as supply theyr roumes For if it be presumed to be otherwyse let it be voide and of no effect But how came that bishops by thys prerogatiue How chaunce that euery priest may minister baptisme the supper of the Lord but only byshops may confirme Only the Apostles dyd in their tyme minister these Sacramentes and therfore by that reason onely byshops should haue that office nowe But are onely byshops the Apostles successors when ye inhibite any of the lay fée to take the host in hys hande thys cause ye alleage that it was deliuered only to the Apostles Papistes contrarye to themselues In thys case ye admytte euery poore priest a successor vnto them But why not in the other Bicause if any be lesse successors to the Apostles thā other they be your bishops But to make a deuise of your own brayne although in matters of religion it be not sufferable yet to make a lye of the holy ghost to falsify the Scripture is more intolerable And is it not a straunge case that the holy father writing the law Gratian collecting it so many seraphicall doctors commenting of it Papistes beelye the Scripture so long vse in all realmes confirming it it should there be written and suffered to remayne that in the Apostles tyme it was neuer red or knowen that imposition of handes was done by any but by the Apostles themselues Why what dyd Ananias He layed hys handes vpon Saul Acte 9. wherby he receyued hys syght was indued with the holy ghost What bishop was he No bishop forsoth In glosa preced Dist Monkes Apostles vicegerentes But a Monke by all lykelyhode For by the cannon law they be alwayes the Apostles vicegerentes Sée you not by thys tyme youre own shame Shal this notwithstanding your cōfirmation be styll a Sacrament hauing nothing else but mans deuises and a sort of impudent lies to support it If it had bene a truth that only the Apostles had layd on hands if it were a good order that only bishops should do the lyke how falleth it out that the popes themselues haue dispensed with the matter Gregory wryteth thus Vbi episcopi desunt Decr parte 1. Dist 95. ca peruenit vt presbyteri etiam in frōtibus baptizatos chrismate tangere debeant concedimus Where bishops want we graunte that priestes also may annoynt in the foreheades suche as be baptised How is thys presumption auoyded howe doth the Sacrament now stande in force But who wyll seke for any reason constancy or truth in popery The example of Christe is pretended Yet Christ neuer bad it Nor the facte of Christ can be drawen to imitation nor their selues wyll sticke vnto it Christ neuer vsed oyle They make it necessary Christe promised indifferently to all the faithfull hys holy spirite They do restrayne it to their owne ceremonies Christ for our behoofe instituted baptisme that we myght dye to synne and lyue to ryghteousnesse They by confirmation haue cutte awaye halfe the effecte thereof The Apostles withdrawe vs from the elementes of thys world they wyll haue vs seke our saluatiō in an oyle box The Apostles vsed imposition of handes which had effect when miracles were in place they wyll haue the same order although they can not haue the same ende The Apostles layed handes but onely vpon some which had the gyft of the holy ghost withall they without respect or differences of persons confirme euery body Therfore it is but a mere tradition and the same neither Christian nor Apostolique In the order of it they be contrary to themselues They wyll haue it necessary to saluation and yet they let many dye without it They say that only bishops are the Apostles successors and yet in other cases they graunt that euery priest is a successor too They affirme that the Apostles gaue them only their president and yet Ananias that was no Apostle is proued to haue done the same They teach that a byshop must only minister it and yet they dispence for a priest to do it And may not we biblers be bold to cal you bablers If only these heresies lyes absurdities were in your proufes of Confirmation they only were sufficient to confirme you fooles But sée a fouler matter of all Christian eares to be abhorred Whyle ye go about to auaunce your inuention ye deface the ordinance of almighty God and ouerthrow the grounde work of our saluation Confirmation a Sacramēt yea a Sacrament worthier thā baptisme For the master of the sentence sayeth Lib. 4. Dist 7. Cap. 2. Sacramentum confirmationis dicitur esse maius baptismo The Sacrament of Confirmation is sayd to be greater thā the Sacrament of Baptisme And afterwarde the cause is added Quia à dignioribus datur in digniore parte corporis bicause it is giuen of worthier persons and in the worthier part of the body For only bishops as is sayd confirme but euery priest may minister baptisme And in baptisme oyle is layd vpon the head but in Confirmation vpon the forehead Where fyrst is to be noted Papistes attribute more to oyle in baptisme than to vvater that ye sticke in one myre styll ascribing more to the oyle your inuention than to the water which is Gods element It suffiseth vs to haue as Christ and his Apostles had fayre water in our baptisme your oyle is better for a sallet than a sacrament Then also by the way ye fall into another heresie For when ye decrée the byshopping of children to be greater sacramente than baptisme is bycause euery priest may christen but only byshops may confirme shewe ye not therein your selues to be very Donatistes Papistes are Donatistes esteming the dignitie of the sacraments of the worthinesse of the minister Yet not only the master of the sentence but also the decrée confirmeth that doctrine Melchiades an author of yours and a Pope sayth Sacramentum manus impositionis De con dist 5. cap. de his vero sicut nisi à maioribus perfici non potest ita maiori veneratione venerandum est et tenēdum The sacrament of laying on of hands as it cā not be made but only of the greater so is it to be worshipped with greater reuerence and so to be defended But O God Diffinition of Popish by-shopping what a strange religion is this A droppe of grease infected and filed with the stinking breath of a sorcerous priest inchaunted and coniured with a few fumbled words to be compared to Christes holy sacrament preferred to the water sanctified by the word of God But this is your maner to depraue the scriptures in euery point corrupt the sacramentes with your owne leauen and let nothing that good is stand in due force for your spirituall pollicies and fresh inuentions Gyue ouer therefore at length the breast of fornication leaue sucking of the dregs of superstition and poperie whereto I persuade my self that rather fond nurses haue inured you than
Wherfore to conclude Folio 9. b. Ioan. 4. the only swete water to quench our thyrsts must be fet from the fountayne of Gods eternall wyl There is the well that springeth vp into euerlasting life Beware of the puddle of mens traditions it infecteth ofte féelde it refresheth We must not vse the pretexte of custome but enquire for that which is right and good Chrisost in Gen. cap. 20. Hom. 56. If any thing be good if it profyt and edify the church of Christ let it be receiued yea though it be straunge If any thing be hurtful and preiudiciall to the true simplicitie of the Gospell let it be abandoned though .xv. hundreth yeares custome haue confirmed it For my part I craue no further credit than the christian conscience groūded on the word of God shal of indifferency and good reason graunt me The Lorde directe your hearts in his loue and feare confound Sathan with all hys wickednesse and giue the glory onely to Christ His name be praysed for euer and euer So be it To the first Article HAuing to erecte the house of god wherto we ought to be fellow workers we are bound especially to sée to this that neyther we builde on an euill ground therby to lose both cost and trauail nor set to sale and cōmende to other a ruinous thing or anye waye infectious in steade of a strong defence or holesome place wherevpon to rest The Apostle commending his doctrine to the Corinthians sayth Vt sapiens architectus fundamentum posui 1. Corin. 3. As a skilfull masterbuilder I haue layde the foundation And other foundation can no man laye than that which is layde which is Christ Iesus Christ hath receyued of his father all things he hath conferred vpon vs no lesse he by his death hath made entrance into life for vs he is become our wysedome our righteousnesse our sanctification and redemption By his name we must onely be saued by hys doctrine we must only be directed vpon that rock that fayth of his we must substantially be grounded If any man teach other lessons than of that we must say with Paul Si Angelus è celo Gallath If an Angel from heauen teach otherwise than the Apostles haue preached to vs let him be accursed And with S. Iohn Quod audistis ab initio id in vobis permaneat Let that abide in you which you haue heard from the beginning so shal you continue both in the sonne and in the father And this is the promise that he hath promised vs 1. Ioan. euen eternall life If any man do not bring this doctrine with him do not so much as salute him Ioan. 14. Math. 15. neyther receiue him into your houses For he that loueth God heareth his voyce sayth Christ And they in vayne do worship him that teach the doctrine and preceptes of men Men in God his matters not to be beleued vvithout the vvord Men haue their errors and imperfections though they be the children of God yet they be not guided by his good spirit alwayes Euery man that hath an instrument in his hand can not play on the same nor euery man that hath learned the science can please the eare But if the strings be out of tune or frets disordered there wanteth the harmony that should delite So whensoeuer we