hope shall euer be answered PP It is againe obiected That in the act of receiuing we receiue from Christ an inestimable benefite ought not a Subiect kneele when he receiueth a benefite from a Prince to testifie his thankfulnesse Answ. This relation from Christ to the Sacrament as betweene the Giuer and the gift is common to all the Sacraments both of the old and new Law ordinarie and extraordinarie ANS The relation betweene the Giuer and the gift in the old Testament is not so euident because they wanted a cleare and expresse Word to expound the mysterie Where haue yee such a Word concerning Circumcision This is the putting off of the bodie of sinne by the vertue of Christs Death and Resurrection COLOS. 2.11 or concerning the Passeouer This is the body of Christ that is broken for you this is his blood that is shed for you The Law had but the shaddow the Gospell hath the expresse Image of good things to come In the Law they had the shadow of the Giuer and the gift but in the Gospell we see him with open face Now although to the shadow of the Prince men fall not downe nor doe reuerence they are to be excused but he must bee reputed a contemner who will not doe homage at the presence of his Prince Further as I said before the externall actions of their Sacrament could not bee commodiously performed with such a gesture as is kneeling but the action of our Sacrament may PP Next we receiue the mysticall pledges not out of the hands of God himselfe or his Sonne Christ immediately but out of the hand of the Minister The person who receiues the gift from the King is supposed to receiue it immediately and suppose mediatly yet ceremonies of Court and mediate ciuill worships are not rules of religious adoration which should euer be immediate ANS Wee kneele not to receiue the mysticall pledges but to receiue the bodie and blood of Iesus Christ which the mysticall pledges signifie and are deliuered immediately by the hand of the Lord Iesus himselfe PP Thirdly the manner of deliuery of the gift and the will of the Giuer are to be considered If the Prince call his Nobles to a banquet it is his will that they sitte at table with him as Ionathan and Dauid sate at King Sauls table Christ hath declared by the Institution after what manner he would haue vs to receiue these mysticall pledges Kneeling cannot agree with the actions and precepts of the Institution ANS If we consider the manner of deliuery of the gift and the will of the Giuer it fauoureth kneeling rather then sitting for although we be inuited to a banquet yet it is not a bodily repast such as Ionathan and Dauid receiued at Sauls table That required leisure and time and such a site and position of bodie as 〈◊〉 most commodious for ease but by the Institution 〈◊〉 it manifest that the banquet whereunto wee are called is the body and blood of Iesus giuen externally in a little quantitie of bread and one Cuppe diuided amongst many and ministred internally with Christs owne hand Neyther come wee to this banquet to feede our bodies but to feede our soules and to extoll and praise his death as I haue ofte said before Whereupon the Apostle inferreth that wee should receiue worthily that is with such a reuerence both externall and internall as is worthie the Giuer and the gift and is most meete to set foorth the praise of the Giuer and the worth of the gift In this respect kneeling is most agreeable both to the actions and precepts of the Institution PP The second breach of the second Commandement made by kneeling is the shew of conformitie with the Papists The Lord forbade his people to bee like the Gentiles Leuit. 18.3 and 19.27 and Deut. 12. The Christians were forbidden to decore their houses with Bay-leaues and greene boughes because the Pagans vsed so to doe or to rest from their labours vpon the dayes that the Pagans did If conformitie in things not hauing state in idolatrous seruice but onely glauncing at the honour of the Idoll bee condemned farre more is conformitie in the grossest act wherein the life and soule of their idolatrie standeth Such is the gesture of kneeling amongst the Papists this outward conformitie tickleth the Papists and offendeth the godly ANS A shew of conformitie with the Papists in Idolatrie is a breach of the second Commandement But to kneele at the Sacrament our hearts being freed of the opinion of Transubstantiation and our mouthes confessing and professing that we doe onely kneele to God and our Sauiour Iesus Christ is no more conformitie with them in idolatrie then in the action of prayer to kneele when we direct our prayers to God and not to Angels or Saints or other creatures For example To kneele and say the Lords Prayer in honour of the Saints and to offer it as a libell of request to be presented and commended by their prayers to God which Papists professe themselues to doe Costeri Enchiridion de veneratione Sanctorum is idolatrie yet to kneele and offer that prayer to God only as wee doe is not idolatrie although both in the gesture of kneeling and in the substance of the prayer there bee a conformitie our Faith and profession being contrarie to theirs freeth vs of all shew of conformity with them in superstition and idolatry But the Lord forbade his people yee say to be like the Gentiles yet did he neuer forbid them to knele and lift vp their hands to him in their prayers although the Gentiles kneeled and lifted vp hands vnto their gods when they prayed The things wherein God forbade his people a conformity were vncleannesse idolatry superstition witchcraft c. and not such ceremonies of diuine worship as are by himselfe commanded yet abused by Idolaters And where yee say that Christians were prohibited to rest those dayes on which the Pagans rested I hope yee will not haue vs to worke on the Lords day because the Papists rest that day Finally when yee say that the life of Popish idolatrie consisteth in kneeling yee speake falsely for the life of their idolatrie consisteth in a professed adoration of the bread with opinion of Transubstantiation and not in the outward gesture of kneeling which being lawfull and religious in it selfe is onely abused by them to idolatrie And doe not all they who sitte at the Sacrament keepe an outward conformitie with the Arrians who will needs sitte to declare that they esteeme Christ Iesus to bee onely a meere man By your argument all they are transgressours of the first Commandement that communicate with them in sitting Now to that which yee adde in the end that this outward conformitie tickles the Papist and offends the godly yee are greatly mistaken it is your contentious opposition against the truth and disobedience of the lawfull ordinances of the Church which tickles the Papist and grieues all good men and not our
