Tvvo kindes of Idolatrie when a man by peruerse opiniō corrupteth the spiritual worshipping of God The second when the honor peculiar vnto god is transferred to a creature In both these ye Papists most haynously do offend For ye think that God which is a spirite is delited with your masking externe pomp wherin consisteth al Romish religion and so by your owne text ye be proued false worshippers Also by your knocking holding vp of hands before an Image ye shew your selues whose seruātes you are abasing your estate seruing a creature For the proufe whereof bicause it more nerely concerneth our question let vs inquite what bonde we be entred in wyth God to serue him as we ought So shall we sée whether any outward bodily fact may wel induce vs to say or think any man an Idolatrer The eternall God requireth at our hands that his name be glorfied both in our spirite and in our body bycause that both be his And if the commaundement did not extende so farre yet reason doth conuince no lesse For in asmuch as our bodies also be redéemed with the precious bloudshed of Christ what a shame is it to haue them subiect stil vnto the Diuels seruise Our soules to be Gods our bodies to be the Diuels Whereas our bodies ought to be the temples of the holy ghost what absurditie is this to defile them with sacriledge Whereas our bodies are foreapointed to immortality and partaking of the glory of God what wickednesse is this to attaynt them with Idolatrie Paule when he doth inuey agaynst fornication vseth this argument Whereas our bodies are the members of Christ 1. Cor. 6. is it méete to make them the members of an harlot And on like sort I may answere you Whereas our bodies be the members of Christ shall we cut them of from that body of his shall we prophanate them wyth vnlawfull worshipping 1. Reg. 10. Rom. 11. God when he would expresse the peculiar note of his faythful seruaunts sayth of them that they bowed not the knée to Baall nor with their mouth kissed him He might as wel haue said that they were not polluted with superstition they did not accompt Baall for a God But to intimate vnto vs that the inwarde affecte in this case suffiseth not he expresseth by name the outward gesture as altogether impious Wherefore howsoeuer we flatter our selues with an hidden opinion so secret that our selues féele it not yet the euident and apparaunt worke of capping knocking bowing and knéeling may disproue our hearte to be well affected and we by outwarde adoration trie and discerne a méere Idolatrer When God by his Prophete would describe his magnificence and honor due to him Esay 45. he sayd Viuo ego mihi flectetur omne genu omnis lingua iurabit mihi I liue sayth the Lord Euery knée shal bowe to me and euery tong shall sweare to me Thus the holy ghost by bowing of the knée by profession of the mouth describeth true worshipping But you M. Martiall wyll haue neither good nor bad worshipping to be iudged by gesture A proper shift ye haue when ye adore an Image créepe to the Crosse saying You knowe that to be but a piece of metal you make not your prayers to that but vnto God alone whome in spirite you worship though your face peraduenture be turned to the Image The selfe same pretexte had the Corinthians For they resorted to the feastes of Idols not of superstition They were to well instructed And Paule in their person bringeth forth an excuse for them 1. Cor. 8. Scimus quod Idolum nihil est We knowe that an Idoll is nothing We knowe that one God one Lorde and sauiour Iesus Christ is to be honoured and serued of vs. But did this satisfy S. Paule Nay But he affirmed rather that their inward persuasion and pretended excuse was nothing in asmuch as their example moued the weake to commit Idolatrie For if any man sayth the Apostle sée thée which hast knowledge sit at fable in the Idols temple shall not the conscience of him that is weake be boldned to eate those things which are sacrificed to Idoles And on like sorte you affirme that an Image or a Crosse is nothing But when ye giue the outward reuerence when ye adore it will not the simple déeme greate vertue in it shall not your knoweledge whatsoeuer it is be occasion of your brothers fall for whome Christ died Wherfore syth adoration is so offensiue better it were neuer to sée Image while the world standeth that our brother be not offended And this is S. Paules reason not mine As for your subtile and profound argument drawen out of the bowels of your professed lawe whereby ye make a wōderous demonstration Folio 130. a. that there can be no due prouf of Idolatrie in asmuch as Confession thereof is nothing credible Probation can not be made but by externall signes they do