The Catholick answer to the seekers request in a letter directed to the seeker, proving the real presence, by the Scripture only

The Catholick Answer to the Seekers Request, &c.

SIR,

YOUR Request happening to a Press of my Acquaintance, gave Me the Opportunity of an early Perusal; near the End whereof, I found Your plain Dealing with the Gentle∣men Ministers of the Church of England; telling them, (Pag. 8.) in these, or the like Words, That 'twas Your being in Dis∣course with a Gentleman of the Catholick Perswasion, that moved You to this way of Tryal; who boldly affirm'd, That he would prove the Ca∣tholick Doctrine of the Real Presence, by the Express Word of God, out of Your own Bibles; and that he Challeng'd all England to produce him so much as One plain Text, from the Beginning of Genesis to the End of the Revelations, to prove the Contrary; if they could, then he would be of Their Religion, or of any Other They'd appoint him; which, if he parted with his Own, he thought 'twas all's one. Upon reading whereof, I found my self concern'd, as being the very Person with whom You had the said Discourse; wherein I own to have utter'd the above Expressions or Words, to that Effect: And what I said then, I'll still perform; tho', for a single Man to Challenge all England, I confess, was a little Rash; but, in the Sense I spake it, I again confirm it; that is, I will prove the Cotholick Doctrine of the Real Presence, by the Bible only; and I defie the World to produce Me One plain Text, to prove the Contrary; if they can, I will be of Their Religion, or any other They'll appoint: For, if there be any more than One Religion True, there may be Forty.

But, upon the whole, I find You are resolved to try, what Scriptures We have for it, and what Protestants have against it; wherein, I am so far from blaming You, that I highly Applaud and Commend Your Zeal to know the Truth, especially in a Matter

of no less Importance to You, than an Eternity of Bliss or Torments; for, as You have well Noted (Pag. 3.) that, Without Faith it is impossible to please God; and, that the Faith which is pleasing to God, is But One; so, without plea∣sing of God, by Believing this One Faith, 'tis Impossible to be Saved, according to St. Mark, He that Believeth not, shall be Damn'd: And St. James tells us, That who∣ever Offendeth in One Point, He is Guilty of All: But because this Discourse tends to a Controversie of ano∣ther Nature, I am not willing to pursue it; and therefore, do set forward to the Matter in Question, which is, That You may be satis∣fied in the great point of the Lord's Supper, by the Scripture only, (and not by several ways of Arguing, as is usual, &c.) to which I sub∣mit, and accordingly, shall endeavour to perform the best I can. But, first, You desire to know, (Pag. 4.) What it is We Believe of the Lord's Supper? Whereunto I answer, and resolve in the Affirmative of what You your Self propose, or in plain terms, I Firmly and Truly Believe, by the same Faith I believe a God, That in the Eucharist, or Sacrament (as You call it) of the Lord's Supper, as Celebrated in the Catholick Church, is Truly, Really, and Substantially contain'd under the Forms of Bread and Wine, the True Body and Blood, together with the Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the self-same Substance wherein he now Sitteth at the Right Hand of the Father which is in Heaven; and that is, in the very Substance wherein He was Born of the Virgin, and wherein He Lived and Dyed for Ʋs; with this Difference only, That He was Visible to the Eye of Flesh then, and Invisible to the same now; for, with Our Mortal Eyes, we can no more see Him sitting at the Right Hand of the Father, which is in Heaven, than we can see Him (in Form and Substance) in the Sacrament of the Lord's-Supper, which is on Earth; tho' by the Eye of Faith, we See and Believe him as Firmly in the One, as Substantially in the Other: For, could We with Our Eyes and Sense of Flesh, See, Feel, Smell, and Taste (if we could distinguish) the Flesh and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament, it would not be of Faith; for, according to St. Paul, Faith is the Evi∣vidence of Things not seen: that is, By Faith we Be∣lieve what we cannot See, nor by the Sense of Flesh comprehend: For, as Our Saviour said in the Gospel according to St. John, The Flesh profitteth nothing, it is

