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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A25801	The practical rule of Christian piety containing the summ of the whole duty of a true disciple of Christ. Written originally in Latin by Benedictus Aria Montanus, and translated into English by A. Lovel, M.A.	Arias Montano, Benito, 1527-1598.; Lovell, Archibald.	1685 (1685)	Wing A3679A; ESTC R214868	74,341	284

THE PRACTICAL RULE OF Christian Piety CONTAINING The Summ of the whole Duty of a true Disciple of Christ Written Originally in Latin By Benedictus Aria Montanus AND Translated into English By A. LOVEL M. A. LONDON Printed for Joseph Hindmarsh Bookseller to his Royal Highness at the Black Bull in Cornhill 1685. THE Author's Preface TO THE Christian READER THEY who from the Study of the Holy Scriptures and of the nature of worldly things learn and do confess that God takes care of sublunary affairs do clearly perceive that the rough Tempest wherein most Christian People are at present tossed is not the effect of the uncertain influences of the Stars nor that it is raised by hidden and obscure causes None of them doubt but that the publick Calamities of Kingdoms People and Cities are sent by the Judgment and Providence of God the avenger of wickedness and that before they happen they are Prophesied and foretold by Pious and Chosen Men for the glory of divine Justice and the amendment of the lives of sinful Men as it is written Amos 3. Can two walk together except they be agreed Will a Lion roar in the Forrest when he hath no Prey will a young Lion cry out of his Den if he have taken nothing Can a Bird fall in a snare upon the Earth where no Gin is for him Shall one take up a Snare from the Earth and have taken nothing at all Shall a Trumpet be blown in the City and the People not be afraid Shall there be evil in a City and the Lord hath not done it Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the Prophets Now for what causes such Commotions are raised both in publick and private affairs the same Prophet does declare pubish in the Palaces at Ashdod and in the Palaces in the Land of Egypt and say assemble your selves upon the Mountains of Samaria and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof for they know not to do right saith the Lord who store up Violence and Robbery in their Palaces Therefore thus saith the Lord an adversary there shall be even round about the Land and he shall bring down thy strength from thee and thy Palaces shall be spoiled To me truly the visible cause o' the divine Judgment against us appears to be our publick and common sins whilst I see the greatest part of Christians rent into several Sects not only seduced and led away by many errors but also proud and puffed up in them and others who live in the Communion of the Church and profess the true Doctrine neglecting the duties of the same and almost wholly perverting it and so whilst I reflect upon the depraved minds of some and the corrupt and dissolute lives of others and the Dissentions Jars Oppositions Enmities and perverse courses of both I often think with my self upon this The Lord looked down from Heaven upon the Children of Men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God They are all gone aside they are altogether become filthy there is none that doth good no not one Tho I neither be a Prophet nor the Son of a Prophet yet I dare be bold to foretel greater Storms hanging over our heads unless they be prevented It is enough to me to make me affirm this that I see those crimes in the Earth which God Almighty by infallible Oracles has threatned not to let go unpunished For if the Lion roar who will not be afraid if the Lord hath spoken who shall not prophesie Therefore he may very lawfully predict future evils who sees the manifest causes from which God Almighty calling Heaven and Earth to witness has foretold that difficult and sad times will arise Isa 1. Now the causes which I observe I think are obvious to all Men to wit Deut. 32. our contumacy and insolence our hardned obstinacy in wicked courses and a kind of contending with God that punishes us which the Prophet Isaiah takes notice of in the Jews Isai 1. Why should ye be stricken any more ye will revolt more and more The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores they have not been closed neither bound up neither mollified with Ointment And would to God! that in this tossing and agitation of the World there were no other loss but of the wealth dignities splendour and honours of the age which tho they be highly valued yet it might justly be born with nay and perhaps to be wished seeing such heavy loads and burdens are many times hinderance to the prosperity of our course but which is most sad and grievous when the danger of the loss of one poor soul ought in right to be prevented by the throwing over-board of all the goods and Cargo of the Ship yet in such doleful Ship-wrecks innumerable numbers of souls are observed to perish and be swallowed up in the deep which is the greatest of all humane miseries Now seeing it is the duty and office of the Masters and Pilots to bestir themselves for the safety of the beaten Vessel and that I observe many of those who are concerned diligently labouring for that purpose tho I want both authority and skill to act amongst those who rule the Ship yet as being of the number of those who in common danger ought not to be idle spectators but busie in lending a hand or at least assistant with fervent prayers I thought it my duty according to the mean and low station that I stand in in the Church of God with all humility and modesty to propose what I have judged proper for remedying of the evils whereof the causes are so obvious to be known especially since we bend our care to the admonishing and helping of those who when they are unable to understand higher and greater matters are not perhaps frequently taught those things which are more useful and necessary to be known of all Men in general and which if they be ignorant of they can never attain to salvation nor to the knowledge of those Points which are reckoned more noble and sublime truths Nor do we fear that these our endeavours will seem unseasonable or superfluous to those great Men who are more learned and skilful in the art of instructing and teaching the way of living we are rather confident that the considerate will approve of our design hoping that if we have given any hints that may serve for forewarding their duty they will take it kindly and in good part For in great Storms the chief Masters and Pilots receive sometimes good advice from the Passengers when they are pleased to hear them In how much then we have learned from the Doctrine and Word of God for the obtaining of God the salvation of our souls in the next World and publick Peace and Tranquillity in this we conceive

