names, or because they were the names of our grandfathers, or great-grandfathers, or of such who have been famous for their parentage; but rather let us call them by the names of such as have excelled in virtue, and have been most faithful towards God." Let them carry the names of the apostles, of the prophets, of the martyrs, of such who have been constant in the faith, and have suffered death for Christ's sake; that so they may be taught by their name to remember whose name they bear, and that they neither speak nor do any thing unworthy of their name. As, if any be called John, that he pray for grace, and desire to be filled with grace; that he give witness of Christ, that he is "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world;" that he rebuke vice boldly, as John did in Herod, though he were a mighty prince. Or, if he be called Paul, that he so become a follower of Paul, as Paul was of Christ; and say with Paul, "That Gal. ii. I might live unto God, I am crucified with Christ. Thus I live; yet not I now, but Christ liveth in me;" and hear Christ speaking unto him as did Paul, and fall down and say, "Lord, what wilt thou that I do?" So let him that Acts ix. is called Thomas touch the bosom of Christ, and handle his wounds, and make a good confession as Thomas did, and say, "My Lord and my God." Let Matthew forsake his custom, even the deceitful gains of the world, and follow Christ. Let Daniel remember Daniel, and, though he should be thrown into the den of lions, or be burnt in the fire, or suffer any cruel torments, yet let him not therefore forsake God, but put his whole trust in him. Thus should our names teach us, that, whether we write them, or utter them, or hear them spoken, they may put us in mind of christian duty and godliness. The other sacrament of Christ's church is the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, which some have called the sacrament of the altar, some the sacrament of the holy table, some the sacrament of bread and wine; but we most properly may call it the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ. And that we wander not at large, but may stand in certain ground, I will expound those words of our Saviour, "This is my body;" and, "This is my blood of Matt. xxvi, the new testament, that is shed for many for the remission of sins." This matter, these two or three hundred years late past, hath been encumbered with many questions and much controversy. Some say, the words are plain: Christ himself spake them: he is almighty, and can do whatsoever he will: he hath not spoken otherwise than he meant: if we expound them by signs and figures, we take away the force of the holy mystery, and make nothing of it: the words must be taken even as they lie, they must not have any other construction. Therefore at this day many wise men, which yield from other points of superstition, and in many other things receive the truth, stand here, and stick at this, and cannot yield. I will declare the whole matter simply and plainly, and submit myself to the understanding and capacity of all men. That which I will utter herein shall not be of myself, but of the fathers of the church; not of those which have been of later years, but of the most ancient; not of the heretics, but of the most catholic, which ever have been the enemies and confounders of heretics. I will shew the use, and order, and faith of the primitive church which was in the times of the apostles, and of Tertullian, Cyprian, Basil, Nazianzene, Hierome, Augustine, Chrysostom, and other catholic and godly-learned fathers. Let no man regard me or my speech: I am only a finger: these are clear and bright stars. I do but shew them unto you, and point them, that you may behold them. God give us grace that we may see them truly, and by them be able to guide and to direct our way! Let us lay aside all contention, and quietly hear that shall be spoken. Whatsoever shall be said, if it be true, if it be ancient, if it be catholic, if it be so clear as the sun-beams, let us humble our hearts and believe it. There is no truth but of God. Whosoever resisteth the truth resisteth God. First, I will shew you, that we do truly and indeed eat the body of Christ, [ Others, 1583.] John vi. and drink his blood. And this shall be the foundation and key of entrance into all the rest. Secondly, I will open these words, "This is my body;" and there how, by what sort, in what sense and meaning, the bread is the body of Christ. Thirdly, that the bread abideth still in former nature and substance