affected in cases of religion but will condemne herein the lack of discretion in you For tell me I pray you what scripture what father what reason euer taught you to coÌ„pare the signe of the Crosse with charity with hope with fasting with prayer None of these but we haue an hundreth places in the word of God to commend and coÌ„maund them But as for the signe of the Crosse what mention is there Folio 21. a. much lesse commendation Forsoth ye bring authorities and experimentes Authorities of Lactantius Lactantiê° and Augustine Experiments of Iuliane As for Lactantius he tieth two poynts together The name of Christ and signe of his passion Psal 54. Prouer. 18. The power of the name we reade of Saue me O God by thy name The name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous runneth vnto it and is exalted And Our help is in the name of the Lorde Psal 123. And in the newe Testament Blessed is he that commeth in the name of the Lord. Math. 23. In my name sayth Christ they shall cast out Diuels And the effect thereof was proued in the .70 disciples which returned home with ioy Marc. 16. Luc. 10. Ioan. 14. Act. 2. Act. 3. Act. 4. and sayd Diuels are subiect vnto vs in thy name Whatsoeuer in my name you shall aske my father you shal obtayne Whosoeuer shal cal vpon the name of the Lord shal be saued Examples also of Peter In the name of Iesus Christ of Nazareth rise vp and walke Also His name hath made this man souÌ„d whome ye sée and know through faith in his name And There is no other name vnder Heauen wherby we may be saued In al these places ther is no signe of the Crosse spoken of yet all these proue a true effecte Wherefore the name of Christ alone would haue done asmuch as the name and the signe together Nor we must impute the vertue to the signe though contrary to the vse and example of Scripture it pleased some men to adde it The like may be sayd of Austins place Augustin for where he speaketh of the articles of our fayth called in latine Symbolum De symb ad Cathe 1. which he willed before to be written in the heart laid vp in store in the boke of memorie he concluded that a way to withstand the enimie was cum symboli sacramento with the sacrament of fayth which you interprete a stedfast fayth Crucis vexilio and ensigne of the Crosse What meaneth he by that Metaphore What is that ensigne of the Crosse The Banner that is caried about the churchyard in procession No But that which in the selfe same sentence before he called CanticuÌ„ salutis ioyning it with Symboli remedio contra antiqui Serpentis venenum The song of saluation ioyned with the remedie of the .xij. Articles of our faith against the poyson of the olde serpent Therefore straight after when he had rehearsed the two chiefe engins wherewithall our enimy doth afflict vs Voluptatem Timorem Pleasure Dreade He doth not byd vs to make the signe of a crosse in our foreheade nor run to succour of so weake a shielde but to fence our selues Timore Domini casto fide Orationis With the chaste feare of God and fayth of Prayer Ye sée by this time that your authorities make nothing for you The wrong vnderstanding of the name Crosse doth make your arguments runne of vncertayne féete and halte downe right The ioyntely concurring of fayth and fruites I know to be necessary the word of God doth teach me But the necessary concurrence of the signe of the Crosse with fayth is more than you can learne eyther of Gods worde or else good father and therfore more than we ought to beleue vnlesse we wilfully beleue a lye Mat. 16. Mark 8. Luc. 9. 2. Cor. 4. Christ was sufficient scholemaster to vs he lefte no precept of his Crosse amongst vs. Only he willed Euery man to take vp his own Crosse The Apostles that gloried in the Crosse that is to say the death of Christ that liued vnder the Crosse that is to say were subiect to afflictions carying about with them the death of Christ in their mortall bodies that did many miracles by him that hanged on the Crosse neuer vsed as we reade the signe of the Crosse nor gaue any counsell or commaundement for it Hebr. 4. Shall Christ our hie priest touched with the feling of our infirmities be insufficient furnishet of vs and folish men arme vs at all poynts Shall the Apostles forget so necessary a piece of defence and the Pope remembre it I thinke in déede that the Crosse quarrellers toke all their president of Iulian the Apostata Papistes take President of Iulian the Apostata Folio 21. a. that whereas they meante to haue as little Religion they would haue as light a rescue as he had But before I come to recitall of his story let me cite your comparison It is not