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
might haue cursed himselfe for leauing behinde him so leude a President But by the way to prosecute a little the two poyntes of Gregories determination First that they teach not according to his wil then that they be worshipped contrary to his wil If any instruction might be taken of them and there were no peril annexed to them God that omitted nothing necessary for our saluation and comforte would not so earnestly in scripture haue forbidden them I referre you to the places themselues most manifest in that behalf to many to be rehearsed But I haue quoted the Boke the Chapter and the sentence that you may easily finde them and I exhort you to reading of them Exod. 20.4 Leuit. 19.4 Numer 23.23 Deut. 4. from the first sentence to the .48 Psal 115.4 and so forth Psal 135.15 Sap. 13.14.15 Esay 40.18 and forward Esay 42.8 Esay 44.9 Ezechiel 6. Baruch 6. Act. 7.48 Act. 15.28 Rom. 1. 1. Cor. 5.10 1. Cor. 10.14 2. Cor. 6.14 Gal. 5.20 1. Iohn 5.21 And although there be none that thinke the golde and syluer the stocke or the stone to be God himselfe yet is it great preiudice great derogation from the glory of God to séeke so great a God after so base a sorte Yet seking it is not but rather forsaking whatsoeuer pretext or good intent go with it Iud. 17. Michah when he had stolne the .xj. C. Sicles of syluer from his mother being somewhat religious otherwise and fearing the curse that she layd vpon the théefe confessed the fact and brought the goods home agayne His mother was glad and as the story witnesseth did dedicate straight the syluer for hir sonne not to any idoll but to God himself made an image of it Whē this was don Michah set it vp in his own house builded a chapel made an altare prepared furniture appointed seruice for it the Ephod the Teraphin the Albe the Vestement the Leuite of Bethlehem the Priest deputed for it And say not here that I thinke Ephod to be Latin for an Albe and Teraphin for a Vestement But I know that by the names of Ephod Teraphin all superstitious attire is signified Thus they pretended to serue God with an Image Thus theft gaue occasion of superstitions Thus Idols brought in Oratories chapels and altares sacrifices vestementes and suche lyke which al be vtterly condemned of the Lord. For it followeth in the historie In those dayes there vvas no King in Israell but euery man did that vvhich vvas good in his ovvne eyes But in the lawe we reade commaunded the directe contrary No man shal doe that Deut. 12. vvhich semeth good in his ovvn eyes Wherfore in the same chapter a certaine place is prescribed where Gods seruice should be And afterward to the same intent first the tabernacle the one onely altare then the temple it selfe was builded by Salomon Nor the temple was soner reared than a certaine due forme of Gods seruice was appoynted from which if the people any deale swarued it was holden fornication And the Prophetes cryed out Dereliquistis dominum seruijstis Dijs alienis Iere. 2.5.11.13 Ye haue forsaken the Lord and serued strange Gods This as Michah did for deuotion Ieroboam afterward did for policy For when the kingdome of Israell was pityfully diuided by the worke of God for Idolatry sake and that onely the tribe of Iuda with a fewe of the Beniamites cleaued to the house of Dauid the rest of the ten tribes followed this wicked tirant He fearing greatly least by the doctrine of the Leuits the kingdome might growe agayne into one body if the people according to their auncient order went vp to Hierusalem to serue God to the ende he might estraunge the people both from the temple and discipline of the lawe partly for feare partly for ambition instituted a newe religion different from that which they had receyued another than that which God appoynted Wherefore he made them two golden Calues 1. Regū 12. not to be Idols but to represent the true God vnto them and this in effecte he sayd Ye haue long taken paynes to trauayle to Hierusalem I pity your vvery iourneyes I haue cōpassiō of your great expenses I haue prouided therefore that ye may serue God neerer home that at your ovvn dores ye may haue the religion vvhich is as acceptable vnto God as that Wel did the wise worldling foresee that without religion no pollicy could stande and therefore he would haue a cloke of that to couer his shame withall He bringeth forth Images He doth not vse any new sacrifice or solemnities vnto them But as the Israelites in the wildernesse cryed to their one Calfe These are thy Gods O Israell Exod. 32. that brought thee out of the land of Egipt So doe they now cry out to their two Calues These are thy Gods O Israell that brought thee out of the land of Egipt But as they before were not so diuelishe and beastly to think that Aarons Calfe deliuered them frō Pharao his bondage for Aaron himself at that time sayde Festum domini cras est To morrowe is