2 II. And none otherwise it is in the Lord's Supper, for the BOOK bread and wine remain in their former substance, and neither be fed nor nourished, and yet in the man that worthily receiveth them, is such a wonderful nourishment wrought by the mighty power of God, that he hath thereby everlasting life. And this is the ineffable work of God, whereof Cyprian speaketh. So that as well in the Lord's Supper as in baptism the marvellous working of God, passing the comprehension of all man's wit, is in the spiritual receivers, not in the bread, wine, and water, nor in the carnal and ungodly receivers. For what should it avail the lively members of Christ that God worketh in his dead and insensible creatures? But in his members he is present, not figuratively, but effectually, and effectually and ineffably worketh in them, nourishing and feeding them so wonderfully, that it passeth all wits and tongues to express. And nevertheless corporally he is ascended into heaven, and there shall tarry until the world shall have an end. And therefore saith Chrysostome, that Christ is both gone up into heaven, and yet is here received of us, but diversely. For he is gone up to heaven carnally, and is here received of us spiritually. And this wonder is not in the working of God in the substance of the sacrament before it be received, as you feign it to be, nor in them that unworthily receive it carnally, but in them that receive Christ spiritually, being nourished by him spiritually as they be spiritually by him regenerated, that they may be fed of the same thing whereof they be regenerated, and so be throughly Os ex ossibus ejus, et caro ex carne ejus: Bone of his bones, Ephes. v. and flesh of his flesh. in the sacraments. 3 And considering deeply this matter, Cyprian wondereth The wonder as much at God's work in baptism, as in the Lord's Supper; Chrysostom wondereth as much, Emissene wondereth as much, Cyrill wondereth as much, all catholic writers wonder as much, as well how God doth spiritually regenerate us to a new life, as how he doth spiritually feed and nourish us to everlasting life. And although these things be out II. BOOK wardly signified unto us by the sacramental bread, wine, and water, yet they be effectually wrought in us by the omnipotent power of God. Therefore you had need to seek out some other mark or token for your purpose, for this serveth you nothing at all. For by his wonderful working Christ is no more declared to be present in the bread and wine, than in the water of baptism. Winchester. A third token there is by declaration of figures, as for example St. Hierom when he declareth upon the Epistle Ad Titum, so advisedly at length how Panes propositionis were the figure of the body of Christ in the sacrament: that process declareth the mind of that author to be, that in the sacrament is present the very truth of Christ's body, not in a figure again, to join one shadow to another, but even the very truth to answer the figure, and therefore no particular words in St. Hierome can have any understanding contrary to his mind declared in this process. Canterbury. To St. Hierome I have answered sufficiently before to your confutation of my third book, almost in the end, which should be in vain to repeat here again, therefore I will go to your last mark. Winchester. FOURTHLY, another certain mark is, where the old authors write of the adoration of this sacrament, which cannot be but to the things godly, really present. And therefore St. Augustine writing in his book De Catechizandis Rudibus, how the invisible things be honoured in this sacrament, meaning the body and blood of Christ, and in the ninety-eighth Psalm speaketh of adoration; Theodoretus also speaking specially of adoration of this sacrament; these authors by this mark, that is most certain, take away all such ambiguities as men might, by suspicious divination, gather sometime of their several words, and declare by this mark of adoration plainly their faith to have been, and also their doctrine understanded as they meant, of the real presence of Christ's very body and blood in the sacrament, and Christ himself God II. and man to be there present; to whose Divine nature, and the BOOK humanity unite thereunto, adoration may only be directed of us. And so to conclude up this matter, forasmuch as one of these four marks and notes may be found testified and apparent in the ancient writers, with other words and sentences conformable to the same, this should suffice to exclude all arguments of any by sentences and ambiguous speeches, and to uphold the certainty of the true catholic faith in deed, which this author by a wrong name of the catholic faith impugneth to the great slander of the truth, and his own reproach. Canterbury. Your fourth mark also of adoration proveth no more that Christ is present in the Lord's Supper, than that he is present in baptism. For no less is Christ to be honoured of him that is baptized, than of him that receiveth the holy communion. And no less ought he that is baptized to be- Gal. iii. lieve, that in baptism he doth presently in deed