the Spirit that quickeneth; but, as Our Sacred Lord said, in the next Verse, There are some of You that Believe not; and I am Sorry for it, especially for You, from the bottom of my Heart, without Equivocation, or Mental Reservation to the contrary; which are Maxims We utterly abhor in all Cases, wherein any thing of Sincerity, Truth, or Good of Our Neighbour is concern'd; tho', by the Enemies of Truth, it is father'd upon Us, as a Fundamental of Our Faith: but, that I may not Digress from the intent You are upon, I return to tell You, That in the above, I have Truly and Really laid down the Substance of what We Believe, of the Lord's-Supper; which Doctrine of the Real Presence, and Being of Christ's Body and Blood in the Sacrament, I Affirm and Prove by the Express Words of God Himself, in the following Texts, as taken from a Bible of Your own, Printed at London by Bonham Norton, and John Bill, in the Year 1628. And as the Bible is Asserted by D. T. in a late Conference, to be the Protestant Rule of Faith; so, I hope, no Protestant will refuse to be Tryed by his own Rule; tho', I fear, whoever Answers Your Request, of the Protestant Party, that he will be forced to fly from his Rule, and betake himself to Equivocation, and twenty other Figures and Fancies of his own; for he will never be able to stand by his Rule, nor will his Rule ever stand by him: Wherefore, to the Summ of Your Request, which is, That We should lay down all the Scripture We can, to prove the Affirmative of Our Part; and, That the Act of Parliament Establish'd Ministers, should produce all the Scripture They can or have, to prove the Negative of Their Part; I say, the Negative, for, That they Deny, what We Affirm for Truth; and this I find is the Pro and Con, that You'd be Resolved in; and that the Methods You take, are, as it were, Justiciary, i.e. to hear the Evidence on Both Sides; the Scriptures, as You Repute'em, being the Recorded Evidence of Truth; and (as I conceive) Your Design is to hear the Evidence, and not the Parties, by what You say, (Pag. 7.) Without troubling Our selves to tell You the meaning on't; to which I submit, as near as possible; tho', let me tell You, 'tis a little hard of Our side, that You will not hear Our other Witnesses, who are without Number, in all Ages since Christ, that have Believed and Taught this very Doctrine of the Real Presence, as We of the Catholick Church do now Believe and Teach it: But, to Your Request, These are the Texts which I Produce of the Catholick Part, to prove Our said Affirmative: And,

First, I prove Christ's Promise (before He Instituted the Sacra∣ment) that, He would give us the Bread to Eat, which came down from Heaven; and that The Bread which he would give us, was his Flesh, which he would give for the Life of the World.

St. John, Chap. 6.

Vers. 48. I am that Bread of Life, says Christ.

49. Your Fathers did Eat Manha in the Wilderness, and are Dead.

50. This is the Bread which cometh down from Heaven, that a Man may Eat thereof, and not Die.

51. I am the Living Bread which came down from Heaven; if any Man Eat of this Bread, he shall Live for ever; and the Bread that I will give, is My Flesh, which I will give for the Life of the World.

54. Whoso Eateth My Flesh, and Drinketh My Blood, hath Eternal Life; and I will raise him up at the last Day.

55. For My Flesh is Meat indeed, and My Blood is Drink indeed.

56. He that Eateth My Flesh, and Drinketh My Blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him.

57. As the Living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father; he that Eateth Me, even he shall live by Me.

58. This is that Bread which came down from Heaven: not as your Fathers did Eat Manna, and are Dead: He that Eateth of this Bread shall live for ever. But (as He saith Ver. 64.) there are some of you that Believe not: Which some (of Unvelievers) is since encreased, by the numerous Off-springs of the Pretended Reformation-Lady: For Protestants now, like Murmuring Jews then, strive (Ibid Cap. Ver. 52.) Amongst themselves, saying, How can this Man give us his Flesh to Eat? And as the Disciples murmur'd then, who, Ver. 60. said, This is an hard saying, who can hear it? And from that time, (ver. 66) Went back, and Walked no more with Him: So Protestants, who before were of Us, do now go back, with their How can this be? 'Tis an hard saying, Who can either hear or believe it? and for this cause, Walk no more with us: But, unto Protestants, as unto murmuring Jews, our Saviour Answers, and saith, John 6. ver. 53. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye Eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and Drink his Blood, ye have no Life in you: And unto Prote∣stants, as unto the Unbelieving Disciples, (For Jesus knew from the Beginning (ver. 64) who they were that Believed not, and who should Betray him) saith, ver. 61, 62. Doth this Offend you? What if ye

