in earth where our God is in Heauen Quisquám ne tam ineptus est vt putet aliquid esse in simulachro dei Lactantius de falsa rel lib. 2. Cap. 2. in quo ne hominis quidem quicquam est praeter vmbram Is any man so foolishe as to thinke that any piece of God or godlinesse is in an Image wherein there is no poynt incident into a man beside the shadowe Shall this be the armes and cognisaunce of our master in nature whereof there is nothing like him in vse whereof there is nothing but myslyketh him I doubte not but the Crosse if it had any sense or vnderstanding would bowe downe it selfe to the maker of it and not abyde the maker to doe honour to it For had not the maker bestowed some coste and workemanshippe vpon it it might well ynough haue bene locked in the copher and layde in the chimney Then what preposterous thing is this They that haue sense to set vp the senselesse the reasonable creatures to worship the vnreasonable the lyuing to fal downe before the deade the workmanshippe of God and children of his kingdome to adore a corruptible piece of earth An yll effecte of a vile occupation O curuae in terras animae coelestium inanes Persius O croked soules bente to the earth and voyde of heauenly things We rather ought to erect our hearts eyes thyther where our ende is whither we loke to go than be defixed on that which presently doth cumber vs long we shall not enioy Humi miscri volutamini as Lactantius doth say poenitet quadrupedes non esse natos De fal reli lib. 2. Cap. 2. cum deorsum quaeritis quod in sublimi quaerere debuistis Ye wretches tumble vpon the earth and séeme to be sorie that ye be not made fourefoted beasts when ye seke below that which ye ought to fynde aboue For your Crosses Crucifires your Images inuentiōs what pretext so euer they haue to commend them what colour cost so euer to garnish them yet are they but earth from thence they came and thither they will What should ye then be subiecte vnto thinges inferiour to your selues Quum vos terrae summittitis Lactantius ibidem humilioresque facitis ipsi vos vltro ad inferos mergitis ad mortemque damnatis quia nihil terra inferius humilius nisi mors inferi quae si effugere velletis subiectam pedibus vestris terram contemneretis corporis statu saluo quod iccirco rectum accepistis quo oculos atque mentem cum eo qui fecit conferre possetis Cōtēnere autē et calcare terrā nihil aliud est quā simulachra nō adorare When you submit and abase your selues vnto the earth ye throwe your selues voluntarily to hell and condemne you to death for nothing is inferiour and worse than the earth but death and hell which if ye would auoyde ye should contemne the earth that is vnder your féete preseruing the state and condition of your body which for this respecte ye haue receyued vpright that ye might resemble and compare both eyes minde with him that made them But to contemne and despise the earth is nothing else but not to worship Images which are made of earth Thus much Lactantius Nowe if Christ be so slenderly receiued of vs and all his benefites so lightly passed ouer that our memorie must be holpen and vnlesse we haue somewhat subiecte to our eyes we shall sone forget him we haue the poore we haue beside the seales of his mercie the sacramentes of his grace which when he deliuered he sayd Hoc facite in mei commemorationem 1. Cor. 11. Do this in remembraunce of me For as oft as ye eate this breade and drinke this cup sayth the Apostle ye shewe the Lords death tyll he come Wherfore let this confirme our memory that Christ thought nedefull for vs let vs not seke any further aydes than Christ expert of our infirmities hath lefte vs. If Christ and his death be duely preached to vs no force if all Crosses be cast into the fier But if preaching of Christ and hearing of his worde doe fayle vs a sory Crosse can but delite our eyes and straight corrupt our heartes The miracles that haue bene done although they may in parte wythout any shame be doubted of without any impudencie denyed yet graunted to be true must not be broughte for confirmation of a Crosse least the lyke be alleaged to make Symon Magus a Sainct In dede we reade Eusebi li. 2. cap 13. Mat. 7. that for the like effectes he had an Image in Rome set vp to him with thys inscription Simoni deo sancto To Simon the holy God But Christ also speaketh of the like which in the latter day shal come vnto hym saying Lord haue we not caste out diuels in thy name and by thy name done many great workes To whome notwithstanding Christ shal answere thys I neuer knew you depart ye from me ye workers of iniquitie Therfore your miracles if they be false be diuelish if they were true yet now are impertinent But if we should deny them as vntrue wherein we might haue good authoritie to support vs should we therfore according to your gathering denye