persons in the unity of the essence But hereby is manifested that the person vilified in this Name was the Sonne of God and Man and is now in the same Name to be adored by all as God and Man which cannot be said of the Father or of the Holy Ghost Of the Sonne alone because he onely was incarnate and yet as I have ever taught to the glory of the most transcendent Trinity It is apparent now that we cautelously observing the idiotisme vary not from the sense of the phrase At the Name we rest not vainely in the sound but are carried to the substance of the name or object of our faith the person of Jesus Christ Not to the humane nature Seorsum per se severally and by it selfe For so doing we divide the person overthrow the communication of proprieties and the due unto the Creator we render to the creature which is Idolatry Yea if in our worship we can consider the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost three subsistences and one substance yet all this availes not unlesse we take with us our Mediatour If we mind not a true Man-hood gloriously united to the God-head without change of either nature without mixture of both whose presence whose merits must give passage vigour and acceptance our prayers ascend in vaine At this worke thoughts should be holily mixed of a God-head and humanity two natures in one person and of the same Deity in divers persons and one nature Bestirre our selves we ought so to distinguish these apprehensions that none be neglected so to conjoyne them that they be not confounded We sin if fixing the heart on one we exclude the other retaining all and mentioning one we offend not Who rest their thoughts upon the humanity must still adore the Deity and thence climbe up unto the holy consideration of the blessed Trinity For in Jesus onely is that Mystery revealed to us and through him onely is our worship directed to the sacred Trinity in Unity Following this short weake counsell study and pray that you may apprehend right and worship well Be thus minded and bowing at the name you shall not be superstitious Bow and honour Jesus heartily for the more we honour him the more we honour the whole Trinity If you cannot beleeve me yet let not the Apostle misse your faith It is Gods command he saith and therefore our duty Minding the one we shall not forget to pay the other Endevour we to pay it sincerely and the God of Heaven direct us enable us that when we worship him we may neither prove sacrilegious nor idolatrous The Jewes Infidels and Philosophers that abjure scorne and deride the Name of Jesus the Schismatickes whether Catharists Anabaptists Brownists Separatists or whatsoever called that neglect and contemne all manner of outward reverence at this Name the Papists that superstitiously use it and the Prophane that in their debauchednesse most impiously blaspheme it are condemned at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for there the Holy Ghost will have the Name super-exalted by God by us also super-exalted with respect and honour The Arrians and other Heretiques that hold Christ a meere man onely or a God in Name not indeed the Cerinthians and Colarbasians that make Jesus one and Christ another the Nestorians that determine two persons in Christ one of the divinity and another of the humanity the Timotheans that thinke him one person of two natures mixed and confounded and the Romanists that constitute the Pope as another head beside Christ of the Church are condemned at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the honor at the Name is to Immanuel in one person perfect God and perfect Man God hath so made him head of all above and below that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow This and all we maintaine from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and still the argument is the union and our Salvation True Christians we seeing that God hath exalted the person and the Name and knowing why are bound in conscience for the same reason to exalt the Name and Person Not according to our owne humours but in Analogy of that Truth which is set forth for us to beleeve and doe We seeke no by-wayes to avoyd the duty nor lead we others from it A plaine Text paralleled by others literally must we understand properly as the other are The truth expressed in the Letter cannot be mistaken but by a figurative construction the Letter may be forced to a wrong sense The sense of the former verse which is the ground of this being literall makes this literall also We have proved it ever so conceived in the Church and will not alter it now Nay dare not because we are sure that by the third commandement and the first petition Gods Name whether spoken read heard or written must have reverent usage And if it must may we deny that manner which himselfe hath expressely prescribed The anathema sounds still in our eares Cursed be he that taketh from or addeth to If God then will have outward worship exhibited at the Name in the Name of God let him have it If he will be so honoured that is reason enough why he should But he hath given reasons store if we will not doe it now we are now in contempt and without repentance shall be without excuse hereafter Nor may we thinke to leave the duty undone because some count it superstition Indeed at the Name and no more were vaine But at the Name to bow unto our Saviour is one way we worship him and we have no other way to come at him save by his Name He is gone his Name is left that by his Name we may minde him and through him adore the blessed Trinity At the Name therefore let the heart ascend unto the person and outward obeysance expresse our faith in and high esteeme of whole Christ As true God and true man for as God and man he is exalted in person and Name that at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow Tract V. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every Knee should bow GOD who made the whole creature lookes after all he made The soule principally because it principally resembles him and the body next because in that Organ he will have the soule glorifie him 1 Cor. 6.20 The Fathers therefore according to the Scriptures carefully set forth a two-fold worship of God Internall the one externall the other Both congruous to the word and from a heart purified by faith proceed both Both spirituall because both are motions of our spirit renewed by the Holy Ghost For such worshippers will God have as shall serve him in spirit and truth John 4. vers 23. Such as in spirit practically mortifie the workes of the flesh and in truth contemplatively maintaine sound doctrine is one of Theophylacts expositions Such as moved by his Spirit doe all things sincerely in faith according to his will and unto his glory is Polanus full interpretation Such as
bow the knee To this I answer that the Aristotelians hold the Angels simple and abstracted intelligences and the Platoniks say they have bodies Those the Schoolemen follow after these the Fathers go though not after these in the matter Tertullian saith Omne quod est corpus est sui generis whatsoever is is a body of its kind And of the Angels he writes thus Invisibilia illa quaecunque sunt habeat apud Deum suum corpus suam formam per quae soli Deo visibilia sunt those visibles whatsoever they are have before God their owne body and their owne forme by which they are visible to God alone They have their bodies that is other then we have and their formes as we also have ours It is onely peculiar to God the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost if we may beleeve Origen sine materia i substantia absque ulla corporcae adjectionis societate subsistere to subsist without materiall substance and any alliance of corporall adjection Saint Augustine doth not onely attribute bodies to the Angels but cals them acrea animalia airy animals He followed Origen Lactantius Basil and that was the consent of Writers in his time as Lodovicus Vives noteth And in his Notes he induceth Michael Psellus saying Oporret ut divinus asserit Paulus Spiritus ministros qui mittuntur corpus habere c. Spirits ministers as Saint Paul affirmes ought to have a body wherein they may move stand still and openly appeare In this sense Gregory the Great termes an Angel rationale animal a reasonable living creature such a one as is composed of body and soule Saint Bernard also on the words of the Apostle Heb. 1.14 Are they not all ministring spirits reasoneth thus How can they fulfill their ministry without a body praesertim apud viventes in corpare especially with those which live in a body If in Scriptures we read they are incorporeall I answer that we usually call the more grosse bodies and the more subtile which come not under our sense Spirits With Saint Gregory therefore I determine Comparatione nostrorum corporum spiritus sunt sed comparatione summi Spiritus sunt corpora that in respect of our bodies they are Spirits but in respect of the incircumscribed Spirit they are bodies Conferred with us spirituall with God corporeall as Damascene More probable therefore saith Zanchius is the opinion of the Fathers that the Angels be not simply without body then of the Schoolemen that they are simple and immateriall Spirits especially seeing the Schoolemen approve the distinction of Gregory that comparatively they are bodies and Spirits comparatively But what bodies they naturally have we are men and know not certainely more excellent then ours more subtile then the Heavens invisible to our blind eyes finite locall and the fittest for their ministry May we say the Angels have their bodies and can we not think they have their knees Saint Paul at 1 Cor. 13.1 gives them tongues and shall he not as well at Phil. 2.10 allow them knees They have one said the learned Bishop Andrewes as much as the other And in both places humanum dicit he speakes to us after the manner of men that we by our owne language might conceive what they doe They doe reverence and we finde in the Scriptures that they have expressions of what they doe Consider what is at Rev. 4.10 5.8.14 and in the 7. chapter 11 12. verses nothing can be more plaine All the Angels stood in the compasse of the Throne and of the Elders and of the foure beasts and fell before the Throne on their faces and worshipped God saying Amen Blessing and glory and wisdome and thankes and honour and power and might be unto our God for ever more Amen They stand and have they no legges they fall downe and may they not bow Having faces must they want knees speaking out are they without tongues They have theirs we ours Though not as carnally we they hold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with us whereby their obedience is set forth And it is confessed by all that genuflection is but an outward and some say any outward humble expression of that within Because therefore the Angels some way expresse it they are some way said to bow and that way too which is answerable to the knee Their obedientiall bowing power they yeeld in a supermorall perfection The doe so and going before in that practise we need not feare to follow after What ever some plead for themselves I am sure the Apostle hath left none of us out For to every knee of heavenly things he subjoynes every knee of things terrestriall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And of things in Earth The conjunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and shewes that all living men ought to performe the bowing at the Name verified in the Angels All ought and though all doe not yet good Christians beginne it now and will goe on with it unto perfection For they in Heaven bowing strongly inferre that there are no men in Earth priviledged not to bow I say not that