onely enforce a presumption and as for euidence of the facte it can not fall into effects of the minde where the abhomination of Idolatry lieth I answere that although we be very ingenious to finde out excuses for our owne offences yet the euidēce of the outward facte maketh sufficiēt probation of Idolatrie and is too good a witnesse of mysdemeaning minde For if the heart conceyued not the bodie would not doe if the body called the hart vnto accompt I am sure that at least in the court of Chauncerie where conscience is examined the heart should be first condemned of mysgouernement When Ezechias destroyed the brasen serpent the Iewes lacked such an aduocate as you that might haue called the King into the law and tried the case of iniustice agaynst him bycause he was not able to make proufe of any crime For they would not confesse their Idolatrie their knéeling to the Image made as you say but onely a presumption and no euidence could be fet frō the outward fact bycause ye suppose there is no Idolatrie but secrete in the heart But flatter your selues as you best can with your lurking affecte and priuy deuotion your apparant impietie shall not only to Godwarde but to the world condemne you If Daniels companions had féeyed such a counsellour such a lawyer as you they would not haue throwen themselues into such extremitie whereas they could not haue bene cōuinced of Idolatrie for al their knéeling before the Idol if in hart they retained the honor and seruise of the liuing God But they woulde not haue their bodies defiled with wicked worshippings nor of one temple make two Lordes the soule to be Gods the bodie to be Sathans S. Paule of the outwarde conuersation condemned the Corinthians as Idolatrers 1. Cor. 8. S. Peter also as is before rehearsed layde to his hearers charge that they were worse than the Egyptians bycause of the external signes God when he setteth forth the true seruise of himselfe maketh often
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
the Sentence Let fayth be taken Sine pro eo quo creditur siue pro eo quod creditur eyther for that wherby we beleue or else for that which is beleued certayne it is that the simplest of them both is better than a signe though it be of the Crosse For be it the latter fayth Quam Daemones et falsi Christiani habent as he saith which the Diuels false christians haue yet by the same Possunt credere deum et credere deo they can beleue that there is a God they can giue credit vnto his words But a bare Crosse can not do this Take me a man that neuer hearde of Christ and bring him to a Spanyard to beholde all his Crosses at the Mary Masse and he shall be as learned when he commeth away as the Ape is deuout when he hath eaten the hoste But if a man neyther did nor could euer heare at all this naked fayth were able to teach him without any further information that a God there is which the very Gentiles did vnderstande Agayne to compare a gifte of God which is in the minde to the work of man made with the hande is Canibus catulos coniungere matribus haedos To ioyne the whelpes and houndes the kiddes and goates together Nowe to your Iulian. Iulians example Folio 21. b. Ye say that when he had consulted with Sorcerers and they had made the Diuels solemnly to appeare He vvas stricken in a feare and forced to make the signe of the Crosse in his foreheade Then the Diuels loking backe and seing the figure of the Lordes banner and remembring their fall and ouerthrovv sodaynly vanished out of sight Thus much or so much as this ye cite out of Theodorete and Gregory Nazianzene For the truth of the historie I contende not with you But what I iudge of the experiment I will tell you Fyrst of al that wicked reprobate and godlesse persones can vse the signe of the Crosse as well as other Which proposition shal quite cōfute all your ninth Article For if such as Iulian can crosse themselues and notwithstanding haue neuer a whit the more fayth as your selfe confesse then how falles it out that the Crosse driueth out heresies Fol. 22. a. Contradictions in Martiall Fol. 94. b. that the signe of the Crosse conuerteth obstinate sinners Fol. 114. 