the act of faith and contemplation the heart may bee lifted vp yet that eleuation of the heart requireth not the most humble and reuerent gesture of the bodie as kneeling In the ancient Church they were not accustomed to kneele when they made confession of their faith but to stand as Christian souldiers Our act insinuateth such a meditation and lifting vp of the heart as is vsed in actions of deuotion such as prayer and thankesgiuing which are practised by all who giue obedience to the act or doe worthily communicate But put the case that by the act no such thing were ordained expresly yet vpon this antecedent which yee vse namely wee are not ordained by any act of our Church to pray at the receiuing this conclusion will not follow Therefore we may not pâ—ay at the receiuing For wee are not ordained by any act of our Church expressely to discouer our heads in the act of receiuing May wee not therefore discouer our heads But any shew of reason is good enough to deceiue simple people PP But let the words be interpreted of mentall prayer euen mentall prayer is not the principall exercise of the soule in the act of receiuing the sacramentall Elements the minde attending on the audible words the visible Elements the mysticall actions and making present vse of them men should not be diuerted from their principall worke and meditation vpon the analogie betweene the signes and the things signified ANS The meditation vpon the analogie betweene the signe and the thing signified cannot be the principall worke of the soule it being nothing else but the consideration of the similitude that is betweene the natuall vse of the signes and the spirituall vse of the thing signified Namely that as the Elements seâ—ue to nourish the outward man so the body and the bloud of Christ hath a vertue to nourish the inward man and by eating and drinking the Elements are applied to feede the body So by faith the body and the blood of Christ are applied to feed the soule Such a meditation an Hypocrite and Reprobate may haue at the Table therefore it cannot be the principall worke of the minde which distinguisheth the worthie from the vnworthie Receiuer When we heare and reade the Word the principall work of our mind should not be a meditation vpon the forme of the characters the sound of the letters the coniunction of them their sounds in the syllables the syllables in the words or the force and vertue of the words to signifie the matters but the chiefe work of our mind should be to conceiue vnderstand and consider rightly what is spoken So when we come to the Sacrament the chiefe employment of our minde should not be to consider the proportion that is betweene the naturall vse of the Elements and the spirituall vse of Christs body and blood but a meditation and spirituall action correspondent and analogicke to the externall sacramentall actions As therefore the principall externall sacramental actions are to take eate and drink reuerently the symbolick Elements the bread and wine so the principall worke of the soule correspondent by analogie thereto is to remember the sacrifice of Christ the breaking of his body and shedding of his blood to consider the benefit that we haue thereby to put our confidence therein and for all to praise and magnifie his name with thankfulnesse This worke and meditation is proper to the worthy Receiuers and stirreth vp in the soule that most reuerent estimation and affection towards our Sauiour with an humble submission of our minds vnto him which we call adoration whereof the outward testimonie and signe is the humble and reuerent gesture of the body prescribed in the act which is also a gesture most conuenient for prayer So this gesture prescribed in the act doth not only attend the prayer vttered by the Pastor and conceiued by the people in the act of receiuing but is proper to that which is indeed the chiefe and principal exercise work of the mind in al worthy receiuers PP The soule may send forth in the meane time some short eiaculations and darts of prayer to heauen to strengthen her owne weakenesse and returne to her principall worke of meditation and application of the benefits represented These short eiaculations of the minde are onely occasionall as a Christian feeleth his owne present estate and are incident to all our actions both ciuill and religious in the act of receiuing our earthly food in going on the way in hearing the Word If a man bee moued inwardly when he heareth that the Word was made flesh shall he kneele as they doe in the Romane Church If a man should kneele at euery inward motion of the minde when hee heareth the Word what confusion would there be in the Congregation ANS The verball prayer vttered by the Pastor and the mentall conceiued by the people in the act of receiuing is not an eiaculation but necessary to be vsed in the action by the worthy Receiuers for no man can receiue the body and the blood of Christ worthily without a spirituall hunger and thirst after the righteousnesse and life that is in him which spirituall appetite and desire being declared by the Pastor in these or the like words when he deliuereth the bread Grant Lord that by the vertue of thy body which we receiue we may haue life eternall and be raised vp at the last day And when hee deliuereth the Cup Grant Lord that by the vertue of thy blood which we receiue we may be purged from our sinnes and filled with thy Spirit And the Receiuers conceiuing and confirming the same by saying with their mouthes as the custome was in the ancient Church or in their hearts Amen They send not vp occasional eiaculations but necessary and ordinary prayers such as the nature of the action requires Therefore as I said before although occasionall secret prayers may be offered to God without any externall gesture or with such as the worshipper thinks meetest for the time yet these which are purposely conceiued in the ordinary and solemne act of diuine worshippe should be presented to God with such a gesture as is conforme to the order prescribed and receiued in the Church PP A man looking occasionally to a Crucifixe may remember Christ and send vp some ejaculations shall hee therefore kneele The three children prayed mentally no doubt when they were brought before the golden Image but lawfully they might not kneele before it ANS Here yee affirme againe that which yee falsely alledged before namely that the Sacrament or any other creature differs not in the case of adoration from the Papists Images and therefore as it is vnlawfull to kneele before the Crucifixe or Nebuchadnezzars golden Image albeit wee may pray mentally before them so is it vnlawfull to kneele and pray at the Sacrament that is hauing the sacramentall elements before vs or obiect to our senses This comparison is odious false for there is no
their soules after the righteousnesse and life of Christ and the ioy they haue in the meditation thereof with that assured confidence wherwith they rest and repose themselues therupon And this representation and application of Christs death with the testification of our faith therein and thankfulnesse therefore by the celebration of the Sacrament is a reall extolling preaching magnifying and praising of the Lords death from which mentall praise cannot be separated without hypocrisie Therefore to praise God in the act of receiuing is a chiefe part of the principall work of the soule and not your meditation vpon the analogie betweene the signe and the thing signified which is only a catechetick preparation that should precede the principall worke If yee had remembred the Confession of Faith which ye professe youâ— selfe to haue sworne and subscribed I am assured yee could not haue denyed this for in the 13. Sect. thereof about the end yee haue these words The end and cause of Christs Institution and why the selfe-same should bee vsed is expressed in these words Doe this in remembrance of mee as oft as yee eate of this bread and drinke of this Cuppe yee shall shew foorth that is extoll preach magnifie and praise the Lords death till he come If this be the principall end as yee see our Confession speakes of Christs Institution then not onely may wee praise him in the act of receiuing but we ought to praise him In respect of this the Sacrament is called the Eucharist and not in respect of the thanksgiuing wherewith we begin the action as yee would haue it to be in your words following PP Next as it is called Eucharistia so it is called Eulogia for the words He gaue thanks and He blessed are indifferently vsed by the Euangelists Some parts of this holy celebration stand in thanksgiuing as the beginning and the end and therefore is the whole action denominated from a part Saith Casaubone Eulogia Eucharistia vtraque vox à parte vna totam Domini actionem deâ—ignat It followes not that all the parts of this holy ministration are actions of thanksgiuing ANS Although the name were taken as Causabone saith from one part of the action yet it is giuen to the whole action not by reason of this part onely but because it declares the nature and chiefe end of the action and albeit all the parts of this holy ministration seuerally considered are not actions of thanksgiuing yet the whole action which consists of these parts being performed Gratitudâ—nis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Paraeus saith that is with a purpose of thankfulnesse to celebrate the death of Christ is Eucharisticke or an action of thankesgiuing The hand or foot being seuerally considered is not the bodie yet the whole which consisteth of all the parts is the body So it is true to take the bread is not an action of thankesgiuing nor to breake it nor to giue it being seuerally considered but to take breake blesse and giue with intention by these actions to represent the death of Christ and the application thereof to the faithfull for the praise of his glorious grace is an action of thankesgiuing Therefore to conclude as wee come to the Sacrament to bee made partakers of Christs death by faith vnto saluation so wee come to the Sacrament to celebrate the