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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A48298	A justification of set forms of prayer and in special of the liturgy of the Church of England; in answer to, and confutation of Vavasor Powel's Fourteen considerations, against all composed and imposed forms of prayer. By Richard Lewthwat, M.A. and rector of Wethersdale in Suffolk.	Lewthwat, Richard.	1679 (1679)	Wing L1854; ESTC R217637	51,336	125

Tantum enim Deo c. For so pleasing to God is the Unity of his Servants therein that he will not have his Glory sounded forth in groundless and injustifiable Debates and Discords about the manner of his Worship and Service In Congregations and Churches with them by them where he is called upon and served according to or not against his Rule in his Word as our Church of England in all things punctually observeth For which additional Gloss of mine upon Mr. Calvin's last words I have the Apostle backing of me Romans 16. vers 17. Mark them that cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them for they that are such serve not the Lord Jesus Christ And the aforesaid Author makes so good an use and application of the Apostle's supplication there that were it generally practised by the Factions among us the glory of God would be so magnified the Church of Christ here in England so comforted and augmented the State and Kingdom so settled and united and thereupon so strengthned that then England would be in the eyes of Christ her husband as his Espouse was in the Canticles chap. 6. v. 4. namely Beautiful as Tirzah and comely as Hierusalem and would be to Rome and all other her deadly Enemies terrible as an Army with Banners His useful Inference follows in these words Hac una cogitatio c. The thought whereof alone may be sufficient to restrain that mad and outragious behaviour of contending and scoulding without offence given he means about matters of Religion which as yet doth possess too much the heads of multitudes I translate it scoulding 't is so like the debates of froward Women being commonly carryed on ignorantly by meer passion and spiritual pride not by Scripture Reason Authentick or Church Precedents For as to the later St. Paul saith 1 Corinth 11. vers 16. If any man seem to be contentious we have no such Custom nor the Churches of God And to help all men among us to be as careful and studious to be quiet and to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace hereafter as it hath b●●n their labour and glory to be disquiet and to break it I 'le remembrance ye with one thing more recorded of Mr. Calvan When Dr. Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury Rogers upon the ●0 Articles in his Presa●●… in the Infancy of the Reformed Churches being in the Reign of King Edward the Sixth was taking care for that one mainly necessary thing of Uniformity in Doctrine and Discipline among the said Churches To effect that blessed Work he imparted his thoughts to several persons of rarest note throughout Christendom Mr. Calvin understanding the Archbishop's intent addrest his Letters to him and offer'd his service thereto saying That might his Labours stand the Church in stead Ne decem quidem maria c. It would not grieve him to Sail over ten Seas to give his help to such a blessed Undertaking The which if he had done and had given assent and consent to the Labours of the Reverend Learned and Modest Divines of our Church it might happily have prevented his dangerous and doubtful Determinations about Election and Reprobation deposited in his Institutions or if they had been published before might perhaps have been retracted by him to the laying aside the long and fruitless disturbance of the Churches of Christ thereupon And now drawing towards an end I shall mind ye with the Argument our Saviour useth in his Prayer to keep all Believers in the before-mentioned Unity He prays the Father they may be all one c. That the World may believe that thou hast sent me Here our Saviour mentions the great help of Unity and Concord among men professing Christianity to bring the World that is as I may rightlier gloss upon the word World there than they that tie it up to a peculiar number of the Elect multitudes of people to the Faith of Christ For indeed Unity among Christians will do by the World sometimes doubting of the Christ or Messiah as Christ's Miracles did for John Baptist it will settle them so far in the Faith as to own That this is he that should come and that they will not look for another So our Saviour Christ expresly speaking of Unity under the Notion of Mutual Love among his Disciples or of both together John 13. vers 35. By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if ye have Love one to another And now see the fruit or benefit of Unity and Uniformity in a Church of Christ and among men professing Christianity 't is the great means under God to add to the Church of Christ daily such as may or would be saved and to bring the World to know and believe that Christ is the stone set at naught by the Jewish builders and is become the head of the corner and that there is no Salvation in any other and that there is no other name under heaven given whereby men must be saved Acts 4.11 12. And as Unity in the Church is thus helpful to bring in them that are without and Unbelievers to the saving Faith of Christ so Difference and Divisions there do keep men without from coming in that were entering which is evident from the rule of contrary causes which is to produce contrary effects which I could evidence from Examples if it were not for fear of being too tedious in so apparent truth And upon this consideration to bring back again and to reunite to us them that are separated and gone out from us I desire them to consult and mind the sad state and condition Christ and his Spirit say they are in In the life to come instead of their seat they might had with Abraham Isaac and Jacob it must be with Scribes Pharisees and Hypocrites See Matt. 23.13 and Antichrist 1 John 2. vers 18. I shall now hint to you in a Breviate what might be shewed further to awaken ye to a return and come into the Society and Fellowship of our holy Church First God is not with ye for God is the God of Love Peace and Unity where he is truly and rightly worshipped as he is in our Church of England and therefore you separating from it in such groundless heady fierce and fiery storms as ye have done God is no more in you nor with you nor them than he was in the strong winds Earth-quake and are that made such noise and havock upon the Mount Horch 1 Kings 19. vers 11. where 't is said God was in none of them In the second place God by his word hath silenced ye and suspended ye from your usurped Office for that in the 50 Psalm vers 16. is against ye Why doest thou preach my Laws and takest my Covenant into thy mouth whereas thou hatest to be reformed and hast cast my words behind thee For vers 20. Thou sattest and spakest against thy brother and