as before; even as the nature and substance of water remaineth in baptism. Fourthly, how the body of Christ is eaten; whether by faith or with the mouth of our body; and how the body of Christ is present in the sacrament. Fifthly, what difference is between the body of Christ and the sacrament of the body of Christ. Sixthly, how we ought to prepare our minds, and with what faith and devotion we must come to the receiving thereof. ye have no life in you.” We say and believe that we receive the body and blood of Christ truly, and not a figure or sign; but even that body which suffered death on the cross, and that blood which was shed for the forgiveness of sins. So saith Christ: “My flesh is meat indeed; and my blood is drink indeed.” And again: And again: "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, And again: "He that eateth me, even he shall live by me." We say there is no other substantial food of our souls; and that he is divided among all the faithful; and that he is void of salvation and the grace of Christ, whosoever is not partaker of his body and blood. This we say, and may not flee from it hereafter. Yet, lest happily any should be deceived, we say this meat is spiritual, and therefore it must be eaten by faith, and not with the mouth of our body. Tractat. 25. Augustine saith: Ut quid paras dentes et ventrem? crede, et manducasti1: in Johan. Luc. 66 Why preparest thou thy teeth and thy belly? believe, and thou hast eaten." And Serm. 23. in again: Nolite fauces parare, sed cor2: "Prepare not your jaws, but your heart." As material bread nourisheth our body, so doth the body of Christ nourish our soul, and is therefore called bread. Deus panis intus est animæ meæ3, saith Augustine: "God is the inward bread of my soul." For we receive him, and eat him, and live by him. But hereof hereafter more at large. Confess. John i. John xiv. Matt. xi.5 Matt. xviii. Matt. iii. 2 Cor. v. Matt. xix. Matt. v. Now, let us consider the words of Christ, "This is my body;" and, "This is my blood." These words, you say, are plain, open, easy, and manifest. So are they; yet, albeit they are plain, they must have a right construction. The plainest words that be, unless they be duly expounded, may breed error. St John saith: "The Word was made flesh." These words are plain; yet of these plain words Apollinaris did breed an heresy. Christ saith: "My Father is greater than I." His words are plain; yet did the Arians gather thereof an heresy, that Christ is not equal with his Father. Christ saith of John Baptist1: "This is Elias, which was to come." He saith not, He doth signify Elias; but, He is Elias. The words are plain; yet were there some that stood in the maintenance of their error thereby, and said, that the soul of Elias did abide in John Baptist. Christ saith: "If thine eye cause thee to offend, pluck it out, and cast it from thee." And: "If thy hand or foot cause thee to offend, cut them off, and cast them from thee." The words are plain; yet he meaneth not that you should pick out your eyes out of your head, nor chop off your hands or feet from your body. John saith of Christ: "He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” These words are plain; yet hereof some raised this error, that children at the time of their baptism should be marked in the forehead with a hot burning iron. St Paul saith: "He hath made him to be sin for us, which knew no sin." The words are plain; yet Christ never sinned; he is the Lamb of God, in whom there is no spot. He is hereby said to be the sacrifice for sin. Christ saith: "They two shall be one flesh." And: "They are no more two, but one flesh." These words are plain; yet, if you try the words by common sense, it is not so; they are not one, but two of several flesh. Christ saith: "You are the salt of the earth: ['August. Op. Par. 1679-1700. In Johan. Evang. cap. vi. Tractat. xxv. 12. Tom. III. Pars II. col. 489.] [ Id. Serm. cxii. 5. Tom. V. col. 566; where noli parare.] [3 Id. Confess. Lib. 1. cap. xiii. 21. Tom. I. col. 77. See before, page 768, note 2.] [5 1583 repeats this reference.] [ 1611 repeats this word.] you are the light of world"." The words are plain; yet, indeed, the apostles were neither material light nor material salt. Christ said of Judas: "One of you is a John vi. devil." The words are plain; yet Judas in nature and substance was not a devil. St Paul saith of Melchisedech: "He was without father, and without mother, Heb. vii. without kindred, and hath neither beginning of his days, neither end of his