regnare To these two Reverend Deanes I will add two worthy Doctors who are witnesses to the warrantable application of the word Sabbath to the Sunday and who though neither Bishops nor Deanes have had the reputation and not without desert of very learned and religious men viz. Doctor John White brother to Doctor Fr. White late Bishop of Elie and Doctor Daniel Featly houshold Chaplain to the late ″ Archbish Abbot Archbishop of Canterbury Doctor Joh. White in his answer to the Papists bragging of the holinesse of their Church and upbraiding of our Church for want of holinesse hath among other accusations of their courses these words i D. Joh. White in his way to the true Church §. 38. p. 210. And for mine owne part having spent most of my time among them this I have found that in all excesse of sinnes Papists have been the ring-leaders in royotous companies in drunken meetings in seditious assemblies and practices in profaning the Sabbath c. And againe Papists hold that it is lawfull on the Sabbath day to follow suits travell hunt dance keepe Faires and such like this is that which hath made Papists the most notorious Sabbath breakers that live And Doctor Featly as hee had more occasion to mention the day and the duties thereof so hee more frequently maketh use of the name Sabbath as in his Hand-maid to Devotion wee finde mention of an k Dr. Featly Hand-maid to Devotion in the direction for the use of the book p. 4. hymne and prayer before the Sabbath wherein saith hee the duties of the Sabbath are expressed and in preparation for the receiving of the Sacrament there is a confession in these words l Hand maid to devotion pag. 107. Thou commandest me to keepe holy thy Sabbath and settest an especiall marke of Remembrance upon it yet I have not remembred to put off my ordinary businesse and in the Devotion for the Christian Sabbath the name is m Ib. â— p. 172. ad pag. 200. often used for the day wee celebrate sometimes with the word Christian joyned to it sometimes the name Sabbath is set without it and in his volume of printed Sermons treating on these words Wherefore God hath highly exalted him hee saith n Dr. Featly Serm. which he calleth Lowlinesse exalted pag. 735. If the rest of God from the works of Creation were just cause of sanctifying a perpetuall Sabbath to the memory thereof may not the rest of our Lord from the worke of Redemption more painefull to him and more beneficiall to us challenge the like prerogative of a day to bee hallowed and consecrated unto it shall wee not keepe it as a Sabbath on earth for him which hath procured for us an eternall Sabbath in heaven And a little after hee addeth o Ib. pag. 735 736. The holy Apostles and their successors fixed the Christian Sabbath upon the first day of the weeke to eternize the memory of our Lords Resurrection and speaking of Easter day With what Religion saith p Ib. pag. 736. he is the Christian Sabbath of Sabbaths to be kept I could lengthen this Catalogue for the name Sabbath thus applyed with many more names of those whose sufficiencie and sincerity is such that it would little become them that carpe most at the name Sabbath in this sense to teach them how to speake without corrupting their dialect with the dregs of Ashdod as of q Mr. Hooker Eccles Pol. l. 5 p. 183. 385 M. Mâ—son who wrote of the consecrat of Bishops anno 1613. p. 269. Pet. Ramus de Relig. l. 2. c. 6. Master Hooker with divers others but that will not need especially if wee add unto these that which hath beene confessed or rather complained of by r M. Brab in his Desence p. 626. Master Braburne and Å¿ M. Dowe his discourse p. 4. Master Dowe viz. That the Lords day is usually and vulgarly called and known by the name Sabbath and then there will bee a full answer to Master Ironside his objection which soundeth as if the name Sabbath for the Lords day were a meere mistake of a t Mr. Ironside quest 3. cap. 13. pag. 126. few private persons of late yeeres I hope Kings Archbishops Bishops and Deanes and other eminent Doctors are not private persons nor they together with the vulgar few and wee may yet make them more by bringing in some of those to beare witnesse to the lawfull use of the word Sabbath for Sunday or the Lords day being drawne to yeeld some assent unto it by the force of truth who otherwise shew their great dislike of that denomination CHAP. XVI Of such as are adversaries to the name Sabbath as put for Sunday sometimes assenting thereunto and using the name in that sense or yeelding that which doth inferre it AS first Master Braburne in his discourse to this Objection the name Sabbath signifieth Rest Now on the Lords day we Rest therefore wee may call it Sabbath day answereth a M. Brab discourse p. 81. 