left Vnto which he addeth these words Remembre deare children that ye bring no Images into the Church neyther place them in the sléeping places of the sainctes but sée that continually ye earye aboute in your heart the Lorde Neyther yet let them be suffered in a common house For it is not lawefull for a Christian to be holden in suspense by his eyes but by the contemplation of his minde The same father also in many other of hys sermons hath declared many things touching the ouerthrow of Images which the studious séeking for shall easely finde Likewyse also Gregorie the diuine saith in his verses It is a thing most abhominable to beleue in colours and not in heart For that which is in colours is easyly washed away but suche thinges as are in the depth of the minde those lyke I well Iohn Chrisostome also teacheth thus we through writing enioye the presence of the Sainctes although that we haue not the Images of their bodyes but of their soules for those things which are spoken by them are Images of theire soules Basilius also the great saith that the chiefest thing seruing to the outfinding of truthe is the meditation of the Scriptures giuen vnto vs by diuine inspiration For in these not onely arguments of things are founde but also the written liues of holy men are printed vnto vs as certaine liuely Images and that through the polityke imitation of their workes according to God Also Athanasius the light of Alexandria sayde howe are they not to be lamented which worship creatures that those that sée yeld seruice to those which are blind those that heare do pray and besech those which are altogether deafe For the creature shall neuer be saued of a creature Lykewise Amphilochius byshop of Iconium thus sayth We accompt it a matter of no estimation to counterfet in tables wyth colours the bodyly countenaunces of the Sainctes bycause that of these we haue no nede But we ought rather to be mindefull of the pollicy of their vertues Agreable also herevnto doth Theodorê° bishop of Ancyra teach in these wordes We iudge it nothing séemely at all to make the formes and shapes of holy men wyth materiall coloures but it is requisit that we often repayre make fresh their vertues which by writings are deliuered vnto vs euen as though it were certayne lyuely Images For by these we may come to the zelous following of the like Let those tell vs which set vp the same Images what profyte they haue by them whether they haue any kinde of remembrance by such special kinde of beholding them But it is most apparaÌ„t that euery such thought is vayne and an inuention of diuelish deceyt Likewise also Eusebius Pamphili signified after this sort to Constantia the Empresse crauing of him to sende the Image of Christ vnto hir For as much as ye haue wrytten to me of the Image of Christ that I should send it vnto you I would you shoulde shewe me what thing you thinke the Image of Christ to be whether that same true and vnchaungeable creature bearing the markes of the deitie or that which he assumpted for oure sakes taking on him the shape of a seruaunte But as touching the picture of the deitie I iudge ye be not very carefull in asmuch as ye haue bene taught of him that none hath knowen the Father but the Sonne and that none hath worthyly knowen the Sonne but the Father which begatte him And after other thinges but ye altogether desire the Image of the seruauntes shape and of the flesh which he toke on him for our sake but we haue learned that this is coupled with the glory of the Godheade and that the same suffred dyed And a little after Who can therfore counterfet by dead insensible colours by vayne shadowing Paynters arte the bright shining glistering of such hys glory whereas his holy disciples were not able to beholde the same in the mountayne Who therefore falling on their faces acknowledged they were not able to beholde such a syght If therefore the shape of fleshe receyued suche power of the Godhead dwelling within the same what shall we then say when as it hath now putte of mortalitie washing away corruption and hath chaunged the shape of a seruaunt into the glory of the Lorde and God What shall we say now after hys victorie ouer death after his ascending into heauen after his sytting in the kingly throne on the right hande of his Father after reste in the not vtterable secretes of the Father into the which he ascending and sytting the heauenly powers those blessed ones wyth voyces together do crye Ye Princes lyft vp your gates ye heauenly gates be ye opened and the King of glorie shall enter in These fewe testimonies therefore of Scriptures and Fathers out of many we haue placed here in this our determination auoyding in déede multitude least the matter should be too prolixe and abstayning of purpose from the residue which be infinite that those which luste may themselues séeke them Being therefore throughly persuaded by these Scriptures inspired from God and by the iudgementes of the blessed Fathers staying our féete vpon the rocke of the worshippe of God in spirite we which are girded wyth the dignitie of the priesthode being of one minde and iudgement assembled together in one place doe wyth one voyce determine in the name of the holy supersubstantiall and quickning Trinitie that euery Image made by Paynters wicked arte of any kinde of matter is to be remoued forth of the Church of Christians as that which is straunge and abhominable Let no man froÌ„ this time forward of what state soeuer he be followe any such kinde of wicked vncleane custome Whosoeuer therfore froÌ„ this day forward shall presume to prepare for himself any image or to worship it either to set it in a Church or in any priuate house or else to kepe it secretely if he be a Byshoppe or a Deacon let him be deposed but if he be a priuate person or of the laye fée lette him be accursed and subiecte to the Emperiall decrées as one which withstandeth the commaundementes of God and kepeth not his doctrine Wherevpon the Councels determination so farre as concerneth this case ensueth thus Si quis non confessus fuerit Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum post assumptionem animatae rationalis intellectualis carnis simul sedere cum Deo patre atque ita quoque rursus venturum cum paterna maiestate iudicaturum viuos mortuos non amplius quidem carnem neque in corporeum tamen vt videatur ab ijs à quibus compunctus est maneat Deus extra crassitudinem carnis anathema Si quis diuinam Dei verbi secundum incarnationem figuram materialibus coloribus studuerit effigiare non ex toto corde oculis intellectualibus ipsum sedentem à dextris patris super solis splendorem lucentem in throno gloriae adorare anathema Si quis
the Papistes by their deuises doe or whether we by remouing al Images and consequently the Crosse to doe derogate from Christ and from his passion as they doe which hauing the materiall Crosse can not come to the knowledge and fayth of the crucified I confesse that I am more aspre in my writing than otherwise I woulde or modesty requireth But no such bitternesse is tasted in me as the beastlinesse of them with whome I haue to do deserueth Beare with mée therfore I beséeche you beare with a truth in plaine speeche vttered Bayarde hath forgot that hée is a Horse and therefore if I make the stumbling iades sydes to bléede blame mée not Impute not to malice impacience that which is grounded of hatred to the crime but loue to the persons which be toucht I hope by this meanes that seyng their own shame they will come to more honesty or hearing their owne euill doings surceasse at leaste wyse theire euill speaking They haue nothing so rife in their deprauing mouthes wherwithall to burden our ministerie in Englande as heaping togither all base occupations to shew Fol. 9. a. b. that the craftes men thereof be our preachers I wis I might aunswere iustify the same that as great a number of learned as euer were as auncient in standing and degrée as they supply the greatest roomes and places of most credite Wherefore they doe vs wrong to match the simplest of our syde with the best of theirs As for their famous writers Rascall Dorman Martiall Stapleton which now with such confidence make their challenges be knowen vnto vs what they are But they which at home be no more knowen than contemned as sone as euer they taste the good liquor of Louain they be great clarkes Bachelers of Diuinitie studentes of the same they must be magnified they muste be reuerenced as if Apollo sodainly had cast his cortayne about them But to graūt that the inferior sort of our ministers were such in déede as these men of spyte ymagine such as came from the shop from the forge from the whyrry from the loome should ye not think you finde more sincerity and learning in them than in al the rable of their Popish chaplens their massemongers their soulepriests I lament that ther are not so many good preachers as parishes I am sory that some to vnskilfull be preferred But I neuer saw that simple reader admitted in our church but in the time of Popery ye should haue found in euery diocesse forty six Iohns in euery respect worse I could exaggerate their case alike and proue it better how Bawdes Bastardes and beastly abused Boyes haue bene called to be Bishops among them Sorcerers Simoniakes Sodomites Pestilent Periured Poysoners haue bene aduaunced to be Popes among them Shal this derogate from their holy sée Yet none of oures of any calling or name amongst vs can of enuy it selfe be burdened with the like As for the Rascall of their religion what were they what are they Adulterous Blasphemous Couetous Desperate Extreme Folish Gluttons Harlots Ignoraunts and so go through the crosse rowe of letters and truly end it with Est Amen Therfore if they vrge vs any further with imperfectiō in our state thereby to bring vs into contempt and harred we wil descēd to particularities and detecte their filth to the whole worlde We are not deare Christians the men Folio 9. b that the aduersaries of the truth reporte vs we doe not leane to our owne wisedomes we preferre not our sayings before the decrées of auncient Fathers But after the aduise of the fathers themselues we preferre the Scriptures before mennes pleasures This may we do without offence I trust The Popes themselues haue permitted vs this Eleutherius the Pope writing to Lucius King of England sayd thus vnto him Petijstu a nobis leges Romanas Caesaris In the ancient recordes of London remayning in the Guild hall vobis transmitti quibus in regno Britanniae vti voluistis leges Romanas Caesaris semper reprobare posumus legem Dei nequaquam Suscepisti énim miseratione diuina in regnó Britanniae legem fidem Christi Habetis penes vos in regno vtranque paginam Ex illis per Dei gratiam per consilium regni vestri sume legem per illam Dei patientia vestrum rege Britanniae regnum Vicarius vero Dei esto in regno illo c. Ye haue required of vs to sende the Romane and Imperiall lawes vnto you to vse the same in your realme of England we maye alwayes reiecte the lawes of Rome and lawes of the Emperor but so can we not the lawe of God For ye haue receyued through the mercy of God the lawe and fayth of Christe into your kingdome You haue both the Testamentes in your realme Take out of them by the grace of God and aduise of your subiectes a lawe and by that lawe through Gods sufferaunce rule your realme But be you Gods Vicar in that kingdome And so forth If the