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
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
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
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
Ca. 12. that the catalogue the Register of the .72 disciples is founde in no place But you place them at your pleasure you are able to point them out with your finger Hierom Gennadius Isidorus making bokes of purpose of ecclesiastical writers neuer doe remember this author of youres whome you for the names sake do like the better But if his aunciency had bene such as you pretende it had bene a great ouersight of them to haue so forgotten him But to his place The Crosse of our Lorde is our inuincible armoure agaynst Sathan an helmet vvarding the heade a coate of fence defending the breast a targat beating back the darts of the diuel a svveard not suffering iniquity and ghostly assaults of peruerse povver to approch vnto vs. If this may be rightly vnderstode according to the letter we nede not greatly to stand in dread of Sathan he is easly vnaquisht we nede no further armour than the Crosse let Christ alone this Mars shall suffise vs. God sayd to Iob Iob. 40. that Behemoth or Leuiathā are of another maner of force none dare come nere them none can resiste them the sweard shall neuer touch thē the speare yeldeth to them They esteme yron as a straw brasse as rotten wood But rotten woode a cancred wormeaten ilfauored Crosse may kepe vs safe ynough from the Diuell Then is not the Diuell such a Bugge as we talke of he is belike some Robin good fellowe that onely is méete to make babies afrayd But if that you in your most ruffe at Winchester had bene no more terrible to the boyes with a rod in your hand than the parish priest with confidence in the Crosse is to the Diuell your Schollers should haue had as little learning as you discretion Folio 15. b. or the Diuell dreade But you are not so to be dalied withall Damascenus Damascenus sayth further for you that the Crosse is giuen vs as a signe vpon our foreheads lyke as Circumcision vvas to the Israelites by this vve Christen men differ and are discerned from infideles This is oure shielde our vveapon our banner and victorie agaynst the Diuell This is our marke that the destroyer touch vs not To speak a little of your author not vtterly to discredit him but in parte to excuse him for that he was not in all poynts so sound Rerum Ro. lib. 21. as otherwise it had bene to be wished Eutropius writeth that he liued in the raigne of the Emperour Leo Isauricus the third of that name Then was the bloudy bickering for Images Then Sathan did bestyrre himselfe Then was it no maruel if a man learned godly otherwise were caried away with the common error I am not ignoraunt that Damascene did greatly contende for Images But out of the Scriptures he brought no proufe at all Onely by a miracle he woulde confirme them We know what illusions are wrought in that behalfe and therfore against the word no authoritie of man 2. Reg. 18. no miracle must come in place Ezechias destroied the brasen serpent which had a most strange and holesome miracle to witnesse with it for all were restored to health by it And shal forged lies make learned men and godly Princes forbeare so great abuse maintayned by fond opinion and after no sound precept But let vs weigh his reason He compareth the Crosse on the foreheade and circumcision together If he had shewed as much cōmaundement for the one as is for the other I could haue liked it it well nowe that circumcision was straightly enioyned and the signe of the Crosse neuer spoken of Circumcision was a thing done in the flesh The Crosse in the foreheade is but a signe in the ayre I sée not howe these things can ioyne together But if Damascenus which I rather thinke doe take the signe in the foreheade for the passion it selfe printed in our heartes then on the other side there is as greate a square For circumcision did only serue for a remembrance but this Crosse is the thing it selfe to be remembred Lactantius Lactantius de vera Sa. Li. 4. Ca. 26. goeth néerer a truthe and compareth together the bloud of the lambe wherewithall the dore postes of the Hebrues were sprinckled and the signe of the Crosse that men in the vttermost partes of their bodies beare But Lactantius sayth Cruor pecudis tantam in se vim non habuit vt hominibus faluti esset The bloud of a beast had not such power in it as to saue men Therefore say I the signe of the Crosse is neyther shielde nor weapon nor victory of ours And this is mine answere to Damascenus Nor I am herein ashamed of the Crosse but I am ashamed of your too crosse and ouerthwart proues Ye graunt your selfe Fol. 16. a. b. that the effectes aforesayd are to be ascribed to the death of Christ but yet you sweare Mary that they are not to be done without the signe of the Crosse Your argumente is this As men notvvithstanding the merites of Christes passion must receiue the Sacraments So sighters against the assaults of Sathan must not onely haue fayth but also the outvvarde signe of the Crosse O cunning comparison O worthy argument that all the world may wonder at Would a man haue thought that an Vsher of Winchester could haue become so déepe a Diuine The sacraments ye say must concurre with faith Ergo the signe of the Crosse with Christ This is as good a reason as if I shuld say Notwithstanding Gods power that giueth the increase I must eate my meate Ergo notwithstanding my laboure whereby I may sustayne my selfe I must néedes couet my neyghbours goodes The respectes be like In the firste proposition Gods power and fayth the necessitie of Sacramentes and of noriture to be compared together In the second Christes passion to aunswere our labour which both are necessary the same sufficient meanes for vs and the lusting after another mannes goods set agaynst the signe of the Crosse wherof there is nere nother commaunded but forbidden Ye were taught once out of the Topicks that it is an il argument à consequenti when in two propositions things vtterly vnlike shal be compared together and the one by no meane can inferre the other Sacramentes are commaunded by expresse word of Scripture Ye should haue proued firste that the signe of the Crosse is so Sacraments haue a promise annexed to them Sacraments no cause of grace Folio 17. a. Where is the promise to the signe of the Crosse To passe ouer the rocke that in the midst of your course ye runne vpon that Sacraments are the cause of grace whereas in them the only promises of God by Christ both by word and signe are exhibited vnto vs which promises if we apprehend by fayth then is the grace increased in vs and the gifte of God by fayth receyued is by the Sacrament sealed in vs. So much by the way to teach you true
