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
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
fathers bring an inuention of their owne do I otherwise deny them the right sense of scripture The fathers may haue sometime their fansies and yet besyde the word Then if their fansies be misliked is their exposition of the word condemned whereas they meddle not with the worde Apelles shoomaker was worthily checkt when he would be busy aboue the knée but that did not set but he might haue iudgement good ynough of the shooe Yet in a shooe made on anothers last the best shoomaker for al his skil may chaunce be deceyued In déede good cause we haue only to depend vpon the word of God and not be ruled ouer by time or custome bycause in matters of our religion as Christ hath taken perfecte order therein so hath he commaunded vs to go no further but him obey August de Consen Euā Li. 1. Cap. 18. Socrates was wont to say Vnumquemque Deum sic coli oportere quomodo seipsum colendum esse praecepisset That euery God was so to be serued as he himselfe had commaunded to be serued And this was the cause why the Romaines would neuer receyue the God of the Hebrewes For grounding vpon this foresayd principle they saw it necessary that eyther al their ydols shuld be excluded and onely the true God entertayned or he only not admitted the rest be honored For by the worde of God they found that they could not agrée together and cōtrary to his word they would not séeke to serue him If they had this affect as Augustine declareth gathered by morall reason and by no further insight of faith Shal we that professe more knowledge and perfection be folisher than they hearing continually Christ and his Apostles inueighing agaynst wilworshippers Therefore I say we aske for the worde you answere vs by wyl we cal for Scripture you reache vs custome Epig. lib. 6. Martiall a mery man a poet of your name a man of more learning and wit than you had some tyme to do with such a lawyer as you For a neighboure of hys had stolen .iij. goates The matter was called into the courte the party should come to proue the inditement He gat hym a counsailler to declare the case When the iudge was ready to heare it his counsailer fel a discoursing of the fight at Cannas the battayl wyth Mithridates the wrōges and iniuries sustayned by the Africanes Thus whē he had filled their eares a great whyle with dyn thūping on the barre and squekyng in hys smal pipes Martiall tenderyng hys own cause more than the babbling of his vaine aduocate at length pulled hym by the sléeue and sayd And please your worship I gaue ye my fée to talke of .iij. goates And thus had I néede to put you in remembrance For where ye appointed to speake of Gods seruice ye tell vs a tale of thys man and that man what he dyd and they dyd And yet not a worde what God hath commaunded Fol. 82. Ye call vs curious when we require Scripture We can get at your handes nothing else but custome And speakyng of custome accordyng to your custome ye make a lye and falsefie Tertulliā Martiall corrupteth Tertullian For these are your words We say vvith Tertullian that custome increser confirmer and obseruer of fayth taught thys vse of the Crosse c. As if the increase confirmatiō and obseruing of Fayth proceded of custom Hys wordes are otherwise For speakyng of hys traditions he sayth S. legem expostules scripturarū nullā reperies traditiō tibi praetendetur auctrix consuetudo confirmatrix fides obseruatrix If thou demaunde a law of Scripture for these thou shalt fynd none Traditione shal be pretēded to thée as increaser custom confirmer and faith obseruer of them Where you may sée that custome is not made increaser and confirmer of fayth but fayth obseruer of custome Notwithstanding I must still beare with you For ye be driuen to narrowe shyftes fayne would ye say something But it is a foule shyft to make a lye Thys custome ye proue came of tradition For as Tertulliā Tertulian de corona millitis sayth how can a thing be vsed if it were not first deliuered To graunt it a tradition I wil not sticke with you But Tertulliā wyll haue the same to be builded vpon reason or els he refuseth it He maketh the Antithesis not betwene written and vnwritten but betwene written and reasonable And so he thynketh a Tradition not writtē to be admitted so it be reasonable Therfore he sayth Rationem traditioni consuetudini fidei patrocinaturā perspicies Martial is still by his ovvne authors ouerthrovven Ye shall sée that reason wyll defende tradition custome and fayth And afterwarde Non differt scriptura an ratione consistat quando legem ratio commendet It is no matter whether custome consist of writing or of reason inasmuch as reason also commendeth law So that reasonable must be the tradition And how shall thys reasonable be defined Tertulliā hymselfe doth tel you limiting how a mā maye make a custome if he conceue decrée duntaxat quod Deo cōgruat quod disciplinae conducat quod saluti proficiat Only that is agreable to God furthering vnto discipline and profitable to saluation If the tradition of the Crosse signe may be proued to be such I wyll yelde vnto you with all my hart Consider the reasōs and the examples that the Doctor vseth First of the Lordes authorite who sayd Cur non a vobis ipsis quod iustū est iudicatis Vt nō de iuditio tantum sed de omni sētentia rerum examinandarum Why do you not of your selues iudge that that is rightuous that it be not onely vnderstode of iudgement but of euery sentence of things to be examined And it followeth Dicit Apostolus Si quid ignoratis Deus vobis reuelabit Solitus ipse cōsilium subministrare cum praeceptum domini non habebat quaedā edicere à semetipso sed ipse spiritū dei habens deductorē omnis