the omnipotencye of God Fol. 111. a. as though he could not vvorke any such miracles Why we rather do aduaūce it much acknowledging that God with out such externall meanes is able to worke more effectes than these Only beware you least by ascribing to muche vnto the meane ye be ignoraunt of the ende and disgrace the author We sée by experience that vertues wroughte or so supposed to haue bene by the signe of a Crosse hath caused sensing knéeling offering and al kynde of wicked Idolatry to the Crosse And so where Christ should haue bene only praised a piece of wood is honored A good matter it is to receyue a benefite and so acknowledge it A vyle part it is to enioy the pleasure of one mans trauail bestow the thankes vpon an other yet so it falleth out among the superstitious God worketh the miracle they worship the meane So dyd the children of fornication among the Iewes of olde whose mother had played the harlot saying I wyl go after my louers Ose 2. that giue me my bread and my water my wooll and my flax myne oyle and my drinke Nor she dyd know that I sayth the Lord dyd giue hir hir corne and oyle multiplied hir golde and siluer which they bestowed vpon Baal Therefore wyl I returne and take away my corne in tyme therof and my wyne in the season thereof and wil recouer my wooll and my flax lent and discouer hir leudenesse in the sight of hir louers Whereby we haue to vnderstande that as God is the onely worker of all miracles tending to our health and preseruation so doth he accompt it an haynous fault a spirituall fornication when the glory thereof
his seruise as he was wont in all poynts Thus when he had washed and put on his clothes as he was going out he offered as a blessing vnto the man that had bene so diligent about him that which he brought with him requiring him curteously to accepte that which he offred him in the way of charitie But he mourning and afflicted answered Father what meanest thou to giue me these This breade is holy this can I not eate For I whome thou séest sometime was Lord of this place But for my sinnes nowe after my death am deputed hither But if thou wilt doe any thing for me offer this bread vnto almighty God for me to be a mediator for my sinnes And then know that god hath hard thy praier when thou shalt come hither to bathe thée finde me not So the next weke after the priest cōtinued in mourning for him euery day did offer the host for him and afterward when he came to the bath he found him not Herevpon father Gregory concludeth Qua ex re quantum prosit animabus immolatio sacrae oblationis ostenditur quando hanc ipsi mortuorum spiritus à viuentibus petunt signa indicant quibus per eam absoluti videantur In english this By which thing it is shewed how much the sacrifice of the holy oblatiō profiteth the soules when the spirites of the deade require this of the liuing shew signes wherby they may appeare to be deliuered by it And so far Gregory But is it not a pitiful case that of so weak a groūd so wicked a doctrine should be builded contrary to the manifest worde of God In the .xviij. of Deuteronomie Seke not to learne a truth of the deade And in the .viij. of the Prophete Esay Should not a people inquire at their God shal they depart from the liuing to the dead Howe soeuer the state of men is after this life no doctrine should be gathered of the talking of spirites And furthermore that dead men do serue in the bathes vpon the earth be losed out of the popish Purgatorie which they affirme to be subtus terram vnder the earth to become as it were Barbers apprentices vpon the earth may well be a legend for Plato his Purgatorie ioyned with the tale of Danaus daughters who poure in water into a bottomlesse tubbe Wherefore M. Martiall doubt ye not this but the wicked spirits which saw vas vacuum sed signatum an empty vessell but signed with the Crosse were bolde notwithstanding ad euitandum vacuum to enter into him As for the words of Lactantius which you bring forth Folio 23. Lib. 4. ca. 27. de vera Sap that vvhen they doe sacrifice to their Idols if there stande any man by that hath his forehead signed for that which you adde vvith the Crosse is more than ye finde in the texte then they offer vp no sacrifice neither their vvisserd is able to giue ansvver must rather be vnderstode of the faythfull christened than of any that were crossed For by the signed foreheade they signified baptisme and the fayth of Christ which they professed Otherwise if it be as you say Folio 23. that spirits can not abyde the signe of the Crosse nor continue in place vvhere any man is that hath the signe of the Crosse the beste counsell that I can giue men is to be marked to burne their fleshe with an hote yron and make a durable Crosse in their foreheades whereby they may be frée as long as they liue frō fearing of spirits