CERTAIN Cases of Conscience RESOLVED Concerning the Lawfulness of Joyning WITH Forms of Prayer IN Publick Worship PART I. VIZ. I. Whether the using of Forms of Prayer doth not stint and limit the Spirit II. Whether the using Publick Forms of Prayer be not a sinful omission of the Ministerial Gift of Prayer III. Whether Praying by a Publick Form doth not deaden the Devotion of Prayer LONDON Printed by Henry Hills Jun. for Fincham Gardiner at the White Horse in Ludgate-street 1683. Books Printed by FINCHAM GARDINER A Continuation and Vindication of the Defence of Dr. Stillingfleets Unreasonableness of Separation in Answer to Mr. Baxter and Mr. Lob c. A Perswasion to Communion with the Church of England A Resolution of some Cases of Conscience which Respect Church-Communion The Case of indifferent things used in the Worship of God Proposed and Stated by considering these Questions c. A Discourse about Edification Considerations of present use considering the Danger Resulting from the Change of our Church-Government The Resolution of this Case of Conscience Whether the Church of England ' s Symbolizing so far as it doth with the Church of Rome makes it Unlawful to hold Communion with the Church of England A Letter to Anonymus in Answer to his Three Letters to Dr. Sherlock about Church-Communion A RESOLUTION OF THE Cases of Conscience Which concern the Use of FORMS of PRAYER ONE of the main Points which our dissenting Brethren insist on to justifie their Separation from our Church is That our Publick Worship is perform'd in a Form of Words of Man's Invention which they conceive is unlawful for hereby say some of them the Holy Spirit who inspires our Prayer is stinted and limited and hereby the Gift of Prayer say others which the Holy Spirit communicates to Ministers to inable them to express the Devotions of their Congregations to God is rendred useless and not only so but even the Devotions of the Congregation too are mightily deaden'd by being continually express'd in the same form of words besides that the wants of Christians being various casual and emergent cannot be so fully represented in a fixt Form as in conceiv'd Prayers which upon the account of their variation in Expressions may be the better extended to the continual variations of Mens cases and circumstances besides all which say they we have no warrant for the use of Forms either in Scripture or pure Antiquity and if we had yet an universal imposition of them can by no means be lawfully compli'd with this according to the best recollection I can make is the sum of what our Brethren urge against the lawfulness of joyning with us in a stated Liturgy or Form of Publick Worship and therefore in order to the satisfying their Consciences in this matter I shall reduce their whole Plea to these following Cases and indeavour a plain and clear resolution of them 1. Whether Praying in a Form of Words doth not stint or limit the Spirit of Prayer 2. Whether the Use of Publick Forms of Prayer be not a sinful neglect of the Ministerial Gift of Prayer 3. Whether the constant Use of the same Form of Prayer doth not very much deaden the Devotion of Prayer 4. Whether the common wants of Christian Congregations may not be better represented in conceiv'd Prayer than in a Form of Prayer 5. Whether there be any warrant for Forms of Prayer either in Scripture or pure Antiquity 6. Whether supposing Forms to be lawful the imposition of them can be lawfully compli'd with Case I. Whether Praying in a Form of Words doth not stint and limit the Spirit of Prayer In order to the resolution of this Case it will be necessary to explain first what it is that the Scripture attributes to the Spirit in Prayer and secondly what is meant by stinting or limiting the Spirit in Prayer 1. What is it that the Scripture attributes to the Spirit in Prayer I answer there are some things attributed to him which were extraordinary and temporary and others that are ordinary fixt and standing The through state and distinguishing of which will very much contribute to the resolution of this present Case and therefore I shall insist more largely upon it First I say there are some things attributed to the Holy Spirit in this matter of Prayer which were extraordinary and temporary and that was the immediate Inspiration of the matter of Prayer together with an ability to express and utter it in known or unknown Languages thus as for the immediate inspiration of the matter of Prayer we read in the Old Testament of Prayers and Praises which upon special occasions were immediately indited by Divine Inspiration for so when Hannah presented her Son to the Lord in Shiloh the Text only saith that she praid and said but the Targum paraphrases it that she praid by the Spirit of Prophesie and accordingly praying and praising by immediate inspiration is frequently call'd prophesying So 1 Sam. 10. 5. The Spirit of the Lord shall come upon thee and thou shall prophesie that is as Expositors generally interpret it thou shalt utter Spiritual Psalms and Hymns by immediate inspiration on the place and to the same purpose is the word used Numb 11. 25. 1 Chron. 25. 1. and accordingly in the New Testament it is said of Zacharias that he was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied saying blessed be the Lord God of Israel c. The matter of all which Prayers and Praises together with those in the Book of Psalms and sundry others recorded in Scripture was immediately dictated to those inspir'd persons by the Holy Ghost and deliver'd by them without any recourse to their own invention or consideration though as to the words of them it may be justly question'd whether they were not left to their own composure as it seems very probable the words of all other inspirations were for considering how the inspired persons differ'd in their stile according as they differ'd in their education in their natural parts and intellectual improvements it is very likely they themselves composed and worded their own inspirations the Spirit of God taking care only so to oversee and direct them that their words might not misrepresent their matter and if so how much less reason have we to suppose that the Spirit inspires the words of our Prayers but this I shall not insist on However after that great descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost wherein the Gift of Tongues was communicated to enable the first Planters of the Gospel to propagate it through the World it 's certain that not only the Matter of their Prayers but even the very Language too in which they express them was immediately inspired insomuch that they were not only inabled to Pray upon the place in apt and fluent Expressions but also to Pray in Languages which they never understood before and which even then they understood but very imperfectly and also to interpret those Prayers into the vulgar
