errour is charged in sacred Writ upon the Will as the original of it This doth not render Religion uncertain Fallibility and certainty are not inconsistent There may be an actual certainty where there is no absolute infallibility A Judge is not infallible and yet he may be certain that the sentence which he pronounceth is right A man may be sure of what he sees plainly demonstrated before him altho' he is not out of the power and influence of all deception When a foundation is laid and some build gold silver and precious stone upon it others wood hay stubble it is as easie for one who is not infallible to discern the difference betwixt these superstructures as to distinguish a wall of marble form that which is made of brick If there be no certainty without infallibility Scepticism must be admitted and a stop put to all proceedings of Justice No Man ought to be condemned to suffer a penalty except it be certain that he deserves it and who are there but fallible Men to give evidence and judge of his demerits If the Promises of Scripture have sâ—â—â—â— sence as is contended for how comes it to be known It is a received principle amongst those with whom we are concerned That they cannot be sure of the meaning of the Bible without the interpretation of an infallible Spirit and by consequence we must be sure that the Church is infallible before we can be sure of the Sence of Scripture and if so the promise cannot be alledged as an argument to prove infallibility for then there will be a perfect circle The sence of the promise is justified by the infallibility of the Church and the infallibility of the Church by the sence of the promise From hence it is apparent That the meaning of the promise may be known without the interpretation of an infallible Spirit and if so why not the sence of other places of Scripture If we should enter upon an examination of the particular Texts of Scripture which are pretended to favour the Infallibility which the Romanists contend for they would be found no way answerable to that purpose for which they are produced They are such as these If he neglect to hear the Church c. Lo I am with you to the end of the world He will guide you into all truth He that heareth you heareth me It seemeth good to the Holy Ghost and to us The Church which is the pillar and ground of Truth He that will not hearken to the Priest shall die Thou art Peter and upon this rock will I build my Church I have prayed that thy faith fail not Feed my Sheep To all which we briefly answer in order 1. When we are commanded To hear the Church This Church may be the Greek or Protestant as well as the Roman and hearing doth not imply the infallibility of it Every Parishioner is commanded to hear the Minister which is set over him and yet no body from thence will infer that he is infallible This Church we are not to believe without making any scrutiny but lie under obligation to try all things and hold fast that which is good The command of the Church doth not free us from sin in our conformity to it The Jews contracted a deep guilt in compassing the death of our blessed Lord tho' they did it in obedience to their Governours Not only Pastors but the Sheep know the voice of their supreme Shepherd and are in a capacity to distinguish it from the voice of a stranger 2. When it is said I will be with you to the end of the world This assures us of the presence of Christ with his Ministers so long as the world endures but not that he will give the same measure of assistance which the Apostles did enjoy That which is sufficient in every Age is ascertained by this promise but not that which is efficacious to such a degree as will secure them from all errour for then every particular Pastour will be as Infallible as every Apostle was 3. When it is asserted That when the Spirit of Truth is come He will guide you into all truth it cannot be proved That this promise is made to any besides the Apostles The context plainly appropriates it to them I have many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now These words have an evident aspect upon the Disciples only If we should grant That not only the Apostles but their Successors are the objects of the promise what is intended to be proved will not follow namely Infallibility The direction of the Spirit may be opposed He gives in all ages a sufficient but not an irresistible guidance Many tho' they are put into a right way by him yet desert it and follow their own erroneous apprehensions 4. Those words He that heareth you heareth me are spoken of the Seventy Disciples not assembled in a Council but as going up and down from place to place to preach the Gospel So that if they be construed in such a fence as to favour Infallibility they will prove more than is desired namely That this priviledge of not erring belongs to every Preacher who has a lawful authority conferred upon him to publish the Gospel 5. Those words It seemeth good to the Holy Ghost and to us do not argue That the blessed Spirit will infallibly assist in all future Councils They assert what was done at this present Convention but hold forth no promise of the same degree of assistance in all Ages The reason of this extraordinary aid was peculiar to those times The Apostles then were to lay the foundation to fix an unerring rule both for the converted Jews and Gentiles The rule being once setled the necessity of the continuance of the same degree of assistance did cease The Heavens did forbear to rain down Manna so soon as the Israelites were in possession of a Country furnished with all convenient provision It is no good consequence That because the Sanhedrim in Moses's time was endued with an extraordinary Spirit therefore the same favour must be indulged to all their Successours even to the Council which put the Lord of Life to death 6. In those words The Church of the living God the pillar and ground of Truth The word Church must import That in which Timothy is directed how to demean himself and that undoubtedly was the Church of Ephesus of which he had the Ecclesiastical inspection That Church did hold forth the True Doctrin of the Gospel in its publick Profession even as pillars upon which the Edicts of Princes are fastned expose them to the view of all that pass by The expression alludes to the Temple of Diana much celebrated for its magnificent Pillars upon which the rules of the Religion of that Goddess were inscribed The Apostle intimates That those Columns were the Pillars of falshood but the Church of Christ in the City the Pillar of Truth holding forth the True Doctrin of
of Worship we may add Hearing Reading receiving the Sacraments The Liturgy joyns together the setting forth the Praise of God and the hearing his Word when we with holy reverence hearken to it we set forth the Praise of his Wisdom and Goodness which by our devout and serious attention we acknowledge to be sufficient and ready to instruct us He who reads the Scripture as the Word of the living God with an intention to be made wise unto Salvation by it doth thereby manifest his deep sence of the incomprehensible and profound understanding of the Author of it When Proselytes are admitted into the Church by Baptism and have the remission of their sins sealed unto them upon the terms of the new Covenant it is an evident indication of their humble resentments of the infinite goodness of God in granting an act of Amnesty and pardon after the violation of the first Covenant Their being baptised in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost is an expression of a reverential acknowledgment of and an entire devotion to the sacred and blessed Trinity The receiving the Symbols of the body and blood of our Lord imports a laudatory agnition of him It is not an empty remembrance which is intended but a solemn commemoration attended with the most emphatical expressions of Praise and Gratitude It is stiled a shewing forth in allusion to the Jewish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which was a declaration made in praise of the benignity of Heaven in procuring redemption from the Aegyptian servitude The Wine is stiled by S. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Cup of Blessing and the Bread by Justin Martyr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Bread of Thanksgiving These two Sacraments were not designed for the primitive times only but to continue to the last period of the World The reason of their continuance is common to all Ages we have now as much need to renounce our ghostly enemy profess our repentance promote sanctification be received into the Church commemorate the death of Christ renew our covenant gain a fuller Communion as they which lived in the first age And it is not now inexpedient that we should be taught by some visible signs our intellectual powers are in as much dependence upon sence as formerly Were the attainments of the present Age equal to the state of Paradise this way of instruction would not be disagreeable Eden was not without Two Sacramental Trees Their permanency is likewise ascertained to us by a Divine Revelation In the Commission to Baptise it is said I will be with you to the end of the world To interpret baptising nothing else but an initiating by Doctrine without Water and the end of the world the end of the age in which the Apostles lived is to offer too much violence to the Text. The proper Notion of Baptism includes Water We are not to depart from the proper signification of words and comply with a Metaphorical without a peremptory necessity The Context is so far from obliging us to this departure that on the contrary it holds forth a manifest discrimination betwixt baptising and initiating by Doctrine v. 19. v. 20. The first is expressed by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the second by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is of the same importance with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mat. 13. v. 40. and there without controversie it signifies the last period of the world when the Angels shall sever the wicked from the just If 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 import the Age it must be remembred that the Jews divided the time from the Creation to the dissolution of all things into two Ages the first expiring at the coming of the Messias the second at the final period of the Universe and so I will be with you to the end of the age is as much as I will be with you to the end of the world The Age before the coming of the Messias cannot be understood he being in our nature when he spake these words therefore the age after must When the Apostle says as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye shew forth the Lord's death till he come He evidently declares that the institution of the Supper is to continue till the last appearing of Jesus Christ There are but four comings of his usually spoken of The First in the Flesh when he assumed our nature the Second in the Spirit to sanctifie and rule his Church the Third in his vindicative Justice to destroy Jerusalem the Fourth in the last day to Judge the World The two first cannot be understood They were past when the Apostle wrote his Epistle The Messias was then come in the Flesh to all mankind In the Spirit at the solemn feast of Pentecost and in particular to the Corinthians they were sanctified in Christ Jesus 1 Ep. 1.2 But the coming which the Apostle aims at is future until I come Neither can we understand his coming to destroy Jerusalem For these words are inserted with a design to awake the Corinthians to a greater degree of circumspection in their preparations for the holy Communion intimating that it shall continue till Christ come to summon them before his Tribunal and judge them for their unworthy Approaches There was no summons of the Corinthians at the overthrow of Jerusalem and therefore the last coming must be understood These Acts which have been enumerated some in savour of the Mass would perswade us that sacrificing is to be added as a part of Divine Worship under the Gospel If this be so it must be warranted by some Divine Law and this must be either natural or positive Natural it is not as will be evident by the following considerations 1. A Sacrifice is an Oblation of some material thing unto God and in the offering destroyed The essential difference whereby it is distinguished from other Oblations is the destructive mutation This change cannot reasonably be esteemed an act of Worship but so far as it is an acknowledgment of some excellency appertaining to the Divine Nature as Sovereignty Wisdom Goodness c. In its self before it has an institution enstamped upon it it imports no such agnition Were we left to the conduct of natural light it would rather induce us to believe that the Godhead is dishonoured than worshipped by a dissolution of the creature in whose composure divine Power and Wisdom are eminently conspicuous 2. If the light of nature leads us to this practice it must be because it conduceth to the Honour of God and if so we being under an obligation to honour him in the superlative and most exalted degree the same reason will dictate that mankind the most excellent part of the visible Creation is to be singled out for this sacred purpose Nay that Abraham wanted not the warranty of a revelation for the offering up of Isaac but was sufficiently instructed by the light of Nature in that concernment
personal favours of his Prince to pay the Rights which belong to the Crown yet the formal object and reason of his so doing is the Sovereignty and dominion which the Prince is invested with As the Son so likewise the Spirit is the Object of Adoration He is placed in the same rank with the Father and the Son Mat. 28. v. 19. Jo. 1.5 7. and honoured with the attribution of the peculiarities of the Deity as Eternity Immensity Omniscience The dishonour done to him by Blasphemy has as black a character in the Scripture as the dishonour of the Father or Son It is represented as a delinquency of the first magnitude and excluded the benefit of pardon He who is thus dignified and secured by the most severe commination against dishonour must necessarily of right challenge the same degree of Honour and Worship which is due to the Father and the Son The Adoration given to them all must be so directed that we may worship the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity The ground of divine Veneration is the unlimited and peerless perfection of God The motives conducing to it are the benefits which none but so transcendent a Being can conferr The same internal eminency is common to the Three Persons Every external benefit is the product of their joint concurrence They having all an equal interest in the foundation of Religion and the motives conducing to it it is very reasonable when we direct an act of Worship to one that we should not exclude the other When we name the Son only the Father and holy Spirit are to be understood or the Father only the Son and the Spirit or the Spirit only the Father and the Son Consonant to this doctrine are the words of Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Let us Worship in Three one Deity and the practice of the universal Church which is apparent by the Latin and Greek Liturgies Now I have done with the fourth Proposition This One God is to be Worshipped 5. This God is only to be Worshiped This is the express assertion of the Holy Scripture the dictate of Reason the sence of the Ancient Church 1. The assertion of Holy Scripture It is the first of the moral Laws Thou shalt have no other Gods but me and placed in the front of the Gospel Him only shalt thou serve In a sense of this appropriate allegiance to Jehovah the Angel did forbid S. John and S. Paul and Barnabas the people of Lycaonia to pay them any Divine Veneration Daniel's refusal of the portion of meat which was first consecrated to an Idol will easily induce us to believe that he had an equal disgust of the Idolatrous worship which was given to him If Abraham's deportment when the Angels appeared had more than a moral or civil respect The Son of God his being in the company will excuse him from Idolatry one of them is expresly dignified with the incommunicable name of the Deity 2. The dictate of reason Worship is either internal or external Internal includes a deep and reverential esteem as an ingredient essential to its nature This esteem must be of an elevation agreeable to the excellency of the Object it is terminated upon There being no object that can be a Rival with the Supreme Being in point of perfection it is not possible that the same esteem which his transcendent dignity challengeth from us should with justice be given to any other External imports a declaration of inward esteem by some outward acts As