Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
christian_n	apostle_n	church_n	creed_n	1,331	5	10.2664	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A73284	Profano-mastix. Or, a briefe and necessarie direction concerning the respects which wee owe to God, and his house even in outward worship, and reverent using of holy places. Shewing chiefly when, and how, wee ought to enter; how to behave our selves being entred, how to depart; as also, how to esteeme of Gods house at every other time. Written out of a true and sincere intent to reduce the disordered and factious, to a better order then either their neglect, stubbornnesse, or scrupulositie can purchase for them. / By Iohn Swan curate of Duxford S. Peters.	Swan, John, d. 1671.	1639 (1639)	STC 23513; ESTC S106202	33,675	74

I may the better invite thee let mee plead the cause a little further Dost thou desire to confesse thy sinnes there 's a forme of exquisite confession Or dost thou desire to bee absolved there 's an order how the Priest shall absolve the truly penitent and faithfull soule Or dost thou desire to praise thy God there 's an heavenly Te Deum for such a purpose or dost thou desire to make an open confession of that faith which the orthodox Christians ever held there be the three Creeds namely that of the Apostles Athanasius and the Niceene Creed the two last of which are received of the Church not as new but as expositions of the first Their foundation is in Scripture and are Regula fidei even as the Decalogue is Regula vitae Or dost thou desire to pray as thy Saviour teacheth there 's the Pater noster * Doctor Boyse in his Post A prayer which excells all other in many respects as being the Gospels epitome compiled by wisdome it selfe so large for matter so short for phrase so sweet for order as that it deserveth worthily to have the First and Most place in all our Liturgie The first saith Tertullian as guide to the rest The most saith that learned Hooker as a necessary complement to supplie whatsoever is wanting in the rest This being tanquam sal as a kind of Salt to season all and every part of the divine service Idem ibid. In which regard saith our English Postiller we use it often as at the end of the Letanie at the end of Baptisme at the end of the Communion and at the end of other sacred actions Or againe dost thou desire to give publike thanks as a good Christian ought to doe for publike benefits or to bee eased from generall calamities or to bee secured from common evils why there in that booke be formes and patternes for such a purpose yea for the asking of those things which bee requisite and necessary as well for the bodie as the soule And will none of these things move thee to come betimes to Gods house I doubt thy sanctitie and suspect thy soundnesse The place is holy the service holy And therefore let there bee so much holinesse in thee as may bring thee cheerefully early and devoutly to this holy place and there make thee to be one with the rest in that holy businesse which well beseemes a holy Christian For this is certaine that our holinesse towards God concernes us one way in that wee are men and another way in that wee are joyned as parts to that visible mysticall body which is his Church As men we are at our owne choyce both for time and place and forme according to the exigence of our owne occasions in private But as we be the members of a publike body the service which is to be done of us must of necessitie be publike And so consequently bee performed by us on holy dayes and in holy places And thus I have done with the first thing which is that wee be not late commers The second concernes our Reverence in entring which how it ought of right to bee performed by degrees shall be declared In the Scriptures you know that wee reade of Moses and Aaron that they did their reverence at the very doore of the Tabernacle Numb 20.6 And take heed to thy foot when thou entrest into the house of God is the wise mans counsell in Eccles 5.1 Hee forewarnes thee that hee might fore-arme thee And good reason that his counsell should bee regarded otherwise the heart that thou bringest with thee is no better then cor fatui a fooles heart enough to make a man be guiltie of evill when hee should bee doing of good It is not sufficient to say that although such outward worship was requisite under the Law yet not now required For before Iudaisme began Iacob acknowledged Bethel Gen. 28. the house of God to bee a place of feare and reverence Hee did no sooner perceive that it was an house of God but hee presently began to bee perplexed for feare he had not behaved himselfe so in it as of right he knew hee ought to doe in all such places And albeit our Saviour said to the woman of Samaria in the fourth chapter of S. Iohn that the time was then at hand that God should not be worshipped either at Hierusalem or at mount Garazim but that the true worshippers should worship the Father in spirit and in truth yet did hee not say any thing for the abolishing of publike Places purposely consecrated and set apart for publike worship What then I answer that hee did declare the cessation of worship to be