Of transubstantiation, or, A reply to a late paper, call'd A full answer to Dr. Tenison's conferences concerning the Eucharist Tenison, Thomas, 1636-1715. 1688 Approx. 10 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 2 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2003-09 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A64365 Wing T706 ESTC R18601 11939648 ocm 11939648 51244 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A64365) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 51244) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 517:6) Of transubstantiation, or, A reply to a late paper, call'd A full answer to Dr. Tenison's conferences concerning the Eucharist Tenison, Thomas, 1636-1715. 1 sheet ([2] p.) Printed for Ric. Chiswell ..., London : 1688. Broadside. Caption title. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Full answer to Dr. Tenisons conferences, concerning the Eucharist. Transubstantiation. Broadsides -- England -- London -- 17th century 2003-05 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-05 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-06 Mona Logarbo Sampled and proofread 2003-06 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-08 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion OF Transubstantiation : OR , A REPLY TO A LATE PAPER , CALL'D , A Full ANSWER to Dr. Tenison's CONFERENCES concerning the EUCHARIST . THese Transubstantiators , it seems , are as apt to fancy one Man , as one thing to be another ; hence it is , that they have turn'd the Publisher of the Six Conferences , lately put out , into a French man ; for such a one , I am assur'd , was the Author of those Dialogues . And therefore both this Gentleman , and his Friend , who , he says , was so good at guessing , must guess again . Transubstantiation is a Doctrine so absurd and groundless , that a man can never want Arguments against it . But Protestants sensible of the goodness of their Cause , will sometimes give Overplus in reasoning with their Adversaries ; and when they have prov'd that there is no such Doctrine as that of Transubstantiation , reveal'd , they next endeavour to shew ex abundanti , that 't is impossible it shou'd ; if it were never so possible it shou'd , yet it does not follow that it is . Nor can Papists ever prove it , till they first prove themselves Infallible in interpreting Scripture . For , as for those Words , This is my Body , which is broken for you ; 't is evident that they lye much more easy and naturally to be interpreted in the Protestant than Popish Sense , as some of their own Authors have been so ingenuous as to confess . So that here is a desperate hard Task still lying upon 'em , were it granted possible that such a thing shou'd be reveal'd . But that that is impossible , may be thus made out . It cannot be reveal'd , but by giving us greater Evidence to think it true , than we have to think it false . Now we prove it false by the clear Evidence , both of Sense and Reason . Of Sense , because all our Senses tell us , that that is Bread , which if their Doctrine be true , is not Bread , but the Body of a Man. Of Reason , because that Faculty does assure us as much as it can of any thing , that one and the same Body cannot be in several places at once , nor the whole Body of a Man crowded into the compass of a Pins head , and that still divisible into a great many more whole Bodies , &c. But here the Papists stop us short , catching at one part of the Argument . For , Sense , say they , may deceive us as it did Abraham , who thought he saw Men , when he saw Angels : And why then , if God will have it so , may not we see the Body of Christ indeed , when we think we see Bread ? I answer , They that appear'd to Abraham in the 18 th of Genesis , for ought that can be prov'd , did for that time assume the real Bodies of Men ( it shou'd seem so by their eating . ) And Abraham's Senses could only tell him that they did appear like Men. If he thereupon concluded immediately that they were Men , he erred , and was led into the Error by his Senses , which no one ever denied , but a Man might be . But he might know ( and did , 't is like , upon a little Reflection ) that the Eye alone was not sufficient to inform him at all times , whether what looked like a Man , was one , because an Angel might assume and actuate a humane Body . However , it is certain , that to the making up of that Creature which we call a Man , there goes something more than what is visible to the Eye , viz. a humane Soul. And whether that were there or no , or an Angel in the room of it , was more than Abraham could certainly discern by his Senses . But there is not the same case in seeing of a piece of Bread , because there is no ground to think there is any thing in a piece of Bread , more than what is discernable by Sense . To talk of a Substance distinct from the Colour , Tast , Smell , and from the very Quantity and Dimensions also , is but a piece of Scholastick Nonsence . A Body has the name of Bread given it , because its matter or quantitative Dimensions ( which is all one ) have such a certain Colour , Tast , Smell , &c. from the Concurrence or Combination of which , we English Men agree to call it Bread , the Latins Panis . Now to say , That a Body having all these , whence by general Consent it is wont to be called Bread , yet is not Bread ; is all one , as to say , That Bread is not Bread , which ●s Nonsence and a Contradiction , and we take Transubstantiation to be so , from one end to the other . Suppose a man shou'd come and shew me a little black Dog , and shou'd face me down that it was no Dog , but the City of Rome , nay , and that that whole City was not onely crowded into so little a compass , but that , cut him into never so many pieces , still every Bit was the whole City of Rome . If , I say , a man shou'd come and tell me thus , sure this Gentleman would give me leave to think he was out of his Wits . But suppose then such a man as Xaverius , who A. Pulton says had the Gift of Tongues ( tho' he himself complains sadly in one of his Epistles that he had it not , and knew not what to do for want of it , Ep. Iapan . 