Those wordes of our greate and singuler consolation / in wich the partakinge of Christes bodye and bloude is promised / the papistes in their Ma.s.se speake secretlie / they whisper them so that euen they which knowe the Latine tonge c neither heare th?
nor vnderstande them. And so do they rumble them vp to their owne selues as thoughe the people were vnworthie to heare th?: But christ in his super spake th? openlie. And so the greke churche d the Churche of India / do yet speake th? with audible voice And the aunci?t manier was / as Ambrose and Augustie amg other of the fathers do testifie that the people dyd answer vnto those words. Am?. But as I suppose the papistes do thus murmure d speake these words in secrete / bicause they wolde not haue their Lies knowen / for they do saye / Take ye and eate / and this so oft? as ye do / do yt in the rem?brauce of me. But who taketh / or to wh do they giue? The wordes be spok? to the people: And yet they th? selues do eate and drike vp all alone / and do distribute vnto no m ells. Is not this to make a lie? To lie alwaies is tak? to be an euill thige / but before G.o.d to lie / is a moste shamles and wiked thinge: who dothe eate (o ye lyyng papistes) or who doth drinke wyth you? If ye do distribute at any tyme to ony other ye do yt not when ye your selues receyue / but ye chose for them an other time / yea and another kinde also / for to th? ye do minister but the breade onlye. Thus ye se that all theise thinges which these ma.s.sers do in their ma.s.se / ar contrarye to the inst.i.tution of Christe. Ther ma.s.se then and Christes supper ar not lyke.
The papistes saye that by their Action (I meane ther handeling of ther breade and wyne) they do applie vnto others the profitt of Christs bloudie sacrifice and pa.s.si. Of a Sacram?t they saye that they make sacrifices to profit the quicke and the Deade.
and this do they i ther ma.s.se. But the scripture teacheth / that there is but one only propiciatorie sacrifice / able and auaylable to take awaie synnes / whiche Christe Iesus offered in his owne fleshe vpon the Crosse. And that euerie man muste applie vnto him selfe by liuelie faythe the benefite of that same sacrifice of christe / as the scripture teacheth likewise / that eche man is iustified by his own faithe, and that eche man in his owne righteousnes or vnrighteousnes / doth liue / or die.
It teachithe also that christe did inst.i.tute the sacrament only to this end that the congregacion shuld eate and drincke it in the rem?beraunce of that same his Sacrifice. And that eiche one in the drincking therof shuld apply vnto himself by faithe / the fruite of that Sacrifice. Now compare the doctrine of the scriptures and of the papistes in this pointe together / and thou shalt se that their Ma.s.se is contrarie to christes Inst.i.tucion. But as they haue / so still will they saye:
That aswell the liuing as the deade be helped by this their acte applied at their pleasure. If they wolde saie that thei profyt others by praier / that were tollerable. But they go further and saie / that ther verye ma.s.singe worcke it selfe / hathe so moche vertue / power d strenghthe in it / that it shall profit not only all kyndes of m? / but all such creatures d beastes for whom they do say ther ma.s.se / bicause in it they do applye the benefite of christes pa.s.sion: but ye must vnderstd wh? they be payed for ther labor. This is an horrible error in no wise to be suffered / for as I sayed / ther is but one only sacrifice propiciatorie to take awaye synne / which one sacrifice eiche one of vs must applie vnto our selues by liuelie faythe / And this applyinge faithe is the only gifte of G.o.d: But on this grounde buylde they their purgatorie and mutch other such pelf / by which they do pycke mens purses. They saye ther Ma.s.ses also in the honor of this / or of that saincte. And of what saintes?
suche verylie whose histories are not certaynlie knowen / and are of none authoritie / yea many of th? are no better then poetes fables / of wh not vnworthelie we doubte whether they be sainctes or no: But be it that they were true sainctes / yet this their doinge is moste ctrarie to christes ordinance / for Christe did inst.i.tute his supper to this ende that it sholde be vsed in the remembrance of his deathe and not of other mens / weare they neuer so holye.
In their ma.s.se they haue also diuers and sundrie rytes d customs / clothes / signes / gestures / tornes / remouinges / d blissinges / of and with the breade d wine / but christe vsed none of all theis in his supper: And what they do meane by these thinges the poeple doth not knowe / neither can the priestes them selues for the most part tell what is ment by them: for if ye aske the meaninge of them / either c they saye nothinge at all / or if they do saie owghte / they do not saye all one thinge / but thinges that be moste ctrarie / wherby a m maie iudge that there is no truithe at all in their wordes. But here they do saie. Thinkest thou that the foolishe vnlearned people in the olde Lawe dyd vnderstand all the legall ceremonies? no it was not requisite / no more is yt nowe: To this I answer / Althoughe that all the poeple dyd not knowe what was mente by them in the olde lawe / It sufficed yet that they hade the worde of G.o.d for them / Nowe do yee shewe vnto vs the worde of G.o.d for theise your signes and it shall suffice vs.