veritatis Itaque consiliū edictū eius diuini iā praecepti instar obtinuit de rationis diuinae patrocinio Hanc nunc expostula saluo traditionis respectu quocunque traditore censetur necl authorem respicias sed authoritatem c. And the Apostle sayth If ye be ignoraunte of any thyng God shall reueale it to you He hymselfe when he had not a commaundemente from the Lorde was wonte to giue counsell and prescribe some thinges of hymselfe but as one that had the spirit of God directer of all trueth Wherefore hys counsell and edict hath now obtayned to be as it were the commaundement of God through supportation and defēce of the reason diuine Thys reason inquire for sauing the respect of tradition whosoeuer be the deliuerer therof nor respect the author but the authoritie So farre Tertulliā And in hys wordes In a custome maker the spirite of God In custōe commoditie and
be made betwene the assertions and mindes of men were they eyther Hillarie Ciprian Agrippine or any other and canon of the Scripture Non enim sic leguntur he sayth tanquam ita ex eis testimonium proferatur vt contra sentire non liceat Concio ad Adolesc sicubi forte aliter sapuerint quam veritas postulat In eo quippe numero sumus vt non dedignemur etiā nobis dictū ab Apostolo accipere Et si quid aliter sapitis id quoque deus vobis reuelabit For they are not so red as if a testimonie might be brought forth of them which it were not lawefull for any man to gaynesay if peraduenture they thought otherwise than the truth requireth For we are in the number of them that disdayne not to take this saying of the Apostle to vs If any of you be otherwise minded God shall reueale the same vnto you Wherefore with what iudgement the fathers of the church ought to be redde Basile setteth forth by a propre similitude Iuxta totum apium similitudinem orationum participes nos fieri conuenit Illae enim neque ad omnes flores consimiliter accedunt neque etiam eos ad quos volant totos auferre tentant sed quantū ipsis ad mellis opificiū commodū est accipientes reliquū valere sinunt Et nos sanè si sapiamus quantum sincerum est veritati cognatum ab ipsis adepti quod reliquum est transiliemus We must be partakers of other mennes sayings wholly after maner of the Bées for they flée not alike vnto all flowers nor where they syt they crop them quite away but snatching so much as shall suffise for their hony making take their leaue of the rest Euen so we if we be wise hauing got of other so much as is sound and agreable to truth wil leape ouer the rest Which rule if we kepe in reading and alleaging the fathers words we shall not swarue from our profession the scripture shall haue the soueraine place and yet the Doctours of the Church shall lose no parte of their due estimation None of the Fathers but haue erred There is not any of them that the world both most wonder at but haue had their affections nor I thinke that you aduersaries to vs and to the truth will in euery respecte admitte all that any one of the fathers wrote My selfe were able from the very first after the Apostles time to runne them ouer all and straightly examining their words and assertions finde imperfections in all But I would be loth by discrediting of other to séeme that I sought some prayse of skil or else be likened to Cham Noahs sōne that seing the nakednesse of the fathers Gen. 21. wil in contēpt vtter it But bycause in ceremonies and obseruances wherein they scant agreing with themselues euery one discording from other declined all from simplicity of the Gospell we are onely burdened with the name of fathers giue vs leaue somtime to vse a Regestion let vs haue the liberty toward other which Hierome graunteth against himselfe saying Certe vbicunque Scripturas non interpretor In Apo. pro lib. contra Iouin To. 2. liberè de meo sensu loquor arguat me cui lubet Truely whersoeuer I expound not the scriptures but freely speak of mine own sense let any man that lyst reproue me Not that I wil giue so large raynes to the headdinesse of some whiche either of affection or of singularity wil néedes dissent but that I wil not exempte any from their iuste defence Ioan. 4. from triall of the spirits whether they are of God We must followe the example of them of Berrhea which trusted not to Paule himselfe but searched the scriptures whether they were so Tvvo Iudges of cōtrouersies the vvorde and the spirite But where as this precept is generall all men to iudge all men to try what doctrine they receyue this iudgement and trial to be had by the word is somewhat in dede but yet not all that may be sayde in the matter I graunt the Scripture to be a good Iudge in deede But vnlesse the spirite of wisedome and knoweledge doe lighten our wyttes and vnderstanding it shal auayle vs little or nothing to haue at hand the worde of God whereof we knowe not the sense and meaning Golde is tryed by the touchstone and metalles in the fier yet onely of suche as are experte in the facultie For neyther the touchstone nor yet the fier can any thing further the ignoraunte and vnskilfull Wherefore to be méete and conuenient men to iudge of a truthe when we do reade or heare it by the holy Ghost we must be directed In this behalfe although I knowe that the giftes of God haue their degrées yet dare I say that none is vtterly so voide of grace It is possible to trie a truthe but hath so much conferred on him as shal be expedient for his owne behoofe vnlesse he be vtterly as a rotten member cut of from Christ Vaine it were to commaūd a thing that lies not in vs and vs to deny the possibillitie when we haue a promise of a thing that shall be doth argue our inconstancy and mysbelief Wherefore syth Christ and his Apostles saye often times Videte Cauete Probate which