Uniformity in Human Doctrinal Ceremonies, jeanes 22 – hammond 23
Jeanes.
Biſhop Morton in his particular Defence of the Ceremony of the Croſſe, pag. 231, 232. tels us. That our Church doth not aſcribe unto it any miraculous power of driving out devils, or of curing diſeaſes, &c. And what he ſaith of our Church he ſpeaks by juſt conſequence of the Primitive Church; For our Church (ſaith he, ibid.) profeſſeth, that ſhe uſeth it onelyonly as primitively it was uſed; that is, onelyonly as a token whereby there is proteſtation made of a future conſtancy in the profeſſion of Chriſtianity: If it were uſed onelyonly thus, then it was not uſed for the miraculous cure of diſeaſes, and chaſing away of Devils; and this will be denyed by none, that knows the force of the excluſive particle onelyonly; but you have a higher opinion of the efficacy of the ſigne of the Croſſe, than ever Biſhop Morton had, or the Church of England, as he thought; and therefore I ſhall addreſſe my ſelf to give ſome anſwer unto your miracles of the Croſſe.
1. I ſhall in general ſay unto them three things.
1. If there were any ſuch Miracles, as are pretended, they were wrought onelyonly at the ſign of the Croſſe, and not by the ſigne of the Croſſe (as you bring in Athanaſius affirming) ſo much as by a Moral inſtrument they were done for the ſake onelyonly of the faith and prayers of thoſe that uſed the ſign of the Croſs, and were conſequent unto the ſigne of the Croſſe, onelyonly per accidens; and for this that I ſay, Biſhop Morton alledgeth a ſaying out of Pe…kins: Hee confeſſeth (ſaith hee) that miracles were done of God at the ſign of the Croſſe, that had joyned unto it a manifeſt, or at leaſt a ſecret invocation of the name of Chriſt crucified: ſo that the virtue was not to be imputed unto the ſign of the Croſs, but unto the faith of the worker, and invocation of Chriſt.
2. Many Miracles were wrought by the Brazen Serpent; for it came to paſs, that if a Serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the Serpent of Braſſe, he lived, Numb. 21.9. Yet Hezechias brake it in pieces, 2 King. 18.4. and the reaſon is aſſigned why he did ſo; for unto thoſe dayes the children of Iſrael did burn incenſe to it. This fact of Hezechias is praiſe worthy; and therefore it was no evill act to throw aſide the ſign of the Croſſe: for ſuppoſe, though not grant, that Miracles were wrought by it, yet the Papiſts have burnt incenſe unto it: for as Dr. Rainolds in his Conference with Hart, page 509, 510. It is written in your Maſſe-book, that in ſolemn Maſſes, the Prieſt having made obeyſance to the Croſſe, doth incenſe it thrice: The Jews gave uExod. 30.8.the honour of God to creature, in that they burned Incenſe to it. And therefore Hezechias did cala it brazen ſtuff; as if you ſhould call your Roodes wooden ſtuff; your Agnus… Dei's waxen ſtuff, your Crucifixes and Croſſes made of Copper, Copper-ſtuff, becauſe you impart the honour of God to them, by putting truſt and hope in them. And if xEph. 5 5.the covetous man be called an Idolater, becauſe he maketh mony his God, not as though he thought the coyn to be God, but becauſe hee truſteth to live and proſper by it, yJer. 17.7.which confidence and hope he ſhould repoſe in God onelyonly: then worſhip you the ſign of the Croſſe as an Idol, becauſe you truſt to be ſaved by it, as in your zBreviar. Roman: Sabat. quarta▪ quadrag.Church ſervice you profeſſe notoriouſly, and aThom. Aqu…n. Sum. Theol. part. 3. quaeſt. 25. art. 4. Andrad. orthod. Explicat. lib. 9.ſo your ſelves confeſſe, you worſhip it as God; wherefore if b2 Kings 18 3.5.Hezechias be praiſed by God for breaking in pieces the Serpent of braſſe, becauſe the children of Iſrael did burn Incenſe to it, we who have removed the ſign of the Croſſe, becauſe you put the hope of ſalvation in it, may content ourſelves to be diſpraiſed by men. But if you ſay therefore, that we be againſt the ancient Fathers in Religion, becauſe we pluck down that which they did ſet up, take heed left your ſpeech doth not touch the Holy Ghoſt who ſaith that Hezechias cver. 6.did keep Gods commandements which he co…manded Moſes; and yet withall ſaith, that dver. 4.he brake in peices the Serpent of braſs which Moſes had made.
