£ibrarjpof tlvc trhcological 3cttutiarv
PRINCETON . NEW JERSEY PRESENTED BY
The John M. Krebs Class of 1832
38
350 A5s
SEEMONS
SACRAMENTS,
HENRY BULLINGER,
MINISTER OF THE CHURCH OF ZURICH.
CAMBRIDGE :
PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS,
FOR T. STEVENSON.
LONDON:
JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND.
M.D.CC<;.XI..
PREFACE,
Henry Bullinger was regarded as one of the most learned men of his time ; and was distinguished, also, for his piety, christian wisdom, and moderation. All the Fathers of the English Reformation held him in great es- teem ; and to many of them he afforded a hospitable re- fuge from the Marian persecution'. He afterwards did good service to the Church of England by the letters which he addressed to different individuals in this country, during the disputes which grew up in Queen Elizabeth's reign, respecting Ecclesiastical affairs. For although Bullinger himself, in common with many of the conti- nental Protestants, preferred the disuse of the sacerdotal Habits^, and had acquiesced in the presbyterian Disci- pline, yet he constantly exhorted those of the Puritan faction in England to abstain from dividing Chrisfs Church merely for the sake of their scruples respecting a particular kind of dress ^ : and he, moreover, counselled the English Bishops that " it ought especially to be provided that there should not be any high authority given" to those of the " Presbytery." By this decided expression of his
' Strype, Mrm. II. i., pp. 531, o32. Oxf. Edit. * See p. 21!) of these Sermons. 3 Collier, Chtnch Hist. II. 501.
opinion. BuM.iNGER greatly 8en'e<l the cause of Order; insomuch that in a joint Letter written to him by Hishojis Ghindai, and Hokn, those eminent persons attribut*' <'hiefly to his instrumentality the favorable chan^'e which, they in- f«)rm him, had taken [»lace in the feulinp» of the people toward the Church'. I)i:i.M.\<iKU, in fact, was one of those who had offered to maki' Edwauk W. the temporal Defender of the refonned continental Churches, and had expressed a willinpiess to have Bishops after the mmlel of the Anglican Church-. lie, therefore, re^rded those restless pei-sons who were for abolishing Episcopacy in England, as no better than selfish innovators who, like the " 8e<iitious Tribunes of Rome," wt're, " by virtue of the Agrarian Law," for so Ix-stowing " the public goods that they might enrich themwlves."
\Vr nee<l not, theref<»re, Ix* sur]>ris<^^l to find that among the writings of the continental Kefonnern, those of BuLLiNc.ER were In Id in markcnl estimation by the Anglican Divines, An example of this occurs in the circumstance, that the University of Oxford selected lit i.- linger'^s Catechism a« one of those lx>okM which the Tutors there were re<juiretl to use, for the [lurpose of imparting sound religious principles to their Pupils *. Several of Bi'lli.ngeb's works were, moreover, translate<l into our language ; and among other productions of his pen, " Fiftie godly and learned Sermons, divithd into
' Strype's Griudal, p. 15(J. Oxf. Ediu » Strype, Pntker, I. 139, 140. Oxf. Edit. ' Strype, Ann. II. i. 469. Oxf. Edit. CoUitr, J I. :,rj. *"Ad inforrnandum in vcru rvligione juvcntutem." WikhI, //n^ rt Ant. Vnh. Oron. Lib. i. p. 29(i.
five Decades, containing the chief and principal points of Christian Religion," were rendered accessible to the English reader by a translation which appeared in 1577. From the title page of the Book we learn only that the Ser- mons were " translated out of Latin into English by H. I. Student in Divinitie," but Strype^ informs us that the translator was a " person of eminency in the Church." The object of the translation professedly was to furnish the younger and less learned portion of the Clergy with sound Divinity, " that the Ministerie which now is in place may be better able to do their dutie." The reason given in the Preface for selecting the Sermons of Bul- LiNGER for translation, in preference to the " worthie works" of other " famous Divines" of that time, is, that some of the " sort" of Ministers for whom that labour was undertaken complained "that Calvin's manner of writing in his Institutions is over deep and profound for them, MuscuLus, also," it is added, " in his Common Places is very scholastical ; the Commentaries of Marlorat upon John, of Peter Martyr upon the Judges, of Gualter upon the small Prophets, and other many are translated and extant, which altogether do handle most points of Christian doctrine excellently well : but this sort of Mi- nisters for the most part are so bare bitten of their Patrons, that to buy them all would deeply charge them^ Therefore questionless no writer yet in the hands of men
* Strype, Ann. 11. ii. 144.
6 Burton similarly complained, in his odd way, that " if our greedy Patrons hold us to such hard conditions as commonly they do, they will make most of us work at some trade, as Paul did — at last turn taskers, maltsters, costermongers, grasiers, sell ale, as some have done, or worse." — Anatomi/ of Melancholy. Preface.
can fit them better than Ma*iter Billixgkr in these his Decades, who in thcni .innndeth iimeh Calvin's obscurity with singular perspicuity; :in(l Mis<,ii.ih"' scholastical suIh tilty with great plainnes** and even popular farihtie." The translator adds, that " the Decades of Master Hi i.i.i\(;kk" possess this further reconunendatinii to the Clergy that they are " Sennons in name and in nature : — fit to be read out of the pulpit unto the simplest and rudest people of this land : — th»' doctrine of them very plain, witlmut os- tentation, curiosity, perplexity, vanity, or superfluity ; ver)' sound also, with(»ut Popery, Anabaptism, Senetianism, or any otli<r Ihtisn."
That the translator had not too iiighly estimated this work of Hri.i.iNdKR may be concluded from the important fact that, on the Hiid <>f Deemiber l.'S«!, the Con\ oration, among other ''OnlerH for the better incre.'ise of learning in the inferior Ministers, and for more diligent preaching and catechising," enjoined that
I. Evcrj' minister having cure, and iH-iiig under the dej^reet* of Master of Art.o, and luitchi-lon) of law, and not Iki-n.'icd to be a public preacher, shall, l)efore the second day of Fehruar}- next, provide a Bible, and BuUinj^er's Decuds in I^tin or KukIIsIj, and u puiR-r-lKM^k: and sluill everj- day read over one chapter of the holy Siriptures; and note the princijuil contentes thereof briefly in hia poper-lxjoke: aiid shall everj' wivkc read over one Sennon in the Haid I>eca<ls, and note likewise the chief matters therein conUiini-d in the said pajK-r [Injok] ; and shall once in every quarter, (viz. within a fortnight Ix-fore or after the end of the quarter) shewe his said note to some i»rcacher nere adjoj-ninge to be ossijjned fur that purpose.
II. Item, The bushop, archdeacons, or other ordinarj', being a public preacher, shall api>oint certaine grave and learned preachers, who shall privately examine the diligence, and view the notes of the said ministers, assigninge sixe or seaven ministers, as occasion shall require, to every such preacher, that shall be next adjoyninge to him,
so as the ministers be not driven to travail for the exhibitinge of their notes above sixe or seaven miles (if it may be) and the said preacher shall, by lettere or otherwise, trulie certifie to the archdeacons or other ordinarye of the place, themselves being public preachers, and resiant within, or nere to their jurisdiction, and for want thereof to the bushop himself, who do performe the said exercises, and how they have profited therein, and who do refuse or negiecte to perform the same ; the archdeacons, and others receiving the said certificates, shall signifye the same, once in the yere, to the busshope, and that about Michaelmas.
III. Item, Such as shall refuse to perform the exercises, or shall be negligent therein, and shall not after admonition by the bishop* archdeacon, or other ordinary aforesaid, reform himself, if he be beneficed, shall be compelled thereunto by ecclesiastical censures; if he be a Curate, shall be inhibited to serve within the juris- diction '.
One result of these " Orders" was that a new Edition of the Decades was put forth in 1587, " Cum gratia et privilegio Regiae Majestatis,"
Independently, therefore, of any value that may attach to these Sermons of " Master Bullinger" considered as a work in which (as the translator affirms) " there will be found such light and instruction for the ignorant ; such sweetness and spiritual comfort for consciences ; such heavenly delights for souls" .... that " the more diligently you peruse them the more delightfully they will please;" they come recommended to us as expressing the religious opinions of the Anglican Church. For since the Decades were selected by competent Ecclesiastical Authority as a Manual for preachers, they were invested by that act with the character of a Church-exposition of such points of Christian doctrine as are therein discussed. To re- print these Sermons, therefore, can never be regarded as
' Wilkins, Cnunlia, &c. Vol. iv. pp. 321, ^22.
an ungca^onal)l<' undertaking: IV>r altlmuph by HchVb good Providencf the Cliunli of tlvsi- K<alnis may bo so abundantly suppli<<l with tit and ahlr I'astm-s, that there be no longer octwion to enjoin uur I'reaehers t(» copy out weekly " an Iloinilie or S-nnon of" Hri.i.iMiKK, or of* " some*" other " excelltnt cl<rk ;" yet the judgement pro- nounced u|K)n the Decades by our (hunh nmaius in all itH authority and importance.
It ha.-^ now oidy to be Ktate<l that the following Ser- moUH have Im.mm reprinted frtun the e«lition of ir».s7 ; the orthography having been mmlennsed ; corrections, when neces.'iarv, supplie<l ; ami tin- .'•idr .Not<'s coll»'ct»'<l into a Table of Contents.
TABLE OF CONTENTS,
SERMON I.
PAGE
Signs 1
Division of Signs out of St Au- gustine —
Signs distinguished according to
their times 2
Of Signs, some are given of Men,
other some ordained of God... 3
Signs given of I\Ien —
The diversity of Signs given of
Man 4
Signs given of God 5
The diversity of Signs given by
God —
Signs and Wonders —
Miraculous Signs 6
Signs paradigmatical, or for ex- ample 7
Sacramental Signs are severed from other Signs, with which they
have many things common —
Sacrament 8
What a Sacrament is 9
Sacrament taken for an Oath —
Soldier's Oath 10
What a Mystery is 11
Whata Symbol is 12
Only God is the Author of Sacra- ments 14
Sacraments are to be received as it
were at the hands of Christ 15
Why Sacraments were instituted
unto us in visible things 17
PAOE
Chrysostom, touching the cause of Sacraments 18
The Lord is to be praised for in- stituting Sacraments 19
The Wisdom of God shineth in the institution of Sacraments..,. 20
The manner of making Leagues or Covenants —
The number of Sacraments 21
Wholesome Rites of the Church are not contemned 24
In what things Sacraments con- sist 25
Signs external and inward things. 27
Signs earthly and visible: things heavenly and invisible
The Word and Rite 28
Promise and Ceremony
What is understood by the Word in Sacraments 31
In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ the feeble are healed 32
The place of Paul in the 5th chap- ter to the Ephesians is expound- ed 33
The words spoken do not form and make Sacraments effectual 37
Whether by blessing the nature of things are changed 39
The Omnipotency of God 40
Of the word of blessing 41
Thanksgiving and blessing 42
rONTKNTM.
For what purpose Words are in- •titulcd, and of what force they are
How the power of Almi(;hty (»od is attributed to the Word
Of true Sanctification or Conitecra. lion
How our Sacnunenta are conac. crated
The Si)(ns and the thing iii(;niKi-d do retain their several natures in the Sacrainenta
The wicki-d arv not partakers of the thing* signified in the Sarra- nients
The affinity of the Word of (fod and Sacranienu
The Scripture niaketh difTerence between the ministry of Man and the o]H-ratinn of the Spi-
The opinion of the I'apisu touch, ing Transubstaniiation it con- futed
That Bread and Wine mnain in their lubatanoea aAcr Cooaecrm- tion
M'hethcr the Bnad and >Vine for their fonni-r substance are so railed after Consecration
The Council of Lauran was in the year of our I /ord 121 'i
Of the SacranivntAl union
It is declared how in Sacraments
56
the Signs and the things signiHi-d
are joined together 5U
Signs borrow the names of things
signified 60
Circumcision —
The Paschal l^nb 61
Sacrifices 6*2
Itaptism 62
The Supper of the Ixird 63
Sacramental and figurative
Speeches —
The manner of Speech which we
U!.e 64
The ancient Fathers used no con-
ti-ntion about the Sarrainenis... — It IS not said the Kock signified
Christ: but the Kock is ( hrist. 68 Their error which will not have
sacrantrntAl spcccheii expounded
sacramentally —
Carnal bondage and acrvile weak.
67
How a figurative Speech is re.
reived and acknowledged 66
The wonls of our Saviour in John
vi, do make much for the inter.
pretation in the words of the
Supper 6!)
Some argue front the SacramenU
of the ( )ld Testament to ours of
the New 70
We may use sacramental speeches — Sacrament*! speeches aic to be ex-
poundol 71
SKKMON II
We must use rcvervncc in disputing of Sacraments
The Ark of the Covenant
To attribute too much to Sacra- ments
It is a great Sin not to attribute so much unto Sacraments as the Scripture doth attribute 76
It is taught that Sacramenut give iiracc 7R
Of the likeness and difference of the Sacraments of the Old and New Testament 79
Augustine teacheth that the Sacra- ments of the Jews and ours are aUone 81
Grace, what it is 82
Sacraments do not confer or give Grace 83
The error in the Apostolic Church 85
That Grace is given freely, and re- ceived by faith 86
Their fantasy which fain a general and special faith is here con- futed 87
AVTiether the grace of God be con- tained in the Sacraments 88
WTiatissung in the Easter Holidays at their Consecration of Baptism 89
Bonaventura saith that Grace is not contained in the Sacraments —
The seat of the grace of God 90
The Canon of the Nicene Council touching Baptism 92
The Apostles baptised in water not consecrated —
To include grace in the Sacraments causeth idolatry 93
The godly are first justified and received into favour before they be made partakers of the Sacra- ments —
To evacuate the Sacraments and convince God of a lie 97
Sacraments are holy and not pro- phane things —
Sacraments are witnesses of the truth 100
The Gospel is a witness 101
Sacraments do visibly confirm the good- will of God to us ward —
Sacraments are Seals, and where- unto Seals do serve 102
The place of Paul, Rom. iv., is expounded, " And he received a Sign of the Circumcision," &c. 103
PAOK
The matter is made plain by a Parable 105
Sacraments have a more effectual force than any sealed Charters 106
How Baptism sealeth
Infants which believe not are Bap- tised 108
How the Lord's Supper is a Seal of the righteousness of Faith... 109
Zuinglius of the Sacraments which certify and bear witness 1 10
The Holy Ghost doth properly seal Ill
The Sacraments seal nothing to the Unbelievers 112
Sacraments represent things 113
Sacraments do stir up and help Faith _
Of the analogy in Baptism 114
To give and take Names in Bap- tism 115
Of the analogy in the Supper 116
Synaxis-Communion II7
How the Sacraments do stir up Faith _
The efficacy or force in the preach- ing of God's word ng
Zuinglius of the Sacraments up- holding faith
A conjvmction with Christ and with the Church 120
By Sacraments we are visibly ga- thered together into one religion and distinguished from others...
The place of Paul, 1 Cor. x., " The Bread which we break," &c., is expounded 121
They are members of the Devil that are partakers of unlawful Sacraments 125
Zuinglius of binding Sacraments, &c 126
Sacraments put the Faithful in mind of their duty 127
That the Sacraments profit nothing without Faith 128
Augustine doth teach that Sacra- nicntx rfccivwl witliout faith arc unpruKublc to the Iteceivers.... 130
Sacranietii.H depend not on our wor- thiness or unworthinefts 131
Of Itttptiftiii of Infanta \'.i2
That Sacraments are not sujnr-
PiUI
fluous or void to them that have
faith 133
SacranienLs are indifferent 135
Many are nanctified without visible
Siicrainents I3(!
Cyprian's error touching the Sacni-
nien' of Baptism 1311
SERMON 111
lUplinm Ill
What Ilaptism i* 1 1-
Who in»tituted Baptiam —
M'hiM Ilaptism waa instituted... 14S
Of what Hnptism cnnsiKlrth —
One only Ilaptisni —
The lUpti<tm of John, of C^riat,
and of the Apostle* ia one and \
the S(.lf-Kainc 144 I
Of the Baptism of Christ which ia j
also the Baptism of fire 146
Of the Rite or Cerenionjr of Ifap.
dam 147
Mlut it ia to Baptiae in the Nunc
of the liord 148
Ceremonie* added in time* paat to
Baptism ISO
MTiether we ought to baptiac with
Water not consecrated I&S
M'hy the Ix>rd ctmimanded to bap- tise with Wau-r I.VI
Whether once or thrice the Infant
ought to bedippeil in the Water. l.Vi
Of the i)laci' of Baptism 1 .Vj
The time of Itaptism —
What the Baptism worketh I."»«
Whether Mid wives may baptiae... IW)
Zipporah circuniciseth Ifil
Of Salvation of Infants departing
without Baptism 162
The Pelagians deny the Baptiam
of Infant.s and why? Ififi
The exposition of the place '• The
.*vnil of the uncirciimrised shall
be cut off"" ten
The exposition of the place " Kx-
cept a man be bom of Water,"
A.C ujy
Who are to be baptised 1/3
Who be the people of (tod —
Infants confessing or believing... 177 By what argumrnts the Anabap- tists teach that Infanu ought not
to be baptised
Infanu underiiand not the mystery
of Baptism IHI
That the Baptiam of Infanu is of
(fod, and that the Apostle* bap.
tised Infants
TIk- Baptism of Infanu hath lasted
from the time of the Apostles... IK,'i
The History of Anabaptism HiG
Imperial I^aw against the Ana-
baptisu lJr7
The placi-s alleged to prove Ana-
baptism arv confuted 189
The twi-lve men of Kphesus not
n-baptiscd —
Of the force of Baptism I;)I
^Ve are baptiaed into the remission
of Sins 111-2
Bapti.sm ia effectual for Man's
whole life 193
By Baptism we are gathered togc-
tiier to be the people of («o«i. — Baptism scrvcth forour ConfesAion. iD.'t
SERMON IV.
Sundry names of the Lord's Sup- per 197
The Lord's Table —
Communion 198
Breaking of Bread —
A memorial of the Lord's Passion —
A Thanksgiving —
A Sacrament —
Synaxis —
An Assembly —
A Testament —
What the Lord's Supper is 199
The Supper of the Lord is an holy
action —
Who is the Author of the Supper 200 When the Supper was instituted. . 201
'Whereof it consisteth —
The Words of the Supper 202
After what manner the Supper was
celebrated and instituted —
Whether it be lawful to add any- thing to the Rite, &c 204
How in old time it hath been cele- brated in the Church 205
The performing of the Lord's Sup- per changed 207
Why it was instituted in the form
of Bread and Wine —
Whether the Bread ought to be
leavened or unleavened —
"WTiether Water is to be mingled
with the Wine 208
In celebrating the Supper, nothing is to be followed but that which
we have received of Christ 209
Of both kinds to be given and re- ceived in the Supper 211
Of the Consecration of the Bread
and Wine 214
Whether there must be one chief dealer in the action of the Supper —
PAOK
Of the place where the Supper is
to be celebrated 21C
Of the Lord's Altar or Table 217
Of vessels belonging to the Lord's
Supper 218
WTiat Garment is to be worn at
the Supper 219
What Tongue is to be used 220
WTiat Gestures —
Of taking it in the hands —
The remnants of the Supper 221
Whether to be shut up and adored —
What time to be celebrated 222
How often to be celebrated 223
For whom the Supper is instituted 224 The Supper was not instituted for
Infants 226
Whether it is to be celebrated
against imminent dangers 227
The Supper not to be celebrated at home or privately for the sick
nor the whole 228
The Sacrament not to be offered
for the dead 232
Sacrifices of two sorts of expiation
and confession 233
Of the ends of the Lord's Supper . 235 The Lord witnesseth unto us his
promise and communion —
Opinion of bodily presence con- futed 237
Of the true understanding of the Lord's words, " This is my
Body" 238
When to depart from the letter .... 240 The ancient exposition of the words of the Supper, " This is my
Body" —
A demonstration of the figurative words of the Supper, " This is my Body" 243
TAOt
To ascend into Heavi-n 2.'jI
Miracles and the Omnipou-ncy of
God *25fi
Of Christ'ii prenence in the Supper 257
("hrint in not divided 26«»
Of the true eating of Christ'*
body 261
How t'hri«t hath given hi» flc«h
unto u» 262
How {'hrint'n body i» eaten and
hiH blood drunken 2<»3
The HtJih profiu-th nothing 26H
The I»nl\ wonls in John vi. are
>illy to be applied to the nuttter
of the Supper 26!l
Of two kinds of eating the Ixird'«
Supper 270
The third kind of eating 271
r&ai
That Judas was present at the
liOrd's Supper 271
\\'hat Judas received of the Ixird
at the Supper 272
How the I'nbelievers are made
guilty of Christ's body and
blood -273
Of the other ends of the I/ord's
Supper 27ft
Of worthily and unworthily eating
and drinking the Ixtrd's Supper. 277 To make diffltvnce of the Ixml's
b«ly 279
The punishment of thoac that eat
unworthily 381
How we should prepare ouraclvea
for the liord's Supper S83
A comfort for afflicted conaciencea S86
ADDENDA.
|
PAGE |
LINE |
|
1 |
19 |
|
10 |
19 |
Fabius saith, &c.", add. Lib. v. c. 19.
as Vegetius saith in his book de lie Militare," add.
Lib. II. c. 24. 11 18 " Coelius (in Led. Antiq.) &c.", add, Lib. xvi. c. 9.
Francof. 1666. 15 18 " that saying of St Augustine which is in every man's
mouth, &c.", add. In Joan. Tract. 82. 23 16 " Augustine elsewhere maketh mention of the Sacrament
of Orders," add. Contra Epist. Parmenian. Lib. ii.
c. 12. Be. Baptism, contra Donat. Lib. i. c. 1. 92 16 " The Canon of the Council of Nice," add, Concil. Sacr.
Labb. et Cossart. Tom. ii. p. 234.
ERRATA.
|
20 |
9 |
"In this" |
read In the. |
||
|
68 |
12 |
" that this meant ' |
■' |
read that this is meant. |
|
|
160 |
10 |
"Uteris" |
read liter as. |
||
|
171 |
1 |
"That" |
read that. |
||
|
187 |
Note |
" i.e." |
read Vide — This Treatise is however falsely attributed to St Augustine, though sometimes printed with his works. |
||
|
270 |
18 |
" what was |
delivered" |
read that was delivered. |
SERMON I
Of Signs, and the manner of Signs. Of Sacramental Signs. What a Sacrament is. Of whom, for what Causes, and how many Sacraments were instituted of Christ for the Christian Church. Of what things they do consist. How these are consecrated. How the Sign, and the thing signified in the Sacraments, are either joined together, or distinguished: and of the kind of Speeches used in the Sacraments.
