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The Treatisers maine forces are spent already, in the first part of his answere, All these things that follow are nothing else but, leuis armaturae milites, his light horsmē and florishes, to make the number of his argumentes seeme the greater. Jn this Section he telleth vs of a two∣fold vse of the Crosse mentioned in antiquity, one Ciuill, the other Religious. This we acknowledge to be true. The
vse was held of thē, as a Trophee, & publike Monument, of that great victory which God gaue to Constantine a∣gainst Maxentius. For which cause Constantine, at the first made the signe of the Crosse in his imperiall banner, stamped it vpon his Coines, graued it in his statues, & I∣mages, and in the armor of his Soldiers: And the like hath bin vsed by all Christian Princes ever since. Secondly, as an ornamēt in story, or outward beautifiing of any thing: Thirdly, as an outward marke of distinction frō the hea∣then Jdolaters, wherby in their common meetings, and intercourse of life, they made it knowne, as well to the Jnfidels, as to one another, that they were Christians, & no waies ashamed of the Crosse of Christ.
The religious vse they made of the Crosse, consisted more privatly, in a mutual reference towards thēselues, and was frequented, First in their actions of cōmon life, still to excite their devotion, to admonish them of their duties, and put them in minde of Christ crucified. Mu∣niantur aures, ne audiant edicta feralia. Muniantur oculi ne videant detestanda simulacra. Muniatur frons, vt signū Dei incolume seruetur. Muniaturos, vt dominū suū lingua victrix tucatur: as Cypriā speaketh. ad omnē progressū at{que} promotū, &c. as Tertullian declareth, They vsed to mark their foreheads with the sign of the Crosse, at every mo∣ving, and stirring of their bodies, as they went out, as they came home, as they put on their cloathes, pulled on their shooes, and as they washed; at table, and at can∣dle-lighting, going to bed, and sitting downe, & general∣ly in every particular action of their life. Secondly, they v∣sed the signe of the Crosse, in the Sacramēt of Baptisme, as we doe now, for a present admonition, and memoratiue token, continually to put vs in minde of our duty & pro∣fession,
which in that Sacrament we vndertake. J haue therfore the more particularly mentioned these diffe∣rences, that J may the better expresse this point to the vnderstanding of the Reader.
Concerning therfore the ciuill vse of the Crosse, a∣mong the Auncients, the Treatiser deliuereth vs these oracles.
1 That he will not dispute against the ciuill vse, & yet he tells vs, that now by abuse, it is turned to an Idoll.
2 He yeelds al reuerence to those Christians, which by that note shewed their reioycing, and glory, in that which the Heathen counted their shame: Yet withall he saith, Jt is made execrable.
3 He saith, the Auncients, to shew that they were not ashamed of Christ crucified, expressed therby a most Christian resolution: But withal he addeth, By the filth which it hath since contracted, it is made vnfit on any pretence to be restored to his auncient vse, & to be an∣nexed to the holy things of the Sanctuary.
Touching these his speeches, as we willingly embrace that, wherin he commendeth the Auncients, (which is a thing very rare among that generatiō) so we would al∣so free our selues, that tread only in their steps, and vse it no worse then they did, from those imputations of making it an Idoll, execrable, and a filth, which the Trea∣tiser doth lay vpon vs, if not as Authors, yet at the least as Abettors.