remembrance of his death to his glory In respect of the first end it is The Communion of his body and bloud in respect of the last it is a reall predication and celebration of his death till his comming againe which should bee often performed because as Paraeus speaketh Mors Domini perpetuis laudibus celebranda est that is The death of Christ is to be celebrated with perpetuall praises these are specially offered at the celebration of the holy Sacrament and in this respect it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sacrifice of praise and thankesgiuing PP Obiect What we may craue of God vpon our knees we may receiue on our knees Answ. It is false I may pray vpon my knees Giue vs this day our daily bread but I may not receiue it on my knees The people of Israel prayed for food yet they were not esteemed vnthankful for not kneeling when they receiued the Manna ANS I neuer heard this obiection vsed by any man but by you in this place therefore if it bee false your selfe that forged it is author of the falsehood The Bishop of Galloway who is now at rest hath this obiection in his Treatise which is not yet answered as he alledgeth Whatsoeuer spirituall benefit I may lawfully aske on my knees the same I may lawfully receiue vpon my knees with thankesgiuing But I may lawfully with supplication aske saluation by Iesus Christ on my knees Therefore I may lawfully receiue it on my knees Another argument was propounded in the Assembly at Perth which neither at that time nor since hath been answered and it is this Whatsoeuer spirituall benefit we should receiue in a solemne act of diuine worship with thankesgiuing and prayer that wee may receiue on our knees The body and blood of Iesus Christ in the Sacrament is a spirituall benefit which in a solemne act of diuine worship wee ought to receiue with thankesgiuing and prayer Therefore we may receiue the body and blood of the Lord Iesus Christ in the Sacrament vpon our knees The proposition of this argument at that time denied was proued thus Whatsoeuer benefit we ought to receiue with thankesgiuing and prayer that we ought receiue with the gesture that is most agreeable to thankesgiuing and prayer Kneeling is such a gesture c. Ergo c. In the Assumption it is affirmed that Christs body and blood in the Sacrament should be receiued with prayer and thankesgiuing This we proue by this reason Whatsoeuer spirituall benefit we should receiue with a spirituall hunger and thirst and with a spirituall appetite and desire after the grace and vertue that is therein to saluation the same we should receiue with prayer which is nothing else but such an appetite and desire But the body and blood of Christ is such a benefit c. Next that it should be receiued with thankesgiuing I proue Whatsoeuer benefit we should receiue by extolling and preaching and magnifying and praysing the inestimable worth and excellence thereof the same we ought to receiue with thankesgiuing But in the Sacrament we should receiue the body and the blood of Christ with extolling and preaching c. Ergo c. The Assumption is confirmed by the words of our Sauiour Doe this in remembrance of me and by the words of Saint Paul So oft as yee eate this bread and drinke this Cup yee shall declare that is extoll magnifie and praise The Lords death till hee come againe Because I finde you fighting against your owne shadow I thought good to set downe the very obiections which were vsed in the Assembly at Perth that as yet are not nor I
of the Pastor properly who in these actions represents Christ it cannot be the part of the people to breake the bread nor to giue the bread one to another For this cause in the ancient Church it was euer giuen either by the Pastor himselfe or by his Deacon who supplied his place and helped him in the action but neuer by any of the people to others And Clemens Alexandrinus in the place which your selfe quotes saith not that the people diuided the bread but that it was permitted to euery one of the people to take a part of the Eucharist after that some doubtlesse the Masters of the Church had diuided it in peeces as their custome was The learned Musculus in his common places De coena Domini pag. 444. speaking of this purpose saith Fregit dedit Discipulis suis fregit ipse manu sua panem ac fractum à se dedit Discipulis non dedit integrum ab ipsis frangendum sed à se fractum panem Non dedit vt ipsi distribuerent sed vt à se distributum acciperent ederent Erant Apostoli in ca coena Domini non vt dispensatores mysteriorum Dei sed vt conuinae vt fideles vt Discipuli vt Communicantes Christus verò vt Conuiuator vt Dominus eadem opera instituens ac suiipsius manibus dispensans gratiae suae sacramentum That is to say Christ Iesus brake and gaue to his Disciples hee brake the bread with his owne hand and when it was broken he gaue it to his Disciples he gaue it not whole vnto them to be broken by them but he gaue them that which he had broken he gaue it not to them to be distributed by them but that they should take it being distributed by him and eate it The Apostles were in that Supper not as dispensers of the mysteries of God but as Guests as the faithfull as Disciples and as Communicants but Christ was as the maker of the Feast as the Master at one time both instituting and dispensing with his owne hand the Sacrament of his grace Here you see that Christ is the breaker the giuer the distributer of the Bread and not the Disciples And so the Pastor is now the breaker the giuer the distributer and not the people Let the judicious Reader consider whether the iudgement of this learned man doth better agree with the Institution or the opinion of the Pamphlet penner And whether the Pastor who according to the Institution breakes the bread and giues it with his owne hands to the people or they who giue the bread to the people in whole schaues to bee broken and distributed by themselues comes neerer to Christs appointment But to come to the Cup If our Sauiour in giuing of the same did imitate the custome of the Iewes which Scaliger and others wrote to haue beene this that the Master of the Feast after he had blessed the Cup did first drinke thereof himselfe and then gaue it to him who sate next so as it passed from hand to hand till all had drunken it seemes that the Disciples did deliuer the Cup one to another But there is a great difference betweene the distribution of the Cuppe and the Bread for the distribution of the Bread is not a diuiding onely of the Bread from hand to hand but a breaking is conioyned with the distributing for he that giues to his Neighbour breakes before he giues Now in this breaking we know there is a mysterie which signifies the breaking of the Lords Body which is an act as is before made euident that onely appertaines to Christ both in the veritie when he did offer himselfe on the Crosse and in the mysterie when he did represent his oblation or the breaking of his body by the breaking of the bread and therefore is such an act as ought onely to be performed by him who in the Sacrament acteth the part of Christ and represents him sacrificing himselfe In distribution of the Cuppe there is no such mysterie for the giuing of it from hand to hand signifies not the shedding of our Sauiours bloud but the taking of the Cup by the Pastor and the drinking thereof doth represent that Cup which the Father propined to his Sonne and the Sonne receiued and dranke when willingly hee suffered his bloud to bee shed on the Crosse for the remission of the sinnes of many and for confirmation of the new Testament which Cup Bloud and Testament is in the Sacrament deliuered to the People by the Pastor in Christs name commanding them to take and drinke all thereof He in whose Name this command is vttered is properly the Giuer and propiner because by his authoritie it is giuen and by the warrant of his word it is receiued When the King drinks to any of his Subiects and sends it by the hand of his seruant the seruant is not properly the giuer and propiner but the deliuerer of the gift and propine and therefore as in the Sacrament the Pastor when he takes the Cup and drinks acteth the part of Christ and represents him taking and drinking that most bitter Cuppe of his Passion and death for our sinnes so when he giues and commands the people to take and drinke all thereof he acteth the part of Christ applying his bloud and giuing the New Testament confirmed thereby to euery worthy receiuer whether the same be deliuered immediately to euery one by his owne hand or if it bee sent by the hand of the Deacon as is was in the Primitiue Church or if it be deliuered from hand to hand by the Communicants amongst themselues But without all question if the Pastor may commodiously by himselfe make the deliuery it is most agreeable to the person which hee carries in that holy action who represents our Sauiour first willingly vndergoing death for vs then most bountifully applying it to vs with his owne hand O but in the 22. of Luke verse 17. our Sauiour sayd Take this Cuppe and diuide it amongst you The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Part it amongst you Here you trouble your selfe and the Reader much with a long discourse prouing that in this place the Eucharisticke Cuppe and not the Paschall is meant Yet let it be so What then they are commanded to part it amongst them ergo to reach it from hand to hand This followes not for when euery one takes his owne part of that which is to be parted they diuide the whole amongst them although euery one deliuer not with his hand to his neighbour the thing which is to be diuided or the remanent thereof as by example When the Manna which was gathered in the Wildernesse was cast together in heapes and the families came forth and parted the same amongst them euery man taking his Homer which was his part the Families diuided the whole amongst them without reaching from hand to hand the heape which was diuided so when the Disciples were commanded to diuide
