of yours I mean the Fable and story you tell us of in your Saints Rest touching the raining down of Manna on the Leads of the Church at Bridgnorth when you preached there For some Gentlemen of worth in those parts have credibly reported it to be nothing else then the seeds of Hips and Hawes being the excrements of Rooks and Jack-dawes which they there had voyded Answer to the Twelfth Argument The twelfth Argument is this In all doubtfull Cases a Wise man ought to go on the surest side and I am sure it is no Sin not to keep it c. I Answer in this Allegation you seem to play the part of a Wise man but in my Opinion you are onely wise in your own conceit for my part this I am sure of First in respect that Christmas day being the day of our Lords Nativity is the Lords day Cant. 4.9 and by his spouse the Church is set a part to Gods publick worship and our Souls edification therefore it ought clearly to be esteemed above any other of the common Week dayes And for people on this day willfully and contemptuously to follow their ordinary though at other times lawfull vocations or Callings is in the first place a breach of the fourth Commandement for the day of Christs Nativity is a Sabboth or Rest to the Lord and God will have us to keep holy the Sabboth or Rest-day Next it is a despising Perk. cases of Consc l. 1. c. 5. Sect. 5. and dishonouring of their Mother the Church which whosoever are guilty of not onely sin against the fifth Commandment but by our Saviour himself we are Injoyned to account all such as Revolters from the Christian faith Heathen men and Publicans Matth. 18.17 Lastly it is a ground and inlet to the violation of all order and decency in Gods Service which is expressely condemned in Holy Scripture and if to break Gods Commandements 1 Cor. 14.40 to contemn his Churches Authority to become Heathens and Publicans and to overthrow all order and decency in Gods Services be sins and Offences to God Then must we conclude that not to keep this day must needs be a sin and that to work or follow our vocations on Christmas day is a great and high offence or indignity offered unto God and his Church And how then are you sure it is no sin not to keep it but that your erronious Conscience tells you so and yet is it so nice and tender on the other side you are not sure it is no sin to keep it this is the other part of your Dilemma for this is called in the Schools Syllogismus cornutus or Syllogismus Crocodilinus Well sat verbum Sapienti If a word to the Wise may serve the turn then will I answer you in a word for although you are perswaded and sure in your strong Conscience that it is no sin not to keep it yet we on the other side in our weak Consciences are perswaded that it is a sin if we keep it not And therefore if you remember the Apostle's rule is Let not the stronger Christian despise the weaker Rom. 13.3 4. especially in such a Case as this Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not and let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth for God hath received him Who art thou then that judgest another man's Servant to his own Master he standeth or falleth yea he shall be holden up for God is able to make him stand One man esteemeth one day above another another esteemeth every day alike Let every man be fully perswaded in his own mind he that regardeth a day regardeth it unto the Lord and he that regardeth not the day to the Lord he doth not regard it He that eateth eateth to the Lord for he giveth God thanks and he that eateth not to the Lord he eateth not and giveth God thanks For none of us liveth to himself and no man dyeth to himself for the Kingdom of God is not Meat and Drink but Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost and he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of Men. Let us therefore follow after the the things which make for peace and things wherewith we may edify another for meat destroy not the work of God all things indeed are pure but it is evil for that man who eateth with Offence It is good neither to eat Flesh nor to drink Wine nor any thing whereby thy Brother stumbleth or is offended or is made weak You see how wary the Apostle is to advise us in and for things indifferent not to be offended one with another but to use all good Christian moderation and discretion not to abuse our Christian Liberty to the Scandal and Offence of our weak Brethren Answer to the thirteenth Argument The thirteenth Argument is That this day ought not to be celebrated because there is more Sin committed in these 12 dayes than is in all the year following viz. in Drunkenness c. Oh Sir This Argument and your last are the least and the weakest of them all therefore I shal more easily answer them briefly conclude To this 13th I say as I did before The Abuse of a thing that in it self is lawful and