the Eternity of the Godhead of Christ. Answ. Certainly it was most pertinent to our Lord's design that we should worship the Father Son and Holy Ghost as the Only True God and this we cannot do unless we believe Him to be Eternal To question the Godhead of our Saviour is not only fruitless and dangerous but diabolically impious and pernicious But nothing can more require the greatest ardency of our most zealous Endeavours than to suppress the confidence of those Men who pretend by their Reason to baffle the Divine Wisdom and by the force of a little Sophistry to eclipse the Eternal Brightness of the Glory of the Father of Lights It is fruitless to the Contemplator's own purpose to consider that He whom he believes to be his Saviour is a Person of Infinite Power and Majesty Will not the genuine force and efficacy of this consideration produce in a true Believer the Fruit of the Spirit viz. Love Ioy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance Most certainly he 's in great danger of Hell-fire that calls this Truth into question that our Lord Iesus Christ is the true and eternal God But nothing can more conduce to our Safety and Everlasting Consolation than a firm adherence to this Assertion That our Saviour is Almighty which he could not be if he were not the True and Eternal God For as there is but One Eternal so there is but One Almighty I have seen divers Excellent Books that have been written against this wicked Pamphlet therefore I shall say no more of it but only this That I wish its being burnt may mind the Author of that Fire which shall never be quenched Since the writing hereof I have read a Pamphlet with this fantastick Title The Antapology of the Melancholy Stander-by In Pag. 41. I find such a scandalous Objection against the Creed of St. Athanasius that I think it my Duty with all possible speed to publish my Answer to it and Resentment of it as coming from one who professes himself to be a Son of the Church of England He recites these words of the Creed The Father is eternal the Son eternal and the Holy Ghost eternal and yet they are not Three eternals but One eternal As also there are not Three Incomprehensibles nor Three Uncreated but One Uncreated and One Incomprehensible Suppose now says this Anonymus a Man should thus argue hence If there are Three yet not Three Uncreated but One Uncreated then Two of the Three must be Created for the Three must be either Created or Uncreated that is eternally existent I affirm That if any Man should thus argue the Answer would be ready That the Epithets Incomprehensible and Uncreated are attributed to the Father Son and Holy Ghost as these Three are One and have one Essence Uncreated Infinite or Incomprehensible It does no more follow That if there are Three yet not Three Uncreated but One Uncreated and then Two of the Three must be Created than that if there are Three yet not Three Gods but One God then Two of the Three must not be God Here the Anonymus plainly discovers the falseness of his Heart whatever he pretends he is a Deserter of the Catholic Faith As for his most Impious Endeavours to make his Reader to disgust that most wholsome Petition in the Litiny which being rightly used cures the Soul of all Sin and Error O holy blessed and glorious Trinity Three Persons and One God have mercy upon us miserable Sinners I shall say no more at present but only this That if this Writer receive any Temporal Benefit as a Priest of the Church of England he deserves the Character of a Thief and a Robber And as I profess my self to be a True Son of the Church of England and consequently of the Universal Church of Christ I make my Appeal against him to the King of kings and Lord of lords who is ready to judge both the Quick and the Dead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 BOOKS Printed for John Everingâ— at the Star in Ludgate-street 1. MIscellany Essays by Monsieur De 〈◊〉 mont upon History Philosophy 〈◊〉 Morality Humanity Gallantry c. 〈◊〉 with a Character by a Person of Hono◠〈◊〉 England continued by Mr. Dryden 2. A new Family-book or the true 〈◊〉 of Families Being Directions to Pa◠〈◊〉 Children and to those who are instâ—ad of 〈◊〉 shewing them their several Duties with 〈◊〉 and Meditations To which is annexed 〈◊〉 course about the right way of improvin◠〈◊〉 Time with a Preface by Dr. Horneck 3. An Answer to the brief History of the 〈◊〉 tarians called also Socinians By William 〈◊〉 Rector of St. Swithin London 4. An Enquiry into several remarkable 〈◊〉 of Scripture in the Old and New Testamâ— which contain some difficulty in them with 〈◊〉 probable Resolution of them By Iohn Edwarâ— B. D. sometime Fellow of St. Iohn's College in Cambridge 5. Moral Maxims of Reflections in four Parts Written in French by the Duke of Rochefoucault now made English 6. The Gauger and Measurer's Companion being a compendious way of Gauging Superfice and Solids with the Reasons of most Multiplicators and Divisors used in Measuration all difficult Points made easie with a way to Gauge all Quantities under a Gallon also a brief Description of the Gauge-point with a Direction to find the same and the Content of a Circle in all its parts The exact Method of measuring Land Board Glass Pavement Stone be it of what form soever together with a Globe and Round Timber with a Table of Cylinders c. 7. The Royal English School for Their Majesties three Kingdoms being a Catalogue of all the Words in the Bible with a Praxis in Prose and Verse all beginning with one Syllable and proceeding by degrees to eight divided and not divided whereby all Persons both Young and Old of the meanest Abilities may with little help be able to read the whole Bible over distinctly easily and more speedily than in any other Method with Directions to find out any word together with an Exposition on the Creed and variety of Pictures By Tobias Ellis late Minister of the Gospel 8. Monarchia Microcosmi The Origin Vicissitudes and Period of Vital Government in Man for a further discovery of Diseases incident to Human Nature By Edw. Maynwaring M. D. 9. The Divine Art of Prayer containing the most proper Rules to Pray well with divers Meditations and Prayers suitable to the Necessity of Christians useful in every Family with several Prayers for Souldiers both in Their Majesties Army and Fleet. By Marius d' Assigney B. D. 10. Phrascologia Generalis A full large and general Phrase-book comprehending whatever is necessary and most useful in all other Phraseological Books hitherto here published and methodically digested for the more speedy and prosperous progress of Students in their Humanity-Studies By William Robertson M. A. * T.P. H.M. S. T. Doctores
