judge hardly But the natural result of what he argues is as I told you He doth not think that Iohn was on the Lords day Rev. 1. 10. keeping the Anniversary of Christs Incarnation nor of his Resurrection No more do I. But why not Because saith he he may say as in the case of Moses's dead body No man knows of his Sepulchre to this day Now as to the Incarnation I am apt to think that no man doth At this day know certainly either on what day of the Year or what day of the Week Christ was born nor is it any matter whether we do or no. But I should rather say no man knows At this day than as he no man knoweth To this day as if no man hitherto had known it for certainly there have been those who knew it heretofore while he was alive though it be now forgotten and at this day no man knows it But will he say so as to the Resurrection I think it is plain that Christ was Crucified on the fourteenth day lay in the Grave the fifteenth and rose again the sixteenth day of the first month And that he rose on the first day of the week no man doubts He should rather have put it thus As no man knows To this day where is the Body of Moses that it might not be worshiped So no man knows At this day which is the Seventh in course from the Creation that we might not contend about it However I am contented to admit if that will please him that the Lords day there mentioned was neither meant of Christmass-day nor Easter-day nor Whit-sunday nor the day of Iudgment but think it to be meant of the first day of the week which is the Christian Sabbath Not of any of those other days mentioned nor of the Iewish Sabbath as he would have it 'T is I think a new notion of his own at least I know none other of his mind that it should be meant of the Iewish Sabbath He grants there is nothing from the Circumstances of the place to determine it to this day Nor doth he pretend to shew that the Jewish Sabbath was ever so called But he thinks it might have been so called For he says God blessed and sanctified the seventh day that is the Seventh day after Six days of Labour therefore it might have been called the Lords day and so may as well the Christian Sabbath as the Iews Sabbath That the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath day And so he is of every day in the Week and of the Christian Sabbath when that is the Sabbath as well as of the Iewish That the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord our God that is the Seventh day after Six days of Labour but whether the Seventh day in course from the Creation is no where said That Isai. 58. 13. The Sabbath is called my holy day True on what ever day the Sabbath be First or Seventh of the Week or whatever day God appoints to be kept Holy As for instance the first and seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened bread Ex. 12. 16. The First day shall be a Holy Convocation and the Seventh day shall be a Holy Convocation and each of them was the Lords Holy day on what ever day of the week they happened And the like for other days So Levit. 23. 2 4 7 8 21 24 25 27 28 30 32 35 36 39. and Num. 28. 18 25 26. Num. 29. 1 7 12 35. All the days here mentioned are the Lords Holy days yet I do not take any of them to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And all he can pretend to from these or whatever he produceth is no more but that the Iewish Sabbath while it was the Sabbath might have been so called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords day he doth not pretend to shew that ever it was so called Now I would desire this Gentleman if he can but a little while lay aside his prejudice to consider first that the Lords day was the proper name of a day whereby it might be known as distinguished from other days else to what purpose is it said I was in the spirit on the Lords day whereas the proper name of the Iewish Sabbath and of that onely as he would have us think p. 64. was the Sabbath day and there is no appearance of reason why if he meant that day he should not rather have said I was in the spirit on the Sabbath day or the seventh day This therefore must needs be meant of some other day known by another name 2. I would have him next consider that the Lord in the Old Testament is the usual name of God indefinitely without particularizing this or that of the Three persons and the Sabbath of the Lord thy God doth not appropriate it to the second Person more than to the first and third And though I do not deny that our Christ was the God who gave the Ten Commandments for all the three Persons are the same God yet I do not think it to be Christ onely as contradistinguished to the other two And when it is said I am the Lord thy God thou shall have no other God but me the meaning is not I the second Person am so the Lord thy God that thou shalt own no other Person for thy God beside me the second Person But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord in the New Testament is for the most part applied peculiarly to our Lord Christ God and Man and is understood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of him As he is called elsewhere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Son of Man And accordingly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must be a day peculiarly appropriate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to our Lord Christ which the Jewish Sabbath was not nor that of the Fourth Commandment which is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God that is of God indefinitely for 't is in that notion that God speaks in the Ten Commandments not as one person contradistinct to the other two It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords day in a like sense as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 11. 20. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Cup of the Lord the Table of the Lord 1 Cor. 10. 21 22. 1 Cor. 11. 27. In all which by the Lord is meant the Lord Christ God and Man And because there being a double Sabbath then in use the Iewish Sabbath and the Christian Sabbath and the word Sabbath indefinitely having been a long time applied to the Iewish Sabbath and would be apt to be understood of it therefore by way of distinction that of the Christians though a Sabbath also within the sense of the Fourth Commandment was called the Lords day as being the Day or Sabbath appropriate to our Lord Iesus Christ. And therefore when he tells us so often the World was made by our Lord Iesus Christ and the Law given on Mount Sinai by our Lord
had not thought it to be so meant by his Master St. Iohn 〈…〉 manner it was observed in their solemn religious assemblies Iustin Martyr tells us within â—0 years after that and that it was otherwise called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sunday And that Dominica or Dies Dominicus hath been so used not onely by the Ancient Christian Writers Ignatius Clemens Irenaeus Origen Tertullian c. but by the Councils and Church History all along hath been so often shewed by divers and is to be seen by any who please to consult them as is not to be doubted by any unless we would under the notion of Tradition deny all History which in a plain matter of Fact were very unreasonable Nor can he shew that the name of the Lords day ever was however it might have been as he thinks attributed to the Iewish Sabbath And therefore to tell us that this name is stollen from the Iewish Sabbath to be applied to ours is such a Fansy as may be laughed at but doth not deserve a serious Answer Sure we are that the Christian Sabbath hath been long in possession of that Name but that ever the Iewish Sabbath was so there is no evidence Therefore the Theft must be on his side who steals it from us to give it to the Jewish Sabbath But he tells us that our Saviour himself observed the Jewish Sabbath And I suppose he did so And that he was Circumcised also and did observe the Ceremonial Law But it was before his Death and Resurrection I do not find that he observed it afterward But he says after Christs Death when he had said It is finished he kept the Sabbath in the Grave Be it so if that were keeping a Sabbath And the good Women rested on that day according to the Commandment And why not Since Christ was not yet risen nor was the day yet changed or pretended so to be This therefore is but Whimsey and nothing to the purpose We all agree that till the Resurrection of Christ the Jews observed the Jewish Sabbath on what they called the seventh-Seventh-day of their Week But whether or no it were a Seventh from the Creation we cannot tell 'T is more to the purpose what he tells us that Paul and other Christians did after Christs Resurrection seem to observe the Jewish Sabbath Going to the Temple and to the Synagogues on the Sabbath-day meaning thereby the Iewish Sabbath And it is true They did so go But I answer 1. So they did on other days as well as on the Sabbath and in other places as well as in the Synagogue and the Temple Act 5. 