in form likenesse of the other then is it somwhat that you haue sayd But if it were the preaching of the word as most certain it is which did so work in the heartes of men the refusing their errors they became to be faythful then you are a falsefier of the word M. Martial Learne you of me that preaching is that hand of God that standard of his whereby that merciful effect is wrought as wel in vs as in al other to be brought to the truth from blindnesse ignorance And if ye thinke scorne to learne of me learne of God himselfe who in the text before sayth that his mouth is a sharp sweard and that preaching is a chosen shaft had in the quiuer of the almighty For the word in operation is as forcible as a sweard it moueth it rauisheth it renueth men it pearceth to the heart it searcheth the secret places it entreth through as S. Paul sayth Heb. 4 euen vnto the deuiding asūder of the soule and of the spirits of the ioynts of the marowe and is a discerner of the thoughtes and the intentes of the heart neyther is there any creature which is not manifeste in his sight but al things are naked and open vnto his eyes with whome we haue to do This two edged sweard which God hath put in the mouth of man doth trye the force of things set against it It cutteth the corrupt affections from the heart It openeth the festered sores the pestilent impostumes of our ill desires It ouerthroweth the kingdome of Sathan It slayes his host sinne death and hell And as an arrowe which is past the bowe of a cunning archer can not be stayed by hand before it haue his lighting place so doth the word hold stil his constant course it maketh way whersoeuer it goeth it falleth as he willeth which is the onely directer of it But fall where it will it falleth with effect nor any man can withstand the blowe that it giueth If you can iustly ascribe any such piece of operation to the Crosse in your fourth signification then will I gladly giue place vnto you But whereas it is certayn that no work of man can alter the heart or once regenerate it to true pietie the standard that Esay the Prophet speaketh of maketh nothing for your purpose But S. Hierome ye say taketh your part for vpon that place he noteth Fol. 23. b. Vndoubtedly there is meant the banner or signe of the Crosse In dede s Hierome hath these words Haud dubium quin vexillum crucis vt impleatur illud quod scriptum est Laudibus eius plena est terra Which is as much to say as this No doubt but it shal be the ensigne of the Crosse that it may be fulfilled which is written The earth is ful of his prayses Here Hierome doth explicate himself what he doth meane by the ensigne of the Crosse the setting forth of the prayse of God which is not by setting of a Crosse on the altar but by preaching the crucified Christ vnto people The place of Ieremy the .iiij. maketh no more for the Crosse thā it doth for the Candlesticks For when the Prophet had spoken to the inhabitants of Iuda Ierusalem to be circumcised to the Lorde Ieremie 4 and cut of the foreskinnes of their infected heartes ne egrederetur tanquam ignis furor eius et accēderetur nemo extingueret least his wrath should go forth as fier and should be kindled and no man quench it He commeth further to declare the obstinacy of mennes hearts that by no meanes can be brought to goodnesse but seke by al meanes to auoyd the rewarde and plague of wickednesse Wherefore by an Ironye he sayth vnto them Blowe the trumpet in the land crie and gather together and say Assemble your selues and let vs go into strong cities Set vp the standard in Sion c. As if that he had sayde I knowe what you will doe when the wrath of God shall fall vpon you when your ennimies shall oppresse you you will not consider the cause thereof but you wil run to your strong holdes you wil arme your selues and stand at your defence you wil set vp your standard in Sion and thinke that you shall be safe there But it will not be so sayth the Lord Quoniam ego malum accersam ab Aquilone Bicause I wil bring a plague from the North. And truely there is no cause why Hierome in this place should runne to his Allegorie whereas there is so playne and sound a sense in the letter But if his Allegorie should take place let all go togither and it maketh agaynst you For his words be these Ingrediamur ciuitates munitas Haereticorum bella consurgunt Christi monumenta nos teneant Leuate signum Crucis in sublimitate ecclesiae Let vs enter into the walled cities The battayles of the Heretiques doe arise Let the munitions of Christ holde vs Lift vp the signe of the Crosse in the height of the Church Let me nowe aske you this question whether we must runne agaynst heretiques with a Crosse in our hande as I remember a priest of your facultie beat all his parishe with the Crosse staffe If this artillerie beate not downe heresies thinke that S. Hierome meante another thing that it is to say The signe of the Crosse in the toppe of the Church The preaching of the vvord in the prelates of the Church Nowe as for the signe of the sonne of man Math. 24. vvhich shall before the iudgement appeare in heauen Forsoth there is no certayne proufe that it shall be a Crosse For Chrisostome in his second exposition vpon the .xxiiij. Chapiter of Mathewe Hom. 49. sayth Quidam putant Crucem Christi ostendendam esse in caelo Verius autem est ipsū Christū in corpore suo habentē testimonia passionis id est vulnera lanceae clauorum vt impleatur illud quod dictum est Et videbunt in quem pupugerunt Some sayth Chrisostome thinke that the Crosse of Christ shall be shewed in heauen But it is truer that Christ himselfe shall appeare hauing in his body the testimonies of his passion that is to say the wounds of the speare and nayles that it may be fulfilled which was sayd And they shall sée him whome they pearced Nor onely contente with his owne censure he bringeth after a proufe of Scripture that the wordes cannot be spoken of the Crosse but of the body of Christ himselfe bicause the rest of the Euangelistes writing of the same matter doe only say Videbunt filium hominis venientem They shall sée the sonne of man cōming Whervpon he concludeth that al the Euangelists do shewe Signum Christi esse ipsum corpus Christi qui in signo corporis sui cognoscendus est à quibus crucifixus est That the signe of Christ is the body of Christ himself who in the signe of his body shal be knowen of them of