115. that the signe of the Crosse maketh vvicked men to think vpon God that the Crosse is comfortable in desperation Fol. 116. Secondly this I note How sore the Diuel was hurt by the Crosse when it nothwithstanding he retayned the possession of whole Iulian both in body and soule Thyrdly that the diuell doth fayne himself to be afrayde of that which with all his heart he would haue men to vse For this is a generall rule that the Diuell is a lier and alwayes will séeme to be as he is not If there were no other matter in the worlde agaynst you this onely were sufficient to discredite you For what better reason is there that Crossing ought not to be vsed at al than that the Diuel did séeme to dread it If that indede he had bene afrayd of it he would haue doubled a point with you and not haue played so open play He runs from the Stéeple to dwell in the people He counterfets a flight from the holy water bucket and nestles himselfe in the bosome of the priest He séemeth to giue place to the charmers inchantment yet that sacrifice doth please him excedingly Ye confesse that Iulian had no hope in Christ no loue to god no faith and will ye not confesse that he was therby a desperate person a lyin of the Diuell The Diuell then shuld haue done him wrong if he had put him in any further danger But one thing I maruell at how you M. Martiall a bacheler of law sometime Vsher of Winchester now student in Diuinitie making a boke intitled to the Quéene perused by the Learned priuiledged by the King allowed by Cunner should fall into manifest contradictions scape vncontrolled I sée it is true quod mendacem memorem esse opertet a lier had nede haue a good remembrance Ye sayd in the leafe before Folio 21. The signe of the Crosse must concurre vvith fayth and fayth vvith the signe of the Crosse Nowe ye alowe the bare signe of the Crosse without any fayth to haue the force and power aforesayd If I thought ye were ignorant of Sathans practises I would shew you some of them to make you more circumspect But you haue bene brought vp in his schole a good while and therefore I thinke ye practise after him endeuouring your selfe of set purpose to deceiue For which like a Spider ye spinne a subtile webbe You sucke out of the Fathers the worst ioyce that you can that you may turne the same into your owne fylthy and infected nature Gregorie did well in abhorring the name of vniuersall Byshop But Gregories authoritie is not taken in that Gregorie sayde well when he tolde vs the tale of Speciosus a deacon that would rather forsake his benefice than his Wife But the president of that persuadeth you not Onely when Gregorie disgraceth himselfe wyth olde wiues tales and tryfling customes of his corrupted tyme then is he meate for your sawsy mouthes A Iewe sayth Gregorie vvithout truste confidence or fayth Folio 22. b. in Christes passion vvas preserued from Spirites by the signe of the Crosse I rehearse not the circumstaunce of the tale bycause I haue tolde you more than is true already For if he had no fayth in Christ the Scripture is playne that there could no spirite be worse than himselfe Heb. 11. Impossible it is to please God without fayth And shall God by the Crosse preserue them that please him not Who séeth not what a fable this is or rather a blasphemie if it be weyghed aright But Gregorie hath it A doctor of the Church So hath he more vntruthes than this Lib. Dial. 4. Cap. 55. As that for confirmation of sacrifice for the dead he bringeth forth a vision a dreame or a dotage such a one as I am ashamed to father vpō him or any one of the faythfull yet proufe good inough for such a matter of naught His tale is this A certayne priest that vsed the bathes went on a day into them and found a yong man whome he knewe not very obsequious and seruiseable vnto him he pulled of his shooes he toke his garmentes he did whatsoeuer might be comfortable for him When this he had often done one day the prieste going thitherwarde thought thus with himselfe I ought not to séeme vnthankfull vnto him which hath so deuoutly bene accustomed to serue me whensoeuer I washe me but néedes I must cary him somewhat for a reward Then toke he with him the tops of two loaues which had ben offered at seruice And as sone as euer he came vnto the place he founde his man he vsed
as they bring their warrant for them God forbyd in dede but we should admit them If we established our traditions and destroyed theirs If we deuised a worship of our own despised theirs we wer to be blamed But when in respecte of Gods commaundement which no man ought on peril of his life transgresse we reiecte a custome and deuise of man we are not to bée burdened with pride or singularitie Folio 80. Your selues thinke it laweful to alter and innouate at your owne pleasures all traditions and ceremonies of elder time As taking away mylke and hony from Christenings contrary to Tertullian and denying infants the supper of the Lorde contrary to Augustine with an hundred moe that I could rehearse And wherewithall doe you supply them with your owne fansies your owne follies Yet you neyther discredite nor disauthorize the fathers We if we stande not to euery iote that any one of the fathers heretofore hath written