swarue neuer so little from the right trade of Gods holy word we are not to be credited we ought not to please Wherefore sith the way is daungerous our féete slippery that we fall oft and are slyding euer no maruell if the best of vs sometime do halte It falleth oft that such as preach professe Christ builde sometime on him euill vnsound and corrupt doctrine Not that the word of God is occasion of heresies but that men lacke right vnderstanding and iudgement of the same which commeth only by the spirit of God And this it is that S. Paule sayth 1. Cor. 5. how some do builde vpon Christ the foundation golde siluer and precious stones But some other timber hay and stubble Yet must we not take the hope of Gods mercy from such euill carpenters as lay so rotten a couering vpon so sure a building where as otherwise they offending in trifles be sound inough in greater matters sticke to Christ the only substantiall and true foundation Yet such their errors and imperfections being brought to the fier of gods spirit De doctrin Christiana li. 2. ca. 9. sequentibus and tried by the word shal be consumed Augustine therfore when he would frame a perfecte preacher willeth him to conferre the places of Scripture together He sendes him not to the Doctours distinctions nor to the censure of the Church nor canons of the Popes nor traditions of the fathers but onely to quiet and content himselfe with the word of God Therfore in the primitiue Church when as yet the new Testament was not written al things were examined according to the sermons and wordes of the Apostles For which cause S. Iohn writeth Qui ex Deo est nos audit 1. Ioan. 4. He that is of of God heareth vs and he that heareth vs not is not of God So farre therfore as men accorde with the holy Scripture and shape their writings after the paterne that Christ hath left them I will not only my self estéeme them but wish them to be had in most renoune and reuerence Otherwise absolutely to trust to mē which may be deceiued gather out of the fathers writings whatsoeuer was wytnesse of their imperfection is neyther point of wisdome nor safety In euery age God raysed vp some worthy instrumētes in his church And yet in no age any was so perfect that a certaine truth was to be builded on him Which thing by example as wel vnder the law as in the time of grace god hath sufficiently by his worke declared Among the Iewes who was euer comparable vnto Aaron Aaron who fell so shamefully he assented for feare vnto the peoples Idolatry Among the ministers of the Gospell who had so great rare gifts as Peter who did offende so fleshely Peter for dreade of a girle he denied his master Which thing was not done without the prouidence of almighty God thereby to putte men in remembraunce of their frailty further to instruct them whence truth in doctrine must only be fetcht Trust not me Pro loco li. 3. de Trinita To. 3. sayth Augustine nor credit my writings as if they were the canonical scripture But whatsoeuer thou findest in the word although thou didst not beleue it before yet groūd thy fayth on it now And whatsoeuer thou readest of mine vnlesse thou knowest it certainly to be true giue thou no certaine assent to it Epist 48. ad Vincent de Vi coer her And in an other place reprouing suche as will bring forth cauils out of mens writings therby to confirme an error he saith that a difference should
note in their registers such as were slaine in the warres they would mark them with the letter ☉ as thrust thorow with a dart or els of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is death But when they would note any one aliue they woulde put their letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Crosse mark T vpon him Also Asconius Paedianus sayth that when a Iewry gaue vp their verdite of gilty or not gylty such as were condemned to death were marked wyth ☉ but such as were quit were marked with the T. Wherfore there is no reason why your Roode or Crucifixe can by any meane be applyed to the mark which Ezechiel speaketh of Fyrst bycause none haue the Prophets marke but such as be godly lament wickednesse But many of the diuels children grinagods and such other be crossed and cursed to Then also the proportion is so farre different that there is no likenesse betwixt them But for the likenesse of the effect they may be well compared together For as they only were saued which were so signed with the letter Thau ת so none be saued now nor yet euer were but such as haue the print of Christes Crosse within them merits of his passion and fayth in his bloud Wel doth Hierome shew In Ezech. Cap. 9. the causes why the signe Thau ת shuld be made in the foreheads of the elect fyrst vt perfectam in viris gementibus et dolētibus scientiam demonstraret quia extrema apud Hebraeos est Viginti duarum litterarum that is to say To shew a perfect knowledge in them that mourne and be sory bycause it is the laste letter of .xxij. among the Hebritians That as that letter doth end the Alphabete So when Christ died on the Crosse which that letter signified all things were ended necessary for our saluation Ioan. 19. according to the worde Consūmatum est It is finished The worke of oure saluation was then fully wrought Agayne sayth Hierome bycause this letter is the first in the word which signifieth Lawe among the Hebrewes Illi hoc accipere signaculum qui legis precepta compleuerant They receyued this marke which had fulfilled the preceptes of the lawe So that the fashion of the letter is not so much as the mysterie which accordeth well to that which I sayde before Yet neither the fashion nor the mysterie maketh ought for your purpose M. Martiall Nowe I maruell what toy came into your ydle heade when for a proufe of the vndoubted signe of the Crosse ye bring forth the words of the Psal O Lord the light of thy countenaunce is sealed on vs. Do ye think that the light of gods coūtenance is a piece of wood in the Roodeloft or a Crucifixe on the altare Or else do ye think that the light of Gods countenance can be fixed with a finger in the fleshy foreheade If none of these be true what shall I say to you You haue made a whip your self shal be beaten with it Hieroms wordes be these Praecipitur sex viris vt praeter eos qui possunt dicere Signatū est super nos lumen vultus tui Domine cunctos interficiāt Cōmaūdement is giuē to the six men of whom Ezechiell speaketh that they kil all but them that can say O Lord the light of thy countenance is sealed on vs. The light of Gods coūtenance is his fauour toward vs. Thē is it signed in vs when the sense therof doth come vnto vs bréede a confidence sure hope within vs. If the light of Gods coūtenance be the self same with the letter ת Thau the letter Thau no other but the signe of the crosse thē whosoeuer haue the signe of the Crosse haue hope haue cōfidence haue fayth in God But this is vtterly false as experiēce it self doth teach vs. Therfore the letter Thau though in a mysterie it betokened the death of Christ yet hath it no relation to the signe of the Crosse For answere to the other places of Esay Ieremy I referre you to the which I said before Nowe to come to the time of grace I had nede to beware of you Folio 31. Ye come in with that which ye haue good testimony to be true in dede that a Crosse in the fourth signification such a crosse as ye speak of was shewed frō heauen to Constantine the great with these Angels words In hoc vince In this ouercom Obiectiō Nor the good Emperor savv this only but as Eusebius vvriteth vvas comaūded to make a signe of it caried it in his stādard aftervvard did cause his mē in their armour to graue it Solution But whatsoeuer it hath pleased God for his glories sake at any time to doe must not be drawen for example vnto vs. Priuileges extend no further than to the persons cōprised in them Signes miracles were shewed to some which neyther be graūted to other nor ought to be asked of al. Moses had a signe to confirme him in his enterprise agaynst Pharao But Iosue had not so He onely had a bare cōmaūdement when he entred vpon the land of Chanaā Gideon was confirmed by miracle to fight against the Madianites So neither Iephte nor Sampson were Paul was by a signe frō heauen called So was not Peter nor any of his successors after Wherfore if thus it pleased God to enbolden the heart of Constantine to fight agaynst Maxentius the tirant that he would shew him such a signe from heauē not to confirme his fayth which by the word was to be established but to put him in assurance of a thing beside the word that is to say victory against his enimies what president is this to preiudice my cause He newly was conuerted to the fayth be was weake therein therefore he doubted of such successe in his affayres as for his Church cause God apointed to graūt him For which cause an extraordinary meane was vsed And God applied himself to the capacity of them that he dealt withal giuing such a token to thē as might wel assure thē of conquest in his name In hoc signo vince sayd God In this signe that is to say in his name whom this figure representeth ouerthrow thine enimies It was not the signe that gaue the victorie Constantine neuer thought it He taught his people otherwise to say as it apeareth in the solemn praier which he willed thē with lifting vp of eyes hearts to heauen daily to make For assone as euer he had vanquisht the tirant he returned vnto Rome and first of al Eusebius de vita Const. lib. 1. Victoria authorigratiarū actionem persoluit he gaue his thanks to the author of victory then afterward he set vp his crosse in the market place to the end it might there remayne a testimony of the power of God that whosoeuer did behold the same might by by conceiue of whose religion this Emperor was in whose name he ouercam his foes Which visible signe
