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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A50109	The spiritual house in its foundation, materials, officers, and discipline describ'd the nomothetical & coercive power of the King in ecclesiastical affairs asserted the episcopal office and dignity, together with the liturgy of the Church of England vindicated in some sermons preached at St. Clement Danes and St. Gregories neer St. Pauls, London / by Geo. Masterson.	Masterson, Geo. (George)	1661 (1661)	Wing M1073; ESTC R30518	52,267	136

many other Books that were thrown into the fire to him it happened that a Common-Prayer-Book fell between his hands which he joyfully received open'd and read till the flame and smoak suffered him not to see any more and then he fell to Prayer holding his hands up to Heaven and the Book between his Arms next his Heart thanking God for that mercy in sending him it Acts Men. pag. 18 18. Doctour Taylor in the Conference between him and Gardiner Jan. 22. Anno 1555. There was saith he set forth by the most innocent King Edward for whom God be praised everlastingly the whole Church-Service with great deliberation and Advice of the Learned Men of the Realm and authorized by the whole Parliament Which Book was never Reformed but once and yet by that one Reformation it was so fully perfected according to the Rules of our Religion in every behalf That no Christian Conscience can be offended with any thing therein contained Acts Mon fol. 1521. Mind the words of this Holy Martyr No Christian Conscience can be offended with any thing therein contained and yet what Swarms of Exceptions fly in the Face of it A plenteous showr of Rain seldom brings forth more Mushroms or Toad-Stools then the late Luxuriant Age hath produced Exceptions against this Book Concerning which take the Judgment of Mr. Hooker Whosoever doth measure them by number must needs be out of love with a thing that hath so many faults Whosoever by weight cannot choose but esteem very highly of that wherein the wit of so scrupulous Adversaries hath not hitherto observed any defect which themselves can seriously think to be of moment Eccles Pol. B. 5. Sect. 27. The examination of these Exceptions will be our third Step. III. The Exceptions commonly brought against our Liturgie are either general or more particular First In general two things are chiefly laid to its charge 1. It is a Superstitious Worship In answer to this First I presume that as they say Proverbially Every man that talks of Robin Hood never shot in his Bow So every one that cryes out Superstition doth not well understand what Superstition is for Superstition in the proper and strict Notion and signification of the Word is the Worship of Idols or Dead Men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Superstites Thus St. Paul tells the Athenians I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious Act. xvii 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus I suppose no man hath the Fore-head to charge our Liturgie with Superstition Superstition in an improper and more generally-received Notion is when things are either abhor'd or observed with a zealous or fearful but erroneous relation to God By means of which the Superstitious serve either the true God with needless Offices or defraud Him of Necessary Duties or bestow such honour and service upon others as is proper for and should be peculiar to him onely That our Liturgie confers any Honour or Service proper and peculiar to God upon others no man hath yet affirmed That it requires needless Offices to be performed to the true God no man can say who believes that God who made oar Bodies as well as our Souls requires the external Worship of our Bodies as well as the inward Service of our Mind A man cannot express too much in the out-side provided the invisible part come not short of it and I must-say I know not how the stifness of the Knee can be 〈…〉 from defect of Humility at least if not of true Piety also Secondly There may be as much Superstition in rejecting of our Liturgie as in retaining it as much Superstition in opposing as in asserting Ceremonies A Negative Touch not Taste not Kneel not Bow not may be Superstitious as well as the Affirmative An ignorant fear of displeasing God 〈◊〉 such a Form or Circumstance of Worship ●ay be Superstitious as well as a Blind Ze●● or Fear is of all Affections Anger excepted the unaptest to admit any Conference with Reason While a man Superstitiously fears lest he should offend in doing this or that he sins against God and his own Soul in leaving that undone which his Reason if he hearkened to the Voice of it would tell him he might and ought to do This is the first and great but you see groundless Exception against our Liturgie The second is like unto it namely that Our Liturgie is Popish or too near Popery being taken out of the mass-Mass-Book To this I answer First In the words of Learned Mr. Hocker It were violent and extream to say that in nothing they may be followed who are of the Church of Rome They acknowledg the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be the Word of God They make Profession of all the Articles of the Faith one God one Saviour one Baptism it will not I hope be deemed Popery in Us to do so because they do it Some things they do as men some things as wise men some things as Christian men in these we may follow them Some things they do as misled and blinded with Errour As far as they follow Reason and Truth we fear not to tread the same steps in which they have gone and to be their followers While Rome keeps that which is antienter and better others whom we much more affect leaving it for newer and changing it for worse we had rather follow the perfection of them whom we like not then in their defects resemble them whom we love Eccles pol. B. 5. Sect. 28. We are sorry saith Learned Doctour Covel that their weakness taketh offence at that which we hold as an honour and a virtue in the Church of England namely that we have so sparingly and as it were unwillingly dissented from the Church of Rome with whom if the Corruptions of that Church would have given us leave we would have willingly consented in their whole Service which being unsafe and unlawful we follow them notwithstanding in all wherein they follow those Holy and Antient Fathers which first planted the Truth among them Modest Exam. pag. 185. Secondly It is no ways probable were our Liturgie Popish that the Papists would be such violent Opposers of it We are assured by an Argument of Christ's own making that it is not Popish for saith our Saviour Every Kingdom divided against it self is brought to desolation and an house divided against an house falleth Luke xi 17. John Ould in Queen Mary's days wrote against the Papists in Defence of the common-prayer-Common-Prayer-Book And Cranmer made a Challenge That if he might be permitted by the Queen to take to him P. Martyr and four or five more they would enter the Lists with any Papists living and defend the common-prayer-Common-Prayer-Book to be perfectly agreeable to the Word of God and the same in effect which had been for fifteen hundred years in the Church of Christ Thirdly It is a known truth that our Reformers retained not any part of the Popish Service but reformed their