Louanistes had but a mangled piece of suche a Presidente for the Pope as here is for euery Prince Lorde howe they would triumphe They would desiphre and by rethorique resolue euery letter of it But let that passe It is ynough for thys place to shewe the Popes owne decree that all mennes deuises be they neuer so worthied with the name of Fathers may iustly be repelled and ought to giue place to the lawe of God Wherefore if any of their owne imagination haue brought in any thing to Gods seruice not altogether consonant to the worde not we but the worde doth wipe it quite away Dist 11. cap. Consuetudinem For I thinke it méete according to the decretall taken out of Augustine Consuetudinem laudare quae tamen contra fidem Catholicam nihil vsurpare dinoscitur to prayse the custome whiche notwithstanding is knowen to vsurpe nothing against the catholique fayth If this fayth be retayned I wil not contende with any but the Fathers I will with all my heart reuerence The common place of our aduersaries is to exhorte the Prince and other to kepe the aunciente traditions of our Fathers And I beséech them wyth al my heart that they will defende and mayntayne those thinges which they receyued according to truthe If tyranny of men hath brought in any thing agaynst the Gospell let not the name of Fathers and vaine opinion of antiquitie bereue vs of the sacred and euerlastyng veritie What greater follie can there be than this to measure Gods matters with the deceitfull rule of mannes discretion where the pleasure of God reuealed in his word should only direct vs They that pleade at the barre in ciuile causes will not be ruled ouer by examples but by law Demosthenes sayd very well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is not méete that things should be ordered as otherwise they haue often bene Much lesse should Gods wysedome be sette to schoole vnto mannes folly
he doth call it Stolidam arrogantem Synodum A doltish and a proude Synode And the decrée there made touching the adoratiō of Images which you M. Martiall do teach so stoutly Impudentissimam traditionem A most impudent and shamelesse tradition I refer you to the foure bokes of Carolus in which at large is set forth not only the vanity of those reuerend Asses which went about to establish Images but also the effect of the Councel of Frankford not vtterly abolishing which was their imperfection but playnly condemning the adoration and worship of them But in this case where Councell is agaynst Councell and necessary it is that one of them be deceyued which must we trust to I knowe that the latter age hath receyued the worse the seauenth of Nice But we must not follow the authoritie of men were they neuer so many but the directiō of God his spirit truth reuealed in his holy word What moued the faythfull to refuse the second of Ephesus willingly embrace the Councell of Chalcedon but that examining their decrées by Scripture they founde Eutiches heresie confirmed in the one which the other condemned So when the manifeste worde of God shall try where the spirite of God doth rest there must the credite there onely be giuen And to the ende that al readers hereof may vnderstand and sée what vanity there was in the Prelats of Nicene Coūcell what more than vanity is in the magnifiers of so mad a cōpany I wil set forth the allegations of the Image worshippers and the confutation which the seruantes of God made that euery man thereby may iudge so as the spirit of God shall leade him Car. Mag. Li. 1. Cap. 20. To. 2. Cō Concil Nice 2. and as himself shal sée good cause Fyrst of al their generall position was That the Images of Christ the virgin Mary other Saincts were sacred and holy therfore to be worshipped Hereto the Synode answered That the Antecedent the former proposition was false in as much as they are neyther holy in respecte of the matter wherof they be made nor of the colours that be layd vpon them nor yet for any imposition of hands nor by any canonical consecratiō Therfore they be not at al holy much lesse therfore to be worshipped Thē noble Iohn the legate of the Esterlings brought forth another reason God made man after his owne Image likenesse therfore Images are to be worshipped Hereto the catholikes iustly replied that he made a false argument Abignoratione Elenchi by applying that to Imageworshipping which made nothing at all to purpose For both out of Ambrose Augustine they proued that man is called the Image of God not for his externe shape which Images wel ynough may represent but for the inwarde man the minde the reason the vnderstanding vertues consonant to the wyll of God For Ambrose sayth Quod secundum Imaginem est In Psal 118. Ser. 10. non est in corpore nec in materia sed in anima rationabili That which is according to the Image of God is not in the body nor in the matter but in the reasonable soule Likewise Augustine Accedit vtcunque anima humana interior In Psal 99. homò recreatus ad Imaginem Dei qui creatus est ad Imaginem Dei The inwarde soule of man the newe borne man which is made after the Image of God commeth after a sorte néere vnto God his Image But that wheresoeuer a similitude and lykenesse is spoken of there is also an Image to be meant Octog triū quest ca. 74 Augustine disproueth Vbi similitudo non continuo Imago non continuo aequalitas c. Where a similitude or lyknesse is not by and by an Image not by and by equalitie So that the folly of him was great to abuse the scripture to so impertinent a purpose But the Nice masters procéede and say That as Abraham worshipped the sonnes of Heth Gen. 25. Exod. 18. Moses Iethro the priest of Madian so must Images be worshipped of men Hereto the Councell as Charles the president thereof affirmeth answered Dementissimū est Lib. 1. Cap. 9. ab omni ratione seclusum hoc ad astruendā Imaginā adoratione in exemplū trabere quod Abrahā populum terre Moses Iethro sacerdotē Madiā leguntur adorasse It is a thing of most madnesse and vtterly seuered from all reason to bring for example to confirmation of Imageworshipping that Abraham is red to haue worshipped the people of the earth and Moses Iethro the priest of Madian The Sainctes of God in token of their obedience and humilitie sometime haue bowed themselues haue shewed some piece of curtesie to such as pleased them and had authoritie in the earth But what is this for the honour done to a deade stocke Why is this example made to be general extending to all both quicke and deade both good and badde where as the Sainctes themselues sometyme abhorred this worshippe to be gyuen them sometime refused to giue it vnto other Imagines verò nusquam nec tenuiter quidem adorare conati sunt But as for Images they neuer attēpted in any place or in any so slender wise to worshippe them De Doctri Christ Li. 1. Cap. 1. Let them learne of Augustine that Abraham and Moses doing as they did were examples of humilitie not paternes of impietie Let them learne that there is no lesse diuersity betwene the worshipping of an Image and worshipping of a man than is betwene a lyuing man and a man paynted vpon the wall Let them learne howe loue reuerence and charitie towardes men is in the Scripture commaunded ofte The bowing the knéeling the seruice to an Image is in euery place forbydden and accursed The Papistes figure to make the Scripture serue their purpose But a familiar figure the Papists haue to make the Scripture to serue their faustes Acyrologiam which you may call Abusion Impropre speaches As where so euer in the Hebrewe texte they reade any worde that betokeneth Bowing Saluting Blessing they doe full wisely tourne it vvorshipping And is this honeste and vpright dealing Yet howe they dally on this sorte both with the worlde and with the worde of God the nexte allegation of theirs declareth Iacob suscipiens à filijs suis vestem talarem Ioseph Carol. Mag. de Ima li. 1. ca. 12. osculatus est eam cum lachrimis imposuit oculis suis Ergo. c. Which wordes in english according to their translation be these Iacob receyuing of his sonnes Ioseph his long garmente he kyssed it and wyth teares layde it vpon his eyes And therefore Images are to be worshipped And is not this a reason that might haue bene fette out of a Christmas pye Wil any man hereafter finde fault wyth Papists deprauing of the Scripture since they take thē leaue to make what Scripture they lyst Where finde they this texte in all the Bible that Iacob kyssed his sonnes
AN AVNSWERE TO THE TREATISE OF THE CROSSE wherin ye shal see by the plaine and vndoubted word of God the vanities of men disproued by the true and Godly Fathers of the Church the dreames and dotages of other controlled and by lavvfull Counsels conspiracies ouerthrowen Reade and Regarde Si quis diuersam sequitur doctrinam non acquiescit sanis sermonibus Iesu Christi et ei quae secundum pietatem est doctrinae is inflatus est nihil scit Paulê° 1. ad Tim. 6. If any man teach otherwyse and agreeth not to the holesome wordes of Iesus Christ to the doctrine which is according to Godlinesse he is puft vp knoweth nothing IMPRINTED AT LONdon by Henry Denham for Lucas Harryson Anno. 1565. To Iohn Martiall student in Diuinitie Iames Calfhill Bacheler of the same vvisheth the spirit of Truthe and modestie wyth increase of knowledge in the feare of God IT is not very long agoe since the famous report of your Martial affairs came vnto mine eares and treatise of defence vnto my handes In deede as a yong scholler for so ye say ye are and I by your vvorkmanship may vvell coÌ„iecture ye haue sayd for the Crosse so far as your skyl doth serue you or as the honestie of the cause deserueth I suppose it had bene more honesty for you and vvould haue furthered your purpose better if eyther your vveakenesse had vvrestled at the first on a better grouÌ„d or so vveak a cause had got some sturdier champion to defend it Novve that you fight more egerly than vvisely in a Crosse quarrell ye lie so open to be crossebytten that the cause it selfe and your poore credit go to the ground together For though ye vse to face men vvithal such termes and titles of estimacion as rather of some be gotten by continuaunce than giuen by desert as Bacheler of Lavve and student in Diuinitie yet if ye had ioyned more Logique vvith your Lavve your reasons should not haue runne so lavvlesse as they do or if you had remembred your olde humanitie you vvould not haue stayned your nevve diuinitie vvith such slaunders and lies such vaine supposals and idle tales as I am ashamed to heare of any that challengeth to himselfe the name of learning But mans lavve striketh so great a stroke vvith you that Goddes rule coÌ„science is excluded from you and being so depe in your popish diuinitie you haue forgotten al christian humanitie VVherefore the censure of S. Paul vvhich in the beginning I vsed as my vvorde may iustly be applied to you that in asmuch as ye giue no eare to the sounde doctrine 1. Tim. 6. nor coÌ„tent your self vvith that religion vvhich accordeth to pietie ye are but puft vp vvith vaine glorie ye seeke for praise of men vvhich of the vviser sorte ye shall neuer purchas Hovv vvell your poesy serueth against vs vvhom you vvold seeme to touch vvhen the Apostle inueyed against the enimies of the crosse of Christ vvhich you are and not vve shal aftervvarde be seene in the discourse But among you the vvilful vvanderers of one affection of one bringing vp the saying is verified vvhich Horace