constrained them to be whether in Vaults under-ground or the Houses of Christians or what other places soever there they celebrated Mass upon an Altar of Wood made hollow like an Ark which was carried by the Priests to the Place wheresoever tho Bishop of Rome lay hid And Hierom on 40. Chap. of Ezekiel describes those Vaults which they often made their Meeting-places Dum essem Romae Puer c. When I was a Youth at Rome and instructed in liberal Studies it was my Custom with others of the same Age and Profession on the Lords Days to visit the Sepulchres of the Apostles and Martyrs and often to enter into the Vaults which were digged deep in the Earth wherein were on each side as we went the Bodies of dead Men buried And all Places there were so Dark that it might well be said of them according to that of the Prophet The Living go down into Hell And rarely Light was let in from above to qualifie the horror of the Darkness through a Hole rather than a Window And again going on Foot by Foot and being compassed about with dark Night we are minded of that which Virgil saith Horror ubique animos simul ipsa silentia terrent Horror on every side and Silence therewithal affrights Mens Minds A like Description of these Vaults where tho Christians met we have in Prudentius his 11th Hymn in excellent Verses but too many to be here inserted Not that these Burying-places were peculiar to the Martyrs for other Christians were also Buried there though not in the same Graves till under Christian Emperors Churches were Erected in Cities into which the Martyrs Bodies were brought from without and Superstition prevailed to make them the Common Burying-places Which many Learned Men both Papists and Protestants have written against and shewn how Injurious 't is to the Health of the Living with many other Reasons but the Tyrant Custom hath always conquer'd the strongest Arguments Nor when they met in such Places was it for their Worshipping the Reliques of the Martyrs as the Papists thence infer But besides their Privacy being remote from their Cities for the preserving their Memories fresher in their Minds and by their Examples be excited to Constancy in the Faith and Suffering Martyrdom And though Onuphrius de Caemiteriis maintains that Structures were made for Worship in these Burial-places and Hospinian grants it came to that at length yet were they but Sacella or Chappels under-ground as Platina tells us in the Life of Calixtus who having said he did not believe that famous and large Church which Alexander the Son of Mammaea who began his Reign A. D. 225. according to Baronius had granted the Christians to be the same with that which Calixtus was said to have built on the other side of Tiber he gives this Reason Cunâ—…a tempestate ob crebras Persecutiones occulta essent omnia sacella potius atque eadem abdita plerumque subterranea quam apertis in Locis Publicis fierent For in those Days by Reason of frequent Persecutions all Things were carried secretly And they had Chappels rather and those hidden and for the most part under-ground than in open and publick Places Which last Words are also recited by Pol. Virgil. If any desire further Satisfaction concerning the Primitive Christians meeting in those Burial-Places He may find it in Kercher's Roma subterranea l. 1. c. 2. de Coemeteriis But though these Places after some time and Martyrdom under Nero and following Emperors were used more especially by the Christians as appears by the Edict of Decius Nec usquam omnino vel vobis vel aliis quibusque potestas erit aut celebrandi conventus aut in ea quae coemeteria appellantur ingredi Thus the Christians in Alexandria and all others were prohibited their Meetings or entering into the Coemiteries particularly As also by the Edict of Valerian whereby all their Assemblies being strictly prohibited these Places in special were forbidden them And as Gallienus his Son by his Rescript graciously restored the Places of Worship in general So by another these Coemeteries in special Euseb Hist l. 7. Yet as Necessity required by Reason of Persecution their Meetings in these Places being found out and known by the Heathens they met elsewhere some times in one Place and some times in another as in Woods Caves Mountains c. When they could not in Private Houses that they might not be discovered Our Learned Hooker in 's fifth Book of Eccles Pol. § 11. hath a short but very comprehensive Passage for this The Church of Christ saith He which was in Jerusalem and hold that Profession which had not the publick Allowance and countenance of Authority could not so long use the Exercise of christian Religion but in Private only And as God gave Increase to his Church they sought out both there and abroad for that Purpose not the sittest for so the Times would not suffer them to do but the safest Places they could In Process of Time some whiles by Sufferance some whiles by special Leave and Favour they began to erect to themselves Oratories Thus Hilary also in his Book against the Arrians and Auxentius speaking of Christians in the Apostles Days affirms that they were Per caenacula secreta coenutes such as had their Meetings in Chambers and secret Places Afterwards most commonly in caemiteriis