life." These words are plain; yet indeed he had father and mother, and was a man, and was born, and died as other men. So he saith: "The rock was Christ." So 1 Cor. x. Moses saith: "The life of all flesh is his blood." And so is Christ called a lamb, Lev. xvii. a lion, a worm, a way, a bridegroom, a head, a door, a vine, the light, bread, water, a garment. These speeches, and infinite others the like, are plain, open, and evident; yet are they not true, as the words sound them, and literally. For Christ is not a lamb in substance and nature, but a spiritual lamb. So is he a spiritual garment, spiritual light, spiritual water, and spiritual bread. Christ said to Nicodemus: "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the John iii. kingdom of God.” These words are plain; yet Nicodemus mistook them, and was deceived, and said: "How can a man be born that is old? can he enter into his mother's womb again, and be born?" Christ meant the spiritual birth of the soul and the spirit, not the natural and corporal birth of the body. And, to come nearer to the matter in hand, when Christ said, "I am the John vi. bread which is come down from heaven;" and, " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you;" and, "My flesh is meat indeed;" and, "My blood is drink indeed;" "He that eateth of this bread shall live for ever;" the Capernaites thought these words plain enough: therefore they say, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat? This is an hard saying: who can hear it ?" And they departed away from him. Then said Jesus: "The words that I speak unto you are spirit and life." Upon occasion hereof St Augustine writeth thus: Spiritualiter intelligite quod loquutus sum [vobis]. Non hoc corpus, In Psal. &c. Understand ye spiritually that I have spoken unto you. Ye shall not eat xcviii. this body that ye see, neither shall ye drink that blood that they shall shed that shall crucify me. I have recommended unto you a certain sacrament: being spiritually understood, it will give you life." Even so Chrysostom: "What is it In vi. Johan. that he saith, The flesh profiteth nothing? He speaketh it not of flesh indeed; God forbid; but of such which take the things carnally that are spoken. And what is it to understand carnally? Even to take things simply as they be spoken, and to seek no further meaning. For the things which are seen are not so to be judged of; but all mysteries should be considered with inward eyes, that is, spiritually"." Hom. 46. Again upon these words, "If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever;" he saith: Panem vero sive doctrinam hoc in loco et salutem et fidem in se, Ibid. sive corpus suum dicit: utrumque enim animam fortiorem reddit 10: "He calleth bread, in this place, either doctrine and salvation and faith in him, or else his body; for either of these maketh the soul stronger." St Paul saith: "He that 1 Cor. xi. eateth or drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh his own damnation." Damnation is a spiritual thing, which is not received in by the mouth, or broken with the teeth. So Christ saith: "This cup is the new testament in my blood, which Luke xxii. is shed for you." Yet now is not his blood shed any more; for he is risen, and dieth not. And these words which are so plain, if they be examined, will not be so plain to yield the sense unto which they are forced. It is written: "He took bread, Ibid. and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave to them, saying, This is my body." This bread is my body. The bread was still bread, and neither flesh nor his body. And, "This cup is the new testament." In due and right and [7 Of the world, 1583, 1609.] [ August. Op. In Psalm. xcviii. Enarr. 9. Tom. IV. col. 1066. See before, page 451, note 8.] [* Καὶ πῶς εἶπεν, ἡ σάρξ οὐκ ὠφελεῖ οὐδέν; οὐ περὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ σαρκὸς λέγων· μὴ γένοιτο· ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν σαρκικῶς ἐκλαμβανόντων τὰ λεγόμενα. τί δέ ἐστι τὸ σαρκικῶς νοῆσαι; τὸ ἁπλῶς εἰς τὰ προκείμενα ὁρᾷν, καὶ μὴ πλέον τι φαντάζεσθαι. [10 Id. ibid. Hom. xlvi. p. 270.] open meaning, the cup cannot be the new testament. Here we see how the words are not all so plain, but must have a reasonable construction. It is a rule in the law: In fraudem [legis facit],...qui, verbis legis salvis, sententiam ejus circumet Lon. Con. venit1: "He doth wrong to the law, that, following only the bare words, defraudeth the meaning of the law." De LL. et contr. Hom. 7. in August. in Hieron. in i. Gal. John