Showing the Necessity of Conformity, Treatise · Reformed practices · Part 9
Touching the ſigne of the Croſſe.
BVcer: This ſigne of the Croſſe, both in reſpect that it is of moſt ancient vſe in the Church, as alſo that it is (admodum ſimplex & praeſentis admonitionis crucis Christi;) A Ceremonie Signe of the Croſſe neither indecent nor vnprofitable.of much ſimplicitie, and of preſent admonition of the Croſſe of Chriſt: I doe hold it nec indecens, nec inutile, neither indeecnt, nor vnprofitable. With this condition, that in the vſe thereof it bee purely vnderſtoode, and Religiouſly receiued, without the addition of any ſuperſtition or bondage of the element, or common cuſtome. In Script. Anglican. Cenſur. cap. 12. fol. 479.
Beza: Seeing theſe things (the ſigne of the Croſſe Not Idolatrous in it ſelfe& other things) are not perſe Idololatrica, Idolatrous in their owne nature, we thinke of theſe things, as wee did of the Ceremonies going before, fol. 100. and what was that, Not of that moment to ſuffer depriuation.namely (fol. 98.) that it ſeemeth not a matter of that moment, that for it Paſtors ſhould leaue rather their charge, then vſe (this ſigne) or that the Flockes ſhould let alone the publike foode of their ſoules, then heare their Paſtors vſing this ſigne.
Againe: Touching the Croſſe, what ſhall I ſay, admit there was a time wherin there was ſome vſe of this Signe, in oppoſition to the cotemners of Chriſt crucified. Admit alſo that it was willingly, and of long time vſed by Chriſtians for the externall profeſſion of the true Religion. After: Yet I know, that ſome renouncing the adoration of the Croſſe, retaine the vſe of this Signe [vtantur igitur ipſi ſicuti par est ſualibertate.] let them therefore vſe their libertie as is meet; wee in the French Churches for ſundry neceſſary cauſes may not tolerate it, Beza contra Baldwin.
Heming: Some are offended with our Ceremonies (in the Denmarke Churches, and crie out that they are popiſh: they ſay we hauehave (Sacerdotes) Prieſts, Altars, Surpleſſes, Cā dles, Images, Exorciſmes (ſignationes Crucis) ſignings with the ſigne of the croſſe, (plane Papiſtico more) meerly after the Popiſh faſhion. To thoſe men I anſwere, the true Church is diſtinguiſhed from the falſe by doctrine and worſhip, and not by Ceremonies, Quae per ſe adiaphora ſunt; which are Of it ſelfe indifferent.in themſelues indifferent. Neither doe we iudge indifferent Ceremonies to be of that moment, as that Schiſmes ſhould bee mooued for them in the Church. Let the ſinceritie of doctrine bee retained; let other matters (ceremoniall and circumſtantiall) ſerue partly for the peace and quiet of the Church, and partly to the infirmitie of men, Syntag. ad 4. legem Decalogi. §. 33, 34. fol. 365. Alſo, in commentar. ſuper 1. cap. Ioan. hee ſayth, Minime improbo ſignum Crucis.
Zanch: Other ſort of Traditions there are, not neceſſarily to be retained in the Church, albeit very ancient, and mentioned of the Primitiue Fathers: As that a Chriſtian ought to arme his forehead with the ſigne of the Croſſe, as alſo to faſt on Fridayes, and Saturndayes. For albeit they may bee vſed, ſi abſque ſuperstitione exerceantur, if their vſe It may be vſed.bee without ſuperſtition: yet they binde not the conſcience, Compend. Relig. loc. 16. De tradit. Eccleſiaſt. fol. 654.
Againe, If we diligently conſider the things which are reported of the ſigne of the Croſſe, wee ſhall finde that many things were fabulous, other matters fained of the Diuel, other vſes thereof true, but not to the confirmation of ſuperſtions: others alſo of that quality which in thoſe Primitiue times indeede, when as they were not as yet turned into ſuperſtition, Tolerari potuerunt, & verò fuerunt laude In ſome caſe tolerable.digna, might bee tolerated, nay they were worthy of commendation: yet from which vſes of this ſigne, for the preſent wee muſt wholly abſtaine for the danger of ſuperſtition. Other vſes in a word there were of this ſigne: Quae tolerari etiam nunc poſſunt, cum nihil in tali crucis vſu inſit periculi: which may be tolerated euen now in the Church, ſeeing in ſuch vſe of the croſſe there is no peril, Deredempt. l. 1. cap. 15. fol. 367. After he ſheweth that the Primitiue had the ſigne of the Croſſe in the forehead, to teſtifie that they were not aſhamed of the Crucifix: which was cauſa praecipua eaque non improbanda, The chiefe cauſe mouing them to vſe it, and that not to be diſliked, Ibid.
Polanus: The ſigne of the Croſſe might hauehave beene vſed of the holy Fathers without ſinne, ſo farre forth as it was a free and open teſtimony of the confident confeſſion of Chriſtians concerning Chriſt crucified, albeit he acknowledgeth that it was with good right aboliſhed out of many reformed Churches, becauſe it was Idolatrouſly abuſed by the Papiſts, and that all true worſhippers might know, that God is to bee ſerued by them in ſpirit and truth, In Ezech. cap. 9. v. 4. fol. 258.
Zepperus acknowledgeth the practiſe of the ſigne of the Croſſe to hauehave been an vſuall and ancient cuſtome of Chriſtians in the Primitiue Church, and maketh apology and good conſtruction of the holy Fathers vſe thereof, namely, that they vſed it not ſuperſtitiouſly as the Papiſts do, but to teſtifie their truſt and confidence in the croſſe, that is, in the paſſion and death of Chriſt, as the Iewes in Egypt did, which ſigned the doore poſt of their houſes, not as if the blood of the Lambe had any power to preſerue them from the deſtroyer, but becauſe it was a type of the blood and Croſſe of Chriſt, though otherwiſe he diſlike the vſe thereof in Baptiſme, becauſe not commanded of God but hath been abuſed by the Papiſts to Idolatry: yet hereby he ſheweth, as alſo do the reſt of our claſſicall Writers, that the vſe of this ſigne is not a thing ſimply and in nature euill, de Sacrament. cap. 16. fol. 357. 358. & de politia Eccleſ. l. 1. c. 10. fol. 57. 58.
Gowlartius: The ancient or Primitiue Chriſtians, did vſe the figure of the Croſſe without ſuperſtition, becauſe the doctrine of the merits of Chriſt preſerued them from error, which afterward crept in, Annotat. in Cyprian lib. ad Demetr. cap. 19. he calleth it a thing indifferent. Annot. Cyprian Epist. 56.
Maſter Perkins ſheweth, that the tranſient croſſe, that is, the ſigne of the croſſe made with the finger in the ayre, was in common vſe with the Primitiue and purer Church, and was vſed as a ſimple rite, as a ſigne of the externall profeſſion of their faith, and confidence in the Croſſe, that is, the death of Chriſt, and as a certaine monitory, whereby they ſtirred vp their faith, and that it was not adored or ſuperſtitiouſly vſed, as among the Papiſts. Problem. tit. ſignum crucis. Sect. 1. 2. 3. fol. 83. 84.