of the Church To me it is incredible that Almighty God should appoint an Order of men to be the Guides of Souls and the Stewards of his Divine Mysteries and the means to bring them to Eternal bliss and yet not intrust them with sufficient Power for the due and worthy Administration of that Office 'T is the great charge laid upon Bishops to feed the flock of Christ Act. 20. 28. And in Scripture-sense this is to be done not only by Preaching the Gospel but also by wholsome Laws and Discipline Some means they must have to accomplish this end which can be no other then a Legislative Power And this is evident from Matt. 16. 19. What ever ye bind on Earth c. Which is understood not only of Absolution but of Excommunication and inflicting Censures And in those words of the Synod Act. 15. 28. It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay upon you no other burden than these necessary things Hence it is manifest that the Apostles imposed a Law upon Believers which they were obliged to observe else they would never have called those things necessary and a burden And why did our blessed Lord establish Superiority and Subordination in his Church some Persons to Govern and others to Obey but to keep good Order and prevent Confusion and this is no less needful in ours then it was in the Apostles times This Power therefore is to be continued in the Church to the Worlds end Matthew 28. For a full and clear Demonstration hereof These several particulars have been proved in some other Papers 1. That Christ and his Apostles intended Vnity and to obtain and preserve that Vnity They enjoyn'd Order and Vniformity in Churches 2. That the Apostles at their first preaching of the Gospel did not presently establish that Order which the state of the Church did afterwards require 3. That the Apostles expected such a settlement should be made by such as were entrusted with the Government of the Church 4. That they gave certain general Rules or Canons to direct the Governours of the Church in making such establishmenrs 5. That they left it to the Judgment and prudence of Church-Governours to determine the particulars to be established in such cases Now let us lay these Principles together 1. That the solemn Worship and Service of God cannot be performed without some Rites and Ceremonies as was observed above from Zanchy Rungius and others 2. That these Rites and Ceremonies are to be observed according to the Rules of Decency and Order And 3. That these Rules are to be adjudged and determined by such as are invested with Authority to that effect From hence it will follow unavoidably that all Subjects and Members of the Church are obliged to obey such Laws and Establishments For 't is most certain where some are impower'd to Command others are injoyned to obey else the Power given to Superiors were Nugatory and given to no effect Whereas they mention New Terms of Communion I confess the word New to my self is somewhat scandalous I am no lover of Innovations in Religion tho the Addition of Collects and Forms of Prayer upon emergent occasions is both frequent and very usefull and alterations are allowable too when the change is of importance and does not argue Levity or give scandal As to Terms of Communion the expression may be equivocal For my part I would have nothing establisht in the Church of God but what has at least general Rules and Directions in Holy Scripture and a just Authority to warrant it And this has been very carefully observed in all the Rites and Ceremonies establisht in this Church of England For any man to imagine that these things make a new worship is a very great mistake Any thing added to Divine Institutions as essential or substantial and simply necessary does change the worship saith Zanchy and makes it another But what are added yet only as things indifferent Propter Ordinem Propter Decorum ad edificationem ea substantiam Sacramentorum eòque cultum non Mutârunt Such things added for Order for Decency and to edification they change not the substance of the Sacraments for example nor the nature of the worship Now if I understand what he means by his Terms of Communion I argue thus She that has a Power to appoint Rites and Ceremonies for edification Decency and Order she hath a Power to impose Terms of Communion But the Church has a Power to appoint Rites and Ceremonies for edification Decency and Order Therefore the Church hath Power to impose Terms of Communion Besides the Proofs already produced is not this evident in the Practice of all Churches Are the Terms of Communion numerically the same in the Greek and Latin Churches If we look into the constitution of the several Protestant Churches shall we not find variety of Customs Rites and Ceremonies among them This Discord we cannot but observe in the Harmony of Confessions whether we examine Cambridge Edition of 1586. or Geneva Edition 1654 and the Church of England declares her self in these words We think it conveient that every Countrey should use such Ceremonies as they shall think best to the setting forth of God's honour and glory and to the reducing of the People to a most perfect and godly living without Error or Superstition Are the Terms of Communion the same among the Lutherans and Calvinists The Lutherans reckon these things in the Catalogue of things indifferent 1. To place Historical Images or pictures in the Church for Ornament and Commonefaction 2. To use Stone-tables which they commonly call Altars in the Administration of the Lords Supper 3. To adapt a peculiar kind of Garment to the Minister in his publick administration of the holy Office 4. In the Administration of the Eucharist either to break and divide little Cakes or Wafers or else to make use of single small ones fit for distribution 5. In Baptism to use the Lessons of exorcismes and the sign of the Cross. 6. To sing the Sacred Hymns either in the German or Latin tongue with the voice or Musical Instruments Haec Similia c. These and such like things they who teach that they are simply necessary to be reteined or necessarily to be abolished they do offer violence to Christian liberty on both sides and are to be avoided as False-teachers desirous to inthrall us in the Yoake of humane Traditions Notwithstanding this their Declaration we cannot be admitted to their Communion unless we submit to the Terms of their establishment And is not the case the same among the Presbyterians Why were the Directory the Ordinance for Ordination of Ministers the form of Church-government for England and Ireland Their Confession of Faith and their advise for Catechisms were not all these designes to be imposed as Terms of Commmunion And I am sure they were new ones never heard of in the World till the years 1645.
generally in use in the Primitive and purest Ages of the Christian Church They are Factors for the Pope I do not say directly by Confederacy and an avowed Consent but yet really and in effect they do carry on the Plot and Design of the Church of Rome which is to remove the King out of their way that they may destroy the Protestant Church of England and introduce the Popish Religion and Tyranny in stead of it Having made it thus evident that these Dissenters hold the same dangerous Principles as to King and Government which are maintained by the Jesuites improve their Plots and carry on the same design of Subverting the Protestant Church of England I shall proceed with the Complaint of Liberty and Property against Arbitrary Government I would only desire the honest Reader to enquire who they were that first cryed out against Arbitrary Government or the designs of it in the Reign of King Charles the First It was the Protestant Dissenters and principally those then called Presbyterians Who was it that animated the People to take up Arms for Defence of Liberty and Property invaded only by themselves against the King The very same Who maintained continued and finished the War and the Tragedy of the King's Murder The same men though now they had gotten new Frocks and Vizards on and call'd themselves Independents or Congregational-Church-Men a Name that Comprehended all Sects and Opinions Who were they that banisht his present Majesty sought that life which could not have been preserved but by a Miracle Who composed and commanded Olivers standing Army Who commanded all the Garrisons Forts Castles Ships Who rul'd according to Will without and against Law Even the very same Men the the Godly Party of Congregational Protestant Dissenters Who are they that cry out now against the Government and talk of the great danger of Arbitrary Power Search the City examine the Countrey Ransack the Coffee-Houses frequent the Clubs If you hear any Person inveigh against the Government or Discourse of the fear of Arbitrary Designs you may pawn your life on 't you may find him in a Conventicle upon a Sunday if he pretends to any Religion or reading Hob's Divinity and Atheistical Principles at home It is an Old saying He that accuses another ought to be clear himself And therefore saith that Author for shame let the Congregational-Men leave clamouring about Persecution and Arbitrary Government of which they are so horribly guilty and for which they have so great an Accompt to make to Allmighty God And now let us appeal to the Common sense of all Mankind is it reasonable that a Prince should give establishment to any party that maintains Principles destructive to himself and his Government Sure no wise or Loyal Person can imagine it For if self-preservation be allowable in any Case without doubt of all men the Sovereign has the fairest Title to it I remember Mr. Ormerod near Four Score Years ago having made a Parallel betwixt the Papists and Dissenters of those times concludes his Address to them in these words And thus I leave you wishing first of all your Conformity if that cannot be had my next wish is that you were dealt withal as Philip of Macedon dealt with two of his Subjects in whom there was little hope of Grace he made one of them to run out of the Countrey and the other to drive him so his People were rid of both But this shall not be my Conclusion These Dissenters would have us comply with them But in what In the Change of Government and Discipline in the Church according to their Fancies in abolishing the Forms of God's Solemn Worship with the Rites of Decency and Order to promote the same We cannot in Prudency or Conscience gratify this their humour against the general Rules of Holy Scripture the light of Reason the Practice of the Primitive Church and the Common sense of the most Sober and Learned Protestants What then Would they have us comply with them against the Church of Rome and the practices of the Jesuites With all our hearts But we must remember the Jesuites have two Heads of Doctrine both destructive to the Principles of Christianity wherein we utterly dissent from them The first in reference to God's Worship and Service the second in reference to the King his Crown and Government We renounce the whole let them do so likewise else let them be lookt upon as Parcel-Jesuites for such they are unless they renounce not only such Doctrines as lead to Superstition and Idolatry but such also as lead to Sedition and Rebellion Let them say the Pope is Antichrist and let them say the same as the Apostle does 2 Thes. 2. 4. of every Adversary that resists the Lord 's Annointed that opposeth and exalteth himself above Kings and Potentates to whom the name of God is attributed In which sense we doubt not to say with St. John that even now are there many Antichrists Let them renounce those Popish and Jesuitical Principles which were Condemn'd for Treason in the Spencers even by Papists themselves let them renounce 1. That damnable Doctrine of taking up Arms by the Kings Authority to fight against his Person Which as is very well observed by a worthy person * was hatcht under the Romish Territories and made use of in the Holy League of France 2. That we may seize the Kings Revenues stop his Customes deny him all due supplies to support and preserve the honour and Peace of his Crown and Kingdoms as they did in 42. and bring him into necessity that we may reform his mind and gain our own ends of him Per Asperte as Lawyer 's phrase it that is by rigour or constreint 3. That if his Majesty will not repeal Laws and take off the wheels of Government and model it to our humour we may enter into Leagues and Associations without his consent and Govern in aid of him There are Jesuitical Doctrines and we desire they may joyn with us in a hearty Renunciation of them Let them also protest they will never attempt what the Jesuites are presumed to have plotted and contrived the Death of the King the Ruine of the Church with the Subversion of the establisht Laws and Government For ther 's little hopes of a hearty Union till men come to so much ingenuity and remorse as to acknowledge how far they have gon astray and declare their Change with a stedfast Resolution to return into the right way Let them therefore Submit to the Laws establisht and joyn with us in the performance of God's Publick and Solemn Worship Let them Subscribe and preach the Homilies against Rebellion and declare as we do in the midst of their respective Congregations their unfeigned Assent and Consent to them This will secure the King's Person the Protestant Religion and the Government established And whatever becomes of the Protestants abroad for want of supplies to enable the King to interpose