the Veneration terminated upon God is peculiar and appropriate So must the Acts be which are designed for the signification of it Betwixt the sign and the thing signified there ought to be such a similitude that the one may be known by the other This cannot be done in the present case except there be such an appropriation as we speak of The nature of Divine Supremacy requires in outward as well as inward Worship a discrimination from that which is given to the Creature Earthly Monarchs expect an agnition of their Sovereignty to be made by the payment of an appropriate homage They have some Jewels in their Crown which they will not permit any of their Subjects to wear Tho' Moral and Civil regards may be tendred to a Creature yet if they rise so high as to have any mixtures of those peculiarities which are devoted by nature or institution to signifie Divine Veneration they are as distasteful to God as it would be to a Prince to stand by and see the Allegiance which is due only to himself given to another This Truth is warranted with so much clear reason that those who have had no other advantage but the light of Nature have taken notice of it Among those instructions which Orpheus left with Musaeus Lib. de Monarch Det p. 104 108. This is one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Adore him alone who is the King of the World It was the advice of Menander 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to honour him alone who is Lord of all Ad Antolycum p. 122. The Verses of the Sibyl in Theophilus Antiochenus are of the same importance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Laâ—t de â—â—lsa Relig. p. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Ruler of the World alone adore Who ever was and shall be ever more 3. The Sence of the Ancient Church Among those Truths which are owned by the most early Writers this is of the first magnitude that God only is to be Worshipped They never mention the worshipping any thing else as the Sacrament the Cross the Relicks of Saints When they delineate the rites appertaining to the Eucharist there is not the least intimation of that Veneration which the Romanist say is due to the Sacrament They were far from asserting that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quae debetur vero Deo is to be given to it Circumstances purely accidental as the time when the Institution was made the place where the mingling Water with Wine are recorded Those who had leisure to preserve the memory of these circumstances would not have omitted a point so material in case any such thing had been known to be agreeable to the mind of God As for the individual Cross upon which our blessed Lord suffered there could be no Adoration directed to it for the first three hundred years It is confessed that it lay concealed under ground till the time of Helena mother to Constantine the Great Neither is there the least signification of any religious addresses made to artificial imitations of it When the Veneration of the Cross is objected by the Heathens against the Christians Mirâ—â— Fâ—l it is answered by them Cruces etiam nec colimus nec optamus We neither Worship Crosses nor wish for them Bellarmine indeed infers that the objection implies that some such practice was then in use but he may by the same reason perswade us that the Christians Worshipped the Head of an Ass because their
the Mass 〈…〉 Christum esse in Eucharistia vere realiter substanitaliter ut Concilium reclè lequitur non corporaliter c. imò contradici possit spiritualiter ut Bernardus dicit in Sermone c. ubi affirmat in Sacramâ—nto exhiberi verron carnis substantiam sed spiritualiter non carnaliter L. 1. de Sac. Euch. c. 2. p. 351. The consideration of these particulars makes Bellarmine to shrink notwithstanding the great authorities he boasts of when he comes to express his own thoughts about the Presence of Christ in the Sacrament as appears by his own words Therefore we will say Christ is in the Eucharist truly really substantially as the Council rightly speaks not corporally c. yea on the contrary it may be said spiritually as Bernard speaks in his Sermon c. where he affirms that the true substance of the flesh is offered to us in the Sacrament spiritually but not carnally If the defenders of Transubstantiation did believe Antiquity to be favourable to them what is the reason why they use so many devices to keep us from the knowledg of it S. Chrysostome's Epistle ad Caesarium Monachum has been a great while suppressed by the Romanists because of the opposition which it bears to their Sentiments about the Presence of Christ in the Sacrament Peter Martyr found the Manuscript at Florence Bigotius of late has done the same and had published it had he not been prevented by the interpoposals of some more byassed with a respect to the interest of Rome than a sincere love to the Truth It is at last come to light tho' very imperfect and mutilated If our Adversaries did know Antiquity to be propitious to them in this and other points of controversie they would not use so much collusion as they do In the Proposition presented to Prince Henry when he had thoughts to erect a Royal Library these words occur The Pope gathereth all the Manuscripts he can Fowlis p. 128. into his Library the Vatican and then useth them at his pleasure One of his Tricks is notorious They have men which can counterfeit any hand and write the old hand 500. or 1000. years ago Then they have artificial Ink which within three days after the writing looks as if it had been written 500. years afore Thus having altered and taken out all that makes for us they suppress all the true Copies and produce the new ones they being written by themselves as before as the Authentick Books All this will manifest that what the Church of Rome asserts concerning the Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is contrary to Antiquity 3. Reason If the Bread be converted into the Body of Christ let us suppose the conversion to be made in two places at Paris and Rome and the Body of Christ in one of these places to stand upon the Altar and in the other to be carried in Procession According to this Hypothesis the same individual body is moved and not moved at the same time God whose concourse is requisite to all motion concurs and not concurs His Will which is the spring of all concourse consents to the motion and not consents His Intellect which has a knowledge of what he wills knows and not knows the same individual and all this at the same time In a word God is represented as making at the same instant two contrary declarations Those who maintain the conversion under debate say That the Essences of things do not fall immediately under the notice of Sence and the only way which the Author of Nature has provided for us to come to the knowledge of them is by their external modes and accidents If God declares in the Scripture that what is in the Sacrament after Consecration is not bread and yet suffers at the same time all the accidents to remain which he has appointed to declare that it is Bread he makes two declarations the same moment diametrically opposite one to the other Such contradictions are not reconcileable to his Nature It is destructive of his Veracity to speak two things contrary to each other the same instant in relation to the same matter Indeed it is said That reason is not to be admitted to this debate there being a clear revelation on the contrary side The sacred Mystery of the Trinity is without hesitancy believed altho' equal exceptions from reason lye against it To which I reply that there is no revelation of any such mutation in the Bread as is contended for Those words This is my Body import no such matter as I have before demonstrated S. Paul calls what remains after Consecration in the Sacrament by the name of bread 1 Cor. 11.28 and we cannot have a better Interpreter of the mind of Christ than he is The Revelation pretended cannot be true in any sence which is contradictory to reason Tho' many things before their manifestation are beyond the discovery of Reason Tho' after a disclosure is made it is not in the power of reason to dive to the bottom of them yet they are never contradictory to it Reason and Revelation differ but as a lesser and greater light The understanding which is the Candle of the Lord is no more opposite to Revelation than the Lights which are known by that