any man But that fayth alone without any Crosse is right auayleable the Scripture in euery place witnesseth Now where ye contende Fol. 117. a. that a Crosse is necessary notvvithstanding that men may haue Godly instructions by reading the Scriptures And hearing good preachers bycause euery man can not reade Scripture nor vnderstande it vvhen he readeth it euery man cannot at all times so conueniētly heare a good preacher as he may see the signe of the Crosse And things seene do moue more affection than those that be heard or red As your aunswere to this obiection agaynst your selfe contayneth thrée pretended causes so wyll I in order consider of them First that all men cannot reade Scripture or vnderstand it when they reade it I besech you be Images and Crosses such bookes as al men can reade vnderstand Images do speake doubtfully Did not I tell you how Stephen Gardiner a learned man made a false construction out of such a boke taking the Image of the king for S. George on horsebacke The countenance the proportion the apparel of them is as pleaseth the workman to deuise the vertue the power and the qualities of them is as pleaseth the lokers on to ymagine And let them reade in Images that lust They teach Diuelishly let them vnderstande as they may nothing doubtlesse is to be readde or vnderstode in them but the leude lessons of grosse Idolatrie penned by the diuell tending to damnation They be read vnlawfully And if there were not apparantly such perill in them the contrary whereof can not be auoyded yet were we bound not only to suspecte but also to refuse such scholemasters as they being not authorised by Gods commission but as I haue proued alwayes inhibited If Christ as the Gospell telleth vs twice in one place together be the only doctor and guide of his Math. 23. If God hath spoken in these last dayes by his sonne vnto vs in whose person all wonted wayes of instruction all reuelations doe ceasse Hebr. 1. we must nowe goe no further than to hys word we must seke no teacher but his holy spirite Ipse nos inducet in omnem veritatem that same wyll induce vs into all truth And although I knowe that the gyftes of God haue their degrées yet dare I say Ther can be no such ignorance as shall driue vs to seeke a knovveledge in an Image that none is vtterly so voyde of grace but hath for vnderstanding so much conferred on him as shall be expedient for his owne behoufe vnlesse he be vtterly as a rotten member cut of from Christ But if the skyll of reading or gyfte of vnderstanding be denyed vnto any shall he be driuen to séeke it where it is not Then shall he finde what he would not If our heauenly father refuse to teach vs a vile creature can not instruct vs. If God wythdrawe his decréed meane whereby he may win vs an extraordinary matter a stock or a stone cānot conuert vs. If God do not suffer vs a preaching parson the diuel doth send vs such dūb vicares If man be not worthied to direct vs in a truth an Image or a Crosse wil peruert vs with a lye Posuit thesaurum suum in vasis fictilibus He hath put his treasure in frayle vessels sayth S. Paule speaking of the worke of Gods exceding mercy in sending vs men of our owne nature by whome his wil may be reuealed to vs. But if your order assertion did holde then had he put his treasure in dumbe dead and senslesse creatures and shoulde stande to discretion of the Carpenter or smyth where he should best conferre his grace A strange case That vvhich al the creatures of God can not teach a Crosse can that where all the workes of God be insufficient to teach humilitie to persuade pacience to conuert from errour and comforte in despaire the vile worke of mannes wicked hande is able as you say to procure and compasse the same for vs. The worlde it selfe is a certayne spectacle of thinges inuisible for that the order and frame of it is a glasse to beholde the secrete working and hydden grace of God The heauenly creatures and spheres aboue haue a greater marke of his diuinitie more euident to the worlds eye than eyther can be vnknowen or dissembled Which thing S. Paule declareth to the Romains Rom. 1. saying that so much was opened vnto men as was requisite to be knowē of God in that his inuisible powers yea till ye come to his eterne vertue and diuinitie being vnderstode from the very beginning and creation of the world be dayly séene amongst vs. Notwithstanding such a knowledge as this being growen and gathered by such circumstaunces as be common vnto all alyke is naturall as it were and onely enforceth this that no excuse no cloke of ignoraunce can be pretended But to alter the heart to make a new minde to regenerate it to true pietie is the worke of another instrument and effecte of another cause For the principall and chiefe poynt wherevpon dependeth our health and saluation is not onely to know Gods absolute and vniuersall authoritie whereof both Heauen and earth is full and all the worlde