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A48298
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A justification of set forms of prayer and in special of the liturgy of the Church of England; in answer to, and confutation of Vavasor Powel's Fourteen considerations, against all composed and imposed forms of prayer. By Richard Lewthwat, M.A. and rector of Wethersdale in Suffolk.
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Lewthwat, Richard.
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1679
(1679)
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Wing L1854; ESTC R217637
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51,336
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125
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do thy will O God that they may be one as we are One in will and consent And so the sum of Christ's Prayer there was That the Father would keep the Disciples to be one in Faith in Spirit in Mind in Judgment in Worship and Service of God that they may be one as we are And Christ did not see a necessity of this Unity to be in his Disciples only but saw it necessary also to be among all men that should believe on him or profess Salvation by him as in John 17. vers 20 21. Neither pray I for these alone but for them also that shall believe on me through their word that they all may be one c. Brentius upon these words saith that what Christ before had prayed for his Disciples now prays for all that should believe on him and profess Salvation by him namely that there might be Unity among them all in Spirit in Mind in Worship and Service of God And now to clear up further the necessity of Unity and Uniformity among Believers and Professors of Christianity especially of them living near together I will mind the Readers of some places in St. Paul's Works sometimes praying for us and pressing upon us the same things which Christ pray'd the Father to keep us in In order hereunto I first urge that place of St. Paul to the Romans chap. 15. vers 5 6. God grant ye to be like minded c. I shall give but little of my own Meditations upon the words the Modern Divines having spoken so fully of them as to the present concern The words are the Apostles conclusion as to what he had spoken from the beginning of the 14th Chapter to the Quotation and it consists of Prayer and Exhortation each whereof do invite to the nourishing of Unity and Concord in matters of Religion among Christian Brethren both strong and weak upon the Apostles supplication there God grant ye to be like minded c. Marlorat says That one of the Modern Expositors upon the words saith to this purpose That the Apostle there contends both with God and the Church withal professing Christianity to be of one and the same judgment and mind as to the way of God's Worship which saith the Author there is the very esse and being of Christian Charity and where that effect is not 't is impossible there should be true Christians or any Salvation for that all true Faith is there extinct and the fear of God is not among them The later words of the Author are understood of Dissenters from the true Churches of Christ which be where the Separatists live namely such Churches as ours of England is which is invincible by any authentick Arguments of Romish Presbyterian Independant Anabaptistical Factions or of any other whatever our Church being like that in Sion spoken of in Psalm the 48th vers 12 13. fortified with all the Impregnable Towers and Bulwarks of the Doctrines Seals and Discipline of the Gospel of Peace and Salvation Which Church of ours was by many of the late Presbyterian and Independant Separations acknowledged to be Orthodoxal and that they had no such Exceptions against the Common-Prayer Book but that they could joyn with us in Worshipping of God as well as others of their judgment formerly now did and a long time before had done and this was to my knowledge the loud frequent and publick Expression of many of them long before the last Sea-Engagement with the Dutch but yet many of them thus owning conviction said They thought it not fit to own so much by conforming at that present juncture of time upon this insufficient reason alledged by them Because that if they did as then conform they should lie under the scandal of conforming out of fear considering the smart and severe Execution of the Penal Statutes in many parts of the Kingdom upon the Direction and Charges of the Judges in their Circuits Which acknowledged Conviction of many of them and reason of Non-conforming alledged for that present is thought by loyal and and charitable Hearts sounded in his Majesty's Ears and was the main end of his suspension of the Penal Statutes for a while by grant of the Tolleration namely that they might thereupon take the opportunity to conform without the forementioned Scandal For his Majesty there said That seeing the forementioned harsher Means would not prevail he would try what that gentle way of Tolleration for the present might do for their return to us I am sure his Majesty's words were to this purpose Of which opportunity some made present use to my knowledge for the Sunday after the Tolleration came down to Norwich some came then to both Common-Prayer and Sermon and not before I Preaching then at St. Stevens and so have continued since as I have had information upon inquiry C. G. C. Which Practice of some was the hope or desire of his Majesty for all which is evident from the other reason alledged by his Majesty for granting the Tolleration which was That whilst he had Wars abroad he might have Peace at home whereupon loyal and charitable hearts cannot but judge that notwithstanding the Tolleration his Majesty therein did publish his dislike of the Separations and openly check Nonconformity and possibly might insinuate a jealousie of the Dissenters from the Established Church of England that it might be in their hearts if they had but Opportunity Power and Advantages as formerly to Rebel forthwith against his Majesty and to Involve again this Church and State in blood and confusion And now I beg pardon for this short Digression from the last quoted Text because not passing by without throwing in a Mite into the Treasury erected for the relief of Uniformity in Religion which stands now in as much need in this Kingdom for help as ever I come with one Gloss more upon the Apostle's forementioned words which I hope shall be prevalent with Dissenters from us for their return of some to us and for the unity of others with us it being as apt and genuine an Exposition of Mr. Calvin a man ever of great Esteem with them as ever he gave of any Scripture speaking of those words of the Apostle namely That with one mind and one mouth ye may glorifie God c. And upon the words immediately going before he saith Ac quo magis commendabilem c. that the Apostle might render their Agreement and Unity the more commendable the Apostle teacheth how necessary Unity in Worship is seeing God is not truly worshipped of us unless all our minds and tongues agree together in praising and glorifying of him The sum of his Inference thereupon is Non est ergo quod jactet quisquam c. Let no man therefore boast or think he hath well worshipped or served God doing it his own way That is separating in Worship from and not joyning therein with the true Church of Christ by him at the times appointed for Publick Worand Devotion