name to the Celestial Luminaries with which the Firmament is adorned Tho' reason be not allowed in the sacred mystery of the Trinity to judge what is contradictory yet it may in the present case There the object is infinite and far above the comprehension of our narrow faculties but here sinite and every way fit and proportionable to them In the Eucharist we are conversant about a finite Body the nature of which is very agreeable to our measures In the Trinity about an infinite and incomprehensible Being Reason is undoubtedly the gift of God This gift is bestowed for some purpose The apparent design of it is to discern the true nature of those objects which lie within its sphere In this number we must necessarily reckon what appears in the Sacrament it being so far from exceeding the capacity of our intellect that it falls under the notice of Sense If Reason in this case may not he permitted to judg what is contradictory the design in giving of it will be totally frustrated and no certainty attainable in the most obvious matter Thus it is evident that Transubstantiation is contradictory to Reason 4. Sense Our blessed Lord has manifested that it is a competent judg in the present case by appealing to it concerning the reality of his Body Luk. 24.39 Jo. 20.27 What appears in the Sacrament has all the conditions requisite to qualifie it for sensation The parts of it are big enough to move the Nerves The distance from the object is very suitable and convenient The space thro' which the Species pass is clear and perspicuous If Sense rightly disposed may not be trusted 〈◊〉 certainty of all things will fail There can be
him and his Successours 2. Such a Guide as the Romanists would have who must be followed blindfold and his dictates received with an implicit faith without examination is not consistent with the nature of an Intellectual Being Our understanding is appointed to be our immediate Guide insomuch That if we act contrary to it we pervert the order of Nature and vitiate the action It is designed by a divine institution to make scrutiny and search into that which is propounded to us Therefore when there were infallible guides upon the Earth the people were commanded to look into the facred Oracles and make tryal by them of what was tendered to them They were not to rely only upon the words of them who spake but examine their Authority by a standing rule and inquire into the sence of what was spoken by them Joh. 5. Act. 17.11 Our blessed Lord directed the Jews to take this course and the Beraeans are commended for the using of it To suffer our understandings to be lapped up in an implicite belief is to keep our talent in a napkin Our Intellect was given to us to be exerted to the uttermost that all the Acts of our Religion might become a reasonable Service 3. Such a Guide is destructive of true Virtue in the Acts of Religion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is defined by the Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an elective habit It disposeth us when good and evil are set before us to make a free election to chuse the good and reject the evil Now the Guide supposed who must be followed without scrutiny deprives us of this liberty He must be believed whatsoever he propounds whether right or wrong If he commands us to believe that to be black which appears white to our sence we must not dispute his dictate Amongst the Eighteen rules of the prevailing Order in the Church of Rome the Thirteenth runs in these words Vt ipsi Catholicae Ecclesiae omnino unanimes conformesque simus Si quod oculis nostris albus apparet nigrum illa definierit debemus itidem quòd nigrum est pronunciare Bellarmine is very agreeable to this rule as is manifest by the following expression Si autem Papa erraret praecipiendo vitia vel prohibendo virtutes teneretur Ecclesia credere vitia esse bona virtutes malas c. If the Pope should err in commanding Vices or prohibiting Virtues the Church would be obliged to believe Vices to be good and Virtues evil 4. Such a Guide can be of no advantage to us in our present circumstances We have already an infallible Rule to walk by the true sence of which if we receive and comply with we cannot err Now this sence may as easily be obtained as the sence of an infallible Guide If there was such a one as is supposed he could not be spoken with by one of a Thousand of those who are concerned in the meaning of his determination And therefore they must receive it from the relation of others or by some Writing under his hand The Relators being fallible and obnoxious to the like infirmities with other men can give us no infallible assurance They may be byassed with partiality and irrelative respects A Writing from him is liable to the same exceptions which are usually formed against the Scripture We see that all parties among the Romanists pretend favour from the determinations of the Church They are like Pictures which seem to look upon every one in the room where they hang. When interest is concerned it will find out as many evasions as the most subtle Adversary can devise to elude any text of Scripture There are many divisions among the Romanists yet all assert the sence of the infallible Judge is on their side Why may not we as well understand the sence of the Bible immediately as the meaning of a Decree in Writing of such a Judge The Scripture was written by an unerring hand with a sincere purpose that it might be understood Clearness of stile is a necessary condition in order to this end and therefore must be designed by the Composer God undoubtedly is able to write with as much perspicuity and with as manifest accommodations to the meanest capacity as men are Thousands have had so firm a Faith grounded upon the sence which they immediately derived from his Word That rather than they would depart from it they have with alacrity endured the loss of their sublunary comforts and chearfully resigned up their lives to the inhumanity of their Persecutors The Divine Spirit is ready to assist those who are sincerely desirous of true knowledge Peculiar persons are devoted to the study of the Scripture in order to the dissipating of Clouds and the clearing of what is obscure Why a Writing composed by an infinitely Wife Being and attended with these advantages in order to the gaining the true meaning of it may not be as easily understood as the decrees of a Pope or the Canons of a Council I could never discern any good reason 5. Such a Guide is not reconcileable to the Divine Intention in giving us the sacred Oracles These are evidently designed as a rule which every one is obliged to consult Blessed is he which readeth Rev. 1.4 Reading is enjoyned in order to the gaining understanding Let the word dwell richly in you in all wisdom The supreme Head of the Church commands us to search the Scriptures S. Peter whom the Romanists assert to have been his Vicegerent upon the earth requires us to attend unto them as unto a light without suggesting the necessity of having recourse to himself or his Successors for interpretation All this assures us That we are to take our measures from the Bible and judge for our selves what is to be done or not done with a judgment of discretion that our conformity to the Divine Will may be an act of our Understanding Now a Guide whose Dictates we are to swallow down without examination is not consistent with the practice here enjoyned us To be bound to examine the rule with all diligence and yet to resign up our selves to the decrees of a Guide about the sence of it without any scrutiny are two contrary obligations If the first be intended as it is plain it is the last cannot God never wills that we should be engaged to those things which are contradictory one to another In a civil Community where there is a Law and a Judge If it be commanded That every Subject read this Law search it diligently use his best endeavours to understand it That his conformity to it may be an act of his own Reason this would plainly signifie That the Judge is not to be followed blindfold whether right or wrong but his Decree is to be compared and fully considered Tho' the Judge has the power of decision which the subject is so far to acquiesce in as not to disturb the publick order by any inutinous demeanour yet the judgment of discretion