'T is true the Sabbath signifieth Rest and so the Lords day might bee called Sabbath day but yet in no other sense then every common Holiday wherein we worke not may bee called Sabbath day that is Resting day We take his concession for the Lords day to be called Sabbath but not his comparison for as much as that hath more right to the name which hath a weekly recourse of Rest then that which cometh but once a yeare which himselfe doth in effect acknowledge when he so ″ In his Defence p. 276 277 481. often mentioneth the Lords day Sabbath as out of a kind of necessity to expresse his owne conceptions otherwise to use his owne b M Brab Defens p. 50. phrase hee would not so often have taken the crowne off his King Saturnes head and set it upon that day which in his conceipt is but a common Subject 2. Doctor Heylin notwithstanding what wee have before observed of him appeareth sometimes indifferently disposed to give to the Lords day the name of Sabbath as c Doct. Hâ—yl hist Sab. part 2. c. 6 pag. 182. where he saith By the Doctrine of the Helvetian Churches if I conceive their meaning rightly every particular Church may destinate what day they please to religious meetings and every day may bee a Lords day or a Sabbath If we were to judge of his opinion by this place we could not tell which word hee liked better Sabbath or Lords day hee sheweth himselfe so equally affected to them both seeming to bee the same man and of the same mind with him who in another booke wrote thus d Pet. Heylin Geogr. p. 702. I dare not so farre put my sickle into this harvest as to limit out the extent of Sabbath keeping which commanding us to doe no manner of worke doth seeme to prohibit us to worke for our owne safeguard Wherein hee sheweth such modesty in himselfe and such equity both to
not to breake the bond of conscience to the duties of the day and to make way for more living and lesse labour to heap up Benefices and shrinke in the services due to the Lord of the Sabbath and to the soules of the people on that day to give them leave to turne a Christian Holiday into a profane play-day that his paines may be lesse looked for at his Pastor all charge and his negligence the lesse blamed when hee is absent from it or idle at it And if a man reade his booke over and give way to the working of his imagination as hee hath done may hee not haply thinke that by his setting upon the name Sabbath his plot was to prostitute the dignity of that day to such profanation as might bee a preparation to Popish superstition for if ever Popery like the uncleane spirit return to the place whence it was expelled the common breach of the fourth Commandement by violation of the Sabbath will be if not a wide gate yet at least an open wicket or window to receive it againe For as Bellarmine observeth well though hee apply it ill l Nec fere solet accidere ut ante circa fidem aliquis naufraget quà m naufragare caeperit circa mores Bellar. orat in Schol. ant tom 4 fine orat The shipwracke of manners is the readiest way to the shipwracke of faith And for shipwracke of manners there is not a readier way then profanely to rush upon the breach of that Commandement which is as a pale or wall to all the rest CHAP. XIX An Answer to Barkley the Papist his Dilemma against the name Sabbath for Sunday or Lords day THe next Exception to bee answered against the word Sabbath is the Quaere and a Dilemma of Barkley the Papist in his Parenaesis ad Sectar translated thence by the Translator of Doctor Prideaux his Lecture and by him called a notable Dilemma a The Translator of Dr. Prid. Lectine in Epist to the Reader p. ult but in Barkley his Paraenes ad Sectar it is l. 1. pag. 161. What is the cause saith hee that many of our Sectaries call this day meaning the Christian weekely Holiday by the name of Sabbath If they observe it saith hee as a Sabbath they must observe it because God rested on that day and then they ought to keepe that day wherein God rested and not the first as now they doe wherein the Lord began his labours If they observe it as the day of our Saviours Resurrection why doe they call it still the Sabbath seeing that Christ did not altogether rest but valiantly overcame the power of death To which I answer Ans First That not onely Sectaries but prudent and potent Kings reverend and learned Bishops and other orthodox Divines have allowed of the word Sabbath for the Lords day as the Testimonies premised sufficiently shew Secondly for the Dilemma it is an absurd impertinency to the point in question for the Question is of the appellation and the Dilemma is made of the observation of the Sabbath yet as if it were not a