the feaste of the Lorde not the feaste of the Calfe or of the Oxe so nowe Ieroboam taught not the people beléeued not that those molten thinges were Gods in déede but attributed to the signe the name peculiar to the thing that was signified although they directed their words to the Images yet they erected their hearts vnto God Nothwithstanding Abiah the Prophet sayd thus to Ieroboā Thou hast done euill aboue all that vvere before thee 1. Regū 14. for thou hast gone and made thee other Gods and molten images to prouoke me and hast cast me behinde thy backe For Augustine sayth Quisquis talem cogitat deum qualis non est deus Quest sup Ios lib. 6. Cap. 29. alienum deum vtique falsum in cogitatione portat Whosoeuer ymagineth God to be suche a one as he is not carieth in hys thought a strange and a false God True godlinesse telleth vs that we ought not otherwise to déeme of him than in hys worde he hath set forth vnto vs. Socrates was wonte to say Vnumquemque Deum sic coli oportere August de Cō Euan li. 1. cap. 18. quomodo seipsum colendum esse praecepisset Euery God was so to be honored as he him selfe had giuen in commaundement Wherefore as Michah and Ieroboam grieuously offended so who soeuer brings into Gods seruice any thing of his owne deuise he sinneth deadly But Images Crosses and Crucifixes are mennes deuises whereby they flatter themselues in pleasing God they ought therefore to be abhorred Erasmus Erasmus sayth in Cathechesi Vt imagines in templu sint nulla praecipit vel humana constitutio He maketh an argument from the lesse to the more saying that not so much as mans constitution doth binde that Images should be in Churches therefore much lesse the lawe of God For God seing
out that ye do not vnderstand my talke Oues mea cognoscunt vocem meam non sequuntur alienum My shéepe sayth he knowe my voyce and followe no straunger Nor doubt it is but by the instinct of the holy Ghost we be made his shéepe which will not hearken to errors and heresies which are the voyces of straungers but followe the voyce of our master Christ which in the Scripture is crying to vs. If these reasons and allegations may not preuayle with some to driue them to a sure and safe ankerholde in Christ let them runne and they lyste Publique to the other kinde of examination of doctrine which is the cōmon consent of the Church For syth it is to be feared greately least their arise some phrenetike persons which will bragge and boast as well as the best that they be Prophetes they be endued with the spirt of truth and yet wil leade men into all errors this remedy is very necessary the faythfull to assemble themselues together and seke an vnitie of fayth godlynesse But when we haue runne as farre as we can The scriptures laste refuge we can goe no further than to the wall we must reuolte to the former principles and trye by the Scriptures which is the Church Wherfore in controuersies of our Religion if mennes deuises were lesse estéemed and the simple order of Gods wisedome followed lesse daunger fewer quarrels should arise amongst vs more truth more sinceritie should be retayned of vs. And to this ende I coulde haue wyshed that you M. Martiall should haue learned firste to frame your owne conscience according to the worde then haue ascribed suche authoritie thereto that we néeded not forsaking the fountaine to follow the infected streames nor hauing the vse of swéete sufficient corne féede vpon acornes still But I would that had bene the most fault of yours to haue attributed much vnto the fathers had not otherwise of malice wrested them and of mere ignoraunce sometime corrupted them The Scripture which in the title of your boke hath the first place in the rest of the discourse hath very little or no place at al and vnder name of Fathers and antiquitie fables and follies of newefangled men are obtruded to vs. To come to the instants Folio 18. First ye bring forth the significations of Crosse in Scripture Ye muster your men whose aide ye will vse in this sory skirmish And although they be very fewe yet ye number one moe than ye haue and like a couetous captaine wyll néedes indent for a dead pay Ye say that the scripture hath preferred to your bande .4 Souldiours Folio 24. The Crosse of affliction The passion of Christ The Crosse that he died on And the materiall or mysticall signe of the Crosse Material to be erected in the church Mystical to be made vvith the finger in some partes of the body These be not many ye wote ye might haue kept tale of them But the first and the second as the word of God commendeth in dede and be most necessary for our saluation so wil you not deale withall they be to cumbersome for your company the thirde ye confusely speake of of which notwithstanding small commendation in the Scripture is founde The fourth which ought to strike the greatest stroke is not extant at all For neyther the material nor mistical