without any more a do But I feare me least this be no sufficient defence For Serapis his priests were all to be Crossed and yet the Diuels daunced among them The Pope hath his Crosses yea double and treble yet is not the Diuell afrayde to come at him Siluester the .ij. as Platina reporteth was a practiser of naughty artes therein addict himselfe altogether vnto the cōmon enimy of mankinde And in dede first he gat the Archbyshoprike of Reme and afterward of Rauenna by Symony Last of all by the Diuels forwarding help he gat also the occupying of the Popes sée howbeit vnder this condition that when he departed this life he shuld be al wholly the Diuels by whose false deceyts he obtayned so high dignity Whervpon as thesame Platina the Popes owne Secretarie doth write When Siluester was not circumspect inough in being ware of the Diuels baytes he was killed all to pulled of the promoter of his the Diuel Yea when he was a Massing in the Church A strange case M. Martial that so many crosses as were in the church so many Crosses as were in the Masse could not saue the supreme head of the Church frō tearing in pieces by wicked spirits yea when he was at his holy Masse Wherefore the Crosse in your .iiij. signification Folio 23. is not the heauenly note and immortal signe It hath not that effect by cōtinual meditation of heauenly things the lyfe to come to make men heauenly and immortal Stil you do reason à non causa pro causa attributing that vnto the outward signe which is in dede the vertue of Christ Folio 23. b beliefe in his passion Ye say that the signe of the Crosse is spokē of by God himself in his Prophet Esay But it shall appeare by the very Scriptures that you alleage howe ignorantly and howe falsely you cite your authorities Esay 49. God by the mouth of his seruaunt witnessed how he would bring to passe that the Church which had cōtinued barren a long while shuld now be fruitfull and haue such store of children that she should wonder at hir owne increase saying Quis genuit mihi istos quum egosim sterilis solitaria relegata vaga Quis ergo educauit istos En ego sola relicta sum isti ergo vndenam sunt Who hath begotten me these séeing I am barren desolate a banisht person and a wanderer to fro And who hath nourished them Beholde I was left alone whence are these God to answere this case to shew that there shuld be a spiritual broode begottē through grace of adoptiō not by the cōmon course of nature but by the secret working of his spirit sayd Tollam ad gentes manum meam et ad populos signū meū erigam I wil lift vp my hand to the gentiles set vp my standard vnto the people Meaning that not only the Iewes but also the Gentiles should be brought to Christ which agreing in vnitie of one fayth together shuld be gathered as brethren into one mothers lap Now I besech you turn ouer your histories cōsult with your elders sée what it was that brought the Gentiles to christianite the Idolatrous nations to true religiō If it were the signe of the Crosse after your .iiij. signification Folio 24. a. made of some earthly matter to be set vp in Churches or made vvith mannes hand in the ayre
will word for word rehearse it in English Celsus doth say that we auoid the making of Altares and Images and Oratories bicause he thinketh that the fayth of our inuisible and inexplicable communion and charity is nothing else but a faction where as in the meane while he séeth not that insteade of Altares and Oratories with vs the mindes of the faithful are from which no doubt most swete sauours of incense are cast out prayers I meane and supplications from a pure conscience Whereof S. Iohn in his Reuelation speaketh on this sort Apocal. 8. The prayers of the Saincts are incense And the Psalmist Psalm 141 Let my prayer O Lord be in thy sight as incense Furthermore we haue Images and worthy offerings vnto God not such as be made by vncleane workemen but framed and fashioned by Gods word in vs wherby such vertues may rest in vs which shall imitate and resemble the first begotten of all creatures in whome examples are as well of Iustice continence and valiantnesse as otherwise of wisdome godlinesse and all vertues Therefore such Images are in al as haue by the word of God gotten them this temperance this righteousnesse this fortitude this wisedome and piety with all the frame of other vertues in which I thinke it méete the honor be giuen vnto him which is the paterne of all Images the Image of God inuisible so forth Whereby it appeareth as in playne wordes he speaketh after that all Images should be such as God himselfe commaunded such as should be within man and not without man such as consisted in the knoweledge of him after whose Image man himself was made Also his testimonie serueth for this No Images in Origens time but spirituall that in his time there