am cōtēt yet to proue, that God maye make the body of Christ to be in
all places at ones. And because thys yōge mā coupleth that proposycyō
with the other: so wyll I do also. And I wyll proue therfore that God cā
make hys bodye be bothe in many places at ones, & in all places at ones,
by that he is almyghtye, and therfore can do all thynge.
[Sidenote: Fryth.] ¶ Now ys the good man in hys olde dreame agayne, and
thynketh that God is called almyghtye, because he can do all thynges.
And then in dede yt shulde folowe that he were not almyghtye. For all
thynges he can not do, he can not saue the vnfaythfull, he can not
restore virgynyte ones vyolated, he cā not synne, he cā not denye hym
selfe. Yf thys mās lernynge were alowed, thā myght not god be called
almyghty, because there is somwhat that he can not do. But they that are
accustomed with scrypture, do knowe that he is called almyghtye, not
because he can not do all thynges, but because there is no superyour
power aboue hym, but that he may do all that he wyll, and all that hys
pleasure is, maye he brynge to passe. But he hath no wyll nor pleasure,
to make his sone a lyer, & to make hys scrypture false and yet
notwitstondynge he abydeth almyghtye and may do what he wyll. And euē as
it is impossyble to stonde with the processe of the scryptures (wherin
God hath declaeed hys wyll) that the unfaythfull shulde be saued
(although at the fyrst god myght haue done it, yf he had so wolde)
lykewyse it is impossyble the scryptures stōdynge as they do, that the
naturall bodye of Christ, shulde be present to our teth in the sacramēt.
And as for our fayth, yt neadeth not to haue hym present in the breade.
For I may as well eate hym and drynke hym through fayth (that is to say,
beleue in hym) though he contynue styll in heauen, as though he were as
present in the sacramēt, as he was hangynge on the crosse. But yet hys
mastershype hath lefte one thynge vnproued, and that is euen the pyth of
hys purpose. For though he had proued (as he hath not) that God by hys
almyghtynes myght make Christes bodye in many places, and in all places,
& in the sacrament, yet he forgotte to proue that God hath so done. And
therfore albeyt I dyd graūte hym (as I wyll not) that he myght so do,
yet therof it doth not folow, that he hath so done in dede. For god maye
do manye thynges whiche he doth not. And therfore hys argument doth not
proue hys purpose. Now yf he do but thynke that God hath so done, I am
well pleased ād wyll not put hym to the payne to proue it. For anone ye
shall see hym so intaungled in bryars, that he shall not wete where to
be come.
[Sidenote: More.] ❧ But yet this yonge man goeth aboute to proue thys
poynte by scrypture. For excepte we graunte hym that poynte to be true,
he sayeth that els we make the Angell a lyer that sayde, he is not here,
ād also that els we make as though Christes bodye in hys assensyon ded
not go vp in the cloude in to heauē from earth, but onelye hyd hym selfe
in the cloude, and playeth boo pyppe and taryed beneth styll. Here in
the ende he forgetteth hym selfe so fowle, that whan he was a yonge
sophyster he wolde I dare say, haue bene full sore ashamed so to haue
oversene hym selfe at Oxforde at a pervyse. For ye wote well that thynge
whiche he sayeth, and whiche he muste therfore proue, is that the bodye
of Christ cā not be in euerye place at ones by no meane that God coulde
make. And the textes that he bryngeth in for the proue, saye no further
but that he was not in all places at ones.
[Sidenote: Fryth.] ¶ There are two thynges dysputed betwene master More
and me: the one is whether God cā make the bodye of Christe in manye
places, and in the sacramente. And therto hys mastershyppe sayeth yea.