pure then peaceable gentle and easie to be intreated full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisie We are also plainly and largely taught by our Lord and Master how grievous a sin the sin of hatred is and how great an impediment it lays in our way to salvation not only when it appears outwardly in evil deeds but even when but conceited inwardly in the heart Mat. 5. I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the Judgment and whosoever shall say to his brother Raca shall be in danger of the Council but whosoever shall say thou fool to wit moved with anger and with design to hurt him shall be in danger of hell fire Wherefore our Lord and Master in his divine wisdom that he might shew how expedient it is to be free from that vice and perturbation of mind plainly tells his Disciples that he who hath not first satisfied this command of Charity must not think to obtain the favour of God by any Sacrifice or other Religious performance Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee leave thy gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift In many other passages he confirms the same saying Luke 6. Be ye merciful as your Father also is merciful forgive and ye shall be forgiven give and it shall be given unto you Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy Now the charity which our Lord so much commendeth is not a cold and ordinary but a burning and fervent charity ready to do good whereby he bids us to become like unto God who makes his Sun to shine upon the good and the bad and causeth it to rain upon the just and the unjust And when our Saviour taught his Disciples to pray he enlarged more upon the Subject of Charity Mercy and Beneficence than upon any other as being of all others the chief and most convincing argument of Piety which by the Apostle also is called the bond o● perfection seeing all the commands and duties whatsoever of the Law are easily obeyed and performed by those who are so quickned by Charity as not so much to seek their own as the things of others according as it is written 1 Cor. 13. Charity suffereth long and is kind Charity envieth not Charity vaunteth not it self is not puffed up doth not behave it self unseemly seeketh not her own is not easily provoked thinketh no evil rejoyceth not in iniquity but rejoyceth in the truth beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things Whereas 1 John He that hateth his brother is in darkness and walketh in darkness and knoweth not whither he goeth because that darkness hath blinded his eyes The summ then of all The summ of the rule common to all Men. that a Scholar of Christ ought to know hold meditate upon and practise is briefly comprehended under these three Heads to wit the Fear of the Lord Repentance and Charity Now Charity is not here considered only as it relates to God whom we ought to love above all things but also as it is to be practised towards Men. 1 John 3. Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren But whosa hath this Worlds good and seeth his brother have need and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him My little children let us not love in word neither in tongue but in deed and in truth And hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him 1 John 4. Let us love him because he first loved us If a Man say I love God and hateth his brother he is a liar for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen and this commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his brother also Whoever therefore shall carefully observe these three heads will by experience find the mercy goodness and clemency of God towards him the excellency whereof the thought of Man is not able to conceive and far less his tongue to express For the gracious God is always ready to fulfill the promises of salvation which have been made and often confirmed to Believers as it is written Jer. 18. At what instant I shall speak concerning a Nation and concerning a Kingdom to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it if that Nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil I will repent of the evil that I though to do unto them Ezek. 18. And if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep all my statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live he shall not die All his transgressions that he hath committed they shall not be mentioned unto him in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die saith the Lord and not that he should return from his ways and live So that the Oracles of God do often confirm the Promimises of life and salvation made even to wicked Men who turn from their ways to those I say who turning from the evil of their way and following a course of true Repentance make it their care and study to obey the commands of God and to do Judgment and Justice for whoever do so shall live not by an idle lasie and unactive Faith which is also called a dead Faith but through the righteousness which they have wrought they shall indeed obtain life and salvation from God the author and fountain of life which he hath promised to all who believe in him and obey his world according to that infinite mercy of his which the Scripture celebrates in many places Psal 145. The lord is gracious and full of compassion slow to anger and of great mercy The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works And therefore he bears with the sins of men that he may bring them to Repentance Wisdom 11. For he loveth all the things that are and abhorreth nothing that he hath made for never would he have made any thing if he had hated it And therefore it is that he freely offers and promises his mercy unto all who with a true heart and purpose of mind desire to be converted and to return to him as it is written Ezek. 33. As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live turn ye turn turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye die O House of Israel For the Lord is most gracious and desirous of our