Men preach such as they print with Publick Allowance and therefore they ought to provide better for their Souls elsewhere Especially they say That the Doctrine of Justification is Articulus stantis vel cadentis Ecclesiae an Article with which the Church falls or stands This Article say they in the Parish where we live is quite demolish'd by the Doctrine of Justification by Works We are bound therefore to provide for our safety and depart and when We are once out We will advise upon another Church not which is tolerable but which is most eligible and in all things nearest the Word p. 161 Sect. 5. They plead That there 's no Obligation upon them to own the Churches Power to impose new Terms of Communion unless the Church can prove her Power from Christ. It 's not for them to disprove it it lies upon her to prove it and to prove it substantially too or else it will be hard to prove it their duty to own it p. 181 Sect. 6. They say The World is pestered with Disputes about Worship about Religion and therefore since All cannot be in the right they are willing to go the safest Way and worship God according to his Word If the things disputed be lawful to be done let them be so they are sure it is lawful to let them alone And they think there 's no great hazard in keeping to Scripture Rule nor can believe that Christ will send any to Hell because they did not worship God in an external Mode more neat and spruce them God commanded p. 190 Sect. 7. They pretend That the things impos'd are parts of Worship which none can create but God nor will God accept of any but such as are of his own creating and whether they be Integral or Essential parts They do not know but in the Worship of God they find them standing upon even ground with those that are certainly Divine or at least as high as Man can lift them p. 196 Sect. 8. They do not find that God ever commanded the things imposed either in General in Special or their Singulars If God has commanded a duty to be done the Church must find a place to do it in But though the Church must find a place for the Duty a time for the Duty she may not find new Duty for the Time and Place p. 216 Sect. 9. They are the more cautious of all Ceremonies because the Old Church of England in her Homilies Serm. 3. of Good Works tells us That such hath been the corrupt Inclination of Man superstitiously given to make new Honouring of God of his own head and then to have more Affection and Devotion to keep that than to search out God's holy Commandments and do them p. 247 Sect. 10. They say They have read over all the Books that have been written in Justification of those things and they find their Arguments so weak their Reasons so frivolous that setting aside Rhetorick and Railing there 's nothing in them but what had been either Answered by others or is contradicted by themselves which hardens them in their Errour who are gone astray into the right Way p. 254 Sect. 11. They say It 's their Duty to endeavour a Reformation according to the Word which if others will not they cannot help it and hope they will not be angry with the Willing p. 262 A Fresh Inquiry Into the PLEA of the NON-CONFORMISTS c. SECT I. THey plead that some things are imposed upon their Faith tendred to subscription as Articles of Faith which are either false or at least they have not yet been so happy as to discover the truth of them In Article 20. they are required to subscribe this Doctrine The Church hath Power to decree Rites and Ceremonies Which Clause of the Article as we fear it hath been by some indirect means shuffled into the Article it not being found in the Authentick Articles of Edw. 6. so it proves also that the Terms of Communion have been enlarged since the first Times of the Reformation The Answer The Articles of the Church of England are not imposed under Oath nor required to be received with a like affection and piety as the holy Scriptures are nor to be believed as Articles of Faith further then they can approve themselves to be contained in the Holy Scriptures For the Sixth of those Articles declares thus Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith or be thought requisite and necessary to salvation The moderation of the Church of England herein is evinced in another Treatise viz. The Proselyte of Rome called back c. p. 7. to the 10. There is no Protestant Church of any creditable denomination more moderate and ingenious in this point then ours is To keep them from Sects and Corruptions and tie them up close to the Doctrine of the Augustan Confession we find it decreed among the Lutherans Nemo quicunque sit That no man whatsoever shall be admitted to any Office or Ministry in their Churches Schools or otherwise nor shall any such be tolerated therein unless they shall approve and receive such a body of Doctrine as there mentioned and shall persevere therein and neither by word nor deed oppose the same And it is further decreed and established That if any shall be but suspected as contradicting those Doctrines and the unanimous consent therein if they refuse to be better instructed and give no place to the Fatherly admonitions of others their Superiours they shall be removed from their Offices or Employments or else their names shall be signified that due execution of punishment may proceed against them as persons refractory and contumacious And 't is their practice too upon occasion to make their Ministers and Professors to renounce such opinions as are declared to be erroneous sub jurisjurandi sacramento even under the Sacrament of a solemn Oath And the Calvinists are no less strict in this point The Proxies or Deputies to be sent from the Provinces to the National Synod as is expressed in the Form of the Letters written à Synodo Victoriacensi in Brittain are tied to this Solemn Engagement Promittimus coram Deo c. that is We do promise before God that we will submit our selves to all things which shall be agreed and decreed by your holy Assembly and will execute the same with all our power because we are persuaded that God presides over it and that he will direct you by his Holy Spirit according to the rule of his Word into all truth and equity Here we have a promise of submission made before God by a kind of implicit Faith and blind Obedience to the Decrees of a Synod of Calvinists before the Convention of it And this is grounded upon a Divine persuasion else with what confidence can they
the exercise of that Right and Power in every Christian Common-wealth ought to depend upon the Authority of the Supream Civil Magistrate Wherefore that Learned and Ingenious S. P. in The Case of the Church of England p. 264 265. hath very well observed That the Bottom we build upon is this That the Church own'd by the Law of England is the very same that was establisht by the Law of Christ. For unless we suppose that the Church was Originally settled by our Saviour with Divine Authority we deny his Supremacy over his own Church and unless we suppose that the Supream Government of the Kingdom has power to abet and ratifie our Saviours establishment by Civil Laws we deny his Majesties Supremacy over his Christian Subjects and therefore both together must be taken into the right State and Constitution of the Church of England There are some Rites and Ceremonies whose Original cannot be trac'd out having bin in use in the Church of God at all times and places These are supposed with great Reason to have been derived from the Apostles themselves for such an Vniversal practice could not be introduced but by a Common and Vniversal Authority as an Vniversal effect must have a Cause of no less efficacy to produce it Now for any Particular Church to attempt a Change of such Rites and Ceremonies is as if a Quarter Sessions in a private Corporation should take upon them to dissolve or over-rule what has been regularly done and settled in a Full Parliament 3. We should consider whether there be any need of such Reformation as they endeavour There are some Rites and Ceremonies which no Person no Particular Church should presume to alter because the Vnity and Vniformity of the Catholick Church is preserved hereby and if we will possess our selves to continue in her Communion we must observe them upon the account of our Conformity to her practice But other particular Rites and Ceremonies are left to the prudence of Particular Churches to exercise their Power and Liberty with respect to the Manners and Temper of the People But That there is no Necessity of Reformation of the Publick Doctrine of the Church of England hath been made good against Doctor Burges by the Right Reverend Learned and Judicious Doctor Pearson now Lord Bishop of Chester And that there is no Need of such a Reformation of the Publick 1. Doctrine 2. Worship 3. Rites and Ceremonies 4. Church Government 5. Discipline as is pretended hath been proved by H. S. D. D. 1660. But we shall not take it for granted tho we know no Answer returned to these and several other Learned Men who have wrote in Justification of the Church of England to that effect but give our proof for it That Church which is already Reform'd and establisht according to the Word as far as a state of Frailty and Humane Prudence will admit That Church hath no need of further Reformation But such is the Church of England I would not be mistaken For I know there ought to be a proficiency in Grace and Holiness and the practice of all Christian Vertues till we arrive at such a Degree of Perfection as this Mortal condition is capable of But for a further Reformation of Doctrine or Government of Liturgy Rites and Ceremonies or of Laws and Canons if what are already enacted were duly inforced and executed we have no need of it It is duly observed by that Worthy Person even now mentioned That if every defect from Christs Institution should forfeit the Rights of a Christian Church there never was as we may find by the Apostles account of the Churches in their times nor ever will be such a thing as a Church in the World For in this life it is not to be expected that any thing should be absolutely perfect the very nature of Christianity supposes Imperfection and accepts of Integrity and as long as with sincere Affections men adhere to the Principles of the Church they are within the Promise of the Grace of God That the Church of England is not Reformed up to those Principles who can make good the Charge against her Where was the failure Did not our Reformers use sufficient Means 1 Did they not search the Scriptures according to the Rule of our Blessed Saviour Did they not understand the sense and latitude of the Scriptures Had they not an eye to the Rules of Decency and Order to God's Glory and the Edification of the Church 2 Did they not consult Antiquity according to Divine Direction Job 8. 8 10. Jer. 6. 16. 3 Did they not use a Moral Diligence to search into the nature of things for their full satisfaction 4 Did they not make this Inquiry after the Truth with a Christian Simplicity and Godly Sincerity We appeal to the Searcher of Hearts to witness this and to their own Learned and Judicious Writings to assert the other 5 Had they not as full Authority both Ecclesiastical and Civil as was needful to establish that Reformation And 6 and Lastly Have we not had God's Blessing while we Conform'd obediently to it to assure us he was well-pleased with that Establishment King James tells us in his Proclamation even now mentioned We had no reason to presume that things were so far amiss as was pretended because we had seen the Kingdom under that Form of Religion which by Law was established in the days of the late Queen of Famous Memory blessed with a Peace and Prosperity both extraordinary and of many years continuance a strong Evidence that God was therewith well-pleased But 't is an ill sign of a growing Reformation when the times afford us as they have done a long while so many Evil men and Seducers who wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived 2 Tim. 3. 13. A Reformation of Manners and Practice we acknowledge highly needful but for Ecclesiastical Orders and Constitutions about the Worship and Service of God there wants nothing but a hearty Observation to improve them 4. It is to be considered with great attention Whether such as are in Authority and are satisfied that there is no need of Reformation should alter Legal Constitutions to gratifie whether the Humor or Importunity of Dissenters In the management hereof I shall consult no Passion or Interest nor be swayed by any prejudice resolving only to give the sense of other Protestants and I shall begin with the Lutherans 'T is the Resolution of David Rungius After a faithful account given of the free use of things indifferent such as will not submit to a just Authority nothing is to be done in their favour but as Persons persisting in their purpose out of Hypocrisie or Stubborness out of a love of Contention or some other Mental distemper they are sharply to be reproved Brochmand another eminent Man of that Party saith Some respect is to be had of the Weak in order to their Information but to such as are obstinately Superstitious
THE VERDICT UPON THE Dissenters Plea Occasioned by Their MELIVS INQVIRENDVM To which is added A LETTER from Geneva to the Assembly of Divines Printed by His late Majesties Special Command with some Notes upon the Margent under His own Royal and Sacred Hand ALSO A POSTSCRIPT touching the Union of Protestants LONDON Printed for Robert Clavel at the Peacock in St. Paul 's Church-Yard 1681. THE INTRODUCTION TO A Person of HONOVR ASSoon as a tedious Distemper would give leave I have returned you the Inquisition taken at your Command upon the Melius Inquirendum which you sent me To deliver my Opinion freely as you have Conjur'd me The Author seems to have very little of that Tender Conscience which he pleads sor If we may take our Measures from him who is a Judge beyond exception such as will strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel scruple at a Ceremony and play the Wanton with deadly sin Schism and Rebellion who with the Scribes and Pharisees of old will make no difficulty to sacrifice the Fifth Commandement to their own superstitious Phansies These are Men of no Conscience Matt. 23. 24. with Chapter 15. 5 6 7. This Author makes himself an Advocate for the Dissenting Party and he manages their Cause with as much artifice and advantage as his Confidence Wit or Malice can afford He takes upon him all shapes and insinuates himself by Fables Metaphors and Similitudes He is often Scurrilous and sometimes worse He drolls quibbles and makes sport for Men of no Religion the Tribe into which he seems to be adopted and this is the farce of his Discourse as if he were not serious or the Subject he treats of not worth a sober Thought This begets a vehement Suspicion His design is not to satisfie the Judicious but to impose upon the Weakness of the Common Reader and by tickling his Imagination to delude his Understanding To follow him step by step is no part of my concern let the Compassionate Enquirer who trod out the way for him look to that if he thinks fit But to make short work He hath reduced All the Dissenters insist upon to Eleven Sections And if this their Advocate understands their Principles their whole Cause and Plea being so concisely sum'd up and comprised within the compass of less than four Pages in Octavo I shall attentively consider it to give you and my self the better satissaction And herein I shall neither Cant nor Rail nor Rhetoricate but with such Arms and Weapons as the Holy Scriptures the light of Reason and the Writings of Learned Men especially those of the Protestant Churches have provided I shall presently approach the Trenches of these profest and implacable Adversaries of this most Primitive and excellent Church of England MELIVS INQVIRENDVM Page 163 164 165 166. What Dissenters usually insist upon for their Justification I shall reduce to these Heads Section 1. THey plead That some things are imposed upon their Faith tendered to subscription as Articles of Faith which are either false or at best they have not yet been so happy as to discover the truth of them In Art 20. They are required to subscribe this Doctrine The Church hath power to decree Rites and Ceremonies which clause of the Article as we fear it has been by some indirect means shuffled into the Article it not being found in the Authentick Articles of Edward 6. so it proves also that the Terms of Communion have been enlarged since the First times of the Reformation p. 1 They Object also against the Doctrine in the Rubrick That it is certain from the Word of God that Children baptized and dying before the commission of Actual Sins are undoubtedly saved The Scripture the Protestant Churches nor any sound Reason have yet given them any tolerable satisfaction of the truth of the Doctrine about the Opus operatum of Sacraments That Doctrine laid down in the Catechism That Children do perform Faith and Repentance by their Sureties is also as great a stumbling to our Faith and we cannot get over it How the Adult should Believe and Repent for Minors or Infants Believe and Repent by Proxie I omit many others Sect. 2. They plead That they are not satisfied in the use of any Mystical Ceremonies in God's Worship and particularly they judge the use of the Cross in Baptism to be sinful A Sacrament of Divine Institution according to the definition of the Church in her Catechism is an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible Grace given to us ordained by Christ himself as a means whereby we receive the same and a Pledge to assure us thereof Where we have 1. The Matter of a Sacrament An outward and visible sign of an inward and Spiritual Grace 2. The Author of a Divine Sacrament Christ himself 3. The End of it to be a means to convey the thing signified and a Pledge to assure us of it Hence it 's evident that it 's simply impossible that any Church should institute a Divine Sacrament because they cannot give it a Causality to those Graces it is instituted to signifie Nevertheless it 's possible for Men to institute Humane Sacraments which shall have the Matter of a Sacrament that is An outward visible sign of an inward Spiritual Grace and they may pretend to ascribe an Effect to it also To stir up to excite or increase Grace and Devotion And yet because it wants the Right Efficient Cause it 's no lawful Sacrament though it be an humane Sacrament Such an Institution say they is the Sign of the Cross. An outward visible sign of an inward Spiritual Grace ordained by Men as a means to effect whatever Man can work by his Ordinance Here is the matter without Divine Signature which is the thing they condemn it for p. 49. Sect. 3. They plead That since Communion with the Church is suspended and denied but upon such terms as take away Christian Liberty in part and by consequence leave all the rest at Mercy they dare not accept of Communion upon those Terms There are some things which in the General God has left free and indifferent to do or not do yet at some times and in some Cases it may be my great sin if I should do some of them as when it would wound the Conscience and destroy the Soul of a weak Christian. If now I shall engage my self to the Church That I will never omit such an Indifferent thing and the Soul of that weak Christian should call to me to omit it I have tied my hands by Engagements I cannot help him though it would save his or a Thousand Souls out of Hell because I have given away my freedom to the Church p. 60. Sect. 4. They plead That they ought not to hazard their Souls in one Congregation if they may more hopefully secure them in another for that their Souls are their greatest concernment in this World and the next Now say they there 's no question but