happy Restauration swallowed up our Sorrows in victory of that Joy the ever-to-be-Honoured Doctour Hammond adds an Apostolical Example from that saying of Saint Paul in the first to the Corinthians xiv 26. How is it then Brethren When you come together every one of you hath a Psalm Which saith he refers to some of the Psalms of David or Asaph which were then ordinarily used in their devotion and because every one had his several Psalm it is therefore reproved by the Apostle as a thing tending to confusion Fourthly The Practise of the Universal Church He who lists need not glean after the Reapers but may fill his Bosom with sheaves of Testimonies collected by the diligent hand of Cassander and since by the late VVriters concerning Liturgies The Greek Church hath Records of Liturgies or set Forms of Prayer made by St. James contracted by St. Basil and again abbreviated by St. Chrysostom And Histories mention a short Form of St. Peter's which alone they say was used in the Roman Church for a great while And we have mention likewise of St. Mark 's Liturgie But though these may admit some scruple or doubt St. Augustine I am sure speaks of some Forms retained in the Church and still to be found in our Liturgy particularly that in the Administration of the Lord's Supper of Sursum corda c. Lift up your hearts Of which he saith that they are Verba ab ipsis Apostolorum temporibus petita expressions borrowed from the very times of the Apostles And for many other particular Forms used by us we find them in Cyril of Jerusalem his Catechism Ignatius is clear and express for a Form 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ep. ad Magnes Let all meet together to the same action or place in Prayer Let there be oue Common Prayer one minde And waving plenteous Instances take one Grand Testimony of Set-Forms in stead of many The Milevitan Councel c. 12. Plaeuit ut preces quae probatae fuerint in Concilio ab omnibus celebrentur nec aliae omnino dicantur in Ecclesia nisi quae a prudentioribus tractantur vel comprobatae in Synodo fuerint ne forte aliquid contra fidem aut per ignorantiam aut per minus studium sit compositum The Councel thought good that the Prayers which were approved in the Councel should be used by all and that no other should be said in the Church but those that had been weighed by the more prudent or approved in a Synod lest any thing through ignorance or neglect should be done against the Faith These are some Arguments among others for the vindication of Liturgies or Set-Forms of Prayer in General I proceed to consider Secondly The Composition of our Liturgy the Liturgie of the Church England and in pursuance of this I shall advance by three steps I. The Derision Scorn and Reproach which is cast upon our Liturgy by many is so far from being a stumbling-block or stone of offence to scandalize any discerning Christian that it is rather an Argument evincing the dignity and excellency of it For First The best things when they are set up as a mark to shoot at by persons possessed with disdain or dislike of them may be cavilled at and faulted easily scorned and derided Some Criticks have been so bold as to finde fault with the Frame and order of the great Fabrick of the World and called it Blasphemously 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confusion or Confused mixture and it is reported of Alphenso Surnamed The Wise one of the Kings of Castile that he used many times to say That if he had stod at God's elbow when he made the World many things should have been ordered better then they were in die first Creation Secondly We ought not to be Scandalized at our Liturgie in respect of the scoffs jears of its adversaries because it is no more then the Holy Ghost hath foretold concerning these times by the Apostles St Peter and St. Jude There shall come in the last days scoffers 2 Pet. 3. There shall be Mockers in the last time Jude 18. Though therefore men stile it in derision The English Mass-Book and The Starve-us-Book and what not that is ugly these may argue the Unchristianness of the persons that belch them forth but they do not evince the Anti-Christianity of our Liturgie Thirdly As when one goes forth to encounter his Adversary with a Rush or Reed onely in his hand we rationally conclude that he hath not a Sword or Spear in his Armory So when men bring railing Accusations onely against our Liturgie we may safely conclude That it is because they are destitute of every thing that is solid or substantial to charge it with Vtatur motu animi qui uti ratione non potest We may indulge them the liberty of their Passion who know not how to make use of Reason II. Though some persons have through ignorance or malice bitterly reproached our Liturgie yet God hath raised up others who have fairly blessed and put a Crown upon the head of it Mr. Calvin himself hath afforded it such a fair Testimony under his Hand that one would think his Disciples for their Master's reputation at least should forbear to blaspheme it Quod ad formulam precum Rituum Ecclesiasticorum valde probo ut certa illa extet a qua Pastoribus discedere in functione sua non liceat Tam ut ccnsulatur quorundam simplicitati imperitiae quam ut certius ita constet omnium inter se Ecclesiarum consensus Postremo etiam ut obviam eatur desultoriae quorundam levitati qui novationes quasdam affectant Ep. 87. wrote to the Duke of Somerset the Protectour 22 Octob. Anno 1548. Concerning your Form of Prayer and Ecclesiatical Rites I do much approve of a certain Set-Form from which it shall not be lawful for the Pastours in their Ministration to recede as well for their sakes who are ignorant and unlearned as that the Consent of the whole Church may thereby the better appear And lastly to prevent the Desultory Levity of some who affect Novelties Arch-Bishop Cranmer having Translated King Edward's common-prayer-Common-Prayer-Book into Latine sent it to Mr. Bucer and required his Judgment of it who answered That there was nothing in it but what was taken out of the Word of God or which was not against it commode exceptum being taken in a good sense There are some things indeed quae nisi quis c. which unless they be interpreted with candor may seem not so agreeable unto the Word of God and which unquiet men may wrest unto matter of Contention Upon which occasion that Book was surveyed and in those particulars subject to such Cavils corrected I shall add onely to these two Foreign Testimonies an equal number of our own Countrey-men both Martyrs Mr. John Hullyer Fellow of King's College in Cambridg who suffered Martyrdom in Queen Mary's days Anno 1557. being at the Stake among