The. v. chapyter

NOw as to wchyng his second poynt, in that it is a worlde to se how strongly the man hādeseth it. For where as Chryst hath by so many open playne worde before, taught and declared, that he wolde geue his owne flesshe to be eaten, and his own bloude to be drunken, and so often repeted it, and in suche effectuall wyse inculked it, and as who sholde saye bette it into theyr hedds, that (sauyng for the forme & maner of the eatynge whyche he declared by his word and hys dede at his holy maundye) […] as for to make men sure that veryly eate it and drynke it they sholde, there could neuer more clere wordes haue ben of any man desyred, nor by mayster Masker hym self deuysed: now cometh mayster Masker forth with certayne wordes of Chryst, by whithe he sayth that Chryste clerely declareth, that he ment clere the cōtrary that is to wytte that his fleshe shold not be eaten / and also that by thys worde eatyng of hys flesshe, he ment nothynge ellys, but the bylyefe of hys deth for mennys synnes.

Now the wordes of our sauyour that (as mayster masker saith) proue these two thynges, are these. It is the spyryte that geueth lyfe, my flesh profyteth nothynge at all. The wordes that I haue spoken to you be spy ryte and lyfe.

These wordes haue good reders in them selfe neyther any thynge in dysprofe of the very eatynge of hys flesshe, nor for the profe that he ment the bylyefe of his deth. For these wor des as saynte Austayne declareth, speke not precysely agaynst ye eatyng of his fleshe, as he ment to geue it them wrth the spyryte and the lyfe therin / but agaynste the eatynge of his flesshe alone, dede and cutte out in gobbettes, as they cōceiued a false opinion that he ment to make theym eate it. And as I haue shewed you before, saynt Cyrill expouneth these wordes after the same maner, and other holy doctours to. And now yf ye rede agayn mayster maskers wor des here: ye shall fynde that all that semeth to proue his purpose, is onely the wordes of hym selfe, & nothynge the wordes of Chryst / but hym selfe expounyng Chrystes worde in such wyse, that (as I haue shewed you) saynt Austayne and saynt Cyrill and other holy doctours, expoune it clere agaynste hym.

If his own argumēt were aught worth that he layeth against the inter pretacyon of all that expowne those wordes of Chryste, to be spoken of the very eatynge, by whiche we eate his blessed body in the sacrament, it wolde make agaynste no man so sore as agaynst hym self euyn here in this place.

For if it be trew that he sayth, that yf Chryst had ment of the eatyng of his flesh in the sacrament, he myght & wold haue in this place told it them playnely / & bycause he told them not that poynt out playnely, therfore it is clere that he ment it not: than say I that syth in these wordes / whyche mayster Masker sayth, is the very anker holde, Cryst doth not so playnely declare, that he […] by the eatynge of his flessh the bylyefe that he sholde dye for our synnys, as he coulde yf he had wolde, and wolde as mayster Masker sayth yf he had so ment. Thys is therfore a playne profe by mayster Maskers argumēt agaynst mayster Maskers mynde, yt our sauyour ment not so / and than is all master Maskers mater go.

Now that our sauyour doth not here declare that poynt clerely / that he ment nothynge but that they shold byleue that he sholde dye for theym: I wyll haue mayster Maskers own wordes to bere me recorde. whyche wyll I wene make mayster Masker somwhat wroth wyth hym selfe, for wrytyng them in hym self, so folyshely agaynste hym selfe.

For where he sayth that bothe the Iewes and the dyscyples, murmured and dysputed of his flesshe how it sholde be eaten, and not of the offerynge therof for our synnes: thys declareth and wytnesseth well for our parte agaynste his own / that our sauyour declared more playnely his mynde for the eatyuge of his flessh, than for the offerynge therof to the deth for our synnys. And of very trouth so he dyd in dede, though mayster Masker saye naye an hundred tymes. For of the eatyng of his flesh as I haue before said, he spake very precysely, and playnely, and often / and of his offerynge vp vppon the crosse, he neuer spake playnely so mych as one worde.

For as for these wordes whyche maister masker calleth ye anker hold: It is the spyrite that geueth this lyfe my fleshe profyteth nothynge at all, hath not one playne word for his pur pose at all. For all the vttermost that he coulde take of these wordes, were no more but that Chryste sholde tell them that the spyryte is the thynge that geueth his flesshe the lyfe, with out whiche of it selfe it coulde not profyte them at all / and therfore the wordes that he spake were spyryte & lyfe, and to be vnderstanden spyrytually, that they sholde eate his flesh wyth hys spyryte, and not carnally that they sholde eate hys flessh alone without his spyryte, cut out in dede peces of flesshe, as they had conceyued a fonde opinion therof, out of whyche he sayed all this to brynge them, but yet not so mych as he could haue sayd and he had wold, nor wold not bycause of theyr vnworthynesse to here it / and yet that they shold eate his flessh, he tolde them clere inough.