cryptis in subterraneous Vaults And in the Time of his Banishment warns them to whom he writes to beware of Antichrist for you are unhappily taken with the Love of Walls you do not well in venerating the Church of God for Structures and Edifices Is it doubtful that Antichrist shall sit in these Montes mihi sylvae lacus carceres vordgines tutiores sunt c. Mountains and Woods and Lakes and Prisons and Gulfs are more safe to me For in these the Prophets either abiding or drowned have Prophesied by the Spirit of God And Walafudus Strabo to the same Purpose whose Words we recited in Ninth Section Page 40. So Polid. Virgil a good Antiquary in 's Book de Inventione rerum l. 5. c. 6. affirms that à Christi ascensu ad Dioclesianum Maximianum toto fere temporis intervallo tantum aberat ut aliquod templum à Christianis publicè aedificaretur ut etiam ommia essent occulta sacella potius atque etiam abdita plerumque subterranea quà m apertis in Locis ac Publicis fierent That from Christs Ascension to Dioclesian and Maximianus for that whole Interval of Time almost the Christians were so far from building any Temple in Publick that all Things were kept secret And Chappels rather and those also hidden and for the most part under-ground than in open and publick Places Though He thinks it credible where the Fury of persecuting Tyrants reached not the Apostles might Consecrate some Temples as Matthew in Aethiopia Bartholomew in India and Andrew in Scythia and James at Jerusalem But
and therefore very unlikely this should be spared But if any have so strong a Faith to believe what is reported of this great Wonder-worker Gregory he may possibly think that he had sufficient power to restrain Dioclesian's Agents and defend the Church he built For Baronius at the Year 253. num 135 136 137. relates what power he had over Devils to cast them out of their Temples and drive them out of any place whither he pleased and restore them also at his pleasure which he did to shew his power to one in writing under his hand saith Baronius in these words Gregorius Satanae ingredere Gregory to Satan enter in that was into his Temple again And Bellarmine relates another Miracle of him upon this very Argument c. 4. de cultu Sanct. saying That when he would have built a Church and wanted room by reason of a Rock that border'd on the place where he would build it he by his prayers removed it away Mr Mede was wiser than to mention this for Gregory's building of Churches And indeed none can imagine how much prejudice such fabulous Miracles and lying Legends decryed and detested even by many sober and Learned Papists hath done to Christianity Let but any one read a Pamphlet Printed this very Year of a Conference between a Jew and a Jesuite at Amsterdam concerning Christ being the true Messiah which this undertaking to prove by his Miracles was replied upon by the other with a Number as great out of many Popish Authors insomuch that the Jew quite confounded the Jesuite And wheras Mr. Mede notes that a litle before the persecution of Decius which was A. D. 252. the Christians erected Oratories in the Name of Christ I desire Baronius may be consulted and then let any one judge how improbable it is that Christians had publick Churches with such distinction of places as is mentioned or built such Publick Oratories as our Adversaries say For Decius gave express order to forbid all Christian assemblies upon pain of Death threatning accurate observing them because many Heathens were converted thereby to Christianity As appears by Aemilianus his writing to Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria in Euseb l. 7. c. 9. vel 10. and Baronius ad A. D. 260. Num. 17. who further relates how their very Coemateria or burying places which were Vaults under ground called cryptae as Baronius shews A. D. 259 num 16. usually a Mile or more from their Cities which were often after some time discovered and then how dangerous it was to meet there he shews A 255 were now strictly forbidden them in particular as well as in the general all other places whatsoever Cyprian contemporary with Gregory is next alledged for Christian Oratories 1 In his book de Opere and Eleemosynis by the Name of Dominicum brought also by Bellarm. c. 4 de cultu Sanct. 2 In 55 Epistle by the Title of Ecclesia We never doubted but Christians had from the first Oratories or places of Meeting And that in this Century some publick which as the Church increased were inlarged But that even in Cyprian's time their assembling were in subterraneous Vaults both at Alexandria as we have shewn and Rome as is clear by Pope Cornelius's Letter to the Bishop of Vienna as Baronius testifies A. 255. n. 47. and here at Carthage in Africa A. 260. n. 37. Where the Proconsul urged Cyprian himself with the Emperors Edict ne in aliquibus locis conciliabula fiant nee caemeteria ingrediantur that the Christians should not meet in any places nor enter into their Coemeteries In which they usually celebrated the holy Mysteries which Pameltus calls the Sacrifice but Goulartius the Word Sacraments and Prayers performed only when the Church assembled Nor is the opposition mentioned of any force as we shew'd on 1 Cor. 11.22 Another Contemporary cited is Dionysius