good cannot justly abolish or take away the lawful Use of it For the best things that ever God created have been abused through Man's Corruption even the whole Creature is subject unto Vanity that is to Destruction because of Man's sin Rom. 8.20 The holy Temple of our God hath been prophaned and defiled and made a den of Theeves and a Cage of unclean Birds and a very Stable for Barbarous Souldiers Horses to Lodge in in these late uncivil Warrs the holy Sabbath of our Lord hath been polluted his Word and Sacraments abused Yea because the Scriptures are in some places somewhat hard to be underâ—â—ood therefore those that are unlearned and unstable do wrest them and perven them to their own Destruction 〈…〉 Pâ—â— 3.16 And because of this must the Scriptures be rejected and not perused Because the good Creatures of God are abuse 〈◊〉 some ungodly and wicked Miscreants therefore must the Creatures be refused seeing every Creature of God is good and nothing ought to be refused 1 Tim. 4.4 especially if it be received with thankfulness for iâ— is land â—â—ed unto us by the Word of God 〈◊〉 prayer The like may be said of 〈◊〉 Sanctuary of our God of the Sabâ—â—… 〈◊〉 the Sacraments for unto the 〈…〉 things are pure but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure but even their minds and consciences are defiled Titus 1.15 But you affirm and that peremptorily that there is more sinne committed in these Twelve Days than in all the year after in Drunkenness and Gluttony And how are you sure of this for it is impossible that you should prove this to be true Can God be more dishonoured
confound the Persons with Sabellius nor divide the Substance with Arrius for there is one Person of the Father another of the Sonne another of the Holy Ghost but the God-head of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost is all One the Glory equal the Majesty co-eternal such as the Father is such is the Son c. And therefore the Glory Honour and Worship that is done to the One is done to the other or is both due and ought to be done to the other How then can it be otherwise that the least Homage Honour and Duty that is done to Christ on this day is accepted of God if it be done in Faith and Obedience Why then do you say That by keeping this day you are fearful lest you should offend God and set up a day against Him It may be you will object and say here as you do in your thirteenth Argument that God is in many places much dishonoured by the great Abuse and Disorders that is committed at this time To this I briefly answer by the way according to that true and well-known Rule The Abuse of any good thing cannot abrogate or take away the right and lawful Use of it and therefore why should you fear when there is no such just cause at all to fear Remember what Christ saieth Luk. 9.48 Whosoever shall receive me receiveth Him that sent me and in the same place and upon the very same occasion when John told Him saying Master we saw one casting out Devils in thy name and we forbade him because he followeth not with us But Jesus said For bid him not for there is no man which shall do a Miracle in my Name that can lightly speak evill of Me for he that is not against us is for us And I am verily perswaded in my Soul and Conscience that whosoever is truly really and sincerely addicted and devoted to Christ neither can nor will speak a word amiss against the due Festivity and Solemnity of this day thus as the Apostle speaks Rom. 14.5 One man esteemeth one day above another another esteemeth every day alike Let every man be perswaded in his own mind he that regardeth a day regardeth it to the Lord and I am perswaded if any man regard this day as he ought to do the Lord will both regard reward him for so doing Answer to the fifth Argument The fifth Argument is this It is the Devil's policy to imitate God and when he will be holy he will be holier then God c. Sir This Argument is as strange stuff as ever I have either seen felt heard or understood for although the antecedent part cannot be much misliked it being taken pro concesso confesso for a thing granted and confessed to be true that it is the Devils policy to imitate God for in many things he is God's Ape as some Divines compare him seeking to counterfeit and resemble him as an Ape doth a Man in such gestures and tricks which he useth and where God will have his Church he will have his Chappel and he will have his Exorcisms and Charms and Spells instead of God's-spell i. e. the Gospel but your Sequel or Subsequent is a meer new fangled Parodox and a Proposition or rather a Supposition which is not onely absurd but ridiculous not onely erroneous but also blasphemous and may be ranked and reckoned amongst those evil-surmisings and perverse disputings which are mentioned by the Apostle 1 Tim. 4.5 and are utterly condemned by