3. A third anſwer ſhall bee that which Cartwright giveth concerning thoſe Miracles which the Rhemiſts alledge were done by the uſe of Holy Wa…e, and the ſign of the Croſſe: In all which, and the like Miracles (ſaith he, page 303) not to overthrow their credit; we yet further anſwer, that the good ſucceſs that theſe means had, prove no more the lawfulneſs of them, than the ſacrifices of living men amongſt the Gentiles unto their Idols, accompanied with ſome deſired iſſue out of their troubles wherein they were, prove the lawfulneſſe of that horrible and most detestable worſhip of their God.
4. That the former uſe of the ſign of the Croſſe in Miracles, obligeth not to a uſe of it (now all miraculous uſe thereof is by the generall confeſſion of Proteſtants ceaſed) may be gathered, in a way of Analogie and proportion from what the above-mentioned Biſhop Morton ſpeaks, pag. 58. of Spittle and Oyle: We confeſs that spittle was uſed by our Saviour Chriſt, in healing of the dumb; and oyle by the Apoſtles, in curing of many other diſeaſes; yet both miraculouſly: but to imitate the work of a Miracle without the miraculous power, is but an apiſh foreign, for to hold ſuch a miraculous ceremony, after the virtue be gone, is but to preſerve a carkaſs, becauſe it had been once poſſeſsed of a ſoul.
From this general Anſwer proceed we to ſome particulars of the Croſſes efficacie.
1. You ſay that the uſage of this Ceremony of ſigning with the Croſſe, was we alſo know, frequent in the Church (while the gifts of healing continued) in curing diſeaſes. But now for this frequencie you onelyonly quote in the Margin Aug. de Civ. Dei, lib. 22. cap. 8. And in that place there is but one inſtance of any cure wrought upon the uſage of the ſign of the Croſſe, and that in Innocentia, a Carthaginian Matron, and the ſtory hereof I ſhall give unto the Reader, as it lyeth in the Book and Chapter quoted.
In eadem Carthagine, Innocentia religioſiſſima faemina de primariis ipſius civitatis, in mammilla cancrum habebat, rem, ſicut medici dicunt, nullis medicamentis ſanabilem. Aut ergo praeſcidi ſolet, & à corpore ſeparari membrum ubi naſcitur, aut, ut aliquanto homo quietius vivat fomentis eſt peſtis mitiganda frequentibus. Nam ut inde mortem quantumlibet tardius aff…turam confidamus, ſecundum Hippocratis, ut fertur, ſententiam, omnis eſt omittenda curatio. Hoe illa à perito medico, & ſuae domui familiariſſimo acceperat, & ad ſolum Deum ſe orando converterat. Admonetur in ſomnis appropinquante paſcha, ut in parte faeminarum obſervanti ad baptisterium, quaecunque illi baptizata primitus occurriſſet, ſignaret ei locum ſigno crucis Chriſti, fecit, & confeſtim ſanitas ſecuta eſt.
In the ſame Town one Innocentia a moſt religious woman, and one of the principal in the City, had a Canker on her breaſt, a kind of ſore which the Phyſitians told her is utterly uncurable: wherefore they uſe either to cut the infected part away, or for the prolonging of the life a little while in ſome eaſe, the malady is to be aſſwaged and mitigated with frequent plaiſters; for the opinion of Hippocrates will induce us to beleeve, that death wil thence inſue, though ſomewhat ſlowly: for hee, as they ſay, doth adviſe to omit all attempt of curing it; this a skilfull Phyſitian her familiar friend told her; ſo that now ſhe ſought help of none but the Lord, who told her in a dreame, that Eaſter next, which then drew near, ſhe ſhould mark on the womans ſide by the Font, what woman ſhe was, that, being then baptized, ſhould firſt meet her, and that ſhe ſhould intreat her to ſigne her ſore with the ſigne of the Croſſe of Chriſt: She did it, and was cured.
