Brotherly Persuasion to Unity and Uniformity, Tract · Chapter 6
CHAP. 6. Of conformity in vſing the ſigne of the croſſe in Baptiſme.
BEing now come to the ſigne of the Croſſe (howſoeuer ſome ignorant perſons thinke to the contrary) the vſe of it euen in baptiſme, is far ancienter then antichriſtian popery; for Origen that liued and dyed before the firſt three hundred yeares after Chriſt were ended hom. 8 in diuerſos locos Euang: makes expreſſe mention of it, as thē vſed in Baptiſme, and ſo doth Auguſtine in his time, in his one hundred & eighteenth tract vponupon Iohn, and euident it is to all of any reading in the ancient Fathers, that almoſt infinite are the places, as others plentifully hauehave ſhowed, that hauehave writ hereof, that might bee cited out of them that floriſhed before 400 yeares after Chriſt were expired, to proue the frequent vſe thereof, not onelyonly in that ſacrament but alſo otherwiſe. In deed I muſt needs confeſſe that very many of their ſpeeches ſeeme to ſound as though they too quickly grew to attribute to much vntounto it. But Maiſter Perkins in his probleme lately publiſhed, writing of thoſe their ſayings, is of opinion, that in ſo ſpeaking & thinking thereof as they did, they had alwaies an eye and reuerence therein, to Chriſt and his death vponupon the croſſe, & that they put no ſuch affiance in the ſigne, but onelyonly vſed it with reuerence to teſtifie thereby, boldly their faith in him that dyed vponupon a croſſe, & to be an admonitory ſigne vntounto them, to ſtir thē vp ſo, ſtill to belieue. But howſoeuer either ſome of thē to quickly, or the Church of Rome ſince, by miſtaking their metaphoricall, and hyperbolicall ſpeeches thereof, hauehave vſed it ſuperſtitiouſly, and Idolatrouſly, making it a ſigne of it ſelfe not onelyonly ſignificatiue, but alſo operatiue and effectiue of wonderfull things, we therein and therefore condemne them and retain the vſe thereof onelyonly that was moſt ancient & free, either from ſuperſtition or Idolatry, namely to be as a ſigne or token, neither naturally of it ſelfe, nor ſupernaturally otherwiſe, either ſignifying any thing, or working or effecting any thing, in thoſe vponupon whome we confer it, but it is vſed indeed by vsus, and that by the miniſter in his owne name, and the congregations or Churches wherof he is miniſter, after he hath baptiſed the child, that it together with his admittance therof, into the outward viſible church, vponupon the baptiſme precedent and finiſhed, may alwaies after be an admonitory token vntounto it, neuer to be aſhamed to profeſſe the faith of Chriſt that dyed vponupon a croſſe, and manfully to fight vnderunder his banner againſt the world the fleſh and the Diuell; for after it is fully baptiſed, & to manifeſt the ſame, Amen is ſaid, then by the order of our booke, the miniſter ſaith, we receiue this child into the congregation of Chriſts flock, & ſigne it with the ſigne of the croſſe, in token that hereafter it ſhall neuer be aſhamed to cōfeſſe the faíth of Chriſt crucified &c. So that not it alone, but it together with the publike admittance thereof into the Church, is made the token vntounto it, of that which followeth & further any man may ſe, that neither it alone, nor it togither with that admittance or receiuing therof, are made any otherwiſe to bee a ſigne or token therof vntounto the child, then in our intention, & that only it is conferred by the miniſter & the Church, & ſo withall they receiue it into their fellowſhip & company, of hope they hauehave, that if it liue (as they truſt it will) comming to age and diſcretion, and then ſeeing others baptiſed, it will remember, that likewiſe when it was baptiſed, it was ſo receiued into the Church therupon and ſo ſigned, and that therfore thereby it would take occaſion (accordingly as they that baptiſed it, and ſo ſigned it, thereby ſeemed to hope and expect) not to be aſhamed to confeſſe the faith, wherin it was baptiſed, & to ſhew the fruits and effects therof in continuing Chriſts faithfull ſoldier, & ſeruant to the liues end. No ſigne therfore at all it is made betwixt God and the child, nor betwixt the child and him, but only as a token togither with the outward receipt therof, vponupon his baptiſme premiſed, betwixt the miniſter & the people and it, of the chriſtian hope & expectation they hauehave, that it will anſwere after in time both in beliefe, and life, that which they then hopd & promiſed in the name therof, as much as lay in them, it ſhould. And it rather appears, that this indeed is the onelyonly and true vſe of it with vsus, for that in priuate baptiſme, which is only allowed, when the child is in more danger to die then otherwiſe, the booke doth not preſcribe the vſe of it, for that belike they in that caſe, fearing rather the preſent death therof, thē hoping for the life, vntill it may thus cōfeſſe the faith of Chriſt crucified, it was not thought fit they ſhould thus ſigne it in token of their hope and expectation, that it ſhould & would thus, not be aſhamed