And therfore leauing their religious vse, to his place, because the Treatiser speaketh these things only of the Ciuill vse: J would faine learne, which of those Ciuil vses mentioned before, we haue thus greiuously abused. Jf he say the first vse in Banners, Coines, Statues, Armor &
such like, or the second, in matter of History, or outward ornament, or beautifiing of any thing, himselfe is farre more faulty, then any of vs. For of the former he hath yeelded before, that in Princes Banners, Coronations, Coyne, Crownes, or in any other Ciuill respect, it may haue a lawful vse: yea, though it be apparantly an Idoll. And touching the latter he maketh no question, but that it may be made and retained, though it be of an Image, euen such an Image as is Idolatrously worshipped. Nei∣ther can J possibly see, how we haue made an Idoll, exe∣cration and filth of their thirde ciuill vse, wherby they made it a note of distinction, from the Infidells. For that is the very point, for the which, in this place he so com∣mendeth the Auntients, yeelding al reuerence to those Christians &c. & againe, They haue expressed a most Christiā resolutiō: &c. So that except the Treatiser haue some other Ciuil vses, of the Auntients in store, that we know not of, we cannot be persuaded, that we retaine any Civill vse of theirs as an Idoll, execrable, and a filth, either in the Image, or in the signe.
But yet he proueth it by the example of Gideons E∣phod. For Gideons Ephod, saith hee, being first &c. J take the force of his reason to be this.
That good ciuill vse of any thing that is abused, and continueth to be worshipped both in Imagine, & in sig∣no: is made an Idoll, execrable, and a filth. This he prou∣eth by the example of Gideons Ephod.
But the good ciuill vse of the Crosse among the Aun∣tients, is abused & cōtinueth to be worshipped, both in Imagine et in signo. This he taketh to be proued by the practise of so many Papists, as do superstitiously abuse it among vs. Ergo,
The good ciuill vse of the Crosse among the Aunti∣ents is made an Idoll, execrable, and a filth.
The maior I grant to be true, not simplicitèr, but secū∣dum quid that is, only there, and among them only, that doe abuse the good civill vse, and continue worshipping of it, both in Imagine, and in signo. Jn them, and to them it is indeede an Idoll, execrable, & a filth. But what is that to others, that neither abuse it nor worshippe it? To the cleane, saith the Apostle, all things are cleane, but to them that are defiled, and vnbeleeving, nothing is cleane, but e∣ven their mindes, & consciences are defiled. Shall the sins of one man, thinke you, be laid vpon another? God hath promised no. Anima quae peccaverit ipsa morietur, The soule that sinneth that shall die; The sonne shal not beare the iniquity of the father, nether shal the father bear the iniquity of the sonne. Your perpetuall harping on one string, frō secūdum quid, to simpliciter, maketh that your musicke is nothing pleasant, as J haue tolde you often before.
Touching the proofe of your Maior, by the example of Gideons Ephod, which you say, beeing first a civill mo∣nument of victory, &c. J answere, that it was not only a civill monument, and therefore your cōparing of it with the civill vses of the signe of the Crosse, among the An∣cients, is vnfit.
And that it was not only a civill monument, besides St. Augustines authority, the very name and nature of the E∣phod, which he made, doth plainly teach. For what else is an Ephod, but that most glorious & beautifull vpper gar∣ment, which the high Priest ware in the celebration of divine sacrifices? Potuisset carmen vt Barac & Debora cō∣scribere, vel columnam erigere aut quippiam simile. If hee
intended a civil monument only, why made he choice of an Ephod? Jf besides the civil remembrance of his victo∣ry, he also intended the service of God (as St. Augustine iudgeth) thē was it not only for a civil monument. Now that the service of God, was also in his intention, not on∣ly the name of an Ephod, Quo nomine omnia possunt intelli∣gi, quae constituit Gedeon in sua civitate, velut ad colendū Deum, similia tabernaculo Dei, ea locutione quae significat à parte totum, propter excellentiam vestis Sacerdotalis, By which name all things may be vnderstood that Gedeon e∣rected in his cittie, as to worship God, like the taberna∣cle of God, by that manner of speech called Synecdoche, which by a part doth signifie the whole, for the excellen∣cie of the Priests garment) but the scripture also seemeth to cōvince. For there it is said, That al Jsrael went a who∣ring after it. And that it was the destruction of Gedeon & his house How could it be to his destruction if he meant it not to the service of God?