be gone that we may sell corn and the Sabbath that we may set forth wheat making the Ephah small and the Shekel great and falsifying the ballances by deceit That we may buy the poor for Silver and the needy for a pair of Shooes yea and sell the refuse of the wheat The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob surely I will never forget any of their works Shall not the Land tremble for this and every one mourn that dwelleth therein whosoever are the true disciples and followers of Christ will fear and stand in awe to offend God and to be liable to such threatnings whatever art or profession they follow they 'l manage the same with all faithfulness and care and behave themselves modestly and justly in the business they set about neither wronging their brethren in their work nor exacting too much for their labour nor overvaluing the goods they sell them but proposing to themselves charity and the good of others rather than covetousness and abominating all filthy and forbid gain they will be content with the lawful gettings of their callings and shun and despise the pride of life as a thing altogether inconsistent with the simplicity of their vocation But that we may now descend from the publick society and duties of Mankind to the particular relations of private persons and enter into the houses and families of Christians we are to take notice what the mutual duties of private persons in a family are and how they are to be performed by Christians as in the presence of God who is a Judge and witness of all their actions Christian Women and Wives who desire to order their lives according The duty of Women and Wives to this short but universal rule of Christian Piety must studiously avoid all Pride Arrogance Vain-glorious Boasting Envy Haughtiness Back-biting and evil speaking shewing nothing in their conversation of Voluptuousness Wantonness Lustfulness Idleness or Curiosity and giving no example of Anger Hatred Discord Grudge nor Malice Put on the contrary they are in all things to approve themselves Modest Peaceable lovers of Truth Charity and Simplicity and Dutiful and Obedient to their Husbands and Yokefellows in all things that are lawful and honest For these ornaments and certain proofs of true virtue are always conspicuous in those Christian Women who fear the Lord practise Repentance and live holily in Brotherly-love and Charity with all Men To which they are also enjoyned by the holy Precepts of the spirit of God with assurances of his favour if they perform and of his anger and indignation if they omit and neglect their duty Eph. 5. Wives submit your selves unto your own Husbands as unto the Lord. For the Husband is the head of the Wife even as Christ is the head of the Church and he is the Saviour of the body Therefore as the Church is subject to Christ so let the Wives be to their own Husbands in every thing Wives who sincerely and heartily study Piety will not mind gorgeous attire rich costly and gaudy apparel which by decking and setting off the body Eclipses the beauty gravity and modesty of the mind but such as being prepared by virtue is an argument of probity and chiefly designed to render them acceptable to God and beloved of their own Husbands For that attire and dress is most commendable and graceful in a Wife which adorns the mind and makes her lovely in the sight of God and her own Husband and venerable to all others that being the ornament which the Holy Ghost prescribes and commends as becoming a Christian Wife 1 Pet. 3. While they the Husbands behold your chast conversation coupled with fear Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel but let it be the hidden Man of the heart in that which is not corruptible even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price For after this manner in the old time the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves being in subjection unto their own Husbands And tho God would not have such to be ignorant or negligent of their own duty yet he does not approve that they should be tatlers or disputers or that they should arrogate to themselves wisdom and knowledge nor would he have them to be greedy of many teachers or desirous of much learning but being satisfied with the knowledge of true Piety and Christian Candor and Simplicity that they should busie themselves in the exercise and practice thereof 1 Cor. 14. Let your Women keep silence in the Churches for it is not permitted to them to speak but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the Law And if they will learn any thing let them ask their Husbands at home for it is a shame for Women to speak in the Church And again in another place 1 Tim. 2. Let the Women learn in silence with all subjection But I suffer not a Woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the Man but to be in silence For Adam was first formed then Eve And Adam was not deceived but the Woman being deceived was in the transgression Notwithstanding she shall be saved in Child-bearing if they continue in Faith and Charity and Holiness with Sobriety The same Doctrine The duty of Husbands and Discipline of Christian Piety comprehended under the three aforemention'd Heads the fear of the Lord Repentance and Brotherly-love if it be rightly known and practised will also keep Men in their duty and to the performance of the chast Vows and Promises of Marriage for it enjoyns Husbands to love their Wives and to have the same care of them as of themselves but especially as the most important concern of Marriage to consult and provide for the eternal salvation of the Wife not only by frequent and reiterated admonitions but also by good and wholsom examples and if it be needful by undergoing all kinds of danger and running the risk of life and fortune for accomplishing that end The whole of this duty is by the Holy Ghost summ'd up in this Precept Eph. 5. Husbands love your Wives even as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinckle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish So ought Men to love their Wives as their own bodies he that loveth his Wife loveth himself For no Man ever yet hated his own flesh but nourisheth and cherisheth it even as the Lord the Church for we are Members of his body of his flesh and of his bones For this cause shall a Man leave Father and Mother and shall be joyned unto his Wife and they two shall be one flesh This is a great mystery but