turn to the places; and though I will not be pofitive, yet I think he is not clear for this Senfe, in any other caufe, but that wherein he was engaged against the Pelagians. But there is this very great Prejudice against his Authority in this Matter, that elsewhere, viz. out of the heat of that Controverfy,he gives clearly another sense of these words, and speaks of them as if they were reductive only to the Eucharist. Mark therefore what he fays; (0) Therefore by this Meat and Drink, he would bave us to underftand the Society of his Body and Members, that is, the Holy Church, confifting of his predeftinated, and called, and juftified, and glorified Saints and Faithful. And presently after; The Sacrament of this thing, that is, of the unity of the Body and Blood of Chrift, is in some places every day, in other places upon certain days prepared upon the Lord's Ta ble, and received from the Lord's Table; by fome to Life, by fome to Deftruction. But the thing it felf, of which it is the Sacrament, is for Life to every Man, for Deftruction to no Man, whofoever he be that partakes of it. By which words it is evident, that St. Auftin did not here understand, that eating of the Flesh, and drinking of the Blood of Christ, to which Salvation is promised; of facramental eating, but of being incorporated into the Invisible Church of Chrift: and this, because he says, The Sacra ment -Hu (0) Hunc itaq; cibum & potum, focietatem vult intelligi corporis & membrorum fuorum, quod eft Sancta Ecclefia in prædeftinatis & vocatis, & juftificatis, & glorificatis Sanctis, & fidelibus ejus. jus rei Sacramentum, id eft, unitatis Corporis & Sanguinis Chrifti, alicubi quotidie, alicubi certis intervallis dierum in Dominicâ Mensâ præparatur, & de Mensâ Dominica fumitur quibufdam ad vitam, quibufdam ad exitiun. Res vero ipfa cujus Sacramentum eft, omni homini ad vitam, nulli ad exitium quicunque ejus particeps Fuerit, Aug. Tract. 26. in Johan. ment of this thing may be received to Deftruction; and because he exprefly fays, That this Meat and Drink is the Society of the Body of Chrift, confisting of his predeftinated, &c. Members. And that therefore he would not have fcrupled to interpret eating by believing; fince 'tis Faith by which we are united to the Body of Chrift, no reasonable Man will queftion. However, we have his own word for it, who upon that faying of our Saviour, This is the Work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath fent, Goes on thus, †This therefore is to eat that Food which perisheth not, but endureth to Everlasting Life. To what purpose doft thou make ready thy Teeth and thy Belly? Believe, and thou haft eaten. Afterwards he puts both together; Let him come and believe, and be incorporated, that he may be quickned. * Which words of his are the more remarkable, because in that place he profeffedly treats of the Expofition of this Chapter. Where alfo upon that faying, He that eateth my Flefb, and drinketh my Blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him, he difcourfeth thus. (p) This it is to eat that Food, and drink that Drink, viz. to dwell in Chrift, and tò have + Hoc eft ergo manducare cibum, non qui perit, fed qui permanet in vitam æternam. ut quid paras dentes & ventrem? Crede & manducafti. Id. Tract. 25. * Accedat, credat, incorporetur ut vivificetur. Id. Tract. 26. (p) Hoc eft manducare escam illam & illum bibere potum, in Chrito manere, & illum manentem in me habere. Ac per hoc, qui non manet in Chrifto, & in quo Chriftus non manet, proculdubio nec manducat fpiritualiter carnem ejus nec bibit ejus fanguine, licet carnaliter & vifibiliter premat dentibus Sacramentu Corporis & Sanguinis Chrifti, fed magis tantæ rei Sacramentum ad judicium fibi manducat & bibit, quia immundus praefumpfit ad Chrifti accedere Sacramenta, quæ aliquis non digne fumit, nifi qui mundus eft, &c. Trait. 26. in Joh. have Chrift dwelling in me. And therefore be that dwelleth not in Christ, and in whom Chrift dwelleth not, undoubtedly doth not Spiritually eat his Fleb, nor drink his Blood, although he doth carnally and visibly prefs with bis Teeth the Sacrament of his Body and Blood; but he rather eats and drinks the Sacrament of fo great a thing to his Condemnation; becaufe being impure, he hath prefumed to come to Chrift's Sacraments, which none worthily receives who is not pure, of which'tis faid, Bleffed are the pure in heart, for they shall fee God. Whence it is manifeft, that in St. Auftin's Judgment, to eat the Flesh of Chrift, and to drink bis Blood, was to eat and drink it Spiritually, fo as good and holy Men only do partake thereof,not all that do prefs the Sacrament thereof with their Teeth. And