Pietatis exercitia auâ—â—oâ—os Mores conferret plurimi fecit To adorn the Memory of such a Man as T. H. what is it but to provide that the Corps of one that dyed of the Plague may lye in state that People coming to behold it may contract the Infection If this Author go on to publish any more Books to as ill purposes as he has done this whatever height of Learning and Eloquence he may attain unto by the continuance of his Studies he will certainly deserve no better Character than that which was given by Velleius Paterculus to C. Curio Hist. lib. 2. Homo Ingeniosissimè Nequam Facundus Malo Publico Most just is the severity of the Censure past upon this most Infamous Writer by the most Reverend Archbishop of Armagh The catching of the Leviathan Chap. 1. Thus we have seen how the Hobbian Principles do destroy the Existence the Simplicity the Ubiquity Eternity and Infiniteness of God the Doctrin of the Blessed Trinity the Hypostatical Union the Kingly Sacerdotal and Prophetical Offices of Christ the Being and Operation of the Holy Ghost Heaven Hell Angels Devils the Immortality of the Soul the Catholick and all National Churches the Holy Scriptures Holy Orders the Holy Sacraments the whole Frame of Religion and the Worship of God the Laws of Nature the Reality of Goodness Justice Piety Honesty Conscience and all that is sacred I shall most earnestly entreat those young Students in Divinity who shall cast an Eye on these Papers that they would read all that has been written against T. H. by this most Renowned Archbishop and hy the Right Reverend Father in God the late Bishop of Salisbury and by the Reverend and Learned Dr. H. More Dr. Sharrock and Dr. Cumberland Other excellent Men have abundantly confuted his Wicked Errors but I have been chiefly conversant in the Writings of those I have here mention'd I cannot but recite a few Lines of my Lord Bishop of Salisbury's excellent Sermon concerning the Sinfulness Danger and Remedies of Infidelity which T. H. would not acknowledg to be a Sin The Author of the Leviathan Cap. 41. p. 286. tells us in plain terms That we do not read any where in the Scriptures that they which received not the Doctrin of Christ did therein sin And again That the Injunctions of Christ and his Apostles Men might refufe without Sin Now concerning this Assertion I cannot chuse but say that had I not been acquainted with the Works of that Author especially those relating to Religion I should exceedingly wonder at iâ— because it supposes Men never to look into their Bibles which is the thing it would perswade In the 21st of Matthew our Saviour asks the Iews this Question Did ye never read in the Scriptures such a thing A Question which I must repeat to the Asserters of this Doctrin Did they never read in the Scriptures the Sinfulness the Danger the Hainousness of Infidelity Surely he that runs may read it His Lordship 's Exercitatio in Thomae Hobbii Philosophiam printed at Oxford 1656. prov'd a most effectual Antidote against the Plague of the Hobbian Errors which at that time began to spread most dreadfully Since I had fitted these Animadversions for the Press there came to my Hands a Book entituled An Answer to a late Book publisht by Dr. Bramhal late Bishop of Derry called The Catching of the Leviathan I wish some Learned Man would publish a Reply to it to vindicate the Honour of that most renowned Prelate If the Charge I have brought against T. H. in these Animadversions be true that Monument of his Reputation which some may conceit to have been erected in this Book will most certainly in the Judgment of all Men fall to the Ground the weakness whereof in one particular I shall here demonstrate He affirms That Atheism is a Sin of Ignorance and he conceits that he sufficiently exposes the most Reverend Archbishop by this pitiful Sophism If it be not a Sin of Ignorance it must be a Sin of Malice Can a Man malice that which he thinks has no Being Answ. To have an Aversion to the Notion or Conception of a Being Infinite in all Perfection is to Malice or Hate GOD And such an Aversion is the grossest Atheism T. H. supposes that there is a GOD and from this Supposition it must needs follow whether he would have it so or no that all Rational Creatures are capable of the foresaid Notion So that an Aversion to it can proceed from no other Cause but only the Pravity of the Will perverting the Undertaking T. H. pretends to Believe the Holy Scriptures Now it is written This is the True Light that enlightneth every man that cometh into the World The True Light is GOD It is written God is Light If the True Light enlightneth every Man that cometh into the World Atheism is not only the Not Seeing of Him but an Aversion to Him no Sin of Ignorance but of Malice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I shall not make any other Apology for the sharpness of my Stile but this That it is not enough not to Consent to the Hobbian Errors but we must Hate them with a perfect Hatred I have no more to do at present but only to recite those words of the blessed Psalmist with reference to every one of the Disciples of this most Impious Sophister which I us'd in public with reference to him not long before his death Arise O God maintain thine own cause remember how the foolish men blasphemeth thee daily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 EPITAPHIUM R. SH LL. Doctoris Hic Iacent Reliquiae Viri Incomparabilis Roberti Sharrock Qui Iacentem Suscitavit Philosophiam Practicam Atheismum Triumphantem Debellavit HOBBII SPINOSAe caeterorum Ejusdem furfuris homuncionum Placita Specie quâdam Eruditionis insignis ostentata Quam sint Stolida quam Improba Clarissime Demonstravit Virtutum Vitiorum omnium Veras ac Vivas Effigies depingens Horum Odia Illarum Amores In Animis Prudentium Lectorum Flagrantissimos Accendit Striptis Varii Argumenti Elaboratissimis Usque ad Consummationem Seculi Apud Doctos Pios permansuris Famae Suae Exegit Monumentum Aere perennius Clarissimi Viri Domini GEORGII MACKENZI Epitaphium A. D. 1691. Ingenio Magno ac Verâ Pietate refulget Illius Egregii Candida Fama Viri Cum nihil Hic fuerit Quo se ingens flamma foveret Ignea Mens Terras linquit Astra Petit. A LETTER to the Author of a Pamphlet Entituled The Doctrine of the Trinity Placed in its due Light Non eloquimur magna sed vivimus SIR THO I acknowledge That you deserve the Character of a Person Ingenious and Learned yet since you deny the Catholic Faith whilst you pretend to be a True Son of the Church of England I must say you do not deserve the Name of an Honest Man I doubt not but any Learned and Impartial Reader that believes the Holy Scriptures were written by
