Marginalia1553.
The Sacrament geueth witnes that it is breade. I breed wormes: I am kept in a boxe for feare of battes: if you leaue me out all night I shalbe deuoured before mornyng, for if the Mouse geate me I am gone: I am bread, I am no God, beleue them not. This cryeth the Sacrament dayly, and beareth witnes it selfe.  

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Cust. The deuill on such lyke reasons: and therfore I will neuer trouble my braynes to make you aunswere. But if it be true that you haue sayd, why is the Sacrament so well of Christ himselfe, as of his Apostles, & the old fathers called the body of Christ?

Veri. Because it is no straunge thyng in Scripture so to speake, as I haue declared before. But will you stand to S. Augustines arbitrement in the matter?

Cust. To no man sooner.

MarginaliaThe cause why the scripture calleth the Sacrament the body of Christ. Veri. Saint Augustine in an Epistle to his frend Bonifacius giueth a good cause why the Sacrament, although it be not the body of Christ, is notwithstandyng called the body of Christ. His wordes be these: Si Sacramenta quandam similitudinem earum rerum quarum Sacramenta sunt non haberent, omninò Sacramenta non essent. Ex hac autem similitudine plerumq; earum rerum nomina accipiunt. Ergo, secundum quendam modum Sacramentum corporis Christi, corpus Christi est: Sacramentū sanguinis Christi, saunguis Christ est. MarginaliaAugustinus ad Bonifacium Epist. 23. If Sacramentes had not a certaine similitude of those thynges whereof they be Sacramentes, then were they no Sacramentes. Of the which similitude many tymes they take their name. Wherefore after a certaine manner the Sacrament of the body of Christ, is the body of Christ: and the Sacrament of the bloud of Christ is the bloud of Christ. &c. And vpon the xxiij. Psalme he writeth lykewise. Christus quodammodo se ferebat in manibus suis, cum diceret: MarginaliaAugust. in Psal. 23. Hoc est corpus meum. Christ after a certaine maner and fashion, as it were, dyd beare hymselfe in his own handes whē he sayd: This is my body. In maner (he saith) and after a fashion, not in very deede. MarginaliaAn other cause why the scripture calleth the Sacrament the body of Christ. Agayne, when faythfull men receiue the Sacrament, they thinke not of the bread nor marke the wyne, but they looke farther, and behold the very body of Christ spread vpon the Crosse, and his very bloud poured downe for their sakes. So in Baptisme men regarde not greatly the water, but accoumpt them selues washed with the bloud of Christ. So sayth Saint Paule: What so euer we be that are Baptised, we are washed in the bloud of Christ. MarginaliaRom. 6. Wherfore to the faythfull receiuers you may say that the water of Baptisme is the bloud of Christ, and the bread and wyne the body and bloud of Christ: for to them it is no lesse then if the natures were altered and chaunged. Whiche thyng you may very well learne of Chrisostome, whose wordes are these. Mysteria omnia interioribus oculis consideranda sunt, hoc est spiritualitualiter. Interiores autem oculi postquam panem vident, creaturas transuolant, neque de illo pane a pistore cocto cogitant, sed de eo qui se dixit panem esse æternæ vitæ. MarginaliaChrysost. in Ioā. Hom. 46. All Mysteries must be considered with inward eyes, that is to say, spiritually: As the inward eyes when they see the bread they passe ouer the creatures, neither doe they thinke of that bread whiche is baked of the baker, but of hym whiche called hym self the bread of eternall lyfe. For these two causes the bread and wyne are called the body and bloud of Christ. Now I thinke you are satisfied concernyng the meanyng of these wordes: This is my body.

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Cust. Yet one thyng moueth me very much.

Veri. What is that?

MarginaliaCustome standeth vpon authoritie and common voyce. Cust. The Doctours and old writers, men inspired with the holy Ghost haue euermore bene agaynst your doctrine: Yea and in these dayes the wisest men and best learned call you heretickes and your learnyng heresie.  