garmente and layde it vpon his eyes The place is the .xxxvij. of Genesis where only we read that the sonnes of Iacob brought vnto their father Ioseph his party coloured coate sayd this haue we founde sée nowe whether it be thy sonnes coate or no. Then he knewe it and sayde It is my sonnes coate A wicked beast hath deuoured him Ioseph is surely torne in pieces And Iacob rent his clothes and put sacke cloth about his loynes and sorrowed for his sonne a long seasoÌ„ Where is the kissing of the coate laying it on his eyes But if kyssing had bene there what is that to worshipping But to kysse and to worship is all one with them They worshippe where they kysse let them kysse where they worshippe not Another worthy father of that sacred assemblie bycause he would haue a freshe deuise coyned out of hande another piece of Scripture saying Car. Mag. de Imag. Li. 1. ca. 13. Iacob summitatem virgae Ioseph adorauit Iacob worshipped the top of Iosephs rod. Therefore we may worshippe the picture of Christ Let me aske of his fatherhode where he fyndeth the place Let him put on his spectacles and poare on his Portasse If this be lawful that euery noddy that commeth to a Synode may chop and chaunge the word of God as he will what nede we to care for Moses writing or Esdras restoring or Septuagints translating or the Apostles handeling of the Scripture The great vertue profound knowledge of those Synodicall men may serue and suffise vs. And to prosecute the cause of Iacob another ryseth vp and puts in his verdite saying Benedixit Iacob Pharaonem Car. Mag. Li. 1. Cap. 14. sed non vt Deum benedixit adoramus nos Imaginem sed non vt Deum adoramus Iacob blessed Pharao but he blessed him not as God We worship an Image but we worship it not as God This man had wit without al reason he compared the blessing that the holy Patriark gaue vnto the king the bounden man to the well doseruer the subiect to the superior vnto the worshippe of a senslesse Image that standeth in the wall doth no more good But another brought in a sounder proufe and framed his argument after this sorte Cap. 15. Impitiatorium duos Cherubin aureos ariam testamenti iussi Dei Moses secit Ergo licet sacere et adorare Imagine Moses by the coÌ„maundement of God made the propitiatorie the two golden Cherubins and the arke of wytnesse Therefore it is lawfull to make and worship Images This fellowe began in good diuinitie but ended in foolish sophistry For in the conclusion he put more than was in the premisses Moses made this and that Therefore we may both make worship Where doth he reade that they were worshipped Yea how can those examples be applied vnto Images since they be set in the face of the people only to this ende to be gazed on but the arke of witnesse with the furniture therof was in the oracle of the house in the most holy place couered that it might not be séene without Num. 4. 2. Par. 5. Agayne the Cherubins were but a peculier ordinance of God and therefore could not preiudice an vniuersall lawe But to procéede it is written in the law say they Ecce vocaui ex nomine Beseleel filij Vr filij Hor de tribu Iuda repleui eum spiritu sapientiae Car. Mag. Lib. 1. Ca. 16. Exod. 31. intelligentiae ad perficienduÌ„ opus ex auro argento Ergo licet adorare Imagines I haue called by name Bezaliell the sonne of Vri the sonne of Hur of the tribe of Iuda whome I haue fylled wyth the spirit of God in wisedome in vnderstanding and in knowledge and in al workmaÌ„ship to finde out curious works to make in gold siluer therfore it is lawfull to worship Images A reason as if it had bene of your making M. Martiall Ab ignoratione Elenchi Therefore the Synode aunswered that it was not onely an extreme folly but a mere madnesse to apply the figures of the olde lawe which onely were made as God deuised and had a secrete meaning in them to the Images of our time which euery caruer goldsmyth painter make as their fansy leadeth them to an ill example and to no good vse in the world But what shuld I stand in exaggerating of their folly I will truely reporte the reasons of the one parte and abridge what I can the aunsweres of the other Sicut Israeliticus populus serpentis aenei inspectione seruatus est Iconolatra Car. Mag. Lib. 1. Ca. 18. Sic nos sanctorum effigies inspicientes saluabimur As the people of Israel was preserued by the loking on the brasen serpent So we shall be saued by loking on the Images of Sainctes ê™ the Image worshippers The Aunsvvere They that repose their hope in Images Iconomachi Rom. 8. are condemned by the Apostle ê™ the fathers of Franckforde Councel Spes quae videtur non est spes That hope which is séene is no hope Furthermore the brasen serpent was not commaunded to be worshipped therefore the worshipping of an Image is falsly inferred of it Thirdely the brasen serpent was commauÌ„ded of God But no piece of Scripture doth beare with Images The Reason Si secundum Mosis traditionem praecipitur populo Iconolatrae Car. Mag. Lib. 1. Ca. 17. purpura hyacinthina in fimbrijs in extremis vestimentis poni ad memoriaÌ„ custodiam praeceptorum multo magis nobis est per adsimulatam picturam sanctorum virorum videre exitum conuersationis eorum eorum imitari fidem secundum Apostolicam traditionem Which worde for worde in english is thus If according to Moses tradition a purple violet be commauÌ„ded to the people to be put in their purfles and skirtes of their garments for a memory and keping of the commaundements much more must we by the counterfet picture of holy men sée the ende of their conuersation and imitate their fayth according to the tradion Apostolique The Aunsvvere Iconomachi Eche part of this argument consists of vntruthes First by corrupting the Scripture in calling it a purple violet whereas purple is one colour and violet another Then by comparing things vnlike together wearing of a garment and worshipping of an Image Thirdely in alleaging a most vntruth of al that the conuersation of holy men is sene in an Image For fayth hope and charitie which be the chiefe vertues of Sainctes are thinges inuisible But Images and pictures are visible As for imitation what it ought to be 1. Cor. 4. the Apostle sheweth vs saying Imitatores mei estote sicut filij charissimi Be ye followers of me as most deare children 1. Cor. 11. And in another place Imitator s mei estote sicut ego Christi Be ye followers of me euen as I am of Christ Whereby it appeareth that the tradition of the Apostles is to behold the godly
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
mens armures and erected it in the market place yet we neuer reade that he made a Roodeloft or placed the Crosse vpon the altar And thynke ye that Eusebiê° would haue forgotteÌ„ thys which did remember far smaller matters if any such thyng of a truth had bene Wherfore whatsoeuer you déeme of other or whatsoeuer youre owne wisdome be your supposal in thys case is neither true nor lykely to be true PeradueÌ„ture ye suppose that your hote interrogations of Shal vve thynke Folio 47. and constant asseuerations of No man of vvisdome can thinke wyll make vs by and by yelde vnto a lye But we are no children we are not to be feared with rattels ye must bryng better matter than your own thinking and souÌ„der proufes than Siluester hys wryting or els your Crosse shal be little cared for We know what idle tales and impudent lyes of Constantines donation Peter and Paules apparition wyth suche other lyke are in the decrées ascribed to Siluester And thence ye fetche your authoritie that Constantine made a Church in honor of S. Paul and set a Crosse of gold vpon hys cophyne Folio 47. vvayghing an hundreth and fifty pounde vveyght O what an ouersight was thys in Eusebius that writing hys lyfe auauncing his actes suppressed such a notable and famous piece of worke O what a scape was this of Sozomenus that making mention of hys lyttle chappel forgat the great Church But as the Prophet sayth Hiere 10 an Image is a teacher of lyes so must your Imagery be defended with lyes or els they wyll fall to nought I perceiue ye be driuen to very narow shiftes when ye bryng the authoritie of a bishop of Orleance to auouche the auncientie of the signe of a Crosse Swete floures be rare where nettels be so made of But alas what hath he that furthereth youre cause Take away the terme of Legitimê° whereby he calleth it a lawful custome I wyl not contende for any piece of hys assertion I know that it crept not into the Churche first in the tyme of Charles to haue the signe of the Crosse vsed I know the custome receaued in some places was thrée hundreth yeare elder than he Yet not wythout contradiction at any tyme. Wherfore in this and suche other cases wher eyther against the vniuersal Scripture a custome generall is pretended or a priuate custome without the worde established let the rule of S. Augustine take place rather Omnis talia que neque sanctaruÌ„ scripturaruÌ„ authoritatibus continentur nec in concilijs episcoporum statuta inueniuntur Epist 119. nec consuetudine vniuerse ecclesie robâ—â—atu sunt sed diuersorum locorum diuersis moribus innumerabiliter variantur ita vt vix aut omnino nunquam inueniri possint cause quas in eis instituendis homines secuti sunt vbi facultas tribuitur sine vlla dubitatione resecanda existimo As such thinges as neyther are coÌ„tayned in the authorities of holy Scriptures nor are founde enacted in counsels of the bishops nor are coÌ„firmed by custom of the vniuersal Church but according to the dyuers orders of diuers places innumerably do vary so that the causes may scant or not at all be founde whereby men wer induced to ordayne them I thynke that they ought without all controuersie