hath Horatius in Arte Poetica Scribimus indocti doctique PoeÌ„mata passim First came into our stage a gaye disguised gest a sodaine conuert and I feare me greatly least an Apostata M. Doctor Harding he bicause he is right vvorshipfull M. Doctor and hath othervvise some opinion of learning vvordes in deede at vvil he must needes be thought to say something But hovv this somthing in effect is nothing the Byshop of Salisburie aboundantly doth proue Next to the Master came the vvorthy Scholer and yet vvorthy Man he gaue but a Dor. VVe doe easly see in vvhose forge he vvas framed he sauours of the fier that flevve out before and yet neither of them both for all their heate of railing hath any vvarmth of religion His proues I passe to the reproufe published abrode already Onely I am sory M. Novvell had not a more learned aduersarie Then commes in M. Rastal and puts in his Reioynder All againste M. Ievvell Alas I pitie the poore soule he maketh his match so farre amisse Dares Entellum Nay Hinnului Leonem Yet he saith that he vvil but fight vvith a Penknife He vvill ouerthrovv vvith a breath if he can O noble courage He leaueth the bloudy launces and terrible halbardes for Hardy Harding and Doughty Dorman he himself vvil come after and blovve his enimies afore him If I should deale vvith this daungerous bugge I vvould for all that prouide my selfe of a longer svvorde for belike he hath a very strong breath and yet vvith a Bodkin he may be borne ouer I vvill not touch this proud pecockes taile I vvill leaue it at leasure to be pulled of an other To make vp the messe steps out M. Stapleton he vvil not stand by and be but a looker on hauing therefore neuer a vveapoÌ„ of his ovvne he runs to a Ruffian and borrovves his svvord He hath put on a nevv scabbard on it he hath varnished the hiltes The blade it self is al to be hackt It hath bene already in so many frayes and borne avvay so many blovves that it is novve scarcely able to scratch This yong man therefore vvil sight vvith the scabberde But if a man giue him a drie blovv or tvvo as for his vvilfulnesse he vvell deserueth vve shal see hereafter vvhat fence he hath for it There is none of all these but may vvith more ease make .xv. suche bookes as they cuÌ„ber the Printers of Antvverp vvithal than ansvvere xv leaues of sound doctrine The parties be knovven their skil their qualities vve are God vvote to vvell acquainted vvith to be novv abused by Dogs eloquence If your causes vvere better as vvorse they can not be forsoth you should finde of your olde acquaintance ynovve to match you and vnlesse ye vvere sounder to shame you to This aduauntage ye haue God be thancked for it that ye haue nothing else to do but coÌ„mit to vvriting your pieuish fansies and send them into England to set vs a vvorke vvithal VVe our selues are occupied othervvise as freÌ„ds to the flock of christ vvhich vve haue in charge thaÌ„ that vve can or vvill atteÌ„pre our doings to the levvd desert of our contemned enimies or mispende our time in ansvvering of that vvhich in the eares of al indifferent carieth a sufficient confutacion vvith it Notvvithstanding least some more simple than other may be deceued by you and you your selues be fooded in your folly through to much forbearing and silence of ours vve haue humbled oure selues beneath the honestie of our cause vve haue for charities sake vouchsaued to say more than the cause requireth or all the colledge of your coÌ„spiracy can vvith good reason ansvvere As for you good sir vvhich only come to make vp a number and seme to do something choosing to entreate of a plausible matter as your discretion doth
had bene abused by them yet in that terrible Interraigne of Antichrist a Pilgrimage in Wales was straight erected Faire fruite followed Much resort vnto it neuer any of the learned fathers opened once his mouth against it Such is the trust to men So ready and apt we are to followe as the Prophet sayth as I did alleage before the abhominations of our owne eies attempering Gods seruice vnto our outward senses Whereby it commes to passe as Lactantius doth say vt Relligio nulla sit De fal Rel 1.2 Cap. 19. vbi simulachrum est that no Relligion is there where an Image is And since to come néere to our present purpose Crosses in market places and not in Churches are as by good proufe we finde great stumbling stones not onely to the simple but also to such as wil séeme to be wyser impossible me think it is a Crosse to be erected in place of Gods seruice and him that hanged on the Crosse to be honored as he ought For the minde is rapt from heauenly consideration to the earthly creature from the soule to the substance from the heart to the eye Cause we can assigne none other but as the same Lactantius doth say Esse aliquam peruersam potestatē De fal Rel. li. 2. Cap. 1. qua veritatis sit semper inimica quae humanis erroribus gaudeat cui vnicum ac perpetuum sit opus offundere tenebras hominum caecare mentes ne lucem videant ne denique in caelum aspiciant ac naturā corporis sui seruent There is a certaine peruerse power which alwayes is enimie vnto the truth which taketh pleasure in mans error whose only and continuall work it is to ouercast cloudes and mistes of darkenesse to blinde the mindes of men that they sée not the light that they loke not vp into heauen and kepe the nature of their owne body For where as other liuing creatures in that they haue not receiued wit and reason bende groueling to the grounde but we haue an vpright state a countenaunce aloft from God our maker giuē vs it appeareth that the religion and seruice of God accordeth not vnto mens reason which bends and bowes the heauenly creature to worship to knéele to knocke to the earthly God would haue vs to loke vpon the heauens to séeke for our religion there in that place which is the seate of his glory to beholde him in heart whome with our eye we can neuer sée And is not this an extreme folly yea a mere madnesse to aduaunce the metal which is but corruptible to abase the minde which is eterne where as the shape and proportion of oure bodies doe teache vs no lesse but that our mindes should be lifted thither whetherward ye sée our heads erected yet hath our enimy so enchaunted vs that we haue for his sake forsaken our frend forgotten God and our selues to But he hath not done this at once and altogether by a lyttle and a lyttle he hath crept in vpon vs til at the length he hath wholly possessed vs. At the firste Images among Christen men were only kept in priuate houses paynted or grauen in story wise which had some meaning and signification in thē Afterward they crept into the Church by a zeale not according to knowledge as by Paulinus at Nola yet nothing lesse was meant than worship of them So that at the firste they séemed in some respecte to be tollerable as meanes to excite men to thankfulnesse and deuotion vntil the Diuel shewed himselfe in his likenesse and turned the glory of the immortall God to the seruice of a vile and earthly creature Yet if we had not séene that effect follow which in dede we haue to lamentably to the desperate destruction of many christen soules we might notwithstanding iustly condemne the whole faithlesse and fond inuention For it was but a wilworship a naughty seruice hauing no ground of the worde of God and onely spring of error and Gentilitie For according to the cōmaundement of the Almighty Deut. 12. Euery man must not do vvhat soeuer seemeth good in his ovvn eyes VVhat soeuer God hath cōmaunded vs vve must take heede to it neyther adding any thing vnto it nor taking any thing avvay from it Lykewise the Prophet Ieremie Ierem. 23. doth aduise vs Not to hearken to them that speake the vision of their ovvne heart and not out of the mouth of the Lorde For vvhat is chaffe to vvheate And the Apostle to the same effect Rom. 14. VVhat soeuer is not of faith is sinne faith is by hearing and hearing by the vvord of God Wherefore Tertullian doth well affirme quod nobis nihil licet de nostro arbitrio indulgere De pres aduers Heret sed nec eligere quod aliquis de arbitrio suo induxerit Apostolos domini habemus authores qui nec ipsi quidque de suo arbitrio quod inducerent elegerunt sed acceptam a Christo disciplinam fideliter nationibus assignarunt That it is not lawfull for vs to flatter our selues with any thing of our own iudgement and discretion nor to chose that which any man hath brought in of hys owne head we haue the paterne of the Apostles for vs which toke nothing to bring in after their own pleasure but faythfully assigned to the nations the doctrine that they had receiued of Christ Ciprian also Cecilio fratri Epis 6 8. Non hominis consuetudinem sequi oportet sed Dei veritatem cum per Esaiam Prophetam Deus loquatur dicat Sine causa autem colunt me mandata et doctrinas hominum docentes Et iterum Dominus in Euangelio hoc idem repetat dicens Reijcitis mandatum Dei vt traditionem vestram statuatis We muste not followe the custome of man but the truth of God in asmuch as he speaketh by his Prophet Esay and sayth They honor me in vayne teaching the doctrines and preceptes of men And agayne in the Gospel Christ himselfe repeateth the same saying Ye refuse the commaundement of God to establish your owne tradition And learned Austin doth teache vs no lesse wryting on this sorte Extat authoritas diuinarum Scripturarum De Trinita lib. 3. Cap. 11. vnde mens nostra deuiare non debet nec relicto solidamento diuini eloquij per suspicionum suarum abrupta praecipitari vbi nec sensus corporis regit nec perspicua ratio veritatis elucet There is extant wyth vs the authoritie of holy Scripture from the whiche our minde oughte not to swarue nor leauing the substantiall ground of Gods word runne hedlong on the perilles of our owne surmises where we neyther haue sense of body to rule vs nor apparant reason of truth to directe vs. Wherefore syth the scripture hath taught and Fathers confirmed that onely God is sufficient scholemaster and his worde prescribeth vs one certayne order Eche man by preaching to be instructed in the truthe What should we runne to
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
