Universal Church and of every Member thereof What supplement must we then make to our Prayers to the end they should not be defective Certainly we must necessarily come to general terms which comprehend implicitly all particularities As after we have specified such and such sins and being not able to make a full enumeration of all others Must we not say in general Forgive us our trespasses I retort then the Argument Since it is impossible for us to frame any Prayer which particularizeth all things we ought necessarily to use a Prayer which in its generalities contains all particulars OBJECTION VII But say they we read not that the Apostles ever pronounced it Answer 1. THis reason is not concluding A negative Argument concerning a fact which is not of the essence of Faith is not drawn out of Scripture We read not in the History that the Jews ever celebrated the yeer of Jubile one of the greatest Points of the Ceremonial Law yet without doubt they did celebrate it otherwise it is certain God would have censured them for an omission so reprovable We read not that the Apostles ever baptized in the Name of the three Divine Persons named in their Commission Shall we say then that they did not baptize in this form 2. I say rather that Jesus Christ did dictate to them this Form of Prayer therefore they used it Is it credible that having desired to have a Form of Prayer and Jesus Christ having dictated unto them this word by word that they never pronounced it 3. And if it were not so the Apostles were endowed with a Spirit which guided them in their Prayers as well as in their Doctrine But have we the same infallible Spirit which dictated to them such Prayers Are we certain that we faile nomore then they neither in the Matter nor in the Form OBJECTION VIII After this they ask us a Question This Prayer say they is found written in two Books of the New Testament to wit S. Matt. 6. S. Luke 11. but with diversity of terms and which is more the one of these Evangelists omits that which the other hath written How then ought we to pronounce it either by that which is expressed in S. Matthew or that which is couched by S Luke All this shews that the meaning of Jesus Christ was not that the words of this Prayer should be observed Answer 1. IF this Argument might take place When we celebrate the Lords Supper we must never pronounce the words which Jesus Christ spake in that Action for they are related diversly in four divers Books of the Scripture so that one of the Evangelists which registred them hath not these words Do this in remembrance of me Must we then in this Action wholly omit the words of Jesus Christ under colour of the diversity which we finde there S. Paul did not so understand it When he shews the Corinthians the form wherein they ought to celebrate the Lords Supper he rehearseth expresly the very words that Jesus Christ uttered in the institution of this Sacrament according as he had received them of him 1 Cor. 11. 2. This is a wrong Conclusion that we ought not to take heed to the words under pretence of the difference which we finde there On the contrary whereas God repeats the same thing in divers words by so much the more ought we to mark them for this difference tends to the clearing of one word by another So when one of the Evangelists says Remit us our debts the other expounds it by saying Forgive us our trespasses It is indifferent to take the one or the other of these two expressions both these two were dictated by Jesus Christ Must we make the difficulty so great in chusing Or must we suppresse both these two because Jesus Christ hath dictated both these two 3. To this that they alledge That one of the Evangelists hath not this clause For thine is the Kingdom c. it is easie to answer This is as if we should say We ought not to celebrate the Lords Supper because one of the Evangelists to wit S. John speaks not of it If they finde not this clause in S. Luke must they necessarily passe it over with silence although it is found in S. Matthew Or ought we upon this occasion to omit all this Prayer although it be not found in both these Evangelists We have divers Psalms which contain but one and the same subject as the 14. and the 53. are but the self-same thing notwithstanding there is in one a clause which is not in the other Must we suppresse them both OBJECTION IX There are some which strive against the Use of this Prayer for an absurdity which they think is found in it We desire therein our dayly bread But say they a man which is ready to die as he which is in an agony on his death-bed or he which is on the Scaffold and looks for nothing but the fatal stroke must he also ask for bread Is it to any purpose for him to demand a thing whereof he hath no more need and which is no more of any use for him Answer I Have divers answers to give thereupon 1. If this Request were convenient but for them which are assured to live no man could ever say it For those very men which are in perfect health and safety yet neverthelesse are not certain to live one moment So that Jesus Christ hath taught us to ask a thing which we ought never to demand 2. As there is no man which is assured to live a day so there is none that knows whether this day shall be his last Many touch the gates of death which enter not so soon in