42. Dayly in the Temple and in every house or from house to house 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 they ceased not to preach Iesus Christ. And Act. 2. 46. they continued dayly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with one accord in the Temple 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and breaking bread at home or from house to house As to such duties of Worship as were common to them with the Jews they took the opportunity of joining therein with them whether on their Sabbath or on any other day but as to what was peculiarly Christian this they performed in separate meetings from them breaking their Bread at home 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or from house to house The Sacrament of the Lords Supper being peculiarly a Christian service they did celebrate in their houses or separate places of meeting And so we find it at Troas and on the first day of the week Act. 20. 7. on the first day of the week when the Disciples were met to break bread Paul preached c. Their meeting for this Christian service was in a separate place and on another day from that of the Iewish service And Paul at Athens Act. 17. 17. he disputed in the Synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons and in the Market Dayly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He took the opportunity of publick meetings whether in the Synagogues or elsewhere whether on the Sabbath or any other day to preach Christ to them whether Jews or Greeks Which doth not prove that they did then take the seventh day to be the Christian Sabbath any more than our going to Hear or Preach a Week-day Lecture suppose on Thursday would prove that we take Thursday to be our Sabbath or Paul's Preaching on Mars-hill or in the Market-place would prove that he took these places to be the Temple or Synagogue He knew these to be Times and Places of concourse and therefore took the opportunity of Preaching Then and There and would so have done at any other time and place as there was occasion In season or out of season as he adviseth Timothy 2 Tim. 4. 2. He doth not deny p. 122. but that Paul did keep the Feast of the Pass-over after the Resurrection of Christ Because of what we have Act. 18. 21. He bids them farewel at Ephesus saying I must by all means keep this Feast that cometh at Jerusalem but I will return again unto you if God will Which Feast he thinks to be that of the Pass-over though it be not named But whether that or whatever Feast of the Jews it be it is all one as to our business How great a proof would this have been for the Seventh-day-Sabbath if it had been said I must by all means keep the Sabbath 'T is said indeed he did on the Sabbath-day go into the Synagogue but so he did on other days but not that he kept the Sabbath-day much less that he must by all means Keep it Or that he must by all means take a journey from Ephesus to Ierusalem rather than not keep it though he were to return thither again Yet this Author doth not for all this think the Law for the Iewish Pass-over to be then in force But onely that Paul took occasion to be there at that publick great concourse of People to preach Christ to the multitude For that the Apostles were under no obligation to keep that feast of the Pass-over after the death of Christ is to him he says past doubt And why may not we say the same of his going into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day rather than miss such an oportunity of a publick concourse which was a less journey than from Ephesus to Ierusalem though under no obligation to keep the Iewish Sabbath more than to keep the Iews Pass-over 2. But I answer further The Jews who were not Christians did yet continue to observe the Jewish Sabbath as a matter of duty And there was no reason why they should not For while they did not acknowledge our Christ to be the Messiah nor the Mosaick Law to be at an end but Circumcision and the Jewish Oeconomy yet in force there was no reason why they should not think themselves obliged to the Jewish Sabbath And many of the Christian Jews who were not yet satisfied of the Abolition of the Mosaick Law did comply with them therein
them with Bread from Heaven I do presume also that they did from this first raining of Manna continue a circulation of Weeks for a long time and perhaps till the time of our Saviour Yet we are not sure but that it might be intermitted in the seventy years of the Babylonish Captivity and the day forgotten and then restored a-new by Nehemiah from a new beginning Neh. 13. as he restored the Feast of Tabernacles Chap. 8. which had been intermitted from the days of Ioshua the son of Nun to that day But I rather think the memory was preserved by Tradition during those seventy years I agree also that the Church of the Jews was the most visible Church of God but I am loth to say with him p. 79. it was the whole visible Church For I presume there might be many Good men of other Nations who worshiped the true God of whom we have no History though not joined to the Jewish Church nor were that I know of obliged so to be Such was Melchizedek whoever he were not of the seed of Abraham much less of Israel And such was Iob and his Friends from divers Countries of whom were it not for the story of Iob we should have had no knowledge nor are we to think these were the onely persons of those Countries who worshiped the true God And how many such were in other Nations we cannot tell Who might if they had opportunity join as Proselites with the Iewish Church when established But I do not think they were necessarily obliged so to do or to keep the same Sabbath with them For I take it to be true even before Christs coming that God is no respecter of persons but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him Act. 10. 34 35. Whether Iew or Greek Rom. 2. 10 11. 1 Pet. 1. 17. Which are but Quotations from Deut. 10. 19. Nor do I find that any Nation except the Iews did observe the Iewish Sabbath But I rather take it to be a distinctive sign of them from other Nations Ex. 31. 13 17. as Circumcision and the Pass-over were which when the wall of partition was taken away ceased also Yet as to what was Moral in them the Circumcision of the heart being pointed at by that of the Flesh and the old leaven of malice and wickedness to be put away instead of that of Bread and a rest from Sin of more respect with God than that from Labour we have instead thereof Baptism in the room of Circumcision the Lords Supper in the room of the Pass-over and the Lords Day or Christian Sabbath instead of the Iewish And as that took date from the raining of Manna after their deliverance from Egypt so ours from the Resurrection of Christ the true Manna I agree also that the Apostle and other Christians even after Christs Resurrection did go to the Temple and the Jewish Synagogues on their Sabbath days and did there assist at Prayers and Reading the Law and other services common to Jews and Christians on a like account as when we now meet to hear a Sermon or keep a Fast or Thanksgiving on a Week-day But so they did as to Circumcision and other Iewish Rites As when Paul circumcised Timothy and joined in the Jewish Rites of Purification Act. 21. on account of those believing Iews who were yet zealous of the Law To testify to them that he had been misrepresented by those who said he did teach the Iews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses and that they ought not to circumcise their Children nor to walk after the Customs Whereas indeed he taught that Gentiles ought so to forbear as being a new yoke to which before they were not subject but as to the Iews which were amongst the Gentiles he did allow them if not yet satisfied of their Christian Liberty so to practise For he puts a great difference between the Gentiles and the Iews among the Gentiles of which I doubt our Author doth not take notice else he would not tell us p. 39. of Paul's writing one thing and practising another He preached and wrote against Circumcision as to the Gentiles but allowed it to the Iews and himself practised it As to Timothy a Jew but not as to Titus who was no Iew. And the like we may say as to the Iewish Sabbath on their Seventh day As to what Services were peculiarly Christian as breaking of Bread they did it not at the Temple or Synagogues but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at home or from house to house Act. 2. 