A19563:601
An answerAn aunsvvere
An answer by the Reverend Father in God Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England and metropolitan, unto a crafty and sophistical cavillation, devised by Stephen Gardiner Doctor of Law, late Bishop of Winchester against the true and godly doctrine of the most holy sacrament, of the body and blood of our saviour Jesus Christ Wherein is also, as occasion serveth, answered such places of the book of Doct. Richard Smith, as may seem any thing worthy the answering. Here is also the true copy of the book written, and in open court delivered, by D. Stephen Gardiner ...An aunsvvere by the Reuerend Father in God Thomas Archbyshop of Canterbury, primate of all England and metropolitane, vnto a craftie and sophisticall cauillation, deuised by Stephen Gardiner Doctour of Law, late Byshop of Winchester agaynst the true and godly doctrine of the most holy sacrament, of the body and bloud of our sauiour Iesu Christ Wherein is also, as occasion serueth, aunswered such places of the booke of Doct. Richard Smith, as may seeme any thyng worthy the aunsweryng. Here is also the true copy of the booke written, and in open court deliuered, by D. Stephen Gardiner ...
London: printed by John Daye, 1580London: printed by Iohn Daye, 1580
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
But what sleights & shifts this writer doth use to wind the Reader into his error, it is wonder to see, by devising to make two sacrifices of one will, the one by declaration, the other by execution, a devise such as was ⟨p. 87⟩never imagined before of no man, & meet to come out of a pha•tast ••all §6head. But I say precisely, that Christ offered himself never but once,1 because the scripture so precisely & so many times saith so, & having the same for my warrant, it maketh me the bolder to stand against you, that deny the thing which is so often times repeated in scripture. And where you say, that there is §7no scripture whereupon we might conclude, that Christ did in this mortal life, but in one particular moment of time offer him self to the father: to what purpose you bring forth this moment of time I cannot tell, for I made no mention thereof, but of the day of his death, & the scripture saith plainly,2 that as it is ordained for every man to dye but once, so Christ was offered but once.3 And saith further, that sin is not forgiven but by effusion of blood, & therefore if Christ had ben offered many times, he should have dyed many times.4 And of any other offering of Christs body for sin, the scripture speaketh not. For although S. Paul to the Philippians, speaketh of the humiliation of Christ by his incarnation, & so to worldly miseries & afflictions, even unto death upon the cross, yet he calleth not every humiliation of Christ, a sacrifice & oblation §8for remission of sin, but only his oblation upon good Friday, which as it was our perfect redemption, so was it our perfect reconciliation, propitiation, & satisfaction for sin. And to what purpose you make here a long process of our sacrifices of obedience unto Gods commandments: I cannot devise. For I declare in my last book, that all our whole obedience unto Gods will a commandments, is a sacrifice acceptable to God, but not a sacrifice propitiatory: for the sacrifice Christ only made, and by that his sacrifice, all our Sacrifices be acceptable to God, & without it, none is acceptable to him. And by those sacrifices all christen people offer themselves to God, but they offer not Christ again for sin, for it did never creature but Christ him self alone: nor he never but upon good Friday.