Although then a man shall be and see himself very near to go out of the World neverthelesse since that he is ignorant of the time of his departure must he boldly renounce bread Gods liberality which is the Doner thereof as though he was assured he should never have need of it 3. When I ask my bread this is alwayes under condition In case that I have yet any need thereof In case that my dayes may be yet prolonged upon Earth and not otherwise Is there any impertinence in this Request Or ought we not alwayes thus to speak 4. It is well known that this Petition is not restrained to nourishment In naming bread I presuppose all that which is necessary for my life the very air breathing May I not demand them for the time which I have to live though indeed it were but for one very moment to the end I might glorifie God 5. Grant that he which is dying hath no more need to ask bread hath he no need to say Forgive us our trespasses and Lead us not into temptation 6. Jesus Christ would not that a man should ask bread for himself alone but he commands us also to ask bread for others in saying Give us If then a man which is ready to
it is not necessary I answer Grant that it is in no wayes necessary to pronounce this Prayer is it necessary to omit it If it is indifferent to pronounce it or omit it ought we for an indifferency to bring a difference in the Church to affect a novelty to break an Universal Order and to raise scruples in mens consciences But besides there are degrees of indifferency as well as of necessity Will they say that the Use or omitting of this Prayer are in the same rank of indifferency as the use or abstinence from certain meats Certainly that which serves for edification is not at all indifferent Will they say then that the words of Jesus Christ serve not for edification Although they dare not say it expresly neverthelesse they say as much for they maintain that it is not expedient to pronounce them This is the knot of the Question and all the Dispute is brought to this Point Wherefore then is it not expedient to say this Prayer in the very words wherein Jesus Christ did dictate it What great inconveniencies arise thence What losse to Gods Glory What hinderance to the salvation of mens souls What ruine to the building of the Church Thereupon they alledge That we must not be tyed to words That there is danger to idolize the words in pronouncing them so often That the attention that is given to the syllables tyes up the spirit and diverts the thoughts That this frequent pronunciation is a vain repetition condemned by Jesus Christ himself That this Prayer doth not sufficiently particularize all the necessities which ought to be expressed That it is couched in divers words by the two Evangelists which have written it to shew that we ought not to heed the words wherein it is comprised That the Apostles themselves never said it That many cannot say it but to their condemnation because it obligeth every one to beg forgivenesse of his sins on condition of pardoning his enemies That it sutes not with a man that is ready to die because he hath no much need to say Give us our bread That it was not given to serve for a Prayer but onely to be a Patern and Rule of Prayer And that besides in their ordinary Prayers they comprehend all the substance thereof though in different words A general answer to these Objections TO all this I will first oppose a general answer which shall overthrow the greatest part of their Objections These men cannot deny which is most manifest that sometimes God hath prescribed several Forms of Prayer and other actions usual in the Church to the end that they should be pronounced word by word Such was the Form of the Blessing which the Priests usually pronounced over the people in the very words which are read in the sixth Chapter of the Book of Numbers Such was the Form of Thanksgiving prescribed in the offering of the first fruits Deut. 26. Such was the Form of the Protestation and Prayer dictated in expresse words to them which came to pay their triennial tythes Deut. 26. Such was the Form of Prayers which Moses commonly used when the Ark was set forwards or when it rested Numb. 10. 35 36. Such was the Form of Prayers or Thanksgiving which they sung dayly in the Church for were not the Psalms for the most part Prayers or Thanksgivings and were they not pronounced and sung usually I forbear to say that every company of Singers was expresly tyed to certain Psalms as if it were to one task as it appears by their titles The Psalm 92. was sung every Sabbath as we read in the frontispice thereof Consider here why God would dictate Prayers in form of verses if it were not to the end that they should be pronounced word by word For it is well known that it is a difficult thing to change the words of a line which is tyed to measures and fallings of the Art of Poetry Nay more For we have divers Psalms wherein God would have us observe even the very letters of the Alphabet The 25 Psalm which is a Prayer and comes near in substance to the Lords Prayer begins almost every one of its verses according to the Order of the Hebrew Alphabet The 34. 111. 