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
Papistes degenerate from all good order ib. The Crosses of Constantinop what they were 140. Howe Martiall in one storie maketh .iiij. lyes 141. a. Concerning the vse of Tapers 141. b. seq Ther must be no Tapers on the Lords table 142. b. Howe Martiall proueth Luther no heretique 143. a. The affaires of August the Monke in England 143. b. Papistes superstitious and why 145. b. The true ensigne of Christ 146. b. For Reliques ib. seq In the .viij. Article MIracles no prouf of doctrine Folio 150. seq Wrought by the diuel 149. b. Thre reasons why miracles make not for the Crosse 151. a. How M. belieth Euseb ib. b. How the Papists agree not for inuentioÌ„ of the crosse 152. a. What lies be made of peces of the Crosse 153. b. Of the nayles that Christ was crucified withall 154. seq The answere to the miracles that were affirmed to haue ben done by the Crosse 155. How Papistry breedeth securitie in synne 156. seq Miracles paste no proufe of present vse 157. a. That as well we may haue the signe of Idols as the signe of the Crosse for any miracle ib. b. Whether the miracles of the Crosse were true or no they can proue no lawefull vse thereof 158. seq The similitude of the cloth of estate 161. b. For memorie holpen wyth a Crosse 162. b. In the .ix. Article VAnities alleaged for coÌ„modities of the Crosse Folio 164. a. The true effects of Images ibid. b. The Reason that Images shoulde not be vnlawefull though not expedient aunswered 164. 165. seq Gods bookes commaunded forbydden for pollicy mans bookes for pollicy must needes be maintayned 165. se Whether Images can teach things necessary to saluation 166. b. That Crosses teach no humilitie no vertue 167. b. That Images speak doubtfully teach diuelishly bee red vnlawfully 168. b. 169. a That ther can be no such ignorance as should driue vs to seeke knowledge in an Image 169. a. The titles and commendation of Scripture 170. a. That for wante of preachers we must not seeke to Images ib. b. What leud affectioÌ„s be stirred by Imagery 171. a. What affections were stirred in the heathen by Images ib. b. No ymagery with preaching much lesse without 172. a. Howe Images must not be admitted for help of memorie ib. b. How Cyrill alloweth no Images in Churches 173. b. A diuelishe memory the muste be holpeÌ„ with a crosse 174. a In the .x. Article WHat Adoration worship is Folio 175. b. That adoration by the scripture is forbydden to Images 176. a. Authorities for adoration of the crosse falsly aleaged 176. b Authorities of the fathers agaynst the Adoration of the Crosse ib. seq A strange prouf that no man may feare Idolatry in worshippers of the Crosse 183. b The absurde argumente of Martiall 184. a. ij Kindes of Idolatrie 185. a. That bowing kneeling to Crosses and Images doth proue Idolatry 185. 186. The Authors alleaged agaynst both the hauing and Worshipping of the Crosse Clemens Rom. Epis Folio 4. b. 177. a. Ireneus 14. b. 178. a. Clemens Alexandrinus 177. b. Iosephus 15. a. Cyprianus 178. b. Tertullianus 6. 7. 49. a. 178 a. Origenes 31. 32. 178. b. Arnobius 13. b. 179. a. 82. a. Lactantius 5. b. 14. a. 142. a. 179. b. Eusebius 7. b. Athanasius 29. a. 127. a. 180. a. Epiphanius 14. b. 117. b. 181. a. Ambrosius 86. b. 181. b. Hieronimus 97. a. 133. a. 181. b. Augustinus 15. a. 52. a. 83. 84. 88. a. 181. Chrysostomus 46. b. 106. b. 133. b. Cyrillus 173. b. Prudentius 53. b. Gregorius PP In the Epistle to M. Also 8. b. 182. a. Alfonsus de Castro 182. a. Carolus Magnus 68. b. Petrus Crinitus 85. Erasmus In the Epistle to Martiall The author of the Turkes hystorie 15. b. COVNCELS The CouÌ„cel of Constantinople vnder Leo Isauricê° 58. a. The Councell of Granata 68. a. The Councell of Franckforde 68 a. seq Leafe Syde Lyne  Faultes  Corrected 3 b 2 For was a Reade was not a 10 b 29 strayning strayeng 17 a 18 taught naught 24 a 1 toy our to your 67 b 11 were deified were not deified 68 a 22 whether whyther 86 a 9 preasseth presumeth 88 a 12 vnfounde vnsounde 89 a 26 worde wood 93 a 26 gayne game 95 a 33 hath ordayned hath ordayned 102 b 15 htat that Ib b 20 them them them 107 a 21 Christome Chrisostome 116 b 34 Eueria Euoria 129 a 28 pristinuÌ„ pistrinum 135 a 33 follo wed both followed both 141 b 28 is was it was In the Epistle to Martiall the .4 leafe the seconde syde and in the last Quotation for Ep. 109. reade Cap. 109. In the .5 leafe the fyrst syde and line .2 for quid reade quidem Wheras two leaues together be escaped wyth the number of 23. reade for the laste of them .24 and for the number of the next leafe following which is .26 reade .25 In the mergine of the .97 leafe for Cofirmaion reade Confirmation And in the margine of the .110 leafe in the second syde for martrimonye reade Matrimonie If ought else be escaped I trust the gentle Reader will beare with it and of himself amend it Mortis Crucis collatio QVI cupis ad Vitam renouari Morte futuram Mortem Christi animo fac meditere tuo Mors ea Vita fuit vitamque fidelibus omnem Praestitit in sola mortuus ille Cruce Non tamen ipsa licet Cruce Mors inflicta ministra Mortis erit celebri dira ministra loco Mors peperit victa solidos de Morte triumphos Crux valet ad vitam materiata nihil Mors affert animis onerum folatia pressis Crux dare lenimen lignea nulla potest Stigmata Mortis habent animi defixa fideles Stigmata formatae sunt malefida Crucis Mors in honore pijs aeterno tempore stabit Effigiata pijs Crux abolenda venit Mortis vt obrepat mala non obliuio nobis Corporeae remanet mystica Coena dapis Haec data firmandis quasi tessera mentibus olim Solaque perpetuo quae paragatur erit Non sic ille Crucem Christus praeceptor habendam Instituit valeat Crux vbi coena valet Sin Crucis ante oculos monumentum velle videmur Subdita sunt Christi viuida membra Cruci Viuida si nequeant animos percellere nostros Incutiantne magis mortua Signa fidem Perfida visibili gens est contenta Figura Dum Res interea significata perit Sic quos debuerat verum vox viua docere Fusilis errorem semper Imago docet Quos Deus in sacrae demissus viscera mentis Non facit Offitij sic meminisse sui Vana Creaturae facies subiecta proteruis Luminibus memores scilicet efficiat Nec tamen hic scelerum finis sceleratior inde Cultus ab effectu deteriore venit Namque velut diui Lapides Ligna coluntur Artificis postquam forma fit arte Crucis Sin ea forma magis precioso obducta Metallo Protinus Idolum Crux facit vna duplex Ergo Crucifixus nobis in honore locetur Cruxque sit a nobis materiata procul The same in English WHo doest desire to Life to come by Death to be restorde Recorde alway in mindeful heart the Death of Christ thy Lord. This Death gaue Life and he that dyed did on his Crosse alone Bring euerlasting Life to those that him beleue vpon But though by meane of that his Crosse this death was brought to passe Yet ought not Crosse in steade thereof to holde the sacred place A perfect triumph ouer Death this Death did once atchieue But the materiall Crosse to Life no help at all doth giue This Death doth bring a full release vnto the grieued minde But in the framed Crosse of wood no comfort is to finde The markes of this most holsome Death the faithful hearts do beare The marke of formed Crosse God wote is but vntrusty geare With godly men this Death for aye in honour shall abyde Of godly men the shapen Crosse is to be layde asyde Least this good Death that bringeth Life should flip out of our minde He of his sacred body hath his Supper left behinde This as a pledge to strength our soules is poynted to endure And this alone ordayned is to be in dayly vre Our Master Christ commaunded not the Crosse be holden so But where this Supper is