conference For the ease of their bodies sitting lying or such like a gesture was necessary but our Sacrament which is wholly finished by receiuing a morsell of bread and a very little wine requires not a long time nor such an easefull gesture for the body It is vncertaine as I shewed before what kinde of gesture our Sauiour and the Apostles vsed and if they sate it was occasioned by the former Supper and no wise requisite for the Sacrament neither for ease of the body the action being quickly ended neither for conference for there was none vsed thereat neither for receiuing the dainties or the elements from the table by stretching out their hands As to the bread Scaliger saith that the custome was of the Master of the feast to breake the bread in so many peeces as the number of the feasters were and vnto euery one a peece was giuen as great as an Oliue or if yee reiect his authority whom yee formerly cited in the booke of Discipline 1560 which yee make the ground of your order it is said the bread was broken by our Sauiour and deliuered to him who sate next and that they brake and deliuered each to his neighbour Likewise that they diuided the cup amongst them after our Sauiour had giuen the same so they stretched not forth their hands to take the elements from the table and their sitting at table for these ends was needlesse To your second argument I answere the distinction of the Table from the Altar is not made by sitting but by the employments proper to them The Altar was ordained for the sanctifying of the oblations made to God the Table to hold and sustaine such things as are offered and giuen to vs according to Christs Institution The Priest stood at the Altar when he offered and the people when they praied so the Communicants in the Primitiue Church stood at the Table when they receiued the Sacrament on the Lords day and this conformity in gesture tooke not away the difference between the Altar and the Table as no more doth kneeling or any other gesture But to come to the ground whereupon yee build this reason yee say the people of God had an Altar for the Sacrifice and a table for the feast So Christians haue Christ for the Altar and the Sacrifice and a Communion Table for the Sacrament which is their feast This your comparison hath some shew but no solidity There is a correspondence I grant betweene the Iewish Altar and Christ who was the Altar that did sacrifice himselfe to be a Sacrifice for the sinnes of the world for the Iewish Altar was the type and Christ the verity But what correspondence is there betweene the tables whereon the Iewes did eate their sacrifices and the Communion Table The tables whereon they did eate their sacrifices were not holy instruments which appertained to the Tabernacle and Temple but such as they had in their owne priuate houses and therefore were not types which did eyther signifie our Communion Tables or whereunto our Communion Tables doe answere as anti-types for it is to be obserued that in Christian Religion there is nothing which hath any necessary correspondence or relation to the Legall ceremonies but that which is either the verity of some type or the antitype of some type As for example betweene Christ and the Leuitical Priest the Altar and the Sacrifice there is relation as betweene the type and the verity so betweene Circumcision and Baptisme the Passeouer and the Lords Supper there is relation as betweene the type and the antitype for our Sacraments haue succeeded these and are in their stead But as to the Table whereon the Passeouer and other sacrifices were eaten the same not being a sacred instrument or type appointed by God as hath been said there is nothing in Christian Religion answering thereto either as the verity it selfe or as an antitype succeeding thereto As therefore their tables were not necessary for eating of their sacrifices for it is certaine the Iewes were not a stricted by any diuine ordinance to sitte at Table when they did eate the Passeouer and their other Sacrifices but were only commodious receptacles deuised by themselues which they might haue altered and interchanged as they thought meet Euen so a materiall artificiall table for celebration of this Sacrament is not an instrument appointed by our Sauiour as the Altars and Tables of Shew-bread but the same is appointed by the Church according to that power which shee hath to determine circumstances for the actions of diuine worship To the disposing of the elements some such receptacle and subiect is necessary as a table and decency requires it when and where the same may be had but it is not of such a necessary vse as the Altar vnder the Law for without an Altar a sacrifice could not be offered but without any such table the Sacrament hath often been ministred Euagrius lib. 6. hist. cap. 13. records That Gregorius Pastor of Antiochia did minister the Sacrament to the Souldiers on the grasse before the 600. yeare of our Lord at Banâ—ock burne in the dayes of King Robert Bruce the like was done to the Scottish army on the fields and so at many other times when a table commodiously could not be had Finally where yee adde That for disposing of the elements a dresser or cupboord may serue these speeches smell of profanity as if to hold and sustaine the elements were such a base employment that the instrument wheron the Church thought meet they should be placed should neither be a table nor named a table And yet all these religious Epithets which yee alledge the Fathers gaue to the Communion as when they called it the Lords Table the heauenly Table the sacred Table c. were giuen to it not because the Communicants did sitte thereat or for any other gesture of body vsed by them but because the Lords body the bread of heauen the sacred mysticall and spirituall food of our soules were presented thereon in the holy Sacrament Causabone Exercit. 16.36 saith That by these appellations the Eucharist it selfe was vnderstood But heere it is manifest that the Epithets interiected in your discourse are not only impertinent but repugnant to the opinion yee hold For when yee aske why is it called a table if men sit not at it they answer you Because vpon that table the heauenly sacred and spirituall mysteries are set In respect thereof it is called a heauenly spirituall sacred and mysticall table In the dayes of Chrysostome and Theodoret by whom these Epithets were most frequently giuen to the Sacrament there was not a table in the Churches at which men did sitte but one onely on which the elements were placed and consecrate but yee neuer fall vpon the name of a Table sooner then yee imagine it was appointed for sitting And what then thinke yee of the Table of Shew-bread at which no man did sit Shall it not be called a Table