wordes be spoken in the commaunding mode byd vs Sée Beware and Proue I must néedes conclude that we shal not be destitute of the spirit of God so farre as shal be most néedefull for vs if we doe aske the same by fayth And whereas Christ doth affirme that we shal knowe 1. Ioan. 4. And S. Iohn in his epistle doth assure vs that 〈◊〉 doe knowe Spiritum veritatis Spiritum erroris the Spirit of veritie and Spirit of error we must acknowledge and confesse that the truth is not hidde from vs further than we lyst to shut it vp from our selues But here ariseth doubtfull case If euery man shall haue authoritie to giue his verdit vpon a controuersie Tvvo kindes of examination of doctrine Priuate which shall séeme and say that he hath the spirit no certain thing shal be decréed euery man shal haue his own way no stable opinion and iudgement to be rested on Hereto I aunswere againe that there be two kindes of examination of doctrine one priuate another publique Priuate wherby eche man doth settle his owne fayth to staye continually vppon one doctrine which he knoweth stedfastly to haue procéeded from God For consciences shall neuer haue any sure porte or refuge to runne vnto but only God He when he is called vpon will heare our prayers when he is desired wil graunt vs his spirit But he hath prescribed vs a way before hand to attayne the same if we bring vnder all senses of ours vnto his word Ioan. 8. Si patrem habetis Deum quomodo non agnoscitis loquelam meam If ye haue God to your father saith Christ how falleth it
passion which the finger cannot impresse in the forehead Folio 18. b. but grace can engraffe in the minde of man Haec crux non terribiles sed despicabiles hominibus daemones effecit This Crosse hath made Diuels not terrible but contemptible vnto men M. Martiall a fine translator In translating of which fewe wordes ye shewe your selfe to be very negligent or very ignoraunt For thus ye english theÌ„ This Crosse hath made diuels not onely terrible but contemptible to men Where ye should haue sayd eyther not onely not terrible or else haue put onely in your purse For the sense can not stand with it Nowe where ye gather but indirectly out of Chrisostoms words that two things be requisite first printing the merits of Christes passion in the minde afterward the signing of the Crosse in the body I briefly aunswere Frustra fit per plura quod fieri potest per pauciora In vayne it is to doe by the moe that may be done by the fewer There is nothing in the worlde that the Crosse can do but fayth can do without the Crosse Leaue we therfore that which may tend to superstition and is vncoÌ„maunded and betake our selues to that which is of force ynough and is the foundation of our fayth Another note to be obeserued in readiÌ„g of the Fathers Here would I stay with you from recitall of more out of Chrisostome but that I thought good to warne you that figures of Hyperbole and Metonymia be often in the Fathers writings When they prayse a thing they ascribe more vnto it than they meane and many times vnder the name of one thing applyed fitly to our capacities they vnderstande another I remember that Chrisostome hath these wordes Tom. 4. de laud. Pauli Hom. 4. Non solum crucifixum sed etiam pro ipso occisorum fauillas Daemones contremiscunt Not only the Diuels tremble at Christ crucified but also they quake at the very ashes of them that were slayne for him Here is as much attributed to ashes as was before to the Crosse And thinke ye therfore that Sathan would be afrayd to teÌ„pt you if ye had a fewe ashes of deade bones in your bosome Peraduenture some of you may be so sotted in folly that ye would gather them vp deuoutly and kepe them as reliques holily Such I referre to the place of Chrisostome In opere imperfect Hom. 44. in Cap. Mat. 23. Wherevpon I shall haue occasion hereafter to entreate when I come to speake of the like absurditie Folio 19. b. the little pieces of the Crosse kept Now let vs heare what ye finde in other Origen Origen ye bring in his exposition of the Epistle to the Romanes Lib. 6. And although this father maketh most agaynst you as afterward shal appeare yet to the ende that such yong schollers as you may learne with what iudgement ye ought to reade the olde writers I thinke it expedient somewhat to speake of him In sundry poynts his doctrine is sounde specially concerning the Trinitie the two natures in Christ the baptisme of Infants original sinne and vse of Images But things haue passed vnder his name where are intermedled many fonde opinions which both were condemned in his own time and are not now to be credited of vs. As that before the creation of the worlde there was an other worlde That the Diuels in hell shall at the last be saued And if ye scan his other writings there will appeare eyther great inconstancie or very small perfection In the article of iustification he swarueth from himselfe and in some poyntes from all other too The spirite he taketh not for the motion of the holy Ehoste but for the Allegoricall interpretation Peter he supposeth to excell the rest bycause it was sayde to him in the plurall number Whatsoeuer thou losest in earth shall be losed in the Heauens Caelis Caelo Whereas to other it is spoken in the singular number It shall be losed in Heauen These and such other toyes are not onely in him but also in other of hys time and age wherefore they ought to be redde as witnesses of things done not as Presidents of fayth and doctrine Yet vnlesse you M. Martiall will set Origen to schole agayne and teach him what to say you can not conster any lesson of his to picke out a proufe of any other Crosse than the minde conceyueth not the hand maketh For though ye bring a piece of a sentence wherein the