the Congregation of Israel and spread forth his hands For SALOMON had made a brasen scaffold of fiue cubits long and fiue cubits broad and three cubits high and set it in the middest of the court and vpon it hee stood and he kneeled downe vpon his knees before all the Congregation of Israel and spread forth his hands towards heauen and said c. Likewise it is manifest by the Prophet Micha 6.6 That the people bowed when they offered their Oblation Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my selfe before the most high God Heere we haue Salomon kneeling before the Altar and the people kneeling when they offered their oblations Where you say that the Arke and Cherubins were not seene towards which they bowed 〈◊〉 makes nothing for your purpose for the Temple was seene and the Mountaine was seene towards the which they also bowed So was the Altar and the Oblations Therefore this is but a dreame that you haue fancied to your selfe to say it is idolatry to bow our knees to God before his creatures or holy mysteries if so we vse them only as meanes and instruments and memorials to stirre vs vp to worship God PP The Sacramentall Elements haue neither the like presence the like promise nor the like commandement ANS If yee doe maintaine this it is an absurde heresie for the holy Sacrament hath farre more euidence and excellent promises presence and command then any type vnder the Law Our Sauiour before his Ascension when he commanded his Apostles to teach and baptise promised that whilest they taught his people that which hee commanded them He would be with them to the end of the world Amongst the obseruations which hee commanded them to teach this is one of the first and principall Doe this in remembrance of mee Is not Christ present then with Pastor and people according to his promise in this holy action And in another place he saith Where two or three are mette together in my name there am I in the middest of them Where so many Communicants are met together is not our Sauiour in the middest of them Further when he saith of the bread This is my Body and of the Cup This is my Blood doth it not import a coniunction betweene his Body and the Elements and a spirituall presence of his Body in the Sacrament And should not his body and blood be as present to the eyes of thy minde thy knowledge and vnderstanding and to the hand of thy heart thy faith and confidence as are the Elements to thy externall senses and bodily hand Haue we not taught our people to this day and yet should teach them that in this action there is an internall and externall receiuer the hand and the heart that there is an earthly and spiritual gift the Elements of the Sacrament and the body and blood of Christ And should we not beleeue that Christ God and Man is as really present in the Sacrament according to his Diuinity as we beleeue him to bee bodily present in heauen giuing and applying the selfe-same bodie which is in heauen as really to the inward man as the Pastor is giuing the Elements to the outward How dare you then affirme that the Sacrament hath not such a presence of Chrst as the Arke the Propitiatory and the Cherubins had O but he said that he would dwell betweene the Cherubins That dwelling was typicall but Christ hath promised to dwel spiritually and really in the hearts of the worthy receiuers The bread which we breake is it not the communion of the body of Christ The cup which we blesse is it not the communion of the blood of Christ And saith he not of this communion Hee that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood remaineth in me and I in him God called the Arke his foot-stoole but Christ calleth the sacramentall Elements his body and blood Sometime hee called the Arke his face and glory because it was a type of his face and glory but the Sacrament is not a bare type but a powerfull instrument whereby Christ is communicate vnto vs that wee may bee made partakers heere of his grace and hereafter of his glory Finally when we are commanded to doe this in remembrance of him we are commanded to adore him for according to the interpretation made in the Confession of Faith confirmed by act of Parliament which yee professe your selfe to haue sworne To doe this in remembrance of Christ is to magnifie declare extoll and praise his death till his comming againe And this is a reall act of adoration PP Worship is tyed no longer to any certaine thing or or place on earth ANS That is true yet worship stands in certaine actions which must bee performed in some conuenient place as Prayers Supplications Intercessions Thankesging and Praises whersoeuer these actions are performed in these places God must bee worshipped and if the blessed Sacrament bee an action of that kinde in it God must bee worshipped and in the place where it is celebrated PP Adoration is tyed in the new Testament to the Manhood of Christ the true Arke and Propitiatory and is carried to that place in which wee certainly know the said Manhood to exist substantially saith Perkins and therefore it is that wee lift vp our eyes to the heauens where hee is and direct our very externall worship to him ANS We doe fully agree with Perkins in all this for wee neither direct our internall nor externall adoration to the sacramentall Elements nor to the place where they are but to the Manhood of Iesus which wee acknowledge and beleeue to be locally only in heauen Therfore in the ancient Church when the people came to the Sacrament the Deacon cried Sursum corda Lift vp your hearts and the people answered Habemus ad Dominum Wee haue our hearts lifted vp to the Lord. But what is this to the purpose in hand For the question is not in whom God should bee worshipped or in what place Christs Manhood is wherin God should be worshipped but the question is whether at the Sacrament in the act of receiuing the sacramentall Elements externally and the body and blood of Iesus Christ internally we may bow our knees and lift vp our hearts and adore that Manhood by reason of the personall vnion that it hath with the Godhead and the Godhead dwelling in the Manhood corporally This is the only true relatiue worship acceptable to God in the Humanitie to worship the Diuinitie and the Humanitie with the Diuinitie in one Person the inuisible God in his owne essentiall and incarnate Image the Lord Iesus That such worship may and should bee performed in receiuing the blessed Sacrament neuer any Diuine ancient or moderne hath doubted to this day except Anabaptists and Arrians who deny Christs Diuinity and will neither adore him in the Sacrament nor any other action of Diuine worship PP It is obiected and said that we may pray in the act of receiuing Therefore
the body of Christ to be present there By this yee conclude that some of them held the errour of Reall presence in the Sacrament and yet their Confession mentioneth neither reall nor corporall nor locall presence And it is no errour to beleeue the presence of Christs body in the Sacrament after some manner as to beleeue that it is there obiectiue that is as the reall obiect whereupon we must fixe and fasten our Faith and to beleeue that it is there virtute efficacia in vertue and efficacie to nourish and strengthen vs in newnesse of life heere and raise vs vp vnto eternall life hereafter In respect whereof Christ â—aith That his flesh is meate indeed and his blood â—s drinke indeed and that he who eateth his flesh and drinketh his blood hath life eternall and that he shall raise him at the last day Lastly to beleeue that the body of Christ iâ— present in the Diuine Person wherein it subsisteth albeit locally the same be in heauen is no errour for wheresoeuer the person is there both the Natures are preâ—ent coniunctly The Diuinitie is euer and euery where clothed with the humanitie wherein it dwelleth bodily and ought to be considered so in all actions of diuine worship and the Humanity is euer and euery where conioyned with the Diuinitie albeit the same be not extensiue or diffuse as the Vbâ—quetars hold through euery place with the Diuinitie As by example wheresoeuer a man is personally present there his head his body all his members are present albeit the foot or the hand be not in the place where the head is yet they are coniunctly present with the head where the person is and so as Christ is personally present at the Sacrament so is his Diuinitie and Humanity coniunctly present in the Person That to conclude it is no errour according to the Confession aboue expressed to beleeue the spirituall powerfull and personall presence of Christs bodie at the Sacrament and in that respect to worship his flesh and blood there yea Saint Augustine saith That it is sinne not to worship his flesh there But you must be excused to exclude all from your Communion that beleeue any such thing because yee haue denied before that the Sacrament hath such a promise and presence of Christ as the Temple or Arke had vnder the Law pag. 51. And pag. 50. yee denied that it was a signe that should moue vs vpon the sight thereof â—o lift vp our hearts to the spirituall obiect of Faith I vse your own words or a meanes or occasion to stirre vp men to adore the Principall that is Christ And so yee doe acknowledge that they are ordered of God to be signes only and seales of his graces without any promise power vertue or presence of the bodie of Christ that is the opinion of the Anabaptists If these be they whom yee call the purer sort amongst the Bohemians I know not this I know that the Polonian Church esteemes them Arrians who sitte at the Sacrament whom I hope yee will not repute to be the purer sort or reckon amongst the Reformed Thirdly if yee debar from the communion of the well reformed Churches all who are of the Bishop of Rochester and Suttons minde who commend their simplicitie that beleeue Christs presence and are not inquisitiue of the maner but professe with Durandus saying modum nescimus prasentiam credimus then shall yee excommunicate from your societie all that preferre the peace of the Church to the loue of contention and curious disputes that haue disquieted the Church rent the body therof a sunder and diuided the same in factions Where yee say that