coveted p. 234. l. 9. r. enlarged p. 294. l. 16. r. flaws p. 302. l. 2. r. to induce p. 315. l. 13. dele which p. 318. l. 22. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 323. l. 31. r. are in p. 345. l. 33. r. and the p. 348. l. 21. r. used The Reader is desired to amend with his Pen what lesser faults and mis-pointings he meets with A TREATISE relating to the Worship of GOD. SECTION 1. Concerning the Nature of Divine Worship HE who will give himself leisure to ponder the importance of Religious Veneration and the innate pronity in men to form incongruous Notions of it and the restless attempts of the Infernal Spirit to cherish this inclination and keep us from right conceptions about it will easily be induced to justifie the present Inquiry Religious Worship is deservedly accounted by the Hebrews as one of the Pillars which support the World and prevent its retirement into its primitive Abyss It cannot be expected that the Arm of Omnipotence which bears up all Things should continue to be so propitious where the Homage due to Heaven is not paid It is a provocation of the first magnitude to neglect the making our reverential acknowledgments to Him to whom we are indebted for our Existence and whatsoever contributes to our real Felicity There cannot be a more open affront put upon the indispensable Law of Gratitude If we reflect upon the Bounty of the Supreme Being it will easily inform us that some thankful return is to be made and to Worship and solemnly own the infinite Excellency of our Benefactor is all that we are in capacity to do No real addition can accrue to boundless perfection Of this Worship which is so important we are apt to entertain very unsuitable apprehensions A sense of the Deity is deeply rooted in humane Nature and by reason of the natural depravation it lies under there is an universal belief of our being obnoxious to Divine Justice This raiseth fears and jealousies and puts the Soul upon devising ways whereby the Supreme Being may be atoned Invention is set upon the Rack and as many reconciling methods thought upon as there are diversities of Humors 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is the true fountain of that Superstition which we often meet with in the Writings of the Heathens They upon a deliberate view and survey of themselves finding that they were not in a temper agreeable to the Idea which they had of a Sovereign Being and likewise unable to contest with his power which they had reason to believe their own delinquencies would not permit to be propitious unto them They fell to contrive several ways of Worship in order to the procuring an Atonement At first they Sacrificed Plants afterwards Beasts at last Men. The meanest creatures as Apes Onions Garlick they courted with Divine Veneration Euseb de laudibus Const p. 645 Vales fearing otherwise they might neglect the giving their due regards to that transcendent power which appeared in the formation of them They dressed up their Religion with all the Ornaments of Art thinking by their pompous Addresses to reconcile the Deity and induce him to favour them with a benign Aspect To this we may add the uncessant endeavours of our Infernal Adversary to keep us from right conceptions of Worship He invents several ways and keeps up the credit of them by blending something with them which he borrows from the divine Institutions Correspondencies betwixt his Worship and some rites recorded in the Bible are evident demonstrations of this truth The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb praep Evan. l. 1. p. 37. Plut. Symp. to which religious Addresses were made exactly answer to the Pillar of Stone which Jacob erected in Bethel The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at the solemn Feast of Bacchus is agreeable to the bearing of boughs at the Feast of Tabernacles The garment embroidered with Gold worn by those who were concerned in the Solemnity bears some similitude to the Sacerdotal Vestment worn by the High-Priest The two Stones Pausan in Arcad. Fel. Sel. p. 173. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ignis Jehovae Delph Phoeni. c. 11. p. 115. within which the Rites of Ceres were kept are parallel to the Two Tables upon which the Decalogue was engraven The eternal Fire in the Temple of Vesta wants not a resemblance of the Fire which by the Law was always to burn upon the Altar At the place where the infernal Oracles used to be given forth there was a Curtain in imitation of the Tabernacle A Tripos like to the Ark of the Covenant A Holmus made after the manner of the propitiatory A Table resembling that upon which the Shew-bread was placed Philost vit Apol. l. 3. c. 3. p. 11◠The most sacred Oath amongst the Indians by a Well did derive its Original from Beersheba the Well of the Oath where Abraham swore to Abimelech The Well they stile 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Well of Conviction A little way off was placed a Vessel of Fire call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fire of Pardon where they purged themselves from involuntary sins It is believed This was an imitation of John's Baptism by Water and Christ's by Fire The words of Tertullian concerning the Infernal Spirit are agreeable to all this Praescr p. 339. Res Sacramentorum Divinorum in Idolorum mysteriis aemulatur These instances make it obvious that there has been in some particulars a similitude betwixt the Worship of Jehovah and the Rites which have been practised in the Kingdom of Darkness This agreement must happen either fortuitously or else be designed by some intelligent Being The first cannot be asserted with any good reason It is not conceivable how there should be a harmony in so many things of a positive nature without the interposals of an intellectual Principle If it was designed then God must either intend an imitation of the Worship of the Devil or the Devil the Worship of God to assert the first is highly incongruous God forbids his people to enquire into his Worship and learn the ways he had seduced the Heathens into It cannot be imagined that he should teach them that which he forbids them to learn The Mosaical Law was enacted with a design to obliterate the memory of the Religion of the Idolaters and therefore we cannot think that he would make any of their injunctions a part of his own The Records of the Worship of Jehovah are of a more early date than those which represent unto us the Worship of the Heathens And we cannot conceive how the contents of the Ancient Record should be an imitation of what is contained in the Modern The Author of the Maccabees says 1 Macc. 3.48 that the Heathens set up Idols which have some likeness to those things which are contained in the Law And the Fathers of the Christian Church generally accord in this that the Ethnick constitutions did
which the ingredients of a humane body are exposed unto To what is received in the Eucharist the primitive Church in relation to the body attributes the power of Nutrition The Analogy of Faith obligeth us to believe that God will not command inhumanity But if the sence of the Church of Rome be true the greatest inhumanity is practised according to his Will What is more savage than to eat the body of a living man much more must it be to champ with our Teeth and swallow down the living Body of our blessed Lord to whom supreme Veneration is due This made a Pagan to say Who dost thou think Cott. in Cicer. de nat Decr. l. 3. can be so mad as to believe that to be his God which he eats It was an abomination to the Aegyptians to eat with the Hebrews Gen. 43.32 The Chaldee paraphrast gives the reason because the Hebrews eat those Cattle which the Aegyptians use to worship Those words except ye eat the flesh of the son of man c. Joh. 6.55 give no countenance to what is asserted by the Church of Rome By Flesh is meant the bread spoken of v. 51. The bread that I will give you is my flesh and by the Bread we are to understand our blessed Lord himself I am the bread of life v. 35. and by eating believing on him as is evident by the consequent words he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst As eating and drinking satisfie our natural appetite so believing in Christ our spiritual By faith we draw out of his fulness and plenitude a supply of our necessities This spiritual Sence is pointed at v. 56. and very agreeable to the manner of speaking amongst the Jews with whom Christ conversed when he spoke the words under consideration Maimon