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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A30646 The protestation protested, or, A short remonstrance shewing what is principally required of all those that have or doe take the last Parliamentary protestation Burton, Henry, 1578-1648. 1641 (1641) Wing B6171; ESTC R22769 12,519 23

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THE PROTESTATION PROTESTED OR A short Remonstrance shewing what is principally required of all those that have or doe take the last Parliamentary PROTESTATION ECCL. 5. 45. When thou vowest a Vow unto God deferre not to pay it for hee hath no pleasure in fooles pay that which thou hast vowed Better it is that thou shouldest not vow then that thou shouldest vow and not pay Printed in the yeare MDCXLI THE PROTESTATION PROTESTED ECCLES. 5. 4 5. When thou vowest a vow unto GOD deferre not to pay it for he hath no pleasure in fooles pay that which thou hast vowed Better it is that thou shouldest not vow then that thou shouldst vow and not pay WHen in the Scale of Conscience rightly informed I weigh the words of the Protestation and of this Exhortation of the Holy GHOST together I cannot but tremble when I see what small account most men doe make of so solemne a Vow as they so solemnly take upon them in the said PROTESTATION For when Ministers and People have taken the Protestation and have solemnly vowed to maintaine the Doctrine of our Church so far as it is opposite to Popery Doe they withall presently set upon the performance of this their Vow Doe they not further deferre to pay it Surely if they doe deferre it the holy Ghost cals them fooles in whom God hath no pleasure And it had beene better for them never to haye vowed then to vow and not pay Object But how doe they deferre to pay their Vow thus made Answ. In that they doe not presently renounce and protest against all Popery and for ever disclaime and abandon all Communion with it Obj. Why will they say what Communion have we Protestants with Popery We do all renounce it Answ. In words we doe renounce it but indeed wee retaine it and have close Communion with it so farre are we from keeping the Vow thus made Obj. But what Popery doe wee Protestants of the Church of England retaine with us or hold Communion with Answ. Wee hold Communion with Popery so long as wee doe publikely retaine and maintaine any of the Doctrines of Popery And the Doctrines of Popery which wee retaine and maintaine are these First The imposition of the Liturgie Secondly The Discipline Thirdly The Government Fourthly The Ceremonies Obj. But these being as yet established by Law wee may not cast them off till the Law which set them up be abrogated which must be by Act of Parliament And we protest against Popery to cast it out as farre as lawfully we may and no otherwise Answ. First All Lawes are to be interpreted according to their cleare intention and end Now the Law for Reformation never intended to allow or set up Popery in this Church of England Secondly If any humane Lawes be found to be contrary to Gods Word they are invalid and void ipso facto And it will appeare that imposition of a devised Liturgie humane Rites and Ceremonies Praelaticall government and Discipline are directly contrary to Gods word Thirdly Having once made this solemne Protestation and vow against all Popery and finding that the particulars aforesaid are branches of Popery wee are bound ipso facto forthwith to have no more Communion with them but utterly to renounce them Ob. But what if the Parliament did not intend or understand by Popery the foresaid things as the Liturgie Discipline Government Ceremonies used in our Church and by Law established Shall we presume to extend the sense of the Protestation further then the first makers thereof intended And the Prelates wee presume would never so readily have subscribed to the Protestation had they dreamed any such sense to lye hid under the name of Popery as their Hierarchy with their Liturgie Rites Ceremonies Discipline Government for then they had in the Protestation protested against all these and should have given their hands and votes for the rooting of them out of this Church Answ. First This we are sure of and 't is most cleare by the expresse words of the Protestation that they intended it against all Popery Secondly They expresse themselves and professe thus farre that the words of the Protestation are not to be extended to the maintaining of any forme of Worship Discipline or Government nor of any Rites or Ceremonies in the said Church of England Ergo wee doe not we may not protest for the maintenance of these Thirdly suppose that at the first making of the Protestation in the Parliament these particulars afore-mentioned were not reckoned in the Catalogue of all Popery yet no good Christian will or can deny that the Honourable House of Commons did not at all intend to exclude what ever should be found to pertaine to Popery as a branch thereof And therefore we may boldly conclude that if the forementioned things shall be found to be and that no small branches of Popery the Protestation hath an edge to cut them off all at one stroke Fourthly we are all in an erected hope of such a Reformation intended by this most noble Parliament as cannot justly challenge the name of Reformation unlesse all Popery be made to be packing which of necessity must carry with her all trinkets and baggage with all her pompous equipage among whose sumpters the Hierarchy with all its Pontificalibus of Service Ceremonies Discipline Traine Courts may challenge to goe in the formost ranke Fiftly and lastly suppose it could be supposed by any rationall man that the House of Commons could have no such thought as implicitely to include the aforesaid particulars in the fardell of Popery or that they could possibly intend the maintaining of those things still of which they expresly say That the words of the Protestation are not to bee extended to the maintaining of any Forme of Worship Discipline or Governement Rites or Ceremonies or that these things should not be removed but maintained still What then Shall private and particular Christians knowing these things to be Popery and Antichristian being also bound by their solemne Vow and Protestation never reforme themselves untill they see a generall Reformation over the whole Land What if they shall never live to see this Will they against their Conscience against their knowledge against their Vow and Protestation live and die Votaries and Communicants in that Service Schoole-boyes and Punies under the Ferula of that Discipline Vassals under that Government Conformists to those Rites and Ceremonies all which are very Popery and Popish Innovations Ob. But how doth it appeare that the fore-mentioned particulars are branches of Popery If our Conscience could be convinced hereof by the Word of God then surely are we bound both by Gods Word and by our Vow and Protestation presently to renounce and abandon these things and to have no longer any Communion with them Ans. It is most true that nothing can resolve regulate and settle the Conscience but the Word of God in the evidence of it Now most cleare it is by the Scripture that the Liturgie