every individuall man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is on earth doth or will now bow For Turkes Jewes Infidels out of the Church doe not and too many Christians in the Church will not But that every one voluntarily or involuntarily shall truly fulfill this Scripture at the last day Though therefore it be principally intended then it doth not follow that it may not be in practise now For the Apostle will have us be presently humble vers 5. And presently because our humility that reacheth goes not out but is perfected in glory Origen saith omne genu flectitur every knee doth bow Flectebatur flectetur every knee did bow and every knee shall bow so Athanasius J am incurvetur every knee ought now to bow so Cyrillus Alexandrinus Now to doe it and every one now will admit of no prorogation till the last day Christi regnum crescit indies Christs Kingdom hath a daily increase and is not at highest untill it be wholly triumphant So these propositions are both true All things are now subjected unto Christ All things are not in full subjection untill the Resurrection Proinde vaticinium hoc non absque ratione diversis temporibus varie accommodatur saith Master Calvin this prophesie therefore is not without reason diversly fitted to divers times as other prophesies doe not perfect Christs Kingdome in a moment but describe it unto us in the whole circuit And though it be a prophesie yet under this prophesie is a duty required of us For it is not a prophesie instantly fulfilled but by degrees A good Christian then will argue thus Must all knees bow at the Name of Jesus in the last day I ought therefore to bow now Pia civilitas est it is a pious civility so to doe in the time of grace saith Osiander Non interiore modo
is so named Nor without reason for at Luke 1.32 33. all this by the Angel was foretold then to be fulfilled now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Jesus shall be great How great even so great that he shall be called the Sonne of the Highest he shall Raigne and of his Kingdome shall be no end No end of it none greater then he The prediction is here answered God hath given him a Name which is above every Name This Name Jesus and no other nor preferre I excepting no Name no not the Name of God any person before another For the glory of this Name is as in the end will be declared the glory of the Trinne God The most learned Bishop sheweth it is above all to him above all to us and without Blasphemy to the other attributes I prove it above all in it selfe too Above all to him saith that reverend Father For though many titles of the Deity sound and seeme to be more glorious yet he esteemes them all not like this Why For no other reason but that they had not nos homines us men and nostram salutem our salvation in them No name he sets by like that wherein with his glory is joyned our safety And this of all he made choyce of as to him above all that we might accordingly esteeme of him that esteemes it above all onely for our sakes To this I adde first that it is his proper Name for though our Saviour be one Lord Jesus Christ yet Christ the Name is communicated by him to others Sic enim Judaei Reges suos appellabant for so the Jewes called their Kings Non proprium nomen sed nuncupatio potestaris as Lactantius Accidens nomini res not a Name but an accidentall thing to a Name the cloathing of his name saith Tertullian Yea Christ is not cannot be the Name of God Qui corpus non habuit ungi omnino non potuit But the Name Jesus is his chiefe Name and goeth not beyond him Ego ego Dominus non praeter me Salvator I I am the Lord and beside me is no Saviour Isa 43.11 It is his peculiar and therefore to him above that which is in common Secondly he was annointed King Priest and Prophet Why that he might be a perfect Saviour The end is highest to be Jesus he was Christ For Christus Sacramenti Nomen saith Saint Augustine Christ is the Name of a Sacrament and a Sacrament of inauguration He is enstalled our Saviour or by the Father and the holy Ghost consecrated to it Onely for it was he the word incarnate and gave his life and all for it onely If all his undertakings tended thereto then it is the full of all A Name therefore above every Name to him is his Name Jesus If to him certainly above all to us For we fallen in Adam are subject to death temporall and eternall Not so as not to be but so as to be tormented ever Gods wrath is the consuming fire and we the unconsuming fuell His justice cannot as we in our selves looke on us in mercie nor his mercie without justice Satisfaction then must be some way made or there can be reconciliation no way We have nothing will doe it if nothing sufficient may else where be had we shall pay the utmost farthing But God be thanked the Sonne of God out of his impervestigable treasure brought enough over and over to adopt us into the peace of the blessed Trinity Christ hath done this and no other could Not incidently this but ex officio he was annointed unto the three saving offices that he might be the absolute Jesus to save his people from their sinnes His people not the Jewes onely but the Gentiles also All are invited to him Mat. 11.28 and he is the Saviour of all men 1 Tim. 4.11 God in him reconcileth the world 2 Cor. 5.19 without him enemy to it and us is God Heb. 12.29 His Name we hold by and by no other our salvation Acts 4.12 If salvation then unto wretches guilty of the never-dying death be precious of what worth is the Name that assureth it unto us Can any thing be sweete above without it or any thing below sowre with it With it comfort none without it in the Name of God The Devill may object sinne against and crosses come as Wave after Wave on us yet if we adjure him by it rem Nominis implebit he will make good his Name Bold we ought to be with it for he hath commanded us to preferre his Name and made