and hath pleased the Pope of his power absolute to admit are compted heretiques schismatiques such as haue separated our selues from the Church In dede we professe a separation from you as our Apologie doth witnesse Folio 81. Apologie of the church of England and shewe good reason why Therein your finenesse doth cal vs patchers I wys all the packe of you hath not cloth in your shoppes to make the like But separating our selues from you the enimies of God and of his truth we ioyne as we ought with the church of Christ For what is the vnitie Vnitie of Papistes that you appoynt vs The humble obedience of the Church of Rome whome you wil haue to be the mother Church whō you doe call the boosome and the lappe that all men ought to runne vnto which will be numbred among Gods children You with this vnitie content your selues seking rather your selues ouer Christ than Christ ouer the flock to raigne compassing rather how your selues may dayntily liue in this world than howe the members of the Church may be brought to heauen But we must appoynte suche kinde of vnity Vnitie of Christiās as must not depend vpon one particular or priuate Church be it eyther of Antioch or of Hierusalem or of Rome it selfe but vpon the catholique and vniuersall Church which was not onely before Rome in antiquitie but shall continue when Rome is gone This muste we search out of the scriptures Rom. 12. Vnū corpus multi sumus in Christo sayth the Apostle We being many are one body in Christ Christ is the head and we be the members Howe doe the members and the head agrée With one flesh one bloud one spirite and one life As Christ is in the father and the father in Christ so we al by Christ are one in God If one spirite rule vs we must all thinke one thing If we be all one body we must not hate our owne fleshe As brotherly loue and charitie is necessary for vs to declare by the same that we be Christs disciples as peace quietnesse among vs all is a thing most expedient as a bande to knyt vs in the vnitie of the spirite so they which are thus vnited vnto Christ must not only be quickned with the same spirit but be cōforted maintained with the same fayth hope Wherfore if you wil haue vs to continue the vnity of your church with you then make it first a catholike Church of a sink of Idolatry a follower and furtherer of true religion It is not by by the vnitie of the church which coms vnder colour name of it Hierome a doctor of the Church writeth Sub rege Constantio Contra Luciferianos Eusebio Hippatio Consulibus nomine vnitatis et fidei infidelitas scripta est In the time of Constance the king Eusebius Hippatius being Consuls vnder the name of vnitie and fayth infidelity was written And such an vnitie do you deliuer vs not you alone I meane but all the rable of popish heretiques with you as consisteth of Idolatry false worshippings simony with a corrupt body and a coūterfet head euen Antichrist himself You say that the vnity of the church doth hang vpon obseruance of ceremonies olde rites customes We say that it standeth vpon fayth and spirite Ephesi 4. Which are the truer in this behalfe S. Paul byddeth vs to be carefull to kepe the vnitie of the spirit til we méete together in the vnitie of fayth Augustine intreating of the Sabboth fast Epist. 86. sayth Interminabilis est ista contentio generans lites nunquam fiaiens quaestiones This contention is endelesse stil ingendring strife neuer ceassing from doubtes And what I besech you do you that bragge of your vnitie dissent from all antiquitie not agrée with your selues contende about trifles damne the true fayth derogate all from Christes death and his passion and giuing it to your owne frée will and works The works that you cōmaunde be your owne deuises The works that God commaundes you haue nothing to doe withall Breake Gods cōmaundement and it is no matter Breake yours we dye for it It is a wonder how bolde you will be to pronounce heretiques to serue your turne Euseb ecclesiast hist. Lib. 5. Victor Bishop of Rome woulde excommunicate and condemne of heresie all the churches of Asia bicause they did kepe their Easter Quartadecima luna primi mensis when the Iewes swete bread is eaten not at the time that he kept it at Rome A sore point I promise you But you condemne vs of heresy for preaching of the Gospel against the traditions and precepts of men If they from whose ordinances we do depart had eyther thought their traditions necessary or shewed scripture wherevpon they grounded them we would not presume to withstande their authoritie or gaynesay their good reason But when they deliuer them as thinges indifferent and plainly professe that they haue no worde of the Lorde for