man does by his good works truly merit increase of grace and life eternal, with the words of our bleffed Lord himself, Luke XVII. 10. When ye Shall have done all thofe things which are commanded you, fay, we are unprofitable fervants ; we have done that which was our duty to do; or with those of his apostle, Rom. VI. 23. that eternal life is the gift of God, through Jefus Chrift our Lord? V. I do alfo profefs: that in the Mass there is offered unto God a true, proper, and propitiatory facrifice for the living and the dead: and that in the most holy facrament of the eucharift there is truly, really and fubftantially, the body and blood, together with the foul and divirity, of our Lord Jefus Chrift: and that there is a change made of the whole fubftance of the bread into his body, and of the whole fubftance of the wine into his blood; which change the catholic church calls tranfubftantiation. So important an article as this could not be omitted, when the creed of a Romanist was to be drawn up. But what authority is it built upon? The former part intirely on the authority of men, men, in contradiction to the whole tenor of the new teftament: and the latter part on the fame human authority, in oppofition to the plain diЄtates of fenfe and reafon, as well as to the obvious meaning of every paffage where this institution is mentioned; by perverfely abufing the words of our Saviour to a literal fenfe, when nothing can be more evident, than that he meant them in a figurative. But there is fo much acceffion of power to the priest, by making the people believe, that he can by pronouncing a few words make a god for them to worship; that let sense, and reason, and the obvious meaning of fcripture expreffions ever fo much reclaim against it, yet this article must be believed upon the authority of the church. It fignifies nothing to object; that according to this account Chrift muft have had two bodies, and held one of them in his hand to his disciples, crucified and dead, before ever he suffered on the crofs; and moreover, that his whole body and blood must at this day be in ten thousand places at once: it fignifies nothing to obferve, that there are in fcripture great numbers of figurative expreffions, befides those words of Chrift, this is my body. The church has decreed, that these shall be taken literally and therefore fo it must be. Yet it is worth the while to obferve; that there are feveral of our Lord's own expreffions, delivered at the fame time when he spake these words, which the Romanifts themselves will not allow to be meant literally, but figuratively. Thus particularly, in St. Paul's recital of the words of inftitution, 1 Cor. XI. 24. it appears, that * table, in a profefs'd remembrance of him and obedience to him, and the bread eaten at a common meal. It was never intended, that the Lord's body fhould, in the celebration of his fupper, be difcerned or feen in a literal fenfe. Our business at the Lord's table is to remember Christ absent, not to behold him prefent. And this one thought is a fufficient answer to all the reflexions taken from the literal fenfe. For, how confidently foever the Romanifts may deny it; there is a direct oppofition between the real prefence of Chrift's body and blood, and the commemoration thereof, or calling them to mind; between eating and drinking Chrift's real body and blood, and eating and drinking bread and wine in remembrance of him. Proteftants therefore do not, in taking the remembrance, leave out the fubftance. They adhere to the substance; and perform the whole of the duty enjoin'd in the inftitution of the holy fupper, when in obedience to Christ's command they eat bread and drink wine in remembrance of him. As for the expreffions of our Saviour, John VI. 51-55 particularly this laft verfe, where Chrift fays, my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed: it is evident, by comparing the whole context, from ver. 47. to ver. 63. that they were spoken in a figurative, and not in a literal sense; and that they relate to the nourishment of the foul by Chrift's heavenly doctrine. Such forms of fpeech are frequent in the old teftament, manifeftly relating to the inftructions of divine Wisdom. And that thefe of our Saviour are thus *Grounds, pag. 27. thus to be understood, and not in the literal sense, his own words in ver. 63. plainly evince. Wherein he thus concludes his figurative difcourse, purposely for the fatisfaction of those, who were offended at the expreffions he had been ufing, and called them hard fayings: It is the Spirit that quickneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words which I fpeak unto you, they are Spirit and they are life. Finally I obferve; that if St. Paul had any notion, that the bread in the Lord's fupper was was by confecration become the real body of Chrift; he would have spoken of it under that name, as the Romanifts do; and would not have been fo prophane as to call it bread ftill, efpecially while he was difcourfing of the awful effects of receiving it in pursuance of Christ's institution. Yet even in 1 Cor. XI. 27. where he affures us, that the unworthy receiver is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, cafting contempt upon the body and blood of Chrift, represented in the fupper; he expreffes the action of receiving only by eating this BREAD, and drinking this CUP. So again, ver. 28. Let a man examine himself, and fo let him eat of that BREAD, and drink of that CUP. And in ver. 26. presently after reciting Christ's words of inftitution, he says, As often as ye eat this BREAD, and drink this CUP, ye fhew the Lord's death till he come. And in this manner, of a commemorative fign and representation of Christ's body and blood, and not as the very body and blood itself, the primitive Fathers spoke of the bread and wine in the Lord's fupper: nor was it till many hundred years after Chrift, that K the the doctrine of tranfubftantiation was received even in the church of Rome itself. This article is indeed a very proper criterion of a thorough fubmiffion to the church; a very fit trial, whether men will give up their reafon, and even the teftimony of their fenfes them felves, to her authority: for if a man will fubmit here, he is pretty well fecured for all other fubmiffions; if he ftands out here, there is great danger that he will hearken to the teftimony of fenfe and reafon in other matters. It is therefore no wonder, that fo great a stress is laid upon this one article: and that fo many precious lives have been facrificed by the church of Rome to the refolution of maintaining it. But in this eagerness of her refolution fhe cuts off one of the main arguments for the credibility of the whole chriftian doctrine. For if there is no depending upon the teftimony of fenfe: then in vain did Chrift himself appeal to the miracles he wrought, as evidences of his divine miffion; and in vain do we now fhew any regard to them. Either therefore Chrift's miracles are no argument of the credibility of the chriftian religion: or else the doctrine of tranfubftantiation, which contradicts the teftimony upon which thofe miracles ftand, is falfe and abfurd. But to return to pope Pius's creed. As to that part of this article, which affirms the Mas to contain a true, proper and propitiatary facrifice for the fins of quick and dead: it is fo gainful a point, and of fo much importance, in promifing to men the forgiveness of their own fins and those of their deceafed friends; that it fignifies nothing |