46. and on another day the first day of the Week Act. 20. 7. Now this is all that he hath to urge for the Iewish Sabbath in particular which he cannot shew to be commanded to all the World but rather to them in particular in contradistinction to the rest of the World nor that it was a Seventh day from the Creation but from the first raining of Manna For the Fourth Commandment saith nothing of this Sabbath in particular but onely of the seventh day after six days of labour As to that Imperious demand p. 40 48 64. Where is there any such Power recorded in Scripture to be given to any Man or Men whatsoever after Christ had said It is finished to alter the Seventh-day Sabbath instituted by our Lord Iesus Christ I doubt he hath forgotten that the same God who gave the Law of the Ten Commandments gave also the Ceremonial Law and if it were the Lord Iesus Christ who gave the one it was he that gave the other also And will he then ask Where is there any power recorded in scripture to be given to any man or number of men to abolish Circumcision and the rest of the Mosaick Rites instituted by the Lord Iesus Christ I know no such power recorded in Scripture to be given as to Circumcision and the rest more than as to the Iewish Sabbath And we find them both put together Col. 2. 11 16. Or will he say Where is any Power recorded in Scripture to be given to any Man or Men after Christ had said It is finished to appoint Elders and Deacons and other Officers in the Christian Church and give Orders concerning it which Christ before he so said had not given Yet we know Circumcision was abolished and such Officers and Orders given So that all this is but Flourish As to that of Christ having said It is finished whatever be meant by that we know that the whole Order and Constitution of the Christian Church was settled after that time And whatever else be signified by it it is not meant that there was nothing to be done further concerning it For if so to what purpose did Christ give Commandments to his Apostles of things pertaining to the Kingdome of God after his Resurrection if nothing were to be further done And if we consider the Apostles deportment We do not find them any where insist Authoritatively upon
them the Lords Supper and afterward the same day to those assembled at Ierusalem with other Sabbatical works and solemnly Blessing that Convention And if our Author by blessing the Seventh day Gen. 2. would have us understand an Institution or Command to observe it We have as much here Christ joined in this Assembly and Blessed it For so much is intimated in that his solemn Benediction a first and second time Ioh. 20. 19 21. Peace be unto you and he Breathed on them saying Receive ye the Holy Ghost He did so a second time on the same day the next Week he Assembled with them in Religious Services and Blessed them He did according to his Promise made on that First day of his Resurrection send on them that miraculous Effusion of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost which being the Fiftieth day from his Resurrection was therefore the first day of the week as was that of the Resurrection On which day of Pentecost we find them also otherwise exercised in Religious Employments and attested further by a miraculous conversion of three thousand souls We find St. Paul at Troas Act. 20. Preaching to the Disciples assembled as it seems their manner was on the first day of the week to break bread that is to celebrate the Lords Supper That such Assemblies were wont to be at Corinth on the first day of the Week the Apostle presumes or takes for granted and gives direction for a Collection to be then made 1 Cor. 16. And he had so done before as he there signifies to the Churches of Galatia presuming or taking for granted that they also did so use to meet on the first day of the Week And we have no reason to doubt but that such Meetings were wont to be in other Churches We cannot doubt but that other of the Apostles did disperse themselves in other parts of the World though we have not a like account of their Travels as we have of Paul's recorded by St. Luke But we are to presume though it be not recorded that their Doctrine and Practise was consonant to his and that accordingly they had such weekly meetings on the Lords Day as these Churches had of whom we have the History Hence that day had the name given of the Lords day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as we find it called Rev. 1. 10. as that of the Sacrament is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 11. 20. which name it retaineth to this day and for such purpose And all this I think is sufficient for us to continue our Observation of the same day I am sure 't is much more than he can shew for his seventh-day Sabbath for more than two thousand five hundred years from the first Creation It is not necessary that we have express words of Command Recorded We have no Record in Scripture of such express words of Command for the Seventh-day Sabbath till after Israels coming out of Egypt nor for the Worshiping of God by Sacrifice nor for other things which yet were Duties before any Record of such express words of Command It is enough if we can otherwise Collect it to be Gods Will according to the best light we have If this Gentleman think himself obliged to keep the Jewish Sabbath also this doth not hurt us This I think was the case of the Christian Iews at first I do not much question but that they did as other Christians observe the Lords Day The doubt was whether they were not to observe also the Jewish Sabbath as before they did And these Believers who were yet zealous of the Law and thought themselves obliged together with Christianity to observe the Law of Moses did no doubt think themselves equally obliged to the Iewish Sabbath Those who thought themselves obliged to be Baptized and to be Circumcised also thought themselves in like manner obliged to observe the Lords day and also the Iewish Sabbath And till they should be better satified the Apostles permit the Iews so to do If this do not satisfy him I have yet two Expedients for him 1. Let him begin his Week on Monday and then Sunday will be the Seventh day Whether the Seventh in course from the Creation I cannot tell nor can any Man living inform me But it will at least be the Seventh day of His Week 2. If he be not satisfied with this My next Expedient is thus Let him take a Voyage round the World as Sir Francis Drake did Going out of the Atlantick Ocean West-ward by the Streights of Magellan to the East-Indies and then from the East returning by the Cape of Good Hope the usual way homeward And take with him as many as please of those who are of his mind And let them keep their Saturday-Sabbath all the way When they come home to England they will find their Saturday to fall upon our Sunday and they may thenceforth continue to observe their Saturday-Sabbath on the same day with us Which is the second Expedient If you ask How this can be I will make it very plain that so it will be and so it must be For Supposing the Earth to be Round and the Sun moving from East to West you must allow that it comes sooner to the Eastern parts than to the Western It will sooner be Noon in Holland than in England and sooner here than in Ireland If you ask How much sooner We say that Fifteen Degrees of Longitude West-ward makes it an Hour later As if he Embark about Dover Yarmouth or other Port on the East-side of England and