odious but to ridiculous The bare signe of the Crosse ye prefer before naked sole and only fayth The signe of the Crosse of it self what is it A beating of the ayre a throwing of a stone against the winde in effect nothing But fayth make it as naked and bare as you can yet is it a qualitie of the minde which at the least wise to the worlde commends vs. For let it be as the scholemen terme it fides informis an vnshapen fayth 1. Tim. 1. or as Paul calleth it fides ficta a fayned fayth or the worst that ye can make it Daemonum fides the Diuels fayth Yet doth it teach vs somewhat it taketh away the excuse of ignoraunce as Paule to the Romanes witnesseth And forceth a sinne vpon vs as Christ himselfe affirmeth If I had not come spoken to them Ioan. 15. they should haue no sinne Your naked Crosse as it can not stande by it selfe so in it selfe it contayneth nothing vnlesse perhaps some wormes and spiders be crept into a corner of it All must rest in the conceyt of man and his imagination I might say with Thomas Aquinas Quod fides informis formata fides est idem habitus quia ad naturam fidei nihil attinet siue charitas ad fit siue non adsit Nam hoc per accidens sit as he sayth Whose wordes in english be these Fayth vnshaped and shaped fayth is all one constant qualitie bycause it skilleth not for the nature of fayth whether charitie be there or no. For that is an accidentall thing Now if this were true a naked fayth were far better than a naked Crosse bycause there should be no difference betwene a naked fayth and a fayth cladde as well as can be But if I should stand in defence of this I should be as fowly deceiued as your Sainct was Lib. 3. Sent. Dist 23. Cap. VnicuÌ„ I wil reason with you out of the master of
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
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
in form likenesse of the other then is it somwhat that you haue sayd But if it were the preaching of the word as most certain it is which did so work in the heartes of men the refusing their errors they became to be faythful then you are a falsefier of the word M. Martial Learne you of me that preaching is that hand of God that standard of his whereby that merciful effect is wrought as wel in vs as in al other to be brought to the truth from blindnesse ignorance And if ye thinke scorne to learne of me learne of God himselfe who in the text before sayth that his mouth is a sharp sweard and that preaching is a chosen shaft had in the quiuer of the almighty For the word in operation is as forcible as a sweard it moueth it rauisheth it renueth men it pearceth to the heart it searcheth the secret places it entreth through as S. Paul sayth Heb. 4 euen vnto the deuiding asūder of the soule and of the spirits of the ioynts of the marowe and is a discerner of the thoughtes and the intentes of the heart neyther is there any creature which is not manifeste in his sight but al things are naked and open vnto his eyes with whome we haue to do This two edged sweard which God hath put in the mouth of man doth trye the force of things set against it It cutteth the corrupt affections from the heart It openeth the festered sores the pestilent impostumes of our ill desires It ouerthroweth the kingdome of Sathan It slayes his host sinne death and hell And as an arrowe which is past the bowe of a cunning archer can not be stayed by hand before it haue his lighting place so doth the word hold stil his constant course it maketh way whersoeuer it goeth it falleth as he willeth which is the onely directer of it But fall where it will it falleth with effect nor any man can withstand the blowe that it giueth If you can iustly ascribe any such piece of operation to the Crosse in your fourth signification then will I gladly giue place vnto you But whereas it is certayn that no work of man can alter the heart or once regenerate it to true pietie the standard that Esay the Prophet speaketh of maketh nothing for your purpose But S. Hierome ye say taketh your part for vpon that place he noteth Fol. 23. b. Vndoubtedly there is meant the banner or signe of the Crosse In dede s Hierome hath these words Haud dubium quin vexillum crucis vt impleatur illud quod scriptum est Laudibus eius plena est terra Which is as much to say as this No doubt but it shal be the ensigne of the Crosse that it may be fulfilled which is written The earth is ful of his prayses Here Hierome doth explicate himself what he doth meane by the ensigne of the Crosse the setting forth of the prayse of God which is not by setting of a Crosse on the altar but by preaching the crucified Christ vnto people The