be made betwene the assertions and mindes of men were they eyther Hillarie Ciprian Agrippine or any other and canon of the Scripture Non enim sic leguntur he sayth tanquam ita ex eis testimonium proferatur vt contra sentire non liceat Concio ad Adolesc sicubi forte aliter sapuerint quam veritas postulat In eo quippe numero sumus vt non dedignemur etiā nobis dictū ab Apostolo accipere Et si quid aliter sapitis id quoque deus vobis reuelabit For they are not so red as if a testimonie might be brought forth of them which it were not lawefull for any man to gaynesay if peraduenture they thought otherwise than the truth requireth For we are in the number of them that disdayne not to take this saying of the Apostle to vs If any of you be otherwise minded God shall reueale the same vnto you Wherefore with what iudgement the fathers of the church ought to be redde Basile setteth forth by a propre similitude Iuxta totum apium similitudinem orationum participes nos fieri conuenit Illae enim neque ad omnes flores consimiliter accedunt neque etiam eos ad quos volant totos auferre tentant sed quantū ipsis ad mellis opificiū commodū est accipientes reliquū valere sinunt Et nos sanè si sapiamus quantum sincerum est veritati cognatum ab ipsis adepti quod reliquum est transiliemus We must be partakers of other mennes sayings wholly after maner of the Bées for they flée not alike vnto all flowers nor where they syt they crop them quite away but snatching so much as shall suffise for their hony making take their leaue of the rest Euen so we if we be wise hauing got of other so much as is sound and agreable to truth wil leape ouer the rest Which rule if we kepe in reading and alleaging the fathers words we shall not swarue from our profession the scripture shall haue the soueraine place and yet the Doctours of the Church shall lose no parte of their due estimation None of the Fathers but haue erred There is not any of them that the world both most wonder at but haue had their affections nor I thinke that you aduersaries to vs and to the truth will in euery respecte admitte all that any one of the fathers wrote My selfe were able from the very first after the Apostles time to runne them ouer all and straightly examining their words and assertions finde imperfections in all But I would be loth by discrediting of other to séeme that I sought some prayse of skil or else be likened to Cham Noahs sōne that seing the nakednesse of the fathers Gen. 21. wil in contēpt vtter it But bycause in ceremonies and obseruances wherein they scant agreing with themselues euery one discording from other declined all from simplicity of the Gospell we are onely burdened with the name of fathers giue vs leaue somtime to vse a Regestion let vs haue the liberty toward other which Hierome graunteth against himselfe saying Certe vbicunque Scripturas non interpretor In Apo. pro lib. contra Iouin To. 2. liberè de meo sensu loquor arguat me cui lubet Truely whersoeuer I expound not the scriptures but freely speak of mine own sense let any man that lyst reproue me Not that I wil giue so large raynes to the headdinesse of some whiche either of affection or of singularity wil néedes dissent but that I wil not exempte any from their iuste defence Ioan. 4. from triall of the spirits whether they are of God We must followe the example of them of Berrhea which trusted not to Paule himselfe but searched the scriptures whether they were so Tvvo Iudges of cōtrouersies the vvorde and the spirite But where as this precept is generall all men to iudge all men to try what doctrine they receyue this iudgement and trial to be had by the word is somewhat in dede but yet not all that may be sayde in the matter I graunt the Scripture to be a good Iudge in deede But vnlesse the spirite of wisedome and knoweledge doe lighten our wyttes and vnderstanding it shal auayle vs little or nothing to haue at hand the worde of God whereof we knowe not the sense and meaning Golde is tryed by the touchstone and metalles in the fier yet onely of suche as are experte in the facultie For neyther the touchstone nor yet the fier can any thing further the ignoraunte and vnskilfull Wherefore to be méete and conuenient men to iudge of a truthe when we do reade or heare it by the holy Ghost we must be directed In this behalfe although I knowe that the giftes of God haue their degrées yet dare I say that none is vtterly so voide of grace It is possible to trie a truthe but hath so much conferred on him as shal be expedient for his owne behoofe vnlesse he be vtterly as a rotten member cut of from Christ Vaine it were to commaūd a thing that lies not in vs and vs to deny the possibillitie when we haue a promise of a thing that shall be doth argue our inconstancy and mysbelief Wherefore syth Christ and his Apostles saye often times Videte Cauete Probate which wordes be spoken in the commaunding mode byd vs Sée Beware and Proue I must néedes conclude that we shal not be destitute of the spirit of God so farre as shal be most néedefull for vs if we doe aske the same by fayth And whereas Christ doth affirme that we shal knowe 1. Ioan. 4. And S. Iohn in his epistle doth assure vs that 〈◊〉 doe knowe Spiritum veritatis Spiritum erroris the Spirit of veritie and Spirit of error we must acknowledge and confesse that the truth is not hidde from vs further than we lyst to shut it vp from our selues But here ariseth doubtfull case If euery man shall haue authoritie to giue his verdit vpon a controuersie Tvvo kindes of examination of doctrine Priuate which shall séeme and say that he hath the spirit no certain thing shal be decréed euery man shal haue his own way no stable opinion and iudgement to be rested on Hereto I aunswere againe that there be two kindes of examination of doctrine one priuate another publique Priuate wherby eche man doth settle his owne fayth to staye continually vppon one doctrine which he knoweth stedfastly to haue procéeded from God For consciences shall neuer haue any sure porte or refuge to runne vnto but only God He when he is called vpon will heare our prayers when he is desired wil graunt vs his spirit But he hath prescribed vs a way before hand to attayne the same if we bring vnder all senses of ours vnto his word Ioan. 8. Si patrem habetis Deum quomodo non agnoscitis loquelam meam If ye haue God to your father saith Christ how falleth it
out that ye do not vnderstand my talke Oues mea cognoscunt vocem meam non sequuntur alienum My shéepe sayth he knowe my voyce and followe no straunger Nor doubt it is but by the instinct of the holy Ghost we be made his shéepe which will not hearken to errors and heresies which are the voyces of straungers but followe the voyce of our master Christ which in the Scripture is crying to vs. If these reasons and allegations may not preuayle with some to driue them to a sure and safe ankerholde in Christ let them runne and they lyste Publique to the other kinde of examination of doctrine which is the cōmon consent of the Church For syth it is to be feared greately least their arise some phrenetike persons which will bragge and boast as well as the best that they be Prophetes they be endued with the spirt of truth and yet wil leade men into all errors this remedy is very necessary the faythfull to assemble themselues together and seke an vnitie of fayth godlynesse But when we haue runne as farre as we can The scriptures laste refuge we can goe no further than to the wall we must reuolte to the former principles and trye by the Scriptures which is the Church Wherfore in controuersies of our Religion if mennes deuises were lesse estéemed and the simple order of Gods wisedome followed lesse daunger fewer quarrels should arise amongst vs more truth more sinceritie should be retayned of vs. And to this ende I coulde haue wyshed that you M. Martiall should haue learned firste to frame your owne conscience according to the worde then haue ascribed suche authoritie thereto that we néeded not forsaking the fountaine to follow the infected streames nor hauing the vse of swéete sufficient corne féede vpon acornes still But I would that had bene the most fault of yours to haue attributed much vnto the fathers had not otherwise of malice wrested them and of mere ignoraunce sometime corrupted them The Scripture which in the title of your boke hath the first place in the rest of the discourse hath very little or no place at al and vnder name of Fathers and antiquitie fables and follies of newefangled men are obtruded to vs. To come to the instants Folio 18. First ye bring forth the significations of Crosse in Scripture Ye muster your men whose aide ye will vse in this sory skirmish And although they be very fewe yet ye number one moe than ye haue and like a couetous captaine wyll néedes indent for a dead pay Ye say that the scripture hath preferred to your bande .4 Souldiours Folio 24. The Crosse of affliction The passion of Christ The Crosse that he died on And the materiall or mysticall signe of the Crosse Material to be erected in the church Mystical to be made vvith the finger in some partes of the body These be not many ye wote ye might haue kept tale of them But the first and the second as the word of God commendeth in dede and be most necessary for our saluation so wil you not deale withall they be to cumbersome for your company the thirde ye confusely speake of of which notwithstanding small commendation in the Scripture is founde The fourth which ought to strike the greatest stroke is not extant at all For neyther the material nor mistical Crosse in that sense that ye take them to that ende that ye apply them be once mencioned in the worde of God Wherefore ye might blotte out of your boke Scripture and take to your selfe some other succours or fight with a shadowe I néeded not to trouble my selfe about your third Crosse which is the piece of wood wherevppon Christ died both for bycause we haue it not and also you your self do not take it incident into your purpose to treate of Yet bicause ye make many gloses theron and apply to the signe the vertue propre to the thing it self it is not amisse to examine your folly First ye cite a place of Chrisostome Folio 13.2 ex Demonstratione ad Gentiles and for .3 leaues together although ye do not tell vs so much ye write an other mans wordes as your owne to prayse your pregnante wit But ye patch them and piece them ilfauoredly whatso euer séemes to make against you ye leaue out fraudulētly This is no playne or honest dealing In dede Chrisostome stoppeth many a gappe with you The comfort of your Crosse doth most rest in Chrisostome Chrisostome But Chrisostome was not without his faultes His golden mouth wherein he passed other sometime had leaden words which yelded to the error abuse of other I am not ignorant that in his dayes many euill customes were crept into the Church which in his works he reproueth not He praiseth such as went to the sepulchres of Sainctes He maketh mention of prayer To. 4 ad pop 66. In. 1. Cor. 16. Hom. 41. for the deade Monkerie he cōmendeth aboue the Moone In his tract of Penaunce beside many other absurdities when he had rehearsed many wayes to obtayne remission of sinnes as Almes Weping Fasting and such other he maketh no mention at all of fayth In his cōmentaries vpon Paul he sayth that Concupiscence vnlesse it bring forth the externe worke is no sinne Wherefore if he had sayde so much for the Crosse as ye misconster and more than accordeth with the glory of Christ I might lappe it vp with other of his errours and hauing the Scripture for me Chrisostome should be no president against me But I will not goe this way to worke I admit his authoritie but marke M. Martiall what his meaning is In the place that ye alleage for the Crosse he dealt with the Gentiles The marke that he shot at was to proue to them Quod Christus Deus esset that Christ was God as in the title appeareth Now bicause this punishment to be hanged on the gallowes was maruellous offensiue vnto the heathen nor they could thinke him to be a God the was executed with so vile a death Chrisostome therfore goeth as far in the contrary prouing that that which was a token of curse was now become the signe of saluatiō And bycause that they spake so much shame of the Crosse derogating therfore from him that was crucified the Christians to testifie by their outward facte their inward profession would make in euery place the signe therof This was the occasion that the mysticall Crosse crepte into custome But here is no place to entreate of that though you taking styll Non causam pro causa that which is impertinente for proufe of your matter confounde the same Notwithstanding Things vvel receued il cōtinued howe thinges receyued to good purpose as to the iudgement of man séemeth may afterward growe to abuse this signe of the Crosse sheweth That which was at the first a testimony of Christianitie came to be made a Magical enchauntment That which