In speaking of Sacraments delivered by Christ our King and High Priest, and received, and lawfully used, of His holy and catholic Church; I will, by God's grace and assistance, observe this order : first, to entreat of them generally, and then particularly or severally. And here beforehand, I will determine upon the certain signification of a Sign or Sacra- ment : wherein if I shall be somewhat long or tedious, I crave pardon (dearly beloved) therefore ; for I hope it shall not be altogether fruitless. Signum, a Sign ; the Latin writers call, a token, a representing, a mark and show of some thing that hath signification. So say TuUy^ and Fabius. Fabius saith, " Some call Signum <rtjneiov, though some term it Indicium ; other some Vestigium^ — a mark or token whereby a thing is understood, — as slaughter by blood." S. Aurelius Augustine, the famous Ecclesiastical writer, {De Magistro c. 4,) saith, " We generally call all those things Signs which signify somewhat, where, also, we find words to be.'" Again {De Doctrina Christiana, lib. ii. c. 1) he saith, "A Sign is a thing besides the semblance which it layeth before our
' The sixth Sermon of the fifth Decade. = De Invent, i. W.
1
OK HACnAMEVTS.
senses, niakiiipj of itself something; to come into our mind or thought ; a.s by seeing smoke we beheve there is fire." The said Aurehus Augustine doth divide signs into Signs natural, and Signs given. Natural, he calletli those which, without any will «tr affection to signify k'sides themselves, make something else to Ik> known ; as is smoke signifying fire. For .smoke hath not any will in it.s«'If to signify. Signs given, are tlniM^- uhicji all Ii\iiig creatures do give one to another, to de<'lare, as well us they can, the aflVvtions of their mind, or any thing which they conceive, mean, or understand. And Signs given, he dividetii, again, by the senses. " For some l)elong to the eyes, as the ensigns or bannera of Captains; moving of the luinds, and all the meml)ers. Sonie, again, lx'l(»ng to the ears, as the tnun|>et and other in.strununts of music ; yea, and words them- selves, which are ehiif and |irinci{>al among men when they intend to make their meaniiifj known.'' I'nto smelling he referreth ••that swei-t savour of ointment mentione<l in the gospel '. whereby it |)le;».'«eth the I>)nl to signify somewhat." To the taste he referreth "the supjier of the I.Kird ;"' For (saith he) "by the tasting of tho Sacrament of His body and blmnl. He gave or made a Sign of His will '.*^ He addeth, also, an example of touching, -*' And when the woman by touching the hem of His garment is made whole', that is not a Sign of nothing, but sijjnitieth some- what.'" In this manner liad Augustine entreated of the kinds, and differences of Signs.
Other, also, whose opinion doth not nmch <liffer from hi.s, distinguish Signs according to the order of times. For of Signs (say they) some are of things present, .some of things past, and some of things to come. They think them
' Johnxii. a. " .Mark xiv. 2.V ' .Mitth. ix. 20, .'I.
OF SACRAMENTS. 3
Signs of things present, which signify those things to be present which are signified ; as the Ivy garland hanging for a Sign, doth give us to understand that there is wine to be sold where it is hanged up. The Signs which our master Christ wrought, did signify that the Messias, and the kingdom of God promised by the prophets, was come*. Under Signs past they comprize all tombs, monuments of the dead, and those stones pitched of Joshua in the midst of Jordan * ; signifying to them which came after what was done in times before. The fleece did give to Gideon a figure of things to come* : that is to say, a Sign of the victory which he should have over his enemies.
But these Signs being well considered and not neglected, may more amply and plainly be divided into other Signs ; whereof some are given of men, and some ordained of God Himself, Signs or tokens are given of men, whereby they show and signify some thing ; and by which, also, they keep some thing in memory among men ; or do, as it were, seal up that which they would have certain and sure. After this manner is every description, or picture demon- strative, called a figure. For in Ezekiel (ch. iv.) Jerusa- lem, which was pourtrayed in a tile, is called a Sign. They, also, in ancient time teniied the images of the dead Signs, because by those images they would renew afresh the me- mory of them whose Signs they were called ; and keep them in remembrance as if they were alive. Yea, and the holy scripture calleth idols Signs, as it appeareth in Isaiah xlv. and 2 Chron. xxxiii. So stones being set or laid to mark out any thing, as land-marks, and all tombs, and monuments, are Signs. Rahab of Jericho said to the Is- raelites,— Give me a Sign by oath that you will shew mercy
* Matth. xii. 6. "^ Josh. iv. 5, 6. " Judg. vi. 37— 40.
1—2
•* OK SACRAMKNT^.
to nic ' : aiul they gave her a rope to hang out of her window. Hiliold, the rope was a Sign of their faith and truth, wherewith they did (as we should say) seal them- sclvi's surely and without all dissimulation, to take diligi-nt hcfd that Kahal) should not he «K'stroyed. We Switzi-rs tcnn Much Signs giv«'n or nvcivi'd in continnation of faith and tnith, \Vnrtzfichen„ Ix'cause thcv an- added to the wctrds, and do, as it were, seal thmi : and Wahrz^ichen also. beeaus4' by them wi* do, as it \\vn.\ give witness that in good faith, and witlu»ut all fraud or guile, we will per- form that in deed which we promis«'d in wnrd.
Now these kinds of Signs an* of divers s«»rts. For some are mute or dumh, and [K-rtain to the .scitse of the eyes; of which sort are standards iisetl in war, enisses, haiinerH, Haming fires, whereof mention is made Numb. ii. 2. I'sal. ixxiv. 4. &c. Neither is a man able to reckon up all of this sort: for ever and anon new come in as pleaseth men. Jud;Ls gave a Sign unto his conijiany, '' Whoiasoi'ver" (saith he) " 1 shall ki-vs that same is he, take him." ( .Matth. xwi. 48.) The joining of right Ixands, which |»ertaineth to the sense of feeling, is a Sign of faithfulness, help and fellowship; yea, it is the dumb Sign ; which sign Paul calleth " the right liand of fellowship.'" ((tal. ii. 9.) Hitherto Ulong divers inovings and gestures. Some of them are j>ertaining to the voices which are conceive<l by hearing, and are uttered by man's voice, or by the sound of things which liave no life. |{y man's voice are uttered words, whistling, and wliatsoever other things are of this kind : whereunto watch-words uttered by the voice, niay be adde<l. as Shilx)leth in Judges xii. fi. Moreover, voices without life are they which are made by trumpets, flutes, horns, gmis, drums, ringing of Ix^lls, and
' )o«h. ii. 12.
OF SACRAMKN'TS. O
sounding instruments: which, also, extend very far and largely.
Now Signs are given of God to this end,— to teach and admonish us of things to come or of things past; either that they may, after a sort, lay before the eyes of the beholders and represent, in a certain likeness, the things themselves whereof they are Signs ; or else, that they may, as it were, seal the promises and words of God with some visible ceremony celebrated of men by God's institution. To be short : — that they might exercise our faith, and gather together those which are scattered into one assembly and company. And these are not all of one sort, but do much differ between themselves. For some have their beginning of natural causes, and yet, nevertheless, are given as Signs of God to put us in mind of things, or to renew His promises, and to teach men things that have been done : of which kind is the rainbow mentioned by Moses, (Gen. ix. 16). For when the flood ceased, that God made a new league with Noah, and ordained the rainbow for a Sign of His covenant. He made it not anew, but being made long afore, and appearing by natural causes, by a new institution He consecrated it, to the intent it might cause us to call to our remembrance the flood; and, as it were, to renew the promise of God, that is to say, that it should never come to pass again that the earth should be drowned with water. Now this Sign hath not any ceremony ordained whereby it might be celebrated among men; neither doth it gather us together into the society of any body or fellowship. But this Sign is referred chiefly to God, saying, " I will set my rainbow in the clouds, that when I see it I may remember the everlasting covenant made between me and you." (Gen. ix. 14, 15.) Not much unlike to this are signs and won-
6
OK VAC'KAMKNTd.
ders: — Signs, I say, in the sun, the moon, and the Mtars' ; which do fon'wam men of destruction and cahimities to come, unless by repentance they amend. But neither have these any ceremony ordained to celebrate the remembrance of them, or to gather us together kc. Again, there be other signs altogether miniculous, not natural, though there be natural things in them; of which sort (Jideon's Heece is; and the shadow of the sun going Iwick in the Disd' of King Hezekiah. These Signs as we read them to have Inn-n once shown, HO by no institution are they conunandcd to l)e fol- lowed or f<tr some certain end to Ix- celebrateil. T«) Ilezckiali they were given, at that tinu', to signify and witness the victory which he should have against his enemies, and the recover)' of his health. .Mtogether and merely mar>ellous are those things which, in the last of .Mark, by our Lord Jesus Christ, an' calle<l Signs, gifts, ami means of healing, and speaking with toni^ies, given unto, and Ijestowcd u|Min men ; not by any j)ower of man, or virtue of healing in him, but by the power and virtue of Christ only. These Signs declared unto men that that was the tnie and undoubte<l |)reaching of the (lospel. when^by Christ is d<'clare<l to Ik* Lord of all; — Lord of life and death, of Satan, and of hell also itself. For now when through the name of Chri.st the dead <lo ris<', and di.sea.<5es l)oing driven out go their way, by these ver}' Signs it is proved that that is tnie which is said, tliat (.'hrist is Lord of all things. So the wonders which Moses and Aaron wrought in Eg)-pt, (Exod. iv.) are called, in the scripture, Signs. For they were witnesses Ixith of (Jml's lawful sending, and tokens of His mighty power to be executed against Eg}-pt; but neither had the.<?e any ceremony, neither gathered to- gether into any society. Now, also, we read that some Signs
' Luke xxi. 2f>. -' Ivii. xxxviii. B.
OF SACRAMENTS. 7
are paradigmatical ; that is, used indeed of men, but liot without God's commandment ; that these also may be said to be Signs from God. Those be altogether free from miracles, and indeed not only fetched from natural things, but also from things mere common and usual, as were the bands, pitcher, and chains, of the holy prophet Jeremy, whereby, being willed of God so to do, he laid before them those things in a certain evident form and figure^: I mean, in a visible Sign to be seen with men's eyes, which, by his preaching, he prophesied should fall upon them. The like we may see in Ezekiel, chap, xvii, xxiv. These Signs paradigmatical or for example, are in some things like to those exercises of Rhe- toric, called Chriw Activce : yea rather they ai-e certain mixed Chrice^ so termed ; for that they consist partly in words, and partly in deeds. Aphthonius defineth an Active Ghria to be " that which declareth and plainly sheweth a thing by action, deed, or gesture*," As when Pythagoras was demanded how long man's life lasted ; he for a while stood still, that they might look upon him ; but anon he shrunk away, and with- drew himself out of their sight : after that manner and action signifying, that man's life is but short, and momentary. But in the scripture for the most part are set down Chriw^ con- sisting of word and deed : as when Christ took a child and set him in the midst of His disciples, and spake these words : " Verily I say unto you, except ye shall tm-n and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matth. xviii, 3.) But these actions or Signs have not the in- stitution, and commandment of God, charging us to renew this very action by solemn celebrating the same. Nevertheless sacramental Signs have some affinity with these, namely,
^ Jer. xix. 1 : xxvii. 2.
* Apthon. Pragymnasmai. a .Joachim. Camerario Papeb. pt 5.
iAlKA.MEM>.
IJaptisin and the Lord's SupiKT. P\)r they are jriven to U8 from alxive, and are taken fn»in natural thing's without any miracle: yea, they are institutetl under the form of natural, and sensible thinpj, and in such thini^ as are ver)- conunon — Water, Bread, and Wine. This they have common with other Si^is piven of Go<l, in that tliey renew things past, and shadow out things to eonie ; and, hy a Sit^n, do rei)re.sent things signified. They (liHir |K(iiliarly fntiii other Siirns, in that they have ceremonies j(iine«| with the coininandinent of (jtxl ; which cerenionii»s He luith (ommanded His chunh to solemnize. And this, also, is |N?culiar to them. — tluit iMing seaLs of (lod's promise's, they couple as visibly t«) (Jod, and to all the saints : antl they an' de<licate<l to the niost holy mysteries of (mmI in Christ. Of tlies*- I will iiitnat more largely and diligently hereafter.
The sacramental Signs of Christ and of Christ's cliiirch, namely, which Christ our Lord hath delivire<l to His church, and which His church hath n'ceive«l of Him, ami doth law- fully use, the same an* called of Latin writers by the name of Sacra mt'tih. Hut the won! is not found in the whole scripture, .saving that it is read to be use<l of inteq)rc- ters. Howl)eit the word Sipn is oft in the scripture : and that which helpeth for our puq)osc is most significantly set down in (Jenesis xvii. and Romans iv. In the mean while we do not n-ject the l^tin word Sacra i/ieitt urn, a Sacrament, as lightly regarding it ; neither yet rejecting it, do we forge or devise a new. I like well enough of the word Sacrament so it l)e iLsed lawfully. St Augustine, in his ')th Kj/iftle to MarccUlnus .saith '■ It were too long to dispute of the diversity of Signs, which, when they pertain to holy things, are termed Sacraments." From whence, doubtless, sprang that common definition, or description. • A Sacrament is a Sign of an
OF SACUAMENTS.
holy thing:" which as it cannot be rejected, so there is none but seeth that in it the nature of the thing is not fully comprehended, or expressed ; neither is it separated from these things which also are holy Signs. There is another definition, therefore, brought forth and used, which indeed is more perfect than the other. " A Sacrament is a visible Sign of an invisible grace." But because this also, doth not in all points express the nature of the thing, this definition following seemeth unto many more allowable, which is after this manner : " Sacraments are Ceremonies wherewith God exerciseth His people, first to stir up, increase, and maintain their faith ; then, to the end to testify before men His reli- gion." This is a true and right definition. But what if you define a Sacrament somewhat more fully and largely in this manner ? " Sacraments are holy actions consisting of words or promises of the Gospel, or of prescript rites or ceremo- nies, given for this end to the church of God from heaven, to be witnesses and seals of the preaching of the Gospel ; to exercise and try faith ; and, by earthly and visible things, to represent and set before our eyes the deep mysteries of God : to be short, to gather together a visible church or congregation ; and to admonish them of their duty." This definition, truly, is far fet', large, and manifold; a definition, I say, gathered of many parts; but we mean to go to it simply, and plainly ; and to lay forth the whole matter be- fore your eyes to be seen. Then will we make manifest every part thereof, and confirm the same with testimonies of scripture.
Now, that I may fully intreat of the names that are given to this thing, I find that Latin writers call Sacra- ment, an oath, or a religious bond : because it was not done
• Extensive : so below, " Signum, the word Sign stretclieth very far."
10
\l J{\MKN I-.
(as I think) thorouprhly and to the proof, without certain ceremonies. M. \'arrn. in his fourth book f/'- Linniut La- tina, dcclariuir what it Ls to contend with an oath, saith, " The plaintiff and the defendant paged down, at the place ap|K>inted for that purjKJse, five hundred pieces of silver, and also in other thin;^ a set nunilx^r of ounces ; so that he wliieh recovered in judjrmcnt should have his ^ipe ai^in ; but he which was cxst should forfeit it to the treasury." Since, therefore, by interineddlintr of holy thinp< through partaking of the Sacraments, we are ImuukI to <mm1, and all the saints, as it were, by obligation; and timt (Jod himitelf, also, by the testimony of the Sacraments, liath, Jis it were, by an oath I)ound Himself to us; it ap|>eareth that tin- name of Sacrament is very ajitly. and prf>|H'rlv applie<l to our Signs. \N'e read, also, in Latin writers, nf an oath that wildiers used tn take. I'or it was not lawlul for tlxiii to litrlit un- less they were put to their tttith, and sw(»rn. They to«»k a solenni oath, having one to rwite the fonn of the oath to them wurd by woril, (as \'egetius saith in his book d^ R« M'ditari) that they would stoutly ami readily do whatsoever their Captain demande<l them: and tliat they would never forsake the field in the defence of the conunon weal of Kome. They had a donation given unto each of them, as it were a ple<lge or earnest: they gave up thefr name to be enndknl ; and wen' marke<l, that they might Ix' known from other soldiers. Now IxTaiLse we by our Saeraments, h|)eci- ally by Jiaptism, are nceivecl and enroll(Ml to Ik^ Chri.st's soldiers ; and by receiving the Sacraments do profess and witness ourselves to be under f'hri.st our (captain's banner, therefore not amiss, nor without reason, are the Signs of Christ and His church called Sacraments. In the mean while, I will not stoutlv stand in contention that the word
OF SACRAMENTS. 11
Sacrament was for that cause chiefly attributed of them in ancient time to their own Signs. For Erasmus of Rotter- dam, a man very well seen in the tongues, and thoroughly tried in old and ancient writers, none better, (in Catech. sua Spnb. 5) saitli ; — " They which speak most exquisitely call Sacramentum, an oath or bond confirmed by the autho- rity of God and reverence of religion. But our elders used this word to express that which the Greeks call a Mystery ; which a man may call a religious Secret, because the com- mon people were excluded from meddling with them'." Thus far he. Therefore the old writers did call those signs Sa- craments, instead of mysteries. For the self-same Signs are called of the Greeks nva-rtjpta, Mysteries, which the Latin writers, for the most part, interpret holy and religious Se- crets : holy secrets, I say, from the celebration of which secrets the profane, common people were excluded, and de- barred. For Coelius (in Led. Antiq.) supposeth that they are called Mysteries, oti lei juuo-ai/Ta? rripeiv evcov, because it behoved them which hid them, or which ministered them, to keep them close, and to show them to no common person. Whereupon Mysteries may be called separated, and holy se- crets, known to them only which were ordained for that purpose ; and to be celebrated only of saints or holy men. Yet it may seem that nvanjpiov is derived of fiva-Trj^ and
^ The following is the translation of this passage as given in "A playne and godly Exposytion or Declaration of the Commune Crede, &c." by " Mayster Erasmus of Roterdame." Imprinted at London in Flete Strete by Robert Redman. " Those men who have spoken more exactely and perfytely doo call Sacramentum an othe, or an obligacion or bonde confirmed and strengthened by the comyng betwen of God or of religion. But our forefathers have applied and vsed the sayd word to signify that thyng which the Greeks doo call a mystery,
and thou mayst call it a religiouse or holy secrete or priuyte Because the
commune sorte of people was secluded and kept a part from the medlyng with those thynges." p. 117-
12
nvw, as uvo'cvTtjpuw is of (iiro and ivu; that the etymon thereof with the Greeks, niay be of no more force tlian Testanwndnn anion^ the Litins, which is ;i witness Ix'aring of the mind: ahhou^h I am not ipnonuit what some also do reasdii in this case. Sacraments, therefore, are called Mys- teries, lKrans<\ in a dark sjM-ech, they hide other things which are more holy: an<l Paul \\illini,dy UM'th this word in his Epistles. And why this word was attrilmtcd to the holy .Signs of the christian church, then' is a plain rea.snn : for these things are (ndy known to tln' faithful, and are hid to those that aro profane and unholy. And sundy the preach- ing of the (;«)si>el its(df is calle<l "the My.sterk- of the king- duni (tf (i<«l ." to t<ach us that, the unclean In'ing .shut out, it is H'vealeil only to the childn>n of (mmI'. I'nr tiur chirf interpreter of mysterii-s. saith : "Cast not your jK-arLs l)cfon« Kwne, neither give that wliicli is holy unto dogs." (Matthew vii. <I.) And Paul, "if our (Jos[>el lie hid jis yet (saith he) it is hid in them which are lost, in whom the (j(mI (»f this world hath lilindcd tiii' minds of thnu that iKJi.vc not." (•J Cor. iv. .*{. 4.)
Furthcnnorc. many r»f the (Jntk DiKt^trs of the church have calUnl our Sacraments <rv,tfioXu, Sipnhola, which word is al.so receive<l and used ver)- often of the I-.atias. It is derived of avfifiaWm. that is to sav, Confero, to confer, or compare together. For hy comparing one thing with another synil)oIs are made apparent, and rightly perceived. St/inbo- I'lm, therefore, signifieth a Sign which hath relation to .some other thing ; as we said of the .standard, &c. And. trulv, among the (Jrei-ians in old time the iLse of SmuIxAs or Signs, was diverse ; for in their sacrifices they had their .s\inlx)ls : Signs, (I .say) allegorically meaning some thing, as in the
' Malth. xiii. II. Kj.h. iii.
OF SACnAMEXTS. 13
sacrifices of Bacchus, a sieve was their Symbol or Sign ; and the same they carried about when they were well tippled; thereby signifying that such as be dmnken are blabs, and can keep nothing in secret. What if I can prove that opinions of men containing somewhat of deep understanding, by an allegory or dark speech, are called Symbols? For Pythagoras's symbols are well enough known. So mystical divinity began to be called symboli- cal, because it was inwi-apped in more hid and secret mys- teries. So that is mystical which is darkly uttered, and in manner of a riddle ; having in it a far more contrary mean- ing than by words it seemeth to offer. Again, the gift and token of faith and truth, which, by mutual consent, passeth between the bride and the bridegroom, whereby it is not lawful for them to shrink or go back from their word, promise, or covenant, is called a Symbol. Furthermore, to soldiers also serving under one and the same banner Sym- bols or Badges were given. Unto certain confederate cities, in like maimer, and joined together in league of friendship, to the end that they might go safely to the bordering cities ; and to those which took parts with them. Symbols or mutual Signs were given : that is to say. Tokens which being showed and seen, they gave each other gentle and courteous entertainment, as to their league-fellows, com- panions, and singular friends. The ancient writers, there- fore, hereupon have applied this word. Symbol, to our sa- craments, because they represent and show unto us, the exceeding great, and deep mysteries of God. They are al- legorical and enigmatical, hard and dark to understand, be- cause the Lord himself, by the institution of His sacra- ments, hath bound Himself unto us ; and we, again, by the partaking of them, do bind ourselves to Him, and to all
14 OK HAPRAMKNTS.
the saints: testifying and o|K'nly professing to fight stoutly and valiantly under the L»»nl\s lianner. Moreover, these lioly S^inbols and Signs do aihnonish and put us in mind of brotherly love, and eoncord : ami that we remember to love them most entirely, and with all our heart, as (iod's children and our brethren, which are eonnnunicants or partakers with us of the same table, and are washe<l clean by the .s:ime IJaptisni. Thus nuich couccniini; Sacraments, what they are ; — by what names they are called ;— and why they are so called; — let it U- sufficient that we have briefly notetl.
