hath commanded his Covenant for ever holy and reverend is His Name But in your second Reason you say That you never heard a good Argument for it Well be it so as you say yet I dare say that you say it not so much out of your Ignorance as through a misconstruction and sinister Interpretation of that which you have both heard and read concerning this thing Wherefore for answering you first Hoc tibi innotescere velimus we do you to wit or would have you to know and understand That albeit the gray-headed Antiquity and Authority of our dear Mother the Church of England and the uniform Discipline with Us established for some Centuries of years making and constituting it an antient and laudable Order and generally approved Custome may be a sufficient Plea Argument and VVarrant to perswade you or any other rational man to consent and conforme unto it for what saith grave St. Austin He that will have God to be his Father must acknowledge the Church of God for his Mother and then let every Member of this Church remember that good and wholesome advice of Solomon's Prov. 11.8 My Son hear thy Fathers Instruction and forsake not thy Mothers teaching For St. Austin tells us in his Epist 118. Extremae est dementiae seu insolentis insaniae ea negligere 〈◊〉 repudiare quae tota observat ecclesia It is extream folly and insolent madnesse to neglect and refuse to observe those things which the whole Church whereof we are born Members doth observe yet for your better satisfaction herein I have a desire and purpose to bring in a few Arguments which perhaps may be thought by some to be as good and strong and forcible for the keeping of this Day as any you have hi her to urged or may hereafter devise and produce against it The first that I shall propound and present to your quaint and curious and supercilious censure or to your Austere and Rigid consideration shall be the Legality and lawfulness of Ordering and Ordaining and setting apart of some dayes of publick Thanksgiving and holy rejoycing to the Lord for great Benefits and publick Blessings received which if this day of Christ his Incarnation and Manifestation in the flesh might be but set up and celebrated amongst the rest as it deserveth I am perswaded it would contend and strive so for the Superiority and Preheminence above the rest that it would even devour and swallow the rest up as Aarons Serpent did the Serpents of those Egyptian Magicians and Praestigiators or excell them and cast them down as the Ark did Dagon or as the Image of Christ when it was placed by the Senators at Rome in the Capitol threw down the Image of Jupiter Mars Mercury and others of their feigned heathenish gods as Ensebius and Nicephorus report it for truth and the Men of this Generation would soon condescend and yield to this motion and not deny nor gain-say this reasonable proposition if they were not too much like those blind and blinded Pharisees among the Jews who were for the most part culicem excolantes Camelum deglutientes apt and inclined to strain at a Gnat and swallow a Cammel Math. 23 24. For if it be lawful to give God thanks for Corporal and Temporal Deliverances How much more for our Spiritual and Eternal Deliverance by Christ from the thraldome of sinne and Sathan Again If it shall be thought lawful and allowable to praise God for the spilling of blood 2 Kings 6. and destroying of Mens lives which yet neither the Prophet Elisha 2 Chron. 2.8 nor the Prophet Oded would allow of how much more then shall it be lawfull and commendable to praise the Lord for the sparing and preserving of Mens lives and for the saving of their Souls and freeing or delivering both their Bodies and Souls from the everlasting pains and torments of Death and Hell For the Son of Man came to seak and save that which was lost and God sent not his Son into the World to condemn the World but that the World through Him might be saved Joh. 3.17 The second Argument which I shall here set down for the solemnity of this Day I will make bold to borrow from the words of St. Austin which I do not onely conjecture but presume were Preached and Delivered by him on the very Day we find them recorded in his Serm. 2. 