The answere to the fyrst parte of the poysened booke, which a namelesse heretyke hath named the souper of the lorde. By syr Thomas More knyght

The. xi. chapyter

THese wordes myghte good readers seme to an vnchrysten man or to a false christened Ar∣ryane, to sygnyfye that our sauyour were not 〈◊〉〈◊〉 god with his father, in that he speketh so often (as in ma ny mo 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of scrypture he spe∣keth more often) that he is obedyent to hys 〈◊〉〈◊〉, and that his father sent hym, and that he is lesse than hys fa∣ther / and many suche other placys, by whyche the olde Arriane 〈◊〉〈◊〉 defended theyr 〈◊〉〈◊〉 a∣gaynste the godhed of Chryste in hys person as these Lutherane he∣retyques / and these Huyskyns,

zuynglians, and Tyndalyns, draw now diuerse other textes to y^e mayn∣tenaunce of theyr false heresyes, a∣gaynst the precyous body and bloud of Cryst in his blessed sacrament.

¶ But as good chrysten men well know that these newe heretykes are falsely now deceyued in the tone / so know they to, that those olde herety∣kes were falsely than deceyued in y^e tother.

¶ For all the minorite and the obedi∣ence that the scrypture speketh of in Chryste, is all ment of his manhed (whyche was lesse in 〈◊〉〈◊〉) and not of his goodhed, for they were bothe equale.

¶ For how coulde they be in godhed vnequale, whan that in godhed they were bothe one, though in persons di uerse. And therfore 〈◊〉〈◊〉 sauyour by his godhed hath the selfe same wyll

that hys father hath and none other / as he hath the same wytte, & the same myght, the same nature, the same sub¦staunce, and finally the same godhed and none other. And therfore what so euer the tone doth the tother dothe / & as the sone was sent by the father, so was he also sent bothe by hym selfe and by the holy goost to. And whan y^e holy goost was sent, he was sent bo∣the by the father and y^e sone & by him selfe also. But incarnate was there no mo but the sone alone / who as he had by hys godhed none other wyll but the very selfe same that hys fa∣ther had and the holy goost, so had he by his manhed another seuerall wyll and propre vnto the persone of his manhede it selfe as euery man hath his owne. And of that wyll is it that he sayth, I am descēded from heuyn, not to do my wyll but y^e wyll of hym

that sent me / for in the wyll of hys manhed he obayed the godhed.

¶ But nowe yf thys obedyence be vnderstanden of hys manhed, how can it stande wyth these wordes of his, I am descended from heuyn not to do my wyll but the wyll of hym that sent me. With that poynt good reader shall no mā nede to be moued. For syth bothe the godhed and man∣hed were ioyned and vned together bothe, in the one person of Chryste, that whole person myghte saye of it selfe suche thynges as were very∣fyed and trewe in any of the bothe na¦turys. For lyke as a man maye saye of hym selfe, I shall dye and retorne into the erthe, and yet that shall not hys soule do but his body onely / and I shall after my dethe go forth with to ioy or to payne, and yet that shall not hys body do by and by but his

soule: so myghte Chryste saye of hym selfe, I am descended from he∣uyn, bycause hys godhed descended frome thense though hys body dyd not / and he myghte saye I shall suf fre and dye bycause hys manhed so sholde, and yet was hys godhed ney∣ther mortall nor passyble. And for all that, myghte it be sayde of Cryst, God dyed for vs, bycause he dyed that than was god. And of Chryste niyghte it well be layed, Thys man made heuyn and erthe, and yet hys manhed made it not, but was made by hys godhed as other creaturys were. But those wordes are well veryfyed by the reason that he, why∣che of the person of Chryste sayth thys man, sygnyfyeth and meaneth not hys onely manhed but his whole person, whiche is not onely man but very god also,

¶ Thys thynge and this maner of spekynge expressed our sauiour very playne hym selfe, whan he sayd vnto Nichodemus in talkynge with hym of the sacrament of baptisme,

No mā hath ascended into heuyn but he that descended frome heuyn, the sone of man that is in heuyn.

In these wor∣des he sheweth vnto Nichodemus, that there was more credence to be geuyn vnto hym selfe alone, than vn to all the prophetes that euer were before. For hym selfe more perfytely 〈◊〉〈◊〉 we all thynge than all they dyd. For neuer man had there ben in heuē but he. For neuer man sayd our lorde hath ascended into heuyn, but he that descended frome heuyn, the sone of man that is to wytte I my selfe that am in heuyn.

¶ Here he sayed that y^t sone of man had bene in heuen, and had descended

from heuyn, & was yet in heuyn 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Now was not his godhed the sone of man but the sone of god, nor his man∣hed the sone of god but the sone of man. But now though the godhed & the manhed were not bothe one, but two distincte naturs styll / yet syth the sone of god and the sone of man were bothe one, that is to wyt both twayne one person Cryste / Cryste therfore myght well say than of hymselfe, I the sone of god am the sone of man, & I the sone of man am y^e sone of god, and I the sone of god am walkynge amonge men on erth, and I the sone of man am syttynge wyth my father in heuyn.