Gedeons sin then was, not that hee erected a civill mo∣numēt only, as you saie, but Quod extra Dei tabernaculū, fecit aliquid simile, vbi coleretur Deus. But because with∣out the Tabernacle of God hee made some like thinges, where God should be worshipped: which was plainly a∣gainst the will of God, who had appointed his worship, to bee frequented no where, but where the Arke of the Covenant was, which at that time was in Silo.
2. J say that there is no iust comparison betweene Ge∣deons Ephod, and the signe of the Crosse in Baptisme. For the end of Gedeons Ephod was, either for Gods seruice, (& thē it was faulty, as is said before,) & so is not the Crosse with vs: or else (to make the best of it, and to graunt you your owne interpretation) it was, that the memorie of
Gods benefit towards him in his victory, might not be a∣bolished, and then the signe, which hee vsed, was not fit, not agreeable to the matter. For, Deus non mandaverat in lege, vt fieret Ephod in istum vsum, sed tantum vt sa∣cerdotes cum sacrificaturi essent, illud induerent: Signo igi∣tur minus dextero & opportuno vsus est. God did not cō∣mande in the law, that an Ephod should bee made to this vse, but only that the Priests should weare it, when they were sacrificing; wherefore hee vsed a signe not so com∣modious, nor so fit. But our signe of the Crosse in Bap∣tisme, is most fit, and natural, and agreeable to the actiō, to signifie the end, which we intende thereby, which is not so much to imprint a memorie of Gods benefite to∣wards vs, as to remember & admonish our selues of that dutie, which in Baptisme wee promised vnto God.
3. To your questiō. VVas it lawful for the Magistrate, &c. I may as wel aske you. Was it not lawful for the Ma∣gistrate so to doe? Or if that Ephod were vnlawful, was no Ephod to be vsed in Gods service afterwards?
4. As touching, that you say; The signe of the Crosse in Baptisme, among the Ancients was meerely civil, I an∣swere, that you haue heard before, that it was some waie religious, though they reposed no religion in it. For those vses that they made of it, To be a signe of their professiō of Christian religion, To bee a token that they were not ashamed of the Crosse of Christ. To be a testimony evē before Jdolaters; That they put their hope & cōfidence in Christ crucified: are rather to be counted religious, in my vnderstanding, then only and meerely civil, as you cō∣ceiue of them.
Your minor proposition offendeth in the same capti∣on that your maior doth. For say that the good civil vse of
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the Crosse is abused & worshipped by the Papists, what is that to vs? Indifferentia non possunt illos, qui pura since∣ra{que} agunt mente, & conscientia, contaminare, why I pray you may not we vse that well, which they vsed ill? As wel as an Orthodox writer may vse the same Logick & Rhe∣toricke, to proue the truth, which Heretickes doe to op∣pugne the truth? Or an honest Souldier vse those weapōs in defence of his coūtry, which Rebels and Traytors vse for the destruction and desolation thereof, as was before alleadged out of St. Augustine. Your proofe holdeth wel for the materiall signe, and for the superstitious conceipt of the Crosse in Baptisme, but that they adored them as an Idoll, remaineth yet to be proved.
Cōcerning the religious vse of the signe of the Crosse in Baptisme, he saith two things.
First that among the Ancients, it was never free frō sin, and superstition: Secondly if it were, yet being a hu∣mane ordinance, and abused, & made a most abhomina∣ble Idoll, no water can clense it &c.