were no material Images in temples There was no Roode no Crosse no likenesse of any thing saue onely spirituall of grace and vertues Consider I besech you howe in his fourth boke agaynst Celsus he commendeth the Iewes Nimirum apud quos praeter eum qui cūctis praesidet rebus pro Deo nihil vnquam sit habitum nec quisquam siue Imaginum fictor siue statuarum fabricator in eorum Republica fuerit vt quos procul lex ipsa abigeret vt ne qua hijs esset fabricandorū simulachrorum occasio quae stultos quosdam mortalium à Deo reuelleret ad contemplanda terrena animi oculos retorqueret That is to say Among whom nothing was euer accompted God beside him which ruleth all nor in their common wealth any caruer of Idols or Image maker was as whom the law it self droue away frō them to the intēt they shuld haue no occasion to make any Images which might pluck certayn folish persons from God turne the eyes of their soules to the contēplation of earthly things So much for Origen And if ye read his boke thorow ye shal see it proued in plain words a frentike part to worship Images a madnesse to say that any knowledge of God can be gottē by them Only this suffiseth here that your allegatiō maketh not to your purpose and your author alleaged maketh most agaynst you Then what should ye talke that in the primitiue Church Crosses were set vp in euery place that euery Church Chappel had the signe of the Crosse erected in it that sacraments could not be made without it that men deuoutly kept pieces of it c. Whereof Origen 280. yere after Christ Folio 9. a. knew nothing but rather by the law condēned such obseruances Wher now is the counsel that you haue learned of your elders Where is the aduertisemēt of graue fathers Where is the medicine that you cal soueraine taken frō the best Physitians of the church I wil not compare you to a Tapster a Tinker an Osteler but to a leude Apoticarie that vnderstandeth not his bil but giueth Quid pro Quo or else to Cooke Ruffian that marres good meate in the dressing But to procéede giue somewhat a further taste of your vnsauorie soppes ye bring forth Cassiodores Cassiodor Folio 19. b. authoritie which may be answered in a word that he meaneth nothing lesse than you doe ymagine For what though the signes of the heauenly Prince be prynted vpon the faythfull as the Image of the Emperour is in his coyne vvhereby the Diuell is expulsed from them c. What though the Crosse be the inuincible defēce of the hūble the ouerthrovve of the proud the victorie of Christ the vndoing of the Diuel the destruction of hel the confirmation of heauenly things the death of infidels the life of the iust Is a Roode or a Crucifix or wagging of a finger able to shew whose men we are as the print in that mony doth shew whose the coyne is Whersoeuer that Image and superscription is stāped there is it certayne who hath a right to the coyne But whosoeuer haue the signe or stampe of a Crosse vpon them shewe not thereby whose seruauntes they are Your Popes and your Prelates haue Crosses before them Crosses hanging vpon them Crosses in their Crownes Crosses in their garmentes And yet I feare me least ye wil not affirme them to be the best seruaunts of Christ You knowe sometime there be coynes of counterfets I know the most crossers are not the best Christians The signe of God printed in the faythfull is the beliefe in Christ The signe of God in the faythfull and grace to doe thereafter The Crosse that is their refuge their succour defence is the death of Christ and merits of his passion But sée what pieuishnesse is in Papists Pieuishnesse of Poperie Whersoeuer they reade of fier in the Scripture thence they kindle Purgatorie Wheresoeuer they heare a body mentioned there doe they teare it to Transubstantiation Wheresoeuer they sée thys word Crosse come in place they lift it vp to the Roodeloft or at the least to the forehead Me thinks M. Martial that you might haue remēbred your first diuision where ye made mētion of .iiij. significations of the Crosse and so applied as the troth is the sayings of your authors vnto the seconde But your wisdome foresaw this obiection of mine therefore ye graunt that nothing can auayle or profite man Fol. 20. a. b. vnlesse he hath a stedfast fayth in Christ faithful beliefe in the merits of his passion But Mary say you Mary is much beholding to you in dede she stands next to the Crosse as not euery simple bare naked fayth but such as vvorketh by charitie conquereth the vvorld so not euery fayth vvorketh to man the foresaid effects but faith assisted by the signe of the holy Crosse Then by your reason the signe of the Crosse is as necessary to concurre with our beliefe as charity to be with fayth But fayth without charitie is a Diuels fayth Therefore beliefe without a signe of the Crosse is also diuelish I am sure that no man endewed with cōmon sense howsoeuer he be