Rule a just Authority and a due Appointment The Order must first be duely made and then carefully observed 1. For this cause left I thee in Crete saith St. Paul to Titus that thou shouldst set in order the things that are wanting The foundations were laid and the men instructed in all the Articles which concern'd the sum of Salvation what concern'd the Government the Order and Decorum of the Church These things were yet wanting and great care was to be taken lest these Cretians should forget the Truth they had been taught or suffer themselves to be drawn from it by perverse and wicked Teachers Therefore to supply what was requisite to the Conservation external Discipline and Ornament of the Church of Crete Titus was left there and impower'd by the Great Apostle Such Orders we find made among the Corinthians 1 Cor. 7. 11. 14. 16. and among the Colossians Col. 2. 5. And when such Orders were made the Apostle was very strict to have them observed 2 Thess. 3. 11 14. Let all things be done decently and according to order 1 Cor. 14. ult He had scattered some Notions about Rites aud Ceremonies in the former part of his Epistle but here he collects all into one short sum He does establish an Order to avoid Confusion and preserve a Decorum in God's publick Worship and Service and this Mr. Calvin makes the Rule Ad quam omnia quae ad externam politiam spectant exigere Convenit which is to measure all things that belong to the outward Polity and administration of the Church The Power to Decree and make such Orders is lodged in the hands of such as are in Authority The Bishops who are called Stewards and Rulers who have the Keys of Christ's Kingdom intrusted to them A power of Jurisdiction both Directive and Coercive This power we find exercised by single persons and persons Convened in Councils whose Authority is of greater extent and veneration The rest will I set in order when I come saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 11. ult from whence Grotius does very well infer that the Apostles had Right and Authority to appoint such things as served for Good Order the Liturgy of the Church and the Ministery about Holy things Haec est Origo Canonum qui dicuntur Apostolici Here saith he is the Original of those Canons which are called the Apostles which tho' not all written yet were brought into use by them And we see St. Paul invested Titus with the like Power For this cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldst set in order the things that are wanting This charge the Apostle gives that no man might think Titus undertook any thing of his own head or the desire of vain glory but according to the mind and at the command of the Apostle saith Crocius But it may be objected That the Apostles and Apostolick men were inspired of the Holy Ghost and did act by Revelation To this I answer If they had done all by immediate Inspiration there had been no need of Ocular Inspection But St. Paul did not only receive Information touching the state of particular Churches but he comes to see their temper and observe their wants and what will be most convenient for their present Condition before he offers to establish Orders to regulate their practice 1 Cor. 11. the last The rest will I set in order when I come But if he had made Orders by Revelation he might have done it at a distance That the Apostles and Revelations is out of question And that they took pains to search the Scriptures and had been instructed in them by Christ himself cannot be denied 'T is certain also That after such instruction and search of Scriptures as wise men they knew how to use their Reason better than others of their quality Hereupon when they Taught being endued with more than a vulgar stock of Grace and Divine assistance they propounded not only those Revelations which they had received but also whatever they had attain'd to under the Discipline of Christ and by a continual search of Scripture and the Prudent use of Reason And so in a different respect they may be call'd Prophets and Divine Doctors That Title was due to them as they had their Prophetical Revelations This as they confirm'd their Doctrine after an infallible manner both by a Divine assistance above the vulgar rate and by holy Scripture and their own Reason But that St. Paul did not order all things by immediate Inspiration is evident from his own Text 1 Cor. 7. 25 And herein Mr. Calvin makes him an example of a faithful Teacher Fidelis hîc veracem Significat qui non tantum pio zelo agit quod agit sed etiam Scientiâ praeditus est purè fideliter doceat such a one as is a Man of Truth who acts not only out of a pious Zeal but out of a pure and stedfast Knowledge Neque enim in doctore sufficit bonus animus nisi adfit prudentia veri cognitio For a good meaning is not sufficient in a Teacher unless he be endued with Wisdom and the knowledge of the Truth It will be a very hard matter to prove that Titus who had Authority to make Orders in the Church did act by inspiration The whole Epistle which St. Paul wrote to him being a kind of Ritual or System of Canons for his direction in the management of his Episcopal Office speaks otherwise And yet if we speak of a more general assistance of the Holy Ghost I doubt not but the Bishops and Prelates of the Church when they weigh and establish their Decrees and Canons according to the Rule of God's Word have a fair Title to it from the Promise of our Saviour Mat. 28. 20 Loe I am with you always to the end of the world This Power is essential to the Church and inherent in the Governours thereof who did exercise the same when there was never a Christian Magistrate in the world 'T is true God was pleased to supply the want of such Civil Administrations by a miraculous assistance for such as were delivered up unto Satan by the Censures of the Church He had Power grievously to afflict them and many times did torment them bodily How long this miraculous assistance lasted or whether it be in any measure in the Greek Church now under Persecution as some affirm I shall not take upon me to determine But this I am sure of Christ did not intend to leave his Church always exposed and like an Orphan for he has promised her Thou shalt suck the breast of Kings Isa. 60. 16. that is v. 10. Kings shall minister unto thee And to the same purpose Isa. 49. 23. Kings shall be thy nursing Fathers and their Queens thy nursing Mothers which signifies saith Mr. Calvin their Ministery and obsequiousness to
protect and succour the Church of God Vnde observandum est c. Whence we may observe saith he That besides the common Profession of the Faith there is required of Princes something more because God gives them Power and Authority to Protect the Church and to advance God's Glory This indeed concerns all Men but for Kings the greater their Power is the more they are obliged to lay out themselves for the Interest of the Church and the more carefully to regard it Vnde Videmus saith He quà m alieni sunt à regno Christi c. Hence we may see how repugnant they are to the Kingdom of Christ who would take away the Authority and Power of Kings in Church affairs that they may transfer it upon themselves But here we are to observe that the Power of Kings in Ecclesiastical matters is not Privative but Cumulative not design'd or intended by Almighty God to infringe or weaken the Authority of the Church but to fortifie and assist it To this purpose the Professors of Leyden tell us it is the Duty of the Prince or Magistrate to settle the Worship of God according to his Ordinance by the Ecclesiastical Ministery and when it is setled to preserve it intire and pure per judicia Ecclesiastica and when corrupt or depraved to reform it by the advice and judgment of Ecclesiastical Officers and as much as in him lyes to prevent and suppress all Seducers and false Teachers that would hinder the practice and progress of true Religion In hoc enim reges sicut eis divinitùs praecipitur Deo serviunt in quantum reges sunt si in suo regno bona jubeant mala prohibeant non solum quae pertinent ad humanam Societatem verumetiam quae ad divinam Religionem Herein Kings serve God according to his Command when they enjoyn what is good and forbid what is evil not only in things relating to Humane Society but in Matters of Religion And this is all the accompt needful to be given to that inquiry what we mean by the Church in this Article That the Church hath a Power to decree and settle Rites and Ceremonies to support her own Government and Administrations and to promote the publick and solemn Worship of God may be proved irrefragably out of the premisses 1. What things are needful or expedient to be decreed appointed and settled in the Church to support her Government and Administrations and to promote God's publick and solemn Worship those things the Church hath a Power to appoint decree and settle otherwise Christ hath not been faithful in his House is deficient in things expedient and necessary and has not provided for the well-ordering of his Church and Kingdom But some Rites and Ceremonies are expedient and needful to be decreed and settled in the Church to support her Government and Administrations and to promote God's publick and solemn Worship This has been proved already by Reason and Authority in the former part of this Disquisition I shall add but one or two Authorities more the first shall be Mr. Calvin's who delivers himself fully in the point Hoc primum habeamus saith He Let us lay down this for a Rule That if in every Society of Men we see some government necessary to preserve the common Peace and Concord if in the performance of all Matters some rite or other is in force which it concerns the publick honesty and humanity it self not to reject that is more especially to be observed in the Churches of God which being best supported by the well-composed Constitution of all things therein administred when they are without Concord they fall to nothing wherefore if we regard the safety of the Church we must take care of St. Paul's Injunction that all things be done decently and according to order and appointment But seeing there is such diversity in mens manners so great variety in their Minds such opposition in their Wits and Judgments No Government can be firm and stedfast unless it be establisht by certain Laws Nec sine statâ quadam formâ servari ritus quispiam potest Nor can any Rite be preserved without some set Form Huc ergo quae conducunt leges tantum abest ut damnemus ut his ablatis dissolvi suis nervis Ecclesias totasque deformari ac dissipari contendamus Such Laws therefore and Decrees as tend to this effect we are so far saith he from condemning that if these be taken away we may avouch that the Nerves and Sinews of the Churches are dissolved and that they are all deform'd and shattered to pieces Thus Mr. Calvin and we find it by sad experience whereupon Whitaker does acknowledge Habuit Ecclesia semper authoritatem leges ecclesiasticas condendi sanciendi easque aliis imperandi ac eos puniendi qui non observarent The Church had always a Power and Authority to make Ecclesiastical Laws and to establish them to injoyn them to others and to punish such as would not observe them 2. That Power which hath peculiar Officers assigned and special Rules prescribed to direct the exercise of it in the Church That Power is invested in the Church otherwise that assignation of Persons and Prescription of Rules would be nugatory trifling and to no purpose But to direct the exercise of appointing and settling Rites and Ceremonies in the Church peculiar Officers are assigned and special rules prescribed Of the Officers assign'd to exercise this Power in the Church we have said enough already and of the Rules prescribed I shall add no more than what is said by one or two Protestant Writers upon that Text Let all things be done decently and according to order Hinc colligere promptum est saith Mr. Calvin from hence we may gather That those Ecclesiastical Laws which concern Discipline and Order are Pious and not to be accounted humane Traditions because they are grounded upon this General Command and have a clear approbation as out of the mouth of Christ himself My next Authority shall be out of David Dickson a Scotchman and a Presbyterian He reckons it the seventh Precept touching Good Order Vt decorum observetur in personis ad publicum Conventum Ecclesiae accedentibus in rebus ad publicum cultum necessariis ut omnia cum gravitate modestia sine Superstitione sordibus peragantur partes Cultus Divini inter se ita Ordinentur temporibus suis disponantur ut Dei gloriae aedificationi Ecclesiae inserviant Maximè That a Decorum be observed of all Persons that come to the Assemblies of the Church and in all things allyed to the Publick Worship that all things be performed with Modesty and Gravity without Superstition and a Clownish sordidness and that all the parts of Divine Worship be so ordered among themselves and so disposed to their proper times that they may be inservient as much as is possible to the Glory of God