112. and the 119. are of the same structure this last notably in each of his eights answering eight times to the number and order of the 22 letters Every one acknowledgeth that by this Method God would ease mans memory to the end that the most forgetful might easily retain the words of the holy verses whose beginnings were ranked in the form of A. B. C. Did he mean then that we should neglect the words thereof since he would they should be punctually pronounced even to the very least letter I might say also that there are Psalms as the 118. and the 134. which expresse a Dialogue betwixt the Priests and the people This interchangeable discourse consisting in a reciprocal communication of the one with the other could not be kept without an exact observation of words wherewith they answered each other But besides in the Reformation of the Church which the good King Hezekiah procured when there was question made of the re-establishing the holy Liturgie the Levites were commanded to praise the Lord with the words of David and Asaph that is to say to pronounce or sing the very words of the Psalms 2 Chron. 29. 30. It appeareth also that in the Celebration of the Passeover there was the Form of a Song which was alwayes used at this Solemnity And Jesus Christ himself at the end of this Action when he prepared himself for Death made no difficulty to pronounce it and would that his Disciples should pronounce it with him Matth. 26. If these people who condemn at this day the Use of the Lords Prayer had lived in those dayes they would have censured the Wisdom of God for having prescribed Forms of Prayers and for having bound the Church to pronounce them word by word For the same reasons which they bring against the Use of this Prayer the same inconveniencies which they find here the same evasions by which they decline and shun the pronunciation thereof all these may be alledged against all the Forms of Prayers Blessings and Thanksgivings which God had imposed upon his own people Could not one have said That one ought not to tye himself to the words of these Forms and that it sufficeth to speak in the same sense and That the spirit ought not to be limited That by amusing themselves at the words good thoughts are lost That these are continual repetitions That these set Prayers expresse not all that ought to be said That there is danger lest they should be converted to Idols and in sum That it was expedient to suppresse the Use thereof This is a strange thing that God never foresaw these inconveniencies I am amazed that these people have not also abolished the ordinary singing of Psalms for if their maxim be worth
dye cannot or will not ask bread for himself doth Charity forbid him to ask for those that shall survive and to pray for posterity 7. And finally Because that sick men dying or those which are upon the gibbet have no more need of bread May we conclude all others ought to abstain from asking it By the same reason they ought to abstain from eating OBJECTION X. Many also make a scruple to pronounce this Prayer because it obliges them to say that they forgive them that have trespassed against them Now a man hath not alwayes a meaning to pardon This pretence is specious for if I have thoughts of revenge with what forehead can I say I forgive But make I not my self more guilty in saying so Nay this clause contains an imprecation which I make against my self to wit that if I pardon not I do not ask pardon Hence it comes to passe that many of them which have charge of praying in Publike abstain from this Prayer for fear that some of the by-standers which pray with them should be found to lye to God Answer 1. THere is indeed much to be said upon the Question If a man which feels in himself any motion of hatred must suspend the Use of this Prayer I say hereupon If he may not use this Prayer he may not use any other In so much that to forbid a man the Lords Prayer upon this occasion is to forbid him wholly to pray to God in what form soever This consequence is manifest by many reasons First of all he cannot make a good Prayer if it be not agreeable at least in substance to the Lords Prayer Now this Prayer then binds one to say that he forgives his enemies so that if he says it not in the same words it behooves him notwithstanding that he speaks in the same sence Besides can he make any Prayer without asking forgivenesse of his sins And seeing that this remission is not promised him but upon condition to pardon can he desire it otherwise For if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will I forgive you yours Matth. 6. 15. Nay indeed he cannot ask any thing else of God without he be disposed to forgive If he brings an offering to the Altar he ought first to reconcile himself to his Brother otherwise all his offerings all his supplications are of no worth Adde to this that no man can make a Prayer without protesting that he will obey God for in desiring God that he will fulfill our will we promise that we will perform His We ought also to desire that his Will may be done Now this is one Point of the Will of God that we pardon them which have offended us I say then that iâ— rancour forbids a man to pronounce the Lords Prayer the same reason forbids him to pray to God at all Behold to what the opinion of these men comes for their Argument forbids not onely the Lords Prayer but also all those which they themselves are accustomed to make 2. Let us see now the obstacles which are