prayse of the Crosse is put Tanta vis est Crucis So great is the power of the Crosse ê™ he Yet if ye remembred the very nexte wordes that goe before ye should playnly sée of what Crosse he meant Discoursing vpon these wordes of the Apostle â—et not sinne raigne in your mortal body He asketh a question howe it is possible to auoyde it He aunswereth Si faciamus illud quod idem Apostolus dicit Mortificate membra vest aqua sunt super terram et si semper mortem Christi in corpore nostro circumferamus Certum namque èst quia vbi mors Christi circumfertur non potest regnare peccatum If we doe that sayeth he which the same Apostle willeth vs Mortifie your members which are vpon the earth and if we cary about alwayes in our bodies the death of Christ For it is certayne that where the death of Christ is caried about there can no sinne raygn And immediatly he inferreth your wordes Est enim tanta vis Crucis Christi For the povver of the Crosse of Christe is so great Wherby it is euident that he speaketh of the death of Christ and that is the Crosse that he commendeth That Crosse haue you nothing to do withall But if the picture of a Crosse loked on be able to daunt as you deuise concupiscence and sensualitie how hath it fallen out that your spirituall fathers all to be crossed about their beddes haue had their familiars betwene the shéetes How haue your Nuns that chast generation with their beades in their hands ben blest with great bellies I will no more offend chast eares But Origens Crosse that is to say the death of Christ both may and must Origen ouerthrovveth Imagry Contra Celsum Libr. 8. be set before our eyes and faythfully kept in the chest of our hearts though no visible signe be made therof which neyther hand can truely counterfet nor mannes folly ought falsly to forge Origen therefore in the behalfe of Christians of his time sayth Celsus aras simulachra delubra nos ait defugere quominus fundentur quandoquidem inuisibilis nostrae huius inexplicabilis communionis fidem charitatis factionem esse existimat cum nihil interea videat nobis quidem pro arit delubris iustorum esse mentem à qua haud dubie emittuntur sua assimi incensi odores vota inquam et preces ex conscientia puriore c. Bycause his sentence is long in the Latine I
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
aduersarie I will shewe what fathers and doctors of the Church Hireneis chaplens brought forth for thē First of all Augustine Who sayth Quid est Imago Dei Iconolatrae nisi vultus Dei in quo signatus est populus Dei What is the Image of God but the countenance of God in which the people of God is sealed Therefore Images are to be worshipped The Aunsvvere The Image of God is Christ his sōne Iconomachi according to Paul Qui est Imago Dei inuisibilis Which is the Image of the inuisible God And to apply that to a stocke or a stone which is peculiar vnto Christ is horrible Nor Augustines meaning was so but as it is euidente by his owne wordes Car. Mag. Lib. 2. Ca. 16 he speaking of Christ whome he calleth the Image and countenance of the father sayth that in him we be sealed Qui dedit pignus spiritus in cordibus nostris Which gaue the pledge of his spirite in our heartes whereby we are sealed into the right of his children against the day of redemption Then brought they forth an authoritie out of Gregorius Nyssenus to which the Synode answered Car. Mag. Lib. 2. Ca. 17 that in asmuch as his life and doctrine was vnknowen to them Car. Mag. Li. 2. cap. 17. they could not admitte his testimony for approuing of a thing in controuersie Car. Mag. Li. 2. cap. 20. They alleaged also Cyrill vppon Iohn but corrupting his sentence deprauing his sense that as the wordes were brought vnto them it was as hard to pick out construction as to finde a pynnes head in a cart loade of hey Car. Mag. Li. 3. cap. 20. Lykewise they dealt with Chrisostome alleaging that he shoulde say Vidi Angelum in Imagine I sawe an Angell in an Image Wherto was aunswered that it was nothing likely bycause Angels are inuisible Car. Mag. Li. 2. cap. 15. Nor otherwise with Ambrose Nam ipsius sententiam ordine sensu verbisque turbarunt For they troubled his sentēce both in the order the sense and the words Nor this is my priuate opinion The whole Counsell affirmed it so And the actes are euident to proue no lesse Car. Mag. Li. 2. cap. 13. As for the example that they brought of Siluester how he presented the Images of the Apostles to Constantinus it maketh nothing for them He shewed him peraduenture pictures to loke vpon no Images to adore Car. Mag. Li. 3. cap 31. But I must not forget how they brought an example of a certayne Abbot which made an othe to the Diuel that he would not worship the picture of Christ or of his mother But afterwarde he brake his othe saying that it was better for him to haunt all the Brothel houses in the city than to abstayne from worshipping of Images I nede not to rehearse the Counsels answere to it There is no such babe but seeth their heastlinesse Only their greatest reason that doth remayne is this The Reason Iconolatrae Car. Mag. Li. 4. cap. 25. Epiphanius discoursing vpon all the sectes of heretiques doth not accoumpte them for any that worshippe Images Therfore it is no heresie to worship Images The Aunsvvere Epiphanius discoursing vpon al the sectes of heretiques doth not accoumpte them for any that condemne Images Therfore it is no heresie to condemne Images But that the same Epiphanius did not only mislike with worshipping of Images but also with the hauing of thē shal appeare hereafter It suffiseth now that I haue set forth to you the best part of the actes of the noble Coūsel ye sée the learned reasons that they made the depe and profoūd iudgements the pyth the