it is further obfervable, that if to eat that Food, and drink that Drink, be as St. Austin fays, to dwell in Chrift, and to, have Chrift dwell in us; then all holy Perfons do conftantly eat the Flesh, and drink the Blood of Chrift; because they still dwell in Chrift, and Chrift in them; but they are not always receiving the Sacrament, and therefore St. Au ftin could not understand these words properly of the Eucharift. And that thefe were not fudden Notions of his, appears from this, that we find them elfewhere, and particularly in his Book of the City of God, towards the end; which Book he finished juft before his Death. There he hath these words; (g) For neither are they to be faid to eat (9) Nec ifti ergo dicendi funt manducare Corpus Chrifti, quoniam nec in Membris computandi funt Chrifti. Ut enim alia taceam, non poffunt fimul effe, & Membra Chrifti, & Membra Meretricis. Deniq; ipfe dicens, Qui manducat Carnem meam, & bibit Sanguinem meum in me manet, & ego in eo: oftendit quid fit non Sacramento tenus,. fed. eat the Body of Christ, because neither are they to be accounted amongst his Members. For to omit other things, they cannot be both the Members of Chrift,and the Members of an Harlot. Lastly, bimself saying, He that eateth my Élejh, and drinketh my Blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him, fbewerb what it is to eat the Body of Christ, and drink his Blood, not by the Sacrament, but verily and indeed; for this is to dwell in Chrift, fo as that Chrift dwelleth in him. For his fpeaking this, was as if he had faid; He that dwelleth not in me, and in whom I dwell not, should not fay or think that he eateth my Flefb, or drinketh my Blood. Now the Perfons here fpoken of, were Chriftians of vicious Lives, who yet received the Sacrament, and continued in the Communion of the Church to the laft. But fince St. Auftin, denying that they ate the Body of Chrift in Truth, even when they received the Sacrament; does alfo affirm, that Christ fpake of receiving his Body in Truth only, when he faid, He that eateth my Flesh, &c. it feems evidently to follow, that when St. Auftin wrote thefe Paffages, he did not underftand thofe places in St. John of Sacramental Eating. Finally, by comparing this place with the former, it is plain alfo, that to eat and drink Chrift Spiritually, and to cat and drink him in Truth and Reality, was in St. Auftin's Judgment all one; and confequently that we may really eat the Flefb of Ghrift, and drink his Blood, though we do it not corporeally. Thefe Paffages of this Father, I have the rather infifted upon, because I have affirmed in the fed reverâ Corpus Chrifti manducare & ejus Sanguinem bibere; hoc eft enim in Chrifto manere, ut in illo maneat & Chriftus. Sic enimi hoc dicit tanquam diceret. Qui non in me manet, & in quo ego non maneo, non fe dicat aut exiftimet manducare Corpus meum, aut bibere Sanguinem meum. De Civit. Dei. lib. 21. c. 25. the Notes, that he would not allow that a wicked Man is truly a partaker of the Body and Blood of Christ which is evident from thefe Paffages, tho I have produced them chiefly to fhew what his moft deliberate Thoughts were concerning the sense of the fixth Chapter of St. John. But after all, though I verily think that I could make out a Title to the Confent of All the Fathers, with vaftly more probability than those who claim it for the other Opinion; yet, fuppofe that they have these three that are cited laft, and as many more as they can name with any colour; What would they get by it, if notwithstanding, thefe Fathers did not believe that the Natural Flesh of Chrift was properly eaten, and his Blood properly drank by the Faithful in the Eucharift? What if they believed the Subftance of Bread and Wine to remain in the Sacrament, and that Chrift himself could be fed upon by the Mind only; and therefore that these words themfelves, Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, &c. though fpoken of the Sacrament, were not properly but figuratively to be understood? If this be fo,they have loft their main Cause, and have taken a great deal of pains to be where they were at firft; and this Difpute, whether the Church has always understood the Eucharift to be directly intended by our Saviour in the mentioned Paffages, is loft as to any Advantage that Tranfubftantiation can get by it. That the Subftance of Bread and Wine remain after Confecration, is manifeft from (r) St. Cyprian; and that Chrift is fed upon by the Mind only,from (s) St. Ba fil; to whom I refer you, that I may not be over-tedious; efpecially fince for the prefent, one Teftimony of St. Auguftin may ferve the turn. Obferve therefore these words b of |