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
for Images For the Church it self the congregation of faithful people is that hill of his that Sion wherein he dwelleth Then in that hill we must not superstitiously worship Images but Christ himselfe the captayne of that hill who to purchas that hill vnto him vouchsaued not only to take our shape but in our shape to suffer death The Reason Iconolatrae Car. Mag. Lib. 2. Ca. 10. Scribitur in Canticis Ostende mihi faciem tuam Ergo Imagines ostendendae It is written in the Canticles Shewe me thy face Therefore Images are to be shewed The Aunsvvere Iconomachi The Church it is whome Christ there speaketh to whome sometime he calleth a doue sometime his faire one sometyme his loue The Church that is to say his elect and chosen he willeth there to ryse that is to say beleue to hasten to him to fructifie in good works to come that is to say receyue an euerlasting reward The face of this church is not corporall but spirituall not by proportion of Imagry but by properties of vertue to be discerned Then is it an impudent application of the face of this church to Images vnlesse what soeuer is there spoken mystically must be taken carnally The Reason Iconolatrae Esay 19. Car. Mag. Li. 2. Ca. 11. Erit altare in medio Aegypti Ergo Imagines in medio templi There shall be an altare sayth the Prophete in the midst of Egipt Therfore Images in the midst of the Church The Aunsvvere This prophecy was perfourmed in Christ Iconomachi who in the middest of Egipt that is to say the world hath erected his altare his fayth and beliefe by which we may make oure prayers to him Stolidum estergo say they It is a doltishe parte to apply it to Images The Reason Nemo accendit lucernam ponit eam sub modio Ergo Iconolatrae Math. 5. Car. Mag. Li. 2. Ca. 12. Imagines habendae sunt colendae luminibus No man lighteth a candle putteth it vnder a bushell Therfore Images must be had and worshipped with candels The Aunsvvere Ores inconsequens et risu digna O matter impertinent Iconomachi and worthy to be laughed at The Reason Ecce virgo concipiet pariet filium Iconolatrae Esay 7. Car. Mag. Li. 4. Ca. 21. Hanc autem Prophetiam in Imagine nos videntes videlicet virginem ferentem in vinis quem genuit quomodo sustinebimus non adorare osculari Beholde sayth the Prophete a virgin shal conceyue and bring forth a sonne And whereas we behold this prophecy in a picture seing a virgin carying hir sonne in hir armes howe can we forbeare but worship it and kysse it The Aunsvvere The perfourmance of this prophecy Iconomachi must not be sene in vncertayne Images of mannes hand but fastly be fixed in the heart of man Nor the mysteries thereof to be sought in pictures but in holy scriptures And as for worshipping or kyssing a senslesse thing who wil presume so to do say they Quis tale faciunt perpetrare audebit Who shall dare commyt such an heynous facte The Reason Imaginis honor in primaÌ„ formaÌ„ transit Ergo Imagines honorandae Iconolatrae Car. Mag. Lib. 3. Ca. 16. The honor done to an Image passeth into the first shape after which it was made Therfore images are to be honored The Aunsvvere Iconomachi Math. 25. A straunge case neuer hearde tell of before neuer to be proued hereafter Christ sayde not That which you haue done to Images you haue done to me but whatsoeuer you haue done to one of these little ones ye haue done to me Nor thus he said He that receiueth an Image receiueth me but he that receiueth you mine Apostles receiueth me Math. 10. 1. Ioan. 3. Nor Christ his Apostle sayd Let vs loue Images but loue one another Wherefore it is a vayne dreame contrary to all scripture and reason too that honor done to a senslesse thing shall passe to him that neyther peraduenture hath the lyke shape nor euer is present with it But if it were possible as they falsly affirme that honor and reuerence done to an Image redoundeth to the glory of the first sampler Howe can we ymagine that Sainctes are so ambitious that they will haue such honor done to them If in the fleshe they did abhorre it In the spirite shall they accept it The Reason Iconolatrae Car. Mag. Lib. 3. Ca. 17. Suscipio et aÌ„plector honorabiliter sanctas et veneraÌ„das Imagines secuÌ„dum seruitiuÌ„ adorationis quod consubstantiali viuificatrici trinitati emitto qui sic non sentiunt neque glorificant à sancta catholica Apostolica ecclesia segrego anathemati submitto parti qui abnegauerunt incarnatam saluabilem dispensationem Christi veri Dei nostri emitto I do receiue ê™ Constantinus byshop of Constance in Cypres and honorably embrace the holy and reuerende Images according to that seruice of adoration worship which I giue to the Trinity of one substaÌ„ce together of one quickening power And those that thinke not so nor glorify them