regnare To these two Reverend Deanes I will add two worthy Doctors who are witnesses to the warrantable application of the word Sabbath to the Sunday and who though neither Bishops nor Deanes have had the reputation and not without desert of very learned and religious men viz. Doctor John White brother to Doctor Fr. White late Bishop of Elie and Doctor Daniel Featly houshold Chaplain to the late ″ Archbish Abbot Archbishop of Canterbury Doctor Joh. White in his answer to the Papists bragging of the holinesse of their Church and upbraiding of our Church for want of holinesse hath among other accusations of their courses these words i D. Joh. White in his way to the true Church §. 38. p. 210. And for mine owne part having spent most of my time among them this I have found that in all excesse of sinnes Papists have been the ring-leaders in royotous companies in drunken meetings in seditious assemblies and practices in profaning the Sabbath c. And againe Papists hold that it is lawfull on the Sabbath day to follow suits travell hunt dance keepe Faires and such like this is that which hath made Papists the most notorious Sabbath breakers that live And Doctor Featly as hee had more occasion to mention the day and the duties thereof so hee more frequently maketh use of the name Sabbath as in his Hand-maid to Devotion wee finde mention of an k Dr. Featly Hand-maid to Devotion in the direction for the use of the book p. 4. hymne and prayer before the Sabbath wherein saith hee the duties of the Sabbath are expressed and in preparation for the receiving of the Sacrament there is a confession in these words l Hand maid to devotion pag. 107. Thou commandest me to keepe holy thy Sabbath and settest an especiall marke of Remembrance upon it yet I have not remembred to put off my ordinary businesse and in the Devotion for the Christian Sabbath the name is m Ib. â— p. 172. ad pag. 200. often used for the day wee celebrate sometimes with the word Christian joyned to it sometimes the name Sabbath is set without it and in his volume of printed Sermons treating on these words Wherefore God hath highly exalted him hee saith n Dr. Featly Serm. which he calleth Lowlinesse exalted pag. 735. If the rest of God from the works of Creation were just cause of sanctifying a perpetuall Sabbath to the memory thereof may not the rest of our Lord from the worke of Redemption more painefull to him and more beneficiall to us challenge the like prerogative of a day to bee hallowed and consecrated unto it shall wee not keepe it as a Sabbath on earth for him which hath procured for us an eternall Sabbath in heaven And a little after hee addeth o Ib. pag. 735 736. The holy Apostles and their successors fixed the Christian Sabbath upon the first day of the weeke to eternize the memory of our Lords Resurrection and speaking of Easter day With what Religion saith p Ib. pag. 736. he is the Christian Sabbath of Sabbaths to be kept I could lengthen this Catalogue for the name Sabbath thus applyed with many more names of those whose sufficiencie and sincerity is such that it would little become them that carpe most at the name Sabbath in this sense to teach them how to speake without corrupting their dialect with the dregs of Ashdod as of q Mr. Hooker Eccles Pol. l. 5 p. 183. 385 M. Mâ—son who wrote of the consecrat of Bishops anno 1613. p. 269. Pet. Ramus de Relig. l. 2. c. 6. Master Hooker with divers others but that will not need especially if wee add unto these that which hath beene confessed or rather complained of by r M. Brab in his Desence p. 626. Master Braburne and Å¿ M. Dowe his discourse p. 4. Master Dowe viz. That the Lords day is usually and vulgarly called and known by the name Sabbath and then there will bee a full answer to Master Ironside his objection which soundeth as if the name Sabbath for the Lords day were a meere mistake of a t Mr. Ironside quest 3. cap. 13. pag. 126. few private persons of late yeeres I hope Kings Archbishops Bishops and Deanes and other eminent Doctors are not private persons nor they together with the vulgar few and wee may yet make them more by bringing in some of those to beare witnesse to the lawfull use of the word Sabbath for Sunday or the Lords day being drawne to yeeld some assent unto it by the force of truth who otherwise shew their great dislike of that denomination CHAP. XVI Of such as are adversaries to the name Sabbath as put for Sunday sometimes assenting thereunto and using the name in that sense or yeelding that which doth inferre it AS first Master Braburne in his discourse to this Objection the name Sabbath signifieth Rest Now on the Lords day we Rest therefore wee may call it Sabbath day answereth a M. Brab discourse p. 81. 