Against Symbolizing with Antichrist in Ceremonies, Part · Chapter 3 · Section 2
#Sect. 2. That the vſing of the Croſſe is but an idle apiſhe roye, and lighter then the Surplice, which is alſo too light.
SEcondly, There is a vanitie of lightnes in it which maketh it worthy to bee cut of (as Balthaſar was) when in the ballance he was founde to light. For eueryevery idle ceremonie muſt away from the ſeruice of God (aMuſcul. loc. de trad. cap. 5. ſay ſome) euenbIo. Huſſe. in Con…l. Conſta. ſoſs. 12. pag. 834. omnis ritus leuis & infundabilis ex ſcriptura. and eueryevery ceremonie which hath eithercChemnit. in exam. p. 2. pag 39. otioſum ſpectaculum, or ludum otioſum. And the ſigne of the Croſſe is an idle ceremonie (ſaydCalfn. con Mart. art 4 fol. 92. D. Fulk. reio. art. 3. pag. 159. others) which all reaſon will make plaine. Doth any know a reaſon waightier to ballance the Croſſe then that which aeDurant. de rit. lib. 1 cap. 6. ſect. 11. Papiſt bringeth, who proueth out of Caelius Rodigin lib. 10. cap. 8. that the Croſſe is a ſacred ſigne, graue and religious, euen by the lawe of Nature, becauſe the Heathens in their adorations, moouing their right hand to their mouthes, did kiſſe their thumbe layd a twart ouer their forefinger in the maner of a croſſe? If he doe, let him ſpeake. For, as for this reaſon it wayeth nothing with me, ſith eueryevery Italian faſhionethfſo. Criſpi. Frederic. 2. ſuch a croſſe as this, as ofte as he geſtureth Eccola fico. Howbeit, what aske I? When the friends of the croſſe them ſelues acknowledge it to be a toye. and our writers chalke it vp amongeſt othergAndr. willet de Baptiſ. cap. 8. toyes popiſh whereof I am ſorie. For how can we keepe our mouthes open againſt papiſtes for vſinghD. Fulk. retent. aga. Briſtow. in mot. 34. pag. 99. toyes in the ſeruice of God while we our ſelues vſe theſe ceremonies which in cōmon eſtimation are but tryfles? The Surplice hath more grauitie in it then hath the geſture of the croſſe. For the weare of white was of old time honorable, and now it islBucer. de re veſtiar. Pet. Marti. Epiſtol. ad Hooper. pleaded with ſome colour, it ſerueth to ſet forth the Miniſters dignitie. and yet we ſee how our Fathers hauehave hiſſed at it. One terming it.mGualt. in Hoſ. 2. Calui. inſtitut. lib. 4 c. 10. ſect 29 player-like apparell, and a vaine vizard. an other anBaleus. in declarat. of Boner. arti. pag. 100. prettie toy an other anoD. Tayler act. & mon. pag. 1659. Apiſh toye. an otherpBaecon. p…. 1. Cathec. pag 480. histrionicall, ſcenicall, & hic ſcorner like. It is lighter then the Surplice which yet is eſteemed too light, and is it waightier then the ceremonies which are ſingled out of Gods ſeruice becauſe they areqPet. Mart. in 1. Sam. cap. 14. minutiae. becauſerIdem in Iudic. ca. 2. fol. 33. Caluin. inſtitut. lib. 4 c. 10 ſect. 29 Nugatoriae; becauſe they yeeld nothingsIbid. praeter inane oblectamentum. becauſe they ſeemetPet. Mart. in 1. cor. 14 decorae onelyonly ſenſui Carnis, & mundi iudicio, & non constant mortificatione, ſanctitate, modestia? Mr Buter miſliketh the ſtay of the childe at the Church-dore, and the white garment that is done on him in the church, becauſe the former is actio ſcenica, and in ſo holy a myſterie as this we may not doe any thinguBucer. in Cenſur. cap 9. magis leuiter. the latter a ſigne that ſerueth for little, ſaue onlywIbid. c. 10 ad augendum ludum, cuius etiam occaſio omnis, est amputanda. and he concludeth at the laſt, euen of the wordes of the Croſſe it ſelfe, as they