discourse touching the relatiue worship which Papists giue to their Idols I call it confused because hee makes no distinction therein betweene the proper accidentall and improper honour which Papists professe to giue to their Images without the knowledge whereof the disputation following cannot be vnderstood Therefore it must be cleared in the owne place I call it idle because he takes paines to proue that which is not controuerted namely that it is idolatry to kneele to the elements or fo◠reuerence of the elements which we deny not yet hee confesseth that a religious honor which he calleth veneration should bee giuen to the elements and thereupon moues and answeres an obiection touching this point pag. 47. as followeth PP It may be obiected that holy things ought to bee reuerenced Answer True but not worshipped veneration is one thing adoration another adoration belongeth to persons veneration to things pertaining to persons and is nothing else but a religious respect or reuerent estimation of things pertaining to the vse of Religion a preseruation of them that they be not lost and a decent vsage of them according to their kinde this veneration or reuerence is a respectiue or relatiue reuerence giuen to them for Gods sake kneeling for reuerence of senselesse creatures is to take the proper gesture of relatiue adoration and apply it to relatiue reuerence for religious kneeling in all the Scripture is a gesture of adoration and soueraigne worship c. ANS This all is sound and touching it wee agree fully with you that reuerence which is done to the Sacrament should not bee expressed by kneeling which you truely call a gesture of adoration and soueraigne worshippe Therefore should it neither bee giuen to the booke of the Euangell nor to the elements of the Sacrament but to him only who is the Author and matter of both And yet if men fall downe and worship him at the hearing of the Gospell or after at the receiuing of the Sacrament or after and before it be receiued being moued thereto by contemplation of his grace and glory in the one and other this religious worship no man wil deny to be lawfully performed as well by the worthy receiuer of the Sacrament as by the reuerent hearer of the Word for as we bow not to the letters and syllables and sounds of the words of the Gospell but to him whose minde and will is declared therein So doe wee not bow to the elements of bread and wine in the Sacrament but to him whose body and bloud we receiue thereby But you to make the world beleeue that the Churches of Scotland and England kneele to the elements of bread and wine in the Sacrament at least haue ordained so to be done you alledge against the Church of England the Ministers of Lincolne their defence in the third part thereof referring the Reader to their proofes touching which part I only reply this that there be sufficient answeres made to these proofes by learned and reuerend men in that Church whereto also I remit the Reader Against our Church you lay a false imputation and frame thereupon all your discourse against kneeling as it is a breach of the second Commandement which we will now examine PP In the late act wee are ordained to kneele for reuerence of the diuine mysteries I see not wherein this differs from the Bishop of Rochesters argument that great and reuerend dreadfull mysteries must be receiued with great and dreadfull humilitie of soule and humiliation of body therfore in the act of receiuing we must kneele if this argument were good then the Sacraments and sacrifices of the old Law should haue been thus worshipped and if we will measure by the sight the Sacraments and sacrifices of the old Law were more dreadfull then are the Sacraments of the new for the slaughter of beasts and shedding of blood was more dreadful then the powring out of wine The Ancients held the sight of this Sacrament not only from Pagans but also from the Catechumenists this doing was not commendable it made the mysterie of this Sacrament both darke and dreadfull Augustine saith they may bee honoured as matters religious but wondered at as matters of maruell they cannot But to returne to the purpose to kneele for reuerence of the mysteries is nothing else but to worship the mysteries ANS Heere you set your selfe against three parties the Bishop of Rochester the Ancients and the Assembly at Perth For the Bishop of Rochester I answere shortly That he takes the mysteries with Chrysostome for the body and blood of Christ represented in the Sacrament by the elements of bread and wine In which sense they are truly called great and dreadfull and ought to bee receiued with great humility of soule and humiliation of body Non enim peccatur adorando carnem Christi sed peccatur non adorando We sinne not saith Saint Augustine in adoring Christs flesh but we sinne if wee adore it not in the Sacrament That which you blame in the Ancients of withholding the sight of the Sacraments not only from Pagans but also frō the Catechumenists Chrysostome iustifies with great reason Hom. 7.1 Cor. on these words We speak the wisdome of God which is hid Alia videmus saith he alia credimus aliter afficior ego aliter infidelis Infidelis si lauacrum audiat aquam simpliciter cogitat c. ideo fidei arcana non sunt temerè apud indignos evulgāda We see one thing saith Chrysostom we beleeue another I who beleeue am otherwise affected then an Infidel is if an Infidel heare of washing in Baptisme he thinkes there is nothing there but water c. For this cause the mysteries of our faith ought not rashly to be divulgate to the vnworthy This iudgment of Chrysostomes is not crossed by S. Augustines testimony but confirmed rather for if the Sacraments should be honoured as matters religious then as Chrysostom saith Pretiosa margarita est à contemptu vindicanda that is a pretious jewel ought to be preserued from contempt Where you alledge against the Assembly at Perth that in the late act therof we are ordained to kneele for reuerence of the diuine mysteries you are guilty of manifest falshood for in reciting the words of the act you blot out some change others and thereby corrupt purposely the whole sense and meaning of the act You blot out these words of God and in due regard you change the word mystery in mysteries these you interpret to be the elements whereas in the act the word mystery signifies not the elements but the receiuing of the blessed body and blood of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ. But that your deceit may be manifested I will set downe the act as it is extracted forth of the Register of the Assembly vnder the hand of the Clerke thereof Since we are commanded by God himselfe that when we come to worship him we fall downe and kneele before the Lord our Maker and considering