Sail as far West-ward as the West of Ireland or a little farther it will be an Hour later and not be Noon there till it be One a Clock at the place where he Embarked And so in proportion an Hour for every Fifteen degrees And accordingly when he hath gone round the whole Circle of Three hundred and Sixty Degrees that is Four and twenty times Fifteen it will be later by Four and twenty hours That is it will be but Saturday-noon with him when it is Sundaynoon with those who staid here That is His Saturday will be Our Sunday And thenceforth his Saturday-Sabbath will be the same day with our Sunday-Sabbath ever after And this I think should fully satisfy him For he tells us p. 39. The variety of the time of the Sun-rising or setting in different Climates doth no way disturb for that a day longer or shorter is still a day and but a day Most certain it is he who shall have thus Sailed round the World will have had one day fewer than those who staid here So it was with Sir Francis Drake and his Company And so it hath been with all who have taken such a Voyage as many have done for it is not a rare case and so will be to any who shall so do What he would resolve upon this case or what he thinks Sir Francis Drake was to do when this happened I cannot
nearer to him He may perhaps tell us though I do not find he doth that the Jews did certainly keep their Weekly Sabbath at the time of our Saviours death on what they called the Seventh day If not on the Seventh day of the Week from the Creation of which we can have no certainty at lest on the Seventh day of the Week as the Weeks were then reckoned which I readily grant him and that they had so done for a long time before and perhaps from the time of giving the Law on Mount Sinai And it may be so for ought I know but we cannot be certain And what was then called the First day of the Week was another day from what they called the Seventh which I admit also And that what they called the Seventh day is now what we call Saturday and what they called the First day is what we now call Sunday But this I say is more than he or I know He may think so and so do I but I am not sure of it The reason why I think so is because I think that Christ or his Apostles according to Christs direction did remove the observation of the Sabbath from the Seventh to the First day of the Week and that we have ever since kept the Sabbath as they did for I do not know that it hath been since altered and as we now keep it on Sunday so I believe they did and therefore think that our Sunday is what they called the First day And if the Apostles did then remove it from their Seventh day to their First day I presume they had direction from Christ so to do who after his Resurrection shewed himself to them for Fourty days giving Commandments to his Apostles speaking to them of things pertaining to the Kingdom of God Acts 1. 2 3. And therefore what they did afterwards in settling the Christian Church they did we are to presume according to such Directions and Commandments of Christ and this in particular of so removing the Observation of the Sabbath day if they did remove it as I think was done by his Authority who was Lord of the Sabbath day Matth. 12. 8. Luk. 6. 5. But if they did not so remove it I do not know that it hath since been changed For I think we keep the same Sabbath which they did and that the Christian Church hath ever since so done and doth pretend so to have done by a constant Tradition ever since And we therefore think our Sunday to be their First day of the Week because we think their Sabbath so to have been But if we mistake in that Tradition we are For ought I know accordingly mistaken in thinking Sunday to be their First day For we have nothing but Tradition for either And then for ought he can shew by better than Tradition to the Contrary our Sunday may be their Seventh day And then he hath no pretense to quarel with it If he say the Jews do at this day keep Saturday as their Seventh day I confess they do But they do no more know which is the Seventh day than we which is the First day And because they find that Christians generally take Sunday to be what was before called the First day they do accordingly take Saturday to be their Seventh day But their Tradition is of no greater Authority than ours All depending upon this that our Sunday being that Sabbath which we think Christ or his Appostles did appoint we take it to be the First day because Christ or his Apostles by Christs directions did remove the observation of the Sabbath to that day He 'l say perhaps I do not my self think our Sunday to be their Seventh day And then why should not our Sabbath be on Saturday as theirs was 'T is true I do not think our Sunday to be their Seventh day And I have told you the reason why I do not think it Because I think Christ or his Apostles did change the day and for that reason only And for the same reason I think our Sabbath should be as now it is and as I think it hath been ever since But if I be mistaken in it I may be mistaken in the other also But either way Sunday is yet to be our Sabbath He says It is no where expresly said in Scripture that the Apostles did thus change it True and 't is no where said in Scripture that our Sunday is not their Seventh day It may be the same for ought I know and for ought he knows if it were not then changed Though because I think the day was then changed I do therefore think it is not the same And if it were not changed then all the difference is that what they called the Seventh day of their Week we call the First day of our Week Which if the Author do not like he may call Monday the First day and then Sunday will be the Seventh as it was before But I say further There be many things even as to the Worship of God which we may reasonably think to have been done though it be not expresly said so but only to be collected by consequence from what is said 'T is no where said expresly that after the First Sabbath of God himself Gen. 2. 2. any other Sabbath was ever kept before that in Exod. 16. which was above Two Thousand and Five Hundred Years after Yet this Author would have us think it was observed all that while and that it was commanded so to be which yet is no where said expresly But a slight presumption it seems may serve his turn but not ours 'T is known that God was Worshiped by Sacrifices very early at least as early as that of Cain and Abel and that this Worship was accepted of God at least that of Abel And therefore I suppose this Author would have us think it was Commanded not a meer Will-worship without any Direction or Institution from God Yet we are no where told of any such Command or Institution We may say the like of Iacob's consecrating a Pillar by pouring Oyl upon it Gen. 28. 18. though we do not find mention before that time of any direction for any such Consecration of things or persons by Anointing or Pouring on of Oyl We have also reason to think there was some Command from God that the Fire for Incense should be taken from the Altar or somewhat of like nature else Nadab and Abihu would not have been destroyed for Offering strange Fire Yet we are no where told expresly of any such Command We have no particular Command that I know of for Baptizing of Infants nor any particular mention in Scripture of any such Baptized Yet I do not know that this Author would have us thence infer that none such were baptized or that they ought not so to be Nor have we any express mention of Womens receiving the other Sacrament nor any express Command for their so doing any more than for Females