But the Miracles related in this Chapter are of a ſuſpected credit, it ſeemed unto Ludovicus Vives to bee a matter without doubt, that many things in this Chapter were added, &c. by thoſe, who with their filthy hands have defiled all the Writings of great and famous Authors: In hoc capite non dubium, quin multa ſint addita, velut declarandi gratia, ab iis, qui omnia magnorum autorum ſcripta spurcis ſuis manibus contaminabant, &c. Of this annotation of Ludovicus Vives Rivet ſpeaks thus, Critic. ſacr. pag. 453. Lud. Viv. ad cap. 8. lib. 22. In quo miracula multa narrantur, quae omnia non ſapiunt exactam judicii limam, quam in aliis Auguſt. operibus lectores ſagaces obſervant, annotat, in hoc capite non dubium, quin multa ſint addita, velut declarandi gratia, ab iis, qui omnia magnorum autorum ſcripta ſpurcis ſuis manibus contaminabant: Huic nothae non refragantur cenſores Belgici in indice expurgatorio: neque Hispani inquiſitores in ſuo: quod ideo no…andum lectori, ne ſemper quae ex genuin is autorum libris afferuntur, genuina eſſe putet, quod per Monachorum corruptelas non licet. Hîc igitur etiam opus eſt ſagacitate, & judicii libra. Chamier in reference to another paſſage in the Notes of Lud: Viv. paſſeth this cenſure upon other miracles, alledged by Papiſts from that place of Auguſtine to juſtifie their Invocation of Saints, de Vigeſim: Octav. lib. de Civit. Dei: Poſſum ex Vive dicere, multum in eo luſiſse ſciolorum laſciviam, aut potius ſuperſtitioſorum audaciam: the Divines of Rhemes in their Annotations on John 14.12. charge Proteſtants, that they diſcredit, as other Miracles, ſo in particular, thoſe teſtified by St. Augustine in this place; and unto this charge neither Fulk nor Cartwright entred any diſſent, and therefore it is probable that they acknowledged it: whereas Fiſher in his Anſwer to the Queſtions propounded by King James, goes about to juſtifie the Oblations made to Saints by ſome of the Miracles here recorded, ſaid to be done at their Tombs and Shrines, Dr. Francis White ſeems to think that a doubt of the truth of ſome of theſe Miracles is defenſible, becauſe, ſaith he, theſe things were extraordinary; and the credit of divers of them dependeth upon fame (which is many times uncertain) bTertul. Apol. c. 7. cur malum fama? Quia velox, an quia plurimum mendax? quae nè tunc quidem cum veri aliquid adfert fine mendacii vitio eſt detrahens, adjiciens, demutans de veritate.and Saint Auguſtine himſelf ſaith, they are not commended unto us by ſuch weighty authority, as that without all doubt they must needs be credited cAug. de civit. Dei lib. 22. cap. 8. non tanta ea commendat authoritas, ut ſine difficultate vel dubitatione credantur.they cannot be ſufficient grounds or foundations of Catholike Doctrine or Practiſe.
2. You ſay that by the ſign of the Croſſe all Magick and Witchcraft is brought to nought.
1. Surely, Sir, if ever the ſign of the Croſſe had ſuch an influence, it is queſtionable, whether there was ever any word or promiſe of the Lord for it, and without ſuch word or promiſe, to uſe the ſign of the Croſſe for ſuch a purpoſe, was virtual and interpretative Witchcraft.
Beſides 2. if it were ſo efficacious againſt Magick and Witchcraft in the Primitive times, yet, that ſince it hath been abuſed unto Magick and Witchcraft, is confeſſed by Biſhop Abbot, a man of great piety and learning, part. 1. pag. 169. But ſince the Harpie of Rome hath had the handling of it, and made it a matter of Magical Inchantment, and through the current of her prophanations, it hath runne into the hands of Conjurers, Charmers, Witches, to be defiled with their divelliſh and damnable practiſes, we have had a religious care to clear the firſt Church in the uſing of it; but no further to uſe it our ſelves than it may be waſhed from the ſoyl and filth of theſe abominations.
3. By what you ſay in the Margin out of Athanaſius and Auguſtine, you inſinuate a great efficacy of the ſign of the Croſſe in the routing and chaſing away of Devils: unto this I anſwer:
1. That the whole Armour of God, the compleat harneſſe of the Spirit, dererres not Satan from aſſailing the beſt and moſt perfect of Chriſtians: Chriſts unſpotted innocency, and his abſolute all-fulneſſe of Grace, was temptation proof, and yet the Devil adventured upon the aſſault of him, and therefore it is very ſtrange that he ſhould be ſo perillouſly, and terribly afraid of ſo weake a ſhield as the ſign of the Croſſe in the forehead: No, no, ſaith Fulk, in anſwer to the Rhemiſts, pag. 69.4. the Devil is too craf…y and ſtrong to yeeld to ſo weak a weapon, but when he is dispoſed to play with men, that they may more eaſily be ſeduced by him.
