Against Symbolizing with Antichrist in Ceremonies, Part · Chapter 1 · Section 35
#Sect. 35. Pretence of a ciuill end of the Croſſe excuſes not the Croſſe, vſed in the worſhip of God.
THirdly, though a ciuill end might make ſuch a thing lawfull, yet were this ſigne neuer the neare, becauſe this end is notaCaietan. in Thom. 2.2. qu. 154. art. 4. finis operis, which giueth value to eueryevery action, but finis operantis only to which it pleaſeth the vſer to turne him: which in this queſtion turneth the ſcale neither one way nor tother. The naturall end of the Croſſe is religious as hath bene ſhewed, and the ſame operatiue; and therefore euill. It pleaſeth our Church to vſe it to a ciuill end which is good, this end, is it any thing to the purpoſe, it being accidentall? Timoleon his ſouldiers are much amazed for meeting an aſſe laden withbPolyae…. ſtratagem. lib. 5. ſect. ſtratag. 376 oppium, which was vſed at home in funerals. his bidding them to weare garlands of it, in ſigne of victorie, had it bene any incouragement to them, if this vſe had bene deuiſed by himſelfe diuerſly from the vſe of Iſtmus games, where men ware it that wan the prize? ſo vntill the common vſe of the Croſſe abroad be good, our good vſe (diuerſe from the common vſe) cannot encourage vsus to vſe it. How doth it excuſecAelian. var. hiſtor li. 1. cap. 21. Iſmenias from adoring the king of Perſia, that it is to take vp a ring (let fall) that he ſtoupeth downe before him? For as long as this ſtouping (in common vſe) is the adoring of the king, he is interpreted to hauehave adored him. So our diuerſe end of croſſing, maketh not our caſe diuerſe: It is the common vſe of the Croſſe which hath bene euer, and (yet) is generall, by which our croſſing muſt be iudged. I ſpeake on ſuppoſall. ThedVazq. de adorat li. … diſput. 5. cap. 3. Ieſuites iudgement is good and ſound, common and vſuall kneeling (being in the common eſtimate aeCaietan. in 2.2. qu. 84. art. 1. worſhip diuine) it would not hauehave excuſed Mordecaie if hee dad bowed downe to Haman, though he had kneeled with a ciuill kneeling onelyonly, and that to performe a ciuill obedience to the King. It will bee obiected heere that Naamans bowing in the houſe of Rimmon was lawfull enough, becauſefPet. Martyr in 1. Cor. 10. Nichol. Heming. in epheſ. 5.1 … ciuill. AndgTertul. in lib. de Idololat. Tertullian alloweth a Chriſtian to bee preſent at the ſacrifices of Pagan marriages; ſeruants (alſo) to waite on their maiſters while they are worſhipping of their Idols, becauſe this was a ciuill preſence, and not for religious ende. Wee aunſwere, the caſe is diuerſe from this of the Croſſe. The finis operis, the end of the worke, in the Croſſe is commonly religious and euill. The finis operis, in theſe inſtances is in common eſtimate ciuill and good; performed to the marriage of the bridegroome; not to the ſacrifice in the firſt, not to the Idoll, but to the maiſter in the ſecond. And the ſigne of the Croſſe is an aliene rite, hauing an eſtate moſt inwarde in Idolatrous worſhip, whereas no geſture was allowed, no rite, no ceremonie, that had coincidence with Idolaters, in the inſtances premiſed, as theſe wordes ſhewe:hTertul. de coron. mili. Nullum (puto) circa haec officia periculum obſeruari, de flatu Idololatriae quae interuenit. Cauſae enim conſiderandae ſunt quibus praeſtatur officium. Haec nos homini, non Idolo, officioſos habet. Sum tantum ſpectator ſacrificij: Theſe offices make vsus dutifull to men, not to the Idoll. For I am but onelyonly a beholder of the ſacrifice, &c. When thelIoh. Sleidan. Duke of Saxonie was to beare the ſword before Charles the fift, hee was preſent at the Maſſe; but with proteſtation that he was there, for a ciuill dutie onelyonly: and beſides hee abſtained from all Maſſe geſtures, and was onelyonly alooker on. The like doemIohn Howlet. i… refuſal. reaſ. 9. Papiſtes themſelues preſcribe, notnPet. Martyr in 1. cor. 10. Proteſtantes onelyonly, to wit, that no ciuill preſence ſufficeth for ioyning with heretiques, vnleſſe both naturally the action bee ciuill, and alſo commonly knowne and rated to bee ſuch. Now the Croſſe being not ſuch, nor ſo thought of, it can no more be vſed in Baptiſme, to the ende of ciuill obedience; then Chriſtians might ſet vp boughes, and light tapers at their doores to the honour of their magiſtrate like as other heathen did. For I may anſwere out ofnTertul. li. de Idololat Tertullian, as concerning Croſſe and Surplice: ſeeing theſe, ad Daemonias pertinent, belong to the deuils, among the Papiſts as much as the former boughes, and tapers among the Pagans, our vſe will giuegive credit to the popiſh Idols, as the vſe of thoſe did to the paganiſh: and omnis honor Idoli eſt Idololatria, All honour done to the Idoll is Idolatrie. Caeſar. Baron. Annal. in. an. 200.And the honour and obedience of the magiſtrate was pretended as much in them, as now in theſe. Yet Tertullian would not iuſtifie them, but made this aunſwere. Si hominis cauſa eſt, cogitemus omnem Idololatriam in hominis cauſam eſſe, If it be the cauſe of man, let vsus thinke all Idolatry to be for the cauſe of man. Further yet, we finde ſome things caſheered by our ſelues out of Gods ſeruice which might farre better pretend a ciuill vſe then theſe. Conſider a little the permixtion of the water with the wine in the Lords ſupper. The very finis operis in it from the beginning was meerely ciuill: to wit, to abate the heat of the wine, for which cauſe the auncientes called it a mingledoIren. lib. 5. cap. 1. cup, apIuſtin. Martyr Apolog. 2. dilution, and aqCyprian. lib. 2. epiſt. 3. ad Caecilium. tempering of the wine. A ſtraunge thing we ſhould hold this addition of the water vnlawfull, euen to the ſuffering of ansConcil. Trident. ſeſſ. 22. can. 9. Anathema, out oftDurant. de rit. li. 2. ca. 27. ſect. 4. an opinion that ſuch addition is againſt Chriſtes inſtitution, the ceremonie being ſuch as is thought Chriſt did vſe, ſuch as the Papiſts neuer did ſo much abuſe; ſuch as had a ciuill end and the ſame good, when ſtill to a Croſſe is cryed without ceaſing [great is Diana] a ceremonie not ſo auncient, an abuſed ceremonie to the depth of all iniquitie, onelyonly vponupon a fond pretence of an end ciuill which is not finis operis, the end of the worke, to it, but finis operantis, but the end of the worker onelyonly which neuer excuſeth.