to confeſſe &c. for the reaſon aforeſaid, well & iuſtly therefore it is proteſted in the thirtith canon, that as it is vſed with vsus, it is no part of the ſubſtance of the ſacrament, & that being after vſed, it doth neither ad any thing to the vertue & perfection of baptiſme, nor beeing omitted, doth detract any thing from the effect & ſubſtance of it, for doubtleſſe the childe priuately baptiſed, by the order of the booke without it: though it immediately after die, is therby & by our church taken and held to be fully & effectually baptiſed the very name of the croſſe, as it is ſaid in the beginning of that canon, we find indeed ſo honored by the pen of the Apostle S. Paule, as that vnderunder that very word, often in his epiſtles, he comprehends the death of Chriſt with all the fruits & effects thereof, & therfore the ſigne after a ſort bringing the name of the croſſe to remembrance, and expreſſing it, by all likelyhood euen thereupon grew, as there it is further noted, very early, reuerently alſo to be vſed in the primitiue Church, to make thereby outward and open ſhew, to the aſtoniſhment both of Iew & Gentile, that Chriſtians were not aſhamed to belieue in Chriſt, that dyed vponupon a croſſe. For the vſe thereof to that end is ſo ancient indeed, as that the moſt diligent ſtudier and ſearcher of ancient writers cannot ſhew the firſt originall and beginning there of, he may ſhew when firſt hee reads it was vſed, but that will not prooue that it was not vſed before, but rather ſhewes the contrary. Wherupon ſome thinke that it is ſo frequent with the ancient Fathers, as namely with Baſil Cap. 27. de ſpiritu ſancto to tearme it an Apostolike tradition, for that they thinke it came from them and their times, for that other originall ſenſe, they cannot ſhew thereof. For that indeed as Saint Auguſtines rule de baptiſmo contra donatiſtas. Lib. 4. Cap. 24, namely that which is vniuerſally obſerued in the Church, and whoſe originall wee cannot ſhew by councells, and which hath alwaies therein beene vſed, that wee are to thinke certainly to bee an Apoſtolike tradition. I wonder therefore the author of the late booke publiſhed againſt the croſſe, allowing the vſe & practiſe hereof in the primitiue Church to the ſame ende and vſe that is in vſe amongſt vsus, ſhould diſſallow it in vsus, he ſaith it was ciuill in them, but it is eccleſiaſticall amongſt vsus, but what reaſon hath he to ſay ſo, ſeeing it was vſed by them in baptiſme, at the firſt to the ſame end that it is amongſt vsus? neither will that ſerue that ſome ſay it was then taken vpp, and vſed becauſe chriſtians then liued intermingled with vnbeleeuing Iewes and Gentiles, for let the teſtimonies of the Fathers bee examined where they mention the vſe of it, and it will appeare, that they vſed it aſwell when none ſuch were by or neare, as when they were: and if their liuing amongſt ſuch was a warrant to them for the vſe thereof; why is not ours likewiſe, liuing amongſt ſo many profane Atheiſts as wee doe? Wee vſe it but (as it is ſaid in the foreſaid canon) as a lawfull outward ceremony, and as an honorable badge of our Chriſtian profeſſion: Whereunto Peter Martyr writeing vppon the ſecond commandement, hauing an eye ſaith, if it bee lawfull for vsus to weare the Cognizance of our owne houſe and family, licet etiam ſigno crucis Christianam nostram religionem profiteri: And this alſo was ſo cleare and manifeſt, that euen Beza though elſwhere no great friend or patron hereof, in this anſwere to Baldwin, ſpeaking of ſuch Churches, that ſtill thus to this end do vſe it, writeth plainly, let ſuch as it is meete, vſe their liberty therein, Bucer alſo in his cenſure vponupon the firſt communion booke, doth moſt plainly allow it, and wee know Cranmer and Ridley, and ſundry other learned and famous Martyrs, liued and dyed in the liking and allowance of it, It is not vrged, nor vſed, nor defended by vsus, as ſimply neceſſary, or as immutable, For the late Archbiſhop, euen when and whiles hee ſought moſt and beſt to maintaine and defend the vſe of it, as it is with vsus, writes plainly of it. Page. 617 of his foreſaid booke: it was vſed of the primitiue Church, and ſtill may bee vſed, and it may be left; but wee chooſe rather to retaine it, and to vſe it as Paule did impoſition of hands, and thereby as by an admonitory token to put the child in minde of the duety, as hereby the other moued Timothy to bee mindfull of his, 1. Tim. 4.14. All which laide togither may make it euident, that not onelyonly it is a thing of the owne nature indifferent, becauſe it is ſo, neither commaunded nor forbid in the word of God, but alſo as it is vſed and vrged, for that neither ſo, any way is it contrary to faith or good manners, but may well ſtand with the generall rules of the word left the Church for her direction in ſuch matters. Howbeit I know for all this, many both godly and learned, will hardly bee perſwaded ſo of it: let vsus therefor conſider the reaſons they ſeeme to hauehave yet further againſt it.