adjured upon Oath St. Paul oftentimes called God to witness for the Confirmation of what he saith seeing David and several others have used it in the Old Testament and God himself who cannot give us a bad Example used it for the Confirmation of his Promises it is a clear and evident sign that it is lawful and that we are to explain these words of St. Matthew I say unto you swear not at all as also these others of St. James above all things my Brethren swear not they ought to be interpreted not generally but in a limited sence as only forbidding swearing in common Conversation and in our ordinary Commerce and Affairs as it appears by the words immediately following viz. Let your Communication be yea yea and nay nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil From whence it follows though Swearing or Oaths ought to be avoided in our Conversations because they are then so many sins yet there is a time and there are occasions as when the matter is doubtful and of concern and no Evidence can be had to clear and decide it when they are not only lawful but also very necessary And therefore when at certain times and upon certain occasions the Church of England commands to sware or take an Oath and believes it lawful she doth neitherbelieve nor practise any thing forbidden in the holy Scripture Object It is written in the 20th Chapter of Exod. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt not do any work thou nor thy Son nor thy Daughter thy man-Servant nor thy maid-Servant nor thy Cattel nor thy Stranger that is within thy Gates for in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it The Church of England doth not keep this divine Commandment but observes the first day of the week instead of the seventh therefore she is not the holy Catholick Church Before I give an Answer to this Objection I will give leave to my Adversary to say all that he can to establish his Opinion When I read saith he these words in the 20th Chapter of Exodus or when I see them written in great Letters in our Churches or hear them pronounced aloud at the Communion Table the first day of the week which we call Sunday I think that the words of Isaiah Hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not may be well here adapted And may not this be justly attributed unto us since the Jews excepted with a small number of Christians scattered in the North we neither practise what we read nor what we hear And that this may appear clearly it is necessary to consider without any prejudice that the aforesaid words contain a day determined by God which we are bound to keep holy and whereon we ought to rest But it is the seventh day which God kept holy and whereon he rested therefore it is that and no other which we ought to keep holy and whereon we are bound to rest That it is the day upon which God rested which we are bound to keep holy appears evidently by these words In it thou shalt not do any work For what mean these words but thou shalt not do any work in the day whereon God rested This is the most natural Explication that a man can give to them But God foreseeing he should be forgot by his Creatures gives us warning saying Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day And that that day is the seventh which we call Saturday appears again evidently First by these words But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God Secondly by the next In six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day Thirdly because we read in Genesis God rested on the seventh day from all his works which he had made and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it Therefore it is that day which is to be kept holy for it is an Axiome received in Divinity viz. that men neither can nor ought to change what was established and determined by God as for Example Water in Baptism and Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper cannot be changed by men because they have been established and determined by Jesus Christ who is received as God among Christians Is it not written Cursed is he that addeth any thing to the Law or diminisheth from it doth not St. Paul forbid not to think of men above that which is written and doth not Christ himself say in St. Matthew In vain they do worship me teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of men That the seventh day is our Saturday is again manifested First because since Moses the Jews who did always and do still keep the seventh day do keep our Saturday for their Sabbath Secondly Because as Sabbath among the Hebrews is the seventh day Sabbato among the Italians Sabbado among the Spaniards Samedy among the French so is Saturday among the English men Thirdly Because the Evangelists saying in our Translation that Jesus Christ was risen the first day of the week which according to the Language of the Scriptures is the next day after the Sabbath it follows evidently our Saturday preceding the first day of the week and the Sabbath being the seventh day that the seventh day is our Sabbath But it is in vain to bring such Proofs unto them who acknowledg to have changed the Saturday or seventh to the first day of the week Therefore since our Saturday is the seventh day of the week and God rested on it blessed sanctified it and commanded us to keep it holy is it not just in Obedience to God to keep it so Some will answer saith my Adversary that that change was made First That we might have no Communication with the Jews Secondly Because Jesus Christ arose upon the first day of the week Thirdly Because we read that the Apostles met on that day To the first Objection my Adversary replyeth that we ought to have Communication with the Jews in all things which are good Otherwise the Jews believing in one God we should not believe so and they believing in the Old Testament it should not be the Object of our Faith To the Second he saith that a Question may be made whether he rose on the first day of the week none of the Evangelists in the Original saying in express words the first day of the week but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But though this be true is it a sufficient Reason to change the day which God himself hath prescribed unto us blessed sanctified and commanded We may remember the day of his Resurrection and keep it holy but we ought not because he rose