Crosse in that sense that ye take them to that ende that ye apply them be once mencioned in the worde of God Wherefore ye might blotte out of your boke Scripture and take to your selfe some other succours or fight with a shadowe I néeded not to trouble my selfe about your third Crosse which is the piece of wood wherevppon Christ died both for bycause we haue it not and also you your self do not take it incident into your purpose to treate of Yet bicause ye make many gloses theron and apply to the signe the vertue propre to the thing it self it is not amisse to examine your folly First ye cite a place of Chrisostome Folio 13.2 ex Demonstratione ad Gentiles and for .3 leaues together although ye do not tell vs so much ye write an other mans wordes as your owne to prayse your pregnante wit But ye patch them and piece them ilfauoredly whatso euer séemes to make against you ye leaue out fraudulētly This is no playne or honest dealing In dede Chrisostome stoppeth many a gappe with you The comfort of your Crosse doth most rest in Chrisostome Chrisostome But Chrisostome was not without his faultes His golden mouth wherein he passed other sometime had leaden words which yelded to the error abuse of other I am not ignorant that in his dayes many euill customes were crept into the Church which in his works he reproueth not He praiseth such as went to the sepulchres of Sainctes He maketh mention of prayer To. 4 ad pop 66. In. 1. Cor. 16. Hom. 41. for the deade Monkerie he cōmendeth aboue the Moone In his tract of Penaunce beside many other absurdities when he had rehearsed many wayes to obtayne remission of sinnes as Almes Weping Fasting and such other he maketh no mention at all of fayth In his cōmentaries vpon Paul he sayth that Concupiscence vnlesse it bring forth the externe worke is no sinne Wherefore if he had sayde so much for the Crosse as ye misconster and more than accordeth with the glory of Christ I might lappe it vp with other of his errours and hauing the Scripture for me Chrisostome should be no president against me But I will not goe this way to worke I admit his authoritie but marke M. Martiall what his meaning is In the place that ye alleage for the Crosse he dealt with the Gentiles The marke that he shot at was to proue to them Quod Christus Deus esset that Christ was God as in the title appeareth Now bicause this punishment to be hanged on the gallowes was maruellous offensiue vnto the heathen nor they could thinke him to be a God the was executed with so vile a death Chrisostome therfore goeth as far in the contrary prouing that that which was a token of curse was now become the signe of saluatiō And bycause that they spake so much shame of the Crosse derogating therfore from him that was crucified the Christians to testifie by their outward facte their inward profession would make in euery place the signe therof This was the occasion that the mysticall Crosse crepte into custome But here is no place to entreate of that though you taking styll Non causam pro causa that which is impertinente for proufe of your matter confounde the same Notwithstanding Things vvel receued il cōtinued howe thinges receyued to good purpose as to the iudgement of man séemeth may afterward growe to abuse this signe of the Crosse sheweth That which was at the first a testimony of Christianitie came to be made a Magical enchauntment That which
of humaine wisdome but in the shewing of the spirite and power The droppes of rayne that fell vpon Iulian made a printe of the Crosse in his garment and the rests Therefore say you it is necessary for euery man to be signed marked vvith the crosse But the Crosse noted them to be persecutors Ergo it is necessary for vs to be noted as persecutors Ye sée howe your owne examples kill you there is nothing that ye bring but maketh against you Ecclesi hist lib. 5. Oap 1. In dede Sozomenus writeth that some did interprete the Crosses on that sorte Christianorum doctrinam esse caelestem oportere omnes Cruce signari That the doctrine of christians was heauenly and that all men ought to be signed with the Crosse But God forbyd we should haue such occasion to be so marked For none were marked but such as had reueged their fayth So that the Crosse doth not alwayes portende goodnesse nor is the signe peculiar vnto Christians If the signe had bene of such force as ye make it Iulian the Apostata would not haue gone forwarde with his attempted mischiefe But forwarde he went though the Crosse continued on his coate styll Wherefore the Crosse is no proufe of vertue Folio 35. The same may be confirmed by the story that followeth For the glittering signe of the Crosse in the element the crossing of the Iewes coates when they would haue reedified their Hierusalem was but a token of Gods wrath and vengeaunce and although it was Signum salutaris Crucis the signe of the healthfull Crosse yet was it