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A48863 The harmony between the old and present non-conformists principles in relation to the terms of conformity, with respect both to the clergie, and the people : wherein a short history of the original of the English liturgy, and some reasons why several truly conscientious Christians cannot joyn with the church in it : humbly presented to publick consideration in order to the obtaining some necessary relaxation and indulgence : to which are added some letters that pass'd between the Lord Cecil, and Arch-bishop Whitgift. Lobb, Stephen, d. 1699.; Whitgift, John, 1530?-1604.; Burghley, William Cecil, Baron, 1520-1598. 1682 (1682) Wing L2726; ESTC R23045 77,527 105

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Popish party or be urg'd by them in excuse for their not coming to Church and joyning with the rest of the Congregation in God's publique worship In the Litany first made and published by King Henry the Eight and afterwards continued in the two Liturgies of King Edward the sixth there was a Prayer to be deliver'd from the Tyranny and all the detestable enormities of the Bishops of Rome which was thought fit to be expung'd as giving matter of scandal and disaffection to all that party or that otherwise wish'd well to that Religion In the First Liturgy of King Edward the Sacrament of the Lord's Body was deliver'd with this benediction that is to say the body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for the preservation of thy Body and Soul to Life Everlasting The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ c. which being thought by Calvin and his Disciples to give some countenance to the gross and carnal presence of Christ in the Sacrament which passeth by the name of Transubstantiation in the School of Rome was alter'd into this form into the second Liturgy that is to say take and eat this in remembrance that Christ dyed for thee and feed on him in thy heart by faith with Thanksgiving Take and drink this c. But the Revisers of the book joyn'd both formes together least under colour of rejecting a carnal they might be thought also to deny such a real presence as was defended in the writings of the antient fathers Upon which ground they expung'd also a whole Rubrick at the end of the Communion Service by which it was declared that kneeling at the participation of the Sacrament was required for no other reason than for the signification of the humble and gratefull acknowledging of the benefits of Christ given therein unto the worthy Receiver And to avoid that prophanation and disorder which otherwise might have ensued and not for giving any adoration to the Sacramental Bread and Wine there bodily received or in regard of any real and essential presence of Christ's Body and Blood And to come up closer to the Church of Rome it was ordered by the Queens injunctions that the Sacramental Bread which the book required onely to be made of the finest Flower should be made round in fashion of the wafers used in the time of Queen Mary She also order'd that the Lord's Table should be placed where the Altar stood that the accustomed reverence should be made at the name of Jesus Musick retained in the Church and all the old festivals observ'd with their several Eves By which complyances and the expunging of the passages before remembred the book was made so passable amongst the Papists that for ten years they generally repair'd to their Parish Churches without doubt or scruple as is affirm'd not only by Sir Edward Cook in his Speech against Garnet and his charge given at the Assizes held at Norwich but also by the Queen her self in a Letter to Sir Francis Walsingham then being her Resident or Leiger Embassador in the Court of France the same confessed by Sanders also in his book de Schismate To this Heylin within a few years following adds And now we may behold the face of the Church of England as it was first setled and established under Queen Elizabeth The Government of the Church by Archbishops and Bishops The Liturgy conform to the primitive patterns and all the Rites and Ceremonies therein prescribed accommodated to the honour of God and encreafe of piety The Festivals preserved in their former Dignity observ'd with all their distinct Offices peculiar to them and celebrated with a Religious Concourse of all sorts of people the weekly Fasts the Holy time of Lent the Embring weeks together with the Fast of the Rogation severely kept by a forbearance of all kind of flesh not now by virtue of the Statute as in the time of King Edward but as appoynted by the Church in her publique Calendar before the book of Common Prayer the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper celebrated in most reverend manner the Holy Table seated in the place of the Altar the people making their due reverence at their first entrance into the Church kneeling at the Communion the confession and the publique prayers standing up at the Creed the Gospels and the Gloria Patri and using the accustomed reverence at the name of Jesus Musick retain'd in all such Churches in which provision had been made for the maintenance of it or where the people could be trained up at least to plain Song All which particulars were either Established by the Lawes or commanded by the Queens injunctions or otherwise retained by virtue of some antient usages not by Law prohibited Nor is it much to be admired that such a general Conformity to those antient usages was constantly observ'd in all Cathedrals and the most part of the Parish Churches considering how well they were presidented by the Court it self in which the Liturgy was Officiated every day both morning and evening not only in the publick Chappel but the private Closet celebrated in the Chappell with Organs and other Musical Instrments and the most excellent voices of men and children that could be got in all the Kingdom The Gentlemen and Children in their Surplices and the Priests in Copes as oft as they attended the Divine Service at the Holy Altar The Altar furnished with rich Plate two fair Gilt Candlesticks with Tapers in them and a Massy Crucifix of Silver in the midst thereof which last remained there for some years till it was broke in peices by Pach the fool no wiser man daring to undertake such a desperate Service at the sollicitation of Sir Francis Knolles the Queens near Kinsman by the Caries and one who openly appeared in favour of the Schism at Franckford The antient ceremonies accustomably observ'd by the Knights of the Garter in their Adoration towards the Altar abolished by King Edward the 6th and reviv'd by Queen Mary were by this Queen retain'd as formerly in her Fathers time for which she received both thankes and honour from her very enemies i. e. the Papists as appeares by Harding's Epistle Dedicatory before his answer to the Apology c. So far Heylin Thus from what the sons of the Church Cambden Burnet and Heylin have affirm'd 't is apparent that Queen Elizabeth had a natural propension to favour the Papists and that this was discover'd by her making the Termes of Communion much more easie to the Papists than in King Edward's time whereby they became the more difficult and arduous to the Protestant Dissenter I 'll only add one observation of the Jesuit Reignold against Whitaker whereby the Reader may perceive not only that the Papists take notice how the practice of the Church of England contradicts their Rubrick but also that in the Rubrick concerning Apparel which is now to be found in the Communion Book even the beginning before morning prayer 't is order'd That the Minister