the land was inhabited And of the doings at New-hauen what an honorable peace insewed contrary to the wish and will of the enimies of God and of their countrey the Papistes we doe nowe féele thankes be to God and you can not denie But in the Catholique time as you call it what successe had you when Calleis and Guines so hardly wonne so long kept with such glory and gaine to the English name defended was easely in one .iij. dayes with shame lost More will I not rehearse of our desperate losses in that tyrannous interraigne I retourne to your visions Iulian Folie 33. a. as you cyte oute of Sozomenus had a shovvre of rayne that ouertooke him and euery drop that fell eyther vpon hys coate or any other that accompanyed him made a signe of the Crosse Agayne When the saide Iulian counsayled the Ievves to repaire the Temple of Ierusalem destroyed by the Romaines God to make them desist from that vvicked purpose of theirs caused the ground vvhere they had digged a great trench for the foundation to be filled vvith earth rising out of a valley And vvhen this notvvithstanding they continued their vvorke God raysed a great tempest of vvinde and skattred all the lime and sande vvhich they had gathered and caused a great earthquake and killed al that vvere not baptised and sent a great fyre out of the foundation and burned many of the laborers And vvhen all this nothing discouraged them a bright glittering signe of the healthfull Crosse appered in the element and the Ievves apparell vvas filled vvith the signe of the Crosse The application of these two histories which for this purpose I set out at large that they may the better be considered will make you glad to scrape them out of your booke For ye fare as a foole that walks in a net or as the children whose head being hidde they thinke their bodies can not be séene Although ye cast some shadowes ouer you and think that your head is hidde in an hole yet your eares be so long that they do bewray you When thus ye haue heaped vp as many mysticall figures of the Crosse as you and your learned Counsell can ye gather a fine conclusion of them that God vvilleth all hys Folio 34. highly to esteeme the thing vvhich those figures signified and to beleue that as those figures vvrought temporall benifites to the Israelites so the truthe that is the Crosse it selfe shall vvorke vnto his electe and chosen Children beleuing in hys Sonne Iesus Christ and hauing his signe printed in our foreheads the lyke benifits effectes vertues spiritually and much more greater First who tolde you that the truth of these figures was the Crosse it selfe vnlesse by a figure ye take the Crosse for the crucified Then that those figures wrought temporall benifites how can you proue Sure if they were causes of any good that came they were Causae stolidae as Tully calleth them meane and instrumentall causes as the Axe is cause of the wood cleauing and not efficient Thirdely if ye would haue concluded well Distinguenda fuissent ambigua those wordes that diuerslye may be taken should haue bene seuered into their diuers significations that we might haue knowne how to haue vnderstoode your mastership When ye ioyne the truth and the Crosse togither what Crosse can I tell you speake of If it be according to your promise afore the Crosse in the fourth signification for thereof ye saide you woulde onely entreate then is not your Crosse the truth it selfe but a figure still wheras ye couple the belief in Christ and hys signe printed in our foreheads togither what signe is that the Crosse with a finger If ye meane it so ye make an vnméete comparison the one being necessarye the other ydle and vnlawfull too This am I sure your meaning is by couert spéech to deceiue the simple and cause them to deriue the glory from the truthe and transferre it to the figure to haue in reuerence your idle signe and let the thing signified be forgotten As for the figures of the olde law marke what Tertullian sayth and thereby shall you learne a better meaning of them than your meane skill considereth Aduersus Martio li. 3. for thus he sayth Sacramentum mortis figurari in praedicatione oportebat quanto incredibile tanto magis scandalo futurum si nudè praedicaretur quantoque magnificum tanto magis adumbrandum vt difficultas intellectus gratiam dei quareret It behoued the Sacrament of the death of Christ to be sigured in preaching For how much more it is incredible so much more offensiue should it be if nakedly it had bene preached and by howe much it was more glorious so muche the more it was to be shadowed that the hardnesse of vnderstanding myght séeke for the grace of God So farre Tertullian But how little grace of God you haue in sticking still to the easie letter and neuer seking the glory of the death is to wel séene by your doings The signe of the Crosse was shewed to Constantine he was not yet become a Christian It was expedient to haue a miracle We doe professe great skill and knowledge and shall we not beleue without a signe That which was once done shall it be asked euer That which was commaunded to one alone shall it be drawne a president for all Folio 34. The signe of the Crosse vvas shevved to Cōstantine in his great anxietie ye saye to instructe vs that in all anxietie of minde and pensiuenesse of heart the Crosse of Christe shall be our comforte So farre I graunt And the signe you say to be a meane to ouerthrovv our enimies Where finde ye that God hath moe meanes of comforte then one he deliuereth his that are in daunger by diuers wayes We reade that when Alexander the great Iosephus li. 11. Ca. 8. for deniall of Tribute to be paid vnto him was vtterly in minde to destroy Hierusalem and was marching thither with an huge army which no power of theirs was able to resist Iaddus which was the chief bishop then put all his pontifical attire vpon him and caused the rest of his cleargy to doe the like and went forthe to méete the tyraunt so Alexander no soner saw him but he lighted frō his horse fell flat on the ground before him The lusty roysters that were about him meruailing at this so sodaine chaunge from wrath to worshipping from force of armes to submission and praier specially to a Priest wheras the Prince vainly supposed himself to be a God and where he minded before in heat of his displeasure vtterly to haue destroyed them nowe to become contrary to his nature an humble suppliant to them Alexander made answer thus When I lodged in Dio a Citie of Macedon such a personage as this of like stature like apparell in all poynts appered to me and willed me to set vpon Asia promising that he would guide me in the voyage and in