me with your Translation of my long Elegy into Latine which 't is hard to do well and so the more likely to commend your command of the Latine Tongue if the Poem does not loose very much in the Translation I acknowledge the great Authorities you alledge for the practice and use of Poetry and 't is laudable in all who are so much above their proper Business as to suffice both for That and their Recreations Such were Nazianzen and Grotius but the most excellent Dr. Hammond and Bishop Sanderson were none of that number much less am I That you can discharge all the Duties of your Priest-hood to write in Prose against the Errors of Iansenius and to write Verses at the same time and the hardest of the kind too a Latine Translation of arrant English gives me occasion to say with Aristotle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I grow in Indispositions as well as Years and am so much more modest or more timerous or more judicious than when I was Younger for I know not well what it is that I can seldom do any thing which I can readily approve of and have contracted an averseness to divers things such as Poetry and Musick in special manner wherein I formerly most delighted and thought I had the most skill in But if you send me your Translation as you say you do intend I will tell you what I think of it as I did divers Friends what I thought of their Translations of my Sermon against the Papists The Thesis you held at Oxford was very modest and very safe Iustin Martyr does go much farther who yet you know was too Primitive to be a Pelagian St. Augustin is cited by the Remonstrants and Antiremonstrants as a Patron of both those ways into which he was betray'd by the usual 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his contrary disputes against the Pelagians and the Manichees so that reckon his Authority none at all in those Points all things consider'd And having cloy'd my self formerly with Disputes on that subject I am grown averse to that also But you it seems have now that Youngness and Inclination which I had then and may with more plausibility oppose those Errors in Iansenius a Papist than I did in Calvin Dr. Twiss Dr. Reynolds Dr. Barlow Dr. Bernard Mr. Barloe Mr. Whitfield Mr. Baxter Mr. Hickman and some other Writers who had the advantage of being Protestants which made my Writings ill resented by a Protestant Party tho well received by the most and best of Men amongst us yea by a multitude of the Party I writ against who have publickly thank't me for their Conversions if so I may call their Change of Judgment I think you will do well to consider Mr. Sherlock a stranger to me before you condemn him because I perceive he has the best Men's Approbation and may be taken by the wrong handle as many Orthodox Men have been They that quarrel Dr. Hammonds Letters to Dr. Sanderson whose longest Letter was to me altho I sent it Dr. Hammond in whose Friendship we long had met are hardly worth a wise Man's Anger and you need not purchase them yours Sir the Sickliness you speak of has invaded these parts too and the share I have lately had of it does make this Employment the less in season to Your Affectionate Brother and humble Servant Tho. Pierce Sarum Jan. 9. 1676. Reuerend SIR AT my return out of a Berkshire Visitation I met with yours at Sarum of the 12th of this month wherein I read your Translations of Montross his Epitaph on the King into good Greek Verse and better Latine These last being the happiest I have yet seen of yours and so the fitter to be the last too For you will never do better and 't is filthly to perform worse and worse which makes me fearful of ever more verfifying my self and a dissuasor to other Men who are grown in years and have a greater as well as graver Vocation to pursue Your weekly or frequent Preaching and your ingaging in the Quinquarticular Controversy will require your whole man whilst yet in health and be too hard for all your Faculties when you grow valetudinary as you will by much Study do what you can in prevention of it All your Iansenists and Calvinifts are well-performing Writers against Pelagius and the Massibienses and so far useful only they spoil the good they do and make themselves more obnoxious by their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which carry'd them into the contrary and in my opinion the worse extream We are led between both by the Church of England and I congratulate to you the happiness of being one of her Sons Such I hope I shall die as I have liv'd and as such I subscribe my self Your Affectionate Brother and humble Servant Tho. Pierce Sarum May 19th 1676. To Dr. SHERLOCK 1691. SIR I Have seen a Printed Paper wheren I find your pretended Vindication of your Error in saying That the Three Persons in the Holy Trinity are three infinite Spirits Tho I was the first say you who had made use of those Terms in such a sense yet I ought not to be reprehended in opposition to such a Practice as you conceit to be so excusable the Learned Isaac Casaubon produces these most important Sayings of Plato Epictetus and Galen Pl. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epict. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Certainly no Christian Schollar was ever guilty of a greater piece of INSOLENCE than this To use Terms in a Discourse concerning the Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity in such a sense which they were never us'd in by any other Man Is not this to boast in your Singularity in a conceit of a kind of Superiority to the Communion of Saints whose consent in this matter is exprest in these words of Saint Augustin Epist. 174. Spiritus est Deus Pater Spiritus est Filius ipse Spiritus Sanctus nec tamen tres spiritus sed unus spiritus sicut non Tres Dii sed unus Deus I do not say you reprove the use of the word Person but it were to be wish'd that those who first introduc'd this term into Divinity had given us a clear and proper notion of it Answ. Their Notion of it plainly imports That a Person is THAT or SOMEWHAT which has an Intelligent Being or Essence Now it implies no contradiction that in the one absolutely infinite and incomprehensible Being there should be the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost of each of which Three it may be said He is THAT which has an infinite intelligent Essence But it may not be said That the Father is the Son or the Holy Ghost or that the Son is the Father c. And yet we must acknowledge that the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost have one Essence absolutely infinite that is to say that these Three are the one true and eternal God The Father is God the Son