if the maner of Christs presence be not determined there can arise no other but a confused worship of such a confused and indetermined presence your allegation is but rash and prophane Can yee determine the maner of Christs presence in heauen particularly or the manner of God the Father his presence in heauen and earth albeit we beleeue that God is in essence and power euery where and that Christ is bodily in the heauens These determinations are but generall and confused notions yet God forbid wee should say as yee doe that the presence of the Father and the Sonne in heauen and in earth are confused or that the worship is confused that is giuen thereto according to Gods Word As to the Papists who acknowledge as yee say that there ought to be no adoration but where there is a bodily presence acknowledged in the Sacrament although yee be of the same minde and thereupon condemne all adoration of Christ in the Sacrament yet we 〈◊〉 no more â—o that their opinion then to the rest of their errours and therefore affirme with the learned and Diuine Bishop IEVVEL That iâ— is without doubâ— our dutie to adore the body of Christ in the word of God in the Sacrament of Baptisme in the mysteries of the body and blood of Christ and wheresoeuer any foot-step or signe of it appeare◠〈◊〉 chiefely in the holy mysteries in which we haue a liuing expresse Image of all Christs peregrination in the flesâ— To conclude if yee except out of the number of the reformed Churches all that thinke that Christ is present in the Sacrament and in the Sacrament to be adored I feare yee draw the number of the reformed Churches to a very small count whom yee call the purer sort such as Arrians Anabaptists and their followers But if by the reformed Churches yee vnderstand those who distinguish betweene the signes and the things signified giuing to the signes the reuerence due to them and adoring onely the thing signified to wit the body and blood of Christ in the Sacrament of these some I confesse do erre in esteeming Christs bodie to bee really and locally present and yet seeing they agree with vs in the chiefe and principall grounds of Religion wee must not excommunicate them from the number of the reformed But let vs lay aside these whom yee call Vbiquetars If yee hold the rest for Reformed Churches that are in Germanie Polonia Bohemia Hungaria Denmark Norway and great Britaine with the Church of Ireland for one that sitteth at the receiuing of the Sacrament in all these Churches they are an hundred that kneele I mention not the Church of France where they stand and sit not whom yee condemne by your doctrine of breaking the Institution and transgressing the Precept and precedent of our Sauiour and with them the ancient Church for the space of a thousand yeeres that stood and receiued as also others of the Reformed who follow their example for when yee maintaine sitting as necessarie by institution example and precept yee condemne all that do otherwise Yet yee could pâ—esse heere to excuse them or rather to mitigate your censure of them saying first that by standing men accommodate themselues to a table to participate of the dainties set thereon Next that standing hath neuer beene abused to idolatry as kneeling
the resolution we take at this time touching the Articles propounded will giue to the world a testimonie what manner of men wee are whether such as rule their proceedings by iudgement or are carried head-strong with conceits and opinions that wee bee nor misse-led by ignorance for that is the fault of many amongst vs wee inquire not of matters nor take paynes to vnderstand what hath beene the iudgement of the most wise and learned but follow vpon trust the opinions we haue beene bred with and of such as we affect to helpe this I say I will with your patience spend some time in the question of Ceremonies see what warrant they haue and how they should bee appointed then from the generall descend to speake of our particulars touching which I shall freely deliuer my owne minde and so conclude First then concerning Ceremonies howsoeuer some haue imagined them to bee superfluities which might well bee spared and that the Church of Rome hath made the very name of them hatefull aswell because of the multitude of them wherewith she oppressed Christians as for the ridiculous choice she made of most of them are such things as without which no publike action either Ciuill or Ecclesiastique can be rightly performed To this purpose a Politike Writer hath said well That as the flesh couereth the hollow deformity of the bones and beautifieth the bodie with naturall graces so Ceremonies such specially as ancient custome hath made reuerend couer the nakednesse of publike actions and distinguish them from priuate businesse that otherwise should not bee so well knowne The neglect of this in any State breedes confusion and with confusion the ruine and abolishment of the State it selfe whereof the examples were easie to be giuen in the Romane Republike and others if that were our subiect But wee are speaking of Church-Ceremonies concerning which no man will deny this generall truth That in euery publike dutie which God craues at our hands there is besides the matter and forme wherein the substance of the dutie consists a certaine externall forme required to the decent administration of the same As for example God hath commanded his Word to bee preached and the holy Sacraments to be ministred Baptisme by the Element of Water and in a prescript forme of words such as you know wee vse and the Sacrament of his blessed Body and Bloud in the Elements of Bread and Wine with certaine mysticall words added thereunto heere is the dutie to bee done and the substance of it yet for the ministration of the same in a due and decent manner there is place time and other circumstances moe required The substance of the dutie God hath giuen vs in the Word from which we may not goe but for these things that belong to the outward administration Ecclesiasticall wisedome hath to define what is conuenient what not Neque tamen permisit Dominus vagam effrae namque licentiam sayes Caluine sed cancellos vt ita loquar circūdedit That is God hath not giuen his Church an illimited power to establish what Ceremonies she lists but hath enrayled her authoritie within borders which she may not passe and these are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let all things bee done honestly and by order Honestly that is after a good fashion in a decent sort and to the right ends namely the aduancement of Gods honour and the edification of his Church This is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Then they must be done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by order that is appointed with deliberation and by such as haue the authoritie to ordaine them and being once appointed and concluded by Constitutions they must bee kept and performed by all that are subiect to the same This as one speakes well is that great Ecclesiasticall Canon by which all other Canons must bee squared this is the true Touch-stone of trying Ceremonies and the ballance wherein all Church Orders must be weighed The Ceremonies of the Church must be decent and comely without vanitie without all meretricious brauerie not superfluous but seruing to edification They must also be done to Gods honour and not be idolatrous or superstitious Generally in the Church all things must be done in order and no confusion be either of persons or proceedings for order hath proceeded from the Throne of the Almightie This fabricke of the World that wee see is vpholden by it States and Kingdomes are maintayned by it and without it nothing can flourish or prosper And if Order should haue place in all things sure the Church of God should not be without Order for our God whom wee serue is the God of Order and not of Confusion as the Apostle speakes These things will be easily condescended vpon I meane that religious duties cannot bee performed without externall Rites that these Rites should bee qualited as I haue said established by Lawes and after they are established obeyed by such as are subiect Si enim velut in medio positae singulorum arbitrio relictae fuerint quoniam nunquam futurum est vt omnibus idem placeat breui futura est rerum omnium confusio This is Caluines saying in the fourth Booke of his Institutions and tenth Chapter which Chapter I would earnestly recommend to your reading for these matters chiefly In such generals it may bee wee all agree but when wee come to particulars Tanta moribus hominum inest diuersitas tanta in animis varietas tanta in iudicijs ingenijsque pugna Such is the varietie of mens minds and opinions that scarce shall they euer bee brought to agree vpon any one thing For the Ceremonie which to one will seeme decent and comely will to another appeare not to be so Now in this case what is to bee done Some would haue vs search into the Apostolike times examine what then was in vse to bee done and follow that But this cannot well be the rule seeing the Apostles haue not deliuered in writing all that they did and diuers of the formes vsed by them which by occasion wee haue recorded are vnfit for these times and inconuenient such as the assembling of people in close and secret meetings their Christnings in Riuers the ministring of the Lords Supper after meate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Church-Feasts the abhorring of leuened Bread abstayning from Bloud and that which is strangled the arbitrary maintenance of Ministers and other more particulars which to bring againe in vse were to alter and change in a sort the state of Christianitie it selfe So it being to vs vncertaine what the formes of the Apostles were in euery thing and the dissimilitude of their times and ours being so great they giue no sure direction that send vs to seeke the resolution of our differences in matters of this nature from them Reade Beza his eight Epistle written to that Reuerend Bishop Edmond Grindall then Bishop of London and you shall finde this to bee his iudgement His words are Scio duplicem esse de Ecclesiarum