strength the marowbones of their matter wherwyth they dyd so begrease themselues that now they shine so glorious in your eyes If men had deuised matter to mocke them wythall I suppose they could not haue found any so absurde as they brought with them Yet these be they that represented the state of the vniuersal Church These be they that could not erre These be they that you onely depend on These be the thrée hundreth and fyfty byshops that condemned the thrée hundreth and eyght and thyrty that were before assembled at Constantinople These be the Iudges that gaue sentence agaynst the Counsell gathered in Spayne These be the worthy pillers that beare vp the Crosse Images And if a man considered by what spirite they were led when they came to Nice he neded not to maruel at the strange horrible successe of their doings For who then bare the sway Who did assēble them but that Athalia that Iesabel Irene which was so bewitched with superstition that al order al honesty al law of nature brokē she cared not what she did so she might haue hir Mawmots She burned hir fathers bones She murthered hir owne sonne She peruerted by violence al order of lawful Counsel that she might goe a whoring with hir Idols styll When Constantine the fift father to hir husbande Leo by mariage of whome she moste vnworthy came to hir estate had lien dead buried a good while in his graue she digged him vp she shewed hir crueltie on his carcase she cast his bones into the fier caused his ashes to be throwen into the sea This did the good daughter the defender of Images bycause hir father when as yet he liued had broken them in pieces affirming simplicity rather than sumpteousnesse to be moste sitting for the Church of Christ Thus raged she during the none age of Constantine hir sonne and made the palace of Constantinople a sinke of sectaries a follower of deformed Rome But when the Emperor himselfe hir sonne grew to discretion he trode in his fathers and grandfathers steps and did so much mislyke with his mothers Mawmetry that he began to brydle hir insolent affection he toke the sweard out of hir mad handes and threwe downe the monumentes of superstition which she with such diligence and coste had erected Wherevpon the malice of hir wicked breast was so incensed that she spared not to set on fier hir owne house to conspire the death of hir owne childe only to maintaine hir Images in the Church Therefore she not onely forgate hir duety to hir Prince hir loue to hir sonne but she ioyned with a sorte of cut throtes she vtterly cast of the nature and condition of a woman she became more sauage than a wild beast For beside that she craftely betrayed the Emperour she trayterously bereued him of his inheritance the crowne she most vnwomanly scratched out the eyes of the same hir owne sonne she most abhominably caste him into pryson most detestably at length she murthered him Thus was the liuing for the deade the Prince for a puppet the naturall childe destroyed for the naked vnnaturall vse of Imagry And to declare the wrath of God iustly deserued for this execrable facte Eutropius reporteth thus Obtenebratus est sol per dies septemdecim non
to alleage Hovv the ministerie of the vvorde may be called a sacramente 1. Tim. 4. The ministerie of the word coÌ„mended vnto vs by Christ himselfe I can wel admit to be a sacrament therefore alowe in a right sense the title that Augustine doth giue vnto it For therin is a ceremonie that is taken out of the word of God a signe of spirituall grace conferred as Paul doth witnesse yet am I not contrary to my self herein who before affirmed that there were onely .ij. sacramentes of the Church Baptisme and the Lords supper For when in general we treate of sacrameÌ„ts we truly say that there are but .ij. bicause there are no more ordinary appertayning to al the faythful But ordering of ministers is a special thing contracted to a few belonging onely to a peculiar function So may it well be called a sacrament yet be denied to be a sacrament of the church But where I attribute to Christian ministery so much as I spake of there is no cause of pride for popish priests For they swarue so farre from Christes institution that they serue not at al for any godly purpose Christ did ordayne hys Apostles to preache Ioh. 20. and to that end he breathed on them shewing by that signe the power and vertue of the holy ghost wherewithall he indued them But the Romish apes onely retaine the signe the thyng it selfe beyng far thest from them and as for the end which Christ respected they haue least regarde of For they haue taught their priestes that it is least part of their duetye to preache most to do sacrifice and say Masse And thys doth the wordes of their institution proue a greate proctor of theirs Hosius affirme For wher in the verse of incantation De Sacramento ordinis they haue Potestatem illis dari placabiles offerendi deo hostias that power is giuen them to offer acceptable sacrifice vnto God Thys do they restrayne onely to the Masse And Hosius doth wrestle maruelously about the word driuing it still from the greke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he wyl haue to signify sacrifice So in the ende to raise their own gain they derogate all from Christ hys death and hys passion We know that Christ did offer hymselfe sufficiently and made a perfect satisfactioÌ„ for our synnes we know that he nedeth not any priestes helpe to be as acceptable to his father for his seruice sake as Christ for that one and onely Sacrifice of hys body was Christ gaue commaundement to be faythfull ministers not bloudy coniurers Christe gaue an iniunction to fede the flocke not to offer Sacrifice Christ hath promised his holy ghost not to purge and take