that to your purpose What a consecution is this M. Martiall The Crucifixe is prefigured in Moses in the Prophetes and in the time of Christ Therefore no remedye but a Crucifixe must be had in the Church borne in procession and crept vnto on good Friday Then let me reason with you The treason of Iudas was foretolde by Prophecie Psal 108. Fiant dies eius pauci Episcopatum eius accipiat alter Let his dayes be shorte sayth Dauid and let another occupie his rome which to be vndestode of Iudas the Actes of the Apostles proue And in the tyme of grace there was no lesse foreshewed Ioan. 6. when Christ said Vnus ex vobis diabolus est One of you is a Deuil Ergo we muste reuerence the treason of Iudas yea some signe therof we must haue amongst vs. In psal 108. The maner of his death was also prefigured as Augustine affirmeth howe his belly should burst and he desperatelie die Therfore let vs haue one holyday of betraying another of bursting For if prefiguring in law of nature denouncing by the Prophetes foreshewing from Heauen in tyme of grace be able to enforce the necessary vse and estimation of any thing then why should not this and many other plagues of God be honored aswel as the signe of the Crosse Wherfore I wyll breiflyrunne ouer your authors and note by the way sometime how fondly ye applie them When men from a certaine reueled truth will runne to their owne fantasies and deuises no maruell if sometime they ouer shoote them selues and when they leaue the histories of the Scripture and séeke for Allegories more than néede they bréede oftentymes obscuritie and bring men in doubte further than before Yet I denye not but as Augustine sayth De Ciuitate dei Libro 13. Cap. 21. Gallath 4 1. Cori. 10. there may be a spirituall vnderstanding beside a sense litterall Otherwise the Apostle did not well in figuring the twoo Testamentes by the twoo Children one of the bonde woman an other of the frée Nor we coulde admitte his exposition of Moses Rocke to be Christ him selfe But in this case where euery man is lead by his owne sense his exposition is moste to be alowed who speaketh moste according to pietie Damascene Damascene doth resemble the trée of Lyfe in Paradise Folio 25. to the Crosse And as in one sense I condemne it not so in another I like it not for I sée that you be deceiued by it He shewyng howe Christ as a good Phisitian did cure by contraries made as it were oure lyfe to spring out of his death and therefore compared the tree of lyfe to the passion But the wordes that are inferred sauour not of the Scripture for ye saye Seing Death came in by the tree it vvas conueniente that Lyfe and Resurrection should be giuen agayne by a tree Paule speaketh otherwise Per vnum hominem intrauit mors per hominem resurrectio 1. Cor. 15. By one man sinne entred in and by one man resurrection Not by one trée though one death vpon a tree was a meane thereof Augustine in diuers places maketh the trée of life to be the wisdome of God as in his seconde booke de Gen. contra Manich. Cap. 9. And in his thyrtenth booke de Ciuitate Dei Ca. 21. Lykewyse as often he doth resemble it to Christ himselfe As in hys first boke and fiftenth Chapter contra aduersarios legis Proph. speaking of Paradise where Christ and the Théefe should méete sayth Esse ibi cū Christo est ibi esse cum vitae ligno To be there wyth Christ is to be there wyth the trée of life And whereas Cassiodore vpon the first Psalme doth refer the trée planted by the riuer syde vnto the Crosse that bare Christ howe much better Augustine on the same place expounds it of Christ himselfe Qui de aquis decurrentibus id est populis peccatoribus trahit eos in radice disciplinae suae Which of the running waters that is to say the sinfull people draweth men vnto him in the roote of his discipline For whereas Christ is the wisedome of the Father this exposition is consonant vnto Scripture which of that wisedome sayth Lignū vitae est amplectentibus eam She is the trée of life to them that lay holde on hir But if the woode of the Crosse be worthyly called The tree of life Folio 25. b. bicause our Lord Christ vvho is our life vvas hanged there why should not the Asse be the beast of life bicause our Lord Christ who is our life did ride vpon hir Ye will say peraduenture that the Asse was no instrument for his death but for his kingdome she was And why not the instrument of his kingdome as well as of hys priesthode be honored of vs I say it to this ende that if ye thinke the fathers of the Church speaking of the Crosse to be vnderstode so grosly as ye take them many fonde absurdities shal arise thereof They meant of the death of Christ that which you attribute to the materiall Crosse They by a figure did ascribe to the signe that which is propre to the signified thing I omit some authorities that you do alleage bycause they neyther doe make for you nor agaynste me Cyrillus sayth Folio 26. a. The holy Crosse brought vs vp to heauen And that the Crosse is that Arke of Noah by vvhich vve are saued from the floud of the vvater of sinne ouerflovving vs. c. I think there is none so senslesse as your selfe but consters his words otherwise than you To easy God wote is that way to heauen whereto we may be caried a pickbacke on a Roode To sone shal we fal from state of our felicitie if a rotten piece of woode or cancred metall must support vs in it To dreadful shall this drowning in our sinnes be if no better arke than of a Crosse material shal preserue vs from it Let the Doctors dally in figures as they fansy let vs not depart from the verity of the word If they speake one thing and meane another let vs take their meaning and let their wordes alone Great difference there is when a doctrine is playnely taught and when they descant vpon a texte Folio 26. b. Folio 27. a. Wherfore the standard of Abraham according to Ambrose The wood of the sacrifice according to Cyrill The blessing of Iacob atcording to Damascene The rod of Aaron according to Origen by which all is sayd the Crosse was prefigured I wittingly omit For what if a thousand things else were as men ymagined figures of a Crosse in which case a mannes inuention might haue scope ynough and finde in the scripture many moe such figures than they haue spoken of shall this bring such authority to the Crosse which is the thing that you do shoote at that the signe of the Crosse shall be in all places set vp and honored Folio 28. The
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
so much in trauaile as he was to doe as he did was a miracle of it selfe For if ye credit his owne writings he was at saint Andrewes death in Achaia For in his life he saythe Lib. 3. circa finem Diutissimè dominum clarificans gaudens nobis flētibus reddidit spiritum He long gloriefyng the Lorde and reioycing while we were wéeping gaue vp the ghost Wherevpon the marginall note hath Ex hoc apparet Abdiam huius historiae authorē passioni interfuisse It appereth by thys that Abdias the author of this history was present at the passion Likewyse he was with Thomas in India where he was a witnesse of all hys doings For speaking of a miracle shewed in prison he saith Serui dei dormire non poterant quos sic Christus excitabat Lib. 9. neque patiebatur nos somno dimergi The seruants of God could not sléepe whome Christ had raysed so nor suffred vs to be drowned in slepe Then if that Nominatiue case plurall vs includeth him that tolde the tale Abdias then was also there Beside this he was at the death of sainct Iohn in Ephesus for he sayth Lib. 5. Gaudebamus quod tantam cernebamus gratiā dolebamus quod tanti viri aspectu presentiae spetie defraudebamur We reioyced for that we sawe so great grace we sorrowed that we were bereued of the sight and presence of so great a personage And there is noted in the margent Et hoc argumentum est Abdiam interfuisse morti Iohannis And this is a proofe that Abdias was at the death of Iohn Notwithstanding all this he went out of Iewry wyth Simon and Iude into Persia Lib. 6. There as he witnesseth of himself He was present at al their doings was made Bishop of Babilon by them For thus he writeth Ordinauere autem Apostoli in ciuitate Babylonis episcopum nomine Abdiam qui cum ipsis venerat à Iudaea The Apostles apointed byshop in the city of Babilon one whose name was Abdyas which came from Iewry with them Now I besech you howe is it possible that he whiche immediatly came oute of Iewry had hys charge in Babilon should be at one tyme as it were in so dyuers and so farre distante partes of the world In Achaia in India in Ephesus in Persia and if we gyue credit to historiographers also in Scythia For as touching Andrevv Lib. 3. cap. 1. at whose martirdom he affirmes he was Eusebius out of Origen and Sophronius as we rede in Ptolome Lib. 2. ca. 39. li. 3. ca. 1. Ennead 7. lib. 4. and Nicephorus do al wytnesse that he went into the coast of Scythia farre distante from Grecia And as for hys death Sabellicus doth say that he suffered in Scythia Then eyther was your author a lyer or a leude byshop to forsake hys charge and be such a lādleaper But a lyer he was For comparing the times of the Apostles deathes and distaunce of places where they were resident it is impossible hys sayinges to be true Furthermore that the antiquitie of thys Abdias should be such as ye talke of is more than a miracle to me since neyther Irene nor Eusebius nor Hierom nor any one of the receiued fathers being nerest to the same tyme and writing of the same matter do once mention hym Yea to say the trueth both Scripture and Fathers be directe agaynst hym Lib. 5. For wher he maketh S. Iohn to say virtutū opes habere non posse qui voluerit diuitias habere terrenas That he can not haue the substance of vertues that wil haue the substāce of the earth it accordeth not with the doctrine of Christ For we reade in hys word of many that were rich and yet were vertuous notwithstanding That Iohn should alow the fact of Drusiana Math. 19 1. Cor. 7. Colos 3. Math. 18. which beyng a maryed wyfe withdrewe her selfe from her husbandes company without hys consent is contrary to the rule of Christ and hys Apostle Paul That he doth attribute to the same Apostle the prescription of thirtie dayes for sufficient repentaunce is otherwise than Christe hath taught vs. For he wyll haue vs to forgiue Septuagies Septies seuenty tymes seuen tymes That S. Iohn shoulde vse so fond miracles as to make whole again brokē iewels to turne trees and stones into golde hath no apparaunce of truthe in it That in hys life tyme a Church was builded at Ephesus dedicated to hym and called by hys name may be proued false by a thousande testimonies For beside that it was derogation to Gods honor it was cōtrary to the vse of the primitiue Church And al men agrée that vntyl the raigne of Constantinus there were no chapels or oratories erected in honor of any sainct Augustine plainly affirmeth that in the Church of Christ martyrs haue the hyghest rowme De ciui dei lib. 8 cap. 27 Nec tamen nos sayeth he eisdem martyribus templa sacerdotia sacra sacrificia constituimus quoniam non ipsi sed deus eorum nobis est deus Yet we builde not vp temples appoynt officers seruice sacrifice for the sayd martirs bicause not they but their God is our God Againe in an other place somwhat more plainly Nonne si templum alicui sancto Angelo excellentissimo de lignis lapidibus faceremus anathematizaremur a veritate Christi Contra. Max. Arr Episc lib. 1. ab Ecclesia dei quoniam creaturae exhiberemus eam seruitutē quae vni tantum debetur deo Si ergo sacrilegi essemus faciendo templum cuicumque creaturae quomodo non est deus verus cui nō templum sacimus sed nos ipsi templum sumus If we shoulde make a temple of wood and stone for any holy Angel yea though he were the most excellent of all should we not be accursed frō the truth of Christe and from the Church of God bicause we exhibited the seruice to a creature whiche is dew to God alone Therefore if we shoulde offende in sacrileage by building a Churche to any creature howe can it be but he is the true God to whō we make no temple but our selues are temples By which places we proue that in hys tyme there was no Church or chapel builded for any Sainct that it was reputed a cursed thing contrary to truthe the Church of God that they commyt Sacrileage which doe builde any Finally that Churches and oratories are not erected for God himself but to the vse of mā Wherfore in the tale of saint Iohn his Church your doctor doted Now what say you to this that Chrisostome affirmeth Petri quidē Pauli Ioannis Thomae manifesta sunt sepulchra To. 4. in cap. ad Heb. 11. In Ho. 26. Aliorum verò cum tanti sint minimè cognitum est vbi sunt The sepulchres of Peter and Paul Iohn and Thomas be well knowe but of the reast as great as they were it is not