¶ Now that ye maye good readers the better conceyue thys mater, and more easely perceyue the sentence of these wordes of Cryst, All that my father gyueth me &c. I shal expoune

you these word{is} of his in order, as it were in bys owne person, spekynge the wordes of thys exposycyon hym selfe.

¶ No man can come to me by hye owne labour alone. But all that my father geueth me shall come to me. Labour therfore to my father & pray hym to geue you to me, geuynge you occasyon and helpynge you & (wyth your own wyll wurkyng with hym) makyng you byleue me, and so shall you wurkyng with him by your own good wyll, in subdueng of your rea∣son to y^e obedyence of fayth, by bylief come to me, and with good wyll of well wurkynge also with the bylief / shall not onely byleue me, but also by leue in me, and go into me, by beynge a membre of myne, and incorpora∣tynge your self in me / and I shall by

the gyfte of myne owne body to be eaten and receyued of yours, incorpo rate my selfe in you, and I wyll not cast you out frome but be styll incor∣porated wyth you, but yf you cast me out frome you, and so by synne caste your selfe awaye fro me / els of all that commeth to me by my fathers bryngynge, I wyll caste none oute. For yf ye came to me by my father thorow fayth, and that I wolde not than suffre deth for your saluacyon, than dyd I caste you oute. For none can come in to my blisse of heuyn, but by hys rawnson payed by my dethe and passyon. But I wyll not refuse that, but I wyll suffre and dye for the worlde, to gyue the dede worlde lyfe by my deth. For I am descended from heuyn sent by my father not to do myne owne wyll, but the wyll of

hym that hath sent me. But I mene not by these wordes that I wyll dye agaynst myne owne wyll, but that al be it the sensuall part of my manhed wolde of the nature of man abhorre, shrinke and withdrawe from the gre uouse payne of suche an intollerable passyon: yet shall my wyll bothe of my godhed be all one with the wyll of my father, and therby in suche ma∣ner obedyent vnto his father, as we say a man is obedyent vnto his owne reason, and yet is not his owne reasō another power superiour aboue hym selfe. And my wyll of my manhed shall also be so confortable to y^e wyll of my father, y^e wyl of the holy goost and the wyll of myne owne godhed (all whiche thre wylles are in dede one wyll as all our thre persons are in godhed one god) that I wyll wyl∣lyngly dye for them all that so come

to me by my fathers bryngynge tho∣rough the well wurkynge fayth, and wyll abyde and perseuer. And like wyse as I wyll by myne owne body gyuen vnto theym by eatynge in to theyre owne, gyue thē an ernest peny of our incorporacyon togyther, and a memory all of that deth and passyon, by whiche I wyll wyllyngly geue my selfe for them, by beynge slayne and sacryfysed for theyr synne, and made the raunsō of theyr redempciō: whan god shall for this obedyence of my manhode vnto the deth the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 deth of the crosse, lyfte me vp and ex alte me, and gyue me the name that is aboue all names, than shall I by my resurreccion agayne to lyfe, geue them a sample and make them sure, that I shall in syke wyse at the laste day leue none of them to be loste, no more in body than in soule / but shall

so resuscitate and rayse agayne theyr bodyes, that lyke as I shall my selfe ascēde into heuyn agayn from whēse I came, so shall they as membres of my body ascend thyther with me, and there be fedde of thys euerlastynge lyuely brede that I tell you of, that is to wytte of the fruyciō of my god∣hed and byholdynge also of my glo∣ryouse manhed for euer, eche of you that haue vse of reason after thana∣logye and proporcyon of the well formed fayth, with hope & well wur∣kynge cherite that you shall haue had in thys lyfe here before. For thys 〈◊〉〈◊〉 as I byfore told you, the wyll of my father that sent me, that euery man that sethe hys sone as you do, and not onely seeth him as you do, but also by leueth in hym as you do not, shall ha∣ue (yf he perseuer in that well wur∣kynge by lyef) the meat that I speke

of that shall not peryshe but abyde in to euerlastynge lyfe. For though ye se euery man dye here for the whyle / yet I shall (as I tolde you) beynge of egall power with my father, reyse them all vppe egayne my selfe at the laste daye, & than shall my faythfull folke be fedde wyth this euerlastyng lyuely brede of myne owne person bothe god and man for euer. And lo now haue I playnely told you what brede I mene.

¶ Where as I haue good reader in the xposycyon of these wordes of our sauyour, inserted the incorporacyon of hym and vs togyther, by the recey uynge and eatynge of his owne body into ours: I haue not done it to make any man wene that that poynt appe∣red and were proued by any parte of those wordes, but bycause yt ys a very trouth in dede / and not onely

to wched and signyfyed in other wor∣des of 〈◊〉〈◊〉 before, but also playnely expressed and declared by other wor∣des of hys owne after, as you shall hereafter se. Therfore so playne a trouth, and so necessary, and so neces∣saryly parteynynge to that place of y^e mater, me thought it not metely for to be lefte out.

Notes

• 〈◊〉〈◊〉. 6