Adam and Eve when they were first created because in that state they saw no strangers in their Family These words were especially related to the ancient Israelites who had lived in Aegypt like strangers to the end they might learn when they should possess the Land of Promise to deal with all the World otherwise than the Aegyptians had dealt with them And therefore the aforementioned cannot be understood ex Jure naturali as belonging to the Moral Law it being alike and the same among all Nations Fourth Answer The next words For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and allthat in them is and rested the seventh day do not infer in themselves an indispensable necessity for no body doubts but that God could create this great World with all its perfections in a less time yea in a moment if he had pleased and consequently that he could appoint another day than the seventh to be kept holy as for Example the third if on that day he had finished the Creation of the World But being finish'd in six days the Question is whether the seventh be of an indispensable necessity Wherefore I Answer Fifthly That the day assigned by God for his Worship was Symbolical Mystical and Ceremonial and consequently ought to be abolished and so was not of an indispensable Necessity and therefore did not belong to the Moral Law That the institution of the Sabbath day was such may be seen clearly because Adam the first of all men was able by the strength of his natural Reason in the state of Innocency to comprehend what belonged to the Natural and Moral Law but by the strength of his Reason he could never understand why the seventh day ought to be kept holy rather than another Therefore the Reason of it was the good Will of God which Adam could never understand of himself wanting a special Revelation or positive Commandment wherein the Reason of it might be manifested unto him And it signifies nothing to say that it is written we are bound to keep holy the seventh day for ever because by the word for ever is meant only a long space of time assigned by God as it appears in these Texts Exod. 21. 6. Exod. 32. 13. Levit. 24. 8 9. Numb 18. 19. Numb 25. 13. Wherein though the word for ever be used yet we say it belongs to the Ceremonial Law and consequently ought to be abolished under the Gospel where the body of these things whereof they were but a shadow is made manifest And that the Institution of the seventh day reduplicativé ut sic could be abolished appears by the words of the Prophet Ezekiel I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctifie them An by the other words of St. Paul to the Colossians Let no man judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day or of the new Moon or of the Sabbath days which are shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ. Now seeing the Plural Number contains all Singulars Sabbaths being taken in the Plural Number it followeth that that contained in the Decalogue and which is here in Dispute is also included therein Otherwise St. Paul would not have failed to make an exception The Sabbath saith Christ was made for man and not man for the Sabbath therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath Now he that is the Lord of any thing can dispose of it as it seems good unto him therefore the Son of man being Lord also of the Sabbath he may dispose of it as he pleaseth and therefore might abolish it and consequently it doth not belong to the Natural or Moral Law which cannot be changed even by God himself And it signifies nothing to say that Jesus Christ himself and his Apostles have kept and sanctified the seventh day for they did keep it as they did some other Commandments of the Ceremonial Law which were all abolished in their convenient time to the end that they might not offend the Jews among whom they were born and to whom especially they were to preach the holy Gospel but might convert them to Christian Religion and call them that were predestinated and might by all means save some and so propagate the more the Kingdom of God Which doth not consist in meat and drink or in distinction of sabbaths but in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost From whence it follows that the Sanctification of the seventh day reduplicativé ut sic did not belong to the Moral Law and consequently might be abolished I say the Sanctification of the seventh day ut sic for in reference of that which is Moral I mean the true Piety and Worship due unto God it could not be abolished and no man in the World in whatsoever dignity yea nor God himself can dispense with Now the Worship due unto God may be considered in two respects inwardly or out wardly Considered in the first sence it respects our Confidence in God our Obedience to his Commandments our Invocation Praises and Thanksgivings Considered in the latter it respects places where are publick Meetings wherein the Word of God is preached and his Sacraments are administred In reference to the outward Worship due unto God it is necessary to avoid Confusion from whence proceed great evils to establish some Order and to appoint certain days and hours to meet together that we might praise and worship our Lord call upon his holy Name and give thanks for all his unmeasurable mercies Now the Church to which Christ gave his Authority and Power and whose Ordinances he will have us to keep as it appears by these words If he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a Publican had good and sufficient Reasons to change the seventh into the first day of the week First Because being Typical and Mystical and not belonging to the Moral Law as I have made it appear it might be abolished as all the other Precepts of the Ceremonial Law were For Christ blotting out the hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing it to his Cross Secondly The Sanctification of the seventh day being ordained unto us to the end we might remember the day and benefit of our Creation as it appears by the words of the 11th verse For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth c. The Church which we ought to obey in all things not contrary to the holy Scripture finding that the day of our Redemption was very considerable yea much more excellent than that of our Creation as it appears by the words of Jesus Christ concerning Judas Good were it for that man if he had never been born And finding that in the first day of the week Jesus Christ