is wytnesse but also to fynde out hys secrete counsayles to consyder his iudgementes to marke the mysteries of our saluation in Christ our Lorde which is hidden from the worlde Then if the maruellous workes of God be not sufficient to directe our wayes considering howe frayle we are and if it hap that through them sometime we fall into any deper consyderation of the heauenlie nature strayght wayes we are pulled from the thoughte thereof to our owne leudenesse and ymaginations slyding to the dotages and dreames of the fleshe whereby it commeth to passe that if perhappes any true instincte doe sparckle in vs it is out agayne before we can get any warmth of it What shall we thincke of a syllie Crosse that sorrie wormes and canker doth corrupte that neuer God nor good man deuised Shall we runne to so wicked and vnweldy succour shall we séeke so blinde a guide to bring vs out of darkenesse God neuer hath no not from the beginning dealt otherwise wyth hys electe but that he would strengthen and relieue their weakenesse with a stronger remedie For he hath vsed to their instruction the mysterie of his worde Illuminantis oculos Psal 18. intellectum dantis paruulis That lighteneth the eyes and giueth vnderstanding vnto the méeke Therefore the goodman and master of the house sayd in the Gospell Negotiemini donec veniam Occupy til I come Luke 19. When he intending to goe abrode himselfe gaue eche of his seruauntes his portion to bestowe What portion was it What was the talent What was the marchandize that they should trafficke with Not wyth the marchants of Tyrus to lade their shippes wyth precious wares nor with the Mariners of Ahasias séeke straunge countreyes to get golde But his
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
the Sentence Let fayth be taken Sine pro eo quo creditur siue pro eo quod creditur eyther for that wherby we beleue or else for that which is beleued certayne it is that the simplest of them both is better than a signe though it be of the Crosse For be it the latter fayth Quam Daemones et falsi Christiani habent as he saith which the Diuels false christians haue yet by the same Possunt credere deum et credere deo they can beleue that there is a God they can giue credit vnto his words But a bare Crosse can not do this Take me a man that neuer hearde of Christ and bring him to a Spanyard to beholde all his Crosses at the Mary Masse and he shall be as learned when he commeth away as the Ape is deuout when he hath eaten the hoste But if a man neyther did nor could euer heare at all this naked fayth were able to teach him without any further information that a God there is which the very Gentiles did vnderstande Agayne to compare a gifte of God which is in the minde to the work of man made with the hande is Canibus catulos coniungere matribus haedos To ioyne the whelpes and houndes the kiddes and goates together Nowe to your Iulian. Iulians example Folio 21. b. Ye say that when he had consulted with Sorcerers and they had made the Diuels solemnly to appeare He vvas stricken in a feare and forced to make the signe of the Crosse in his foreheade Then the Diuels loking backe and seing the figure of the Lordes banner and remembring their fall and ouerthrovv sodaynly vanished out of sight Thus much or so much as this ye cite out of Theodorete and Gregory Nazianzene For the truth of the historie I contende not with you But what I iudge of the experiment I will tell you Fyrst of al that wicked reprobate and godlesse persones can vse the signe of the Crosse as well as other Which proposition shal quite cōfute all your ninth Article For if such as Iulian can crosse themselues and notwithstanding haue neuer a whit the more fayth as your selfe confesse then how falles it out that the Crosse driueth out heresies Fol. 22. a. Contradictions in Martiall Fol. 94. b. that the signe of the Crosse conuerteth obstinate sinners Fol. 114. 115. that the signe of the Crosse maketh vvicked men to think vpon God that the Crosse is comfortable in desperation Fol. 116. Secondly this I note How sore the Diuel was hurt by the Crosse when it nothwithstanding he retayned the possession of whole Iulian both in body and soule Thyrdly that the diuell doth fayne himself to be afrayde of that which with all his heart he would haue men to vse For this is a generall rule that the Diuell is a lier and alwayes will séeme to be as he is not If there were no other matter in the worlde agaynst you this onely were sufficient to discredite you For what better reason is there that Crossing ought not to be vsed at al than that the Diuel did séeme to dread it If that indede he had bene afrayd of it he would haue doubled a point with you and not haue played so open play He runs from the Stéeple to dwell in the people He counterfets a flight from the holy water bucket and nestles himselfe in the bosome of the priest He séemeth to giue place to the charmers