IF the woordes of Christ might be, as they sholde be (lo­uing Christians) sufficiēte to instructe vs, then is the supper of our Lorde in playne wyse set furthe, and without any ambiguitie vt­tered, it is without any doub­te therin to be made, or any question at all to be moued, at large by our sauiour prea­ched, pronounced, and decla­red: Jfvse may preuayle to confirme the truth, then haue [Page]righte skilfull men, whiche were in, and of the primitiue churche, truelye established vnto our predecessours, vnto vs, and our successours, the right sense, and true vnder­standinge, of the Comunion of the bodye, and bloud of oure redeamer Christ: If witte, na, if the grace rather of the holy ghost, can helpe to open vnto vs, the light herein of goddes woorde, & to make manifest in so high a mysterie, the will, and meaning of God, then haue we in this behalfe to ap­proue [Page]oure doctrine, the elo­quence of S. Paule, the actes of the Apostles, & in them the inspiration of Goddes spiri­te: Yf the learninge and gra­uitie of good men, of men well sene in all knowelaige, and ar­tes, maye auayle to teache vs that which is true, to engraffe in vs what thing by Christ his laste supper is meante, to shewe howe, and why, we haue, doe, & sholde dayly receaue it, then haue we touching the same, the sermones of such as were singu­ler, the exposicion of men that [Page]were skilful, & the necessarie notes of those that were no­table: to be briefe, if the death & persecution of constante, mieke, and holye martyres, may doe no smale good, to te­stifie the truthe in Christē do­ctrine, to expresse a certētie in true religiō, & specialy to cō­firme (for of that we now treate) the faith & belefe, which al the faithfull shold haue, & holde concerning this sacra­mente, then haue wee in good writing, and the same appro­ued by indifferēte testimonie, [Page]howe a nūbre haue died, we a­re creadeblie enformed, how, whē, & wher, an infinite sor­te haue suffered their blood to be sheade, their bodyes to bee toarne, their limmes to bee reant, & their carcasses to be bournt, & that for the testi­monie of the same. what shall I therefore be able at this ty­me to doe? what thing wor­thie the hearing, shall I be a­ble to bring into lighte? my exercyse is nothing, my witte is smale, my learning is sclen­dere, myne experience is [Page]litle. What can I haue then here to vtter, that maye fur­ther this cause, or that maye to anye purposse extoll thys misterie? what is in me that may make to youre instruction, to persuade, to exhorte you? yea, weyghing the power of satan, the eloquence of his Orators, the might of his monarches, the practises of his proctors, the su­bteltie of his seruauntes, & the decepte of hys Doctors: what maketh me this bolde? why am I so earnestlye moued to warre againste him? to hinder his en­terprises? [Page]to abate his coura­ge? to beate downe his banner? to conquiere his armye? in dede of my selfe ouer weake thereun­to I am, farre vnable I knowe­laige my selfe to be, yet my good will, your good meaninges, and speciallye the woorde of God, beinge the verye bulwarke of faithe, the onelye fortresse of Christianitie, and the most sin­guler shielde of true religiō, can doe it. Wherfore as it behoueth hym, whiche feighteth for hys Prince, and in the defence of equitie, and a rightfull cause, [Page]not to stagger, but to stande stedfast, not to quauer, but to be constante, not in his prince his sight to geue backe, but to aduēture him selfe, to be bol­de, not to feare but to shewe furthe his courage: so shall I at this presente, rather shewe the wante of power, then of will, the wante rather of abilitie, then of a bolde harte and good mea­ning. But can hee at anye ty­me wante, whose will is to de­fende the truethe? can hee at all lacke, whiche taketh the parte, I saye not of one, or of [Page]an earthely prince, but of the prince of al prīces, of his lord, of his Creator, of God? what, where, or who again are they, that can withstāde the power of the almighty? that may re­sist his force, or that may glo­rie with anye wished successe against him? Herode was ri­chely, & royally cloathed, Acts 12 he sat with grete maiestie in his seate of iudgemēte, his people were all about him, he made so pleasante an Oration vnto them, as the same amongst o­ther things moued thē to say, [Page]that it was the voyce of god, & not of mā. But yet marke howe God dealte withe him: Ibidem. Con­festim percussit eum ange­lus domini, by and by the angel of the Lorde strake him. and why? Eo quod non dedisset gloriam Deo, Be­cause he gaue not the glorie vnto God. And what futher