place of Ieremy the .iiij. maketh no more for the Crosse thā it doth for the Candlesticks For when the Prophet had spoken to the inhabitants of Iuda Ierusalem to be circumcised to the Lorde Ieremie 4 and cut of the foreskinnes of their infected heartes ne egrederetur tanquam ignis furor eius et accēderetur nemo extingueret least his wrath should go forth as fier and should be kindled and no man quench it He commeth further to declare the obstinacy of mennes hearts that by no meanes can be brought to goodnesse but seke by al meanes to auoyd the rewarde and plague of wickednesse Wherefore by an Ironye he sayth vnto them Blowe the trumpet in the land crie and gather together and say Assemble your selues and let vs go into strong cities Set vp the standard in Sion c. As if that he had sayde I knowe what you will doe when the wrath of God shall fall vpon you when your ennimies shall oppresse you you will not consider the cause thereof but you wil run to your strong holdes you wil arme your selues and stand at your defence you wil set vp your standard in Sion and thinke that you shall be safe there But it will not be so sayth the Lord Quoniam ego malum accersam ab Aquilone Bicause I wil bring a plague from the North. And truely there is no cause why Hierome in this place should runne to his Allegorie whereas there is so playne and sound a sense in the letter But if his Allegorie should take place let all go togither and it maketh agaynst you For his words be these Ingrediamur ciuitates munitas Haereticorum bella consurgunt Christi monumenta nos teneant Leuate signum Crucis in sublimitate ecclesiae Let vs enter into the walled cities The battayles of the Heretiques doe arise Let the munitions of Christ holde vs Lift vp the signe of the Crosse in the height of the Church Let me nowe aske you this question whether we must runne agaynst heretiques with a Crosse in our hande as I remember a priest of your facultie beat all his parishe with the Crosse staffe If this artillerie beate not downe heresies thinke that S. Hierome meante another thing that it is to say The signe of the Crosse in the toppe of the Church The preaching of the vvord in the prelates of the Church Nowe as for the signe of the sonne of man Math. 24. vvhich shall before the iudgement appeare in heauen Forsoth there is no certayne proufe that it shall be a Crosse For Chrisostome in his second exposition vpon the .xxiiij. Chapiter of Mathewe Hom. 49. sayth Quidam putant Crucem Christi ostendendam esse in caelo Verius autem est ipsū Christū in corpore suo habentē testimonia passionis id est vulnera lanceae clauorum vt impleatur illud quod dictum est Et videbunt in quem pupugerunt Some sayth Chrisostome thinke that the Crosse of Christ shall be shewed in heauen But it is truer that Christ himselfe shall appeare hauing in his body the testimonies of his passion that is to say the wounds of the speare and nayles that it may be fulfilled which was sayd And they shall sée him whome they pearced Nor onely contente with his owne censure he bringeth after a proufe of Scripture that the wordes cannot be spoken of the Crosse but of the body of Christ himselfe bicause the rest of the Euangelistes writing of the same matter doe only say Videbunt filium hominis venientem They shall sée the sonne of man cōming Whervpon he concludeth that al the Euangelists do shewe Signum Christi esse ipsum corpus Christi qui in signo corporis sui cognoscendus est à quibus crucifixus est That the signe of Christ is the body of Christ himself who in the signe of his body shal be knowen of them of
note in their registers such as were slaine in the warres they would mark them with the letter ☉ as thrust thorow with a dart or els of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is death But when they would note any one aliue they woulde put their letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Crosse mark T vpon him Also Asconius Paedianus sayth that when a Iewry gaue vp their verdite of gilty or not gylty such as were condemned to death were marked wyth ☉ but such as were quit were marked with the T. Wherfore there is no reason why your Roode or Crucifixe can by any meane be applyed to the mark which Ezechiel speaketh of Fyrst bycause none haue the Prophets marke but such as be godly lament wickednesse But many of the diuels children grinagods and such other be crossed and cursed to Then also the proportion is so farre different that there is no likenesse betwixt them But for the likenesse of the effect they may be well compared together For as they only were saued which were so signed with the letter Thau ת