inchantment yet that sacrifice doth please him excedingly Ye confesse that Iulian had no hope in Christ no loue to god no faith and will ye not confesse that he was therby a desperate person a lyin of the Diuell The Diuell then shuld haue done him wrong if he had put him in any further danger But one thing I maruell at how you M. Martiall a bacheler of law sometime Vsher of Winchester now student in Diuinitie making a boke intitled to the Quéene perused by the Learned priuiledged by the King allowed by Cunner should fall into manifest contradictions scape vncontrolled I sée it is true quod mendacem memorem esse opertet a lier had nede haue a good remembrance Ye sayd in the leafe before Folio 21. The signe of the Crosse must concurre vvith fayth and fayth vvith the signe of the Crosse Nowe ye alowe the bare signe of the Crosse without any fayth to haue the force and power aforesayd If I thought ye were ignorant of Sathans practises I would shew you some of them to make you more circumspect But you haue bene brought vp in his schole a good while and therefore I thinke ye practise after him endeuouring your selfe of set purpose to deceiue For which like a Spider ye spinne a subtile webbe You sucke out of the Fathers the worst ioyce that you can that you may turne the same into your owne fylthy and infected nature Gregorie did well in abhorring the name of vniuersall Byshop But Gregories authoritie is not taken in that Gregorie sayde well when he tolde vs the tale of Speciosus a deacon that would rather forsake his benefice than his Wife But the president of that persuadeth you not Onely when Gregorie disgraceth himselfe wyth olde wiues tales and tryfling customes of his corrupted tyme then is he meate for your sawsy mouthes A Iewe sayth Gregorie vvithout truste confidence or fayth Folio 22. b. in Christes passion vvas preserued from Spirites by the signe of the Crosse I rehearse not the circumstaunce of the tale bycause I haue tolde you more than is true already For if he had no fayth in Christ the Scripture is playne that there could no spirite be worse than himselfe Heb. 11. Impossible it is to please God without fayth And shall God by the Crosse preserue them that please him not Who séeth not what a fable this is or rather a blasphemie if it be weyghed aright But Gregorie hath it A doctor of the Church So hath he more vntruthes than this Lib. Dial. 4. Cap. 55. As that for confirmation of sacrifice for the dead he bringeth forth a vision a dreame or a dotage such a one as I am ashamed to father vpō him or any one of the faythfull yet proufe good inough for such a matter of naught His tale is this A certayne priest that vsed the bathes went on a day into them and found a yong man whome he knewe not very obsequious and seruiseable vnto him he pulled of his shooes he toke his garmentes he did whatsoeuer might be comfortable for him When this he had often done one day the prieste going thitherwarde thought thus with himselfe I ought not to séeme vnthankfull vnto him which hath so deuoutly bene accustomed to serue me whensoeuer I washe me but néedes I must cary him somewhat for a reward Then toke he with him the tops of two loaues which had ben offered at seruice And as sone as euer he came vnto the place he founde his man he vsed
the land was inhabited And of the doings at New-hauen what an honorable peace insewed contrary to the wish and will of the enimies of God and of their countrey the Papistes we doe nowe féele thankes be to God and you can not denie But in the Catholique time as you call it what successe had you when Calleis and Guines so hardly wonne so long kept with such glory and gaine to the English name defended was easely in one .iij. dayes with shame lost More will I not rehearse of our desperate losses in that tyrannous interraigne I retourne to your visions Iulian Folie 33. a. as you cyte oute of Sozomenus had a shovvre of rayne that ouertooke him and euery drop that fell eyther vpon hys coate or any other that accompanyed him made a signe of the Crosse Agayne When the saide Iulian counsayled the Ievves to repaire the Temple of Ierusalem destroyed by the Romaines God to make them desist from that vvicked purpose of theirs caused the ground vvhere they had digged a great trench for the foundation to be filled vvith earth rising out of a valley And vvhen this notvvithstanding they continued their vvorke God raysed a great tempest of vvinde and skattred all the lime and sande vvhich they had gathered and caused a great earthquake and killed al that vvere not baptised and sent a great fyre out of the foundation and burned many of the laborers And vvhen all this nothing discouraged them a bright glittering signe of the healthfull Crosse appered in the element and the Ievves apparell vvas filled vvith the signe of the Crosse The application of these two histories which for this purpose I set out at large that they may the