Agayne the G.o.dly and lerned preistes could shew what was ment by the rites and ceremonies of the lawe / and that by the word of G.o.dd: but ye can do neyther of theis: for ye haue enuented theis toyes in your own braynes: signes ye do call them but ye do not know what thinges they do signifie. And therfor as in rites your Ma.s.se doth differ from christes supper / so wh? ye saye your pleasure of your rites / ye ar not to be beleaued: for faith hath no place where G.o.ddes worde doth not shew it selfe. I saide that ma.s.semungers in their ma.s.se do committ Idolatrie. Their bready G.o.d hanged vp in a pix / and their Images / vnto which they turne them selues and do make their moste vncleane seruice and sacrifice do proue this true: Neither do they accompte it sufficient to behold theis their Idols when they saye their Ma.s.ses / but also they so offer vnto them / they cense them / they bowe the knee vnto them: let them nowe denye whilest they will that they do not worship the breade / nor the Images / yet this worship they do them / This kinde of worship (I saye) which is giuen customabilie vnto G.o.d alone / as the lawe of G.o.d teacheth. But seing they giue this vnto these Idols / are they not Idolatrors? yes truly. And howe th? dare ony christian be present there / to vncouer the heade to bowe the kne to offer and do such like thinges with them?
They saye that ther Ma.s.se is christes Inst.i.tution / And our men (of whom I now haue spoken) do saye that the Ma.s.se hath sum affinitie with christes inst.i.tucion of the holy supper.
But I saye that the olde heathens myghte wyth more coloure of truithe / excuse and defende their sacrifices by that maner / then these men maye do their ma.s.se. ffor verylye the sacrifices of the heathen haue lesse departed from the maner which the fathers vsed in sacrificinge before the lawe giu? / which also the lorde approued in the lawe / th? these ma.s.sers do frome the supper which Christe / and the Apostle paule hathe prescribed.
In bothe their sacrifices was the inuocation of G.o.d / a Temple / an Aultar / slayne sacrifices / sacrificinge priestes / sleynge of beastes / sheddinge of bloude / salte / wine / oyle / mele / an holy feaste / holy garmentes / washinge / censinge / fyer / singinge / prophecies / and suche other thinges / all which to repeate it were to longe: let our Ma.s.sers (if they can) shewe so many thinges which Christe did in the holye supper: Which thinge if they can not do / then let them cease to boaste that their Ma.s.se is the inst.i.tution of Christ and the Apostles / from which it differethe so farre that if the Apostles and fathers of the primatyue churche were nowe here to beholde this ma.s.se / they sholde not knowe it to be the lords supper / but wolde surlie marueyle at suche a monstruous mahometrie.
I omytte also that in and with their Ma.s.se they haue many Anniuersaries yearemyndes / diriges done for the deade: But The Lord did not inst.i.tute ony of them. If they saye that Cyprian and others of the fathers do speake of suche Annyuersaries: I answer that those of which the fathers do make mencyon / were nothinge els but thckfull rem?brauces of the Martirs departed / in which they did gyue thancks to G.o.dd for th?. They also in their Ma.s.ses do call vppon the saintes and holy men departed / which is a thing most contrarie to true G.o.dlynes / and vtterly vnknown and vnpracticed in the administracion of the Lordes supper.
And to be shorte all their thinges which they do in their Ma.s.ses / they do choppe and chauge / they bye and sell and sett them furthe to most vile and filthie gayne. Wherfor / my most Louing Brethern take ye diligent heede / les whilest ye pretend to worshipp G.o.dd in your going to Ma.s.ses / and to entreate hym to be mercifull vnto yow / ye do not most mightyly kindle his wrathe against you by hearinge of theise Ma.s.ses: which as ye playnly do se / ar nothing els but a shamfull deuise sett vpp to deface the deathe of christe / a pestilent practise fownde out to ouerthrowe the true vse of the Lordes supper / and an Idolatrie inuented to infect the poeple and to make them Idolatrors. whearby eich man may easily iudge / how great a synne it is / to be partaker of a Ma.s.se.
But notwithstondinge all this which is spoken / yeat theise men whiche thincke that they maye dissemble at the Ma.s.se / cease not to saye / That thoughe the Ma.s.se be not the Lords supper / but an Idolatrie / yet is not the pres?ce at it so earnestly to be forbidden / seing that such thinges haue been grauted vnto the Infirmities of m?: If a man do aske them wheare:
[[Naman.]]
They do bringe forth the Example of Naaman the Syrian / and by it they will neades haue it made Lawfull vnto them to communicate with wicked supersticis.
