before the celebration of the Eucharist which was never administred till the wole Church met together That therefore which the Apostle reproves and corrects is their indecency and intemperance commanding both rich and poor to wait for one another and to eat this common meal together that they might the more orderly and unanimously pass to the celebration of the Lords Supper In after Ages this Feast was not till the Communion was over when the Congregation feasted together and so departed and so Chrysostom expresly tells us 't was in his days besides nothing is more obvious than that it was customary in those times for persons to fast till they had received the Communion I know a very learned man is of opinion that these Love-feasts were not kept at the same time with the celebration of the Eucharist but besides that his Arguments are not conclusive the whole stream of learned Writers runs full against him These Feasts continued for some Ages till great inconveniences being found in them they were prohibited to be kept in Churches by the Laodicean Synod and after that by the Council of Carthage which though but Provincial or National Councils yet the Decrees were afterwards ratified by the sixth Trullan Council and the custom in a short time dwindled into nothing These things being premised the sacramental elements prepared and all things ready they proceeded to the action it self which following for the main the account that is given us by S. Cyril of Jerusalem and taking in what we find in others was usually managed after this manner First the Deacon brought water to the Bishop and the Presbyters that stood round about the Table to wash their hands signifying the purity that ought to be in those that draw nigh to God according to that of the Psalmist I will wash my hands in innocency and so will I compass thine Altar O Lord then the Deacon cryed out aloud mutually embrace and kiss one another this holy kiss was very ancient commonly used in the Apostles times and in the succeeding Ages of the Church but especially at the Sacrament as a sign of the unfeigned reconciliation of their minds and that all injuries and offences were blotted out according to our Lords command When thou bringest thy gift to the Altar and remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee leave thy gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy gift this being done they fell to prayer the whole Congregation praying together with the Minister which therefore Justin Martyr calls the Common Prayer the form whereof in the Apostolical Constitutions is described at large for the universal peace and welfare of the Church for the tranquillity and quietness of the world for the prosperity of the age for wholesom weather and fruitful seasons for all sorts of persons for Kings and Emperours and all in authority for Souldiers and Armies for believers and unbelievers for friends and companions for the sick and distressed and in short for all that stood in need of help This general prayer is frequently mentioned by the ancient Fathers as that which was at the beginning of the Communion Service though S. Cyrill place it a little later as doubtless it was in his time After this followed the mutual salutation of the minister and people the Minister saying the Lord be with you to whom the People answered and with thy spirit the Minister cryed lift up your hearts nothing being more sutable says S. Cyrill at this time than that we should shake off all worldly cares and exalt our hearts to God in heaven the people truly assenting and yielding to it answered we lift them up unto the Lord the Minister proceeded let us give thanks unto the Lord for what more fit than thankfulness to God and a high resentment of such favours and blessings to this the people returned it is meet and just so to do Whereupon the Minister proceeded to the prayer of Consecration the form whereof we have in the Apostolical Constitutions wherein he express'd huge thankfulness to God for the death resurrection and ascension of his Son for the shedding of his blood for us and the celebration of it in this Sacrament for condescending to admit them to such mighty benefits and praying for a closer unity to one another in the same mystical body concluding usually with the Lords Prayer and the hearty and universal acclamation of Amen by all that were present this done the Minister cryed out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 holy things belong to holy persons the people answering there is one holy one Lord Jesus Christ then he exhorted them to a due participation of the holy mysteries which Cyrill tells us was done by way of a divine Hymn singing come taste and see that the Lord is good After this the Bishop or Presbyter took the sacramental elements sanctified then by a solemn benediction the form of consecration we have in S. Ambrose Lord make this oblation now prepared for us to become a reasonable and acceptable sacrifice this which is the figure of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ who the day before he suffered took the bread in his sacred hands looked up to heaven giving thanks to thee O holy Father almighty and everlasting God blessed it and having broken it gave it to his Apostles and Disciples saying Take eat all of it for this is my body which is broken for many likewise also after Supper he took the Cup that very day before he suffered looked up to heaven giving thanks to thee holy Father almighty and everlasting God and having blessed it gave it to his Apostles and Disciples saying Take and drink ye all of it for this is my blood After this he first brake the bread and delivering it to the Deacon he distributed it to the Communicants and after that the Cup which was likewise delivered to them for the custom of communicating under one kind only as is used in the Church of Rome was then unknown to the world nay and for above a thousand years after Christ. In some cases 't is true they dipt the Bread in the Wine as in the case of baptized infants to whom they administred the Eucharist in those primitive times and to very weak dying persons who would not otherwise have swallowed the bread and that by this means they might keep the Sacrament at home against all emergent occasions and this probably might in time make the way easier for introducing the Sacrament under the kind of Bread only Their sacramental Wine was generally diluted and mixed with water as is evident from Justin Martyr Irenaeus Cyprian and others Cyprian in a long Epistle expresly pleads for it as the only true and warrantable tradition derived from Christ and his Apostles and
