Against Symbolizing with Antichrist in Ceremonies, Part · Chapter 2 · Section 24 [i.e.23]
#Sect. 24. The Oppoſites obiection ſaying the Croſſe in Baptiſme is inferior to the water, becauſe it comes after, confuted.
NOt ſo (ſay ſome) we cauſe the Croſſe to come after the water, which is acknowledgment ſufficient of inferioritie, and a ſenſible badge of ſubiection to it. Firſt, this ill beſeemeth our mouthes, who cannot indure the Papiſt when he maketh the ſame excuſe. The Croſſe (ſaithaDurant. de rit. lib. 2. cap. 33. ſect. 6. he) which commeth after the conſecration in the Lords Supper belongeth not to it. We oppoſe againſt him, the conſecration doth reach to the whole adminiſtration of the Sacrament, within which adminiſtration, whatſoeuer ſigne is adminiſtred, it cannot but (at leaſt) in ſhew pertaine vntounto it.bDecret. p. 3. do conſecrat. diſtinct. 4. cap. 76. Ipſa reſponſio ad celebrationem pertinet Sacramenti, thereſore it is part of the Sacrament, ſaith the Canon. So all while the Croſſe is within the [celebration] of Baptiſme, it is [morally] a part thereof. For enſample, The feaſt came after the worſhipping of the calfe, and after the ſubſtance of Idolatry. Yet becauſe it appertained to the ſolemnitie, thecGnate. Archetyp. in 1. Cor. 10. Apoſtle not only counteth it a part of the Idols ſeruice, but alſo ſuch a principall part as includeth all the reſt that went before. The Agapae camedAndre. Hipper in 1. Cor. 11 after the ſubſtance of the Lords ſupper, yet becauſe they appertained to the ſolemniye, the Apoſtle alleadgeth the inſtitution againſt them, which holdeth onelyonly againſt ſuch rites of a Sacrament as be added partes thereof. The wearing of the white garment it ſelfe, vſus que eBeat Rhenan in Tertul de coron. milit.ad dominicam de albis: & abſtinence from waſhing all the weeke long, were euer reputed to belong to Baptiſme, as well as any other rite, becauſe it hanged in the extreames of Baptiſmes ſolemnitie. We accuſe the Papiſtes for making Oyle a part of Baptiſme, yet doth it follow after the water, as farre of as the Croſſe: yea after the firſt croſſing. Finally the worſt additions in the world may bee excuſed by this ſhift. The worſt addition infBellar. de pontifi. li 4. ca. 17. Bellarmines iudgement, is additio ad opus praeceptum, as if one houſhold ſhould hauehave eaten two lambs in the ſacrament of the Paſſeouer in ſtead of one. Whereas by this diuinitie of ours, there is a tricke to eate two Lambes within the ſolemnitie of this Sacrament, and yet be guiltleſſe: to wit, by eating one after another. The worſt addition which we meete withall in the Fathers, is the bread and cheeſe of thegEpiphan. haereſ. 49. Artotyritae in the Lords Supper, which by this Theologie is lawfull ynough: prouided that the bread and cheeſe be eaten after the ſupper bread, and receiuing of the wine. Secondly, this excuſe holdeth by that ſeparation, which it maketh betweene the water and the Croſſe: Whereas (indeed) there is nothing that marreth this whole oyntment like this one flye (I would ſay plea) of ſeparatiō. What maketh the fitches, tylles, tares with the like, which are mingled with the wheate, that they make no addition to the bread of the Supper? becauſe there is no ſeparation but id hTho. Aquin. p. 3. q. 74. art. 3 ad 3.quod eſt modicum aſſumitur à plurimo. And what is the cauſe that the auncient mingling of the water with the wine was tollerable? becauſe the water became one with the wine without ſeperation, and was no ſigne of a diuerſelIbid. & Durant. de rit. lib. 2. cap. 27. ſpecies from it? as one deſcribeth,mIulius Pap. in epiſt. decretal. ad Epiſcop. Aegypt. Qua copulatio aquae & vini ſic miſcetur in calice domini, vt mixtio illa non poſs it ſeperari. Let me heare (then) what ſaith this excuſe? I hauehave ſeperated the Croſſe from the water? If thou haſt made a ſeperation, thou haſt made a faire hand: this