MarginaliaThys letter is to be seene in the end of that excellent & worthye worke which he made in the Tower cōcernyng the Sacrament of the bodye and bloud of Christ.I Doubt not deare brethren, but that it doth some deale vexe you, to see þt one part haue all the wordes, & freely to speake what they liste, & the other to be put to silence, & not to be heard indifferently. But referre your matters to God, which shortly shal iudge after an other fashion. In the meane tyme I haue wrytten vnto you as brieflie as I maye, what articles were obiected agaynst me, and what were the principall poyntes of my condemnation, that ye might vnderstande the matter certeinly.
[Back to Top]The whole matter of thys my examination was cōprehended in. ij. speciall Articles, that is to say, of purgatory, and of the substance of the Sacrament.
And fyrst of all, as touching Purgatory, they enquired of me, whether I did beleue that ther was any place to purge the spottes and filthe of the soule after this life. MarginaliaPurgatorye.But I sayd that I thought there was no such place. For man (sayd I) doth consiste and is made onely of two partes, that is to say, of the body & the soule, wherof the one is purged here in this world by the crosse of Christ, which hee layeth vpon euery childe that he receiueth: as affliction, worldly oppression, persecution, imprisonment. &c. and last of all the rewarde of sinne which is death, is laid vpon vs: but the soule is purged with the worde of God, which we receaue through faith, to the saluation both of body and soule. Nowe if ye can shew me a thirde parte of man besyde the body and the soule, I wyll also graunt vnto you a thirde place, which you do call Purgatorye. But if ye can not do this, I must also of necessitye denye vnto you the Byshop of Romes Purgatory. Neuertheles I count neyther part a necessarye article of our faith to be beleued vnder payne of damnation, whether there be such a Purgatorye, or no.
[Back to Top]Secondly they examined me, touching the Sacramēt of the Altar, whether it was the very body of Christ, or no.
Foxe here almost directly lifts the text of the Frith letter. According to Frith (and substantiated by Stokesley's register) there were two counts against him with regard to the doctrine of purgatory (which he denied) and the doctrine of the real presence in the Eucharist. Purgatory was dealt with first (pages 450-1 in the Russell edition). With regard to his purgatorial doctrine, Frith had not moved far from his earlier treatises. For example, he held that St Augustine interpreted 'fire' in 1 Corinthians 3 not with purging but with temptations and tribulations in life. Thus, if he did make a concession it was only that if purgatory existed it would have to exist in this life (pertaining as it does to the body and physical matters) and not after death (pertaining as that does to the spiritual and the mind). Frith used the texts of 1 John 1:7-9 to explain himself, adopting a basic Zwinglian approach (justification and sanctification), nonetheless maintaining an adiaphoric stance with regard to salvation itself - see Raynor, p.110.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaThe Sacrament of Christes bodye.I aunswered, that I thought it was both Christes bodye and also our bodye, as Saint Paul teacheth vs in the fyrst epistle to the Corinthians, and x. chapter. For in that it is made one bread of many cornes, it is called our bodye, which being diuers and many members, are associate and gathered together into one fellowship or bodye. Lykewyse of the wine which is gathered of many clusters of grapes, and is made into one licore. But the same breade againe, in that it is broken, is the body of Christ, declaring hys body to be broken and deliuered vnto death, to redeme vs from our iniquities. Furthermore, in þe Sacramēt is distributed, it is Christes bodye, signifying that as verely as that Sacrament is distributed vnto vs, so verelye is Christes body and the fruite of his passion distributed vnto al faythful people.
[Back to Top]In that it is receaued, it is Christes bodye, signifying that as verely as the outward man receaueth the Sacrament with his teeth and mouth: so verely doth the inwarde man, through fayth receaue Christes bodye and fruite of hys passion, and is as sure of it as of the bread that he eateth.