Setting asidi' all other things it seemeth ncvessiiry. first of all, to declare and show who was the Author of the Sacraments; and for what causi-s they were instituted. All men. in a maimer. conf»»ss that (io<l alone is the author of Sacraments ; and not men. nor vet the church it>4'lf. An odd man there is ainoiii; the Scho<iImen. which teacheth the chun-h this lesson. t«» wit. that she should n'meml)er that she is no I^ady. or Mistn'ss over the Sacrament ; but a Ser>ant or Minister : an«l that she hath no more |»ouer or authority to institute any form of a Sacnmu-nt, than she hath to abrogate am law of (JikI. A(|uinas. also, (Part. W. Sumui. Quattt. <»+. Art. 1) saith. "lie institu- teth or is the author f»f a thini;, which giveth it force and \irtue: but the virtue and |)ouer of the Sjicranients cometh fnmi (J<h1 alone; theri'fore (iod alone is of |K)wer to institute and make Sacraments." And. indeed, (i(Kl alone is of power to institute the tnie .ser\ice and worship: but Sacraments In'long to His .senice and worshij). therefore (iod alone doth institute Sacraments. If any one in the Old Testament had offeretl sacrifice which God conunanded not. or oft'ered it not after that manner that (iml wille<l it to l>e oft'ered. it was not onlv nothini; available unto
OF SAPRAME.VTS. 1 5
him, but, also, his offence in so doing was rewarded with most terrible and fearful punishment'. Who knoweth not that the sons of Aaron, for offering strange fire, were horribly burnt and scorched up with fire which fell down from heaven"? Such sacrifices, therefore, displease God as profane or unholy ; neither deserve they to be called law- ful Sacraments which have not God himself for their author. Hereunto is added that. Sacraments are testimonies, and, as it were, seals of God's good will and favour toward us. And who, I pray you, can better, more uprightly, or more assuredly bear witness of God's good will to usward than God himself? In no wise deserveth that to be called or counted the seal of God, whereto He neither set His hand, nor printed it with His own mark : yea, it is a counter- feit seal, because it cometh not from God, and yet, in the mean time, beareth a show outwardly of the name of God, In this behalf is read that saying of Saint Augustine, which is in every man's mouth " The word is added to the element, and there is made a Sacrament." AVhereby we gather, that in the institution of Sacraments, the word of God obtaineth principal place, and hath most ado. The word, I say, of God, not the word of men, nor yet of the church. Whereupon it followeth, that the Sign ought to have its proceeding even from God himself, and not from any manner of men, be they never so many, be they never so clerklike or learned, be they never so harmless and holy of life : of that now there can be no other author of Sacra- ments than God himself alone.
As we do receive the word of salvation and grace, so it is needful, also, that we receive the signs of grace. Al- though the word of God be preached unto us by men, yet
1 Isai. Ixvi. 3, 4. -' Ix;vit. x.
IG
II s\IKAMI
WO n'ccivf it iiui -.is tin- word of iiuin. Imt :is tlii' wnnl ni (J()(l; acc-onlin^ to the s.'iyiiii^ of tlir Apostle :—" When y«- had received tlie \vi»ril dl' (ind \vliii-!i nc licanl n\' us. \v received it not as tlir \snnl of men (hut jus it is indee*!) the word of (iod." (1 'Vhvs. ii. i;i.) It is Ix-hoveful for us to have resjK'ct to the tirst Author thereof; who. when He sent ahn)ad His disciples, s'lid "(io into the whole world, and [•reach the (i(is|)c| to all ereatures ; teachiiiL,' them to fihsiTve whatMM'ver I have conunajxied you ; and Imptizintj them in the luinie of the Father, and of the Son, an«l of the llolv (ThoHt. He that heareth you, heareth me ; and he which despifioth y(»u, despiseth me." (Mark xvii. 1'); Matth. xxviii. ID, 20; Luke x. Mi.) And. therelnre. alln-it hy th*- hands of men the Sacraments are mifiisteretl, yet an' they not re- ceived, of the i^tHlly and reliirioim, as proceetlin^ from men, hut, as it were, from the hands of iiw\ himAcIf, the first and princi[>al author of the same. To this U'lonj^eth the (juestion which Christ our I/onl n.ski'<l in the (;os|h'I, say- in;;: "The Itaptism nf .I(»hn. was it froni heaven or of men'" (.Matth. .\xi. 21.) Tnily, .John who did haptizi' was a mail ; hut in that lie haptiz;i'<K he l)aptize<l a<'cordin^' to (f(Mrs in.stitution and ordinance: and then>fore the luiptism of John was from heaven, thou^li the water, wlierewith he I)aptized, How(h1 out of the l>ottomless depth into the river .Ionian, and .John himself c<tnversant on the earth. To this, al.so. notahly aijrtH'th that which I'aul saith : — "that which 1 delivered imto you 1 received of the Lord." (I Cor. \i. 2.').) Then^fore, .althou;;!! Saint l*aul were a man. yea and a sinner too. yet that which he delivered to the church, he did not deliver it as from himself, or as anv in- vention of man, hut as Chri.st hath delivered the same ; .so that it is not his. or man's, hut (^'hrist's tradition. — a divine.
OF SACRAMENTS. l7
and heavenly tradition. Besides this, our High Priest and everlasting Bishop worketh, even at this day, in His church, whose ministry they execute ; that is, at whose command- ment they baptize ; and according to whose institution they which are the stewards, or disposers of the mysteries of God, minister the holy Sacraments of the Lord's Supper. The in- stitution, therefore, of the Sacraments must be acknowledged of us to be the very work of God. And thus far touching the Author of Sacraments.
Peter Lombard, in his Sentences', reckoneth up tlii-ee causes why Sacraments were instituted, that is to say, why spiritual and heavenly things were delivered and committed unto us under visible signs, forms, and ceremonies : the first of which is so cold and weak, that I am loath to move it to memory. He placeth merit in that that by God's govern- ment and direction, (as he affirmeth) man seeketh salvation in things baser and inferior to himself. Unto the which he addeth this afterward : — " Although not in them, yet in God through them" he seeketh salvation :— which also, unadvisedly enough he hath uttered, and not sufficiently considered. The other two causes, to wit, that Sacraments were invented and ordained, under visible signs, for our instruction and exercise, seem not altogether absurd or disagreeing from reason. The truest and most proper cause why Sacraments be instituted under visible signs, seemeth partly to be God's goodness, and partly, also, man's weakness. For very hardly do we reach unto the knowledge of heavenly things, if with- out visible form, as they be in their own nature pure and excellent, they be laid before oiu* eyes. But they are better and more easily understood, if they be represented unto us under the figure of earthly things ; that is to say,
' Lib. IV. Dist. 1.
2
ItJ UK SAfKAMK.N l>.
under Mgna familiarly kuuwn unto us. As, therefore, our bountiful and j^rat'iou^ l^onl «lid covertly and darkly ; — nay rather evidently and notably, set before us to view the king- dom of (lod in j»arables, or dark K|)eeehes ; even so by signs it pleased llini t<> lay lM.'fore our i-ycs. after a sort, the very same thing ; and to point out tlu' s,iiiu' unto us as it were {minted in a table ; to renew it afn'sh ; and, by lively re- presentation, to maintain tlu- ri'membrance of the same among us. This cause dnili .Jdhn ( 'hnsostuni allow ;is a chief and prop'r caus*- ; who. in his rij^rhty and third H(» mily u|)on Mattliew, .saith ; • The Lonl liath lUliveri'd unto UH nothing that is seitsiblc The things. indec<l. an* sensible. howU-it they have altt)gether a spiritual understanding or meaning. So Ikiptism is ministered under a sensible ele- ment, nanu'ly Water ; Init that whi<'h is wrought thereby, tliat is to say, regeneration and tin- nt-w birth. «lt»th s|)iritu- allv enti-r int<» the mind . I'or if thuu uert a iKMlyleus creature, lie would liavc delivcriHi unto tluf all thi'sc gifts, bare, naked, and lunlyless, according to thy imturc ; but since thou liast a reasoimble soul coupled and joined tt) thy body, therefore liath He dehvered unto thee, in sensible signs and substances, those things which are perceived with a spiritual understanding." Which I do not allege (toj this end as if 1 would take the testimony of man for my stay ; but Ueaus*^' 1 s^i' Saint John < hrysostonrs Speech accord- ing to the jnaiuier ul>s<'rved and u.sed in the scripture.
For who knoweth n(»t that the scripture is full of jjarables, similitudes, allegories, and figurative speeches, which the Holy (Jh(«t uscth. not for His own, but for our sakes? The talk which Christ had in the Ciospel with Nicodemus touch- ing heavenly regeneration, is verj- well known ; where He.
' John iii.
OF SACRAMENTS. 19
by hidden and covert kind of speeches of air, wind, water, &;c., reasoneth saying : — " If I have told you of earthly things and ye believe not, how will ye believe if I shall tell you of heavenly things?" (John iii. 12.) He calleth "earthly things," that His doctrine of heavenly regeneration, or new birth, figured to us under earthly signs of water and the spirit, or of air and the wind. And by " heavenly things", He meaneth that self-same doctrine of heavenly regeneration, nakedly delivered to Nicodemus without any imagination, without similitude, or sensible signs. The Lord, therefore, signifieth hereby that men do more easily conceive and un- derstand the doctrine of heavenly things, when it is sha- dowed out under some dark and covert sign of earthly things, than when it is nakedly, and spiritually indeed dehvered : that by comparing together of things not much unlike, it may appear that the Sacraments were for none other cause found out or instituted, than for demonstration sake ; to wit, that the heavenly things might become more familiar and plain unto us. In which thing we have to mark the analogy, which is a certain aptness, proportion, or (as Cicero'' termeth it) a convenience, or fit agreement of things, I say, known by their signs ; that if they be slightly passed over without this analogy, the reason of a Sacrament cannot be fully and perfectly understood : but this analogy being di- ligently discussed, and observed to the full, offereth to the beholder, without any labour at aU, the very dvaywy^, that is to say, the hidden, and secret meaning of a Sacrament. We will, when we come to intreat of these things, do what we can to make them manifest by examples.
Whosoever, therefore, shall thoroughly weigh the institu- tion of Sacraments, he cannot choose but extol with praises
' Timaeus, iv.
2—2
20 <-»►" XAlKAMKNI^
the exceeding c^eat goodness of the l.(»r(l. who doth not oiil> open unto n.s miserahlo men the niystfrics of His kingdom. hut hatli a singular ran" of man's intinnitv ; whiTilty \\v, framing Himself to our capacity, doth, after a sort, stut and stammer with us; whilst Ho. having respect to our dulness and the weakness of our wit. iloth. a.s it were, clothe and cover heavenly mysteries with earthly sMiibols or signs : thereby most plainly and pithily o|)ening thrm unt«) us. and laying them before our eyes evidently to ]**- iM-hrld. In this same institution of the Sacrament.s, we have canst* to extol and [)rais<' the wisdom of (J<mI; if so Ik> wc take in hand to compare gnat and small things together. I'or this custom is re<*eived as a law throughout the world, that all the wisest men, when they had occa-sion to s|H'ak of high mysteries of wisdom, they did, not by wortls only, but by signs and words together, commend them to their hearers, to the end that the two mo«t noble senses in man, to wit. hearing and weing, might Im? Ixith at once vehemently move<l, and forcibly pro- voked to the coitsideration of the same. The vohnnes of heathenish philosophers an.- full of exaiiiphs. What s<iy y<»u to the Jews. (ukI's old and ancient jK^ople : did not (m»<1 him.self shew among them wrs many such kind of examples '. Again, as in making leagues, or in confirming promises in earnest and weighty matters, men ilsc signs or tokeas of tnith. to win credit to their words and pmmises : even so the Lonl, doing after the manner of men, liath addtnl signs of His faith- fulness and truth in His everlasting covenant and promises of life, the Sacraments I mean, wherewith He sealeth His pro- mises, and the verv- doctrine of His Gospel. Neither is this rare or strange unto Him. Men swear even by the Lord himself when they would make other believe certainly, and in no ca.«ie to mistm.st the tnith of their promises : yea. it is
OF SACRAMENTS. 21
read in the holy scriptures that the Lord himself took an oath, and sware by His own self, when He meant " most abundantly to shew to the heirs of the promises (as the Apostle saith) the stableness of His counsel." (Heb. vi. 17.)
Moreover, it was the accustomed manner among them of old, as they were making their league or covenant, to take a beast and to divide him in pieces, and each of them to pass through and between the pieces so divided ; testifying by that ceremony, that they would yield themselves so to be divided and cut in pieces, if they did not stedfastly stand to that which they promised in their league or covenant. After the same manner the Lord making, or renewing a league with Abraham, (which Moses describeth at large in Gen. xv.) He commandeth him to take an heifer, a she goat, and a ram, each of them three years old, and to divide them in the midst, and to lay every piece one over against another : which when Abraham had done, the Lord himself in the likeness of a smoking furnace or firebrand, went between the said pieces ; that thereby Abraham might know that the land of Canaan should of a certainty be given to him, and to his seed to possess ; and that all things which He hath promised in that league should be brought to pass. Since, therefore, the good and true Lord is always like unto Himself, and frameth Himself after the same manner now to His church, as we said He did then ; what wonder or strange thing is it (I pray you) that He hath left unto us also at this day, under visible things, signs and seals of His grace, and mysteries of the kingdom of God ? And hitherto have we entreated of the chief causes of Sacraments for the which they were instituted.
Touching the kind, and number of Sacraments, which hath the next place to that which went before, there are divers opinions amongst the writers, specially of later time.
22
OK bALKAME.NT*.
Fur. among tlie old and ancient, this question, as an un- doubted and well known [H'riect principle, drew quickly to an end. liut he which shall diligently search the .scriptureb shall find, tliat they of the Old Testament liave Sacraments after one kind, and they of the New Testament Sacraments after another kind. The Sacraments of the |>eople under the Old Testament, were C'ircumci.sion, and the Paschal l..amh ; to which were added SacriHce.«> ; whereof 1 Imve abundantly spoken in the third Decade, and the sixth Sermon. In like maimer, the SacramenLs of the {H^jple under the New Te»- tament. that Ls to say, of christian.s, b\ the writiiigs of the Apostles, are two in number, liaptLsm. and the Supper of the Lord. Hut Peter Lonilwinl' nrkoneth seven; — Baptism, Pcniinci-. tilt' SupjRT of the I^ord, CVmfinnation, Ivxtri-mc Unction, Ortlers, and Matrimony. Him foUoweth the whole rabblement of intcrpn-ters, and rout of Schoolmen. Ihit all the ancient I)«K'tore of the church. f(»r the most jmrt. do reckon up two princifwil Sai-raments : among whom 'I'ertul- lian, in his first and fourth li«u»k. Contra Marriotu-in ; and in his IxMik, Ih' Corona Militi-g, ver>- plainly niaketh mention but of two only : that is to .say, liaptism, and the Kucharist f>r Supper of the Lord. And Augu.stine, also. (/>»- Dortr. Chritt- iana lib. iii. c. J».) saith, "The Lord hath not overburthencd us with Signs, but tlie Lord himself and the doctrine of the Apostles have left unto us certain few things instead of many; and those must easy to l)e done, most reverend to be understood, most pure to be ob8er\'ed ; as is Baptism, and the celebration of the Ik)dy and Blood of the Lord." And, again, {ad JuMuarlunK ICfmt<tfo I IS.) he saith; — "He hath knit and hid together the fellowship of a new |>oople. with Sa- craments ill number very few. |iii| (»l).serving verv ea.sv, in sig-
' Lib IV. l)i>t. •_>.
OF SACRAMENTS. * 23
nification very excellent ; as is Baptism consecrated in the name of the Trinity, and the partaking of Clirist's Body and Blood; and whatsoever thing else is commended unto us in the canonical scriptures ; except those things wherewith the servitude of the old people was burdened, according to the agreeableness of their hearts, and the time of the prophets." Which are read in the five books of Moses. Where, by the way, is to be marked, that he saith not "and whatso- ever things else are commended unto us in the canonical scriptures :" but, " and whatsoever thing else &c. ;" which plainly proveth that he speaketh not of Sacraments, but of certain observations both used and received of the church ; as the words of Augustine which follow do declare. How- beit, I confess, without dissimulation, that the same Augus- tine elsewhere maketh mention of the Sacrament of Orders : where, nevertheless, this seemeth unto me to be also consi- dered,— that the self-same author giveth the name of Sa- craments to anointing, and to prophecy, and to prayer, and to certain other of this sort, as well as he doeth to Orders. And, now and then, among them he reckoneth up the Sa- craments of the scripture : so that we more easily see that in his works the word Sacrament, is now used one way, and sometimes another. For he calleth these Sacraments, because, being holy, they came from the Holy Ghost; and because they be holy institutions of God, observed of all that be holy; but yet so that these differ from those Sacraments which are holy actions, consisting of words and ceremonies, and which gather together, into one fellowship, the partakers thereof. But Rabanus Maurus also, Bishop of Mentz, a diligent reader of Augustine's works, {de Institutione Cleri- corum, lib. i. c. 24,) saith " Baptism and Unction, and the Body and Blood, are Sacraments, — which for this reason are
24
OK HACHAMKNTS.
called Sacraments, — becauHc uiuK-r a covert of corporal things, the power of God workcth more secretly our salvation sig- nified ljy these Sacnuneiits : whereupon, aim, for their secret and holy virtue, they are called Sacranient«." This HalumuK Maunw was famous about the year of our Lonl eight hun- dred, and thirty : so that even by this we may gather, that the ancient Ajxjstolic Cluin-h ha«l no more than two Sacni- nient-s. I make no mention here of Ambrose. --although he, ill liis books of Sacraments. mimlxTetb not so many as the companv of Schoolmen <lo, — l>ei*aase S4»me of tliose works set forth in his name, are n(»t reccivinl of all learned men, as of his own doing: H4), 1 little force the authority of the works of Dionysius, which of what price and estimation they Ik? among Ieame<l and g<MKl men, it is not needful to de- clare. Hut however the ca.se standeth, the holy Hcrijitun', the only and infallible ni\v of life and of all things which are to be (lone in tin- church, conuuendeth Baptism and the Lord's Sup|M'r unto us, as s<tlenm iiLstitutions and Sa- craments of Christ. The.s<' two are, then-fon', sutticient for us; so that we nee<l not Ix' movetl what.s<K'ver, at any time, the .subtle invention of man's bu.sy brain bring against, or beside thest> twain. For why f Hm] never gave jiower to any to institute Sacraments. In the mean while we do not contenm the wholesome Kites, and healthful Institutions of ( rod ; nor yet the religious obsenations of the church of Christ.
NN'e have (UH-lare<l »'lst\Nliere touching Penance and Ec clesia.stical Onler : of the n-sidue. uhich later writers do authorize for Sacrament.s, we will speak in their convenient jilace. So have we. also, elsewhere, so far forth a.s we thought requisite, entreated of the likeness, and difference of Sacraments of the people of Old. and New Testament.
OF SACRAMENTS. 25
Now let us see in what things Sacraments consist. By the testimony of the scripture, and of all the godly men, they consist in two things, to wit, in the sign, and the thing signified ; — in the word, and the rite ; in the promise of the Gospel, and in the ceremony ; — in the outward thing, and the inward ; in the earthly thing, (I say) and the heavenly : and (as Irenseus ', the Martyr of Christ, witness- eth) in the visible thing, and the invisible; — in the sensible thing, and the intelligible. For hereunto belongeth that which Saint John Chrysostom, upon Matthew, saith ovdeu
jdp ctta-driTov irapacwKev tifxTv o ■^pt<TTo<;, d\\ ala-OtjTa fxev tci
■n-pdjuaTa^ irdvra de vor]rd. "Christ dclivereth nothing unto US that is sensible, but under visible things, the outward things are sensible, but yet all spiritual." But he calleth those things ala-Otird "sensible," which are perceived by the outward senses, as by seeing, hearing, tasting, and touching : but those things he calleth uorj-rd, intelligible, or mental, which are perceived by the mind, the understanding, consi- deration, discourse, or reasoning of the mind, not of flesh but of faith.
By the testimony of the scriptures, this thing shall be made manifest. The Lord saith to His disciples in the Gospel, " Go into the whole world, and preach the Gospel to all creatures ; and he which shall believe and be baptized, shall be saved. Ye shall baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Mark xvi. 15, 16. Matth. xxviii. 19.) The same saith of John Baptist, " John baptized in the wilderness, preaching the baptism of repentance, for the remission of sins." (Mark i. 4.) So, also, Saint Luke witnesseth that St Peter, said
• Lib. IV. 25.
' The Bcncdicliniis read lao-fi/Tois- /ik' t&Is w/jci-y/iaui. Horn. In Matlh. !i.H.
26 oy MAC RAMKNT*.
to the Israelites : "" Repent ye, and lie baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sias ; and ye shall receive the jjift of the Holy (ihost/' (Acts ii. 38.) Therefore in IJaptism, water or sprinkling of water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of Holy Ghost, and all that which Ls done of tlie church, is a sipi, rite, ceremony, and outward tiling, eartlily and sen- sible ; lying open and made plain to the senses : but n?- miasion of sins, partaking of everlasting life, fellowship uith Christ and HLs menilnTs. and gifts of the Holy (ihost which are given unto us by the grace of (nxi thmugh faith in Christ Jesus ; is the thing signified, the inward and heavenly thing, and that intelligible thing which is not perci'ivi'd but by a faithful mind.
After the same manner the scriptun' l)earing witness also of the Supper of the Lonl, which is the other Sacra- ment of the church, saith ; " The Lord Jesus when He had taken bread. He gave thanks, and brake it. and gave it to His disciplt^ and said, — Take ye, eat ye: this is my Inxly which is given for yt»u. Likewis*- He t<K»k the cup, and gave it to them, saying, — I>rink ye all of this ; for this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the romi-ssion of sins : do this in remembrance of me." (Matth. xxvi. 26, et setj. : Luke xxii. 17. et soq.) Now, therefore, all that action which is done of the church after the example of Christ our High Priest. I mean break- ing of bread, tlie (li.stributi(»n thereof, yea and the Ijanquet or receiving of bread and wiiu- ; is the sign, rite, cere- mony, and thi' outwanlly or earthly thing, and al.so tliat self-same sensible thing which lieth open l)cfore the .senses. But the intelligible thing, and thing signified, — the inward and heavenly thing, is the vpr\ body nf Christ given for
OF SACRAMENTS. 27
US, and His blood shed for the remission of sins ; and our redemption, and fellowship which we have with Christ and all His Saints, yea, which He chiefly hath with us.
By these things, it shall be easy to determine cer- tainly of the names or terms now given to the Sacra- ments, For they are called external or outward signs, because they are corporal or bodily ; entering outwardly into those senses whereby they be perceived. Contrarivdse, we call the things signified, inward things: not that the things lie hid, included in the signs ; but because they are perceived by the inward faculties or motions of the mind, wrought in men by the Spirit of God. So, also, these signs are termed both earthly and visible, because they consist of things taken from the earth, that is to wit, of Water, Bread, and Wine; and because they are manifestly seen in these likenesses. To be short, the things signified are called heavenly and invisible, because the fruit of them is heavenly ; and because they are discerned with the eyes of the mind or of faith, not of the body : for otherwise, the same body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which, in the Supper, are represented to the faith- ful, by the form of bread and wine, are not of their own proper nature heavenly or invisible. For the body of our Lord, touching His substance and nature, is consubstan- tial, or of the same substance that our bodies are of. Now the same is called heavenly for His deliverance from corruption and infirmity ; or else because it is clarified ; not by reason of the bringing to naught, or laying aside of His own nature. The same body of His own nature is visible, not invisible, resident in heaven : howbeit, it is seen of the godly celebrating the Supper, not with the eyes of the body, but with the eyes of the mind or soul;
28 <*y HACIIA.MKNIS.
therefore in re.-sjHrt of us it is called iuvisihlr. which «if itself is not invisible.
