Against Symbolizing with Antichrist in Ceremonies, Part · Chapter 2 · Section 28 [i.e. 27]
#Sect. 28. And though it were lawfull there to ordaine new ſignes where God hath already ordained, yet is it not lawfull to annex them to the holy ſignes of God, as with vsus the Croſſe is.
THirdly, though it were lawfull to deuiſe new ſymbolicall ſignes, where the Lord hath ordained ſome already, yet is it not lawfull to annex them to the holy ſignes of God, as we ſee the Croſſe adioined to the water in Baptiſme in the very ſame ſolemnitie.aIoh. Caluin. inſtitut lib. 4. ca. 10. ſect. 20. Maiſter Caluin calleth the holy water a meere profanation and repetition of Baptiſme, and yet it is vſed out of Baptiſme. What (then) is the Croſſe vſed in Baptiſme to ſignifie the ſame that Baptiſme doth? Is not Baptiſme the ſeale of the heauenly king? and can any new print be added to the ſeale of a King, without high treaſon?bRolloc. ibid. ex etymo. grec. What that this heauenly King of ours deliuereth his people to bee marked with no other forme or print ſaue that which is framed in his worde and in his owne Sacramentes, Rom. 2.21. and 6.17. It will bee replied, there may be many fit ſignes of one and of the ſame thing. To which the ſchole men anſwere, Idem cTho. Aquin p. 3. qu 60 art. 5. ad. 1.poteſt per diuerſa ſigna ſignificari, determinare tamen quo ſigno ſit vtendum ad ſignificandum pertinet ad ſolum ſignificantem. There is Typus factus, and there is typus deſtinatus. A man may vſe the former to his priuate vſe, but none the latter in vſe publique and religious, God hauing here ſole authoritie to ordaine the ſignes of his covenant. For exāple I giuegive inſtance in that ſigne which ſome of our Oppoſites obiect vntounto vsus was lawfully vſed by ſome of the Fathers. The word foreign which ſignifyeth a fiſhe, is at large foreign as it is vſed in the Acroſtich of Sibilla. What ifdTertul. Tertullian or Ambroſe, oreBriſſon. de ſpectat. pag 115. Rupertus vſe the embleme of a fiſhe to put them ſelues in minde of Chriſt and of their duty towardes him, whoſe fiſhes they are made by the water of Baptiſme. ForfAmbroſ. de Sacram. lib. 3. ca. 1. Ambroſe may well inferre, As the water of the creation begate fiſhes to life, ſo the water of regeneration begate thee to grace. Fſto igitur tu piſcis quem ſaculi vnda non mergat: when yet he may not make a Typus determinatus of it in vſe religious, and therevpon painte a fiſhe vponupon the forehead of a childe at the time of his baptizing. Doe we not crie out vponupon the DouegDurant. de rit lib 1. ca. 19. ſect. 7. let downe of olde vponupon the baptized (one of which I ſaw at Wickham not aboliſht ſome 25. yeeres paſt) for a ſigne of regeneration by the ſpirit? Nay, whereashDamaſ in vit. Silueſt. ſome ſay, Conſtantine ſet a lambe in the Baptiſterie of Lateran, to ſigniſie our ſinnes are waſht away in the Sacrament of Baptiſme by the bloud of Ieſus Chriſt, we cannotlHoſpin. de re templar. lib. 2. ca. 4. ſauour it. and yet this lambe neuer had any ſuch ſtate religious in the Sacrament as the ſigne of the Croſſe hath now. Sure a ſigne in ſuch manner determined with ſtate in Baptiſme, we can eaſily proue to hauehave ben abhorred throughout all ages, howſoeuer in the perticular of the Croſſe, the Oyle, and ſome other ſignes, God permitted the auncient Fathers to fayle in heart, to bring in (through their ouerſight againſt their owne generall doctrine) that Apoſtacie from the faith which he foretold. For proſe hereof, I begin with the Agapae of the auncient Chriſtians annexed to the ſupper; and ſo much the more willingly I begin with them, becauſe our Oppoſites prooue by them the lawfulnes of our adding of the Croſſe. Firſt the Agapae were farre more tollerable then the Croſſe, they followed after the whole adminiſtration and the prayers thereof, they had no ſtate among the actions of the Supper; they were in corporable into the bread and wine to make one banquet with them. Secondly, If we may adde the ſigne of the Croſſe to Baptiſme by the patterne of theſe feaſts, then may we adde roaſtmeat or ſodd meat to the Supper of the Lorde, after the manner of themConcil. Conſtantinopl. 6. in Trullo. Can. 99. Armenians, who added ſodmeate to the bread and wine of the Lords Supper. The Councill abhorreth this addition, condemneth it, counteth it execrable. And where as ſome feaſtes with the veſſels of the Supper, the Councill of Bracara thus exclaimeth:nConcil. Bracarenſ. 3. can. 2. Hoc malum & obſtupenies deflemus, & deflentes obſtupeſcimus vt illic humana temeritas ſibi epulum praeparet vbi ſanctum ſpiritum cognoſcitur aduocaſſe et ibi eſum Carnium crapulatus aſſumat vbi diuina viſus eſt celebraſſe myſteria. By this we perceiue how odious an additiō of meat would be to the Sacrament of the Supper, and (me thinkes) our addition is worſe. For the Agapae are more auncient then the Croſſe, and they followe after the bread and wine with greater diſtance then the Croſſe doth after the water; & are more homogene to the bread and to the wine then he is to the water. Thirdly, If our Oppoſites wil match the Croſſe and theſe feaſtes together, then muſt he packe out of the Church. For theoCarol Bouius in Schol. ad Clement. li. 2. ca. 32. papiſt himſelfe will confeſſe that the Apoſtle miſliked theſe feaſtes, and quitepDurant. de rit. li. 1. ca. 26. ſect. 8. aboliſhed them. Knowne it is that diuerſeqConcil. Laodi. en. can. 28 Trullan. can. 74. Councils did forbid them in the Church, and the CanonrDecret. p. 1 diſtinct. 42 cap. 3.4. Lawe ſtill keepeth them out, when Paulinus could not baniſhe them out of ſaint Faelix Church at Nola, he mourneth thus:sPaulin. Nolan. Natal. 9.
Verum vtinam ſuis agerent haec gaudia votis
Nec ſua liminibus miſcerent pocula ſanctis.
Which is a preſident to our Gouernours to grieue at the Croſſe in Baptiſme, as long as they ſee it there.