be cut away Then sith the signe of the Crosse of Christ is not commauÌ„ded in holy Scripture sith no more councels haue coÌ„firmed the vse of it then haue condemned it finally sith the vniuersall Church neuer hath receaued it but only some priuate places where the great Antichrist of Rome preuailed nor they themselues able to alleage a iust and lawful cause of thys their ordinance and wyll worship I conclude say that the signe of the Crosse out of al Churches chapels and oratories out of all places deputed peculiarly to God hys seruice ought to be remoued To the fourth Article ANd wheras ye be now beaten from the walles of your greatest forte and runne into the castell ye leaue of meddeling with Roode or Crucifix and fall to defence of the signe mysticall I must lay some battery to thys holde of yours and I feare me not but I shall fier you out That ceremonies wer of olde receaued in the Church and among the rest the signe of the Crosse draweÌ„ with a finger I deny not I do confesse When men were newly coÌ„uerted froÌ„ Paganisme and ech man was hote in hys profession the Christian would not only with hys harte belief and tong coÌ„fessioÌ„ shew what he was but also in despyte of hys masters enimies declare by som outward signe and by Crossing of hymselfe testifie to the world that he was not ashamed of Christ crucified Hereof haue I wytnesse Tertullian in Apologetico and in hys boke de corona militis Wherevpon the fathers of a zeale and deuotion admitted almost in all thyngs this signe of the Crosse receyued it into God hys seruice as a laudable ceremony and wyshed al men to vse it Hieronymus ad Eustochium Demetriadem Prudentius in Hymnis Yet caÌ„ it not be denied but some were to superstitious in thys case ascribing more to the outward signe thaÌ„ to the vertue signified so they made of a well meaning custome a magicall inchauÌ„tment Nor only the simple dyd in thys case abuse themselues but such as had more learning than the rest and ought to haue ben good scholemasters to other taught superstitious and vnfounde doctrine I report me to Ambrose if he be the author of the funeral oration for Theodosius and also to Ephrem de poenit Cap. 3. Et de armatura Spirituali Cap. 2. which effect if we had not séen by experience in our dayes folowe we would not for the ceremony contende so much But wheras we sée the people so prone to superstition that of euery ceremony they make a necessitie that they bende not their hartes to the consideration of the heauenly mysterye but defix their eyes and repose their affiaunce in the earthly signe we are forced to refuse the same For doctrine in this case wyll not preuaile if the thyng that they trusted to be not taken from them So that the thyng which the aunciente fathers in a better age with lesse abuse wer concented to admitte must not so strayghtly be enforced vpon vs in a woorse tyme to mayntayne a wycked error For as Augustyne sayth Non veruÌ„ est quod dicitur Semel recte factuÌ„ Ad Marcellinum Epist 5. nullatenus esse mutandum Mutata quippe temporis causa quod recte ante factuÌ„ fuerat ita mutari vera ratio plerumque flagitat vt cum ipsi dicant recte noÌ„ fierisi mutetur coÌ„tra veritas clamet recte non fieri nisi mutetur quia vtrumque tunc erit rectuÌ„ si erit pro temporum varietate diuersum Quod enim in diuersitate personarum vno tempore accidere potest vt huic liceat aliquid impun facere quod illi non liceat non
quod dissimilis sit res sed is qui facit Ita ab vna eademque persona diuersis tēporibus tunc opartet aliquid fieri tunc non oportet non quod sui dissimilis sit qui facit sed quando facit It is not true that is sayd A thing that was once well done must in no wyse be altered For when the cause of the tyme is changed good reason doth require the wel done thyng afore so to be changed now That where they say it can not be wel if it be changed the truth on the other syde cryeth out that it can not be well if it be not changed For that which may chaunce at one tyme in diuersity of persons that one may do a thing without offēce which an other may not not that the matter is of it self vnlyke but the party that doth it so in respect of diuerse tymes of the selfe same person now may a thyng be done and now may it not be done not that he is differēt frō hymselfe that doth it but the tyme when he doth it Wherfore I like wel that counsell of Gregory which he gaue to Augustine the Monke whō he sent into Englande to plante a Religion Nouit fraternitas tua Dist 12 cap. Nouit saith he Romanae ecclesiae consuetudinem in qua se meminit esse nutrita sed mihi placet vt siue in Romana siue in Gallicorum siue in qualibet ecclesia inuenisti quod plus omnipotenti Deo possit placere sollicite eligas in Anglorum ecclesia quae adhuc in fide noua est in constitutione precipita quae de multis ecclesijs col ligere poteris infundas Non enim pro locis res sed pro rebus loca amāda sunt Ex singulis ergo quibus cūque ecclesijs quae pia quae religiosa quae recta sunt elige hac quasi in sasciculum collecta apud Anglorum mētes in consuetudinē depone Your brotherhode knoweth the custome of the Romish Church wherin ye remember ye haue bene brought vp But my pleasure is that whatsoeuer ye haue founde be it eyther in the Church of Rome or Frenche Church or any other that more may please almighty God ye carefully choose the same and the best constitutiōs that you can gather out of many Churches poure into the Church of Englande which is as yet raw in the fayth For the customes are not to be embraced for the countrey sake but rather the countrey for the custom sake Chose ye therfore out of al Churches whatsoeuer they are the thynges that are Godly religious and good and these beyng gathered into one bundel repose them as customes in the English mennes hartes So that of the wyse it hath bene alwayes reputed folly to sticke to prescriptiō of tyme or place Only the lawfulnesse of the vse hath brought more or lesse authoritie to the thing Wherfore ye haue no aduauntage of me in that I graunted the vse of Crossing to be auncient in the Church For if it had bene well in oure forefathers yet by Augustines rule it might be ill in vs and therfore to be altered And stifly to defende one certain custome without apparant commodity to the Church is by Pope Gregory hymselfe disproued Only I am sory that imperfections of wise men haue gyuen such president of error to the wilfull I am loth to saye that the fathers themselues were not so wel affected as they ought But ye driue me to lay my finger on thys sore and continually to scratch it The tale of Probianus which ye cyte out of Sozomene in the Tripartite history Folio 48. hath small apparance of truth in it For if he adored not the materiall Crosse he was the better Christian for that but if he beleued not the death of Christ then was he not conuerted vnto the fayth at al. For without Christ and the same crucified our fayth is all in vayne Wherfore whē it is sayd that he vvould not vvorship the cause of our saluation either the writer of this hystory doth il apply thys to the worde materiall or you do ill apply it to your purpose It shuld seme to be a tale framed out of Constantinus apparition when folish worshippers of the Crosse would styl haue moe miracles to cōfirme their Idolatry But as theues that haue robbed do leaue alway some marke behynde them wherby they may be knowen eyther what they were or which way they be gone so thys author of yours leaping ouer the pale hath left a piece of hys cloke behynde hym and ye may tracke hym by the foote For if he ment as your deuise that euer since the death of Christ vvhatsoeuer good hath ben vvrought to mankinde either by good men or holy Angels the same hath bene vvrought by the signe of the Crosse then Angels by lyke haue bodyes to beare it haue hādes to make it But Angels beyng ministring spirites Heb. 7. haue from the beginning wrought many vertues for mans behoufe haue bene by Gods prouidence a defence of the faythful and ouerthrowe of the wicked yet can they not make any materiall Crosse such as is set vp in Churches nor yet mysticall such as men vse to print in their foreheades wherfore eyther the collector of this tale was a lyer or you a fonde applyer Howsoeuer it falles out in ryme yet the reason is good But rather of the twoo I would excuse the author who by the Crosse ment Christ hys passion and lay you in the fault which vnderstode him not For doutlesse if there were such an apparitiō to Probianus as I am not yet persuaded of yet that the meaning of it should be such as you say to driue him to the vvorship of a Crosse in earth hath neyther religion nor reason in it Constantine hymselfe which was as newly cōuerted to the fayth neyther was commaunded to do the lyke nor euer dyd it Cyprian Augustine and Chrisostome intreating al of the passion of Christ do vse the terme of the Crosse as the Apostle hymselfe doth Folio 50. b 1. ad Cor. 1. ad Gal. 5. Vt cruxsit praedicatio de crucifixo That when they name the Crosse by a figure they meane the Crucified Notwithstanding I graūt that in ministration of sacramentes and some tyme otherwyse they séemed all to vse a certayne signe of Crosse not signe material Folio 49. but such as mē do prynt in their foreheades shall we therfore be restrayned to that whereof there is no precept in Scripture nor they thēselues yeld lawful cause But admit their authoritie Thynke you they dyd attribute so great vertue to the wagging of a finger That the holye ghost could be called downe the diuel dryuen away by it Thynke you they would haue neglected Churches refused Sacramentes doubted of their health if a priest had not broken the ayre first and wyth hys holy hande made an ouerthwart signe Learne more good ye Puiné than so fondly