not healthfull to them that ware it but rather a testimonie of Gods iust iudgement agaynst them Wherfore as God miraculously did worke and vsed this signe to contrary effectes sometime for comforte sometime to dispeire sometime for the godly sometime to the wicked So muste we not contrary to reason gather an vniuersall onely of the one side and contrary to his will abuse it at our pleasure If it had bene alwayes graunted to the godly and to none but them If it had bene alwayes a signe of succour and not of destruction your argumente then should haue had some apparance of troth or likelyhode Nowe by your owne examples where the wicked onely be signed with the Crosse where the Crosse doth worke nothing but confusion the groundwork of your cause is miserably shaken and you be turned ouer in your owne trip Of all your examples ye inferre your owne fansy what you do thinke Gods meaning was to shew such signes of the Crosse both vnder the law and in the time of grace but of your meaning ye bring no proufe at all eyther out of Scripture or Doctours that ye bragge of Onely for vs your ydle supposall as you thinke may serue Louain hath licenciate you Goddes vvord the ground of religion to make what lies ye lust The substantiall groūd that I spake of before whervpon we ought to builde our religion is the worde of God without the which no facte of man no particular example can proue any thing Then if ye would haue the signe of the Crosse receyued into Gods seruice ye should as well proue Gods will therein and bring his direct authoritie to vs. It suffiseth not to say This vvas once so but rather to shewe This vvas vvel so nor any one example can binde vs now without expresse cōmaundement in Gods boke for it extending to vs during for euer But you deale with gods boke as Epiphanius reporteth of heretiques Qui multos decipiunt Contra Her Lib. 1. To. 2. per malè compositam dominicorum verborum adaptatorum sapientiā Which deceiue many by the wisedome of the Lords words ilfauouredly applied As if a man should take an Image of some notable personage liuely set forth and adorned wyth pearle stone and afterward shuld deface the counterfet of a man in it make a dog or a fox of it Then if he should remoue the iewels and garnishing of the one to the picture of the other and say to them that loke vppon it This is the picture of suche a man or suche and for proufe thereof would bring the pearle and stone so cunningly cowched would ye not think him to be a crafty fellowe and yet beleue him neuer a whitte the soner Euen so fare you For in steade of the texte ye bring forth a contrary misseshapen glose and then ye apparell it with a fewe pearles of Scripture applyed as wel as a precious Diamond to the picture of a grinning dogge And yet a dogge is but a dogge although he had a byshops beste Myter on his heade no more are you but leude liars for all the patch of truth sowed on your cloke of fables Bleare not therefore the peoples eyes deceiue not your selues learne the true seruice of God out of his worde and goe no further The Crosse of Christ is necessary for vs his death and passion is onely our ioy and comforte our life and our redemption but the materiall or mysticall signe thereof is more than nedeth to daungerous to be vsed We haue the worde the ordinary meane to leade vs into all truth we must not beside the word séeke signes tokens We haue the bodies what grope we after shadowes The ende of Ceremonies Ceremonies were giuen vnto the Iewes to be a mound as it were betwene the Gentiles and them to seuer the people of God from other not onely by inward things but also by outward that the people of God should be with in that inclosure the other without and these outward rytes and obseruaunces were an assurance vnto the Iewes that they were lawefull heires of the promise and not the Gentiles But Christ came into the worlde to gather one Church of both peoples and therefore pulled downe the wall that was betwene them Decretae ceremonialia The Decrées of Ceremonies Christ followed herein the pollicy of Princes which if they will gather into societie of one kingdome as it were diuers peoples they will take away the thinges that made the difference before diuersities of coynes and lawes So Christ minding to make one people of the Iewes and Gentiles vtterly did abolish all legall ceremonies And Paul compareth them to a hande writing whereby we be bounde to God that we can not stand in argument agaynst him and deny our debt But by Christ this debte is so remitted that the obligation is cancelled that hand-writing is put out as the Apostle sayth now whē the instrumentes are cut in pieces the obligations cancelled Colos 2. the debter is set frée which we haue purchased by Christes death Wherefore we reade that the vayle of the temple tare to the ende the people might vnderstand therby that their sinnes were remitted and they discharged from burden of the lawe But when the wicked and faythles nation continued after Christes death to exercise in the temple ceremonies which had their ende before and would thrust
