Against Symbolizing with Antichrist in Ceremonies, Part 2 · Chapter 6 · Section 22
#Sect. 22. Ceremonies not onelyonly make the contention of the Church, but alſo nouriſh it: neither will the Church be quiet, ſo longe as they continew.
WE hauehave prooved that the ceremonies hauehave rayſed the ſtrife and contention that is in our Church: we come nowe to proove, that they are the maintayners of it: Prouer. 26.20.ſo that our Church will never hauehave peace as longe as they remayne. Doeth not this commaundement enioyne to vſe all meanes of peace and concorde? Or can there be anie readier meane, then to remooue the matter it ſelfe of the contention, if it may lawfully be taken away as here it may and muſt? So Salomons ſtrife is appeaſed as the fire is quenched by the remoovall of the fuell that feedeth it. To ſett peace in Abrahams houſe, Gen. 16.Hagar muſt bee turned out of doores, who is the occaſion of the bate. To hauehave peace betweene Lot and Abrahams ſervauntes, Gen. 13.8.the matter muſt be made out of the way wherevpon they fall out and contende, which is nearenes of paſturing. To come nearer to the matter, God to hauehave peace betweene Iewes and Gentiles, Epheſ. 2.14.15.aboliſhed the ceremonies of his owne inſtitution and ordinance, becauſe otherwiſe the remayning they would be a partition walle betweene them to keepe them a ſunder. Maiſter Bucer is contended to ſuffer anyaBucer da re veſtiar. p. 708. hard thing in his fleſh to hauehave the Surplice remooved and taken away, becauſebIdem in Cenſur. c. 2. p. 458. rapitur ad contentionem magis pernicio ſam, quam vt quiſquam explicare poſsit. Philippus Melancthon in like maner,cConrad. Schluſſelburg. tom. 13. though hee conformed to the rites and ceremonies of the Interim, yet wiſhed hee with teares that it were remooved, becauſe as longe as it remayned, it was foreign in the Church. MaiſterdAct. and Monu. p. 1873. Iohn Foxe prayed to God for he remoovall of our Ceremonies by name, for that they made much ſtrife amongeſt vsus. At a word, all theeP. Matyr. Bullinger. Beza. in epiſt. Divines who hauehave written about the rites and ceremonies controverſed, pray God with one ſigh to take them away, that ſo the home diſſention amongeſt vsus may be appeaſed. The Croſſe and the ceremonies not able to ſatisfie, fall into a rage, which prompteth to them an other way, that is, to cut off and to deſtroy all the Preachers that brooke them not: which to effect, they giuegive foorth there will be no quietnes in the lande, as long as ſuch bellowes of contention be ſuffered in it.
Firſt, this were right the courſe which oncefPlatina in Innocent. 7 Ludovicus tooke (nephew to Innocontius the ſeaventh) who when men came to him to complayne, he put them to death vponupon this reaſon, factions can by no other meanes be ceaſed. Was Achitophel right, when to hauehave quietnes he counſelled the deſtroying of David? Haman when he adviſed to cutt off the Iewes, that obeyed not the Kings lawes, to hauehave conformitie? Or Cayaphas, when out of a perſwaſion the lande would neuer be in quiet as long as Chriſt liued, perſwaded it was expedient to put him to death for the good, and for the ſecuritie of the lande, whether he did deſerue it or no? Let no man thinke I compare our Revered Fathers vntounto thoſe, God forbidde, leaſt anie of them ſhould followe theſe. my purpoſe is to proove by theſe, it is no lawfull meane to gaine peace by oppoſſing the innocent. Secondly, as Heſter tolde XERXES (for ſo it is ingIoſeph Scalliger. Animaduerſ. in Euſeb. Chronic. Hebrue) Hamans monny could not recompence the loſſe of the Iewes, ſo peace in rites and ceremonies and the proffit of them, can neuer recompence the loſſe of ſo many worthie Preachers, and what wiſedome to vſe a medicine worſe then the diſeaſe? Thirdly, we are commaunded a contrarie meane, which is eaſie and without any hurt, yea to much good▪ for caſt this Ionas out of the ſhippe, and what a calme will there preſently followe? In the controverſie about Images at Conſtantinople, Germanus purpoſing not to yeelde,hCarol. Sigon. do reg. Ital. ſi ego ſum Ionas (ſayeth he) mittite me in mare, and ſo reſigned. It ſeemeth he borrowed this out of Epiphanius, who writing againſt Manes hath theſe wordes:lEpiphan. haerel. 66. Nonne oportebat cum Iona dicere, tollite me & proijcite in mare: propter me enim tempeſtas iſta? What then? A man of Ionas ſpirit will not ſticke to throwe into the Sea, to gaine vnitie and peace vntounto the Church, I ſay not ſuch tryfling wares as theſe Ceremonies are in ſtrife, but alſo their honours and dignities them ſelves, they being the matters of that ſtrife and contention, which doeth ſo trouble it vnneceſſarilie. The wiſe and skilfullmDecret. p. 2. c. 1. q. 7. cap. 16. Pilote, tempeſtate vrgente, quaedam exonerat, vt caetera ſalva permaneant. yea though the wares bee precious. And ſhall we (then) caſt out the Pilotes of the ſhippe them ſelues, and all to ſpare the wares of Rome, which are no lawfull Trafficque? And when Chriſt commaundeth to pull out the verie eye: to cutt off the verie hande it ſelfe that offendeth: this courſe, to ſpare the paring of an nayle or worſe, commaundeth to cutt off not the member that doeth offende, but all the members, yea principall members (to witt) the faithfull Preachers of the Goſpell, that are iuſtly offended by it. Itane propter Conſuetudines, audes iubere, vt pij viri qui alias ſincerè docent, eijciantur, ſaydnHerman. Hamelmā. de tradit. p. 1. lib. 4. col. 377. one to Caſſander once? And this is the firſt lawfull meane, for the appeaſing of our contention, the remoovall of the ceremonies and ſubſcription: who are the make-bates of our Church. But if this cannot bee obtayned, then the next way to appeaſe contention, is that whiche is next vntounto it, to leaue theſe ceremonies, as they are helde to be indifferent, ſo to be vſed indifferentlie, as everie man thinketh good.