measure of their transactions a lie they abhorr'd as bad in all as monstrous in a Christian as directly opposite to that truth to which they had consigned and delivered up themselves in baptism and therefore would not tell one though it were to save their lives When the Heathens charged them with folly and madness that they would so resolutely suffer when a parcel of fair words might make way for them to escape telling them 't was but doing or saying as they were bid and that they might secure their consciences by mental reservations Tertullian lets them know that they rejected the motion with the highest scorn as the plain artifice and invention of the devil When we are most severely examined says Justin Martyr we never deny our selves counting it impious in any thing to dissemble or deny the truth as we know the contrary is acceptable unto God and though we could as they told the Emperours when questioned evade or deny it yet we scorn to live upon any terms by which we must be forced to maintain our lives by lies and falshood This honest and ingenuous simplicity they practised to that exactness and accuracy that for a Christian to be put to his oath was accounted a disparagement to his fidelity and truth So Clemens Alexandrinus tells us he that approves himself and is tried says he in this i.e. the Christian way of piety and Religion is far from being forward either to lie or swear For an oath is a determinative assertion with a calling God to witness for the truth of it But how shall any one that is faithful so far render himself unfaithful or unworthy of belief as to need an oath and not rather make the course of his life a testimony to him as firm and positive as an oath and demonstrate the truth of his assertion by the constant and immutable tenor of his words and actions It 's enough therefore as he presently after adds for every good man either by way of affirmation or denyal to give this assurance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I speak truly to satisfie any that apprehend not the certainty of what he says for towards those that are without he ought to have such a conversation as is most worthy of belief so as no oath should be required of him and towards himself and those of his party to preserve such an even and equitable temper of mind as is a piece of voluntary Justice This and much more he discourses to the same purpose For this and some other reasons but especially from some mis-taken places of Scripture where 't is said swear not at all some of the Antient Fathers held all taking of an oath unlawful but besides that those few that did were not herein constant to themselves the far greatest part were of another mind and understood the prohibition either of swearing by creatures which was the case of the Jews and which our Saviour and S. James principally aim at or of light rash and false swearing For otherwise that the Primitive Christians did not think it unlawful to take an oath in serious and necessary cases is most evident Athanasius speaking of his accusers whom he desired might be put to their oath tells us that the best way to attest the truth of what is spoken is to call God to witness and this says he is the form of swearing which we Christians are wont to use And indeed though we had no other argument it would be plain enough from hence that they served in the Wars and frequently bore arms even under the Heathen Emperours which 't is evident they could not do without first taking a military oath to be true to their General and to die rather than desert their station And this Vegetius an Heathen Authour though living in the time of the younger Valentinian expresly reports of them that when their names were entred upon the Muster-roll they were wont to take an oath the particular form whereof he there sets down viz. That they swore by God Christ and the Holy Spirit and the Majesty of the Emperour which next to God is to be lov'd and honour'd by mankind This agrees very well with that account which Tertullian had long before given of the Christians when being accus'd by their enemies of high Treason amongst other reasons because they refused to swear by their Emperours he answers that though they would not swear by the Emperours genius their genii or tutelar deities being nothing else but devils yet they did swear by the Emperours safety a thing more august and venerable than all the genii in the World In the Emperours they own God's Institution and Authority would therefore have that to be safe which he had appointed and accordingly accounted it the matter of a lawful oath but for the daemons or genii says he we use adjurare to adjure them so as to cast them out of men non dejerare not to swear by them and thereby confer the honour of Divinity upon them For the same reason they denied to swear by the fortune of the Emperour because amongst the Heathens she was accounted a deity and honour'd with religious worship Thus we see that they refused not to ensure and ratifie their faith by the formality of an oath to which that they might add the greater reverence and solemnity they were wont many times to take it at the receiving of the holy Sacrament as we find in the case of Novatus and his followers for taking their hands wherein they held the Sacramental Elements within his own he caused them to swear by the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that they would not desert him But because this may be thought to have been only the artifice of an Heretick to bind his followers the faster to his party S. Chrysostom though himself no good friend to taking oaths sufficiently assures us 't was customary to come into the Church and to swear upon the Communion Table taking the Book of the Holy Gospels into their hands The same appears from the case proposed to Gregory Nazianzen by Theodore Bishop of Tyana and by the instance of Evagrius Nazianzen's Arch-deacon at Constantinople who had it reveal'd to him in a Vision that some persons lay in wait for him and that therefore he must presently be gone the person that revealed it assuring him he would knock off those fetters that were upon him if he would swear to him upon the Holy Gospels that he would immediately depart which was accordingly done And as their caution was great in taking of an oath so their care was no less in making of it good they knew that in this solemn transaction they did in a more peculiar manner call in God as a witness of what they said and a revenger in case of falshood and the violation of it this made them greatly afraid of perjury which they looked upon as a