better be considered will make you glad to scrape them out of your booke For ye fare as a foole that walks in a net or as the children whose head being hidde they thinke their bodies can not be séene Although ye cast some shadowes ouer you and think that your head is hidde in an hole yet your eares be so long that they do bewray you When thus ye haue heaped vp as many mysticall figures of the Crosse as you and your learned Counsell can ye gather a fine conclusion of them that God vvilleth all hys Folio 34. highly to esteeme the thing vvhich those figures signified and to beleue that as those figures vvrought temporall benifites to the Israelites so the truthe that is the Crosse it selfe shall vvorke vnto his electe and chosen Children beleuing in hys Sonne Iesus Christ and hauing his signe printed in our foreheads the lyke benifits effectes vertues spiritually and much more greater First who tolde you that the truth of these figures was the Crosse it selfe vnlesse by a figure ye take the Crosse for the crucified Then that those figures wrought temporall benifites how can you proue Sure if they were causes of any good that came they were Causae stolidae as Tully calleth them meane and instrumentall causes as the Axe is cause of the wood cleauing and not efficient Thirdely if ye would haue concluded well Distinguenda fuissent ambigua those wordes that diuerslye may be taken should haue bene seuered into their diuers significations that we might haue knowne how to haue vnderstoode your mastership When ye ioyne the truth and the Crosse togither what Crosse can I tell you speake of If it be according to your promise afore the Crosse in the fourth signification for thereof ye saide you woulde onely entreate then is not your Crosse the truth it selfe but a figure still wheras ye couple the belief in Christ and hys signe printed in our foreheads togither what signe is that the Crosse with a finger If ye meane it so ye make an vnméete comparison the one being necessarye the other ydle and vnlawfull too This am I sure your meaning is by couert spéech to deceiue the simple and cause them to deriue the glory from the truthe and transferre it to the figure to haue in reuerence your idle signe and let the thing signified be forgotten As for the figures of the olde law marke what Tertullian sayth and thereby shall you learne a better meaning of them than your meane skill considereth Aduersus Martio li. 3. for thus he sayth Sacramentum mortis figurari in praedicatione oportebat quanto incredibile tanto magis scandalo futurum si nudè praedicaretur quantoque magnificum tanto magis adumbrandum vt difficultas intellectus gratiam dei quareret It behoued the Sacrament of the death of Christ to be sigured in preaching For how much more it is incredible so much more offensiue should it be if nakedly it had bene preached and by howe much it was more glorious so muche the more it was to be shadowed that the hardnesse of vnderstanding myght séeke for the grace of God So farre Tertullian But how little grace of God you haue in sticking still to the easie letter and neuer seking the glory of the death is to wel séene by your doings The signe of the Crosse was shewed to Constantine he was not yet become a Christian It was expedient to haue a miracle We doe professe great skill and knowledge and shall we not beleue without a signe That which was once done shall it be asked euer That which was commaunded to one alone shall it be drawne a president for all Folio 34. The signe of the Crosse vvas shevved to Cōstantine in his great anxietie ye saye to instructe vs that in all anxietie of minde and pensiuenesse of heart the Crosse of Christe shall be our comforte So farre I graunt And the signe you say to be a meane to ouerthrovv our enimies Where finde ye that God hath moe meanes of comforte then one he deliuereth his that are in daunger by diuers wayes We reade that when Alexander the great Iosephus li. 11. Ca. 8. for deniall of Tribute to be paid vnto him was vtterly in minde to destroy Hierusalem and was marching thither with an huge army which no power of theirs was able to resist Iaddus which was the chief bishop then put all his pontifical attire vpon him and caused the rest of his cleargy to doe the like and went forthe to méete the tyraunt so Alexander no soner saw him but he lighted frō his horse fell flat on the ground before him The lusty roysters that were about him meruailing at this so sodaine chaunge from wrath to worshipping from force of armes to submission and praier specially to a Priest wheras the Prince vainly supposed himself to be a God and where he minded before in heat of his displeasure vtterly to haue destroyed them nowe to become contrary to his nature an humble suppliant to them Alexander made answer thus When I lodged in Dio a Citie of Macedon such a personage as this of like stature like apparell in all poynts appered to me and willed me to set vpon Asia promising that he would guide me in the voyage and in