afore this time that the sacrameÌ„t was reuerently kept vnder the Roode that the altar refused the Roode loft shuld be reuerenced Now as coÌ„cerning the sixt general CouÌ„cel kept at Constantinople in Trullo vvhereby ye say it may be gathered that the signe of the Crosse vvas kept had in Churches I pray you alleage the canon of that Councel out of which ye gather it I am not ignorant that in the Popes law it is cited so But I am not yet persuaded that it is so Belike the patchers of those ragged reliques missetoke the name of the .vj. for the .vij. For as it is certayne that in the syxt CouÌ„cel of Constantinople there was a long discourse contra Monothelitas agaynst them which affirmed there was but one will in Christ so in all the actions that are come abrode to the sight of the world there is not so much as mention of the crosse It is an easy matter to say Such a Councel defined so the case bring no proufe at al nor so much as a word to rule the case ouer This is to slight dealing in so great a cause as you wil haue the Crosse to be But on the other side as you haue brought but the bare name of thre Councels for you wherof there is none that confirmeth your error so if I bring thrée councels in dede as famous as they which in playne words by publique frée assent shal ouerthrow it wil ye be then content to giue ouer How soeuer your frowardnesse in this behalf shal leade you yet that other may vnderstand how men of souÌ„der iudgement haue asseÌ„bled themselues also together alway resisted the herosie of Imagry I wil onely rehearse thrée other to you Eutropius Rer. Rom. Lib. 22. Constantine the fyft sonne to Leo surnamed Isauricus otherwyse by a nickname of Iconolatrae called Iconomachus of Image worshippers an Image enimie in the yeare of our Lord .746 called a Councel at his princely palace of Constantinople where Eutropiê° reporteth that the byshop of Ephesus the byshop of Perga the byshop of Constantinople with other moe to the number of .338 Prelats were as apeareth by the subscriptions or as Sigebertê° Sigebertus in Chro. reporteth 330. There they sate deliberating vpoÌ„ the matter from the .x. of February til the .viij. of August In the ende they coÌ„cluded as touching the Image of Christ thus Si quis diuinaÌ„ Dei verbi secunduÌ„ incarnationeÌ„ figuraÌ„ c. The acts of which councell I will therefore insert at more large into my writing bicause they coÌ„tayne very learned reasons against the picture of Christ to be made or Image of any other in place of Gods seruice vsed Sanctorum patrum vniuersaliuÌ„ Synodorum puram inuiolataÌ„ à Deo traditam fidem nostram coÌ„fessionem obseruantes dicimus non debere quenquam diuisionem aut confusioneÌ„ vltra verum sensum voluntatem inexprimibilem incognoscibileÌ„ illam vnioneÌ„ duarum secunduÌ„ Hypostasim vnum naturaruÌ„ coÌ„minisci Quae nam est haec insana opinio pictorum vt lucri turpis miseri causa ea quae effici nequeant studeant coÌ„ficere vt ea quae ore corde sunt tantummodo confessa impijs manibus figurare intendant Arbitratus autem sic est ipsam Imaginem Christum vocando Est autem Christus hoc nomine Deus homo Sequitur vt Imago Dei sit hominis Et consequens est vt aut iuxta opinionem vanitatis suae deitatem quae circuÌ„scriptione creatae carnis circumscribi non potest circumscripserit aut inconfusam illam vnitionem impietatis confusione confuderit geminas blasphemias in deitatem per descriptionem confusionem intulerit Iisdem ergo blasphemijs earum adorator inuoluitur ve illud vtriusque praemium quod scilicet cum Ario Dioscoro Eutyche Acephalorum haeresi errauerint Damnati autem à cordatis viris in eo quod incomprehensibilem incircumscriptibilem diuinam Christi naturam ipsi depingere studuerunt ad aliam aliquam praua inuentione apologiam confugiunt quod solius carnis quam vidimus palpauimus cum qua vérsati sumus illius inquam ImagineÌ„ exhibemus quod sane impium est Nestoriana diabolica inuentio Considerandum est hoc Quod si iuxta orthodoxos patres simul caro simul dei verbi caro nunquam partitionis notitiam suscepisset sed totaliter tota natura diuina assumpta totaliter perfectè deitate arrepta fuisset quomodo in duas diducetur ab impijs illis qui istud facere conantur priuatim separabitur Cósimiliter vero de sacra eius anima se habet Postquam enim assumsisset deitas filij in propria hypostasi carnis naturaÌ„ inter deitatem carnis crassitudinem anima mediam se interposuit quemadmodum simul caro simul verbi Dei caro sic simul anima simul verbi Dei anima Et ambabus simul conspectis videlicet anima corpore inseparabilis ab ipsis deitas extitit in ipsa etiam disiunctione animae à corpore in voluntaria passione Vbi enim anima Christi illic etiam deitas vbi corpus Christi illic quoque deitas consistit Siquidem igitur in passione inseparabilis ab ijs mansit deitas quomodo insam isti quauis imprudentia irrationaliores carnem deitate coniuÌ„ctaÌ„ deificatam diuidunt hanc vt nudi hominis imaginem pingere conantur Et ex hoc in aliud impietatis barathrum labuntur Nam carnem a deitate separantes per se subsistenteÌ„ eam inducentes aliamque personam in carne constituentes quam in Imagine representari dicunt quartam personam Trinitati adijciunt diuinam assertionem praedicant impiam Itaque fiet illis qui Christum depingere nituntur vt aut deitatem circumscriptibilem cum carne confusam dicant aut corpus Christi expers deitatis diuisum praeterea personaÌ„ per se subsistentem in carne asserant ita Nestorianae Deo repugnanti haeresi similes existunt In taleÌ„ igitur blasphemiam impietatem cadentes pudore suffundantur auersentur se ipsos talia facere desinant nec hij solum qui faciunt verum etiam qui falso nomine factam dictam ab ipsis Christi imaginem venerantur Absit a nobis ex aequo Nestorij diuisio Arij Dioscori Eutychis Seueri confusio male sibi ipsa repugnantia quae vtraque ex aequo impietatem procurant Which wordes in English be these We following therein the pure and inuiolable faith deliuered from God receyued of holy fathers and generall Councels do say that no man ought to ymagine a diuision or confusion contrary to the true sense and wyll not able to be expressed and the same vnion being aboue reach of knowlege of two natures agreable to one persoÌ„ For what a mad opinion is this of paynters