so I seperate from the holy catholique Apostolique Church I pronounce them accursed as such as take parte with them that denied the incarnate and saluable dispensation of Christ our true God The Aunsvvere Iconomachi O horrible blasphemy What man in his right wittes would euer say such a thing or consent to the saying that a vile Image or a blinde picture should be honored as the eternall and almighty Trinitie That an earthly creature should haue the seruice that is only due to the heauenly creator Who coulde abide him Nauscantem potius quam loquentem Spuing rather than speaking What honest eares would not rather detest than delite in the hearing of him It only suffised his fatherhode to affirme the damnable and shamelesse heresie It onely suffiseth to rehearse his absurdities to make all christians mislyke with him and maintainers of such lies and diuelish deuises For suppose that it were good to haue Images and to honor them Shal it therefore be made equiualent with a matter of oure fayth without the which we can not be saued Shal we be accursed for that which Scripture neuer taught vs but is directe contrary agaynst the Scripture Dominum Deum tuum adorabis illi soli seruies Thou shalt honor the Lorde thy God Deut. 6. and him onely shalt thou serue The Reason Qui deum timet honorat omnino adorat veneratur Iconolatre Car. Mag. Lib. 3. Ca. 28 sicut filiuÌ„ dei Christum deum nostrum et signum Crucis eius et figuram sanctorum eius He that feareth God doth honor worship and reuerence the signe of the Crosse of Christ and figure of hys saincts no otherwise than the sonne of God euen Christ our God The Aunsvvere This is a different phrase Iconomachi a coÌ„trary opinioÌ„ to al the Scripture The holy men of God did euer teach the feare of
at al in it And wil he haue vs to bow the knée to adore and worship an vnholy thyng a thing of no religioÌ„ Eusebiê° Eusebius lyuing in the same age and somewhat after hym thought it a strauÌ„ge case to sée an Image stand in Caesarea Folio 8. which image notwtstanding was not yet crept into the Church as in the preface I haue approued Furthermore Arnobiê° Arnobiê° scholemaster to LactaÌ„tiê° hath a nuÌ„ber of places to disproue this assertion For he telleth how the Infidels layd to the Christians charge Aduersus gentes li. 8. that they hyd hym whoÌ„ they honored bicause they had neyther teÌ„ples nor altars But he sheweth what teÌ„ples they had erected then in nostra ipsoruÌ„ dedicaÌ„duÌ„ meÌ„te in nostro imo coÌ„secranduÌ„ pectore To be dedicate to him in our own mind consecrate to hym in the bottom of our breast WhervpoÌ„ he inferreth Quem colimus DeuÌ„ nec ostendimus nec videmus imo ex hoc Deum credimus quod eum sentire possumus videre non possumus The God that we worship we neyther shew nor see but rather by this we beleue hym to be God bicause we can fele hym but we caÌ„ not see hiÌ„ Yea to go no further thaÌ„ to the crosse it selfe to the Roode that ye talke of Arnobiê° affirmeth plainly Cruces neo colimus nec optamus vos plane qui ligneos deos consecratis cruces ligneas vt deoruÌ„ vestroruÌ„ partes forsitan adoratis We neyther worship nor wysh for Crosses you that cosecrate wodden Gods peraduenture worship the wodden Crosses as partes of your Gods Wherby is euideÌ„t aswel by the vndouted words of LactaÌ„tius himself as otherwise by the testimony of S. Hierom witnes of Eusebiê° doctrine of Arnobiê° first that the verses shuld not séeme to be hys TheÌ„ that by al likelyhode there were no Churches in LactaÌ„tiê° his time therfore no Roodes in Churches Thirdly that no holinesse no religioÌ„ is in any earthly matter therfore in no Roode Lastly that neither crosses nor crucifixes wer eyther worshipped or wished for but that it was thought a mere geÌ„tility to bow down vnto theÌ„ As for S. Augustine Ser. 19. de sanctis Augusstine Folio 43. he speaketh nothing els but of the mystery of the Crosse as you your selfe alleage Crucis mysterio basilicae dedicantur By the mystery of the Crosse and not by the signe of the Crosse as you do ignorauntly translate it Churches are dedicated Now you be to learne what is a mystery learne it of Chrisostome Chrisostomê° in 1 ad cor ca. 2. Ho. 7. b who sayth MysteriuÌ„ appellatur quoniaÌ„ non id quod credimus intuemur sed quod alia videmus alia credimus It is called a mystery bicause we sée not that which we beleue but that we sée one thing and beleue another Then is it not the signe which you do take for the material thing but the mystery that maketh the dedication not the thyng that we sée but that which we beleue the death of Christ which in the congregation he wyll haue shewed vntill hys commyng 1. Cor. 11. As for the lifting vp of a coople of fingers which you do cal a benediction or the materiall Crosse set vp at dedication they be nothyng profitable wtout the