Against Symbolizing with Antichrist in Ceremonies, Part · Chapter 2 · Section 35 [i.e. 34]
#Sect. 35. Foure offices which the Croſſe performeth in Baptiſme.
THe firſt is to conſecrate the water thereof, Sect. 35.to make it effectuall▪ whereof if we be aſhamed, why loth we not the reſt aſwell? ſeeing this office is as auncient as they are. What though it be fathered vponupon Auguſtine byaAmolar. de Eccleſiaſt. offic. lib. 3. cap. 24. ſome? Is Auguſtine no body? but we may fetch it a great deale higher, as theſe wordes of Cyprian ſhewe:bCypri. lib. 1. epiſt. 12. Oportet mundari & ſanctificari aquam prius à ſacerdote vt poſſit Baptiſmo ſuo peccata hominis qui baptizatur abluere. The ſecond is to procure reuerence to BaptiſmecThom. Aquin. p. 3. qu. 66. art. 10. ne putetur eſſe communis ablutio. Which is the office of the ſalt, the taper, and the reſt of popiſh ſignes, which how cut wee of, but with this axe that beheadeth the Croſſe aſwelldD. Whita. contra Dureum. li. 8. pa. 65 8. Non exiſtimandum, &c. We muſt not thinke but that the baptiſme of Chriſt and of the Apoſtles was performed with reuerence inough when theſe ſignes were wanting: neither muſt we take vponupon vsus to be wiſer then they. To procure right reuerence to the Sacrament is to lay open the inſtitution by the preaching of the word, and then to deliuer it in that ſimplicitie in which we hauehave receiued it. To adde ſignes ouer and aboue, is not to honour it but to defile it. In deed had not the Arke bene more honorably intreated, if it had bene ſent home againe as it came into the lande and hand of the Philiſtians. They thought they could not honor it ſufficiently, … Sam. 6.vnleſſe they ſet a budget by it of certaine new deviſed ſignes to waite vponupon it which did defile it. Dauid emptied this budget, & did well. Howbeit, their cart he thinketh cannot well be ſpared, for which the Lord made a breach in Iſraell, … Chron. 13vntill he draue him to confeſſe that he was not ſought in due order, as long as one ceremonie of the Philiſtins did remaine. The Lord ſhew mercy to our Church, otherwiſe he will ſhewe that our emptying of the popiſhe budget in baniſhing the ſalt, the oyle, the ſpittell with the reſt, will not be iudged ſufficient, vnleſſe wee ceaſe alſo with a Croſſe of theirs to cart Baptiſme, which ſhould be borne vp to reuerēce, no other way thē by the ſhoulders of the Levites, I meane the labours of thoſe preachers which now (alas) lie in the duſte, becauſe they will not defile their hands by touching of this Philiſtine-carte, for to vphold it. The third office of the Croſſe which hee performed to Baptiſme, is to driue away the Deull,eThom. Aquin. vt ſupra. Ne inpediat effectum Sacramenti, for which, why is he not himſelfe driuen away, as well as we hauehave ſcattered into the winde the flatus of the exorciſme, ſeeing he isfGoulart. in Cypri. epiſt. 56. not. 31. ſimbolum magica in…antationis as well as it in the eyes of all good writers: The fourth & the laſt office of the Croſſe which it performeth to Baptiſme, is to put vsus ingRic. Hook li. 5. ca. 65. minde of our vowe therein, and that in the inſtant of eueryevery tentation that ſo we may keepe our ſelues from finne. what, and ſerueth the ſigne of the water (then) for the time only of the perfuſion? or muſt wee needes hauehave a ſigne of a ſigne? If ſo, Then how many, and to how many degrees I aske? For if a new ſigne of a Croſſe be needfull to put vsus in minde of the water, then holy water (a new ſigne) is needfull too, both of it and of the Croſſe, why do papiſtes keepe holyhIanſenius. Concor. euangelic. cap. 106. the dedication day of eueryevery Church? Why to the ſame ende, that we vſe the Croſſe, (to witt) to put themſelues in minde of their Bapt. whē they were waſhed & whē they were croſſed to be dedicated an holy Temple to the Lord. But to the holy water againe which was no rather mentioned. There was once a fellow that carried about holy water to put mē in minde of their Baptiſme, & therfore whē he ſprinkled it, he was wont to ſay, memineris te eſſe baptizatum. This man al wiſe menlPet. Martyr. in 2. Reg. ca. 2. laughed at. howbeit, wheras Bellarmine allowed this courſe for good,mBellarm. de cult. ſanct. c. 7. non negarem per aquam benedictam refricari memoriam Baptiſmi & admoneri Chriſtianos vt cogitent ſe aliquando per aquam purgatos fuiſſe & pactum cum Deo contra Diabolum inijſſe. how ſhall we anſwer him, alwhile our ſelues do vſe the Croſſe, a ſigne that is more vnfit to