'T is true the Sabbath signifieth Rest and so the Lords day might bee called Sabbath day but yet in no other sense then every common Holiday wherein we worke not may bee called Sabbath day that is Resting day We take his concession for the Lords day to be called Sabbath but not his comparison for as much as that hath more right to the name which hath a weekly recourse of Rest then that which cometh but once a yeare which himselfe doth in effect acknowledge when he so ″ In his Defence p. 276 277 481. often mentioneth the Lords day Sabbath as out of a kind of necessity to expresse his owne conceptions otherwise to use his owne b M Brab Defens p. 50. phrase hee would not so often have taken the crowne off his King Saturnes head and set it upon that day which in his conceipt is but a common Subject 2. Doctor Heylin notwithstanding what wee have before observed of him appeareth sometimes indifferently disposed to give to the Lords day the name of Sabbath as c Doct. Hâ—yl hist Sab. part 2. c. 6 pag. 182. where he saith By the Doctrine of the Helvetian Churches if I conceive their meaning rightly every particular Church may destinate what day they please to religious meetings and every day may bee a Lords day or a Sabbath If we were to judge of his opinion by this place we could not tell which word hee liked better Sabbath or Lords day hee sheweth himselfe so equally affected to them both seeming to bee the same man and of the same mind with him who in another booke wrote thus d Pet. Heylin Geogr. p. 702. I dare not so farre put my sickle into this harvest as to limit out the extent of Sabbath keeping which commanding us to doe no manner of worke doth seeme to prohibit us to worke for our owne safeguard Wherein hee sheweth such modesty in himselfe and such equity both to
implendas praeter inscitiam incuâ—iam impudentiam singularem dum ad suum Genevatismum antiquitatem detorquet invitissimam non autem quod oportuit Calvinismum amussitat ad antiquitatem Ibid. p. 19 20. That bold and importunate Censor of Ignatius hath brought nothing to fill up his pages but ignorance and carelesnesse and egregious imposture whereby hee writhes Antiquity back to his Genevatisme and doth not as he ought regulate Calvinisme by Antiquity In whose defence I need say nothing they of Geneva are enow and old enough to answer for themselves and I doubt not but will doe it in due time I am sorry that I have occasion to observe the like lashing out in him of whom by his bookes of devotion and moderation I was made to expect rather no reproofes of such men then any such reproaches as I read against Master Parker who having said l Non volentes sed nescientes non per apostasiam aut contemptum sed per infirmitatem ignorantiam lapsi sunt qui in disciplina aberrârunt Park de Polit. Eccles lib. 2. c. 8. The Fathers which erred in this matter of Discipline did not offend out of will but out of want of knowledge not through apostacy or contempt but through infirmity and ignorance receiveth his refutation in these words of high disdaine viz. m Bish Hall of Episcopacy part 1. p. 60. But can I now forbeare to aske Who can endure to heare the braying of this proud Schismaticke If I say any thing to succour the credit of Master Parker against this contempt to which my charity enclines mee I shall with some men perhaps endanger mine owne who will be ready to suggest as the Jews against the blind man in the Gospel John 9.28 that I am one of his disciples and if they doe I will ingenuously acknowledge that having read his booke against symbolizing with Antichrist in Ceremonies and being required by a great and learned Prelate to give my judgement of it many yeares ago I answered then and I am of the same opinion still hee hath carried the cause against you my Lord but not against me What meane you by that said the Bishop I meane said I that he hath written enough against your urging of the Ceremonies but not against my yeelding to them if I may not enjoy my Ministry without them Thus much for my selfe now for Master P. I should have thought that his great learning well knowne by his printed workes though against the Crosse and crosse to the Crosier might have secured him from such a brutish scorne especially from that which degrades him to the lowest forme not only of men but of beasts and that as it is hard to prove so none should be hasty to impute either pride or schism where conscience is pretended reasons abundantly alledged and secular comforts deserted as in his case it was his words did not mee thinkes so much as tempt much lesse authorize any one to returne upon him with such contumelious termes for did hee say any thing against the Fathers that he must for that be held unworthy to be called a sonne yea so worthlesse as to bee excommunicated from men and sorted to beasts hee said they erred and why might hee not for were they not men they erred in Discipline they might for all that in matter of doctrine be very learned and Orthodox Doctors They erred said hee not out of will or through apostacy or contempt but through want of knowledge in that particular and of infirmity they