Touching the first, which of their religious vses doe you meane? Jf that which they holde in their actions of common life; we neither commend it, nor condemne it; we condemne it not, because we suppose it may be well vsed, when it is done, only to excite, and put vs in minde of Christ crucified, without any conceite of vertue or meritt, or power therin reposed, as we verily thinke the Auncients vsed it; Qui mane surgens & vesperi cubitam vadens, signat se cruce, in signum Christianae militiae, con∣tra Satanam, nō est culpandus, modo absit superstitio. We commend it not, because we knowe how apt the com∣mon people are, to be led away with that misconceipt, that so long hath clouen vnto it: And yet we cā no waies
allow of yours, nor of your Patriarch T. C. iudgment, wherwith be censureth it. That the Lord hath left a mark of his curse vpon it, wherby it might be perceiued to come out of the forge of mans braine &c. This censure of his is too perēptory, & offendeth not only against the rule of Charity, that bids vs thinke the best of them, whom we knowe not, especially of the Auntients; but of Iustice also: In that he laieth the fault, of superstitious succee∣ding ages, vppon the religious and godly Fathers, that were before them. For why might not that be without abuse at the first, which we are certaine, was greatly a∣bused afterwards, aswel as the sepulchers of Martirs, & reliques of Saints, and the Images of Christ, and his A∣postles, al which had a good vse at the first, and yet af∣terwards where occasions of hainous Idolatry and su∣perstition.
Yf you meane their religious vse of the signe of the Crosse in the Sacrament of Baptism, we vtterly disclaime your sentence, and doubt not but that it was free from sinn, and superstition, both in the Auntients, and in our Church. And to this your rash and inconsiderate con∣demning of the Auntient Fathers, and by them vs, we oppose the more temperate and indifferent opinions, of your owne freinds; who by how much they were more learned then your selfe, so much the more modest, and respectiue they were of Antiquity, then are you. And because you shal not thinke, that J wil peruert or falsifie their meanings by my interpretation, J wil set downe their speaches in their owne words, as J find them in their writings.
Mr Beza doth both grant, by way of Cōcession, that there might be a good vse of it in the Primitiue Church
Fuerit sanè tempus, quo fuit aliquis istius signaculi, aduer∣sus Christi crucifixi contemptores vsus: sit etiam diu et libentèr a Christianis vsurpatus, pro externa verae religi∣onis professione, & also in expresse words affirme, Crucis consignationem, cōstat initio fuisse apertam Christianis∣mi professionem.
Hemingius deliuering certaine obseruations & con∣ditions, how the signe of the Crosse may in these daies be wel vsed in the Church, concludeth with this testi∣mony of Antiquity. His rationibus existimo vsos esse signo crucis Augustinum, Epiphanium, Athanasium, qui multū signaculo crucis tribuerunt, propter significationē et admonitionem.
Bucers testimony to this purpose is most famous, that it was, vsus in Ecclesia antiquissimi, admodum simplex, et praesentis admonitionis crucis Christi.
Pezelius speaketh more plainly in their commenda∣tion, Antiqui hoc signo profitebantur, quòd Christiani es∣sent quód crucis Christi eos non puderet, quód in Christo spem, et fiduciam omnem collocatam haberent.
Daneus yet goeth further, and saith Finis propter quē Patres laudes istas signo crucis Christi tribuunt, sanctus et pius est: Patres enim illas laudes scribunt de signo cru∣cis quatenus est, et erat confessionis Christianorum intre∣pidae de Christo testimonium, liberum, apertum, mani∣festum, licet illis propterea minarentur Ethnici panas grauissimas. Erat igitur huius signi inter Ethnicos vsur∣patio, confessio de Christo crucifixo pulcherrima. &c.
Mr. Perkins not only excuseth it from superstition in the Ancients, but also declareth, as Daneus did, wherin it was iustly commended by the fathers. His wordes are these. Crux non fuit à veteribus adorata, multò minus la∣triâ
adorata: veneratio tantùm ei tributa fuit, id est v∣sus cum reuerentia, eam{que} vsurparunt in testimonium fidei suae, simul{que} laudant quatenus fuit signum intrepidae fidei in Christum crucifixum ante ethnicos, etiam dum illi paenas minarentur.
Zanchius speaking of the vse of this signe in Constan∣tines time, freeth al the former ages from superstition, Huc vs{que} nihil superstitionis habebat signum illud.