mystery but with the mystery they be very perillous nor we do reade that euer Augustine although he mentioneth the Crosse often doth euer speake of a mans Image on it with side wouÌ„ded and body bludded CruceÌ„ nobis in memoriaÌ„ suae passionis reliquit he saith he hath left vs the Crosse in remembraunce of hys passion But so immediatly in the same seÌ„teÌ„ce vpoÌ„ the same wordes he inferreth also CruceÌ„ reliquit ad sanitateÌ„ he hath lefte vs a Crosse for our health But as the signe of the Crosse is no ordinary meane wherby God vseth to confer health vpon the sicke so hath he not ordayned it to remayne in the Church for any remembraunce of hys death and passion His worde he left vs to put vs in mynde hereof to the ende oure eyes myght haue somewhat styll to fede vpon that Christ myght neuer be forgotten of vs he hath lefte among vs the lyuely members of hys own body the poore the naked the comfortlesse Christians who being alwayes subiect to the Crosse myght both excite our thankfulnesse toward hym prepare our selues the better for the Crosse As for the roode Crucifixe on the altare which haue handes nayled armes stretched out fete pearced with a great wouÌ„de in the side and a bloudy streame issuing out they may wel be coÌ„pared to the GeÌ„tiles Idols Which haue mouthes speake not eyes and see not You wyl answere I dare say that ye know wel inough the Crosse is nothing but a piece of metal And he that hangeth in the Roode loft is not Christ in dede but a signe of hym So dyd the heathen know that al their Idols were siluer and golde the worke of mens handes yet the holy ghost dyd often tel them of it as if they had forgotten it bicause that the lyuelyer the counterfet is the greater error is ingendred Some of the Gentiles would excuse their Idolatry by alleaging that they dyd not honor the matter visible but the power inuisible as Augustin in the person of the Idolater doth say NoÌ„ hoc visibile colo sed numeÌ„ quod illic inuisibiliter habitat I worship not the thyng that I sée In psa 113. but the power that I see not and dwelleth therein So among the Christians some haue bene so fond through makyng of Images and applying the shape of man or woman to them that they haue thought greater vertue to rest in one thaÌ„ in another and therefore from one would resort to another But by the censure of S. Augustine the Apostle condemneth them al saying Non quod IdoluÌ„ sit aliquid 1. Cor. 10. sed quoniaÌ„ quae immolant gentes demonijs immolant noÌ„ deo nolo vos socios fieri demoniorum Not that the Idoll is any thyng but that these thinges which the GeÌ„tiles sacrifice they sacrifice to diuels and not vnto God And I would not that ye shuld haue felowship with the diuels Therefore in the Christian I may iustly say that the opinion it selfe of holinesse in an Image is very diuelish But you M. Martiall haue a better euasion ye ascribe not so much to the substance it selfe Fol. 41. a. and matter of an Image but with the Nice masters ye vse it to thys ende that ye may come to the remembrance and desire of the first sampler and paterne vvhich it resembleth and withall you exhibite some courtesy and reuerend honor to it bicause honor and reuerence done to an Image redoundeth to the glory of the first sampler and he that adoreth and honoreth an Image doth adore and honor that vvhiche is resembled by the Image So dyd the Gentiles cloke their
lapsum mortis cum Serpente quem colis sternis What doest thou bowe thy captiue body before folish Images and earthly counterfets God hath made thée vpright and whereas all other beastes of the earth are depressed in shape bending down to the ground ward thou hast a lofty state to heauen and to thy God thy countenance is erected Then loke vp thither thither cast vp thine eyes seke God aboue That Hel thou mayst lack lifte vp thy doubtfull heart to high and heauenly thinges What doest thou throwe thy selfe wyth the Diuel whome thou seruest into the pit of death So farre S. Cyprian and by him it is playne that to bow to knéele to shew any signe of reuerence to an earthly counterfet to the work of mannes hande is contrary to nature agaynst the dignity of our creation and a wicked worship What Origens To vvorship the Crosse cōtrary to nature Origen opinion was in this behalfe I haue proued afore in the first Article and thither ye may resorte to finde it Onely thys will I adde that when he had rehearsed the commaundement of God Exod. 20. he put his owne censure and verdite therevnto saying Erat quidem legis mens ea vt singuliis in rebus vt veritas exigebat hij versarentur Lib. 4 cōtra Celsum nec preter verum effingerent aliqua quae prae se maris vel foeminae speciem praeseferrent c. The minde of the law quoth he was this that they should in all thinges so behaue themselues as the truth required nor that they