I know you have good Nature enough to pardon this hasty Scrible from SIR Your most humble Servant RO. SHARROCK July 21. 1662. In Obitum DOCTISSIMI Viri FIDELISSIMI AMICI THOMAe PIERCE S. T. P. Decani Sarisburiensis SAnctus Amor Mihi Te cum tot conjunxerit Annos Tu certe nec jam Morte Revulsus eris Morte mori vostra videor Doctissimi Amici Hac ratione etiam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1691. GReat Good and Just could I but rate c. Montross Iustitia Bonitate ingens Si quantus in imo Corde Mihi Dolor est Si Qualia Fata ferebas Aequo Animo possem Factis ostendere Flerem Quae Totum Obruerent Lachrymarum Flumina Mundum Sed cum suppetias poscat Vox Sanguinis Alta Non quas ARGI Oculi sed quas praestare BRIAREI Vis Manuum poterit Cantus Tuba clara Sonabit Funebres Titulos Defuncti Sangâ—â—â—e Scribam A Letter to the Author of a Book Entituled An Enquiry into the Constitution Discipline Unity and Worship of the Primitive Church Reverende Domine QUis quis es Erudite Vir Mihi certè videris esse Rerum in Ecclesiâ Novandarum Avidus Nos Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Inimicum esse judicamus istius modi hominem qui cum Professus sit semetipsum esse Ecclesiae Anglicanae Filium hominibus Anglicanis Persuadere Velit ut animum inducant Credere non adeo esse Necessarium Orationis Dominicae Usum ut eum existimat Ecclesia Anglicana Si tu Mecum non Consentias in omnibus quae in hac Dissertatiuncula exaravi Te rogo per istum quem in Proefatione Tuâ Professus es Candorem ut mittas mihi aliquam à Te Scriptam Oppositionem Ex Collisione Adversantium Sententiarum Veritas clariùs Eluscesoet Vale. Reverende Domine DIssertatiunculam quam mihi misisti perlegi ac in toto meo Libro me contra Patres quos citâsti aliquid soripsisse non memini sed è contrario ad probandum Dominicae Orationis usum eosdem Patres aut saltem aliquos eorum in testes adduxisse Non sum Domine Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Inimicus Perfectioni Orationis Dominicae assentior nec aliter rerum in Ecclesiâ Novandarum avidus nisi ut Lites Nostrae componantur Ecclesiae nostrae Divisae unitas tandem reddatur Hoc quidem nitar Deum Pacis semper invocabo ut det Pacem in diebus nostris ut caeptis Amorem Unitatem quaerentium Benedicat Vale. Nov. 4th 1692. Honoured SIR I Thank you for your Letter in which you shew so great Candour and Civility That I hope your Design is not so ill as I feared it was tho I am very averse from several of your Assertions particularly that concerning the LORD'S PRAYER viz. that the Primitive Church did not always use it in their Solemn Worship To which I Answer That it cannot be prov'd That any Bishop of the Primitive Church or any one of the Inferiour Clergy with the Allowance of his Bishop did ever undertake to perform the Publick Worship of Almighty God without the Use of the LORD'S PRAYER Some of the greatest Enemies of the Church of Christ in this Kingdom are those Men who pretend to be True Ministers of the Gospel without true ORDINATION and in their Congregations never use the LORD'S PRAYER I shall here recite some of my own Words that have been published in two several Papers It is most evident that those Men are guilty of Abominable Iniquity who endeavour to seduce any People from the Communion of the CHURCH of ENGLAND in which the Fundamental Articles of the Christian Religion are so clearly and fully exprest and those most important Expressions so frequently repeated That Persons of the lowest Intellectuals who do not Rebel against the Light in frequenting our Religious Assemblies may more easily attain to the Knowledge of All Things that are necessary to their Salvation than by Hearing or Reading the best Sermons that have been or shall be preached by any of the Nonconformists to the End of the World which Assertion is as Evident as it is That any Illiterate Persons may more easily meditate on Truths plainly exprest and frequently suggested to their Remembrance than Collect the same Truths out of divers large Discourses if they were therein implyed So that it can hardly be imagin'd how any Man can be in any thing more serviceable to the Destroyer of Souls than by Teaching People to dispise Our CATECHISM and COMMON PRAYER SIR If you sincerely desire the Peace of the Church I beseech you by the Meekness and Gentleness of our Lord Iesus Christ That you would deeply consider what I have here written in Conscience of my Duty at all Times and in all places to love the Truth and Peace Your faithful Servant E. E. Nov. 26th 1692. SIR I Shall not give you the trouble of any Preface to what I shall write in Vindication of this most important Truth That the Primitive Church in the Publick Worship of Almighty God did always use a Liturgy or Form of Sacred Words namely the LORD'S PRAYER the PSALMS and the GLORIA PATRI You say That Origen prescribing a methed of Prayer speaks not a Word of the LORD'S PRAYER De Oratione Sect. 22. I Answer That in the former part of his Treatise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He speaks very much of the LORD'S PRAYER and plainly shews That 't was us'd by all Christians in their Religious Assemblies I Pray SIR bestow your second THOUGHTS upon these Words Page 66. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 132 133. He plainly shews That in what he speaks of the LORD'S PRAYER he would be understood to have Respect in a Special Manner to the PUPLICK WORSHIP 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. 4. Contra Celsam Edit Spenc. pag. 178. He speaks expresly of COMMON PRAYERS in which he certainly implies the LORD'S PRAYER of which he discourses so largely in his Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 How great Regard the Primitive Christians had to the Gloria Patri is manifest by that Holy Aspiration of Polycarpus which you cite 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. And by those Words of Origen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 135. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 You say As to these prescribed FORMS there is not the the least mention of them in any of the Primitive Writings nor the least Word nor Syllable tending thereunto that I can find which is a most unaccountable Silence if ever such there were but rather some Expressions intimating the contrary as that famous controverted place of Iustin. Martyr who describing the manner of the PRAYER before the Celebration of the LORD'S SUPPER says That the Bishop sent up Prayers and Praises to God with his utmost Ability 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apol. 2. that is That he pray'd with the best of his Abllities Invention Expression Judgment and the like Answ. This famous place of Iustin