More Nevoâ— par 1. c. 30. The Hebrews use 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comedere not only to express the feeding upon that which conduceth to the nourishment of the body but likewise the acquisition of Learning and Wisdom such as faith imports which tends to the nutrition of the Soul Psal 33. or 34 v. 2. S. Basil says that there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an intellectual mouth of the inward Man With this we receive the impressions made by external objects and ruminate upon and digest them by meditation All this being considered it is evident that Transubstantiation is contrary to the Holy Scripture 2. Antiquity Those who assert the Body of Christ to be corporally present in the Sacrament and the substance of the Bread and Wine not speak contrary to the sence of all the primitive Fathers Ignatius who lived in the first Century 〈…〉 calls that which is broken and given in the Sacrament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justin Martyr in the second Century Apol. 2. stiles it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and attributes to it a nutritive power in relation to the body Tertullian in the third Century asserts L. 4 cont Marc. that Christ made the bread which he took to be his body that is a figure of his body Origen says L. 8. cont Celsum we have a symbol of thanksgiving to God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bread which is called the Eucharist S. Cyprian affirms 〈…〉 that the Lord calls the bread compounded of many grains his Body Eusebius in the fourth Century terms L. 1 â—emon Evan. c. ult what is received in the Sacrament symbols of the Body and blood of Christ Cyril of Jerusalem stiles it Bread and Wine Catech. Mystagog 1.3 and compares the change which is made by consecration to that in consecrated Oil which doth not lose its old Nature but is dedicated and set apart to a higher use and purpose S. Ambrose affirms L. 4. de Saâ— c. 4. that the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament sunt a â—â—â—e panis vinum altho changed into the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ Gregory Nissen owns that which he calls the Body of Christ by the name of Bread Orat. de San. Bapr and expresseth at large that the Bread and Wine being Consecrated retain their pristine nature even as Baptismal Water an Altar a Priest do after Consecration has passed upon them Gaudentius represents the Sacrament as an image of the passion and figure of the Body and Blood of Christ Tract 2. in Exo. S. Chrysostome in the fifth Century useth these words Epist ad Casâ—arium Monashum Before the Bread is sanctified we call it Bread when the Divine Grace hath sanctified it by means of the Priest it loseth the name of Bread and is held worthy to be called the Lord's Body altho the nature of the Bread doth remain in it and is not called two bodies but the body of the Son S. Austin says Ad Adamantum â— 12. That the Lord doubted not to say This is my Body when he gave the sign of his Body Cyril of Alexandria asserts L. 4. c. 14. in Evang. Joan. that our Lord gave fragments of Bread saying Take eat This is my Body Theodoret affirms 1. Dial. cont Eutyc that our Saviour honoured the visible Symbols with the name of his Body and Blood not changing the nature but adding grace to nature Gelasius is of the same mind De duabus Christi naturis The Sacraments which we receive of the Body and Blood of Christ are a divine thing by means whereof we are made partakers of the Divine Nature and yet the substance of the Bread and Wine doth not cease to be Bellarmine in his Polemical Discourse concerning the Eucharist useth most of the names which I have mentioned to a contrary purpose and brings them into the field with a great deal of pomp His policy seems to resemble that of a great Commander When he had drawn up his Souldiers into a military order and was ready to engage the enemy a great part of them declared they would not fight He being not in a capacity to retreat with honour or security told them that the only kindness which he desired of them was to march to a Hill a little way of and there be Spectators of the courage and fate of their fellow Souldiers hoping they might appear to the enemy as a Reserve and prove as great a discouragement to them as if they had actually engaged them I cannot imagine why these antient Fathers who have so positively declared in the Testimonies above-cited that they will not fight should be continued in view except it be with the like design to impose upon the Faith of those who are strangers to their intentions To the Authorities already produced I might add many more which do evidently manifest that the Church was a stranger to the doctrin of Transubstantiation for many hundred years What might be alledged I will sum up in the following particulars 1. They all agree in an imitation of the stile of Scripture and
have a way whereby they may be brought into Union When the parts of a Watch are asunder they cannot be said to be in conjunction because there is a hand which is able to put them together Moreover it is not true That they have such a certain way to Unity It is not agreed where the unerring Spirit resides The Pope who makes the most confident pretence to it doth frequently decline a determination When the parties on both sides are great he is in fear lest he may give distaste to either of them and so make it his choice not to attempt their Union but to couch down betwixt the two burdens Some times his determinations are delivered with so much ambiguity That the persons concerned are no nearer a reconciliation than they were before His decrees like the answers of the Oracle are so flexible that they may be bent into a compliance with every humour His Council at Trent was no stranger to this kind of policy The sence of some Decrees was so doubtfull That Dominicus Soto Rist of the Câ—un p. 229 230. and Catharinus both present did during the Session publish Books one against the other concerning the meaning of them Were their way to union and the product of it as perfect as they pretend yet it could be no motive to induce us to believe their Infallibility A Unity of the greatest elevation cannot exceed that which was betwixt the four hundred Prophets in the time of Ahab or betwixt those who make war with the Lamb Rev. 17.13 The infernal Spirit well knowing that his kingdom if divided cannot be assured of any permanency useth the utmost of his activity to unite his subjects The next inducement is Holiness of Doctrin This can be no Motive if we impartially ponder the following particulars It teacheth us to be unjust towards God and to alienate the Worship which is peculiar to him and give it to the creature The religious addresses made to Saints departed this life Images the Bread in the Sacrament are evident demonstrations of this injury It is highly prejudicial to the rights of his Vicegerents Divers of the Roman Councils have declared That the Pope may absolve Subjects from their Allegiance and deprive Emperours and Princes of their Dominions Several crimes are reckoned up by approved Authors which render Princes obnoxious to this condemnation and the Pope himself is made Judge whether they are guilty of the crimes they are suspected for It is destructive of True Devotion This cannot be in Prayer except the will and affections be engaged And the will cannot be rightly concerned and say Amen to what is Prayed for except it be duely informed concerning the matter of the Petition True Zeal in the will is always the product of light and knowledge in the understanding and the intellect can have no distinct knowledge if Prayer must be made in an unknown tongue as the Church of Rome teacheth Lastly It gives encouragement to a debauched life According to the Papal Theology a man of a lewd conversation after he has spent his days in the gratification of his exorbitant lusts if at last he applies himself to a Priest expressing a sorrow springing from a fear That the badness of his life may expose him to everlasting torment and obtains his Absolution which will of course be granted he shall certainly be freed from eternal pains and as for temporal which are not remitted but must be inflicted in Purgatory he may in a great measure escape them too if he be so rich as to leave mony enough behind him to oblige the Church to so much Charity as to help him with