Alexandrinus in 's Epistle to Basilides declaring his Opinion That Women during the time of their Separation ought not to enter into the Church which he calls the House of God By which we learn saith Mede not only the Christians had their Houses of Worship but a religious respect also to difference them from common places To this we say as formerly That Christians had always places for meeting in but still whether in private Houses or in publick lies the question And if but a Chamber in a private House where they worshipped God it was sufficient to denominate it the House of God as well as a Cathedral And that their Assemblies then were very private appears in that they were forbidden on pain of death as we have shewn and yet where this is related by Eusebius Dionysius testifies that nevertheless they kept them But surely not in the usual places where they had easily been discovered to the loss of their lives but in all likelihood often changed the places for their security And whether every such was thereby so sanctified that it was unlawful for a menstruous Woman to enter thereinto let any one judge Nor was this a Canon as Mede calls it Baronius hath made apparent against Balsamon and by the equity of a contrary course taken by Pope Gregory in regard that legalia or ceremonials are now abdicated And if it were in force it relates not to the Place simply but the Offices there performed and the time thereof which suppose the Congregation present from which such an one was to be excluded whether the meeting was on a Mountain or in an House or under Ground in Caves and Dens of the Earth Nor need Mr. Mede tell us such places were known to the Gentiles and called worshipping places For when the Christians were grown so numerous before this time of A D. 260. as Tertullian thinks near to equalize the Heathens their Assemblies could not possibly be concealed whether above or under the Ground especially when they enjoyed any tollerable freedom from Persecution as appears by two Rescripts of Gallienus in Euseb Hist l. 7. c. 12. one for restoring all places in general to the Christians and the other their Coemiteries in particular Nor doth Aurelian's Speech in Vopiscus evince a publick place nor the opposition between the Capitol and Church imply the place but the Congregation rather that stands in congruous opposition to the Sibyls Oracles For they might be Masters of the Christian Oratories when they pleased and there consult of what they list even of setting forth the Books of the Sibyls But Mr. Mede thinks his cause is supported by that of Eusebius l. 7. relating how Paulus Samosatenus being deposed by the Council Aurelian decreed that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the House of the Church should be taken from him c. This Bellarmine c. 4. de cultu sanctorum and also our Fuller alledge to the like purpose Yet both ours confess that some interpret it of domum Epifcopalem the Bishops House Belike Christopherson tho a Popish Bishop in Queen Maries days and zealous for the Opinion of our Opponents So Baronius
comfortable calm Aurelian's Edict made for Persecution being never signed by him God having terrified him with Lightning as Eutropius and Vopiscus affirm and so stopt his wicked Tyranny But alas instead of being better'd they extreamly degenerated So that Eusebius saith God sent that direful storm of Persecution on them under Dioclesian for the corruptness of their lives and manners Maximè vero Ecclesiasticorum in quorum vultu simulationem in corde dolum verbis fallaciam cernere licuit livore superbia inimicitiis inter se certantes tyrannidem potius quam sacerdotium sapere videbantur Christianae pietatis omnino obliti divina mysteria profanabant potius quam celebrabant Which I forbear to English Those that please may read more in Fox's Martyrology in the 9th Primitive Persecution tho he misreckon it there having been no general Persecution in Aurelian's Reign who as he himself saith rather intended than moved Persecution But for their wickedness followed the 10th When their Churches were demolished their Bibles burnt their Persons punished with all kinds of cruelty neither Courtiers nor Friends not the Empress Prisca nor Daughter Valeria spared his Decree was aut Deos Gentilium aut mortem eligerent That the Christians should choose either the Heathen Gods or Death Of this Tenth and greatest Persecution Eusebius in his 8th Book of History Lactantius de mortibus Persecutorum from 7 to 49 Chap. with the Notes in Latin of 1693 which are 10 times larger than the Text. And Fox in his first book of Martyrology from Eusebius and several others have written largely which I shall not transcribe but dismiss with this short remark That of all the 10 general Persecutions this last which was the forest and continued above Ten Years only reached England wherein Albanus first and very many after sealed their Faith in Christ with their blood so that Christianity was almost with the Scriptures and Churches destroyed throughout the whole Kingdom tho shortly after revived by the blessed Constantine Having now examined all our Adversaries Witnesses we leave the Impartial Reader to judge of their validity and whether they prove the Christians to