so none be saued now nor yet euer were but such as haue the print of Christes Crosse within them merits of his passion and fayth in his bloud Wel doth Hierome shew In Ezech. Cap. 9. the causes why the signe Thau ת shuld be made in the foreheads of the elect fyrst vt perfectam in viris gementibus et dolētibus scientiam demonstraret quia extrema apud Hebraeos est Viginti duarum litterarum that is to say To shew a perfect knowledge in them that mourne and be sory bycause it is the laste letter of .xxij. among the Hebritians That as that letter doth end the Alphabete So when Christ died on the Crosse which that letter signified all things were ended necessary for our saluation Ioan. 19. according to the worde Consūmatum est It is finished The worke of oure saluation was then fully wrought Agayne sayth Hierome bycause this letter is the first in the word which signifieth Lawe among the Hebrewes Illi hoc accipere signaculum qui legis precepta compleuerant They receyued this marke which had fulfilled the preceptes of the lawe So that the fashion of the letter is not so much as the mysterie which accordeth well to that which I sayde before Yet neither the fashion nor the mysterie maketh ought for your purpose M. Martiall Nowe I maruell what toy came into your ydle heade when for a proufe of the vndoubted signe of the Crosse ye bring forth the words of the Psal O Lord the light of thy countenaunce is sealed on vs. Do ye think that the light of gods coūtenance is a piece of wood in the Roodeloft or a Crucifixe on the altare Or else do ye think that the light of Gods countenance can be fixed with a finger in the fleshy foreheade If none of these be true what shall I say to you You haue made a whip your self shal be beaten with it Hieroms wordes be these Praecipitur sex viris vt praeter eos qui possunt dicere Signatū est super nos lumen vultus tui Domine cunctos interficiāt Cōmaūdement is giuē to the six men of whom Ezechiell speaketh that they kil all but them that can say O Lord the light of thy countenance is sealed on vs. The light of Gods coūtenance is his fauour toward vs. Thē is it signed in vs when the sense therof doth come vnto vs bréede a confidence sure hope within vs. If the light of Gods coūtenance be the self same with the letter ת Thau the letter Thau no other but the signe of the crosse thē whosoeuer haue the signe of the Crosse haue hope haue cōfidence haue fayth in God But this is vtterly false as experiēce it self doth teach vs. Therfore the letter Thau though in a mysterie it betokened the death of Christ yet hath it no relation to the signe of the Crosse For answere to the other places of Esay Ieremy I referre you to the which I said before Nowe to come to the time of grace I had nede to beware of you Folio 31. Ye come in with that which ye haue good testimony to be true in dede that a Crosse in the fourth signification such a crosse as ye speak of was shewed frō heauen to Constantine the great with these Angels words In hoc vince In this ouercom Obiectiō Nor the good Emperor savv this only but as Eusebius vvriteth vvas comaūded to make a signe of it caried it in his stādard aftervvard did cause his mē in their armour to graue it Solution But whatsoeuer it hath pleased God for his glories sake at any time to doe must not be drawen for example vnto vs. Priuileges extend no further than to the persons cōprised in them Signes miracles were shewed to some which neyther be graūted to other nor ought to be asked of al. Moses had a signe to confirme him in his enterprise agaynst Pharao But Iosue had not so He onely had a bare cōmaūdement when he entred vpon the land of Chanaā Gideon was confirmed by miracle to fight against the Madianites So neither Iephte nor Sampson were Paul was by a signe frō heauen called So was not Peter nor any of his successors after Wherfore if thus it pleased God to enbolden the heart of Constantine to fight agaynst Maxentius the tirant that he would shew him such a signe from heauē not to confirme his fayth which by the word was to be established but to put him in assurance of a thing beside the word that is to say victory against his enimies what president is this to preiudice my cause He newly was conuerted to the fayth be was weake therein therefore he doubted of such successe in his affayres as for his Church cause God apointed to graūt him For which cause an extraordinary meane was vsed And God applied himself to the capacity of them that he dealt withal giuing such a token to thē as might wel assure thē of conquest in his name In hoc signo vince sayd God In this signe that is to say in his name whom this