Primitive Church or any one of the Inferiour Clergy with the Allowance of his Bishop did ever undertake to perform the Public Worship of Almighty God without the Use of the Lord's Prayer I do most confidently Aver That the want of the Practical Understanding of the Lord's Prayer is the chief Cause of all the Sins and Errours in the Christian World Wherefore I earnestly beseech all those that have Named the Name of Christ to joyn with me in the daily Contemplation of the Divine Sence of these Words deliver'd unto us by our Blessed SAVIOUR as a Compleat Directory for All Our Desires OUr Father which art in Heaven Hastowed be Thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this Day our Daily Bread And forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that Trespass against us And lead us not into Temptation but deliver us from Evil. For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen A Vindication of the LITURGY of the Church of England THE Author of these Reflections most stedfastly resolves by the Help of Almighty GOD to embrace Truth and to reject Error wheresoever he finds it He desires That the Friends of R. B. would take these Reflections into their deepest consideration with the same candour and benevolence to all Mankind with which he communicates them to the World I am glad to find these words pag. 233 234. I would not be understood as if I intended the putting away of all set Times and Places to Worship God forbid I should think of such an Opinion Nay we are none of those that forsake the Assembly of our selves together but have even set Times and Places in which we carefully meet together to wait upon God and worship him These words following in the same Page require our Animadversion But the Limitation we condemn is That whereas the Spirit of God should be the immediate Actor moreover Perswader and Influencer of Man in the particular Acts of Worship when the Saints are met together this Spirit is limited in its Operations by setting up a particular Man or Men to preach and pray in Man's Will and all the rest are excluded from so much as believing that they are to wait for God's Spirit to move them in such things and so they neglecting that which should quicken them in themselves and not waiting to feel the pure Breathings of God's Spirit so as to obey them are led meerly to depend upon the Preacher and hear what he will say Answ. I shall undertake by God's assistance to vindicate the Use of the Liturgy of the Church of England the principal parts whereof are the Lord's Prayer and the Holy Psalms I say the Psalms for they are to be us'd in our Religious Assemblies as the Means or Instruments to lift up our Hearts unto God I would here avoid all Disputes concerning the Ordination of Ministers In our Assemblies the People bear a part with the Minister or Preacher in using their Voice in worshiping Almighty God The Spirit cannot be limited in its Operations by any thing that is taught or practised according to any Order of the Church of England We are taught not to Pray in Man's Will but according to the Will of GOD which is our Sanctification We are taught to wait for God's Spirit to move us to the performance of any thing He would have us to do but we are taught also to believe that God's Spirit is always ready to assist the Sincere those who desire above all things to do His Will to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth in Saying or Hearing the Words of our Liturgy in the Congregation The very moment that any Soul truly devout waits for or expects the assistance of the Spirit of Christ to help her to perform any known Duty towards GOD or towards Man she never fails to receive it Concerning the Psalms I shall speak hereafter It is the Duty of all Christians at all times and in all places to retain in their Hearts the Habit Ground or Principle of all those Holy Desires which are exprest in the Lord's Prayer this 't is to pray continually When the words of this Prayer are recited in the Congregation it is impossible but those who have the Habit of those Holy Desires in their Hearts should worship God in Spirit and in Truth viz. in the act or exercise of those Desires by the inspiration of the Divine Spirit whose operation never ceases but when Man in his own Will or Self-love doth suppress or totally extinguish such Holy Desires or Aspirations I am very sorry to see so ingenious and learned a person as R. B. err so grosly about the Lord's Prayer in which he shews himself tainted with that Impurity of Mind for which Dr. Owen has been so often corrected p. 245. We know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us c. Rom. 8. 26. But says R. B. If this Prayer had been such a prescribed Form of Prayer to the Church that had not been true neither had they been ignorant what to pray nor should they have needed the help of the Spirit to teach them p. 245. To this I answer That it is impossible that any man should actually know as they ought to know the sence or meaning of any word in the Lord's Prayer but by an actual Influence of the Divine Spirit upon his Heart and Mind I must therefore proclaim to all the World That it was the Spirit of Error which suggested these words to R. B. If this Prayer had been such a prescribed Prayer to the Church that had not been true neither had they been ignorant what to pray nor should they have needed the help of the Spirit to teach them By what I have already said it appears that if by these words our Adversaries c. p. 264. he means all those who worship God according to the English Liturgy he 's very Uncharitable Our Adversaries says he whose Religion is all for the most part out-side and such whose Acts are the meer product of Man's natural Will and Abilities as they can preach so they can pray when they please and therefore have their set particular Prayers Answ. We acknowledge that we can never pray as we ought but by the assistance of the Spirit of God but his Assistance is always ready for us If at any time we fail of it we our selves are the cause we have it not As to set particular Prayers we own no Prayer but the Lord's Prayer further than the sense of it is implied in some part of that Compleat Body of Vocal Prayer that Divine Summary or Breviary of the Expressions of all holy Desires p. 266. Because this outward Prayer depends upon the inward as that which must follow it and cannot be acceptably perform'd but as attended with a superadded Influence and Motion of the Spirit Therefore