have had any publick appropriate places for Worship in the two first Centuries Which tho undoubtedly most sit and convenient always yet in times of Persecution men must do as they may and meet as secretly as they can and be constrained often to change their meeting places and when private Houses will not serve for secresie to seek out Vaults under ground where they may worship God And yet not even in the most secret and retired places without fear of their enemies and danger of their lives which shews our happiness in this regard above theirs who were much better than we There is but one scruple that I can imagine remaining and that is tho these places were private yet they might be as Mede terms them appropriate To which I answer that his first Argument for his Opinion which immediatly follows from their worshipping towards the East implies that he takes them for Publick and purposely built accordingly for that end And 2 who ever diligently peruses his Treatise will see that he founds their appropriation as also their holiness of which in the next Dissertation on their Consecration or as he sometimes calls it Dedication Now if we consider when this begun Platina in vitis Pontif. tells us That Telesphorus having suffer'd Martyrdom in the first year of Antomus Pius which was about the year of our Lord 142. Hyginus an Athenian succeeded him Who ordained these two things First the use of those Witnesses we commonly call Godfathers and Godmothers in the Administration of the Sacrament of Baptism Which was then I confess more necessary by reason the generallity of those amongst whom the Christians lived were Heathens And therefore in case the Parents on whom it is incumbent to see thei Children educated in the Christian Religion came to die they that were Sponsors might take care to see them brought up therein Which Institution as likewise Confirmation is now degenerated into a meer Formality few regarding their solemn Engagements made for that end And 2. he ordained also Templorum consecrationes the Consecration of Temples that or Churches being the usual Names given to all places for Gods Worship in after Ages So that Consecration being but introduced in the second Century if Mede takes it in the usual sense his Opinion that There were appropriate Places for Christian Worship both in the Apostles days and ever since falls to the Ground except it can be proved that some of them at least lived so long But if he takes it for a private House or some room therein where the Church met together as he seems in the beginning and by the expressions of the Church in their House then whensoever any Owners thereof gave leave for the Christians to assemble therein their permission was a Consecration thereof whereby they appropriated the same to the Churches use and so according to his Tenets employed them no more for their own Civil use being appropriate to a Sacred Or else some pious Christians gave their Houses as he thinks and dedicated them to the Church for a Meeting Place by which Dedication it was appropriated But neither of these can be reasonably imagined Considering 1. That we read of several that sold their Possessions for the Maintenance of the Poor but we read of none that gave their Houses to the Church for meeting in 2. The multitude of Christians increasing many Houses were requisite to contain them as we have formerly observed 3. How often in those bloody Persecutious they were forced to shift their Meeting-Places to shun the loss of their Estates Liberties and Lives we may easily conclude And lastly Had any either granted or given any House or certain place for such an use as therein constantly to assemble they had thereby without all doubt been quickly discovered certainly dispersed and often times most severely punish'd So that tho we are not to question the readiness of many that were able nor their pious liberality so we must also consider their Prudence the times wherein they lived and what was most conducible to their preservation that they might not run themselves on the rocks of destruction SECT 9. Our Opponents besides the Authorities mentioned produce several Arguments for their Opinion whereof 3 are made use of by Mede which we shall now consider First It 's certain saith he That in their Sacred Assemblies Christians used then to Worship and Pray towards the East Which how it could be done with any order and conveniency is not easie to be conceived unless we suppose the places wherein they worshipped to have been situated and accommodated accordingly that is chosen and appointed to that end This he had touched on before from Tertullian in the beginning of the 3d Century for which no authority is vouched but that only of the forged Apstolical Constitutions falsly ascribed to Clemens Here
