Augustine, I will set downe a manifest disproofe of M. Hesk. proofe, that altars hauehave ben vsed since the Apostles times. Firste, it is certeine, that our sauiour Christ did institute this sacrament at a table, & at no altar, whereas if it had bene a sacrifice, he would hauehave caused an altar to be made, which had bene soone done. Secondly, the Apostle Paul calleth it the Lords table, & neuer calleth it an altar. M. Hesk. alledgeth for the sacrament out of the actes of the Apostles, that the disciples continued in breaking of bread in eueryevery house, but I suppose he wil not dreame, that there was an altar in euerie house. In the primitiue church, when ye people mett in corners & secrete places, no man of reason wil imagin they had altars set vp in those places. Nay it is certein by Origen & Amobius, they had neither altars, nor tēples, nor images. Origen. Cont. Cel lib. 4. reporteth that ye heathen man Celsus obiecteth against vsus, yt we hauehave no images nor altars, nor temples. The like is in Arnobius. lib. 2. against yt Gentiles, who declareth yt they acuse vsus, that we hauehave neither temples, nor images, nor altars. By these auncient writers it appeareth, yt it was a common obiection of the heathen men, against the Christians, yt they had no altars. The like sheweth Tertullian ad Scapulam. Ita que & sacrificamus pro salute imperatoris sed Deo nostro & ips…ut sed, quo modo pręcepit Deus, pura prece. Therfore we also do offer sacrifice for the health of the Emperour, but vntounto our God & his only, but, as God hath commaunded, with pure prayer. These wordes of Tertullian declare, yt the Christians had neither altar nor sacrifice, other then prayer. In Cyprians time also it was a table de cana Dom. Inter Dominicae mensae cormuines, animalis homo non recipitur: the naturall man is not receiued among the guestes of the Lords table.
And although of diuerse of the olde writers, it was called an altar, yet was it so called improperly, euen as the communion was called of them a sacrifice, for still it was a table and nothing like the popish altars, which are of stone & set against a wall, for they stoode in the midst of the church, so that ye people came rounde about them as appeareth by Eusebius. lib. 10. ca. 4. ad Paulin. Tyr. Episc. Absoluto templo & sedibus excelsissimis ad honorem praesidentium, & subsellijs ordine collocatis, ornato, & post omnia sancto sanctorum, videlicet altari in medio constituto: The temple being finished, and garnished with high seates for ye honour of ye gouernours, & lower seates placed in order, & after all the holie of holies, that is to saye the altar placed in the middest. The like hath Augustine de verb. Dom. Ser. Ioan. Ser. 46. de eo quod scrip. qui manduc. Christus quotidie pascit: Mensa ipsiut est illa in medio constituta. Quid causae est ô audientes, vt mensam videatis & ad epulat non accedatis. Christ feedeth daily that is his table, which is placed in the middest. What is the cause O you hearers, that seeing the table ye came not to the feast. Hee speaketh to the nouices or Catechumeni.
Gregorius Nazianzenus calleth it a table ad imperator. Irasceus: shewing what intercessors he would bring to pacifie the Princes displeasure, as the death, passion, resurrection, & ascension of Christ. Aut etiam mensam hanc ad quā communiter accedimus, & meae sabutis rypos, quos eodem celebro ore quo nunc fungor legatione sacram dico & ad superna ducentem mystagogiam: or else euen this table, vntounto which wee come all together, and the figures of my saluation, which I do celebrate with the same mouth, with which nowe I execute this Ambassage of intreatie, I meane yt holy mysterie, leading to high things. Beside the table in the saying of Greg marke what termes he vseth in describing the sacrament, he calleth it the types or figures of his saluation, and a holy and heauenly mystagogie. Chrysost. most commonly calleth it a table, for example, Hom, 45. in Ioan. A mensa hac prodit fons qui fluuios spirituales diffundit. From this table commeth a spring, which powreth forth spirituall riuers. And in a great number of places, he calleth it the holie table. But nowe wee must heare Maister Hesk. citing Augustine. lib. 9. Conf. Ca. 13. Illa imminente, &c. Shee, the day of her death being as hand, was not carefull to hauehave her bodie sump…uously buried, or to be spiced with spices, or coueted to hauehave a solemne monument, or to be buryed in her own country. These things shee did not commaunde vsus, but onelyonly shee desired, that remembrance of her should be made as thine altare, which shee without any dayes intermission, had serued. From whence she knewe, the holie sacrifice to be