multis pauca Scripturae patrūque testimonia in hac definitione nostra parcentes sanè copiae ne in longum res protraheretur collocauimus Reliquis enim quae infinita sunt volētes supersedimus vt qui velint ipsi requirant Ex his igitur a Deo in spiratis scripturis beatorum patrum sententijs stabiliti super petram cultus diuini in spiritu pedes confirmantes in nomine sanctae supersubstātialis viuificantis Trinitatis vnanimes eiusdem sententiae nos qui sacerdotij dignitate succincti sumus simul existentes vna voce definimus omnem imaginem ex quacunque materia improba Pictorū arte factam ab Ecclesia Christianorū reijciendam veluti alienā abominabilē Nemo hominū qualiscunque tandē fuerit tale institutum impiū impurum posthac sectetur Qui vero ab hoc die Imaginem ausus fuerit sibi parare aut adorare aut in Ecclesia aut in priuata domo constituere aut clam habere si Episcopus fuerit aut Diaconus deponitor si vero solitarius aut laicus anathemate percellitor imperialibúsque constitutionibus subijcitor vt qui diuinis decretis impugnet dogmata non obseruet The English of which words is this The wicked calling of Images by a false name neither had his beginning by tradition from Christ nor of his Apostles or yet the auncient fathers neither had it any holye prayer where through to be sanctified but it remayneth prophane euen as it is wrought and finished of the Paynter But if certaine deliuered of that errour affirme that we haue Godlily and vprightly said in throwing downe the Image of Christ bicause of the inseparable and inconfusible substaunce of two natures ioyned in one person Yet notwithstanding some occasion of doubt remayneth in them as touching the Images of the virgin most glorious and vndefiled the mother of God of the Prophetes Apostles and Martirs seing that they be only men and no more neyther doe consist of two natures that is to say the diuine and humaine ioyned in one person as before we haue signified to be in Christ and the contrary therof practised in his Images There groweth in déede some matter of doubt as touching the Images of the most glorious and vndefiled mother of God of the Prophets Apostles Martirs seing that they were only men and not framed of two natures what they be able to say to any purpose with reason vnto these The former argumēt ouerthrowen certaynly they haue nothing at all in this case to say But what say we to ouerthrowing Images For as much as oure catholike Church being a meane betwene the Iudaisme and Gentilitie hath receyued neyther of the maner of sacrifices accustomed to thē but hath entred into a newe way and order of Godlinesse and mysticall constitution giuen and deliuered of God for it doth in no wise admit the bloudy sacrifice and burnt offrings of the Iewes it doth vtterly abhorre not only al Idolatry in sacrificing but also multitude of ymages of Gentility for this was the head first most abhominable deuiser of this arte which hauing no hope of resurrection inuented a toy worthy it self wherby alwayes the absent might be shewed as present therefore synce this practise smelleth not of any noueltie doubtlesse let it be remoued most farre of from the Church of Christ as a strange and forren deuise of men possessed with the Diuell Let the tongs then of al such surcesse which spewe forth wicked blasphemous things to the derogation of this our iudgement decrée most acceptable to god As for the holy men who pleased God which were honored by him with the dignity of holynesse although that they be departed hence yet that deade and hatefull practise shal neuer make them agayne alyue But whosoeuer poysoned with the error of the heathen shall attempt to sette vp Images to them he shall be adiudged as one that hath committed blasphemie And how dare the rascall occupation of Gentiles presume to paynt that most prayseworthy mother of God whome the fulnesse of the Godheade hath ouershadowed through whome hath shone vpon vs that lighte which can not be come vnto that mother I say higher than the Heauens holier than the Cherubins Againe why feare they not I say according to the arte of Ethnicks to counterfet them which shall raygne with Christ shall syt on seates wyth him to iudge the world conformed vnto him in glory of whome the world was vnworthy as the Godly miracles affirme Verily it is not lawful for Christians which belieue the resurrectiō to vse the order of worshipping of diuels Neyther yet doth it beseme by vile and deade kinde of matter to reproch them the which shal shine in so great passing glory As for vs we vse not to receyue of strangers demonstrations of our fayth neyther yet in Diuels to require testimony Furthermore our sentence searched and discussed both out of the scripture enspired frō aboue out of the effectuall testimonies of piked fathers agreing with vs and affirming our good intent we wyl exhibite in thys case our resolute determination which he shall not be able to gaynesay which laboreth to call these things in question As for him that is ignorant let him learne and be instructed that these things are takē out of the word of God Fyrst we place before the rest this sentence of gods voice saying God is a spirite whosoeuer wil worship God in spirite and truth let him worship And agayne No man at any time saw God neyther haue ye heard his voyce or séene his shape Blessed are those which haue not sene and yet belieued And in the olde Testament he sayd to Moses and the people Thou shalt not make to thy self any grauen Image neyther the likenesse of any thing in Heauen aboue or in the earth beneath For the which cause you hearde the voyce of his wordes in the mountayne in the middest of fyre but his shape ye saw not but onely heard his voyce And They haue chaunged the glory of the immortall God by an Image framed after the shape of a mortall man and they haue honored and worshipped the things which are created aboue him which hath created And againe For yf we haue knowen Christ according to the fleshe now we knowe hym not For we walke by faith and not by the outward appearance And this also which is moste plainlie spoken of the Apostle Therefore fayth commeth of hearing but hearing commeth by the worde of God For if we haue knowen Christ according to the fleshe nowe we knowe him not For we walke by fayth and not by outwarde appearaunce The very selfe same things our Godly Fathers the schollers and successours of the Apostles doe teache vs. For Epiphanius of Cypres most famous amongst the foremost thus sayth Take héede vnto your selues that ye kéepe the traditions which ye haue receyued Sée ye leane not neyther to the ryght hand nor to the
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
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
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