Lastly Goulartius speaketh more plainly in this point, then any other, Quamuis veteres Christiani (saith he) externo signo crucis vsi sunt, idtamen fuit sine aliqua su∣perstitione; et doctrina de Christi merito, ab errore, qui postea irrepsit, pios seruavit immunes. And in another place. Tertulliani saeculo, et aliquot sequentibus, Christi∣anicum Ethnicis Christum crucifixum deridentibus per∣mixti, vt doctrinae salutaris, quae in Christū nos credere iubet, se minime pudere testaerentur, digitis in aere forma∣bant figuram transuersam quasi crucis, quae Cerimonia tunc erat Christianismi, non superstitionis Magicae, (vt postea accidit,) symbolum.
That it might once haue had good vse, and was a pro∣fession of Christianity, as Mr. Beza speaketh, Or that St. Augustine, and other Auntients vsed it with such due regard, as therto belonged, as Hemingius thinketh, Or that it was a most auntient vse in the Church, very sim∣ple, and of present admonition of the Crosse of Christ, as Bucer testifieth: to my vnderstanding doth plainly des∣cribe, a most Christian and religious vse of it, among the Auntients, and vtterly discouer your slaunderous ac∣cusation.
But those other that tel you particularly, wherin it was wel vsed, as Pezel. M. Perk. & by a proposition most ma∣nifestly
contradictory vnto yours, say, it had a most holy and godly end, as Daneus, and that it was without any su∣perstition in the Auntients, as Goulartius, & Zanchius doe, They J say plainly free it from sinn and superstitiō, and with a contrary testimony in flatt termes, conuince the insolency, and audaciousnes of your false asseue∣ration.
Touching the second. if it were: yet being an humane ordinance &c. your two reasons, because it is an humane ordinance abused, and because it is now also become an I∣doll, are answered before. And it hath oftentimes bin said that those pollutions how abhominable soeuer, doe extend them selues no farther, then to the Persons that are polluted with them: Jndifferent things cannot de∣file them, that vse them with a sincere minde, and pure conscience, how soeuer they be abused by others:
And therfore you might wel haue spared your huge words, Execrable, abhominable Idoll, filth, no water cā clense it, nor any pretext purifie it, &c. except you had brought other arguments then these, the weaknes wher of doth most manifestly appeare. Al the bigg words, that you can bring, wil not make the vncleannes, you speake of, defi••e the Innocent, nor the pollution, and abhomi∣nation of Popish Idolatry, cleaue vnto the true Protestāt, that with a good conscience, vseth the Ceremony, and with hart and soule, abhorreth the superstition. And thus much to the second part of your answere. Your third followeth now to be considered.
Cyp. ep. ad Thi∣••ar. cap. 8.
Tertull de coron mil. cap. 3.
Sect. 2.
Tit. 1.15.
Ezech. 18.20.
Aug. quaest. in Iudic. quaest. 41
P. Mart. in hunc locum.
Gedeon illud E¦phod Pōtificale & pretiolum confecit. Pet. Mart.
Iudg. 8.27.
August.
Pet. Mart. in hunc locum.
Pet. Mart. ep. 4. ad Hopperum.
Aug cont. Cres∣con. Gramma. lib 1. cap. 1.
Hem. in cap. 5. ep. 1. Joan.
Sect. 13. T. C. lib. 1. pag. 170.
P. Martyr in cap. 7. Judic. Beza de notis Eccles. Cathol.
Beza respons ad Franc. Baldwin.
Beza de Eccle. catho. notis.
Heming. in ep. 1. Joan. cap. 5.
Bucer in ordin. Eccles. cap. 12.
Pezel. in Refut ••••••ech. Iesuit.
Daneus respon. ad Bellar. cont. 7. ad cap. 29.
Perkinsus in Demonst. prob. cap. de signo ••••••••is ••um. 2.
Zanch. de oper. Redem. l. 1. c. 15.
Goulart. in Cyp. ad Demet. cap. 19.
Idem in Cypr. Ep. 56. ad Thi∣baritanos, ca. 7.