them vnto men as percell of religion and worshipping of God Christ vsing the ministerie of the Romaines so destroyed the temple that for these fiftene hundreth yeares they haue had no place no respite to repaire it And when they did attempt the matter they were as you alleaged by diuers meanes destroyed and disappoynted namely by the dreadfull apparition of a Crosse Whereof ye might haue gathered that God so misliked the superstitious ceremonies of the temple that he would not suffer the stones of it to stande The lyke plague shall ensue to all that hauing light wil follow darknesse that being frée will bring a slauery vpon them that being deliuered by Christ from these outwarde things and hauing Christ yet will be wedded to these outward things as if that God were pleased with them Wherefore remember Saul let no disguised cloke of a good intente couer an ill acte contrary to the worde Leuit. 10. Nadab and Abiu brought in straunge fyre not commaunded of the Lorde The fyre of the Lorde therefore consumed them 2. Sam. 6. Vzah when the Oxen did shake the Arke of a good intent did put his hand vnto it and was stricken deade for his offence Melior est obedientia quam Victimae sayde Samuell Better is obedience than sacrifice Better is a naked seruice with the worde than a a gorgeous solemnitie not cōmaunded by the worde Quicquid ego praecipio vobis Deut. 12. hoc tātum facite Whatsoeuer I do commaunde you sayth the Lorde doe that and that onely Non addes quicq̄ nec minues Thou shalt not adde any thing to it nor take away any thing from it When Christ shall appeare in brightnesse of his glory when he shall sytte as a iust iudge at his seconde comming to aske a straight accompt of all your life fayth and religion what can ye answere what wil ye say vnto him We haue garnished thy temple with golde and syluer we haue set vp candels vpon thine altares we haue sainsed thy saincts we haue erected estemed honored thy Crosse What shal he then reply to this Esay 1. Leuit. 26. Esay 52. 1. Cor. 6. 2. Cor. 6. The worde of his Prophete Esay Quis requisiuit ista de manibus vestris Who did require these thinges at your handes My temple ought your own heartes to be as I my selfe pronounced and my Apostle Paule bare witnesse with me This should haue bene adorned with chastitie simplicitie feare of my name loue of my mercies innocencie of lyfe integritie of fayth Such resting place and such ornaments therof haue I required but you haue them reiected No altare of squared stone haue I appointed my selfe on the altare of the Crosse abolished it I only ought to be the altare nowe wherevpon your sacrifice of prayse and thankesgiuing should be layd and light of your good workes shining to the world be set vpon But me and my death ye haue adnihilated to magnifie your owne imaginations my sainctes should haue bene paternes of holy lyfe and true fayth vnto you not haue vsurped my rowme and office to become mediators and be called vpon The swéete perfume of prayer shuld haue arisen from the saynsure of your heart to me and no flinging of coales about the Church to other But you haue sticked onely to the Iewish and hipocriticall obseruaunce The truth exhibited in time of grace ye haue not receyued The memory of my death by preaching of the worde and due administration of Sacramentes in the Church should haue bene continued according to my wyl The members of my body the liuely counterfets of myne owne person the poore the naked the comfortlesse christians should haue bene relieued clothed encouraged but by your Imagry you haue excluded my word by your Roodes Crosses and crucifixes vtterly as much as in you lieth defaced the glory of my death departe ye therefore away from me ye workers of iniquitie let nowe the God that you haue serued saue you Entre into euerlasting fier prepared for the Diuell and for you his Angels Thys when God shall lay vnto your charge this fine shall followe of it and when in the terrible conflict with Sathan ye shall call your consciences to accompte and sée those ydle toyes that you haue trusted to to be voyde of comforte what shall ye then doe but be dryuen to dispeire and say to the mountaines fall downe vpon vs. Luke 22. Wherefore if yet there be any place of repentaunce left for you if malice and obstinacy haue not vtterly secluded Gods grace from you take vp by times Séeke Christ in his worde forsake your will worshippings Set not your follies in the seruice of God agaynst the wysedome of the Almighty reuealed in his worde You thinke your holde is good God knowes it abydes no stresse Ye say ye séeke the Shepherd I proue ye finde the Foxe To the thirde Article FOr declaration and proufe of your thirde Article Folio 36. b. which is that euery Church Chappell and Oratory erected to the honor and seruise of God should haue the signe of the Crosse ye bring