Now the word in the Sacranient.s is called, and is indeed, a witnessing of God's will, and a remembrance and renewing of the lx?nefits and promises of God ; yea, and it is the insti- tution and conunan«hnent of CJfni which showeth the author of the Sacrament, with the manner and end of the same. For the word in JJaptism is the ver> same tlxat even now we liave received, — "(io ye into all the world ice." In the Supj)er of the Lonl, this is the word of GckI,—" Jesus t(M»k hreail vVc." — And the rite, cu.stom, and m.imier how to cclehrate the Sujh jM'r. is to Ih' souLrht (tut of the cxaiiiplc of the Lord going be- fore in the holv action ; wherein we c(»mprehend Iwth prayers and those thini^ which are recite<l out of the word of Christ. F(»r as He brake bread and divideil it, and in like manner, the cup, so likewi.s*' with holy imitation and sa- cramental rite, wc folldw the same in this holy action. As \\v ijave thanks, so als«» we <lo give thanks; we. by certain prayers in IJapti.sm. df) rtHjuest the assi.stance and grace of the Lord; we recite certain places out (»f the (ir>s|K'l, which we know to be requisite in the a<lministration of Baptism ; and we are wont to do the same, also, in the ce- lebration of the Lord's Supper. . . . Hut it is not my intent, at this present, to speak largidy, and exactly of the rites of tlie Sacraments ; which, notwith-standing. we hold to be best that are taken out of the holy scripture, and do nf»t exceed : of which it shall Ik* sjK)ken in their place.
Some instead of the word, do put promise ; and instead of rite, ceremony. .\nd. truly in the word ceremony. I see no danger at all. if by ceremony be understood the outward comeliness, and rite which the Lord hims<'H' hath commended to us by His example, and left t(» Im- used iti
OF SACRAMENTS. 29
the celebration. And in very deed sacramental signs, are not simple or bare signs ; but ceremonies, or religious actions : so, also, there seemeth to be no danger in the word promise, so that by promise we understand the preaching of the Gospel, and the commemoration or remembrance of God's promises which we often use in the preaching of the Gos- pel, and celebration of the Sacraments : that is to say, that God doth receive us into His fellowship, for Christ's sake, through faith ; doth wash away our sins ; endueth us with divers graces ; that Christ was given for our sins ; shed His blood to take away the sins of all faithful. For in celebrating of Baptism we use these words of the Lord, — " Suffer little children to come imto me, for unto such belongeth the kingdom of heaven," &c. (Matth. xix. 14.) In the celebration of the Banquet of God's holy children, we use these holy words of our Lord — " And after supper Jesus took bread ; and after He had given thanks He brake it, and gave it to them saying. Take ye ; eat ye : this is my body which is given for you. This is my blood which is shed for you, for the remission of sins ; this do in re- membrance of me, &c.*" For these remembrances and re- hearsals, are premises of the Gospel ; promising forgiveness of sins to the believers ; showing that the Lord's body is given for them, and His blood shed for them ; which faith verily is the only, and imdoubted means to obtain life and salvation : Christ is the strength and substance of the Sa- craments, by whom only they are effectual, and without whom they are of no power, virtue, or effect. But if any man by promise, do understand covenant, whereby the Lord doth singularly bind, or, as you would say, tie Himself to the signs; in which, or with which. He would be present
• 1 Cor. xi. 23—25 : Matth. xxvi. 26—28.
30 UK BAt'KAMKMi.
bodily, esst^ntially, and really ; therein he saith more tliaii he can show or [irove by the scTiptures. For in no place hath Christ proniisetl to be present eor[)orally, tliat is with His true body, in the si^s or with the sif]^: otherwihe I am not ignorant how (iod appeared sometimes to our fa- thers under a bodily Hgure, tliat is, in some visible form, or 8haj)o ; as when He showed Himself to Jacob, which was named Israel, leaning on a ladder ; and to Moses in the hole of a rock, as it were in a gbiss'. Hut these do not projK'rly jK-rtain to this pur])<>se whert> we intreat of the coqmral presence of Christ, and of the sacramental signs. Hut because many wrest these words of the Lord, "This is my Ixnly ; this is my blood"; to pnne a coqx)- ral presence of the Lonl's bo<ly in the supjK'r ; 1 answer that those words of the Lord are not roughly to be ex- pounded according to the letter, :is though bread and wine were the IkmIv and blo(Kl of Christ, substantially, ajid eor- p«»rally ; but mystieally. and sacramentally : so tlmt the Ixnly and IiIikmI of Christ do abide in their suljstance and na- ture, and in their plaee ; I niean in some certain place of heaven : but the bread and wine are a sign or Sacrament : a witness, or sealing; and a Uvely memory of His Ixxiy given, and His I)1o<^m1 shed for us ... . Hut of this thing, in place convenient, we will intreat mure at large. By these things which wo have s|)oken of, it ap{)eareth sufficiently how Sacraments, consist of two things, the .sign, and the thing signified ; of the word of iioil, and the rite or holy ceremony. There are some, notwithstanding, which think there is such force grafted of God into the words, that if they he pronounced over the signs, they sanctify, change, and, in a manner, bring with them, or make present the things signified : and plant.
' rjen. xxviii. 13. Exfxl. xxxiii. 2"2. '2'A.
OF SArRAMENTS. 31
or include them within the signs ; or at the least join them with the signs. For hereupon are these kind of speeches heard; that the water of Baptism by the virtue of the words doth re- generate; and that by the efficacy of the words, the bread itself and the wine, in the Supper, are made the natural flesh and blood of the Lord. But the Sacraments of Christ and His church do consist of the word, and the sign. But it seemeth that we must diligently search out what must be understood by " The word." I said even now that " The word" in the Sacraments, was a witness-bearing of God's will, and the commandment of God itself, or institution of God, which declareth unto us, the author, manner, and end of a Sacrament. By this word, I say, and commandment of God, — by this will and institution of God, — the Sacraments are sanctified ; not that the words are so pronounced of the ministers as they are read afore to be recited of the Lord himself, or delivered by His Apostles : but because God so would, so did, and commanded His Apostles to do. For whatsoever God doth, or commandeth to do, is sanctified by the very commandment or deed of God. For all things which He hath done are exceeding good; therefore those things which He commandeth to do cannot choose but be holy, be- cause He is holy, and the only Sanctifier. Wherefore by the nature, will, deed, and commandment of God, and not by the pronunciation of any words, are the Sacraments sanctified. To which will of God, that it may be applied unto man and do him good, the faithful obedience of men is necessarily required ; which altogether should make us put our trust and confidence in the mercy and power of God, who in no wise should despise or cast behind us the institution of God ; although it seem, in outward appearance, base and con- temptible. This will appear more plainly in the example of
32 <J^■ HA( HAM K.MS.
Naaman', the captain of the king of Syria's band. He heard of the propht't, undoulittnlly at the Lord's commandment, tluit he 8h(»ul(l wjLsh hiiitself .seven times in Jordan; for so it .should come to paws tliat he should be cleanstnl from his k'pro.sy. Here thou dost hear the word, the will, 1 say, and conunand- ment of God ; but thou dost not hear tliat any words were rehearseil either over Jordan, or over Naaman ; or that any words were pre.scrilx*d (»f the pr(tj)lict to Naaman, that he should rclifanM', svhcreliy (forsooth) then- mi^lit 1m' .-iny force of purifying;, or ciraiusin^ jriven to the water. Naanuin by faith oJHyeth the commainhuent of (lod, and is deaasid fn)m his leprosy: not by his own nurit, or ]jy the Ix-neHt of the water of Jordan, but by the j>ower of (Jod and faithful obe- dience. Le|)ers also in the Gospel', and tliat not a few, arc clean.sed by the |>ower and will of (,'hri.st, and through faith, and not bv pronouncing; or speaking of wonl.s. The Lonl indceti said, " I will, Ih- thou clean :" but if any ni.m at this day should have re<-ite<l the same words a hundre<l tinii-s over any lejK'r, he should have pn-vailetl nothing;. Whereby it is manifest, tliat to wonls there is no force given of working health if they Ik* pronounce*!. The AjhwUcs, indeed, said to the sick, feeble, and lame, " In the name of the Lord Jesus, ari.st^ and walk :" (Acti* iii. (J, 7.) And they rose up and were healed; but they were not healed by the Ixnefit of the words, but by the name, by the |)ower, 1 mean, and the virtue of (•lirist. For Peter which sjiid unto the Lime man in Jeru- salem, •• In the name of Jesus (.'hri.st of Nazareth, ari-si- and walk" — said in the midst of tiu- cnuncil of Jerusalem — " If we this day W examined of the detnl dt>ne to the sick man, by what means he is made whole ; l)e it known unto you all, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth tliis man standeth here
' 2 Kinf^s V. * Alatih. viii. 2, 3.
OF SACKAMENTSi 35
whole.'"' (Acts iv. 9, 10.) And to the same people he saith, '* and His name, through faith in His name, hath made this man sound whom ye see and know ; and the faith which is by Him hath given this man health \" Besides these, we read in the Acts of the Apostles* that the sons of one Scaeva a priest, being exorcists or conjurors, did call on the name of the Lord Jesus over them that had evil spirits ; but these were so far off from giving place to their exorcisms and conjurings, that they ran on them, and overcame them, so that they had much ado to escape alive. Where it is most apparent that those exorcists used the same form almost in their enchant- ments, which the Apostle used ; (for in the name of the Lord Jesus they proved to cast out the foul Spirit) ; but since they were not able so to do, who cannot see and perceive that the words pronounced do prevail nothing at all? Neither is that any let or hindrance at all, that those Exorcists were without faith. For this is a thing very well known and received of all men, that Sacraments are no less effectual when they were ministered by wicked ministers, than when they are ministered by the best ministers.
But here is objected against us this saying of the Apostle, " Christ gave Himself for the church to sanctify it ; cleansing it in the fountain of water by the word, or in the word*."*' Behold, (say they) men are cleansed by the water of baptism, which by the word hath the force of sanctify- ing put into it : therefore it must needs be that words have force to sanctify. But I will confute them by an evi- dent demonstration that the Apostle did not so mean as they suppose. The Apostle prescribeth unto married Christ- ians their duty ; to the more plain, and pithier setting forth thereof, he useth the example of Christ and His
■ Actsiii. 16. * Acts xix. 13, tt seq. ' Ephes. v. 25, 2«.
3
S4
church; commending tJiat exceeding love which Christ beareth toward His churcli, wherewith being inrtan»e<l. He gave Himself for it to thin end, to make it to Hiiusi'lf a pure, and glorious Spouse : where, by the way. He scttetb down the manner of purging. For the Lord Jesus himself saith — He hath cleansed it : for it is only Christ's office to purge, and to cleanse. Now the nuinner of purging fol- loweth : "In the fountain of water by tlie word;" which, because it is brieHy spoken, hath in it some obscurity. He maketh mention of two things which the Lord usi'th to cleanse those that Ik? Hi.s;- "the fountain (»f wat«'r", and "thf word." •• Thr fountain of water", i.s IJajitism, which IB tJie outward action an<l witncss-U'arin^, of the inward purifying or cleansing wrought by the grace and Spirit of God; as the Apostle ,sajth — "According to His mercy He saved us, by the fountain of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy (fhost which He shed upon us richly through Jesus Chri.st our Saviour." (Titu.s iii. F>. ♦».) For he atldtth in way of interpretation, ".And renewing of the Holy (ihost", whereof the " fountain of water" is a sign. Moreover, the "word" is the \or\ preaching of the Go8|h>1, testifying that, by the grace and mercy of (mkI the Fatlier, His only Son was given unto us; who being given for our sins, maketh. them that lielieve in Him heirs of eternal life, so tliat now these words of Paul to the Ephesians, the fifth chapter, do ven,- wdl agree with tliis commandment of the Lord mentioned in St Mark : " Go into all the whole world and preach the Gospel to all creatures : he which shall believe, and bo baptized shall be saved." For by these words, also, the Lord shadoweth out unto us the manner, and means of our salvation ; that it is He only which purgeth us by faith : yet, in the moan while. Me willeth the believers to be signed
OF SACRAMENTS.
35
with Baptism ; and that it should be preached openly in the world that it is He which pardoneth sinners ; yea, and which freely giveth everlasting life. But what do all these things, (I pray you) make for their purpose who will prove, by those words of Paul, that there is force and virtue in the words to sanctify Baptism? These words of the Lord, spoken to His Apostles, do yet make our matter more ma- nifest : — " Now are ye clean," saith He, " through the word which I have spoken unto you."" (John xv. 8.) Shall we say here that through the words which Christ rehearsed, the disciples of Christ were made clean? What then needeth He the next day to be crucified, and to have died? What, to the end that He might purchase power unto the words ? Wherefore, all boasting in the force of words shall be clean taken away. Doth not faith and godliness tell us, by " the word" of the Lord, we should rather understand this which is declared by the preaching of the Lord ; that is, the death and redemption of Christ whereby, because they believed it, "they are cleansed"? For in another place he saith, "purifying their hearts by faith." Wherefore they err in that, because they do not rightly judge of the word or speech. For the Lord speaketh of the word preached and believed ; and they understand Hira of the word pronounced, as though being pronounced it had force from the Lord to sanctify. Saint Augustine, also, maketh for us who, in his eightieth Treatise upon John, saith, " From whence cometh so great virtue and power unto the water that it should touch the body, and wash the heart, but through the working of the word? Not because it is spoken or pro- nounced, but because it is believed. For, in the word it- self, the sound passing away is one thing, and the virtue which reraaineth is another thing. ' This is the word of
3-2
36' OK H\<H\MK\I<.
faith whiofi \vp j)roaoh.' saitli tlic Apostle. ' Invause if thou shall confess with thy mouth that Jesus is the Lord, and believe with thy heart that (iod hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt Ix" save<l. For with the heart man helieveth unto riphteousneas, and with the mouth confes- sion is made imto salvation.' Rom. x. 10. Whereupon we r*-n<\ in the Aets of tlu- Apostles. ' purifyinp (or clean.s- ing) their hearts by faith'.' And St Peter in his ej)istle saith : 'So also kiptism saveth us; not the putting; away of the filth of the flesh. I»ut in that a j^od conscience maketh request to (i(k1'.' ThLs is the won! of faith which we preach, wherewith undouhteflly IJaptism is also con- socratetl that it may have |)ower to cleaase. lM)r Christ, which is the Vine, with His Father the husKindman, hath loved the church, ruui -:-'iv<' Ilims4'lf for it. Kv.'nl tlir .\postle, and mark what he ad<loth sayini^ : 'That Me mic^ht sanc- tify it, cleansing it hy the fountain of water in the word.' In vain, therefore, should cleansing Ik? attributed to a frail and vaiHni; element, unless this were addc<l. ' In the word'." And .so forth : For thus far I have recited St .\upiR- tine's words ; not that I stay myself upon man's testimony, or, that I would have any man to urj^ tlie same ; or, that I am content to be nile<l bv the witness of man ; Iiut Ix^ cau.se in the.<ie words he hath feathered together .some tes- timonies out of the scripture, l>earinf; witness of the word. Whereby wc may und<rstan<l that the word of faith preached, and not the worrl spf»ken or pronounce<l, r)ught to be re- ceived. This word. I say. doth tnily clean.se ; that is to say, the fjrace of Christ only doth purify, to the which both the word and faith are directed : and for that cause he said expres.sly. •• Not because it is spoken, but because
1 Acts xr. ;». * 1 Pel. iii. 21.
OF SACRAMENTS. 37
it is believed." Anon after he saith, '' The word of faith which we preach." Furthermore he saith, " by the word of faith baptism is consecrated that it might have power to cleanse." Wliich what is it else than if he had said, the very substance of faith maketh Baptism effectual. For it followeth, " For cleansing, in vain should be attributed to the vading and corruptible element, unless were added, ' In the word'."
Now if a man do consider the mysteries of the Saints or holy men in old time, he shall not find in the celebration of circumcision, the feast of the passover, and sacrifices, any words to have been spoken or pronounced, whereby they were formed, and, as it were, created Sacraments, and were made effectual. To which belongeth this, that John Baptist did not only baptize the common people without respect of person, but the Lord Jesus himself also in the water of Jor- dan : no words, in the mean while, being pronounced, whereby he called, and drew down the heavenly grace over, or upon the waters of Baptism. Again, whilst Christ our high Bishop did institute His Supper in the Gospel, He commanded no- thing to be spoken or pronounced, by the virtue of which speech or pronunciation, the elements might either be changed, or the things signified, being drawn down from heaven, should be present with, or joined to the signs : but what the Lord hath simply done, and what His will was, we should do ; after what manner, and to what end, He instituted His Supper, the Evangelists have declared. We I'ead in no place that the Lord said, " As often as ye speak, or pronounce these my words, ' This is my body ; this is my blood' ; it shall come to pass by the virtue o/ my words, that the substance of the sign shall be made void ; and that in the same prick of time wherein the words are spoken, it shall begin to be
38 OF «A( RA.MKMh.
the true body, and the true blood uf tlie Lord, under the fomw or hkeiu'sses of bread aiid wine ; or that the forms and nivencs.ses and the truth uf the si^is reniaininj^, it slialJ bopin at once with the bread and wine to l>o the very body and blood of Christ." Wherefore in the pronouncing, or RlH'aking of the words of the Ijord in the Supper, then? is no power or virtue, either to call down the thingn .signiHed, or to change the things present. Thes*- imaginations do ra- tlier Bcem more to maintain superstition than religion. As though tlie word pronnunctd according to the form conceived, had power to cull down out of heaven ; to bring fn»ni one place to another; to restore health; to draw to, to put from, or to transform, or change. S. Augustine reckoneth up among hu{)erstitiouH vanities, those things which, for remedies of diseases, are tie<l or fastened alwut the l>ody ; which also physic inaketh no account of, wliether it be in clianning, or in certain siga«» called characters, or in hanging wrtain things al)OUt some p.art of the IkkIv. The place is to 1m> seen D« l>oc(. i'hrii>t. Lib. II. c. "10. And Chr»>o8tom IxMiig \eT\ angry with them that haritj the written gospel about tlieir neck hath tiiese words upon Matth. xxiii. " When-in consi.steth the force, or power of the (jlospel f In the fonn and figure of the letters ; or in the understanding of tlie meaning, and sense of the same ? If in the form of letters, thou doest well to hang it about thy neck : but if in the understanding of the meaninrf. it is Ix-ttcr tiiev were laid up in tliv heart." Thus saith he. Hut there is the same reason of the figures, and of the pronunciation of the letters, or words of the (Job- pel : for as the figure of the letters is of power to do nothing, even so is there no force or virtue, either in the pronuncia- tion, or soimd of words. Pliny, an heathenish writer, alleg- eth many heathenish examples wherein he dedareth that words
OF SACRAMENTS.
39
are effectual : but yet among other things which he bringeth, he hath this : " It is a question" (saith he) " whether words, or enchanting speeches, are of any force : but every one that is wise is so far from believing it, that even man by man they utterly deny it ;"" The place is to be seen Lib. xxviii. c. 2. But most worthily is the true word of God itself preferred before all these ; the which by Moses, Deut. xviii, with great severity, forbiddeth and condemneth all kind of superstitions and enchantments.
I know what the adversaries will here object unto me, namely, that it is a blessing or consecration, and not a super- stition which they use. Beside this, they bring many examples out of the scripture, set down in their canonical Decrees, where- by very foolishly and most unaptly, doubtless, they go about to prove that by blessing, or consecration, (as they say) the nature of the things are changed : whereupon they, also, gather that the bread, by the words of blessing or consecrating, is turned into flesh. Their examples are these, and of this sort. The water flowing out of the rock, after it was smitten with Aaron's rod'; the river Nilus turned into blood^; the water at the marriage of Cana of Galilee turned into wine'; the bitter waters of Marah changed into sweet water*; and Moses's rod turned into a serpent*. But (I beseech you) what make these to the Lord's Supper, wherewith they have no manner of similitude or likeness I So that this must needs be an unapt comparison and a doltish, which they make. The river Nilus was turned into blood ; therefore the bread is turned into flesh : the water at the marriage of Cana was changed into wine ; therefore the wine in the Lord's Supper is changed into the blood of Christ. For while that the water
1 Numb. XX. 8. ^ Exod. vii. 19. ' John ii. 9.
* Exod. XV. 25. * Exod. vii. 10.
40 OK BAfRAMKNTJ*.
gushed out of the rock when it was smitten; while the river Nilus was turned into blood ; while the water of the marriage was chanjjcd into wine; while the bitter waters of Manih be- came sweet ; while Moses's rod was turned into a seq>ent ; — the water truly, the blood, the wine, the sweet water, and the serpent, so turned and changed, were not under the form or likeness of those things which they were before, neither were they at once that which tliey were iK'fon'. luid that which they were then made: l)ut the water of Nilus wa.s very Itlood, not water and bl«MMi to^cllier; neither was then- invisible blood under the visible form <»f water. And s<i stands the casi- also in the other examples. Therefore they do nothing agree with the Sacramental signs, but are so far fn»n» Ining like them that they are aIto<rt'ther unlike them. Mnri'ovrr, who can will tell bv what primunciation of wonls Moses made water burst out of the hani nn-k : tunie<l the rivrr Nilus into bloinl : changed the l»itter waters int4» sw«"et ? NNlio knowcth what fonn, also, of wonls the Lortl us<'«l when He chanijtMl watJT into wine? Tliert'fore wry unfitly dc) they apply thes<» examples to their blessing or consecration changing the nature of things, since it cannot Ix' showed what manner of blessings the s.'iints or holy men use«l. Likewi.se, we n'ad not tliat Moses and Joshua' pronoynced any words of blessing, whereby they divided the channel of tlie Erv-threan Sea and the river Jordan. Kliseus is n\id to have uttere<l no words of blessing when he made the axe to swim, and reaches! it out of the water by the helve'. In all these things the power of (lod did work : but we must not imagine what we list to proceed from it. For it is weak- ness and not power, which is repuc^nant to ju.stice, and taketh things in hand which are contrarv to (iod's truth. Mut the mighty works of (rod are of such sort, that any man nja\ ' Kxod. xiv. 27: .'osh. iii. IW. •* 2 King* vi. C.
