go by the Gospel that very Gospel contradicts their pretence as we learn by a voice from Heaven to S. Peter Acts 10. 15. What God hath cleansed that call not thou common for persons were so esteemed by the Law as well as things and by the resolution of S. Paul in this place Rom. 14. 14. I know and am perswaded by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of it self 5. And I would have it considered that we have no Rites or Observances in use among us but what are taken up by the light of Nature or purely upon the account of Christianity They never had any Relation to the Institutions of the Heathen as the meats offered to Idols nor yet to the Levitical Covenant as Swines-flesh Circumcision the Jewish Sacrifices and Festivals had Shew me where St. Paul saith one man regardeth a Surplice the sign of the Cross kneeling another man regardeth them not Do not Judge do not grieve do not offend a Brother for these things He did not he could not say any thing to this effect of any of these 1 Cor. 14. 26 Eph. 3. 14. things not of kneeling or bowing for they are suggested to all mankind by the light of Nature and were the Apostles 1 Cor. 11. 5 11. own intimation charge and practice The Surplice he determined in the Womans Vaile by a Parity of Reason and for the sign of the Cross 't is so peculiarly related to Christianity that it can never tempt any man to turn either Jew or Gentile which was the great danger St. Paul so carefully provides against and he hath given us a Reason for it 1 Cor. 1. 22. in telling us that Christ Crucified was unto the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness To this I may add 6. The general opinion of Commentators is that the Apostle does not Anon. ad Rom. 14. not 1. speak here Rom. 14. of the weakness of a Brother in doing any thing unlawful or that he should be tolerated by the strong therein When the Apostle saith let every man Rom. 14. 5. abound in his own sense according to the vulgar Latin or let him be fully perswaded Theod. ad Rom. 14. 5. in his own mind as the English hath it Theodoret observes that the Apostle did not speak this in general nor may we be so free in our opinions or perswasions of Gods Word and Ordinances for he doth anathematize or Gal. 1. 8 9. strike him with a Curse who frames his mind to teach the things that are contrary to Divine Truth And Gualter Gualter ad Roman Homil. 80. to the same sense Quae palam contra Dei voluntatem fiunt ea in proximo reprehendere deque illis ex Dei verbo judicare licet What is clearly contrary to the will of God 't is Lawful for a man to judge of that by the word of God and to reprehend our Neighbour for it Now certainly this is Gods Ordinance let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers and this is the will of God even our Submission and Obedience to such as Rom. 13. 1. Heb. 13. 7 17. God hath set over us Wherefore unless the Apostle contradicts his own Doctrine he cannot be supposed to deliver any thing in this case that may derogate from the just power of our Superiors And let it be once proved that the Apostle has set up Liberty above Authority or in opposition to it and I shall yield the Cause but this is a challenge which I dare say none of our Dissenters No nor the Reconciler himself will have the hardiness to answer 3. I say Those Directions of the Apostle Rom. 14. had a special reference to that Critical Dispensation I call it Critical because it was something like that juncture of circumstances which hapned in St. Paul's Voyage to Rome when they came to the place where two Seas met except the Mariners the Guides of the Vessel did abide in the Ship and submit to the Apostles prudent Steerage and Direction They could not be saved For that this Indulgence of the Apostle was in favour of the Jews cannot be denied and he had taken the advice of the Colledge of Apostles and Elders in it who tell him thus Acts 21. 20. Thou seest Brother how many thousands of Jews there are which believe and they are all zealous of the Law Now Exodus 19. the condition of the Jewish Church was this The Religion established amongst them was of Divine Institution and the Rites and Ceremonies thereof imposed with great severity by a dreadful Majesty with an astonishing attendance this they had been bred in and lived under and were prepossessed with an opinion of the Sacredness and perpetual obligation of it But out of this sprang a more refined Religion introduced by the Ministry of the Son of God Whether the introduction of this did abrogate or supersede the Authority of the other was the thing in question The prejudice the Jews had against the abrogation of it for the Reasons now mentioned was so great that it was not easie to be conquered The Apostle was sensible hereof for he lost his own Carnal eyes before he could discern Acts 9. a Reason for it and he was smitten down to the Earth that he might there bury those beggarly Elements of Judaism wherein he had been Disciplined and for which he was so fiercely Zealous before he could learn humility enough to submit to the Voice and Gospel of the Messias and this made him so compassionate to his Brethren of Israel whom he knew to lye under the like prepossession and prejudice 'T is true Moses's Law was out of date de jure upon the publication of John 1. 31. Heb. 10. 1. the Gospel and assoon as our Lord was made manifest unto Israel For the Law was but a shadow of good things to come the Body and the Sun was Christ the Col. 2. 17. Rom. 10. 4. end and the Accomplisher of the Law De Jure therefore the Law of Ceremonies was abolish'd But yet till there was a clear promulgation hereof the old Law retained its force and vigour among such as understood not that it was now void and of no effect For tho the Law ceases by a meer abrogation yet the Subject cannot be free from his former obligation till it does some way appear that 't is his Superiors will and that the former Law be presently revoked which was not yet made manifest convincingly to all the Community of the Jewish Nation And that which increased the difficulty and confirmed if not heightned the prejudices on both sides was this The Jews they received the gifts of the Holy Act. 2. Act. 10 44 45. and Chap. 11. 2. to 18. Ghost under the observation of Moses's Law the Gentils did the like under the omission and neglect of it Hereupon why should we abandon our old Law seeing God hath received us All this the