in place the Crosse may be let go But of the Crosse some monument if we desire to sée The liuely members of our Christ to Crosse styll subiect be If liuely ones want force ynough to moue our resty minde Alas in liuelesse Signes what force of credite shall we finde The faythfull sorte content themselues with Signes yséene with eye Euen while the Matter signified is wholly lost thereby So them that should by liuely Voyce haue learnde the truth to know The forged Image euermore doth into errour throw Shall they whome God that doth descende into the godly brest Doth not so make to call to minde the duetie they profest Shall they forsoth in heart be brought to holde the same aright By fickle forme of Creature subiect to erring sight Yet is not here the ende of ylles For hereof doth ensue From worse effect false Worship done where it was neuer due For after once a forme of Crosse is made by workemans arte To Stockes and Stones as heauenly Gods then honor they imparte But if with precious Metall it be garnisht to the eye A double Idoll of one Crosse is honorde by and by Let him therefore that Dyed on Crosse deuoutly be adorde And let materiall Crosse be farre from vs that feare the Lorde FINIS Imprinted at London by Henry Denham for Lucas Harrison dwelling in Paules Churchyarde at the Signe of the Crane Anno Domini 1565. Nouembres 3.
may keepe vvithout offence For the multitude is easyly through ignoraunce abused hir Maiestie to vvell instructed for hir ovvne persone to fal into Popish error and Idolatrie Novv for that vvhich follovveth if ye vvere so good a subiecte as you oughte and framed your selfe to lyue according to the lavves ye should see and consider hovve good order is taken by Publique authoritie not Priuy suggestions that Roodes and Images should be remoued according to Gods lavve out of churches chappels and oratories and not so despitefully throvven dovvne in hie vvayes Folio 1. b. as you most coÌ„stantly do affirme the coÌ„trary vvherof as by our lavv is established so in effect is proued For vve doe see them in many places stand nor are at all offended thervvith And doe not you giue vs a good cause to credit you in the rest vvho in the first entrance of your matter make so lovvd a lie But that your impudeÌ„ce may be the more apparant ye stay not so ye stick not to father of the auncient fathers faith such falsehodes and absurdities as they neuer thought good man neuer gathered For vvhere ye say Folio 2. by their authoritie that euer since Christes death christen men haue had the signe of the crosse in churches chappels oratories priuate houses hie wayes and other places meete for the same it shall be euident by their ovvne vvritings such as none shal agaynsay that .400 yeare after Christ there vvas not in the place of Gods seruice any such signe erected By the vvay I report me to that vvhich Erasmus a gret stickler in the crosse quarrell vvriteth Vsque ad aetatem Hieronomi erant probatae religionis viri In Catechesi sua Cap. 6 qui in templis nullam ferebant imaginem nec pictam nec sculptam nec textam ac ne Christi quideÌ„ vt opinor propter Anthropomorphitas Vntil Hieroms time there were men of good religion vvhich is to be noted least ye say they vvere heretikes that suffred not in Churches any picture at all eyther painted or graued or wouen yea not so much as the picture of Christ bycause of the Anthropomorphites as I suppose Novv this vvas aboue .400 yeare after Christ In ê“aemio 3. Cement super Amos. for by Hieroms ovvn coÌ„putacion it must be after the syxt yeare of Arcadius Consulship vvhich falles out Anno .408 And Prosper Aquitanicê° maketh it to be .422 yeare after Christ But as much as this the Fathers themselues shal be vvitnesses of to disproue your vanity Folio 2. Then that they worshipped the signe of the crosse or counselled other to do the same is as true as the other yea a thing it vvas vvhen vse of such signes vvas receyued in deede most abhorred of them Ep. li. 7. Indict 2. Ep. â—9 I appeale to your Pope Gregory the great the first that euer defended Images He found fault vvith Serenus Byshop of Massilia for breaking the Images that he fouÌ„d in his church yet he condeÌ„neth your doctrine for vvorshipping them saying in one place Et quid zelum vos ne quid manu factum adorari possit habuisse laudauimus And truely we coÌ„mended you in that ye had a zeale that nothing made with hand should be worshipped Tua ergo fraternitas illas seruare ab earum adoratione populuÌ„ prohibere debuit Therfore your brotherhead should haue preserued them forbydden the people that they should not worship them And this Gregorie vvas 600. yeare after Christ VVhere then vvas the reuereÌ„ce done to the signe VVhere gaue they the counsell to creepe to the Crosse See you not hovve shamefully ye abuse the Prince vvith slaunders and vntruthes As for the third substancial ground vvherevpon ye builde the buttresse of your cause that no feare or mystrust of Idolatrie can be where the crosse is woorshipped that position and more than Paradoxe Folio 2. is as true as the reste 2. Reg. 18. Num. 21. Ioan. 9. as true as the Ievves could commit no Idolatrie in vvorshipping the brasen Serpent and yet that signe vvas coÌ„maunded once this signe to vs vvard vvas coÌ„mauÌ„ded neuer VVherfore since your vvare is no more vvorth M. Martial you like a pelting Pedler putting the best in your packe vppermost I see not vvhere ye may haue vtteraunce for it vnlesse it be to serue to sluttish vses And that ye should rest in any hope that the Queenes maiesty amidst hir great affaires should haue so much vacant time as to take a vievve of your vaine deuises is a miracle to me and makes your folly to appeare the more the more ye coÌ„ceiue a liking of your self The story that ye bring of Socrates report It is Socratis lib. 5. Cap. 10. not truly quoted for I think ye neuer red it maketh smal for your purpose VVhat though Sisinnius an heretike a Nouatian did giue aduise for appeasing of the Arrians heresy that the auncient fathers should be called to vvitnesse vvil you take example of one not vvell instructed nor vvise in this case as it appeared VVere the auncient fathers suffisaunt to appease the cause VVere they not enforced that notvvithstanding eche man to bring his opinioÌ„ in vvriting and stand to a furder iudgement and determinatioÌ„ Reade ye the place They neyther could nor can for imperfections that remayn amongst them content the conscience in doubtfull cases nor ought at any time to be iudges of our fayth S. Augustine contra MaximinuÌ„ Arrian Epis hath a goodly rule better to be follovved obserued than yours For vvhen in the like controuersie vvith the Arrians the counsell of Ariminum vvhere many Fathers vvere assembled made for the one parte and the Counsell of Nice confirmed the other Augustine to declare that vve ought not to depende vpon mans iudgement but vvholy solely vpon the truth of Gods vvord sayde Nec ego Nicenum nec tu debes Ariminense tanquam preiudicaturus proferre Concilium Epist. lib. 3. Cap. 14. Nec ego huius authoritate nec tu illius detineris Scripturarum authoritatibus non quorumque proprijs sed vtrisque communibus testibus res cum re causa cum causa ratio cum ratione concercet vvhich vvords in English be these Neither I muste bring forth the Counsell of Nice nor thou the Counsell of Ariminum as one to preiudice the other Neyther I am bounde to the authoritie of the one nor thou restrayned to the determination of the other But by the authorities of the Scriptures not peculiar witnesses vnto eyther of vs but common and indifferent vnto vs both let one matter with an other cause with cause reason contende wyth reason Then is it no outrage as it pleaseth your vvisedome to terme it to refuse your order Folio 3. since most of the fathers yea euery one of them haue had their errors as aftervvard more clerely shal appeare Yet for al your dotages vvherof peraduenture ye dreamed in some dronken frensy for al your absurdities I