is a manifest â—ause moouing him vnto that which doth not concerne 〈…〉 the Paschall Supper 〈◊〉 occasion whereof he was sitting â—efore Therefore to conclude if it bee no â—reach of â—he â—nstitution once to giue thanks and blesse â—he bread and cup at once which Christ Iesus in the Institution is said to haue done at two seuerall times it is without all reason to make that necessary which is not expressed in the Institution and call that a breach of the â—nstitution which neuer was instituted Thus hauing shewed the ground whereupon you build your exemplaâ—e actions to bee a heape of sand scraped together by your selfe without warrant of Scripture Antiquity or any moderne Writer the arguments yee bring afterwards from the sitting of Christ with some of the Disciples after his Resurrection when he was at Emmaus and the sitting of the Apostolike Church after our Sauiours Ascension are to no purpose seeing your rule failes and cannot proue the sitting of Christ and his Apostles at the Sacrament if so they sate to be exemplary more then any of the other circumstances of time place order and persons But that the Reader may see how vncertaine your testimonies and reasons are we will consider them particularly PP Christ after his Resurrection when hee was in Emmaus with some of the Disciples as he sate at meat with them tooke bread blessed it brake it and gaue it vnto them as it is said Luk. 24.30 This place is interpreted by Augustine Paulinus c. But so it is they wete sitting when Christ gaue them the bread whatsoeuer be the interpretation of the Text yee see they acknowledge sitting at the Table ANS I see not that they did acknowledge the Disciples to haue sate at Table when they receiued for as I said before there interuened betweene the taking of the bread by Christ and the receiuing of the same by the Disciples the act of thankesgiuing breaking and giuing the bread in which time the gesture of sitting might haue beene altered Thus it is not certaine that they sate at the Receiuing If yee reply it is not written that they did alter the gesture of sitting to that I answere before and it is the Papists argument against the giuing of the Cup to the Layickes it is not written say they that the Cup was giuen in this place Therefore c. Also yee know that the time of Christ his sitting heere with his Disciples at Emmaus was the night season the place a priuate Inne that the breaking and giuing of that bread was before or after another ordinary supper and that onely men were there present and not women all which points being certaine according to your first reason whereby yee â—â—tended to proue sitting to haue been instituted it will â—ollow that all these circumstances and things were instituted to be obserued as well as sitting because our Sauiour retained all these things hauing no necessity at this â—â—me to celebrate the Sacrament Thirdly I say if the â—acrament was here ministred we haue an expresse warrant for priuate Communion which yee impugne for Iesus heere ministred vnto two onely and yee will not â—â—ntent 〈◊〉 haue 〈◊〉 ministred to â—hree Lastly it is the iudgement of the learned Calume That there was no ceâ—ebration of the Sacrament at that time and that Christ was knowne to these Disciples by an ordinary prayer which he vsed in blessing of the Table and not by the celebration of the Sacrament which opinion he saith although it seeme plausible is no more then a coniecture which leanes to no probable reason Then yee see that 〈◊〉 vncertaine 〈◊〉 Christ gaue this Sacrament at Emmaus and if he did that there sitting at the Receiuing 〈◊〉 also vncertaine And therby your argument is nought and serueth only to establish priuate Communion Thus â—aue you gained nothing by this testimony but lost much PP Last of all after his Ascension and glorification in the â—eauens the Apostolike Church sate at Table The manâ—er of â—he partaking of the table of Diuels was by formaâ—â— sitting at table in the house of the Idoll Ionathan the Chaldee Paraphrast Amosâ— 8 interpreteth the garments whereon the Vsurer sate beside euery Altar to â—aue been beds prepared in the houses of their gods to sit 〈◊〉 when they feasted vpon things sacrificed to Idols The people of Israel sate downe to eate and drink at the â—dolatrous feast of the golden Calfe The Apostle compareâ—â— the partaking of the Lords Table and the table of Diuels 1. Cor. 10.21 Next they sate at the Loue feasts we cannot thinke that they rose from the Tables to receiue the Sacrament ANS To proue that the Apostolike Church sate at Table you bring the comparison that the Apostle makes betweene the partaking of the Lords Table and the table of Diuels and the partaking of the table of Diuels you say was by a formall sitting at table in the house of the Idoll for which yee alledge Ionathan the Chaldee Paraphrast vpon the eight verse of the second chapter of Amos but neither the Text nor his interpretation proues the formall sitting yee speake of for the text saith they laid themselues downe vpon clothes by euery Altar and not that they sate And the Paraphrast as Mercerus expounds him saith That those clothes were Parapetasmaâ—a that is couerings or mattes whereupon they laid themselues downe and not sate by euery Altar and not in the Idols house And for the place of the Apostle Yee cannot be partakers of the Table of the Lord and of the table of Diuels there is no materiall or artificiall table vnderstood either by the one Table or the other and by participation formall sitting is not meant This is manifest by these words Yee cannot be partakers for certaine it is that they might haue sitten formally at table in the house of the Idoll and eaten of their sacrifices and might also haue sitten at the Lords Table formally and receiued the external elements But the Apostle saith That these two Tables and the participation of them are so opposed as they could not be partakers of both Therfore by the table of Diuels in that place we vnderstand the sacrifices offered to Diuels and by participation we vnderstand the eating of these sacrifices with a conscience toward the Idoll where euer it was done whether in the Idols Temple as 1. Cor. 8.10 or in the priuate houses of Idolaters as 1. Cor. 10.27.28 And by the Table of the Lord we vnderstand the body and blood of our Sauiour in the Sacrament and by the partaking of the Lords Table the spirituall eating and drinking of his flesh and bloud in the Sacrament by a true and liuely faith These two Tables and partakings could not stand together And so by the Table of the Lord the Apostle meanes not a material table at which the Communicants sate but the body of Christ in the Sacrament According to this Causabone in his Exercitations against Baronius 16.36 citing these words Non
because it lacked your employment of sitting or table gesture In all Reformed Churches of Europe our Church and very few excepted the Communion Tables haue no employment but only to hold and sustaine the elements This is to be seen in the Churches of France Germany Hungary Pole and England And in the Greeke Church Causabone obserues that there are two Tables one whereupon the elements are set before the Consecration and another wherupon they are Consecrate Thus haue I sufficiently declared that the only or chiefe vse at least of the Communion Table is for the setting and disposing of the elements and the consecration of them with the distribution of the same Now that by kneeling in the act of receiuing the vse of the Communion table is not taken away I proue by this reason Whatsoeuer gesture taketh not away the comely placing and decent consecration of the sacramentall elements on the Communion Table from which they may bee giuen and receiued that taketh not away the vse of the Communion Table But kneeling is a gesture that taketh not away the comely placing and decent consecration of the sacramentall â—lements on the Communion Table from which they may be giuen and receiued Therefore kneeling taketh not away the vse of the Communion Table PP The third breach of the Institution made by kneeling is the taking away of that mysticall rite representing Christs Passion to wit the breaking of the bread c. ANS If your meaning be that the Pastor breaketh not the bread before he giue it yee bely vs. Wee know that it is the Pastors part in the action to represent Christ the breaking of his body on the Crosse with the sorrowes of death for our sinnes therefore we obserue that rite religiously But if your meaning be that the people breakes not euery one with another in reuerence and sobrietie as is prescribed in the second Chapter of the first Booke of Discipline set foorth 1560. that shall be discussed in the answere to the sixth breach PP The fourth breach of the Institution made by kneeling is the change and restraint of the commandement giuen to many in the plurall number Eate yee drinke yee to one in the singular number Eate thou drinke thou ANS This is a calumny we neither change the command nor so much as a iot contained in the institution For first wee consecrate the Elements vsing the words of Saint Paul and the Euangelists without altering a sillable Thereafter when we giue the Elements seuerally to euery person wee apply the generall command to euery one in particular which if we did not euery worthy receiuer ought to apply vnto himselfe else he cannot communicate in faith for he that esteemes not that command to belong to himselfe in particular hath no warrant for his taking eating and drinking This application therefore made by the Pastor to euery communicant is not a breach but a meane seruing to the right and precise obseruation of the Institution PP The fift breach of the institution made by kneeling is the altering of the enunciatiue words of Christ This is my body which is broken for you This is my bloud which is shed for you in a prayer To blesse our body and soule saying The body of our Lord Iesus Christ c. ANS This also is a calumny for these words wee vse not in stead of the sacramentall words because then there should