now at hand both according to the custome of the Iewes worshipping at Ierusalem and of the Samaritans worshipping upon the aforesaid Mountaine For all such shadowes types and figures as pointed to the Messiah must cease the body being come And in that regard hee useth the word Spirit by way of opposition or as it is set against that commandement which in Heb. 7.16 is called carnall And so also for the word truth he speaketh of it not as wee set it against a lie but as wee take it in respect of the outward ceremonies of the Law which did only shadow that which Christ performed in very deed as even the Geneva note observeth Or if that of Spirit and truth bee further urged the better to colour mens want of reverence in the house of God it is againe answered that when outward or corporall worship proceedeth from spirituall devotion and is applied thereunto it is then a Spirituall worship because by this rule it is joyned to that which ought to bee the chiefe and principall mover in all our postures 2.2 q. 84. art 1. Ad primum And so saith Aquinas Quod etiam adoratio corporalis in spiritu fit in quantum ex spirituali devotione procedit adeam orainatur And indeed so long as man hath a body as well as a soule how shall hee manifest his inward feare and reverence but by his outward devotion or shall the soule be subject and the body free 'T is nothing so hee that made both requireth as the Apostle tels us that we glorifie him in both And so outward reverence as well as inward feare doth necessarily belong to every Christian The true worshippers therfore should remember to addresse themselves with dread and horror and enter with preparation as unto God prostrating Eae quae exterius aguntur signa sunt interioris reverentiae Aquin. sum 2.2 q. 84. art 1. or bowing downe their bodies not only in token of their both inward and outward humiliation but also in regard of the reverence which they owe to God into whose house and before whose presence they are now entred And indeed it is an humble soule that is both ready and willing to shew and afford due reverence whereas the proud and haughty will rather kick against

at which they might not offer except they were in perfect love and unitie one with another For in that Sermon where this dutie is commanded the Precepts given were not legall but Evangelicall it being a degree above the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees to seeke such peace as was then preached upon the Mountaine No tradition of the Elders or other Law being knowne to urge any such direction as was there delivered Whereupon considering one thing with another it may bee concluded as in a plaine case that by both names that sacred seate of the body and bloud of our Saviour as Optatus stileth it hath beene promiscuously and indifferently called from the first beginning of the Christian Church They goe wrong therefore who will be led by vulgar opinion and astonished by popular reports of they know not what Rome indeed hath made many things offensive to ignorant eares But it is neither vulgar opinion feare nor heare say that can disprove a truth For as shee seekes no corners so being suffered to display her colours shee cleares her selfe against all sorts of opposites bee their temper what it will To returne then to the matter in hand Antiquitie and that grounded upon Scripture takes from it as well as from what is appendant to it all and every just aspersion of innovation And verily those Sainted times loved the great God of Heaven and Earth too well to love any thing like him They knew him to bee a jealous God and therefore did not adore the thing or place toward which they worshipped but God alone to whom this homage is due Just Mart. ad Orthod quaest 118. See also Ter●ul Apol. c. 16. Orig sup Nū Hom. 5. Basil de spirit sanct c. 27. Aug. de Serm. Dom. in Mont. lib. 2. c. 19. cum mul●is aliis It cannot bee saith Iustin Martyr that at the time of our Prayer wee should looke at all the parts of heaven at once therefore we worship looking towards one part viz. the East Not that that is only of Gods making or that hee hath chosen that only for his dwelling but because it is the place appointed for that worship and service which wee performe to God Adding moreover that from whom the Church received the custome of praying from them also it received where to pray that is from the Apostles Thus that godly Father and blessed Martyr who was famous about 117 yeares after Christs Passion expresly witnessing that this order came first from the Apostles viz. that Christians direct their aspect towards the East when they pray or worship Tertullian witnesseth the same order and so doth Origen Athanasius Basil Gregorie Nissen Saint Austin Damascen with many others Nor can the Centurie writers but affirme it most of our Churches excepting some of late being built for scituation accordingly From which direction thus delivered was clearely shewed that albeit in the Iewish Tabernacle and Temple the Westerne part thereof was chiefe yet not so in the Christian Churches for in ours the Easterne part must be preferred And as with them the Westerne part was chiefe because the