came of him? Ibidem. Erosus a ver­mibus expirauit, Hee died being deuoured with wor­mes. Yf this thē be the ende of all suche as striue against god, why sholde I feare to striue a­gainst [Page]the vngodlye? againste dreames? against horrible opi­niones? againste heresie? why sholde I feare the frowninges of men? why shold I dreade the manacing hartes of the haw­tye? why sholde I regarde thee secrete hatred, the enuious har te, or grudginge stomacke of a­nye? it is hard, it is not for mās ease, to kicke againste the spur­re, the trueth wil not be shado­wed with the subteltie of mē, it is not for man to foster vs anye lēgre in blindenes, to nousel vs further in feare, & that, in the [Page]feare of bugges, of white shee­tes, of counterfaicte voyces, of false tales, of feyned glosys, of sinister exposiciōs, of fonde au­torities, of incredible assertiōs, of lieng legēdes, of seely sengle fryare sermons, or of any iug­ling, or legier de mayn dealīg. We are born, we knowe, to pro­ffite our coūtrey, to please our parētes, & to benifite our frē­des, but aboue all we doe owe a more speciall obediēce vnto god, it is meeter that we hea­re rather him thē mā, & that we feare him before father, frēd, or any of our familiars, [Page]for (as Cicerosaith) Religio, Cice of­sic. li. 3. & fides anteponātur amici­tiae, religion, and faith must be preferred before frend­shippe. but shall we beginne, & see cōcerning the supper of our Lord, the state of the que­stion, betwene the Bushop of Rome & vs, that is, betwene the Pope, & the Gospell? the knowelaige of it, is not onelye easy, but also most proffitable. Ytis easy, for by the onely, & holy scripture (which thīg by Goddes helpe we here meane now to doe) it may be proued, the righte sense maye be she­wed, [Page]the meaning may be clea­re, why, when, & howe the sa­me was instituted it maye ap­peare. Proffitable it is, for as without the due, and perfecte iudgemente therein, wee shall stande, howesoeuer we esteme oure selues, but in the state of outecastes, & abiectes: so by the worthy receauing, and true esteaming of the same, we shall not fayle of a moste excellente felicitie, of the benefite of the bodye, & bloud of our sauiour Christe, of heauen, & euerla­lasting saluation. Manye as [Page]I haue sayde, there are, who were learned, wise & godly, that haue some at large, and some in briefer wyse, treated, and set furthe theire iudge­mentes concerning this holye sacramente. But as vpon one platte, or piece of grounde, a numbre doe oftentimes buyl­de diuerse buildinges, & the same varieng in shewe, and proportion, the one from the other, all yet tending to good endes, and vses, as to defende vs frō the iniurie of the wea­ther, and suche lyke, so vpon [Page]one place of hollye Scripture, vpon the worde of god, sundrie good, and Godlye men haue written diuerselye: diuerselye, I saye, in that some vsed one example, and some an other, all yet (of the godlie I speake) tending to augmente deuotion, to banishe superstition, and to extoll true pietie, and perfecte religion. I will therefore at this presente, omitte the buil­dinges of others, thoughe the same be proffitable, fayre, pleasante, and necessarie: and I will endeuour vpon these [Page]woordes of oure sauiour Chri­ste. (This is my bodie, Lue 22. that is giuen for you) to fra­me, and set vp suche a smale and simple cotage, as, though yt seme not worthye of buyl­dinge, in comparason of the estatelie frames, and char geable workes of others, shall yet aswell declare my good wil, as also peraduenture defen­de, and succour some one in so peryllous a tyme, at the lest from parte of the ra­ginge stoarmes, and tem­pestes that raygne, from the [Page]myste, & blindenes that men bee in, and from thee abuse, which of so long a tyme hathe creapte in amongst vs, cōcer­ning the order & vse of the Lords supper. And as of whi­te, & blacke being ioyned to­gether, the difference, & va­rietie in collour is sone tryed, so shall I at this myne entrye into this treatise, set furth, & shewe here nowe before youe, the blacke clouds, & darke­nes of Satan, wherewithe he wolde diminishe the lighte of holie Scriptures, & altoge­ther [Page]ouerthrowe the righte sense, and clere vnderstan­dinge of the same. Christ (saythe S. Luke.) Luc 22. Tooke bread, and whē he had giuē thankes, he brake it, and ga­ue it vnto his disciples, wil­linge them in his remem­braunce to doe in like ma­ner the same. And here (whiche thing youe shall see anonne proued very euident­lie out of the woorde of God) by the sacramente of bread and wine, by these holye sig­nes, throughe faythe they re­ceaued [Page]spirituallye, the bo­dye, and Bloud of oure redea­mer Christe, the benefite (O compfortable Supper!) of his birthe, passion, and resurre­ction. This is the doctrine of oure sauiour, this haue the A­postles professed, this doethe hollye Scripture confirme, & thys meane I to sett furthe vnto youe. But the Bushop of Rome, he on the cōtrarie syde laboureth most earnestly, to o­uershadowe this teachinge of Christe, & to bring in a newe doctrine, a carnall eatinge, a [Page]Cauphernaites murmuring, a fleashlie meaning. And yet as euery vntruth, may not abyde any diligēt triall, as all absur­dities will at the leanght in their own hewe appeare, & be seene, so shal you nowe see, into what inconueniēces, yea, into what blasphemies, the Bushop of Rome falleth, whiles he to­gether with his, wolde defen­de in this behalfe their owne dreames, and false doctrine. I wil not trouble you with many of his graue fathers, one that hath in him greate grauitie, [Page]J will bring for them to spea­ke. I will not fayne any thing by him spoken, his owne spea­che is thys: Nescio an in Deum panis, an Deus con­uertatur in panem, Valla de myster: Eucha­ristiae. I can not tell (sayth he) whether the breade be tourned into God, or God be turned into bread. O doubtes to be banished from Christen ea­res! O vyle, and blasphe­mous teachinge! O lewde, and monstrous writinge! Yf the bread be turned into god, then haue we our creator, to [Page]become a creature, we haue our maker to bee him self ma­de. And wherof? of bread, of a very simple, and base sub­stance. O Christē men, who can abyde this? who will not abhorre to heare of suche a tourning? this, this is it, to tourne from God, to treade crooked pathes, to wander in selfe will windinges, and to trace deceiptefull strange tourninges. Agayne, If god be turned into bread, then is our creator, become nowe a crea­ture, he is become of a substan­ce [Page]withoute bodye, to be cor­porall, of God not to be man, but to be breade. Oh, beware suche false teachinge, detest suche intollerable dowbtes, auoyde such carnal, & dam­nable meaning. here we see, what it is to forsake the scrip­tures, to leaue the perfecte waye, to enter into such dan­gerous steappes, to deale so carnallie, to folowe fooles, to beleue fryars, and to putte all affiance so fondlye in the Po­pe. Js not this then sufficient to admonishe vs? may we not [Page]perceaue by this, what doctri­ne they holde, what errours they haue, what heresyes they be in? yea, will you see, howe treating of this sacramente, they flattelye doe doubte the incarnatiō of Christe? Yf this may nowe appeare, and that withoute yffes, and ands, without anye circumstances, you must nedes then abhorre thē, you must, if you be not partiall, perceaue their absurdi­ties. Weygh their own wordes they be these: Filius Dei in mundum veniens, sum­psit [Page]ex intemeratissimo vir­ginis Corpore, nescio an dicam carnem: I can not tell (saythe hee) wether I maye saye, that the sonne of God cominge into thys worlde, tooke fleash of the moste vndefiled bodye of the virgin. Can not youe tell? We can tell, to God we than­ke for it, and wee beleue it. See good Christians, see Christ his incarnacion doubted of, see the ende of their studies, see here, whiles they wold defen­de his very fleash to bee in the [Page]sacramente, howe they doubte whether he verelye tooke flea­she of the virgin, yea (for so they afterwardes alleage) how they denye yt. But was thys onelye the opinion of one? or was it not preached in Chri­stendome? was yt not imprin­ted, and published, as a sounde doctrine to instructe men in? is it not in wryting, and in a ma­ner euerye where to be sene? O poore Protestantes, if this had passed your penne, if but one of youe had preached suche doc trine, the world had nowe soone [Page]foūd it, but because the Pope doeth so, al is wel, it is no mat­ter, he may denie Christ his in carnatiō, he may renoūce Christianitie, hee maye doe what him lysteth, such is his autori­tie. J haue here marked vnto you the by pathe that leadeth to perdiciō: set therefore a side all wilfull partialitie, put on indifferencie, iudge, J aske no more, but vprightlie: is it not an enemie vnto Christe his in­carnacion? doeth it not bende altogether frō holines? doeth it not resiste true religion? is it [Page]not a foe vnto oure faith, vnto the professiō of al good christi­ans? be not astoyned, stād not stil bound in blindnes, let your eares heare, let your eyes see, thīke yea, or no. But if you be­lieue, as J know you doe, that our sauiour was incarnate, thē defie suche, who though other­wise they be to carnal, doe yet here