to Us Now as it did Then to Israel I cannot assent to it For it cannot be said of all Us who are under that Law that God hath Brought us out of the land of Egypt out of the house of Bondage or that We are to expect long life in the land of Canaan which he Gave Them If he say that our deliverance from spiritual bondage is equivalent to theirs from Egypt and our land the same to us as Canaan was to them I grant it But so is our Lords Day equivalent to their Seventh-day-sabbath and Christ the true Manna more than equivalent to that of theirs from the raining of which they reckoned their Iewish Sabbaths As to what he says of Mat. 24. 20. Pray that your flight be not in the Winter nor on the Sabbath-day which he thinks to be understood of the Iewish Sabbath 38 years after Christs Resurrection Perhaps it may For the obstinate Jews who would not in their day understand the things that belonged to their peace but rejected Christ did no doubt continue to observe their Jewish Sabbath and thought themselves obliged so to do And it would then be as great an Affliction to them as if their Sabbath were yet in force But no more a sin to fly on that day than to fly in the Winter It would be so to the Christians if put to flight on the Christian Sabbath for the case would be the like of both and they might as well Pray against it That is Against their Flight on the Christian Sabbath as the Iews on the Iewish Sabbath This therefore makes nothing at all to his purpose He might as well argue from hence that it were a sin to labour in Winter as on the Iewish Sabbath He hath many other little excursions as little to the purpose with which I shall not trouble my self or you having fully answered what seems to me to have any appearance of Argument But he takes great pleasure to expose the Name of Sunday Yet I do not find any more fond of using it than he Not that he would be thought to like the Word but because he thinks it a Reproach If he do not like that name he may call it as we do the Lords Day the Christian Sabbath or if he think these too good names for it he may call it the First day of the Week But why not as angry with the Monday or other of the Week days If on Monday the Heathens as he would have us think did worship the Moon as the Sun on Sunday why is he not as angry with that It is as much Idolatry to worship the Moon on Monday as the Sun on Sunday True But that doth not concern the Christians Sabbath which is what he hath a mind to reproach and therefore he speaks little of the other and but seldome But Sunday is to be snubbed upon every occasion He would not have a Sabbath upon Sunday because he says on that day they worshiped the Sun But why upon Saturday if on that day as he would have us think they worshiped Saturn Now 't is true that some of the Heathen did worship the Sun and the Moon and the Host of Heaven But that they did worship the Sun more upon Sunday than they did upon Monday or Tuesday is more than I know or he can prove He tells us Verstegan says that the Heathen Saxons did so But Verstegan is too young an Author to settle this upon his own Authority unless he can bring Vouchers for it more ancient than himself It was I suppose a Fansy of Verstegan Then as it is of our Author Now But I do not remember that he cites any Author ancienter than himself And though some others may say the like Yet I look upon it but as a plausible conjecture without any good foundation in History And even the Heathen Suxons are too late for his purpose He tells us p. 88. The Heathen Nations long before Christs Birth did offer Sacrifice to the Sun and worship it as a God upon Sunday His proof is from Iob 31. 26 27 28. If I beheld the Sun when it shined or the Moon walking in brightness and my heart hath been secretly enticed or my mouth hath kissed my hand this were an iniquity to be punished by the Iudges for I should have denied the Lord above But what is all this to Sunday It may perhaps be a disclaimer of worshiping the Sun but says nothing of Sunday Doth our Author think the name of Sunday to be as old as Iob's times If Iob had said If I have worshiped the Sun upon Sunday or the Moon upon Monday and not the Lord upon Saturday it had been to his purpose But here is nothing of that Not a word of what day it was on which they worshiped the Sun But I would not have him lay too great a load upon Sunday For Hesiod tells us as was said before that in his time one of the oldest of the Heathen Writers though younger than Iob the Seventh day was Sun-day not the First And he hath nothing to shew more than the bare Name of Sunday to make us believe that those of the Heathen who worshiped the Sun did confine that worship to this day of the Week or Did more worship it on this day than on others I do not certainly know how Ancient those Names are of Saturday Sunday Monday c. nor upon what occasion they were first taken up nor is it much to our purpose The most ancient Heathen Writer whom I know to have mentioned them is Dio Cassius who lived about the Year of our Lord 230. Who speaking of the Destruction of Ierusalem and the Temple tells us that the Iews had such a reverence for Saturn's day as that they would not Labour on that day for their Defense which the Romans understanding did on that day assault them and prevailed Against their Temple and Sabbath both at once Not as if the Iews did then call it Saturn's day nor am I sure that any other did then so call it for they called it their Sabbath-day But it was that day of the Week which in Dio's time was called Saturday But Dio speaks of it as a new Thing so to call the Days of the Week and which the Ancient Greeks he tells us knew not 'T was therefore not very Ancient And therefore he supposeth the Romans to have taken it up from the Egyptians Not the Old Egyptians of Moses's time but rather from those about the time of Ptolomy not of King Ptolomy but of Claudius Ptolomaeus the Astronomer or perhaps somewhat earlier when Astronomy there flourished and from whom the Romans had it In a Christian Writer I find it earlier than Dio in Iustin Martyr's Apology written about the Year of Christ 150. who mentions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Day of the Sun as the Christian Sabbath And Tertullian in his Apology mentions Saturday and Sunday And it may perhaps be found in Writers
Congregation met together on a Religious account for the Service of God But let it be called if he please a Religious Discourse of the Holy Apostle to a Congregation of Christians met together for such a purpose He would then have it thought a favour or condescention to admit this breaking of bread to be meant of the Lords Supper and not barely a Common eating But since he doth not deny it we will accept the favour and take it so to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Disciples being congregated or assembled to break Bread 'T is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Disciples not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some of them and they were perhaps not every one but the generality of them as at other meetings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 congregated or assembled and it seems to be a good full Congregation by Eutychus's being mounted to the third loft whatever he meant by that third loft though but the third scaffold so high that by a fall from thence he was in great danger of being killed Now it is not likely that such a Congregation of Christians were thus assembled for common eating He says Paul was to go away on the Morrow True But it is not said they came together to take leave of Paul but came together to Break Bread Paul's going away on the Morrow might be the reason and I believe was why they continued there so long but the End for which they came together was to Break Bread and the occasion of their so coming because it was the first day of the Week On which it should seem they were wont so to do for that end And if he candidly consider it methinks it should seem so to him Paul came to them at Troas in five days where he abode seven days And on the first day of the week when the Disciples came together to break Bread Paul preachea to them Doth not the fair prospect of the place import thus much that they were then met to break Bread as being the first day of the week What other occasion was there of mentioning what day of the Week it was It had been otherwise a fairer transition to have said He staid there Seven days and on the Seventh day or the last of those Seven the Disciples came together to take leave of Paul and Sup with him over night who was to depart on the morrow Now if it had been said on the Seventh day though meaning but the last of those Seven it would no doubt have been urged as a great argument of Paul's keeping a Seventh day Sabbath and the Disciples with him not as a Iewish but as a Christiam Assembly for breaking of bread which was a Christian not a Iewish Service For then breaking of bread would certainly have been the Lords