of the Crosse is hoysed vp the iniquitie of the deuil is dryueÌ„ backe teÌ„pest of vvinde is calmed Wherupon I besech you doth he inferre the deuil doth disquiet vvinde squat it not vpon the mention of a ship wtout a mast whervpon dyd he talke of the Church Crosse or the ship Crosse If the mast of the ship dyd no more preserue and saue the vessel than the Crucifix on the altar or Crosse in the roodlofte can do the Church neyther should the ship be preserued in the water nor the Church at any tyme be consumed with the fyer We neded not to feare if your opinion were true the burning any more of Paules Make a Crosse on the steple and so it shal be safe But within these fewe yeares it had a Crosse and reliques in the bowle to boote yet they preuailed not yea the Crosse it self was fyred fyrst Wherfore S. Ambrose hys rule as you most fondly do take hym holdeth not If ye say that hys rule doth holde notwtstanding bicause Paules was burned in the tyme of schisme I answere that in your most catholike tyme the lyke plague happened twise within the compasse of .l. yeares and therfore S. Ambrose was not so foolysh to meane as you imagine As for LactaÌ„tius LactaÌ„tius whose verses ye bryng to confirm the vse of a Roode in the Church I myght say wyth Hierom. Vtinam tam nostra potuisset coÌ„firmare Ep ad Paulinum In HieremiaÌ„ 10. quam facile aliena destruxit I would to God he had ben able aswel to haue confirmed our doctrine and religion as he dyd easely ouerthrow the contrary For many errors and heresies he had among the which I myght reken thys flecte genu lignumque crucis venerabile adora bow down thy knée and do honor to the worshipfull wood of the Crosse For vpoÌ„ the word of the Prophet Hieremy Lignum de saltu pracidit He hath cut a trée out of the forrest S. Hierom taketh occasioÌ„ to speake of the Gentils Idols adorned with golde and siluer of whoÌ„ it is said Psal 113. A mouth they haue and speake not eares they haue and heare not And least it myght be thought that the making honoring of such appertayned peculiarly vnto the heathen he sayd Qui quidem error ad nos vsque transiuit Which error in dede hath come ouer vnto our age And theÌ„ inferreth thys Quicquid de Idolis diximus ad oiÌ„a dogmata quae sunt coÌ„traria veritati referri potest Et ipsi enim ingentia polliceÌ„tur simulachruÌ„ vani cultus de suo corde coÌ„fingunt Imperitorum obstringunt acteÌ„ à suis inuentoribus sublimantur In quibus nulla est vtilitas quoruÌ„ cultura propriè gentium est eorum qui ignorant deum Whyche wordes are in English these Whatsoeuer we haue spoken of Idols may be referred vnto al doctrines contrary to the truth For they also do promise great thynges and deuise an Image of vayne worship out of their own hart They blind the eye of the ignoraunt and by the inuenters of them are set a loft In which there is no profyt and the worshipping of which is an heathenish obseruaunce a maner of suche as know not God Wherfore the wordes alleaged by you as out of Lactantius suffised to discredit him bicause he wil haue a pece of wood to be worshipped Omitting al his other errors and that Gelasius the Pope in consideration of many hys imperfections rekeneth his bokes inter Apocripha such as may be read no doctrine be grouÌ„ded on But I wyl answere to you otherwyse disproue it if you can I veryly suppose that those verses were neuer written by Lactantius The causes that induce me to this are these In catalogo S. Hierom makyng mention of al hys wrytinges yea of many moe than are come vnto our handes maketh no mention of thys Agayn Churches in hys time were scarcely builded for he liued in the raigne of Dioclesian by whom he was called into Nicomedia as Hierom wryteth Afterwarde when he was very old he was scholemaster to Crispus CoÌ„stantinus soÌ„n and taught hym in Fraunce Now in the raigne of Dioclesian the poore ChristiaÌ„s had in no countrey any place at al whether they myght quietly resort and stande still a vvhile loking on the Roode Folio 43. vvith his armes stretched handes nayled feete fastened They had neither leisure nor liberty to be at such ydle cost They coÌ„tented theÌ„selues with poore cabanes wherto they secretly resorted yet notwtstanding had them pulled on their heades Eusebiê° writing of the persecutioÌ„ vnder DioclesiaÌ„ Lib. 8. ca. 2. sayth Oratoria à culmine ad pauimeÌ„tuÌ„ vsque vnà cum ipsis fuÌ„dameÌ„tis deijci diuinásque sacras scripturas in medio foro igni tradi ipsis oculis vidimus We saw with our eyes that the oratories he calleth theÌ„ not teÌ„ples for so thei wer not wer vtterly thrown down froÌ„ that top to the grouÌ„d yea with the very fouÌ„datioÌ„s of theÌ„ and that the sacred holy Scriptures in the mydst of the market place wer coÌ„mitted to the fier TheÌ„ was it no tyme for them to make Images of Christ whose fayth without perill they could not professe nor