might then notwithstanding all this bee very good and holy men as indeed they were and must Master P. for saying but this bee so farre undervalued and vilified as to bee made but as the embleme of grossest stupidity For right against this inhumane wrong I appeale from the Pontificall Tribunall of the Judge decreeing the divine Right of Episcopacy to the closet of the devout Doctor where if hee meditate seriously upon this passionate reproach hee will vow I hope to doe so no more and because hee hath not been wont in this sort to breake out of the way of Christian moderation the plea of Balaams Asse may serve him for some excuse Was I ever wont to doe so unto thee Numb 22.30 Wherein that none may accompt mee like Cham to bee a mocker of so reverend a Father Reverend and Father both without borrowing any reputation from his Rochet I professe though his word braying brought that story to mind I would not have noted it with any reference to him whom both in this booke and elsewhere I have mentioned with affectionate and venerable respect but that the Asse did not bray but speak and speak not the words of a man but of an Angel And O that all our Prelates who plead their preheminence from the title Angels Revel 2.3 had been really Angelicall that wee might have seene by their workes their heart-strings were tuned to the song of the blessed Angels Glory to God in the highest on earth peace good will towards men that wee might have discern'd their desires by their endeavours as your Graces to be seriously set upon the happy union of those sacred Sisters Truth and Peace Zach. 8.19 Peace and Holinesse Hebr. 12.14 to which your zeal hath burned with such a bright blaze and ardent and constant heat and yet hath it beene guided with so much prudent circumspection that I cannot but hope God will make you an effectuall instrument of a most blessed accord both of Churches and Kingdomes and I heartily wish that you had and pray that you may have many Iraeneos Philadelphos like him whom as such an one I have heard you many times mention with much commendation who may give most hopefull assistance of happy successe to such a worthy designe God forbid that either we of England or our brethren of Scotland should be so stupid as not to apprehend that the safety of both Nations is bound up in our union one with another and our ruine like to be let loose in our rent and distraction or so stubborne in asserting our owne interests or working of our owne wills as to fall out for them and by our mutuall hostility so to weaken each part that the common enemie may come in upon us and overcome us both rather then so we should yeeld to any thing but sinne part with any thing but with a good conscience In that which I have hitherto said my good Lord I have shewed but some part of that good report which by such as are least lyable to suspitions of partiality is published of you and because opposites doe illustrate the evidence of truth I have noted some examples of another straine whereby it may appeare that the great schisme and distraction among us hath been made and maintained not by a kind and respective correspondence betwixt persons or Churches of a different Discipline as some not onely untruly but absurdly suggest but by proud and
was my delight Pardon the pious theft to steale a sight And then to wish O that this might not be Imprison'd in a Latin liberty God heard my vote and now hath made it true You would not stoop to times * * My confidence for this the Reader may see in the end of my Preface written about five yeers agoe times should to you WILLIAM LEY Student of Christ-Church SUNDAY A SABBATH CHAP. I. In what cases wee may bee indifferent for the for bearance or use of Names In what wee must bee chary concerning both IF under the diversity of words there were no dissention touching the things that are treated of as a De verbo ut mea fert opinio controversia est de re quidem convanit Senec. de clement l. 2. e. 7. pag. 102. Seneca observeth of the words clemencie and pardon it were a waywardnesse or wantonnesse well worthy of sharpe reproofe to wrangle or spend many words about them which b Ne verbi controversiam vel superfluam faciam vâ—l meritò patiar quoniam cùm de re constat non est opus certare de nomine Aug. Ep. Hieronymo Ep. 28 tom 2. p. 108. Saint Augustine professeth hee would neither willingly doe nor deservedly suffer for where the sense is sound and consonant to truth on both sides embraced there is little appearance of perill in the difference of termes and as little cause to bee curiously nice either in the allowance or forbearance of their use So in effect hath c Dum resâ—ognoscitur non est de vocabulis laborandum Aug. de Gen. ad lit lib. 4. cap. 5. tom 3. pag. 730. S. Augustine after d Non obstant verba cùm sententia congruit veritati Lactant. Instit lib. 4. cap. 9. Lactantius resolved as directed thereto not onely by the rule of Religion which