Against Symbolizing with Antichrist in Ceremonies, Part · Chapter 1 · Section 32
#Sect. 32. Reaſons why the aereall Croſſe ought rather to bee aboliſht then the materiall.
THirdly, we replie that of the two, the Croſſe aereall hath more need to bee aboliſht then the materiall. For, Rom. 1.20…firſt in the ſeeming of our Oppoſites it is a thing of leſſe account, and we know the baſer the Idoll is, the worſe is the Idolatry. As Aegypt that adored a worme, is worſe then the Greeke that choſe a man: or Perſia which choſe the ſunne and the ſtarres to worſhip them. No matter (ſaid Hierome before) whither the harlot be rich or poore, faire or foule. True vnleſſe to this effect. The fowler the harlot and the baſer, and the more lothſome is the luſt of the bodily adulterer: euen ſo the baſer the Croſſe aereall, the more execrable is popiſh Idolatry committed to it.aOuid. in Phoedra. Ezech. 16.44. Peius adulterio turpis adulter obeſt. Secondly, It may be ſaid here, as is the mother, ſo is the daughter. Prouided that the Croſſe aereall be acknowledged the mother of the materiall. For, was it not the ſigne of the forehead that begat all the other Croſſes that were materiall in the eyes of all thebTheodor. Beza. in epiſt. writers?cGuilihel. Perk. probl. tit. ſig. crue. Heb. 7.7. Aroſe not the materiall Croſſe ſome yeeres after the aereall ſigne, which at the firſt was a Croſſe ſimply. Afterward it grew to be a crucifixe, and all out of that reuerence which the Croſſe of the forehead had amongſt the Fathers? Thirdly, there is no doubt but the leſſe is bleſſed of the greater. Greater therefore is the aereall ſigne of the Croſſe which bleſſeth and ſanctifieth adConcil. Trident. ſeſſ. 21. c. 7 Durant. de rit. li. 2. ca. 45. ſect. 7. Caeſar. Baron. Annal. an. 1 12. temple it ſelfe, & all things in it, and ſo (as I take it) the veryeVid. Pontificall Roman. & Hoſpinian. de re templot. lib. 4. cap. 4. materiall Croſſe and all. And ſeeing conſecration and holineſſe is the fountaine and the wombe of all ſuperſtition, this Croſſe muſt needes be the more fertill thereof, the more in eſtimate of holineſſe it euer hath borne away the bell, wherwith the people bleſſe themſelues, whence expect they to be ſanctified before God? to be helped againſt the deuil? What is their Orcigalea? What their Delphicus gladius to ſpeake in the commonfLindan. panopl. lib. cap. phraſe they vſe? which isgBriſſon. de ſpectacul. p. 151. their foreign, their foreign, their foreign Whereby is wrought their obſignation, their conſignation, which giueth thehIbid p. 201. 202. 203, ibid. holy Ghoſt himſelfe? which is theirlIbid. p. 201 ſignum vivificum, their ſignum ſalutare, their vexillum, their vexillum triumphale, is it not the Croſſe myſticall? Shall we tread the ſigne of that vnderunder our feete (ſaithmPaul. Diacon. …er. Roman. lib. 18. Gregor. Turonenſ. hiſtor. Franc. lib. 5 cap. 19. Tiberius the Emperour) wherewith we vſe to bleſſe our foreheads? Here the materiall Croſſe is but a token of the aereall which is the foreign of the ſame. If the ſigne of the Croſſe in aere fluido bee of ſuch power (ſath thenCenſur. Colon. in Catechiſ. Monhem. dialog 3. Vniuerſitie of Collen) then why not the Croſſe materiall too? Here the materiall waiteth on the aereall for credit and for countenance from it. There is aoCarol. Sigon. de Regno. Ital lib. 15 table in Germinians Church at Mutina of Lucius the Pope, bleſſing the citie with the ſigne of the Croſſe, at his departure in theſe wordes: Benedicta ſit terra quam incolitis; & benedicti vos & poſteri veſtri in perpetuum. Here the materiall is a monument of the myſticall. There is apMiſſale in offic. peregrin. rule that no man make a materiall Croſſe in any part of his bodie: and they that in BaptiſmeqConrad. Lutzenburg. in verb. Ioſim. burne Croſſes materiall in the foreheads of their children, are enrouled among the heretiques. Here the materiall Croſſe is condemned, when the aereall ſanctifieth, conſecrateth, and maketh holy vntounto God. But the materiall is more groſſe, more ſenſible, and it inticeth more with ſome perhaps. But there is reaſon with ſome to the contrary, what the aereall Croſſe in popiſh eſtimation? The more vncapable a thing is of worſhip in it ſelfe,rVazq. de adorat. lib. …. diſput. …. cap. 1. (ſaith the Papiſt) the more capable of [latria] and the more fit to be coadored with Chriſt. What the aereall Croſſe in popiſh apprehenſion? We adore not any Croſſe for the matter (ſaith thesDamaſcen. de ſid. lib. 4. cap. 12. Alphonſ. de caſtro. in verb. adorat. Martial. in reply. art. 10. Papiſt) but for the forme: ſo that the leſſe materiall, and the more formall: ſo much the quicker is the paſſagetThom. Aquin. p. 3. qu. 25. art. Pro. 30.20. ab imagine ad rem ſignificatam: in which motion of the minde all the worſhipping doth conſiſt. Laſt of all, what the aereall Croſſe in popiſh vſe? Is it not more common to vſe? is it not more ready to be vſed at all aſſayes? and doth it not ſerue all times and turnes, better then the Croſſe materiall? Hath it not (alſo) more excuſes attending on it, to colour hypocriſie, whereby this ſpirituall adultreſſe, may (like the bodily) wipe her mouth, and ſay, I hauehave not ſinned.