For God is almyghtye and maye do all thynges. And I saye naye, and
affyrme that God is not called almyghtye because he maye do all thynges,
but because he maye do all that he wyll. And I saye that he wyll not
make hys sonne a lyer, nor hys scrypture false, and that he can not do
it, and yet abydeth almyghtye. The other thynge is thys, whether he haue
done it or not. For albeyt I ded graunte hym that it were possyble, yet
is he neuer the nere excepte he eyther can proue that he hath done it in
dede, or els thynke that God hath so done. For as I sayde God can do
manye thynges which he doth not. And the controversye of thys doubte is
dyssolued by the Aungell and scrypture whiche (as master More graunteth
hym selfe) proueth that he was not in all places at ones, And therof it
foloweth, that God hath not done it, although it be possyble. And so is
hys mastershyppe at a poynte. For yf I shulde graunte it neuer so
possyble, yet yf scrypture proue that it be not so in dede, then is he
neuer the nere hys purpose, but moche the further from it. And thys is
euen it that I sayde before: that it was not possyble to stonde with the
processe of the scrypture which we haue receyued. And now hys
mastershyppe hath graunted it hym selfe, which you maye be sure he wolde
not do yf he coulde otherwyse avoyde it. And here you maye see howe sore
I haue overseane my selfe.
[Sidenote: More.] ❧ God forbyd that any man shulde be the more prone and
readye to beleue thys yonge man in thys greate matter, because he sayeth
in the begynnynge that he wyll brynge all men to a concorde and a
quyetnes of conscyence. For he bryngeth men to the worste kynde of
quyetnes that maye be deuysed, when he telleth vs as he doth, that euery
man in thys matter, maye with out parell beleue which waye he lyste.
Euery man maye in euerye matter without any counsell, soone set hym
selfe at reste, yf he lyste to take that waye and to beleue as he lyste
hym selfe, ād care not how. But ād yf that waye had bene sure, Saynte
Paule wolde neuer haue shewed that manye were in parell of sycknes and
death also, for lacke of dyscernynge reuerentlye the bodye of our Lorde
in that Sacramente, when they came to receyue hym.
[Sidenote: Fryth.] ¶ When Christe shulde departe thys worlde and go to
hys Father, [Sidenote: Ioan. 15.] he gaue hys dyscyples a commaundement
that they shulde loue eche other, sayenge by thys shall all men knowe,
that ye are my dyscyples, yf ye loue eche other, as I haue loued you.
Thys rule of charyte wolde I not haue broken, which notwithstondynge is
often in Ieopardye a monge faythfull folke. This thynge consydered, I
thought it necessarye to advertyse both partyes to saue thys rule of
charyte, and proued in the fyrste chapter of my treatyse, that it was
none artycle of the fayth necessarye to be beleued vnder payne of
dampnacyon, and therfore that they were to blame that wolde be
contencyous for the matter. For syth it is none artycle of the fayth,
they may lawfullye dyssente without all Ieoperdye: and neade not to
breake the rule of charyte, but rather to receyue eche other lyke weake
bretherne.
This I saye I proued in the fyrste chapter agaynste which master More
maketh no busynes, and improueth it not. Wherbye you maye soone gather
that it is very true. For els syth hys mastershyppe so laboureth in
these other poyntes, he wolde not haue lefte that vntowched you maye be
sure. Thys is the concorde that I wolde brynge them vnto. And as
towchynge quyetnes of conscyence, I haue knowen manye that haue sore
bene combrede wyth it. And amōge all, a certayne master of arte which
dyed in Oxforth, confessed vpon hys death bedde, that he had wepte
lyenge in hys bedde an hundreth nyghtes wythin one yeare space, because
he coulde not beleue it. Now yf he had knowen that it had bene no
necessarye artycle, what cōforte and quyetnes shulde it haue bene vnto
hym. Furthermore, euerye man can not so quyet hymselfe, as master More
