"The III. John Wiclif, expressed themselves in a little book which they presented CHAP. to the Parliament 18 Richard II. A. D. 1394. "prayers and offerings made to blind crosses or roodys, Life of Dr. "and deaf images of wood and stone, are near akin to p. 340. "ydolatry, and far from charity. And although those pro"hibited and imaginary things are a book of error to the lay people, the usual image of the Trinity is most abo"minable." From hence they inferred, that "the service "of the cross performed twice a year in the Church of "England is full of ydolatrie." They added, that, "if "those nails with which Christ was fastened to the cross, "and the spear which pierced his side, ought to be so "highly honoured as they were, then should the lips of "Judas, which kissed Christ, if one could have them, be very good reliques." What they called the usual imagen of the Trinity, is the first of these two figures, where the three divine Persons are represented by a man's face seen in a prism, where it appears treble. Now it was pretended, that, "the catholike Churche hath alwayes, even from the Bp Bonner's profit"begynnyng, put greate difference betweene an idol and able and nean image, utterly abhorryng and detesting the one, and cessary Doctrine, &c. 66 devoutly and godly receyuinge and allowing the other. 1555. "Since, the origynalls, first formes and patternes of idolés, "to represent by are very untrue and clerely false; where"as the originals, first formes, or paternes of the ymages ❝to represent the very thing signified by them, are faith"ful and true." But if this distinction be allowed, this representation of the holy Trinity must be an idol, since 66 n That of one head with three faces, or one body with three heads, Molanus saith, is much more common than the other, and is wont to be set before the office of the holy Trinity. It seems as if the famous Dr. Michael Servetus had this image in his thoughts, when he styled the Trinity a three-headed Cerberus. • It were better for them, the Papists, to erect altars to an unknown God, than to make those absurd, scandalous, and horrible representations of the mysteries of the Trinity; from whence some of the Anti-trinitarians have taken occasion to expose that sacred mystery to scorn and contempt, and have published a book on purpose to set forth the images of the Trinity, which are publicly seen and allowed in the Roman Church.-Molanus and Thyræus men CHAP. no one dares to say, that this is a faithful and true representation of the divine originals. But to proceed : III. Life of Dr. Wiclif, &c. p. 175. Repressour, p. ii. c. 2. 21. The service of the cross, here mentioned as performed twice a year, is that done on the two festivals of the invention and exaltation of the holy cross, viz. on May 3, and September 14; on which, according to the present Roman Breviary, the cross is invocated to save the present congregation that day assembled in his praises. 22. Dr. Wiclif himself thought, that "though images "which truly represented the poverty and passion of Je"sus Christ, and other saints, were lawful, and the books "of ignorant men; and might be worshipped in a manner, "as for signs of saints, or as books of ignorant men, or as 66 a wife keepeth cheerly her wedding ring for love of her "husband; yet false images that represented worldly pride "and glory, as if Christ and other saints had lived thus, "and deserved bliss by pomp and glory of the world, 66 were false books, and to be amended or burnt as books "of open heresy, against the Christian faith; that to wor66 ship them as Christ or his saints was plain idolatry; that "neither Christ nor his Apostles commanded nor coun“selled such images to be made; and, that if simple or ignorant people did idolatry by them, in placing their hope or trust in them, or giving the honour to them "that is due to God alone, as swearing by them, or offer"ing to them, they should be broken or burnt." 66 66 23. Bishop Pecock in justifying this governance, and shewing, that the lay people over-myche and untreuly blamed the Clergy, on account of the having and using of images, no way pretended to plead for the costly adorning of them, and the offerings made to them, or for people's giving the honour to them, that is due to God only. So far from it, that he owns "rebuke is given in Scripture to men which taken and holden graven images to be their 66 tion four sorts of images of the Trinity that have been used in the Roman 66 66 66 III. "gods; that Salomon was so miche *fonned, masid, and CHAP. "dotid, that he worschipped those ydolis as gods; that “ymagis mowe leefulli be broke, whan thei ben usid in* befooled. 66 ydolatrie irremediabli, for so it was in the caas of the "brasen serpent in the time of Ezechie; that, at the "leeste, ymagis mowe leefulli be broken whanne more "harme irremediabli cometh by the havyng and using of ❝ them, than is all the good which cometh bi the havyng " and using of them; that more than this cometh not forth by this proces of Ezechie iiii. Reg. xviii. and, that there"fore the proces is over feble, for to † weerne ymagis to be † warn. "had and usid whanne thei ben had and usid without 66 ydolatrie, or with ydolatrie remediable, or with other "harm remediable, nameliche lasse than is the good comyng bi the uce of the ymagis." "Now ydolatrie," the Bishop observed, was never doon save whanne a man took "a creature for his God, and worschipid thilk creature as "for his God. But so saith he, no person dooth in these "daies aboute the ymagis had and usid in the chirche, "aftir that the man is come into yeeris of discretioun, and "is passid childhoode, and which is not a natural foole. "As to the othir objections against the use of ymagis, viz. "that the peple trowen or beleeven summe wrong and 66 untrewe opiniouns by occasion of ymagis, as, that sum godli vertue is in the ymagis, or, that tho ymagis doon "myraclis, or that thei ben ‡ quyk, and seen, heeren, or ‡ alive. 66 speken at sum while, or that thei sweten at sum while; "that ymagis ben occasiouns of sume moral vicis in the peple, as of over myche worschiping doon to them, of "pride, or of covetise, or of suche othere:" These his Lordship reckoned remediable harms, and therefore not sufficient for to reprove and weern the said having and using of images. He therefore maintained, that "the having "and setting up of ymagis in churchis, and the using of "them as rememoratif or mynding signes is not reproved "by eny ground of feith; that is to seie, not bi holi Scrip66 ture, neither bi long use of the churchis bilieving, nei"thir by eny miraculose therto of God's wirching. And 66 66 |