cannot we prefix set times to pray outwardly so as to lay a necessity to speak words at such and such times whether we feel this Heavenly Influence and Assistance or no for that we judge were a tempting of God and a coming before him without due preparation To this I answer That whatever feeling we have or have not in the Sensitive Powers or Faculties of our Souls if our Heart our Will or Spiritual Appetite be rightly affected towards God our Prayers will most certainly be acceptable unto Him And His Holy Spirit is always ready to assist every man that believeth in Iesus so to order and dispose his own Spirit that it may comply with the Will of God in all things It cannot be a Tempting of God to depend upon him for his gracious Assistance to do his Will And it is his Will that in our Religious Assemblies we should use Words in Prayer When ye pray say Our Father c. Luk. 11. 2. p. 268. To desire a man to fall to Prayer e're the Spirit in some measure less or more move him thereunto is to desire a man to see before he open his Eyes That is an irreverent Expression To fall to Prayer but most certainly it is our Duty to call upon all men who profess Christianity to observe the Times of the Public Worship of Almighty God and to testifie to them that if they will sincerely trust in God for Christ's sake to assist them by his holy Spirit they shall never fail of his gracious Assistance He will help their Infirmities and enable them to cry Abba Father Rom. 8. 15 26. P. 275. As for the formal customary way of Singing it hath in Scripture no foundation nor any ground in true Christianity yea besides c. Answ. If by the formal customary way of Singing he mean that way of Singing Psalms in Metre or the reading of them in prose which the Church of England is accustomed unto It is a gross Errour to say there is no foundation for it in the Scripture Have we not received a Precept from our Blessed Lord by his Apostle to sing and make melody in our Hearts to the Lord And can there be any better means to do this than what the Apostle prescribes in these words Speaking to your selves in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs Can there be any better Psalms c. than those which were most certainly and unquestionably compos'd by Divine Inspiration Yea says he besides all the Abuses incident to Prayer and Preaching it hath this more peculiar That oftentimes great and horrid Lyes are said in the sight of God for all manner of wicked prophane People take upon them to personate the Experiences and Conditions of blessed David which are not only false as to them but also as to some of more Sobriety who utter them forth as where they will Sing sometimes Psal. 22. 14. My heart is like wax it is melted in the midst of my bowels Ver. 15. My strength is dryed up like a potsheard and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws and thou hast brought me into the dust of death And Psal. 6. 6. I am weary with my groaning all the night make I my bed to swim I water my couch with my tears And many more which those that speak know to be false as to them To this I answer That all the Prayers of wicked prophane People that is of those who persist in their Wickedness whatever words they use in Prayer are an abomination to the Lord. What then Must they be forbid to pray No surely But in Praying they must cease to be wicked And indeed it is impossible that any wicked man should cease to be wicked before he begins to pray Prayer has always that Priority to ceasing to be wicked which Logicians call Priority of Nature Before any man can be justly esteemed to be a Member of any Christian Assembly or Congregation he must profess that he believes the Holy Scriptures were written by Divine Inspiration and consequently that they contain nothing but Truth And also that he resolves by the help of God to take the Truth therein contained to be the Rule of his Life and Conversation If he be Sincere in this Profession and God only can judge whether he be so or no unless he violate his Profession by some notorious contrary Practice then most certainly he has in his Heart those Holy Desires which are exprest in the Lord's Prayer And as for the Psalms I pray God to make all the Adversaries of the Church of England duly sensible of this most important Truth That though indeed there are many Passages in them which none of us can apply to himself as to the Particularity of his own Person yet there is not one Passage in the whole Book but what every true Christian may and ought to apply to himself upon account of the Communion of Saints of the relation He has to the Head and to every Member of the Holy Catholick Church which is in Heaven or in Earth So that every Expression in the Book of Psalms every sincere Christian so far as it is intelligible unto him may use as the Means to stir him up to Sing and make Melody in his Heart to the Lord to form such Thoughts and Affections as shall be most acceptable to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Certainly every Man that is confirm'd to the Image of the Son of God who was all his days here upon Earth A man of Sorrows and acquainted with Grief I say every Sincere Christian does most certainly pour out his Soul before the Lord in such Affections as are here exprest in the words of the Psalmist My heart is like wax it is melted in the midst of my bowels c. I am highly delighted with many Passages in Robert Barclay's Apology particularly with this p. 370. It is plain that men that are taken with Love whether it be of a Woman or any other thing if it hath taken a deep place in the Heart and possess the Mind it will be hard for the man so in Love to drive out of his Mind the person or thing so loved Yea in his eating drinking and sleeping his Mind will always have a tendency that way and in Business or Recreations however intent he be in it there will but a very short time be permitted to pass but the Mind will let some Ejaculations forth towards its Beloved And albeit such a one must be conversant in those things that the Care of this Body and such-like things call for yet will he avoid as Death it self to do those things that may offend the Party so beloved or cross his Design in obtaining the thing so earnestly desired tho' there may be some small use in them The great Design which is chiefly in his Eye will so balance him that he will easily look over and dispense with such petty Necessities rather than endanger the loss of the greater by them Now That