4. de tempore Behold saith he all of us are bidden on this Day to a Marriage for Christ came out of the Virgins Womb as a Bridegroom out of his Chamber the Godhead was joyned unto the Flesh and the Flesh unto the God-head and these two were coupled together and after an ineffable manner in an ineffable Marriage made one The marriage-Chamber was the Virgins Womb which he abhorred not out of which that Sun of Righteousness Christ Jesus came in the day of his Birth as a Bridegroom out of his Chamber Psal 19.5 and as a strong man joyfull to run his race For the Son of God knowing that according to the eternall decree enacted in the Court of Heaven our Salvation could not be perfected before he was Incarnate Gal. 4.4 in the fulnesse of time came down sealing our Redemption with rejoycing of Spirit and gladnesse of heart exsuiting trium phing and preparing himself to the desired work of his mediatorship Long had the Church waited and prayed for this coming of Christ in the flesh Isa 64.1 O would God thou wouldest burst the Heavens and come down Cant. 8.1 O that then werst as my Brother which sucked the breast of my Mother partaking the same humane nature with me I would find thee without here below on Earth I would kisse thee and familiarly intreat thee without the reproach of the World Then I would lead thee and bring thee into my Mothers house though now I am penned up in the Straights of Judea I would bring thee into the Light and Knowledge of the Universal Church whose Daughter I am and herefore he was worthily called desideratus omnium gentium Hag. 2.7 the desired of all Nations but when he came he came merily with nimbleness of Spirit zeal of Piety fervency of Love as the Church espying him joyfully relates it It is the voice of my well-beloved Cant. 2.8 Behold he cometh leaping by the Mountains skipping by the Hills My well-beloved is like a Roe or Hart. He came flying on the wings of the Wind he out-leapt Gabriel the Archangel and came to the Virgin before him by the Testimony of the Angel himself Luk. 1.27 Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee Behold Gabriel left Christ in Heaven but finds him in the Womb How so Volavit praevolavit super pennas vontorum he flew and out-flew him on the wings of the wind he sent his Messenger but like Ahinoaz got before him Will you see his Jumps He lept from Heaven into the Womb from the Womb to
and hour of that last day and hour Omnem crede diem c. And doth not our Saviour himself tell us as much and forwarn us both in the 24. and 25. Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel Watch therefore for ye neither know the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh But whereas you say that God hides things on purpose from us to see whether we will do any thing on our own heads I perceive your meaning is that God hath so hidden and concealed the day of Christ's Birth from us to try whether we will celebrate and observe it or no as both you and others of your Fraternity have made the Comparison and vented and vaunted it in the Pulpit touching the body of Moses how God should bury it Himself in some secret place and keep it from the Knowledge of the Children of Israel lest they should worship and adore it So you would have the Remembrance of this day to be buried for ever and quite obliterated and forgotten lest we should commit Idolatry to it Now touching the body of Moses we know it was buried by God as appeareth Deut. 34.6 that no man should know where his Sepulchre was Therefore as learned Fulk answereth the Rhemists on the Epistle of Jude at the 9th verse It is like the Altercation and Combat that is there mentioned to be betwixt Michael the Archangel and the Devil about it was immediately before that time when the Devil desired to have the Body of Moses discovered that it might be abused to Idolatry as it alwaies hath been the practise of Sathan to persecute the Saints while they live and to make Idols of their Bodies when they are dead That ancient Father which wrote the Book De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae which goeth under the name of St. Augastine lib. 1. cap. 35. writeth thus of the body of Moses For two Causes as wise men say No man was privy of his death nor of his Sepulchre First That no man should see that face which had shined through the familiarity of the Lord's Speech unto him stricken down or dimmed with the heaviness of Death And then Secondly lest the People of Israel if they had known where his Sepulchre was should have adored it Wherefore as most men think he carried away with him the Rod wherewith he had done Wonders lest it should have been adored seeing the Children of Israel did afterwards adore the Serpent which he made But there cannot be the same reason for the burying of Christ's Birth-day as was for the burying of the Body of Moses It is but a lame Similitude neither can the Comparison be aequivaleut or any way co-incident or correspondent for Moses was but a Servant Christ a Son and the Servant abideth not in the House for ever but the Son abideth ever Joh. 8.35 Moses was a Type and Shadow Christ the Body and Substance the Shadow vanisheth but the Body and Substance remaineth Besides this the one was but a Man the other God even God and Man and shall that be counted Idolatry and Superstition which is a holy Worship and devout Service performed to the true God So that Moses must yield subscribe and give way to Christ when he is present the Law must depart out of the Conscience Isa 28.20 and leave the Bed which is so strait that it cannot