figure representeth ouerthrow thine enimies It was not the signe that gaue the victorie Constantine neuer thought it He taught his people otherwise to say as it apeareth in the solemn praier which he willed thē with lifting vp of eyes hearts to heauen daily to make For assone as euer he had vanquisht the tirant he returned vnto Rome and first of al Eusebius de vita Const. lib. 1. Victoria authorigratiarū actionem persoluit he gaue his thanks to the author of victory then afterward he set vp his crosse in the market place to the end it might there remayne a testimony of the power of God that whosoeuer did behold the same might by by conceiue of whose religion this Emperor was in whose name he ouercam his foes Which visible signe
multis pauca Scripturae patrūque testimonia in hac definitione nostra parcentes sanè copiae ne in longum res protraheretur collocauimus Reliquis enim quae infinita sunt volētes supersedimus vt qui velint ipsi requirant Ex his igitur a Deo in spiratis scripturis beatorum patrum sententijs stabiliti super petram cultus diuini in spiritu pedes confirmantes in nomine sanctae supersubstātialis viuificantis Trinitatis vnanimes eiusdem sententiae nos qui sacerdotij dignitate succincti sumus simul existentes vna voce definimus omnem imaginem ex quacunque materia improba Pictorū arte factam ab Ecclesia Christianorū reijciendam veluti alienā abominabilē Nemo hominū qualiscunque tandē fuerit tale institutum impiū impurum posthac sectetur Qui vero ab hoc die Imaginem ausus fuerit sibi parare aut adorare aut in Ecclesia aut in priuata domo constituere aut clam habere si Episcopus fuerit aut Diaconus deponitor si vero solitarius aut laicus anathemate percellitor imperialibúsque constitutionibus subijcitor vt qui diuinis decretis impugnet dogmata non obseruet The English of which words is this The wicked calling of Images by a false name neither had his beginning by tradition from Christ nor of his Apostles or yet the auncient fathers neither had it any holye prayer where through to be sanctified but it remayneth prophane euen as it is wrought and finished of the Paynter But if certaine deliuered of that errour affirme that we haue Godlily and vprightly said in throwing downe the Image of Christ bicause of the inseparable and inconfusible substaunce of two natures ioyned in one person Yet notwithstanding some occasion of doubt remayneth in them as touching the Images of the virgin most glorious and vndefiled the mother of God of the Prophetes Apostles and Martirs seing that they be only men and no more neyther doe consist of two natures that is to say the diuine and humaine ioyned in one person as before we haue signified to be in Christ and the contrary therof practised in his Images There groweth in déede some matter of doubt as touching the Images of the most glorious and vndefiled mother of God of the Prophets Apostles Martirs seing that they were only men and not framed of two natures what they be able to say to any purpose with reason vnto these The former argumēt ouerthrowen certaynly they haue nothing at all in this case to say But what say we to ouerthrowing Images For as much as oure catholike Church being a meane betwene the Iudaisme and Gentilitie hath receyued neyther of the maner of sacrifices accustomed to thē but hath entred into a newe way and order of Godlinesse and mysticall constitution giuen and deliuered of God for it doth in no wise admit the bloudy sacrifice and burnt offrings of the Iewes it doth vtterly abhorre not only al Idolatry in sacrificing but also multitude of ymages of Gentility for this was the head first most abhominable deuiser of this arte which hauing no hope of resurrection inuented a toy worthy it self wherby alwayes the absent might be shewed as present therefore synce this practise smelleth not of any noueltie doubtlesse let it be remoued most farre of from the Church of Christ as a strange and forren deuise of men possessed with the Diuell Let the tongs then of al such surcesse which spewe forth wicked blasphemous things to the derogation of this our iudgement decrée most acceptable to god As for the holy men who pleased God which were honored by him with the dignity of holynesse although that they be departed hence yet that deade and hatefull practise shal neuer make them agayne alyue But whosoeuer poysoned with the error of the heathen shall attempt to sette vp Images to them he shall be adiudged as one that hath committed blasphemie And how dare the rascall occupation of Gentiles presume to paynt that most prayseworthy mother of God whome the fulnesse of the Godheade hath ouershadowed