summarily mentioned in Spencer's Annotations on the First Book of Origen So that the Christians for their Impiety were accounted the Cause of all those publick Calamities that befel the Empire If there was a Famine Pestilence c. the People cryed out Christianos ad Leones cast the Christians to the Lions as Tertul. Apol. c. 40. Cypr. Ep. 75. and others So when Rome was taken by Alaricus it was imputed to the Anger of the Gods for the contempt of their Religion which occasioned S. Austin to write that excellent Book de civitate Dei and Orosius his Orchestra for the Refutation of their Heathenish Folly which was so great that they still thought to appease the Anger of their Gods with the Blood of the Christians Nor were they less traduced for being Enemies to the State and such as turned the World upside down notwithstanding all their peaceable Demeanour under the Civil Government because they would not Pray to their Idols though they did to Almighty God nor offer Sacrifices to them for the Prosperity thereof In like manner also were they Accused for being Rebels to their Emperors because they refused to frequent their Solemn Feasts and Spectacles for their Victories nor would Swear as others did by their Genius nor give them Divine Honours by offering Sacrifices to them together with their Idol Gods For as Julius Caesar as Suetonius tells us in his Life c. 76. Decerni sibi passus est Templa Aras simulachra juxta Deos Suffered Temples Altars and Images to be Decreed for him near the Gods So his Heathen Successors in the Empire continued the same as may be seen in Pliny's Epistle to Trajan Hence they were called Sacrilgi Sacriligious and Lawless because this Worship of the Gods and Caesar was by Law Established Yea the Enemies of Mankind because by their Contempt of the Gods they brought Miseries upon the World So that being accounted by the Heathens Enemies of their Gods and Religion their State Emperors Laws Manners and all Mankind No wonder if they became the object of publick Hatred according to that of Tertul. l. Scorp c. 11. Odio habemur ab omnibus hominibus nominis causa We are hated of all Men for the Name of Christians and his and Athenagoras and Justin likewise in their Apologies as our Saviour had foretold Matth. 10.22 So 24.9 and Luke 21.12 And it had been happy for after Ages since the World turn'd Christian if these Calumnies had not been used to represent the best sort of Men as Enemies to Princes and States who could not in Conscience comply to worship the Image they set up How have not only Papists under such Pretexts all along Persecuted all that would not submit to their impious Impositions but even Protestants also frequently for small Matters all such as refused to Dance after the Fidle of the Times 7. Let us further consider the Temporal Interest of most which carries all before it with those that regard not their Spiritual and Eternal The whole World turning continually upon the Hinge of Self-Interest And herein the vast number of those ingaged thereby against the Christians some for preserving the Dignities and Revenues they had and others for Augmenting them Of the former sort were the several Religious Orders of Priests or Flamines and Augurs or Prognosticators with the whole Rabble that depended on them Which must needs be many considering the multitude of Places and People as also of Idols and Temples they were to serve by performing their Religious Functions in Sacrifices Lustrations and Supplications All which had great Credit as in all Religions such have especially amongst an Ignorant and Superstitious People And understood very well that Christianity would ruine at once all their Offices Honours and Profit Knowing that thereby their Gods would be derided their Worship neglected their Oracles remaining contemned and proved often false many of them being already silenced which the learned Plutarch both confest and wondred at in 's Book de defectu Oraculorum amongst his Works and with Camararius's Notes alone Which Consideration stopt two of the Heathen Emperours which had most kindness for Christ if we may believe Lampridius in the Life of Alexander Severus who writes thus Christo Alexander Templum facere voluit eumque inter Deos recipere Quod et Adrianus cogitasse fertur qui Templa in omnibus Civitatibus sine simulachris jusser at fieri Quoe hodie idcirco quia non habent numina dicuntur Adriani quae ille ad hoc parasse diccbatur Sed prohibitus est ab iis qui consulentes sacra repererant omnes Christianos futuros si id optata evenisset Templa Reliqua deserenda Alexander Severus would have made a Temple for Christ and receive him amongst the Gods Which Adrian also is said to have determined who had commanded Temples to be made in all Cities without Images which therefore still because they have no Gods are called Adrian's which He was said to have prepared for this but was prohibited by those who consulting the Oracles found all would turn Christians if that had happened well and all other Temples would be forsaken Of the latter Sort that were for augmenting their Estates were especially the Magistrates both Supream and Subordinate For knowing they might gain by the Execution of the Laws Those especially that were Superstitious Covetous and Cruel were thereby induced to fly upon the Spoil by confiscating the Estates of Christians who indured a great fight of Afflictions were made a gazing Stock both by Reproaches and Afflictions and were Companions of them that were so used and took joyfully the spoiling of their Goods Heb. 10.32 33 34. and elsewhere their Sufferings are set forth comprizing their Losses Yea even Felix the Governour hoped to have got Mony