away synnes but to mayntaine the Church and kepe it in good order And as for the argument that the most learned papistes do builde vpon the greke worde maye easely be answered For Chrisostome when he had considered howe Paul had written that he was a minister of Iesus Christe consecrating the gospell for so S. Augustine turneth it that there might be an acceptable oblation and Sacrifice of the Gentiles sayth Rom. 15. that the Apostle there did make full mention of all the Sacrifice that he could make vsing both the termes of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wherevpon the Papistes will grounde their Idolatrous Masse Thys is my Sacrifice to preach the Gospell sayth he my sworde is the gospell my Sacrifice is the Gentiles And now would I fayne sée what these inchanters can say bragging themselues therefore to be priests bicause they can iuggle so finely that thinges shall passe out of their nature by them The priesthode and Sacrifice that the Apostles had was to conuert the simple soules to dawnt the cruell courages of men to make an offering of them vnto the Lord not throughe grosse miracle or by bluddy knife but by the spiritual armure of the power of God whereby counsayles are ouerthrowen and euery hygh thyng that auaunceth it selfe against God 2. Cor. 10. is vanquished And whosoeuer will be successors vnto the Apostles must vse thys ministery this trade of doctrine which if they continue in being lawfully called therunto by God and haue giftes competente to approue their calling vnto the world they nede not to care for the signe of the Crosse to be imprinted in them the vertue wherof neuer departeth from them Certayne it is that neyther Scripture nor any learned father commendeth any blessing but of prayer to vs. And how your wisedome doth esteme the wagging of a bishops fingers I greatly force not I loked rather that ye should haue commended the oyle for anointing which the greasy marchauntes wyll haue in euery messe For the character indelebilis the marke vnremoueable is therby giuen Yet there is a way to haue it out well inough to rub them welfauoredly with salt and ashes or if that wyll not serue with a little sope But ye had very little to say in the matter and therfore as sone as you had alleaged your doctor Denise whose authoritie notwtstanding we may iustly deny ye plucked dovvn your sayle and cast your anchor there Folio 62. a. Very wisely done of you For perillous it is to carry to high a sayle vpon a rotten mast Now for a proufe that the signe of the Crosse should be vsed also in the supper of the Lorde which you blasphemously do call the Masse which is nothing else but the Sacrifice of the diuell ye bring the places of the .xxvj. chap. of Mathew and .xiiij. of Marke where ye do fynde thys word Benedixit that is to say he blessed And that this blessing should be but a certaine gesture of the hand ye cite Albertê° Magnus compare the places of scripture together where it may appeare that the selfe same thing is meant I am glad ye admit the conference of places I perceiue you wil play small play rather than sit out when Albertus Magnê° is worthyed of authoritie But how well you and he doe vnderstande the Scriptures shall by Gods grace appeare anone The wordes of Mathewe be these Mat. 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which wordes if ye vnderstande any Gréeke be these Iesus taking the bread and giuing thankes brake it Likewise in Marke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mark 14. Iesus taking the bread when he had giuen thankes he brake it In the first place it is euident that the worde of your olde translation Benedixit can not be taken for the signe with a finger bicause of the proper worde of giuing thankes which can not be applyed to an externe gesture Then also the worde of Marke if ye obserue the Etymologi of it muste signifie the same For what is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and what is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what is bene and what is dicere The wordes are compouÌ„ded of vvel and speake So that to blesse is to speake wel and not to crosse wel When ye were
professe wel lyue well Thys is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thys is benedicere whych you doe vse alway to translate blesse S. Augustine August in psa 32. hath Benedicam dominum in omni tempore semper laus eius in ore meo Quod est in omni tempore hoc est semper Et quod est benedicam hoc est laus eius in ore meo I will blesse the Lord in all tyme alwayes hys prayse shal be in my mouth And that which he fayeth in all time is euer And that which he sayeth I wil blesse is hys prayse in my mouth Likewise Chrisostome Chrisos in Gen. ca. 9. Hom. 29. Quando dominus benedicitur aguntur illi gratiae ab hominibus tunc vberior ab illo solet benedictio dari propter quos ipse benedicitur Nam qui benedixerit debitorem illum facit maioris benedictionis When God is blessed and thankes be giuen of men vnto hym then more plenteous blessing is wont to bée giuen of hym for their sakes by whom he is blessed For he that blesseth maketh hym detter of a greater blessing Where ye sée plainly what the nature of the worde is in what sense it hath bene taken of olde But if you haue learned of your olde mother Maukyn of whom ye spake before an other sense if you haue borowed of foolish custome a newe founde signification of the worde to note a signing of a Crosse in the forehead ye do very ill apply it to the Apostles tyme and primitiue Church where we neuer reade Benedice hont se signo crucis sed signabant se That they blessed theÌ„selues but marked themselues with the signe of the Crosse yet the the Apostles dyd euer practise any such thyng is not to be founde in any approued writer Your authorities ye fetche out of Abdias Such lyppes such lettise Hym haue I proued in the third Article to be a very lyer a vayne foundation to builde a truth vpon Wherefore as loth to be tedious as you I wyll trauaile no further in confuting of these .ij. or .iij. leaues together Fo. 73. 