a strong asseveration that whatsoever we aske of the Father in his Name shall be given us John 16.23.24 It is our duty and therefore no presumption to flie with it á Deo irato ad Deum placatum from God angry unto him pleased saith Saint Augustine Such good speed have we if our tongues carry it from our hearts by faith unto God that the peace of God will rest within our soules here and we shall rest in his eternall peace hereafter So joyfull therefore was it to the Saints Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs Fathers that nothing sounded well without Jesus Jacobs melody this Gen. 49.18 This Davids rest Psal 62.2 Simeon exults in this Luke 2.29 In this Saint Paul gloried And this was more then life to Saint Stephen Acts 7.59 Quicquid sine hoc Nomine suisset non me totum rapiebat nothing tooke Saint Augustine but this Name And in Saint Bernards mouth it was mel honey in his eare melos musicke in his heart jubilus a jubilee To whom salvation is highest the Name of our Saviour is the highest Name Who prise nothing before the one will have no Name get above the other Nay none can get above it I meddle not with the Relations The Super of the Name I am about and about it in the third respect All the other Names of God admit a translation approved by the holy Ghost but this endures none Forte ex omnibus unum as Saint Bernard it may be all other are accumulated in it and it is one of all What containes all other no other can containe it First then this Name is more then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the ineffable Name of God among the Jewes vulgarly called Jehovah Not more as if any thing in God did Suscipere magis minus and might be more or lesse But more as ad extra one worke is greater then another Redemption then Creation The goodnesse of God is more expressed by this Name then any other Jehovah indeed signifies God as Lord and Creatour Sed nihil nasci profuit nisi redimi profuisset yet it were better not to bee then not to be redeemed Or what profit is it with the Jew to acknowledge Jehovah and not with the Christian to beleeve in Jesus Secondly Redemption presupposeth Creation and not defining Redemption without the Father and the Holy Ghost we say the Name of the Redeemer
brings God to us and carries us to God No Name like this in power it delivers us not onely out of the power of our enemies but chaines them in eternall torments also To God to us in it selfe most delightfull Nothing above it and below it all things Nor ascribe we this to the second intention we receive it not without the first The person with the Name and not the Name without the person Not part but whole Christ apprehend we at the Name of Jesus Nor doe we extend it beyond the proper subject The Sonne of Nun had it not nor any other as Christ Christ actively to save others passively to be saved They resigned that they had to him he will not resigne his unto any Who therefore impropriate this to be called thereby against them we determine that they endeavour as much as in them is to bring it beneath it selfe It is blasphemy not to regard it as his much more to remove it from him For God hath given him and none but him the Name which is above every Name Tract IV. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow c. VVE are now proceeded from the exaltation of the Person and Name by God unto the exaltation of the Name and Person by us Which God exalted we are here enjoyned by him to exalt both Not the Name without the Person nor either according to our humours but after his prescription Not inwardly alone and alwayes nor outwardly alone at any time Outwardly and inwardly that who saved the outward and inward may by both be acknowledged the Saviour of body and soule The text is plaine and the duty precisely set First of the Knee that at the Name of Jesus it should bow Secondly of the Tongue that it should confesse that Jesus Christ is Lord. Nor is this of some and not others but of all and every one every knee and every tongue in Heaven on Earth and under the Earth All leaves out none Nor let any thinke that any of this is in vaine but to the highest purpose all For the utmost end of the knees insinuation and the tongues expression is to the glory of God the Father Hunt not after figurative constructions beleeve the plain text doe the worke faithfully doe so and you shall practise no more then yee ought and the duty so done will redound to the Majesty of the incomprehensible Trinity There is not a tittle in Gods writings without weight Every one is therefore to be pondered that ye may receive the fuller satisfaction and that ye may I will beginne with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that That is the conjunction of this to the verse before and è rationativis such a conjunction as is perfective or declares the finall cause of the Antecedent say the Grammarians Quia est istud Nomen super omne Nomen idcirco in Nomine Jesu omne genu fiectitur because the Name is above every Name therefore at the Name of Jesus every knee is bowed saith Origen That then makes the former verse the ground of this text This text therefore must be understood according to the dependance on that Literally that and this literally All was full before Full the person God and man full our redemption God and Man reconciled full his exaltation as God and Man and his Name full to expresse all The full person the full redemption the full exaltation the full Name all and every one call for full acknowledgement But full acknowledgement cannot be if this text be taken tropically It is mentall onely when the joynts are stiffe and the tongue still and though the service may be right to God in the heart to others it is not at all knowne to be there without either outward subjection or confession outward Yea where God hath manisted his Sonne to be the high exalted Saviour of