them a hope of commoditie may cause vs to retayne them but an apparant mischief must driue vs to refuse thē Tertullian himself Tertulliā de corona militis when he had rehearsed a great sorte of traditions among which this was the last that we nowe doe speke of the manner of signing vvith the Crosse in the forehead immediately inferreth Harum aliarum eiusmodi disciplinarum si legem expostules scripturaerum nullam reperies If thou require a lawe of Scripture for these and such like orders of discipline thou shalt finde none Wherefore since they builde not vpon the Scripture they do not expounde vpon the word when these ioyes be taught we can not as you say dyscredite and dysauthorize them Folio 79. b. as though they knevv not the scriptures true interpretatiō of the lavv When you doe make a lye of your owne doe I discredite your knowledge in the lawe A lawyer may sometime be a liar as you proue vnto vs and yet not the lawe to wyte When the
Scripture honorable commendation we may the more mistrust of other whose liues and vertues we can by no meanes be so well assured of As for authorities though Scripture it selfe doth suffise the faythfull and such as delite not to be contentious yet that men of good iudgement vtterly abhorred as heathenish diuelish and Idolatrous this keping inclosing honoring of a piece of woode or any such earthly matter I haue brought you Hierome Chrisostome whose plaine words condemne the superstition of you and al other that you do talke of Last of all I haue touched the grosse absurdities that consequently do follow of your doctrine which though I haue not thorowly vnripped your beastlinesse vanity being so lothsome to me yet haue I touched sufficiently to driue you if any grace be in you to consider your duty better to write with more reason or be stil with lesse shame Is this the profession of your priesthode Is this the cōmissiō that men of your coate haue to preach the fables of olde gentility stirre vp the kenel of stinking superstitiō which euery olde wife is a wery of euery childe doth scorne at Learne Christianity of Christ himself true order of preaching of the Apostles seke not so much what men haue done but how well they haue done It is written to the Hebrewes Hebr. 2. that God of olde time spake at sūdrie times and in diuers maners to our fathers by the Prophetes But in these last dayes hath spoken vnto vs by his deare sonne Whereby what other thing is to be meant but that God hereafter will not vse the mouth of many nor heape vs prophecy vpon prophecy reuelation vppon reuelation but that he did so fully instruct vs by his sonne that the very last euerlasting testimony of truth must be had of him He gaue him therefore a singuler prerogatiue to be our Prophete our master and our guyde commaunding him onely no church no councel no man to be heard The Church I trust will take no more vpon them than the Apostles did What the synagoge of Antichrist doth I care not what the true Christians ought to do I proue Christ sent forth his Apostles into the worlde and gaue them commission to teach and preach not what soeuer they could inuent but what he had fyrst commaunded them And nothing could be more playnly sayd than that which he speaketh in another place Math. 23. Be not ye called Rabbi as masters or rulers ouer your brothers fayth for one is your Doctor and your teacher Christ Then if nothing can be allowed in matters of fayth and saluation but that which is grounded on Christ the Gospell all doctrines of men all Crosses all Crucifixes Roodeloftes and all which haue no colour of scripture to defend them but be most iniurious and contrary to the same muste cleane be abolished and put out of the Church If Christ did call them hypocrites Math. 15. and honourers of him in vayne which teach the doctrines that procéede of man surely you Papistes for fowler name of heresie can I giue you none which bring vs mens authorities without the warrāt of Gods holy word that binde vs to beleue things most contrary to it are neyther shepherds nor shéepe of the folde but for all your fléese be rauening wolues This doth Ignatius on this wise confirme Omnis igitur qui dixerit prater ea quae tradita sunt tametsi fide dignus sit In episto ad Hieronim tametsi ieiunet tametsi virginitatem seruet tametsi signa faciat tametsi prophetet lupus tibi appareat in grege ouium Who so euer speaketh any thing more than is written although he be worthy credit although he fast although he kepe his virginitie although he do miracles although he prophecie yet let him seme to thée a wolfe in the flock of shepe This hath bene alwayes the opinion of the godly This all the doctors haue taught and written Onely