and the Edification of the Church This is an Apostolical Precept 3. That Power which the Church exerted from the beginning and has exercised in all after-Ages That Power the Church is invested with if not let them shew us some defeasance or forfeiture of it But a power to appoint and settle Rites and Ceremonies the Church did exert from the beginning and has exercised in all after-Ages St. Paul exercised this Power in appointing Their Method and course of Prophesying their weekly Collections for the Poor that they speak not in an unknown tongue unless they do interpret that the Women keep silence in the Church that the Men be covered and the Women uncovered in the time and place of Publick VVorship And 't is the affirmation of the most Learned and Judicious Sanderson Posse de novo leges Condi de Ritibus de Rebus Personis Ecclesiasticis omnibusque Sacri cultus externi Circumstantiis ad Ordinem honestatem aedificationem spectantibus extra eas quae sunt à Christo ejus Apostolis traditae in Sacris literis adeo Manifesta res est rationi Consentanea ut perversi judicii obstinatique animi suspitione aegre se liberaverit qui siccus sobrius id negaverit That new Laws may be made concerning Rites Things and Persons Ecclesiastical and all the Circumstances of our external holy Worship concerning Order Honesty and Edification besides those delivered in holy Scripture by Christ and his Apostles is a thing so manifest and agreeable to reason that he will very hardly free himself from the suspition of an obstinate mind and a perverse judgment who shall soberly deny it And this Power is of necessity to be perpetually in the Church because such Rites and Ceremonies are not perpetual For they are of things in their own nature indifferent and alterable and there may be a just Cause if the Church thinks good to alter them and consequently there must be a constant Power in the Church to appoint or alter them accordingly as occasion serves And this is the judgment of the Learned Whitaker Fatemur Apostolos in singulis Ecclesiis Ritus aliquos atque Consuetudines ordinis decori Causa Sanxisse non autem scripsisse quia hi Ritus non erant perpetui futuri sed liberi qui pro Commodo temporum ratione Mutari possent we acknowledge saith he that the Apostles did in all Churches establish some Rites and Customs for order and decency sake and yet did not commit them to Writing Because these Rites were not to be perpetual but free and such as might be changed in regard of the time and benefit of the Church See Hemmingius 4. That Society whose Custom and Practice in matter of Rites and Ceremonies not repugnant to God's Word is a Supersedeas to all objection and ought not to be disputed that Society hath a Power to appoint Rites and Ceremonies I say not repugnant to God's Word for Custom is not pleadable in God's Church without Right or against God's Word for Consuetudo sine veritate est vestustas erroris Custom without Truth is but the dotage of Errour But the custom and practice of the Church in matter of Rites and Ceremonies not repugnant to God's Word is a Supersedeas to all objection and ought not to be disputed This is St. Paul's own Argument 1 Cor. 11. 16. in a Matter of Ceremonies the Womans vail in the time and place of Publick Worship If any man seems to be contentious we have no such custom neither the Churches of God Quae sententia tam ad contentionem quam ad velandi ritum referri potest which Sentence may as well be referred to the contention as to the Rite of Covering the head saith Bullinger Duabus securibus disputationes amputat saith Grotius He cuts off Disputes with two Hatchets Apostolical Institution and the Custom of the Churches Quod per omnes Ecclesias receptum est to call that in question which is received among all Churches est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the part of such as are contentious And as Bullinger very well observes Hoc ultimo hujus negotii loco This being added in the last place by the Apostle to conclude the whole matter Vehementèr potuit eorum pungere Mentes qui non omninò praefracti atque deploratae erant pertinatiae It might have nettled them exceedingly who were not altogether stubborn and desperately obstinate To conclude this Matter Christ hath settled in his Church a Power to make Laws and appoint Rites and Ceremonies for the decent and orderly performance of all her Administrations and such as do otherwise than these Laws Command with a contemptuous and disloyal mind Mr. Perkins has declared them guilty before God in sundry places of his Works For that general Rule of the Apostle Let all things be done decently and according to order must be look'd upon with the same Reverence as if it dropt from the Lips of Christ himself saith Mr. Calvin This is the foundation upon which the whole Ecclesiastical Discipline is built saith Hemmingius And from hence it is confirm'd that the Pious Constitutions of the Church are so far sorth Divine as they serve to Edification by their decency and good order Whereupon they bind us to Obedience saith he in that respect Etiam jure Divino even of Divine Right When St. Austin therefore had received this advice from St. Ambrose whatsoever Church thou comest into observe the Customes of it that thou may'st not be a Scandal to others nor others to thy self This saying of that holy Father St. Austin often thought on and always embraced it as an Oracle from Heaven And concludes from thence there is no better Rule or Instruction for a discreet and sober Christian to follow than to do as the Church does where e're he comes Quod enim neque contra fidem neque contra bonos Mores injungitur indifferenter est habendum pro eorum inter quos vivitur Societate servandum est For that which is injoyn'd if it be neither against the Faith nor against good Manners it is to be esteem'd as a thing indifferent and ought to be observed in regard of their Society with whom we do converse And so much for the Power of the Church to decree and injoyn Rites and Ceremonies As to the Superfaetation of this Article That it is not found in the Authentick Articles of K. Edward the Sixth and so the Terms of Communion have been enlarged since the first times of the Reformation To this I answer 1. That the Corinthians and the Cretians might have made the like objection as well against St. Paul as against Titus because all things were not presently settled at the first plantation of the Gospel 1 Cor. 11. last Tit. 15. Much may be abolisht in an instant but such as pretend to Reformation and yet do nothing but pull down they
will never edifie the Church but most certainly deform it Rome we say was not built in one day The Apostle left something unsettled till a further consideration 1 Cor. 11. last And when he departed from Crete he left Titus his Vicar saith Crocius to supply what the shortness of his stay would not allow him to accomplish and as St. Hierome observes to super-correct what he could not then bring to perfection Zanchy observes very well That it is the Duty of the Bishops to take care of the whole Church and whatsoever may conduce to the welfare of it whether it be in point of life and manners in the Ministery of the Word and Sacraments or in the Discipline of Pennance or in the wants of the Poor or in matters of Ceremonies and to give diligence that whatsoever has been constituted in such matters either by the Lord himself or by his Apostles or by the after-Church may be observed But if there be any thing that is not appointed and yet may concern the edification of the Church Let Laws be appointed concerning those things that they may be confirmed in the Name of the whole Church and by the Authority of Pious Princes and be observed of all respectively subject to their Jurisdiction 2. I Answer That according to the Common Prayer-Book in King Edward the Sixth's time the Church injoyn'd the Priest at the Consecration of the Eucharist to sign the Elements with the sign of the Cross and so if she did not declare her Power in her Articles yet she declared it sufficiently in her Practice In ordering the Priest to make the sign of the Cross upon the Symbol in the Patin and Chalice she did exercise her Power in decreeing and practising that Rite which has since been taken away tho' it has proved of very little consequence to avoid Scandal and consequently the Terms of Communion have been somewhat contracted since those times and not inlarged as is pretended However that Rule of St. Austin will certainly hold His enim causis id est aut propter fidem aut propter Mores vel emendari oportet quod perperam fiebat vel institui quod non fiebat For these Causes that is either for the Faith or for Manners sake that ought to be amended which was done amiss or appointed to be done which was not done at all But this is not all in this Section They object also against the Doctrine in the Rubrick That it is certain from the Word of God That Children baptized and dying before the commission of actual Sin are undoubtedly saved The Scripture the Protestant Churches nor any sound Reason have yet given them any tolerable satisfaction of the Truth of the Doctrine about the Opus Operatum of Sacraments That Doctrine laid down in the Catechism That Children do perform Faith and Repentance by their Sureties is also saith he as great a stumbling to our Faith and we cannot get over it How the Adult should believe and repent for Minors or Infants believe and repent by Proxy Thus the Dissenters The Answer 1. The silence of other Protestant Churches if they be all silent herein is but a Negative Argument from Authority and that 's of no validity But we are sure the most Learned amongst Protestant Writers do favour this Article The Form of a Sacrament they say is the Sacramental Conjunction of the signs and the things signified which Conjunction consists not only in the signification and obsignation but also in the exhibition of the things signified by the signs So Wendelin And he makes the effect and end of the Sacraments to be not only The Confirmation of our Faith in Christ but also the Obsignation of his gracious Promise touching our Communion with him and our participation of the benefits purchased by his death And particularly among the effects of Baptism Zanchy reckons these 1. Our admission into Covenant with God 2. Our ingraffing into his Church and the Communion of Saints which are the Faithful 3. The Remission of Sins and the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness And Calvin upon those words 1 Cor. 7. 14. else were your children unclean but now are they holy Comments after this manner This is a high point of Divinity For it teacheth that the Children of the Faithful are segregated from others by a special Prerogative and are accounted Saints in the Church And to reconcile this with those other words of the same Apostle Eph. 2. 3. We are all by nature children of wrath He saith thus Aequalis est igitur in omnibus naturae conditio The condition of nature is alike in all They are all obnoxious both to sin and death eternal But this privilege which the Apostle attributes to the Children of Believers that flows from the benefit of the Covenant upon the intervention whereof the malediction of Nature is blotted out and they are consecrated to God by Grace who are Prophane by Nature From which Testimonies we shall draw an Argument presently that Children baptized and dying before actual Sin are undoubtedly saved But first let us consult the holy Oracle The Scripture tells us That Christ tasted death for every man Hebr. 2. 9. for Children vers 14. And to what end did he do this to reconcile them vers 17. to sanctifie them v. 11. to free them from the bondage of the Devil v. 14 15. and to bring them unto glory v. 10. Can Christ fail of his end without any Obstacle in the Subject Has he done enough to save a drunken Noah an incestuous Lot an idolatrous Manasses and a perjur'd Peter and yet left a poor innocent Babe without a Remedy 'T is our Saviour's comfortable assertion with a gracious invitation thereupon Mat. 19. 14. Suffer little Children and forbid them not to come unto me for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven If these Dissenters be of a Cross opinion That of such is the Kingdom of Satan They should in modesty keep their faith to themselves till they can find a better proof than the Post-poning of Esau whose person notwithstanding Learned Men do think was saved In the Discourses of our Saviour little children are Candidates for Heaven and set forth as a pattern to such as shall undoubtedly inherit it Mat. 18. 3. and he tells his Disciples v. 14. It is not the will of your Father which is in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish which in all Reason must be understood of little Children literally according to the first intention of the words But 2. Baptism is the Laver of Regeneration Eph. 5. Tit. 3. Hereupon St. Peter makes his Exhortation to the People Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost For the promise is unto you and to your children Act. 2. 38 39. Whence I argue thus such as are admitted to the benefits of the Covenant remission
of God's Ordinances The excellency of the Power is of God and not of us 2 Cor. 4. 7. and who can deny the effect when we have God's fiat for it when he said Let there be light there was light So it was at the Creation of the external light and so it is at the Creation of internal light when God is pleased to put forth his Power to that effect 2 Cor. 4. 6. And methinks Those men should easily be satisfied about the opus operatum of the Sacrament who are of opinion that we are merely passive in the work of our Regeneration that it is wrought in nobis sine nobis wrought in us but without us and that irresistibly The Second Rule is That we must not Substitute the Opus operatum to supply the neglect or want of Moral duty and a worthy disposition in the Adult for in such to make the Sacrament effectual there must be no bar of a deadly Sin as the Schoolmen call it but a fit and worthy disposition for the Sacrament For tho' the Sacrament hath a power of it self through Christ's institution and promise to produce Grace yet that it may actually produce it 't is necessary that the Receiver puts no Obstacles but if he be adult i.e. of age that he dispose himself by some meet and fitting acts to receive it By means of the Sacraments saith Holden God confers his Grace upon such as being worthily prepared are made partakers of them And Franciscus a Victoria semper infallibilitèr omnibus singulis digre ea suscipientibus conferunt gratiam The Sacraments do always and infallibly confer Grace upon all and every man who worthily receives them The next Objection is against the Doctrine of the Catechism That Children do perform Faith and Repentance by their Sureties This they say is so great a stumbling to their Faith They cannot get over it But we know full well that some of these Dissenters will scruple at little things stumble at a straw and yet so full of agility at other times they can nimbly leap over a block that very Block upon which they made their Soveraign a Sacrifice to their tender Consciences How the Adult should believe and repent for Minors or Infants believe and repent by Proxy They cannot understand And 't were well if this were the only thing wherein they could plead a want of understanding But Peter Martyr will tell them Fidles in liberis qui suscipiuntur dùm parvuli sunt non requiritur vel ad id ut Christiani sint vel ad remissionem peccatorum Faith is not required in Children who are Baptized while they are little ones neither to obtain Remission of Sins nor to make them Christians This is true of an actual Faith and a personal disposition yet they have a Title to such a Faith as is of good advantage to them To this purpose we have the Judgment of Mr. Perkins and in him the opinion of the Ancient Church 'T is objected that Infants have no Faith and consequently That Baptism is unprofitable to them To this objection he answers thus some think they have Faith as they have Regeneration that is the inclination or seed of Faith Others say That the Faith of the Parents is also the Faith of their Children Because the Parents by their Faith receive the Promise of God both for themselves and their Children and thus to be born in the Church of believing Parents is instead of the Profession of Faith To this second Opinion saith that Pious and Learned man I rather incline because it is the ancient and received Doctrine of the Church I wish our present Dissenters would be so Sober and well advised as to follow his Example For receiving the Sacrament of Baptism Faith and Repentance are said to be the qualifications in the Adult To Infants they are supplied by the Faith and Piety of the Church in general as well as by their particular Sureties respectively and where there is an absolute necessity for it because God is not wanting in necessaries 'tis piously credible that the supply is made by the High Priest of our Profession and sure these Dissenters will allow him to be a good Proxy for them Have they forgotten that Levi paid Tythes in the loins of Abraham was not that as great a matter as this they stumble at Let them tell us how the Adult do transgress and Sin for Minors and how Infants do transgress and Sin by Proxy and we shall be able presently to remove their scruple If the Adult themselves may receive advantage by the faith of others as undoubtedly they may Mat. 9. 