OF SACRAMENT3. 41
understand, and manifestly see that they are such as they are said to be. The Lord said " Let there be light, and there was light ^" Such a kind of light, I mean, which was both called light, and, according to the nature of light, gave light. It was not called, or made light, which was light indeed and yet gave not light ; as the bread is called the body of Christ, which yet hath not so much as one jot of the body of Christ. Furthermore, this word blessing, in no place in the scrip- ture, is so used as they would make us believe. To bless, in the scripture, is to thank, to praise, to salute, to bid farewell, to speak well of any, to wish well, to rejoice, highly to extol, to give thanks for a good turn, to increase, to enrich, to multiply, or to make fruitful, T could, if need were, bring examples to prove each of them. But a man shall no where read that to bless, is as much as, to turn the nature of things by the words of God, or otherwise by good words, and prayers after a set manner pronounced. We read, (say they) in the Gospel, that the " Lord took bread and blessed.""' Yea, and Paul, also, calleth the bread and cup by that name, to wit, "The bread and cup of blessing^" the bread and cup undoubtedly of consecration, by which consecration the sub- stance of the sign is miraculously changed. I answer, that the words both of the Gospel, and of the Apostle, are wrong- fully wrested to that sense which never came into the mind of the Lord or His Apostles. For, to declare the meaning of that place in the Gospel, to bless, is not with the gesture of the hand to make the sign of the cross, or to lay one's mouth to the bread and cup, and, in a low voice, to whisper oul the set syllables of the words of consecration : but to sing praises to God, or to give thanks for His benefits bestowed on us.
^ Gen. i. 3. * i Cor. x. 16.
42
OK SACRAMKNT.H.
That which I have said I will contirm by the autlioritv of the Evangelists and Apostles. For the AjM^stles and Kvan p;elist.s use the word of l)lossing or thanksi^inng indiHen-ntly : for where Mark hath fjAoyrz-rac', that is to say, " biefis- ing," Matthew, Luke, and Paul* have (v-y(afii<TTrjrTn<:, that is to say, " giving thanks" ; which word Mark, also, using a little after writeth, "and when He had took the cup fv^api<TTri<Tar," that Is, " When He liatl given thanks He gave to them." "To bless," therefore, is, as the Apostles them- selves do interpret it, to give tlianks, since that thev put the one for the other. The dilitjent n*ader mav see them, also, in tliat place of raul which is I Cor. x. ; which place we will fully an«l wholly intn\'it of in that which fol- loweth. Our adversaries, then-fore, have not as yet prfued out of the scriptures, that " to l)les.s" is as much afl to change the things ; or that by words, pronunciation, or re- citing of wonls, the things themsi'lves signifie<l are hmughi to. or made pnsent. The ancient writers, tnilv. made men- tion of a mystical blessing, but in a far other sease than the.se eonseorators. Of true consecration we will speak anon, and will confute, also, in another place, what.'wx'ver things they have brought concerning Itlessiiii;. nr con.secrating of Baptism : now we will make an end of that which wo be- gan.
Words of them.selves were in.stitute<l of (iod to this end, to signify, and by signifying, to bear witness, and to ad- monish ; neither have they beside any hidden force to change the natures of things, or to cause the things themselves to be corporally present ; neither do we read that holy men ever used them after this manner : therefore they sin, and deceive
' Mark xiv. 22.
* lyukc xxii. 19 : I lor. xi. 24. St Matthiw al»o has tvKoyijvai. xxvi. 2fi.
OF SACRAMENTS. 43
men, which otherwise use them than they were instituted. AureHus Augustine acknowledgeth the very same thing, who, in his Enchiridion ad Laurent, cap, 22, saith, "And verily words to this purpose are instituted, not that men should deceive one another by them, but by the which one might make another to know his meaning ; therefore, to use words unto deceit and not to that end whereunto they were ordained, is sin." The same Aurelius Augustine, gathering a sum of his whole book intituled, De Magistro, asketh this question : — " but now I would have thee tell me what thy opinion is of all this that I have spoken unto thee V Which, by and by, he answereth : "I have learned, being admonished by thy words, that a man is taught no other thing by words than to learn; and that it is a very small matter that, by speech or talk, we know partly what he thinketh that speak- eth : but whether the words which he spake were true, that teacheth he only who admonished that he dwelt in the heart, when the other spake with the tongue." Thus much he, in the last chapter of his book De Magistro. To this purpose pertain the words of Solomon the wise, in the book of the Preacher, saying : " The words of the wise are like pricks and nails that go tlirough of the authors of ga- therings, which are given of one shepherd^." Where we willingly acknowledge that there is a great force in eloquence, and prayers of the just ; as the Grecians signified by that Hercules of Gallia : also, Cicero very plentifully hath de- clared the same. Lib. i. De Oratore. But that which they do forge, and imagine of Pytho, or Suada or Suadela^ the Lady and Mistress of Eloquence, that, verily, do we attri- bute to the Holy Ghost ; which doth both give grace to the speaker, and prepareth and stirreth up the minds of
■'' Eccks. xii. 1 1 .
44 Ol h\« KAMK.NTi.
the luarers. By Uieso tliiiii^ it is manifest unto all men. I thiiiU, tliat it is a new forj^Tv of num, and nut a dix'trine of Oracle, to say that in the celebration of the Sacraments there Is such force grafted in the words recited, tliat tht'V turn and change the things, or make tlie things sijjnified t(» Iw |)re8ent ; and either put on, or join them with tht- sign.s. Iliit we will show hereafter tluit the signs arc imt changed, or iiiin;;lcd with the things signifitKl ; but that both fif thciii do rciiiain still in their owTi naturf and jtro jMTty It shall Ik- suflici»nt if we attribute that to the words uliich the scripture doth attril)Utc ; to wit, the (»ffice of signifvini; and admonishing; of moving and stirring up, wliich thev liave from <mk1. I'\»r tlu'V do detile and blemish the words of (jJml. whicli din-k them with strange and falsi fietl titles.
\N'e acknowle<lgi>, indeed, that all the |>ower of Almighty (lod is attributed to the word of (mkI; but who seeth not that tliat is s|M)ken and meant <»f the everla«ting Son of (mmI, who in the .scriptun* is called the \N'ord of iunl'. NN'lio is such a dotanl that caimot rightly distinguish U' tween the everlasting NN'ord of <iod, which is the Son (»f (rod, the second |»er8on in the reverend Trinity, and the «ord rehearsed sjKjken, or pronounct-d by nianf The ever- hi-stinu \Ni»rd of (iod renmineth in His owii substance and nature a Cri'ator, and not a creature: it is not mingled; it is not grafted or incoq)orated into man's voice. Tin word which pn^eedeth from man is a creature, not a Cn' ator ; and remaineth still a creature : for it is a sound whicli jias-seth away. NevertheK'ss it is a virtue whicli still remaineth if it be sincere and not adulterated, and received bv faith. For so it preserveth ; yet not of his own pro- per virtue or power, or because it is pn»nounced by man.
OF SACRAMENTS. 45
but through His power or virtue which revealed the word ; who is true, and therefore preserveth those things which by His word He promiseth to preserve : so that now indeed God himself doth preserve, who said that by His word He would preserve those that believe. The word, therefore, which God hath revealed unto us by His servants the pro- phets, and by His chosen Apostles, is not, neither is called the word of God as if the sound of syllables, words, and voices, are of their own nature the word of God; that very same, I mean, which, of His own substance, is the Son of God ; but because the revelation of the word was made from God in the Holy Ghost, through the word, or wis- dom of God. Wherefore, although the original be of God, and not of man; yet the words which the prophets and Apostles uttered are man's words ; neither can they do any- thing else but give signification : with the which, notwith- standing, I would not have the due force of the external word of God, to be lifted up above that which is meet and comely ; and those things imputed to the literal word which is proper to God. I acknowledge all those things which, with a sound understanding or judgment, are attri- buted to the word of God. But of this thing I have else- where discoursed more at large.
But now some will say ; — if by reciting the word of God, Sacraments are not sanctified or consecrated, from whence then have they this that they be, and are, called Sacraments or holy Signs ? Is the consecration vain, and of no force ? Surely vain and of no force is that consecration which the Papists have feigned. But of consecration, or true sanctifi- cation, I have spoken in the beginning of this chapter, which now I will set forth a little plainer and more abundantly. The holy scriptures when they make mention of holy things,
+ <J OK 8A«KA.MF.NTi*.
thfv use very often this Hebrew wonl, ;in,-;, which the (ireek inter|)reters commonly have translated by dyta(w ; the Latins bv fianrtifit'o, ronstrro, and initio. The use of this word ro.ichcth very far : for it Ritjnifioth to sanctify, to otfcr unto (Jod. to j)urify or cleanse, and to justify; also, to sever, or put apart, and to se[)arate ; to separate, (I mean), from profane use, and to dedicate them to holy things ; to call a thing by some name; to apply; and to appoint. Therefore we say that to coasecrate. in this place, is no other thing but to sanctify, to de<licate to (mmI. and. after a fashion, to separate, or of a tiling profane to make an holy thing. Hut who d(»etli tliis^ Or he which doeth it, by what means or instrument (I j)ray you) doeth he it? Who, I be«eoch you, consecrateth or holieth ? Is it (Jod, or i.s it man? V«rily God, and not man. I'or (iod instituting any thing, and testifvini; and (Ici'laring. by His word, what He hath instituted and to what end; of His own holy, just, and gotnl will; by His own only institution, (1 say) without any other mean. He consecrateth the thing which He himself hath already instituted. For as He is holy. just, and good, so whatso- ever He conunandeth is holy just and gtKKl. And man un- derstanding bv the word of (Iod, that (Jod hath instituted anv thing to a hnjv just aii<l good iLse, accepteth, receiveth, and useth that iastitution f(jr holy goo<l and just. Therefore man doth not, bv uttering certain words, con-secrate and make holy the institution. .\nd l)ecaiLSC he believeth that all the in.stitutions of (tod are holy and goml ; therefore he also ce- lebratoth this institution of God even as God hath ordained ; and giveth God thanks, depending altogether upon God, and the rule of the word. Of this manner of sanctification the Apostle, speaking in another certain place, saith, '• Now the Spirit speaketh e\-idently, that in the latter timt« there
UK SACKAMENTS.
shall arise deceivers, forbidding to marry ; and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe, and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be re- fused, if it be received with thanksgiving. For it is sancti- fied by the word of God and prayer." (1 Tim. iv. 1 — 5.) Lo ! he saith, " Meat is sanctified by the word of God and prayer." But the word of God is, in this place, (as Paul the Apostle expoimdeth it), a testimony of the scripture, and will of God ; whereby we are taught that all things which God hath made are exceeding good ; and that they are clean and not unclean which God hath created for to be eaten, and for our use. In the Acts, S. Peter heareth, '"Arise, Peter, slay and eat" : (for he saw in a vision before him all living creatures of the earth, and the air,) " Peter answered. Not so Lord ; for 1 have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean." — Therefore he heard again, " What God hath cleansed that call thou not common." (Acts x. 13—15.) But where, I pray you, did He make them clean ? When He made, and gave them for the use of man. To the word is annexed prayer, not a charming or an enchantment, but a faithful thanks- giving. For the Apostle more than once or twice maketh mention of thanksgiving, that by the general word, that is to say, prayer, no other thing might be understood than the special word, I mean thanksgiving. For prayer is, as man would say, to invocation, and giving of thanks, as the root to the branches. Therefore saith he, the meat is holy, be- cause God, who is good, hath made and appointed the same for the use of man ; and, also, because it is received of man with faith and thanksgiving. For meat is not holy and good to many men : not through any fault in the meat, which is always the good creature of God, but in them is the fault
4.^ OK SA«-UA.MK.\T!l.
wliich acknowledge nut by faith the benefits of God, or wtiich abuse thorn, and glut thonLselves contran- to the word of the liOrd. Kvcn so standetli the case with tlie matter of aaiicti- fication, which we must also apply to the Sacraments : God, of His own goml will, and for the commodity of men, or- fiained Sacraments. Me chose unto Him.self out of His good creatures, water, l)nad, and wine; and appointing them to some certain end, lie laid a platform, and conuiianded ils to use and celebrate them. Now, therefore, by the coiinn.indmtiit and choice of (um\, the water, bread, and wine, are con- secrated ; and IK* signeth them with His wonl, and divlareth that He will have them counted for Sacramento; and sheweth the niamur how He will have them celebrated. So tliat the consecration of Sacraments is made through the will, institution, choice, or commandment (»f (Jod, and seal of his word. NN'hen-fon^ water, bread, antl wine, itsed sifter a com- mon manner, or not so as they are cho.sen and iastituted of (iod. the word of (Jo<l is, a^ it wen.', .slandered; and they art> alt<»gether common and pnifane : but Ixing only usihI. acconiing to the chuiee. or cominan<hnent of GikI, holily ; and the word or sign In'ing added, they lx>gin to Ite Sacraments, which thev were not l>efore. The same sub- stance remaineth in them still which they had before : Itut they an" in.stituted to another end and use ; for they are .sealeil with the word and connnandment of (iod ; and, there- fore, are hallowed : whereuntt) may. also, l>e added their holy u.se, by a true faith .setting forth the lienefit of our redemption, and giving of tlianks. by faithful prayers, to our bojmtifnl Redeemer. To this purj>ose we may fetch e.vaniples of civil government, wherein some things, for certain new causes adjoined, ha\ing their substance remaining still, are now made that which U'fore thev were not. For silver and
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gold being not yet coined with the magistrate's mark, is notliing else but silver and gold. But if by the command- ment of the magistrate a new form be added by a print, it is made money, which it was not before, although it be the very same substance which it was before. Wax be- fore it be sealed, is common and usual wax ; but when, by the King''s will and commandment, that which is en- graven in the King's seal is printed in the wax, and is set to Evidences and Letters Patents, by and by it is so es- teemed that whoso shall deface the sealed Evidence is at- tached as guilty of treason. Whereby I trust you see plainly that the true sanctification or consecration of Sacraments, doth consist in the will, and institution of God ; in a cer- tain end, and holy use of the same, which are declared unto us in the word. Of the which, peradventure, I have spoken more at large than some may think needful : but the godly reader will pardon me this my tediousness, since my desire is to open all things faithfully, diligently, and at large.
Now that T have defended the lawful use of the word, and declared the virtue of it ; and opened unto you, as occasion served, the true sanctification or consecration of Sacraments, I \vill return to that where I left. And be- cause I taught that Sacraments consist in two parts, — the sign, and the thing signified ; it remaineth to show that those two parts retain their natures distinguished, not com- municating properties ; by declaration whereof, both to those things which go before, and to those which follow, yea, and to the whole substance of the Sacrament, a wonderful light, without doubt, shall appear. But of communicating of the names and terms, I will speak in their convenient place.
That each part retaineth their natures distinguished, without communicating or mingling of properties, it is to be 4
50
OK MAI'KAME.NTS.
seen lierehv. that many b<- jiartaki'iN nf tin- si^n. ami y«'t are barred from the thinj; sijrniHtHl. Mut if the natures of the parts were united or naturally knit together, it must needs be then that those which Ix- j)artakers of the sipns, must be {tartakers also of the thing sipnifieil. Ivvamples of scripture as they are ready, so are they evident. For Simon Maijiis, in the Acts of tin* AjH)stles, received tlu' siirn. ami was liaptiztil ; hut of the thing signified \u- liad not, neither received so nuich as one jot. And Judas Is- cariot, a cnicl and faithless traitor of His master, did likewise eat the lin-ad of thr L<.rd. Imt In- did not eat bread the I^)rd. otherwise he had livtnl happy, just, and blessed for ever: for, "he which eateth me" (saith the I^ord hims4'lf) "shall never <lie." Hut .ludas died everlast- ingly; therefore he did not eat that UxhI of life.
To these evident testimonies of scripture. 1 will now adtl. also, certain of Saint .Xugustine's jKTtaining to that pur|>o.se ; who, in his 2(^th Treatis*' u|>on .lohn. saith, " Wv receive this <lay vi.vilile meat ; Imt the Sacrament is one thing, and the virtue of the Sacniment is another. How many dt> receive of the things of the altar, and when they have received it do die ! Whereupon tl>e AjMistle saith, ' he eateth and drinketh his own damnation.' Was not the morsel i)oison, which the Loni gave unto Judas f And yet he receive<l it, and after he ha<l reoeive<l it the enemy entered into him ; not because tliat was e\'il which he received, but liecause he being e^ol, did receive that good thing unworthily." And immediately after he saith, " Tlie Sacrament of the thing, that is, of the knitting together of the body and Mood of Christ, Is received at the Lortl's table, of some unto life, of other some to destruction : but the thing it,self whereof it is a Sacrament, is received i»f all men unto life, of none
vACRAMFNTs
51
to destruction, whosoever shall be partakers thereof." And again he saith, " He which dwelleth not in Christ, nor Christ in him, without doubt he neither eateth His flesh, nor drinketh His blood spiritually ; although carnally, and visibly he chew with his teeth the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ ; but he doth rather eat and drink the Sa- crament of so great a thing to his own damnation." And so forth. He has the like words in his book De Civit. Dei, Lib. xxi. c. 25. And in his book De Doctr. Christ. Lib. III. c. 9, he showeth that "in the conjunction of natures there had need to be a distinction, lest we should stick too much upon the outward sign."
Now we come to the proofs of the scripture. The Apostle witnesseth in 1 Cor. x. " that all our fathers were baptized ; and did all eat of one spiritual meat ; and did all drink of one manner of spiritual drink ; but the Lord in many of them had no delight." Whereas if they had eaten that spiritual meat, and drunk that spiritual drink spiritually by faith, undoubtedly the Lord had de- lighted in them. " For without faith," as he himself saith, " it is impossible to please God :" (Heb. xi, 6.) therefore, with them that have faith, God is well pleased. Where- fore, our fathers truly were partakers of visible Sacraments, but they were destitute of invisible grace : whereby it fol- loweth, that the sign and the thing signified, do retain their natures, not confounded or mingled, but distinguished and separated. Besides this, the words of the Gospel have some affinity, or, at the least, some likeness, with sacra- mental signs. Otherwise the words are preferred far before tlie signs, the Apostle saying, " That he was sent to preach, and not to baptize." But many hear, with their outward eai's, the words of the Lord, who for all that, because
52 or HAl-RAMENTH.
they are void of faith, are also without tlu' inward fnut of the word ; Paul saying yet again, " For to us w:ls tho Gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word which they heard did not pmfit them, because it was not coupled with faith." (Heb. iv. 2.) For so it coineth to pass that many receive the visible Sacraments, and yet are not jwir- tAkers of the invisible grace which by faith only is reccivi-d. Whereupon, yet again, it foUoweth that the sign is not confoundiMl with tlie thing signified, but both of them do retain the substance and nature distinguished. What, and d(ttli not the scrijitun' expressly and pithily make a dif- ference IntwiHii the outwartl ministn.- (»f man. and (liMlthe inward Worker, and (Jiver of .spiritual gifts? I'or .lulni Baptist saith •• 1 bapti/..- you with water, but llr (Christ) shall liaptize you witli the Holy (ihost." (.Matth. iii. 11.) Wherewith agnt'th tloat saying of Peter. " Hapti.sm saveth us ; not the putting away of the tilth of the Hesh. but in that a gmxl concienee maketh request U> (Jod." (1 Pet. iii. 21.) To this. now. jHTtaineth that evident testimony of Saint Augu.stine, which Ls read Qmrtt. in Lerit. lih. n. qua-f. H'i, in these words: * W'o nmst diligently consider as often as He siiith • 1 the Lord «hich sanctify him,' tliat He speaketh of the prii>st : when He. also, sjiake this to Moses, 'and thou shalt sanctify bini." How, therefore, doth both Moses and God also sanctify f For Moses doth not sanctify for the Lord ; but Moses doth .sanctify in the visible Sacra- ments by his ministr) : and the Lord by invisible grace, bv His Holy Spirit ; where the wliole fruit of visible Sa- craments also is. For without this sanctification of invisible grace, w hat profit have we by visible Sacraments T Thus far Augustine. As John Baptist made di.stinction between his own mini.stry in bapti.sm, and the power of Christ ; even
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go inaketh he distinction between the ministry of preaching, and the drawing of the spiritual teacher. " I am" (saith he) " the voice of a crier in the wilderness : make straight the way of the Lord." (John i. 23.) And again " He that cometh from on high, is above all : he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth ; He that cometh from heaven is above all ; and what He hath seen and heard, that He testifieth, &c." (John iii. 31, 32.), Saint Paul, also, agreeing thereunto saith " Who is Paul ; what is ApoUos; but ministers by whom ye believed even as the Lord gave to every man ? I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So that neither is he that planteth anything, nor he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase." (1 Cor. iii. 5 — 7.) Albeit the compa- rison of ministers with the signs agree not altogether, and in every part, (which I told you before) because ministers are fellow-labourers with Christ according to their office ; but the signs which are without life are not so, unless Kor e^dx^P' we translate unto them that which is the mi- nisters : yet, by other proofs, I suppose it to be made plain that the sign, and thing signified, do retain their natures distinguished in the Sacraments.
These things do specially disprove, and con\ince those who are persuaded of that papistical transubstantiation of bread and wine into the substance of the body and blood of Christ. For these men utterly deny that the bread and wine being consecrated in the mysteries, do remain in their own sub- stances. For they contend, that the substances of bread and wine are annihilated, and turned into the very body and blood of the Lord ; so that, after the consecration, the accidents of bread and wine do remain, and no part of the substance thereof at all. For they say, that the Lord in express
54 OK ^v^RAM^:^^w.
words pronounceil over the bread and wine, " This is my bmly ; This is my l)lood ;'" and that the Lord can easily brinj^ to pass, by His own onmii)otency. that that which He said, niay Ik? as He siii<l. For protd" whereof, they allege these, and such like placis : that the Lord, fors<M)tli, fjisliione<l man out of the clay of the earth ; and by and by of the HI) of man, made woman ; and, also, turned Lot's wife into a jtillnr of salt : and therefore, tliat He, by the self-same His |M)wer, can make of bn»ad His Inxly. and of wine His bl(jod. And these, trulv. an* their bidwark.s. Hut we. in another pl.u-f, have |)lfiitirullv di.sjiut«><l of thr in«>anijii; of the Lord's words " This is mv iKnly f so that it is sujK'r- fluoiLs to make lonj^ n»|Htition «»f them. I Imve. alst>, told you that of the onmipotency of (Jod. ««• must not ^ther and determine wliat.soever cometh into our bniin : and. also. tliat (fod's |M>wer doeth nothing aj^ainst tnith. neither against itself; and that no ;ro<Ilv man ou(;ht to take that in han<i, under pretmcr of the |M»w»r of (mmI. which is repu^iumt to the plain s<Tiptuns, ;iiid tin- articles of the Catholic faith.
Now it is evidrnt and plain, that aftrr coii.st>«-nition there remaiiuth in the Sacraments, the sul)8tanee uf Imad and wine. .\nd herein we neeil n(i other witness than our ver)- .senses, which [)erceive, see, taste and feel, no other thing than broad and wine. Hut while clay was turned int<» a man's botly ; the rib into a woman ; and Ia)Vs wife into a pillar of .salt ; they were not, as the Sacrament of the Sup- |)er, that which they were Ix'fore ; neither did there ajij»ear unto the senses any jot of the clay, of the rib. of Lot's wife. Very foolishly, therefore, and unaptly are these exam- ples applied to the mystery- of the Lord's Sup|)er, where- with tliey nothing agree ; which thing, also, we touched l»efore.