squint-eyed and distorted Argument but looked directly to the title I answer 1. To the first part of it that to call a day Sabbath there is no necessity it should bee the same day on which God rested for the name is given to it not onely because of Gods example of rest but also because of his ordinance of rest for if he had not rested himselfe but onely instituted a day of rest such a day might significantly and sutably be called by such a name as wee have observed The Holidayes of the Jewes were so called besides the Sabbath of weekly recourse yet is not God said to have rested on them nor did hee for they were dayes of worke both to him and to us 2. The second part of it is If they observe it as the day of our Saviours Resurrection why doe they call it still the Sabbath seeing especially that Christ did not altogether rest but valiantly overcame the powers of death Which words are liable to the like exceptions as the former for the Resurrection containeth not the nature of the Christian Sabbath but the occasion of it nor is the day called Sabbath from Christs example and practice on that day but from Christians resting from their secular affaires for a religious gratefull and solemne memoriall thereof Secondly It is called Sabbath with reference to the Creation which was finished in sixe dayes and Gods rest on the seventh and to our duty to sinish our secular affaires in the like number of working dayes and after them to rest as God did after his workes but with reference to the Resurrection it is called not Sabbath day but Lords day because on that day the Lord of the Sabbath shewed his Lordship and Dominion over the Divell death and the grave in breaking their bonds and rising up in despigh◠of their power when they had him at their greatest advantage being under their Arrest And for that hee faith our Saviour did not rest on the day of his Resurrection wee may say with b See B. White his examinat of the Dialog pag. 110 111 113. Bishop White and his ″ Ibid. Adversary also for therein they are not adversaries but agree well together that though he were in action yet did he not labour for his glorifyed body had that ability and perfection in it that all motions and actions were as pleasing to it as any ease or rest could be and not onely that day but all the dayes betwixt the Resurrection and Ascension hee was conversant in Sabbatary or sanctified employment speaking of the things appertaining to the Kingdome of God for forty daies together Act. 1.3 and though hee did not rest nor needed it as wee doe yet wee must And if we may call the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ the Lords Supper though wee take it before dinner as Christ did not wee may call our day Sabbath since we rest though he did not So this notable Dilemma brought in with its two hornes against the two syllables of the word Sabbath hath not defaced one letter but left it entire for a title of the Lords day and Barkley hath but barked at it not bitten it to doe it any manner of hurt CHAP. XX. Master Braburne his objection of confusion in calling Sunday Sabbath answered ob 3 THe third objection may be that of M. Braburne who chargeth the Appellation with confusion a Mr. Braburns discourse pag. 1. 79. And in his def of the discourse p. 494. To call Sunday Sabbath day is saith he as if a man should call Sunday Saturday and what a confusion would this breed in time b M. Primrose Treat of the Sab. or Lords day part 2. c. 6. pag. 123. For this name Sabbath is the proper particular name of the seventh day i.e. from the Creation c M. Brab def p. 43 44 522
p. 72. Bishop of Elie where hee observeth out of Athanasius his Tractate de semente That the Saturday Sabbath was so observed that it was not prohibited Thirdly For Africa Saint Augustine since hee was an African Bishop may informe us by that hee hath in the 91. Psalme where treating upon it as the text of his Sermon Å¿ Hodiernus dies Sabb. est Aug. in Psal 91. tom 8. part 1. pag. 158. hee saith this day is the Sabbath if it were the Jewes day on that day he preached to the people and they had an holy Assembly on that day with conformity it is like to other Churches for hee calleth it the Sabbath as a day designed to holy duties and as it is like with conformity to other Churches if it were the Lords day hee called that the Sabbath and so the title is authorised by his Testimony But whatsoever become of these Allegations or however they prove for force or feeblenesse certain it is that the Decree of the Councell of t Concil Laodicen can 29. Caranz sum concil p. 190. Bin. tom 1. p. 300. Laodicea about the yeare 368. prevailed not so far as quite to put downe the observation of