ART which the altar was the chief inftrument; the facrifices being offered there.

XXVIII.

I Cor. x. 18.

To all this it may be replied, that it is reasonable enough to believe, that according to the power which God fuffered the Devil to exercise over the idolatrous world, there might be fome inchantment in the facrifices offered to idols, and that the Devil might have fome power over thofe that did partake of them: and in order to this, St. Paul removed an objection that might have been made, that there could be no harm in their joining to the idol feafts; for an idol was nothing; and fo that which was offered to an idol could contract no defilement from the idol, it being nothing. Now if the meaning of their being partakers with Devils imports only their joining themfelves in acts of fellowship with idolaters, then the fin of this would have eafily appeared, without fuch a re-inforcing of the matter; for though an idol was nothing, yet it was ftill a great fin to join in the acts that were meant to be the worthip of this nothing: this was a difhonouring of God, and a debafing of man. But St. Paul seems to carry the argument farther; that how true foever it was that the idol was nothing, that is, a dead and lifelefs thing, that had no virtue nor operation, and that by confequence could derive nothing to the facrifice that was offered to it; yet fince thofe idols were the inftruments by which the Devil kept the world in fubjection to him, all fuch as did partake in their facrifices might come under the effects of that magic, that might be exerted about their temples or facrifices: by which the credit of idolatry was much kept up.

And though every Chriftian had a fure defence againft the powers of darknefs, as long as he continued true to his religion, yet if he went out of that protection into the empire of the Devil, and joined in the acts that were as a homage to him, he then fell within the reach of the Devil, and might juftly fear his being brought into a partnerfbip of thofe magical poffeffions or temptations that might be fuffered to fall upon fuch Chriftians, as fhould affociate themfelves in fo deteftable a fervice.

In the fame fenfe it was alfo faid, that all the Ifraelites who did eat of the facrifices were partakers of the altar: that is, that all of them who joined in the acts of that religion, fuch as the offering their peace-offerings, for of thofe of that kind they might only eat, all these were partakers of the altar; that is, of all the bleflings of their religion, of all the expiations, the burnt-offerings and fin-offerings, that were offered on the altar, for the fins of the whole congregation: for that as a great

ftock

tock went in a common dividend among fuch as observ- ART. ed the precepts of that law, and joined in the acts of wor- XXVIII. fhip prefcribed by it: thus it appears, that fuch as joined in the acts of idolatry became partakers of all that influence that Devils might have over thofe facrifices; and all that continued in the obfervances of the Mofaical Law, had thereby a partnership in the expiations of the altar fo likewife all Chriftians who receive this facrament worthily, have by their fo doing a fhare in that which is reprefented by it, the death of Chrift, and the expiation and other benefits that follow it.

This feemed neceffary to be fully explained: for this matter, how plain foever in itself, has been made very dark, by the ways in which fome have pretended to open it. With this I conclude all that belongs to the first part of the Article, and that which was firft to be explained of our doctrine concerning the facrament: by which we affert a real prefence of the body and blood of Chrift; but not of his body as it is now glorified in heaven, but of his body as it was broken on the crofs, when his blood was fbed and feparated from it: that is, his death, with the merit and effects of it, are in a vifible and federal act offered in this facrament to all worthy believers.

By real we understand true, in oppofition both to fiction and imagination: and to thofe fhadows that were in the Mofaical difpenfation, in which the manna, the rock, the brazen ferpent, but moft eminently the cloud of glory, were the types and fhadows of the Meffias, that was to come: with whom came grace and truth; that is, a most wonderful manifeftation of the mercy or grace of God, and a verifying of the promises made under the Law: in this fenfe we acknowledge a real prefence of Chrift in the facrament: though we are convinced that our firft Reformers judged right concerning the ufe of the phrafe real prefence, that it were better to be let fall than to be continued, fince the use of it, and that idea which does naturally arife from the common acceptation of it, may stick deeper, and feed fuperftition more, than all thofe larger explanations that are given to it can be able to cure.

But howfoever in this fenfe it is innocent of itself, and may be lawfully ufed; though perhaps it were more cautiously done not to ufe it, fince advantages have been taken from it, to urge it farther than we intend it; and fince it has been a fnare to fome :

I go in the next place to explain the doctrine of the Church of Rome concerning this facrament. Tranfubftantiation does exprefs it in one word: but that a full

ART. idea may be given of this part of their doctrine, I fhall open it in all its branches and confequences.

XXVIII.

The matter of this facrament is not bread and wine: for they are annihilated when the facrament is made. They are only the remote matter, out of which it is made: but when the facrament is made, they ceafe to be; and instead of them their outward appearances or accidents do only remain: which though they are no fubftances, yet are fupposed to have a nature and effence of their own, feparable from matter: and these appearances, with the body of Chrift under them, are the matter of the facrament.

Now though the natural and visible body of Cbrift could not be the facrament of his body, yet they think his real body being thus veiled under the appearances of bread and wine, may be the facrament of his glorified body.

Yet, it feeming fomewhat ftrange to make a true body the facrament of itfelf, they would willingly put the facrament in the appearances; but that would found very harsh, to make accidents which are not matter, to be the matter of the facrament: therefore fince thefe words, This is my body, must be literally understood, the matter must be the true body of Chrift; fo that Chrifl's body is the facrament of his body.

