A defence of the true and catholike doctrine of the sacrament of the body and bloud of our sauiour Christ with a confutacion of sundry errors concernyng the same, grounded and stablished vpon Goddes holy woorde, [and] approued by ye consent of the moste auncient doctors of the Churche. Made by the moste reuerende father in God Thomas Archebyshop of Canterbury, primate of all Englande and Metropolitane.

Cranmer, Thomas, 1489-1556.

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THE SECONDE BOOKE IS AGAINST THE ERROVR OF Transubstantiation.

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*Yet there is another place of sainct Ambrose, whiche the Papistes thynke maketh muche for their purpose,* but after due examinacion, it shal plainly appeare, howe muche they be deceyued. They allege these wordes of sainct Ambrose in a booke intituled De ijs qui initiantur mysterijs.

Let vs proue that there is not that thyng whiche natur formed, but whiche benediction did cōsecrate, and that benediction is of more strength than nature For by the blessyng, nature it selfe is also chaunged. Moyses helde a rodde,* he cast it from him, and it was made a serpent. Againe he tooke the ser∣pent by the tayle, and it was turned againe into the nature of a rodde. Wherfore thou seest, that by the grace of the prophet, the nature of the ser¦pent and rodde was twyse chaunged.* The flud∣des of Egypt ranne pure water, & sodenly bloud beganne to brast out of the vaynes of the spryn∣ges, so that men could not drynke of the fludde: but at the prayer of the prophet, the bloud of the fludde went away, and the nature of water came againe.* The people of the Hebrues were com∣passed aboute, on the one syde with the Egypti∣ans, and on the other syde with the sea. Moyses lyfted vp his rodde, the water deuided it selfe, & stoode vp like a walle, and betwene the waters was left a waye for them to passe on foote. And Iordane against nature turned backe to the Page 41 head of his sprynge. Dothe it not appere now, that the nature of the sea fludds, or of the course of freshe water, was changed? The people was dry,* Moyses touched a stone, and water came out of the stone. Dyd not grace here woorke a∣boue nature, to make the stone to bryng forthe water,* whyche it had not of nature? Marath was a most bytter floud, so that the people be∣yng drye, could not drinke therof. Moyses put woode into the water, and the nature of the wa∣ter lost his bytternes, whiche grace infused, did sodeynly moderate.* In the tyme of Heliseus the prophete▪ an axe head fell from one of the pro∣phetes seruauntes into the water, he that loste the yron, desyred the prophet Heliseus help, who put the helue into the water, and the yron swam aboue. Which thyng we know was done aboue nature, for yron is heuier than the liquor of wa¦ter. Thus wee perceaue, that grace is of more force thā nature, and yet hitherto we haue reher∣sed but the grace of the blessing of the prophets Nowe yf the blessynge of a man be of suche valewe, that it may chaunge nature, what dooe wee saye of the consecration of God? wherein is the operation of the woordes of our sauiour Christe? For this sacrament whiche thou receauest is doon by the woord of Christe. Than if the worde of Helias was of suche power, that it coulde brynge fy∣er downe frome heauen, shall not the woorde of Christe be of that power, to chaunge the kyndes of the elementes? Of the makynge of the whole Page [unnumbered] worlde,* thou haste redde that God spake, and the thynges were doone, He commaunded, and they were created: The worde than of Christe, that coulde of no thynges, make thynges that were not, can it not change those thynges that be, into that thynge, whiche before they were not? For it is no lesse mattier, to geue to thynges newe natures, than to alter natures.

Thus farre haue I rehersed the woordes of Saynt Ambrose, yf the sayd boke bee his (whi∣che they that bee of greatest learnyng and iud∣gement doo not thynke) by which woordes the Papistes would proue, that in the supper of the Lorde after the woordes of Consecration (as they bee commonly called) there remaineth nei∣ther bread nor wyne, bycause that S. Ambrose saieth in this place, that the nature of the bread and wyne is chaunged.