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
holy ghost that in baptisme hath giuen fulnesse to innocencye in confirmation performeth increase to grace But let thē shewe me what warrant of God hys worde they haue for thys what promise of God is sealed in vs by this their new founde Sacrament Is Christianitie now to be fet oute of popery Is the truth of God contayned in the Scriptures insufficient to informe vs Is there no full Christiā vnlesse he be annointed Alas where are so many Apostles so many martyrs become that neuer wer annoynted Is baptisme insufficient wtout cōfirmatiō Is baptisme auaileable as the decrée hath only for them that should dye straight confirmation for them that shuld lyue longer Doth baptisme only regenerate vs to lyfe but confirmation furnishe vs vnto the fyght what is it thē the Paul hath We are buried with Christ by baptisme into hys death that lyke as Christ was raysed vp frō the dead by the glory of the father Rom. 6. so we also should walke in newnesse of lyfe Thys partaking of death and lyfe with Christ is nothing els but the mortifiing of our own flesh the quickening of the spirit in that the olde man is crucified Mar. 7. and we may walke in newnesse of lyfe But by this their deuise they take away halfe the effect of baptisme reiecting therein the commaūdemēt of God to establish their own tradition Wherfore I wil reasō with you as Christ did with the Pharises Mat. 21. Is the confirmation which you call a Sacrament ordained to be so from heauen Mat. 21. or of men If it be of men it is no Sacrament If it be of God then shew the worde Ye haue the example of the Apostles in the. cha 8. and .19 of the Actes Folio 54 a. Actes 8. But no exāple suffiseth for a Sacramēt The Apostles thēselues vsurped not so much But sée how well ye folow the example When the Apostles which were at Hierusalem heard say that Samaria had receaued the worde of God they sēt vnto them Peter and Iohn which when they were come down prayed for them that they myght receyue the holy ghost For as yet he was come down on none of them but they were baptised only in the name of the Lorde Iesus Then layd they their handes on them and they receyued the holy ghost Now are ye ignoraunt what here is ment by the holy ghost I wyl tel you The gift to speake in diuerse languages to worke miracles and other particuler graces of the holy spirite And although they had receyued the common grace of adoption regeneration through baptisme yet had they not these other qualities which in the beginning of the Church were graunted and now be denyed So that laying on of handes serued to good vse then when it pleased God at instance of the Apostles praiers to conferre the visible graces of hys spirite but now that there is no such ministery in the Church now that miracles be ceassed to what ende should we haue thys imposition of handes the signe without the thyng If a mā should now a dayes prostrate hymselfe vpon the bodyes of the dead bicause Helias and Paul vsed thys ceremony in raysing of their dead should he not be thought preposterously to doe So that it might well be a kynde of Sacramēt in the Apostles tyme but the cause ceassing what should the signe continue Yet ye content not your selues with the Apostles order ye wyll as I sayd before haue somewhat of your owne For neyther Peter nor Iohn annoynted the Samaritanes but you do besmere whomsoeuer you lay handes on Folio 54. a. Ye cal it Chrisma salutis the Chrisme of saluation But whosoeuer seketh saluation in the Chrismatory shal be sure to lose it in Christ Oyle for the belly and the belly for oyle but the Lord shall destroy both the one and the other Good Lorde what beast but a papist what papist but a diuell durst presume to say that saluation should be fet out of an oyle box The Apostle calleth vs from impotēt and beggerly things Gala. 4. Colos 2. and if we be dead with Christ he sayth we must not be burdened with traditions Wherfore ye take the matter all amisse that by the dooinges of S. Peter and S. Iohn in Samaria or els by the fact of S. Paul at Ephesus Act. 19. do grounde your Sacramente of Confirmation One reason ye haue heard Bicause the Ceremony of laying on of handes serued for particular graces whiche were but temporall and therfore now the thyng abolished the signe should not remayne An other I wyll bryng you The Apostles layed their handes but only vpon certayne persons euen such as the gyftes aforesayd were bestowed on Confirmation is extended vnto al gracious and gracelesse come who wil none is denyed it Who gaue you authoritie where is your commission to bestowe the indifferently vpon all persons which the Apostles gaue but vnto fewe In dede if it be so necessary to saluation as ye make it I can not greatly blame you But thē on the other side blame you I must that you are so negligent in bestowing it For this is your doctrine that without confirmatiō there can be no perfect Christian And I besech you how many be suffered to dye vnconfirmed vnlesse the bishop chaūce to passe by which is once peraduenture in seauen yeare all they that departe in the meane season are Iewes belyke or in state of damnation And can your charities suffer without remorse of conscience so many semi christians to passe you Thus euery way you cōfute your selues For if your Sacramēt of Confirmation Folio 55. a. be as you say such an oyntment vvith vvhose most holy perfection the gyft and grace of baptisme is made perfect If it be an oyntment altogether holy and diuine the perfection it selfe and sanctification the beginning the substance the perfecting vertue of al holinesse giuen vs from heauen Then are you wycked persons that take no order that the moe may haue it But if there be no such vertue in it then do ye lye the more Agayne yet further to note your absurditie Your decrée in case of Confirmation De consecr Dist 5. cap. Manus quoque is thys Manus quoque impositionis sacramentum magna veneratione tenendum est quod ab alijs perfici non potuit nisi a summis sacerdotibus nec tempore Apostolorum ab alijs quam ab ipsis Apostolis legitur aut scitur peractū esse nec ab alijs quam qui eorum tenent locum cuiquam perfici potest aut fieri debet Nam si aliter praesumptum fuerit irritum habeatur vacuum The Sacramente of laying on of handes must be helde with great worship which can not be made of any but only of the hye priestes nor it is red or knowen that in the Apostles tyme it was ministred by any but onely by themselues nor it can or ought to be done of any saue only such
order Sainct Iames will haue all to be anoynted if they be sycke you onely anoynt in case of mortalitie and daunger of death when one foote is in the graue already If oyle be your sacrament the promise of grace be annexed to it The absurdities to heale both bodyly ghostly as you say then what harde heartes haue you that suffer so many to languish in extremitie that come not by your wils before the last gaspe S. Iames will haue the sick to be anoynted of many you wil admit but one alone with his head in his sleue muffled as an Ape with a bell before him as a batfowler for an owle S. Iames will haue the elders to be called to this office which were not onely of the ministerie but also of the lay sée You will haue a rable of shorne priestes and none but them S. Iames is content with simple oyle you will haue none but such as a byshoppe hallowed with many a stinking breath warmed with many a sorcerous word inchaunted with many a beck many a knée to the ground Idoled S. Iames wil haue vnction the signe of Gods spirit and prayer of the faythfull to concur together noting that it is not the oyle that healeth but good mennes prayers are alwayes auayleable you most blasphemously doe ascribe remission of sinnes vnto your oyle boxe Now brag of your vnction goe sell your kitchin stuffe Trye it and ye lose it It is to stale to make a sacramente It stinketh I tell you For where as in a sacrament two things be required first that it be a ceremonie instituted of God then that it haue a promise of grace in it In the first we respect that the ceremonie be deliuered vnto vs in the seconde that the promise also concerne vs. And for asmuch as neither the ceremonie was coÌ„maunded vs nor the promise appertayneth to vs both being temporall long agoe surceassed I may wel coÌ„clude that Extreme vnction is no sacrament What soeuer in the Councell of Florence or in the late Synode of Trent hath bene decréed to the contrary shall not preiudice my truth For I hauing reason and Scripture for me with the learned and sounde determinations of moe fathers of the Church than these will not be prescribed by conuenticles and conspiracies You pretende authoritie we bring the scripture You call vs heretiques we proue you no lesse And which shal take place Gods worde or mens willes A talke or a proufe If all the fat bulles of Basan did drawe together and the diuel their carter dyd dryue them to Trent there to fede and stande fast for their prouender shall the Lordes shepe therfore be starued shal hys worke be neglected If ten thousande of your affinitie bewitched with the sorcery of Romish Circe should holde a councell and cal al men to the trough of your own draffe should not I acknowledge and coÌ„fesse with Grillus in whoÌ„ bearing the figure of a reasonable creature inchauntmeÌ„t could take no place that reason and religion should be preferred to the belly What reason is in thys their sentence to holde who be the parties accused and yet iudges of the cause What religion is in thys that for filthy lucre mannes idle ordinaÌ„ce shall displace the coÌ„maundement of almighty God Wheresoeuer I sée thys shame and disorder as in al your popish councels it is I appeale from them 1. Cor. 4. I say with Paul Mihi pro minimo est vt à vobis iudicer I passe very little to be iudged of you As for the place of Hilariê° against Auxentius the Arrian how fitly it may be applyed vnto you and not to vs whom you would seme to touch al they that haue eyes do sée For you can say nothing Fol. 71. 