very ſeperation maketh the Croſſe to be a ſigne of a diuerſe ſpecies, and ſo by conſequent to be an addition that is vnlawfull. And the manner of this ſeparation (boaſted of) maketh the after place of the Croſſe yet worſe. For, there being a word ſeueralled to it, ſuch (for ſhew) as the water hath, occaſion is giuen to the ſimple to imagine, that the water and Croſſe in Baptiſme are of the ſame ſequence and conſequence too, that the bread and wine are in the Lords Supper. Indeed what hindereth? For what though the Croſſe and the water be diuerſe in matter? So are the bread and the wine in the Supper. They make one refection in Chriſt, and ſo grow to benAquin. p. 3 qu 73. art. 2. ad 2. formally one, theſe may grow to be one likewiſe, becauſe they make formerly one, inueſting into the Church. And doth not the Croſſe touch the water as neare as the wine doth touch the bread? The poſtation of the wine doth not preiudice it, therefore the poſtponing of the Croſſe doth not preiudice it neither. A ſeperation of ſo ſmall diſtance waggeth no corne, it caſteth the Croſſe behinde the water, but not below it. Neuer thought the auncient Chriſtians there was a ſufficient ſeperation betweene them and the Iewes, till the ſolemnities themſelues did differ onoConcil. Laodicen. cap. 29. Irenaeus li. 1 ca. 26. Epiphan. haereſ. 30. diuerſe dayes. So that, as long as the Croſſe and the water, our Croſſe and the popiſh, are ſeene in the ſame ſolemnitie of Baptiſme, the ſeperation is inſufficient. Thirdly, ſo farre is it that the Croſſe commeth after Baptiſme, thereby to be made morally at the leaſt no part thereof, that it hath in fight the chiefeſt roume and ſeat of credit, which the adminiſtration of this Sacrament can afford. It maketh much for the Croſſes credit that he receiueth into the Church, although it be out of the Sacrament, as thepTorrenſ. coufeſſi… Auguſt. lib. 4. ca. 9… tit. 4. citing of theſe wordes beare witnes,qAuguſt. in expoſit. Symbol. ad Catechum Nondum quidem adhuc per ſacrum baptiſmum renati eſtis, ſed per crucis ſignum in viero ſanctae matris Eccleſiae iam concepti eſtis. What credit (then) is there done him, being ſet in Baptiſme, where we receiue into the Church, and dedicate to Chriſt which is the whole office of Baptiſme it ſelfe, & the whole benefit that we reape by it. And can the oyle and the lights be of little credit though they follow after the water, when they are vſed to helpe to receiue into the Church?rGregor. Turonenſ. hiſtor. li. 5. cap. 11. Pontifex (ſaith the ſtory) prae gaudio lachrimans cunctos aqua abluens, chriſmate liniens in ſinum matris Eccleſiae congregauit flagrabant Carei, lampades refulgebant. Again, The Ring cannot hauehave a more honourable place in Marriage, then where the wiſedome of man hath ſeated it, in regard of marriage ſolemnitie, it is vſed when the coniunction is in making, in regard of the partie married, it is ſet on the fourth finger of the left hand, thesDurant. de rit. li. 2. ca. 9. ſect. 37. nerue whereof runneth ſtrait to the heart. But the very ſame place hath the Croſſe in Baptiſme, while we and Chriſt are conioyned together by our receluing into the Church, we vſe it, & we imprint it on the forehead,tTho. Aquin. p. 3. qu. 72. art. 9. ad quēſpirit us direclè à corde aſcendunt. Moreouer, why ſhould a ſubſequence after the water make a rite ſeeme the leſſe, and a precedencie before the water not make it ſeeme greater, which yet it did neuer?uAuguſt. de verb. Apoſtol. ſerm. 8 Non ijs ſufficit quod inuncti ſunt, feſtinent ad Lauacrum ſi lumen inquirunt (ſaith Augustine.) Whereof two ceremonies alluded to the one going before the water (to wit the Oyle) and the other comming after (to wit the light) this (we ſee) which commeth after, is preferred. So that from the ceremonies before the water men alwayes paſſe to them that came after, as in a progreſſion from the imperfect to thoſe that be perfecter. There was anwTho. Aquin. ad. 4. ſentent. diſtinct. 