[[4. Reg. 5.]]
for he prayed Heliseus / saye they / that he might be suffred to kneele in the temple of Rymmon that Idoll / wh? the kinge did worshipp / and leane vppon his arme. whom the prophet answered / goo in peace. And that / saye they / which was permitted vnto Naaman / whi do ye forbyd vnto vs? ffurst theise men shuld weye with them selues / whether that we only haue redde this Example of Naaman / or not. So we thincke that the holy Apostles and Martirs of the olde churche which wer occupied nighte and daye in the holy scriptures / did not consider this acte and Example?
Truly they wer not ignorant of the historie / yet did they neuer knowe this vnderstandinge of it: for if they did / whi then wolde they not folow this example / especially when they might therby haue saued their lyues?
But these holy and G.o.dly learned men did see that thinge in this historie / which our men do not consider / namely this / that Naam now newly cuerted to the faithe was a smoking flaxe which was not to be putt out / a weake and shaken reade which was not to be brosed in peices / and that as yet he was very weake / for he was not yet prepared and readye to denye and forsake hymself and all that was his for G.o.ddes sake. He thought that it might cme to pas that he shuld together with the knowledge of the Lyuing G.o.dd / easili holde and keape still his old place / office / and dignitie / if he coulde happen to haue that / which he desired of the prophet: And when he did well perceyue that this was his infirmitie and synne / it trobled himso that therfor he desired the prayers and helpe of Heliseus: he desired hym / that if he shuld happen to fall into this euill / yeat that he might be fauored / that he mighte finde mercie / d that Heliseus wold praye that the Lorde wolde forgyue hym. Who doth at ony tyme aske forgyuenes for that which he accpt.i.the Lawfull? forgyuenes is asked for synnes only / Naaman therfor acknowledged this his acte to be a synne: And if I so fall (quod he) then praye the Lorde to forgyue me. This place therfor doth make most against our men / and euen the same wayes which they go about to excuse their facte / by the same it is most playnly proued to be synne. Let them aknowledge therfor in their doige that thinge / which Naaman the Sirian did. And let them begg the mercie of G.o.dd / and the prayers of G.o.dly men / that the same thing which they haue euell doone / and do / maye be pardoned them. Neither did Eliseus / as our men do thincke / graunte Naaman licence or libertie to do so as he hadd sayde / but only he saide vnto hym / goo in peace: which manier of speaking was a kind of takinge leaue vsed in that age. And as for any other thinge ther can none be gathered out of thos wordes / onles it be this that he promised to do that which Naaman required: goo thy wayes (saithe he) I will do as thow desirest / I shall praye for the. The prophet doth not reiect hym / if he shuld fall into this euell. As we do not vtterly reiect nor shutt theise m? fr grace which thus do fall: Yeat must we sharply reproue their doinges that they may acknowledge their fault and synne / and vnfaynedly lament and rep?t the same. And we ought also hartily to praye that they may be raysed vpp agayn. They do obiect also certayn wordes out of the Epistle of Ieremie / which is ?t.i.tled Baruch. The wordes ar theise.
[[Bar. 6.]]
Now shall ye see in Babilon G.o.dds of golde / of syluer / of wodde / and of stone / borne vpp mens shulders to caste out a fearefulnes before the heath? / But loke that ye do not as the other: be not afrayed let not the feare of th? ouercome yowe.
Therfor when ye do see the mult.i.tude of poeple worshipping them behinde and before / saye yee in your hartes / O Lord / it is thow that oughtest only to be worshipped / Of theise wordes our men do gather / that it is sufficient for them when they ar present at Idolatries / Ma.s.ses / and popishe supersticions / to saye in ther harte / O Lord it is thow that oughtest only to be worshipped. In answer to these men: furst I saye / that this booke ent.i.tle Baruch is none of the Canonicall scriptures: And therfor no man is bownd to the doctrine of it. But admit the booke wer of sufficient auctoritie / Then theise men must vnderstonde / that the prophet doth not gyue the Iues leaue to comme vnto the temples of Idols / that ther they might be present at vnG.o.dly Idolatrie / bowe ther knee / and so make vpp the matier / with sayinge in their hart to the true and lyuyng G.o.dd / O Lord / it is thow that oughtest only to be worshipped.
But he gyuith the Iues instruction against Images which wer caried about / d Idolatries which wer vsed in those places wher they were exiles: ffor the Maneir of the Babilonians was / not only to haue Images in ther temples / but also to haue them sett abroode and caried openly vppon mens shulders. As it is not vnlike that the Image of NabuG.o.donosor, which beinge dedicated in the feilde of dura, was caried aboute the whole Regi with Musicall Instrum?tes d sges / at the sownde of which whersoeuer the Image was seene / commaundem?t was gyu? vnto all m? that they shuld worshipp it: which Daniels felows wolde not do. Of theise thinges I saye / that epistle entreat.i.the / playnlye to warne the G.o.dly / that they shuld not adore / nor worshipp thos Idols thoughe that the heathenishe poeple did so bothe before them / and behind them / but when they did see this Idolatrie / detesting it / they shuld then saye / O lord / it is thou to whome worshipp doth only belge: he saied not / bowe the knee with th? / and saye in your hartes / o lord / it is thou &c. but when ye do see these Idols and Idolatrye / say so. These seyngs and suddayn meetings in the cytie streetes d fieldes / could not be auoyded / and therfor the G.o.dly were to be enstructed and admonished / how they shuld behaue them selues in that case.