be no Sacrament at all for by the sacramentall word This is my body the bread is made the Sacrament of Christs body and by this word This Cuppe is the New Testament in my bloud the Cuppe is made the Sacrament of his Bloud and without this word whereby the will of our Sauiour is declared which makes the Sacrament all our prayers and wishes should serue to no vse It is true after the Sacrament is made by the sacramentall word these or the like words are vttered by the Pastor at the deliuery of the Elements whereby the generall prayer and blessing wherewith the action beginnes is applyed particularly to euery Communicant and they admonished and instructed to apply it to themselues This is the dutie both of the Pastor and of the people for as in the prayer it is our duetie to wish in generall that all who are to participate the bodie and bloud of Iesus may be preserued thereby to euerlasting life so it is our duetie to wish the same to each one seuerally at the instant when he is receiuing And as it is the Peoples dutie when the prayer is conceiued for all to wish that Christs body and bloud may preserue all the receiuers thereof so when they receiue seuerally to wish that themselues in particular may be preserued thereby For if this be one of the principall ends wherefore they come to receiue can they receiue worthily without this or the like wish No man without blasphemie can call this an idle battologie PP The sixth breach of the Institution made by kneeling is the taking away of the distribution that ought to be amongst the Communicants When Christ sayd Take yee eate yee he insinuates that they should take and diuide amongst themselues A little after In the first Booke of Discipline penned Anno. 1560. it is ordained that the Minister break the bread and distribute the same to those that bee next him commanding the rest euery one with reuerence and sobrietie to breake with other because it is neerest to Christs action further we haue a plaine precept Luke 22.17 Diuide it amongst you c. ANS If yee stand to that which yee alleadge out of Scaliger was the custome of the Iewes and vsed by our Sauiour in the Institution yee haue no cause to quarrell the distribution of the bread for the Master of the feast vsed to breake the bread in so many peeces as the number of the Feasters were giuing to euery one a peece neither did each person measure his owne portion giuing the rest to his neighbour according to our custome But leauing this if we shall consider by the Institution what part is proper to the Pastor and what to the People wee will finde that as it is the Pastors part to take bread to blesse and giue thanks so is it his part first to breake the bread then to giue it with this precept Take eate and so that it is the Peoples part not to breake it but to take it broken for as it was the part of Christ first to giue his flesh for the life of the World when he did offer himselfe in a sacrifice for our sinnes which he will haue represented in the Sacrament by the Pastor in breaking the bread so it was his part to giue his flesh to the faithfull not to be broken and sacrificed by them but to bee eaten after it was once broken sacrificed by himselfe If therefore it be not the part of the people either to represent the oblation of Christs body or the donation thereof to vs but the part
the Cup amongst them if euery one did drinke no more then his owne portion did leaue the rest to his fellow the cōmand was obeyed albeit when euery one had drunken the last had set downe the Cup on the Table or had deliuered it into his hand from whom he had receiued it or if one or two had beene maymed and lacked the vse of their hands so that the Cup behoued to be holden to their heads yet if they dranke no more but their owne part with respect to their neighbour who was to drinke after them they diuided the Cup for the diuiding is not the giuing of the Cup but the parting of the wine amongst them that was in the Cup So if they did drinke with such moderation that one two or three dranke it not all but that all did drinke as our Sauiour commanded howbeit they did not deliuer it one to another but receiued it seuerally euery one from Christs owne hand as wee doe out of the hand of the Pastor they neuerthelesse diuided the same amongst them To conclude the command giuen to the Apostles importeth that Poculum benedictionis is not Poculum ebrietatis sed charitatis that is to say The Cup of blessing is not the cup of drunkennesse but the Cup of charity which should not be carowsed by one but should be parted amongst many And therefore these two phrases the one vsed by Saint LVKE Diuide it amongst you and the other by S. MATTHEVV and S. MARKE Drinke thereof all and they dranke of it all are equiualent As to the giuing and deliuering of the Cup whether it should be by the hand of the Pastor or by the mutuall deliuering of the people one to another because it is not defined by the Scripture it is indifferent and left to bee determined by the Church These grounds being sure let vs consider your syllogisme Whatsoeuer action or command is inclosed within the Institution may not lawfully be broken But that the Cōmunicants should distribute amongst themselues was both an action at the first Supper and a precept as hath been proued Therefore kneeling by consequence is discharged By what consequence I pray you Because say you that gesture and this distribution is no wayes compatible It is a manifest vntruth for he that kneeles may take as well his portion of the wine and leaue the rest to his neighbour as he that sittes and if you thinke that one cannot reach and deliuer the Cup to his neighbour kneeling beside him you are deceiued for I haue seene at one daies seruice a thousand persons who haue reached the Cup one to another kneeling as they were accustomed to doe sitting at Table before yet as hath been said that was not necessary for the precept in the Institution is not Giue this Cup one to another but diuide it or part it amongst you or drinke all thereof PP The seuenth breach of the Institution made by kneeling is an vnnecessary diuiding of the Communicants making populous congregations to receiue on many dayes where they may receiue in one ANS Where the Congregations are populous as in Burghes three or two dayes at the least were allowed them And in those same places where kneeling hath been practised the seruice hath beene perfected in as short time as euer it was before which we know by experience PP The eight breach of the Institution made by kneeling is the altering of the purpose of the Institution or nature of this Sacrament It was instituted to be a Supper a spirituall Feast c. Therefore the Guests inuited thereto as you conclude should not kneele ANS To make good this your imagined breach you haue borrowed three arguments from your Master of table gesture Thereof this is the first to which I shortly answere That a common banquet requires a common gesture such as sitting and the same is most fitting but a spirituall banquet requires a spirituall gesture your selfe doe acknowledge it to be a spirituall Feast and the most religious gesture is the most decent in this action and that is kneeling PP Guests inuited to a banquet euen to a Princes banquet kneele not in the act of banquetting ANS A Princes banquet is but a common carnall banquet and therefore men should not vse thereat a religious gesture such as kneeling Besides the length of time which must bee spent at the banquet of a Prince makes such a gesture inconuenient But if you were to receiue one morsell of bread or one drinke from the hand of the Prince himselfe you would bee thought vnciuill if you did not receiue it on your knees And I maruell that you should vse this argument who say so often that the customes of Courts are not rules of Theologies PP The sacramental Supper should carry the resemblance of a Supper in the formes and fashions thereof or else it cannot rightly be called a Supper for it is not onely the matter that is the dainties and food that makes a banquet but also the ordering of the guests and kindly entertainment of them ANS It is true that it cannot properly be called a Supper except it carry the resemblance of a Supper both in the dainties and in the formes and fashions of a supper but it may be called a supper rightly as yee speake although it doe not resemble a supper in all these things For that which is properly called a supper hath plenty and varietie of meat and drinke at least it is a sufficient bodily repast Secondly at it so much time is spended as is proportionable to the entertainment Thirdly the Guests doe entertaine one another by caruing and drinking and other kindly and familiar communication Fourthly The time thereof is the euening or night season I am assured that the Sacrament for any resemblance it hath in any of these things to a supper cannot properly be called a supper farre lesse in respect of ordering and entertaining the Guests For at ordinary suppers Guests are ordered according to their qualities but heere there is no respect of persons for entertainment Guests are entreated prolixè that is largely and long but heere more then sparingly for the bodily part with a morsell of bread and a little wine These being laid aside what are your table and sitting thereat but idle spectacles Yee breake and giue the bread one to another that wee haue shewed to be against the Institution yee drinke one to another but we ought not to drinke one to another as the giuer and propiner drinkes to the receiuer for our Sauiour onely who is represented by the Pastor is the giuer and propiner of the Cuppe externally and of his owne bloud internally and all the people are but receiuers not giuers or propiners in any wise And as to our Communion amongst our selues it standeth not in this That wee haue any fellowship in dispensation of the sacred mysteries but it standeth in the participation alonely not in this that we take the bread breake and giue it