soule and body it is contempt or at least neglect if the body and soule doe not humbly in the Church shew themselves as is commanded to be his saved Tertullian Origen Cyprian Hierome Chrysostome Augustine Cyrill Bernard all the Fathers that ever I saw like this consequence nor have I yet met with any late Orthodox Writer that contradicts it I need not stand long on 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the text is plaine Wherefore God exalted him therefore must we be humbled and wherein thereof should we most highly esteeme There is cause enough in the one to induce the other and the sequell is so necessary that without blasphemy no man can denie it For my part I dare not breake the generall rule of the Ancient and Moderne Churches to broach and maintaine singularity The perpetuall truth is that those places onely in the Old and New Testament are necessarily allegoricall which either in the History 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the letter varie from the truth or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the explication of the cause are repugnant to the Law of God Gods third Commandement and our Lords first Petition will have the most sacred Name handled with all manner of reverence I goe not then beside the Analogy of the Scripture in following the simple sense of this text but sure I am who take it figuratively chop off the visible part of Gods service and shew no regard of the super-exalted Name at all The Apostle would have us be imitatours of God Eph. 5.1 If imitatours then whose person God exalted and set forth his name exalt we his Name and person God his way we ours He by giving we in acknowledging If you doubt read and beleeve God hath highly exalted him and given him a Name above every Name Why that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow This bowing at is one end who is not wilfully blind doth plainely see In 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that having made good the ground I am now ready for the worke The Apostle could best place his words and in our Dialect standing right I will not disorder them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 At the Name of Jesus At which sacred Name I humbly bow unto the blessed Trinity imploring the grace of the one-most God that in the Name of Jesus by the power of the holy Spirit I may interpret and all learne this text to the glory of God the Father The Syriack the Vulgar Arias Montanus Erasmus read in the Name of Jesus Beza Zanchius and our Kings translation at the Name Indeed the Hebrew is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the preposition according to both languages which we in the generall sense as a note of rest translate in in Scripture varies often Sometimes it signifies by as Acts 4.10.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Name of Jesus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by it this man stands whole and that is it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby we are saved For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the Grecians
proper there Isidore saith there is affinity betweene the Knees and the Eyes Because men dum ad genua se prosternunt statim lacrymantur when they are on or doe bend themselves toward their Knees be aptest to weepe If teares be so acceptable to God that he as the Psalmist desireth will bottle them up can the posture be displeasing which helps them forward I doe not make this the Apostles argument but this sheweth that bowing being of outward gestures the humblest is also the heartiest For it is a quick sense at the heart that causeth teares to distill at the eyes An outward humble and hearty motion that is required Holy Kings have performed it in the worship of God as David Psal 95.6 Solomon 1 King 8.54 Ezechias 2 Chron. 29.30 So did the Prophets as Daniel Dan. 6.10 Esras Esr 9.5 Micah Mic. 6.6 The Wisemen did so Matth. 2.11 To us our Saviour is the president Luke 22.41 and the Apostles ever kept it in practise as S. Stephen Acts 7.60 S. Peter Acts 9.4 S. Paul Ephes 3.14 So did the whole Church Acts 20.36 21.5 But that was in prayer True then we bow lowest when we name Jesus unto God But is the act lawfull then and may it not be lawfull when God in his word or by his Ministers names Jesus unto us Is not prayer an humble acknowledgement of our unworthinesse and Gods superiority Is bowing at the Name of Jesus any lesse or any more Yea no man sues unto God and not in or at his Name If we be not prepared to carry it before us our petitions will be preferred in vaine For God heares us not except we come in that Name nor can we see how to honour him but through it In or at or through it as was before expressed we may Bow the Knee the devout will at prayer and at the Sacrament of the Lords body and bloud It is well and wished that all would examples I know are store in the old and new Testament for the one but none for the other Nor can any produce a more evident precept for either then this that at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow For we beginning prayer in his Name conclude with it and the Sacrament of the Lords Supper is the most lively expression of Jesus to our soules So is the one and the other so Why then is not the naming or mentioning of Jesus sufficient reason of geniculation The person signified to us and by us minded is the same and we are sure the text is plaine for this whilst we inferre the other That in the Primitive times this bowing was in use Eusebius tels where he recordeth a ◠egion of Christians on their bare Knees unto Jesus at the fight of Marcus Aurelius against the Germans and Sarmatians about the yeare of our Lord 178. Tertullian saith that at Philip. 