fathers bring an inuention of their owne do I otherwise deny them the right sense of scripture The fathers may haue sometime their fansies and yet besyde the word Then if their fansies be misliked is their exposition of the word condemned whereas they meddle not with the worde Apelles shoomaker was worthily checkt when he would be busy aboue the knée but that did not set but he might haue iudgement good ynough of the shooe Yet in a shooe made on anothers last the best shoomaker for al his skil may chaunce be deceyued In déede good cause we haue only to depend vpon the word of God and not be ruled ouer by time or custome bycause in matters of our religion as Christ hath taken perfecte order therein so hath he commaunded vs to go no further but him obey August de Consen Euā Li. 1. Cap. 18. Socrates was wont to say Vnumquemque Deum sic coli oportere quomodo seipsum colendum esse praecepisset That euery God was so to be serued as he himselfe had commaunded to be serued And this was the cause why the Romaines would neuer receyue the God of the Hebrewes For grounding vpon this foresayd principle they saw it necessary that eyther al their ydols shuld be excluded and onely the true God entertayned or he only not admitted the rest be honored For by the worde of God they found that they could not agrée together and cōtrary to his word they would not séeke to serue him If they had this affect as Augustine declareth gathered by morall reason and by no further insight of faith Shal we that professe more knowledge and perfection be folisher than they hearing continually Christ and his Apostles inueighing agaynst wilworshippers Therefore I say we aske for the worde you answere vs by wyl we cal for Scripture you reache vs custome Epig. lib. 6. Martiall a mery man a poet of your name a man of more learning and wit than you had some tyme to do with such a lawyer as you For a neighboure of hys had stolen .iij. goates The matter was called into the courte the party should come to proue the inditement He gat hym a counsailler to declare the case When the iudge was ready to heare it his counsailer fel a discoursing of the fight at Cannas the battayl wyth Mithridates the wrōges and iniuries sustayned by the Africanes Thus whē he had filled their eares a great whyle with dyn thūping on the barre and squekyng in hys smal pipes Martiall tenderyng hys own cause more than the babbling of his vaine aduocate at length pulled hym by the sléeue and sayd And please your worship I gaue ye my fée to talke of .iij. goates And thus had I néede to put you in remembrance For where ye appointed to speake of Gods seruice ye tell vs a tale of thys man and that man what he dyd and they dyd And yet not a worde what God hath commaunded Fol. 82. Ye call vs curious when we require Scripture We can get at your handes nothing else but custome And speakyng of custome accordyng to your custome ye make a lye and falsefie Tertulliā Martiall corrupteth Tertullian For these are your words We say vvith Tertullian that custome increser confirmer and obseruer of fayth taught thys vse of the Crosse c. As if the increase confirmatiō and obseruing of Fayth proceded of custom Hys wordes are otherwise For speakyng of hys traditions he sayth S. legem expostules scripturarū nullā reperies traditiō tibi praetendetur auctrix consuetudo confirmatrix fides obseruatrix If thou demaunde a law of Scripture for these thou shalt fynd none Traditione shal be pretēded to thée as increaser custom confirmer and faith obseruer of them Where you may sée that custome is not made increaser and confirmer of fayth but fayth obseruer of custome Notwithstanding I must still beare with you For ye be driuen to narrowe shyftes fayne would ye say something But it is a foule shyft to make a lye Thys custome ye proue came of tradition For as Tertulliā Tertulian de corona millitis sayth how can a thing be vsed if it were not first deliuered To graunt it a tradition I wil not sticke with you But Tertulliā wyll haue the same to be builded vpon reason or els he refuseth it He maketh the Antithesis not betwene written and vnwritten but betwene written and reasonable And so he thynketh a Tradition not writtē to be admitted so it be reasonable Therfore he sayth Rationem traditioni consuetudini fidei patrocinaturā perspicies Martial is still by his ovvne authors ouerthrovven Ye shall sée that reason wyll defende tradition custome and fayth And afterwarde Non differt scriptura an ratione consistat quando legem ratio commendet It is no matter whether custome consist of writing or of reason inasmuch as reason also commendeth law So that reasonable must be the tradition And how shall thys reasonable be defined Tertulliā hymselfe doth tel you limiting how a mā maye make a custome if he conceue decrée duntaxat quod Deo cōgruat quod disciplinae conducat quod saluti proficiat Only that is agreable to God furthering vnto discipline and profitable to saluation If the tradition of the Crosse signe may be proued to be such I wyll yelde vnto you with all my hart Consider the reasōs and the examples that the Doctor vseth First of the Lordes authorite who sayd Cur non a vobis ipsis quod iustū est iudicatis Vt nō de iuditio tantum sed de omni sētentia rerum examinandarum Why do you not of your selues iudge that that is rightuous that it be not onely vnderstode of iudgement but of euery sentence of things to be examined And it followeth Dicit Apostolus Si quid ignoratis Deus vobis reuelabit Solitus ipse cōsilium subministrare cum praeceptum domini non habebat quaedā edicere à semetipso sed ipse spiritū dei habens deductorē omnis veritatis Itaque consiliū edictū eius diuini iā praecepti instar obtinuit de rationis diuinae patrocinio Hanc nunc expostula saluo traditionis respectu quocunque traditore censetur necl authorem respicias sed authoritatem c. And the Apostle sayth If ye be ignoraunte of any thyng God shall reueale it to you He hymselfe when he had not a commaundemente from the Lorde was wonte to giue counsell and prescribe some thinges of hymselfe but as one that had the spirit of God directer of all trueth Wherefore hys counsell and edict hath now obtayned to be as it were the commaundement of God through supportation and defēce of the reason diuine Thys reason inquire for sauing the respect of tradition whosoeuer be the deliuerer therof nor respect the author but the authoritie So farre Tertulliā And in hys wordes In a custome maker the spirite of God In custōe commoditie and