to one another but in this that we all receiue the same bread which is broken by the Pastor and the same flesh which our Sauiour did breake vpon the Crosse such like not in that we take the Cup drinke and giue it one to another but in this that we drinke all of the same Cup which the Pastor giues after thankesgiuing and the same bloud which our Sauiour shed for the sinnes of many otherwise if wee confound the actions of the Pastor and the people wee breake and violate the Institution and disturbe the whole action making the people not only act their owne part but also take vpon them the part of Christ and the Pastor We must not therefore seeke the resemblance of the Supper in these things that are manifestly repugnant to the Institution but in such things as are contained therein Go too then and let vs take a view of these first in the Institution a supper is resembled by a sufficient repast not in the quantity but in the nature and quality of the elements the one being drie the other wette the one meate the other drinke in which two kindes a perfect food consists to teach vs that in Christ is all fulnesse He that comes to me shall neuer hunger And he that beleeues in me shall neuer thirst Secondly a Supper is resembled in the Sacrament by the blessing and distribution that is made by the Master of the feast and by taking eating and drinking of the Guests which are the essentiall parts and properties of a Supper Thirdly as a supper is not the repast of some few but of the whole family and guestes who are present for which cause it was called coena tanquam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it was common So is the Sacrament instituted for all that are present who may and will come and present themselues therto These are the things set downe in the Institution wherein the resemblance stands Your table prerogatiues gestures formes fashions ordering and entertainment of guestes we find not and therefore dare not bee so bold as to affirme them to be necessary As in extending the sense of Parables a moderation would be kept that it be not racked beyond the bounds and scope of the purpose whereupon the Parable is inferred so the parabolicke names giuen to these holy mysteries should not bee extended beyond the resemblance similitude set downe in Scripture for which these names are imposed Therefore when the Sacrament is called a Table and a Supper wee must not thinke that euery thing which is competent to an ordinary table and supper are to be found and obserued there but only such as haue cleare warrant in the Institution either in particular or by necessary consequence In particular the whole substantiall things actions and ceremonies are expressed from the which wee should take nothing and whereunto we should adde nothing The circumstances that doe necessarily accompany such things actions and ceremonies as the time when the place where the part whereon the person by whom and to whom and the order doe necessarily follow the action for some time and place must be when and where it must be done some persons by whom and to whom it must be celebrated some part there must be whereon the elements must be set and from whence they must be giuen and receiued some position and site of body must be vsed by the giuers and receiuers and some order must be obserued for entring and proceeding in the action and finishing therof some things would go before as Sermons or Seruice and it is decent that the celebration be closed with Psalmes and blessings but none of these circumstantiall things are particularly defined by Scripture therefore they are left to bee determined by the Church according to the rules of edification order and decencie PP The Sacrament of the Passeouer was also a holy Supper and the people of God vsed it so they kneeled not in the act of receiuing it ANS The Passeouer was an holy Supper yet it was also coena recta that is a full and perfect repast The Sacrament is a Supper in resemblance onely as hath beene declared not instituted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for filling of the flesh but for feeding of the spirit and therefore is not to be receiued after a common and carnall manner but with a spirituall and religious carriage Lastly where you say that when the people receiued the Law of the Passeouer they bowed their heads and worshipped Exod. 12.17 and they did not so in eating of it That they were more reuerent in hearing the Law of the Passeouer then in the participation of it I answere They bowed not their head whilest they did heare but after they had heard and this I hope you will not deny but after the participation of the Passeouer they gaue thankes with as great reuerence and deuotion as they vsed after hearing of the Word Further at the participation they sate not but stood all the time wherin they shew farre greater reuerence then bowing of the head which is finished at one instant could import And after the first celebration when the Passeouer was slaine and sacrificed at the Altar you cannot say that the people did not bow for Micheas testifieth cap. 6. ver 6. That when the people brought their oblations they bowed As to the eating of it the same was in priuate houses and did serue them for an ordinary supper therfore was it to be receiued accordingly Our Sacrament is not such nor hath no such vse as hath been said therefore our manner of receiuing ought not to be conformed vnto that which was vsed at the participation of the Paschal Supper An answere to the second head wherein kneeling is considered as a breach of the second Commandement PP KNeeling in the act of receiuing the sacramentall elements is not onely a breach of the Institution in the Gospell but also of the second Commandement of the Law The first breach of the Commandement made by kneeling is the sinne of idolatrie idolatrie is committed in this act diuers wayes The Papists kneele in the acte of receiuing because they beleeue verily that the bread is Transubstantiate into Christs bodie and vpon this supposition of Transubstantiation and bodily presence they kneele this is the grossest idolatrie that euer was in the world The Lutheran kneeles vpon his supposition of Consubstantiation and Christs Reall presence by Consubstantiation This also is idolatry and a supposition false A third sort kneele for reuerence of the elements not giuing to the elements that high kinde of worship called commonly cultus Latriae which the Papists giue but an inferiour kinde of worship due as they thinke to consecrate creatures This also is idolatry ANS The penner of this Pamphlet takes it pro confess◠that our Church which hee calleth the third sort kneeles at the Sacrament for reuerence of the elements and to proue it to be idolatry he makes a long confused and idle
withall that there is no part of diuine worship more heauenly and spirituall then is the holy receiuing of the blessed body and blood of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ like as the most humble and reuerent gesture of the body in our meditation and lifting vp of our hearts becommeth well so diuine and sacred an action Therefore notwithstanding our Church hath vsed since the reformation of Religion heere to celebrate the holy Communion to the people sitting by reason of the great abuse vsed in the idolatrous worship of Papists yet now since all memory of by-past superstition is blotted out of the hearts of the people praised be God in reuerence of God and in due regard of so diuine a mysterie and in remembrance of so mysticall an vnion as wee are made partakers of thereby the Assembly thinkes good that that blessed Sacrament bee celebrated hereafter to the people humbly and reuerently kneeling vpon their knees This is the true copie of the act differing in many things from that which you sette downe Pag. 34. in the narratiue thereof the reasons are set downe wherefore the people should kneele when they receiue the Sacrament which are repeated orderly in the conclusion as the causes of the same The first reason is Since we are commanded by God himselfe that when we come to worship him wee fall downe and kneele before the Lord our Maker Relatiue vnto this we haue in the conclusion Therefore in reuerence of God the Assembly thinkes good that the Sacrament be giuen to the people kneeling The second reason in the narratiue is And considering withall that there is no part of diuine worship more heauenly and spirituall then is the holy receiuing of the blessed bodie and blood of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ. Relatiue to this wee haue these words And in due regard of so diuine a mysterie Wee say not in regard of the diuine mysteries which you interpret the elements but Mysterie that is the holy receiuing of the body and blood of Iesus Christ mentioned in the narratiue Our third reason is the correspondence which ought to be betweene the outward gesture of our body and the meditation and lifting vp of our hearts when we remember and consider the mysticall vnion betweene Christ and vs and amongst our selues whereof we are made partakers by receiuing of Christs blessed body and bloud This is expressed in these words Like as the most humble and reuerent gesture of the body in our meditation and lifting vp of our hearts becomes so diuine and sacred an action Relatiue to this in the conclusion we haue these words And in remembrance of so mysticall an vnion as we are made partakers of thereby for this remembrance is a part of our meditation So to conclude we come to worship at the Sacrament the Lord our Maker who hath not onely made vs by creation but who by redemption hath made vs his people and the sheepe of his pasture Psal. 95.7 Psalme 100.3 that is God manifested in the flesh We come to receiue his flesh and bloud and in reuerence of him wee are commanded by the act to kneele As yee then inferre vpon your forgery and falshood that to kneele for reuerence of the mysteries is nothing else but to worship the mysteries so I inferre vpon the very words wherein the act is conceiued That to kneele for reuerence of God in due regard of the diuine mysterie that is the receiuing of Christs body and bloud in remembrance