Doctrine and Discipline whereunto the Swearers did oblige themselues by their assertory and promissory Oath By the Gospell it is not certaine That our Sauiour and the Apostles did sit at the Supper and albeit he had sitten yet sitting is no more commanded to be obserued in that sacred action then the vpper chamber where he sate or the night season when the Supper was celebrated or the sex and number of the Communicants who were twelue men and no women or the qualitie of the element which was vnleauened bread or the order finally after Supper All these howbeit they be certaine yet none of them are esteemed exemplary far lesse can sitting which is vncertaine be esteemed such And for the rest of the points Neither kneeling at the Communion nor the administration of the Sacraments in priuate houses when necessitie requires nor the commemoration of Christs inestimable benefits on certaine set times of the yeare nor the triall of yong childrens education by the Bishop at his Visitation none of these I say are either expresly or by necessary consequence forbidden in the Gospell nor are hey condemned by many notable Churches and Realmes nor abiured in the Confession of our Faith confirmed by actes of Parliament and so cannot be counted the matter of this Oath But to remooue all scruple that may arise touching the matter of this Oath It is true That in the promissorie Oath the Swearers thereof binde themselues to continue in the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of Scotland and to defend the same according to their vocation and power all the dayes of their liues vnder the paines contained in the Law and danger both of body and soule in the day of the Lords fearefull iudgement Heere touching the Doctrine praised be God there is no controuersie amongst vs all the doubt concerneth Discipline and that is remoued also if it be taken only for that which is reuealed in the Gospell or receiued beleeued and defended by many notable Churches and Realmes or that which is set downe in the Confession of Faith as is already declared But because the Discipline of the Church may be extended beyond these limits and made to comprehend all Ecclesiasticall constitutions and determinations of generall circumstances formes and ceremonies belonging to the worship of God and the decent ordering of his house let vs consider this point more particularly If by the Discipline of the Church in the words of the Oath that part of Ecclesiasticall policie bee meant which concernes the censuring of manners in which sense it is taken in the order set downe before our Psalme bookes and in the seuenth hâ—ad of the first booke of Discipline intituled of Ecclesiasticall Discipline and in the second booke wheresoeuer it is mentioned and by all Ecclesiasticall writers most frequently Then it is certaine that the fiue Articles controuerted belong nothing to the Discipline wherein the Swearers binde themselues by their oath to continue to their liues end But if therby be meant the whole policie of the Church in which sense it is sometimes taken though rarely then first it containes all the precepts of policie prescribed in the Word in which precepts there is no determination concerning these articles as before we said Next it comprehendeth all the ordinances of the Church touching formes ceremonies and order to be obserued in Diuine Seruice and in the exercise of Ecclesiasticall Censures according as the circumstances of time place and persons In this part of Discipline it is true that all the controuerted points are contained But as I shewed before it is manifest by the limitations of the matter of the Oath that this part of the policie is excluded for it is neither expressely nor by necessary consequence contained in the Word nor is it receiued beleeued and defended by many notable Churches and Realmes nor is there any thing concerning it set downe in the Confession of Faith confirmed by actes of Parliament onely this generall wee haue that no constant order and policie can be set downe in ceremonies and that constitutions made by men may and ought to be altered when need requires Furthermore in the booke of Policie that was published after the Oath anno 1581 and subscribed by sundrie Ministers there is no mention made of these fiue Articles now in question In the first booke of Discipline penned anno 1560 there are some conclusions set downe touching sitting at the Sacrament the abolition of Holy dayes dedicated to Saints in Popery and the Feast of Christmas imposed vpon the consciences of men as also the administration of Baptisme vpon ordinary dayes of preaching for remouing the Papisticall opinion of absolute necessitie and if by the discipline mentioned in the Oath yee vnderstand the conclusions of Policie set downe in that booke and hold that the Swearers did by their Oath oblige themselues to obey all the conclusions thereof to their liues end then I demand what is the cause that yee and your followers do not only refuse to obey but improue and impugne the most principall point of policie set downe in that booke namely the office of Bishops whose prouision jurisdiction power and election are particularly described in the first head of that booke vnder the name of Superintendents But because the booke is rare and not at euery mans hand I will draw out of it onely some few things touching the jurisdiction and power of the Superintendents that the posterity may see what was the judgement of their Predecessors the Reformers of Religion touching the Office-bearers and gouernment of the Church And to beginne with the bounds of their jurisdiction the same is set down with this Title The names of the places of residence and seueral Diocesses of the Superintendents INprimis the Superintendent of Orknay his Diocesse shall be the Iles of Orknay Caâ—thnes and Strathneuer his residence in the Towne of Kirkwall The Superintendent of Rosse his Diocesse shall comprehend Rosse Sutherland Murray and the North Iles called the Skie and Lewes with their adjacents his Residence the Chanonrie of Rosse The Superintendent of Argyle his Diocesse shall be Argyle Kintyre Lorne the South Iles Arrane and Boote with their adjacents and Lowhaber His Residence in Argyle The Superintendent of Abirdene his Diocesse betweene Die and Spae containing the Shirrefdomes of Abirdene and Banff His Residence in old Abirdene The Superintendent of Brechin his Diocesse the whole Shirrefdomes of Mernis and Angouse with the Brae of Marre to Die His Residence in Brechin The Superintendent of Fife his Diocesse the Shirrefdomes of Fife and Fotthringham to Striuiling and the whole Shirrefdome of Perth his Residence in Saint Andrewes The Superintendent of Edinburgh his Diocesse the Shirrefdome of Lowthian and Striuiling on the South-side of Forth wherto is added by the consent of the whole Church Merse Lawderdale and Weddale his Residence in The Superintendent of Iedburgh his Diocesse Tauiotdale Liddisdale Tueddale with the Forrest of Ettrick his Residence in The