dispensed, by which the hand writing was put out that was against vsus. In these wordes S. Augustine calleth it an altar, reporting the superstitious request of his mother, according to the errour of that time. We make no question, but that they did call the table an altar, but we affirme, they called it so vnproperly, euen as they did call the sacrament a sacrifice, and the minister a priest, and the deacon a Leuite. And as they called it an altare, so there is fewe or none, but called it a table also, and so doth Augustine often times, as de cultur. agr. Dom. Mensa sponsi tui panem habet integrum & poculum sanctum. The table of thy spouse, hath whole bread and a holie cupp. And againe, Contra liter. Petilian. lib. 2. Chap. 47. Non dicunt ifta nisi qui de Mensa Domini vitai… su…ru…nt sicut Petrus, non iudicium sicut Iudas. None say these things, but such as receiue life at the Lordes table, as Peter, and not damnation, as Iudas. But Maister Heskins hath another place out of Saint Augustine, wherein hee calleth it the altare of God: Sermone ad infant. Hoc, quod videris in alcari Dei, &c. This that you see on the altare of God, you sawe the night last past. But what it was, what i… mean… of howe great a thing it conteined the sacrament, you hauehave not yet heard: therefore, that which you sawe is bread and a cuppe, which thing also your eyes doe tell you▪ But that your faith requireth to be instructed. The breade is the bodie of Christe, the cuppe is his bloud. Our Lorde Iesus Christe, wee knowe whence he receiued fleshe, … of the virgine Marie. Hee was suckled being an infant, he was norished, he grewe, he came to the age of a young man, he suffered persecution of the Iewes, hee was hanged on the tree, he was killed on the tree, he was buryed, he rose againe the thirde day. That day he woulde ascende into heauen, thither he lifted vp his bodie, from whence he shall come to iudge both the quicke and the dead. There he is nowe sitting at the right hand of the father. Howe is the breade his bodie? and the cuppe, or that which the cupp containeth, how is it his bloud? Brethren, these things are therefore called sacraments, because one thing in them it seene, another thing is vnderstoode, that which is seene hath a corporall shewe, that which is vnderstoode, hath a spirituall fruite. I doubt not but eueryevery Christian man that readeth this saying, vnderstandeth it, to be verie cleere, against both transubstantiation, and the carnall presence, as is shewed before lib. 2. Cap. 37. which that Maister Heskins might obscure, he maketh a smoke, to bleare mens eyes, that they might not see any thing therin, but the altar. Wherefore he rayleth like him selfe against the proclaimer, charging him bothe to hauehave falsified S. Augustine, and also truncately to hauehave alledged him, because (saith he) he citeth him thus: Quod videtis in mensa, panis est: that ye see in the table is bread: whereas Augustine sayeth in the altar, and not on the table, which he durst not name for shame. But with what shame Heskins can so reuile and slaunder that godly learned father, you shall see by that which followeth immediately, where he leaueth in Augustine, and iudge whether Master Heskins left out the wordes for shame, or else because his note booke serued him no further. Corpus ergo Christi si vis intelligere, audi Apostolum dicentem fidelibus: vos estis corpus Christi & membra. Si ergo vot estis corpus Christi & membra, mysterium vestrum in MENSA positum est: Mysteria Domini accipitis ad quod estis, Amen respondetis, & respondendo subscribitis. Audis ergo corpus Christi & respondes Amen. Esto membrum corporis Christi vt verum sit Amen tuum: quare ergo in pane? nihil hic de nostro affiramus: Ipsum Apostolum item audiamus. Cum ergo de isto sacramento loqueretur, ait, vnus panis, vnum corpus multi sumus. Intelligite & gaudete.
Therefore, if thou wilt vnderstande the bodie of Christ, heare the Apostle saying to the faithfull: you are the bodie of Christ and his members. If you therefore be the bodie of Christ and his members, your mysterie is set on the TABLE: you receiue the Lords mysterie, wherunto you are, you aunswere, Amen: and in aunswering, you subscribe. Thou hearest therfore the bodie of Christ and thou aunswerest, Amen: bee thou a member of the bodie of Christe, that thy Amen may bee true. Why then in bread? let vsus here bring nothing of our owne. Let vsus likewise heare the Apostle. Therefore, when hee spake of this sacrament, he sayeth: There is one bread, wee being many are one bodie: vnderstand ye & reioyce ye. I trust you see by this, that the altar he spake of, was a table, as you see also how the sacrament is the bodie of Christ.