their suffrages and to celebrate frequent Masses for him So that it is hard for none let them be never so exorbitant except they be poor and indigent to obtain a quick dismission out of Purgatory and to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven The next Attractive is the Essicacy of their Doctrin The Doctrin amongst them is either such as is common to all Christians or proper to their Community The Essicacy of the first is a good evidence of the reality of Christian Religion but no demonstration of the Infallibility of Rome The prevalency of the second is not so conspicuous as is pretended The submission of multitudes to the Papal Yoke is to be imputed to the efficacy of ignorance and tyranny and not to any transcendent virtue in their Faith Had not there been better metal in their swords than their doctrine they would not have proselyted so many Americans as they did The Inhabitants of that part of the World did not apply themselves to the Priests as the Regions of Judaea did unto John the Baptist but they were driven like herds of Cattle to the watering place They were not perswaded but by the most direful hostility affrighted into Religion Their resentments of the Spanish cruelty were so great That they made it their choice to kill themselves in order to the avoiding of it and could not be prevailed with to desist from this inhumanity until it was told them That the Spaniards likewise intended to kill themselves and to follow them into the other World and there be as great a torment to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they had been in this In the East Indies where their Power was less their Policy was greater They finding there a people very stiff in the maintenance of their Idolatry They did not trust to the efficacy of their Doctrine to work conviction in them but devised an expedient how they might make them good Christians and yet let them retain their old Religion Myst Jes Let. 5. p. 83. They enjoyned them to hide under their cloaths an Image of Jesus Christ and mentally to direct their publick adorations to it which in outward appearance were terminated upon the Idols Chacim-coan and Keum-fucum Had they been assured of any eminent efficacy in their Doctrine they would not have heen so prodigal of their reputation as to stain it by the using so prodigious a method As for Holiness of Life When they make this a Motive They mean either the internal or external part of it The first cannot be a motive of credibility because it is not seen the second may be dissembled The infernal Spirit may put on Samuel's Mantle This Holiness which is so much boasted of must be either in the lives of the body of the people or else of some select branches or else of the infallible Head The first cannot pretend to it Debauchery no where more prevails than where the Papal Religion is entirely received As for the second I am not ignorant That great things are spoken of some select persons Bartholomaeus de Pisis has not been afraid to compare Franciscus to Christ Lib. Conform and in some things prefer him His Sanctity has brought such a reputation to his Order that it is verily believed That no man can be damned who dies having his body wrapped up
cannot be denied to him in this case which if it happens to be contrary to the sentence of the Judge he must bear without a tumultuous deportment the consequences of it 6. All the Testimony we have That such a Guide is intended is from the Church of Rome which is the party concerned and lays claim to this Dignity If we ask how it comes to be known that the is vested in this immunity Scripture-promises are presently alledged If we further demand How we shall know that this is the sence of the promise We are told That we must adhere to the interpretation of the Church which understands it so From which it evidently appears That the ultimate ground and reason of our belief in this particular is the Testimony of the Church of Rome For no Community is permitted to have the denomination of a true Church besides that which submits to the Papal Authority If our Blessed Lord the supreme Head of the Church says If I bear witness of my self my witness is not true Joh. 5.31 Much more may this be applied to the Body if it has no other evidence for this fundamental point but what is derived from her self The bare testimony of a party is not a sufficient foundation to build a legal determination upon in any Court of Law 7. The Primitive Constitution of the Church plainly intimates That no one Guide was designed to be Supreme over all the Churches in the World Our blessed Lord left the Apostles in a parity Nothing was spoken to S. Peter concerning any Ecclesiastical Power but what the others were equally concerned in These constituted Bishops over particular Churches in the same equality they themselves were left in Tho' in every Church there is a subordination of the Clergy and People to their own Bishop yet there is none to any which is foreign It is true There is one Catholick Church but the unity of it consists in having one Lord one Faith and one Baptism and not one Bishop and Head to interpret for all and impose what dictates he pleaseth upon them The antient Churches did maintain correspondencies by Communicatory Letters and when extraordinary cases did emerge send their prudential Expedients as the effects of their Charity But we no where read of the exercise of any pretended authority one over the other If there had been any one authorised Guide in controversie for all Churches known in those early times when Heresies and Schisms did arise no question a speedy application would have been made to him for the curing of what was amiss yet we read of no such matter But on the contrary Appeals were prohibited to any foreign Bishop and an express order established That differences should be decided within the Province where they did emerge S. Cyprian asserts so much in his Epistle to Cornelius Epist 55. Pamel Epist 59. Oxon. Nam cum statutum sit omnibus nobis aequum sit c. For when it is appointed to all of us and it is both equal and just That the cause of every one should be heard where the crime is committed and a portion of the Flock is assigned to particular Pastors which every one must rule and govern being under an obligation to give an account to the Lord of what he does It behoves those whom we are set over not to run up and down nor break the firm concord of Bishops by their subdolous and fallacious temerity but there to plead their cause where the Accusers may have witnesses of their crime c. The fifth Canon of the first Council of Nice is of the same importance and is so interpreted by the next General Council held at Constantinople in the second Canon As for the Canons of the Council of Sardica which seem to favour Appeals there is just reason to suspect that they are forged The Fathers of the sixth Council of Carthage knew nothing of them tho' about Forty African Bishops were present at that Convention as Athanasius testifies A matter of such moment could not have been concealed from them when so many of their own Countreymen were witnesses to what was transacted The attempt that was made to father them upon the Council of Nice argues That there was no fair dealing about them If the Canons are genuine it must be remembred That they were made not by a General but a Provincial Synod Tho' the Council was intended to be General yet it proved otherwise by the Oriental Bishops withdrawing themselves and refusing to act in it The decrees of such a Convention have not efficacy enough to rescind and annul what was done before in the Council of Nice An Inferiour Authority cannot abolish what is established by a Superiour If the Council had been General yet if we look well into the Canons pretended to be framed by it they will not amount to that which the Church of Rome thinks to make of them Three things are conceded to the Bishop of that See 1. A liberty in case of judgment already given to deliberate whether the matter ought not to be considered again 2. If he thought so whether he would send any to be present at the hearing of the Cause 3. A freedom to appoint Judges out of the neighbouring Provinces finally to determine Here is no bringing the cause to Rome but the judgment is to be ended where the difference did begin If all this was as real as it is pretended to be it cannot be looked upon as any more than