2. how much more Infants who are neither capable of Sin nor of Grace but upon the account of their Relations under guilt or under Covenant 1 Cor. 7. 14. But we must look upon that person as a cruel Step-Father who gives his Child nothing but a Stone when he wants Bread and instead of Fish a deadly Serpent Dissenters Second Section THey Plead that they are not satisfied in the use of any Mystical Ceremonies in God's Worship and particularly they judge the use of the Cross in Baptism to be sinful A Sacrament of Divine Institution according to the definition of the Church in her Catechism is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual Grace given unto us ordained by Christ himself as a means whereby we receive the same and a pledge to assure us thereof Where we have 1. The Matter of a Sacrament An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual Grace 2. The Author of a Divine Sacrament Christ himself 3. The End of it to be a means to convey the thing signified and a pledge to assure us of it Hence they say it 's evident that it 's simply impossible that any Church should institute a Divine Sacrament because they cannot give it a Causality to those Graces it is instituted to signifie Nevertheless it 's possible for Men to institute Humane Sacraments which shall have the Matter of a Sacrament that is an outward and visible sign of an inward spiritual Grace and they may pretend to ascribe an effect to it also to excite to stir up or increase Grace and Devotion And yet because it wants the right efficient Cause it 's no lawful Sacrament though it be an Humane Sacrament Such an institution say they is the sign of the Cross An outward visible sign of an inward spiritual Grace Ordained by Men as a means to effect whatever Man can work by his Ordinance Here is the matter without Divine Signature which is the thing they condemn it for Answer Here we see they profess themselves unsatisfied and indeed it 's a very hard task to satisfie such as study more to contend and make themselves scrupulous then to be quiet and to do their own Business They are unsatisfied that the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church are not
whether the aversion he has to the present Constitution and Orders of this Church does not proceed from some one or more of these grounds viz. either from want of Humility and Modesty in Himself or from want of Love and Reverence to the Governours or from want of a due examination of the nature ends and usefulness of the things establish't or from want of Candour and Ingenuity in putting a fair construction on them For the very same Rites and Ceremonies which we have in the Church of England are in use in all the Lutheran Churches with many others And although the Churches under Calvin's denomination have not all that are practised amongst us yet none are more strict than they in the Observation of such as they have establisht For Obedience to Authority is certainly the duty of God's Servants St. Peter calls it well-doing 1 Pet. 2. 13 15 16. and makes it as well a branch of God's Will as an exercise of our Christian Liberty For as Mr. Perkin's on Gal. 4. 28. has very well observed This is perfect Liberty when man's will is conformable to the Will of God Nor does any Church think her Liberty impeach't by such Impositions For the use and excellency of my Christian Liberty lyes in this that it teaches me to be just and dutiful without constraint and so 't is no burden to me I can comply with the Commands of my Superiors and carry my Liberty along with me And all the while I hold to the generous Resolution of the Apostle 1 Cor. 6. 12. All things are lawful for me but I will not be brought under the Power of any Knowing the Dominion I have over such indifferent things I will gratifie my weak Brother as far as I am able treat and instruct him with all ingenuity and freedom in the use of them And if my Superiours shall think fit to retrench the Practice of my freedom in some particular Instances that the world may see I am not under the sullen Spirit of fear and bondage but acted by a free Gospel-Spirit the Spirit of Power of Love and of a sound mind I will conform my self to their Commands with so much ease cheerfulness and satisfaction that it shall not look like a force or restraint upon me but as an exercise of my Liberty being very well assured for whose sake and upon what account and Principles I do it And 6. When I consider that things indifferent may be well or ill used as Mr. Perkins has observed and every Man's Experience can tell him I cannot but think my self happy in the Churches appointment for when she has determined my choice by her Injunctions to stand or kneel for example if I perform it with alacrity and reverence as I should do I find a satisfaction in my Humility and Obedience and I am the more obliged to my Superiours for the good use of my Liberty which I might have used amiss and for making that which was but indifferent of its own Nature to become of good advantage to me by her Authority And yet such is my Christian freedom even in the use of these things that while I practice them I am not at a loss either for my liberty or my duty I am not in bondage either to fear a Curse or to hope for Merit or to seek for ease of Conscience or Salvation in them The Dissenter goes on thus If I shall engage my self to the Church that I will never omit such an indifferent thing and the Soul of a weak Christian should call to me to omit it I have tied my hands by engagement I cannot help him though it would save his or a thousand Souls out of Hell because I have given away my freedom to the Church Answer That all Clergymen are engaged to the Churches in which they are appointed to Administer is no new thing no matter at all of wonder For how else can the Church be secure of their fidelity How can she trust them with the Sacred Office This therefore is the practice of every Church of any creditable Denomination But when Men get into a vain of Scrupling they can seldom or never find the way out of it One scruple begets another like circles in a troubled water Mr. Calvin has pursued this Observation rarely well in his Institutions to which I refer the Reader He concludes when some superstitious opinion has cast a scruple into our heads things that are pure in their own Nature become contaminated and unclean to us and we can make use of nothing that God allows us without perturbation and disquiet of mind When a man begins to scruple at the Cross soon after the Wedding Ring will pinch the Finger the Surplice will become an eye-sore or a burden and bowing the Knee to our Heavenly Father at the Sacrament will be thought so hard a task we shall not be willing to buckle to it Nay if we suffer our selves to be haunted with these fears a Religious Oath a Honorary Title a Civil Salutation will be a Bug-bear to our jealous minds 'T is the duty of a Ghostly Father or Spiritual Guid not to foment but to dissipate and expel such Scruples And though they have voluntarily tyed up their hands for the Satisfaction of the Church yet their tongues are let loose enough Do they therefore lay open the Nature of things indifferent Do they declare that they may be used or let alone without Sin till Authority does interpose about them Do they acquaint the People with the Power wherewith the Church is invested by the King of Saints and instruct them in their duty to that their Spiritual Mother as the Spouse of Christ Do they represent the excellency and reward of obedience to Superiors according to the Fifth Commandment and back their Discourses with their example to lead them unto Conformity These things they ought to have done whatever they have left undone Those Good Women of the Church of Corinth might have scrupled at St. Paul's injunction of the Vail and silence in the Church They might have objected that it went against the grain of a tender Conscience and their Christian Liberty to submit to such impositions which were nothing else but some of the old Traditions amongst the Jewish Rabbins They might have alleadged that Christ had made them free that they had Innocency as well as Confidence enough to lift up their faces before Angels and that for Sion's sake they could not hold their peace Whatever the Women did we know there was among them a sort of bold Men who thought they had good warrant to controul the Apostles Orders 1 Co. 14. And how does the Apostle encounter them but by an allegation of God's gentle Nature and the temperament of the Church according to it God is not the God of Confusion but of Peace as in all Churches and the impulse of his Spirit does not push men on to Contention but to love and unity and are
you O ye Corinthians aggrieved at those Rites which are observed of all Churches Did the Preaching of the Gospel proceed first from you that we must dance after your Pipe and are you the only wise men of the world and are all the Churches else in dotage For those vain janglers you so much admire I will not odiously contend with them But if any of them be a true Prophet and really endowed with those Gifts of the Spirits which ye pretend to He will easily perceive and acknowledge that I do not vent my own passions in this matter but the Commandments of the Lord who without all doubt is contemned by such as will not obey our Prescriptions But if any man be so prophane or blind with prejudice that he will not or cannot see it let him be ignorant at his own peril 'T is not my part to contend but to teach and admonish If he despiseth the Precepts of the Lord which I have delivered he betrays his own impiety and if he will not obey but continue in his filthiness let him be filthy still Thus Bullinger Comments upon the Apostles expostulation And 't is very material that the Apostle writes this in justification of his own Orders prescribed for edification and decency and he writes thus not to the rude and ignorant populacy but to such as being desirous to seem Prophets and Spiritual studied more to introduce their own Mastership into the Church than to acquiesce in the Doctrine Apostolical as Musculus well observeth He that has St. Paul's Principles and governs himself by those general Rules which he has laid down as the Oracles of God He may use the same expostulation to Dissenters Such faithful Ministers tho' they can compel none yet they may call them to a voluntary amendment if they find them refractory they may say with a good Conscience Qui obedire detrectet detrectat He that denys to obey let him deny it He that rejects the truth let him reject it He that had rather perish in his perversness than be saved by being tractable as a little Child let him perish I have done my part if he refuse the Lord's Commands let him see to it Thus Musculus But do our Dissenting Brethren speak thus home to the Consciences of their followers Do they not love to draw Disciples after them and do they not many times speak perverse things to that effect we are well assured there have been flattering Teachers who have blest the People in their Seduction that they might get the Vogue and keep up their Power and Interest to lead them against the injunctions of the Law and the Edicts of Divine Authority And by such courses 't is no wonder if with the Pharisees they Proselyte their Disciples into Hell Do not some of our Dissenters give the like Scandal to their Disciples Do they not Dogmatize them into ill Principles and encourage the Practice thereof by their Example Do they not fill their heads with doubts and jealousies possess them with vain and superstitious fears till they bring them to an avowed disobedience and separation from the Communion of the Church Do they not perplex their Consciences with endless scrupulosities about those minutes made Sin by their Doctrine which else to use our Author 's own words had been as innocent as a piece of powdred Bief and Turnips and such are the Rites and Ceremonies which are in use among us if they were as inoffensive in their Discourses as the Church is in the practice of them Do they not condemn the Church that themselves may seem Righteous and to justifie their own Schism do they not quarrel at the Terms of her Communion They say God hath left something free but they would leave nothing free in matters of Religion but their own Fancy They make that Sin which God never made so and that I do not slander them you have their own instance in the sign of the Cross. Of which they do not speak of modestly as to say they think they doubt or scruple but positively and definitively they tell us They judge it sinful but by what express Law or clear Deduction they can never make us understand They menage the Consciences of their Proselytes betwixt so much awe and boldness that they can make them either take the hedge or start at a shadow They tickle them with a conceit of Liberty while they inthrall them to their own Dictates and put upon their Necks a yoak of their own making much heavier than that of their Governours which they attempt so strenuously to shake off And when they are charged with such unwarrantable Practices to the Scandal of Religion and the disturbance of the Publick Peace where do they take Sanctuary but in the Temple of a Tender Conscience Conscience I confess is a Centurion of great Command but yet 't is under another Jurisdiction and must be accountable for her Conduct Nor is her Liberty or Privilege so great as is imagined For the whole Nature and force of Conscience is exprest in a Practical Syllogism which consists of three Propositions according to the three Offices of Conscience For instance He that will not obey the Church is to be treated as a Publican and a Heathen This is the Major Proposition and our Saviour's express Revelation But thou do'st not obey the Church This is the Minor Proposition produced and attested by the Conscience Therefore Thou art to be treated as a Publican and a Heathen This is the Third Proposition or Conclusion inferr'd from the other Two By this instance we see Conscience hath a threefold Office 1. To Dictate and declare the Rule of the Law This is call'd Synteresis The Second is to Record and declare Matters of Fact and this is call'd Syneidesis The Third is to give Sentence according to the merits or demerits of the Cause and so to determine the Condition of the Person and this is called Crisis Here is all the Power that Conscience hath And 't is clear that Conscience hath no Liberty in any of these Offices Not in the First not a Liberty to call evil Good or Good evil not a Liberty to dictate or declare what every man please to be the sence or letter of the Law for then it should have a Liberty to erre and to deceive by imposing that for a Rule of Law which is not so For Conscience in this Notion that is the Synteresis is obliged to take direction from the Light of Reason and the Revelations of God's Will and from Humane Laws consonant thereto for such Laws made by persons set over us in God's stead must be obeyed for the Lord's sake if the Conscience directs otherwise it is erroneous and leads to Sin and binds over to Damnation till it be corrected and become conformable to its Rule Nor has the Conscience any Liberty in the Second Office in reporting Matters of Fact for then it should