from poor Paul for his Freedom and communed with him oftner for this End thinking belike that his Friends would contribute thereto Acts 24.26 So that Temporal Interest ingaged all Officers Sacred and Civil to prevent and suppress Christianity and the Professors thereof 8. To all the former Considerations which suggest sufficient Reasons for the Christians to keep themselves as private as possible we may add several other Particulars As the vast Multitude of their Enemies whose extream prejudice against Christianity and inveterate hatred of the Christians stirr'd them up frequently to raise Popular Tumults against their Persons Families and Societies as we read in the Acts of the Apostles and other Authors And if the People were supprest by the Magistrates from exorbitant Violence they had always Liberty to accuse them and bring them to Tryal And such was their Malice and Rage that sometimes they hurried them by Violence before their Rulers and sometimes exhibited Multitudes in the same Libel or Accusation Then were they strictly examined and put to purge themselves upon Oath And if they denied were commanded for further Proof thereof not only to Worship and Sacrifice to the Idol Gods and Emperours but also to
Gerhardi Vossii Commentarius in Epist Plinii edicta Caes R. Adversus Christianos Amsterd 1654. Christ Cortholtius de Persecutionibus Ecclesiae Primirivae sub Impp. Ethnicis deque veterum Christianorum Cruciatibus Jenae 1660. 8vo A Table of whose several sorts of Torments may also be seen in Fox's Martyrology SECT 13. We shall now proceed to confirm our Opinion by producing undeniable Testimonies from approved Ancient Authors such especially as writ Apologies for the Christians against the Gentiles Wherein they plead for those of former Ages as well as their own and in all places as well as where they lived though especially where their Enemies endeavoured to defame their Holy Profession 1. Minutius Felix who flourished as Dodwel thinks about the end of M. Antoninus's Reign but Bellarmine under Alex. Severus or about A. D. 206. And Baldwin yet later However Cecilius the Heathen Objects Cur occultare abscondere quicquid illud colunt magnopere nituntur Cum honesta semper publico gaudeant scelera secreta sint Cur nullas aras habent Templa nulla nulla nota simulachra Why the Christians greatly endeavour to keep secret and hide that they Worship Seeing honest Things may rejoice to be Publick but wicked Things would be kept secret Why they have no Altars no Temples nor known Images To which Octavius the Christian replies by way of Concession think ye that we hide that we Worship if we have no Temples or Altars What Image shall I make of God since Man is his Image What Temple shall I build for him seeing the whole World made by him cannot contain him Concluding it better He be set up in our Minds and Hallowed in our Hearts 2. Origen who flourished by Bellarmin's account about the Year 226. in his excellent Book against Celsus the Epicurean Philosopher Which he wrote at above sixty Years of Age as Euseb saith l. 6. c. 36. Therefore A. D. 245. having been born 185. Wherein Celsus Objects in the end of l. 7. That the Christians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 could not indure to see the Temples Altars and Statues and l. 8. p. 389 390 and 391. of the Cambridge Edition objects the same To which Origen replies That the Christians had for Altars spiritual Minds and Prayers out of a pure Conscience for Incense For Statues the Image of God their Maker and Temples agreeable to these Holy Bodies and the most excellent Temple of all the Body of Christ John 2.19 22. 1 Pet. 2.5 Isa 54.11 12. Not regarding liveless and sensless Temples which sensless Men admire Because taught to shun those counterfeit Religions which make all those impious that depart from the Religion of Jesus Christ who is the Way the Truth and the Life By which some might think Origen thought it unlawful to Worship God in a Temple as when He saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We avoid to Build liveless and dead Temples to him that is the bestower of all Life But Origen hath no such meaning as the Series of his Discourse shews But that wheresoever Righteous Persons are found that offer up Vows and Prayers to God from a pure Mind and Conscience there God is worshipped after the best Manner whether within a Temple or without elsewhere And Lil. Giraldus in 's Hist Deorum Syntagm 1. Commends this as a most acute Discourse in Origen For whereas the Pagans thought they performed a great piece of Service and Worship to God by building Temples to him This Origen opposeth because a Temple is a sensless or a liveless Thing and Contributes nothing to the pleasing of God in his Worship Our Saviour and his Apostles having by Word and Prayers worshipped God as acceptably often in the open Air as in the Temple of Jerusalem So that hitherto the Christians had no Publick Places of Worship but only in Private may be rationally concluded 3. Arnobius who flourished by Bellarmin's account about A. D. 285. or as other later brings in the Gentiles objecting against the Christians as the greatest Crime that they had no Temples Altars nor Images and answers not by denial but