should beside the truth counterfet any thing representing the shape of man or woman Wherefore the picture of Christ vpon the Crosse by Origens opinion is agaynst the lawe Beside this he telleth you what Adoration In Exod. and what worshippe is Aliud est colere aliud adorare Potest quis interdum inuitus adorare sicut nonnulli regibus adulantes cum eos ad huiuscemodi studia deditos viderint Hom. 8. cap. 20. adorare se simulant idola cum in corde ipsorum certum sit quia nihil est idolum Colere verò est toto hijs affectu studio mancipari Vtrumque ergo resecat sermo diuinus vt neque affectu colas neque specie adoras To worship is one thing and to adore another For a mā may sometyme against hys wyll adore as they that flatter Princes when they sée them addicte to suche studyes doe fayne themselues to worship Idols whereas in their heart they are assured that an Idol is nothing But to worship is to enter into a certaine seruitude and bondage with them and be addict vnto them with all affect and zeale Therfore the worde of God cutteth away both that neyther in heart thou worship nor in apparaunce adore Thus much suffiseth for Origene whereby it is playne that whatsoeuer our mynds are our bodyes must not bow to any Crosse or creature Arnobius Arnobius contra Gentes lib. 6. discoursing against the Gentiles who serued Idols and dyd Sacrifice vnto them had the same obiected hym that you do to vs. We worship the Gods sayd they by their Images And you By vvorshipping the Crosse vve serue Christ And may I not answere to you as he dyd to them Si hoc nō sit coli se Christus nesciat nec impaertiri à vobis vllum sibi honorem ex stanabit Per tramites ergò quosdam per quaedam fidei commissá vt dicitur vestras sumit atque accipit cultiones antequam sentiat cui illud debetur obsequium simulachro litatis prius velut reliquias quasdam aliena ad illum ex authoritate transmittitis If you had not thys Crosse should Christe be ignoraunt that he were serued of you wyll he thynke that there is no honor done hym Then doth he receiue your seruise and your worshippinges by certayne traynes by other put in trust vicars if ye wyll or commissaries and before he to whom the obsequy is due haue any felyng of the matter ye do your Sacrifice vnto the Image and sende hym but the scraps from another mans boorde Et quid fieri potest iniuriosius contumeliosius durius quam deum alterum scire rei alteri supplicare opem sperare de numine nullius senus ad effigiem deprecari Nonne illud est quaeso quod in vulgaribus sprouerbijs dicitur fabrum cadere cum ferias fullonem Et cum hominis cosilium quaer as ab asellis per culis agendarum rerum sententias postulare And what can be deuised fayth he more iniurious slaunderous vncurteous than to acknowledge one God make thy sute to another thing to hope for helpe of God and poure out thy prayers to a senselesse Image Is not thys as the Prouerbe hath to haue a quarell to Rowlande and fyght with Oliuer and where thou sekest for aduise of mē to aske the sētence first of porkelinges and of asses Again Non iste error esis non vt proprie dicatur amentia supplicare tremebundum fabricatae abs te rei Et cumscias certu◠sis tui esse operis digitorum artem pronū in faciem ruere c. Is not thys an error Is it not to speake properly a madnesse in trembling wise to make thy humble shute to a thing that thou madest thy selfe and whereas thou doest know and art assured that it is thyne own workemanship the fruite of thyne owne fingers to fall groueling vpō thy face before it I wyll no further deale with Arnobius All hys .viij. bokes contayne nothing else but confutation of your Image heresy and Crosse shame Lactantius his scholer beside many other places to the lyke effect whereof in the former treatise I haue touched dyuerse hath also thys Quae amentia est aut ea fingere quae ipsi postmodum timeant aut timere quae finxerint Lactantius de fals Rel. lib. 2. cap. 2. Non ipsa inquiunt timemus sed eos ad quorum imaginem sicta quorum nominibus consecrata sunt Nēpe ideo timetis quod eos esse in coelo arbitramins neque enim si dij sunt aliter fieri potest Cur igitur oculos in coelum non tollitis aduocatis deorum nominibus in aperto sacrificia celebratis Cur ad parietes ligna lapides potissimum quam ille spectatis vbi eos esse creditis What madnesse is thys eyther to frame those things which they may after feare or feare those thynges which they haue framed No forsoth say they we feare not that but them after whose Image they be made and to whose names they be consecrated why then ye feare them bicause ye suppose them to be in heauen For if they be Gods it can not otherwise be chosen But why do you not lyft vp your eyes to heauen and callyng vpon the Gods by name do your Sacrifices openly why do you rather loke to the walles to the stockes and stones than to that