2. It is but a ſorry Sophiſme, to conclude the Devils terrour at the ſigne of the Croſſe, from his running away upon then ſe thereof; for this might be done out of deſign to get ground upon men, to return upon them with the more advantage: It might be like the flight of an Enemy to draw into an Ambuſcado, into the ſuperſtition of the Croſſe, that hath ſince ſo prevailed. It is to be feared therefore, that that which the Phariſees blaſphemouſly ſpake of Chriſt, may truly be objected unto the ſign of the Croſſe, that it hath caſt out Devils by Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils. Hear what Whitaker ſaies of the Devils feare of the ſign of the Croſſe, Tom. 1. pag. 390. Hoc omnium interim memoriis infixum eſſe debet, Daemonem eſſe callidum, verſutum, verſipellem, fallacem, mendacem. praeſtigiatorem. Fingit igitur ſe timere ſignum crucis, ut faciat nos externo magis ſigno confidere, quam Chriſto ipſi crucifixo.
3. Some excuſe the Fathers, as if they held, that the ſign of the Croſſe drived away Devils ex opere operantis, only by the faith and prayers of thoſe that uſed it; but others think, that they held it to be done ex opere operato, by the Ordinance of God; and they give this reaſon, becauſe they held it to bee done by aliens and unbeleevers, by Pagans and Jews, who had not the Chriſtian Faith. Naz…zene relates, how that Julian the Apoſtate being about ſome fears of Necr…, the Devils that he had conjured ranne all away, when he by chance had made the ſign of the Croſſe, without any purpoſe or thought of a Miracle; for he marvelled at the matter, as that which was more than he expected: And Gregory reports that a Jew, as yet unconverted unto the Faith of Chriſt, being benighted, and taking up hi… lodging in a Temple of Apollo, routed a great multitude, or Troup of Devils that were there aſſembled, by ſigning his forehead with the …ign of the Croſſe: Unto theſe examples Bellarmine, Eccleſ. Triumph. lib. 2. cap. 30, addes the teſtimony of Augustine: Quare S. Auguſtinus lib. 83. quaeſtionum, qu. 79. dicit indictum à Deo Daemonibus ut cedant cruci, tanquam ſceptro Summi Regis, quomodo populi militibus cedunt, cum ab illis profertur ſignum Imperatoris: Nec mirum eſt, inquit, quod haec ſigna valent, cum à bonis Chriſtianis adhibentur, quando etiam cum uſurpantu… ab excraneis▪ qui omnino ſuum nomen ad iſtam militiam non dederunt, propter honorem tamen excellentiſſimi Imperatoris valent, Cum autem non cedunt his ſignis hujuſmodi poteſtates, Deus ipſe prohibet occultis modis, cum id juſtum, atque utile judicat; nam nullo modo ulli spiritus …ent haec ſigna contemnere: Conrimeſcunt haec, ubicunque illa prospexerint. By … you may ſee, how farre the Fathers went in their opinion touching the efficacy of the Croſſe, and I am ſo charitable as that I thinke you doe not come up unto them herein, and if you do not, you have no reaſon to preſſe me with their ſayings.
3. You ſay out of Athanaſius, that by the ſigne of the Croſſe, all the Idoll Temples were layd waſte and empty: I could wiſh that you had exemplified this by ſome inſtances, that we might have conſidered of what weight they had been: The Papiſts of the Seminary of Rhemes have referred us unto a famous ſtory in Theodoret, which ſaith Fulk, pag 694. is a Miracle wrought by Marcellus Biſhop of Apamea in ſerting the Temple of Jupiter a fire, with ſprinkling of water, after he had ſigned it with the Croſſe, and prayed, when it would not burn with fire: This is a pretty ſtory, if true, and will ſerve aptly for your purpoſe: But, Sir, wee ſhall hope for ſo much charity from you, that you will nor brand for Infidels, all, that have not ſaith ſtrong enough to ſwallow theſe Miracles of the Croſſe. Theodoret might have this at the ſecond hand, and hee himſelf might be deceived, though he were unwilling to deceive, and in all ages devout and wel-meaning perſons have been over-credulous in entertaining counterfeit and fained Miracles.
As for the places quoted out of Auguſtine, I cannot find them in Frobenius his Edition of Auguſtine, and I have no other, and therefore I think you follow ſome other Edition; but the thing is not material; for I hope, that what I have ſaid already will be a ſatisfactory anſwer unto them.
Dr. Hammond. ſect. 27.
And then Baptiſme being the exorciſing of Devils (the ancient Catechiſts wee know were called Exorciſts) the reſcuing of a perſon from the power of Satan into Gods Sonſhip and family, what can be more proper, or agreeable, or exactly ſymbolical, than the uſe of this in Baptiſm, according to that of Tertullian, de Reſurr. Carn. Caro ſignatur, ut anima muniatur, the fleſh or body is ſigned, that the ſoul may be defended or fortified.