extemporary Prayers pretend to in short it is pretended in the behalf of conceiv'd Prayers that they do much more fix the attention and raise the intention of the Peoples minds in Prayer than publick Forms that is that they do more confine the rovings of mens thoughts in Prayer and keep their minds more attentive to it and that they do much more warm and enliven their affections in it for say our Brethren the Devotions of the people are very much rais'd or deaden'd by the performance of the Minister according as he is more or less devout in it and as for the Minister he must needs be much more devout in a Prayer of his own conceiving than in the use of a publick Form because first say they 't is impossible for him to keep his mind so attentive in reading a Prayer as in conceiving one in his own mind and speaking it from his own conceptions the care of performing which naturally bounds the wanderings of his thoughts and keeps them more fixt and attentive and secondly because when he utters his words immediately from his affections his thoughts have not that scope to wander as when he reads them out of a Book And as conceived doth more fix the attention of the Minister so it doth also more raise his intention or in other words more warm and inflame his affections for first whereas in reading a Form his affections follow his words and are raised and excited by them in conceived Prayer his words follow his affections and are immediately utter'd from and indited by them and secondly how is it possible say they that the words of another which he reads out of a Form should so well express his affections as his own besides thirdly that while he is reading his Form his soul is so intent in directing his eye to read that it cannot direct its affections to God with that fervour and intention as it might do in conceiv'd Prayer These are the supposed helps which the Ministers devotion and from his the Peoples receive from conceiv'd Prayers above what Forms of Prayer can afford and as conceiv'd Prayer hath these peculiar advantages to raise the Ministers devotion and by his the Peoples so it hath another advantage by which it more immediately influences the devotion of the People viz. that the matter of it is still exprest in new words which must needs much more affect the attention of the People than when it is always exprest in the same words without any variation And this so far as I can gather from the Writings of our Brethren is the sum of what they plead in behalf of conceiv'd Prayer as to its peculiar advantageousness to publick Devotion above stated Forms 2. Therefore we will enquire whether these Advantages are not in a great measure imaginary and whether so far as they are real they are not much more peculiar to Forms than to conceiv'd Prayer And here I will readily grant that by expressing a serious and devout affection the Minister doth really advantage the Devotion of the Congregation even as by his good example in all other things he excites the people to a pious and virtuous imitation in whose eyes devotion never looks so amiable as when 't is exprest in serious and well compos'd words accompanied with a devout a sober and affectionate behaviour both which are equally necessary to excite the devotion of the People if therefore it be really true that the use of conceived or extempore Prayer is in its own nature most apt to fix the attention and excite the intention of the Minister in Prayer it must be confest that herein it hath the advantage of Forms 1. Therefore we will inquire whether these advantages it pretends to as to the exciting the Ministers attention in Prayer be real or no The first advantage is that the very conceiving the matter of his Prayer and speaking it from his own conceptions doth naturally more bind his attention than the reading it out of a Form but I beseech you what doth it more bind him to attend to is it to attend to the words and phrases if so then 't is not to attend to the acts of Prayer or is it to attend to those acts which are the proper business of Prayer that is to be asham'd of sin and to bewail it in confession to be sensible of the common wants and common dependancies upon God for supply in petition to admire God's perfections and gratefully commemorate his goodness in praise and thanksgiving for in these things the true devotion both of Minister and People consists and 't is only by being an example of these in his Prayer that the Minister excites the devotion of his people 't is by confessing sin as if he were asham'd of and sorry for it that he excites their shame and sorrow by petitioning for mercy as if he were sensible of the want of it and did heartily desire it and depended upon God for it that he excites their sense of need and their desire and hope of relief and supply by praising and thanking God as if he heartily admired his excellencies and gratefully resented his goodness that he excites their admiration and gratitude that mode of Prayer therefore which is most apt to fix the Ministers attention to these acts of devotion must needs be most apt to excite the devotions of the people Now as for the mode of praying from his own conceptions I really think that it is much more apt to unfix the Ministers attention to these acts than that of praying by a Form because it forces him to attend to other things at the same time viz. the recollection of matter and invention of sutable expressions which must more or less divert him from attending to the inward acts of devotion according as his fancy and tongue are more or less pregnant and voluble it being impossible for him to attend at the same time to several things as closely as he may to one but when he prays by a Form his matter and words are ready before him and so he hath nothing else to do but to attend to his devotion and certainly when a man hath but one thing to do in Prayer he may attend to that more fixedly and closely than when he hath two or three 't is true by being released from attending to the invention of his matter and words his mind is more at leisure to wander and instead of attending as he ought more closely to the acts of devotion by imploying those thoughts which in conceiv'd Prayer he imploys in invention in a closer attention to the acts of devotion he may if he please permit them to rove abroad but if he doth the fault is in himself and not in the Form he prays by the design of his Form is to release his mind from all other business in Prayer but only that of inward devotion which is the life of Prayer that so it may be the more attentive to