the King And if that which offends the Weak Brother is to be avoided much more that which offends the Strong for this is certainly really Criminal but for the other it is much odds but it is mistaken And when the case is so put be-between the Obedient and Disobedient which shall be offended and one will I suppose there is no Question but the Laws will take more care of Subjects than of Rebells and not weaken them in their Duty in compliance with those that hate the Laws and will not endure the Government But The weak not fit to Govern others or to be Guides they that will be always Learning and never come to the Knowledg of the Truth they that will be children of a Hundred years old and never come to years of Discretion they are very unfit to guide others and to be Curates of Souls But they are most unfit to Reprove the Laws and speak against the Wisdom of a Nation when 't is confess'd that they are so weak that they understand not the fundamental Liberty which Christ hath purchased for them but are Servants to a Scruple and affrighted at a Circumstance and in Bondage under an Indifferent thing and so much Idolaters of their Sect or Opinion as to prefer it before all their own Nobler Interests and the Charity of their Brother and the Peace of a whole Church and Nation This is out of his Epistle In the Body of his Sermon his Doctrine and Advice is this You have no other way of Peace no better way to appease and quiet the quarrels in Religion which have been too long among us but by reducing all men to Obedience and all Questions to the measures of the Laws For they on both sides pretend Scripture but one side only can pretend to the Laws And they that do admit no Authority above their own to expound Scripture cannot deny but Kings and Parliaments are the Makers and proper Expounders of our Laws And if ever you mean to have Truth and Peace kiss each other let no man dispute against your Laws For did not our Blessed Saviour say That an Oath is the end of all Questions and after the Depositions are taken all Judges go to Sentence What Oaths are to Private Questions that Laws are to Publick And if it be said that Laws may be mistaken it is true but may not an Oath also be a Perjury And yet because in Humane Affairs we have no greater Certainty and greater than God gives we may not seek for let the Laws be the last Determination and in Wise and Religious Governments no Disputation is to go beyond them 2. But this is not only true in Religious Prudence and plain Necessity but this is the way that God hath appointed and that he hath Blessed and that he hath intended to be the Means of ending all Questions This we learn from St. Paul I Exhort that first of 1 Tim 2. 3. all Prayers and Supplications and Intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men for Kings and for all that are in Authority For All for Parliaments and for Councils for Bishops and for Magistrates It is for All and for Kings above All. Well to what purpose is all this That we may lead a quiet and Peaceable Life in all Godlyness and Honesty Mark that Kings and all that are in Authority are by God appointed to be the Means of obtaining Unity and Peace in Godliness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all the true and Godly Worshippings of God No Unity in Religion without Kings and Bishops and those that are in Authority 3. And indeed because this is God's way of ending our Controversies the matter of Authority is highly to be regarded If you suffer the Authority of the King to be Lessened to be Scrupled to be Denyed in Ecclesiastical Affairs you have no way left to silence the Tongues and Hands of gainsaying People But so it is the Kings Authority is appointed and enabled by God to end our Questions of Religion Divinatio in Labiis Regis saith Solomon In Judicio non errabit os Ejus Prov. 16. 10. Divination and a Wise Sentence is in the Lips of the King and his mouth shall not Err in Judgment In all Scripture there is not so much for the Popes Infallibility but by this it appears there is Divinity in the Kings Sentence For God gives to Kings who are his Vicegerents a peculiar Spirit And when Justinian had out L. 8. Cod. de Veâ—eri Jure Enucleando of the Sence of Julian the Lawyer observed that there were many Cases for which Law made no Provision he adds If any such shall happen Augustum imploretur Remedium run to the King for Remedy For therefore God hath set the Imperial Fortune over humane affairs Vt possit omnia quae noviter contingunt emendare Componere Modis ac Regulis competentibus tradere that the King may amend and Rule and Compose every New-arising Question And it is not to be despised but is a great Indication of this truth That the Answers of the Roman Princes and Judges recorded in the Civil Law are such that all Nations of the World do approve of them and are a great Testimony how the Sentences of Kings ought to be valued even in Matters of Religion and Questions of greatest doubt Bona conscientia Scyphus est Josephi said the old Abbot of Petrus Cellensis Lib. de Conscientia