foure reasons whereof the two first be too vnreasonable grounded vpon folish fables The third is insufficient to confirme a doctrine The fourth is a custome of error not consonant to truth For the first ye alleage one of Abdias tales whome you affirme to haue sene Christ in the flesh Folio 38. b. to haue follovved Simon and Iude into Persia and to haue bene made Byshop of Babilon by the Apostles Abdias To speake somewhat of your famous father that he sawe Christ in the fleshe what maruell was it if he were one of the .72 disciples as you and Lazius that foūd the lying legend in his proface vpon Abdias witnesse Concerning his auncienty no maruel if ye cite him For if ye make accompt of his yeares by probable coniecture out of his boke ye shall finde him almost as olde as Mathusale He liued long after S. Iohns time for he citeth authorities out of his Gospell Ii 5. in fine diuers And speaking of a miracle done at S. Iohn his tombe how Manna sprang out of it he sayth Quam vsque hodie gignit locus iste that is to say Which Manna this place bringeth forth to this day Then if it were so strange a matter as he would haue it séeme many yeares were runne betwene the death of the Apostle and writing of his booke But Iohn himself was an hundreth yeare olde lacking two when he dyed For as your Abdias sayth Cum esset annorum nonaginta septem c. When he was foure score and seuentéene yeare olde Christ appeared to him and so forthe And Abdias if he were one of the .72 Disciples was called to hys ministery the selfe same yeare that Iohn was to his Apostleship So that by all likelyhoode hée was then as olde as Iohn and liuing long after Iohn How old was hée say you But a man of those yeares being broken
Idolatry as Augustyne playnly reporteth Yet were they nothing the lesse Idolatrers For thys he sayth of them In psa 113. Videntur autem sibi purgatioris esse religionis qui dicunt nec Simulachrum nec daemonium colo sed per effigieÌ„ corporalem eius rei signum intueor quam coiere debro They séeme to be of more pure religion which say I neyther worship the Image nor the power thereof but by the corporall lykenesse I beholde the signe of the thyng which I ought to worship Yet notwithstanding bicause they called their Idols by the names of Vulcanus and Venus as we our Images by the name of Christ and of our Lady bicause they dyd some outwarde reuerence to their Idols as we vnto our Images both for them and vs as Augustyne sayth Apostoli vna sententia poenam damnationemque testatur One sentence of the Apostle witnesseth our punishmente and condemnation And what sentence is that Qui transmutauerunt veritatem Dei in mendatium colürunt seruierunt creaturae potius quam creatori qui est benedictus Deus in secula Which turned the trueth of God into a lye and worshipped and serued the creature forsakyng the creator which is the blessed God for euermore But how is the truth turned to a lye and the creature rather serued than the creator It foloweth in the place alleaged Effigus à fabro factas appellando nominibus earum rerum quas fabricauit deus transmutaÌ„t veritatem Dei in meÌ„datium res autem ipsas pro dijs habeÌ„do venerando seruiunt creaturae potius quam creatori By calling the pictures made of the workeman by the name of those thinges which God hath made they change the truth of God into a lye And when they repute and worship the thynges themselues as Gods they serue the creature rather than the creator Wherefore Augustine noted very well that Paul priore parte sententiae simulachra daÌ„nauit posteriori autem interpretationes simulachrorum in the firste parte of hys sentence condemned Images and in the latter the interpretation and meaning of them So that if your cause be all one with the Gentiles and excuse one and yet both of them condemned by the Scripture and conuinced by authoritie It foloweth that no Roode nor Crucifixe in the Church oughte to be suffered for it is Idolatrye Of the same metall that the Crosse is made we haue the candlestickes we haue the censors yet they which most do thinke that God is serued with candlestickes censors attribute not that honor vnto them that they do to the Crosse What is the cause S. Augustine declareth Illa causa est maxima impietatis insanae quod plus valet in affectibus miseroruÌ„ similis viueÌ„ti forma quae sibi efficit supplicari quam quod eam manifestuÌ„ est noÌ„ esse uiuentem vt debeat à viuente contemni Plus enim valent simulachra ad curuaÌ„daÌ„ in foeliceÌ„ animaÌ„ quod os habeÌ„t oculos habent aures habent nares habeÌ„t manus habeÌ„t pedes habent quam ad corrigendaÌ„ quod non loquentur nón videhunt non audient noÌ„ odorabaÌ„t noÌ„ coÌ„trectabuut non ambulabunt Thys is the greatest cause sayeth he of thys mad impietie that the lyuely shape preuayleth more wyth the affections of miserable men to cause reuerence to be done vnto it than the playne sight that it is not liuing is able to worke that it be