English Liturgy was drawn up for the Ministers help in prayer a Book of Homilies was prepar'd to be read instead of preaching unto both which at first all such as had not a License were equally oblig'd But though a stinted form of preaching be in it self lawfull doth it therefore follow that 't is always expedient The like may be said of a form of prayer 3. That about things lawfull that is about such things as are in their own nature indifferent enquiry must be made after their expediency or inexpediency pro hic nunc For many things which are in Thesi lawfull are yet in Hypothesi because of their inexpediency sinfull To eat flesh is in it self lawfull but to eat flesh offer'd unto Idols when another acquaints thee with it is inexpedient and therefore sinfull There are many things that are lawfull which because they edifie not but offend and grieve such for whom Christ dyed are inexpedient yea as so circumstantiated are unlawfull and cannot without sins be complyed with The Apostle Paul in his Epistles to the Romans and Corinthians doth somewhat amply treat of this point where he sayes that though all things are lawfull yet all things are not expedient that is as the Apostle himself explains it all things edifie not All things i. e. all indifferent things are lawfull but not at all times in every circumstance for God's glory and therefore not expedient In the exercise of our liberty about things indifferent if we will follow the Apostle Paul we must take heed that we do nothing that affords grief or proves a stumbling block to those for whom Christ dyed but must endeavour that all things be to the Glory of God and the edification of Souls This is evident from Rom. 14. and 1 Cor. 10. If then the Ordinary Lord's dayes Service be in it self lawfull and indifferent yet if it's use be a grief and a stumbling block to those for whom Christ dyed no way conducive to God's glory nor the peoples edification its use is so very inexpedient as to become unlawfull yea sinfull unto such as know so much the which inexpediency remains notwithstanding any Humane Law to the contrary For when the case is as here stated the word of God shews it to be inexpedient and therefore cannot be altered by any law of man That the Lord's dayes Service though in it self lawfull is in its use inexpedient Some may argue thus namely It becomes all good Christians to mind the Peace and Edification of those Churches where they live and unto this we ought to have a special regard in the exercise of our liberty about things indifferent There is a manifest division among Protestants in this Kingdom the which hath prov'd very pernicious unto the Protestant Religion and if encreased cannot but be much more mischievous and therefore all men must take heed that in the use of their liberty they do not what necessarily tends to the multiplying divisions If we cannot Unite the Conformist and Non-conformist we must do all that lawfully we can to fix an Union between Conformist and Conformist yea and between Non-conformist and Non-conformist This every judicious and sober Christian will I presume grant from which concession 't is thus argued even from the supposition of the lawfulness of the Lord's day Service against the expediency of its use pro hic nunc If a Non conformist's using this service dothnot contribute any thing towards an Vnion with the Conformist but tends to the dividing the Non-conformist though the service be in it self lawfull yet its use is not expedient But a Non-conformists using this Service doth not contribute any thing towards an Union with the Conformist As Mr. Read's experience does evince for sayes he in his case Though we yield as far as we can in things lawfull there is no Vnion no Peace nor Agreement to be had with such men but tends to the dividing of the Non-conformists as is most manifest to any that will but deliberately consider the general practice of the Dissenting Brethren Therefore the use of the Lord's dayes Service pro hic nunc highly inexpedient and not to be done The multiplying divisions among good Protestants cannot be for God's glory nor for the edification of the people but has been and still is a stumbling block unto some and great grief unto others for whom Christ dyed and therefore a man should rather suffer than use it 'T is quaeryed by some whether or no the generality of Non-conformists do esteem the use of the ordinary Lord's dayes Service expedient In answer unto which I may safely assert that the generality of the Non-Conformists do at least consider the Conforming unto the Lord's dayes Service so very inexpedient that they cannot Conscientiously comply with it This is manifest from their avowed Principles and Practises 1. Their Principle is that in matters of Religion whatever is in it self lawfull and pro hic nunc expedient is their Duty The expediency of a lawfull thing makes it Duty It has therefore been the Conscientious endeavour of Non-conformists to find out the expediency of those things which are lawfull i. e. whether the use thereof is for God's glory and the edification of the people and they judge themselves bound in Conscience to do whatever lawfully they may to the end God may be glorified and the edification of immortal souls advanced 2. The Practice of the Non-conformists hath been by this Rule as they dare not do what is to God's dishonour so they are afraid to omit what will be for God's glory and for edification Their being turn'd out of their places to the impoverishing the families of some the great prejudice of all does evince they cannot venture on the doing what is to God's dishonour Their greivous sufferings on the account of their publique meetings do as manifestly demonstrate that they are afraid to omit what is for God's glory and the edification of the people To thefe considerations add that if these Conscientious Non-conformists had been convinced that the use of the ordinary Lord's dayes Service had been both lawfull and expedient that is had been for Gods glory and the people's good would they have lived so many a year in the neglect and omission of so excellent a duty What do they make conscience of one duty but no conscience of another Surely I cannot believe it For this reason I think my self oblig'd to conclude that the true reason why the generality of the Non-conforming Ministers who do not use this Service is because they think it inexpedient they believe it is not for Gods glory nor for edification they fear that should they use it they should dishonour God and be a scandal and grief to many for whom Christ dyed But II. There are others who consider the particular forms of worship appointed in the Liturgy for the ordinary Lords dayes service to be unlawfull of this opinion are some Presbyterians the Congregational generally and