Imageneth. For there are manye that thynke them selfes no smalle foles,
which whan they haue receyued some folyshe superstycyon, eyther by their
owne Imagynacyon, or by belevynge their gossepes gospell ād olde wyfes
tales, by and bye thynke the cōtrarye to be deadly synne, and vtterly
forbydden by Chrystes gospell. As by example, I knowe an house of
relygyon, wherin is a parson that thynketh it deadly synne to go ouer
astrawe yf it lye acrosse. And yf there be vpon the pauemente any
paynted pycture, or any Image grauen vpon a deade mans graue, he wyll
not treade vpon it, although he shulde go a forelonge a bowte. What is
thys but vayne superstycyon wherewith the conscyence is combred and
corrupted? May not thys be weded out wyth the worde of God, shewynge hym
that it is none artycle of the fayth so to thynke, & then to tell hym
that it is not forboden by the scrypture, ād that it is no synne? Now
albeyt hys conscyence be so cankered that the ruste wyll not be rubbed
out: yet wyth Godes grace, some other whome he hath infected with the
same, maye come agayne to Godes worde and be cured full well, whiche
shulde neuer haue bene able to quyete them selfes. And lykewyse there
are some whiche beleue as your superstycyous hartes haue informed them,
and these can not quyete thēselues, because they beleue that you haue
featched your doctryne out of scrypture. But when it is proued to them,
and they themselues perceyue that scrypture sayeth not so, then can they
be contente to thynke the contrarye, ād Iudge it no synne at all. And as
towchynge S. Paule, surelye ye take hym wronge. For I wyll shewe you
what processe he taketh, and how he is to be vnderstonde. But because it
is not possyble to fynyshe it in fewe wordes, I shall deferre it vnto
the bokes ende, and then I shall declare hym at large.
[Sidenote: More.] ❧ And what a fashyon is thys, to saye that we maye
beleue yf we lyste, that there is the verye bodye of our Lorde in dede,
and then to tell vs for a trouth, that suche a faythe is impossyble to
be true: for GOD hym selfe can neuer brynge it abought, to make hys
bodye to be there.
[Sidenote: Fryth.] ¶ Yf a man take the bare wordes of Christe, and of
symplycyte be deceyued, and thynke that hys verye bodye be in the
sacramente present to their teth that eate it, I dare not saye that he
synneth therin, but wyll referre the matter vnto Godes Iudgement, and
yet without doubt, I dare saye he is deceyued. As by example, yf a man
deceyued by the litterall sence, wolde thynke that men shulde preache to
fysshes (as S. Fraunces ded) because Christe badde hys dyscyples go
preache to all creatures, yet wolde not I thynke that he synned therin.
But wyll referre hym vnto Goddes Iudgement. But yet I wene euerye woman
that hath anye wytte, wyll saye that he was deceyued.
[Sidenote: More.] ❧ I am verye sure that the olde holye Doctours which
beleued Christes bodye and bloode to be there, and so taught other to
beleue, as by their bokes playnelye doth apere, yf they had thought
eyther that it coulde not be there or that it was not there in dede,
they wolde not for all the good in thys worlde haue wryten as they haue
done. For wolde those holye men (wene you) haue taught that men be
bounde to beleue, that the verye bodye and bloode of CHRISTE is there,
yf they them selfes thought that they were not bounde thervnto? Wolde
they make men honoure and worshyppe that thynge as the very bodye and
bloode of Christe whiche they thē selues thought were not it? Thys gere
is to chyldyshe to speake of.
[Sidenote: Fryth.] ¶ That the olde doctours and faythfull Fathers so
taught or thought as ye fayne of them, is verye false. For S. Austen as
I haue shewed, maketh whollye for vs. Besydes that, there is none of the
olde Fathers but they call it a sacramēte, a mysterye, and mystycall
meate, which is not eaten with toth or belye: but with eares and faythe.