found here He say they who instead of forgiving burns with revenge he which hath a soul drowned in his gall and filled with implacable wrath can he pronounce this Prayer To this I answer that we mean not here them which are wholly possest with a spirit of revenge and that have no intention to forsake their malice but the Question is of them who through infirmity finde a difficulty to forgive and feel in themselves a combat of the flesh with the spirit If I be then in this estate may I say Forgive me my trespasses seeing I have scarce power to say that I forgive them that have offended me I answer also Amongst the trespasses whereof I ask pardon I count this The difficulty which I have to pardon I desire pardon for this that it is hard for me to give pardon And I desire this grace that I may pardon This clause comes then to this sence Forgive me as I pray that thou wouldst give me the grace to be able to forgive Is there any man that can stumble at this Is there also any Christian that ought not thus to speak It sufficeth not to alledge that these things are very different to say that we forgive and to say that we desire power to forgive For he that desires sincerely to have power to be able to forgive hath already begun to forgive If that this forgivenesse proceeds not yet from a heart perfectly appeased shall we defer to pray to God until we become perfect until that we love perfectly our neighbour that is to say until we have accomplished all the Law 3. But after all this suppose that it is not lawful for a man to say this Prayer whilest he is though but a little angry Is it then forbid to say it after that there is no spark of wrath and that his heart is entirely cleansed from hatred If he is not in case to pronounce it at one time must he abstain then from it for ever And besides for some particular men who have the spirit of revenge and may not say this Prayer Must all the Body of the Church be forbidden it Must the passions of some men serve for a Rule to all Finally Is this well done by him that prays in Publike to sit himself rather to the malice of men then to the Rule of Jesus Christ OBJECTION XI For to excuse themselves they alledge and object altogether That in their ordinary Prayers they comprehend the whole substance of this That they make thereof a Paraphrase which is the very same thing in effect although that they pronounce not the very same periods of it Answer 1. BY this reckoning they say not formally We forgive them which have trespassed against us but they say it in substance Is it then more inconvenient to say it in the very words of Jesus Christ then to say it in words equivalent And likewise all the rest of the Lords Prayer For since they confesse that we must expresse all the meaning thereof is it forbidden to expresse the words thereof 2. On the contrary when a Question is of paraphrasing a passage it behooveth to pronounce it word by word to the end one may see if the paraphrase agrees with the Text Since then they paraphrase the Lords Prayer Why do they not pronounce it to the end that men may see whether the paraphrase answers the wordâ— of Jesus Christ 3. But furthermore Are their paraphrases of the same weight as the words of our Lord Is a paraphrase of the Scripture as authentique as the Scripture it self The words of the Lords Prayer are Canonical for they are a part of the Scripture But these men dare not maintain that their Prayers or the words thereof are Canonical for can a Prayer composed by a man serve for an infallible Rule for his hearers In the Apocryphal Books are found excellent Prayers either in their substance or in regard
of their expressions Why make we not so great an estimate of them as of those that are contained in the Canonical Books For although they were conceived and framed by godly and understanding men neverthelesse they come not from the holy Ghost in the same quality perfection and authority as thâ—se which are written by the hands of the Prophets whereunto also we dare not compare ours much lesse also to that which Jesus Christ hath dictated It is not enough to object That by this reckoning we ought never to say any other Prayer then this For this is as if one should say It is not permitted to paraphrase the Scripture because our paraphrases or interpretations are never so authentique as the Scripture it self We may paraphrase the Lords Prayer with other Prayers but it is not forbidden under the shaddow of our Paraphrases to pronounce it in its own words OBJECTION XII I come now to their last Objection wherein they beleeve they display a great subtilty The words of this Prayer say they were dictated to be the Pattern of our Prayers but not to serve for a Prayer Answer 1. THis is but a sophistry and a vain subterfuge Cannot these words be a Prayer and the Model of Prayer Cannot a building serve for a Model to another building Are these things incompatible 2. Note that Jesus Christ says not Ask your Father That his Name may be sanctified That he give you your bread c. Nay behold how he speaks Say Our Father which art in Heaven Say Hallowed be thy Name Say Give us our bread Say Forgive us Say Deliver us c. Are not these the terms and the form of a Prayer Can one better and more expresly put in ones mouth ones own words Or did Jesus Christ when he ordained