story annexed to the Alchoran sayth Picturas seu sculpturas omniū Imaginū sic abhorrent detestantur vt Christianos qui in hijs tantū delectantur Idololatras cultores Demonum vocent in veritate esse credant Vnde dum essem in Chio ambasiatoribus Turcorum pro recipiēdo tributo illuc venientibus introductis in Ecclesiam nostram vellem persuadere de Imaginibus nequaque acquiescentes sed omnibus rationibus refutatis hoc solum affirmabant Vos idola colitis Which words may thus be turned into English They so abhorre and detest all painting grauing of any Images that they call and verily beleue the Christians that onely delyte in them to be Idolaters and worshippers of Diuels Wherefore when I was in Chio would haue persuaded the embassators of the Turkes which came thither to receiue tribute after I had brought them into our Church as touching Images they would not agrée but refuting all reason this onely they affirmed You vvorship Idols And surely Iewes and Turkes will neuer come to our religion while these stumbling blockes of Images remaine amongst vs and lye in their way Nowe that I haue proued as well by the wordes of Scripture as by the true sense and meaning of it so vnderstode of all the faythful that it is a piece of infidelitie to haue an Image in place of Gods seruice it might suffise to decise the controuersie that is in hand But an Image can not be made of Christ vnlesse it be a lying Image as the Scripture peculiarly calleth Images lies as I proued before For Christ is God and man And since of the Godhead which is the most excellent parte no Image can be made it is falsly called the Image of Christ they that doe apply any honor to it are mere Idolaters making Christ thereby inferior to the Father cleauing onely to his humanity wher as we are by Christs own words cōmaūded that al should so honor the sonne as they honor the father Io. 5. But agaynst this a crafty Papist may reply and say that by the same reason it is not lawful to paynt a man for he consisteth of soule and body and the soule which is the chief part of him no arte or cunning is able to expresse But I answere to this that the reason is nothing like For the soule may be seuered from the body as dayly by death we sée experience nor it is impietie to think vpon or beholde the shape of a man without a soule But the Diuinitie of Christ can not be separate from his humanitie neyther is it lawful to imagine an humanitie without a Diuinitie least we fall into the heresie of Nestorius as in the third Article where I shall haue occasion to speake of the Counsell assembled by commaundement of Constantine the fifth at more large is opened And where as Christ hath caried his flesh vppe into heauen with him no more to be knowen according to the fleshe we fleshly creatures do fall from his will and make a counterfet of a mortall fleshe where as his is glorified Furthermore vnknowen it is what was the forme and countenaunce of Christ So many places so many Images and euery one of them as they affirme the true and liuely Image of Christ and yet neuer a one of them like to an other wherefore as sone as an Image of Christ is made by and by a lye is made which is forbiddē by Gods worde Wherefore since our Religion ought to be grounded vpon truth Images which can not be without lies ought not to be made or put to any vse of Religion Thus haue I declared the vnlawfulnesse of Images in which respect they are intollerable Now a word for the folly of them which among vs is nothing sufferable Oratione contra Idol Athanasius appoynteth two wayes to come to the knowledge of God Animam Opera the Soule of man which by the word may beholde the word and so enter into the priuy chambre of the Almighty and if that suffise not the workes of God whereby the inuisible things of his eterne vertue Diuinitie may be séene of vs. Rom. 1. Then vs to seke any new wayes since these are ordayned euer since the beginning creation of the worlde is to much foolishnesse If we seke for comparisons will haue one thing set forth by an other why shuld we not rather follow Christs institution than be addicted to our own deuises Christ in the Scripture hath resembled himselfe to many of his creatures which dayly hourely are before our eyes And can we not be contented with them but make newe creatures of our owne heads to put vs in minde of our bounden dueties We sée the light shining sunne and sée we not the power of Christ in it We see the wayes dores to our houses and sée we not Christ the ready path to heauen We sée the hennes clocking of their chickens sée we not Christ continually calling vs We sèe pore shepherds féeding of their shéepe and sée we not Christ the true feder of our soules We sée our selues the liuely Images perfect coūterfets of Christ himself shal Christ be forgottē vnlesse we haue a crucifix There is nothing I promise you but madnesse in this meaning Ther is nothing that can so liuely expresse the affects as I may terme them qualities of Christ as those things which he thought good to serue our vnderstanding Shal we then refuse the more euident argument fal to the darker signification Shal we contemne Christ and his order set so much store by a blinde picture Nero I remember was sometime so wanton vt gladiatorum pugnas spectaret in Smaragdo He had an Emeraud in his ring that would giue to the eye the resemblances of things that were before it Wherfore when the masters of defēce came to play their prises he would beholde thē in his ring I wis he might haue discerned them better if he had loked on their own selues and not haue footed in a stone to sée thē But nothing can content the curious the flesh delighteth in hir own deuises Thus is it proued that Images do not according to Gregories mind teach but in al respects be vaine foolish if they did teach yet by the scripture and word of God such scholemasters are forbidden to vs. Now that they are honoured contrary to his minde experience of long time hath proued and the Popish doctrine hath confirmed For In Pontificali order is taken how they shal be hallowed First with exorcisme of water of salte then with hypocriticall blasphemous prayer afterward with sensing anoynting kyssing erecting and an hūdreth other most vile obseruances Priuyleges and pardons be graunted to them Candels and tapers be lighted afore them Much golde and Iewels are bestowed on them And leaste authoritie shoulde want to error in all their sayings in all their writings and in