And as towchynge the honoure and worshyppe done vnto it, I saye it is
playne Idolatrye. And I saye, that he falselye reporteth vpon the olde
holy Doctours. For they neuer taught men to worshyppe it, neyther can he
alleage one place in any of them all whiche wolde haue men to worshyppe
the sacramente. Peraduenture he maye alleage me certayne new felowes for
hys purpose, as Dunce, Dorbell, Durande, and suche draffe, whiche by
their doctryne haue deceyued the worlde wyth dampnable Idolatrye. But I
speake of the olde holye Fathers ād doctours, S. Austen, Ambrose,
Hierome, Cypriane, Cirille, Chrisostome, Fulgentius, and suche other:
These I saye, do not teache men to worshyppe it, and by that I dare
abyde. Of thys poynte I am so sure, that I wyll vse it for a contrarye
argument, that hys naturall bodye is not there presente. For yf the
holye Fathers before named had taken thys texte after the letter and not
onelye spyrytuallye, thē in their workes they wolde haue taught men to
worshyppe it, but they neuer taught mē to worshyppe thys sacrament,
therfore it foloweth they toke not the texte after the letter, but
onelye spyrytuallye. Now do I prouoke you to seake a proue of your
purpose. Neuer the lesse I wyll not denye, but that these holye Doctours
in dyuerse places, do call it hys bodye, as Christe and Paule do, and so
do we lykewyse: and saye also that this verye bodye is there eatē. But
yet we meane, that it is eaten with fayth (that is to saye by beleuynge
that hys bodye was broken for vs) ād haue his bodye more in memorye at
thys maundye thē the meate that we there eate. [Sidenote: Note.] And
therfore it hathe the name of hys bodye: because the name it selfe
shulde put vs in remēbraunce of hys bodye. And that hys bodye is there
chefelye eaten, euen more (through fayth) then the meate wyth the mouth.
And so are they also to be vnderstonde.
[Sidenote: More.] ❧ Yet one greate pleasure he doth vs, in that he
putteth vs all at lyberte, that we maye with out parell of dampnacyon
beleue as we ded before: that is to wete, that in the blessed sacramēt
the whole substaunce of the breade ād the wyne is transmuted ād chaunged
in to the verye bodye and bloode of Christe. For yf we maye wythout
parell of dampnacyon beleue thus, as hym selfe graunteth that we maye,
then graunteth he that we maye also without parell of dampnacyō beleue
that he hym selfe lyeth, where he sayeth, the trouth of that beleue is
impossyble.
[Sidenote: Fryth.] ¶ The beleuynge of thys poynte, is of it selfe not
dampnable, as it is not dāpnable to thynke that Christe is a very stone
or a vyne, because the litterall sence so sayeth: or yf you beleue that
you ought to preache to fyshes and go Christen them another whyle, as ye
do belles. And I insure you, if there were no worse myschefe that ensued
of thys beleue, then it is in itselfe, I wolde neuer haue spoken
agaynste it. But now there foloweth vpon it dampnable Idolatrye. For
through the beleue that thys bodye is there, men fall downe and
worshyppe yt. And thynkynge to please God, do dampnable synne agaynste
hym. Thys I saye, is the cause that I so earnestlye wryte agaynste it,
to avoyde the Idolatrye that is cōmytted through it. Parte of the
germanes do thynke that hys naturall bodye is present in the sacramēt,
ād take the wordes fleshelye, as Martyn taught them. But none of them
worshyppe it, for that Martyn forbyddeth both in hys wordes ād workes,
and so (blessed be God) they auoyde that Ieoperdye, which thynge yf you
wyll also graunte, and publyshe but this one proposycyon, that it ought
not to be worshypped, I promyse you I wyll neuer wryte agaynste it. For
then is the Ieoperdye taken awaye, and then I am contēt that your
mastershyppe thynke I lye. But in the meane season I muste thynke that
ye fulfyll the worlde with dāpnable Idolatrye. And thus haue you also
answere vnto the conclusyon, which you alleage out of the kynges graces
boke. For I saye in your waye is no hurte, as longe as you do but onelye
beleue the bare wordes of the texte, as S. Fraunces ded, when he
preached to fyshes. But yf through the occasyon of those wordes, ye fall
in to the worshyppynge of it, then I saye that in your waye is vndoubted
dampnacyon. And so is there greate Ieoperdye in your waye, and none at
all in ours. For though he were there in dede, yet do not we synne yf we
worshyppe it not. For we are not commaunded to worshyppe the sacrament.
But yf he be not there, then do you dampnable Idolatrye.
¶ The consecracyon of the Sacrament.