Mercie seate was there so with us the Easterne part because the Holy Table is placed here And for the scituation of both these there was just cause why they should bee rather so then otherwise For the Iewes wee know were in the times of darknesse in comparison of our times of light Their Tabernacle therefore and Temple had the place of highest Majestie in the West towards which they looked for want of the Sunnes appearance Christ was then unborne But wee are in the dayes of a better light the Sunne is risen and visiteth us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ●s the Day or Easterne light from on high Luke 1.78 Wee therefore in acknowledgement thereof turne our faces toward the East have there the place of highest Majestie and by turning thither professe our times to be the times of light To which may be added that of Damascen Damas de Orthod fid lib. 4. c. 13. affirming that when Christ hanged upon the Crosse hee was placed so as that his face looked into the West and therefore could not be seene but of those whose faces were directed towards the East Which together with the former was also a reason why the Christians had cause to preferre the Easterne part of their Churches before the Westerne and to place the Altar of their commemorative Sacrifice rather there then else-where Yea and further because the Divell is Gods Ape the Pagans looked into the West as well as the Iewes That therefore in opposition to the one as well as the other wee may renounce the Divell whom they served in their heathenish Idolatrie as well as the religion of the Iewes who denie Christ to be come wee turne to the East and so enter a covenant with the Sunne of righteousnesse And of this last Saint Ambrose among other of the Fathers speakes after this manner Thou art turned to the East because hee who renounceth the Divell is converted to Christ and beholds him directo obtuitu with a direct aspect Vnto which custome as is probably supposed Saint Iohn seemeth to allude in Revelat. 7.2 For there the Angell ascends from the East to meet and embrace them that looke towards him and seale them with the safetie of that Sacrament by which Christians seale their service unto him as in Master Yates is well observed Here therefore wee are to seate the Holy Table as in its proper place Nor was it ever otherwise among Christians when they might bee suffered to doe as they would except in some particular Churches which can be no fit president to be opposed against a generall practise And thus as I can see no reason why any should bee offended at a decent and holy reverence when wee come into the House of God which all Religions have beene carefull to performe so much lesse that they should grudge against it when wee doe it towards that place where the high and heavenly Mysteries of our salvation are to be consecrated and celebrated with all the solemnitie and devotion wee can possibly imagine Here it is that wee have our perfectest communion with God It begins indeed in Baptisme but ends in the Lords Supper for higher wee cannot goe till wee come in heaven and they are the best Saints that are admitted to it at the least wee judge them such because such they should be For though all may come to the Word and be present at our ordinarie Service yet when this commeth all but the faithfull must bee gone Ite Missaest was that which was said of old yea and still the unworthy are not to bee admitted but the rest invited to come and draw neere that they may receive this Sacrament to their comfort and have that high advancement of being fed at Gods owne Boord with the body and bloud of his beloved Sonne Say not therefore any longer Why are not the Font Deske or Pulpit

c. 25. but God that is worshipped Furthermore Socrates also reporteth that Alexander Bishop of Constantinople Ad Altare progressus humi coram sacra Mensa se in faciem prostravit meaning that comming to the Altar hee cast himselfe on his face or bowed to the ground before that Holy Table Or as * Viz. Hee who was the authour of the Holy Table pag. 194. Sozom. lib. 1. cap. 28. some translate it out of the Greeke Copie Hee came into the Quire or Chancell and bowed before the Holy Table Sozomen makes mention that his prostration was when he came Ad Basin Altaris at the foot of the Altar Ad basin Altaris procidens totam noctem pronus humi jacebat And in the dayes of the fift generall Councel the Archbishop of the foresaid place exhorted the people to doe their accustomed reverence or to adore at the holy Altar Also in the dayes of Saint Ambrose Theod. lib. 5. cap. 17. the Emperour is put in mind of the difference of places And againe did not the reverence of Holy Altars prevaile so farre with the furious Souldiers and barbarous Goths that as the said Ambrose telleth us they willingly fell downe and kissed them Ambr. lib. 5. Epist 33. And if you thinke that this act of their was more then needed I answer that there is an honour due likewise to the very things themselves which consisteth in a Veneration or a reverent using of whatsoever belongeth to Gods House and chiefly of those things which have most relation to his holy worship otherwise