solemnly to set vp Roodes where priuatly they had no place therto And this was in the most florishing tyme of LactaÌ„tiê° Yea afterward in the beginning of CoÌ„staÌ„tinê° raigne Maximinê° gaue liceÌ„ce first the Christians might build Dominica oratoria The Lordes places of praier And the first teÌ„ple that CoÌ„staÌ„tinus built was at HierusaleÌ„ the .xxx. yeare of hys raigne wherfore me thinketh impossible it is that Lactantius should wryte Eus lib. 9. cap. 10. Sozom. li. 2. cap. 26. Quisquis ades medijque subis in limi na templi with the rest of the verses rehersed by you Then howe different the doctrine is both froÌ„ that which himselfe teacheth and generally was receaued in his daies the leud verse Flecte genu lignuÌ„que crucis venerabile adora sheweth for in hys boks he playnly affirmeth Diui. Insti li. 2. ca. 1. cap. 9. Diui. Inst lib. 2 ca 19. that no maÌ„ ought to worship any thynge on the earth And further he sayth that whosoeuer wyll retaine the nature and condition of a man must seke God aloft in heaueÌ„ not in earth in hart not in workmaÌ„ship of hand His argumeÌ„t is this Si religio ex diuinis rebus est diuini auteÌ„ nihil est nisi in celestibus rebui careÌ„t ergo religione simulachra quia nihil potest esse caeleste in ea re quae fit ex terra If religioÌ„ coÌ„sist of holy things and there be nothing holy but in heauenly thynges then Images are voyde of religion bicause in that thyng which is made of the earth ther caÌ„ be nothing heauenly You wil grauÌ„t me now that a Roode is made of some earthly matter of stone or tymber TheÌ„ doth LactaÌ„tiê° repute it vnholy to haue no religioÌ„
Idolatry as Augustyne playnly reporteth Yet were they nothing the lesse Idolatrers For thys he sayth of them In psa 113. Videntur autem sibi purgatioris esse religionis qui dicunt nec Simulachrum nec daemonium colo sed per effigieÌ„ corporalem eius rei signum intueor quam coiere debro They séeme to be of more pure religion which say I neyther worship the Image nor the power thereof but by the corporall lykenesse I beholde the signe of the thyng which I ought to worship Yet notwithstanding bicause they called their Idols by the names of Vulcanus and Venus as we our Images by the name of Christ and of our Lady bicause they dyd some outwarde reuerence to their Idols as we vnto our Images both for them and vs as Augustyne sayth Apostoli vna sententia poenam damnationemque testatur One sentence of the Apostle witnesseth our punishmente and condemnation And what sentence is that Qui transmutauerunt veritatem Dei in mendatium colürunt seruierunt creaturae potius quam creatori qui est benedictus Deus in secula Which turned the trueth of God into a lye and worshipped and serued the creature forsakyng the creator which is the blessed God for euermore But how is the truth turned to a lye and the creature rather serued than the creator It foloweth in the place alleaged Effigus à fabro factas appellando nominibus earum rerum quas fabricauit deus transmutaÌ„t veritatem Dei in meÌ„datium res autem ipsas pro dijs habeÌ„do venerando seruiunt creaturae potius quam creatori By calling the pictures made of the workeman by the name of those thinges which God hath made they change the truth of God into a lye And when they repute and worship the thynges themselues as Gods they serue the creature rather than the creator Wherefore Augustine noted very well that Paul priore parte sententiae simulachra daÌ„nauit posteriori autem interpretationes simulachrorum in the firste parte of hys sentence condemned Images and in the latter the interpretation and meaning of them So that if your cause be all one with the Gentiles and excuse one and yet both of them condemned by the Scripture and conuinced by authoritie It foloweth that no Roode nor Crucifixe in the Church oughte to be suffered for it is Idolatrye Of the same metall that the Crosse is made we haue the candlestickes we haue the censors yet they which most do thinke that God is serued with candlestickes censors attribute not that honor vnto them that they do to the Crosse What is the cause S. Augustine declareth Illa causa est maxima impietatis insanae quod plus valet in affectibus miseroruÌ„ similis viueÌ„ti forma quae sibi efficit supplicari quam quod eam manifestuÌ„ est noÌ„ esse uiuentem vt debeat à viuente contemni Plus enim valent simulachra ad curuaÌ„daÌ„ in foeliceÌ„ animaÌ„ quod os habeÌ„t oculos habent aures habent nares habeÌ„t manus habeÌ„t pedes habent quam ad corrigendaÌ„ quod non loquentur nón videhunt non audient noÌ„ odorabaÌ„t noÌ„ coÌ„trectabuut non ambulabunt Thys is the greatest cause sayeth he of thys mad impietie that the lyuely shape preuayleth more wyth the affections of miserable men to cause reuerence to be done vnto it than the playne sight that it is not liuing is able to worke that it be contemned of the lyuyng