Supper But because it was on the first day of the Week it must now be but common eating to take leave of Paul and to Sup with him as he tells us p. 57. Friends commonly do when a Minister or any other special Acquaintance intends to take a Iourney in the morning to sup with him over night But if he thinks this to be all which is there meant by the Disciples coming together on the first day of the Week to Break Bread he must excuse me if I cannot be of his Opinion But because he is content to admit upon some terms their meeting might be upon a Religious account for the Lords Supper as no doubt it was I shall press him no further therein but accept of his condescension When he tells us that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is Greek for one and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may as well be rendered One day of the Week as the First day of the Week Surely he is not in earnest Such trifling doth more hurt than help his cause No doubt but when ever they met it was one day of the Week we need not be told it nor need the word Week be added he might as well have said one day nor need he have said so much But this Author cannot think nor doth he that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth any where signify other than the first day of the Week In the whole story of Christs Resurrection and what followed on that day in all the Four Evangelists we have no other word for it but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor have we any other word for it that I know of there or any where else I do not know that it is any where called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Such shifting doth not look well 'T is somewhat like the Story of a man who bought a Horse for Five Pounds to be paid the next day And accordingly on the next day he sent Five Pounds of Candles Perhaps in the Bargain it was not said expresly in words at length Five Pounds of Lawful Money of England But by common intendment it must be so understood And an honest English Iury upon a Tryal would so Find it The Latin word Pridie is a Derivative or Compound rather from prae prior and Postridie from post posterior and accordingly in Latin pridie Calendarum and postridie Calendarum must signify a day before and a day after the Calends But can any man think it is meant of any day No but the next day before and the next day after So if we say Christ was Crucified one day before the Sabbath and Rose again one day after the Sabbath This one day is the next day And so any man who hath not a mind to Cavil will understand it And so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one day after the Sabbath must needs be understood of the next day after the Sabbath Nor is it ever used in any other sense If it were to be understood of any indefinitely it should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some day after the Sabbath not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one day after But the most pleasant shift of all is when he would have us think that this Evening which is called the first day of the Week was the Evening after the Seventh day that is Saturday night and the next morning when Paul was to go away was Sunday morning and he to travel that Sunday And that the Evening of Saturday was the beginning of Sunday and was therefore called the First day of the Week Because it is said Gen. 1. the evening and the morning was the First day and so of the rest and therefore the evening was the beginning of every day See what shift a man will make rather than quit an Opinion he hath once taken up We are taught that on the Fourteenth day of the first month at even the Pass-over was to be killed Doth he think that this Fourteenth day at even was the end of the Thirteenth day the Fourteenth day then beginning I think every body else takes it to be the evening at the end of the fourteenth day and the Fifteenth day on the morrow was the first day of
the Feast of Unleavened Bread For though it were the fourteenth day at evening yet it was the fourteenth day not the fifteenth And Luke 23. 54. the evening after our Saviours Crucifixion on the sixth day when it was late at night as was shewed before and must be according to the story of what had been done before that time was yet but the preparation not the Sabbath the Seventh day being not yet begun For so we have it it was the preparation and the Sabbath drew on And the Women were then preparing their Spices and Oyntments yet rested the Sabbath day according to the Commandment So that the Sabbath day was not yet begun nor was it ended when the evening of the next day began but on the morning of the day following as was shewed above And as we shewed at large before the first day of the Week on which Christ rose began very early in the morning while it was dark and continued the same day till very late at night And this is the constant Language of the New Testament every where So that when the Congregation of Christians Acts 20. 7. did on the first day of the week assemble to break Bread and Paul Preached to them continuing his Sermon till Mid-night this must needs be on what we call Sunday and the morning following was Munday morning not Sunday morning as this Author would have it 'T is manifest therefore that there was a Religious Assembly of the Christian Congregation at Troas on the First day of the Week for celebration of the Lords Supper and Preaching and Paul with them Which I take to be the celebration of a Christian Sabbath However this he says is but One Instance True this is but one But we have heard of more before and shall hear of more by and by But this one is more than he can shew for more than Two Thousand Five Hundred Years from God's resting on the Seventh day Gen. 2. 3. till after Israel was come out of Egypt Ex. 16. during which time he would have us think the Seventh-day Sabbath was constantly observed And if he could shew any one such instance of Enoch Noah Abraham or other where such a Religious Assembly for the Worship of God was held on the seventh day in course from the Creation he would think his point well proved though no more were said of it than is of this Whereas now as to the time from thence to the Floud he brings no other proof but that Abel and Enoch and Noah were good men as no doubt they were and therefore it is to be presumed they kept a Sabbath and that upon the seventh day Which is to beg the question not to prove it From thence till Israels going into Egypt all that he brings to prove this matter of fact is but that of Gen. 13. 6. where speaking of Abram and Lot with the multitude of their Cattel it is said the land was not able to bear them that they might Dwell together for their substance was great so that they could not Dwell together and there was a strife between the Herd-men of Abrams Cattle and the Herd-men of Lots Cattle c. They could not Dwell together that is saith he they could not Rest together that is they could not keep a Sabbath together therefore he concludes they did use to keep a sabbath and that Sabbath was the seventh day in course from the Creation And is not this a goodly proof I should think if he would put a stress on the word Rest it should rather signify they could not live quietly together without their herd-mens quarrelling about their Pasture for so it follows in the next words there was a strife between their herds-men From thence till after their coming out of Egypt he brings no other proof but that of Ex. 5. 