the Parish where we live is quite demolisht by the Doctrine of Justification by Works we are bound therefore to provide for our safety and depart and when we are once out we will advise upon another Church not which is tolerable but which is most eligible and in all things neerest the word The Answer That the Soul is a very pretious thing whether we look into its Creation and Original or into the Purchase and Redemption of it we do readily acknowledge We should not hazard it for 't was God's great care and should be ours But we must take heed and we have a Proverb to admonish us that we do not leap out of the Frying-pan into the Fire For in this Case of Seperation we may fitly ask the Question What Authority have you for it and and who gave you that Authority Whatever your Corner-stone be we question whether your new erected Church will be built upon the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Yet upon second thoughts we find you have something to say out of Scripture for your practice For we find you 1 John 19. They went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us We find you again Acts 20. 30. Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw Disciples after them And we find Predecessors of yours 2 Cor. 11 13. and part of your Character at least is to be seen in St Jude's Epistle Psal. 19. These be they who seperate themselves and whether Diotrephes was not the President of the New Colledge you should do well to consider for he had an aspiring spirit and was imperious and as our Author observes of him his fingers itch't to be tampering for he loved to have the preeminence and set himself to oppose Order and Apostolical Authority But there 's little satisfaction in following such examples That Schism is a work of the Flesh and excludes such as are guilty of it from the Kingdom of Heaven is the express Doctrine of the Apostle Gal. 5. 20. 'T is one of his Rules 2 Cor. 7. 24. Wherein a Man is called to the profession of Christianity whether in a state of Servitude or freedom therein to abide so as he may abide the Servant of God If my Christian Liberty dos not warrant or allow me to desert the service of Man to whom I am antecedently ingaged much less the service of the Church into whose Communion I was baptized and under whose Jurisdiction I was bred and born Quo pax concordia Vndique Constat inter Christianos homines quaedam dissimulanda sunt quaedam ferenda quaedà m benigniüs interpretanda Saith the Learned De la Cerda That Peace and Concord may be kept on every side among Christians some things are to be dissembled some things to be tollerated and some things to be favourably interpreted Where there is nothing injoyn'd to the peril of our Souls or the impeachment of our Salvation we are oblig'd to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the bond of peace not to break the Communion of the Church but to observe the Orders and Decorum practised in it 'T is the Faith which the Learned Zanchy profess'd and published when he was 70 years of Age in the name of himself and Family Tho Defects and Errors are never to be dissembled yet Peace and Communion is to be held with all Societies as the true Churches of Christ in which the Foundation and Sum of Apostolical Doctrine is reteined and no manifest Idolatry admitted Episcopius who was no great admirer of Rites and Ceremonies says there can be no just cause of seperation from the Church but what seperates from Christ from God's Paternal favour and the Kingdom of Heaven And seeing there can no such thing be charged upon this Church 't is undoubtedly Schism to seperate from her Communion Hence the very worthy Dr. Falkner makes this solemn asseveration I account my self to have as plain evidence from the Laws of God and the constitution of the Christian Church that Schism and unnecessary seperation is a sin in the breach of Christian unity as that Adultery is a sin in breaking the bond of Wedlock And I account my self to be as certain that if ever there was any unwarrantable separation from any known Church since the Apostles time the separation from the Church of England is really such Since our Church is truly as free from any just exception◠in its Constitution Doctrine and Worship as any other since that time either was or is Thus that worthy Author But these Dissenters do alledge That the Doctrine of Justification is Articulus Stantis vel Cadentis Ecclesiae an Article with which the Church falls or stands And that in the Parish where they or some of them live this Article is quite demolisht by the Doctrine of Justification by Works But I must tell them that one Error broacht in one Parish ought not to make them desert the whole Establisht Church That Error tho grievous cannot be deadly to them that have all necessary truth laid before them if they do cordially embrace and profess the same The Error is only his who through the weakness of his Judgment cannot discern that the necessary truth is not overthrown by it But because they alledge a Print and publick allowance this reflects upon Authority and our Governors and therefore the Charge requires a more strict and punctual examination And here we must premise That Justification without Christ's Merits and Mediation or without Faith in his Blood dissolves the Church of Christ because there is salvation in no other Act. 4. 12. The Christian Church is built upon the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone Eph. 2. 20. and other foundation can no man lay then that is laid which is Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 3. 11. Fides est Caput initium Christianismi saith St. Austin Into this Olive-tree we are ingrafted and stand by Faith The Jews were broken off through unbelief But in Justification we find several persons concerned There is something attributed to God Something to Christ and something to Man himself 1. God is lookt upon as the Author and Efficient for who can forgive sins but God only I have blotted out as a thick Cloud thy transgressions Isai. 44. 22. and Rom. 8. 33. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect It is God that jnstifieth 2. There is something attributed to Christ. We are to look upon him as the Meritorious Cause and Procurer of it He is said therefore to have loved us to have washed us from our sins in his own Blood Apoc. 1. 5. for by him we have received the Atonement Rom. 5. 11. and for his sake God hath forgiven us Ephesians
respondeant Paulo qui nobis hodie imaginariam quandam fidem fastuosè jactant quae secreto cordis Contenta Confessione or is veluti re supervacaneâ inani supersedeat Nimis enim Nugatorium est asserere ignem esse ubi Nihil sit Flammae neque Caloris Let them consider what they can Answer to St. Paul who at this time do proudly boast of a certain imaginary Faith which being conteined secretly in the heart Supersedes Confession and all good works as vain and needless things For it is too grosly Nugatory and trifling to affirm there is a fire there where there is neither heat nor flame In the Doctrine of Justification let these Dissenters take Faith in the general Gospel-sense or in the sense now mentioned from Dr. Owen and there will be no Dispute much less Offence about this Article But there are very Learned men who return this Objection upon at least some of these Dissenters who overthrowing the remission of sins do utterly demolish as our Author words it the Article of Justification as well by Faith as by Works and the necessity of New obedience For if the satisfaction and death of Christ were suffered and made in our stead and formally made ours they do certainly expiate all our sins and free us from all guilt as well of Omission as of Commission And upon this account being made not only innocent as free from all Commissions but also actually just as omitting no part of our bounden duty we have no need of Pardon or Remission because here remains no sin to be remitted And then we have Christ's Obedience and Merits for a surplusage and consequently have no need of Repentance or New obedience but a fair title to eternal life upon Christ's account without them So that this Authors Argument turns clearly upon themselves For they who take away the necessity of remission of sins do demolish the Article of Justification But these Dissenters or a Sect of them do take away the necessity of remission therefore they do demolish the Article of Justification which consists in remission Rom. 3. 7 8. Eph. 4 ult Colos. 1. 14. We appeal therefore to all Protestant Churches to judge how well they provide for their safety by departing from our Communion Yet depart they will and as this their Advocate saith when they are once out they will advise upon another Church not which is tolerable but which is most elegible and in all things nearest the word But suppose you mistake the word 'T is possible men may think themselves nearest when indeed they are furthest off from it for you dare not pretend to be infallible 'T is Calvin 's Observation Tanta est ferè in omnibus Morositas There is among men such Morosity Envy contempt of others and such an immoderate esteem of themselves that were it lawful every man would erect a Church to himself because he finds in his own disposition some difficulty to accommodate himself to the Manners of others Some thought themselves as near the Mark certainly as these Dissenters so near that they took upon them to controul the Orders about matters of Indifferency and Decorum of the great Apostle and t is worth our Observation to take notice how severely he checks them for it 1 Cor. 14. 36. What Came the word of God out from you Or came it unto you only Objurgatio asperior Calvin calls it a sharp objurgation or chiding but no more than what was needfull to abate and blunt the pride of those Corinthians who studying nothing but themselves would defer or allow nothing to the primary Churches from whom they had received the Gospel But carried themselves saith D. Dicson as if they had been the only Christians in the World to whom the Apostles had been sent and to whom alone it did belong to judge of matters of Order and Decency in the Church The Apostle therefore does justly expostulate with them Are you the prime and only Christians No you are not there are other Churches besides yours and of more Antiquity It is not meet therefore that you should despise them their Customs and practice to do all things according to your own Way Mode and Arbitrement Thus the Learnud Calixtus To separate from any Church of an Apostolical Constitution which cannot be justly charged with Heresy Idolatry or the practice of any deadly sin with allowance or without controul as from a body full of Wens and Vlcers to the great scandal of many of that Communion is undoubtedly Schism For the Church and such a Church is undoubtedly the Spouse of Christ Who gave himself for it that he might sanctify and clense it with the washing of water by the word That he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it might be holy and without blemish This is the end of Christ's dispensation tho not accomplisht to perfection till she comes to Heaven The mean while if she be chaste and loyal he does embrace and cherish her not give her a bill of divorce for little faults and curable infirmities no more must we Mr. Baxter himself could once tell the World I confess I have no great zeal to confine the Church to the party that I best like nor to shut Christ out of all other Societies and coop him up to the Congregations of those few that say to all the rest of the Church Stand by we are more holy than you He therefore that separates from such an Orthodox Church out of a real intent to be take himself to another which he thinks more pure he ought to be very sure that it is so and not to stand in need to advise about it whether it be or no and he ought also to observe these two rules 1. That he do not profess a total separation from it much less to do it with reproach as if it were not a Member of Christ's Body for that will defame the Spouse of Christ of whose honour and safety Christ is very tender and jealous 2. That he does it so as may give no scandal to those truly pious tho but weak ones of that Communion which he deserts Solius enim puritatis Majoris amor tanti fieri non debet quanti unius fratris infirmi Scandalum atque Offensio For the love only of greater Purity ought not to be so much regarded as the scandal and offence of one such weak Brother when by such a breach of concord he gives scandal also to his Superiors and by that means may hinder that Reformation which in due time if need were his sober carriage and example might promote in that Communion Hereupon the Apostle exhorts Heb. 10. 24 25. Let us consider one another to whet and provoke unto love and to good works Not forsaking the assembling our selves together but exhorting one another He that forsakes the Church whether it be out of