Christ's body, though now in heaven, is, as they think, prefented in every place where a true confecration is made. And though it is in heaven in an extended state, as all other bodies are, yet they think that extenfion may be separated from matter, as well as the other appearances or accidents are believed to be feparated from it. And whereas our fouls are believed to be fo in our bodies, that though the whole foul is in the whole body, yet all the foul is believed to be in every part of it; but fo that if any part of the body is feparated from the reft, the foul is not divided, being one fingle fubftance, but retires back into the rest of the body: they apprehend that Chrift's body is prefent after the manner of a fpirit, without extenfion, or the filling of space; fo that the space which the appearances poffefs is ftill a vacuum, or only filled by the accidents for a body without extenfion, as they fuppofe Christ's body to be, can never fill up an extenfion.

Chrift's body in the facrament is denominated one; yet ftill as the fpecies are broken and divided, fo many new bodies are divided from one another; every crumb of bread and drop of wine that is feparated from the whole, is a new body, and yet without a new miracle, all being done in confequence of the firft great one that was all at once wrought.

The

The body of Chrift continues in this ftate, as long as ART. the accidents remain in theirs; but how it fhould alter is XXVIIL not easy to apprehend: the corruption of all other accidents arifes from a change in the common fubftance, out of which new accidents do arife, while the old ones vanifh; but accidents without a fubject may feem more fixed and stable yet they are not fo, but are as fubject to corruption as other accidents are: howfoever, as long as the alteration is not total; though the bread fhould be both mufty and mouldy, and the wine both dead and four, yet as long as the bread and wine are fill fo far preferved, or rather that their appearances fubfift, fo long the body of Chrift remains: but when they are fo far altered, that they seem to be no more bread and wine, and that they are corrupted either in part or in whole, Chrift's body is withdrawn, either in part or in whole.

It is a great miracle to make the accidents of bread and wine fublift without a fubject; yet the new accidents that arife upon thefe accidents, fuch as mouldinefs or fournefs, come on without a miracle, but they do not know how. When the main accidents are deftroyed, then the prefence of Chrift ceafes: and a new miracle must be fuppofed to produce new matter, for the filling up of that space which the fubftance of bread and wine did formerly fill; and which was all this while poffeffed by the accidents. So much of the matter of this Sacrament.

The form of it is in the words of confecration, which though they found declarative as if the thing were already done; This is my body, and This is my blood; yet they believe them to be productive. But whereas the common notion of the form of a facrament is, that it fanctifies and applies the matter; here the former matter is fo far from being confecrated by it, that it is annihilated, and new matter is not fanctified, but brought thither or produced: and whereas whenfoever we fay of any thing, this is, we fuppose that the thing is, as we fay it is, before we fay it; yet here all the while that this is a faying till the last fyllable is pronounced, it is not that which it is faid to be, but in the minute in which the last fyllable is uttered, then the change is made: and of this they are so firmly perfuaded, that they do prefently pay all that adoration to it, that they would pay to the perfon of Jefus Chrift if he were vifibly prefent: though the whole virtue of the confecration depends on the intention of a Prieft: so that he with a cross intention hinders all this feries of miracles, as he fetches it all on, by letting his intention go along with it. If it may be faid of fome doctrines, that the bare expol

ART. ing them is a most effectual confutation of them; certainly XXVIII. that is more applicable to this, than to any other that can be imagined: for though I have in ftating it confidered fome of the most important difficulties, which are seen and confeffed by the Schoolmen themselves, who have poised all these with much exactness and fubtilty; yet I have paffed over a great many more, with which those that deal in fchool-divinity will find enough to exercise both their thoughts and their patience. They run out in many fubtilties, concerning the accidents both primary and fecondary; concerning the ubication, the production and reproduction of bodies; concerning the penetrability of matter, and the organization of a penetrable body; concerning the way of the deftruction of the fpecies; concerning the words of confecration; concerning the water that is mixed with the wine, whether it is firft changed by natural caufes into wine; and fince nothing but wine is tranfubftantiated, what becomes of fuch particles of water that are not turned into wine? What is the grace produced by the facrament, what is the effect of the prefence of Chrift fo long as he is in the body of the communicant; what is got by his prefence, and what is loft by his abfence? In a word, let a man read the shortest body of fchool-divinity that he can find, and he will fee in it a vaft number of other difficulties in this matter, of which their own authors are aware, which I have quite paffed over. For when this doctrine fell into the hands of nice and exact men, they were foon fenfible of all the consequences that must needs follow upon it, and have pursued all these with a clofenefs far beyond any thing that is to be found among the writers of our fide.

But that they might have a falvo for every difficulty, they framed a new model of philofophy; new theories were invented, of substances and accidents, of matter and of fpirits, of extenfion, ubication, and impenetrability; and by the new definitions and maxims to which they accustomed men in the ftudy of philofophy, they prepared them to swallow down all this more eafily, when they fhould come to the ftudy of divinity.

The infallibility of the Church that had exprefsly defined it, was to bear a great part of the burden: if the Church was infallible, and if they were that Church, then it could be no longer doubted of. In dark ages miracles and vifions came in abundantly to fupport it: in ages of more light, the infinite power of God, the words of the inftitution, it being the teftament of our Saviour then dying, and foon after confirmed with his blood, were things of great