us to say them mean the quite contrary to wit that we ought not to say them 3. But suppose that they were onely given us for a Pattern and not for a Prayer These men confesse that in praying I ought alwayes to have this Pattern in my minde If I ought to have it in my minde Why shall I not have it in my mouth 4. If they will not pronounce it as a Prayer Why do they not pronounce it at least as a Pattern or Form When they shall say Jesus Christ the Son hath taught us to say to thee Our Father which art in Heaven c. are they afraid to lye in saying so or do they fear that this truth is not well spoken 5. I say It is need that the people should be continually instructed to pray well Now it is without Controversie that it is impossible to make any good Prayer if it agree not at least in substance with this Form of Jesus Christ Is it not then expedient that the people hear often this Form to the end that they may see to what Rule they ought to conform their Prayers We taxe the Church of Rome for that she pronounceth not to the people the second Commandment of the Decalogue because that this silence hinders very many from acknowledging the Idolatry which they commit Will not the suppression of this Form cause the people especially as many poor souls who neither can nor know how to read the Scriptures to forget in the end this Prayer and know no more the Rule which ought to be kept in praying to God In effect these men do as much as they can to cause the memory of it to be lost To come to an end Mark also here the difference which is betwixt the Prayers which are of our own making and the Lords Prayer There may be said as much as between the Tabernacle and the Pattern which God made Moses see upon the Mountain The Pattern was Celestial framed immediatly by the hand of God The Tabernacle was Earthly and made by the hand of man The Lords Prayer is all Celestial and Divine Ours are in part from mans industry for we have not the spirit in perfection This fabrick of our spirit is alwayes humane and imperfect but the Pattern is alwayes Divine and perfect There is no man so knowing so religious who is not subject to faile in the making of his Prayers They are subject to imperfection to excesse to disorders to many irregularities We are not without errour in this businesse We are herein perpetually wanting either in omitting or being over-brief in one point over-tedious in another or in raising our thoughts out of their rank But in saying the Lords Prayer I am sure I cannot faile to speak well that I omit nothing that I speak nothing superfluous that I am not extravagant that there is no rashnesse in my words After then that I have framed a Prayer according to that which is possible for me I consider the defects thereof and to repair them I use this which I know is altogether perfect Nay I say that after I have presented a Prayer of my own fashion I ought to desire of God that he would help the defects thereof and to these ends I present unto him this which his Son hath taught me Is this proceeding impertinent Is there any thing in it why we should reject the Use of this Prayer I conclude then We ought to pronounce it We ought because Jesus Christ hath put it in our mouths We ought because that this is the Abridgement of all other Prayers We ought because this is the Rule and Star which ought to guide us in praying to God We ought to reform the defects which are in all our other Prayers We ought because that it is Universal for all persons for all matters at all times in all places This is a Prayer which all the Churches of the World pronounce and this is a great consolation to me that I shall keep my part in this great consort This is a Prayer which I can say in prosperity in adversity in Peace in War in health in sicknesse in life in death the young man and the old the rich and poor the King and Shepheard may pronounce it together Is not this a strange thing that the words of Jesus Christ should become suspected by us If our Fathers who have suffered so much to have the liberty of pronouncing this Prayer in a language that may be understood which had so much care to teach us to the end that we should have it alwayes in our mouths should rise at this day from their graves and should see that we attempt to forget this Prayer With what reproaches would they not cover us But which is more behold Jesus Christ himself who bids you pronounce it Whom will you obey either him or them who strive to perswade you the contrary Fear not fear not to pronounce the words of Jesus Christ Jesus Christ who dictated them to you shall be your Warrant towards God and shall avouch your words since they are his own Carry them alwayes in your hearts and upon your lips â— adjure you my Brethren by the reverence which you bear to Jesus Christ by the esteem which ye ought to make of his words by the charity which he hath testified to us in teaching us this Prayer by the â—nterest which you have to well-praying and by the Peace and Joy of the Church suffer not any man to snatch from you this pretious Jewel which was given you from the hand of the Son of God And God grant in mercy that with one and the same voice we alwayes addresse our selves to Our Father which is in Heaven for to him belongs the Kingdom Power and Glory for ever and ever Amen FINIS