MarginaliaThe right meaning of the Doctors misconstrued of custome keepers. Veri. As touchyng the olde writers, I remember well they speake reuerently of the Sacramentes, lyke as euery man ought to do. But where as they deliuer theyr mynde with the right hand, you Custome receyue it with the left. MarginaliaThe Doctours how they call the Sacrament the body of Christ, and why? For where as they say, that it is the body of Christ, and that it must be verely eaten, meanyng that it doth effectually lay before the eyes Christes body, and that it is to the faythfull man no lesse then if it were Christ hym selfe, and that Christ must be eaten in fayth, not torne nor rent with the teeth:  

you say that how soeuer it be taken it is Christes body, and that there is none other eatyng but with the mouth. And that the fathers ment no other thyng then I haue sayd, it shal appeare by their wordes. MarginaliaThe wordes of the Doctors agaynst the Popes doctrine. But as touchyng the learned and wise men of these dayes, I can not blame them if they call my doctrine heresie: for they would condemne all auncient writers of heresie, if they were now alyue. But I will aunswere you to them anone. In the meane while marke you how well their learnyng agreeth. They say, you must follow the letter, you must sticke to the letter. But Origenes sayth:MarginaliaOrigenes in Leuit. Hom. 17. Si secundum literam sequaris id quod scriptum est [ nisi manducaueritis carnem filij homi nis nō erit vita in vobis] ea litera occidit. If ye folow after the letter, that which is written [vnlesse ye shal eate the flesh of the sonne of man, there shalbe no life in you] this letter killeth. Augustine in the thyrd booke De doctrina Christiana: Principio cauendum est ne figuratam dictionem secundū literam accipias. Ad hoc enim pertinet id quod ait Apostolus,litera occidit. Cum enim figuratè dictum sic accipitur tanq̃ propriè dictū sit, carnaliter sapitur, neq; vlla animæ mors congruentius appellatur. i. MarginaliaAugust. de doctrina Christiana Lib. 3. cap. 16. First thou must beware that thou take not a figuratiue speach after the letter. For thereto perteineth that the Apostle saith: The letter killeth. Marginalia2. Cor. 3. For when a thyng is spiritually ment, and the same is taken litterally & properly spoken that is a carnall takyng. Neither cā any other be called the killyng of the soule rather thē that. And in the same booke he teacheth a mā to know the playne sense frō a figure, saying thus: Si præceptiua loquutio est flagitiū iubens, aut beneficentiā vetans, figurata est: Nisi manducaueritis carnē filij hominis, & biberitis eius sanguinem, non erit vita in vobis. Flagitiū videtur iubere: Ergo, Figura est præcipiens passioni Domini esse communicandū, & suauiter in memoria recondendū, quòd pro nobis caro eius crucifixa sit. i. MarginaliaAugust. de doctrina Christiana Lib. 3. cap. 16.
A rule to know a figuratiue speach from the literall. If the commaundyng speach be such, as commaundeth a thing wicked and horrible to be done, or a charitable thyng to be vndone, then this is a figuratiue speach: Vnlesse ye shall eate the flesh of the sonne of man, and shall drinke his bloud, there shalbe no life in you. Because in this speach he semeth to cōmaūd a wicked thyng, it is therfore a figuratiue speach  

Commentary     Close

Catholics would respond that if Jesus were indeed using figurative language in John 6, he does not explain the metaphor he is using, as he does in the other occasions he uses figurative language in John's Gospel, or it is explained as such in the narrative; i.e., John 10:1-29, (Jesus the good Shepherd and the Door) especially 10:6 "this proverb Jesus spoke…'. See also John 15:1-8: Jesus as the vine; and John 15:8-27, the explanation of the metaphor.