Cum ergó hoc vidissem in ecclesia Christi coÌ„tra authoritatem scripturarum hominis peÌ„dere imaginem scidi illud magis dedi consilium custodibus eiusdem loci vt pauperem mortuum eo obuoluerent efferrent Whiche wordes right worthy to be considered are in Englishe these In that I heard certaine did grudge against me for that wheÌ„ we went together to the holy place which is called Bethel to make a gathering there with thée according to the maner of the Church and came to a village called Anablatha and as I passed saw a candell burning and asked what place it was and when I had learned that it was a Church and had entred in to make my prayers I founde there a vaile hanging in the Church porch becoloured and painted and hauing the Image as it were of Christ or of some Sainct vpon it For I doe not well remember whose Image it was Therefore when I had séene thys that in the Church of Christ contrary to the authority of the Scriptures there hanged the Image of a man I cut it and gaue counsell rather to the Church wardens to wrappe some poore deade man in it and bury hym So farre Epiphanius And a lyttle after he requesteth the bishop of Hierusalem to giue commaundement In ecclesia Christi eiusmodi vela quae contra religionem nostram veniunt non appendi Decet enim honestatem tuam hanc magis habere solicitudineÌ„ vt scrupulositatem tollat quae indigna est ecclesia Christi populis qui tibi crediti sunt That in the Church of Christ there should be no such clothes hanged which come against our religion For it becommeth youre honesty sayth he rather to haue thys care to take away the scrupulosite which is vnworthy of the Church of Christ people which are committed to your charge Whereby we sée that certayne Images of Christ and other were in those dayes crept into the Church but the faythfuller byshops dyd strayght remoue them We sée also that in S. Hieromes tyme to approue that which in the Epistle I sayd before the vse of Images was not publikely receyued in Churches but iudged disagreante vnto the Scriptures For otherwyse to vse your own reason S. Hierome would not haue wynked at hys faulte nor translated the Epistle without correction if he had thought that hys dooinge had bene yll or hys wordes vntrue But what could ye haue more euident against your Crosse than that which Epiphanius The Churche Crosse coÌ„demned by Epiphanius most fréely sayde Firste that it is against the authoritie of the scripture to haue the Image of a man hang in the Church of Christ Then that he desired that such paynted clothes should not be hanged vp bicause he thought them againste our religion Last of all that he déemed the vse of suche to be but a scrupulositie vnworthy of Christes Churche vnworthy of Christians We teache no more thaÌ„ Epiphanius dyd yet you condemne vs as heretiques Was Epiphanius euer accompted such Would Saincte Hierome haue turned hys Epistle out of the Greke into Latine if it had contayned any vnsounde doctrine Would he haue giuen suche a testimonye of hym as we reade he dyd if he myghte haue bene stayned with any poynte of heresie writing to Pammachius Hieronimê° ad Pammachium against Iohn of Hierusalem he sayth Habes papam Epiphanium qui te apertè missis litteris haereticum vocat Certe nec aetate nec scientiae nec vitae merito nec totius orbis testimonie maior illo es Eo tempore quo totum Orientem excepto Papa Athanasio atque Paulino ArrianoruÌ„ Eunomianorum haeresis possidebat quando tu occidentalibus in medio exilio confessoribus non communicahas ille vel presbyter Monasterij ab Eutitio audiebatur vel postea Episcopus Cypri à valente non tangebatur Tantae enim venerationis semper suit vt regnantes haeretici ignominiam suaÌ„ putarent si talem virum persequerentur Thou haste quoth he the Pope Ephiphanius where is to be noted that the Pope in olde tyme did signifie but a father and the name was giueÌ„ not only to them of Rome but also to them of Cypres and AlexaÌ„dria who in his letters to thée calleth thee heretique Truly neyther in age nor knowledge nor worthynesse of lyfe thou art greater thaÌ„ he At such tyme as the heresie of the Arrians and Eunomians possessed all the Easte excepte father Athanasius and Paulinus when thou dyddest not coÌ„municate with them of the Weste and suche as confessed the truth in midst of their exile he beyng but a poore minister of a religious house was heard of Eutitius and beyng afterwarde byshop of Cypres was not touched of Valens For alwayes he was of such worship and reuerence that when the heretiques raygned they thought it a shame for them if they shoulde persecute suche a man as he Here haue ye the testimony of S. Hierome for Ephiphanius Ye haue heard what hys opinion was I woulde fayne knowe