The. viii. chapyter
HOwe be yt for to furnyshe hys mater with, and to set it the better forth, bycause he wolde not haue yt seme to stande all vppon his owne onely exposycyon, that […] to wyt vppon his owne onely worde: he setteth vnto his owne bare word, hys owne bare balde reason, and sayth.
If thys mater had stode vppon so depe a myracle as oure papystes fayne, without any worde not compre hended vnder any of theyr commen sense, that they shold eate his body beynge vnder the forme of brede, as longe, depe, […], and as brode as yt hanged vppon the crosse: they beyng yet but feble of fayth, not confyrmed wyth the holy goste, muste here […] haue wondered, stonned, and staggred / and haue ben more inquysytyue in and of so straunge a mater than they were. But they neyther meruayled nor murmured / nor nothynge offended wyth thys […] of speche / as were the other that slypte awaye, but they answered fermely. Thou haste the wordes of euerlastynge lyfe, and we byleue &c. Now to the […] of the wordes of out […] souper.
Here hath mayster Maskar geuen vs a maior of an argument, and a minor to. His maior is his fyrste parte vnto these wordes, But they &c. and his minor is at the remaunt.
But we maye nowe aske hym ergo what? For conclusyon he setteth none vnto theym. If he thynke the conclu syon folowe so clere that he neded not, but euery man muste nedes se what foloweth vppon his two premysses: in good fayth for my parte yf I sholde set ergo to yt, that ys the comen note of the consequente, I se not what wold folow any more then the cōmen verse of the compute manuell, Ergo ciphos adrifex, he hathe made his maior so folyshely.
In whych that fyrst yt pleaseth his mayfter shyppe to tryfle & mocke in this great mater, & make vs pore people wene / that euery thynge that any doctour sayth in dyspycyons, or holdeth by way of probleme, were delyuered vs to byleue as a necessary poynte of our fayth: he doth but play the false fole for his pleasure. For as for the maner how the blessed bodye of Chryste is in the blessed sacrament, whyther with his dymensy one, as song, thycke, and brode, as he hanged on the crosse, or with his dymensyons ꝓporcionable to the forme of brede, as his blessed bodye was as veryly his bodye in the fyrst moment of his holy concepcyon, as yt euer was at his passion / and yet was yt than neyther so thycke, so songe, nor so brode / or whyther his body be there in his naturall substaunce, with out any dymensyons at all / or whyther he be there in all his distyncty ōs of the members of his holy hodye, or there haue al his mēbers without any distinctyō of place at all: these things and suche other in whiche lerned men maye moderately and reuerently dy spute and exercyse theyr witte and lernynge, the catholyque chyrche in suche wyse leueth at large, that yt vyndeth not the people to any suche strayghtes in the mater, but onely to the poyntes that we be bounden by certayne and sure reuelacyon, to byleue / that is to wytte, that vnder what maner so euer yt be there, veryfy there yt is, his very fleshe and hys very blood. And in the forme of brede veryly eate hys very bodye there we do, when we receyue the ve ry blessed sacrament. Thus […] haue we by certayne and sure reuela cyon, bothe by holy scrypture, and by the tradycyon also, by whych Chryst taught yt to hys apostles and they to the chyrche, as saynte Poule dyd to1 the Corinthyes, and the chyrch to the people by succession from age to age euer syn thapostles dayes vnto our owne tyme.
And therfore wyth those mockes and iestes, mayster Mashar mocketh no man but hym selfe / saue that vnder the name of papystes, he mocketh all the catholyque chyrche of this. xv. hundred yere both clergy and temporaltye, men and women, and […] / and amonge the remanaunt, all […] holy doctours and saynts that haue wythout doute or questyon both byleued and taught, that Crift ment not to speke those wordes: My fleshe is very meate, by waye of a pa table, as mayster Masker sayth he onely ment / but that he veryly spake and ment of the very eatynge of hys fleshe in dede.
But now shall you se that as I sayd, his maior is so folishely made, that al the world may wonder where his wytte was when he made yt.
For he sayth that yf the mater stode in dede, vppon such a great myracle as the catholyque chyrche (whyche he calleth the papystes) byleue, that is to wyt that his very bodye sholde be eaten in forme of brede / and that also (whyche he putteth for a necessary parte of our sayth) as longe, as depe, as thycke, and as brode as yt was whanne yt hanged on the crosse: than the dyscyples and apostles (bycause they were yet but feble in the fayth) muste nedes haue wondered, stonned, and stagerd, and haue bene more inquysytyue therein then they were. Nowe woteth well euery chylde good reader, that Chryst dyd not in that place, playnely tell theym in what maner that they shold eat yt / that is to wyt that they shold eate yt in forme of brede. For though he gaue them an insynnacyon & sygnyfy cacyon therof, in that he sayde, And2 the brede that I shall gyue you is my flesshe / whyche wordis coupled with his dede whē he dyd instytute in dede at hys maundy, myghte then make3 theym clerely perceyue that they sholde eate fleshe in forme of brede: yet at the tyme when the worde was fyrste spoken, yt was not so playne for that mater, but yt myght seme to theym that he vsed that worde brede but by maner of allegorye to sygnyfye there his fleshe, bycause they sholde veryly eate yt as men eate brede.