2.10 genu plane fatetur the Knee doth openly confesse securvande by bowing it selfe Flectere-genu to bow the Knee declares not a carnall subjection onely but a spirituall obedience also to the worship of God so Origen and in the forecited places he takes it literally So doth Saint Cyprian and Novatianus so It was the accustomed manner in Eusebius time Athanasius speakes for the time past and to come Omne genu flectebatur in posterum fl◠ctetur every Knee did doth and shall bow Saint Ambrose meant it corporally Ruffinus likewise and Saint Hierome Saint Ch◠ys◠st◠me Saint Augustine and Saint Bernard in the former quotations The Councell of Nice mentions genuflections in use The Fathers at the Councell of Ephesus read this verse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and give all adoration outward and inward unto Jesus At the Councell of Basil it was in practise still Alphonsus Abulensis Osiander Gorran Musculus Calvin Zanchius Aretius Polanus c. conclude the literall sense and like that this duty should be thus payed The Church of England ever since the first reformation observed it thus in the speciall time of Divine Service For at the generall confession of our sinnes acknowledging Jesus to be Lord we kneele When the Apostles Creed is rehearsed we bow the knee head and all When the second Lesson is read if we sit yet we bow at the Name and at the Gospel we bow standing Sitting or standing when the word is read or preached we bow at the Name of Jesus This precept then is now observed but the full observance is not extant now nor ever will be in this world For God raigneth now by the Gospel and his Majesty is no otherwise honoured right then whiles the same being knowne by his word is reverenced saith Master Calvin Grace doth owe her knees and her knees are not in but governed by the heart With heart and knee bowing at the Name we both testifie that he is Lord who died to save sinners and retribute glory for the inestimable benefit For the meaning of the Holy Ghost is simply to affirme saith he that all men should not onely acknowledge Christs power with the heart but by externall gesture of the body which he noteth by the bowing of the knee shew forth the yeelding of obedience also But the word of God hath alwayes enemies that frowardly resist and contemners that prophanely scoffe at it as trifling or fabulous At this day are many such God amend them and give his children patience till all things be renewed Such there are and ever will be scorners Whereby it appeareth that this bowing is indeed begun in this life not perfected When all the enemies of Christ shall be thrown downe that they may be the footstoole of his feete then at the Name of Jesus shall every knee bow ad plenum of those in Heaven in earth and under the earth The Patricians that deny the substance of humane flesh to be of God the Paternians that give the inferiour parts of mans body as peculiar to the service of the Devill the nefarious Postellus of Sorbon that said his Harlot and not Christ redeemed us from the navill downeward all Hereticks also that worship in spirit not in truth all Hypocrites that worship neither in spirit nor in truth but in shew and all luke-warme Christians who have some affection yet because many will breake leaving the Church and God too rather then bend doe keepe the knee for their own use or bring it into Gods service as if they were ashamed it should be knowne there are condemned at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the whole of man according to every part is Gods and the outward worship proceeding from the inward the knee at times to expresse the obedience of the heart doth he challenge of every one All Neuters or indifferent soules Halcesaits I may call them that hold it equall to bow or not to bow all Jewes Turks and Pagans that yeeld no obedience unto Jesus all Agnoclyts Ethicoproscopts Puritans Anabaptists Brownists or other perturbers of the Church
peace that will not outwardly bow are condemned at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For there God who will have all glorified bodies bow at the last day commands regenerate knees to bow in the time of grace This and all we maintaine from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and still the argument is the union and our salvation True Christians we are disciplined by God as well in the state of our body as in the habit of our minde Both being his creatures it is most just they should according to his will be ordered both He hath not circumscribed the one and left the other boundlesse Our body must pay its due and the soule hers and not the body without the soule that both may be spirituall We joyne them together and worship not without bodies but in a singular adoration and on speciall restraint Were we forced to be present at idolatry we may subject to God in minde but not bow downe to Baal Submitting then in heart to God and not in body to any other we give all to whom the whole is due God will have no sharer in all places at all times upon all occasions the knee must be the Lords and his onely No man hath licence to restraine it when it may be yeelded not they whom none controll save God Kings as well as the meanest of the people come under every knee and are called unto obedience before the Lord. Whilst they be foremost the people will be forward If the heart be right of what degree soever we be our necks are not perverse nor our knees stubborne well composed our bodies to shew our soules are sanctified we goe not our owne wayes nor keepe our owne times what and as God hath prescribed we are ready to execute without scruple It is kindly not to render other service then he hath set forth but it were sacriledge to barre him any of that Be it how he wils whilest his Name is hallowed by us our consciences finde peace in him At the Name then and to the person without shame or flattery or pusillanimity bend we heart and knee Because the Name is supereminent and by God made the highest that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow of those things in Heaven and in earth and under the earth These are the three rankes of knees and follow next to be discovered Tract VI. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Of things in Heaven and of things in earth and of things under the earth EVery Knee should bow quod in Coelo in terra subter terram est which is in Heaven in earth and under the earth is the Syriack interpretation and the full expression of the Greeke Every knee of the celestials terrestrials and infernals as the Vulgar Arias Montanus Erasmus Beza the Rhemist c. Whether then it be every Knee which is above below and beneath or of those things which are there all is one Wheresoever the Knees are humility ought to be their glory end bowing the ensigne I bring not bruits plants vegetables and all creatures to this our reasonable adoration Who know Christ or have facultatem cognoscendi the faculty thereto Angels and men just and unjust all that shall accompt before the tribunall of Christ are bound to this homage at the Name of Jesus These and no other for no other but these are capable of such knowledge Though all creatures shall subject yet not all in one manner of subjection Scio quidem omnem creaturam velit nolit subjectam esse Creatori I know indeed that every creature must be subject to the Creatour saith Saint Bernard but of the reasonable creature voluntaria subjectio quaeritur whatsoever be paied voluntary subjection is demanded Who pay it not willingly unwillingly shall According then to the dispositions of the subjects the subjection here is twofold Of the elect the one of the reprobate the other The first being that whereby the Apostles and all Saints are subject unto Christ salutem quae à Christo est indicat subjectorum declares the salvation by Christ of the subjects saith Origen I will rest in and be subject unto God Why Because ab ipso salus mea from him is my salvation was the free resolution of King David Psal 62.2 The other of the damned is coacted For they are victi non ad pâ— ati the conquered not adopted they Their place therefore is not lâ—â— us gâ— atiae of grace the locus paenae the place of torment 's theirs So Saint Augustine Being vessels of Gods wrath they are made the footâ— toole of his ire So the Psalmist Psal 110.1 Though all then be not subject in the first way of obedience unto glory yet all ought to be and who will not shall at last be compelled in the other to destruction For the same saving power is confounding also The enabled therfore either for eternall life or death eternall are the intended subjects at Isa 45.23 Rom. 14.11 and Phil. 2.10 The Fathers understand it so In the three sorts mentioned omnis universitas indicatur the whole universe of Angels and men is set forth as Origen explaines Cyprian so restrains it so doth Athanasius Ambrosius Hieronymus and Saint Chrysostome saith that the things in Heaven in earth and under the earth are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the whole world Angels Men and Devils Not one Ancient and Moderne writer secludes either of these If any include more it is more then they can prove the Apostle minded at this place True all things are under the commanding will but none save these can come within the practise of this precept Nor compassing all these doe I carry all unto one end answerable to their first originall For in horrour many whilest the rest in grace and glory pay this duty To prosecute our intent it is first demanded here whether by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heavenly things be meant the good Angels onely Theodoret understands all creatures and principalities quae sub aspectum non eadum which come not within the reach of our eyes Angels and Spirits good and bad This Zanchius liketh though Beza would not determine it For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concludes the airy also and who take it thus may minde the Devils there Because Ephes 6.12 they are said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Heavenly places that is Princes of the aire Ephes 2.2 Saint Chrysostome intends 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the just they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the things which are in Heaven and Heaven is prepared for the just onely Good Angels and blessed soules departed fall downe of themselves before him that sitteth on the Throne and adore him that liveth for ever and ever Rev. 4.10 This we are sure of with the learned therefore and judicious at home and abroad follow we Chrysostome Secondly how can the Angels bow at the Name when they are called Spirits Psal 104.4 Heb. 1.7 Hath a Spirit a body that it should
second Precept this order is commanded the practise frequent in the Old Testament in the New Christ himselfe fell on his face and prayed the Apostles after him and the Churches too betooke themselves unto their knees at their devotions As if bowing were a proper preparative to the service of God or a gesture so peculiar that the outward man nothing else might declare the humble heart For this cause we entring the house of prayer bow our selves unto the Father and because we must some way bow toward the East observe we the custome of the Church Secondly though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be copulative it doth not binde the knee and the tongue inseparably together As if the knee might not bow unlesse the tongue speake out For these are duties under an affirmative precept and being humane acts are limited by circumstances They are duties necessary non ad semper but not at all times to salvation saith Aquinas Their times they have and keepe both in their place Both may goe together and when they may for Gods sake let them And let them in that place and at that time where and when the omission of