What further? Compare the Scriptures, they say, one with another.
By all means. The Gospels agree, Paul concurs. The words, the
clauses, the whole sentence reverently repeat living bread,
signal miracle, heavenly food, flesh, body, blood. There is
nothing enigmatical, nothing befogged with a mist of words. Still
our adversaries hold on and make no end of altercation. What are
we to do? I presume, Antiquity should be heard; and what we, two
parties suspect of one another, cannot settle, let it be settled
by the decision of venerable ancient men of all past ages, as
being nearer Christ and further removed from this contention.
They cannot stand that, they protest that they are being
betrayed, they appeal to the word of God pure and simple, they
turn away from the comments of men. Treacherous and fatuous
excuse. We urge the word of God, they darken the meaning of it.
We appeal to the witness of the Saints as interpreters, they
withstand them. In short their position is that there shall be no
trial, unless you stand by the judgment of the accused party. And
so they behave in every controversy which we start. On infused
grace, on inherent justice, on the visible Church, on the
necessity of Baptism, on Sacraments and Sacrifice, on the merits
of the good, on hope and fear, on the difference of guilt in
sins, on the authority of Peter, on the keys, on vows, on the
evangelical counsels, on other such points, we Catholics have
cited and discussed Scripture texts not a few, and of much
weight, everywhere in books, in meetings, in churches, in the
Divinity School: they have eluded them.
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