granting what they said and for Temples In cujus rei necessitatem aut dicitis esse constructa aut esse â—ursus aedificanda censetis What Necessity think you doth urge Men to build them or after they are pulled down to repair and restore them See his Reasons for the Christians forbearing to build them Temples l. 6. He shews that Temples were not necessary though convenient for their Religion Therefore when they had Liberty they built them Oratories in the Third Century which were now demolished by Dioclesian For the Christians in all Times and Places of the Empire understood very well that it was in the Emperors Power to pull down whatsoever they Built whensoever they pleased And therefore if their Religion depended on Temples or Structures as the Religion of the Heathens did who as Lactant. saith l. 5. c. 19. found it all there and left it there they had been in an ill Case If they have but a Private House or Room as our Saviour when he instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood or the Disciples met in at Troas their Service is as acceptable to God as if performed in a Temple as glorious as Solomons And this is the meaning of Arnobius when he saith Neque aedes sacras ad venerationis Officia extruamus They did not build Temples to perform Offâ—ces of Worship For that God is equally served honoured and worshipped as well without Temples as in them Which Clemens Alexandrinus Eusebius Athanasius c. have often asserted and proved 4. Lactantius Arnobius's Schollar Condemns the Gentiles for their Temples Altars and Images Quid sibi Templa quid arae volunt Quid denique ipsa simulachra What means your Temples Altars and Images In his Instit l. 6. c. 25. Non Templa illi congestis in altitudinem saxis extruenda sunt In suo cuique consecrandus est pectore Temples are not to be built to God of Stones raised on heighth every one ought to Consecrate him in his own Breâ—st So again Si Deus non videtur ergo his rebus coli debet quae non videntur If God be Invisible He is to be Worshipped with such Things as cannot be seen From these Ancients it appears the Primitive Christians held it as a Thing indifferent as to the acceptableness of their Worship to God whether they performed it in Temples or without And that Gods Worship being meerly of a spiritual Nature the Place though never so magnificent and glorious contributed nothing thereto Which was directly opposite to the Opinion the Heathen had of Temples And Secondly The Gentiles Objections against Christians shews that they had no Temples in the Days of Minutius Felix and Origen For we deny not that there were Churches or Houses of Divine Worship in Arnobius or Lactantius's Time who lived in the end of the Third or beginning of the Fourth Century For they
these are but this Conjectures for which he brings no Proof in founded upon the Piety of the Apostles who always imployed their utmost Power to propogate Religion amongst all Nations For we no where find that any of the Apostles required the erecting of Structures for Worship or Consecrating any for that end Nor the least Signification that without such Religion could not be propogated And the Renowned Sir H. Spelman p. 70. De non temevandis Ecclesiis having mentioned the Consecration of Churches in Constantines Time adds That the Christians being in Elder Ages in Persecution might hardly Build or Dedicate any Churches but were constrained to use Private Houses and Solitary Places for their Assemblies The Learned Mr. Robert Cook Viccar of Leeds in 's Censura quor Script shews Dionysius Works to be Counterfeit because he mentions several Things and particularly stately Temples after the manner of that at Jerusalem having their Sancta Sanctorum divided from the rest into which it was not lawful for the Monks and Lay People to enter Whereas there were no such Things in those Days saith Cook but Christians met together after the Manner of the Apostles Acts 1.13 and 12.12 and 20.8 in private and secret Places and there had their Prayers and Sermons Publick Temples they had none by reason of Tyrants I might bring in the like Attestations from our famous Jewel Article 3. p. 145. Willet's Synopsis Papismi sixth General Controversie Quest 6. With several others But I shall conclude all with the Testimony of a great Historian yet living of whose Acquaintance and Friendship I have the Honour to partake viz Dr. Spanhem the Honorary Professor at Leyden who in 's learned and useful Ecclesiastical Hist of the New Testament saith Loca Sacrorum Conventuum fuere saeculo secundo partim aedes privatorum caenacula balnea porticus cryptae loca abdita Partim caemeteria seu Sepulchreta Martyrum ad quae Conventus indicerent zelo accendendo his constantiae exemplis The Places of the Christians Meetings in the Second Century were partly Private Houses Dining Rooms Baths Galleries Vaults and secret Places Partly Burial-Places or Sepulchres of the Martyre which they appointed their Meetings for the inflaming their Zeal by those Examples of Constancy And afterwards shews the Manner of notifying their Conventions was by their Servants from House to House For as yet neither the beating of Wood nor sound of Bells or Brass or Voice of Cryers were used for this end lost