because it lacked your employment of sitting or table gesture In all Reformed Churches of Europe our Church and very few excepted the Communion Tables haue no employment but only to hold and sustaine the elements This is to be seen in the Churches of France Germany Hungary Pole and England And in the Greeke Church Causabone obserues that there are two Tables one whereupon the elements are set before the Consecration and another wherupon they are Consecrate Thus haue I sufficiently declared that the only or chiefe vse at least of the Communion Table is for the setting and disposing of the elements and the consecration of them with the distribution of the same Now that by kneeling in the act of receiuing the vse of the Communion table is not taken away I proue by this reason Whatsoeuer gesture taketh not away the comely placing and decent consecration of the sacramentall elements on the Communion Table from which they may bee giuen and receiued that taketh not away the vse of the Communion Table But kneeling is a gesture that taketh not away the comely placing and decent consecration of the sacramentall â—lements on the Communion Table from which they may be giuen and receiued Therefore kneeling taketh not away the vse of the Communion Table PP The third breach of the Institution made by kneeling is the taking away of that mysticall rite representing Christs Passion to wit the breaking of the bread c. ANS If your meaning be that the Pastor breaketh not the bread before he giue it yee bely vs. Wee know that it is the Pastors part in the action to represent Christ the breaking of his body on the Crosse with the sorrowes of death for our sinnes therefore we obserue that rite religiously But if your meaning be that the people breakes not euery one with another in reuerence and sobrietie as is prescribed in the second Chapter of the first Booke of Discipline set foorth 1560. that shall be discussed in the answere to the sixth breach PP The fourth breach of the Institution made by kneeling is the change and restraint of the commandement giuen to many in the plurall number Eate yee drinke yee to one in the singular number Eate thou drinke thou ANS This is a calumny we neither change the command nor so much as a iot contained in the institution For first wee consecrate the Elements vsing the words of Saint Paul and the Euangelists without altering a sillable Thereafter when we giue the Elements seuerally to euery person wee apply the generall command to euery one in particular which if we did not euery worthy receiuer ought to apply vnto himselfe else he cannot communicate in faith for he that esteemes not that command to belong to himselfe in particular hath no warrant for his taking eating and drinking This application therefore made by the Pastor to euery communicant is not a breach but a meane seruing to the right and precise obseruation of the Institution PP The fift breach of the institution made by kneeling is the altering of the enunciatiue words of Christ This is my body which is broken for you This is my bloud which is shed for you in a prayer To blesse our body and soule saying The body of our Lord Iesus Christ c. ANS This also is a calumny for these words wee vse not in stead of the sacramentall words because then there should be no Sacrament at all for by the sacramentall word This is my body the bread is made the Sacrament of Christs body and by this word This Cuppe is the New Testament in my bloud the Cuppe is made the Sacrament of his Bloud and without this word whereby the will of our Sauiour is declared which makes the Sacrament all our prayers and wishes should serue to no vse It is true after the Sacrament is made by the sacramentall word these or the like words are vttered by the Pastor at the deliuery of the Elements whereby the generall prayer and blessing wherewith the action beginnes is applyed particularly to euery Communicant and they admonished and instructed to apply it to themselues This is the dutie both of the Pastor and of the people for as in the prayer it is our duetie to wish in generall that all who are to participate the bodie and bloud of Iesus may be preserued thereby to euerlasting life so it is our duetie to wish the same to each one seuerally at the instant when he is receiuing And as it is the Peoples dutie when the prayer is conceiued for all to wish that Christs body and bloud may preserue all the receiuers thereof so when they receiue seuerally to wish that themselues in particular may be preserued thereby For if this be one of the principall ends wherefore they come to receiue can they receiue worthily without this or the like wish No man without blasphemie can call this an idle battologie PP The sixth breach of the Institution made by kneeling is the taking away of the distribution that ought to be amongst the Communicants When Christ sayd Take yee eate yee he insinuates that they should take and diuide amongst themselues A little after In the first Booke of Discipline penned Anno. 1560. it is ordained that the Minister break the bread and distribute the same to those that bee next him commanding the rest euery one with reuerence and sobrietie to breake with other because it is neerest to Christs action further we haue a plaine precept Luke 22.17 Diuide it amongst you c. ANS If yee stand to that which yee alleadge out of Scaliger was the custome of the Iewes and vsed by our Sauiour in the Institution yee haue no cause to quarrell the distribution of the bread for the Master of the feast vsed to breake the bread in so many peeces as the number of the Feasters were giuing to euery one a peece neither did each person measure his owne portion giuing the rest to his neighbour according to our custome But leauing this if we shall consider by the Institution what part is proper to the Pastor and what to the People wee will finde that as it is the Pastors part to take bread to blesse and giue thanks so is it his part first to breake the bread then to giue it with this precept Take eate and so that it is the Peoples part not to breake it but to take it broken for as it was the part of Christ first to giue his flesh for the life of the World when he did offer himselfe in a sacrifice for our sinnes which he will haue represented in the Sacrament by the Pastor in breaking the bread so it was his part to giue his flesh to the faithfull not to be broken and sacrificed by them but to bee eaten after it was once broken sacrificed by himselfe If therefore it be not the part of the people either to represent the oblation of Christs body or the donation thereof to vs but the part