him but let us examine what you say in the latter part viz. That when the Devil will be holy he will be holier then God And is that possible But you instance for an example thus When he seeth God will have a Sabbath to be kept then will he set up a Day and he will have a Christmas day to be kept ô monstrum horrendum what a horrible terrible secret is this Is Saul among the Prophers is Sathan among the Saints of God Is it possible or it is probable or is it any way likely to be true That he that was even like the great Turk an Enemy to Christ and all Christendom should so far be a friend and favourer of Christ as to be a prime and forward Erector Abettor and Setter up of a Day for the celebrating and setting forth of his Praise and Honour Alas if this be so in what a lamentable and pittiful case are we and how have we and our forefathers been led hoodwinckt as it were and blindfolded all this while and have been taken in the snare of the Devil and be Captive by him at his will 2 Tim. 2.26 We have sure served a very ill Saint all this while if like the People of Callicut we have worshipped the Devil in observing that Day which you affirm he hath set up but I say it is not so Good Sir for toto erras coelo you are fouly and grosly deceived in this point Shall you or any man alive make me believe that ever the Devil had any desire or inclination this way to propagate or promote the Cause of Christ or of his Gospel who was ever an Adversary bonis incoeptis in germine and whose continual and daylie practise is suffocare Dei filios dum parvuli sunt to smother and murder the Children of God while they are little ones Was it not he who stirred up Pharoah at the first and moved him to command and charge the Midwives to drown the male-children of the Hebrew Women so soon as they were born Exod. 1.22 And was it not this Merchant or Factor or rather that old Serpent called the Devil and Sathan who went about the same designe at Christ's birth did not he instigate Herod to send his Men of Warr and to kill all the young Children of Bethlehem from two years Old and under intending thereby to murder Christ in Infancy and Childhood wherefore as devout Bernard cryeth out in the like Case so may we ô malitia Herediana nascentem persequi Christum nascentem persequi religionem O Herodian malice to persecute Christ and his Religion in their minority to destroy the Sprigg lest it become a Tree and break the Egg lest it prove a Dove O divelish malice indeed for as Expositors upon the place aptly observe and apply it thus Herod represents the Devil Apoc. 12.4 who stands before the Woman in the Wildernesse great with Child ready to devour her Babe Gen. 3.15 He knew that the seed which should break his head was to be born of the Jews and therefore caused Pharoah to murder all the Hebrew Males Exod 1. And stirred up Haman to destroy the whole Nation of the Jews Esther 3. And Athalia to kill all the sons of David 2 King 12. And so soon as the noise was of Christ's Birth Herod was troubled and all Jerusalem with him Math. 2. And he sent incontinent to cut the throats of all the Children in Bethlehem yea more
indeed a sweet and brief Compendium and Abridgment of the whole Gospel But also I referr you to the learned and authentick Creed of judicious Athanasius which is an accurate and compleat Exposition of the former who saith Quicunque vult salvari c. Whosoever will be saved it is necessary to his everlasting Salvation That he believe rightly in the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ For the right Faith is That we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God is God and Man And when did He become Man or when was God manifested in the Flesh but on this day And what fitter day can there be to confess this Faith than on the very same day he was born For this is to perform Opus diei in die suo And this hath been both done and authorized or allowed of also to be done by as ancient learned godly and zealous Doctors and Divines as ever the whole Christian World affoarded since the first appearance of Christ in the shape of Man even by those Chariots Horsemen of Israel who were the chief Orient and resplendent Lights of the times the Glory of the Churches and the only Diamonds Pearls and Ornaments of the places where they lived men famous and renowned in their Generations namely St. Cyprian St. Ambrose St. Augustine St. Bernard St. Chrysostome Basil Cyril Beda Theophylact Euthymius Ludolphus Erasmus cum multis aliis c. whose Sermons Homilies and Orations for this day's Solemnity are both extant and eminent and might be made also evident and apparant if need were sufficient to convince and stop the mouth of any peevish and perverse Antagonist or Gainsayer whatsoever To these we may add Dia Poemata the Divine Poems of those sweet mellifluous Christian Poets Palladius and Prudentius made in an honourable memoriall of our blessed Lord and Saviour's Nativity And what if we mentioned here the rate Prophecies and Praedictious of the Sybillaes of old who foretold us of these things and the very Heroicall Verses and stately Genethliacon's of Heathenish Poets who lived both before some of them and othersome also about the time of the Birth of Christ who received their Raptures and Enthusiasms not onely from Sybilla or Apollo but as some think and are bold to conjecture it from the Spirit of God This was it that made Virgil to raise up his Muse to a higher strain Eclog. 