to let 'em alone but we believe the contrary For if they do not dogmatize themselves and their followers into superstition which is highly probable yet by their pretermission and neglect of what is injoyned them they break the Law despise Authority and give scandal to the Church and whether Hell may not ly at the bottom of such disobedience I leave it between God and themselves to judge Does not God require and delight in Verity And can there be Vnity without Obedience Does he not require us to avoid Offences and follow Peace especially with his Church Is not Schism a work of the Flesh as well as Murder or Adultery Is not a wilful and groundless separation from the Mystical Body of Christ a separation from Communion with him And is there no peril in breaking our selves off from this Vine Do they think they can climbe up to Heaven by a Ladder of their own when they place the foot of it upon ground of their own devising No No. Graviter peccant saith the Learned Zanchy They sin grievously who for these indifferent Ceremonies disturb the Churches and damn all other Magistrates and Rulers because they use their liberty in these things Is this the Piety which is boasted of Is this the Charity which we ow to the Churches of God If they want Piety and Charit who contend with other Churches about Ceremonies how little of those Christian-virtues have they to pretend to who quarrel with their own because she will not prostrate her self to gratify their humors 5. If Christ will send none to Hell for performing his worship and service rudely and slovenly with a stiff and peremptory sawciness which I am sure is no where allowed certainly he will not send to Hell such as worship him in the beauty of holiness with a due Reverence and Solemnity which he hath commanded The Dissenters Seventh Section THey pretend that the things imposed are Parts of Worship which none can Create but God nor will God accept of any but such as are of his own Creating and whether they be integral or essential Parts they do not know but in the Worship of God they find them stand upon even ground with those that are certainly Divine or at least as high as man can lift them The Answer When the Apostle saith let all things be done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to Rule and Order he does imply that somethings are to be decreed and ordered and that must be done after such a manner as is decent and to such an end as edification Orders to this effect are not the essentials of Religion but the Appendages Circumstances and Modifications of it which in a general sense we call Rites and Ceremonies And of the Dissenting Brethren this their Advocate tells us They pretend that the things imposed are Parts of Worship This he says they pretend and 't is one of the modestest expressions I have observed fall from his Pen. But why do they pretend Why because they are resolved to object and Cavil But why do they but pretend Because they cannot prove and perhaps because some of them do not believe themselves in what they suggest against the Church viz. That the rites ceremonies imposed immediately by her Authority are Parts of Worship The Worship of God is twofold 1. Internal which consists of the internal actions of a pious Soul for example the act of Faith is to believe the act of hope is to hope the act of Charity to love God and our Neighbour with other internal exercises of Piety 2. There is an external worship of God and that consists in the external exercises of Piety and these are of two sorts Some are of themselves good and acceptable to God and necessary to Salvation Such are Confession of our Lord and Saviour the external works of Faith Beneficence or doing good to our Neighbour the external work of Charity These are such effects of Piety that Piety it self cannot be without them Whereupon they are more properly called works of Piety and no less pleasing to God than the internal works themselves There are other external exercises of Piety which are conversant in external Rites and Ceremonies of God's institution and opposed to the inventions Exercises and Offices of mans devising Such are Sacraments and Sacrifices which are Ordained not for their own sakes but to be inservient to internal Piety to bring that to light and protest it to exercise and promote it to God's glory the good of our Neighbour and the salvation of our own Souls Piety is the Soul of all our worship without which the Observation of these external Rites and Ceremonies are but as a dead Carcass which God will reject as a thing of an ill savour In this worship of God 't is doubtless the Duty of the Church to give direction and call upon us to perform it But this worship is of Gods appointment and imposition not the Churches If the Rites and Ceremonies imposed by this Church be part of worship How came they to be so It must be either by Divine Institution which we are so far from pretending to that we do stedfastly deny it or else by humane estimation If we did value them at so high a rate this must appear 1. Either by the necessity we lav upon them Or 2. By the Merit and Efficacy we ascribe to them Or 3. By the preference we give them 1. The Scribes and Pharises indeed set such a value upon their Traditions which had no competent Authority to establish them but were wicked and repugnant to Divine Authority that they prefer'd them so far before God's Law as to have force enough to rescinde it and make it of none effect Matt. 15. 6. But for Rites and Ceremonies establisht among us the Church has declar'd that upon just causes they may be altered and changed and therefore are not to be esteemed equal with God's Law * 2. That we should place any Merit in the use of them cannot well be imagined when we allow no such to the very best works we can perform at God's appointment And when Authority has injoyn'd or restrain'd the use of them so that upon such a supposition they become necessary according to such restraint or injunction Yet they remain indifferent still in their own nature and do not immediately bind mens Consciences as if they were immediate parts of God's worship or of absolute necessity to salvation for which the Church has tyed our Faith strictly to the holy writ and to nothing else Artic. 20. But to proceed They say none can Create parts of worship but God nor will God accept of any but of such as are of his own Creating Here we have two things which call for our consideration 1. The Creation of worship And 2. The acceptableness of such performances as have not that stamp of God's Creation on them 1. By Creation of worship or the parts of it we suppose
a time or place for publick worship without Order and Authority For when matters are left at random Quot homines tot sententiae So many men so many minds and the confusion of Tongues is not so destructive as that of Judgments One will be for the hour Nine another will not have his Devotion up and drest till at least Eleven One again will be for the Barn another for the Tabernacle And although this Gentleman tells us of a Church that will and must certainly agree about such things though all determine to the contrary as was observed above yet I have not been so happy as to converse in that Vtopia 2. Natural Circumstances are not Rites in the practice of Religion and God's worship upon that account but as they are capable of improvement in a Moral or Religious respect That all things be done decently according to Order and to Edification These Rules look a little higher then those Natural circumstances which adhere inseperably to all Actions for which there was no such need of a solemn charge or Apostolical direction Time being a Fluid thing and always in motion we can fix no respect upon it but as we seperate several portions of it to be the measure of our worship and service for point of duration and take care for the strict observance of them But the place is capable of more advantage to help devotion God therefore seems to distinguish them as to the respects we are to give them for he saith Levit. 19. 30. Ye shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my Sanctuary I am the Lord. And here I must repeat That Order requires the same time the same place the same gesture and Decency requires that the Rites and Vsages in God's worship be honest grave solemn suitable to the Majesty we adore and the Offices of Divine worship which we pay to him 3. We say New Rites do not make a New Duty not alter God's Law or change his Worship as was noted out of Zanchy 'T is the same Duty still whether performed at 9. or the 12th hour in a Church or Chappel Cathedral or a Parish Church in a Cloak or Cassok Gown or Surplice standing or Kneeling And because our Author is so good at illustrations I will make bold for once to borrow a familiar instance from him Suppose a Law promulgated by the Legislator That every Subject shall sweep his door once a week with a Beesom Now to sweep my Door with a Beesom of Birch or Broom cannot possibly be any Addition to that Law or say I the setting up of a New Duty because 't is necessarily required to the putting of the Law in practice that I do it with the one or the other and therefore they are both comprehended virtually in the Law by way of disjunction that is either with this or that or some other Again to sweep my Door on the Third day of the week and at the ninth hour of the day can be no addition to the Law because I am commanded to do it upon some day in the week and at some hour of the day and the Law not having defined the precise day and hour supposes it indifferent to the Lawgiver which I choose but one or other I must choose unless I will obstinately disobey the Law We shall make use of this illustration thus God makes a Law that we shall give him external worship Now to worship him by Bowing Kneeling or Prostration cannot possibly be any addition to that Law because 't is necessarily required to the putting of the Law in practice that I do it with the one or the other and therefore they are all three comprehended virtually in the Law by way of disjunction that is either after this or that or the other manner Again God commands me to confess the Faith of Christ Crucified and profess my self a Christian Now to make this Confession or Profession by word of mouth or by the subscription of my hand or by some Symbolical sign or significant gesture cannot possibly be any addition to that Law because 't is necessarily required to the putting of the Law in practice that I do it either the one way or the other and therefore they are all comprehended virtually in the Law by way of disjunction that is I must do it either this way or that or the other And the Law not having defined the precise way supposes it indifferent to the Lawgiver which I chuse but one or other I must chuse unless the Church has chosen for me or else I am an obstinate Transgressor 4. It is no derogation to the perfection of Scripture as a Rule that the Singulars or Particular instances of Worship are not specified in it For as our Author well observes 't is always supposed that every one in his private or more publick capacity be able to use and apply the Rule As the Square or Rule of the Architect however exact in it self yet presupposes him to have eyes to see and Brains to apply it to his work so the Scripture as a Law teaches Duty and whatever of well-pleasing Obedience we can perform to God yet supposes us at least to be Rational Creatures that can apply that Law to our own particular Actions whence these two things must necessarily follow 1. That it was not only needless but impossible that the Scripture should enumerate or determine upon the Particular Natural Circumstances of general Time Place Person When Where Who should worship God every day hour minute to the End of the World for so the whole World would not have afforded sufficient stowage for Rubricks nor have been able to contain the Volumns that must have been written for as the End and use of a Rule is not to teach the Artificer when he shall begin to work but how he may do it like a workman whenever he begins so neither was the Scripture design'd for a Clock to tell us at what hour of the day we should commence the publick Service of God but that whenever we begin or end we mannage it according to this Rule 2. That when the Scripture hath prescribed us all the Parts of worship instituted the Administrators of worship given Rules how to seperate them to that Office and laid down general Rules for the regulating those natural Circumstances which could not particularly be determin'd as that they be done to edification decently and in Order And has withal commanded us to attend to this Rule and no other which is true Sano sensu it has then discharged the Office of of a Rule and as a Rule is compleat and perfect Thus our Author has Architectonically erected his Hypothesis but the singulars are not yet determined And what must be done for them Jus Naturae docet esse Deum ip sique reddendum esse quod suum est nempe Cultum tum internum tum externum says our Synopsis The Law of Nature teaches there is a God and
by seducing their simple followers But they that are such St. Jude tells us there is a sad reserve of vengeance allotted for them Jud. Ep. v. 13. 2. They say they have read over all the Books c. But do they bring minds prepared to receive the truth and Patient of convictions Lavater as was observed above tells us of Zelots in his time that would write and publish Answers before they had well considered or so much as read the Discourses they did oppose And one would think that some of these Dissenters dealt so by their Adversaries for they call their Arguments weak many times when they cannot answer them and their Reasons Futilous when they find them too convinceing to be eluded What their performances have been when they menaged this Province before that Learned Prince King James at the Conference at Hampton Court his Majesty has told us in his Proclamation of March 5. in the first year of his Reign in these words we found mighty and vehement Informations supported with so weak and slender Proofs as it appeared to us and our Counsel that there was no Cause why any Change should have been at all in that which was most impugned the Book of Common Prayer containing the form of the publick service of God here established neither in the Doctrine which appeared to be sincere nor in the Forms and Rites which were justified out of the Practice of the Primitive Church Thus saith that Learned and Judicious Prince And whatever Partial men may think the Judicious and well discerning will conclude that our present Dissenters after all their great pains and study have made very little accession of advantage to their Cause by Argument and sound Reason whatever may accrew to it by Noise Tumult and importunity 3. For Rayling 't is so much our Authors own Talent I know no man will claim it from him especially finding that the Spirit which acts in him prompts him not only to Scoff and Rail but now and then to be Smutty and Obscene 4. This Author seems to be very kind in allowing his Adversaries to have Rhetorick And 't is a quality so ornamental and useful I shall not wish them to part with it but to make use of it still to better purposes then he does his Witt and Reading to advance Obedience Peace and Piety But for contradicting themselves by which we are not to understand any ingenuous Retraction upon second thoughts and better information 't is a new Observation of this Authors never before collected out of their Writings 'T is true we have read of Richard against Baxter in 80 Pages but never of Richard against Hooker or any the like in all my time If he has found him out let him name the party 5. But the main Quaere will be How these Dissenters come to be hardened in their Errour for tho he calls it a Going astray into the right way there is no less truth in this his Drollery than in their Conviction who are mentioned Wisd. 5. 