Well sayd they, doost thou not thinke þt his very naturall body, flesh, bloud, & bone, is really cōteined vnder the Sacramēt, & there present without all figure or similitude? MarginaliaTransubstātiation.No, sayd I, I doe not so thinke. Notwithstandyng I woulde not that any should counte that I make my saying (which is the negatiue) any article of fayth. For euen as I saye that you ought not to make any necessarye article of the fayth of your parte (which is the affirmatiue) so I say agayne that we make no necessarye article of the fayth of our parte, but leaue it indifferent for all men to iudge therin as God shall open hys hart, and no side to condemne or despise the other, but to nourishe in all thynges brotherly loue, and one to beare an others infirmitie.
[Back to Top]MarginaliaFerebatur manibus proprijs.After thys, they alleaged the place of Saint Augustine where he sayth, ferebatur in manibus propriis.
This is largely a close paraphrasing of page 451 of the Russell edition. Frith's examination of St Paul's Epistle to the Corinthians was inspired (or lifted directly) from Zwingli's Exposition and basis of the conclusions or articles (of 1523). The reference to sacramental eating ('Finally when … mouth and teth'] is taken from Zwingli's Fidei confessio (or Account of the faith) of 1530. After which Frith expresses his adiaphora theory on the sacrament. The quote is altered slightly in the 1583 edition.
[Back to Top]Then they alleaged a place of Chrisostome, which at the first blushe may seme to make much for them: who in a certaine Homelye vppon the supper, wryteth thus: Doest thou see bread and wine? Doe they depart from thee into the draught as other meates do? No, God forbid. For as in waxe whē it commeth to the fire, nothing of the substaunce remaineth nor abydeth: so likewyse thinke that the mysteries are consumed by the substance of the body. &c. MarginaliaThe place of Chrisostome aunswered.These wordes I expoūded by þe wordes of the same Doctour, which in an other Homelye sayth on thys manner. The inwarde eies (sayth hee) as soone as they see
This is largely a close paraphrasing of page 452 of the Russell edition. Frith refers here to the letter of St Augustine to Boniface (of 408AD). This is letter no.98 of Augustine's collected letters and can be found on-line at http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102098.htm, which discusses the relationship between the physical elements of the eucharist and the spiritual elements these represent. Luther held that the physical and spiritual elements partake of each other in such a close fashion that the bread and the body of Christ cannot be distinguished in the elements whereas Zwingli (who Frith follows here) held that the relationship between the physical and spiritual elements was symbolic only, but that the physical elements still had some deep meaning (see the references to sacramental eating made earlier). Frith then went on to discuss the opinions of St John Chrysostom, which the bishops interrogating him took to prove a physical presence. Frith is here referring to Chrysostom's homily 82 (an exposition of Matthew 26:26-9), which can be found on-line at http://www.newadvent. org/fathers/240182.htm. Chrysostom actually discusses the eucharist throughout several homilies (on Matthew and on John 6) and it is understandable why the bishops would take him as a source in favour of a real physical presence doctrine. Chrysostom often made a comparative argument in his homilies (here and elsewhere) between God's power and human senses so, for example, where Jesus says 'this is my body', Chrysostom seemed willing to take Him at his word, even if human senses failed to discern a difference between the bread and the body.
[Back to Top]In like manner maye it bee aunswered vnto that whiche followeth: Doe they auoyde from thee (sayth hee) into the draught as other meates doe? I will not so saye. For other meates passing through the bowells, after they haue of them selues gyuen nourishment vnto the bodye, bee voyded into the draught, but thys is a spirituall meat, which is receyued by faith, & nourisheth both body and soule vnto euerlasting life, neither is it at anye tyme auoided as other meates are.
[Back to Top]And as before I sayde, that the externall eies doe behold the breade, whiche the inwarde eies being otherwise occupied
This is largely a close paraphrasing of page 452 of the Russell edition. Frith carries on the discussion of Chrysostom's doctrine.
This is largely a close paraphrase of pages 452-3 of the Russell edition. Frith carries on the discussion of Chrysostom's doctrine, in which Frith has taken up Zwingli's spiritual doctrine in explanation of his own opinions.