A JUSTIFICATION OF Set FORMS of PRAYER And in Special of the LITURGY Of the Church of England In Answer to And Confutation of Vavasor Powel's Fourteen Considerations against all Composed and Imposed Forms of Prayer By Richard Lewthwat M.A. and Rector of Wethersdale in Suffolk LONDON Printed by A. Godbid and J. Playford for Robert Clavel at the Peacock in St. Pauls Church-Yard 16â—9 To the Right Honorable Henry Earl of Arundel Lord Mowbray c. and his Virtuous and Religious Countess Great Sir BEing put upon the Vindication of Set-Forms of Prayer and especially of the Liturgy of our Church and hearing of your Honour's resolution and beginning according thereto of becoming one in Religion Worship and Service of God in the way of the Church of England with your Illustrious and Devout Consort as ye are become one by Wedlock I thought it my bounden Duty upon the first Opportunity to make known to your Lordship and your religious Lady the great joy there is among us Protestants at your coming in as also to throw in my Mite and small help to settle and continue your Lordship in the Religion you profess with us which I can do no way better than by commending to you with our God and Saviour the daily reading and searching of the Holy Scriptures And as to perusing of Books upon them of which I may say with the Preacher in his prediction namely Ecclesiastes 12.12 there is no end I shall presume to recommend the same Method my Tutor at the Vniversity gave me to settle me firm in our Protestant Religion which was to be conversant in the Homilies of our Church and in the 39 Articles and Rogers upon them And withal I beg your Lordship's favour to do what I intended with all holiness and meekness of Spirit to have desired of your Honourable Father the Duke of Norfolk had he not gone beyond Sea namely to vouchsafe the reading of this short Tractate made publick at the request of divers persons by him who officiated sometimes as Chaplain to your Honourable Family and who is and shall be a truly devoted and well-wishing Servant to your Lordship and your religious Consort and to both your renouned Relations whilest he shall be Richard Lewthwat To my Reverend and Worthy Friend Dr. Laurence Womock Professor of Divinity and Archdeacon of Suffolk Reverend and Learned Sir ACcording to my bounden Duty and the earnest Desire was in my heart to reduce as many as I could of that great number of Scismaticks and Separatists that are about us to the Unity and Communion of our Church among other things in order thereto having received the worthy Tractate of Mr. Robert Conold most fit to help on that my Design I commended the perusal thereof to the chief head of the Independant Faction and most inflexible heart to Reformation about us so I take him to be for he told me then it would be to no purpose he being as in his own expression an old grown Oak in the Principles he was in But through much importunity I got promise of him to read it over and give me his Judgment of it both he granted upon condition that I should answer to things against the late Common-Prayer Book of our Church that were in Print that he would send me Whereupon I promised to give my Answer to the chief Objections whereby I became engaged to return an Answer to him of the things of greatest concern therein which promise of mine will be made good and he obliged to return something about that Tractate of Schism if there be deliver'd to him what I have drawn up to Mr. Powel's Fourteen Considerations in the beginning of his Book of which promise if he fail I hope there will be conviction of him and of his constant hearers and thereupon conversion of them to another Judgment and Practice Now having made known to several persons the said Considerations and my Answers thereto as I have at times drawn them up and my purpose of delivering them to the party in Writing Divers pâ—râ—â—ns have advised and desired me to endeavour the publishing of them by the Press alledging withall several Reasons to perswade me thereto As first because the Factions spreading them by Copies may willingly adulterate the Original and so disable it as to the conviction of them they communicate it to Secondly because if not Printed it will not be so commonly had for the benefit of the Multitude of their weak Proselytes who are captivated and held in the sad bondage of the following and like erroneous Rudiments and Traditions of the Jesuitical Heads of the several Factions in the Kingdom And thirdly because they hearing of my Promise made long since and not yet performed he and others give out that the Allegations in that Pamplet against Set-Forms of Prayer cannot be answer'd by my self or any of my Judgment Upon consideration whereof 't is presumed that if my Promise be not performed and published it may occasion the more secure Settlement of them in those dangerous Errors as also make a greater seduction of others to them than otherwise would have been For which reasons I have pitched upon the latter way of publication hereof if Authority shall permit Now if your self shall upon perusal approve the Answer as Orthodoxal and that it may be helpful to the bringing back but of the simple yet as I presume conscientious Multitude ledd away through good Words and fair Speeches as the Apostle speaketh of those who have caused Divisions and Offences contrary to sound Doctrine Then I most humbly beg that your self would Patronize this small Work being Dedicated to your Protection To which request if you shall condescend 't is very probable those Adversaries of our Church will not dare to rally Forces again about the present concerns or to give me another challenge fearing that if so you may become Second upon the next Quarrel whose success in conflicts of this kind they know to have been such that they will not venture upon any further Undertakings about this matter But Reverend Sir whilst I am arguing against these and other Errors near of kin to one another and reading these Answers to Mr. Powel's Errors to some loth to come out of them they tell me I am not of the same Opinion as formerly they say I was against Infant Baptism and the Book of Common-Prayer I now write for Sir to say a little to these Charges 'T is well known to your self by my Letters word of Mouth and Practice but best known to my self that I can easily take upon me by acknowledgment of my Errors and Mistakes for God's glory my own and others Eternal Safety all the shame and Temporal Evils incident thereupon which is much evident when through your discovering to me the Error I was in your self knew I came as willingly as through your help safely down from that high and dangerous Precipice I had climbed up to of absolute and irrespective as