shall s•••• the Son of Man Ascend up where he was before? For that the Doctrine of the Resurrection was of more difficulty to be Be∣lieved, than this of giving us Bread to Eat, which should be his Flesh; and to shew the World, that He meant as He said, He suf∣fers all sorts of Murmurers, Jews, Disciples, and Protestants, to go back, and walk no more with Him; without so much as telling them, 'twas but a Parable, or a Figure of his Body, or the like; But, to the contrary, confirms it, Ver. 63. It is the Spirit that quicken∣eth, the Flesh profitteth nothing: the words that I spake unto you, t••ey are Spirit, and they are Life: For, if We were not Quickened by the Spirit to Believe, We might, like Jews and Protestants, murmur too: For, tho' the Flesh of Christ did infinitely profit Salvation unto Us; yet Our Flesh profitteth not this Faith in Us to Believe; whereby Christ might not complain of Us, as he did of Them; ver. 64. But there are some of you that Believe not: And unto Us, as unto the Twelve, Christ saith, ver. 67. Will ye also go away? But, with Peter, We Believe, and with Peter we Answer; ver. 68, 69. Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of Eternal Life; and we Believe, and are sure, that Thou are Christ, the Son of the Living God; who can neither Deceive, nor be Deceived.

In the next place, I prove, That, notwithstanding the Repulse this Doctrine met with, by the Murmuring of the Jews, and the going back of the Unbelieving Disciples, with their hard saying, Who can hear it? and not only to be Rejected of them, but of Pro∣testants and Others in after Ages; for, Christ knew from the Be∣ginning, who they were, and who they should be, that Believed not, and would not Believe: Yet, so absolutely necessary to Our Salvation was the giving Us this Bread, (which should be his Flesh) to Eat, that (mindful of his Promise) the Eve before his Passion, Mat. 26.26. Jesus took Bread, and Blessed it, and Brake it, and gave it to the Disciples, and said, Take, Eat, This is my Body. And I defie all the Ministers in England, to produce so much as One Text to prove it was not his Body: the same being again confirm'd by St. Mark, chap. 14. ver. 22. And as they did Eat, Jesus took Bread, and Blessed, and Brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, Eat This is my Body: And who dare give Christ the Lye; and say, 'Tis not so; tho' the same be again confirmed by St. Luke, chap. 22. ver. 19. And He took Bread, and gave Thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my Body, which is given

for you: This do in Remembrance of me. And in like manner of the Cup, in all these places, that it was his Blood; and the same a∣gain by St. Paul, 1 Cor. chap. 11. ver. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29. to which I refer the Seeker; and in the same Chapter, with St. Paul, say, ver. 30. For this cause, many are Weak and Sickly among you, and many Sleep; who have not Faith to Believe it, nor Scrip∣ture to Disprove it; if they have, assure your self, I will perform my Word, and be of Their, or any other Religion, they shall appoint Me.

Wherefore, I sit down with the above Authorities, as being suf∣ficient to prove the Real Presence of Christ's Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper; and expect to hear what Scrip∣ture Authorities they have, to produce against it; and so soon as they Open, fear not, but We will Trace the Scent, till the Fox be unkennell'd: If they go to Figures and P••r••bles, We know how to handle them; but, let them beware h•••• they offer any thing, without shewing a Rule for it: For, since they have Asserted the Bible to be Their Rule of Faith, They cannot take it ill, if by Their own Rule, they be Well-Rul'd: Which (till next Occasion) is what offers, From,

SIR,

Your always Humble, and Obliged Servant, N. N.

FINIS.

Notes

• Heb. 11.6.
• Ephes. 4.5.
• Mark 16.6.
• Jam. 2.10.
• Heb. 11.1.
• John 6.63.
• John 6.64.