Divine Inspiration will readily grant that in two or three Lines I destroy your Hypothesis viz. That there is no other Difference or Distinction betwixt the Father Son and Holy Ghost than there is betwixt Infinite Goodness Wisdom and Power It is most agreeable to the Holy Scriptures to say That Infinite Goodness is Infinite Wisdom and Power and that Infinite Wisdom is Infinite Goodness and Power and that Infinite Power is Infinite Goodness and Wisdom But it is most contrary to the Holy Scriptures to say That the Father is the Son and the Holy Ghost and that the Son is the Father and the Holy Ghost and that the Holy Ghost is the Father and the Son Your ridiculing the Heavenly Senniments of St. Augustin concerning the Divine Beauty is such an Abomination that I cannot recite it without an Horresco Referens as a Preface to the Recitation of such a Blasphemous Harangue P. 4. Let us seriously consider How could Epicurus more Graphically describe his Idle Voluptuous Deity than by comparing him to a Beautiful Lady pleasing her self with the Image of her fair Face reflected in a bright smooth Glass or How could he give a better Account of his regardlesness of the World than by saying his Life his Glory and his Pleasure are all his Interest and and these are determined to one another Now I pray thee Reader what is all this to thee or me but a Discouragement from hoping any good from such a God and consequently from paying him any Love or Service Be the Lady never so perfect in Beauty her Glass never so exactly clear her Delight in it never so ravishing what is this to the well-ordering of her Family but an hindrance A Noble Eloquent and Judicious Writer in his Advice to a Daughter telleth her That her Servants will more value her House-keeper than her Ladyship if they find she takes no care of them And some will say It is not so unreasonable to Worship the Sun who is the World 's great Benefactor as that Sun ' s Creator if he leaves them without farther regard to their happiness Now I pray thee Reader What is all this to thee or me Is it nothing to me that my God is the Infinity of True Beauty that He is all that I can desire all that deserves my Love The Divine Beauty implies the Glory of infinite Goodness Wisdom and Power and is all this nothing to me It implies the Glory of the Justice of the Divine Vengeance on Impenitent Sinners as they are Impenitent and the Glory of Infinite Mercy towards Sinners that repent or such who tho they do not truly repent have not so hardened their hearts but that they are capable of Repentance And is all this nothing to me Is it nothing to me that the Divine Beauty being Infinite is in all Things and Events Sin only excepted so that whilst I sincerely believe in IESUS all the Objects of my Thoughts are Matter of Joy and Satisfaction unto me The King of Terrors ceases to be terrible and becomes a most useful Subject to those that obey the Royal Law of Liberty and so become Kings and More than Conquerors over all their Enemies This Happiness they attain unto by a true Sense or Practical Knowledge of the Divine Beauty the Infinity of Light and Love And is all this nothing to me Certainly the Divine Beauty is All Things to me One Glympse of it is enough to quench all such burning desires which torment the Souls of Covetous Ambitious and Voluptuous Men. This Beauty do I see in the Image of the Invisible God the Brightness of the Glory of the Father of Lights and the Express Image of his Person Your kind Reflexion upon the Mahometans p. 19. puts me in mind of that most Remarkable Passage in a Learned Book Entituled A Discourse of Natural and Reveal'd Religion Chap. 26. Before 〈◊〉 take my leave of Mahomet it will not be amiss to Advertise my Reader if he be a Christian of the Danger both he and all other Christian are in of being reduc'd under the Slavery of this Mortal and Common Enemy so that how prosperous soever the Christian Arms are or have been we are still in greater danger than ever of being ruin'd by the Legions of these Infidels not those of their Spahi's or Ianizaries but by those of another Order far more mischievous forasmuch as they fight under our Colours and pretend to be of our Party such Enemies are ever look'd upon as the most dangerous for they are rarely discovered till they have given the Mortal Blow Now these are the Socinians which tho exploded the World above a Thousand Years ago under the Appellation of Arians are in these our days risen again from the Grave and like Spectrums appear every where in the dark P. 29. You say That St. Gregory Nazianzen in his 35th Oration maketh the Unity no other than pâ—cifical wherein he agreeth with his great Friend St. Basil as appeareth by the Letter sent him expresly upon this Subject by that great Father Have you any Fear of God or Shame of the World who have the Impudence to publish so Notorious a Lye These are St. Gregory Nazianzen's Words in his 38th Oration and there is nothing in his 35th but what is fully agreeable to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is the first Verse of one of his Hymns 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Unity cannot be Specifical or under any Genus which is above all being Absolutely Infinite There is not one Word in any one of St. Basil's Epistle to St. Gregory Nazianzen that might give any Man an Occasion to conceit That he thought the Unity no other then Specifical Blush and be confounded at the reading of these Words of that Holy Father wherein he expresses his Sense of the Divine Unity De Spiritu Sancto Cap. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where the Unity is Specifical there are Actually or Potentially more than one of the same Kind I shall now give you some of my Reflections upon the Conclusion of your Sophistical Essay Some I hope say you will find satisfaction in the very Doctrine as now stated Those that cannot fully grant their Assent and Consent to the Doctrine for its own sake may find some Ease if not full Cure of their Scruples when they Conform to our Establish'd Worship for Peace sake The former indeed is the best Fruit but the later is not contemptible If I obtain either of them I have already a sufficient Reward Yet I hope for a greater from that Lord whom I have thus endeavoured to serve and who hath said Blessed are the Peace-makers Here you plainly discover your Develish Design to bring the Socinians into the Communion of the Church of England and consequently to Corrupt and Destroy Her I grant That an Unlawful Petition in the Public Prayers is no sufficient Cause for any Man to separate himself from such a Religious Assembly which otherwise he should he obliged