Kells a good Conscience is like Joseph's Cup in which our Lord the King Divines And since God hath blessed us with so Good so Just so Religious and so Wise a Prince let the Sentence of his Laws be our last Resort and no Questions be permitted after his Judgment and Legal Determination For Wisdom saith By me Princes Rule by me They Decree Justice and therefore the Spirit of the King is a Divine Eminency and is as the Spirit of the most High God This is the solid Doctrine of that Learned Prelate The Reconcilers dealing by his Writings does sufficiently acquaint us what we are to expect in the Use he makes of all the rest which he alledges If they speak against the Laws or the Rites and Customs of the Church let him produce their Sayings out of such Discourses as they have professedly made to that effect otherwise their Reproof of Scandal in the general does certainly concern not only Schism and Sedition but all ill examples whatsoever and particularly Disobedience to the Impositions of Superiours than which nothing was lookt upon more Scandalous which our Blessed Saviour therefore wrought a Miracle to prevent Mat. 17. 27. Lest we should offend them This Pareus understands of a Scandal given and observes Scandala cavenda esse etiam cum cessione nostri Juris in rebus mediis That Scandal is to be avoided tho we depart from our own Right in things Indifferent to that effect and then especially when Authority calls for our Obedience which
Suffragium Protestantium Wherein Our GOVERNOURS ARE Justifyed In Their Impositions and Proceedings Against Dissenters Meisner also and the Verdict rescued from the Cavils and Seditious Sophistry of the Protestant Reconciler By Dr. LAURENCE WOMOCK Arch-Deacon of Suffolk Col. 2. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hoc dico Ne quis vobis imponat Oratione speciosa Per falsas Ratiocinationes Sive ex malitia sive ex Inscitia Id Fiat London Printed for Robert Clavel at the Peacock in St. Pauls Church-yard 1683. A Special Verdict Against the PROTESTANT RECONCILER S. Paul foretold that after his departure grievous Wolves should enter in with a design and malice not to spare but to devour the Flock these were Wolves in Sheeps cloathing whose business was to steal to kill and to destroy but these were not all and perhaps not the most pernicious of the Churches Enemies He foretells further that also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw Disciples after them And this Prophecy is fulfilled in our Reconciler For among others he is risen up with his perverse Principles to make and engage a Party Had he intended the satisfaction or information of his Superiors his Duty would have prompted him to have presented his Papers humbly into their hands and with a modest submission to have expected the result of their wise Councils But a Noverint Vniversi was fitter to carry on his popular Design and to caress his dear Vain-glory. He should have come in the Spirit of Elias to turn the hearts of the Fathers unto the Children the Holy Fathers Mind and Principles their Faith and Affections into the Children and the Disobedient to the Wisdom of the Just That what the Fathers have believed and practised â— L. Brug ad â—uc 1. 17. Paul de Palatiâ— in Mal. 4. 6. the Children may also embrace and follow He could have told them that Christ having assured his Disciples that God who hears the Addresses of His Church he streightly commands them also to hear Her upon pain of forfeiting Her which is the same with His Blessing being deservedly for their contumacy in their Disobedience turned out of Her Communion as Publicans and Heathens He might have been pleased to take notice how Christ resolves the case of Conscience about the Tythe of Mint and Cummin and the weightier matters of the Law saying unto such as were concerned to be well informed These things Matth. 23. 23. ought ye to have done and not to have left the other undone How Christ observed not only the service solemnly established but such Customs and Festivals as had no divine Institution laying down this for a Rule of Conscience Thus it behoves us to fulfill all Righteousness He might have put them in mind as Matth. 3. 15. Tit. 3. 1. St. Paul exhorts to be subject to Principalities and Powers and to obey their Spiritual Guides in their Conduct and to submit to their Orders in regard that Heb. 13. 7. 17. 1 Cor. 14. the spirit of the very Prophets ought to be subject to the greater authority of the Prophets He knows very well that we ought not to be contentious about the Customs and Practices of the Church when they do not supersede the Commands of God nor interfere with them That the Governors of the Church have a great Authority from our Lord and are intrusted in his stead to set things in Order for Edification and Decency in Gods public Worship and Service And when they have done this with great prudence and deliberation that the subjects are to do their duty without murmuring or disputing and to honour such their Governors very highly for their work-sake If not he could have informed his Readers That Christ hath furnisht those Governors with the power of the Keys to shut the door as well as to open it with a Rod for Discipline Authority to mark and censure to admonish and rebuke sharply to stop their mouths who speak preverse things and to reject them from the Communion of Christ's Church if they will neither obey her commands nor regard her admonitions Are they not entrusted by our Lord to make Orders for Discipline and to take the measures of Decency by their own Judgment and Prudence and when they have estabished all things to God's Glory the Peace and Edification of the Church is it our Duty to follow our Guides or to controul them to confront our Governors or to obey them When a difference arose betwixt the Jews and Gentile Converts 't was thought the most prudent and likely Way to compose it to have recourse to Acts 15. Acts 16. 