Apology for the Reformed Churches, Chapter 12
CHAP. XII. The errour of thoſe, who think they may give to the Hoſt of the Church of Rome that reverence which ſhe commands, without adoring.
Object. BUt perhaps ſome will grant, That we cannot lawfully adore the Euchariſt, while we are of this mind; but will ſay, That we may give that worſhip to the Sacrament which the Church of Rome commands without adoring it. For they'l ſay, Since you acknowledge that the Euchariſt is a Sacrament inſtituted by our Lord, can you not kneel at receiving it, and addreſſe your adoration and ſervice, not to the Sacrament, which you eſteem to be a creature, but to J. Chriſt the authour of it, whom you believe to be the Creatour of the Univerſe, as he is indeed? If one of you ſhould be be baptized at years of diſcretion, think you that he might not receive that Sacrament on his knees, without being blamed for adoring the water? Nay would it not be his duty to put himſelf into this reſpectfull poſture rather then any other, to ſhew the reverence which he bears to our Lord, and to the ſeal of the new Covenant and adoption.
And when your Paſtors are conſecrated by impoſition of hands, do they not receive it on their knees? Yet none thinks that they do therefore adore thoſe who lay hands on them, or the ſigne which is uſed to that end. And then why do you make ſuch ſcruple of bowing your knees, and bending your bodies in receiving the Euchariſt, a Sacrament no leſſe precious then Baptiſme, inſtituted by the ſame Lord, and for the ſame end: one to regenerate us, the other to nouriſh us▪ one to help us into the Church, the other to help us to perſevere? Why are you afraid in this particular, rather then in any other, of the crime and the puniſhment that attends adoration of the Euchariſt?
Anſw. But though this objection have ſome luſtre in it, and dazleth many perſons, perſwading them to accommodate themſelves outwardly to the Church of Rome, retaining in their heart the ſame opinion which we hold concerning the Euchariſt; yet nothing can be more weak or vain. Thanks be to God, we are not ſo ill taught as to ſcruple receiving the Sacrament on our knees. Our Brethren of England never receive it otherwiſe: and when we communicate with them, we do very eaſily and readily conform our ſelves to their order. And 'tis held among us a matter of ſuch indifferency, that though we receive the Holy Supper ſtanding, yet we do not exclude them from the number of Brethren, who receive it ſitting or kneeling. And if the Church of Rome had required no other thing of us, then onelyonly to receive the H. Communion on our knees, I confeſſe we ſhould have had no juſt cauſe in this particular of ſeparating from it, ſince we might with a good conſcience perform what they demand. But, alas! how ſtupid muſt we be, if we believe that ſhe requireth no more of us in this Article? how hypocriticall, if we pretend to believe it when we do not? For all the world knows that the Romaniſts require us to believe that thing, which we ſee on their Altars, and between the hands of their Prieſts, to be really and in truth the eternall Sonne of God; and That it hath, under the ſpecies which our ſenſes ſee and touch, no other ſubſtance but His; and conſequently commands us to adore it, to bow our ſelves before it, to give thereto all the humiliation of our bodies, and of our ſouls, terminating on it the act of our veneration, as on its true object. She deeply and plainly excommunicates all ſuch, as doubt either of the truth of the firſt of theſe two Articles, or of the holineſſe of the ſecond. Obſerve the Decrees and Canons of Her Councels, Concil. Trident. Seſſ. 13. the confeſſions of Her Faith, the ſermons of Her Miniſters, the devotions of Her People, and the univerſall practiſe of all them, who adhere to Her communion; and you ſhall find theſe two points written, graven, and imprinted all manner of wayes, in ſuch legible characters, that you ſhall ſcarce find any point of the Apoſtles Creed, which ſhe confeſſeth more clearly, or which ſhe preſſeth more ſeverely.