3. p. 30. ) and raised Twenty five Persons from the Dead : Suppose , I say , he shou'd come and work all these Miracles which A. Pulton believes he did work , in my sight , and so as to convince me of the Truth of them , and when he had done , shou'd tell me he wrought all these to convince me that that same black Cur was no Dog , but the whole City of Rome , &c. as before . In this case , and upon this mad impossible Supposition ( for such we must make , if we would draw a Parallel right ) tho' I were never so much convinced of the Truth of his Miracles before , yet I must needs tell him , Sir , you do but confound me . I believed your Miracles to be true , because they seemed so when I had examined them by Sense and Reason as well as I cou'd . But if this intolerable absurdity be that which you wou'd prove by 'em , then I find my Sense and Reason signify nothing . And believe you , I cannot after all ; because I have as great , if not greater evidence that this is but a Dog still , than I had , or could have of the Truth of your Miracles . Now let him shew that can , that in this supposition I have made , there are greater absurdities than what are in Transubstantiation . But to make it a Parallel case betwixt an Angel sometimes appearing in humane shape , and not being discern'd from a man by the Eye , and a Bit of Bread being turn'd in Ten thousand places , into the same Natural Body of our Saviour , and every Bit of it into the whole Body ; and yet to all mens Senses appearing to be nothing in the World but Bread still ; this certainly is a great extravagance . And I must tell this Gentleman , that whereas he says it might have been said to Abraham , Ask your Eyes , ask your Nose , ask your hands — they will all tell you , 't is a man you see ; herein he says more than he can prove . For we have no Reason to think that Abraham did either smell to , or feel the Angels ; and unless the Angels did really take humane Bodies , I suppose , feeling wou'd have discovered the Truth ; because our Saviour says , Handle me and see , for a Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as ye see me have . But this Gentleman charges the Doctor ( his falsly supposed Author of the Conferences ) with great ignorance in Logick , for reasoning in this manner . If our Senses deceive us in the Report they make of the Eucharist , they may as well deceive us in every thing else . Now I confess I see no ill Logick in this ; for the sequel is easily proved thus ; Because our Senses report nothing with clearer Evidence than they do in this matter of the Eucharist . And how , I pray , is there here an Universal drawn from a Particular ? As for comparing Transubstantiation with the Trinity , I wou'd desire this Gentleman to answer what has been already written in some Dialogues lately printed on that Subject . Or let him but shew us as good Scripture-proof for Transubstantiation , as there is for the Trinity ; and try next whether he can load the Doctrine of the Trinity , as deliver'd in Scripture , with as many Absurdities as follow from Transubstantiation ; And then it will be time to consider , whether we had best believe Transubstantiation , or turn Socinians . But this will be a long while a doing . In the mean time it is denied that the Doctrine of the Trinity does at all contradict that Maxime , Quae conveniunt in un tertio conveniunt inter se , in the true sence of it . As for this Gentleman's way of dealing with an Infidel , to make him believe Transubstantiation ; I must tell him , that if his Infidel understood himself , it will prove insufficient . For , 1. Whereas he says that they agree , God sees Truths which we cannot understand , and that he can reveal those Truths ; his Infidel may tell him , That if there be any Truths repugnant to the first Principles of all humane Knowledg , God must give us other Faculties , before he can reveal such Truths to us . And , 2. That he can never make it appear , that the Moral Evidence he talks of , is equal to the Moral Evidence we have of the falsity of Transubstantiation . Lastly , As for the Threatning Conclusion , That the Doctor may chance to smart for attempting the Destruction of their Church ; If he means in this World , let him say it plainly : If he means in the next , he might know we fear not that upon this Account . All the danger we fear for opposing that Church ( in this way of Disputation and Reasoning ) is wholly in this World ; in the other we believe they will be more in danger to suffer for defending it . IMPRIMATUR , Nov. 22. 1687. Guil. Needham . LONDON : Printed for Ric. Chiswell , at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard . M DC LXXXVIII .