ſtoode in King Edw. communion booke,xIbid c. 12. Nihil tale decet ſcriptura, & ludicra omnia debent ab his mysterijs longe abeſſe. It is no ſinne withyPet. Viret. annotat. in Miſſ. Peter Viret to terme the croſſes in the Lords ſupper, juggling feates, and an Aegyptians faſt and looſe. And as for the Prieſt that ſtretcheth his armes to expreſſe a Croſſe to the people, hee laugheth at him, and ſaith, he is toozIbid. c 42. merrie a Chriſt. Is not a Croſſe in a childes forehead, as very a play-game as a white Chriſom vponupon his face? or a Croſſe in baptiſme a faſte and looſe geſture as well as it is in the Lords ſupper? And what difference to expreſſe a Croſſe with armes, and to make a croſſe with the finger? Alas this finger croſſe is but leuis agitatio manus (as Auſelme telleth vsus in ſober ſadnes)aAuguſt de temp. ſerm. 181. elegit crucem, quae leui motu manus exprimitur; qua & contra inimici verſutias, armamur. Therefore is it too merry a geſture to repreſent the ſorrowfull tormentes of the Lord Chriſt Ieſus, eſpecially thoſe vnſpeakeable tormentes which in his ſoule he ſuffered. Can the bloudy ſweat of his whole body, be repreſented to vsus by the wagging of a finger? the grones, the teares, and ſtronge ſchritches wherewith hee filled the whole firmament of heauen, be wel reſembled by a little breaking of the ayer? Can the hell of his heavines, be proportioned with a playful geſture of eaſe, or can any geſture though neuer ſo vneaſie (vnleſſe Gods ordinance vnderproppe it) beare vp with gravitie, the fearfull myſterie of this Sacrament? which to reuerence as we ought, Exod. 3.6.we ſtande rather in need of a cloake to cover our faces then of a croſſe to write on the face, after the maner that Chriſt with his finger wrote on the ground, Iohn ….6.when he would ſhew the matter was trifling which was in hande. Nay, our Forefathers deviſed a farre more reverent ſigne (as ſome conceyue) to expreſſe the dying of the Chriſt to come. not in Gods ſervice which was vnlawfull, but in the firmament of the heauen. When amongſt their Aſtronomicall figures they proportioned a man dolefully praying on his knees termed foreign at the firſt and no more, though aftertimes hauehave named him Hercules. and in his praying ſtretching his armes in forme of a croſſe, and compoſing the reſt of his body as if he were hanging (for ſobArat. in Phainom. Aratus doth deſcribe him) and treading with his right foote vponupon the ſerpents head. This was a ſigne of ſome ſablenes, of ſome ſaddnes. as for the croſſing of the finger, what fether more light? ſure not the feathers of the fanne of which Hierom, in that they driue away the flies they hauehave an eligant ſignification cHieron. Epiſt. 20. ad Marcel.debere luxuriam cito restinguere quia muſcae moriturae oleum ſuauitatis exterminant. No nor the fethers of the Maſſ-flapp neither. For when he driueth away the flies from the cupp of thedDuran. de rit. lib 1 c. 10 Lord Supper, he ſerueth for better vſe and purpoſe then the ſigne of the Croſſe hath any, and when he ſignifieth the driuing away of evill thoughtes ventilabro fidei after Abrahams example, who draue away the fowles with a ſtaffe that came to hinder his ſacrifice hee keepeth the decorum a great deale better, then the ſigne of the Croſſe, which oureIdem. li. 2 cap. 45. ſect 5. Iacob. Billius. in Gregor. Nazianz. brethren vſe to call flabellum muſcarum for the vanitie of lightnes in it; and as a vayne andfVazq. de adorat. lib. 3. diſput. 2. cap. 5. emptie ceremonie doe much deteſt.