what your iudgemente is of it S. Hierome praysed Paula So dyd he Epiphanius S. Hierome wrote the lyfe of Paula So dyd he discourse vpon Epiphanius and translated hys doinges Then set the fact of Paula against the facte of Epiphanius and sée whiche is to be preferred She made the signe of a Crosse in hir forehead He would haue no signe in the Church remayning She prostrate hir selfe before the Image on the Crosse he cut in pieces the cloth that had the Image on it She without reason not according to skyll gaue example of a thing He by religion and scripture condemned it She was a woman but he a man she vnlearned but he learned she liued after in a corrupter age he went before nerer the sinceritie of the Apostles tymes Then if ye vrge the one I will burden you wyth the other Yet admit wyth Epiphanius no Crosse no Crucifixe no Image in the Church and I will not sticke with a mysticall signe of the Crosse with Paula Foli 78. 79. Ye reckon vp a sorte that vsed of deuotion to make in their foreheades this crosse signe Ye make no mention of them that vsed it not in zeale as good as they and in number moe Wherefore as Dionisius aunswered when it was layd vnto him howe many had escaped the perill of the sea by Neptunes ayde whose garmentes and monuments were hanged vp to be séene yea quoth he but there are no monuments of them that perished Euen so say I though you kepe a kalender of the Crossers yet where is the register of them that Crossed not If I should in number contende wyth you I wel neare might be equall but if antiquitie should be respected you should be farre inferior For as for Abdias fables all wyse and honeste estéeme as much as the famous Pamphlets that come from Louain But I wyll not vse so slender a defence I will not as you doe cumber the readers with more ydle talke
than nedefull proufe For if in any thing sure in religioÌ„ this sentence taketh place Non viuendum exemplis sed legibus We must not liue by examples but by lawes Yet here ye triumph maruellously God wote before the victorie before any blowe gyuen For when ye haue rehearsed the names of certayne which in their dayes did vse this ceremonie ye vehemently say Shal vve so far discredit and disauthorize these graue Folio 80. a. vertuous and learned men as though they knevv not the Scriptures and true interpretation of the same As though they knevve not light from darkenesse veritie from heresie true religoÌ„ from vayne superstition Alas God forbid Alas good man how fell you out with your self Who hath chased your charitie Be men discredited that be not in euery poynt followed hath your wisedome forgotten that the selfe same fathers which twice or thrice ye rehearse by tale both did and taught more ofte and more earnestly other things than that wherein your selfe refuse to followe them I will take paynes for your pleasure to runne them ouer agayne in such order as ye put them that ye shal not say but I deale faythfully wyth you Tertullian Tertullian Folio 79. b. De corona Militis is put in the first ranke he sayth When so euer vve goe forth and moue forvvarde vvhen so euer vve come in or goe oute vvhen so euer vve put on our apparell and dravve on our shooes vvhen vve vvashe vvhen vve syt dovvne at the table vvhen vve haue light brought in vvhen vve go to our chambers and syt dovvn vvhatsoeuer vve haue to do vve make the signe of the Crosse in our foreheades The very next sentence saue one before Tertullians traditions these wordes he hath also Die dominico ieiunium nefas ducimus vel de geniculis adorare EadeÌ„ immunitate à die Paschae in Pentecostem vsque gaudemus We think it a wickednesse to fast vpoÌ„ the Sunday or to serue God on our knées And the same immunitie we enioy from Easter day to Whitsontide And before that Oblationes pro natalitijs annua die facimus We make euery yeare an offring for our birth day we kepe the wakes And now M. Martial how chaunce that ye knéele at your Masse on Sunday why do you not offer vp a cake on munday Tertullian thought the one a wickednesse the other be commaunded as a necessary seruise Dare ye so discredit disauthorize Tertullian Alas God forbid Ye will rather neuer serue God at all neuer fast neuer knele but drink be merry and pipe vp Iohn taberer to morrovve shall be my fathers vvake These toyes such other as he borrowed of Montane notwithstanding afterward condemned by councell so you of conscience tender heart will follow thinking therein you are a good catholike The next in your aray is holy Ephrem Ephrem He sayth Let vs paynt in our gates and printe in oure foreheads faces breasts and all partes of our body the liuely signe In the same boke also de Poenitentia foure times together he calleth Christ Legislatorem a lawe maker De coÌ„puÌ„ctione cordis Lib. 1. Ca. 5. De laudibê° Mariae And is this Catholike Where haue ye redde the like He prayeth also to the virgin Mary saying Sub alis tuis custodi