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, commaundyng that we should cōmunicate with the passion of our Lord, and sweetly to reteine it in our remembraunce. In like maner Chrisostome plucketh you from the playne letter, & the bare wordes by this saying: Caro non prodest: hoc est secūdū spiritū verba mea intelligenda sunt. Quia qui secundū carnē audit, nihil lucratur. Quid est autē carnaliter intelligere? Simpliciter vt res dicūtur, neque aliud quippiam cogitare. Non enim ita iudicanda sunt quæ videntur, sed mysteria omnia interioribus oculis videnda sunt, hoc est spiritualiter. i. MarginaliaChrisost. in Ioan. hom. 46. The flesh profiteth not: that is to say, my wordes must be takē & expoūded after the spirite. For he that heareth after the flesh, gayneth nothing. Now what is it to vnderstand carnally? To take thynges simply as they be spoken and not to consider any meanyng further therin. For thyngs must not be iudged as they are sene, but all mysteries must be sene with inward eyes, that is to say, spiritually. What is so haynous in these dayes as to call the Sacramēt the tokē or the remembraunce of Christes body? Yet did the old writers in manner neuer call it other. Tertullian in the 4. booke agaynst the Martionistes: Christus accepit panem, & corpus suum illum fecit: Hoc est corpus meum dicendo, id est figura corporis mei. MarginaliaTertullianus contra Martion. Lib. 4. Christ tooke bread and made it his body, saying: This is my body, that is to say, a figure of my body. Ambrose vppon the xj. to the Corinthians: Quia morte Domini liberati sumus, huius rei memores in edendo & potando, carnem & sanguinem quæ pro nobis oblata sunt significamus. MarginaliaAmbros. in 1. Cor. 11. Because we are deliuered by the Lordes death, in the remēbraunce of the same by eatyng and drynking we signifie the body and bloud which were offered vp for vs. Chrisostome in the lxxxiij. Homelie vppon the Gospel of Mathew: Quando dicunt, vndè patet Christum immolatum fuisse, hæc adferentes eorum ora consuimus. Si enim mortuus Christus non est, cuius Symbolum ac signum hoc sacrificium est? MarginaliaChrysost. in Math. Hom. 83. When they obiect vnto vs and aske: how know you that Christ was offered vp? then alledgyng these thynges, we stop their mouthes. For if Christ dyed not, then whose signe or token is this sacrifice? Augustine to Adimātus: Nō dubitauit Christus dicere: Hoc est corpus meum, cum daret signum corporis sui. MarginaliaAugust. ad Adimantum. Christ doubted not to say: This is my body, when he gaue but a signe of his body. Augustine vppon the thyrd Psalme: Christus adhibuit Iudam ad conuiuium, in quo corporis & sanguinis sui figuram discipulis suis commendauit & tradidit. MarginaliaAugust. in Psal. 3. Christ receuyed Iudas to the Supper, in the whiche he commended and deliuered a figure of his body and bloud vnto his Disciples. Rabanus, de institutione clericorū: Quia panis corpus cōfirmat, ideo ille corpus Christi cōgruēter nūcupatur. Vinum autem quia sanguinem operatur in carne, ideo ad sanguinem Christi refertur. MarginaliaRabanus de institut. Clericorum. Because the breade strengtheneth the body, therfore it is aptly called Christes body. And lykewyse the wyne, because it encreaseth bloud in the fleshe, it doth resemble the bloud of Christ. Druthmarus Monachus in Mathæum: Vinum lætificat & sanguinem auget, & ideo non inconuenienter per hoc sanguis Christi figuratur. MarginaliaDruthē Marus in Matth. Wyne maketh glad the hart and encreaseth bloud, and therefore the bloud of Christ is not vnaptly signified therby. Irenæus witnesseth playnly that in the Sacrament remayneth bread and wyne by these wordes: Quemadmodum terrenus panis percipiens vocationem Dei, iam nō cōmunis panis est, sed Eucharistia ex duabus reb⁹ cōstans, terrena, & cælesti: MarginaliaIrenæus cōtra Valentinum lib. 3. As the earthly bread receauyng the

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