their Assemblies should be known to the Heathens In the Third Century whether the Christians had any Temples or Churches Dedicated or Consecrated by Sacred and Christian Rites is saith He a Controversie amongst the Learned Pol. Virgil Durantus Baronius Bellarminus Ciaconius and Valcsius affirm it And of ours also Wower Fuller Selden and others That Churches are frequently mentioned in this Age is out of doubt At nec Temptorum illis aut Nomen aut Forma aut Splendor aut Species quaedam Aedes fuere Privatorum Domus caenacula sed plorumque caemeteria Cryptae spatiosissimae quas areas Martyrum dixere etiam latibula stabula oremi carceres agri ex Antiquis Scripporibus ox Conditione Temporum saeviente ut plurimum Persecutions Quanquam sub Al. Severo Philippis Gallieno conveniendi libertas Christianis major Hinc nulla esse Christianis Templa Quae memorantur Templa Tituli Consecrationum Ritus Sacerdotales à Baronio Ciaconio Fr. Bivario aliis ea ex Apocryphis Decretalibus ex Pontific vitis ex Flavii Dextri Chronico Supposititio id genus fontibus lutulentis hausta But they had neither the Name nor Form nor Splendor nor Shape or Kind of Temples They were the Dwellings of Private Persons Houses Dining-Rooms and for the most part Burying-places very spacious Vaults which they called the Floors of the Martyrs Also Lurking-places Stables Wildernesses Prisons Fields as from Ancient Writers and the Condition of those Times is manifest Persecution then for the most Part raging Allthough under Al. Sevetus the Philips and Gallienus greater Liberty was given for Christian Assemblies Hence we conclude the Christians yet had no Temples Those Temples Titles and Sacerdotal Rites of Consecration mentioned by Baronius Ciaconius Fr. Bivarius and others are all taken from the Apocryphal Decretals the Lives of the Popes and the Supposititious Chronicle of Flavius Dexter and such like impure Fountains Thus far that Learned Professor To draw up all in a short Conclusion We read in Eusebius of the Christians building Publick Oratories after Deeius and Valerians Days not of any built before These were by Publick Decrees commanded to be pulled down by Dioclesian and Maximus and not long after restored by Consiantine Those formerly taken from the Christians by Decius and Valerian were expressed to be Caemeteria Places of Burial in which they had their Cryptae or Vaults under-ground formerly represented So that for separate and publick Places for Worship for Two Hundred Years and more after Christs Nativity we have no Records in approved History FINIS A Catalogue of BOOKS sold by Thomas Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheap-side near Mercers-Ckappel THE Fountain of Life open'd or a Display of Christ in his Essential and Mediatorial Glory containing Forty Two Sermons on varions Texts Wherein the Impetration of our Redemption by Jesus Christ is orderly unfolded as it was begun carried on and finished by his Covenant Transaction mysterious Incarnation solemn Call and Dedication blessed Offices deep Abasement and Supereminent Advancement A Treatise of the Soul of Man wherein the Divine Original excellent and immortal Nature of the Soul are opened its Love and Inclination to the Body with the necessity of its Separation from it consider'd and Improved The Existence Operations and States of separated Souls both in Heaven and Hell immediately after Death asserted discussed and variously applied Divers knotty and difficult Questions about departed Souls both Philosophical and Theological stated and determin'd The Method of Grace in bringing home the Eternal Redemption contrived by the Father and accomplished by the Son through the Effectual Application of the Spirit unto Gods Elect being the second Part of Gospel-Redemption The Divine Conduct or Mystery of Providence its Being and Efficacy asserted and vindicated All the Methods of Providence in our Course of Life open'd with Directions how to apply and improve them Navigation spiritualiz'd or a new Compass for Seamen consisting of Thirty Two Points of pleasant Observations profitable Applications serious Reflections all concluded with so many spiritual Poems c. Two Treatises the first of Fear the second the Righteous Mans Refuge in the Evil Day A Saint indeed the great Work of a Christian A Touchstone of Sincerity or Signs of Grace and Symptoms of Hypocrisie being the second Part of the Saint indeed A Token for Mourners or boundaries for Sorrow for the Death of Friends Husbandry spiritualiz'd Or the Heavenly use of Earthly Things All these Ten by Mr. John Flavel A Funeral Sermon on the Death of that Pious Gentlewoman Mrs. Judith Hammond late Wife of the Reverend Mr. George Hammond Minister of the Gospel in London Of Thoughtfulness for the Morrow With an Appendix concerning the immoderate Desire of foreknowing Things to come Of Charity in Reference to other Mens Sins The Redeemer's Tears wept over lost Souls in a Treatise on Luke 19.41 42. With an Appendix wherein somewhat is occasionally Discoursed concerning the Sin against the Holy Ghost and how God is said to Will the Salvation of them that Perish A Sermon directing what we are to do after a strict Enquiry whether or no we truly Love God These Five by Mr. John Howe