72 but these nevve ministers are heretiques they are Caluinistes and therfore diuels Proufe bryng ye none but the same is reproued I trust therfore ye haue credite according But to you I say Ye be fallen with Auxentius ye do participate with Arrius heresy Who is the diuels Angel thaÌ„ Who is to be auoided Nor I am contented onely to say it as you do though in thys respect my worde were aswell to be accepted as yours but I proue it too For when ye make an Image of God the worde Creaturam facitis eum qui omnia creauit as Epiphanius sayeth Ye make a creature of hym Lib. 2. tom 2 Her 96. the created all thinges Wherfore if ye would assente to the decrées of the first Nicene councell and go no further these wordes neded not betwixte you and me Fol. 72. b But when ye take away the name of Nicene and put Florence or Trente in place therof ye are as true a maÌ„ as he that stale a goose and sticked down a feather For al couÌ„cels are not a lyke Nor al they that bragge of the holy ghost are by and by inspired with hys grace For Hilarius your own author whoÌ„ to no purpose ye brought forth last hath to good purpose thys Multi sunt qui simulantes fidem Hilarius Li. 8. de Trinit non subditi sunt fidei sibique fideÌ„ ipsi potius constituunt quam accipiunt sensu humanae inanitatis inflati dum quae volunt sapiunt nolunt sapere quae vera sunt cum sapientiae haec veritas sit ea interdum sapere quae nolis Sequitur vero hanc voluntatis sapientiaÌ„ sermo stulticiae Quia necesse est quod stulte sapitur stulte praedicetur Many there are sayth he which fayning a fayth are not subiecte to fayth and rather do appoynt themselues a fayth than receiue it puffed vp with the sence of mans vanitie whyle they vnderstande those thinges that they lust but wyll not vnderstande those thinges that be true whereas the truth of wisdome is sometyme to vnderstande those thynges that thou wouldest not But the talke of folly commeth after thys wyll wysedome for necessary it is that foolishly it be vttered that foolishly is vnderstode To the fifth Article ALthough ye bende your selfe in all thys Article and stretch euery vaine of your feble skyl to proue a matter which although it be in part vntrue yet beyng grauÌ„ted dyd not hurt my cause that the Apostles and fathers of the primitiue Churche blessed theÌ„selues vvith the signe of the Crosse Fol. 73. a. and counselled all ChristeÌ„ meÌ„ to do the same and that in those dayes the Crosse vvas set vp in euery place conuenient for it yet bicause ye styll appeare in your lykenesse and it is so requisite ye be knowen to the world a clouter of a patch of troth vpoÌ„ a whole cloke of lyes I wyll not disdayne to make an easy proufe of your thrée taglesse poyntes for any greater stresse they wil not abyde And first of all the terme of blessing is ill applyed to signing in the forehead For what it is to blesse To blesse I declared in the Article before to speake wel
the prayer that God hath taught vs which is eyther thankes for benefites receyued or desiring helpe with trust to be relieued Their Crosses haue displaced Christ Their pictures haue defaced Scripture Their Lay mennes bokes haue abolished the lawe Their holinesse is to forbyd that which God ordayned to be receyued with thankes giuing as meate and Matrimony Their owne workes they mayntayne they let Gods decay Breake theirs and they persecute to the death Breake Gods and they eyther loke thorowe their fyngers or else giue a flappe wyth a Foxe tayle for a little money Then is it easy to be espied what they are Let them dysguise themselues neuer so closely yet by this examining of their natures and properties they wyll bewray themselues Chrisostome commenting vpon the seauenth of Mathewe sayth Si quis lupum cooperiat pelle ouina quomodo cognoscet eum nisi aut per vocem aut per actum Quis inclinata deorsum balat Lupus in aëra conuertit caput suum contra coelum sic vlulat Qui ergo secundum Deum vocem humilitatis confessionis emittit Ouis est Qui vero aduersus veritatem turpiter blasphemijs vlulat contra Deum Lupus est Which is thus in englishe If any man sayth he couer a wolfe with a shepes skin how shall he know him but by his voyce or by his doing The shepe bowes downe the head to the ground bleates The wolfe lifts vp his nose into the ayre barks Therfore whoso euer according to Gods word speaketh with the voyce of humblenesse and confession he is a shepe But he that contrary to the truth blatters out blasphemies agaynst God is a very wolfe That the Papistes are such as it doth sufficiently appeare already so shal it abundantly ere I haue done be proued Therefore I say Beware of Papists To the seauenth Article ALthough we ought not in discussing of a truth ruled ouer by the worde greatly contende what rytes and ceremonies haue of presumption or toleration bene brought into the Church yet that you may sée before your eyes what ill of such presidentes hath insued how one inch graunted to superstition a whole ell hath followed consider a while your Litanies processions Folio 93. b. The singing and saying of Letany you say is coÌ„monly called Procession but Litanies were receyued long before processions did come in place For Litanies what are they but humble prayers supplications vnto God to procure his fauour and turne away his wrath These haue bene receyued in the Church of olde and according to occasion diuersly vsed We reade that when Constantinus the Emperour had purchased peace vnto the Church of God about a thrée hundreth and thirty yeare after Christ then publiquely the Christians repayred together then were there in the congregations as Eusebius Euseb eccle Hist lib. 10. cap. 3. reporteth Orationes Psalmodiae sacrorum operationes mysteriorum participationes gratiarum actiones Prayers singing of Psalmes businesse about holy things participation of mysteries giuing of thankes And that which is worthy to be remeÌ„bred he writeth of the good Emperor on this sort CaÌ„tare primus incepit vná orauit De vita Const li. 4. A notable example of a Prince conciones stans reuerenter audijt adeo vt rogatus vt consideret respoÌ„derit fas non esse dogmata de Deo remisse ac segniter audire Himself began first to sing prayed with the rest reuerently heard the sermons standing on his féete so farre forth that when he was required to set him downe he aunswered that it was not lawfull to heare the precepts of God with slackenesse and with slouth Hilarius also .370 yeare after Christ writeth of the order of the Church in his time thus Hilarius in expos Psal 65. Audiat orantis populi consistens quis extra ecclâ—siam vocem spectet celebres hymnorum sonitus inter diuinorum quoque sacramentorum officia responsionem deuotae confessionis A man that standeth wythout the Church may heare the voyce of the people praying may beholde the solemne sound of hymnes and as the Sacramentes are a ministring the aunswere of a deuout confession Likewise Ambrose Ambros de voc gentiuÌ„ Cap. 4. Praecepit Apostolus fiers obsecrationes postulationes gratiarum actiones pro omnibus hominibus c. The Apostle commaundeth .1 Timoth. 2. supplications prayers intercessions and giuing of thanks to be made for al men Which rule and lawe sayth Ambrose all Priests faythfull people do so vniformely obserue that there is no part of the worlde wherein such prayers are not frequent So that it is euident that Litanies were then in vse although we reade not of any Processions Polidor de inuen Li. 5. Cap. 10. till the time of Agapetus Pope who as Platina reporteth did first ordayne them Anno. 533. although we reade the like of Leo the thirde about .810 yeare after Christ Surely whensoeuer Processions began they were taken of Gentilitie We reade ofte in Liuie that the Romaines in all their distresses would run to euery sere Idoll that they had would goe their circuites from thys place to that place and thinke they dyd acceptable seruice vnto God We reade in Arnobius Arnobius contra gent. Lib. 8. thus much of their folly Nudi cruda hyeme discurrunt alij incedunt pileati scuta vetera circumferunt pelles coedunt mendicantes vicatim Deos ducunt Quaedam fana semel anno adire permit tunt Quaedam in totum nefas visere est quaedam viro non licet non nulla absque foeminis sacra sunt etiam seruo quibusdam ceremonijs interesse piaculare flagitium est c. They gad about naked in the raw winter other haue their caps on they carry about with them old targets they beate their skins they leade their Gods a begging round about the streats They suffer some Chappels to be gone to once a yere some must not be séene at all some a man must not come vnto some other are holy ynough without women And for a seruant to be at some of them is a haynous offence So much Arnobius concerning the Romaines And thinke you not that our Processions with banners displayed and Idols in armes be liuely described here Certayenly amongst the Christened I neuer readde that any vsed Processions before the Montanistes and the Arrians Tertullian Tertullian li. 2. ad Vxorem maketh mention of the one and Eusebius Euseb eccle hist libro 6. Cap. 8. of the other Méete it is therefore that Papistes participating with their errors should also take parte of their idle ceremonies Concerning Litanies as of latter yeares they haue bene ordayned you must vnderstande that some be called Minores the lesse some Maiores the greater The lesse were instituted by Mamertus byshop of Vienna in the yere of our Lord. 469. as Sigibertus or .488 as Polichronicon reporteth The order of them was but a solemne asseÌ„blie of people vnto prayer at such time
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