New Testament neither by Precedents nor Precepts therein can they prove themselves to be either in a godly or soul-saving way of themselves or of them that did adhere to their Doctrines For so soon as his Majesty's Grant was ratified for the two Houses of Parliament to sit during their pleasure there was soon a foundation for a Rebellion laid by them and the Synod of Divines sitting with them Which was no sooner done but those Dissenters from the Common-Prayer Book some having gone beyond Sea and others retiring into secret places at home for a while soon joyned all their Forces to carry on the late most damnable Rebellion and Disobedience So that instead of being owned godly and soul-saving Preachers they may justly be termed what the Pharisees were of John the Baptist namely an off-spring of Vipers For as 't is the property of the off-spring of Vipers to destroy their Dams that gave them their being so did these forsaker of the Service-Book soon help to destroy our most gracious Sovereign that under God gave them their safe being and preservation as English-men and for a long while destroyed their Mother the true Protestant Church of England which gave them their spiritual saving and Christian light and grace if ever they had any So that for the just condemnation of the former part of the Author's 7th Consideration what God said against Judah and Hicrusalem by Isaiah chap. 1. vers 2. may justly be applied to these opposers of the King State and Church of England Hear O Heaven and give car O Earth for the Lord hath spoken I have nourished and brought up Children and they have rebelled against me Now something would be said to the latter part of this 7th Consideration where the Service-Book lies under a great condemnation in respect to bringing in and maintaining many ignonorant scandalous lazy and formal Priests and Curats to the deceiving and utter undoing of many precious souls In which latter Paragraph I presume the Author had respect to the Times before the long Parliament and the late unhappy Wars and do mean thereby that the Ministers in the foregoing times which would subscribe and conform to the Book of Common-Prayer though but of mean parts were admitted to Livings and suffer'd to serve their Cures in which respect I presume the Author means the Service-Book brought in and maintained many ignorant c. as above said To which Accusation I make this ensuing Apologetical Answer I remember that in those times many of the Clergy brought into the Ministry in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth of blessed memory as also for some while after by reason of a scarcity of Learned Men occasioned by the sharp Persecution of such Divines in Queen Mary's days and in another respect alledged by a Bishop at the Conference at Hampton-Court I say I remember many of those Ministers of very mean ability were then alive and remained in their Livings And indeed I confess that in that respect it may be said that the Service-Book brought in and maintained some Ministers of but mean Abilities but yet were nothing so impudently and wickedly ignorant as Butchers and other Mechanick Teachers put into publick places after the said Service-Book was crucified for though these former Ministers knew not much yet what they knew they knew rightly but these latter thinking they knew any thing as St. Paul 1 Corinth chap. 8. vers 2. they knew nothing as they ought to know In the next place the Author saith this Service-Book did bring in and maintain scandalous and lazy Priests and Curats that is first men of an open wicked Coversation To which I Answer 'T is a charge as nonsensical as false and as false as any thing can be Let him shew where the Rubrick or any part of the Book yea or any Canons or Constitutions of our Church give Toleration or countenance of any such Minister in that Office If there be any such scandalous Minister in the Church the fault lies in the Officers in not presenting of them not in the Service-Book nor in them in Ecclesiastical Authority For as our Bishop when Arch-Deacon hearing by flying reports of some scandalous Ministers to be in his Jurisdiction and meeting with no Informations thereof at his general Visitation he told the Officers of the reports but withall told them there could not be a debauched Clergy in England unless there were a perjured Laity And whereas the Author saith they were lazy that probably might be spoken how diligent soever because they prated not nonsensically twice or thrice a week in the Pulpits as some of their gang did use to do But if the Works and Sermons of most of the Clergy Printed and weekly Preached were duly consider'd of both in these times and in the days he complains of in this Consideration they would be found generally a Clergy so labouring in the Word and Doctrine as they might be thought justly worthy of double honour and in that respect free with St. Paul from the blood of all men neither deceiving nor undoing any soul as the Author uncharitably and blasphemously charges here upon many Ministers To the 8th Consideration Whether the imposing of the Scottish Liturgy which in some things was better though in some others worse than the English was not the beginning and the first cause of the late grievous Wars and if so whether men should not be more cautious to do the like for the future I presume that upon this Consideration the Author would have this believed and granted that the Imposing of the Scottish Liturgy to be used in their Publick Worship and Service of God was the beginning and the first just cause of the late grievous Wars Or thus That the Scots and late long Parliament in England were justifiable in Levying Wars against his Majesty King Charles the First and his Loyal Subjects upon sending or commanding or commending to them the aforesaid Liturgy to be used in their Publick Worship and Service of God One of these Propositions or Assertions containing the meaning of the Author in this Consideration in the close thereof he makes use and application in these following words And if so whether men should not be more cantions c. The Proposition being granted to be truth whereof he would have no man doubt He makes the Application by way of an inferential Caveat or Advice And that is that no Men Kings or Church should afterwards commend or tender the like that is any Liturgy or set Form of Prayer to the people especially of Scotland to be used in the Publick Worship of God for the future considering that Wars have been raised before in Scotland and England thereupon To which I Answer Considering the Scots received Knox his Form of Prayer and England ever had one I shall not conclude with the Author that the Imposition of that Liturgy was the first cause or beginning of the late grievious Wars Which I heard Mr. Peters boast of in