wee should bee absolute allowers of prophanation and be in a manner as bad as those whom our Saviour himselfe drove away from out of his Fathers House More testimonies might bee alledged but these are enough and too many perhaps may some man thinke who careth not to tread in the steps of the holy Fathers And yet even the authour of the Holy Table thinketh that they did it decently and devoutly as may bee seene at the 193. page of his booke affirming more fully some certaine * See pag. 99. pages before that although the Canon doth not enjoyne it yet reason pietie and the constant practise of Antiquitie doth That Church-men doe it in Saint Chrysostomes Liturgie and the Lay-men are commanded to doe it in Saint Chrysostomes Homilie bequeathing them to Donatus who can practise all manner of Curtesies for Maskes and Dances but none by any meanes for Christ at their approach to the Holy Table Whereupon hee doth not so much accept against this kind of worship as that the Communion Table should be called by the name of Altar a poore quarrell and such as Antiquitie knowes not how to countenance It had beene good therefore if our Church had never beene troubled with such verball contentions But to give satisfaction in this let us looke among the Antients for our better quiet And first I will begin with the second or as some divide them the third of the Apostles Canons where the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Altar is twice used for the Holy Table Ignatius also in his Epistles ad Philadelphenses Trallenses and Ephesies hath the same word for the same thing Iustin Martyr and Irenaeus are well enough knowne to call the Eucharist Iren. lib. 4. c. 20. c. 34. both an oblation and a Sacrifice and therefore not to bee doubted but that they called the place or seate thereof as well as their Predecessours and suecessours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tertullian likewise in that testimonie of his already mentioned as also in * Lib. de Orat in sine other of his writings used the word Altar for the Communion Table And Saint Cyprian in many of his Epistles Viz. Epist 42.55.64.70.73 c. doth the like So also doth Euscbius who lived in the daies of that famous Constantine Ambrose also Ambr. lib. 5. Epist 33. who was in the dayes of Theodosius a second Constantine saith no lesse And in Gregorie Nissen the like phrase is * Viz Serm. de baptismo Quid est Altare niss sedes corporis sanguinis Christi Optat lib. 6. used So also Saint Austin Optatus and generally so many others as cannot without tediousnesse be related Howbeit this must be remembred that as a worthy * Mr. Meade in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ex Chrysost Hom. Quod Chrislus est Deus authour hath declared Saint Chrysostome affirmes it of our British Ilands saying The Britssh Ilands which lie out of this Sea and are in the Ocean it selfe have felt the power of the Word for even there also Churches and Altars are erected Now if in these testimonies the Apostles Canons bee misliked it cannot bee in respect of the first of them but rather that some other were added to them and continued under the same title still Or if the place of Saint Paul to the Corinthians be objected where hee saith 2 Cor. 10.12 You cannot communicate of the Table of the Lord and of the Table of Divels It is answered that there is another place equall to it in Heb. 13.10 where hee also saith Wee have an Altar whereof they have no right to eate who serve the Tabernacle Not that the materials of the Table or Altar can bee eaten but that they who come to the holy Communion participate of that which is there consecrated and from thence distributed And indeed we communicate from the Altar as from an Holy Table of that heavenly banquet which in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper is afforded to us And from the Table as from an holy Altar wee offer unto God the Memorie of that Sacrifice which his dearely beloved Sonne once offered upon the Crosse And so though wee have neither any bloudy Sacrifice as among the Iewes nor any unbloudy propitiatorie Sacrifice offered for the Quick and the Dead as among the Papists yet wee have a commemorative Sacrifice done in remembrance of Christ and of his death and Passion And therefore one and the same thing may bee called both A Table and an Altar A Table for the Lords Supper and an Altar for the Memoriall Sacrifice of our Lords death Or will you have it yet more full and plaine then know that as the Apostle in the one place calls the Altar of the Pagans by the name of Table so in the * Viz. 1 Cor. 10.21 other place hee calls the Table of the Christians by the name of Altar * Viz. Heb. 13.10 For as hee compares cating with eating so also Altar with Altar or Table with Table using the appellation with indifferencie as wee also find in some other places of the Booke of God viz. Ezek. 41.22 and Malach. 1.7 Nor againe if things bee well weighed can it but probably appeare that Christ in Math. 5.23 taught Christians that even in the dayes of the Gospell there should bee something still which should beare the name of Altar in the holy place of their Assemblies