their generall Counsels they haue confirmed the worshipping of them as in the seconde at Nice and that which was assembled at Rome by Gregorie the thirde But of these Idolatrous déedes and doctrines I shall haue occasion hereafter to entreate Suffiseth now that I haue shewed how the Diuel abuseth the works of God to his own purpose how Images haue crept into the Church how necssarily they are naught both by the word of God authority of good men condemned And sith they teache not otherwise than lies are notwithstanding honored to the shame of vs and derogation of gods glory they ought in generall to be remoued from the place of perill the place of Gods seruice We must not giue place to our owne reason we must not measure God with the line of our fansies but builde according to the plat layed before vs shew our thankfulnesse by obedience If we once giue place to our enimy which dayly doth assault vs I confesse with Martiall that we giue occasion of our owne fall If we be not circumspect and wise in Christ we shall vnwares be set vpon betrayed We sée how he suborneth his ministers by al crafty meanes to seduce vs if he can They were wont to say There is smal store of Saincts vvhen the Diuell carieth the Crosse But we may iustely suspect that there is small goodnesse in the Crosse when it is caried by the Diuell and hys Sainctes Martial much like to Virgils Sinon of whom he toke a president to make an artificial lye for thrée leaues together in his Preface telleth vndoubted trothes to the ende that the falshodes which folishly God wote he doth inferre may haue the more credit Note And vvhensoeuer I bring any of Martials allegations I note in the margent the leafe of his boke vvhere ye shall finde it after this sorte Fol. vvith a. or b. for the first or second page bycause it vvere vayne to recite more of his idle vvords vvhich might vvell increase the volume but cumber to much and lothe the reader Fol. 3. b. He beginneth then with a long processe hath cowched all his eloquence together to tell a good tale of his master the Diuell He labours busily about the which no man contendes with him of There he forgat the rule of Logique de Reciprocatione that is an ill argumēt which serueth both partes I graunt that Sathan hath gone about first by persecution feare afterward by fayre promises to make the moe to hang vpon him We haue had experience of this in some of his owne sect D. Harding whome these two Doctors feare of Death and hope of Promotion within the space of a moneth instructed more than in seauen yeres he could learne before We sée the trial of this in euery one of the new Colligioners of Louain who could be contented with all their heartes to reforme themselues vnlesse in their M. the Diuels seruice they feared on the one side a newe reuolte and rage of Antichrist and on the other side hoped to be byshoppes when the worlde should turne Rusticus expectat dum distuat amnis They knowe what followeth Nowe to turne the weapon on their owne heads Bycause the prouidence and mercy of our God hath frustrate their hope in their opinion to long they haue thought it best to make open warre against God and al honesty to sende for their frendes and summon their dicts in the lowe countreyes Thence haue procéeded the popish practises The smoky styrres that were blowen in Scotland The fyry factions inflamed in Fraunce The Pholish treason condemned in England The Popishe conspiracy attempted in Ireland that as it hath bene the olde wont and all the Religion of Romishe fathers to mayntayne by the sworde that rayne of Romulus first gotten by murder to sette sometime the a Irene against Cōstantine the syxte mother agaynst the sonne The b Henry the .4 againste Henry the .3 Emperours sonne against the father the c In England againste King Iohn and Henry the secōd people against the Prince So they might set realmes together by the eares and arme the subiects agaynst the Quéene themselues to be maintained in their pride and hipocrisie When this hath not taken the desired effecte God giuing wonderfull and glad successe to the noble furtherer of his worde and glory they haue thought it most gaynefull for them to come in with a newe battaile a battaile of bokes whereof some already be come into oure sighte and they say that more doe lye in ambushe Thankes be to God they shead no bloude though they breath nothing else but sedition and lies If it haue pleased God at any time to raise more notable instrumentes in his Church as Luther Zvvinglius Caluin were as Knokes Latymer and Cranmer haue bene to beate downe the walles of the malignant Church most of them with their bloud to beare witnesse to the truth then are they condemned of the Antichristians and with al words of beastlinesse and reproch slaundered But nowe they haue vttered themselues so farre their malice and impudence is so apparant that their tong in déede is no slaunder at all They were wont to saye that a man should not béelye the Diuell What shame is it then for M. Martiall to béelye the Saints Folio 6. b. as that the reformation at Berna should be vnder Zvvinglius where he neuer preached or had ought to doe The alteration of the state in Heluetia should be in the time of Luther his abbettors where as it chaunced almost CC. yeres before they were borne sub Bonifacio octauo That knowledge of the Gospell in England began in Latimer and Cranmers dayes whereas in King Henry the thirde his raigne An. 1374. not onely VVickleife and many in his time but also the King himself began as good matter of reformation as the Chronicles reporte But they will styll be like themselues And nowe M. Martiall brags of his masters armes recognisance in hys forehead Fol. 7. b. What it is that his forehead hath more than vnshamefastnesse I sée not what his tong hath we may al be witnesses the forward and faythfull profession of his master Ille homicida erat ab initio Ioan. 8. in veritate non extitit quia veritas in illo non est He was a manqueller from the beginning and abode not in the truth bicause there is no truth in him Wherfore dearly beloued although this Ape come forth with ten Articles in imitation of ten Commaundements yet God be thanked they neyther be the Commaundements therfore to be folowed nor articles of our faith therefore to be beleued But rather as in the processe it shall well appere euery one as he consters them swarues from the faith and therefore by commaundement we ought to beware of them iudge you indifferently I appeale to the conscience of euery Christian whether we auoiding the occasion of Idolatrye tende anye whit to Paganisme as
will word for word rehearse it in English Celsus doth say that we auoid the making of Altares and Images and Oratories bicause he thinketh that the fayth of our inuisible and inexplicable communion and charity is nothing else but a faction where as in the meane while he séeth not that insteade of Altares and Oratories with vs the mindes of the faithful are from which no doubt most swete sauours of incense are cast out prayers I meane and supplications from a pure conscience Whereof S. Iohn in his Reuelation speaketh on this sort Apocal. 8. The prayers of the Saincts are incense And the Psalmist Psalm 141 Let my prayer O Lord be in thy sight as incense Furthermore we haue Images and worthy offerings vnto God not such as be made by vncleane workemen but framed and fashioned by Gods word in vs wherby such vertues may rest in vs which shall imitate and resemble the first begotten of all creatures in whome examples are as well of Iustice continence and valiantnesse as otherwise of wisdome godlinesse and all vertues Therefore such Images are in al as haue by the word of God gotten them this temperance this righteousnesse this fortitude this wisedome and piety with all the frame of other vertues in which I thinke it méete the honor be giuen vnto him which is the paterne of all Images the Image of God inuisible so forth Whereby it appeareth as in playne wordes he speaketh after that all Images should be such as God himselfe commaunded such as should be within man and not without man such as consisted in the knoweledge of him after whose Image man himself was made Also his testimonie serueth for this No Images in Origens time but spirituall that in his time there were no material Images in temples There was no Roode no Crosse no likenesse of any thing saue onely spirituall of grace and vertues Consider I besech you howe in his fourth boke agaynst Celsus he commendeth the Iewes Nimirum apud quos praeter eum qui cūctis praesidet rebus pro Deo nihil vnquam sit habitum nec quisquam siue