ii. Mark xiv. Marcion. Origen saith: Est et in novo testamento litera, quæ occidit eum, &c.2: "There is also in the new testament a letter which killeth him that doth not spiritually understand those things which are spoken. For if he follow this after the letter, where it is said, 'Except ye eat my flesh, and drink my blood,' this letter killeth.” Mark, if ye take the word of Christ barely and nakedly, and as the letter soundeth, it killeth. St Augustine saith: In allegoria omni hæc regula tenenda est, ut pro sententia præsentis loci consideretur, quod per similitudinem dicitur3: "This rule is to be kept in every allegory, that what is spoken by similitude be weighed by the meaning of the present place." Hierome saith: Non in verbis scripturarum est evangelium, sed in sensu: "The gospel is not in the words of scriptures, but in the meaning." And: Non in superficie, sed in medulla; non in sermonum foliis, sed in radice rationis1: "It is not in the outward shew, but in the inner marrow; not in the leaves of words, but in the root of reason." When Christ said, "Destroy this temple; and in three days I will raise it up again;" the Jews, following the bare letter, did bear false witness against him, saying, "We heard him say, I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands." We may not take the letter in all places of the scripture as it lieth. The scriptures stand not in the reading, but in the understanding. By taking the bare letter, the Jews found matter to put Christ to death. Origen saith: "There is a letter in the new testament which killeth." Jerome saith: "The gospel is not in the words of the scripture, nor in the outward shew, nor in the leaves; but in the meaning, in the marrow, and in the root, which are hid, and not open and manifest." So that they may not be taken by the bare sound, but must have some other construction. But what shall be the construction of these words, "This is my body?" Whose interpretation or judgment of them shall stand? The learned men which have been of late years, and which yet live, are suspected. Let us hear the elder ancient fathers, whom there is no cause that any should suspect: they were not sacramentaries, nor Zuinglians, nor Lutherans: they were not divided into any of these sects. Tertullian, an ancient father, who lived more than 13005 years since, exLib. iv.contr. poundeth them thus: Acceptum panem, et distributum discipulis, corpus suum illum fecit, dicendo, Hoc est corpus meum, id est, figura corporis mei. Figura autem non esset, nisi veritatis esset corpus. Ceterum vacua res, quæ est phantasma figuram capere non potest": "Christ, taking the bread and distributing it to his disciples, made it his body, saying, 'This is my body;' that is to say, this is a figure of my body. But a figure it could not be, unless there were a body of a truth and indeed. For a void thing, as is a fantasy, can receive no figure." Hom. 83. in Chrysostom saith: Si mortuus Christus non est, cujus symbolum ac signum hoc sacramentum est"? "If Christ died not, whose sign and whose token is this Hom. 11. in sacrament?" Again: "The very body of Christ itself is not in the holy vessels; but the mystery or sacrament thereof is there contained." Matt. Matt. August. contr. Adim. cap. xii. Augustine, against the heretic Adimantus, writeth: Non... dubitavit Dominus dicere, Hoc est corpus meum, cum signum daret corporis sui3: “Our Lord doubted [ Paul. in Corp. Jur. Civil. Amst. 1663. Digest. Lib. I. Tit. iii. 29. Tom. I. p. 78. See before, page 792.] [2 Est &c. occidat eum, qui non spiritaliter quæ dicuntur adverterunt. Si &c.-Orig. Op. Par. 173359. In Levit. Hom. vii. Tom. II. p. 225. See before, page 456, note 3.] [3 Et hæc regula in omni allegoria retinenda est, ut, &c.-August. Op. Par. 1679-1700. In Psalm. viii. Enarr. 13. Tom. IV. col. 45.] [ Hieron. Op. Par. 1693-1706. Comm. Lib. 1. in Epist. ad Gal. cap. i. Tom. IV. Pars I. cols. 230, 1; where nec and esse.] [ 1500, 1611.] [ Tertull. Op. Lut. 1641. Adv. Marcion. Lib. Iv. 40. p. 571. See before, page 258, note 5.] [7 Chrysost. Op. Par. 1718-38. In Matt. Hom. lxxxii. Tom. VII. p. 783.] [8 Id. Op. Imperf. in Matt. Hom. xi. Tom. VI. p. lxiii. See before, page 539, note 7.] [9 August. Op. Lib. contr. Adimant. cap. xii. 3. Tom. VIII. col. 124. See before, page 592, note 6.