6. They have erred from the way of Truth and how so Malunt perversis Vocibus veritati reluctari quà m confessis erroribus Paci restitui as St. Austin says of the Donatists They had rather perversly resist the Truth than Confess their Errours to be restored to the Peace of the Church Let Scripture and Antiquity let the best Authority and the highest Reason urge what they can they will not be convinced or perswaded the Reason is given by the Learned Davenant They are Inscitiâ occaecati or Malitiâ abrepti or Philautiâ fascinati Either blinded by Mistakes and Ignorance or hurried away by Envy and Malice or bewitch'd by Self-love and Vain-glory. They are pre-engaged and having embarqued themselves upon other Principles and drawn so many well-meaning Souls into Association with them they are resolv'd to keep possession for their own Reputation and Interest For this Reason they study not to be inform'd but to contradict They read what is Writ against them not with a preparation of mind to receive the Truth in the love of it but to contrive the better to justifie their Separation with the odd pranks which have been plaid upon that account This makes them to Gavil at little things and to rest in nothing nor will they ever be satisfied but in the use of Forms and Canons of their own devising For to such as have read them thorowly in the opinion of their own personal Infallibility they come not much short of the Pope himself and had they Power in their hands we have some reason to believe they would no less imperiously impose the effects of it I need go no further for Evidence than the Front of a Book written by Mr. B. which bears this Arrogant Title The true and only way of Concord of all Christian Churches which puts me in mind of what Bullinger observed of the like sort of Men which pesterd the Church of God in his time Invenias hodiè saith he Morosos quosdam qui tametsi non negare possint alios Paria docere unum cum ipsis Christum praedicare cupiunt tamen se Religionis Dominos appellari imò à se profectum esse Evangelium Christi You may find saith he at this day certain froward men who though they cannot deny but other men Preach the same Christ and the same Truth with themselves yet they ambitiously affect to be called the Masters of Religion yes and to have men believe they stand engaged to them for the light and purity of the Gospel To such Arrogant Pretenders we are taught what Reply to make by the expostulation of the Great Apostle to those deceitful Workers as he calls them among the Corinthians 1 Cor. 14. 36. What Came the Word of God from you or came it unto you only But of this place we have given some account already I shall conclude this Section with the Words of the Reverend and Learned Professour who was not then Bishop Prideux Haud scio an filios alat Magis degeneres quaevis Ecclesia quam Anti-Synodicos nonnullos Novatores qui seorsìm saperent à Majoribus aut Fratribus satis ducunt ad Contemptum si quis non statim se incurvet ad eorum vestigia Hisce plerunque familiare est Transmarina longè Petita admirare Domestica extenuare Ignotos deperire praepositis vero suis quibus debito tenentur obsequio quavis arreptâ occasione recalcitrare sua tantùm deosculari quae non pallam astruunt sed occultò disseminant Tantum abest ut tales Ecclesiam audiant ut indignantur plurimùm si ipsos non audiat Ecclesia saltet ad ipsorum fistulam etiamsi incertissimum edat Modulamen Hujusmodi Superstitiosi factiosi furiosi insidiosi destinandi vel debellandi sint à vobis Dilecti Filii si Benedictionis Coelestis Messem uberem pacatam optatam expectetis I know not saith he whether any Church can
maliciously Treacherous or falsé Brethren there ought not to be the least yielding His Reasons are these Lest hereby we should confirm the Superstitious in their Superstition or Minister Scandal and an occasion of Errour to such as are conformable or afford such false Brethren matter to glory in The Learned Meisner has muster'd up no less than Seven Arguments to the same purpose which I shall collect as briefly as is possible 1. The first is drawn from the Nature of things Indifferent which is such as that they may be freely used or freely disused or abrogated but when the disuse abrogation or practice is obtruded as of Necessity and Coaction the nature of such Indifferent things is violated 2. From the Nature of Christian Liberty This is a valuable Treasure and of Christs own purchasing but 't is endanger'd by a double Invasion 1. When things not commanded by God's Word are imposed as absolutely necessary to be observed 2. When things not forbidden by God's Word are restrain'd as sinful to be practised There is Errour and Superstition on either side and Christian Liberty is equally betrayed in them both which Authority therefore should neither abet nor tolerate 3. From the Duty of true Christians An ingenuous Profession of the Gospel to assert the whole Truth thereof with the Priviledges which accrue to us thereby especially when assaulted and opposed and such is our Christian Liberty with the free use or disuse of things Indifferent not determined by Authority whose Power the Gospel has established This is a Christians Duty A flat denial whereof is against that Profession which Christ requires Matt. 10. 33. and to dissemble it is unwarrantable and we ought to avoid the appearance of it as one of the unfruitful works of darkness that we betray not our Profession 4. From the general Command touching the lawful use of Ceremonies and things Indifferent Wherein three things are to be observed Order Decency and Edification Good Order is not kept in tumultuous Alterations All Change is dangerous in Church and State No man can foresee what disturbance will ensue upon an inconsiderate variation of indifferent and inoffensive Ceremonies especially in a time when such Christian Priviledges and Publick Authority ought to be own'd and preserved inviolable What Doubts may arise upon such a Change and what Confusion may follow it who will take upon him to determine Is not the Confusion great when things Indifferent are exposed for Necessary and things Absolutely necessary accounted but Indifferent Can it be inservient either to Order or Decency when there is no degree of Superiority and Subordination among the Ministers of the Church No distinction of Habits between the Laity and the Ministers of the Gospel observed Who can think the Church is Edified where all Genuflexion all Reverence all evidences of a Devout mind are out of practice When all the Proper Lessons that should inculcate the Great Mysteries which are to be represented for our Memory our Devotion and Gratitude on the Festivals of the Nativity the Resurrection and Pentecost c. are abrogated and perhaps the History of Lot's Incest and the like things most incongruous for such Sacred Solemnities shall be surrogated and read in their stead 5. A Fifth Argument is drawn Ab incommodo from the great Incommodiousness of it As the general Command requires in matters of Indifferency that all things be done to edification so the Law of Charity forbids us to do any thing that may either offend the Weak in the practice of their Conformity or confirm the Adversaries in their Errour the Example of the Great Apostle affording us signal Instances to these purposes The Mischiefs of such a Scandal are sufficiently collected from the Woe our Saviour has denounced against the Authors of them Matt. 18. 6 7. And the Mischiefs of such a Confirmation of obstinate Dissenters are too evident saith he by Experience The Peace of the Church is not hereby obtained but the safety thereof much endangered for the Adversaries do not acquiesce in such Concessions but take occasion from thence to proceed in defending their Errours and disturbing the Church an Example whereof has given us a late Experiment in the Dukedom of Anhalt If they can obtain to have things abrogated because they are pleased to load them with the reproach of Superstition and Sinfulness they cannot with a fairer occasion to traduce other Matters and by this specious Argument of yielding in such Cases among the weaker and worse sort of Men to render Them suspected in their Principles whom they had formerily treated with all respect and reverence as the Ministers of God Hereupon such as are not well Confirmed will be apt to fall away and others will be offended at their defection and so the Church saith he will not be edified but destroyed the Course of the Gospel not promoted but hindred and at last Truth it self not asserted but weakened and subverted 6. A Sixth Argument he draws from The Practice of the Primitive Church Circumcision being then but a thing indifferent as he observes St. Paul according to the Rule of Charity and Christian Liberty did sometime practice it but when false Brethren did fraudulently intrude to spy out and betray the Liberty of the Church and attempted to impose it as a matter of Necessity St. Paul did absolutely reject it and condemn it Simile ergo c. In like manner the Rites and Ceremonies used in the Lutheran Churches are Adiaphora things indifferent neither commanded nor forbidden either by any Divine Law or Prohibition God leaving them as a middle sort of things which the Church may either freely use or not use at her pleasure Now saith he seeing the Calvinists would put a necessary abstention and restraint upon us as to the use of these things 't is out of all question they would in effect betray our Liberty Wherefore such as are faithful Asserters of the Christian Liberty ought not to yield to them in the least that according to their duty the Truth and Priviledges of the Gospel may be preserved inviolable from all bondage and dissimulation Such as do otherwise by a tame and cowardly Cession do betray our Liberty give scandal to the weak and offer a manifest violence to Apostolical Practice 7. His last Argument is drawn from the insufficiency and weakness of the Adversaries Reasons to make good their pretensions which he does clearly evince as will appear to any man that shall take the pains to examine the Discourse it self to which I remit the Reader I have studied to be concise in the Abridgment of his Arguments which he concludes thus That the Calvinists may obtain what they desire 't is necessary that they urge their abrogation upon an honest Title and prove by evident Reasons that the Rites received in our Churches are not purged from the Superstitions and abuses of the Romanists but serve to nourish them Which since they never did attempt because Experience is a clear
13. 17. Ad locum vide * In 1 Ep. Petri. c. 2. v. 16. * Col. 2. 8 18. Gal. 4. 11. c. 5. 2 4. 1 Cor. 10. 20 21. Rom. 14. 15 20. p. 160. * Voce Synonyma 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Episcop 1 P. Disp. 16. Thes. 2 Ad Rom. 14. n 2. p. 105. †Cap. 24. Thes. 10. p. 152. * 1 Part. Disp. 16. Thes. 10. c. Vindic. of Liturgies Pag. 21. * 〈…〉 †〈…〉 * V. Perkins Case of Consc. B. 2. Ch. 12. Ans. to 1. Q. P. 87. 1. B. In the first capacity she justifies the person in the second she justifies her self as some distinguish But in this last sense Mr. Perkins makes it the way and means to life Eternal * Cal. 5. 6. Of Communion with God pag. 196. * He has also another part ready which deserves to be made publick * St. Paul does there discourse expresly of Justification see Gal. 5. 4 5. 6. Ad Rom. 10. 10. p. 453. Ad Rom. 10. 10. Mr. Calvin * Ad Hebraeos c. 10. 24. * See the confidence of Corah and his consederates Num. 16. 3. and such as follow their pernitious ways Ep. Jude v. 11. * Ad locum * Ad. loc * Calixtus ad locum Ep. 5. 25 26. Preface to Mr. Hotchki's his exercitation of the forgiveness of sins * When he may be personally as pure as he please ought not Vid Gerhard ad Heb. 10. v. 24. * In Dan. 6. 11. Confutation of Dr. Lewis Moulins Dissertation in the Epistle Dedicatory †In Deut. 18. This was printed 1654. Ibid. * Heb. 13. 17. * Vide Mat. 18. 17. The late Proposal of Union reviewed and rectified p. 3 4. * Without some Ceremonies it is not possible to keep any Order or quiet Discipline in the Church Of Ceremonies before the Common Prayer c. vid. De Redempt Lib. 1. c. 16. p. 447. 1. edit Neostad Palatin In una side nihil Ossicit Ecclesiae Sanctae consuetudo diversa Gregor Of Ceremonies before the Common Prayer David Rungius ex Epist. Ad Roman Disput 16. p. 324. And what was the worcestershire Agreement Were there no Terms of Communion in it In his Apologetical Preface to his confutation of Dr. L. Moulin * Jer. 6. 16. †Isa. 8. 20. ‖ Mal. 2. 7. Matt. 23. 2. Matt. 18. 17. * Dr. Prideux Sect. 22. de Author Ecclesiae in Rebus Fidei cap. 3. p. 354. * Annot. in Deut. cap. 248. * 1 Cor. 14. 37. Gal. 5. 20. Lib. de Redempt 1 Cor. 14. 40. c. * Internam sinio quam Mens affectus habent externam quae ab illis for as octenditur actu aliquo externo Jos. Mede de Sanct. Relat. in Levit. 19. 30. Op p. 401. †Isai. 1. 11. to the 16. Preface of Ceremonies before the Book of Com. Prayer * Summa Theol. Schol. Moral part 4. p. â— 52 â— 76. †De Culru externo 〈…〉 Michah 6. Eph. 3. 14. 1 Cor. 14. 25. * Second Command ment c. Psal. 95. 6. Cat. 9. 96. in 2. praec * v. 2 Cor. 8. 8. de certa summa in Eleemosinis nihil certi aut praescripti imponere Deum c. Sclater Calvin ad locum V. Grot. ad 2. Sam. 7. 2. c. * 1 Cor. 9. 13 14 In epist. 1 ac Cor. cap. 9. * Cum Christiana libertate optime convenit summa servitus sed quae sit ex charitate ultroneâ voluntariâ Peter Mar. in 1. ad Cor. 9. p. m. 118. 1. m. Is not this acceptable to God * Cum Christiana libertate optime convenit summa servitus sed quae sit ex charitate ultroneâ voluntariâ Peter Mar. in 1. ad Cor. 9. p. m. 118. 1. m. Is not this acceptable to God Luke 7. v. 37. c. * Of Ceremonies Preface before the Common Prayer Calv. instit vid. l 4. c. 10 §. 27. * In Decalog p. 187. 1. m. * Meisner * Epist. 118. * Nostra Ecclesia agnoscit hasce leges suas de rebus adiaphoris Ceremonialibus autore materiâ fine longè distare a Divinis in tantâ omnium rerum imparitate non posseexurgere aequalem Conscientiae obligationem Davenant determ 20. p. 100 v. caet Josu 22. Ver. 10. Ver. 12. Ver. 21. Ver. 30. Ver. 31. 33 * Ad ver 30. Homil. 61. in Librum Josuae Ibid. Hom. 62. Ad Clerum on Rom. 14. 3. p. 24. Apud F. Herâ—â—â— See above out of the Calvinists Book of Discipline c. 5. de Consistoriis Act. 31. * Nunquam enim contentionum erit finis si certando velis hominem pugnacem vincere quia centies victus nuaquam satigabitur Haec Calvinus ibid. †Ad Col. let 18. †Nisi quit forte usitatum illud Festis Diebuâ— ornandi vestiendi studium eo referat Jos. Mede ubi infra p. 404. * V. Jos. Medes Concio ad Cler. in Levit. 19. 30. P. 280. p. 264. * Ad Dan. 6. 10. †De Religione Observ. in Cap. 15. Aphoris 4. m. p. 237. ‖ Unde alii a Carendo deducunt q. Ceremonia non potest enim Religio exerceri illis destituta Carens Camer * See Dr. Lightfoot on 1 Cor. 11. 25. cap. 14. 35. †In 1 Ad Cor. 9. 13 14. * In Levit. 19. 30. conc ad Clerum vide * Conf. Remon c. 23. §. 8. †Animadver in Consult de oper superer m. p. 242. Luther ad Galat. 5. m. p. 226 227 ‖ This I refer to Religion ⸫ This to humane Societiy * Ad Mat. 24. 11. B. 2. C. 6. q. 3. p. 67. * See 1. Pet. 3. 3. †Ad Corin Ep. c. 11. v. 16. p. 131. * De cultu externo m p. 447. * De cultu extâ—rnoâ—m p. 380. * Cases of Conscience B. 2. Chap. 11. pag. 84. He that does not fall upon his Knees where coÌ„veniently he may illud indicium est non tantum Magnae Socordiae pigritiae verum etiam profanae mentis Lyserus in Aula Persic p. 55. * Nemo autem carnem illam manducat nisi prius Adoraverit Austin in Psal. 98. Et non Solum non Peccemus adorando sed peccemus non adorando ibid. * 1 Cor. 1. 18 23. * Opus habet cor oris Ministerio Theoph ad Rom. 10. 10. †In Dan. 6. v. 10. Ad Josu 22. 26. * Ad Dan. 6. 11. †Ad Dan. 6. 10. * Demonst. Problem Tit. Signum Crucis §. 3. Ibid. §. 1. Ibid. §. 2. * Ad Rom. 10. 10. v. August De verb. Dom. Ser. 8. †De Baptis §. 261. * Catech 13. in princip 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. ante sinem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aug. in Joan. Tra. 118. Signum Crucis nisi adhibeatur sive frontibus credentium sive ipsi aquae quâ regeneramur c. nihil ritè perficiatur i. e. Not according to the custome of the Church the Rule of Decency Crucis signo in fronte hodiè tanquam