requireth among men Christians especially as much union as may bee 1 Cor. 1.10 but by the dictate of Reason For Logick which is artificiall and refined reason e Docuit me seil Dialectica cùm de re constat propter quam verba diâ—untur non de verbis debere contendi Aug. contra Academ lib. 3. cap. 13. tom 1. pag. 618. saith he hath taught me in consent of things not to contend about the acception of words But since wee cannot hold discourse of the one without helpe of the other for verball notions are to reall in the service of the mind as ″ Verba quasi vasa August Confes l. 1. c. 26. vessels are to meats for the sustenance of the body to serve them in to that both place and use for which they were before prepared Secondly Since not onely the things but words also which concerne the Christians weekly holiday are brought into vehement dispute and sometimes censoriously resolved on the wrong way Thirdly Since likewise men seldome except against a Word or Name but when they wish not altogether well to the thing it selfe as the f Nomen ferè non vellicat nifi qui rei non omnino benè vult Bp. Andrews Ep. 1. Pet. Du-Moulin opusc pag. 166. Bishop of winchester writeth in his first Epistle to Doctor Du-Moulin Fourthly Since sometimes by giving up words in a matter of weight to gratifie the desire of the Adversary there is advantage given therewith to the left hand and more courage taken to contend against the right of the cause in question which was the issue of that facility g De ousia vero nomine abjiciendo placuit auferri non erat curae Episcopis de vocabulo cum sensus esset in tuto Hieron adver Luciferian tom 2. pag. 144. The Arrians required the like for the word Consubstantialis as Theodoret writeth Hist Eccles lib. 2. cap. 18. pag. 533. which the Fathers at Ariminum shewed in condescending to the request of the Arrians for the abatement of the word ousia in the doctrine of the Trinity Lastly Since as h Mr. Ironside quest 3. cap. 13. pag. 123. Mr. Ironside hath out of S. Augustine observed of the Academicks They are not such simple men as not to know how to give things their proper names who purposely make choyce I may say as well purposely make refusall of words which may serve to hide from the simple and to intimate to the wiser sort of their Disciples their opinions whether Sabbatharie or Antisabbatharie if erroneous and dangerous it is equally materiall It is as I conceive upon all these considerations of weight and moment very requisite to make search and to seeke for satisfaction of scruples in this controversie of the Sabbath both for words and things And to conclude with our former comparison as vessels must be scoured before meat be served to the Table in them so words must first bee cleared which is requisite in the tryall of the title of the day of rest as well as in other Questions before the matters in difference which they import can well be brought in to be discussed CHAP. II. Of the divers Names of the Christians weekly holiday THe Names of that day which wee Christians keep for our weekly holiday are divers the first name was the first day of the week a name for Antiquity as old as the beginning of the first weeke of the world Gen. 1.5 And that title is given it by all the foure Evangelists by Saint Matthew chap. 28. ver 1. Saint Mark chap. 16. ver 2. by Saint Luke in Acts 20. ver 7. and by Saint John chap. 20. ver 1. as also by S. Paul 1 Cor. 16.2 eight times as a Mr. Braburn Defence p. 162 Master Braburne numbers them it is called the first day of the weeke by the holy writers of the new Testament all of them using in the Greek a cardinall number for the ordinall as Moses doth in the Hebrew in the forecited Text Gen. 1.5 b Ethnicis semel annuus dies quisque festus est tibi octavo queque die Tert. de Idol cap. 14. tom 2. p. 457. Tertullian c Hic dies octavus id est post Sabbatum primus dominicus Cypr. lib. 3. Epist 8. p. 80. col 2. Cyprian and d Dominicus verò post septimum quid nisi octavus Aug. praefat in Psal 150. tom 8. part 2. p. 1058.1059 Augustine and if wee may beleeve Master Braburne but wee finde no proofe for it all Churches call it the eighth day not that they would have a Christian weeke longer then after the old computation which took up with the number of seven but for that as it is cleare by the words of Saint Augustine it being after the Saturday which was the seventh if a man count on the next day following maketh the eighth and without any intention to make the circle of the weeke one day wider then it was before they made the account in this sort and named it the eighth day the rather with reference to Circumcision which was on the