You'l ſay, I am willing to honour the Sacrament but not adore it: No, ſaith She, you muſt adore it. And leſt you ſhould pretend to hide, under that equivocall word, any veneration leſſe then the higheſt (like that which we may render to the creature, without offending the Creatour) You muſt render it, ſhe ſaith, the worſhip or ſervice of latria, which is due to the true God; Well, you'l ſay, but I will addreſſe this ſervice of latria which ſhe requireth of me to Jeſus Chriſt, who is in heaven; and not to the Sacrament of his bodie, which is upon the earth: No, ſaith ſhe, I do not intend it ſo. I would have you in the veneration which you make in communicating, to render the ſervice of latria to the moſt holy Sacrament. Nullus itaque dubitandi locus relinquitur, quin omnes Chriſti fideles pro more in Catholica Eccleſia ſemper recepto, latriae cultum, qui vero Deo debetur, huic Sanctiſſimo Sacramento in veneratione exhibeant. ibid. c. 5. See, with what a deal of care ſhe hath expreſſed her ſenſe, and excluded all others, without leaving them the leaſt place? For if ſhe had ſaid that the faithfull ſhould adore J. Chriſt in the Sacrament, ſuppoſing the reſt of her doctrine had left us in doubt of her meaning, we might yet have interpreted this expreſſion, as 'tis uſed in the books of ſome of her Doctours, viz. That in receiving the Euchariſt, we ſhould adore the Lord, with whom we communicate by the Euchariſt, and ſo we might have pretended that ſhe doth not oblige us to adore any creature. But ſhe expreſly to exclude all ſuch expoſition, uſeth quite another expreſſion, ſaying, That the ſervice of latria ſhould be given to the Sacrament. So that now there is no reaſon to doubt of her meaning. For what I pray you is it that ſhe calleth the Holy Sacrament? Is it Jeſus Chriſt reſiding in heaven? Who is ſo ignorant, as not to know whether it be He or no? Is it not preciſely that which the Prieſt bleſſeth upon the Altar? that which he puts into the mouth of the Communicants? that which they muſt ſwallow down into the ſtomach? Yes; that is the very thing, to which ſhe would have you addreſſe your adoration, the bending of your knees, and the humiliation of your body, and in a word all the parts of that inward veneration, wherewith you communicate. If this be not it, which you regard; when you bend your knee to any thing elſe, She anathematizeth you; ſhe holdeth you for an heretick and a rebell, one that deſerves the anger of God and eternall fire. And that you may know, that ſhe hath regard, not to the holineſſe of the action which you celebrate, but to the honour of the ſubject which is propoſed to you; ſhe would have you proſtrate your ſelf before it: not onelyonly at the time of Communion, but likewiſe out of it; in the very ſtreets, and publick paſſages, and in all places where you meet it. An evident ſigne that Her intention is preciſely ſuch, as Her ſelf explaineth it to be, viz. That you hold this for your true God, and finally render it all the honours due to the Soveraigne Deity. If then you eſteem this ſubject to be truly a Creature, is not this an open mocking of God and men, and a miſerable deceiving of your ſelf; To tell us, That you can do that which the Romane Church requireth, without adoring that at all, which you believe to be but a bare creature? For as for that which you ſaid concerning baptiſme, I confeſſe that being at yeares of diſcretion, you may receive it upon your knees: But, if the Church to whom you come for it, ſhould command you to believe, that which you ſee in form of water to be really and in ſubſtance (not water, but) the true God, Creatour of heaven and earth; and conſequently command you to render adoration to it, and the ſervice of latria, and to that purpoſe to fall upon your knees; I ſay, That in ſuch a caſe, you cannot obey ſuch a commandment, without violating your conſcience, and treading under foot the Law of God, and rendring your ſelf really guilty of adoration of a creature. The ſame I ſay concerning the Miniſters, which receive impoſition of hands, and the Believers, who receive the Euchariſt upon their knees. For if one ſhould teach or command either the one or the other to believe, That the Paſtor, who impoſeth hands on them, or the portion of the Euchariſt which they receive, is truly and in ſubſtance the great God who created the world, and by conſequence expreſly enjoyn men to adore, either the one or the other of theſe two ſubjects; who doubteth but that this were openly to denie our faith, and to renounce our profeſſion, when we fall upon our knees before theſe things, after ſuch a commandment? But men neither teach nor command any ſuch thing among us. God forbid they ſhould! We believe and preach, That our Miniſters are men and mere creatures; ſo that no man can take the kneeling, which is before them, who give impoſition of hands, for an adoration addreſſed to them; all the profeſſion of our Churches, and nature of the things themſelves directly contradicting it. In like manner the Church of England believeth and teacheth publickly, That the Euchariſt is bread in ſubſtance, and that to adore it were grievouſly to offend God: So that the kneeling, which is in their communion, cannot be taken for an adoration of ought elſe but Jeſus Chriſt who is in heaven, and not of bread which is upon the earth. Did the Church of Rome believe and likewiſe teach, that the Euchariſt were bread in ſubſtance, and not a ſubject fit to be adored, we think, that then we might bow the knee in her Communion without wounding our conſciences. But while ſhe teacheth that which ſhe now believeth, while ſhe exacteth of us this kneeling as a true adoration of the Sacrament; who is ſo blind as not to ſee that we cannot obey her, without making our ſelves (according to the judgement of our own conſciences) guilty of adoreing a meer creature, ſince we believe the Sacrament ſo to be?