6. Oyle before the water in old time, and one after the water: and which of them was held the better? Sure not the oyle that went before the water which wasxDurant. de rit. lib. 2 cap. 20. ſect. 3. Oleum ſimplex, ſeruing for the ſhoulders, breſt and forehead, but that which came after, which was Oleum principale confectum (ſcilicet) ex Oleo & Balſamo, and which annoynted in Vertice, which is the higheſt part of all. Once more, When men would hauehave the water in the Supper to be no ſigne by it ſelf, nor an addition to that Sacrament, they mingled it with the wineyDurant. de rit. li. 2. ca. 38. ſect. 3. before it was conſecrate and not after: ſo that the place which may giuegive ſeeming the Croſſe is no part of Baptiſme, is to vſe it before the water rather then after, which is the place of greateſt ambition ſeruing to perfect, ſeeming to conſummate all the reſt that went before, as experience it ſelfe hath tryed, and that in the greateſt men. Thus Cyprian zCyprian. epiſt. 73. ad Iubaianbaptizati ſigno dominico conſummantur, Thus Ambroſe, aAmbroſ. de Sacra. lib. 3. ca. 2.ſupereſt ſignaculum vt perfectio fiat. ThusbEuſeb. hiſt. lib. 6. cap. 35. Caſ. Baron Annal. in an. 254. Cornelius, becauſe Nouatus was not ſigned, therefore he had not all his chriſtendome. Thus the cuſtome of the whole Church, thecDurant. de rit. li. 1. ca. 20. ſect. 8. obſignation is the foreign the foreign euen the vpſhot of all the reſt. ThedCenſur. oriental. cap. 3. Greeke Church ſaith of the after complements of Baptiſme: to wit, the Oyle of confirming, and of the bread of the Supper which they put into the mouth of the Infant that is Baptized, hic eſt finis omnis myſterij. It hath a long time bene held by the Latine Church that the rites of Baptiſme which came after the water, did make a Chriſtian, and giuegive Chriſtendome, which none could hauehave (it was thought) without them. Illa eDioniſ. eccleſ. Hierarch.perficiens vnctio facit perfectum, quippe diuinae regenerationis perfectio. fTho. Aquin. p. 3 q. 66. art. 10. Durant …. ſupra.Qui confirmatus non est, non eſt perfectus Chriſtianus, nec ſidem habei inter perfectos. A place cited out of Clemens, to which there acordeth another brought out of Rabbanus: Omnes fideles per manus impoſitionem Epiſcoporum, accipere debent ſpiritum ſanctum, vt pleni Chriſtiani inueniantur. Euermore then hath the laſt place of the folemnitie of this Sacrament bene a ſtage where thoſe ceremonies hauehave ſhewed themſelues that would be eſteemed the perfecters and finiſhers of our Chriſtendome. The water we ſee is powred on, and here is not finis Myſterij. Neither is a man made hereby a Chriſtian, no he ſhall not be called a Chriſtian by any nor ſuffered to ſit among Chriſtians vntill he partake of the after rites of Baptiſme, and by name the Oylie-Croſſe. It may be ſome wil thinke I will apply the former teſtimonies to the after rites of Baptiſme which ſeeme to belong to the Sacrament of confirmation. But let them not deceue themſelues. There was at the firſt no confirmation out of Baptiſme, but it was within the ſolemnitie of Baptiſme, that the child receaued the water, the bread of the Supper & the oyle of confirmation;gSimon. Goulart. in Cypri. de vncti. Chriſmat. Carol Bonius ſchol. in Clemen. Staniſla. Socolouins in Cenſur. Oriental. eccleſ. ca. 3. Perk. problem. chriſ. art. 7. as all evidences and writings ſhew. HaueHave wee not done (then) a great deed, and with admirable wiſdome preuented occaſion of a neceſſary eſtimation in the Croſſe? To wit we hauehave ſet him at the latter hand of the water, as Peter is ſet at the lefte hand of PaulehAct. & Monu. fol. 241. in the Popes Bull, I ende with the title of the Canon, which doth it ſay: of the ſigne of the Croſſe after Baptiſme? No, but it goeth thus: of the ſigne of the Croſſe in Baptiſme.