Imaginum fictor siue statuarum fabricator in eorum Republica fuerit vt quos procul lex ipsa abigeret vt ne qua hijs esset fabricandorū simulachrorum occasio quae stultos quosdam mortalium à Deo reuelleret ad contemplanda terrena animi oculos retorqueret That is to say Among whom nothing was euer accompted God beside him which ruleth all nor in their common wealth any caruer of Idols or Image maker was as whom the law it self droue away frō them to the intēt they shuld haue no occasion to make any Images which might pluck certayn folish persons from God turne the eyes of their soules to the contēplation of earthly things So much for Origen And if ye read his boke thorow ye shal see it proued in plain words a frentike part to worship Images a madnesse to say that any knowledge of God can be gottē by them Only this suffiseth here that your allegatiō maketh not to your purpose and your author alleaged maketh most agaynst you Then what should ye talke that in the primitiue Church Crosses were set vp in euery place that euery Church Chappel had the signe of the Crosse erected in it that sacraments could not be made without it that men deuoutly kept pieces of it c. Whereof Origen 280. yere after Christ Folio 9. a. knew nothing but rather by the law condēned such obseruances Wher now is the counsel that you haue learned of your elders Where is the aduertisemēt of graue fathers Where is the medicine that you cal soueraine taken frō the best Physitians of the church I wil not compare you to a Tapster a Tinker an Osteler but to a leude Apoticarie that vnderstandeth not his bil but giueth Quid pro Quo or else to Cooke Ruffian that marres good meate in the dressing But to procéede giue somewhat a further taste of your vnsauorie soppes ye bring forth Cassiodores Cassiodor Folio 19. b. authoritie which may be answered in a word that he meaneth nothing lesse than you doe ymagine For what though the signes of the heauenly Prince be prynted vpon the faythfull as the Image of the Emperour is in his coyne vvhereby the Diuell is expulsed from them c. What though the Crosse be the inuincible defēce of the hūble the ouerthrovve of the proud the victorie of Christ the vndoing of the Diuel the destruction of hel the confirmation of heauenly things the death of infidels the life of the iust Is a Roode or a Crucifix or wagging of a finger able to shew whose men we are as the print in that mony doth shew whose the coyne is Whersoeuer that Image and superscription is stāped there is it certayne who hath a right to the coyne But whosoeuer haue the signe or stampe of a Crosse vpon them shewe not thereby whose seruauntes they are Your Popes and your Prelates haue Crosses before them Crosses hanging vpon them Crosses in their Crownes Crosses in their garmentes And yet I feare me least ye wil not affirme them to be the best seruaunts of Christ You knowe sometime there be coynes of counterfets I know the most crossers are not the best Christians The signe of God printed in the faythfull is the beliefe in Christ The signe of God in the faythfull and grace to doe thereafter The Crosse that is their refuge their succour defence is the death of Christ and merits of his passion But sée what pieuishnesse is in Papists Pieuishnesse of Poperie Whersoeuer they reade of fier in the Scripture thence they kindle Purgatorie Wheresoeuer they heare a body mentioned there doe they teare it to Transubstantiation Wheresoeuer they sée thys word Crosse come in place they lift it vp to the Roodeloft or at the least to the forehead Me thinks M. Martial that you might haue remēbred your first diuision where ye made mētion of .iiij. significations of the Crosse and so applied as the troth is the sayings of your authors vnto the seconde But your wisdome foresaw this obiection of mine therefore ye graunt that nothing can auayle or profite man Fol. 20. a. b. vnlesse he hath a stedfast fayth in Christ faithful beliefe in the merits of his passion But Mary say you Mary is much beholding to you in dede she stands next to the Crosse as not euery simple bare naked fayth but such as vvorketh by charitie conquereth the vvorld so not euery fayth vvorketh to man the foresaid effects but faith assisted by the signe of the holy Crosse Then by your reason the signe of the Crosse is as necessary to concurre with our beliefe as charity to be with fayth But fayth without charitie is a Diuels fayth Therefore beliefe without a signe of the Crosse is also diuelish I am sure that no man endewed with cōmon sense howsoeuer he be
the land was inhabited And of the doings at New-hauen what an honorable peace insewed contrary to the wish and will of the enimies of God and of their countrey the Papistes we doe nowe féele thankes be to God and you can not denie But in the Catholique time as you call it what successe had you when Calleis and Guines so hardly wonne so long kept with such glory and gaine to the English name defended was easely in one .iij. dayes with shame lost More will I not rehearse of our desperate losses in that tyrannous interraigne I retourne to your visions Iulian Folie 33. a. as you cyte oute of Sozomenus had a shovvre of rayne that ouertooke him and euery drop that fell eyther vpon hys coate or any other that accompanyed him made a signe of the Crosse Agayne When the saide Iulian counsayled the Ievves to repaire the Temple of Ierusalem destroyed by the Romaines God to make them desist from that vvicked purpose of theirs caused the ground vvhere they had digged a great trench for the foundation to be filled vvith earth rising out of a valley And vvhen this notvvithstanding they continued their vvorke God raysed a great tempest of vvinde and skattred all the lime and sande vvhich they had gathered and caused a great earthquake and killed al that vvere not baptised and sent a great fyre out of the foundation and burned many of the laborers And vvhen all this nothing discouraged them a bright glittering signe of the healthfull Crosse appered in the element and the Ievves apparell vvas filled vvith the signe of the Crosse The application of these two histories which for this purpose I set out at large that they may the better be considered will make you glad to scrape them out of your booke For ye fare as a foole that walks in a net or as the children whose head being hidde they thinke their bodies can not be séene Although ye cast some shadowes ouer you and think that your head is hidde in an hole yet your eares be so long that they do bewray you When thus ye haue heaped vp as many mysticall figures of the Crosse as you and your learned Counsell can ye gather a fine conclusion of them that God vvilleth all hys Folio 34. highly to esteeme the thing vvhich those figures signified and to beleue that as those figures vvrought temporall benifites to the Israelites so the truthe that is the Crosse it selfe shall vvorke vnto his electe and chosen Children beleuing in hys Sonne Iesus Christ and hauing his signe printed in our foreheads the lyke benifits effectes vertues spiritually and much more greater First who tolde you that the truth of these figures was the Crosse it selfe vnlesse by a figure ye take the Crosse for the crucified Then that those figures wrought temporall benifites how can you proue Sure if they were causes of any good that came they were Causae stolidae as Tully calleth them meane and instrumentall causes as the Axe is cause of the wood cleauing and not efficient Thirdely if ye would haue concluded well Distinguenda fuissent ambigua those wordes that diuerslye may be taken should haue bene seuered into their diuers significations that we might haue knowne how to haue vnderstoode your