me Kepe me vnder thy wings What worde or sense of Scripture for this Dauid in foure or fyue places doth attribute the same to God Psalme xvj xxxv.lvj.lx.lxij But to none other And the whole course of Scripture is in dede against it Yet here ye will followe him Then what say you to this Diuers tymes he fayned hymselfe to be mad for feare least they should lay a bishoprike vpon him Will ye follow him in this I doubt your modestie Folio 78. Chrisostom Chrisostom you say doth couÌ„sell vs vvith great study earnest zeale to set in our foreheads and mindes the Crosse So doth he euery man to haue the bible in his house How like ye that Hom. 9. in Epis ad Coloss De Lazar. CoÌ„c 3 4. In cap. Mat 21. Hom. 69. Euery man and woman as wel and rather the lay fée than the cleargy to be conuersant in Scripture Admit ye that That whersoeuer the Bible lieth the diuel can haue no power there Beleue ye that That Monks had their minds voyd of al affectioÌ„s and their bodies like Adams before the fall wherein is denied originall sinne Confesse ye that If in these poyntes ye thinke it no shame to swarue froÌ„ Chrisostome think it no discredit to refuse the other Folio 78. Hieron in 3 Sopho. In Ezech. Ca. 16 coÌ„tra Iouin S. Hierom counsels vs to make the signe of the Crosse So doth he also to trust to the merits of the priest or else to think ther is no due sacrameÌ„t He saith that our soules as long as they are yong are without sinne that to marry twise is as il almost as to play the harlot If in these cases ye think he had the true interpretation of the Scripture I maruell not if ye truste him in the other Folio 78. August de pecc mer. remis libr. 1. Cap. 20. But if in these he was deceyued why doe ye so earnestly vrge him in the other Sainct Augustine commaundcth vs to make the signe of the Crosse So doth he also that infants should receyue the communion If ye discredite him in this who thought it as necessary for them to take the Lords supper as to be Christened wil ye think it so great a matter in such a trifle as the other is which without any worde without any binding vs to it he onely spake of a little to dissent Cyrillus ye name but cite no authoritie Folio 79. b. When we come to his place in the latter ende of the ninth Article you shall heare more newes of him Prudentius he sayth Prudentius Cathemeri 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hymno ante cibuÌ„ Folio 79. that vvhen vve goe to sleepe vve must in our foreheades make the signe of the Crosse But in the same boke also he sayth that it was the woman that subdued the Serpent transferring the glory from Christ vnto Mary And as he doth inferre a reasoÌ„ for the Crosse bicause a minde earnestly fixed on that signe cannot be inconstant and vvauer So doth he for the dignity of Christes mother saying The virgin that deserued to bring forth God bringeth all poyson and yll povver vnto naught And the doctrine of the one is as true as the other Wherefore since it is not to be denyed but that euery one of the fathers of the Church whome I notwithstanding with all my heart doe reuereÌ„ce haue had their errors imperfections though not in like degrée al ye do vs wrong to say we discredit them if we do not clearly in al things follow them They themselues refused that honour and authoritie they must be trusted but yet as men As long
collum suspendis si in intellectu ergo melius in corde posita prosunt quam circa collum suspensa Tell me thou foolish priest is not the gospell dayly read and heard of men in the Church Therfore who hath no profit by hearing of the gospel how can it saue him by hanging it about hys necke Furthermore wherin consisteth the vertue of the gospel in the proportiō of the letters or vnderstanding of the sense If in the letters wel doest thou hang them about thy neck but if in the vnderstanding thē would it profit more reposed in thy heart thā hāged about thy necke Thus much Chrisostom And least peraduenture ye should thinke that thys only superstition were reproued of hym he procedeth further and toucheth matter that doth more néerely concerne our case Alij qui sāctiores se ostēdere volunt hominibus partē fimbriae aut capillorū suorum alligant suspendunt O impietas maiorem sāctitatē in suis vestimentis volunt ostendere quam in corpore Christi vt qui corpus eius māducans sanatus non fuerit fimbriae eius sanctitate saluetur vt desperās de misericordia Dei cōfidat in veste hominis In english Some other which wil shew themselues holyer vnto mē do binde together hang vp a piece of the hem of Christes garment or hys heare O wyckednesse they wil shew more holinesse in the garments thā in the body of Christ that he which is not healed by eating of hys body shal be saued by the holinesse of hys garmente hem that he that dispaireth of the mercy of God shall put hys confidence in the garment of a man And thinke ye not that the coate of Christ which