contemned of the lyuyng For Images are more of force to crooke an vnhappy soule in that they haue mouthes eyes eares nosthrels handes and feete Then otherwyse to strayghten and amende it in that they shall not speake they shall not sée they shall not heare they shall not smell they shall not handell they shall not walke And so farre Augustine Which wordes myght vtterly dehorte vs from Imagery and dryue both the Roode and the Crosse out of the Church Psa 134. if we were not such as the Prophete speaketh of become in most respect lyke them For with open and feling eyes but with closed and dead myndes we worship neither séeing nor liuing Images More could I cite aswel out of hym as out of the rest before alleaged for confirmation of thys trueth of myne I could sende you to the .4 boke of Aug. de ciuit Dei ca. 31. Where he commendeth the opinion of Varro that affirmed God myght be better serued wythout an Image than wyth one I coulde alleage hys boke de haeres ad Quod yult deuÌ„ Where he meÌ„tioneth one Marcellina whose heresy he accompteth to be thys that she honored the pictures of Christ and other I could referre you to hys boke de Con. Euan. Li. 1. Ca. 10. where he sayeth Omnino errare merueruÌ„t qui ChristuÌ„ noÌ„ in saÌ„ctis codicibus sed in pictis parietibus quaesicruÌ„t They haue béen worthy to be deceiued that haue sought Christ not in holy bokes but in paiÌ„ted walles These I say with diuerse other I could bring forth but that I thinke that thys suffiseth to proue that the fathers wer not so foÌ„dly in thys case affected as you would haue it appeare to other Folio 4 4. Concerning Paulinus I wyll not greatly contende wyth you but that in his dayes which was .448 yeare after Christ there was in some Churches the signe of the Crosse erected Epi. 3. ad Aprium But as I sayd before it suffiseth not to say Thys vvas once so But proued it must be that Thys was wel so Paulinê° coÌ„mendeth the woman that separated her selfe froÌ„ her own husbande without consent vnder cloke of religioÌ„ And hath the word of God the lesse force therefore which sayth Whom God hath coupled together Mat. 19. Ad Cithe rium let no maÌ„ put a suÌ„der Paulinus affirmeth that the boke of the Epistles which the Apostles wrote layd vnto diseases headeth them and shall we thynke that in vayne it is that the Lord hath created medicines of the earth Eccle. 38. He that is wyse wil not abhorre theÌ„ He that wyll folow whatsoeuer hath bene is a very foole I know that IustiniaÌ„ taketh order which is yet but politique that no man build a Church or monastery but as reasoÌ„ is by consent of the bishop and that the byshop shall set hys marke which by hys pleasure shoulde be a Crosse But what is thys say I to the Roode or Crucifix in places consecrate where God is serued The same answer that I made before to the Synod which was kept at Orleance may serue to thys Emperoures constitutioÌ„ although it be not preiudiciall to truthe if he that lyued by your wise computatioÌ„ a thousand yeare after Christ in dede fyue hundreth thirtie at the least in tyme of great ignoraunce and barbaritie In catalogo post prefationeÌ„ Folio 45. should enact a thyng contrary to a truthe Yet to say the truth I sée no cause why I should not admyt his graue authorite since he neyther speaketh of
Roode nor Crucifix nor yet of mysticall signe on the forehead which are the onely matters that you take in hande to proue Loth woulde we be to cite hym for our part inasmuch as we depeÌ„de not vpoÌ„ mens iudgementes vnlesse he spake consonant vnto the Scriptures and brought better reason for other matters wyth hym than you or any other alleage for the Crosse For the trueth of an history we admyt him as a witnesse for vs for establishing of an error we wyl not admyt hym or any other to be a iudge agaynst vs. It suffiseth you to vse the name of Iustinian how small soeuer the matter be to purpose But I wyll bryng you for one two that not in doutful speach but in playne termes and vnder greuous paine haue decréed in all their seigniories and couÌ„treis a direct coÌ„trary order vnto yours Not that there was no Crosse theÌ„ vsed which might wel answere Iustinians case but that there should not be vsed any Petrê° Crinitê° ex libris Augustalibê° De honesta disc lib. 9. cap. 9. Doth make meÌ„tion of the law the same which Valens and Theodosius concluded on His wordes be these Valens Theodosius Imperatores praefecto Praetorio ad hunc modum scripsere Cum sit nobis cura diligens in rebus omnibus superni numinis religionem tueri signam saluatoris Christi nemini quidem concedimus coloribus lapide aliáue materia fingere insculpere aut pingere sed quocuÌ„que loco reperitur tolli tubemus grauissima poena eos mulctaÌ„do qui coÌ„trarium decretis nostris imperio quicquam tentauerint Valens and Theodosius Emperors wrote on thys sorte to their lieftenant Wheras in al things we haue a diligeÌ„t care to maintaine the religioÌ„ of God aboue we grauÌ„t libertie to none to couÌ„terfet engraue or paint the signe of our Sauiour Christ in colors stone or any other matter but wheresoeuer any such be founde we coÌ„mauÌ„de it to be taken away most greuously punishing such as shal atteÌ„pt any thyng coÌ„trary to these our decrées coÌ„mauÌ„demeÌ„t Here is another maner of order taken than out of any wryting of receaued author caÌ„ iustly be alleaged for your part In Cathech suo So that with Erasmus I may iustly say that not so much as mans constitution doth bynde the Images should be in Churches Ye sée M. Martiall I haue not coÌ„celed any one of your authorities I haue omitted no piece of proufe of yours yet authoritie being rightly scaÌ„ned doth make so much against you that your proufes be to no purpose at al. Folio 46. a As for the vse of that which you cal the Church is in dede the Sinagoge of Satan I néede as little to cumber the readers with refuting of as you do meddle with approuing of it Only this wil I say that euer synce Siluesters tyme such filth of Idolatry and superstitioÌ„ hath flowed into the most partes of al Christendom out of the sinke of Rome that he neded in dede as many eyes as Argus that should haue espyed any piece of sinceritie vntyl the tyme that such as your worship wisdom according to your catholike custom when the scalding spirite of scolding comes vpon you cal heretikes nuscreaÌ„tes began to reforme the decaied state Folio 46. b and bryng things to the order of the Church primitiue Apostolike Decr. 1. parte dist 3. parag veritate Wherfore if ye sticke vpon a custom consider your decree Nemo consuetudinem rationi veritati praeponat quia coÌ„suetudineÌ„ ratio veritas semper excludit Let no man prefer custome before reason truth bicause reasoÌ„ truth alwaies excludeth custome Parag. qui contempta And in the same distinctioÌ„ out of Augustine is alleaged thys Qui coÌ„teÌ„pta veritate praesumit coÌ„suetudineÌ„ sequi aut circa fratres inuidus est malignê° quibus veritas reuelatur aut circa deum ingratê° est inspiratione cuius ecclesia eius instruitur NaÌ„ dominus in Euangelio Ego sum inquit veritas noÌ„ dixit Ego sum coÌ„suetudo Itaque veritate manifestata cedat consuetudo veritati quia petrus qui circuÌ„cidebat cessit Paulo veritatem praedicanti igitur cuÌ„ Christus veritas sit magis veritatem quam consuetudineÌ„ sequi dedemus quia consuetudinem ratio veritas semper excludit He that presumâ—â— sayth Augustine to folowe custome the truth contemned either is enuious hatefull agaynst hys brethren De baptis paruulorum to whom the truth is reueled or vnthankfull vnto God by whose inspiration hys Church is instructed For our Lord in the gospell sayd I am the truth He fayd not I am custome Therfore wheÌ„ the truth is opened let custome geue place to truth for euen Peter that circumcised gaue place to Paul when he preached a truth Wherfore since Christ is the truth we ought rather to folow truth than custome bicause reasoÌ„ and truth alwayes excludeth custome Then be not offeÌ„ded good sir I pray you if folowing better reason than you haue grace to coÌ„sider more truth thaÌ„ is yet reueled to you we refuse your catholike scisme impietie Be not spitefull to theÌ„ that know more than your self Be not ingrate to God that in these latter dayes to knowleage of hys word hath sent more aboundaÌ„ce of hys holy spirite dwel not vpon your custome Bring truth I wil thanke you Speake reason I wyl credite you NoÌ„ annoruÌ„ canities est laudanda sed moruÌ„ Ambros. in epi. ad Theo. valent Folio 64. b In orat funebri de chitu Theodo Lib. 5. ca. 20 nullus pudor est ad milior a transire Not the aucieÌ„ty of yeres but of maners is coÌ„meÌ„dable no shame it is to passe to better The tale of the superstitious whom you call vertuous lady Helena I shal speake more of in the eyght Article Certain it is the superstitious she was as is proued afterward in the eight Article who would gad on pilgrimage to visit sepulchres c. Likewise CoÌ„stantinus her sonne was not throughly reformed For as Theodorete Theodoretê° Lib. 5 ca. 20. reporteth after he came to Christianity fana non subuertit he ouerthrew not the places of Idol worshippinges Wherfore it is no meruaile if they building Churches should haue some piece of GeÌ„tilitie obserued a Crosse or a Roode loft Yet where mention is made that Helena dyd fynde the Crosse we fynde not at all that she worshipped the Crosse Ambros. de obitu Theodosij but rather the contrary For Ambrose sayth Inuenit titulum regem adorauit noÌ„ lignum vtique quia hic GeÌ„tilis est error vanitas impiorum She founde the title she worshipped the king not the wood pardie for thys is an error of GeÌ„tilite and vanitie of the wycked And where we reade Euse de vita Const lib. 4. that Constantinus the great for hys miraculous apparition and good successe did greatly estéeme the Crosse graued it in hys
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