If the sacrifice of bread and
wine by Melchizedek and been offered to prefigure the sacrifice of the Mass, it
would follow: Alpha. That Christ would also have to be offered under the
species of the Aaronic sacrifices. For since he is said to be offered under the
species of bread and wine because Melchizedek, on the hypothesis, offered bread
and wine, why should it not also be said that Christ must today be offered
under the species of animals, since those same things were offered by the
Aaronic priests to represent Christ? Beta. That Christ is a priest not only
according to the order of Melchizedek, but also according to the order of
Aaron. For since he is called a priest according to the order of Melchizedek
because he offered bread and wine according to the type of Melchizedek’s
sacrifice, why should he not also be called a priest according to the order of
Aaron, since in the Aaronic sacrifices as well there was use of bread and wine?
Gamma. That there is no transubstantiation in the Eucharist, because Melchizedek
did not transubstantiate bread and wine into something else to be offered under
the species of bread and wine. Delta. That the use of Eucharistic wine is not
to be denied to the laity, because Melchizedek distributed not only bread abut
also wine to each and every one of Abraham’s soldiers. Epsilon. That the Roman Pontiff,
whom they wish to be supreme priest on earth, is not the Vicar of Christ,
because there is not a single iota in Scripture about a Vicar of Melchizedek.
Zeta. That the sacrifice of the Mass pertains to the sacrifice of the Mass
pertains to the sacrifices and figures of the Old Testament, because Christ,
offering himself to the heavenly Father on the cross and testifying that all
things were now consummated, at last brought fulfillment and end to the
sacrifices of the Old Testament. Eta. That the sacrifice of the Mass is neither
propitiatory nor impetratory, because the sacrifice of Melchizedek was not
eucharistic. Theta. That it is not necessary for the body of the Lord, offered
under the species of bread in the Mass, to be received by those fasting, since
Melchizedek distributed his sacrifice to those whom he knew had been refreshed
from the spoils of the enemies. Iota. That the mixing of water with wine is not
necessary in the sacrifice of the Mass, since Melchizedek brought forth undiluted
wine, not a mixture. Kappa. That Christ sacrificed the body and blood of his
own person alone under the species of bread and wine, and has no ministers in
this bloodless sacrifice, because he alone is the priest according to the order
of Melchizedek not together with the Mass-priests, and it is annexed to the
order of Melchizedek that no one other than Melchizedek brought forth bread and
wine thus for the living. Mu. That the consecrated bread is not to be reserved
and adored, because the bread and wine of Melchizedek none of these things is
read. But the Pontificans will never admit these consequences; therefore neither
should they posit the antecedent. (Johann Gerhard, Confessio Catholica: On
the Sacrifice of the Mass—Article XV [trans. Koden A. Green [2026], 35-36)