Now se than good reader the mad nesse of mayster Maskar, that sayeth here, that that thyng must nedeshaue made thapostles wonder, stonned, and stagger, at the time when Christ spake those wordes in the sext chapypyter of saynt John̄ / at whych tyme euery chyld knoweth, yt they though they well perceyued that they sholde veryly eate his fleshe, yet they knew not that they shold eate it in forme of bred. And how could it thā haue made them wonder (that thyng I say that he speketh of, and so sore exaggerateth to encrease the wonder) that ys to wytte that his fleshe sholde be eaten in forme of bred, and that as long as thycke, as depe, and as brode, as yt was whan yt hanged on the crosse. Nowe coulde thys thyng I saye haue made theym wonder at that tyme, at whyche tyme they thoughte not of the eatynge therof in the forme of brede? Nerd euer any man suche a madde argument, as mayster Maskar hathe made vs here.
Nowe yf Chryste had there told theym in dede, all that mayster Mas kar hath here putte in so folyshely, to make the mater the more wonderful: than wolde I denye hys maior. And so wyll I do if hym self putte al that oute agayne, and leue no more in hys maior than Chryste sayde in dede, that is that they sholde veryly ease his fleshe & haue life therby, & yt they shold not onely eate it bodyly but also spyrytually / nor in dede gobettes wythoute lyfe or spyryte, but quycke and ioyned wyth the lyuely […], by whyche yt sholde geue lyfe, and wythoute whyche his fleshe of hys owne proper nature to the geuynge of lyfe, coulde not auayle.
Nowe saye I that yf mayster Mas ker hadde made his maior of this: all this had ben no cause for hys apostles to wonder, nor to be stonned and stagger, nor to murmure and grudge as they dyd that slypte awaye.
For as feble as mayster Maskar ma keth thapostles in the fayth of Crist: yet at that tyme wythoute any suche maner of meruayle, as myght make theym stonne and stagger and slyppe away from hym, they byleued suche other thynges as were as harde to byleue as this, and that wythout any farther inquysycyon at all.
For elles why shode they not at the same time haue meruayled of his ascensyon vppe to heuen, and bene more inquysytyue therof. For that was no lytle meruayle neyther, and was one of the thynges / that made ye Iewes and those disciples to stonne and stagger, that there slypte awaye from hym.
Also they byleued yt he was god / and hadde no such wonder therof, as made theym stonne and stagger or be more inquisytyue therof, whyche was as straūge a mater as was al the tother / and which poynt ones byleued, yt was […] to byleue the tother with out any suche maner of meruaylyng, as shold make them eyther stonne or stagger therat.
No we as for beynge inquisytyue therof: holy saint Chrisostome saith, that as straunge as the thing was of eatynge his fleshe. For yt men hadde benrysen from deth they had herd of in ye scripture before / but yt one shold eate a nothers flesh saith saīt Chriso stome, that had they neuer herd of) yet they byleued Christes word and folowed forth styll, & confessed yt he had the wordes of euerlastyng lyfe, and wold not be by & by curiouse and inquisytiue as mayster Maskar saith they wold, yf they had byleued hym that he ment of eatyng of his flesh in dede. For saynt Chrysostome sayth, That is ye parte of a discyple, what so euer his mayster affermeth, not to be curyouse and inquysytyue therof, nor to make serche therin, but to heare and byleue, and yf they wolde any thynge forther be enformed / abyde a conuenyent tyme. For they that dyd otherwyse & were inquisytyue, went4 awaye backe, and that thorow theyr foly. For sayth saynt Chrysostome, whan so euer it comth in the mynde, to aske the questyon how the thynge may be done: than cometh there in to the mynde incredulyte therwith. So was Nichodemus troubled & asked, Now maye a man be borne agayne5 whan he is olde? Maye a man entre agayne into his mothers bely and be borne agayn? And so the Iewes sayd here to: how can he gyue vs his flesh to eate? But thou Iewe yf thou aske that, why dydest thou not aske that in lyke wise in the myracle of the fyue louys: why dydest thou not thā aske how can he fede so many of vs with so lytell mete. why dydest thou not aske, by what meane he wolde & dyd encreace it so mych. The cause was bycause they cared but for the meate, and not for the myracle. But thou wylte peraduenture saye, the thynge at that tyme declared and shewed it selfe. But than I say agayne, that of that manifest open myracle that they saw hym there wurke, they shold haue byleued that he coulde do these thynges to, that is to wyt these thynges that they now murmured at whā they sayd, how can he gyue vs hys flesshe to eate. For therfore (saythe saynt Chrysostome) dyd our sauiour wurke the tother myracle of his lyue louys byfore, bycause he wolde therwith induce them that they shold not dystruste those thynges that he wold tell them after, that is to wytte good readers of hys godhed, and of the geuynge of hys fleshe to eate.
Footnotes
Chapter 53 of 70