For Images are more of force to crooke an vnhappy soule in that they haue mouthes eyes eares nosthrels handes and feete Then otherwyse to strayghten and amende it in that they shall not speake they shall not sée they shall not heare they shall not smell they shall not handell they shall not walke And so farre Augustine Which wordes myght vtterly dehorte vs from Imagery and dryue both the Roode and the Crosse out of the Church Psa 134. if we were not such as the Prophete speaketh of become in most respect lyke them For with open and feling eyes but with closed and dead myndes we worship neither séeing nor liuing Images More could I cite aswel out of hym as out of the rest before alleaged for confirmation of thys trueth of myne I could sende you to the .4 boke of Aug. de ciuit Dei ca. 31. Where he commendeth the opinion of Varro that affirmed God myght be better serued wythout an Image than wyth one I coulde alleage hys boke de haeres ad Quod yult deuÌ„ Where he meÌ„tioneth one Marcellina whose heresy he accompteth to be thys that she honored the pictures of Christ and other I could referre you to hys boke de Con. Euan. Li. 1. Ca. 10. where he sayeth Omnino errare merueruÌ„t qui ChristuÌ„ noÌ„ in saÌ„ctis codicibus sed in pictis parietibus quaesicruÌ„t They haue béen worthy to be deceiued that haue sought Christ not in holy bokes but in paiÌ„ted walles These I say with diuerse other I could bring forth but that I thinke that thys suffiseth to proue that the fathers wer not so foÌ„dly in thys case affected as you would haue it appeare to other Folio 4 4. Concerning Paulinus I wyll not greatly contende wyth you but that in his dayes which was .448 yeare after Christ there was in some Churches the signe of the Crosse erected Epi. 3. ad Aprium But as I sayd before it suffiseth not to say Thys vvas once so But proued it must be that Thys was wel so Paulinê° coÌ„mendeth the woman that separated her selfe froÌ„ her own husbande without consent vnder cloke of religioÌ„ And hath the word of God the lesse force therefore which sayth Whom God hath coupled together Mat. 19. Ad Cithe rium let no maÌ„ put a suÌ„der Paulinus affirmeth that the boke of the Epistles which the Apostles wrote layd vnto diseases headeth them and shall we thynke that in vayne it is that the Lord hath created medicines of the earth Eccle. 38. He that is wyse wil not abhorre theÌ„ He that wyll folow whatsoeuer hath bene is a very foole I know that IustiniaÌ„ taketh order which is yet but politique that no man build a Church or monastery but as reasoÌ„ is by consent of the bishop and that the byshop shall set hys marke which by hys pleasure shoulde be a Crosse But what is thys say I to the Roode or Crucifix in places consecrate where God is serued The same answer that I made before to the Synod which was kept at Orleance may serue to thys Emperoures constitutioÌ„ although it be not preiudiciall to truthe if he that lyued by your wise computatioÌ„ a thousand yeare after Christ in dede fyue hundreth thirtie at the least in tyme of great ignoraunce and barbaritie In catalogo post prefationeÌ„ Folio 45. should enact a thyng contrary to a truthe Yet to say the truth I sée no cause why I should not admyt his graue authorite since he neyther speaketh of
oftē giuen so straghtly enioined Thou shalt make to thy self no likenesse of any thing Suppose they be so strengthened in fayth so assisted by grace that how great soeuer the daunger be yet they fall not in it they kepe themselues vncorrupt from Idolatry shall that be sufficient excuse for them if they leaue occasion of such offence to other Shal their learning and wysedome be cause of folly and deceyt to the simple Shal they haue such regard of their own fāsie which is to no purpose but only to gaze on wtout a cōmaundement as they thēselues confesse that the silly flocke shal be scattered therby and the more multitude being simple perish for whō Christ payed as deare a ransome as for the greatest the wisest the best learned of the earth The Scripture is cōmaunded to be knowen of al men Gather sayth Moses the people together Deute 31. men wemen children the straunger that is within thy gates that they may heare and that they may learne and feare the Lord your God kepe and obserue al the words of hys law Likewyse in the new testament the lyke cōmaundement is giuē by Christ to search the Scriptures Which words if any mā think Iohn 5. do appertaine only to the Iewes of the old tyme or to that Cleargy now by the same reasō as Augustine doth wel proue he may say the Christians ought not to know Christ De verb. Domini Ser. 45. nor be knowen of Christ Notwithstanding the Scriptures contrary to Gods wil haue bene for a policie forbidden to be red least the ignoraunt myght fal into error by thē And shal not the pictures forbidden banished out of Gods seruise breding