But as I say, what one worde is there in all these wordꝭ of his anchor holde, wherby mayster Masker may take one handefull holde, yt Chryste here shewed them so clerely, that he ment the offerynge of hym selfe for our synnys? he speketh ī al these wordes not one word of offeryng; nor of crucifyeng, nor of deth. And by mayster Maskers owne argument yf he had ment yt way, as he well could, so he wold also haue told them playnly thus: Sirs I mene not that you shal eate my flessh, but yt you shall byleue yt I shall dye for your synnys. And syth he sayd not thus, mayster Maskers own argument hath cutte of his cable rope, & lost his anchore, & runne his shyppe hym self agaynst a rocke. For he sayth that yf he had ment it, he wold haue tolde them playne the tale to put them out of all dowte.

And here you se now good reders by mo meanys than one, as wel by ye exposycyons of olde holy doctours & sayntes, as by the wyse argument of mayster masker hym self, to what wyse wurshypfull ende, thys ryall brage of his is come to passe, in whiche he triumpheth ouer the catholike chyrch & the blessed sacramēt, where he bosteth thus. Thys therfore is the sure anker to holde vs by, agaynst all the obieccions of the papystes, for the eatynge of Chrystes body as they say in forme of brede. Chryst sayd, My flesh profyteth nothyng, menyng to eate it bodely. Thys is the key that solueth all theyr argumentes & openeth the waye to shew vs all theyr false and abomynable blasphemouse lyes vppon Chrystes wordes, and vttereth theyr sleyght ingelynge ouer the brede to mayntayne Antichrystes kyngdome therwyth. And thus when Chryste had declared it, and taught them that it was not the bodyly eatynge of hys materyall body, but the eatynge wyth the spyryte of faythe: he added sayenge, The wordes whyche I here speke vnto you are spyryte and lyfe / that is to saye, thys mater that I here haue spoken of with so many wordes, must be spyrytually vnderstanden, to geue ye this lyfe euerlastynge. wherfore the cause why ye vnderstand me not, is that ye byleue me not. Here is lo the conclusyon of all hys sermon.

Syth your selfe haue sene good readers, that in this mater and in this whole exposycyon, there are agaynst mayster masker not onely the catholyke chyrche of our tyme, but also all the olde holy doctours and sayntes, which with one voyce expoune these wordes of Chryste to be spoken and ment of that eatynge of Chrystes flesshe, by whyche it is eaten in the blessed sacrament / agaynste whiche poynt mayster masker here rageth in this his furyouse boste, raylynge vp pon them all that so teche or byleue, vnder his spygstuff name of papystes: I wold wytte of mayster masker, whyther saynt […], saynt Austayn, and saynt Ambrose, saynt […], and saint […], Theophilactus, saynt Cyrill, and saynt Chry sostome, were all papystes or not? If he answere ye, and saye the were: than shall he make no man (that wise is) asshamed of the name of papyste (as odyouse as he wolde make it) yf he graunte vs that suche good godly men, & such holy doctours & sayntes were papystes.

Now yf he answere me nay, and say that they were no papystes: than he maketh it playne and open vnto you good reders, that he playeth but the part of a folyssh rayler & aiester, and doth but deceyue and mocke all his owne fratexnyte / whan by raylynge agaynste papystes, whom he wold haue taken for folke of a false fayth, he dyssembleth the trouth, that his here sye is not onely dampned by them that he calleth papystes, but by them also whom he cōfesscth for no papistes, and whom he cannot but cō fesse for old holy doctours & saintes / nor cannot so blynd you, but that you playnely perceyue by theyr own wor des / which I haue rehersed you, and yet shal hereafter more playnely per ceyue, by mo holy doctours & saynts of the same sort, & by mo playne wor des also of ye same, yt they do all with one voyce expoune these wordes of Chryst mencyoned in the syxte chapi ter of saynt Iohn, to be spokē & ment of yt eatyng of his flesh, by which we eate it in the blessed sacrament.

And thus haue I good reders answered you all mayster Maskers ar gumentes, by whych he reproueth in generall vnder the name of papyste, all those, that is to wytte all the olde holy doctours and sayntes, that contrary to hys heresye expowne the sayde wordes of Chryste to be ment of the very eatynge of hys flesshe, and not onely of the byleuynge of his deth for our synne.

And now wyll I come to his subtyll dysputacyōs, that he maketh against me by name in specyall, to soyle such thynges as I in my letter wrote agaynst Iohn Fryth.