and in truth put Christ upon him, and apparel him with Christ, than he that receiveth the holy communion ought to believe, that he doth presently feed upon Christ, eating his flesh and drinking his blood; which thing the Scripture doth plainly declare, and the old authors in many places do teach. And moreover the form of baptism doth so manifestly declare Christ to be honoured, that it commandeth the Devil therein to honour him by these words: Da honorem Deo; Da gloriam Jesu Christo, with many other words declaring Christ to be honoured in baptism. And although our Saviour Christ is specially to be adored and honoured, when he by his holy word and sacraments doth assure us of his present grace and benefits, yet not only then, but alway in all our acts and deeds, we should lift up our hearts to heaven, and there glorify Christ with his celestial Father and coeternal Spirit. So untrue it is that you say, that adoration cannot be done to Christ, but if he be really present. The papists teach us to have in honour and reverence the forms and accidents of bread and wine, if they be vomited up, after the body and blood of Christ be gone away, and say that they must be had in great reverence, because the body and blood BOOK of Christ had been there. And not only the forms of bread and wine, say they, must be kept with great reverence, but also the ashes of them (for they command them to be burned into ashes) must be kept with like reverence. And shall you then forbid any man to worship Christ himself, when he doth spiritually and effectually eat his very flesh and drink his very blood, when you will have such honour and reverence done to the ashes, which come not of the body and blood of Christ, but only, as you teach, of the accidents of bread and wine? Thus have I confuted your confutation of my second book, concerning transubstantiation, wherein you be so far from the confutation of my book, as you promised, that you have done nothing else but confounded yourself, studying to seek out such shifts and cavillations, as before your time were never devised, and yet constrained to grant such errors and monstrous speeches as to Christian ears be intolerable. So that my former book, as well concerning the real presence of Christ's flesh and blood, as the eating and drinking of the same, and also transubstantiation, standeth fast and sure, not once moved or shaken with all your ordnance shot against it. But is now much stronger than it was before, being so mured and bulwarked, that it shall never need hereafter to fear any assault of the enemies. And now let us examine your confutation of the last part of my book, containing the oblation and sacrifice of our Saviour Christ. THE END OF THE SECOND BOOK. The Confutation of the Fifth Book. I 2 V. AS touching the fifth book, the title whereof is of the oblation BOOK and sacrifice of our Saviour Christ, somewhat is by me spoken before, which although it be sufficient to the matter, yet somewhat more must also be now said, wherewith to encounter the author's imaginations and surmises with the wrong construing of the Scriptures and authors, to wrest them beside the truth of the matter and their meaning. Saviour but to be often re This is agreed, and by the Scriptures plainly taught, that the ob- The sacri lation and sacrifice of our Saviour Christ was and is a perfect fice of our work once consummate in perfection, without necessity of reitera- Christ was tion, as it was never taught to be reiterate, but a mere blasphemy never taught to to presuppose it. It is also in the catholic teaching, grounded bereiterate, upon the Scripture, agreed, that the same sacrifice, once consummate, was ordained by Christ's institution in his most holy Sup-membered. per to be in the Church often remembered and showed forth in [1580.] such sort of showing, as to the faithful is seen present the most precious body and blood of our Saviour Christ, under the forms of bread and wine, which body and blood the faithful Church of Christian people grant and confess according to Christ's words to have been betrayed and shed for the sins of the world, and so in the same Supper represented and delivered unto them, to eat and The body feed of it according to Christ's commandment, as of a most pre-of Christ is cious and acceptable sacrifice, acknowledging the same precious the only sa3 body and blood to be the sacrifice propitiatory for all the sins of crifice propitiatory the world, whereunto they only resort, and only account that for all the the very perfect oblation and sacrifice of Christian people, sins of the through which all other sacrifices necessarily be accepted and Christ's pleasant in the sight of God. And this manner of showing body is the Christ's death and keeping the memory of it, is grounded upon man's sathe Scriptures, written by the Evangelists and St. Paul, and ac- crifice. [1580.] cording thereunto preached, believed, used, and frequented in the Church of Christ universally and from the beginning. This author uttering many words at large besides Scripture and against and blood world. Christian |