OF SACRAMENTS. 55
The Gospel very diligently describing the most holy in- stitution of the Lord's Supper, and the manner thereof, maketh no mention of miraculous transubstantiation ; but calleth the bread and wine, which the Lord took and distributed to His disciples, and which they also received, by the names of bread and wine, as well after the words of consecration, (as they term it,) were spoken, as, also, before consecration. Doth not the Lord, in the twenty and sixth chapter of Matthew, call the wine, being consecrated, not wine only, but the fruit of the vine, after a more vehement and signi- ficative kind of speech ; lest any should be ignorant that the wine was wine indeed, and so remaineth? In Mark we read this of the cup, " And He took the cup ; and when He had given thanks, He gave to them, and they drank of it ; and He said unto them, ' This is my blood of the New Testament,"* fee." Lo they drank all (saith he) of the cup, before the words of consecration, (as they term it,) were spoken ; therefore they drank wine. Now, if so be they answer, that this place of the Evangelist, is to be expounded by the figure Hysteronproteron^ that is, when any thing is declared out of order preposterously, then admit they tropes and figures in the celebration of the supper ; which, not- withstanding, they have contended ought simply to be un- derstood without the help of tropes or figures. But Paul, also, the Apostle, in 1 Cor. x. calleth the bread of the Lord, being now in the very holy use, and, (that I may so say,) consecrated, by the name of bread ; and in 1 Cor. xi. the third time he calleth it " bread." To this appertaineth, that the Acts of the Apostles do testify, how that the churches of the Apostles do call the whole mystical action, " The breaking of bread," not " The breaking of His body, or distribution of His blood." It is manifest, therefore, that
56 OK SACRAMINTH.
the substance of bread and wine in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supjier, do remain in their own nature ; and that transubstantiation is a sophiHtical imagination.
Thia, also, is a sophistical and a notable papistical forj^ery, in that they say, tliat the bread and wine consecrated in the Sup|)er, is therefore calUvl of the AiM)stles, "bread and wine," because thev wen* Im-ad and wine Ix'fore. For that is now done which is read in Iv\o<lus vii. TJ. tn liavc Utii done in times past, when' Aantns pkI Is said to devour the enchanters' rods ; which, nevertluK'SH, thexo were not riKls, but seqx'nts : but now they are iiame<l hkLs, because they were rods l)efore they were so cliangiHl which now are ser- pents and not rods. IJut, a^in, who doth not see this ex- ample hath no similitude or likeness with the bread and wine of the Lord? I'i»r the rixl truly w:i« calliMl a rod: but, in the mean while, it w.xs, and seemed plainly to be, not now a nnl but a .s<r|K'nt. Hut the brea<l, is callinl bread ; neither doth it ap|)ear to l>e any thing else but bread : here is no form of tlesh seen, as was seen there the fonn of a ser|)ent. IJeside thi.s, the rod is Kiid to be turned into a seqx.'nt ; and is showed for a wonder or miracle : but ye shall read in no place tliat the bread was turned into flesh, by any miracle : but a Sacrament is iiwtituted which, indeed, loseth the name and nature of a Sacrament when the sulxstance of the sij^n l)eing annihilated and made void, nothing remaineth there but the thing signiHed. For that whiili tluy trifling sjiy of accidents miraculously .sub- sisting without their subject, and remaining instead of a sign, is to no purpose. If we should go about to Ijoast of our dreams for miracles, there will be nothing so ab- surd and foolish which we shall not colour with our fancies and lies. What if this word " tran.sul>stantiation," doth nia-
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nifestly prove, that this whole trifling toy is not fetched from the simple and plain doctrine of the Apostles, but from the subtle school of quarrelHng sophisters? But the Apostle Paul' giveth us in charge to beware both of philo- sophy, and strangeness of words; though, at this present, we do not only entreat of new words, but, also, of new mat- ter, and new doctrine, contrary, in all points, to the Apostles. For this doctrine of transubstantiation, is clean contrary both to the doctrine of the Apostles and Evangelists touching the true incarnation of our Lord, and the true nature and pro- perty of his human body ; and, also, the true raising up again of our bodies. For they are constrained to forge many things altogether miraculous ; as of the invisible body of Christ, and of the subtle body of Christ piercing, by His subtilty, through the gate, and the stone, — I mean that which covered His sepulchre : or the Lord''s very body being altogether, and at one time, in many places ; and fill- ing all things : and other innumerable which are of this stamp absurd and wicked. Now also John Scotus, a subtle Doctor, in his work Sentent. lib. iv, distinct. 11. qucest. 8, saith ; — That the article of transubstantiation is neither ex- pressed in the Creed of the Apostles, neither in those Creeds of the ancient fathers; but that it was brought in and in- vented of the church ; (so saith he, meaning the Romish church) under Innocentius the Third, in the Council of La- teran. Whereby we gather, that the doctrine of transubstan- tiation is of late time, and newly start up ; the history whereof we have elsewhere more largely compiled. But by this that I have said, I think it plainly and effectually enough declared, that the signs are not mingled with the tilings signified, or changed into them, but that each of them ' Col. ii. 18: 1 Tim. vi. 3—5.
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remain in their .severul iiaturt'8. But, albeit either of the parts \vithf)ut mixture do retain their own nature, yet those two apree in one Sacrament ; and Ix'inj; joined tct^'ether and not divided, do make one perfect, and lawful Sacrnment. For water al(»ne hotli privately and ordinarily sprinkled, in no Sacrament, unless it Ik' applied and usetl according to the institution of Christ. I'urifyinj;. al.s<t. or washing away of sins, and tin- enirraftint; or ri'oeiving into the league and fellowship of (iod and all saints, nf itself is no Sacnuneut. unless there Ik- also a sprinkling of water in th»' nanu* of the bl«4Ho«l 'i'rinitx. In like manner, it is no Sacniment if we eat bread in a eoinmon .assemlily. and drink wine of the .self-same cup after the counnon maimer: neither is it a Sacrnment if tbrnuirh a faitliHil remembnmce thou consider that the Lord's 1m»<1v was IntraM-d for tluH-, and His blood hhed for tliec. for the which, ako. tliou ^ivcst thanks; but HO far forth as they an- all mysteries of <mmI and our sal- vation, they are j^nerall> tenne<l Sacraments; that is, secret and spiritual mysteries of (itxl and our salvation. For, in a perfect and lawful Sacrament, there niust needs go tojrcther both the holy action cor|>on»l or sensible, and the spiritual ei'lebration thereof; for the which this sacnuiiciital action was invented and put in practice.
But here, some move many and divers questions touching tlie .sacmmental uniim ; whether it U- j»en4onaI, real, or ra- tional. I, lKX\iu.se I .stH' nothing; of this matter doubtfully delivered of the .VjM.stles. and. that the thing, being plain of itself, by such manner of .sophistications is made dark, doubt- ful, difficult, and okscure ; simply, and plainly .say. that the sign and the thing signified are joined together in the Sa- craments by God's institution : by faithful contemplation and use : to be short, in signification and likeness of the things.
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But I utterly deny that those two are naturally united to- gether, so that the sign in the Sacrament beginneth to be that which the thing signified in his own substance and nature : I deny that the thing signified is joined corporally with the sign, so that the sign remaineth still in his own substance and nature, and yet, nevertheless, in the mean time hath the thing signified corporally joined unto it ; that there- by whosoever is partaker of the sign, should be also by the sign, or with the sign, partaker of the thing itself. The reason why I do so constantly deny that, appeareth, I think, sufficiently by those examples which I have hitherto declared, and which hereafter shall be declared. Furthermore, I say that the sign and the thing signified, are coupled together by God's institution ; because He which instituted the Sacra- ment of Baptism and the Supper, instituted it not to this end, that with water we might wash away the filth of the body as the custom is to do by daily use of baths ; neither that we should take our fill of the bread and wine ; but that, under invisible signs, He might coimnend unto us the mys- teries of our redemption and His grace : and, to be short, of our salvation, by representing them to renew them, and by sealing them to confirm them. My saying is, that they are coupled together in a faithful contemplation, because they which partake the Sacraments religiously, do not fasten their eyes on sensible things only, but rather on things insensible, signified, and heavenly : so that the faithful have in them- selves both twain coupled together, which otherwise in the sign, or with the sign, are knitted together with no bond. For corporally, and sensibly, they receive the signs; but spiritually, they possess, comprehend, i-enew, and exercise the things signified. In signification and likeness of the things, I say, they are coupled together, because the sign is a token
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of the thiiii? signified : and unless signs liave likenesses with those things whereof thev are sigiLs, then could they be no signs. They have, therefore, most aj)t and very near aflR- nity iK'tween themselves. For. as water washeth away the filth of the body ; as bread and wine sati.sfieth and niaketh merry the heart of man ; even so by the grace of (iod the people of (iod are purifieil : even so tlie ImkIv and blood of the Lord which was given for us, being apprehended by faith, doth both s;itisfy, and make m»m the wluile man ; tliat he may yield him.self wliollv unto thank.sgiving, and oU-dient to (Jod-ward.
I would sjM'ak here more largely of the analog}-, or of the sign ami thing signifieil, but that 1 see I may do the same hcn-after in plaee more convenient. IJut I think I shall not Mcccl aiiv more plan-s out *<\' the scripture to o|H'n thes«' things mon* evidently ; since they f(»llow, of their own acc<»rd. u[H»n that wiiich we have hitherto, by testimo- nies of s<Tiptun'. confinninl. 'and will hen-after more at large confirm. Mort-over, in res|>e<*t of the likeness of tlie sign and the thing signified, the name of the one is given to the other; as 1 will prove by most evident testimonies of scripture. In (ienesis xvii. the Lord saith thus to Abraliam, " Thou slialt keep my covenant, therefore. lK)th thou, and thy si»ed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant which ye shall keep U-tween me and y«iu : Ever) man child among you shall l)e circumcised. Ve sliall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin ; and it shall be a token of the co- venant between me and you." The mouth of the Lord hath spoken this. Who will irainsav the word of God' The word of (iod calleth circumcision a covenant, therefore the name of the thing signified, is given to the sign. For in verv- deed circumcision is not the covenant itself, for the covenant is the bargain, and agreement between Gwl and
OP SACRAMENTS. Gl
men, which hath certain conditions and articles. Wherefore, afterwards, by interpretation, the same circumcision is called " A token of the covenant." And who will find fault with this interpretation of God ? The signs, therefore, yea God being the interpreter, take the names of the things signified. So you may read in the twelfth chapter of Exodus. " Ye shall eat the lamb in haste, for it is the Lord's Passover." Again, " And the blood shall be unto you a sign in the houses where you are, &;c." and again, " This day shall be unto you a remembrance, fee." What can be spoken more plainly than that the lamb is called the Passover ? But what is the proper meaning of the Passover ? Let us give ear to the Lord, here again expounding Himself and saying, — " I will pass through the land of Egyjit this same night, and will smite all the first-born of Egypt, from man to beast ; and when I shall see the blood (of the lamb) I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you." Behold, the Passover, God himself so interpreting it, is that passing over whereby the angel of God, passing over the house of the Israelites which were marked with the blood of the lamb, spared their first-born, and slew the first-born of the Egyptians. If thou art ignorant what, and what manner of lamb it was, listen again to the Lord instructing thee, and saying, — " In the tenth day of this month, every man take unto him a lamb according to the household, and let your lamb be without blemish, a male of a year old, which ye shall take out from among the sheep and from among the goats." And here the lamb is plainly called the Passover. And who doth not see that the lamb is not the Passover 1 Yet because it is a sign, or remembrance of the Passover, as the mouth of the Lord saith, sm*ely it taketh the name of the Passover, or passing-by. Again, you read in the nineteenth of Numbers, " Thus spake the Lord unto Moses : Speak unto the children of Israel, that
(;2 OF ."ArRAMENT.S.
they ljrin<^ tlioe a red cow without hleinish. Ami ye bluill gi\f her unt(j VAvazar, the priest, tliat he may brinj; her witliout the host, and caiL«k' her to be slain Ix-fore his face, and to Ix* burnt whole. And a man that is clean, sludl gather up the ashes of the cow, and lay them without the host in a clean place. And it .shall \)0 kept for the nmltitude of the children of Israel, for a water of separation (or sprinklin-^): for it is sin." Mark, a^ain, the manner of the B]Miaking of tlie scripturea. A heifer or cow- is sin: that is, a sacrifice for sin: as '* Chri.st is said to \>o made sin for us," that for (or by) sin. He might condemn sin; which is, that by the »me oblation of His IkmIv, He (mi^;ht| cleaas*' a?id purge us from sin'. Hitlierto, al«o, belongeth that wliich tilt' .\j>ostle, s|K?aking of sacrifices unto the Hebrews, saith, — " Hut in these sacritices there is mention made of sins every year; for it is not |»o.ssible tluit the blcMnl of bulls and goat.s should takf a\\;iy sins." (lldi, x. .*>, 4.) As often, therefore, as sacrifices, as heifers, goats, bulls, and bunks, are calk'd sanctifi- cations, chansings, or sins, the signs take the iiaujes of the things signified. For these were certain ty|>e« and figures of the priest which was to come, and of Christ u|M)n whom all our sias are laid : for He truly is " the I..ainb of God whieh taketh awa\ the sins of the world." (Zech. iii : Isai. liii : John i. 2i>.)
Now we are come, also, to the Sacraments of the New Testament, whose signs also bear the names of the things signified. For Peter saith, in the second of the Acts, " Let every one of you Ix* bapti.st-d in the name of Jesus Chri.st, for the remission of sins." And I'aul. also. in the Acts of the Apostles', heareth " Arise and Ix* baptised, and wash away thy sins by calling on the name of the Lord." Therefore, truly Baptism is called a cleansing, or washing away of sins. And Peter, also, elsewhere saith,
' 2 Cor. V. 21 : Rom. viii. :{. " AcU xxii. IG.
OF SACRAMENTS. 63
" Baptism saveth you ; not that thereby the filth of the flesh is put away, but in that a good conscience maketh request unto God." (1 Pet. iii. 21.) And Paul, also, saith ; — " Ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Cor. vi. 11.) Therefore, in due and right comparing of the places between themselves doth manifestly prove, that to the sign of baptism, which is water, is given the name of the thing signified. After the same manner is it to be seen in the institution of the Lord's Supper, or Eucharist. The bread is called the body of Christ, and the wine the blood of Christ, But since the right faith believeth that the true body of Christ, ascended out of this world, liveth, and is now in heaven ; and that the Lord returneth no more into this world until He come in the clouds of heaven to judge the quick, and the dead ; — every man understandeth that to the sign, to wit, bread and wine, the names of the things themselves, to wit, the body and blood of Christ, are given through the communicating of names.
Many other speeches used in the scripture, and in our daily talk, are not much unlike to the speeches used in the Sacrament. We read that Christ is, and is called, a Lion ; a Lamb ; a Shepherd ; a Vine ; a Door ; a Way ; a Ladder ; the Day ; the Light ; the Sun ; the Water ; the Bread ; a Spring ; and a Rock ' : which if, at this day, any should roughly urge, contending that Christ is a Lamb in- deed, a door in substance, a natural vine, or such like ; who, I pray you, could abide him so reasoning? We should hiss and drive out from among us such a one, as a madman and a perverter of God's oracles. We read, indeed, "And
- Rev. V. 5 : John i. 29 : x. 11 : xv. 1 : x. 7 : xiv. 6 : Luke i. 78 : John viii. 12 : Mai. iv. 2: John vii. .37: Rev. xxii. 17: John vi. 35 : 1 Cor. x. 4.
G4
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that rock was Christ ;'" in the nipan tiiiu' it is to be con- sidered what should follow, for if that rock really, and in verj' deed, ha<l l)een Christ, none of them that drank of that rock had been reprolmtes. For they are acc»j)tal>le unto (J(»d which are partakers of Christ. •• Hut in many of thcni that drank of the rock, the I.ord had no dtlicrht :" for they were .slain in the wildenu*ss. Therefore they which drank *>f tlir rock which was Chri.st, were not made j)ar- takcrs (»f Christ. Tlien-fore, the nn'k was not Christ rejilly, and in viry d«rd. \N <•, .-dso, seeing the standards «»f Kings, Princes, and Cities, we call the sigiLs by the luimes of the Kings, Princes, and Cities, for we say. 'This is the king of France' : ' This is the prince of (ieniiaiiy* ' This is Tiguro' : ' This is Jk'me.' So, if we s«'e the marriage ring, or the image of any prince, we call it the faith and tntth of wed- lock, or man and wife ; yea, and we say by the image, ' This is the Prince.' For matrons, showing their wedding ring say, ' This is niv husliajul* : when we show to any man the picture, or image of the Duke of Saxony, we say, ' This is the Duke <»f Saxony.' If any should go oljstinately to aflinn, that the sigii in very deed is the thing signified, lK'caus<» it U'an^th the name thereof, would not all men cr}- out that such a one were without wit or reason ; and that he were to be abhorred bv all means as an obstinate brawler! Those, therefore, that are skilful in the things, understand that tliat is and hath l)een Catholic, received of all nun, and, also, sound, which we .showwl even now at large ; to wit. that the signs do borrow the names of the things, and not turn into the things which they signify.
And, therefore, the ancient fathers moved no strife nor contentions al>out the Sacraments, as an* at this day among lis. For, as they did beautify the .signs with the names of
OK .SACRA >rK.VlS. U.J
the things signified, so did the}' acknowledge the kind of speech : neither did they roughly urge the words, as though the very signs were really and corporally that selfsame thing which they signified. Therefore, this canon or rule, is so often repeated, and beaten upon by Aurelius Augusti- nus : " that the signs do take, or borrow the names of things signified." By the same canon or ride, he worketh plain certain dark places ; of which thing we will now set down some testimonies. In his Ejnsf. 23, ad Bonifacium de parvulorum haptismate, he saith ; — "If Sacraments had not some likeness with those things whereof they are Sa- craments, no doubt they were no Sacraments : for of this likeness, for the most part, they take the names of the things themselves. As, also, the Apostle speaking of bap- tism saith, ' We are buried ^vith Christ by baptism into His death.' He doth not say we signify the bm-ial ; but he doth flatly say, ' We are buried."* Therefore he called the Sacrament of so great a thing, no otherwise than by the name of the self-same thing." And in Tract, super Johan. 63 : " When the unclean person is gone, all which remain are clean. Such a like thing shall there be when the world, being overcome of Cln-ist, shall pass away, and there shall no unclean person remain among the people of God : when the tares being separated from the wheat, the just shall shine like the Sun in the kingdom of their Father, The Lord foreseeing this would come to pass, and now witness- ing that it was signified when Judas fell away as tares se- parated, the holy Apostles remaining as wheat, He saith, 'Now is the Son of man glorified:' (John xiii. 31.), as if He had said, ' Behold what shall be when I am glorified, where there shall be no wicked person, and where no good man shall perish.'' For He saith not thus, ' Now is the
66 UK BAOKA.MFNTS.
glorilying of the Son of man signified ;' but He saith, ' Now is the Son of man glorified." As it is not said, ' The rock signified Christ ;' but ' The ntck wits Christ." Nei- ther is it said, ' The good seed signifieth the children of the kingdom ," but He saith, ' The good seed these are the children of the kingdom ; and the tares the children of the wcked." (Matth. xiii. 38.) As the scripture is, therefore, wont to s|K'ak. calling the things which signify as the things that are signifitKl, even so n\iakv the Lord, siiying, ' Now is the Son of man glorific<l.' After tliat wicked (Juilas) was s(>{)arated. ami His holy A[M«tIe« remaining with him. His jjlorification was signifitnl ; when, the wicked being dividinl. He shall remain etenially with the saints.'' Th(» sjune Aurelius Augastinas, in his i-'.pistle to Kucxlius. 102, saith, "The sound of a voice, and the Ixnlily shap(» of a dove, and cloven tongues like unto fire, which came upon every one of them, as those things in Mount Sinai which were done in a most fearful maimer : and as timt pillar of the chmd by day. and tliat pillar of fire by night, were ortlaine<l and set for .some o|)eration which they signi- fied. Herein we must sjKH-ially take heinl of this, that none be |)ersuaded or believe that the nature and sulwtance of the Father, or of the Son. or of the Holy (rhost is clumgeable, or may Ik* turned. Neither let any man l)e moved, for that sometime the thing which signifieth, taketli the name of that thing which it signifieth. The Iloi\ Ghost is .said to descend, and remain upon llitii in tiie bodily .shajK» of a dove; for so. al.so, is the rock of Christ, because it signifieth Christ."