4. the Apostles and Elders about it and the Holy Ghost did assist them in the Decision and S. Paul himself carried about the Decrees to be kept But our Reconciler takes another course to buoy up a sinking Cause and Faction He Censures all the Governors of Church and State decrys their Impositions and directly quarrels their Authority Yet 't was the Resolution of the Brittish Acta Synod in jol De aequitate Decreti Synodici pag. 139. Divines at the Synod of Dort In adiaphoris Supremus Magistratus vice Dei ostendit quid expedit decet The Supreme Magistrate declares in God's stead what is decent and expedient in things indifferent This the whole Synod assented to and by this Rule they justified their Proceedings against the Remonstrants And if the pretence of Christian Liberty be allowed to retrench the Kings Prerogative in Church-matters 't will soon follow the Pope's Practice in Ordine ad Spiritualia and invade his Authority in Temporals All times have afforded examples of turbulent Spirits who thought their Christian Liberty could not consist without the downfall of the Civil Power That their Religion did exempt them from all the Laws and Ordinances of men and gave them a Priviledge to oppose and banish the very Office of the Magistrate from among Argument Ep. ad Rom. 6. Ad Rom. 13. them This Calvin as well as Bullinger has observed And Gualter tells us that the Jews elated with the conceit of their Ancient Dignity took it in great disdain that the Posterity of Abraham Eâ— ad Rom. 13. and the Elect people of God should be in Subjection to the Romans wherefore they made frequent Insurrections to recover their Ancient Liberty and 〈◊〉 had not quite cast off these Principles of Sedition when they embraced the 〈◊〉 of the Gospel Many also of the 〈◊〉 did with no less impaâ—â—â—â—e bear the Yoak of such as were the Professed Enemies of Christ and 〈◊〉 Gospel And 〈◊〉 these a sort of subtil 〈◊〉 did insinuate themselves and having 〈◊〉 the Grace of God into 〈◊〉 that they might enjoy 〈◊〉 câ—rnal satisfactions with the greater license and impunity as St. Jude ob 〈…〉 they made it their business to â—bolish Government By this means the Christian Religion 〈…〉 among such as were in Authority as the Parent and Breeder of Tumults
the progress of the Gospel amongst them in the very infancy of it And wanting Church-Governors with a secular Arm to assist them nothing was able to extinguish their dissentions and bring them to a quiet settlement till the fulness of Apostolical Authority with the power of Miracles should come among them as shall be declared hereafter But our Reconciler tells us 't is the perpetual Duty of the highest Christians to follow after the things which make for Peace and whereby they may edify one another This we can easily grant him but as Theodoret observes the Apostle Ad Rom. 15. 4. does not pray for their peace indefinitely and absolutely but 't is an honest and pious Consent and Concord that he wisheth them according to the example of Jesus Christ Has not God given us Guides and are not we bound to follow peace after their direction and example Have not they a command as well as a power Heb. 13. 7 17. to set things in Order to make Decrees and Ordinances for the establishment of Peace and Unity and are not these the means to promote Edification Did not S. Paul himself carry about such Decrees to be kept of the Churches where he went and were not those Churches established in the Faith thereupon and increased in their numbers as well as in their piety by that means Acts 16. 4 5. These are truths that are evident of themselves and owned by the Learned of all Perswasions the Ordering and Appointment of honest and decent Rites See the Verdict p. according to the word of God makes much for the preservation of Discipline and to strengthen the bond of Peace saith David Rungius and Calvin himself Hereupon we find that the great Apostle made Ordinances of the like nature which are called Traditions and they were about things indifferent of no absolute necessity but only for decency such as the Womans Vail in publick 1 Cor. 11. 2. Assemblies And such as did observe those Ordinances he commends but 2 Thes 3. 6 14. such as did neglect them he does severely censure And tho he was gentle as a Nurse to cherish his children in the Faith yet did he exercise the Authority of a Father too in charging and 1 Thes 2. 7 11. commanding them to observe his Discipline And let this Reconciler or any of the Dissenters whose Cause he Pleads prove that ever the liberty of such Children was allowed either by Christ or his Apostles to overtop or check the Authority of such a Father and I will yield the Cause In the mean while Dr. Womock keeps his Ground viz. That this was only a Temporary provision to keep the Peace among private Christians and hereupon the Reconciler requires him to prove that the things above-mentioned Rom. 14. were only Temporary and that Church-Governors are now at liberty to walk uncharitably towards the weak and to destroy the work of God for meat and drink and we are satisfied Here we are called upon to prove two things and I am afraid the last will prove him to be a Sophister But we shall attempt to prove the first That those things were only Temporary 'T is the express affirmation of Aretius Ad Rom. 15. that these Roman Christians having no Ordinary Governor the Apostle shews private men the way which they should walk in as was observed formerly And Ad Rom. 14. And Beza observes Apostolum non praecipere ut ejusmodl ignorantia foveatur sed duntaxat ut tuleretur tantisper dum isti possint erudiri Ad Rom. 14. 