touched hys blessed body that the heare of Christ which grew vpon hys holy head is of as great vertue as a piece of the Crosse wherevpon he dyed Then if Chrisostome coumpted it impiety to haue such estimation of the coate or heare of our sauioure Christ shall we thynke that a piece of wood was in such price with him Would he inclose the Crosse in gold or coūsel other to do the same which held it wickednesse so to esteme a percel of his body Christ hath left vs hys body in dede for a memory of him for a cōfort of vs to be receiued and shal we seke for external meanes which neither haue part of promise nor be deuoyde of perill We reade in the gospel that after Christ was crucified Ioseph required the body and interred it the Maries were beholders of hys passiō and burial Mat. 27. Luk. 23. there was no sparing of cost for oyntmēt yet none of thē al cared for the crosse If it had bene such a iewell as you do make it they would haue brought it stolne it or spoken at the least wise of it Many other thynges of lesse importance than thys is by your supposall be mentioned in the Scripture as necessary or expedient Only more than that Symon of Cyrene caried it we reade nothing of the Crosse that he dyed on I remēber that it is a great argumēt of yours How God wyl not suffer hys Church to erre I remember ye alleaged in the Article before Foli 87 b. quod in hanc Apostoli plenissimè cōtulerūt omnia quae sūt veritatis That the Apostles most plentifully cōferred on the Church all thinges appertayning vnto the truthe as Ireneus doth truly say Lib. 3 ca 4. contr Her How chaunceth it then that thys truth of the Crosse for foure hūdreth yeares together was hydden from them From the death of Christ tyl the tyme of Helena no man or woman euer talked of it When she came she founde it .ij. hundreth yeares after it was vtterly consumed I thynke that such idle chaplenes such morowmasse priestes as you so slenderly furnished out of the store-house of fayth to fede the people would be glad to deale more of your popish plenty if thys at the first were gently accepted We should haue extolled S. Leonardes bolle S. Cornelis horne S. Georges colt S. Anthones pigge S. Fraunces cowle S. Persons bretche with a thousande reliques of superstition as well as thys For miracles haue bene done by these or els you lye nor authorite of mē doth wante to these Longolius a learned man and Charles the v. a noble Emperoure requested to be buryed in a friers cowle and so they were Therfore the friers coule must be honored Ye remember what the hoste in Chawcer sayd to-sir Thopas for hys leude ryme the same do I say to you bicause I haue to do with your Cantorbury tales for youre fayre reasons One thyng remaineth which I do you wrōg if I omit the singuler vertue that is not only in euery portion of the holy Crosse but also in euery signe thereof inasmuch as it onely driueth avvay all subtiltie and craftes of euill spirites destroyeth vvitchcraft Folio 92. 93. doth as much as the presence of Christ in earth pocedeth vvith like efficacie as the fyrst sampler Strange effectes I promise you But fyrst I maruel why you are offēded with vs for preaching onely fayth iustifyeth synce you do teach vs that the onely signe of the Crosse can do as much as it If onely woode if onely making an ouerthwart signe disappoynt the might of aduersarie powers he is but a foole that wil be troubled with sprites he is but a beast that will feare the Diuell Signo crucis tantū vtens homo omnes horū fallacias pellit Man vsing onely the signe of the Crosse putteth away all their subtiltie and craft If a piece of wood that wormes do bréed in that neuer God nor good man commended otherwise than wood haue such spirituall vvater flovving thereinto vvhich is knovven to be saluation of faythfull soules Folio 93. shal we be condemned for attributing the like effect to spirituall and liuely fayth which the word of God so ofte so earnestly with such promis of grace such assurance of safetie cōmendeth to vs If the signe of a Crosse drawen with a finger do the same that the presēce of Christ did in earth as is by you alleaged O men vnmercifull that suffer so many halte so many lame so many blinde so many sore to liue in misery and missecary with vs. Christ cured the like he by his presence brought health and comforte to all diseased why do not you my Crosse masters the like If these allegations be true as confidentely they be printed of you why ceasse your miracles Confirm vs in your folish faith When we sée the effectes we shall consider of the cause Thus haue I shewed you that in cases of religion as this is one no mens authority shuld prescribe vnto vs no time no custome preiudice a truth Examples be daungerous to be follo wed both bycause they be sometime but personall and are not alwayes of Gods good guiding spirite which if it be true in them of whose fayth and holynesse we haue in the