hold two to Christ alone For the Law came by Moses but Christ hath put an end to the Law and so Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ Joh. 1.16 i. e. Joy and Liberty and Freedom and Justification and Redemption for if the Son once shall make us free we shall be free indeed For there is a great Antithesis even a great deal of distance and difference betwixt Moses and Christ the Law and the Gospel the one being the ministration of Death Condemnation and the other the ministration of Righteousnesse and Life eternal 2 Cor. 3. And therefore I say to conclude this Point that this day is not so hidden and obscured from us but that the very dawning and breaking thereof is discovered and descryed For did not the heavenly Herald proclaim it in the fields of Bethlehem and did not the Shepherds find it to be true that very day according as the Angel had told them and shall we think that there were no Registers nor Records of it in that City wherein he was born and did not that Starr in the East signifying this Day-Star from on high coming to visit us did it not directly point the Wise-men to the place of his Birth Yea And Christ himself told the Jews of this his day Job 8.56 saying Your Father Abraham rejoyced to see my day and he saw it and rejoyced Hic Dies Domini uil aliud significat quà m Adventum Christi in carne This day of Christ saith Beza on that place in John signifieth nothing else but his first coming in the Flesh which many Prophets and Kings desired to have seen as well as Abraham for the Messias is called The desire of all Nations Hag. 2.8 of whom the Prophets enquired searching when or what time the Spirit which was in them should declare the Sufferings which should come to Christ and the Glory that should follow 1 Pet. 1.11 When Balaam had prophecyed of Christ There shall come a Star out of Jacob and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel Numb 24.17 he brake forth into this Passion Alass Who shall live when God doth this As if he should have said Happy men are they who shall see that glorious Star and Sun of Righteousness coming out of his Chamber as a Bride-groom giving light to such as sit in darkness and in the Shadow of Death Oh that thou wouldest break the Heavens and come down said the Prophet Isa 64.1 Good old Simeon looked long for this day and with an earnest desire waited for the consolation of Israel So did also Joseph of Arimathaea that honourable Counsellor great Friend and Well-wisher to Christ for he also himself was one of them who waited for the Kingdom of God Luk. 23.51 So did that ancient and reverend Father St. Augustine of whom it is reported that he wished he might have seen three things especially Rome in her Glory Paul in the Pulpit and Christ in the Flesh If the Queen of Sheba reputed the Servants of Solomon happy for that attending about his Throne 1 King 10.8 1 King 4.33 they heard his Wisdom difcoursing of Prees from the Cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the Hyssop that springeth out of the Wall How blessed and happy then may we think were the Disciples of Christ in hearing a greater than Solomon Math. 12.4 and in seeing him who was fairer than the Sons of Men Psal 45.3 and in whom also are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge Colos 2.3 Answer to the eleventh Argument In the Eleventh Objection you say It hath not been the Practise of Christian Churches to
the Manger from the Manger to the Crosse from the Crosse to the Grave from the Grave to Heaven again from whence we look for and expect his second coming David sang of this his alacrity Psal 20. The King is glad of thy strength O Lord and exceeding joyfull of thy Salvation Quia verbum caro factum est habitavit in nobis because saith Augustine on those words The Word was made flesh and dwelt in us the Day of Christ's Nativity was his Day of Festivity his Birth Day was his Mirth Day for then his Mother Crowned him with the Crown of his Incarnation which was the Day of his Espousals or the Day of the joy and gladness of his heart as it is so called Cant. 3.10 This is a great Mystery saith Paul but I speak concerning Christ and the Church sine dubio magnum est pietatis mysterium And without controversy great is the Mystery of godliness How God was manifested in the Flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the VVorld 1 Tim. 3.16 and received up in Glory and He being thus ascended and received up into Glory for the Heaven must receive Him in regard of his bodily presence untill the times of restitution of all things saith Peter Act. 3.21 And thus leaving his Spouse the Church as a VViddow as He hath enjoyned and Commanded her in the Gospel to think upon his Love and oftentimes to remember him and his Death especially as often as she receiveth the blessed Sacraments of his Body and Blood So she for her part thinks it meet