signing them with a Crosse nowe is it not according to your position medicineable against al Coniuration Enchauntment Sorcerie and Witchcrafte but rather dayly vsed in all these Wherefore your proues be to weake your miracles to no purpose Your Doctoures much like your selfe The Heathen the nevv Indians the Ievve the Apostata Folio 108. These are desirous of the signe of a Crosse These signed themselues vvith a Crosse on the forehead Therefore the signe of the Crosse must be vsed and honoured As lyke as if I sayd These were Idolaters they knewe no true worship the diuel deluded them and therfore we must follow them May I not therfore wyth iuster cause than you complaine and say as you do O tempora O miserable daies O times too licentious when euery Erostratus may become famous by burning of Dianaes temple when euery insolent and ydle brayne if he can inuey agaynst the state of his countrey defame them that in learning and vertue be farre vnlike himselfe shal presume to write and be suffered to print his ignorant allegations and impudent vntruthes to deface the Gospell to set a gogge seditious and newe fangled heads You would haue men iudge no better of vs but that we go about to ouerthrovv the religiō of Christ take avvay the memory of his passiō Fol. 109 a. b. say that there is no Christ at al. This do ye set forth by an example of Andrew Lampugnā which gat an audacitie to slay the duke of Millain by striking ofte his Image and by a similitude of a chambre of presence wherein who so commeth and pulleth downe the cloth of estate or otherwise breaketh Princes armes in pieces he is no loyall and faythfull subiecte Let the world iudge betwixt you and vs who seke lesse the defacing of Christ and his Gospel who would more abolishe the memorie of his death We by continuall preaching of it or you by often paynting of it We by referring al glory vnto God or you by transferring all prayse vnto your selues We by setting forth our state of saluation so as Christ himself hath taught vs saying Search ye the scriptures or you by following the diuels doctrine and peruerting the word affirming That we dayly must gaze vpon pictures There be other meanes to remembre Christ as in the Preface I haue at large declared than by laying .ij. stickes a Crosse or breaking the ayre with a thumb on my forehead Papists deny Christ Nor they deny Christ which affirme him to be God and therefore in Heauen seke him but such as make an Image of him seuering thereby his diuinity from humanitie and only as man vpon earth honour him Wherfore your history is yll applyed Galeatius Maria as your owne authour sayth being duke of Millain Paradinus in symbolis was a wicked tirant a common rauisher of all honest women a violent oppressor of al his subiects therfore God stirred the heartes of some to conspire his death And for the same cause the worde of that armes is vel in ara that God in euery place yea to the altare it selfe pursueth the reuenge vpon the vngodly And therefore the man which otherwise stode in dreade of the Prince was by another meane heartened But God stirreth the hart of none to work any vengeance on Christ his sonne therefore the comparison is not like Agayne Lampugnā gat him the liuely Image of the duke we haue the Image I wote nere of whom sure the Image of Christ it is not but in respect of the abuse a damnable Idoll Then if the striking at the Image of Christ be signe that Christ himselfe is hated consider with your selfe who is more faulty who is more despitefully set herein You or we We pecke at a stone or a piece of wood which hath no likenesse in the world of Christ you burne and butcher the liuely members of Christs owne body the perfect counterfets of him departed hence We pull downe the dumbe and the deafe Idols the instruments of abuse you murder the saincts you destroy the Prophets you spite that any liueth honester than your selues Who nowe I beseche you be more enimies of Christ Who be more like to fall into Apostacie the ouerthrowers of Idols or destroyers of sainctes the myslikers of a dead stocke or stone or murtherers of quicke and liuing men You request me to tell you Folio 109. b. if a man come into a chambre of presence and plucke dovvne the cloth of estate and breake the Princes armes in pieces is it not his intent to haue the Prince deposed In déede sir if the Prince haue set it vp and giue commaundement that it shall there stande it is too great an offence to breake it But if the Prince haue proclaymed the contrary that none shall presume to drawe his armes or set vp any cloth of estate for him and yet notwithstanding some in despite or mockerie shall hang vp a beggerly and stinking clout or in steade of his royall armes erecte some monument of reproufe and shame if I came in place I would pull it downe and be the faythfuller subiecte for that And this is the very state of our cause Christ and his Apostles as I haue proued before haue vtterly forbidden Images there is no Crosse that hath any likenesse of our redemer on it Christ hath taken order onely by his worde to be set forth vnto vs. Therefore the Crosse of woode stone or metall may wythout offence be remoued of vs. For it is not the cloth of estate of his the armes and recognisance of his kingdome It is a wicked inuention of the Papistes a crafty delusion of the diuell to supplant Christ to take away the knowledge and true seruice of him Alexander as Horace sayth Edicto vetuit Episto lib. 1. ne quis se praeter Apellem pingeret aut alius Lysippo duceret aera fortis Alexandri vultum simulantiae gaue charge that but Apelles none in colours should him dresse Or but Lysippus should in brasse his countenance expresse Then if a simple botcher had attempted to draw him contrary to his commaundement should he not haue committed pety treason trowe you On like sorte Christ hath gyuen out his worde whereby he hath witnessed of himselfe Ioan. 4. he hath strayghtly enacted that whosoeuer worship him Ioan. 5. in spirite and veritie they shall worshippe they shall not more symplie conceyue of him than of the Maiestie of a God the seconde person in Trinitie wyth our fleshe caryed vp into Heauen with him Nowe commeth the workeman with his tooles and maketh a corporall and lying shape to bring an outwarde and earthly worship Alexander the Coppersmyth cryeth out for his aduauntage Rom. 1. Epi. 1. ca. 5. Simon Magus the Sorcerer contendeth for hys share S. Paul is against it S. Iohn condemneth it What shall we nowe doe goe to the lying Image and forsake the true forbyd the worde and bring in a picture haue our heartes here