a most vile affection of Idolatry be remoued rather out of the tēple aswel in respect of the precept as peril I haue shewed what these Images do describe pryde auarice wantonnesse and nothyng else If a man say thys Sainct in hys lyfe tyme despysed hys lyfe to lyue with God cōtinued in pouerty to be rich in Christ reiected the pleasures lustes of the fleshe to subdue the same to the good guiding spirite hys Image by by controls hym of a lye For he séeth a most chereful stately loke a gorgious rich attire an embracing in death of the which in lyfe he most abhorred Wherfore as Images generally describe a contrary effect to their first paternes as alway they worke a more wicked ende than in religiō is to be admitted so the Crosse it selfe doth not nor cannot leade as to the crucified but estrāgeth our harts frō god the creator to a vile creature And if the commoditie of Images in the Church or Crosses had bene such as you would haue it appeare I maruell the Christ our scholemaster that hys Apostles our teachers toke no order for them Rom. 15 Paul sayth not Quaecūque picta sunt sed quaecunque scriptae sunt ad nostram doctrinā scripta sunt c. Whatsoeuer thinges are painted but whatsoeuer thynges are written are written for our instructiō Not that by Images or gasing stockes 2. Tim. 3. but thorow pacience and cōfort of the Scriptures we may haue hope Nor he sayth All picture but Scripture inspired of God is profitable to teach to reproue to instruct that the mā of God may be perfect furnished to all good workes Then if the Scripture be a commended and commaunded way and the same sufficient to make vs perfect in all pointes I sée not to what vse an Image or a picture is Exo. 20. God gaue the lawe to Moses not set forth with colours but writtē in .ij. tables Iosue Iosu 23.2.4 deliuered the same vnto the people not in Imagery but in worde not glorious to the eye but gladsome to the eare comfortable to the hart so that the meane wherby they would the benefites of God to be kept in remēbrance was not to paint or graue the lykenesse of thē but by faythfull pen report the noble factes so print in the hart a thankfull memory Dauid intreating of the incarnatiō natiuitie passion death resurrection kyngdom of Christ our Sauior which are the proper effectes which you wyl haue set forth in Imagery sayth in the persō of Christ thus Psa 39. In capite libri scriptū est deme In the beginning of the boke it is writtē of me It is not graued in a piece of metal or painted on a wall The Euāgelist sayth Sicut scriptū est in libro Sermonū Esaiae Luke 3. As it is written in the boke of Esaies Esa 52. sermons He spake of sermons and not of signes of a boke and not of an Image The Apostles also of whome it is written beautifull are the fete of those that bryng tidinges of peace preach helth which wēt throwing their sedes with teares planting the fayth of Christ with afflictiō and shal returne agayne hauing their handfull Psa 125. with plentifull increase with ioy for gayne and successe of the gospell sent not a Crosse or history of the passion painted in a table to cities or to nations but their Epistles the certayne witnesses of their myndes their writinges Nor Christ that we reade of conferred on them the art of painting caruing or engrauing wherby they myght conuert the heathen to the fayth or leaue a remembraunce with their disciples after them Luk. 24. Sed aperuit illis dominus sensum scripturarum but the Lord opened the sense of Scripture to them S. Iohn banished into the Ilande Patmos to receyue the secrete and diuine reuelations heard at the Lordes handes Scribe haec in libro Apoc. 1. Wryte these in a boke and not worke thē in stone or metall Wherby we are giuen to vnderstande that the instruction of our fayth the only ayde of a Godly memory must be the Scripture The Crosse with a picture of a mā vpon it with armes stretched body pearced and fete nayled may peraduenture put me in mynde of a man so executed but who it was for what cause it was to what holesome ende and effect it was no picture in the world can tel me If preaching inspired by the grace of God working effectually in the hearts of hearers be not able to turne and conuert the obstinate If the lawful vse of Gods holy instrument pearcing the hearts and striking the conscience can not frame aright and reforme to pietie what shall we thynke of a dumbe senselesse vnlawfull thyng If I sée a fellon a théefe a murtherer hanged before myne eyes haue I not more to consider myne owne estate than if I behelde a wodden roode or siluer crucifix Suppose I know that that picture representeth Christ am I furthered any thyng towarde my saluation or are the mercies of Christ more effectual to me Ephe. 1. vnlesse I know that euen God the father hath also chosen me in Christ hys sonne before the foundations of the worlde were layd that I