2. When they became stubborn and indocible They were rejected that the provision was but for a time is the express Doctrine of Hemmingius Aliquid ad tempus Fratrum infirmitati largiendum est Something is to be allowed for a time to the infirmity of our Brethren secus de obstinatis pertinacibus judicandum est but we must determine otherwise of the obstinate and stubborn He speaks of weak Christians which he supposes to be in every particular Church in these days but if care were duly taken to Catechise our Youth and to instruct them in the Principles of Acts 13. 46. Christianity touching Authority and Liberty according to the truth of the Gospel as S. Paul calls it this kind of Intellectual Rickets and the weakness that follows it would be perfectly corrected in our Minority and we should never infest the Church with our frowardness upon that account But my task is to prove that the Directions which the Apostle gives to those Christians at Rome had a peculiar reference 1. To that present time 2. To some special things and 3. To that Critical Dispensation 1. To that present time and he that will take the pains to consider the Case can never be perswaded that such cautions and directions as were given to Jews or Gentil-Converts in reference purely to those Federal Rites of the respective Institutions to which they had so lately been accustomed He I say can never be convinced that they do lay any obligation upon such as were bred up in Christianity from their Cradles But that these cautions were calculated for that present time we have reason to believe upon farther evidence 1. The Apostle in his great prudence was wont to make such Temporary 1 Cor. 7. 26. provisions such was his advice about Virgins I suppose saith he this is good for the present distress not that Marriage was a more impure state of Life but to avoid the difficulties and molestations of it Single persons were in a better condition more prompt and easie to grapple with Persecutions which in those days did more frequently afflict the Professors of the Gospel The Apostle has an eye to the like Rom. 12. 11. difficulties among the Romans and therefore he enjoyns them to be fervent in Spirit serving the season For many Copies See Dr. Hammond his note on the place and Dr. Stearne Aphoris de felicitate §. 2. Aphor. 22. read the Text so and therefore Dr. Hammond doth thus Paraphrase the Text Doing those things that in respect of the Circumstances of time and place wherein now you are may most tend to the honour of God and building up of the Church And S. Ambrose descants very well upon the place lest they should unseasonably press matters of Religion in an evil time whereby they might raise up Scandal therefore he subjoyns this caution serving the time The great matters of Faith and Religion Ambros ad Rom. 12. he would have them discoursed of modestly and discreetly in a fit time and in a convenient place and among fit Persons For there are som esaith he even among our selves in times of Peace The Epist for the 2d Sunday after the Epiphany in the old Liturgy read it so who do so abhor the way of Christ that they can no sooner hear but they will Blaspheme it And S. Paul himself made it his practice sometimes to apply himself to the
to Christianity But if he would not have the weak to be of the same Principles and Apprehensions with the strong he must enjoyn the strong to be of the same Principles and Apprehensions with the weak or else he could never expect to see a good effect of his prayers and obtestations But this Reconciler has made himself not the Subject's but the Sovereign's Remembrancer He addresses himself to our Superiors and calls upon them to be dutiful to be subject to and to obey their good people This puts me in mind of the character which Isaiah gives of a false Prophet The Prophet that teacheth Isai 9. 15. Lies he is the tail But why is he the tail because the tail follows the body of the Beast is carried about by it and hangs upon it and so doth the false Prophet upon the Common People and whether the Reconciler does not so let his Neighbours judge But we see plainly he would have the Ancient and the Honourable who are the Head to do so that 's the Reverence he has for them But I humbly conceive our Governors will find many Reasons not to rescind the Laws establish'd not to restrain or abate the force of their Impositions as this Reconciler would have them 1. They should betray the Supream power and Prerogative of Authority 'T is a Rule laid down by a great Divine De facto lex humana obligat Humane Law does bind de Facto with a Non obstante to any danger whatsoever when the transgression of the Law would fall out to the ruine of the Community to the Contempt of Religion or the Christian Faith or to the lessening and despising of Authority or the Legislative Power In such Cases no fear of danger can excuse the transgression of the Law Upon this ground the General does expose the Sentinel to imminent danger of death to preserve the whole Camp or City from destruction The Prince commands a Physician to attend a place that is visited with a raging Pestilence And the Bishop injoyns a Priest in the like case of danger to administer to the Ghostly welfare of such as are under a great Contagion Where according to the judgment of wise men the advantage and benefit does preponderate and outweigh the danger or detriment that may insue there it is the Prerogative of Authority to interpose for the more publick and common safety But in such Cases the obligation does not properly arise from the Humane Law but from the Natural Divine Law which forbids that act which tends to the contempt of the Faith and the despising