to frequent But nothing can be more notoriously repugnant to the Principles of Common Honesty than for any Man to make the most Solemn and Express Profession of believing that which indeed he does not believe Every one that professes himself to be a Member of the Church of England makes the most Solemn and Express Profession of Believing that Our Lord Iesus Christ is God of God Light of Light Very God of Very God Begotten not Made being of One Substance with the Father by whom all things were made Blessed are the Peace-makers but Cursed are they that deny our Lord Jesus Christ to be the True and Eternal God whosoever thus detracts from Him the Infinity of his Glory he does not love Him And 't is known to all that read or hear the Holy Scriptures what the Apostle says Is any love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maran-atha I am Your Servant c. Walonis Messalini Sententiae DE Episcopis Presbyteris Examen Cui annexa est Animadversio in Davidem Blondellum Magna est Veritas Praevalebit Ad Lectorem AERLANUM TE Oro Obtestor per eam quam Professus es Fidem Christianam ut mente pura atque omnibus Praejudiciis vacua Pauca haec Scripta perlegere digneris Veritas non quaerit Angulos In clara luce reponimus sententiam Nostram nullis Obumbrata est Rhetorices Coloribus nullo Dialectices Affectato Acumine impedita sed Sermone simplici aperto explicata proponitur ac defenditur contra ejusmodi Adversarios qui sane Ingenio pollent eloquio Facile potes ipsam quam Tractamus rem totam inspicere Favorem tuum non petimus sed Aequum Iudicium Opto te semper in Christo bene Valere Veritatem ac Pacem amare Walo Messalinus in Dissertatione contra D. Petavium p. 7. de se Suisque loquens haec verba habet Nusquam negarunt antiqua etiam tempora discrimen illud inter Episcopos Presbyteros agnovisse qui sciunt rem esse antiquissimam ut duo hi Ordines in Ecclesia fuerint distincti Episcoporum Presbyterorum si excipiantur Apostolica tempora quorum aevo ut eorum scripta testantur nullam constat eorum Ordinum fuisse distinctionem Resp. An scripta Apostolica explicanda sint secundum Novatorum Commenta vel secundum Sensum Communem Sanctorum in Ecclesia primitiva quorum Scripta adhuc in Ecclesiae Aedificationem per providentiam divinam conservantur Judicet quispiam veritatis Evangelicae studiosus P. 12. Paulus in priore ad Timotheum Cap. 3. postquam praecepta dedit Episcopis statim transit ad Diaconos non alios agnoscens Presbyteros nisi qui confuso cum Episcopis discrimine iidem haberentur Nullus itaque inter eos gradus interjectus nec Apostolo agnitus Viri Apostolici Ioannis Chrysostomi sententiam Apostolicam Walonis Messalini sententiae adversam his verbis clarissime prolatam cernimus Hom. 11. in 1 Tim. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hom. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phrasis ista 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hac ratione explicanda esse videtur Matt. 26. 64. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 2. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ut per Dextram Potentiae significatur Dextra per quam Exercitur Potentia Et per Dextras Societatis significantur Dextrae per quas Exercetur Mutuus Amor seu Commune 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sic etiam per Manus Presbyterii significantur Manus per quas Exercetur Presbyterium hoc est Presbyteri Praesidentis seu Episcopi Officium P. 14. Cum vocat eos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ipse se 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eorum appellat Recte Sed inde non sequitur omnes quos vocat Presbyteros fuisse Apostolos quia illos in eodem cum seipso Apostolo Nomine conjungit dum seipsum appellat Sympresbyterum nec hinc sequitur omnes fuisse Episcopos seu in Potestate Ordinandi constitutos qui illo tempore vocati erant Episcopi P. 86 Cum Presbyteri omnes ex aequo vocarentur Episcopi pariter omnes nullum inter eos tum discrimen fuisse dignitatis ex eo comprobatur quia nullum esset appellationis Manifestum est temporibus Apostolicis magnum fuisse discrimen Dignitatis inter Timotheum Presbyterum atque alios qui tum etiam appellati erant Presbyteri fuit ille ea dignitate praeditus quam jam tota Ecclesia Episcopalem vocat quae Data est illi cum Impositione Manuum Presbyterii Scilicet is Iurisdictionem in ipsos Presbyteros atque Ordinandi Potestatem ab Apostolo Paulo accepit 1 Tim. 5. 20. Adversus Presbyterum accusationem noli recipere nisi sub duobus aut tribus Testibus V. 22. Manus cito ne cui imponito P. 117. Cum haec dicit Hieronymus quid facit excepta ordinatione Episcopus quod Presbyter non faciat Ad morem jusque suae aetatis respexit Sed non ita se rem habuisse Apostolorum aevo intellexit Eundem enim tunc fuisse Presbyterum Episcopum in Commentariis ad Titum scripsit Presbyteros quoque habuisse Ordinandi potestatem quia Presbyteri id erant quod Episcopi Idem est ergo inquit Presbyter qui Episcopus antequam Diaboli instinctu studia in religione fierent diceretur in populis Ego sum Pauli Ego Apollo Ego autem Cephae communi Presbyterorum consilio Ecclesiae gubernabantur Tunc temporis id est Apostolorum aetate in commune Presbyteri Ecclesiam regebant pares omnes honore ac potestate Ab eo autem tempore hoc est ex quo studia in Ecclesia facta sunt Postquam unusquisque eos quos Baptizaverat suos putabat esse non Christi in toto orbe decretum est ut unus de Presbyteris electus superponeretur caeteris ad quem omnis Ecclesiae cura pertineret schismatum semina tollerentur Post Apostolorum itaque tempore hoc decretum in toto Orbe factum est Resp. Nos minime negamus quin ad reprimenda Schismata necesse fuerit ut Episcopi Plus Auctoritatis exercerent atque inde distinctio Dignitatis Episcopalis Presbyteralis clarius apparuit Communi Presbyterorum Consilio Ecclesiae gubernabantur antequam inter ipsos Presbyteros orta sint Dissidia Tunc necesse erat ut ille Presbyter qui Ordinandi Potestatem habebat atque hac ratione Caeteris Praestabat Jurisdictionem quandam exerceret ad reprimenda Schismata Notandum est quod ipse agnoscat Heronymus inceptam fuisse hanc consuetudinem temporibus Apostolorum nempe cum diceretur in populis Ego sum Pauli Ego Apollo Ego autem Cephae In hac ipsa Epistola in qua ista occurrunt verba Quid facit Excepta Ordinatione Episcopus quod Presbyter non faciat Sic ille loquitur Ut sciamus Traditione Apostolicas sumptas de Vetere Testamento quod Aaron Filii Ejus atque Levitae in Templo