doubte, & denie his in­carnaciō. For of these it is, that in s. Paul the holy ghost saith: Act. 20 Ex vobis ipsis exoriētur vi­ri, loquētes peruersa, vt ab­ducant Discipulos post se, [Page]euon from amongst youre selues shall men aryse, spea­kinge peruerse thinges, to drawe disciples after them. From amongst vs (dere Chri­stians) hathe the Bushop of Rome rysen, speaking peruer­se, and blasphemous things, to drawe Disciples, to allure foolishe vnlearned Fryars, to leade mumming Munkes, to persuade simple Priestes, to entise the learned, to compell the ignorante, to cōpasse with his loolling that the most part of Christendome sholde come [Page]after him, and to worke with his vayn blessing, that a num­bre of Christians might not in dede be blessed. But to leaue these mē, (& J wold we leaf­te them betyme, for they are ouer carnall, they doubte of Christ his incarnation, they denie that he was incarnate) Let vs with the helpe of holy Scripture set furth, & we will doe it playnlie, the beliefe of the Apostles, & the meaning of Christ concerning his laste Supper. Luc 22. Mat. 28 Mar 14 Our sauiour eating with his Disciples the easter [Page]Lambe, as they satte at sup­per, tooke breade, and af­ter he had gyuen thankes, he brake it, and gaue it vn­to them saying: this is my bodie, whiche is giuen for you, doe you this in the re­mēbrance of me. He tooke likewyse after Supper the cup, & sayd: This cup is the new testamēt in my bloud, whiche is shead for youe. This is that hollye pleadge, whiche hee a litle before his death dyd institute to be with them a remembraunce of his [Page]bodye cruciefied, and giuen on the Crosse, of hys bloud at hys Passion shead for them, of him selfe the onelye raunso­me to redeme them from sin­ne: these are those hollye sig­nes, vnder whiche throughe faithe, they were spirituallye fead, with the bodie, & bloud of Christ, vnder which throu­ghe beliefe, they were made one with our sauiour, and as­sured by his Passion, and re­surrectiō (what wold they mo­re?) of eternal rest, & salua­ciō. For as in the sacramēte of [Page]Baptisme, the infante is fully released from Adams offen­ce, which is not doone by wa­ter alone, but by the grace of the almightye, who vseth his creatures as meanes to woor­ke, and to shewe his glorie in. The exāple whereof we haue when our sauiour, in healing the man that was blinde from his natiuitie, Ioan. 9. vsed claye tem­pered with spittell, further commaunding that hee sholde goe washe him self in the poo­le, or well of Syloe. So likewi­se wee are commaunded to re­ceaue [Page]breade, and to take the cup, by those as meanes (for such was Christ his will) to be partakers of his bodye, and bloud, to be healed from sin­ne, to feede neyther by rashe reason, nor yet by carnall vn­derstanding, but by faithefull beliefe on him. And as it had bene a verye lewde thing, for that blinde man, to impute his healing, & the receapte of his sight, vnto the onelie clay and water, which hee knewe to be mere creatures: so sholde we doe a thing very absurde, and [Page]wicked, yf wee dyd attribute vnto the bare bread, the bene­fite of our feading, or vnto the creatures the compfort, which we haue by oure creator. For the vertue was in our sauiour that healed the blynd mā, the vertue is in heauen that fee­deth vs, from thēce we recea­ue the bodye and bloud of our redemer Christ. And as the claye, and water, being mere creatures, were to be had in estimacion, for that the Lorde vsed them as meanes to heale the bodye: So these hollye sig­nes, [Page]this breade and wyne are muche rather to be regarded, seynge it pleased oure sauioure to vse them as meanes to esta­blishe oure faithe, to further oure beliefe, to feede oure sou­les. We see that a Prince com­maunding by worde of mouthe thys, or that thinge to be don­ne, hys commaundemente furthewithe is fulfylled, and why? yt is trowe yee, for any vertue that is in the wor­de spoken? or is it not rather for the autoritie and power, which still remayneth in the [Page]Prince? is it not eyther for feare of his further displeasu­re, & indignaciō, or to perfor­me the duetie, which they owe vnto his calling, & personne, orels in hope by contenting hys will, to attayn credite, fa­uour, or some other cōmoditie? so likewyse, Mat. 3. whereas oure sa­uiour willed the lame to goe, the leapres to be cleansed, & the blinde to see: shal we thin­ke, that by the vertue in the words vttered they were hea­led? or shal we not belieue that the power was permanente in [Page]Christ, & that by their faith in him they were cured? we see then that neither the bare words vttered by the minister