that is next to God we sacrifice for his safety but 't is to his and our God and so as he has commanded only by holy prayer for the great God needs no blood or sweet perfumes these are the banquets and repast of devils which we do not only reject but expel at every turn But to say more concerning this were to light a candle to the Sun Julian the Emperour though no good friend to Christians yet thus far does them right that if they see any one mutinying against his Prince they presently punish him with great severities And here we may with just reason reflect upon the iniquity of the Church of Rome which in this instance of Religion has so abominably debauched the purity and simplicity of the Christian faith For they not only exempt the Clergy where they can from the authority and judgment of the secular powers whereby horrible enormities do arise but generally teach that a Prince once excommunicate his Subjects are absolv'd from all fealty and allegiance and he may with impunity be deposed or made away How shall such a Prince be thundred against with curses and deprivations every bold and treacherous Priest be authorized to brand his sacred person with the odious names of Infidel Heretick and Apostate and be Apostolically licensed to slander and belibel him and furnished with Commissions to free his Subjects from their duty and allegiance and to allure them to take up arms against him And if these courses fail and men still continue loyal they have disciples ready by secret or suddain arts to send him out of the world And if any man's conscience be so nice as to boggle at it his scruples shall be removed at worst it shall pass for a venial crime and the Pope perhaps with the help of a limitation that it be done for the interest of the Catholick cause by his omnipotence shall create it meritorious Cardinal Bellarmine whose wit and learning were imployed to uphold a tottering cause maintains it stiffly and in express terms that if a King be an Heretick or an Infidel and we know what they mean by that nay he particularly names the reformed Princes of England amongst his instances and seeks to draw his Dominions unto his Sect it is not only lawful but necessary to deprive him of his Kingdom And although he knew that the whole course of antiquity would fly in the face of so bold an assertion yet he goes on to assert that the reason why the Primitive Christians did not attempt this upon Nero Dioclesian Julian the Apostate and the like was not out of conscience or that they boggled out of a sense of duty but because they wanted means and power to effect it A bold piece of falshood this and how contrary to the plain and positive Laws of Christ to the meek and primitive spirit of the Gospel But by the Cardinals leave it could not be for want of power for if as Seneca observes he may be Master of any man's life that undervalues his own it was then as easie for a Christian to have slain Nero or Dioclesian as it was of later times for Gerard to pistol the Prince of Orange or Ravillac to stab the King of France Nay take one of his own instances Julian the Apostate a Prince bad enough and that left no method unattempted to seduce his Subjects to Paganism and Idolatry yet though the greatest part of his Army were Christians they never so much as whispered a treasonable design against him using no other arms as we noted out of Nazianzen but prayers and tears Had S. Paul been of their mind he would have told the Christian Romans quite another story and instead of bidding them be subject to Nero not only for wrath but for conscience sake would have instructed them to take all opportunities to have murdered or deposed him But I shall not reckon up the villanies they have been guilty of in this kind nor pursue the odious and pernicious consequences of their doctrine and practice thus much I could not but take notice of being so immediately opposite to the whole tenor of the Gospel and so great a scandal to Christianity And I verily believe that had the Primitive Christians been no better Subjects than their Emperours were Princes had they practised on them those bloody artifices which have been common amongst those that call themselves the only Catholicks that barbarous dealing would have been a greater curb to the flourishing of the Gospel than all the ten persecutions For how could an impartial Heathen ever have believed their doctrine to have been of God had their actions been so contrary to all principles of natural Divinity Sure I am Pagan Rome was in this case more Orthodox and their Pontifices far better Doctors of Divinity Their Lex Julia as Vlpian their great Lawyer tells us allotted the same penalty to sacriledge and treason placing the one the very next step to the other thereby teaching us that they looked upon treason against the Prince as an affront next to that which was immediately done against the Majesty of Heaven And Marcellus the great Statesman in Tacitus lays it down for a Maxim that Subjects may wish for good Princes but ought to bear with any And shame it is that any should call themselves Christians and yet be found worse than they their principles and practices more opposite to the known Laws of God and nature more destructive to the peace and welfare of mankind CHAP. V. Of their Penance and the Discipline of the Antient Church This why last treated of The Church as a Society founded by Christ has its distinct Laws and Priviledges What the usual offences that came under the Churches discipline All immorality open or confessed Lapsing into Idolatry the great sin of those times How many ways usually committed The Traditores who what their crime What penalties inflicted upon delinquent persons Delivering over to Satan what this extraordinary coercive power why vested in the Church The common and standing penalty by Excommunication This practised amongst the antient Gauls an account of it out of Caesar In use amongst the Jews Thence derived to the Christians This punishment how expressed by Church-writers Managed according to the nature of the fault The rigour of it sometimes mitigated Delinquent Clergy-men degraded and never admitted but to Lay-communion instances of it An account of the rise of Novatianism and the severity of its principles styl'd Cathari condemn'd by the Synod at Rome Offenders in what manner dealt with The Procedure of the action described by Tertullian Penitents how behaving themselves during their suspension The greatest not spar'd the case of Philippus and Theodosius This severity why used Penances called satisfactions and why The use of the word satisfaction in the antient Fathers Penitents how absolved After what time In the power of Bishops to extend or shorten these penitentiary humiliations Four particular cases observed wherein