The example heereof wee hauehave in Polycarpe and Anicetus. Policrates and Victor, who, though they diſſented in the controverſie of Eaſter daye, yet communicated one with another, & ſuffered all men to enioy their own iudgements. and by this meanesoSozora. l. 7. c. 19. Nicephor. lib. 12. cap. 31. ſapienter extinxerunt hanc contentionem. The verie ſame courſe was there taken for vnitie and concord by certaine Biſhopps, aſſembling together, who made a Canon which they calledpSocrat hiſtor. lib. 5. cap. 20. adiaphoron, becauſe it left the obſervation of Eaſter daye, indifferent as men would them ſelues. The long warre betweene the Greeke and the Latin Church, howe was it comprimiſed at the laſt but by the ſame courſe? the decree of the vnion running thus:qconcil. Florentin. ſeſſ. vlt. Item in Azimo ſiue fermentato pane vnuſquiſque Domini corpus conficiat, iuxta ſuae eccleſiae ſiue Occidentalis ſiue Orientalis morem. Auguſtin (ſpeaking of a Saterſdayes faſt or Dinner, hath theſe wordes;rAuguſt. epiſt. 86. ad Caſulan. In his nihil mihi videtur tutius pacatiuſ que ſervari, quam vt qui non manducat, manducantem non ſpernat, ſiue iudicet. and ſpeaking of a like matter, he hath theſe;sIdem epiſt. 118. Si quis dixerit non quotidie accipiendam eſſe Euchariſtiam, alius affirmet quotidie, faciat vnuſquiſque quod ſecundum fidem ſuam pie credit faciendum. Hierome ſpeaking of receaving the communion (as it ſeemeth for private eating) in a white linnen cloth,tHierom. in Apolog cont. Iou…nian. ſcio Romae (ſaith he) hanc eſſe conſuetudinem, vt fideles corpus Chriſti accipiant, quod nec repraehendo nec probo, vnuſquiſque enim in ſuo ſenſu abundat. Gregorie ſpeaking of the trim-immerſion, uGregor. Epiſtolar. l. 1. epiſt. 41non eſt repraehenſibile (ſaith he) infantem vel ſemel vel ter immergi. Come we to the Croſſe,wAmalar. de Eccleſiaſt. offic. li. 3. cap. 24. Satius est ſignum Crucis ſemel fieri ſuper panem & vinum: non tamen eſt abs re ſi bis fiat. One thus of our Engliſh ceremonies,xAlexand. Aleſ. in proemio. Leiturg. Anglican. ſunt haec certe eiuſmodi cuiuſmodi ſunt illa de quibus beatus Paulus iubet vt vnuſquiſque intellectu proprio abundare (hoc eſt) ſine dubitatione ſequi debeat ſuam ſententiam. This holdeth onelyonly (will ſome ſay) in the private vſe of things indifferent, of which there is no Canon made: As if theſe thinges forementioned, were not all of them overruled by the cuſtome of the church: if they ſpeake of a Canon inferring neceſſitie, they muſt knowe, there were no ſuch Canons in auncient time: chriſtian libertie was more tendered in thoſe dayes: It was poperie that firſt brought in Canons of neceſſitie,yDecret. p. 1. diſtinc. 4. cap. 6. Decretum neceſsitatem facit, exhortatio autem liberam voluntatem excitat, ſaith Gratian. Adde to himzBellarm. Bellarmine, aſperſio aquae lustralis vtomnis traditio, quae traditur in forma concilij, non in forma praecepti, libera dicitur. We ſee by theſe whence Canons of neceſſitie came, in rites and ceremonies, to wit, out of an opinion that the Church hath power in ſuch matters to take away chriſtian libertie. This opinion, who will ſay is not popiſh, vntounto the auncient times vnknowne? One of our lateſt writers of reverend and of great account, proveth out of Socrates, that holy dayes were antiquitus liberi, and that thereforeaTho. Morton. Apolog. p. 2. li. 2. cap. 9. non imponendam eſſe chriſtinis vllam neceſsitatem. to which he addeth of his owne quod non docet papale iugum videtur excutere. A plaine teſtimonie that neceſſitie in rites taketh away libertie. that antiquitus there was in rites a libertie permitted and no neceſsitie impoſed, Laſtly, that neceſsitie in rites is iugum papale neuer heard of the church til Antichriſt began to vſurpe over the libertie of chriſtian men.