By these examples alleged out of the scripture it is plain, that the signs do Iwrrow the names of the things, and not their natures and substances. Whereupon it is imdoubtediy
OK SACKAMEXT.-i. 6/
true that they err, as far as heayen is wide, whicli are per- suaded that the sacramental speeches are not to be expounded as figurative, and borrowed, but most properly and literally; so that by that means the water, bread, and wine, are not now signs, and tokens of regeneration, and of the body of Christ given, and of His blood shed for us; but regene- ration itself, and the very substantial body and blood of our Lord Jesus, For, being of this opinion, they are offensive unto the common manner both of speaking, and interpreting, used in all ages : they are also repugnant to true faith ; yea, and to common sense. Whereby it cometh to pass that by their confounding of the sign with the tiling signified, they bring in a servile weakness, and, that I may use S. Augustine's words, '• A carnal bondage."" For he, {De I)oct. Chr. Lib. in. c. 9.) entreating of the Sacraments of christians, saith; — " The Lord himself and the Apostles in their doctrine, have left us few things instead of many, and those most easy to be done, most reverend in understanding, and most pure in observing : as is baptism, and the celebration of the body and blood of the Lord. Which Sacraments every man when he receiveth, being instructed, acknowledgeth whereunto they are referred ; that we should not worsliip them with carnal servitude or bondage, but rather with spiritual freedom or liberty. And as to follow the letter, and to take the signs instead of the things which are signified by them, is a point of servile weakness : so to expound the signs unprofitably, is a point of evil wandering error.'** And yet he speaketh more plainly (c. 5). "First of all, you must beware lest you take a figurative speech according to the letter. For to this agreeth that which the Apostle saith ; — ' The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life\ For when that which is figuratively spoken, is taken as though it were spoken properly, it is carnally
C8 OK SArRAME.\T>.
uiiderstauded. Neither is there any thinj^ that may more agroealdy l)e tennetl tiie death of the soul, tlian when that wherein we excel beasts, which is understanding or know- ledge, is made subject to tlie Hesh hy following the letter. For he that foUoweth the letter understandeth words trans- lated or borrowed, as proper or natural ; neither doth he refer tliat which is signified by a projH.'r word to another signification : but if, (for an example,) he shall hear men- tion of the Sabbath, he understand«'th it no otherwise tlian as one day of the seven which, by continual course, come and \:;o. And when lie liean-th nicntion made of sa- crifice, it will not out of his hea<l, but that this meant of tliat which is wont to l)e done al)out otTering of U'asts, and fruits of the earth. To In- short : this is the miserable l>ondage of the soul, to take the signs for the things them- selves, and not to be able to lift up the eyes of the mind above the IxKlily cn'ature, for the obtaining of everljLsting life." Thus far Augustine. Hy these words of Augustine we do gather that they reverence the Sacraments by .spiritual liberty, which neither stick to the letter; neither worship and reverence the visible things and elements, as water, bread, and wine. — instead of the things signifie<l ; but being rather admonisheil and stirn'<i up by the signs, they are lifted up in their minds to l)ehold the things signified. This .same AugiLstine, in the same l>ook (c, 15.) teaching when, and after what manner, a trojx; or figure Is to \ie receive<I, or ac- knowledged, saitli, " In figurative speeches this manner of rule .shall be kej)!, that so long you view with diligent considera- tion what is read, until the interpretation come unto the rule of charity. Fi>r if it \jc not repugnant to iliarity think not tliat it is a figurative siK^ech." And yet more plainly he addeth in the lUth tliaptcr following; — -If it Ix; an
OF SACRAMENTS. 69
imperative speech, either forbidding any heinous offence, or wicked deed ; or commanding any profitable, or good deed ; it is no figurative speech. But if it command any wicked deed, or forbid any deed of charity, then it is figurative. ' Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you\ He seemeth to com- mand some horrible offence, or wicked deed ; therefore it is a figurative speech, 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. The scripture saith, ' If thine enemy hun- ger, feed him :' here no man doubteth but he commandeth well doing ; but that which folio weth ; — ' for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head', — a man would think that a wicked and evil deed were commanded : therefore doubt not but that is figuratively spoken." And so forth. All these things do convince their error which interpret sa- cramental speeches as proper, and reject all figures and tropes ; especially in the institution of the Supper. Never- theless, I am not ignorant what they set against this last testimony of Saint Augustine ; — that the words of our Sa- viour, in John vi, do make nothing to the interpretation of the ministration of the Sacrament ; and, therefore, that the place of Saint Augustine doth nothing agree to our purpose. But it is manifest that, in the same book. Saint Augustine disputeth of signs, and of the sacramental speeches. And that is manifest, also, by many other places out of Saint Augustine that he often allegeth these words of our Saviour out of John vi, to expound the celebration of the Supper. But why do they nothing pertain to the celebration of the Supper? Doth He speak of one body in the Supper, and of another in the sixth chapter of John ? Shall we believe that
'0
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tin- l^ord had. uiul liuth, two bodies' Our l^ord Jt'sus liatii but one body, the which a.s it profitetli nothing being eaten coqiorally, according to John vi, even so that IkkIv being corpondly eaten, doth nothing avail, according to St Mattli. xxvi. Hut this matter we have eLsewlicre Iiandled. Ami of its little force is this uasavory objtH'tion of theirs, which is, that the consequence is false when we argue thus; — circum- cision is the covenant; the Iamb is the I'ltssover; sacrifices are sins; and simctifications or i-leansings an- sacnunentid spci'ches mystical and figurative; thenfore, this also, ''This is my bo<ly," is a mvstical and tigunitivj' sjM-ech. For .since in Sacraments there is the like rtvisoii. why may we not frame arguments from the one to the other J .\n<l that Sacnunent« liavc the like n'a.son, it is receivinl of all them which ac- knowledge the truth aright, and it sliall l>e jin)ved hereafter to the full. Hut if it be nut lawful t»» rea.sou from the Sa- craments of the ()\<\ Testament, and by tliem, after a certain comitjirison. to interjiret ours ; and by ours to make them plain; trulv then the .\|>ostIe did not well. who. b\ a false cons<M|ueut by comjKirison. wf read to have argueil from their Sacranu'Uts into ours in I Cor. .\. and to the Coloss. ii.
Hut now we return to our puqHise. That we may yet at length make an end of thLs ])lace, — they arc sacramental and figurative siK-eches, when we read and hear tliat the bread is the body of Christ, and the wine the blcKxl of Chri.st ; and, that they do eat and drink the body and blood of Chri.st. which eat and drink the Sacrament of the l>ody and blood of the Lord: also, that they are purge<l from their sins, and regenerated into a new life, which are baptized in the name of Christ; and that baptism is the w;ishing away of our sins. And after this manner sjx'aketh the s<'ripture ; and this form of speech kept the old doctors of the church ;
OF SACRAMENTS.
71
whom, for so doing, none that is wise doth dispraise, nei- ther can one discommend any man which speaketh after this manner; so that he, also, abide in the same sincerity where- in it is manifest that those holy men of God did walk. For as they did willingly, and simply use those speeches ; so did they not roughly, and rigourously strain the letter and speeches. They did interpret them in such sort, that none was so unskilful but what he might understand that the signs were not the thing itself which they signified ; but that the signs do take the names of the things : therefore, they used words significatively, sacramentally, mystically, and figuratively.
Now whereas some will not have the sacramental speeches to be expounded, as though, being not expoimded, they were of more authority, majesty and worthiness ; this draweth after it a sore danger, and giveth a most grievous offence ; and is repugnant to the rule of the Apostles, to sound reason, and to the custom of them of old. For when these kind of speeches are set forth and uttered to the simple sort being not expounded, to wit, " That bread is the body of Christ. When thou drinkest the wine of the Lord, thou drinkest the very blood of the Lord, Baptism saveth us, fcc," what other thing, I pray you, is set forth than a snare of carnal bondage, and a most dangerous offence of idolatry ? Many words need not in this matter, since experience doth abundantly enough set forth in this place what hath been done, and what at this day is done.
The rule of the Apostles commandeth the divine Oracles to be expounded in the chiu-ch ; and to lay forth all the mysteries of the scripture, that they may be soundly un- derstanded as we may see in 1 Cor. xiv. And reason it- self teacheth us that the mind of man is little or nothing
72
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iiutvcd. if the tliin^rs tluMiist'lvi's he not uiulerstood. W liat fruit, therefore, Hhall tlie simple sort receive by the Sacra- ments unto whom the meaning of the Sacraments hatli not been openetl f Better, therefore, tWd the ancient Fathers, not only in expoundin*; all the mysteries of the kinijclom of (Jod,— and esjx-cially the Sacraments. — hut, in t<'achiii<4 also that they oujrht to Ixj expounded. W liicli. although it Ik? made plain eii«)ui;h hy those thiii^ which p) l>ef(»ri', yet will I add two examples out of Saint Augu.stine touching this matt( r. lie {/),• catachisandis rudibw, c. 6.) saith, • Let the new christian man Ik> taiitjht conceniinij the Sacraments, that they he visible sijrns of hea\(nly thinirs ; and that in- visible tiling are to Ix' lionounnl in them ; neither that the siijii. after it is l)lessed and sanctified, is so to h*- takm as it is daily iiM-d. It must, also, Ih- told liiiii \sli:it tli.it sjKcch si|rnifies which he heareth ; and what thin;; is ^iven in the sii^i where«»f it is a repn'.M'ntation. Moreover, u[)on this o<-ca.sion. hi> nuist Ik- taui;ht that if he hear anything, even in the s<Tiptures, that .souikUhI canmlly, although he imderstoiwl it not. yet tf» Ix-lieve that .s<»nu« spiritual tiling is signifie<l thereby, which iK'longeth to holy maiuK rs. and to the life to come." And it followeth. The same .\upis- tine, {De Dortr. Chr. Lib. i\. c. S.), doth utterly forbid the doctors and teachers of the church to think that they on^ht therefore to spc^ak oljHcurely of the mysteries of the s<Tipture, l)ecause they sec tliat these things are delivered somewhat intricately and darkly in the .scriptun' ; but he rather re(|uind liirlit anrl plainne.s.s in them. If any man «lesire to hear his words they are these: "If we fetch ex- amples of the manner of sjxaking out of the writings of onr canonical authors and Doctors, which are easily under- «-(oo«l ; vet we ouLjht not to think that wc should follow
OK SACKAMENTS, to
them also in those speeches wherein they have used a pro- fitable and wholesome obscurity to exercise, and as it were, to quicken the readers"" minds; and to take away loathsome- ness ; and to stir up the studies of the willing learners ; and, also, to make the minds of the wicked zealous, that they may either be turned to godliness, or else excluded from the mysteries. For so they spake that those which came after them and could understand, and rightly expound them, might reveal a second grace unlike to the former, but yet ensuing in the church of God. Therefore they which expound them, ought not so to speak as if they, by the like authority, would offer themselves to be ex- pounded ; but in all their kind of speeches, first let them labour chiefly and first of all, to be understanded, with as plain kind of speaking as they can, that he be very dull and slow witted which doth not understand ; or, at the least, let not the fault of the hardness and subtilty of the things which we go about to open and declare, be in our own speech, whereby that which we speak should be some- what longer in understanding." Thus far Augustine. And let this that I have hitherto said of sacramental speeches, be sufficient. The Lord be praised. Amen.
SERMON ir.
Th»t wc muit rcmson reverently of the Sacnunctiu : Th»t they do not gi»f gnce, ncithiT have ifx*ev included in thein. An*in, Whmt the virtue, and Uwful end, and uw of SatraincntA is. That they proKt not without faith. That they arr not nupcrfluouii to the faithful : and that tlity do not depend upon the wortliiniiks or unworthincM of the Minister.
^'tstikow (doarly l)eIovtHl) I told you what a Sacra- ment wa-s; who was thf Author of tlu'iii ; and for wliat cau.so Saoraincnt« were iastituttnl ; of wliat tiling they con- sist ; tliat is to say. of the si^n and the thin;^ bipiified. I told you, also, what a si;rn i.s, and wluit the thing sig- nifitnl ; and by what names they are tenned ; Imw they arc con.so<'rate<l ; that the si^ is not mini;le<l with the thinjr sitjnified ; hut that Intth of them remain in their own nature and projM'rty of nature: — tluit the .si^i is not taken away or miracuioiLsly turned; neither that the thing significil is so joinc<l with the same, tliat whosoever is |)artaker of the one, is partaker also of the other. To be short; — I declared how, and after what manner, the signs and the thing signi- fied arc coupled together to make a full, jK-rfect, and lawful Sacrament ; where, also, I intreate<l <»f sacnimcntal .sj>eeche8. Now, therefore, it rcniaineth that I. also, coitsequcntly speak of the nature, virtue, and efficacy of Sacraments; and of those things which are joined, and of affinity with them : for so the order which I used in my division requircth.
' The seventh .Scnnon of the fifth Decade.
OF SACRAMENTS, 75
Touching the virtue and nature of Sacraments, that is to say, what they work in man, writers have disputed diversely, and plentifully. It seemeth unto me that reverence must be used in this disputation; and that heed must be taken, that I do not incline either to the right hand or to the left: that is, that I do not attribute too much unto them to the derogating of the doctrine of the Evangelists and Apostles ; neither that I should diminish, or take from them, to my own damnation, that which the scriptm*e, the Avord of God, doth attribute unto them. But we shall plen- tifully give great praise and glory to the Ordinances of God, if we shall say that of them which the Spirit of God hath set down in the holy scriptures: to be willing to attribute more unto them, is not only an error in man, but a great fault, which bringeth death and a horrible destruction. This is declared unto us in the holy scripture by examples most worthy of remembrance. The Ark of the Covenant given by Moses to the people of Israel, was a witness of God's presence among the people, and of the league and friend- ship between God and man ; for in these words God made a league with the people " I will make my dwelling-place among them, and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people^." Of the ordinance and agreement, the Ark itself was called " The Lord of Hosts sitting between the Cherubims," as we may see 2 Sam. vi. and in the Book of the Chronicles^ It was also called " The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord*." For when the Prophets of God did attribute these things to the Sacrament of God, they both thought and spake plentifully and rever- ently enough of the Sacrament of God ; but when the ig-
- Levit. XX vi. II, 12. ^2 Sam. vi. 2 : 1 (jhron. xiii. fi.
' Numb. X. 33.
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norant and malicious Priests, and the i>eople corrupted In them, (Hd attribute far greater thinpjs to the Ark or Sacra- ment of (fod, what (I pray you) came to pjuss J (iive ear, first, what they attributed to the Ark; — ''The elders of Israel s^id, wherefore liath the Lord cast us down this day iK'fore the Philistines ? Let us fetch the Ark of the Cove- nant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, tluit when it cometh among us. it niav save us out of tlic hands of our enemies." ^'ou have heard what they attribut»'d to the Ark : Now give ear wluit they did. " So the jK'ople sent into Shiloh, and brought from thence the Ark of the Covenant of tin- Lord of Hosts which sitteth Ix'twet-n the Chenibims. And it iiinic to pass that when the Ark of the Covenant of tin- Lord came into the Host, all Israel shoute<l out a mighty shout, so that the earth rang again. And when the IMiili.stines heard the noiso of the shout, thev sjiid. 'uhat meaneth the noise of this mighty shout f And they underst(MMl that the Ark of the Lord was come int<» the host. .And the IMiilistines cried. 'Woe Ik- unto us. (iod is conu' into the host. Who shall deliver us out of the hands of those mighty (lods that smote the Eg}-])tians' C But hearki-n now what hapjK'ned, and how Oo<l did declare that the Ark was not God, as it was calletl and counte<l of the un.skilful in holy things; and how he punishe<l the sins »>f the people, l)ecau8e they attri- bute<l too nuich to the Sacrament. It followeth therefore: "And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten down, and fled ever}- man into his tent ; and there was an ex- ceeding great slaughter, for there were overtlu-own of l.srael thirty thousand foot-men, Ix-sides tliat also, the Ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli were slain." All these things arc read in the first Book of Samuel, the fourth chapter. Again, when the Sacrament of (Jod was unrever-
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ently handled of the swinish PhiHstines, they were smitten with a loathsome and deadly plague. They did boast that their gods and the religion of the Philistines, had overcome the God and the religion of the Israelites ; but the gods of the Philistines fell down and are broken in pieces, and their heathenish religion is confounded'. What and did not the Israehtes perish with a more grievous plague than be- fore, when they lightly handled and contrary to the law of God, (Numb. iv. 15.) looked into the Sacrament brought back by the Philistines into Bethshemesh ? " For the Lord smote fifty thousand and three score and ten men.'' (1 Sam. vi. 19.) When Moses did negligently defer the circumcising of his children, he fell into great danger % The Sichemites for receiving circumcision rashly were destroyed^. And Simeon and Levi, " for prophaning the Sacrament are cursed of their Father." (Gen. xlix.) To this that agreeth which the Apostle saith of them wliich celebrateth the Supper unworthily. " For this cause many are weak and sick among you and many sleep." (1 Cor. xi. 80.) Hitherto, also, belongeth the example of Uzzah, a man not altogether evil, which touched this same Sacrament that was not lawful for him to do. Wherefore the Lord struck him with a sudden death, and that not privately in the tabernacle, but in the sight of all the peo- ple\ Of the which deed of God, David also speaking in the congregation and church of the Israelites saith to the Levites : " The Lord hath chosen the Levites to bear the Ark of the Lord" (and not that kine shall draw it in a new cart) "therefore see that ye be holy, that ye may bring in the Ark of the Lord God of Israel unto the place which I have prepared for it. For because ye did not this at the
' 1 Sam. V. - Exod. iv. 24. ^ (Jen. xxxiv. 24, 25.
^ 2 Sam. vi. fi, 7-
78 u» riA(K\.MKMS.
lii-st, our Lurd ( iotl liatli made a rent among us, lor that we sought him not as the fashion ought to lx'."\..Anil it followeth immediately, '"The Priests and Levites siuutitied themselves to fetch the Ark of the Lord (Jo<l of Isniel. Ami the children and Levites hare tlu' Ark of (i(u\ upon their shoulders with staves as Mos4s commanded according to the word of the Lord." All thes«' things are to Ik- seen in the first of the Chronicles, chap. xv. Whereby we gather that the Lord will none of our good meanings or intents, and |>omj>ous eelehrations in celebrating the Sacnunents : but that He only refjuireth that we nhould .so judge and .sj»eak of the Sacraments, as He judgeth and sj»eaketh by His word; and that we should so use and celebnite them, as He hims«lf hath institute*! and celebrateil them. Therefore he .sufficiently setteth forth the dignity of Sacrament.s, who attributeth that unto them, which (io<l himself, in the holy soripture.H, vouch.safeth to give them.
Ix't us therefoH'. first «»f all, search out of \shat dig- nity Sacrament.s ha\e l)een. for the m<»st |»art, in our time; tliat thereby ue may the In'tter understand what is to l>e attribute<K and what is not to 1h» attributed unto them. The common sort of Priests and Monks luive taught, that the Sacraments of the new I^iw arc^ not «»nly siijii.s of gnice, but togethir, also, cau.ses of grace; that is, which have jMjwer to give grace. For they .say, that they are as in- struments, pi|)es, and certain conduits of Christ's {lassion, by which the grace of Christ is conveyed and |xnired into iLs: but that the signs of the Old Testament, given to the Fathers, were signs only, and not causes of grace also ; which have force to signify, but not to give grace. They siK»m trulv to have sucked that error out of St Augu.stine's words wrongfully understood : for he writcth u|)on the 73rd
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Psalm thus : " The Sacraments of the new Law are more wholesome and happy than they of the old Law, because they promise, these give," But Saint Augustine meant to say no other tiling than that which, in another place, he speaketh after this manner. " The Sacrament of the old Law did foreshow that Christ should come, but ours do show that He is come," For also against Faustus (Lib. xix. e. 14.) he calleth the Sacraments of the old Law " Promises of things to be performed ; but our Sacraments tokens of things that are already performed." Wherefore, upon the 73rd Psalm he saith : " The Sacraments of the old Law are given to signify the very thing; but om-s do witness that it is given, and signifieth that it is present." I confess that he saith more than once, that our Sacraments ai-e more com- fortable and effectual : but he said that by no other rea- son than for that the Messias being already revealed, and given unto us in the New Testament, our Sacraments are more perfect, more lightsome, and more beautiful : for Christ hath brought all signs to an end ; wherefore ours have a more full signification, and, after a sort, are the more lively. But if Augustine had been altogether of that opinion which these men do favour and follow, w'ould not godliness itself persuade us to forsake the authority of men, and cleave to the word of truth ?
Let us see, therefore, what may be gathered out of the word of truth, that is, out of the canonical scriptm-es, touch- ing the likeness and difference of the Sacraments of the Old and New Testament, This we hold for a certainty out of the scriptures that there is but one everlasting and un- changeable God and Lord of either church ; that there is but one way laid down in either church to attain to the promises of salvation : to be short, — that there is but one
80 'M SA( KA.MKM--.
churcli of the only living (jod, gathLTed toirt-tliur out ul either people, Iwth of the Jews and (Jentiles. I think tliere necdeth no large continnation of tluso things out of the scripture; l)ecause, in the eighth Dirade and third Sennon, I have handled them at the full.
Now that I liave fortified and ('(»nfinned these things before by the writings «»f the Apostles, thus I conclude, not of mine own brain, but by the authority of Got! : Tliey which always have one everlasting, and uncliangeable (tod; one \\'A\ of salvation set forth for all in Christ from the l)eginning ; onr faith; one church; one liaptisni ; the same spiritual meat and drink ; — they cannot c1hm>s«- but have the self-s;ime Sacraments as touching tlieir substance. Hut the Jews and (liristians have one (jod, one faith, one way of salvation (whirh is) by Christ; to 1h> short, one churcli; — therefore have they also, the s<'lf-saine Sacraments, saving tlmt ours are givt'U under other signs; an«l for that through the revelation of the Sun <»f righteousness (I mean) Christ, an' made more lightsome and manifest. 1 say, further, that the scripture witnes.s4'th that the Sacraments of the Old 'r»*s- tanient and ours, an- of the same force; insomuch that Paul calleth them circumci.sed which are baptized, and them Kiptizeil which are circumci-stni. And he, also, teacheth, *• That our l-'athrrs <lid eat that spiritual meat uhieh we eat, and drank «»f that spiritual drink," that is, "the Hock." But anon he addeth. "and that Koi'k was Chri.st." The words of the AjKistle are well known and are read in 1 Cor. .\. The same Apostle in the .second chapter to the Colossians saith "In Christ ye are complete," (or ma<le per- fect) " in whom also ye are circumci.sed with circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, subject to sin by the circumci.sion of Christ ; buried with
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Him in Baptism, &c." What, I pray you, can be spoken more plainly ? " Circumcision made without hands" is the circumcision of christians, which is Baptism. But in the former place of Paul to the Corinthians, we must mark (as elsewhere I put you in mind) that to be " baptized into Moses," is not the same that it is to be baptized into Christ. For to ])e baptized into Moses, is all one as if ha had said, to be " baptized by Moses," or " through the ministry of Moses" : for it is manifest that Moses brought the people to God which were only committed to his charge.
In many places in Augustine ye shall read the like, how- soever om* adversaries do father upon Augustine this differ- ence between the Sacraments of the old law and ours, of their own bringing in: for he (Cont. literas Petil. Lib. ii, c. 27.) saith, " The Sacraments of the Jews were in outward tokens diverse from ours ; but in the things signified they were equal and all one." Also {Tract, in Joan. 26.) upon this place, " He is the Bread which came down from heaven." he saith, " Manna did signify this Bread : the Altar of God signified this Bread. Those were Sacraments. In signs they are diverse, but in the thing signified equal." The like words thou mayest read Contra Faustum Manichwum., Lib. xix. c. 13, 16, 17. And again {Tract, in Joan. 45.) " Before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when He came basely in the flesh there were just and righteous men, who did so be- lieve in Him then that was to come, as we do believe in Him now that is come. The times were changed, but so was not faith." And so forth. And anon, " In diverse signs is all one faith, so in diverse signs as in diverse \\'ords ; because words change their sounds by times, and truly words are nothing but signs. For in that they signify, they are words ; take away the signification from the word, and it is 6
82 <»K SACUAMKNTS.
a vain noise. 'rhon-furo all wonls an- sij^niticatioiis. hul not these that niinistfn-rl those simis in the did Laxs. Iw- lievc those thin^ which wo now Ix'lieve were pnnthesied before, and by them i No doubt they did l)elievi' them : but they believed they should come ; and wf, that tin y are come.'" Also uj)on the 77th Psalm, " The siune nu'at and drink (saith he) had they in the Sacraments which we have in ours ; hut in signification the same, not in likeness. Kor the self-same (Christ was tij^ired to them in the rrn-k, but manifested to us in the flesh. JJut with them all. <i<h1 was not well plea.sed. All verily did eat one spiritual meat, and drank one spiritual drink ; that is, which signifie«l some spiritual tiling: but iu all of them <i(m1 had no delight. And whereas the Sacnunents were conmion to all. y«'t gnice was not connnon to all which is the pith of the Sacniments. As even now at this day faith is n-vcaled, which then w.xs hid ; the fountain <»f regeneration is connncm to all which are l(aptize<l in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy (ihost ; but the inward grace whereof they are Sacraments, whereby the members of <'hri.st with their Head are lK)m anew, is not common to all." Thus far Au- gustine : who teacheth that their Signs, or Sacraments are not imtH^tial or unlike, which have the same faith and re- ligion ; but that all the difference tliat i.s, resteth in tin- diversity of the time : otherwise they differ not.