as Sabbathary errours And though the Bishop pretend the errour of the old Sabbath and rigour of the new to have been so new that Bishop Andrewes and Master Hooker could not take notice of it being before their time and that therefore they tooke the lesse heed to their termes when they spake of our Christian and Weekly Holiday yet it is not like that either was unknowne unto them as he saith the heresie of Pelagius was to Chrysostome and Augustine when they wrote somewhat uncircumspectly concerning some points which he perverted For the conceipt of the necessity and perpetuity of the Saturday Sabbath hath bin the heresie of all Jewes and of some Christians ever since the Christian Sabbath was ordained and the most rigorous excesses touching the observation of the Lords day were published in a n M Rogers Prefat to the Art of Relig. printed anno 1607. Booke of generall note and common use before the passages cited out of Bishop Andrewes writings were published by himselfe or any one else at least before his Starre-chamber speech against Mr. Traske was made and in that speech though Traske were Jewishly conceipted of the Saturday Sabbath he gives the name Sabbath to the Lords day as hath been noted and even Doctor Howson Bishop of Durham though in his Sermon of Festivities hee mention the same straines of ever-strained severity in observation of the Christian Sabbath calleth Sunday or the Lords day for all that by the name Sabbath Besides the wiser sort well knew that to prejudice the piety and authority of the Lords day as from the fourth Commandement from whence the name Sabbath is derived upon it would bee to give too much countenance to Libertines and Antinomists whose heresie being plausible to the flesh by the craft of the Divell was like to find more welcome entertainment with the world then that opinion of the Saturday Sabbath or then those extreme severities in observation of the Lords day So that all doubts and dangers duely considered on both sides I make no doubt if most of those Worthies whose testimonies wee have produced for the name Sabbath were now alive to see the carriage of the cause in our daies but they would thinke it most convenient to continue the title Sabbath to the Lords day to make good their precedent by subsequent attestations to this truth and to adde their further care to oppose profanenesse which hath mightily advanced since the Legall and Evangelicall authority and piety of this day hath been so opposed I may say in the Bishops owne words and with reference to him opposed with an high hand for no hand so high as his did ever strive so to weaken the one and darken the other since the darknesse of Popery was by the light of the Gospel driven out of our English Horizon as his hath done Fourthly yet for all that as he desires I will judge charitably of him for my charity inclines mee to conceive that he wrote what he thought but withall my discretion telleth me that his pen marched in this quarrell after Jehu's pace in some pangs of passion which are no helps to true information in any difference whether of Religion or otherwise else hee would not have stained his stile with such infected phrases as o Bish Whites answer to the Dialogue p. 72. the mangy objections of the Dialogue-dropper and the scabby similitudes of old Thomas Cartwright termes more meet for the Frocke then for the Rochet If his Adversary dealt uncivilly with him I excuse him not if I might be so bold as to speak my mind of them both I should freely blame them for mingling so much of the drosse of their owne corruptions with the pure Gold of the Sanctuary in this cause of the Sabbath The fourth exception of the Bishop touching the testimony of his Brother Doctor John White answered Fourthly for that which is brought in in the name of his brother Doctor John White calling the Lords day by the name of Sabbath he replyeth thus There is not any contradiction between the two brethren in this Doctrine for the one brother calleth the Lords day Sabbath in a mysticall sense and the other brother saith that it is not the Sabbath of the fourth Commandement in a literall and proper sense Where he bringeth in againe the distinction of literall and mysticall taking literall in a negative sense for his owne part for he denieth the name in that sense and giving mysticall in a positive acception but with an implicite negation of the letter to his brother to which I answer First that had Doctor John White been alive when the Bishop wrote thus he could not I beleeve have made him such a yonger brother though hee were the elder brother and a Bishop both as to put upon him his opinions of the Sabbath either for the title or tenure Secondly the mist of that mis-application of mysticall and literall is already dispelled by the exposition of the Homily which containeth the Tenet of the Church of England so that we may say supposing his brother an Orthodox Doctor of this Church hee did not howsoever he should not so take the name Sabbath in a mysticall sense as to deny the literall in application to the Lords day Thirdly by that I have heard of that learned and godly Doctor both for his Doctrine where he preached and for his conversation where