the act of faith and contemplation the heart may bee lifted vp yet that eleuation of the heart requireth not the most humble and reuerent gesture of the bodie as kneeling In the ancient Church they were not accustomed to kneele when they made confession of their faith but to stand as Christian souldiers Our act insinuateth such a meditation and lifting vp of the heart as is vsed in actions of deuotion such as prayer and thankesgiuing which are practised by all who giue obedience to the act or doe worthily communicate But put the case that by the act no such thing were ordained expresly yet vpon this antecedent which yee vse namely wee are not ordained by any act of our Church to pray at the receiuing this conclusion will not follow Therefore we may not pâ—ay at the receiuing For wee are not ordained by any act of our Church expressely to discouer our heads in the act of receiuing May wee not therefore discouer our heads But any shew of reason is good enough to deceiue simple people PP But let the words be interpreted of mentall prayer euen mentall prayer is not the principall exercise of the soule in the act of receiuing the sacramentall Elements the minde attending on the audible words the visible Elements the mysticall actions and making present vse of them men should not be diuerted from their principall worke and meditation vpon the analogie betweene the signes and the things signified ANS The meditation vpon the analogie betweene the signe and the thing signified cannot be the principall worke of the soule it being nothing else but the consideration of the similitude that is betweene the natuall vse of the signes and the spirituall vse of the thing signified Namely that as the Elements seâ—ue to nourish the outward man so the body and the bloud of Christ hath a vertue to nourish the inward man and by eating and drinking the Elements are applied to feede the body So by faith the body and the blood of Christ are applied to feed the soule Such a meditation an Hypocrite and Reprobate may haue at the Table therefore it cannot be the principall worke of the minde which distinguisheth the worthie from the vnworthie Receiuer When we heare and reade the Word the principall work of our mind should not be a meditation vpon the forme of the characters the sound of the letters the coniunction of them their sounds in the syllables the syllables in the words or the force and vertue of the words to signifie the matters but the chiefe work of our mind should be to conceiue vnderstand and consider rightly what is spoken So when we come to the Sacrament the chiefe employment of our minde should not be to consider the proportion that is betweene the naturall vse of the Elements and the spirituall vse of Christs body and blood but a meditation and spirituall action correspondent and analogicke to the externall sacramentall actions As therefore the principall externall sacramental actions are to take eate and drink reuerently the symbolick Elements the bread and wine so the principall worke of the soule correspondent by analogie thereto is to remember the sacrifice of Christ the breaking of his body and shedding of his blood to consider the benefit that we haue thereby to put our confidence therein and for all to praise and magnifie his name with thankfulnesse This worke and meditation is proper to the worthy Receiuers and stirreth vp in the soule that most reuerent estimation and affection towards our Sauiour with an humble submission of our minds vnto him which we call adoration whereof the outward testimonie and signe is the humble and reuerent gesture of the body prescribed in the act which is also a gesture most conuenient for prayer So this gesture prescribed in the act doth not only attend the prayer vttered by the Pastor and conceiued by the people in the act of receiuing but is proper to that which is indeed the chiefe and principal exercise work of the mind in al worthy receiuers PP The soule may send forth in the meane time some short eiaculations and darts of prayer to heauen to strengthen her owne weakenesse and returne to her principall worke of meditation and application of the benefits represented These short eiaculations of the minde are onely occasionall as a Christian feeleth his owne present estate and are incident to all our actions both ciuill and religious in the act of receiuing our earthly food in going on the way in hearing the Word If a man bee moued inwardly when he heareth that the Word was made flesh shall he kneele as they doe in the Romane Church If a man should kneele at euery inward motion of the minde when hee heareth the Word what confusion would there be in the Congregation ANS The verball prayer vttered by the Pastor and the mentall conceiued by the people in the act of receiuing is not an eiaculation but necessary to be vsed in the action by the worthy Receiuers for no man can receiue the body and the blood of Christ worthily without a spirituall hunger and thirst after the righteousnesse and life that is in him which spirituall appetite and desire being declared by the Pastor in these or the like words when he deliuereth the bread Grant Lord that by the vertue of thy body which we receiue we may haue life eternall and be raised vp at the last day And when hee deliuereth the Cup Grant Lord that by the vertue of thy blood which we receiue we may be purged from our sinnes and filled with thy Spirit And the Receiuers conceiuing and confirming the same by saying with their mouthes as the custome was in the ancient Church or in their hearts Amen They send not vp occasional eiaculations but necessary and ordinary prayers such as the nature of the action requires Therefore as I said before although occasionall secret prayers may be offered to God without any externall gesture or with such as the worshipper thinks meetest for the time yet these which are purposely conceiued in the ordinary and solemne act of diuine worshippe should be presented to God with such a gesture as is conforme to the order prescribed and receiued in the Church PP A man looking occasionally to a Crucifixe may remember Christ and send vp some ejaculations shall hee therefore kneele The three children prayed mentally no doubt when they were brought before the golden Image but lawfully they might not kneele before it ANS Here yee affirme againe that which yee falsely alledged before namely that the Sacrament or any other creature differs not in the case of adoration from the Papists Images and therefore as it is vnlawfull to kneele before the Crucifixe or Nebuchadnezzars golden Image albeit wee may pray mentally before them so is it vnlawfull to kneele and pray at the Sacrament that is hauing the sacramentall elements before vs or obiect to our senses This comparison is odious false for there is no