latter clause with you you would not haue attributed operation to the priest nor effect of sacraments to the signe of the Crosse nor haue bene layd ouer the forme for it But ye féele not the stripes I am very sory for that verely verely ye haue well deserued them For if S. Cyprian would not ascribe so much vertue to the name of God that it should be able to do all otherwise than called vpon which respecteth the fayth of the receyuer shall we thinke that he had a sory breaking of the ayre wherby the Crosse is made in such hie reuerence and admiration On a time the same father was demaunded his iudgement whether such as were baptised bedred were Christians Cyprianus Magno Epist. 64. or no wherto he answered Aestimamus in nullo mutilari debilitari posse beneficia diuina nec minus aliquid illic posse contingere vbi plena tota fide dantis sumētis accipitur quod de diuinis muneribus hauritur We thinke that the benefits of God can not in any thing be mangled and made the weaker nor any thing lesse can happē there where the grace that is drawē from the spring of Gods goodnesse is apprehended with ful and perfect fayth as wel on the giuers behalfe as on the receyuers If such as were baptized in their beds hauing but a little water sprinckled vpon thē wanting a great number of ceremonies which Cyprian thought Apostolique and necessary were in as good case as the rest Quia stant consummantur omnia as he sayth maiestate Domini fidei veritate Bicause all things do stand and be brought to perfection by the maiestie of God and sinceritie of fayth shall we thinke that the idle ceremony of a Crosse can giue effect to sacraments and sacramentes be imperfect without a Crosse Your owne doctor doth ouerthrow you But ye cite two authorities of S. Augustine to confirme your error For the first where he sayth Folio 49. b. With the mysterie of the Crosse the ignorant are instructed and taught the font of regeneration is hallovved c. I aunswere as I did before according to the true meaning of the word mysterie that the meaning of the crosse which we beleue and sée not for so Chrisostome Chrisos 1. ad Cor. cap. 2. Hom. 7. saith and not the visible and materiall Crosse worketh the effectes aforesayd For you wyll graunt me that the signe of the Crosse is but an accessory thing The substance of the sacrament may consist wythout it Augustine Aug. in Io. Tract 40. et de catacl cap. 3 sayth not Accedat Crucis signatio ad elementum fit Sacramentum Let the signe of the Crosse concurre with the elemente and it is a sacramente But let the worde come to the element and it is a sacramente And yet he doth not attribute so muche to the elemente it selfe or to the worde as you doe to the signe of the Crosse For of Baptisme he sayth Vnde ista tanta virtus aquae vt corpus tangat cor abluat nisi faciente verbo Non quia dicitur sed quia creditur Nam in ipso verbo aliud est sonus transiens aliud virtus manens Whence commeth this so great vertue of the water to touch the body and washe the soule but by the working of the worde not bycause the worde is spoken but bycause it is belieued For in the worde it selfe the sound that passeth is one thing and the vertue remayning another If onely fayth bring effecte to sacramentes if the worde it selfe be not auayleable wythout beliefe shall we thinke that S. Augustine made such accompt of the signe of a Crosse In déede he made great of the mysterie of the Crosse bicause on it onely dependeth fayth But the mysterie you haue nothing to doe withal For vnlesse it be a materiall Crosse or a Crosse made with a fynger in some part of the body ye professe that in thys treatise ye will speake of none Folio 24. And now to the seconde allegation out of Augustine As the maner of signing with the Crosse was in his time vsual so wold I wish for your own sake that ye could content your self with his significations and wade no further in so daungerous a puddle than he hath dypped his fote before you Wel doth he please himself in a subtile deuise of his when he wil referre the Apostles wordes Ephe. 3. to the figure of the Crosse meaning by the breadth that there is spoken of Charity by height Hope by length Pacience by depth Humilitie But these make no more for Paules meaning than the Geometricall proportion that Ambrose out of the same place gathereth Onely there is some edification in the wordes and though ye apply them to your most aduauntage Folio 48. b. yet can ye not inferre your purpose of them For you would haue it appeare that no Sacrament were made and perfected rightly wythout the signe of the Crosse Trac in Ioā 118. But Augustine goeth not so farre Onely he sayth Nihil eorum rite perficitur None of them is solemnly done and according to the receyued order For are you M. Lawyer ignoraunte of this common position among the Ciuilians Quod recte iusticiā causae rite solennitatem respicit That this terme recte hath respecte vnto the righteousnesse and truth of the cause but rite which is the word that Augustine vseth doth go no farther than to the order and solemnitie thereof So I graunt you well that in Augustines tyme if there wanted a Crosse there wanted a ceremony and yet were the sacraments perfect notwithstanding In our Church of England a Crosse is cōmaūded to be made in baptisme yet was it neuer thought of any wise or godly De Conscr Dist. 5. Cap. Nūquid nō that baptisme was insufficiēt without it Go to your Canon where order is taken Vt omnia Sacramenta Crucis signaculo perficiantur That all Sacraments shal be made perfect with the signe of the Crosse Yet in the glose vpon the same place ye shall finde twise in one leafe these words Non remouet quin aliter possint sanctificari valere ad remissionem sed refert factum nec aliter fit solennis baptismus He doth not take away this but that otherwise that is to say without the signe of the Crosse they may be sanctifyed and the thing be auayleable vnto remission But it is requisite that the thing be done that is to say the signe of the Crosse be made nor othervvise it is a solemne baptisme This is the Popes lawe and your gospell Wherefore I besech you good solemne sir be not so harde master to vs that for default of solemnity Folio 50. a we shal be defaulked of fruite of Sacramentes As for Chrisostome I haue answered you oft he speaketh of a Crosse that you haue nothing to doe withal It is to heauy for you to beare It is not to be séene
yet where ye touch that Matrimonie is a sacrament yea the company it self of man and wife together in the act of matrimony to be a sacrament euery sacrament you say conferreth grace howe doth this holde together that in the acte of matrimonie in the company of man and wife together ye deny the presence of the holy ghost for your law affirmeth it to be sinne though a sinne veniall Shall it nowe be a sacrament Dec. 1. parte dist 13. Cap. item aduers in glo and anone no sacrament Shall all sacraments conferre grace and this be a sacrament and conferre none shall it be holy and yet prophane a sacrament and yet a sinne Last of all to proue that in all your deuises of error and hipocrisie The fift absurdity for the sacrament of matrimony ye séeke for nothing else but to colour and cloke abhominations consider what an heape of mischieues is couered with this face of holynesse When ye haue determined that matrimonie is a sacrament ye take the knowledge of causes Matrimonial vnto your selues for spiritual cases must not be handled of prophane iudges Then haue ye made such horrible lawes to confirme your tyranny that they are not onely impious to God but iniurious to man As that yong folk wilfully contracting themselues without their parents coÌ„sent may marry well ynough that there shall be no mariage within the seauenth degrée that he that diuorceth an adulterous person may not marry another that gossippes as we call them may not be man and wife together that from thrée wéekes before Lente till the octaues of Easter from Aduent to Twelftyde for thrée wéekes before Midsommer there shall be no marrying at all wythout a dyspensation No maruell then if ye haue made a sacramente of Matrimonie since that is the mylch cowe that yeldeth so large a meale of spirituall extortion Nowe to come to Penaunce Penaunce Folio 68. â— which ye make a sacrament as well as Matrimonie Ye call it a bath of teares a dispoyling of the olde lyfe the second boorde after shipvvracke These titles argue not that it is a sacrament nor I contend who giueth it these titles certayne I am that some of them be blasphemous and abhominable For to go no further than to this that it is called the second table after shipvvracke Quia si quis innocentiae vestem in Baptismo perceptam peccando corruperit Lib. 4. Sent. Dist 14. ca. 1 per Paenitentiae remedium reparare potest Bicause sayth the author whose name I suppresse as well as you if any haue marred his garment of innocencie which in Baptisme he gat by the remedie of Penance he may repaire it This is asmuch to saye as if the effecte of Baptisme were taken away by synne whereas we be bounde to call our Baptisme to remembraunce when so euer we synne that by the promyse exhibited in Baptisme the sinfull soule may be refreshed penance out of it gathered Therefore as the gospell it self doth say Mar. 1. Dec. caus 15. quest 1. Iohn preached the Baptisme of penance to remission of synnes So the fathers of the Church do cal Baptisme sometime the sacrament of Penaunce But to your reason Folio 68. b. whereby ye proue Penaunce to be a sacrament It is a visible signe of inuisible grace ye say the visible signe is the external act of the priest absoluing the penitent By this reason ye proue better AbsolutioÌ„ to be a sacrameÌ„t than Penance And so