} Psal. iii. not to say, This is my body, when he gave a token of his body." And in another place: "Christ took Judas unto his table, whereat he gave unto his August. in disciples the figure of his body 10." St Hierome saith: "Christ represented the In Matt. cap. verity of his body 11." xxvi. 1 Cor. xi. St Ambrose saith: "Before consecration it is called another kind; after con- De iis qui init. cap. ix. secration the body of Christ is signified 12" And again: "In eating and drink- Ambros. ing," that is, in receiving the holy communion, "we signify the body and blood of Christ that was offered for us 13" So also Gelasius saith: Imago et similitudo Gelas. contr. corporis et sanguinis... in actione mysteriorum celebratur14: "The image and similitude of his body and blood is shewed in the action of the mysteries." Eutych It would be over long to lay forth unto you what other reverend old fathers have written to like effect, and have expounded those words of Christ by such terms as you have heard, of sign, figure, token, image, and likeness. I trust no man be offended: these speeches are not mine own, but the speeches of most ancient fathers, and have been spoken or written, and continued in the church these 1200, 1300, and well-near 1400 years, and never condemned in them as false; though many of late times have sought otherwise to understand the words of Christ. The gloss upon the canons joineth herein with the fathers: Dicitur De Consecr. corpus Christi, sed improprie:...ut sit sensus, Vocatur corpus Christi, &c.15: “It is called the body of Christ, but unproperly: the meaning thereof may be this, it is called Christ's body, that is to say, it signifieth Christ's body." Dist. 2. " Maxim. v. de Doctr. Lib. iii. cap. Therefore doth St Augustine give us good and wholesome advertisements. Thus he writeth to Bonifacius: "Unless sacraments had a certain likeness of the August. ad Bonif. Epist. things of which they be sacraments, then indeed they were no sacraments. And 23 of this likeness oftentimes they bear the names of the things themselves that are represented by the sacraments 16 " And again: "In sacraments we must Lib. iii. contr. consider, not what they be" in substance and nature, "but what they signify 17" Again he saith: "It is a dangerous matter, and a servitude of the soul, to take Lib. iii. cap. the sign instead of the thing that is signified 18." And again: "If it be a speech Christ. that commandeth, either by forbidding an horrible wickedness or requiring that xvi. de Doctr. which is profitable, it is not figurative; but, if it seem to require horrible wicked- Christ. ness, and to forbid that is good and profitable, it is spoken figuratively. 'Except ye eat,' saith Christ, 'the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.' He seemeth to require the doing of that which is horrible, or most wicked: it is a figure therefore, commanding us to communicate with the passion of Christ, and comfortably and profitably to lay up in our remembrance, that his flesh was crucified and wounded for us In another place he saith: "It is a more horrible thing to eat man's flesh than to kill it, and to drink Lib. ii. cap. man's blood than it is to shed it 20." Again he saith: "We must beware that Adv. Leg. we take not a figurative speech according to the letter; for thereto it per- Lib. ill. cap. taineth" that the apostle saith, "The letter killeth '21." Besides that which hath been shewed you out of the godly-learned old fathers, how they have expounded these words, whosoever will advisedly consider these principal sentences, or rather rules, of St Augustine, shall be holpen much, and directed to the due and catholic construction and meaning of them. 19 " The next matter, and the third of the six, is, whether the bread and wine [10 Id. Enarr. in Psalm. iii. 1. Tom. IV. col. 7. See before, page 447.] [ Hieron. Op. Comm. Lib. IV. in Matt. cap. xxvi. Tom. IV. Pars I. col. 128. See before, page 609, note 15.] [12 Ambros. Op. Par. 1686-90. Lib. de Myst. cap. ix. 54. Tom. II. col. 339. See before, page 448.] [13 Id. Comm. in Epist. ad Cor. 1. cap. xi. v. 26. Tom. II. Append. col. 149. See before, page 570, note 3.] [14 Gelas. Episc. Rom. adv. Eutych. et Nestor. in Mag. Biblioth. Vet. Patr. Col. Agrip. 1618-22. Tom. V. Pars III. p. 671; where celebrantur.] [15 Corp. Jur. Canon. Lugd. 1624. Decret. Gratian. Decr. Tert. Pars, De Consecr. Dist. ii. Gloss. in [JEWEL, II.] can. 48. col. 1937. See before, page 503, note 13.] [16 August. Op. Ad Bonifac. Epist. xcviii. 9. [17 Id. Contr. Max. Arian. Lib. 11. cap. xxii. 3. [20 Id. Contr. Advers. Leg. et Proph. Lib. II. [21 Id. De Doctr. Christ. Lib. III. cap. v. 9. Tom. III. Pars I. col. 47. See before, page 594, note 2.] 36 ix. contr. et Proph. v. de Doctr. Christ. |