Whole Works, Tracts 2 · Tract 4 · Part 8 – Part 9
❀ Let a man therfore examyne him ſelfe and ſo let him eate of the bread, and drinke of the cuppe.
What it is to proue & examine a mans owne ſelfe.THis prouing or examinyng of a mans ſelfe is firſt to thinke with him ſelfe with what luſt and deſire he cōmeth vntounto the maundy & will eate that bread: whether he be ſure that he is the child of God and in the faith of Chriſt: And whether his cōſcience do beare him witneſſe that Chriſtes body was broken for him: And whether the luſt yt he hath to prayſe God and thanke hym with a faythfull hart in the middes of the bretheren, do driue hym thether warde. Or els whether he do it for yt meates ſake or to kéepe the cuſtome: for then were it better that he were away. For he that eateth or drinketh vnworthely, eateth and drinketh his owne damnation, becaufe he maketh no differēce of the Lordes body. That is, as it is ſayd before, he that regardeth not the purpoſe for which it was inſtituted, & putteth no difference betwene his eating and other eating (for other eating doth onelyonly ſerue the bellye) but this eating was inſtituted and ordayned, to ſerue the ſoule and inward man. And therfore he that abuſeth it to the fleſh, eateth and drinketh his owne damnation, And he commeth vnworthelye to the maundye where the ſacrament of Chriſtes body is eaten: ye where the body of the Lord is eaten: not carnally with the téeth and bellye but ſpiritually with the hart and faith Ʋpon this followeth the text that M. More allegeth and wreſteth for his purpoſe.
For this cauſe many are weake & ſicke among you, and many ſléepe. yf we had truely Iudged our ſelues, we ſhould not hauehave béene Indged when we are Iudged of the Lorde, we are chaſtened becauſe we ſhould not bée damned wich the world. Wherfore my bretheren, whē ye come togither to eate, tary one for an other. Yf a man hunger, let him eate at home, that ye come not togither vntounto condemnation.
For this cauſe (that is) for lacke of good examinyng of our ſelues (as is The meaning of S. Paules formet wordes.before touched) many are weake and ſicke in the fayth, and many a ſléepe, and hauehave loſt their fayth in Chriſtes bloud, for lacke of remembraunce of his body breaking & bloud ſhedding: yea & not that onelyonly but many were weake and ſicke euen ſtriken with bodelye diſeaſes for abuſing ye ſacrament of his body, eating the bread with their téeth and not his body with their hart and minde and peraduenture ſome ſlayne for it, by the ſtroke of God, which if they had truely iudged and examined thē ſelues for what intent they came thither and why it was inſtituted, ſhould not hauehave béene ſo iudged and chaſtened of the Lorde. For the Lorde doth chaſten to bring vsus vntounto repentaunce and to mortifie our rebellious mēbers, that we may remember hym. Here ye may ſhortly perceyue the mynde of Paule.
An Epitome and ſhort rehearſall of all this booke, ſhewing in what poyntes Frith diſſenteth from our Prelates.
NOw to be ſhort, in theſe thrée poyntes Frith diſſenteth An Epitome of this whole booke.frō our Prelates, and from M. More which taketh vponupon hym to be their proctor.
1. Our Prelates beléeue that in the Sacrament remaineth no bread, but The opiniō of the Prelates.that it is turned into the naturall body of Chriſt both fleſhe, bloud, and bones. Frith ſayth that it is no article of our Crede: and therefore let The opiniō of Frith.them beléeue it that will. And he thinketh that there remayneth bread ſtill, and that he proueth thrée maner of wayes. Firſt by ye ſcripture of Paule, whiche calleth it bread, ſaying: the 1. Cor. 1…bread which we breake, is it not the fellowſhip of the body of Chriſt? For we though we bee many, are yet one body and one bread, as many as are partakers of one bread. And againe he ſayth: as often as ye eate of thys bread or drinke of thys cup, you ſhall 1. Cor. 11.ſhew the Lordes death vntil he come. Alſo Luke calleth it bread, ſaying in the Actes: they continued in the fellowſhip of the Apoſtles, and in the Actes. 2.breaking of the bread & prayer. Alſo Chriſt called the cup the fruite of a Math. 26. Marke. 14. Luke. 22.vyne, ſaying: I ſhall not from hence forward drinke of the fruite of the vyne, vntill I drinke that new in the kingdome of my father.
Furthermore nature doth teache Nature teacheth that there is both bread and wyne in the Sacrament.you that both the bread and wine cō tinue in their nature. For the bread mouldeth if it be kept long, yea and wormes bréede in it: and the poore mouſe will runne away with it and eate it', which are euidence inough that there remayneth bread. Alſo the wine if it were reſerued, would waxe ſower, as they confeſſe them ſelues, and therefore they houſell the lay people but with one kinde onelyonly, becauſe the wine can not continue nor be reſerued to hauehave ready at hand when néede were. And ſurely as if there remayned no bread, it could not mould nor waxe full of wormes: euen ſo if there remayned no wine, it could not waxe ſower. And therefore it is but falſe doctrine that our prelates ſo lōg hauehave taught and publiſhed.
Finally ye there remayneth bread, might be proued by the authoritie of The olde Doctours proue that there is bread in the Sacramēt.many Doctors which call it bread and wine, euen as Chriſt and hys Apoſtles did. And though ſome ſophiſters would wreſt their ſaying, and expoūd them after their owne phantaſie, yet ſhall I alleage thē one Doctor which was Pope, that maketh ſo playne with vsus, that they ſhall neuer bee able to auoyde them.
For Pope Gelaſius writeth on thys maner: Certe ſacramenta quae ſumimus Gelaſius in concilio Ro.corporis & ſanguinis Christi, diuinae res ſunt, propter quod & per eadem diuinae efficimur conſortes naturae. Et tamen non deſinit eſſe ſubstantia vel natura panis & vini, ſed permanet in ſuae proproprietate naturae. Et certe imago & ſimilitudo corporis & ſanguinis Christi in actione mysteriorum celebrantur. That is to ſay. Surely the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Chriſt which we receaue, are a godly thing, and therefore through them are we made partakers of the godly nature. And yet doth it not ceaſe to bee the ſubſtance or nature of bread and wine, but they continue in the propertie of their owne nature. And ſurely the image and ſimilitude of the body and bloud are celebrated in the acte of the myſteryes. Thys I am ſure, that no man can auoyde it, nor ſo wreſt it, but that all men ſhall ſoone eſpye hys folly, and therefore I may conclude that there remayneth the ſubſtaunce and nature of bread and wine.