is Trinity And Thomas Aquinas saith impossibile est per rationem naturalem ad cognitionem Trinitatis divinarum Personarum pervenire quia homo per rationem naturalem in cognitionem dei pervenire non potest nisi ex Creaturis Creature autem ducunt in Dei cognitionem sicut effectus in causam Hoc igitur solum ratione naturali de Deo cognosci potest quod competere ei necesse est secundum quod est omnium entium principium Virtus autem Creativa Dei communis est toti Trinitati unde pertinet ad unitatem essentiae non ad distinctionem Personarum per rationem igitur naturalem cognosci possunt de Deo ea quae pertinent ad unitatem essentiae non autem ea quae pertinent ad distinctionem personarum That is It is impossible by natural Reason to come to the knowledg of the Trinity of divine Persons because by natural Reason we cannot come to the knowledg of God but by Creatures which lead us to the knowledg of God as effects to the Cause Therefore by natural Reason that only may be known of God which by necessity belongs to him as he is the principle of all things But the Power of creating in God is common to the whole Trinity therefore it belongs to the unity of Essence and not to the distinction of Persons We may then by reason know the things belonging to the unity of the Essence of God but not the things belonging to the distinction of Persons Secondly I answer That though it be contrary to Reason that Peter Paul and John who are three distinct Persons have but one nature Numericè nevertheless it doth not imply that the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost who are three really distinct Persons have but one nature or substance Numericè For it is otherwise in divine than humane Persons And although Person in God be a real being and consequently being really taken a Substance yet it doth not follow because there are three really distinct Persons that there are three Substances really distinct one from another For God being an intellectual Being he knows himself to be infinitely Perfect and knowing himself to be so he loves himself The term of his Intellect is called the Son as we call the Holy Ghost the term of his love but it is not so with the term of the Intellectand Love of God as with the term of the Intellect and Love of men because this is an Accident that a Substance I say a Substance because no Accidents can be found in God as it is the consent of all Writers therefore since the term of the Intellect of God and the term of his Love is a Substance and since one is call'd the Son and the other the Holy Ghost it follows since three Substances cannot be in God because it would import three Gods which is contrary to the nature of God to Reason and to the Holy Scriptures that they have but one and the same Substance as it is taught both in the Symboles of Nice and Athanasius Thirdly I answer That though the Trinity be not found distinctly in the holy Scripture yet it may be inferred from thence by clear and necessary Consequences And though the two Texts of St. Matthew and John before mentioned be not sufficient to convince the Reader since they may be explained as they are in the Objection nevertheless the essential Attributes of God as his Eternity Immensity Omnipotency Creation Conservation of the World Sanctification of Souls Resurrection of the Bodies Prayer and Worship being equally attributed to the three Persons the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost as it may be seen in several places of the holy Scriptures and I will shew in the sequel of my Discourse it follows by an evident and necessary Consequence that they are God and therefore that they have but one substance or Nature Numericè which is called Trinity Obj. The Church of England believes that the Son is Consubstantial with the Father but the word Consubstantial is not found in the holy Scriptures therefore the Church of England believes an Article of Faith which is not in the word of God therefore she is not the holy Catholick Church Answer Though that word Consubstantial be not read in the holy Scriptures yet the thing signified and meant by that word is found therein For when we say and believe that the Son is Consubstantial with the Father we mean that he hath one and the same Substance with his Father which is inferred from the holy Scripture by clear and necessary Consequences for these words of St. Jahn I and my Father are one do signifie nothing less than the Son hath an unity of Substance with his Father for if had only an unity of Will of Mind and Agreement as the Arians and several other Persons in France England Holland c. do believe at this time he should not be called in the holy Scriptures the only begotten Son of God the true God eternal Life and God blessed over all for ever He should not be called the brightness of the glory of his Father and the express Image of his Person and we should not read of him that he being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God he should not be called Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending which is which was and which is to come the Almighty Or that In him are hid all the Treasures of wisdom and knowledg and that In him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily We should not read that By him were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth vistble and invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers and that All things were created by him and for him and that he is before all things and by him all things consist and that He upholds all things by the word of his Power and as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickens them even so the Son quickens whom he will Neither should we read that He knows the hearts of all men and that All men honour the Son even as they honour the Father and that All the Angels of God worship him and that Four and twenty Elders fall down before him and worship him and cast their Crowns before the Throne saying Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast Created all things and for pleasure they are and were Created Now since by these Texts of the holy Scriptures ye see that the Name of the true God which cannot be proper to a Creature is not only ascribed to the Son but also all the essential properties of God are attributed unto him it follows by a clear and necessary Consequence that he is Consubstantial with the Father or that he hath with him one and the same Substance Numericè You may further urge