through whome hath shone vpon vs that lighte which can not be come vnto that mother I say higher than the Heauens holier than the Cherubins Againe why feare they not I say according to the arte of Ethnicks to counterfet them which shall raygne with Christ shall syt on seates wyth him to iudge the world conformed vnto him in glory of whome the world was vnworthy as the Godly miracles affirme Verily it is not lawful for Christians which belieue the resurrectiō to vse the order of worshipping of diuels Neyther yet doth it beseme by vile and deade kinde of matter to reproch them the which shal shine in so great passing glory As for vs we vse not to receyue of strangers demonstrations of our fayth neyther yet in Diuels to require testimony Furthermore our sentence searched and discussed both out of the scripture enspired frō aboue out of the effectuall testimonies of piked fathers agreing with vs and affirming our good intent we wyl exhibite in thys case our resolute determination which he shall not be able to gaynesay which laboreth to call these things in question As for him that is ignorant let him learne and be instructed that these things are takē out of the word of God Fyrst we place before the rest this sentence of gods voice saying God is a spirite whosoeuer wil worship God in spirite and truth let him worship And agayne No man at any time saw God neyther haue ye heard his voyce or séene his shape Blessed are those which haue not sene and yet belieued And in the olde Testament he sayd to Moses and the people Thou shalt not make to thy self any grauen Image neyther the likenesse of any thing in Heauen aboue or in the earth beneath For the which cause you hearde the voyce of his wordes in the mountayne in the middest of fyre but his shape ye saw not but onely heard his voyce And They haue chaunged the glory of the immortall God by an Image framed after the shape of a mortall man and they haue honored and worshipped the things which are created aboue him which hath created And againe For yf we haue knowen Christ according to the fleshe now we knowe hym not For we walke by faith and not by the outward appearance And this also which is moste plainlie spoken of the Apostle Therefore fayth commeth of hearing but hearing commeth by the worde of God For if we haue knowen Christ according to the fleshe nowe we knowe him not For we walke by fayth and not by outwarde appearaunce The very selfe same things our Godly Fathers the schollers and successours of the Apostles doe teache vs. For Epiphanius of Cypres most famous amongst the foremost thus sayth Take héede vnto your selues that ye kéepe the traditions which ye haue receyued Sée ye leane not neyther to the ryght hand nor to the
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
the Philosophers wer not ignoraÌ„t that there can be no lykenesse of God made and therefore not of Christe vnlesse we deny him to be God So that if a Crosse was vsed in his time yet was there no picture of Christe vpon it Last of all that places deputed vnto prayer were only called by the name of the which is the onely meane whereby we apprehende the promises of God and come to true knowledge of him If there were nothing els but Numa hys iudgement whome notwithstanding in all these pointes Cyrillê° doth allow he wer only sufficient to condeÌ„ne youre doctrine No Image of Christ to be made For if Christ be God God can haue no forme or shape what shall we thinke of the pictures of Christ in euery roodeloft and on euery crucifix Are they not things vtterly vnlawfull and suche as wherein Numa shall condemne you Peraduenture ye set a picture of Christ as of onely man but thereby ye runne into a damnable heresie separating his humanitie from his diuinite No Churche to be called by the name of a Sainct making him inferior vnto his father as is proued afore Againe the wisdome of that Romaine king condemneth the foolishe superstition of Christians in giuing worse names vnto their Churches than he did to the temples of his Idols For he called them al the temples of fayth giuing therby the glory vnto God wheras we doe cal them sainct Iohns Church S. Peters Church S. Maries Church and such other like To ioyne issue in the case whether memory be holpen by Imagery If ye speake of Gods matters it is an vngodlye memory that is holpeÌ„ by them Lib. 4. de Imag. ca. 2. Infoelix memoria quae vt Christi memoretur qui nunque à pectore iusti hominis recedere debet imaginariae visionis est indiga An vnhappy memory is the as Charles the great affirmeth which to remember Christ who neuer ought to departe out of the hart of the iust maÌ„ standeth in