of the mysticall vnion whereof thereby we are made partakers first with our Head and Sauiour and next through him with God and amongst our selues to kneele I say at the Sacrament for the reuerence and respects aforesayd is to worship God rightly and that is the due obseruation of his commandement PP Wheresoeuer the publike intent of a Church is to worshippe the Sacrament euery priuate man following that intent is formally an idolater If his priuate intent be diuerse from the publike yet he is still materially and interpretatiuè an Idolater c. ANS Yee begin now to manifest your selfe yee peruerted the words of the act to draw vpon our Church the vile imputation of idolatry and now yee seeke to diuide the Church and perswade people to disobedience vnder that colour But the publike intent of our Church was neuer to worship the Sacrament but was and is to worship the Lord Iesus of whose flesh and bloud wee are made partakers in the Sacrament And they who follow the Church in this are neither formally nor materially idolaters but true and sincere worshippers of God PP Kneeling directed to the bread and wine in the hands of the Minister is idolatry howbeit the inward motion of the minde and affection of the heart be directed onely to God or his Sonne Christ as the onely obiect of adoration ANS Still you build vpon the false ground you haue layd that kneeling is direct to the bread and wine in the hands of the Minister which is a manifest calumny for the act doth appoint no such thing To direct our knees to the signes and the affection of our heart to the thing signified is not onely idolatry but a kinde of hypocrisie and mixture of worship which God abhorres Neither did our Church euer allow it in our doctrine prayers and exhortations which are vsed at the Ministration this is condemned and the very act ordayning that we should kneele before the Lord our Maker forbids the same PP This immediate conuoy of worship to the principall obiect is nothing else but that finer sort of idolatry and relatiue worship which Durandus Holcot Mirandula Alphonsus Petrus Cluniacensis and others giue to their Images ANS If wee did kneele to the Sacrament that by it our worship might bee conueyed to God our kneeling were such a relatiue worship as yee affirme but we kneele at the Sacrament and not to the Sacrament as wee kneele at prayer and not to the words and oration of the prayer but to God to whom wee direct our prayer When God spake Abraham fell on his face not to the sound of words which he heard but to the Speaker When the fire came downe at Elias prayer the people fell on their faces not to the fire which they saw but to God who wrought the myracle This kneeling and falling on the face before God in the act of prayer in the act of seeing in the act of hearing is a worship done to God immediately and so it is in the act of receiuing the Sacrament PP They say Images are not otherwise adored then that before and about them are exhibited the externall signes of honour The inward affection is directed onely to the principall obiect as the seruices done at a Funerall shew to an empty Coffin as if the corps were present ANS To make it appeare that there is no difference betweene our kneeling at the Sacrament and the kneeling of the Papists to their Idols the Pamphleter such is
agreeable to the nature of the action For wee cannot deny that CHRIST in this action is to be adored and of that wee giue euident testimony euen when wee sit at Table for our sitting bare-heaâ—ed is a signe of adoration as well as kneeling and is no lesse idolatrous if it be done for adoration of the bread That to conclude if wee remoue noâ— the euill opinion the superstition remaines and poâ—â—tâ—s the action but if the opinion be taken away neither doth the action pollute the gesture nor the gesture the action both of them being religious and of diuine Institution sorting and agreeing naturally one with another PP The fourth breach of the second Commandement made by kneeling is the continuall danger and occasion of idolatry We are forbidden all occasions and prouocations of Idolatry There is a naturall pronenesse in all men to idolatry great ignorance in the common people and superstition rooted in the hearts of men Papists daily encrease the idoll of the breadie god is still in great account in the Romane Churches round about vs in priuate corners amongst vs and yet men are not ashamed to say that all memory of former superstition is past and no perill is to be feared againe The Virgins in Cyprians time granted they walked with yong men talked with them went to bâ—d with them but when it came to the act they abstained Cyprian answeres Non est locus dandus Diabolo nemo diu tutus periculo proximus Place should not be giuen to the Diuell no man is long safe who is neere the point of danger The Belgick Churches in their Synods permitted not libertie of kneeling for the same respect of bread worship as may be seene in the harmonie of their Synods set forth of late by FESTVS HOMMIVS Liberum est stando sedendo vel â—undo coenam celebrare non autem geniculando ob artolatrias periculum If a lawfull vse could be deuised yet this danger cannot be eschewed Information by preaching is a sufficient remedie meate doth not nourish so fast as poyson doth corrupt The watchmen are sometime ignorant or negligent many want doctrine it is better to fill vp the pit then to set one beside it to warne the passengers that they fall not in such ceremonies ought to be appointed which by their goodnesse and edification may helpe the preaching of the Word and not such as the Word daily must haue need to correct the strength of many poore Christian soules should not bee tryed by bringing them to the very brinke of danger ANS Your fourth breach is the occasion and danger of idolatry But kneeling imports no more danger nor occasion of idolatry then sitting doth of prophanation and contempt of the Sacrament and with vs there be many moe prophane Christians then idolatrous Papists and people are farre more ready by sitting to take occasion of despising the Sacrament their senses leading them to esteeme basely of it then by kneeling to thinke the bread and wine to be the body and blood of Christ materially the same being against sense and reason and the doctrine of the Word which teacheth them the contrary The Virgins in Cyprians time by walking and talking and lying with yong men did expose themselues to vncleannesse and as Cyprian saith gaue place to the Diuell but the lawfull vse of a religious ceremony can neuer be the occasion of idolatrie nor can the vse of it giue place to the Diuell Res bonae neminem scandalizant saith TERTVLLIAN de velandis Virginibus nisi malam mentem That is good things giue offence to none but an euill minde The iudgement of the Belgick Churches we reproue not because they know best what serues to the edification of their Churches nor will they I hope reprooue our iudgement concerning kneeling which is grounded vpon reasons as expedient for our estate as any can be alledged by them for their owne but the liberty which they giue to celebrate the Sacrament with the gesture of sitting standing or passing condemnes â—latly your opinion of the necessity of sitting which neuer any Church or Diuine ancient or moderne did hold except your selfe yet pardon me for reckoning you amongst the Diuines As to the feare of Bread-worship it will neuer be caused by the religious vse of kneeling but by some peruerse disposition of the Receiuer which nothing can remedie sufficiently but right information made by sound doctrine It is true that to the vncleane all things are vncleane a soule that is euill disposed may like a Spider conuert into poyson the iuyce of the same flower which the Bee turneth into hony out of the sacramentall Word This is my body which is broken for you the Papist draweth the poyson of Transubstantiation but the true Christian the sweet and spirituall participation of the body of our Lord. The word giues not to the Papist an occasion of his errour but he takes occasion at the Word because of the peruerse disposition of his minde so kneeling being a religious ceremonie and commanded by God when it is lawfully vsed at the receiuing of the Sacrament can neuer giue occasion of Bread-worship although superstitious men hauing corrupted their mindes may make it an occasion of that and worse The gesture of sitting is at this day abused by Arrians and made a signe of their deniall of the God-head of Christ and prophane Christians haue taken and daily take occasion thereby to fall into the pit of contempt and prophanation of this Sacrament from which inconuenience no ceremonies that can be chosen will preserue them except they be warned daily and directed by the Word how to carry themselues and if we neglect this committing their safetie to the ceremonies of sitting standing walking or kneeling we shall not only bring them to the brinke of danger but shall drowne them in the depth either of prophanenesse or of superstition and idolatry Now if you thinke that there is greater danger of idolatrie to be feared from kneeling then of prophanenesse from sitting you are much deceiued for if wee consider the disposition of our people amongst whom some I confesse haue vnderstanding yet are inclined to superstition idolatry the greater company are simple ones that neuer did nor euer will as it is to be supposed take occasion by kneeling to thinke the bread the bodie of Christ or yet to adore it for his body This errour was brought in by the Clergie and Scholastickes wherof the people could neuer haue dreamed if it had not been daily inculcate into their eares and they perswaded so to thinke by the false interpretation of the words This is my body The right exposition of the same hath remoued that error and must still debarre it not the gesture of sitting for thereby simple ones are ready by their owne inclination to take occasion as wee haue knowne in time past of contemning the holy Sacrament and so from superstition to runne into a profanation of the Lords Body from eyther