mention of the outwarde reuerence Therfore as you cal it so is it in dede a poore iudgement of yours that bycause God is worshipped in spirite and in truth therefore men falling before a piece of wood knocking the breast and holding vp the handes may not in any wise be thought Idolatrers Enrich I beséech you this poore iudgement of yours with better reason or hold your tong for shame As touching your wisedome déepe discretion Folio 132. wherin ye wil not be so abased to be more brutish than beasts more simple than byrds more folish than davves but that ye knovv a deade Image from a liue man a still picture from a quicke creature I say that scripture sheweth presidents of the contrary in as wise men as you are And as for your owne part experience doth teach vs otherwise The iuggling of Papists with Roodes and Images hath sought by all meanes to plant an opinion of holinesse diuinitie to rest in dead things And howsoeuer you beleue of them yet damnable is the seruise that you commaund vnto them and the more ye knowe the vile condition and estate of them the more iust and terrible is your condemnation in exacting a worship adoration of them Therefore I say with Paule Bycause ye knowe God and glorify him not as God neyther are thankfull Rom. 1. but become vayne in your ymaginations and your foolish heart is ful of darkenesse when ye professe your selues to be wise ye be very fooles ⧠And thus haue I aunswered your Ten Articles vsing moe wordes in disprouf of them than the cause requireth or any man of indifferency would loke for at my handes Onely I would not be sayde to concele any piece of proufe that you bring for mayntenaunce of your errour Wherefore I haue turned ouer leafe by leafe as in the margent euery where appeareth perused eche lyne and word that had any reason in it annexing a sufficient and the same abundant confutation of it Your conclusion in déede I deale not withal for it contayneth more than was in the premisses more than you be able or go about to proue It is but an heape of lies and slaunders which impudentlie spokeÌ„ may be best answered wyth silence Nor any newes it is the professors of the truth to de depraued of you Paul was blasphemed as a teacher of heresie Act. 18. Sozomenus Li. 1. Cap. 18. as whose religion should be newe and straunge Constantine was accused as an innouater and peruerter of Gods order bycause he furthered and followed Christianitie The faythfull Fathers wanted not their Crosse they were alwayes reuiled with moste wordes of reproche and déemed of the worlde the vilest persons of the earth But as they did not contend in scolding Theodor. Li. 3. Cap. 5. but stode most stiffe in heresie reprouing So suffiseth me to haue detected your folly and disproued your vntruthes that the simple at leaste wyse be not abused by you The cause it self standeth to fast to be battred with such féeble assault of yours The honestie of men whome you would séeme to touch is not to be empaired with the running ouer of a rayling mouth If ye gather hereafter any sounder skill and riper discretion doe come vnto you ye will correcte your former follies and thanke me for the ministring occasion of amendment But if God hath vtterly resigned you to your selfe and wilfulnesse raygning in your witlesse head bréede a confideÌ„ce to put stil your more shame in print my self wil contemne so leude an aduersarie and giue place to other that with more fredome of speach and lesse derogation vnto their persons may answere you according to your shamelesse desertes FINIS Quae meliora tuis placitis hoc teÌ„pore noram Impartire tibi visum est hijs vtere mecum A Table by order of the Articles briefly contayning the effect of the whole Booke Herein is to be noted gentle Reader that by the letter a following the number is signified the first syde of the leafe and by the letter b is signified the seconde syde of the same In the Epistle WHat famous Clearkes be nowe a dayes become writers What is to be thoughte of Martiall What arguments he vseth Howe he trayterously taketh away the chiefe parte of the Queenes stile How she for hir clemencie is not gratious to Papists How folishly he flatters hir The Queenes pryuate doings no president to all Of euery facte not to iudge an affection How publique order hath taken away Roodes Images Howe Martiall doth lye in saying that Crosses are not suffered in high wayes Howe his three groundes of his cause be layed only vpon lyes Howe for the doctrine of the Crosse wee may stande to iudgement of the Fathers though scripture were not In the Preface THe Crosse a forged Ensigne of Christ Fol. 1. a. Sathans sleyght to dysplace God and his word ibid. The Diuell is the Ape of God ibid. All Gentilitie toke president of Gods seruice ib. b. Sacramentes of the Hebrewes couÌ„terfeted by the Heathen ib. b. Minos followed Moses ib. Hils and groues in imitation of the tabernacle 2. a. Witches and Sorcerers in steade of Prophetes Priestes ibid. The Poets paradise for christians Heauen ib. Their Purgatory for Hel. ib. Papistes herein the Diuels chiefe ministers 2. b. For Baptisme of Infantes Baptisme of Bels. ib. More solemnity in the diuels seruice than in Christs ib. Holy water deuised in despite of Baptisme ib. Ordinance of God and ordinance of the diuell 3. a. Sole life exacted in the Diuels ministers ib. Adulterie wyth Papistes a light tryfle ib. The diuel deputeth sainctes intercessors 3. b. As God made maÌ„ Image of himself so the diuel deuised Images of God 4. a. Gods bookes burned diuels bookes aduaunced ib. Macedonius his answere to Theodosiê° meÌ„ of war 4. b. Images came from Gentilitie and foolish zeale ib. Images can not be wythout abuse ib. How prone we are to superstition ib. How Lactantius affirmeth no religion to be where an Image is 5. b. How Images crept into the Church 6. b. 8. a. To haue an Image is a wil-worship and therefore vnlawfull 6. b. Proues that nothing in Gods seruise should be admitted besyde the word 7. a. Images teachers of lies ib. Howe Gods order is broken by Images ib. That Images came from Gentilitie is proued 7. b. That in Eusebius time 325. yeare after Christ no Images in Churches 8. a. Serenus byshop of Massilia brake all Images 8. b. Fruits of Images ibid. Places of scripture condemning Images 9. a. Papists deuotion like to Michah 9. b. Image mayntayners like to Ieroboam ib. Erasmê° opinion of Im. 10. b. Imag. be proued not to teach otherwise thaÌ„ wickedly 11. a That memory is holpen by the story is answered 12. a. That God can haue no Image made of him 12. b. That Christ neyther can nor ought haue an image made of him 14. a. seq Images not onely forbidden to be worshipped but also to be