at the cōmuniō, cā haue in, & of thē selues any suche power, nor yet that the very creatu­res of bread, & wine, can ha­ue in them conteigned any su­che force, or vertue. Whiche thing being, as it is, very play­ne, we must graunte that from aboue it is, that the vertue proceadeth, & that as the A­postles receaued the one of the other, and that vnder bread, [Page]and wyne, by faithe the bodie of Christ spirituallie: so we re­ceauing in the communion at the Ministers handes, thys sacramente of bread, and wy­ne, we receaue of the Lord by our faithe in him, the benefi­te of his deathe, and resurre­ction, we receaue the bodye of Christ, we receiue his bloud. But how? carnalias the Cau­pernaites dyd thinke? no wee receaue them spirituallie, and that we so doe, the wordes of Christ doe the testifie. Ioan. 6. For the spirite it is, (sayth he) that [Page]quickeneth, the fleash pro­ffiteth nothing. And as nowe a numbre, so then many of his Disciples, hearinge hym to preache vnto them, that they must eate his fleash, and drin­ke his bloud, they sayd: Jbidem. Du­rus est hic sermo, this is a harde saing. But what sayd Christe agaynste their mur­muring? Jbidem. Verba quę ego lo­quor vobis, spiritus, & vita sunt, the words that I spea­ke vnto you are spirite, and lyfe. Hoc vos offendit. Jbidem. doth thys offende youe? They [Page]thought to haue eaten hym carnallie: Jbidem. but he sayd: Quid &c, what if you see the son­ne of mā to ascende thither, where he before was? where is then the cause of their mur­muring? howe shold they then thinke, to haue eatē him car­nalie? why shold not they, why shold not we, beleue that wee eate him spiritualye? S. Ma­thew, S. Mark & S. Luk doe together, & in manifest wor­des expresse, that Christe too­ke breade, & gaue it vnto his Disciples, yea, & that they [Page]dyd also eate bread, (for this is the questiō) S. 1. Cor 11 Paulin play ne wise doeth testifie. Quoti­escunque enim cōmederi­tis panem hunc, & de po­culo biberitis, mortem Do­mini anunciatis donec ve­nerit. As ofte as youe shall eate this bread, and drinke of this cup, youe shew the Lords deathe vntill he co­me. And again he sayth. Jbidem. Pro­bet autem homo seipsum, & sic de pane illo edat. Let a man examine himself, & so eate of that bread. Ther­fore [Page](for J maye cutt of all circunstances) it is bread. Wee haue likewyse in the A­ctes of the Apostles euiden­te testimonies to approue the same: Acto. 2. Erant autem perse­uerantes in Doctrina A­postolorum, & communi­catione, & fractione panis, & precationibus. And they contineued in the doctrine of the Apostles, in com­munication, breakinge of breade, and in prayers. Et frangentes persingulas do­mos panē, Jbidem. breaking breade [Page]in euerye howse. This is playne, it is Bread, it can not be denyed. Wel futher: Act. 2 [...] Cum conuenissent Discipuli ad frangendum panem, when the Disciples had commen together to breake breade. Beholde howe the Scriptures are full to confirme this Do­ctrine, see howe withoute cir­cunstances the sense is euiden­te. Yea S. Jbidem. Paule in the nighte before he tooke his iourney to Asson, doeth declare what it is, that we se. Cum ascendisset autem, fregisset{que}ue panem. [Page]when he came vp agayn, & had broken bread. Thus ha­ue you places ynough of holye Scripture, to proue that to bee bread, which you see, you ha­ue it sufficientlie shewed youe, that in this Sacramente of bread, & wine, youe receaue by faithe the bodie, & bloud of Christe spirituallie. Take hede therefore, that nonne of you be those, of whō it is thus written: God hath giuē thē the spirite of vnquietenes: eies that they shold not see, Esay. 6. & eares that they shold not [Page]heare, euon vntil this daye. God hath giuen vs eies, let vs vse them, he hath gyuē vs ea­res, let vs not abuse them. Trueth is trueth, dreames a­re dreames, the Gospell is per­fecte, & godlye, mens exposi­tions are mayme, they are weake, they are without cer­taynetie. This muche at this present maye suffice: to me it doeth, for that J see the truth, to you it may, seing you doe, or may see it. For if youe belieue that our sauiour was incarna­te, thē away with foolish obstinate [Page]carnalitie, yfwe thinke that the spirite quickeneth, cōsider that we receiue Christ spiritually, if we haue afiance in the worde of God, in the Scripture, thē let vs renounce Munkishe dreames, and all Cauphernaites murmure, if wee belieue that God is God, then awaye with vngodlynes, auoyde al Popishe heathines, beware of Antechrist, stande stedfaste in faith, be Christi­ans, and that you, that J, that we all may so be, Christ gra­unte it: Amen.