[Sidenote: More.] Now as for a nother quyetnes of euery mans
conscyencethys yonge man byddeth euerye man be bolde, whether the
blessed sacramēt be consecrate or vnconsecrate (for though he moste
specyallye speaketh of the wyne, yet he speaketh it of both) and byddeth
not care, but to take it for all that vnblessed as it is, because the
Preste (he sayeth) can not deceyue vs nor take from vs the profyte of
Christes instytucyon, whether he alter the wordes or leaue them all
vnsayde. Is not thys a wonderfull doctryne of thys yonge man. We knowe
well all, that the Preste can not hurte vs by hys oversyght or malyce,
yf there be no faulte vpō our owne partye, for that perfectyon that
lacketh vpon the Prestes parte, the great mercye of God as we truste of
hys owne goodnes supplyeth it. And therfore as holye Chrisostome sayeth,
no man can take harme but of hymselfe. But now yf we see the thynge
dysordered our owne selfe, by the Preste, and Christes instytucyon
broken, yf we than wetynglye receyue it vnblessed and vnconsecrated, and
care not whether Christes instytucyon be kepte and observed or no, but
reaken it is as good wythout it as with it, then make we our selfes
partakers of the faulte and lose the profyte of the sacrament, and
receyue it with dampnacyon: not for the Prestes faulte, but for our
owne.
[Sidenote: Fryth.] ¶ I had thought that no Turke wolde haue wrested a
mannes wordes so vnfaythfullye. For he leaueth out all the pythe of my
matter, for my wordes are these. I wyll shewe you a meanes how ye shall
euer receyue it accordynge to Christes instytucyon, although the Prest
wolde withdrawe it from you. Fyrste ye neade to haue no respecte vnto
the Prestes wordes whiche mynystreth it. For yf ye remember for what
entent Christe ded instytute thys sacramente, and knowe that it was to
put vs in remembraunce of hys bodye breakynge and bloode sheadynge, that
we myght geue hym thankes for it, and be as sure of it through fayth
accordynge to his promyses, as we are sure of the breade by eatynge of
it: yf as I saye, ye remember thys thynge (for whiche intēte onelye the
Preste speaketh those wordes) then yf the Prest leaue out those wordes
or parte therof, he can not hurte you. For you haue already the effecte
and fynall purpose for the whiche he shulde speake them. And agayne yf
he shulde whollye altre thē, yet he can not deceyue you. For then ye be
sure that he is a lyer, and though you se the Preste brynge you the wyne
vnconsecrated, yet neuer stycke at that. For as surelye shall it
certyfye your conscyence and outwarde sences though he consecrate it not
(so thou consecrate it thy selfe: that is to saye, so thou knowe what is
ment therbye and geue hym thankes) as though he made a thousande
blessynges ouer it. And so I saye that it is euer consecrated in hys
harte that beleueth, though the Preste consecrate it not. And contrarye
wyse yf they consecrate it neuer so moche, and thy consecracyon be not
bye, it helpeth the not a ryshe. For excepte thou knowe what is ment
therby, and beleue, geuynge thākes for hys bodye breakynge and blood
sheadynge, it can not profytte them.
[Sidenote: More.] ❧ Nowe where you saye, that yf we see the thynge
dysordered by the Preste, & Christes instytucyon broken, and wetynglye
receyue it, we make our selfes partakers of the cryme.
[Sidenote: Fryth.] ¶ I answere that yf the reformacyon therof laye in
our handes, then sayde you trouth, but syth thys is wryten to pryuate
parsones whiche maye not reforme this matter, and that the reformacyon
therof resteth onelye in the hande of your Prynce and Parlyamente (for
the erroure consysteth not in the mysorderynge of the matter by one
Preste onely, but rather of the doctryne of them all, sauynge suche as
God hath lyghtened) to these pryuate persons I saye that your doctryne
shulde soner be the occasyon of an insurreccyon (whiche we laboure to
eschewe) then anye quyetynge of them by Christes doctryne. And therfore
syth there is an other waye to the woode, sauynge all vpryght, we wyll
auoyde that parellous pathe. But when ye see Christes instytucyon broken
and the one kynde lefte out vnto the laye people, why are ye partaker
therof?