nede of a sightfull conceite Nor otherwise can haue the presence of Christe within hym vnlesse he haue hys Image paynted on the wall or expressed in some other matter Thys is not only sayd but a reason of the same is brought For sayeth he such a memory as is nourished and kepte by Images procedeth not of harty loue but necessitie of eye sight And sée by thys meanes how little God is beholden to vs. We remember hym as we remember the diuel for when we are not moued of conscience and good wyll A diuelish memory that must be holpen vvith a Crosse to thynke vpon Christe but onely as the eye by occasion is lead then is there no loue but a mere necessitie whiche maketh me remember so oft as I sée it any thing that I hate most So that who are these that must haue their memories quickened with a Crosse Such as if they were blinde belyke would not remember and beyng where no Crosse is wyll forget Christ And sure lyke inough For there are no worse lyuers in the worlde than likers of the Crosse Wherefore sith the minde of man ought so wholy to be desired on hym after whose Image it was firste made that by no creature it oughte to be estraunged from the truthe whiche is Christe DemeÌ„tissimum est eam interpositis materialibus Imaginibus ne eius obliuioneÌ„ patiatur admoneri debere cum videlicet hoc infirmitatis sit vitiuÌ„ non libertatis inditiuÌ„ Moste madnesse it is that oure myndes by the meane of materiall Images must be put in remembraunce leaste we fall to forget hym whereas thys is the faulte of infirmitie no signe of libertie The Apostle Paul sayth that oure conuersation muste be in heauen Philip. 3. Rom. 8. and hope reposed in heauenly thynges Spes enim quae videtur non est spes That hope which is sene is no hope God hath made many creatures of his own wherby his power may be knowen of vs they all notwtstanding in their degrée serue vs shal we now shape out a new creature serue it So dyd the Iewes whoÌ„ the Prophet bitterly reproueth saying To whom wil ye lyke God Esay 40. or what similitude wyl ye set vp vnto hym The workeman melteth an Image or the goldsmith beateth it oute in golde or the goldsmith maketh siluer plates Doth not the poore chose out a trée and so forth Whereby we are giueÌ„ to vnderstande that all Imagery so farre as coÌ„cerneth Gods seruice is condemned not only for the vse and adoration but also for the hauing and erecting of them For as yet he spake not of the worshipping of Images but only of worthying them any place among them To whom wyll ye lyken God sayth he as who shuld say Paint what ye wyll embosse and burnishe yet shal your workemanship haue nothing lyke with God Therefore to aspire vnto the knowledge of hym we muste not take counsell of oure owne folly but follow the wysdome of God herein and betake vs to hys worde whiche is the lyuely Image and perfect couÌ„terfet of himselfe If this suffyse not let vs cast our eyes about vpon hys creatures they wyl tel vs of hym yea the poore and hungry that styll be subiect vnto the Crosse wil leade vs straighter to Christ than any Crosse If you wyl seke for any further ayde I may say vnto you as followeth in the Prophete An nescitis an non audistis an non vobis annuÌ„ciatum est ab initio an non edocti estis a fundameÌ„tis terrae Know ye nothing haue ye not heard hath it not bene tolde you from the beginning haue ye not vnderstode by the foundations of the earth Marke I beseche you what scholemasters Esay doth appoynt vs when he had vsed the generall worde of knowing he inferred .ij. wayes that leade vs to knowledge First is the word which commeth by hearing The seconde is the world which without our workemanship is dayly to be séen If ye fynde any more it is more thaÌ„ the Prophet knewe of it is more then the spirite of God teacheth it is more than a Christien and godly man may vse Wherfore seyng nothyng is described by the Crosse auayleable for vs no piece of cause or effect of Christes passion is represented in it yea the person of Christ as much as in vs lieth disgraced by it and the maiestie of God dishonoured seing by the Scriptures and authority of the Godly such meane of remembraunce is both insufficient and vtterly vnlawfull condemning our selues of too deadly forgetfulnesse and contempte of the order that God hath set vs Finally séeing that it is such a sory scholemaster as speaketh doubtfully teacheth diuelishly is séene daungerously let the signe of the Crosse be cast out of the Church and the Crosse it selfe be preached symply least by suffering the signe of the Crosse to stande the sonne of God crucified be contemned and we fall to worshipping of a Crosse materiall