worde it was that he charged them wythall that was the treasure that being well bestowed Ioan. 4. Apoc. 22. Ioan. 6. Cantic 8. Psalm 119. Sap. 18. Naum. 2. Math. 16. 1. Cor. 10. Apoca. 15. should bring infinite pleasures with it For his worde is the lyuely water wherby the heates of our lusts are quenched the breade of lyfe to féede our hungry soules the pleasaunte wyne to cheare and make vs merry the lanterne to guide our steppes the sworde that ouerthroweth the enimies of the truth the fyrie shielde to defende vs agaynst our aduersaries the sure rocke wherevppon to builde the touch stone to try out doctrines what spirits are of God the key to open shut heauen gates the swete tuned instrumēt to passe away the tediousnesse of this our exile the medicine for all dyseases the ioy the iewell the only reliques of Christ departed hence which if we minde to knowe his will as it becommeth obedient children if we do loke to be heires with him as all men do make a rekening of then must we seke obserue and haue alwayes in reuerence For hence is the perfecte knowledge of all truth onely to be had and all other blessednesse in as ample wise as if that Christ were before our eyes ready to perfourme and pronounce the things Wherefore sith the Scripture is worthyed of these titles and none of them can iustly be applyed to the Crosse sith the worde is the ordinary and only meane that God now vseth for instruction of his the Crosse is a scholemaster of error and impietie let no man pleade ignorance for his excuse which may wel be increased but refourmed neuer by a beggerly boke of woode or stone As for the other percell of your aunswere that bycause all men can not so conuenientlie at all times heare a good preacher Folio 117. a. as they may see the signe of the Crosse therefore the Crosse must be had beside preaching I may tourne the argument on your owne heade that the more generall the matter is and more easily come by being in it selfe vnlawfull the more seriously it ought to be reproued the more iustly condemned For whereas Images doe but infecte the hearte are occasions of fall and nothing else it is a perillous matter the poyson to be more generall than the medicine the remedy to be harder than the offence to come by Bonum quo communius eo prastantius sayth Aristotle A good thing the more common it be the better it is The more vve may see a crosse the vvorse But a mischiefe the more it spreadeth the more it anoyeth And of all mischief an Image most For Images Crosses Crucifixes are euery mannes ware A good preacher is scarcely to be founde in a countrey Images continually doe preach Idolatry the preacher can not alwayes open his mouth against it Images are likely to seduce a multitude all men of nature being prone to Idolatry The preacher is able to persuade but a fewe fewe men inclined to credit sounde doctrine Wherfore the doctrine of a good preacher a gay puppet set vp in the church being direct contrary the lesse we may heare the preacher the more we may sée the puppet the lesse is our comforte in Christ our Lorde the more doe we stande in the Diuels daunger As for affectiō to be stirred by Imagery Leude affections stirred by Imagery I graūt they may be some but not such as they ought For impossible it is as in the preface is declared an Image to come in place of Gods seruice not allure to a wicked worship Experiēce hath taught vs examples doe proue the princes for their pleasure erecting Images haue bred the vile affection of Idolatry The booke of Wisedome is most euident therin Then if the picture of a liuing mā a mortall creature be of such force to crooke the soule what shall we thinke of Images of them that are reputed saincts of the Image of Christ our God and sauiour Luc. 10. Act. 14. Gala. 3. Whose names be written in the booke of lyfe they care not for their faces to be paynted on a post They that aliue abhorred any worship wyll not being dead prouoke so great offence Christ the as God wil be honored in truth must not to the world be set forth with a lye nec qui spiritu coeperūt carne consumādi nor they that began in the spirite must be made perfite in the fleshe The heathē the beleued not immortalitie of soule were altogither vainglorious and proude had a pleasure to haue their Images set vp their childrē reioyced in their parents folly but this must not be taken as president for vs Christians For they had no other rewarde of well deseruing we looke for an other maner of crowne of glorye 2. Tim. 4. 1. Petr. 5. which is layde vp in store for vs against a better daye They had no lawes to forbid such coūterfets yea the law it selfe to excite men to vertue decréed Statuas in foro Images in the market place Deu. 4.5.7 1. Ioh. 5. Car. Mag. Li. 3. ca. 15. We haue law inough from the maiestie of God to condemne Images in place of prayer Wherfore I may say with the good fathers of Franckeforde Si homines mortales proteruia vanitatis inflati c. If mortal men puffed vp with frowardnesse of their owne vanitie proude of worldly pompe bragging ambitious bicause they coulde not be in all places would be magnified in some place bicause they loked for no heauēly profit would therfore haue an earthly prayse Shal thys inforce vs to make a picture of our God who is in euery place can be contained in no place whose seate the heauens are whose fotestole is the earth who is wonderfull in all places can with the eye be discerned in no place Where hys vertue is so great hys glory so excellent hys myght so vnmeasurable he is not with coloures to be portrayed to be séen in temples made with mans hande to be honored or knowen in a beggerly picture but to be set forth in hys worthy workes soughte for in the heauens worshipped in heart the Prophet saying Adorate dominum in atrio sancto eius Psal 28. Ioh. 4. Worship the Lord in his holy Sanctuary And the Euangelist Deus spiritus est qui adorat deum in spiritu veritate oportet adorare God is a spirit and they that worship God must worship hym in spirite in truth Thus haue I proued that our affections to God warde nether ought nor cā be styrred vp by the vaine painters or caruers craft howsoeuer mens fansies are delited with them Yet to consider your own histories Whē Alexander the great was faire and finely painted Iulius Cesar beholding him was made more ambitious and he that otherwyse could haue bene contented with hys own estate was throughe a picture made a plague of the world Scipio the Aphricane by loking on hys
collum suspendis si in intellectu ergo melius in corde posita prosunt quam circa collum suspensa Tell me thou foolish priest is not the gospell dayly read and heard of men in the Church Therfore who hath no profit by hearing of the gospel how can it saue him by hanging it about hys necke Furthermore wherin consisteth the vertue of the gospel in the proportiō of the letters or vnderstanding of the sense If in the letters wel doest thou hang them about thy neck but if in the vnderstanding thē would it profit more reposed in thy heart thā hāged about thy necke Thus much Chrisostom And least peraduenture ye should thinke that thys only superstition were reproued of hym he procedeth further and toucheth matter that doth more néerely concerne our case Alij qui sāctiores se ostēdere volunt hominibus partē fimbriae aut capillorū suorum alligant suspendunt O impietas maiorem sāctitatē in suis vestimentis volunt ostendere quam in corpore Christi vt qui corpus eius māducans sanatus non fuerit fimbriae eius sanctitate saluetur vt desperās de misericordia Dei cōfidat in veste hominis In english Some other which wil shew themselues holyer vnto mē do binde together hang vp a piece of the hem of Christes garment or hys heare O wyckednesse they wil shew more holinesse in the garments thā in the body of Christ that he which is not healed by eating of hys body shal be saued by the holinesse of hys garmente hem that he that dispaireth of the mercy of God shall put hys confidence in the garment of a man And thinke ye not that the coate of Christ which touched hys blessed body that the heare of Christ which grew vpon hys holy head is of as great vertue as a piece of the Crosse wherevpon he dyed Then if Chrisostome coumpted it impiety to haue such estimation of the coate or heare of our sauioure Christ shall we thynke that a piece of wood was in such price with him Would he inclose the Crosse in gold or coūsel other to do the same which held it wickednesse so to esteme a percel of his body Christ hath left vs hys body in dede for a memory of him for a cōfort of vs to be receiued and shal we seke for external meanes which neither haue part of promise nor be deuoyde of perill We reade in the gospel that after Christ was crucified Ioseph required the body and interred it the Maries were beholders of hys passiō and burial Mat. 27. Luk. 23. there was no sparing of cost for oyntmēt yet none of thē al cared for the crosse If it had bene such a iewell as you do make it they would haue brought it stolne it or spoken at the least wise of it Many other thynges of lesse importance than thys is by your supposall be mentioned in the Scripture as necessary or expedient Only more than that Symon of Cyrene caried it we reade nothing of the Crosse that he dyed on I remēber that it is a great argumēt of yours How God wyl not suffer hys Church to erre I remember ye alleaged in the Article before Foli 87 b. quod in hanc Apostoli plenissimè cōtulerūt omnia quae sūt veritatis That the Apostles most plentifully cōferred on the Church all thinges appertayning vnto the truthe as Ireneus doth truly say Lib. 3 ca 4. contr Her How chaunceth it then that thys truth of the Crosse for foure hūdreth yeares together was hydden from them From the death of Christ tyl the tyme of Helena no man or woman euer talked of it When she came she founde it .ij. hundreth yeares after it was vtterly consumed I thynke that such idle chaplenes such morowmasse priestes as you so slenderly furnished out of the store-house of fayth to fede the people would be glad to deale more of your popish plenty if thys at the first were gently accepted We should haue extolled S. Leonardes bolle S. Cornelis horne S. Georges colt S. Anthones pigge S. Fraunces cowle S. Persons bretche with a thousande reliques of superstition as well as thys For miracles haue bene done by these or els you lye nor authorite of mē doth wante to these Longolius a learned man and Charles the v. a noble Emperoure requested to be buryed in a friers cowle and so they were Therfore the friers coule must be honored Ye remember what the hoste in Chawcer sayd to-sir Thopas for hys leude ryme the same do I say to you bicause I haue to do with your Cantorbury tales for youre fayre reasons One thyng remaineth which I do you wrōg if I omit the singuler vertue that is not only in euery portion of the holy Crosse but also in euery signe thereof inasmuch as it onely driueth avvay all subtiltie and craftes of euill spirites destroyeth vvitchcraft Folio 92. 93. doth as much as the presence of Christ in earth pocedeth vvith like efficacie as the fyrst sampler Strange effectes I promise you But fyrst I maruel why you are offēded with vs for preaching onely fayth iustifyeth synce you do teach vs that the onely signe of the Crosse can do as much as it If onely woode if onely making an ouerthwart signe disappoynt the might of aduersarie powers he is but a foole that wil be troubled with sprites he is but a beast that will feare the Diuell Signo crucis tantū vtens homo omnes horū fallacias pellit Man vsing onely the signe of the Crosse putteth away all their subtiltie and craft If a piece of wood that wormes do bréed in that neuer God nor good man commended otherwise than wood haue such spirituall vvater flovving thereinto vvhich is knovven to be saluation of faythfull soules Folio 93. shal we be condemned for attributing the like effect to spirituall and liuely fayth which the word of God so ofte so earnestly with such promis of grace such assurance of safetie cōmendeth to vs If the signe of a Crosse drawen with a finger do the same that the presēce of Christ did in earth as is by you alleaged O men vnmercifull that suffer so many halte so many lame so many blinde so many sore to liue in misery and missecary with vs. Christ cured the like he by his presence brought health and comforte to all diseased why do not you my Crosse masters the like If these allegations be true as confidentely they be printed of you why ceasse your miracles Confirm vs in your folish faith When we sée the effectes we shall consider of the cause Thus haue I shewed you that in cases of religion as this is one no mens authority shuld prescribe vnto vs no time no custome preiudice a truth Examples be daungerous to be follo wed both bycause they be sometime but personall and are not alwayes of Gods good guiding spirite which if it be true in them of whose fayth and holynesse we haue in 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