if the Son be Consubstantial with the Father it follows that he is really and properly true God but he cannot be properly and really true God ergo he is not Consubstantial with his Father The Minor is proved out of the holy Scriptures There is none other God but one The Lord of Israel is that true God for there is none else besides him The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is that only true God This is Life eternal that they might know thee O Father the only true God For though there be that are called Gods whether in Heaven or in Earth as there be Lords many and Gods many but to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him For There is one God and one Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Jesus But if according to what St. Paul saith though there be many that are called Gods and Lords nevertheless there is but one true God and one true Lord and if according to what Jesus Christ saith his Father be that only true God it follows that Christ or the Son of God is not really and properly true God and consequently that he is not Consubstantial with his Father Probatur 2o. If Jesus Christ were really and properly true God his Resurrection should be ascribed unto him as the true and principal Author but it is not ascribed to him as the true and principal Author but to his Father as we read in several places of the holy Scriptures God the Father who raised him from the dead God having raised up his Son Jesus c. Therefore he is not really and properly true God Probatur 3o. If the Son were really and properly true God he should have the knowledg of all things but he hath not the knowledg of all things since he doth not know the day of Judgment therefore c. The Minor is proved thus But of that day and hour saith Christ knows no man no not the Angels of Heaven but my Father only Mark that that word only is exclusive for if the Father only knows the day and hour of Judgment it follows that the Son doth not know it therefore having not the knowledg of all things he is not really and properly true God since to the true God nothing can be unknown Probatur 4o. Either the Son is of himself or by an other he is not of himself because he hath a Father therefore he is by another if by another he cannot be really and properly true God for he that is by an other is not independent but the true God is independent Probatur 5o. Christ or the Son is Mediator between God and men but if the Son was really and properly true God and Consubstantial with his Father he should be Mediator between men and himself which is absurd because no body is Mediator between himself and another Probatur 6o. The Son is begotten even according to divine Nature But that which is begotten was not always that which was not always is not eternal that which is not eternal is not really and properly true God therefore the Son is not really and properly true God and consequently he is not Consubstantial with his Father To the first Objection which contains these words of John This is Life eternal c. I answer that by the onl◠true God is mean◠God a se and in that sence the Father is the only true God because he only is God à se he only is the Origine of the Godhead But the Son is God of God and the Image of the invisible Father And to the words of St. Paul Though there be that are called Gods c. I say that as nothing can hinder the Father to be Lord though it be said There is but one Lord Jesus Christ so nothing can hinder Jesus Christ to be true God though it be written There is but one God the Father To the Second I answer that as a non esse ad non posse the Consequence is not good so because the Son did not raise up himself from the dead it doth not follow that he could not and the contrary appears by his own words I lay down my Life that I might take it again no man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again To the Third I say that the Son of God according to his humane Nature knew not the day and hour of Judgment as he knew not Lazarus's Sepulchre when he asked his Sisters where they had laid him And as he knew not what the two Disciples were talking of by the way when he said unto them What manner of Communications are these that ye have one to another as ye walk and are sad And as he knew not whether Peter loved him more than the rest of his Disciples when he said unto him the third time Lovest thou me But as he was God he knew all things for In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and as saith Isaiah The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. And as it appears by these words of Peter Lord thou knowest all things Secondly I say because Christ emptied himself and took upon him the form of a Servant therefore for a little time he laid down his knowledge that he might be less than the Angels and that in all things he might be like unto us sin only excepted and that he were born like other Children who got their knowledge by degrees as it is written in Luke Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and men Or according to Austin he is said ignorant of the day of Judgment because he doth not make them know it that is he knew it not so that he would manifest it to his Disciples But he was to declare it in a convenient time of which time to come speaking as if it were past he said Henceforth I call you not Servants for the Servant knoweth not what his Lord doth but I have called you friends for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made them known into you Which things he had not yet declared but because he was to manifest them certainly he spake as if he had done it already for he tells them I have yet many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now amongst which is understood the day of Judgment and therefore he hid it from them and according to that kind of expression a man is said to be ignorant of that which he keeps from another To the Fourth I say though the Son be of the