of Religion or to the ruine of the Community or the undervaluing of Authority and the Legislative Power For such an Act without doubt is intrinsecally evil Authority and the Legislative Power is a Counterpart of Gods Sovereignty a Depositum a sacred Trust for the Government of the World and to keep distinct Communities in Peace and Order As God allows no man to despise it so it ought much less to despise it self And nothing can make it more despicable than to stoop to a Lure of Feathers that is thrown out by a giddy Multitude To this purpose we have the judgment of the Learned and wise King James who in his Proclamation March 5. in the first year of his Reign having given Reasons why he would not be swayed to alteration in the Form of Gods Service by the frivolous suggestion of any light spirit he adds this Neither are we ignorant of the Inconveniencies that do arise in Government by admitting Innovation in things one setled by mature Deliberation and how necessary it is to use Constancy in the upholding the publick Determinations of States for that such is the unquietness and unstedfastness of some Dispositions affecting every year new Forms of things as if they should be followed in their inconstancy would make all actions of State Ridiculous and Contemptible whereas the stedfast maintaining of things by advice established is the weal of all Common-wealths And that resolution of King James was in the matter of Ceremonies which we discourse of And the truth is if the Prince be brought to those Terms that he must strike Sail to the humour of the People and vary his Compass according to every wind of Doctrine that blows from a Republican Coast he must at last leave the fifth Commandment out of the Catechism as the Church of Rome has done the second or give them leave to do by it as the Pharisees did of old to make it of none effect by their Traditions And how much the Prelates of the Church are concerned herein we may learn from Joannes Crocius for I will take in no Authority from the Jesuits or Church of Rome in this Case that the Reconciler may have no occasion to cavil upon that account Minister in omni muneris Parte Auctoritatem divinitùs concessam tueatur viriliter modestè In every part of his Office let the Minister manfully as well as modestly maintain the Divine Authority which is given him He gives us St. Pauls Authority and example for it His Authority is to Titus Bishop of Crete Tit. 2. 15. and for his example he refers us to Gal. 16. 7 c. to 2 Cor. 10 11 12 Tertul. de Baptis c. 17. 13. Chap. Dandi quidem habet jus Summus Sacerdos qui est Episcopus dehinc Presbyteri Diaconi non tamen sine Episcopi authoritate propter Ecclesiae honorem Quo salvo sata Pax est And if Princes and Governors should rescind and Chop and Change and Innovate Laws and Constitutions upon the motion and Impulse of a turbulent People this will countenance their claim of a share * For the Fly upon the Wheel thinks that all the dust is raised by the force of her agitation in the legislative power which is of too dangerous a Consequence to be suffered in a Monarchy I do solemnly therefore aver that in all his Pleas for Christian Liberty S. Paul did never set it up above Authority nor allow it to controul the power of Governors or oppose them in things Indifferent 2. In abating these Impositions our Governors must needs act against their own Judgment and Conscience which is point-blank against St. Pauls Rule Rom. 14. 5. Let every man be fully perswaded in his own mind Now if our Governors be perswaded in their own mind that the things establish'd among us are Decent as well as Lawful in the performance of Gods publick Worship The Reconciler will tell them their Duty Vid. Protest Reconciler p. 157. as he calls it for he says expresly they are more concerned in those whether advices or injunctions of the Apostle than other men And if in favour of Dissenters as the Reconciler would have it they should abate their Impositions and enter their Protestations they do not esteem them sinful to be practised nor abate them upon that account This would not at all Correct the Judgment of the Dissenters but
Brother be he Jew or Gentile to offend For Kneeling and bowing whatever Mat. 4. 1. mean Conceit the Reconciler has of it The Divel was not so much an Ass as to offer all the Glory of the World for a trifle He knew it to be God's due and a part of his External Worship and so he valued it and was desirous to purchase it upon that account And I am of Opinion it cannot be totally taken away from God's Service without Sacriledge And if we can take the Confidence to abolish this let us never blame the Church of Rome for taking away the Cup from the Laity in the Lord's Supper for the Sacrament in ' its integrity is but a part of External Worship and the Cup but a part of that part And the taking away of Kneeling utterly out of God's Worship seems to be a greater Offence than taking away the Cup because that is a Part of the Law of Nature whereas the Sacrament is but of positive Institution and consequently not so strictly binding And being an undoubted part of God's External Worship and a piece of Natural Religion we certainly do well to use it at the Sacrament as an Acknowledgement of Christ's Divinity which now a-dayes is so professedly impugned by the Socinians And We shall allow our Governours very little to do about matters of Religion if they may neither Ordain a Ceremony nor so much as appoint a special time for the performance of an undoubted Part of God's External Worship That some of the Dissenters act out of Pride Malice Obstinacy the Reconciler fears is too true That all of them Pag. 108. are of that Temper Dr. womock is so far from affirming that he thinks 't is very false He does not pretend to set up a Tribunal in any Man's Heart to Judge the secret Operations of his Mind But he is very well assured That good meanings can never Sanctify wicked Actions and we need no Window in some Men's Breasts to read their inward Dispositions Fides Incredulitas cordium sunt fateor ea nemo hominum judicare potest saith Bullinger Faith Ad Titum 3. 