Now that I have made an end of the similitude and difference of the .Sacraments of the < Hd and New Testament, and that by occasion of a received opinion tliat the Sacra^ ments of the new Law do confer, or give grace of themselves; let us. also, consider what manner of thing the same is. And, first, touching the word ' firace." I will give you these few things to note. Grace is the favmir and good-
OF SACRAMENTS. 83
will of God, wherewith (led the Father embraceth us for Christ's sake; purifieth, justifieth, and endueth us with His good gifts, and saveth us. For the writings of the Apostles do plainly call that " Grace" whereby we are saved, and justified, or made righteous by faith in Jesus Chi-ist. Of this grace it is written, " I make not the grace of God of no effect : for if righteousness come by the Law, then Christ died in vain." (Gal. ii. 21.) Of this grace it is written, " Christ unto us is become unprofitable, as many as are justified by the Law are fallen from grace." (Gal. v. 4.) Of this grace it is written, "If it come of grace, then is it not of works, for else grace now is no more grace." (Rom. xi. 6.) What, is not the Son of God himself called " The Grace and Gift of God T (John iv. 10 : Titus ii. 11.) Now to confer grace, what is it else than to give, or frankly, and freely to bestow something on a man which he had not before? Therefore, if the Sacraments do give grace to the receivers of them, then truly they give those things which they signify, to them which had them not; I mean Christ with all His gifts : that is to say, they make them plea- sant, and acceptable unto God ; they justify and save ; yea, and that of themselves, insomuch as they are said to have received virtue to sanctify from the passion of Christ ; and not to signify only, or to help, to commend, or to further. Yea, and they, also, attribute the receiving of grace to our work whereby we receive the Sacrament. But how contrary this doctrine is to the truth of holy Prophets and Apostles, I will now declare.
It was an old error among the Jews, that Sacraments did justify. Hereof cometh it, that the holy Prophets of God reasoning, and rebuking the people of God committed to their charge, yet savouring of false opinions, cried, that
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UK «AIH\MKNTS
their labour which thcv In'stowed iijK)n thrir i-crciixinirs ami sacrifices was in vain: and that (m»<1 is dili«;htc(i with faith- ful obodiencc' : with faith, I say, cliarity, innoccncy, and also with true podlinoss. Atnonjj whotn Jcroniiah saith. 'Thus sayeth the Lord «.f Hosts, the C'tu] of Israel, heap up your burnt offcrin^js with your sacrifices, and eat the tiesh : for when I broufht vou out of K;r>pt. 1 spake n«> word unto thi'in uf Imriit otferiiitrs and s;icrilices : Imf this I coiinnanded them, sayinj; : Hearken and oln'y my voice, and I will Ih' your (ok!, wt that ye walk in all the ways which I have coinmande<l y(»u. that yr mny pro.s|K'r." (.ler. vii. '21 — :i.").) The like place is in is;»iah the first ('ha|»ter. The Lord hath not d«'sj>is<'<l neither have His holy Prophets contemne»l all sacrifices in general, since He hims<-lf in- stituted them by Moses ; but they sought to suppress, and l>eat down that false opinion, and vain confidence which thev had in Kicrificj-s. It is a vain confi<lence. and a false ojtinion (to U'lieve and think) that sacrificj-s of them- selves, and for «iur works" siike. do make us acceptable unto 0ml; for faith maketh us acceptable unto (J«mI by the Mes.sias. And, therefore, the L«»rd <lid not in.stitute Sa- craments or Sacrifices, that, lx?inj^ offered, they mi;rht jjive prace, or justify us; but to l)e witnesses of the prace of (ro<l; and that by them His people mipht be kept, and drawn in due onler from idols, and heathenish worshipj>inps, and led to Christ the High Priest and only Sacrifice (or Oblation) ft>r the whole world. For tliey were certain mIiooI- ings or exercises, as Paul proveth, saying : " The Law was our schoolmaster unto Christ, that we should Im' justified throucjh faith : l)ut after that faith is come, we are no longer
' Isaj. i. 11—14: Jcr. vi. 20: Am-w v. 21, 22: F»alni i. 2.» : i i. IT.. IJ: Mic. vi. 8.
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under a schoolniaster." (Gal. iii. 24, 25.) Therefore the sacrifices of the old Law did not give grace to them that sacrificed ; neith.er wrought they their justification ; but were tokens and testimonies that God doth sanctify and justify by, and through, the Sacrifice appointed before all worlds, the Messias, I mean : to faith in whom they did, as it were a certain schoolmaster, by guiding us, bring us.
And truly, when the Apostles preached the pure and sound doctrine of the Gospel, — that by the only grace of God in Christ the faithful are saved, — this ancient error of their elders had taken such deep root in the minds of the Jews, that even they which had received Christ, stood, neverthe- less, in contention, that Christ was not able fully to sanctify and justify, without the help of the Jewish sacrifices. Against whom the Apostles, disputing with great gravity and invincible power of the Spirit, did plainly prove, that a christian without any observations of the ceremonial law, or help of any works, even by the only mere and free grace and mercy of God in Christ, is sanctified, purified, justified, and saved. Which undoubtedly is the helm, (as commonly is said) and stern of the Evangelists"' and Apostles' doctrine ; which whoso denieth he hath no part, doubtless, in the in- heritance of Christ and his Gospel. Neither is it obscure or doubtful which, even now, I have set forth in these few words. For who is ignorant of that memorable dissension between the chief Apostles of Christ, Paul and Barnabas, kindled against those which taught, " Except the christians were circumcised after the manner of Moses they could in no-wise be saved?" Against whom Peter maketh this con- clusion, " That our hearts are purified by faith, and that we which believe shall be saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Acts XV. 1, 9, 11.)
8fi or HACRAMKXTU
Tnii' it i.s tliat tlie adversaries would brin^ back a^in that wliicli the A|M)stli'.s abn)^'ate<l, and took away: hut in the me.in while, this is alsi) undouhtedly true, — that the Ai)OstIe8 with no other forcible engine more strongly bat- tere<l, (as it were) and U-at down more flat to the ground, their adversaries' bulwark, in defence of Sacraments that purify than with this, "That we which U^lieve shall \>v saved bv tlie grace of «)ur l.<)ril Jesus Christ." And wlnnas in ever)- place almost thry add, " Not by tlu- Law. not by ceremonies, or other ritiuti ol»servance.s," do we think that tluv will admit Sacraments to the partaking of such power and virtue, seeing they Ik- coniprehende<l under rites and cere- monies, and Ko accountetl .' Christian faith doth attribute the grace of (J<k1. remission of sins, sanctiHcation, ami justification. fully and wholly to tliu fn-e mercy of (io<l, and to tlu- nurit of ('hrist's pasHion ; yea, in such stirt doth chri.stian faith attri- bute thes«> sjKrial iK-nefits unto it, tliat Inside it nothing at all is admitted to taki' jiart with it. Tlunfore whenas Lom- bard {Sent. i\. (liiit.^.) s.iilh. 'that Sacrainmt.s have ncciveil power to confer or giv<' grace by the merit of th«' pa.ssi<»n of Christ" it is of his own forging. For as Christ giveth not His glor)' to any, either saint or mortal man, nmch less to a creature without life : even so he that l)elieveth to Ik* fully ju.stified by the death and resurrection of the Lord, seeketh no further grace and righteousness in any other thing, than in Chri.st only; u|)on whom he stayeth ; whom, also, bv faitii, he feeleth in his ht-art or mind already to exercise His force, by the Holy Ghost. For hereunto |>ertain those things in the Gosjxil " Go in peace, thy faith hath .saved thee.'" (Luke vii. 50.) And also "He which drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but wha«*oever shall (b-ink of that water which I shall give him shall never thirst, &:c." (John
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iv. 13, 14.) To this pertaineth the saying of Paul also, " Therefore being justified by faith, we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we had an entrance by faith unto this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of Grod," (Eom. v. 1, 2.)
I am not ignorant of the crafty sleights of some, who imagine there is a certain general, and also a special faith. The general fai'h, they call that whereby we believe that we are truly justified by the death and resurrection of Christ : but that they call a special faith, whereby we believe that by the Sacraments, and by our own works, the gifts of God are applied particularly to every one of us one by one. But to what purpose was it, being in a land where they might be fed with manna, to look back to the pottage pots, and unsavoury leeks of Egypt ? What, (I pray you) have christ- ians to do with the distinctions of subtile sophisters I Or how will they prove this distinction of theirs imto us? Verily there is but one faith ; and the same is no other in the use of the Sacraments tlian it is without the use of them. Without the use of them we believe that we are sanctified by the death and resurrection of Christ. In Baptism and the Lord's Supper, we practice no other faith than [that] whereby we believe, that we are purged from our sins by the grace and mercy of Christ ; and that by His body given for us, and His blood shed for us, we are redeemed from death, and become heirs of eternal life. Not the Sacraments, but faith through the Holy Ghost, applieth these things unto us: which thing all the writings of the Apostles do witness, but such feigned glosses do obscure and darken. To be short : there is one God and Saviour of all ; one salvation ; one redemption and purging; one faith whereby we receive sal- vation offered unto us of God, in Christ, through the Holy
88
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Ghost. The same is Jeelartxl, or prejiohetl unto us in the word, l)y the minister; and is represented, ami seaUd liy the .'sacraments.
And now, who know»>th not what I'aiil the A]Mi>tl<' in all his writinj^ only lalMniri'th to jtrovc. that those that Ik?- licve are ju.stiH«'d hv faith, in tlu' Lord Jesus, and not hy any works f Airain, who is ijrnorant that the reeeivini^ and celebration of Sacraments, are also counte<l among our works ? Whereunto I will add this,— that .*<aeniinent« ^ve n«)t that whieh thrv havi- not thein.>*i'lvrs : hut they have not j^raee, and righteousness, and hf.nmly jrift« ; — therctore tin-y do not give them.
Hut henee sprini^'cth uj» anotlur di-sputation for us t<» handle; — whether the ^nue of (Jod, and a certain heavenly {K)wer, Ix' put in, or included in the Sacniments ; and, jls it were, contaiiUMl in th« in ; so th.it from th»nj it niiudit he conveved into the ni-eivers i The whole nii>hle of IViests and Monk.H, as well in word a-s in deiil, have Ix'wrayi'd them- selves that they think,— that in the l»are signs there i» hea- venly grace includinl ; yea, and that (mhI him.self is com- pri'hended in them. Ft>r fnim no other fountain sprang their careful disputations concerning " What the mou.se eateth, when it eateth the Sacrament of the Ixxly of Christ." Pope Innocent, (Myst^r. Ecanqel. L^ms, &:c.. Lib. iv. c. 11.), .s;iith " Miraculously doth the substance of bread n-tum ag;iin : not that bread whieh was tunu'cl into Hesh ; but it conieth to pa.ss. that in>teail of it other bre.id is niiniculously ertated, which bread is eaten, \c." liehold here is certain witty and miraculous kind of divinity. I jjass over, f>f purjMise, many other which are of this kind. Add hereunto, that by crossings, and certain secret words, gestures, and breathings, they consecrate the water of liaptism ; all which things they
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beautify with the name of blessing. And {Ad Benedic. Foiitis) among other tilings they sing thus : " God by the secret mixtm-e of his light make fruitful this water prepared to rege- nerate men withal ; that being sanctified, and born again of the immaculate womb of the heavenly fountain, it may come forth a new creature. Let this holy, and innocent creature be free from all the assaults of the adversary. Let him not entrap it in his snare. Let it become a living fountain, a regene- rating water, a purifying river; that all that are dipped in this wholesome laver, the Holy Ghost v^^orking in them, they may attain to the excellency of perfect purification. Where- fore, 0 thou creature of water, I bless (or conjure) thee, by the living God ; by the true God ; by the holy God ; by the God which in the beginning separated thee by His word from the dry land, fce." Again, breathing thrice on the water he forthwith utteretli these words, " Thou, 0 Lord, bless with thy word these waters which make request unto Thee ; that beside their natural cleanness, which in washing they may give to our bodies, they may also be effectual to purify our souls." Then the Priest taketh a burning wax candle, and putteth it tlii-ice in the water consecrated to Baptism, saying : " Let the power of The Holy Ghost come down into this plentiful fountain." He addeth, " And let it make the whole substance of this water fruitful with the fruit of regeneration." And so forth. All these things they understand and expound to be spoken simph', and without tropes or figures ; which evidently enough declareth what these men attribute to holy or consecrated water ; and how they tliink that in the signs the holy things themselves are contained. About this matter Bonaventura hath wonderfully busied himself, who in his wTiting {In lib. \\. Magistr% distinct. 1, quest. 3,) among other things at the length saith, " ^Ve
90 OK SArUAMKMH.
must not >viy. b) any UK-ans, that ^ruvv is containtMl sult- stantially in the Sjicrameiits. ;us water in a visscl, or :is a imnlicinc in a 1m)X ; yea, to un<Krst;u)(l it so it is erroneoUK. Hut thoy arc said to contain j^nioo in that they sitrnify \rmvv ; and l)ccaas(>, unltss there lie a want on the part of the receiver, jrnice is always ^iven in them ; ho tluit ye nuist understand that jrnice is in the soul, and not in the visihle sicriis. For this cause they arc called also VcHsels of (J race. They may 1h« also calle<l vcsiHeLs after another manner; Urause as that which is in a vchhcI is no i«irt of it. neither cometh of it, and yet. nevertheK'Ks, is dmwn out of it : so ^^ce cometh neither of. nr)r hv. the Sacraments, hut spriiiijeth from the eternal I-'ountain ; and is dniwn out from thence by the soul in the Sacraments. And as a man when he would have licjuor. j;«K'th straij^ht t»» tin* vi*s.sel, so he that Boekcth after the liquor of prace, and hath it not, nmst have nvourse to the SacnunentH." TIuls far Monaveiituni. who riirhtly n'fern><l irnice unto (.mhI. the fountain of all go<Kl thinirs. 1 would In- liad als4» more pun-ly and simply m't down the re^t. lit- al.s4i Hai<i truly, that the S4»ul of man was the seat and re<T|»taclc of j^ce, and of the pift.s of (mmI; and not thinp* without seitse. For the lufly s<'ri|)ture teacheth every wlu're, that the mind of man. not aiiv clement, or whats<»ever is forj^cd liy man^ (K-sire, is a mansion place of the prace of (kkI; and that it Is not to Ik- sout^ht for, or worshipped, as include<l in J any insensible thing."; '* If the heaven of heavens (saith Solomon) l)e not al)le to contain Thee, how should then this house do it that 1 have huilded J" (1 Kinjp viii. 27.) When-unto the most constant mart>T of Christ Stephen alludinpj, saith '* lie that is highest of all dwelleth not in the temples made with hands, as saith the propjiet : Hea-
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veil is my seat, and the earth is my foot-stool, what house will ye build for Me saith the Lord, or which is the place of my rest ? Hath not my hand made all these things V (Acts vii. 48—50.) Which that great Apostle of Christ, Paul following, saith, " God that made the world, and all that are in it, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed of anything, seeing He himself giveth to all life and breath and all things, &c." (Acts xvii. 24, 25.) Whereupon Christ himself, in the Gospel, speaketh more expressly, " The hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, neither at Jerusalem wor- ship the Father ; but the hour cometh and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth." (John iv. 23, 24.) The faithful, therefore, do hft up the eyes of their mind from earthly and visible things unto hea- venly ; whereupon our godly forefathers, when they celebrated the Lord's Supper, heard that saying repeated or sung unto them most agreeable to such holy mysteries : " Lift up your hearts ;" all the people answered together — " We lift them up unto the Lord." Doth not the very gross absurdity of the thing plainly prove that grace is not contained in the signs ? For if by grace you understand the favour and good- will of God ; if pardon and forgiveness of sin ; cleansing, I say, and justifying of the believers : if, finally, the gifts and graces of the Spirit, — what, I pray you, can be imagined more absurd, and senseless, than that such excellent things should be kept inclosed in water, bread, and wine ? The signs, truly, have no need of grace, nor any pardon and for- giveness of sins. To what purpose, then, should grace be contained within Sacraments ? What profit, I pray you, will redound unto men? Or, who knoweth not that all the in-
f)2
iACUAMKM*.
stitutions of (Jod wore ortlaiiieil i«)r the nmiintKlitv of man.' Or, shall we sjiy that grace is therefore ke|)t inchided with- in the Sacraments, that from thence it niiirlit l)e conveyed unto US by channels '. Hut the scriptinx' s|)eaUeth not after that manner. For i^jce, as hath lKH.*n often now re|)eate<l, is the favour and ^xkI will of (io<l; wherelty He himself, not hy sensilde matters, hut of I lis own accord, and through His power an<l iiiiLjht, is l»roui;ht unto us. Thc^e things are spiritual, and. therefon', an- hntught to jkuss hv tlu- gift and me<liation «tf the Holy (Jhost. (hmI is joined unto us liy His Spirit, and \\r an- coupltnl to Him liy laitli. through the gift of the Holy (ihoKt ; which thing, in the writings of the Kvangeiistx and A|)OHtIe«. is every win re to 1)0 seen.
.Moreover, the wonls of tin- Canon of tin- Council of .Nice, an- not to In- undci>tood after such a gros-s ami vile man- ner:— "Onr luiptism is not to U* consi<lered with the InMlily oyc«, hut with the eyes of tin- mind. Thou sii'st water, weigh the licavfidy force which lieth hid in the water, \:c." F'or it is a .s.ncnunental siHivh which tnily every Inwly at that time understo<Ml : as, also, at this <lay it is no new, mir hard kind of s|Haking to .say, tliat in the seal, there is faith and truth ; in a marriage ring, the faith and love of wxhI- lock ; in a sce|itre and crown, the King's authority. For no man is .so fiMili.sh that, hy n>;Ls<»n (»f the kind of .s|K>i'ches, he will affinn that the things themselves an* containeil. and inclostMl in the signs : over>- man knowith this kind and maimer of .s|)oi»ch.
To this matter, alsr), ap|)ertaineth that John tin- Maj.tist baptized in the river Jordan ; and. that the Apwtles also themselves baptized with water neither con.socrated. nor pre- \K\rvi\ with any enchantmentis. breathings, or crossings that it
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might receive the grace of God unto it, and make them that are baptized partakers thereof. The Ethiopian, in the Acts of the Apostles, saw a fountain not mingled with oil; neither conse- crated with any holy charms ; neither, moreover, prepared with any breathings, nor putting in of wax candles, nor pictures of crosses; yet, nevertheless, he said to Philip the Apostle - "See here is water: what doth let me to be baptized f (Actsviii. 36.) But Philip required faith of him in the Lord Jesus; and upon his confession, he forthwith baptized him ; no conse- cration of the fountain first provided for, by the which, forsooth, he might call down the grace of the Holy Ghost, and the power of regeneration into the water ; and forth- with might apply it to the purifying of the Ethiopian.
And if so be we proceed to include the grace of God within the elements, and the things themselves within the signs by the which they are represented, who seeth not with how great danger we shall do the same, especially among the simple sort ? For unto those we shall give occasion of idolatry, and to cleave unto the visible signs : of whom, also, they will require and ask that which ought to be asked of God, the Author of all goodness, with minds lifted up into heaven. For whereas it is objected, that by a certain, heavenly covenant, it is so appointed by God, that Sacra- ments should have grace in themselves ; and should from themselves, as by pipes, convey abroad the water of grace unto those that are thirsty;— that is alleged without warrant of the scripture, and is repugnant unto true religion ; as by | those things which have hitherto been handled and disputed of, doth, as we think, sufficiently appear: whereunto, also, ' we add this.
The holy and elect people of God are not then first of all partakers of the first grace of God, and heavenly gifts.
94
or *AI II VMKNT)*.
when tlu'V receivi' tin- Sarranuiits : lor tluy injoy tlu* tliiiiirs before they Im> partakers of* the si<;i)s. I-Kr it is plainly declared unto us, that Ahndiain, our lather, was just ilii-d U'- fore he wa« circunicised. And who i;athereth not thereby, tluit justification was not exhibited, and jjiven unto him by the Sacrament of circumcision ; but nitlier that that riffhttnius- ni-ss wliich he, by faith, Ufore |M»ss<'Sse<l, was, by the Sa- crament, M'aled and conlirmed uiitu him.' And, moreover, wlio will not thcHMtf jrather that we, which are tlie sons of Abraham, an* after no otluT manner justiliiil, than it ap- jieareth that our father was justifiinl ; and that our Sacni- nients work no further in us. than they did in him : es|M'- cially since tlie nature of tin- Sacraments of the jH'opJe of the Old Testament, and ours is all one! \N'here<tf I will sjK'ak a little afterward more at Iari;e. when 1 t'XjMiund
thf |.la. I th.' Apostir in tii.- jnurth t<. the Ib.mans.
The Kumich, of whom I s|iake even now out of the Acts. a.s he jounieyed and saw water, he said to IMiilip, " S«H'. here is watt-r : wliat letteth nie to Ik* l)a[>tiz(>d i IMiilij) Hiiid unt«i him . If thou U'lievcHt with all thine heart thou mavest. .\n<l he an.swere<l and said. I Ix'Iieve tliat .Jesus Christ is the Son of (mmI." Afterward immediately it followeth, "And they went down Intth into the water; and he Iwiptizeil him." (Act.s viii. 'M^ — .SH.) The Kunuch (saith the Kvan^jelist) U'lieved with all his heart, that is t<» say, tmly, and without dissinudation. Now let us see what the .scriptuH' siiith conceminp such a faith. St .John, the ,\j»ostle and Evant^eli.st, saith, " Whosoever Wieveth that Jesus is Christ, is born of CmkI." (1 John v. 1.) He apain .saith, " WhoS(X^ver confe.ss^'th that Jt«u8 is the Son of (iod, in him dwolleth (Jml. and he in God." (1 John iv. 1.').) .Msn. Paul, that elect vessel and doctor of tlie Gentiles,
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saith, "If thou shalt acknowledge with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." (Rom. x. 9.) And again, Saint John saith, in his Epistle, " He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself. And this is the record, how that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son, hath not life." (1 Joh. v. 10 — 12.) Briefly, of these things this we gather:— the Eunuch believed before he received Baptism ; therefore, before he received Baptism he was born of God, in whom he dwelled and God in him; he was just, and acceptable in the sight