it but if instead of applying his mind to this design he suffers it to wander abroad he makes an ill use of a good thing and converts that which is in it self a help to devotion into an occasion of indevotion but 't is objected that while his thoughts are imployed in inventing the matter and words of his Prayer they are attending to the duty of Prayer and while they are so they are well imploy'd though they should not be so attentively fixt upon the inward devotion of Prayer as they might be in the use of a Form to which in short I answer That to invent the matter and words of Prayer is not to pray but to study a Prayer and till our Brethren have proved that our inventing the matter and words is a part of our duty of Prayer which is the Question in debate between us we can by no means grant that our attention to it is attending to the duty of Prayer we believe that when we pray devoutly by a Form we discharge the whole duty of Prayer though we do not invent the matter and words our selves and when we see the contrary proved we will not only yield that to attend to inventing is to attend to the duty of Prayer but that it is unlawful to pray by a Form but in the mean time we can yield neither one nor t'other Seeing then that Forms are in themselves more apt to fix the Ministers attention to the inward acts of devotion and seeing that 't is by attending to these acts or at least by seeming to do so that he influences the attention of the people it necessarily follows that in this respect Forms are more advantageous to publick devotion than conceiv'd or extemporary Prayer But then 2. It is pretended that conceiv'd Prayer is in it self more apt to fix the Ministers attention in Prayer than Forms because in conceiv'd Prayer he utters his words immediately from his affections by reason of which his thoughts have not that scope to wander as when he reads them out of a Book to which in short I answer That if he hath devout affections he may utter his words as immediately from his affections in a Form as in a conceiv'd Prayer and therefore this pretence is altogether insignificant for his own invention is as much a medium between his affections and utterance in Praying extempore as the Book in praying by a Form as for instance suppose that in confessing sin he be affected with shame and sorrow he cannot express it in words but by using his own invention or a Form and whether he uses one or t'other he uses a medium to express it and why those words which he reads should not be as immediate to his affections as those which he invents provided they do as fully express them I am not able to apprehend in short therefore if he hath devout affections they will at least as much confine his thoughts from wandering when he prays by Form as when he prays Extempore if he hath not he cannot utter his words from his affections either in the one or t'other 2. We will inquire whether those advantages which our Brethren ascribe to conceiv'd Prayer above Forms as to the raising the Ministers intention in Prayer be real or no first they pretend that in reading a Form his affections follow his words and are raised and excited by them whereas in praying extempore his words follow his affections This I confess is a very curious distinction but I am not able to apprehend either what foundation there is for it or how it is applicable to the matter for first what necessity is there either that his affections should follow his words in a Form more than in a conceiv'd Prayer or that his words should follow his affections in a conceiv'd Prayer more than in a Form why may not a man be devoutly affected with the matter he prays for before he expresses in a Form of words as well as before he expresses it extempore since if he be acquainted with the Form he cannot but know before-hand what he is to pray for in it and therefore if he be truly devout cannot but be affected with it before he prays for it and so on the other hand why may not a man as well be unaffected with the matter he prays for in conceiv'd Prayer till he hath exprest it as with the matter he prays for in a Form or what reason can be assign'd why the affection may not follow the words and be excited by them in the one as well as in the other may not a man pray inconsiderately and suffer his tongue to run before his heart in both and may not his affections which were before asleep be awakened by the sound of his words in either In short therefore since in praying by a Form a man may know as well at least and hath as much time to consider the matter he is to pray for before-hand as in praying extempore what reason is there why it should be more difficult for him to affect his soul before-hand with it in the one than in the other and if it be equally hard and easie in both than 't is equally possible for his affections to go before or follow his words in either But then secondly suppose it were true that in conceiv'd Prayer the words follow the affections and in a Form the affections the words how doth it from hence follow that conceiv'd Prayer doth more intend and heighten the affections than Forms what reason can there be assign'd why those acts of inward affections which follow our words in Prayer should not be as intense and vigorous as those which go before them why may not a man exert as flagrant an act of desire immediately after he hath exprest his Petition as immediately before especially if that be true which our Brethren affirm and which most men find by experence that the words of Prayer if they are proper and expressive do naturally quicken and excite the affections so that if it be the matter only that excites the affections they may be as vehemently excited after the words are spoken as before if it be the words also the affections must be less vehemently excited before the words than after in short therefore when the Minister prays in publick whether it be by Form or extempore he prays on without making any long pauses between one Petition and another so that as soon as ever he hath conceived the matter he expresses it and whether it be immediately before or immediately after or while he is expressing it that he joyns his affection to it there can be no reason assign'd if it be the matter he joyns them to why he should more affect it now than then there being nothing in the order of before or after to raise and excite his affection and if so his affections following his words though it were necessary to his praying by a Form can be no disadvantage to