a prudent Expedient in that present juncture The Arians very much prevailed The Orthodox were highly oppressed The Bishop of Rome favoured their cause And to put him into a greater capacity of succouring them such a determination might be condescended unto But the words of the Synod plainly represent it as a novel thing which the Church before was utterly unacquainted with Neither the Institution of Christ nor Primitive Tradition are alledged as the ground of it but an honorary respect to the memory of S. Peter the Bishop of Rome being at that time esteemed as his Successour and very stedfast in that faith which he sacrificed his life for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are the words of Hosius of Corduba who is represented as the person who did steer all matters under debate in that Convention 8. No provision is made of one infallible Guide in a case of like importance The whole World is one Community under God the Father as the Church is one under Christ All particular Kingdoms are united under some general Laws as the several Churches are in the same rules of Belief and Worship They have all the same light of Reason There is a jus Gentium to which all the Empires of the Universe are obliged to submit Peace is as desirable betwixt them as Unity amongst the several parts of the Church The records of every Nation give an account of the direful effects of Civil as well as Ecclesiastical discord From hence ariseth the most
8. and the Law requiring That those for whom the Sacrifice was offered should be present and put their hands upon the head of it and there being an impossibility That every Man should appear in his own Person it was appointed That the several stations should appear in their turns as the representatives of the whole Community These Maimonides stiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Men of the station Those which were near to Jerusalem belonging to such a station constantly appeared in their course according to what was appointed Those who lived at a greater distance Vid. Temp. Service 62. used to assemble themselves in Synagogues and to pray and read the Law that they might maintain Communion with their Brethren at Jerusalem Besides the Temple the Jews had their Proseucha's and Synagogues By the express words of the Law the Males were obliged to appear thrice a year at Jerusalem The same Law obliging them to the celebration of a Sabbath every week their reason did lead them to make choice of such places where they might conveniently assemble for that purpose These are stiled Proseucha's and Synagogues Such was the Sanctuary in Sichem Jos 24.26 And the place of Prayer in Mizpeh 1 Sam. 7.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Macc. 3. â— 40. And the houses of God Ps 74.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aquila translates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jerusalem it self was not without them as is evident from S. Paul's words He making an Apology for his behaviour there says They neither found him in the Temple disputing with any man nor raising up the people neither in the Synagogues nor in the City Act. 24.12 Tho' there is some distinction usually made betwixt a Proseucha and a Synagogue as that a Proseucha was in the Field a Synagogue in the City The Proseucha open at top The Synagogue covered The Proseucha built in some place near a River The Synagogue in the highest place of the City The Proseucha might entertain the least number The Synagogue no fewer than Ten yet we find the words promiscuously used by Philo Judaeus He calls the Synagogues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De vita Mâ—sis l. 3. It is probable where the Magistrate would not permit the Jews the exercise of their Religion in Cities that they built places in the Fields equivalent to them where they might convene for the Worship of God So that tho' a Proseucha and a Synagogue might differ in some external modes yet they did agree in the main end After the Law when the Messias was come these places were frequented for some time Notwithstanding there was corruption in the publick administrations yet our Blessed Lord did not forsake them The Scribes and Pharisees Ministers in the Jewish Church were chargeable with many personal defects by their procurement unnecessary Rites were blended with the Worship of God The persons which they ministred unto were so enormous in their conversion That the Temple upon the account of their presence is stiled a Den of Thieves Yet for all this our Saviour did not withdraw himself from their Assemblies Into this Church he was admitted by Circumcision Luk. 4.16 did frequently celebrate the Passeover with them honour their Synagogues with his presence every Sabbath and commands his Disciples to hear the Scribes and Pharisees Jo. 11.49 Tho' there was an innovation about the Priesthood the Office of the High Priest which was perpetual by the Law of God was made annual by the Law of Man yet when he had cured the Leper he sends him to the Priest Mat. 8.4 He continued in a Proseucha praying all night Luke 6.12 After his Death his Disciples did tread in his steps So soon as he was ascended the principal of them which were a Hundred and Twenty did presently gather together in an upper room belonging to the Temple and continued in Prayer and Supplication When such multitudes of Converts were added to the Church as one room would not contain them they made use of diverse They continued in the Temple and brake Bread 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from room to room S. Peter and S. John went up to the Temple at the hour of prayer Act. 3.1 The Disciples were all with one accord in Solomon 's Porch Act. 5.12 The Apostles are bid to speak in the Temple to the people Act. 5.20 S. Paul preached Christ in the Synagogues Act. 9.20 At Antioch in Pisidia he and Barnabas did repair thither on the Sabbath day Act. 13.14 This was his practice at Iconium Thessalonica Corinth Ephesus and so much a general custome That the assembling of Christians together is stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 10. This Communion of the Christians with the Jews continued as long as their circumstances were reconcileable with it Afterwards they held their Assemblies apart and had peculiar places for their Sacred Conventions known by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When ye come together in the Church 1 Cor. 11.18 Here is first a coming together which makes the Congregation and then the place is expressed where the Congregation is met 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word imports something antecedent to and distinct from the Assembly Upon this account the Church is opposed to private houses Have ye not houses to eat and drink in or dispise ye the Church of God Let the women keep silence in the Churches and if they will learn any thing let them ask their husbands at home 1 Cor. 14.34 As Houses and home signifie private dwellings so the rule of opposition will justifie us in asserting That the Church or Churches which are opposed to them must signifie publick set apart for Religious Conventions Such were the Houses of Nymphas Philemon Priscilla and Aquila Col. 4.15 Rom. 16. Priscilla and Aquila We read of the Church in them that is The Congregation which use to meet there for the Worship of God these persons having set apart some part of their dwelling for that sacred purpose If by the Church in their Houses we must understand only the members of their families which were converted to the Faith no good reason can be given why the same form of salutation should not be addressed to others as well as to them Rom. 16. â— 10 11. There were many others as Narcissus and Aristobulus who had in their housholds those who did embrace the Doctrine of Christ We are not destitute of very early Testimonies to the same effect in Ecclesiastical Writers L. 8. c. 1 â—u l. 2. c. 17. Lamprid. Eusebius stiles the Churches 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ancient edifices Several of them were in Alexandria in S. Mark 's time Alexander Severus upon a controversie did adjudge such a publick place to the Christians Irenaeus and Clemens Alexandrinus use the word Ecclesia in the sence which we contend for Such a place is stiled Domus Dei in Tertullian and Dominicum in S. Cyprian These words import a resignation of the right