not onely to Commemorate his Death but sometimes also especially once a year to Congratulate and Solace her self in remembrance of his Birth That happy and joyful Marriage day which was once Solemnized betwixt her and that great King of Glorie's Son who now sitteth at the right hand of his Father in Heaven even as I have also observed it to be the fashion and condition of many good and honest Couples whilst they live on Earth together to keep a solemn remembrance every year of their Wedding day even untill their Dying day So should every good Christian and faithful Soul keep a due and perpetual remembrance of her Loving Lord and gracious Head and Husband Christ Jesus As it is reported of that famous Artemisia That to shew her love to her dead Husband Mausolus she took the ashes of his Urne or Pitcher and mingled them with her Drink and so intombed his dead Carkasse within her living Body And it is said of blessed Ignatius after his Martyrdome that these words were found written upon his heart so it were to be wished that they were also ingraven and imprinted in Ours Amor mens crucifixus my Love Christ Jesus was crucified for me But perhaps here you will object and say that this is Symbolica Theologiae and that it is not Argumentativa i. e. that it is an Argument Rhetorical rather than Dialectical What say you then to Theologia miraculis confirmata which in the third place I shall alleadge namely the strange accidents and wonderful effects that happened at the Birth of Christ or rather those rare and singular miracles that were acted and done near about the time of his Nativity For a little before this was it that made a young Babe while he was yet in the Womb of his Mother to Spring and Sprout and leap therein for joy yea Luk. 1.44 this was it that made an old man that was dumb before to speak and to praise the Lord with a song and say Luke 1.6 8. Blessed be the Lord c. And this was it that moved another old man after he had seen the Lord Christ to hold him in his arms and desire life no longer He was so much ravished and overjoyed with the sight of his Saviour that he presently chanted out Cantionem Cygneam that swanne-like song Lord now it is enough and I am abundantly satisfied because thou hast fulfilled my desire in performing thy promise to me that I should not see Death before I had seen thy Son To these we may add the apparition of that glorious Starr which shewed it self unto the Wise men of the East about the time of his Nativity which was not an ordinary Starr but extraordinary and miraculously created at this time for this very end and purpose not onely to signifie but to dignifie and set forth the Birth of Christ Math. 2. for said they We have seen his Starr in the East that is the Starr which he hath newly made to testifie unto the World that he is born It differed from other Starrs in Place and Motion in Lustre and Brightnesse Haec stella quae solis rotam vincit decore ac lumine saith Prudentius of this Starr it hath another way then the way of the Starrs from the East to the South from Persia to Palestina it appeared not when other Stars appeared It shined in the day Other in the Night it did appear was hid it was hid and did appear It shewed it self before they entred Jerusalem and hid it self while they were there but so soon as they left Herod and the City it did shew it self and went right forwards in a straight course towards Bethlehem no otherwise then the Cloud and Pillar of fire went before the People of Israel at their departure and going out of Egypt into Canaan It kept not the ordinary course of the Starrs nor any proper way for it went that way which the wise men would go and when they would stand still then that stood still yea it did not keep aloft like other Starrs but it descended to shew the Messiah the Messah so poor so base and contemptible Whereupon it is that St. Austin calleth it magnifica lingua caeli the stately congue of heaven appointed by God as it were to reveal and preach unto the wise men that Christ was that Starr of Jacob prophesied of by Balaam Numb 24.17 that he was Stella illa splendida matutina that bright Morning Starr Revel 22.16 and that he was Oriens ab alto that day-spring from high that came to visit us and to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet in the way of Peace as that holy Priest Zacharias telleth us comfortably in his song Luke 1.75 Wherefore as the Roman Orator speaks so will I here say Nihil horum era vultusque movernunt and as the Roman Poet elegantly Quid satis est si Roma parum so will I be bold here to speak it Quid satis erit illi cui non sufficient ista If these things will not serve to convince you I know not what will Mark 16. â—6 For if neither the VVord nor Miracles nor the VVord confirmed by Miracles will prevail and work upon us to make us believe then I say as it is in the 16 of Luke at