their soules after the righteousnesse and life of Christ and the ioy they haue in the meditation thereof with that assured confidence wherwith they rest and repose themselues therupon And this representation and application of Christs death with the testification of our faith therein and thankfulnesse therefore by the celebration of the Sacrament is a reall extolling preaching magnifying and praising of the Lords death from which mentall praise cannot be separated without hypocrisie Therefore to praise God in the act of receiuing is a chiefe part of the principall work of the soule and not your meditation vpon the analogie betweene the signe and the thing signified which is only a catechetick preparation that should precede the principall worke If yee had remembred the Confession of Faith which ye professe youâ— selfe to haue sworne and subscribed I am assured yee could not haue denyed this for in the 13. Sect. thereof about the end yee haue these words The end and cause of Christs Institution and why the selfe-same should bee vsed is expressed in these words Doe this in remembrance of mee as oft as yee eate of this bread and drinke of this Cuppe yee shall shew foorth that is extoll preach magnifie and praise the Lords death till he come If this be the principall end as yee see our Confession speakes of Christs Institution then not onely may wee praise him in the act of receiuing but we ought to praise him In respect of this the Sacrament is called the Eucharist and not in respect of the thanksgiuing wherewith we begin the action as yee would haue it to be in your words following PP Next as it is called Eucharistia so it is called Eulogia for the words He gaue thanks and He blessed are indifferently vsed by the Euangelists Some parts of this holy celebration stand in thanksgiuing as the beginning and the end and therefore is the whole action denominated from a part Saith Casaubone Eulogia Eucharistia vtraque vox à parte vna totam Domini actionem deâ—ignat It followes not that all the parts of this holy ministration are actions of thanksgiuing ANS Although the name were taken as Causabone saith from one part of the action yet it is giuen to the whole action not by reason of this part onely but because it declares the nature and chiefe end of the action and albeit all the parts of this holy ministration seuerally considered are not actions of thanksgiuing yet the whole action which consists of these parts being performed Gratitudâ—nis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Paraeus saith that is with a purpose of thankfulnesse to celebrate the death of Christ is Eucharisticke or an action of thankesgiuing The hand or foot being seuerally considered is not the bodie yet the whole which consisteth of all the parts is the body So it is true to take the bread is not an action of thankesgiuing nor to breake it nor to giue it being seuerally considered but to take breake blesse and giue with intention by these actions to represent the death of Christ and the application thereof to the faithfull for the praise of his glorious grace is an action of thankesgiuing Therefore to conclude as wee come to the Sacrament to bee made partakers of Christs death by faith vnto saluation so wee come to the Sacrament to celebrate the remembrance of his death to his glory In respect of the first end it is The Communion of his body and bloud in respect of the last it is a reall predication and celebration of his death till his comming againe which should bee often performed because as Paraeus speaketh Mors Domini perpetuis laudibus celebranda est that is The death of Christ is to be celebrated with perpetuall praises these are specially offered at the celebration of the holy Sacrament and in this respect it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sacrifice of praise and thankesgiuing PP Obiect What we may craue of God vpon our knees we may receiue on our knees Answ. It is false I may pray vpon my knees Giue vs this day our daily bread but I may not receiue it on my knees The people of Israel prayed for food yet they were not esteemed vnthankful for not kneeling when they receiued the Manna ANS I neuer heard this obiection vsed by any man but by you in this place therefore if it bee false your selfe that forged it is author of the falsehood The Bishop of Galloway who is now at rest hath this obiection in his Treatise which is not yet answered as he alledgeth Whatsoeuer spirituall benefit I may lawfully aske on my knees the same I may lawfully receiue vpon my knees with thankesgiuing But I may lawfully with supplication aske saluation by Iesus Christ on my knees Therefore I may lawfully receiue it on my knees Another argument was propounded in the Assembly at Perth which neither at that time nor since hath been answered and it is this Whatsoeuer spirituall benefit we should receiue in a solemne act of diuine worship with thankesgiuing and prayer that wee may receiue on our knees The body and blood of Iesus Christ in the Sacrament is a spirituall benefit which in a solemne act of diuine worship wee ought to receiue with thankesgiuing and prayer Therefore we may receiue the body and blood of the Lord Iesus Christ in the Sacrament vpon our knees The proposition of this argument at that time denied was proued thus Whatsoeuer benefit we ought to receiue with thankesgiuing and prayer that we ought receiue with the gesture that is most agreeable to thankesgiuing and prayer Kneeling is such a gesture c. Ergo c. In the Assumption it is affirmed that Christs body and blood in the Sacrament should be receiued with prayer and thankesgiuing This we proue by this reason Whatsoeuer spirituall benefit we should receiue with a spirituall hunger and thirst and with a spirituall appetite and desire after the grace and vertue that is therein to saluation the same we should receiue with prayer which is nothing else but such an appetite and desire But the body and blood of Christ is such a benefit c. Next that it should be receiued with thankesgiuing I proue Whatsoeuer benefit we should receiue by extolling and preaching and magnifying and praysing the inestimable worth and excellence thereof the same we ought to receiue with thankesgiuing But in the Sacrament we should receiue the body and the blood of Christ with extolling and preaching c. Ergo c. The Assumption is confirmed by the words of our Sauiour Doe this in remembrance of me and by the words of Saint Paul So oft as yee eate this bread and drinke this Cup yee shall declare that is extoll magnifie and praise The Lords death till hee come againe Because I finde you fighting against your owne shadow I thought good to set downe the very obiections which were vsed in the Assembly at Perth that as yet are not nor I