SOME doe allea­ge that the breade is turned into Crist his bodye, the wy­ne into his bloud, & the wa­ter into nothing. But som doe denye that there is any suche turning, & therfore they say: Fit autem conuersio rerum secundum quosdam.

Some doe say, that the wine, & the water are turned into bloud: But some others saye, [Page]that the water is tourned into waterishe humoures.

Some others also there are which affirme, that the wine and water are turned, non vt duo, not as twoe thinges, sed vnum compactum, but be­ing one compacte thing.

Some saye that the former substance of bread, & wyne, is becōme the fleash, & bloud of Christ: But some others doe holde that the substance of breade, & wyne, doeth there ceasse to be, & that it is beco­me to be nothing.

Some doe saye that the sub­stance of bread & wine doeth remayne still, & that yet the­re is carnallie there the bodye of Christ.

Some say that of wine with­out water the bloud of Christe can not be made: others doe saye that it can, but yet that it ought not to be done. Others doe say that the water is to be put into the chalice for hone­stie sake.

Some say, that it can be ma­de of boiled wine, some say, no: some say of vinegre, but some [Page]put therin a douhte.

Some saye, that the breade muste be onelye of water and meale: some saye otherwise.

Some say, that the bodye of Christ can not bee made seue­rallie from the bloud, nor the bloud seueralli from the body: some saye, that they can.

Some say, that the bodye of Christ is not receiued without his bloud, nor that the bloud is receaued without his bodie, so that they receiue him for once twise, for one body, two bodies. But yet these wil not haue the [Page]breade to be transubstantia­ted into his bloud, nor the wi­ne into his body, but they wold haue they can not tell what.

Some say, that they doe eate twoe partes of Christ his body dry, & the third dipte in the bloud, the one for the soules of the Sainctes, the seconde for the soules in Purgatorie, and the thirde for suche sinners as be liuinge: but others doe mi­slike this, & they will haue in it an other meaning.

Some say, that the body goeth not into oure stomakes: some [Page]saye otherwyse: some saye, that assoone as the fourmes of breade, and wine are touched with our teethe, then is the bo­dye of Christ by and by snat­ched vp into heauen.

Some say that the transub­stantiacion is made by Hoc, som by Est, some by Corpus, some by Accipite, some by the whole forme, some by they knowe not what.

Some saye that the bread is turned into his bodie, but that it is not becomme his bodye.

Some saye, that the bodye of [Page]Christe is receaued withe his deytie, & soule: some say, no.

Some saye, that Christe dyd eate him self, some saye other­wyse.

Some say, that an yuel priest can make Christ his bodie: so­me saye, that he can not.

Some doe holde one thinge, some an other, concerning the being of Christ in the sacra­mēt, that is, touching the pla­cing of his feete, handes, fa­ce, and other partes.

Some saye, it may be graun­ted, that a mouse eateth the [Page]bodie of Christ: some say, no.

Thowe mayste heare see, (Christen Reader) if thou hast eyes, howe these mens eyes bee blinded, howe their mindes bee occupied in va­nitie. In vanitie? na, in in­fidelitie, in carnalitie, in bla­sphemie. But amongest whom is this discorde, & diuersitie? inter Doctores, amongest the Doctors, amōgst proude Pre­lates, amongest such peruer­se men, as haue made of Christ his religion a mockerie, of Christianitie a very lumpe of [Page]heathenesse, & ydolatrie. doe thou therefore (deere Rea­der) the parte of a wise man, wander not with thē, doe the part of a godly man, gadd not after their lustes, looke to thy selfe, take holde on the scripture, let not man delude thee.

Ieremie. 8.

¶ Thus sayth the Lord: doeth he that falleth, neuer ryse vp agayne? and doeth hee that goeth awaye, neuer returne? why then is this people, and [Page]Jerusalem gonne so far bac­ke, and so frowardelie? they haue layde holde vpon a lye, & they wold not returne. &c beholde the penne of the scri­bes setteth furthe meere lyes: the wyse are confounded, they are afrayde, and taken: for so they haue cast out the woor­de of the Lorde, neyther is there anye wysedo­me amongest them.