But our men / as they are veraye bolde to abuse the scripture for their purpose / go on further and aske / how it happened that Daniel was not throwen into the fierie fornace with his felowes?
[[Daniel. 3.]]
seing lyke punishement was appointed vnto all men which did not worshippe. They will of necessitie haue it graunted them therfor / that Daniel did dissemble / (as they now do) and that therfor nothing was done vnto hym: And that thinge which Daniel dyd / they thincke that they maye do. I aunswer our men thus / that they do not reason well to saye / He was not punished / therfor he was ther and worshipped / they do out more in the consequ?t / then is in the anteced?t / and so to reason is to make a subtill cauillacion / taking that to be a cause which is no cause. For there might be many other causes / wherfor Daniel was not likewise punished: happilie the Image d he did not meete together: or yf he did meete it / men did not mark what he did: or els though men marcked that he did not worshipp / yet he was not accused: or yf he were accused / yet through the singular fauour which the King did beare vnto him he was delyuered from punishm?t. It must not then forthewith folowe / that Daniel for feare of death did present himself before that Idoll / and did dissemble his Religion / doing there as other Idolatrors did: this we must not iudge of Daniel /
[[Daniel. 6.]]
seing in the lyke quarell / he was not afrayde to be thrown vnto the lys. Now seing there may be many other causes why he was not caste into the fire with his felowes / why do these men chose vnto them selues this one cause? and that such a one / as is sclauderous vnto that holy man / of which in the holy scriptures / there is not so much as a suspicion contayned. Yet they do thinke that they do not vnaptly saye for themselues / and defend their cause / when they do alledge that out of the Actes of the Apostles:
[[Actor. 21.]]
where mencion is made howe that Paule / through the councell of the Elders of the churche of Hierusalem / did take on hym a vowe with other foure men / and did purifye hymself after the maner and custumme of the Iues. Yf (saye they) suche an Apostle dyd take thys lybertye to vse in Iurie the ceremonies which were now abrogated / eu? we also maye vse / and comme vnto the rites / and ceremonies now vsed in our countrithe. For the better vnderstding of this matter we must first well consider what the somme of Paules preachinge was:
[[Rom. 3.]]
We do suppose (saith he) that a man is iustified by faith / without the workes of the Lawe.
[[Gal. 3.]]
And as many as are vnder the deedes of the Lawe are subiect to the curs.
[[Abac. 2.]]
Agayne the Iuste man shall lyue by his faithe.
[[Rom. 1.]]
This is the somme of Paules doctrine / wherby it doth appeare / that Paule did not vtterly cond?ne the obseruing of the ceremonies of the Law / but only wh? it was done with this minde / as thoughe that Iustification did not cme therby. And the same his meaning he vtterith most playnly to the Galathians / where he saithe.
[[Gal. 5.]]
As many of ye as are circ.u.mcised / ye are fallen from the grace of Christe: for Christe shall not profite you at all: ye are gone quite fr Christe / as many as are Iustified by the Lawe / As yf he wold saye / These thinges of theyr owne nature do not alienate and separate vs from Christe / but only when they be done with this mynde and purpose / to be Iustified by them: Take awaye this opinion / and this euell hurtefull purpose being remoued / then Paule cmendeth these worckes / and all other ciuyle ordinaunces cmaunded / and appoynted to that Nacion: he cond?neth them not / but so farre as they wer iustly and not supersticiously vsed / he did leaue th? in theyr place /
[[Gal. 3.]]
d did not hinder the obseruacion of them. As he dyd also write / that in the Lord / there was neither Iue nor gentill / neyther bonde nor fre.
[[Gal. 6.]]
And that in Christe Iesus / neyther circ.u.mcision auaileth any thing at all / nor vncirc.u.mcision / but the obseruing of the commaudements of G.o.d / or a new creature.
[[1. Cor. 7.]]
And againe yf any be called being circucised / let him not adde vncircucision. If anye be called vncircucised / let hym not be circucised. Let euery man abyde in the same estate / in which he is called. All these indiffer?t thinges / might somtyme be well obserued / somtyme be as well left vndone / as most serued for edifying in G.o.dd. Of which vse and obseruacion of th?
[[1. Cor. 9.]]