10. and Unbelief I confess are the Secrets of the Heart which no Man can judge Ex Dictis vero Factis ijsque manifestis debent fieri hominum judicia We must Judge of Men therefore by their Words and Actions which are manifest and apparent Our Saviours Rule cannot fail Us if we take it aright and he tells Us more than once By their Mat. 7. 16. Deut. 32. 32 33. fruits ye shall know them What Harvest have we had of these Thorns What Figs have we reapt from these Thistles Have not their Grapes been Grapes of Gall and their Clusters bitter Has not their wine been the poison of Dragons and the Crud venome of Aspes 'T is Gualters Observation and I desire Ad Rom. Homil 87. cap. 15. 5 6. the Reader to take Notice that in this Discourse I make no use of Jesuits to offend the Reconciler or his weak Brethren but such Protestants as are the most likely to favour the Cause of the Dissenters if there were any Reason or Colour for it Hi ut Ecclesiam turbant it a dei cultores esse non possunt cum Unitatem scindant quâ ille imprimis delectatur He speaks of the Sowers of Dissentions and Authors of Sects and Factions who as they disturb the Peace of the Church so they cannot be the Servants of God seeing they rent that Unity which he is chiefly delighted with We are told by the Apostle That Schism it self is a Work of the Flesh and excludes the Schismatick from the Kingdom of God But when the tender Conscience Gal. 5. 20. sets up for Reformation we cannot easily forget the great Train of Mischiefs which follows it For upon this Pretence Did not that Party make an Insurrection against Moses and against Aaron and conspire to destroy both Church and State and we know they kept their Wicked Covenant in nothing else How malicious and eager were they to Root out the Royal Family and to anoint the Bramble to Reign over them Did not they affront the late KING of ever blessed Memory by Clamours and Seditious Tumults Did they not Persecute him by Votes and Propositions against all the Rules of Honour and Conscience Did they not Blaspheme his Person slander and defame his Actions Did they not usurp his Power and seize upon his Militia the only guard of it Did they not make themselves Masters of his Revenue his Ships his Forts his Castles Did they not pursue and fight him Drive him from house and home and at last Arraign and Murder him If we can pass these Crimes upon the Accompt of Humane frailty let us no longer blame the Church of Rome for her Doctrine of Venial Sins He that can impute them as the Reconciler is supposed to do to the Prejudices of Pag. 113. Education Mis-conception or Mis-interpretation of the sence of Scripture to the Want of better Information or to unreasonable Fears and Scrupulosities and excuse those execrable practices upon that score may easily be tempted to make an Invective against Moses and Aaron and a Panegyrick upon Corah and to turn the 30th of January as too many of the Party does into a Festival for the honour of our Unrelenting Regicides But the truth is All those gay Pretences viz. the Prejudices of Education the Want of better Information which cannot reasonably be alledged among us Misconception and the like we know are inconsistent with the state of Grace in Jewes and Turks and why not in Sectaries in whom after the contempt of sufficient instruction they do certainly degenerate into Pride Malice and Stubbornness and if they be not finally Corrected and subdued by Repentance they are damning But were their Clergy wanting in point of Education Were they ignorant of the sence of Scripture They would take it in great disdain to be thought so And yet were not they the most Vociferous Trumpeters of our late Rebellion Did not they study invent and publish the most desperate Principles of Sedition Who made the People the highest seat of Soveraignty and placed a Coordinate Power with that of the King in the House of Commons Who intituled them at least to an equal Authority with His Majesty in making Laws and in the command of the Militia And who animated all the Souldiers they could arm and Levy against the King and absolved them from their Oath of Allegiance to Act and Practise those Principles after their Doctrine and Example These are some of the Reconcilers Weak Brethren And for the Common sort were they not consenting to the Deeds of their Seditious Leaders Did they not abett and encourage them by their Addresses and Petitions Did they not approve and applaud them in all their Villanies And assoon as they had destroyed the Church and Government did they not swarm into Sects and Factions and hiv'd themselves