*But to satisfie their myndes, let vs grant for their pleasure, that the forsaid boke was Saint Ambrose owne worke, yet the same boke maketh nothynge for their purpose, but quite agaynste them. For he saieth not, that the substaunce of bread and wyne is gone, but he sayth, that theyr nature is chaunged, that is to saye, that in the holy communion we oughte not to receaue the bread and wyne, as other common meates and drynkes, but as thynges cleane chaunged into a hygher estate, nature, and condition, to be ta∣ken as holy meates and drynkes, wherby we re∣ceaue spirituall feedyng, and supernaturall no∣rishement Page 42 from heauen, of the very true body and bloud of our sauior Christ, through the om¦nipotent power of God, and the wonderfull wor¦kyng of the holy ghost. Whiche so well agreeth with the substance of bread and wyne styl remai¦nynge, that if they were gone awaye, and not there, this our spirituall feedyng, coulde not be taught vnto vs by theim.

And therfore in the most part of the exāples, whiche S. Ambrose allegeth for the wonderful alteration of natures, the substaunces dyd styll remayne, after the nature and proprieties were chaunged. As whan the water of Iordane (con∣trary to his nature) stoode styll lyke a wall, or flowed against the streame towardes the head & spryng, yet the substaunce of the water remay∣ned the same that it was before. Lykewyse the stone, that aboue his nature and kynde flowed water, was the selfe same stone that it was be∣fore. And the fludde of Marath, that chaunged his nature of bytternesse, chaunged for all that no part of his substance. No more did that yron, whiche contrary to his nature, swam vpon the water, lose thereby any parte of the substaunce thereof. Therfore as in these alteracions of na∣tures, the substaunces neuerthelesse remay∣ned the same, that they were before the alteraci∣ons: euen so doeth the substaunce of bread and wyne remayne in the Lordes supper, and be na∣turally receiued and digested into the body, not withstandyng the sacramental mutacion of the Page [unnumbered] same into the body and bloud of Christ. Which sacramentall mutation declareth the superna∣turall spirituall and inexplicable eatynge and drynkynge, feedyng and digestyng of the same body and bloudde of Christe, in all theim, that godly and accordyng to theyr duetie, do receiue the sayd sacramentall bread and wyne.

And that Saynt Ambrose thus ment, that the substance of breade and wyne remayne styll af∣ter the consecration, it is moste clere by three o∣ther examples of the same mater, folowynge in the same chapiter. One is of theym that bee regenerated, in whome after theyr regenerati∣on dooeth styll remayne theyr former naturall substaunce. An other is of the Incarnation of our Sauiour Christe, in the whyche peryshed no substaunce, but remayned as well the sub∣staunce of his godhead, as the substance whiche he tooke of the blessed vyrgin Mary. The third exaumple is of the water in baptisme, where the water styll remayneth water, although the holy ghost come vpon the water, or rather vpon him that is baptised therein.

*And although the same sainct Ambrose, in an other booke entitled De sacramentis, doeth saye,

that the bread is bread before the wordes of con∣secration, but when the consecration is doone, of bread is made the body of Christe:

Yet in the same booke, & in the same chapiter, he telleth in what maner and forme the same is done, by the woor∣des of Christ: not by takyng away the substance Page 43 of the bread, but addyng to the bread, the grace of Christs body, & so calling it the body of Christ

And hereof he bryngeth .iiii. examples. The first of the regeneration of a man: the second is of the standyng of the water of the red sea: the third is of the bytter water of Marath: and the fourthe is of the yron that swamme aboue the water. In euery of the whyche exaumples, the former substance remayned stylle, not withstan∣dyng alteration of the natures. And he conclu∣deth the whole matter in these fewe woordes.

If there be so muche strength in the woordes of the Lorde Iesu, that thynges had theyr begyn∣nynge, whiche neuer were before, howe muche more be they able to worke, that those thynges, that were before, should remayn, & also be chan∣ged into other thynges?

Which wordes do sh•w manyfestly, that not withstandyng this wonder¦full sacramental and spiritual changyng of the bread into the body of Christ, yet the substāce of the bread remayneth y^e same, that it was before.

Thus is a sufficient answere made vnto thre principall authoritees, whiche the Papistes vse to allege, to stablysh their errour of transubstā∣tiation. The first of Cyprian, the second of S. Iohn Chrysost. and the thirde of S. Ambrose. Other authoritees and reasons som of them do brynge for the same purpose, but forasmuche as they be of small moment and weight, and easy to be answered vnto, I wil passe them ouer at this tyme, and not trouble the reader with them, but Page [unnumbered] leaue them to be wayed by his discretion.

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