the very ſame purpoſe? More vnfit (ſay ournRic. Hook lib. 5. vt ſupr. Oppoſites) how can that be, ſeing the croſſe is euer ready at hand to ſtay vsus from ſliding euen in the inſtant of the temptation, which other ſignes are not? Excellent. For now at laſt I perceaue it was for ſomewhat thatoAnſelm. apud Auguſt. de tē por. ſerm. 181. Anſelme telleth vsus, Chriſt choſe rather to dye by a Croſſe, then by a ſword or a ſtone, or by any other inſtrument, that we might hauehave alwayes a weapon ready againſt Satan: to wit, the ſigne of the ſame Croſſe: wheras al mē cānot hauehave alwayes ready a ſtone or a ſword againſt him. But what (now) ſhall wee doe with thoſe writers of ours, that beſides the two Sacraments condemne all ſignes though neuer ſo fit in the eyes of carnall wiſdome? when Martiall citeth out of Auguſt. Crucem nobis dominus reliquit in memoriam paſſionis pCalf hil. ag. Mart. fol. 82.Maſter Calfhill replyeth, the word and the Sacraments are memorials ſufficient. We muſt not deviſe ſignes to our ſelues (ſaithqD. Fulke ag Rhem. in Philip. 2. ſect. 2. another) but vſe ſuch as God hath appointed. There were ſome that to moue the people the more, brought pictures with them into the pulpit, whom we hauehave on this ground cenſured. TherCalfh. ag. cont. Mart. arric. 9. word being the ordinance of God ſufficient, all theſe additions of ſignes ſenſible are vaine and ſuperfluous: vponupon the ſame ground it is that we condemne the ſigne of aſhessTho. Morofin. in verb. cinis. vponupon Aſhwendſday, which Gregorie the great brought in not without pretence of great antiquitie, ſeeing it was vſed by men (we knowe) aunciently in their mourning. Laſt of all, in the yeare. 1420. onetAntonin. tit. 22. ca. 7. ſect. 5. Bernardinus à Minorite, carried about the name Ieſus painted in a table, which hee vſed to ſhewe to the people to put them in minde of Chriſt. This Martine the fiſt condemned in his conſiſtorie, not only as ſuperſtitious, but alſo as ſcandalous, giuing occaſion to worſhip the Characters rather then Chriſt, which is iuſte the Croſſes cauſe. I would knowe how we can vſe the Croſſe to put vsus in minde of our vowe in Baptiſme, ſeeing the common Croſſing of the people is forbidden byuAnd. Willet. de crue. art. 3. D. Fulke reioind. art. 5. ſol. 177. writers. They only forbid the ſuperſtitious croſſing (you will ſay,) ſo ſaid Harte Hierome only forbiddeth the ſuperſtitious bearing of the Croſſe in the booſom. ButwIoh. Reynold confer. cap. 8. diniſ. 4. as it was replieth to him [all bearing it, there is ſuperſtitious] ſo is all vſing of it here. This will not our Oppoſites heare of;xRic. Hook vt ſupr. who obiect to the contrary that the auncient Fathers drawe an argument for the ceremonie of the Croſſe, when they exhorted to conſtancie. Firſt, the Fathers make the ſigne of the Croſſe operatiue in this their arguing: Thus Leo: yLeo. epiſt. 81. ad Monach. Paleſtin.Hi non erant digni confeſſione filij & patris, quibus nunc caro Chriſti verecundiam facit, probabuntque ſe nullam de ſigno Crucis ſumpſiſſe virtutem qui quod preferendum frontibus acceperunt, promere labijs erube ſcunt. Thus Cypriā. zCypr. epiſtol. 65.Arme your ſelues (ſaith he) with all boldnes, that this ſigne of God may be kept ſafe. where the former parte of the exhortation being thus, neuer let the hand that hath receaued the body of Chriſt, offer ſacrifice to Idols: he matcheth the Croſſe with the bread of the Supper preferreth it before the water of Baptiſme, in whoſe rome the Croſſe is mentioned. Secondly, when the Fathers drawe an argument of exhortation from the Croſſe, they call vsus not to a newe croſſing at the inſtant of the temptation like Maiſter Hooker; they onelyonly will vsus to call to minde the Croſſe receiued once in Baptiſme. And in this manner they drewe exhortations from other rites, which yet notwithſtanding we hauehave abandoned. Doeth not Dioniſia exhort hir ſoone Maioricus toaVictor. de perſecut. Vandalic. conſtancie, willing him to remember the pure white garmentes which in baptiſme he had receiued? It was vſuall in like maner to exhort by calling to mind the oyle of baptiſme,bTheodor. in cantic. cap. 1. recordare ſancti baptiſmatis myſter ium in quo qui initiantur ſpiritualis vnguenti Chriſmate invncti &c. What then? Muſt we weare white garmentes ſtill, and beare oyle in our booſoms to put vsus in minde of baptiſme? But inough of the third ſinne of this ſigne in regard of his offices whether in the Sacrament or vntounto it.