you good sir and certaine of your factious fellowship will be wiser than Christ bolder than the Apostles better lerned than the Doctors and giue vs out new lessons that Scripture neuer thought of I wil not tarry here in rehearsall of your errours in other poynts which hasten to the end of my reprouf of this Only you good readers I shall exhorte and for the mercies of Christ besech you that as ye tender your owne health and wish to be gathered into the fold of life ye wil hearken to the voyce of your shepherd Christ come at no strangers call giue credite to no man in matters of your fayth further thā he brings his warrant with him Beleue no report for it is a liar Beware of the woluish generation which now being hungry kept and féeding vpon carrein breath out nothing else but horrible blasphemies and stinking lyes They prate of good life themselues most licentious They burden men with breach of lawes themselues most rebellious and dissolute They goe about to discredit vs as teachers of carnall libertie themselues embrewed wyth all kinde of filth and abhomination As for all their doctrine and religion I may say vnto them as Christ did to the Pharises Populus iste labijs me honorat cor autem eorum longe est à me This people honor me with their lips but their heartes are farre of from me Their eyes their hands their head their féete they frame in such wise as shall tend to some piece of obseruāce of the lawe Their winking their nodding their mouing their crossing is all Gods seruice as they do tell vs. But where is the heart Where is the minde and inward puritie that God requireth When they heare Thou shalt not kyl thou shalt not steale thou shalt not cōmit adulterie The purest of them all what do they Peraduerture not draw the sword to slay any man not lay their hādes on other mens goods not depart their bodies with harlots which yet is a marueilous rare byrde to be hatched in the nest of poperie but they compasse mischiefe and destruction in their hearts they burne in desire they fret consume away for enuy So that which is the chief of the law is least among thē That which semeth gay to the outward shewe is onely retayned and kept And for conclusion beside that they expel fayth which is that goodnesse of al works they set vp works of their own making to destroy the works of God be holier than they First with their chastity they destroy the chastity that God ordayned only requireth With their obedience they take awaye the order that God in thys world hath set and exacteth none other With their pouertie they peruert humility the true pouerty of the spirite which Christ taught onely which is onely not to loue the worldly goodes With their faste filling their vnsatiable paunches they forget the fast which God commaundeth a perpetuall sobrenesse to tame the fleshe With their pattering of prayers they haue put away
Euan. Io. Hom. 29. I wyll feare no daunger I wyll conquere where I lust A vanitie it is of you M. Martiall to bryng for proufe of a present vse that which was done so long ago Remember what father Gregory doth say Nolite fratres amare signa quae possunt cum reprobis haberi communia sed charitatis atque pietatis miracula amate quae tanto securiora sunt quanto occulta de quibus apud dominum eo maior fit retributio quo apud homines minor est gloria Brethren be not in loue with signes whiche may be had common with the reprobate but loue ye rather the miracles of charitie and true godlinesse which the more secret the more secure and for the which the lesse estimation that there is with men the greater is the rewarde wyth God In the first beginning and gathering of the Churche many thynges were necessary whiche nowe be nedelesse Miracles were vsed then which outwardly be denied now Whē we go about to plant a trée so long we water it A similitude vntyll we sée that it hath taken roote but when it is once substantially grounded and braunches spreade abrode we take no more payne to water it on lyke sort as long as the people were altogether faythlesse thys meane of miracles was of indulgence graunted them but when spirituall instructiō had taken better place the corporal signes surceassed strayght Wherfore the Apostle sayeth Linguae in signū sunt non fidelibus sed infidelibus 1. Cor. 14. Straunge tonges are for a signe not to them that beleue but to them that beleue not And playnly to argue that a thing is good bicause a miracle is shewed by it or else to approue a present vse by that which nedefully sometyme was done hath to many absurdities and inconueniences to be yelded to S. Augustyne Aug de vni Eccle. cap. 16. denyed that argumente of Petilian he would not admyt the doctrine of the Donatistes