Epist. ad

Leandrum.

Hisp.

persons, but natures, abused the ceremony of three times laying on water in baptism, unto the strengthening of their heresy. The element of water is in baptism necessary; once to lay it on, or twice, is indifferent. For which cause Gregory making mention thereof, saith, "To dive an infant either thrice or but once in baptism, can be no way a thing reprovable; seeing that both in three times washing, the trinity of persons, and in one the unity of the Godhead, may be signified." So that of these two ceremonies, neither being hurtful in itself, both may serve unto good purpose, yet one was devised and the other converted unto evil. Now, whereas in the church of Rome certain ceremonies are said to have been shamefully abused unto evil, as the ceremony of crossing at baptism, of kneeling at the eucharist, of using wafer-cakes, and such-like; the question is, whether for remedy of that evil wherein such ceremonies have been scandalous, and perhaps may be still unto some even amongst ourselves, whom the presence and sight of them may confirm in that former error whereto they served in times past, they are of necessity to be removed. Are these, or any other ceremonies we have common with the church of Rome, scandalous and wicked in their very nature? This no man objecteth. Are any such as have been polluted from their very birth, and instituted, even at the first, unto that thing which is evil? That which hath been ordained impiously at the first, may wear out that impiety in tract of time; and then, what doth let but that the use thereof may stand without offence? The names of our months and of our days, we are not ignorant from whence they came, and with what dishonour unto God they are said to have been devised at the first. What could be spoken against any thing more effectual to stir hatred, than that which sometime the ancient fathers in this case speak? Yet those very names are at this day in use throughout Christendom without hurt or scandal to any. Clear and manifest it is, that things devised by heretics, yea, devised of a very here

a Hom. xi. de Pasch. Idololatriæ consuetudo in tantum homines occæcaverat, ut Solis, Lunæ, Martis atque Mercurii, Jovis, Veneris, Saturni, et diversis elementorum ac dæmonum appellationibus dies vocitarent, et luci tenebrarum nomen imponerent. Beda de ratione temp. cap. iv.-Octavus dies idem primus est, ad quem reditur, indeque rursus hebdomada inchoatur. His nomina a planetis gentilitas indidit, habere se credentes a Sole spiritum, a Luna corpus, a Marte sanguinem, a Mercurio ingenium et linguam, a Jove temperantiam, a Venere voluptatem, a Saturno tarditatem. Isid. Hisp. lib. v. Etymol. cap. 30. Dies dicti a diis, quorum nomina Romani quibusdam sideribus sacraverunt.

tical purpose, even against religion, and at their first devising worthy to have been withstood, may in time grow meet to be kept; as that custom, the inventors whereof were the Eunomian heretics. So that customs once established and confirmed by long use being presently without harm, are not in regard of their corrupt original to be held scandalous. But concerning those our ceremonies which they reckon for most popish, they are not able to avouch that any of them was otherwise instituted than unto good; yea, so used at the first. It followeth then, that they all are such as having served to good purpose, were afterward converted unto the contrary. And sith it is not so much as objected against us, that we retain together with them the evil wherewith they have been infected in the church of Rome; I would demand, who they are whom we scandalize, by using harmless things unto that good end for which they were first instituted. Amongst ourselves that agree in the approbation of this kind of good use, no man will say, that one of us is offensive or scandalous unto another. As for the favourers of the church of Rome, they know how far we herein differ and dissent from them; which thing neither we conceal, and they by their public writings also profess daily how much it grieveth them. So that of them there will not many rise up against us, as witnesses unto the indictment of scandal whereby we might be condemned and cast, as having strengthened them in that evil wherewith they pollute themselves in the use of the same ceremonies. And concerning such as withstand the church of England herein, and hate it because it doth not sufficiently seem to hate Rome; they (I hope) are far enough from being by this mean drawn to any kind of popish error. The multitude therefore of them, unto whom we are scandalous through the use of abused ceremonies, is not so apparent, that it can justly be said in general of any one sort of men or other, we cause them to offend. If it be so, that now and then some few are espied who, having been accustomed heretofore to the rites and ceremonies of the church of Rome, are not so scoured of their former rust as to forsake their ancient persuasion which they have had, howsoever they frame themselves to outward obedience of laws and orders; because such may misconstrue the meaning of our ceremonies, and so take them, as though they were in every sort the same they have been, shall this be thought a reason sufficient

vi. 12.