mastership When ye ioyne the truth and the Crosse togither what Crosse can I tell you speake of If it be according to your promise afore the Crosse in the fourth signification for thereof ye saide you woulde onely entreate then is not your Crosse the truth it selfe but a figure still wheras ye couple the belief in Christ and hys signe printed in our foreheads togither what signe is that the Crosse with a finger If ye meane it so ye make an vnméete comparison the one being necessarye the other ydle and vnlawfull too This am I sure your meaning is by couert spéech to deceiue the simple and cause them to deriue the glory from the truthe and transferre it to the figure to haue in reuerence your idle signe and let the thing signified be forgotten As for the figures of the olde law marke what Tertullian sayth and thereby shall you learne a better meaning of them than your meane skill considereth Aduersus Martio li. 3. for thus he sayth Sacramentum mortis figurari in praedicatione oportebat quanto incredibile tanto magis scandalo futurum si nudè praedicaretur quantoque magnificum tanto magis adumbrandum vt difficultas intellectus gratiam dei quareret It behoued the Sacrament of the death of Christ to be sigured in preaching For how much more it is incredible so much more offensiue should it be if nakedly it had bene preached and by howe much it was more glorious so muche the more it was to be shadowed that the hardnesse of vnderstanding myght séeke for the grace of God So farre Tertullian But how little grace of God you haue in sticking still to the easie letter and neuer seking the glory of the death is to wel séene by your doings The signe of the Crosse was shewed to Constantine he was not yet become a Christian It was expedient to haue a miracle We doe professe great skill and knowledge and shall we not beleue without a signe That which was once done shall it be asked euer That which was commaunded to one alone shall it be drawne a president for all Folio 34. The signe of the Crosse vvas shevved to Cōstantine in his great anxietie ye saye to instructe vs that in all anxietie of minde and pensiuenesse of heart the Crosse of Christe shall be our comforte So farre I graunt And the signe you say to be a meane to ouerthrovv our enimies Where finde ye that God hath moe meanes of comforte then one he deliuereth his that are in daunger by diuers wayes We reade that when Alexander the great Iosephus li. 11. Ca. 8. for deniall of Tribute to be paid vnto him was vtterly in minde to destroy Hierusalem and was marching thither with an huge army which no power of theirs was able to resist Iaddus which was the chief bishop then put all his pontifical attire vpon him and caused the rest of his cleargy to doe the like and went forthe to méete the tyraunt so Alexander no soner saw him but he lighted frō his horse fell flat on the ground before him The lusty roysters that were about him meruailing at this so sodaine chaunge from wrath to worshipping from force of armes to submission and praier specially to a Priest wheras the Prince vainly supposed himself to be a God and where he minded before in heat of his displeasure vtterly to haue destroyed them nowe to become contrary to his nature an humble suppliant to them Alexander made answer thus When I lodged in Dio a Citie of Macedon such a personage as this of like stature like apparell in all poynts appered to me and willed me to set vpon Asia promising that he would guide me in the voyage and in
them vnto men as percell of religion and worshipping of God Christ vsing the ministerie of the Romaines so destroyed the temple that for these fiftene hundreth yeares they haue had no place no respite to repaire it And when they did attempt the matter they were as you alleaged by diuers meanes destroyed and disappoynted namely by the dreadfull apparition of a Crosse Whereof ye might haue gathered that God so misliked the superstitious ceremonies of the temple that he would not suffer the stones of it to stande The lyke plague shall ensue to all that hauing light wil follow darknesse that being frée will bring a slauery vpon them that being deliuered by Christ from these outwarde things and hauing Christ yet will be wedded to these outward things as if that God were pleased with them Wherefore remember Saul let no disguised cloke of a good intente couer an ill acte contrary to the worde Leuit. 10. Nadab and Abiu brought in straunge fyre not commaunded of the Lorde The fyre of the Lorde therefore consumed them 2. Sam. 6. Vzah when the Oxen did shake the Arke of a good intent did put his hand vnto it and was stricken deade for his offence Melior est obedientia quam Victimae sayde Samuell Better is obedience than sacrifice Better is a naked seruice with the worde than a a gorgeous solemnitie not cōmaunded by the worde Quicquid ego praecipio vobis Deut. 12. hoc tātum facite Whatsoeuer I do commaunde you sayth the Lorde doe that and that onely Non addes quicq̄ nec minues Thou shalt not adde any thing to it nor take away any thing from it When Christ shall appeare in brightnesse of his glory when he shall sytte as a iust iudge at his seconde comming to aske a straight accompt of all your life fayth and religion what can ye answere what wil ye say vnto him We haue garnished thy temple with golde and syluer we haue set vp candels vpon thine altares we haue sainsed thy saincts we haue erected estemed honored thy Crosse What shal he then reply to this Esay 1. Leuit. 26. Esay 52. 1. Cor. 6. 2. Cor. 6. The worde of his Prophete Esay Quis requisiuit ista de manibus vestris Who did require these thinges at your handes My temple ought your own heartes to be as I my selfe pronounced and my Apostle Paule bare witnesse with me This should haue bene adorned with chastitie simplicitie feare of my name loue of my mercies innocencie of lyfe integritie of fayth Such resting place and such ornaments therof haue I required but you haue them reiected No altare of squared stone haue I appointed my selfe on the altare of the Crosse abolished it I only ought to be the altare nowe wherevpon your sacrifice of prayse and thankesgiuing should be layd and light of your good workes shining to the world be set vpon But me and my death ye haue adnihilated to magnifie your owne imaginations my sainctes should haue bene paternes of holy lyfe and true fayth vnto you not haue vsurped my rowme and office to become mediators and be called vpon The swéete perfume of prayer shuld haue arisen from the saynsure of your heart to me and no flinging of coales about the Church to other But you haue sticked onely to the Iewish and hipocriticall obseruaunce The truth exhibited in time of grace ye haue not receyued The memory of my death by preaching of the worde and due administration of Sacramentes in the Church should haue bene continued according to my wyl The members of my body the liuely counterfets of myne owne person the poore the naked the comfortlesse christians should haue bene relieued clothed encouraged but by your Imagry you haue excluded my word by your Roodes Crosses and crucifixes vtterly as much as in you lieth defaced the glory of my death departe ye therefore away from me ye workers of iniquitie let nowe the God that you haue serued saue you Entre into euerlasting fier prepared for the Diuell and for you his Angels Thys when God shall lay vnto your charge this fine shall followe of it and when in the terrible conflict with Sathan ye shall call your consciences to accompte and sée those ydle toyes that you haue trusted to to be voyde of comforte what shall ye then doe but be dryuen to dispeire and say to the mountaines fall downe vpon vs. Luke 