shal our sacrameÌ„ts multiply stil I besech you what hath Penance to do with the priests Absolution Can there be no remission of sinnes vnlesse the priest assoyle me I wil proue that manifestly false by your own law For Confession goeth before absolution yet without coÌ„fession there may be good remission So by this reason we stand not in nede of the visible element the inuisible grace is grauÌ„ted without it For according vnto your canon De Paen. dist 1. Ca. Si cui Folio 68. b. Voluntas remuneratur non opus The wil is rewarded not the work Then is it a lie which you affirm that sinnes are remitted by meane of the external vvork I know that you be more conuersant in the Popes decrées theÌ„ in Austins works therefore I wil shew you what GratiaÌ„ gathereth out of theÌ„ De Paen. dist 1. Ca. Faciliê° The sorrow of my hart though I speak neuer a word nor priest lay hand vpoÌ„ my head purchaseth me pardon Id quod probatur autoritate illa prophetica In quacunque hora peccator fuerit coÌ„uersus et ingemuerit Non enim dicitur ore confessus fuerit sed tantum coÌ„uersus fuerit ingemuerit vita viuet et non morietur Which thing is proued saith he by the authoritie of the Prophet saying In what houre soeuer a sinner shal be turned lament for he saith not wheÌ„ he shal be confessed but when he shal be coÌ„uerted and lament then shal he liue and not dye Ca. qui natê° Likewise after Euidentissimè apparet quod sola cordis contritione sine confessione oris peccatum remittatur It appeareth most euidently that by the onely contrition of heart without confession of mouth sinne is remitted And yet againe Ca. Quidam Deo Confessio quae soli deo fit quod est iustoruÌ„ purgat peccata The confessioÌ„ which is made to God alone which is the part of the righteous purgeth the offences By which places all it is playnly to be sene first that your eareshrift one part of your penance is to no purpose then that Absolution which is your externall worke your Sacrament as you call it is no meane of Remission Furthermore to rake out this kenell of Poperie Penance is a sacrameÌ„t ye say Euery sacrament a visible signe The visible signe herein is the externall acte of the priest the inuisible grace is the remission of sinnes to the penitent So the signe and sacrament is in the priest but the grace in the people But how is this grace conferred Forsoth by the priest the ghostly father And on whose head so euer the priest layeth his hands vnder confession hath he remission Lib. 4. Sent. Dist 1. Cap. 1. 3. Yea forsoth Quia sacramenta nouae legis efficiunt quod figurant Bycause the sacraments of the newe law do bring to passe that which they figure Then euery murderer théefe adulterer though he neuer repent hath cleare remission for he hath the sacrament O shamelesse impudencie But if it were so which is great impiety that by the external act remission were obtayned yet I sée not how that shoulde be a Sacramente Folio 69. a. For the matter of this Sacrament say you is the external act of the penitent coÌ„tayning these three poyntes Contrition Confession Satisfaction Among all these where is the visible elemente Vbi est illa corporalis species Ser. de bap Infan quae fructum habet spiritualeÌ„ as Augustine sayth
Where is that bodyly shape which hath the spituall fruite Hath Contrition Confession or Satisfaction a bodye Be these subiecte to the eye as breade wine and water are Be they not vertues proceding from the minde or things vttered by the mouth and wil you make them to be things sensible as boyes and girles brought out in a pageant Wherefore your sacrament is cut of by the waste Make as good shift with the words as you can your visible and bodyly signe is gone Vnitie in Papistes doctrine And I maruell howe ye dare so precisely speake of your Sacrament of Penaunce affirming the externall acte to be the visible signe of release of sinne the inuisible grace where as your master of the sentence Lib. 4. Sent. Dis 22. ca. 2. is put to his shiftes in this case and putting two opinions determineth vpon none Whether the outwarde act should be the Sacrament or els the outward and inwarde together As for the outwarde which you do rest vpon he feareth to graunt lest this inconuenience ensue Non omne sacramentuÌ„ euaÌ„gelicum efficere quod figurat that al the sacraments of the gospell haue not the effect of that which they figure But who is so bold as blinde bayard Hitherto haue I spoken not so much as I might to derogation of your diuels doctrine but so much as your ignoraunce and ouersight doth cause me of conscience to put you in minde of For the rest Folio 69. b. ye referre me to the boke of the seauen sacramentes set forth by the late King of famous memorie Henry the .viij. And bicause this is but a popish deuise whoso euer defend it I referre you to the same boke to knowe what ye ought to thinke of the Pope Now as for Extreme vnction Extreme vnction which you say was prouided of Gods mercy and goodnesse that in the last and perillous extremitie we should not be destitute of ayde comforte In dede God neuer forsaketh his he hath lefte hys promises to heale the mindes infirmities and vse of physick for diseases of the body But that oyle can enter into the soule or is so soueraine a medicine for the fleshe resteth to be proued Folio 70. a. Mark 6. The Apostles annoynted vvith Oyle many sicke folkes and they vvere healed The priests annoynt euery sicke body and none of them is the better The Apostles were coÌ„maunded to cast out diuels to cure diseases to cleanse the lepres and to rayse the deade the priests neuer had any such commission The Apostles signified by their annoynting the vertue and power of the holy ghost by which the cure was wrought The priestes wyth their oyle mocke the holy ghost and make the body but greasier for the graue If euery example that we reade in scripture shall be followed of vs If euery thing that was a signe to other shal be a sacrament to vs then dust and spittle shal be a sacrament to heale sore eyes Then the poole of Siloah Ioan. 9. shall be a Sacrament to washe away the filth Then lying on the deade Act. 20. shall be a sacrament to rayse them vp to lyfe Wherefore though anoynting were in the primitiue Church vsed and the same was a signe of grace conferred yet can not this president extende to vs bycause the commaundement concerneth vs not and also the effecte and end thereof is ceassed Ye haue a common prouerbe in your lawe Accessorium si qui naturam principalis that the accessory thing doth follow the nature of the principall Anoynting vvas a signe of healing Wherefore since the principal is gone the working of miracles and healing of the sicke what shall we doe with the accessorie the signe thereof and outwarde annoynting Ye vrge vehemently the institution of God by his Apostle S. Iames but the Apostle meant not preposterously to draw to imitation that which was temporall and onely touched the present state When the doctrine of Christ was rawe in the peoples mouthes and a newe Church beganne to be gathered miracles were necessary many gyftes were graunted and amongst the reste Anoynting no cause of health the power of healing the ministers wherof vsed their oyle not as a cause of health but as a signe that the vertue proceded from aboue and they were but instruments of the same Nowe since the gyfte of healing is gone as I am sure ye wil confesse to what purpose is it to vse the oyle If ye wyll therein be the Apostles successours If ye wyll followe Sainct Iames his counsell saue the sycke and you can shewe the grace of your grease Anoynting must ceasse bycause the gift of healing ceasseth The greasy merchaunts that take this cure nowe a dayes in hande be no more exhibiters of the grace then graunted than the player on the stage is a King in déede when he â—â—mmeth dysguised in a golden coate Christ dyspensed many things by his Apostles the effecte whereof he denyeth vnto vs. And anoynting better might be vsed of such as haue the power of healing Surgians or Physitians than of such as haue no skyll but onely in murdering and in kylling Here I rehearse not the contradiction that in your ydle decrées I finde Contradiction in Papistes doctrine and is only sufficient to dysproue your assertion For whylest eche man goeth aboute to establishe hys owne deuise and eche man is contrary to another ye shewe therein that ye be lyers all You say that Priestes onely must be the ministers of this Sacramente Priestes muste be called for Foli 70. a. b. Priestes must anoynte But Innocentius a father of your Church hath long agoe decréed the contrary Anno DoÌ„i 404. For Sigebertus in hys Chronicle affyrmeth that he made an Acte Oleo ad vsus infirmorum ab Episcopo consecrato licere vti non solum presbyteris sed omnibus etiam christianis in suam suorumque necessitatem vngeÌ„do That it shoulde be lawefull not onely for the Priestes but also for all Christians to vse the oyle consecrated of the Byshoppe for the behoufe of the sycke anoynting therewyth according to the necessitie of themselues and their friendes But ye alleage Sainct Iames Iames. 5. for you Is there any sycke among you let hym bring in the Priestes of the Church for so ye translate it and let them pray ouer hym anoynting hym vvyth Oyle in the name of oure Lorde Ye abhorre the name of the Lorde for by Stories position Hovv the Papists in all poynts svvarne from S. Iames his order that is the marke of an heretique and yet all Prophetes and Apostles vse it Then it followeth The prayer of fayth shall saue the sycke and if he be in synnes they shall be forgyuen hym Nowe if a man shoulde graunte which I haue proued to be moste vntrue that the annoynting here spoken of agréed to thys age yet had ye furthered your cause nothing in asmuch as so shamefully ye doe decline from the Apostles