4. Sicelides Musae paulo majora canamus Jam redit Virgo redeunt Saturnia Regna Jam nova Progenies coelo dimittitur alto Aspice venturo laetentur ut omnia sêclo For now return the daies of Peace now the new Progeny is sent from Heaven behold all things shall then rejoyce and be glad Tully in Lib. Divinationis gives this Observation out of Sybil that she prophesyeth of a King to come Quem Regem colere debemus si velimus esse salvi which King we must worship if we would be saved And this King should abolish all false Religions whatsoever Now concerning all these if you should cavill and object against them or any of them and say What is this to the Scripture Then will I answer you as our Saviour answered the Pharisees finding fault with his Disciples for their crying Hosanna before him when he ridd into Jerusalem I tell you that if these should have held their peace the very stones would cry out and applaud Him Well then Have all these doted and delired in their writing concerning this thing namely the solemn Observation of this high and festival Time in honour of the World 's most gracious and glorious and blessed Redeemer and are you the onely wise man as it were that is now left upon the Earth to correct them and direct us have all these erred Even so will we And more sweet shall our Errour be unto us with these I speak especially of those ancient and reverend Fathers of the Primitive Church whom I named before who I dare say were all and every one of them as fearful to offend God in denying the Perfection of the Scriptures as you for the very life can possibly be more sweet I say shall our errour be unto us with these of whom we make no question but that they are all bound up in the bundle of life with the Congregation of the first-born than a new and recent device and purpose of burying the Anniversary remembrance of this day in the silent Night and darksome Grave of everlasting Oblivion obtruded unto us by you and such as you who take upon them to be the grand Reformers of these times and great Undertakers and principal Innovators of all ancient lawful and laudable Customes whatsoever Let others affect Novelty how they please for my own part I ever reverenced and admired Antiquity especially when I have found it in the way of Verity and If I were worthy to admonish our young upstart malapert Masters of these times I would wish them to remember what grave St. Austin saith in his 118 Epist cap. 5. Ipsa mutatio consuetudinis etiam quâ adjuvat utilitate perturbat novitate Auswer to the third Argument The words of the third Argument are these I am fearfull lest I should make a day to my self c. Sir I wonder whether your Lecture-day is not a day made to your self I doubt not but you have done as much as in you lyeth concerning your Lecture-day and both extoll and preferr it before the day of Christ's Birth For this day hapning not long since to be upon your Lecture-day you did not spare to speak it nor blush to give it out in the Pulpit as I was credibly informed by some that heard you That if that day had not hapned on your lecture-Lecture-day you had not then preached so that your day must by all means be observed and kept strictly and praecisely but our Saviour's day must be scornfully slighted and neglected as a day not scarce fit to be named much less to be celebrated and regarded with honour But I say Let his Birth-day be celebrated yea all praise and Glory be unto him who was born and died for our Salvation Amen Answer to the fourth Argument The fourth Argument is this I am fearfull lest by observing this day I should set up a day against God To this I answer If you observe and celebrate this day you set not a day up against God but for God for that which you do for Christ you do for God for we know that God and Christ are not divided but He and the Father are One they are his own words John 10.30 Ego Pater Vnum sumus hoc est substantialiter Idem in Personis Distincti In which few words both the Heresy of the Arrians and Sabellians is sufficiently confuted For as learned Athanasius observeth who for this was happily called the World's Eye because he did see so much and pierce so far into this unsearchable and ineffable Mystery we must neither