either substracts Gods honour and gives ill example to our brethren When the tongue confesseth be sure to bow at the Name though when the knee bowes at the Name the tongue doth not ever confesse For this last includes the first as the greater the lesse The particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 therefore doth not tie the open confession to the implicit but rather the implicit as subservient to the open Yea it brings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the former verse hither and maketh this another dependent on all we had under 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and after in the ninth verse In which respect our English translatours render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not simply and but with the finall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that Thereby denoting that this duty hath the same ground with the former and the former the same end with this For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lookes backward and forward Backward for the tongue as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did for the knee unto the exalted Person and the Name exalted by the union and for our salvation Forward to direct the knee and tongue unto the glory of God the Father As the knee should bow at the Name to the Person whose Name it is so likewise should the tongue confesse what one he is who is so named And both knee and tongue to the honour of God which exalted him and his Name that his Name and he might be so acknowledged by us Before we brought all to humble the knee and every knee now all is at the tongue every spirit to give breath and every tongue to be a Trumpet of his glory who is so illustrated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that proper instrument whereby we speake We admit no Metonymie a Synecdoche we doe The tongue is not mentall onely nor onely corporall The tongue moves from the heart and the heart should goe with the tongue Not the tongue extraordinarily indued onely but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every tongue of what speech dialect or language soever in the world stands charged with this duty Dan 7.14 In token hereof the title on the Crosse was written in the three principall or sacred tongues as Isidore termes them Hebrew Greeke and Latin Not that these and no other be intended but these being put downe as the excellent no other what where or whose soever are left out Bishop Andrewes saith the tongues sent from Heaven were the praeludium For thereby every Nation under Heaven each in their owne tongue heard spoken Magnalia Dei the glad tidings of the Gospel Acts 2.6 Every Nation then for every Nation hath a peculiar tongue And every one that speakes the tongue of his Nation For all peoples since the confusion being set forth by tongues every tongue implies every one of all peoples so distinguished None may deny the Authour what he made Not one of the Angels Let all the Angels of God worship him Heb. 1.6 Not one of the Gods on earth Worship him all yee Gods Psal 97.7 Not one of the Saints above They all say Thou O Lord art worthy to receive glory and honour and power Rev. 4.10 11. Not one of the Saints below They all cry out with the Prophet Exalt the Lord our God for the Lord our God is holy Psal 99.5 Who will not feare thee O Lord and glorifie thy Name Rev. 15.4 Nay who will not shall in the end gnaw their tongues and roare out Vicisti Galilaee Devils and all in Hell are forced to yeeld their very tongues unto the divine justice Rev. 16.10 The tongues then of Angels and men good and bad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Saint Chrysostome expounds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the good in Heaven and on earth and the bad on earth and in Hell are the full of every tongue at Isa 45.23 and Rom. 14.11 and Phil. 2.11 We have tongues and the Angels too as we have our and they their knees We know ours and they theirs They doe their part we must doe ours Accept the Synecdoche now and every man from the soule by his tongue and every Angel in his power conclude every tongue that should confesse Their faculty of speaking is required of them and ours of us Not of us in one sexe onely and not in the other but of us in both For the Hebrew word at Isa 45.23 is of the common gender Women and every woman come within every tongue Whose tongues be very profuse at other times may not be oversparing in this Nor doe we contradict the Apostle who will have women silent in the Churches 1 Cor. 14.34 For there he inhibits them the authority of teaching in publike convent Prophetisses have no liberty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it is a shame for a woman 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to speak vers 35. that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to teach in the Church 1 Tim. 2.12 For as Saint Chrysostome said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the women once taught and she subverted all things Appositely here might I take up the complaint of the same Father against this fault in his time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Now there is a great tumult much clamour debate exceeding nor are womens tongues any where more liberall not in the Market not at the Bathes then within the Church of spirituall and secular affaires 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for this this very thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all things are topsiturvie I heartily wish that these dayes may no longer in this dangerous evill parallel those Let women learne to pray and praise God with the Congregation as they ought but for them to prescribe and administer is to prophane the sacred things of the Temple We see the tongue is universall as the knee in Heaven none are excepted on earth none and