is the very Case before us But the Reconciler is of another mind and according to his Principles these two things must follow 1. That Governours are the only Persons that ought not to be fully perswaded in their own minds 2. That Governours are the only Persons that may Lawfully be offended The Address of the House of Commons To the KING Feb. 28. 1663. AFter they had declared their Resolutions for maintaining the Act of Uniformity and given five notable Reasons why the Kings Declaration from Breda could not oblige Him or Them and why he must not be pressed with it any further They added as followes We have also considered the Nature of the Indulgence proposed with reference to those Consequences which must necessarily attend it It will establish Schism by a Law and I. make the whole Government of the Church Precarious and the Censures of it of no Moment or Consideration at all It will no way become the Gravity or II. Wisdom of a Parliament to pass a Law at one Session for Uniformity and at the next Session the Reason for Uniformity continuing still the same to pass another Law to frustrate or weaken the Exeeution of it It will expose your Majesty to the III. restless Importunity of every Sect or Opinion and of every single Person also that shall presume to dissent from the Church of England It will be a Cause of encreasing Sects IV. and Sectaryes whose Numbers will weaken the true Protestant Profession so farr that it will at last become difficult for it to defend it self against them And which is yet further considerable those Numbers which by being troublesome to the Government finding they can arrive to an Indulgence will as their Numbers increase be yet more troublesom so at length they may arrive to a General Toleration which Your Majesty hath declared against and in time some Prevalent Sect will at last contend for an Establishment which for ought can be foreseen may end in Popery It is a thing altogether without Precedent V. and will take away all means of convicting Recusants and be inconsistent with the Methods and Proceedings of the Laws of England It is humbly conceived that the Indulgence VI. proposed will be so far from tending to the Peace of the Kingdom that it is rather likely to occasion Disturbance And on the Contrary that the asserting VII of the Laws and the Religion established according to the Act of Uniformity is the most probable means to Produce a setled Peace and Obedience through the Kingdom Because the Variety of Professions in Religion when openly indulged doth directly distinguish men into Partyes and withall gives them Opportunityes to count their Numbers which considering the Animosities that out of a Religious Pride will be kept on Foot by the several Factions doth tend directly and inevitably to open Disturbance Nor can your Majesty have any security that the Doctrine or Worship of the several Factions which are all governed by a several Rule shall be consistent with the peace of the Kingdom And if any Person shall Presume to disturb the Peace of the Kingdom we do in all Humility declare That we will forever and upon all occasions be ready with our Utmost Endeavours and Assistance to Adhere to and Serve Your Majesty according to our Bounden Duty and Allegiance Addenda Pag. 58. l. 8. TO Gualter I might add Chemnitius and many others who could not believe St. Peter was so early at Rome to plant the Christian-Church I shall name but one more of our own the Reverend Dr. Buckaridge Bishop of Rochester who in a Sermon at Hampton-Court September 23. 1606. upon those words Ye must needs be subject Rom. 13. 5. saies thus The Soul of the Priest and Ecclesiastical Person as well as the Soul of a Lay-man must be subject to the higher Powers For why St. Paul in this Epistle wrote as well to the Clerks and Priests or Bishops of Rome if there were any then Resident at Rome as to the People We see he doubts it nay he seems to deny it tho he supposes them to be there that he might bring them under the Duty of the Text the duty of Subjection And if St. Peter were litterally in Babylon I know not how he could be in Rome to plant the Church there before St. Paul's coming thither And there are great Presumptions that he was there Take the Judgement of the Learned Gerrard upon 1 Pet. 5. 13. Amongst others of his Arguments I shall only select these three 1. In Babylone Caldaeae erant Multi Judaei ideo Petrus eo sese contalit Evangelium ipsis Praedicavit vi Conventionis cum Paulo initae Gal. 2. v. 7. Congruit ergo cum Apostolatu Petri statuere Babylone Assyriorum hanc Epistolam Scriptam 2. Si Romae hanc Epistolam Petrus Scripsisset non videtur satis justam idoneam afferri causam our Nomen illius voluit dissimulare cum Paulus in omnibus Epistolis nomen Urbis addat 3. Petrus Marcum tunc habuit Comitem cum hanc Epistolam scriberet ut patet ex hac ipsa salutatione Ergo tunc non fuit Romae Marcum enim tradunt Octavo Neronis Anno Alexandriae Mortuum Petrum vero Sex Annis postea a Nerone Romae occisum Quod si Alexandrinam Ecclesiam Mareus constituit diuque illic Episcopatu functus est non potuit Romae esse cum Petro. To Gerrad I shall add the Judgment of Dr. John Lightfoot ad 1 Cor. Addend ad Cap. 14. 14. Cap. 4. pag. 117. 118. Where he hath these Observations Cum celebrentur tres Apostoli Circumcisionis Jacobus Petrus Johannes Gal. 11. 9. hinc Diaecesin unicuique bene distribuas Palaestinam quae ei contigua connumerata Syriam Jacobo Babyloniam Assyriam Petro Hellenistas Asianos praesertim ulterioresque Johanni Babyloniam inquam Assyriam Petro quod ipse firmat cum Epistolam suam primam dictat a Babylone in secunda utitur Idiomate Babylonico Crederes vocem Bosor prolatam pro Beor vel Solaecismum Petri fuisse vel errorem Librariorum 2 Pet. c. 2. 15. sed Chaldaismum sapit plane docet quaenam ea Babylon foret ubi jam tum Petrus Chaldaeis vulgare erat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 immutare vice-versa post varia istiufmodi exempla pergit Quae observata palam testabuntur inquit Petrum in Babylone Chaldaica fuisse Chaldaice loquutum fuisse cum dicerit Bosor pro Beor Nec erat in toto terrarum orbe Regio ulla in qua Congruentius offieto suo consonantius Evangelizare potuit magnus ille Circumcisionis Apostolus quam in Babylonia locis adjacentibus ubi Hebraei purissimi Sanguinis ubi decem Tribus Circumcisio pleno nomine Upon these and many other weighty Considerations I am induced to believe that St. Paul was a Principal Instrument in setling the Government of the