he lived I have cause to suspect his brother imposeth an opinion on him which he did not hold as he did on our Churches Homily before rehearsed Fourthly whosoever shall please to peruse the p Chap. 16. quotation out of Doctor John Whites Booke shall evidently see that he tooke the word Sabbath not in a mysticall but in a literall sense and without absurd and perverse wrestling of his words they cannot otherwise be expounded CHAP. XVIII A particular Answer to the particular exceptions made against the name Sabbath as applyed to Sunday or Lords day and first of the dangerous plot pretended by Doctor Pocklington in the use of the name Sabbath for Sunday and of his prodigious comparison of the name Sabbath on the Lords day and the crowne of Thornes on the Lords head WHat before wee have observed by way of exception against the word Sabbath was onely to note how farre by some it was disliked now wee must particularly examine the grounds and reasons of their dislike and give answer to them though some of them be rather passionate reproaches then probable objections Here the clamours of Doctor Pocklington are so loud that hee must needs first be heard with his accusations against the word Sabbath which if they be as true as they are hainous just cause there is to decree downe and cry down the name Sabbath as the name of him who to bee famous burned the Temple of Diana at Ephesus and thereupon became so infamous that all mention of his name was forbidden by a solemne Decree His charge on the use of
the name Sabbath is That there is in it a double plot the a Doct. Pockl. Visit Serm. pag. 20. one is to stalke behind that name and to shoot at the service appointed for the Lords day the b Ibid. other is to impose upon the day damnable superstition which hee aggravates by this opprobrious comparison hee c Ibid. resembleth the putting of the name Sabbath upon the Lords day to the putting of a crowne of Thornes upon the head of the Lord himselfe making them both unsutable alike and saith This was platted to impose on him damnable derision that was plotted to impose on it damnable superstition Now because he was aware that his comparison might touch some to the quicke who were better then himselfe hee putteth on their heads as a linnen cap for an head-piece this poor Apology to save them from pricking d Ibid. p. 20. If we find the word Sabbath for Sunday saith he used in some writings that of late come unto our hands blame not the Clerks good men for it Nor entitle the misprision any higher or otherwise then to these pretenders of piety who for their own ends have for a long time deceived the world with their zealous and most ignorant or cunning clamours and rung the name Sabbath so commonly into all mens eares that not Clerkes onely but men of judgement learning and vertue not heeding peradventure so much as is requisite what crafty and wicked device may be managed under the vaile of a faire word used in Gods Law doe likewise suffer the name often to escape the doore of their lips that detest the drift of the deviser in the closet of their hearts In which speech to spare many other passages of his booke which lye open to just exception of reason and religion there are divers particulars worthy of examination and censure which we may referre First to the fault objected an impious plot Secondly to the persons for whom he putteth in a perplexed and impotent plea to acquit or excuse them from participation therein For the former viz. the plot it is twofold as hee takes it the one to stalke behind the name Sabbath and to shoot at the service appointed for the Lords day the other to impose upon the day damnable superstition For the first Let him remember what hee hath said page 7. viz. e Dr. Pockling Sunday no Sab. pag. â— Allow them their Sabbath and you must allow them the service that belongs to their Sabbath then must you have no Letany for that 's no service for their Sabbaths but for Sundayes To which I say First Hee seemeth to except against a Sabbatary service as faulty or offensive in some positive points but noteth nothing in particular but what is negative the leaving out of the Letany Secondly That those whom wee have produced for the use of the word Sabbath require no Jewish services on that day nor any other then such as the Church hath established under the name Sunday Thirdly That if the word Sabbath will serve for a stalking horse against the Letany and other service of the Church because that is enjoyned not under the name Sabbath but Sunday then the word Lords day which hee alloweth will serve as well for a stalking horse to the same purpose for the Service is entituled not with the name Lords day but with the name Sunday which as wee have observed before is the word that beareth the greatest sound and sway throughout all the Communion Books since the Reformation of Religion within this Realme yea the title Lords day will serve better to