order Sainct Iames will haue all to be anoynted if they be sycke you onely anoynt in case of mortalitie and daunger of death when one foote is in the graue already If oyle be your sacrament the promise of grace be annexed to it The absurdities to heale both bodyly ghostly as you say then what harde heartes haue you that suffer so many to languish in extremitie that come not by your wils before the last gaspe S. Iames will haue the sick to be anoynted of many you wil admit but one alone with his head in his sleue muffled as an Ape with a bell before him as a batfowler for an owle S. Iames will haue the elders to be called to this office which were not onely of the ministerie but also of the lay sée You will haue a rable of shorne priestes and none but them S. Iames is content with simple oyle you will haue none but such as a byshoppe hallowed with many a stinking breath warmed with many a sorcerous word inchaunted with many a beck many a knée to the ground Idoled S. Iames wil haue vnction the signe of Gods spirit and prayer of the faythfull to concur together noting that it is not the oyle that healeth but good mennes prayers are alwayes auayleable you most blasphemously doe ascribe remission of sinnes vnto your oyle boxe Now brag of your vnction goe sell your kitchin stuffe Trye it and ye lose it It is to stale to make a sacramente It stinketh I tell you For where as in a sacrament two things be required first that it be a ceremonie instituted of God then that it haue a promise of grace in it In the first we respect that the ceremonie be deliuered vnto vs in the seconde that the promise also concerne vs. And for asmuch as neither the ceremonie was coÌ„maunded vs nor the promise appertayneth to vs both being temporall long agoe surceassed I may wel coÌ„clude that Extreme vnction is no sacrament What soeuer in the Councell of Florence or in the late Synode of Trent hath bene decréed to the contrary shall not preiudice my truth For I hauing reason and Scripture for me with the learned and sounde determinations of moe fathers of the Church than these will not be prescribed by conuenticles and conspiracies You pretende authoritie we bring the scripture You call vs heretiques we proue you no lesse And which shal take place Gods worde or mens willes A talke or a proufe If all the fat bulles of Basan did drawe together and the diuel their carter dyd dryue them to Trent there to fede and stande fast for their prouender shall the Lordes shepe therfore be starued shal hys worke be neglected If ten thousande of your affinitie bewitched with the sorcery of Romish Circe should holde a councell and cal al men to the trough of your own draffe should not I acknowledge and coÌ„fesse with Grillus in whoÌ„ bearing the figure of a reasonable creature inchauntmeÌ„t could take no place that reason and religion should be preferred to the belly What reason is in thys their sentence to holde who be the parties accused and yet iudges of the cause What religion is in thys that for filthy lucre mannes idle ordinaÌ„ce shall displace the coÌ„maundement of almighty God Wheresoeuer I sée thys shame and disorder as in al your popish councels it is I appeale from them 1. Cor. 4. I say with Paul Mihi pro minimo est vt à vobis iudicer I passe very little to be iudged of you As for the place of Hilariê° against Auxentius the Arrian how fitly it may be applyed vnto you and not to vs whom you would seme to touch al they that haue eyes do sée For you can say nothing Fol. 71. 72 but these nevve ministers are heretiques they are Caluinistes and therfore diuels Proufe bryng ye none but the same is reproued I trust therfore ye haue credite according But to you I say Ye be fallen with Auxentius ye do participate with Arrius heresy Who is the diuels Angel thaÌ„ Who is to be auoided Nor I am contented onely to say it as you do though in thys respect my worde were aswell to be accepted as yours but I proue it too For when ye make an Image of God the worde Creaturam facitis eum qui omnia creauit as Epiphanius sayeth Ye make a creature of hym Lib. 2. tom 2 Her 96. the created all thinges Wherfore if ye would assente to the decrées of the first Nicene councell and go no further these wordes neded not betwixte you and me Fol. 72. b But when ye take away the name of Nicene and put Florence or Trente in place therof ye are as true a maÌ„ as he that stale a goose and sticked down a feather For al couÌ„cels are not a lyke Nor al they that bragge of the holy ghost are by and by inspired with hys grace For Hilarius your own author whoÌ„ to no purpose ye brought forth last hath to good purpose thys Multi sunt qui simulantes fidem Hilarius Li. 8. de Trinit non subditi sunt fidei sibique fideÌ„ ipsi potius constituunt quam accipiunt sensu humanae inanitatis inflati dum quae volunt sapiunt nolunt sapere quae vera sunt cum sapientiae haec veritas sit ea interdum sapere quae nolis Sequitur vero hanc voluntatis sapientiaÌ„ sermo stulticiae Quia necesse est quod stulte sapitur stulte praedicetur Many there are sayth he which fayning a fayth are not subiecte to fayth and rather do appoynt themselues a fayth than receiue it puffed vp with the sence of mans vanitie whyle they vnderstande those thinges that they lust but wyll not vnderstande those thinges that be true whereas the truth of wisdome is sometyme to vnderstande those thynges that thou wouldest not But the talke of folly commeth after thys wyll wysedome for necessary it is that foolishly it be vttered that foolishly is vnderstode To the fifth Article ALthough ye bende your selfe in all thys Article and stretch euery vaine of your feble skyl to proue a matter which although it be in part vntrue yet beyng grauÌ„ted dyd not hurt my cause that the Apostles and fathers of the primitiue Churche blessed theÌ„selues vvith the signe of the Crosse Fol. 73. a. and counselled all ChristeÌ„ meÌ„ to do the same and that in those dayes the Crosse vvas set vp in euery place conuenient for it yet bicause ye styll appeare in your lykenesse and it is so requisite ye be knowen to the world a clouter of a patch of troth vpoÌ„ a whole cloke of lyes I wyll not disdayne to make an easy proufe of your thrée taglesse poyntes for any greater stresse they wil not abyde And first of all the terme of blessing is ill applyed to signing in the forehead For what it is to blesse To blesse I declared in the Article before to speake wel
popish procession As much as if I said My Lord Maior hath a perch to set on hys perchers when hys gesse be at supper Therfore the Priest when he is at hys praiers must haue a crucifix to go before hym The barber in hys shop hath a lateÌ„ place to set on hys candels to shaue men therat therfore the priest wheÌ„ he goeth hys stations about the churchyarde muste haue a siluer Crosse caried before him and a couple of boyes with tapers in their handes to lyght hym at none dayes I remeÌ„ber of olde that on Tenebre wednesday or one of the soleÌ„ne dayes before Easter ye were wont to haue a ryghte counterfet in the Church of Constantinoples Crosse saue that the one was of siluer the other of wood And thys was Iudas Crosse wherupon was set a great sort of caÌ„dels which at seruise tyme were put out in order But thys I thinke is not the Crosse that ye speake of For you wyll haue a siluer Crosse or copper at the least wyse after the paterne of Chrisostomes catholiques But then you must sticke it full of candels to or els you be not lyke nother And haue you not great cause M. Martiall vpoÌ„ thys example to inferre these wordes of triumphe and victory Lo good readers Chrisostome an auncient father and one of the moste famous doctors of the Greke Church and renovvmed for vertue and learning throughout the vvorld had the signe of the crosse and tapers vvith lyght Fol. 94 a caryed in his Church of Constantinople before hys people in procession And was it in dede a Crosse M. Martiall In which signification of yours the first secoÌ„de third or fourth doubtlesse you were much ouer séene that dyd not make the fifth signification of Crosse to be the Crosse staffe that caryeth the candels And was thys Crosse caryed in the Church I had thought it had bene in the streates For the Arrians could not come into the Church and yet they met with them with flinging of stones and cracking of pates The Arrians had no Crosse you say why then they went darkling or were content with a lanterne Lo good readers hath not M. Martiall Martial in one stony maketh foure lyes and yet the matter maketh nothyng for him Martials conclusioÌ„ out of Sozomenus sayd muche to the matter First that in Constantinople there should be caried two siluer Crosses And that is a lye For there is no number mentioned Then that they should be caryed in procession And that is a lye For it was only in processu in their marching forwarde Thirdly that they were caryed in the Church And that is a lye For it was in the streates Fourthly that they were caryed as ours are in the daye tyme. And that is a lye For it was in the nyght season What foure lyes together in to small towme To much of conscience But marke the conclusion Forsoth vve gather out of Sozomonus by the godly father Chrisostomes fact that vve must cary a candlesticke in steade of a Crosse in procession A proper collection and yet very true For the Crosses of Constantinople to proue a doctrine of the Church Crosse is as good as the cressets on midsommer nyghte to proue the romors at hye muste in Poules And thus much for the Crosse Now to the candels If they were of olde vsed in the seruise of the Church no maruel at al since their metings were in the nyght tyme Eusebius eccl