But lest hee might replye, that the table was an altar, I must further alledge Saint Augustines authoritie, that it was a table, for it was made of boordes and was remouable. For speaking of the Deacons of Rome in Quaest. vet. & non. test. q. 101 he sayth: Vt antem non omnia ministeria obsequiorum per ordinem agant, multitudo fecit clericorum: nam vtique & altare portarem, & vasa euis & aquam in manus sunderent sacerdoti, ficut videmus per omnes ecclesias. But that they doe not perfourme all the ministeries of their seruice in order, the multitude of Clerkes hath caused: for surely they shoulde both carrie the altar and the vessels thereof, and powre water on the Priestes handes, as wee see it in all churches.
That they were of boordes and tymber, and not of stone, lest the Papistes should dreame of their Altare portatiue, that their hedge priestes carrie in their sleeues to say Masse in corners, the same Augustine writing to Bonifacius Ep. 50. sheweth in these wordes, speaking of the insurrection of the Donatistes against Maximianus a catholike bishop of Sagium: Stantem ad altare irruente… horrendo impetu & furore crudeli, fustibus & huiusmodi telis, lignis denique eiusdem altaris effractis immaniter ceciderunt. Rushing in with an horrible violence and cruell furie, they stroke him moste outragiously standing at the altare, with staues and such like weapons: yea, euen with the boordes of the same altare, which they brake in peeces. The like complaint maketh Optatus in his booke against the Donatistes, sauing that he nameth not wood or bordes, yet it is plaine by the circumstance that hee spake of none other. The place, as Maister Heskins citeth it, is this: Quid est tam sacrilegum, &c. What is so great sacriledge, as to breake, scrape, or shaue, and remoue the altares of God? in which you also sometimes hauehave offered, on which the prayers of the people, and the members of Christ hauehave been borne, at which God almightie hath beene called vppon, where the holie Ghost being desired hath come downe, from which the pledge of aeternall life, and the sauegarde of faith, and the hope of resurrection hath beene receiued of many: the altares I say vponupon which our Sauiour hath commaunded the giftes of the fraternitie, not to be layde, but such as are made of peace. Lay downe (saith hee) thy gifte before the altare, and returne and firste agree with thy brother, that the Priest may offer for thee. For what is the altar but the seat of the bodie and bloud of Christe? All these your furie hath either scraped, or broken, or remoued. What hath God done to you, which was wont to be called vponupon there? What had Christe offended you, whose bodie and bloud dwelleth there at certeine momentes? And what doe you offende your selues to breake the altars, on which long time before vsus (as you thinke) you hauehave offered holily? Thus hauehave you followed the Iewes. They layde handes vppon Christe on the crosse: of you he was striken in the altar: of whome the Prophet Helias complaineth to the Lorde, speaking in the same wordes, with which you among other hauehave deserued to bee accused. Lorde (sayeth he) they hauehave broken downe thine altares. While hee sayth thine, he sheweth that the thing is Gods, where any thing is offered of any man to God. Vppon pretence of this place, Maister Hesk. chargeth vsus with great sacriledge, for pulling downe their popish altares, on which they committed idolatrie and moste horrible sacriledge. And therefore wee are commaunded to ouerthrowe such altares, to breake downe their pillers, & burne their images with fire, Deut. 7. And whereas he compareth vsus to one Iulianus an heathen man, that pissed against the altare, and therfore was horribly punished, hee sheweth his wisedome. For there an idolater did vilanously contemne ye Christians religion, & therfore was iustly plaged of God, but we as Christians hauehave obeyed the lawe of God, in ouerthrowing their antichristian & idolatrous altars. And yet I thinke the fact of Iulianus was not worse then the filthinesse of Pope Iohn, that lay with his whores vppon your altares. In the conclusion of this chapter he affirmeth that the altar, & sacrifice are correlatiues, & therefore there coulde be none altars, but there was also sacrifice. I hauehave shewed sufficiently howe the old writers called the communion table an altare, and the sacrament a sacrifice, namely a sacrifice of thanksgiuing, and not of propitiation, and yet more must I saye vponupon M. Heskins discourses that followe.