[Sidenote: More.] ❧ How be it as for hys beleue that taketh it no better
but for bare breade and wyne it maketh hym lytell matter consecrated or
not, sauynge that the better it is consecrated the more it is ever
noyous to hym that receyueth it, hauynge hys conscyence combred with
suche an execrable heresy, by which well apeareth that he putteth no
dyfferēce betwene the bodye of our lorde in the blessed sacramēt and the
comō breade that he eateth at his dyner. But rather he esteameth it
lesse. For the one yet I thynke or he begynne, yf he lacke a Prest, he
wyll blesse it hym selfe, as for the other he careth not, whether it be
blessed or not.
[Sidenote: Fryth.] ¶ What I reaken it more then breade and wyne I wyll
shewe you herafter in declarynge the mynde of S. Paule vpon thys
sacrament, and that in the conclusyō of thys boke. And in the meane
season I wyll saye no more but that he belyeth me. And as for their
blessynges and consecracyon profyte not me, excepte I consecrate it my
selfe with fayth in Christes bloode, and wyth geuynge hym prayse and
thankes for hys inestymable goodnes, whiche whē I was hys enemye
recōcyled me vnto hys Father by hys owne death. This consecracyon muste
I sette by, yf I wyl haue anye profyte of hys death which the sacrament
representeth vnto me. And yf I my selfe do thus consecrate it, then
shall I be sure of the frute of hys death. And I saye agayne, that as
the Prestes do now vse to consecrate it, it helpeth not the poore comons
of a ryshe. For their consecracyon shulde stonde in preachynge vnto them
the deathe of Christe whyche hath delyuered them out of the Egypte of
synne, and from the fyerye fornace of Pharao the devell.
And as for their waggynge of their fyngers over it, and sayenge syxe or
seauē wordes in Latyn, helpeth them nothynge at all. For how can they
beleue by the meanes of hys wordes, when they knowe not what he sayeth?
And as towchynge the daylye and commō breade that I eate at my dynner,
whether I haue a Preste or not, I blesse it with my harte (ād not with
my fyngers) and hartely geue God thankes for it. For yf I haue an
hundreth Prestes to blesse it, yet am not I excused therbye. For excepte
I blesse yt my selfe, yt profyteth me no more then yf it were vnblessed.
And I blesse yt my selfe, thā I care not what the Preste prate. For as
longe as I vnderstonde hym not, yt profyteth me nothyng. But in good
fayth I wene the Byshoppes and their proctoure wote not what a blessynge
meaneth. Therfore deare bretherne harken to me. To blesse God, is to
geue hym prayse ād thankes for hys benefyttes: [Sidenote: To blesse.] To
blesse a Kynge or a Prynce, is to thanke hym for hys kyndenes, and to
praye to God for hym, that he maye longe reygne to the laude of God and
wealth of hys commons. To blesse a mās neyghboure, is to praye for hym
and to do hym good. To blesse my breade or meate, is to geue God thankes
for it. To blesse my selfe, is to geue God thākes for the greate
benefyttes that I haue receyued of hym, and to praye God that of hys
infynyte goodes he wyll increase those gyftes that he hath geuen me, and
fynyshe hys worke which he hath begonne in me, vnto hys laude and
prayse. And as towchynge thys fleshe, to fulfyll hys wyll in it, and not
to spare yt, but scourge cutte ād burne it, onelye that it maye be to
hys honoure & glorye. Thys is the forme of blessynge, and not to wagge
two fyngers ouer them. But alacke, of this blessynge our Byshoppes be
ignoraunte.
[Sidenote: More.] ❧ But as for those that are good & faythfull folke,
and haue any grace or any sparcle of reason in their heades, wyll (I
verely thynke) neuer be so farre overseane, as in thys artycle (the
trouthe wherof God hath hym selfe testyfyed by as many opē myracles as
euer he testyfyed any one) to beleue thys yonge man vpon hys baren
reasons agaynste the faythe ād reasō both of all olde holy wryters ād
all good Christen people thys xv.C. yeares.