74. 75 which are wholy gathered out of his legendes If any thynke any piece of more credite to be giuen to hym let hym resort to that which I sayed before or reade hys tales I wishe no better confuter than hymselfe As for ClemeÌ„t whom you say S. Peter appointed to be his successor Clement Folo 75. Contra Heres Li. 3. ca. 3 Eus li. 3 cap 13. I would fayne haue you to recoÌ„cile your authors before I do fully beleue it For Ireneus reckeneth Linê° first after Peter then Anacletus and Clement to be the third Eusebius affirmeth the same Adding further that after Linus had occupied the sée twelue yeare together then he resigned hys byshoprike to Anacletus the seconde yeare of Titus Ephiphanius Epiph. lib. 1. To. 2. He. 27. although he vary in the name yet in the order he doth agrée saying Episcoporum in Roma successio hanc consequentiam habuit Petrus Paulus Linus Cletus Clemens The successioÌ„ of bishops in Rome had this orderly sequele Peter and Paul Linus Cletus Clemens And whereas in the same place report is made that both Linus and Cletus enioyed the rowme twelue yeare a piece I maruell that ClemeÌ„t according to Peters wyl dyd not immediatly succede but taryed for it .xxiiij. yeare A greate modesty of the man or much immodesty of the makers But to come to the purpose that which ye cite of hys authoritie hath no credible author to support it In dede I fynde in hys recognitions a notable place or .ij. for the materiall Crosse Whiche I thynke conuenient to speake of more hereafter in the .x. Article Folio 75. 76. The tales of S. Anthony S. Martin Donatus bishop of Eueria and Paula the noble woman of Rome I passe ouer with silence bicause if they did signe them selues as you say they be no presidentes to enforce an imitation and yet a man may dout whether such thynges were done as are reported or no. Erasmus hys iudgement is that S. Hierome wrote the lyfe of Paul the Heremite onely for hys exercise And in the same place that ye bryng for your prouf vvhere S. Anthony armed his forehead vvith the impressioÌ„ of the healthfull signe Fol. 76. and by and by the moÌ„ster running svvyftely ouer the fielde vanished out of sight we reade these wordes Hieron in vita Pauli Eremite Haec vtrum diabolus ad terrendum eum simulauerit an vt solet eremus monstruosorum animalium ferax istam quoque gignat bestiam incertum habemus Whether the diuel did counterfet these things to feare hym or els whether the wildernesse beyng very fruitefull of monstrous beastes do bryng forth also thys beast I know not So that we may dout of the trueth of the hystory And most likely it is as S. Hierome hymselfe saith that the diuel feling the heremites affectioÌ„ would make the signe of the Crosse wherin he delited to be as euer since it hath bene a cause of further sickenes a stone of offence a stombling blocke to fall at Therefore he ministred an occasion wherby he myght runne to thys sory succor and fayned hymselfe to be afrayd of it the men myght put more affiaunce in it Wherefore we oughte to dout the worste leaste these externall meanes doe make oure enemye haue more aduauntage of vs and oure inwarde fayth to be the lesse Notwithstanding if in the doings of elder age there were no such offence Not vvhatsoeuer hath bene may novv be done Dist 63. yet considering howe thynges in tyme haue growen to abuse and superstition such as haue bene tolerablely receyued must now of right and conscience be condemned Remember the decrée of Stephen wherof I spake before that if any of the predecessors haue done any thing whiche at any tyme could stande without offence and afterward is turned to error and superstition it oughte immediatly to be remoued And I sée not but Christians may better forsake it theÌ„ kepe it I am glad that ye esteme so much S. Hieroms reporte of Paula I trust ye wyll not reiect hym when in a greater matter he shal be alleaged Epiphanius Epiphanius an enemy to all Images a bishop of Cypres who lyued about the yeare of oure Lorde 390. writing to Ihon the patriarke of Hierusalem hath these wordes Quod audiui quosdam murmurare contra me quia quaÌ„do simul pergebamus ad sanctum locum qui vocatur Bethel vt ibi collectam tecum ex more Ecclesiastica facerem venissem ad villam quae dicitur Anablathae vidissemque ibi praeteriens lucernaÌ„ ardenteÌ„ interrogassem quis locus esset didicissemque esse Ecclesiam intrassem vt orarem inueni ibi velum pendens in foribus eiusdem ecclesiae tinctum atque depictum habens Imaginem quasi Christi vel sancti cuiusdaÌ„ Non enim satis memini cuius imago fuerit
a spectacle vnto vs. And nowe to coÌ„clude with Constantine the great Folio 86. whose fact is such a defence vnto you that ye thinke your selfe full armed with it But without any schole play with a downe right blow ye may be toucht on the bare For although Constantinus Constantine not fully yet instructed in the fayth sometime defended his face vvith the signe of saluation sometime shevved forth the victorious banner sometime erected it in a paynted table somtime did hang it vp before the court gate yet we neuer redde that of so many Churches as you say he builded he brought the signe of the crosse into any of theÌ„ Then did he not repose any holinesse therein nor his doings otherwise are to be drawen to example vnlesse ye haue nede to retourne with him from Paganisme to the fayth and haue as large commission as he Wherefore sith your ignoraunce vnderstandeth