whereon to conclude that some law must necessarily be made to abolish all such ceremonies? They answer, that there is no law of God which doth bind us to retain them. And St. Paul's rule is, that in those things from which without hurt we may lawfully abstain, we should frame the usage of our liberty, with regard to the weakness and imbecility of our brethren. Wherefore unto them which stood upon their own 1 Cor. defence, saying, "All things are lawful unto me;" he replieth, "but all things are not expedient" in regard of others. All things are clean, all meats are lawful; but evil unto that man that eateth offensively. If for thy meat's sake thy brother be grieved, thou walkest no longer according to charity. Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died. Dissolve not for food's sake the work of God. We that are strong, must bear the imbecility of the impotent, and not please ourselves. It was a weakness in the Christian Jews, and a maim of judgment in them, that they thought the gentiles polluted by the eating of those meats which themselves were afraid to touch for fear of transgressing the law of Moses; yea, hereat their hearts did so much rise, that the apostle had just cause to fear lest they would rather forsake Christianity than endure any fellowship with such as made no conscience of that Rom. which was unto them abominable. And for this cause mention is made of destroying the weak by meats, and of dissolving the work of God which was his church, a part of the living stones whereof were believing Jews. Now those weak brethren beforementioned are said to be as the Jews were, and our ceremonies which have been abused in the church of Rome, to be as the scandalous meats, from which the gentiles are exhorted to abstain in the presence of Jews for fear of averting them from Christian faith. Therefore, as charity did bind them to refrain from that for their brethren's sake, which otherwise was lawful enough for them; so it bindeth us for our brethren's sake likewise to abolish such ceremonies, although we might lawfully else retain them. But between these two cases there are great odds. For neither are our weak brethren as the Jews, nor the ceremonies which we useas the meats which the gentiles used. The Jews were known to be generally weak in that respect; whereas contrariwise the imbecility of ours is not common unto so many, that we can take any such certain notice of them.

xiv.

xv. 1.

It is a chanceif here and there some one be found;

P. 178.

and therefore, seeing we may presume men commonly otherwise, there is no necessity that our practice should frame it Harmenop. self by that which the apostle doth prescribe to the gentiles. lib. i. tit. 1. Again, their use of meats was not like unto our ceremonies; sect. 28. that being a matter of private action in common life; where every man was free to order that which himself did; but this a public constitution for the ordering of the church: and we are not to look that thechurch should change her public laws and ordinances, made according to that which is judged ordinarily and commonly fittest for the whole, although it chance that for some particular men the same be found inconvenient, especially when there may be other remedy also against the sores of particular inconveniences. In this case therefore, where any private harm doth grow, we are not to reject instruction, as being an unmeet plaster to apply unto it; neither can we say, that he which appointeth teachers for the physicians in this kind of evil, is, "as if a man would T. c. set one to watch a child all day long lest he should hurt him- 1. iii. self with a knife, whereas by taking away the knife from him, the danger is avoided, and the service of the man better employed." For a knife may be taken from a child, without depriving them of the benefit thereof which have years and discretion to use it. But the ceremonies which children do abuse, if we remove quite and clean, as it is by some required that we should: then are they not taken from children only, but from others also: which is as though because children may perhaps hurt themselves with knives, we should conclude, that therefore the use of knives is to be taken quite and clean even from men also. Those particular ceremonies which they pretend to be so scandalous, we shall in the next book have occasion more thoroughly to sift, where other things also, traduced in the public duties of the church whereunto each of these appertaineth, are together with these to be touched, and such reasons to be examined as have at any time been brought either against the one or the other. In the meanwhile, against the conveniency of curing such evils by instruction, strange it is, that they should object the multitude of other necessary matters wherein preachers may better bestow their time, than in giving men warning not to abuse ceremonies. A wonder it is, that they should object a It is not so convenient that the minister, having so many necessary points to bestow his time in, should be driven to spend it in giving warning of not abusing them, of which (although they were used to the best) there is no profit. T. C. l. iii. p. 177.

a

this, which have so many years together troubled the church with quarrels concerning these things; and are even to this very hour so earnest in them, that if they write or speak publicly but five words, one of them is lightly about the dangerous estate of the church of England, in respect of abused ceremonies. How much happier had it been for this whole church, if they which have raised contention therein, about the abuse of rites and ceremonies, had considered in due time that there is indeed store of matters fitter and better a great deal for teachers to spend time and labour in? It is through their importunate and vehement asseverations more than through any such experience which we have had of our own, that we are enforced to think it possible for one or other, now and then at leastwise, in the prime of the reformation of our church, to have stumbled at some kind of ceremonies. Wherein, forasmuch as we are contented to take this upon their credit, and to think it may be; sith also, they farther pretend the same to be so dangerous a snare to their souls that are at any time taken therein; they must give our teachers leave for the saving of those souls (be they never so few), to intermingle sometime with other more necessary things, admonition concerning these not unnecessary. Wherein they should in reason more easily yield this leave, considering that hereunto we shall not need to use the hundredth part of that time, which themselves think very needful to bestow in making most bitter invectives against the ceremonies of the church. 13. But to come to the last point of all; the church of monies exEngland is grievously charged with forgetfulness of her duty, cepted against, for which duty had been to frame herself unto the pattern of their example that went before her in the work of reformation. a" For as the churches of Christ ought to be most unlike the synagogue of antichrist in their indifferent ceremonies; so out those they ought to be most like one unto another, and for preservation of unity, to have as much as possible may be all the same ceremonies. And therefore St. Paul, to establish this order in the church of Corinth, that they should make their gatherings for the poor upon the first day of the sabbath (which is our Sunday), allegeth this for a reason,b That he had so ordained in other churches." Again," As children of one Father, and servants of one family; so all churches should not only have one diet, in that they have one word, but also wear, as it were, one livery in using the same ceremonies."

Our cere

that some

churches, reformed

before ours,

have cast

things,

which we,

notwithstanding

their example to the

contrary, do

retain still.

T. C. 1. i.

p. 133.

b 1 Cor.

xvi. 1.