Against Symbolizing with Antichrist in Ceremonies, Part · Chapter 3 · Section 13
#Sect. 13. That the Croſſe prepoſterateth, evacuateth, and polluteth the affection of feare.
THE fift hipocriſie of the reſonable ſoule neaſteth it ſelf in the affections of the heart: the firſt of which is feare. This is prepoſterated by the ceremonies in them who conforme for feare of man. For quae aConcil. Chalcede. act. 1.ex neceſsitate eſt, fides non eſt, ſaieth the Councill. AndbAuguſt epiſt. ad Ca ſulan. 86. quiſquis metu poteſtatis veritatem occultat, iram Dei ſuper ſe provocat (ſaith Auguſtine) andcDecret. p. 2 cauſ. 11. q. 3 cap 81. melius eſt pro veritate pati ſupplicium, quam pro adulatione recipere bene ficium. For this cauſe they are better to be iudged of who at this howre doe ſuffer, then they who are within the compaſſe of that cenſure which the Germane Divines paſt over them, who yeelded to the Interim, not with an vpright and ſingle heart, butdConrad. Schluſſel. burg. li. 13 pa. 565. & 173. ad grati ficandum Caeſarem only. Doth not Paule make it haynous in Peeter that he conformed to the ceremonies of Moſes lawe, to pleaſe the Iewes of whom he ſtood prepoſterouſly in feare? which feare of his (alſo) hee termeth groſſe diſſimulation? Secondly, the Croſſe evacuateth feare, partly by reaſon of the popiſh perſwaſion that it driveth the Divill away, eueneBellarm. de imag. c. 30. ex opere operato, though a man hauehave not the feare of God, asfMart. art. 1 pag. 35. Iulian had not; and partly becauſe it is a playgame of it ſelfe, as well as agMat. Sutcliu. in anſwer. to mot. for tollerat. Mat. 21.25. Croſſe rayſed out of a toumbe on Eaſter day, to repreſent the riſing of Chriſt. Men thinke they may bee euer bolde with the worke of their owne handes, and ſeeing the Croſſe is not from heauen (as eueryevery Baptiſmes ſigne ſhould be) naught can be in it to procure reverence▪ as well Lanctantius, hLactant. inſtitut. li. 2. cap. 19.ſi religio &c. If religion be a divine thing, and nothing be diuine but that which is heauenly, the Image muſt want all religion, becauſe there can be nothing heauenlie in that which is from the earth. Now for this cauſe he muſt be remooued from the ſervice of God, in Bucers iudgement, togither with eueryevery ceremonie elſe that is an occaſionlBucer in Cenſur. cap. 9. pa. 478. profani Iudi, illudit. n. nobis continenter Satan, & ſeria Domini ſalutaria convertere in fuos noxios ludos conatur. As every occaſion of playfulnes is daungerous in the ſeruice of God, becauſe of Satans illuſion, ſo alſo by reaſon of Mans For know we not we are as prone to trifle in the ſervice of God, as is themGualt. in Luc cap. 7 Homil. 70. childe to play in the market. Thirdly, The Croſſe polluteth feare euen with an Ironie and contempt, it being ſubiect to irreverence as much as the Image is of which Lactantius, nLactant. de orig. error. li. 2. cap. 19.There is no religion, where there is an Image. of which Varro, they tooke away all feare of the Gods who firſt ſet vp Images to them▪ Laſtly, of which thus Auguſtine, oAuguſt de civi…. D…i. li. 4. ca. 31ſimulacrorum (ſo Crucium) ſtoliditate facile contemnitur Deus. When Alexander pCabala hiſtorica.met Iaddo the high Prieſt of Ieruſalem in his prieſtly attire, he fell downe & adored becauſe God had appeared to him before he came out of Macedonia in the very ſame habite, what hence? the profane is not brought to reuerēce by the appearance of any Ceremonie whatſoeuer, vnleſſe it hauehave aſſiſtance of a Maieſtie from the Lord, which the Apparell of Iaddo had: but the ſigne of the Croſſe hath not. The ſigne of the Croſſe muſt be made (ſay ſome) by vsus as wel as by the auncient Fathers to make profeſſion againſt the Atheiſt, that is amongſt vsus. But if any Atheiſt be amongſt vsus to laugh at Chriſt crucified, let him bee nayled to a Croſſe, but let not a Croſſe be made with a finger againſt him, which will but increaſe his laughing.qDyoniſ. Hierrarch. Eccleſiaſt. cap. vlt. Dioniſius mētioneth that ſome laugh at the anſwers which the Godfathers made for the childe, as if alius pro alio were Baptized.rGregor. Nazianz. lib. 4. rat. 4 cont, Iulian. Gregorie Nazianzen reporteth, that Iulian laught at the ſufflations of Baptiſme. Is there not as great an occaſion giuen in the ſigne of the Croſſe towards laughter and contempt, as in either of theſe? The former of which is aboliſht by the Churches that are reformed assZepper. de polit. Eccle ſiaſtic. li. 1. cap. 10. pag. 52. a ridicle, the later by our ſelues and all. Becauſe the Iewes laught at the Papiſtes for painting Moyſes like a Deuil with a paire of hornes, thetSixt. Senen bibliothec. lib 5. annotat. 116. ſounder papiſts would hauehave remooued it, it being an error of antiquitie brought in by Hierome interpreting [Moſes facies erat cornuta] inſteed of [erat radians.] The profane deriding our maſking attire and iuglinge geſture in our Church. nowe wee hauehave as great cauſe to hauehave them aboliſhed, they being (if auncient) yet auncient errors, like to the hornes of Moſes.