that purpose for the name Sabbath is incorporated into the service of the Church in the fourth Commandement where that title Sabbath is repeated thrice over and that Commandement with the other nine is appointed by the order of our Church to bee rehearsed in her publick Liturgie every Sunday and holiday and besides them on the fifth of November and on the dayes of solemne fasting prescribed upon especiall occasion of the Church and State and to bee learned by heart by the younger sort as a part of the Christian Catechisme but the name Lords day is not to my remembrance once mentioned in our Communion Book now in use Now for the other plot It is as hee saith to impose upon the day damnable superstition I answer That the day may lawfully be called by that name as before wee have proved the abuse of it in some if it were such as hee pretended but cannot prove cannot take away the Christian liberty of others for the lawfull use of it nor hinder but that good Christians may have their intentions when they use it truely pious though the mindes of others bee superstitious Secondly That this condemning censure of an harmelesse word in f Peccar qui damnat quasi peccata quae nulla sunt Aug. de lib. arb lib. 3. cap. 15. Saint Augustine his judgement is a sinne and that sinne may bee a severe and sowre superstition for there is a superstition negative as well as positive as in those who say Touch not taste not handle not Col. 2.21 The forbearance of a thing as unlawfull when it is lawfull is a superstition and the damning of such a thing may bee a damnable superstition but howsoever saith the Doctor it is a great indecorum to call the Lords day by the name Sabbath g D. Pockl. p. 20. The vizzard of the Sabbath on the face of the Lords day saith he doth as well become it as the crowne of thornes did the Lord himselfe A speech not sit to be delivered for shame without a vizzard on the face of him that speaketh it to hide his blushing at the guilt of such an excessive absurdity if hee have any modesty at all or to cover his impudency if hee have none Here by the way let him not thinke it much if we returne him a taste of rue or herbe grace for his full dos of vinegar and gall for what indecorum can bee conceived comparable to that of setting of a crowne of thornes upon his head who was so innocent and excellent that roses and the powder of gold were not good enough to bee strewed in his way nor worthy to be trodden on by the sandals of his feet Surely if there had beene an appearance of such uncomelinesse in calling the Lords day by the name of the Sabbath King James so pregnant in apprehension so sound in judgement and the learned Bishops with other Ecclesiasticks of especiall choice who were at the conference of Hampton Court would not have shewed an unanimous assent to the thing Doctor Reynolds proposed which was the Reformation of abuse of the Lords day by the name of the Sabbath day without any exception at the word used by him But indeed there was no cause of offence in it at all for want of comelinesse as Doctor Pocklington objecteth for the comelinesse of words chiefly consisteth in their congruity with
is honoured yea and all weeke dayes as hee is Lord of all time however measured or entitled might bee called Lords daies and onely use hath shrunke in generality into a propriety and confined the title Lords day to that which hath a weekly recourse for religious observation as it hath done the name Scripture and Bible but now mentioned and in this also the name Sabbath hath as much propriety as it Object To succour this objection c M. Ironside qu. 3. ch 12. pag. 122. Master Ironside his Argument may be brought in which is this That name which doth lesse edifie is lesse proper this I thinke saith hee will be easily agreed on by all parties But the name Sabbath doth lesse edifie for it leads us onely to a cessation from bodily labour on the contrary the Lords day doth betoken and explaine the whole nature and duty of the day as the remembrance of Christs resurrection acknowledging his Lordship over the Church and over all other creatures in the world Ergo c. I answer Answ Both major and minor are infirme and unable to beget or bring forth the conclusion which hee desireth First for the major That name which doth lesse edifie is lesse proper saith he and hee saith it with confidence that all parties will yeeld consent to that conceipt But if his proposition bee generall and so it must be or it will be too narrow for a Logicall conclusion I conceive it is subject to just exception and so is not like to obtaine an acceptation of such an extent as he talketh of for it imports a neerer affinity betwixt propriety of words and edification then wee find in use and sets words not proper at a further distance from edification then there is cause First for the first Proper words doe not alwaies best edifie nor improper or figurative least nay many times improper