although they had wroughte all wonders in the world Non dicat sayeth he ideo verū est quia illa illa mirabilia fecit Donatus vel Pontius vel quilibet alius aut quia homines ad memorias mortuorum nostrorum orant exaudiuntur aut quia illa illa ibi contingunt Let not the aduersary say therfore it is true bicause Donate or Pontius or any other hath done these and these wonderfull and straūge thynges or else bicause men do make their prayers at the tumbes of our dead and be heard or bicause such thinges and such thynges do happen there for these may be aswell figmēta mendacium hominum vel portenta fallacium spirituū The fayned deuises of lying men or straūge wonders of deceitful spirites As vvell vve maye haue any signe of Idols as the signe of the Crosse if miracles may make it Wherfore if miracles proue the vse of a Crosse why should they not cōfirme the doctrine of the Donatists Yea if miracles may commende a thing I wyll not onely haue the signe of a Crosse but the signe of a diuell Macrobius in hys Saturnalibus li. 1. ca. 7. Speaking of the Sacrifices vsed in the raygne of Tarquine the proude sayeth Effigies Maniae suspensae pro singulorū foribus periculū si quod immineret familijs expiabant The Images of madnesse hanged before euery mans doore made cleare for all daugers that hanged ouer the householde wherefore I wyll thus reasō with you Eyther the miracles that you do speake of were false tales or else they were truthes If they were false tales a true man ought not to alleage them nor a Christian beleue them Whether it be true or false that M. Martiall reporteth of the Crosse it cannot proue the lavvfull vse therof The Scripture warneth vs that in the latter dayes there shall be strong spirites of illusion so that the electe themselues if it be possible may be seduced Wherfore if the diuell at any tyme by the priestes as of olde tyme by the wisemen of Egypte haue wroughte wonders about Roodes and Images no doubte but by shewyng vnwonted thynges he goeth about to allure vs to thynges vnlawfull And therefore suche miracles should not be credited But on the other side if it pleased God to vse the signe of a Crosse in dede as a meane to worke some miracles in the worlde yet is it no sufficient cause to confirme the hauing much lesse the honoring of it now To mollifie the hartes of visible and mortal men God vsed visible and mortall meanes not to confirme a reuerence to them but to establishe an honoure and seruise to hymselfe God spake vnto Moses Moses oute of a fyrye bushe Shall nowe the fyre or the bushe be honored A good cause is broughte why God appeared in a bushe Bushe rather than any thyng beside that the peoples eyes myghte teache them that whiche their heartes and soules oughte to beleue For the thornes of the bushe dyd signifie the sinnes for whiche the lawe came And as the bush prickes not in the roote but is gentile and smoth though the body and braunches be full of thornes so are not our synnes of our first creation but by growing in the fleshe we haue gathered them vnto vs. As the bushe was not confumed by the fire but the fire glisteringly dyd set foorth the bushe so were not synnes abolyshed by the lawe but onely notified not taken awaye but layed open afore vs. For the lawe coulde no more but tell vs our disease onely the grace of Christe doth cure vs. As God appeared in forme of fier and not in an earthly shape so muste we learne to followe God to rayse oure thoughtes and desires vpwarde and not be depressed with downfall cares As God vouchesafed to appeare in a mountayne thereby to put vs in minde of hys heyghte farre passing Princes and all worldly sublimytie so muste we consider the worthinesse of our calling and be wel assured that such a hil must be climbed of vs as hath all the earth subiecte vnderneth it Wherefore as so great miracle was wroughte by fier in a bushe on a mountaine not to enforce an estimation of the meanes but only to driue mē to the endes aforesayd so by the Crosse miracles haue bene wrought not for the wods sake not for the metall but only for confirming of a fayth in Christ Thys fayth then let vs retain let the Crosse alone Exod. 4. Moses auoided the wrath of god escaped death by cutting of the foreskyn with a sharpe stone this is as much as Saint Martines signe wherby he auoyded the fall of a trée Shall now a sort of stones be brought into the Church and honored of vs Moses dyd sée the Angell of the Lorde ready to destroy hym bicause he dwelling in the lande of Midian neglected the circumcising of hys sonne and he that was a messanger of the God of Abraham had not in hys childe Circumcision
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