22. Wherefore if yet there be any place of repentaunce left for you if malice and obstinacy haue not vtterly secluded Gods grace from you take vp by times Séeke Christ in his worde forsake your will worshippings Set not your follies in the seruice of God agaynst the wysedome of the Almighty reuealed in his worde You thinke your holde is good God knowes it abydes no stresse Ye say ye séeke the Shepherd I proue ye finde the Foxe To the thirde Article FOr declaration and proufe of your thirde Article Folio 36. b. which is that euery Church Chappell and Oratory erected to the honor and seruise of God should haue the signe of the Crosse ye bring foure reasons whereof the two first be too vnreasonable grounded vpon folish fables The third is insufficient to confirme a doctrine The fourth is a custome of error not consonant to truth For the first ye alleage one of Abdias tales whome you affirme to haue sene Christ in the flesh Folio 38. b. to haue follovved Simon and Iude into Persia and to haue bene made Byshop of Babilon by the Apostles Abdias To speake somewhat of your famous father that he sawe Christ in the fleshe what maruell was it if he were one of the .72 disciples as you and Lazius that foūd the lying legend in his proface vpon Abdias witnesse Concerning his auncienty no maruel if ye cite him For if ye make accompt of his yeares by probable coniecture out of his boke ye shall finde him almost as olde as Mathusale He liued long after S. Iohns time for he citeth authorities out of his Gospell Ii 5. in fine diuers And speaking of a miracle done at S. Iohn his tombe how Manna sprang out of it he sayth Quam vsque hodie gignit locus iste that is to say Which Manna this place bringeth forth to this day Then if it were so strange a matter as he would haue it séeme many yeares were runne betwene the death of the Apostle and writing of his booke But Iohn himself was an hundreth yeare olde lacking two when he dyed For as your Abdias sayth Cum esset annorum nonaginta septem c. When he was foure score and seuentéene yeare olde Christ appeared to him and so forthe And Abdias if he were one of the .72 Disciples was called to hys ministery the selfe same yeare that Iohn was to his Apostleship So that by all likelyhoode hée was then as olde as Iohn and liuing long after Iohn How old was hée say you But a man of those yeares being broken
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
with handes stretched out bicause they are harmelesse bare headed bycause we are not ashamed without any prompter bycause we pray from the hearte alwayes do make our supplications for all Princes and rulers beseching God to send them a long life a quiet raigne an housholde in safetie and valeaunt souldiours counsellers faythfull and people vertuous a merry world and whatsoeuer themselues wish for besyde These things I can not pray for of any but of whome I knowe I shall obtayne bycause he it is that only perfourmeth and I am he that must obtaine his seruaunt which honour and esteme him onely which offer vnto him a fat and full Sacrifice which he hath commaunded me a prayer that procéedeth from a sobre chaste flesh an innocent soule and from the holy ghost In which wordes Tertullian declareth the order of Gods seruice in his time which consisted not in outwarde shewes but inwarde veritie nor in their distresses they called vpon any as you doe in your Litanies saue onely vpon him that only can and will rewarde his Wherefore your Litanies of late deuised Papists superstitious and vvhy be most vnlawfull and notwithstanding your Crosses you be most superstitious Superstitiosi enim vocantur as Lactantius sayth non qui filios suos superstites optant omnes enim optamus sed aut hij qui superstitē memoriā defunctorum colunt aut qui parentibus suis superstitibus colebant Imagines eorum domi tanquam Deos penates Nam qui nouos sibi ritus assumebant Lactantius diuin inst Li. 4. Ca. 28. vt in deorum vicem mortuos honorarent quos ex hominibus in coelum receptos putabant hos superstitiosos vocabant For they are called superstitious not that desire their children to be long liued for so we doe all but eyther such as haue the memorie of the deade fresh with them and estéeme the same or such as hauing their parents aliue did worship their Images at home as their housholde Gods For they that toke new fashions vnto them to honour the dead in steade of the Goddes which men they supposed to haue bene receyued out of earth into heauen them did they call superstitious And forasmuch as you M. Martial your fellowes be such which so diligently retaine the memory of the deade which call vpon the deade and make your prayers to them Lactantius sayth you be not religious but superstitious As for the ensigne of our master Christe vvhich you say vve labour to haue out of the fielde Folio 97. a. bycause we knowe the fight of our aduersary is vncessant without any truce or intermission vntill this soule of ours doe vnbody we carry this ensigne alwayes wyth vs we neuer suffer it to depart from the walles of our heart but sleping and waking eating and drinking at Church and at home we haue it alwayes afore vs. And this is in dede the Crosse of Christ not caried on a staffe not set vpō an altar but fixed in our harts with a ioiful remēbrance of his merits for vs. Hoc enim vexillo antiquus hostis non Imaginibus victus est Car. Mag. de Imag. lib 2. Cap. 28. hijs armis non colorum fucis Diabolus expugnatus est per hanc non per picturas inferni claustra destituta sunt per hanc non per illas humanum genus redemptum est In Cruce namque non in Imaginibus pretium mundi pependit Illa ad seruile supplicium non quaedam Imago ministra extitit Hoc est nostri regis insigne non quaedam pictura quod nostri exercitus indesinenter aspiciunt legiones Hoc est Signū nostri Imperatoris non compaginatio colorum quod ad praelium nostri sequūtur cohortes For by this ensigne saith Charles the great not by Images our auncient enimy is ouercome The materiall no ensign of Christ By this artillarie not by any counterfets of coloures the Diuel is vanquished By this not by pictures the dongeons of hell are emptied By this and not by them mankinde is al redemed For the price of the world hanged on a crosse and not in Images The Crosse and not an Image was the matter of a seruile punishment This and not a picture is the ensigne of our king which the bandes of our army continually doe loke on This and not a tempering of certaine colours is the signe and banner of our Emperor and captaine which our hostes of men do follow to the warres By which relation of contraries it apeareth playnly what the Crosse is that we ought to reuerence and what Christes banner that we ought to dysplay Not the Image the signe and picture but the memoriall of his death and passion Wherefore he concludeth Non quaedā materialis Imago sed dominicae crucis mysteriū vexillum est quod in campo duelli vt fortius confligamus sequi debemus It is not any material Image but the mysterie of the Crosse of Christ the death it selfe which is our ensigne The true ensigne of Christ that in the fielde of our conflict we ought to followe to the end we may more manfully fight And thus you sée that all authority and reason condemns you There is nothing in Gods seruise that you myslike in vs but rather ought to be reputed prayse The reliques Folio 97. b. For Reliques of Anastasius brought in with procession which ye also do bring to proue the vse of a Crosse shewe that you stande in great néede of good proues when you can be contented with so slender aydes I nede no more to aunswere but that a superstitious instrumente was méetest to serue a superstious effecte Num. 19. We reade