4 5. Where when Moses and Aaron had been pressing Pharaoh to let Israel go three days Iourney into the Wilderness to keep a Feast and Sacrifice to the Lord their God Pharaoh replies Wherefore do ye Lett or hinder the People from their Work you make them rest from their Burdens or you take them off from their Work that is says he you make them keep a Sabbath For the Word or Verb there Translated you make them Rest is he tells us a derivative from another Verb which signifies to Rest from which Verb the word Sabbath is also derived They did therefore Rest saith he that is keep a Sabbath and that Sabbath was every Week and it was on the seventh day in course from the Creation Alas how little do either or both of these places prove of what he would have to be granted him thence He tells us sometimes there were other Sabbaths besides that of the seventh day I am sure there were other Restings If Moses and Aaron had desired Pharaoh to excuse them from their Work one day in seven that on such day they might serve the Lord their God it would have looked like an Argument But when it is to go three days into the Wilderness to keep a Feast to the Lord what is this to a Weekly Sabbath This Seventh-day sabbath so runs in the mind of this Author that if any where he can lay hold of the word Rest it must presently prove a Seventh-day-sabbath Else who would have thought that because Abram and Lot could not dwell quietly together therefore they must needs keep a Sabbath and that upon the seventh day and in course from the Creation And the like of the Israelites in Egypt because Moses and Aaron are said to hinder them from their work Therefore they did constantly keep a weekly Sabbath and that upon the seventh day in course from the Creation He might have to better purpose alleged Pharaoh's seven fat kine and seven lean ones and the seven full Ears of Corn and seven empty for here we have the number seven signalized only these were Seven Years not Seven Days and the like of Nebuchadnezzar's being seven years turned out to the Beasts of the field Dan. 4. 25 32 33. Or that of the Clean Beasts and Fowls coming into the Ark by sevens Gen. 7. 2 3. But what is more to his purpose and which he should not have missed is that of Gen. 7. 4. and Gen. 8. 10 12. where we have the interval of seven days particularly mentioned For yet seven days and I will cause it to rain upon the Earth c. Chap. 7. 4. where God gives to Noah just a Weeks warning of the time when the Floud should begin during which interval if those days were Sabbath days he might remove himself and what was necessary into the Ark before the next Sabbath And toward the end of the Floud Noah sends out the Dove Chap. 8. 8. And he staid seven days and again sent forth the Dove ver 10. And he staid yet other seven days and sent forth the Dove c. ver 12. Where we have the Dove sent out three
Iesus Christ upon which Notions he seems to lay great stress though it be nothing to the purpose I think it is a mistake For our Lord Iesus Christ is God and Man but he was not God and Man when the World was made or the Law given but onely God 'T is true Christ as God according to his Divine Nature is the same God who made the World and gave the Law for we have no other God but one but not as God and Man For Man he was not at that time but in the fulness of time became Man The Sabbath of the Lord our God in the fourth Commandment with equal respect to all the Three Persons doth not signify the same as The Sabbath of our Lord Iesus Christ God and Man The Lord our God there not the same with our Lord Iesus Christ in the New Testament But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords Supper is the Supper of our Lord Iesus Christ God and Man the Founder of our Christian Religion And accordingly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords day is the day of our Lord Iesus Christ a day appointed by him 3. I would have him consider further that the Lords day dominica or dies dominicus hath been all along in all ages of the Christian Church used as the proper name of what we otherwise call the Christian Sabbath and not for the proper name of any other day and therefore till somewhat do appear to the contrary I shall take it to be the same with what is called the Lords day in Scripture There is in the New Testament a place called Rome and there is at this day a place in Italy called Rome and which hath been so called all along ever since neither do I know of any other eminent place of called Therefore till somewhat do appear to the contrary I shall presume our Rome to be the same place with that which in the New Testament is called Rome We find in scripture there is an Island of the Mediterranean Sea called Melita or Malta where St. Paul suffered Ship-wrack not far from another Island called Crete Now we know also there is in the Mediterranean Sea an Island called Malta at this day and another not far from thence called Crete or Candy and we do not know of any other Islands so called then or at any time since and therefore we may safely presume till somewhat do appear to the contrary that those Islands now so called are the same Islands with those which were then so called And in like manner that Day which hath been ever since called the Lords-day as by its proper name we may and ought to presume to be the same day which was by St. Iohn so called as by its proper name in Rev. 1. 10. when he wrote the Book of the Revelation till it can be shewed that he did by that name mean some other day And we have the more reason so to presume because we find it so called by others very soon after St. Iohn's time and by those whom we have great reason to believe to have been well acquainted with St. Iohn's meaning and his manner of speech The first I shall name is St. Ignatius who was not onely Contemporary with St. Iohn but was a Disciple or Scholar of St. Iohn Now St. Iohn according to the best account we can have from Chronology wrote his Revelation in Patmos whither he was banished by Domitian in or about the year of our Lord 96 after which he wrote his Gospel upon his return from Patmos to Ephesus And Died in the Year 98 or 99 under Trajanus And Ignatius died a Martyr under the same Emperour Trajan in the Year of our Lord 107. So that there is no great distance in time And if we should miss a year or two it is not material How long before his death Ignatius wrote his Epistle to the Magnesians we are not sure nor is it material Now in that his Epistle to the Magnesians even according to the genuine Edition published by Bishop Usher out of an ancient Manuscript not that which is justly suspected to be interpolated he doth earnestly exhort them not to Iudaize but to live as Christians Si enim usque nunc secundum Iudaismum vivimus confitemur gratiam non recepisse And as to the Sabbath in particular Non amplius Sabbatizantes sed secundum Dominicam viventes in qua vita nostra orta est Not any longer observing the Iewish Sabbath but the Lords Day on which Christ our Life 〈…〉 is manifest therefore that within 8 or 10 years after 〈…〉 writing the Lords day did not signify the Jewish Sabbath but the first day of the week on which our Saviour Rose again and that it was then observed in contradistinction to the Jewish Sabbath I forbear to mention his Epistle ad Trallianos where again we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 applied to the first day of the week on which Christ rose again because it is in that Edition which is suspected to be Interpolated I might to this add the Testimony of Polycarp who was also a Disciple of St. Iohn and collected and published these Epistles of Ignatius and may be presumed to understand what St. Iohn meant by the Lords day But I shall add in the next place that of Iustin Martyr whom though I cannot call a Disciple of St. Iohn because he was not converted to the Christian Religion till about the Year of our Lord 129 about Thirty years after St. Iohn's Death yet he lived so soon after that he could not be ignorant of the Christians Practise and what they understood St. Iohn to mean by the Lords Day And how that day was observed in Iustin's time he tells us in what is called his Second Apology 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and a little after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 On that day commonly called Sunday there is held a Congregation or a general Meeting together of all Inhabitants whether of City or Country and there are publickly read the Memorials or Monuments of the Apostles or the Writings of the Prophets c. And again The day called Sunday we do all in common make 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Meeting-day for that the First-day is it on which God from Darkness and Matter made the World and our Saviour Iesus Christ did on the same day rise from the dead In which places though it be not called dominica but dies solis yet how it was then solemnly observed in memory of our Lord Christs Resurrection is evident 'T is manifest therefore that the Lords day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dominica or Dies Dominicus was the known name of a day so called when St. Iohn wrote his Revelation That it was a day of Religious Worship contradistinguished to that of the Iewish Sabbath so observed and so called by St. Iohn's Disciple Ignatius within 8 or 10 years at most after St. Iohn's writing that Book Which he would not have done if he