which forme of receiuing hath continued to our times But to returne againe to your argument where yee say that the proofes made for standing doe euince that for the space of a thousand yeeres kneeling had no place I will let you see how futile your argument iâ— The Church stood on the Lords day at the Sacrament for the space of a thousand yeeres Ergo say yee they kneeled not for the space of a thousand yeeres May you not by the very same reason conclude The Church laboured not nor fasted on the Lords day for the space of a thousand yeeres Ergo they neither fasted nor laboured at alâ— for the space of a thousand yeeres If during all that time the Sacrament had been onely celebrated on the Lords day your argument were probabâ—e but seeing the Sacrament as S. Augustine writes was giuen euery day and to giue it on the first fourth and sixt dayes of the weeke was held to bee an Apostolike constitution Therefore as on the rest of the weeke dayes except the Lords day they prayed fâ—xis in terram genibus with their knees close to the ground so with that same gesture they receiued the Sacrament for the Church did euer receiue with the same gesture which they vsed in prayer as I haue proued by induction The Apostles receiued with the same gesture which they vsed at the thankesgiuing This yee cannot denie except yee ouerthrow all the grounds that yee laid for the example and precept of Christ to bee obserued The Church on the Lords day hath euer vsed to stand at the Sacrament when they stood at prayer and if you can produce one instance to the contrarie I shall pray you doe it or if not suffer mee to conclude against you that as on the Lords day when they stood and prayed they also stood and receiued so at that same time on the weeke dayes when they kneeled and prayed they kneeled and receiued and this is proued by all these testimonies of the Ancients wherein the people are exhorted to humble themselues externally at the Sacrament as by the mâ—st cleare testimony of Chrysostom I cited before Hereby it is manifest that the gesture of kneeling followed not the errour of Transsubstantiation but was receiued and retained in the Church on the Lords day at publike prayer and receiuing of the Sacrament as it had been vsed before on the weeke-dayes at these religious exercises Thus following your owne foot-steps and building on your owne grounds kneeling is proued to haue been in vse in all ages and with your owne hands yee haue thrust sitting to the doore for the space of 1560. yeares An answere to the last Section entituled Kneeling not practised in the Reformed Churches PP THe Lutheran Churches do acknowledge reall presence by way of Consubstantiation it is no wonder therefore that they approue kneeling The Reformed Churches as they damned bodily presence so haue they reiected the gesture of kneeling in the act of receiuing The Church of Bohemia hath retained this gesture since the dayes of Iohn Husse In their Confession exhibited to King Ferdinand anno 1535. it is thus said Ministri verò Dominicae coenae verba referentes plebem ipsam ad hanc fidem hortantur vt corporis Christi praesentiam adessâ— credant The Ministers are willed to stirre vp the people to beleeue that the bodie of Christ is present the purer sort amongst them as they haue reiected the errour of reall presence so depart they from this gesture In our neghbour Church some of their defenders of kneeling will not haue vs inquisitiue of the maner of Christs presence in the Sacrament And the Bishop of Rochester commends the simplicity of the Ancients which disputed not whether Christ was present con sub in or trans in this Supper Sutton in his Appendix to his Meditations on the Lords Supper condemnes likewise this diligent search of the maner of Christs presence If the maner of Christs presence be not determined there can arise no other but a confused worship of such a confused and determinate presence The Papists acknowledge that there ought to be no adoration but where there is acknowledged a bodily presence in the Sacrament Hence it is that they proue mutually the one by the other It will not follow that we may change sitting into kneeling because the ancient Church and some Reformed Churches haue changed sitting into standing because kneeling maketh so many breaches both in the Institution and in the second Commandement and is no wayes a table gesture By standing we accommodate our selues to a table to participate of the dainties set thereon standing was neuer abused to idolatrie as kneeling hath been we are not bound to imitate other Churches further then they imitate Christ. Our sitting is not Scottish Geneuating but a commendable imitation of the Apostolicall Churches and obedience to Christs Institution They flee vp at last to the Church Triumphant and alledge for kneeling the foure and twenty Elders falling downe before the Lambe but how conclude they this that they that are called to the Supper of the Lamb kneele at the Supper of the Lamb And seeing the blessed soules shall not be clothed with their bodies before the Resurrection how can they conclude materiall geniculation of the blessed Saints in heauen All creatures in heauen in earth or vnder the earth are said to bow their knee at the name of Iesus that is to acknowledge his Soueraigne authority howbeit the celestial Angels blessed soules and infernall spirits haue not knees to bow with The euerlasting felicity of the children of God is the Supper of glory Doe they drinke continually of that felicity vpon their knees Thousands thousands stand before him many shall come from the East and from the West and sitte at the heauenly Table with Abraham Isaack and Iacob may we not then conclude sitting and standing as well as they do kneeling if we looke to the letter of parables visions allegories and prophecies but symbolicall theologie is not argumentatiue Lastly how will they prooue euidently that the falling of the foure and twenty Elders before the Lambe is to bee interpreted of the Church Triumphant rather then of the Church Militant ANS To proue that kneeling is not practised in the Reformed Churches yee cut off in the beginning from their number the Lutherans because they acknowledge the Reall presence by way of Consubstantiation This I grant is an error yet is it not directly fundamentall They abhorre as we doe the Bread-worship and they worship Christ in the Sacrament as we should do their errour is onely in the manner of his presence which errour should not debarre them from the Communion of the Reformed Churches with them yee reckon the Church of Bohemia because in their Confession exhibited to King Ferdinand anno 1535. they say Ministri verò coenae Dominicae c. Let the Ministers when they rehearse the words of the Lords Supper exhort the people to this faith that they may beleeue