not the Fathers writings sith your impudencie falsly corrupteth them sith presumptions haue alwayes cuÌ„bred the Church of god and traditions in euery age with euery sere byshop varied we are not to be thought otherwise than followers of the Apostles although we decline froÌ„ some thing that men haue called and in their conceytes reputed Apostolique Flatter not your selfe as if any were so mad hauing common sense to be persuaded with your glorious wordes which in euery leafe haue so good triall of your shamelesse lies Learne what the Church is then talke thereof be a member of the Church and I wil make more accoÌ„pt of you Be no preacher to other of their soule health vnlesse ye take better order for your owne To the sixth Article THat diuerse holy men and vvomen Martiall Fol. 88. got little pieces of the holye Crosse and inclosed them in golde or siluer and eyther left theÌ„ in Churches to be vvorshipped or hanged them about their neckes therby to be the better vvarded To which assertioÌ„ coÌ„sidering what in the Articles afore hath bene sayd and proued a short answere may serue For inasmuch as al your reasons be grounded on a false principle authoritie of men whiche in Gods matters can take no place ye spende in thys Article a greate many moe wordes than all the matter in your booke is worth Tertullian hymselfe Tertullian de virginibê° uelandis speakyng of a traditioÌ„ more reasonable than thys pretendeth not authoritie but sayth that he wyll proue Hoc exigere veritateÌ„ cui nemo praescribere potest non spacium temporum non patrocinia personarum non priuilegium regionum Ex hijs enim fere consuetudo initium ab aliqua ignoraÌ„tia vel simplicitate sortita in vsum per successionem corroboratur ita aduersus veritatem vindicatur Sed dominus noster Christus veritatem se non consuetudinem cognominauit Si semper Christus prior omnibus aequè veritas sempiterna antiqua res That the truth requireth this against the which no persoÌ„ no space of tyme no mastershyp of men no priuiledge of countries can prescribe For most commonly by the meane of these custome that began of some ignoraunce of simplicitie is by succession coÌ„firmed into an vse and so exception taken against the truthe But Christ our Lord called hymselfe the truth and not the custome If Christ be alwayes before al the truth it selfe is aswel eternal and of most auncienty Let theÌ„ coÌ„sider and marke wel thys who accompt it new that in it self is olde No nouelty but verity confoundeth heresy Whatsoeuer is against the truth the same is heresy yea the olde custom it self as sayth Tertullian Wherefore ye should not presume so much vpon the credit of Helena Paulinus Gregory that whatsoeuer they did should be a sufficient presideÌ„t for vs to do the lyke The fathers of the olde the new Testament are not to be drawen for exaÌ„ple alwaies For then why not Dauid defende an adulterer a lecherous captayn willing to dispatch hys trusty soldior why wer it any fault to abiure the faith or otherwise dissemble with God if the lyke facte in Peter myght be followed Aug. contra 2. Ep. Gauden lib. 2. Augustine very wysely sayth NoÌ„ debemus imitari semper aut probare quicquid probati homines egerunt sed iuditium scripturarum adhibere an illae probent ea facta We must not alwayes imitate or alow whatsoeuer allowed persons haue done but lay the iudgemeÌ„t of scriptures to it whether they alow the doing of it If theÌ„ I droue you vnto this issue that ye should proue by the word of God the alleaged exaÌ„ples good ye had néede to require a loÌ„ger terme and yet in the ende you would make a non suite For ye shal not fynd in al the scripture any piece of word or exaÌ„ple of any that can by force be wrested to the reseruatioÌ„ of little scraps of wood or reposing any hope or affiance in them Too vaine and heathenish is the obseruaÌ„ce too foule and horrible is that Idolatry Yet wyll I not deface those fornamed persons vpon whose authoritie ye grounde your selfe nor say that otherwise they wer vngodly though in this point no godlinesse appeared Rom. 10. Paul writeth of the Iewes in his time thus Testimonium illis perhibeo quod studium Dei habent sed non secundum scientiaÌ„ I beare them recorde that they haue the zeale of God but not according to knowledge And I doubt not but these whom you haue named had a zeale of their own thought to serue God yet seruing their fansy first they dyd offende against the maiestie of God and were occasion of fall to many that came after 2. Par. 17. The holy Chronicles report of Iehosaphat that he walked in the first wayes of hys father Dauid sought not Baalim but sought the lord god of hys father and walked in hys coÌ„maundementes not after the trade of Israel The like testimony also is giueÌ„ him in the .20 ch Iehosaphat walked in the way of Asa hys father and departed not therefrom doing that whiche was right in the sight of the Lord notwtstanding the hie places were not taken away Beside thys 2. Paral. 19. he made affinitie with Ahab loued them that hated the Lord dyd any maÌ„ therfore for those imperfections condeÌ„ne Iehosophat as a wycked Prince Or wyl any maÌ„ excuse hym for the same On lyke sort I wil not vtterly disproue your authors I thynke not the contrary but that they wer Gods childreÌ„ although in this matter for which theyr authoritie is preteÌ„ded ther is none with safe conscience that can lyke with them Iud. 8. Gideon among the iudges of Israell was the least stayned yet through deuotion as he estemed it he greuously synned against the lord For when as a mighty chaÌ„pion he returned home from coÌ„quest of Midiam the souldiers laden with goldeÌ„ prey he required their earinges to be geueÌ„ to hym Which amounting to a great sum he made an Ephod of it