Hist lib. 5. cap 1 where to be darkeling it was vncomfortable We reade in Eusebius that in the raygne of Antoninus verus in Fraunce in Lyons and vienna the Christians were forbidden to haue any houses to dwell in Euse Eccle. Hist li. 5. cap. 1. to enter with other folke into the bathes to walke abrode in the streates or to be sene in any place By reason wherof they were compelled to get theÌ„ caues and there vnder the grounde to hyde them But when for their comforte in Christ they would resort together they dyd it in the nyght tyme for feare of suspition and therof many slaunders did ryse vpon them The vse of tapers for treasons conspiracies horedomes and murder Yet candels they had necessary they were Likewyse we reade that when Iustina the Empresse fauoring the Arrians had graunted them the vse of the Churche in Millain Augustinê° li. Confes 9. cap. 7. Ambrose withstode it and kept it day and nyght with watch warde Then Litanies were song and then were tapers vsed But when persecutions ceassed and men myght fréely serue God abrode when rewardes were geuen to the seruers of hym and seruise appoynted in the daye tyme that candels should be vsed they had no grounde of reason I sée not whence you may haue a president of your burning tapers at none day so wel as from the sacrifices of Saturnus Macrob. Saturn li. 1. cap. 7. Aras saturnias non mactando viros sed acceÌ„sis luminibus excolebant They decked and furnished the altares of Saturn not with the bloud of men but with burning of candels And we neuer reade that any returned from GeÌ„tilitie but retayned somewhat of their olde obseruaunces If ye vrge the olde custome that so many huÌ„dreth yeares ago tapers were vsed in Gods seruise I wyll reply with reproufe of that custome by a generall councell For in the Synode helde in Spain called CoÌ„ciliuÌ„ ElibertinuÌ„ is was straightly enioyned Cap. 34. Lactantius de vero culâ—â— dei li. 6. cap. â— that none should lighte candels in the daye tyme. Lactantius inueighing agaynst the heathennish or popishe superstition conueniunt enim in vno tertio for Papistes Paganes agrée in a third that is to say lyghting of candels vnto their Gods sayth Accendunt lumina velut in tenebris agenti Deo Sed si coeleste lumen quod dicimus solem contemplari velint tam sentiaÌ„t quod non indigeat lucernis eorum Deus qui in vsum hominis tam candidum luceÌ„ dedit tamen quum in tam paruo circulo qui propter longinquitateÌ„ non amplius quaÌ„ hamani capitir videtur habere mensuraÌ„ tantuÌ„ sit fulgoris vt euÌ„ mortaliuÌ„ luminuÌ„ acier non queat contueri si paulisper intenderis hebetatos culos caligo ac tenebrae consequantur quid tandeÌ„ luminis quid claritatis apud deuÌ„ penes quem nulla nox est esse arbitremur qui hanc ipsam luceÌ„ sic moderatus est vt neque nimio fulgore neque calore vehementi noceret animantibus tantúmque istarum rerum dedit ei quantum aut mortalia corpora pati possunt aut frugum maturitas postularet Which is to say in English They light candels vnto God as if he were in the darke But if they wyl beholde the heauenly lyght that we call the sunne they may vnderstande that their God lacketh no lyghtes that for the vse of man hath giuen so cleare a lyght And yet whereas in so small a circle whyche by
Crosse were able now to do the lyke I would admit youre case the rather though absolutely as I sayd before miracles do not enforce a doctrine The woman of which Epiphanius reporteth when she was in the bathes felt one Li. 1. Her 30 by inchantment touche her whome she sawe not and made the signe of a Crosse which was no cause of her preseruation but wytnesse of hir fayth that dyd preserue hir And thys Epiphanius hymselfe testifieth Signauit se in nomen Christi vt quae Christiana esset She signed hir selfe into the profession and name of Christ as who was a Christiā And after he sayth not that the signing serued hir But per signa ulum fidem By the signe of Christ and by fayth the woman receyued helpe And fayth doutlesse without the signe had bene able to haue wrought asmuch as that but that it pleased God to shew a miracle which to an other end he would by some visible signe to be expressed The ende was to shewe the vertue of beliefe in Christ and to conuert an heathen man which could not sée the secret fayth that so preuayled against inchantmente and therefore stode in nede of an outwarde signe Lib 1. Tom. 2. Her 30. Wherfore Epiphanius in the same place concludeth Hoc tertium instructionis ad fidem opus Iosepho contigit Thys thirde worke happened vnto Ioseph for instruction of hys fayth So that when it pleased God to vse a miracle for cōuersion of an infidell we must not gather that he hath left an example for vs to do the lyke yet is not such power ascrybed to the signe as you collect but the vertue remained in the name of Christ Notwithstanding as oft in the Scripture causa per effecta fides per opera declaratur the cause is declared by the effectes as the fayth by workes so many tymes and specially for the worldes instruction the inwarde puritie and persuasion is notified to men by the outwarde fact which fact nedeth not now to be the signe of the Crosse since we lyue not amōg Turkes and Sarazins but al mē without it know of whom we holde in whom we doe beleue Thus haue I aunswered the place of Epiphanius and by thys you may learne neuer to alleage a place but to consider better the circumstaunce of the same I thinke a man should haue much a doe with you if ye were able at this day to shew the lyke vertue and effect of a crucifix as hath bene of olde reported Yet thys oughte to be approued afore we do confirme the necessary vse therof A catholique of yours for all hys confidence in the Crosse would be loth to aduenture hys daughter in a common brothell house as your tale is Foli 104. a. of the woman of Corinth although he had taught her neuer so much to Crosse her Peraduenture she might be as good a maid as she that toke such pleasure in Massing and in Crossing that oute of the Churche she would neuer come vnlesse it were to a mans bed Only I maruell if the signe of the Crosse be so souerayne a medecine to preserue chastitie Why papistes are more licētious and aduouterous than other why so many of your order that most delyte therin make stewes as it were of theyr own houses none so great lechers as the superstitious none more incontinente than popishe priestes And they thynke they haue warrant of your religion for it For in that tyrānous interraigne of Antichrist .viij. yere a go when a priest of Oxforde was accused to Cardinall Pooles cōmissioners of an horrible offence not to be named of a Christian but commonly practised among the papistes Nefas est accusare sacerdotem cryed out the Datary It is a wickednesse to accuse a Priest of such cryme or such But the matter was euident the parties confessed it And what was awarded hym forsoth to aske hys fellow whether he were a thefe to tell a tale in an others eare which was as good as himselfe So that confession salued that sore strayght About the same tyme an olde fornicator in red Crosse streate in London declared the effect of your religiō which is to bréede a securitie in synne for beyng taken in adultery by such as are yet alyue and haue good cause to remember it he sped hymselfe as fast as he could to Church would nedes haue a Masse whē he had heard it he came home agayne Hys wyfe layed the matter bitterly to hys charge his frēds most greuously dyd expostulate with hym when he had nothing to excuse hymselfe nothing to lessen the fault withal he sayd There is none of you all though you would sée me hāged but knowes I beleue in the Sacrament of the altare well then I beleue well I thanke God of that Yet he thought hys beliefe in the Sacrament of the altare was inough for hym though otherwyse he played the varlet egregiouslye You thynke that a signe of a Crosse suffiseth as it dyd for Luciā and the Iew though no fayth in Christ no goodnesse do come with al. And thys may be supposed to haue encoraged your deuoute fathers to lyue so licentiously as they haue done Wherein if I had lewes Euans hys vayne I could with truthes make those eares to glowe which now do glory in hys shamelesse lyes The signe of the Crosse say you maketh that harlots vvould liue chast Fol. 116. a. What chastitie in crossing papistes How happens it thē that a frende of yours a bastard or bishop or both was peraduenture which is not I warrāt you without a Crosse or twayne should haue from hys bedsyde a priuy posturne Not that when hys Bacchus had bathed hym hys Venus might warme him How falleth it out that a chiefe maintayner of your saction that ioyeth asmuch in the Crosse signe as you lothed alwayes hys lawfull dyet and delyted moste in stolen venery What happe was thys that sometyme a warden of your colledge the daily deuoutly would knele before the siluer Crosse attempted as earnestly to bryng al Christians to the wodden Crosse should kepe both the mother and the daughter in Oxforde and after for periurye weare a paper in Windsore I wyl no further offēde chast eares with rehearsing the shame of your vnchast generatiō Only wyll I say and if ye further vrge me in particularity wyll proue that as I am now entreating of miracles so euer in my tyme it hath bene greatest miracle to sée a chaste votary But to returne to your allegations if ye wyll haue vs credite you in your doctrine then let vs sée the fruites let miracles be wrought let the Crosse make you honeste and I wyll verily affirme it a miracle If the signe of a Crosse do heale diseases and kyll dragons if it kepe vs frō the fall of trées and make our enimies stande styll before vs Then fare well physicke I wyll occupye no weapons Miracles past no proufe of present vse In