words and figurative speeches give both most light to the understanding and worke with greatest force upon the affections and so are of best use for edification There are memorable instances hereof both in the Scripture and in other Authours which will be superfluous in this place since we need none other then his owne word edifie which as hee useth it is a figurative and not a proper terme for it signifieth properly the building of an house figuratively the bringing of light to the understanding working heat upon the affection or any furtherance in matter of Religion and in that sense it is usually both uttered and understood by men whether learned or illiterate Secondly if propriety and edification consort so well together as hee saith it maketh much for the preheminence we plead for for the name Sabbath is proper First as not figurative signifying a literall Rest which is requisite for celebration of our weekly Holiday and proper Secondly as not common to all Holidaies common use now having confined it to our weekly Holiday though called also Sunday or Lords day according to the different impressions set upon the fancy or affection of those that mention it Secondly for the minor which is But the name Sabbath doth lesse edifie then the Lords day doth for it leads us onely to an outward cessation I answer First that the name Sabbath doth lead us directly to the fourth Commandement the fundamentall Authority for a weekly Holiday and if the foundation be of most use in building and edification the name Sabbath leading us to that doth best edifie the word Lords day leads us to a tenure of lesse both evidence and assurance and consequently of lesse authority as hath partly been shewed already and we shall further manifest afterwards Secondly The name Sabbath leadeth not onely to a cessation from bodily labour but to holinesse also for it leadeth us to the Commandement which saith as well Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy as Thou shalt do no manner of work Thirdly Whereas hee saith The Lords day doth best open and explaine the nature and duty of the day as the remembrance of Christs Resurrection and acknowledgement of his Lordship over the Church and all other creatures of the world Let any one reade the fourth Commandement where the Sabbath is named and the first of the Revelat. ver 10. where the Lords day is named and let him tell mee which of them doth more explaine the duty of the day nay the name Lords day doth neither expressely nor by necessary consequence direct to the duties of the day nor to the Evangelicall ground of it the Resurrection of our Saviour since other dayes have been set up with our weekly holiday by way of competition for that title as hath before beene observed Besides When the name Sabbath leadeth to the fourth Commandement it bringeth us to the title Lords day for if it be the Sabbath of the Lord as it is there called it is the Lords day for the Sabbath is a day and hee is called Lord of the Sabbath Mat. 12.8 Mark 2.28 and the Lordship hee hath there is not onely particular over the Church but universall over the world for there it is said that in sixe dayes the Lord made heaven and earth and sea and every thing contained in them all Yet I deny not but the title Lords day is generally used for the day of our Saviours Resurrection wherein as a Lord of life and death he raised his body from the state of the dead and returned to the living accomplishing thereby actually his owne restitution to a glorious liberty and vertually ours but that consideration is more remote from the sanctification of one day in seven then that which the name Sabbath doth import Notwithstanding I deny not but that it might bee well used to edification if men would so take it to bee the Lords day as to take none of it from the advancement of his glory to the promotion of their owne profit or practice of their owne pleasures wherein most make as bold with it to serve their sâ—â—â—lar affaires or sensuall humours sometimes upon very sleight occasions as if not Christ but they were Lords of that day Object But the name Lords day inclineth to no erroneous conceipts and the name Sunday though once it did doth not in our dayes bring with it any perill of Paganisme but the name Sabbath may import some danger of Judaisme therefore the name Lords day is the best the name Sabbath the worst Answ I have in effect though not formally answered to this objection before and have made it plaine that Judaisme is best opposed and those that are Jewish most displeased by entitling our Lords day to the name Sabbath and to the authority of the fourth Commandement as it prescribeth the holy observation of one day in seven and by averring that their seventh day in order is not expressely there prescribed but a seventh day in number as shall be manifested in its proper place Object But a learned and zealous Pleader for a weekely Sabbath in the