the Glory of God Is the Custom of wearing the Surplice of singing and playing upon Organs forbidden in any Chapter of the holy Scripture If they were pray inform me where it is What evil consequence follows therefrom Instead of this doth it not serve to distinguish Lay-man from Clerk and to cause a greater respect to be given to the things belonging to the Worship of God and to put him that wears it in mind that when he cometh to Church to administer divine Service he ought to be pure in his heart which is signified unto him by the whiteness of his Surplice which is the Symbole of Purity And doth not Musick and Organs used especially in Cathedral Churches serve to raise up our minds to inflame our hearts with the love of God to lift them up towards Heaven and to cause them to desire to be for ever in that holy and blessed Company wherein with an Harmony that infinitely surpasses our Musick here upon Earth they sing Holy holy holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his Glory And is it not conformable to several Texts of the holy Scripture wherein it is said Sing aloud unto God our strength make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. Take a Psalm and bring hither the Timbrel the pleasant Harp with the Psaltery blow up the Trumpet Therefore it is clear and certain that the Ceremonies of the Church of England are lawful they being not contrary to the holy Scripture but conducing to the Glory of God and Edification of our Souls Now because these words Not to think of men above that which is written and these In vain they do worship me teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of men are not to be understood concerning Ceremonies but concerning points of Faith and finding several Ceremonies used among the first Christians even in Christs and his Apostles time whereof some were specified as I have made it appear already and some not specified whereof no particular mention is made in the holy Scripture as it may be inferred from these words of St. Paul Let all things be done decently and in order it follows that the Church of England is the holy Catholick Church since she believes and practises nothing but what is agreeable to the Christian Doctrine It is then without good Reason that a great many separate themselves from that Church it being the holy Catholick For those who knowing her to be such separate themselves from her are Schismaticks and out of hope of Salvation First I say that they are Schismaticks because they have not sufficient Reason to warrant their Separation For as saith Irenaeus Schismata operantur qui sunt immanes non habentes Dei dilectionem fuamque utilitatem potius considerantes quà m unitatem Ecclesiae propter Modicas quaslibet causas magnum gloriosum corpus Christi dividant quantum in ipsis est interficiunt pacem loquentes bellum operantes verè liquantes culicem Camelum transglutientes Those are Schismaticks who are cruel having not the love of God before their eyes but rather embracing their own In̄terest than the Vnity of the Church and for small and light causes divide the great and glorious Body of Christ and murder it as much as is in their power speaking Peace and making War straining at a Gnat and swallowing a Camel Ceremonies are no points of Faith therefore he that separates himself because of Ceremonies separates himself for small and light Causes and therefore he is a Schismatick and if he only be Schismatick who separates himself from the Church for small and light Causes as saith Irenaeus and is granted by Divines then on the other hand he is no Schismatick who separates himself for great and weighty Causes as for Idolatry and other Articles of Faith which they will have us to believe under pain of eternal Damnation and which are not found in the holy Scripture or are directly contrary to it Therefore we separating our selves from those of the Roman Church for great and weighty Causes it is manifest we are not Schismaticks and as no man should separate himself from a Church for small and light Reasons so he is bound to separate himself when he finds evidently that that Church believes and practises Articles of Faith which are not in the holy Scripture or are directly contrary to it which is enjoyned unto us by St. Paul and Isaiah saying Come out frone among them and be ye separate For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness And what Communion hath light with darkness And what Concord hath Christ with Belial Or what part hath he that believes with an Infidel And what agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols This is the only lawful Cause of Separation and for this Cause we separate our selves from those of the Roman Church or rather they separte themselves from us for Schism is not to be Imputed unto us because we believe and practise nothing in the Church but what is agreeable to the holy Scripture Wherefore it may be justly imputed to them because they do not only believe and practise but also will have us to believe and practise several Articles of Faith which are neither distinctly contained in the holy Scripture nor can be deduced from it by clear and necessary Consequences They then that separate themselves from the Church of England because of Ceremonies do separate themselves for small and light Causes and consequently are Schismaticks Secondly I say they are out of hope of Salvation for as man is composed of a body and spirit and as his body liveth by his spirit whilst it is united to the body So if we will live by the Spirit of Christ we must be united to Christ's Body but the Mystical Body of Christ is the Church therefore they that are separated from the Mystical Body of Christ cannot be vivified by the spirit of Christ and consequently cannot be saved for those only are saved that are vivified by the spirit of Christ Which is very well represented by the Deluge and Ark of Noah for as all perished temporally by the Deluge that were not in the Ark so all shall perish eternally who are out of the Catholick Church And as no body could escape drowning being out of the Ark so neither shall any escape Damnation out of the Church And as none of the first born of Aegypt lived but such as were within these Habitations whose Door posts were sprinkled with blood by the appointment of God for their preservation And as none of the Inhabitants of Jericho could escape the Fire and Sword but such as were within the House of Rahab for whose Protection a Covenant was made So none shall ever escape the eternal wrath of God which is not a Member of the holy Catholick Church For as There is no other name under Heaven given among men whereby we can be saved but the Name of Jesus So