in the olde testament that who soeuer touched the deade corps of any man and purged not himselfe defiled the tabernacle of the Lord and should be cut of from Israell And shall in the new testament the rotten bones of a deade carcase make men the holier If all the Scripture be readde ouer and writings of the fathers for CCC yere after Christ we shal finde no commaundement or example in the world of reliques kept or bones translated We reade of Moses the seruaunt of the Lord that he dyed in the land of Moab and the Angell of the Lord buried him in a valley Iosue 34. but no man knoweth of his Sepulchre vnto thys day Which thing was of purpose by the prouidence of God appoynted so that the Iewes might haue no occasion thereby to commit Idolatry But if the translating of dead bones had made eyther for the glory of God or commoditie of man the reliques of such a one as Moses was shuld not haue bene hydden For doubtlesse of al Prophetes he was the greatest by the testimony of God hymselfe Num. 12. Who called hym faythfull in all hys house to whome he spake mouth to mouth and by vision and not in darke wordes yet was not hys body shryned nor hys bones caried in procession nor any
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
oftē giuen so straghtly enioined Thou shalt make to thy self no likenesse of any thing Suppose they be so strengthened in fayth so assisted by grace that how great soeuer the daunger be yet they fall not in it they kepe themselues vncorrupt from Idolatry shall that be sufficient excuse for them if they leaue occasion of such offence to other Shal their learning and wysedome be cause of folly and deceyt to the simple Shal they haue such regard of their own fāsie which is to no purpose but only to gaze on wtout a cōmaundement as they thēselues confesse that the silly flocke shal be scattered therby and the more multitude being simple perish for whō Christ payed as deare a ransome as for the greatest the wisest the best learned of the earth The Scripture is cōmaunded to be knowen of al men Gather sayth Moses the people together Deute 31. men wemen children the straunger that is within thy gates that they may heare and that they may learne and feare the Lord your God kepe and obserue al the words of hys law Likewyse in the new testament the lyke cōmaundement is giuē by Christ to search the Scriptures Which words if any mā think Iohn 5. do appertaine only to the Iewes of the old tyme or to that Cleargy now by the same reasō as Augustine doth wel proue he may say the Christians ought not to know Christ De verb. Domini Ser. 45. nor be knowen of Christ Notwithstanding the Scriptures contrary to Gods wil haue bene for a policie forbidden to be red least the ignoraunt myght fal into error by thē And shal not the pictures forbidden banished out of Gods seruise breding a most vile affection of Idolatry be remoued rather out of the tēple aswel in respect of the precept as peril I haue shewed what these Images do describe pryde auarice wantonnesse and nothyng else If a man say thys Sainct in hys lyfe tyme despysed hys lyfe to lyue with God cōtinued in pouerty to be rich in Christ reiected the pleasures lustes of the fleshe to subdue the same to the good guiding spirite hys Image by by controls hym of a lye For he séeth a most chereful stately loke a gorgious rich attire an embracing in death of the which in lyfe he most abhorred Wherfore as Images generally describe a contrary effect to their first paternes as alway they worke a more wicked ende than in religiō is to be admitted so the Crosse it selfe doth not nor cannot leade as to the crucified but estrāgeth our harts frō god the creator to a vile creature And if the commoditie of Images in the Church or Crosses had bene such as you would haue it appeare I maruell the Christ our scholemaster that hys Apostles our teachers toke no order for them Rom. 15 Paul sayth not Quaecūque picta sunt sed quaecunque scriptae sunt ad nostram doctrinā scripta sunt c. Whatsoeuer thinges are painted but whatsoeuer thynges are written are written for our instructiō Not that by Images or gasing stockes 2. Tim. 3. but thorow pacience and cōfort of the Scriptures we may haue hope Nor he sayth All picture but Scripture inspired of God is profitable to teach to reproue to instruct that the mā of God may be perfect furnished to all good workes Then if the Scripture be a commended and commaunded way and the same sufficient to make vs perfect in all pointes I sée not to what vse an Image or a picture is Exo. 20. God gaue the lawe to Moses not set forth with colours but writtē in .ij. tables Iosue Iosu 23.2.4 deliuered the same vnto the people not in Imagery but in worde not glorious to the eye but gladsome to the eare comfortable to the hart so that the meane wherby they would the benefites of God to be kept in remēbrance was not to paint or graue the lykenesse of thē but by faythfull pen report the noble factes so print in the hart a thankfull memory Dauid intreating of the incarnatiō natiuitie passion death resurrection kyngdom of Christ our Sauior which are the proper effectes which you wyl haue set forth in Imagery sayth in the persō of Christ thus Psa 39. In capite libri scriptū est deme In the beginning of the boke it is writtē of me It is not graued in a piece of metal or painted on a wall The Euāgelist sayth Sicut scriptū est in libro Sermonū Esaiae Luke 3. As it is written in the boke of Esaies Esa 52. sermons He spake of sermons and not of signes of a boke and not of an Image The Apostles also of whome it is written beautifull are the fete of those that bryng tidinges of peace preach helth which wēt throwing their sedes with teares planting the fayth of Christ with afflictiō and shal returne agayne hauing their handfull Psa 125. with plentifull increase with ioy for gayne and successe of the gospell sent not a Crosse or history of the passion painted in a table to cities or to nations but their Epistles the certayne witnesses of their myndes their writinges Nor Christ that we reade of conferred on them the art of painting caruing or engrauing wherby they myght conuert the heathen to the fayth or leaue a remembraunce with their disciples after them Luk. 24. Sed aperuit illis dominus sensum scripturarum but the Lord opened the sense of Scripture to them S. Iohn banished into the Ilande Patmos to receyue the secrete and diuine reuelations heard at the Lordes handes Scribe haec in libro Apoc. 1. Wryte these in a boke and not worke thē in stone or metall Wherby we are giuen to vnderstande that the instruction of our fayth the only ayde of a Godly memory must be the Scripture The Crosse with a picture of a mā vpon it with armes stretched body pearced and fete nayled may peraduenture put me in mynde of a man so executed but who it was for what cause it was to what holesome ende and effect it was no picture in the world can tel me If preaching inspired by the grace of God working effectually in the hearts of hearers be not able to turne and conuert the obstinate If the lawful vse of Gods holy instrument pearcing the hearts and striking the conscience can not frame aright and reforme to pietie what shall we thynke of a dumbe senselesse vnlawfull thyng If I sée a fellon a théefe a murtherer hanged before myne eyes haue I not more to consider myne owne estate than if I behelde a wodden roode or siluer crucifix Suppose I know that that picture representeth Christ am I furthered any thyng towarde my saluation or are the mercies of Christ more effectual to me Ephe. 1. vnlesse I know that euen God the father hath also chosen me in Christ hys sonne before the foundations of the worlde were layd that I