cases than in all other Prudential Acts. So when the Fourth Commandment requires us to keep holy the Sabath-day it may yet in many cases depend much upon Prudence or Humane Laws which day shall be reputed the Sabbath And if this Author tell us it must be the Seventh in course from the Creation We are never a whit the nearer For though he take great pleasure on all occasions to exclaim against Tradition yet he must admit a great deal of Tradition to intervene before he can prove this or that day to be a Seventh in course from the Creation I am apt to think also that when he hath well consider'd the case of Sr. Francis Drake and many more since that time who sailing round the world as he did have lost a day he will come to one of these two Resolutions Either that when he comes back to England he must continue to call that Saturday which on his account was so and then his Saturday-Sabbath will be the same with our Sunday Or else that his account must be somewhere rectified in his Voyage by skipping a day and then and there beginning to call Sunday what just before he was to call Saturday Now because there is nothing in Nature to determine where this must be nor is there any thing of divine Institution that I know of to determine where it shall be It seems to me to be Prudential or most rational if nothing intervene to counterbalance it to be at what we call the first Meridian from whence we reckon the Degrees of Longitude East-ward 1 2 3 c. and so onward till we come round to 360 at the same Meridian again and thence begin to reckon onward 1 2 3 c. as before for another round This first Meridian in Ptolemy's time was accounted to be about the Western part of the African shore as being the most Western part of the World then known Of later times Geographers have been pleased to remove it more West about the Islands called Azores or the Flemish Islands But all agree to place it between our Continent and that of America And if from that Meridian from whence we reckon the beginning of Longitude we reckon also the beginning of Days then the last of Saturday must there end and the first of Sunday must there begin And therefore at that Meridian the sailers round the World should rectify their account calling it Saturday on the one side of it and Sunday on the other that being the latest of Saturday and the soonest of Sunday He will tell me perhaps that by this account if We keep our Sabbath on Sunday those in New-England must be said to keep theirs on Monday as being on the other side of that Meridian And 't is true it would so follow And therefore I did interpose if nothing else do intervene to counterbalance it And this is what I did at first intimate as disputable whether we and they in New-England are to be said to keep our Sabbath on the same day But it is the same case as to the whole Continent of America And the same resolution will reach all And therefore the thing being once settled by the common consent of all I would by no means advise to change the day For the placing the first Meridian is purely Arbitrary It might as well have been placed beyond America if men had so pleased and that America had been known in Ptolemy's time as on this side And we might have numbred our Degrees of Longitude Westward as now we do Eastward And may be so reputed now if men so please as it is now reputed about 10 or 15 degrees more to the Westward than it was in Ptolemy's days And it is purely Arbitrary where to begin to change the name of the day which is to be so called whether at the First Meridian or else-where And consequently 't is purely Arbitrary or Discretional whether in America such day shall be called Sunday or Monday There is nothing in the fourth Commandment nor in the Word of God to determine it But it so happening that America hath been peopled from Europe traveling Westward from hence without taking notice that we cross the first Meridian we have reckoned the days and so named them according as they appeared to those upon their Voyage who went thither Whereas if it had been peopled I mean as to the Christians there from Asia and the East-Indies by people coming thence to the other side of America what there is now called Sunday would for the like reason have been called Monday and the Fourth Commandment equally observed either way And upon a like account Christians in the East-Indies and in China and Iapan traveling Eastward from hence thither do call their days there according as they appeared to fall out to them in the course of their Voyage Now 't is true that some part of the day which we here call Sunday is coincident with some part of what is so called in Iapan and also some part of our Sunday though not the same part is coincident with part of theirs in America But very little of theirs in the East of Iapan with theirs in the West of America About Eleven a clock at night in the one or yet later before it begins to be one a clock in the morning in the other scarce an hour in common according to our ancient Maps Our later Maps make it somewhat more as if it might be Ten at night in the one when it begins to be Two in the morning at the other Yet these pass for the same sunday And 't is well enough so to reckon But it is Prudentially so Because the chief Trade and intercourse of America is with Europe not with Asia And therefore it is considered as lying West from Europe rather than as East from Iapan And accordingly it is so placed in our Maps And though we continue to reckon our Longitude as from a Meridian between Us and America yet the account of our days we begin as from a Meridian beyond it between America and Asia Which is not said to raise new scruples as if I would advise an alteration of a received computation which is well enough as it is and I know not how to mend it But to shew there is an unavoidable Necessity of leaving much to Prudential considerations What day shall be reputed sunday and what the sabbath in this or that place And therefore it cannot reasonably be thought the design of the fourth Commandment to confine us to such Circumstantial Niceties which do not at all influence the substantials of Worship The fourth Commandment requires the seventh day of Holy Rest after six days of ordinary Labour But of a Seventh day in course from the Creation to be so observed it saith nothing Nor is it possible for us to know The Iews observed a seventh day in course from the first raining of Manna but I do not know how that concerns us or if it did how we shall know which is that day for this Gentleman will not allow Tradition to be a good proof We observe a seventh day in course from what we think the Apostles did observe If we mistake our reckoning which I think we do not it is not a Culpable Ignorance for it is according to the best Light we have This day we are in possession of and the Christian Church hath so been for many Hundred years And he that would dispossess us of it must shew a better Title The old rule is Possidentis potior est ratio To change meerly for change sake is Foolish If he would lay a Divine Necessity on us to observe the Iewish Sabbath from the first raining of Manna if at least that be the day by them observed in our Saviours time he must make it clear to us which is that day by a better argument if he can than Tradition And that we are of necessity obliged to that day which was himself acknowledges a distinctive sign of them from other Nations as Circumcision also was And if this distinctive mark when the partition wall is broken down do as much cease as that did 'T is as truly superstition now to put a necessity upon it as upon Circumcision Which though the Apostles would for a while permit to the Jews to whom it had once been a Law till they should be better satisfied Yet would by no means allow to the Gentiles to whom it had not before been a Law And I think the case is just the same of the Iewish Sabbath as contradistinguished to the Lords day I am Yours c. FINIS