the Saturday Sabbath though to u Si inventi fuerint Judaizare i. e. non operando in Sabbato non praeponendo diem Dominicam eidem diei Anathema sint Ibid. Sabbatize with a Jewish cessation were forbidden upon pain of an Anathema for in time of Pope Gregory the Great there were some who had it in too great honour and religious reverence but by this time the Lords day had so farre advanced in estimation above it and in operation against it that ″ Greg. â—p 3.11 hee is almost as sharpe with them who were precise observers of the Sabbath with the Lords day as Ignatius was with such as combined them both in superstitious abstinence or fasting Gregory held those who observed the old Sabbath to bee x Perversi spiritus homines die Sabbati operari prohibent quos quid aliud nisi Antichristi Praedicatores dixerim Greg. â—p ex Regist l. 11. c 3. fol. 452 p. 1. col 2. Antichristian and y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. ep ad Philip pag. 45. Ignatius termed those who fasted on the Lords day or Sabbath one day excepted the killers of Christ So in his Epistle to the Philippians But for all that of the Laodicean Councell and this of Gregory the Sabbath was in some places upheld with the sacred services not onely as that z Sabbat is evangelia cum alâ—is Scripturis legenda esse censemus Concil Laod. can 16 pag. 180. Councell decreed for the reading of Scripture for that day but as with an equall respect to the Lords day which the a Ibid. can 29. Councell forbad and so it is to this day in the Ethiopicke Churches as b Quod autem Sabbatâ—n aequè ac diem Dominicum ab opere immune habent id non est argumentum Judaisini sed veteris Christianismi quot enim Canones sunt qui vetant Sabbato opus facere Joseph Scal. de emend temp l. 7. p. 683. Joseph Scaliger sheweth which hee will have to bee no argument of Judaisme but of ancient Christianity for how many Canons saith hee are there to forbid men to worke on the Sabbath day meaning the Saturday I wish hee had set downe how many some I have met with but not many and of those that which is pretended to be of the greatest Authority is in true judgement of least accompt viz. that of c Clement const Apost l. 7. c. 24. Clement published in the name of the Apostles which commands to keep holy the Sabbath day in memory of the Creation and the Lords day in memory of the Resurrection which if Clement had received from the Apostles the Romans it is like would which they did not have received it from him for they reckon him for one of the prime successors of S. Peter in the Bishoprick of Rome The summe of these observations concerning sacred Assemblies twice a weeke viz. upon Saturday the old Sabbath and the Lords day the new begun by the Apostles for the quicker progresse of the Gospel and better advantage of devotion and continued by Christians in after ages after their examples is this In the primitive times the Lords day was seldome called the Sabbath because then the old Sabbath of the Jewes was religiously observed with solemne Assemblies and while and where two dayes were so solemnized i. e. Saturday and Sunday it was sit to call them for distinction sake and to avoid confusion by severall names and good reason that the Saturday having for some thousand of yeers had possession of the title Sabbath when yet the Lords day or Christian Sunday had never shined in the world should be called the Sabbath rather then any other day and that the Lords day should rather be called by another name then by that But now at least among us who use the day which was the Jewes holiday not as a Sabbath or a day of rest but as a workeday now that some Jewishly some prophanely affected doe deny the name of Sabbath to the day wee celebrate to supplant the support of it by the fourth Commandement not as it is the Lords day but as one of the seven there is no danger of confusion by calling the Lords day the Sabbath but due caution thereby given against such conceits as tend to impeach the preheminence thereof CHAP. XXIIII The objection taken from the use of the name Sabbath in Histories Dictionaries and the Roman and Reformed Churches answered NOr is it any thing to prejudice the preheminence of the title Sabbath among us that Latin Authours whether of Histories or Dictionaries take the word Sabbatum usually for Saturday as a M. Brab his defence p. 44. Master Braburn hath objected since so long a custome of the Sabbaths observation upon Saturday both in the Jewish the Christian Church might easily prevail with many Writers to take the terme as they found it in familiar use before their time wherein they might be more facile while they suspected none advantage would be made of it against the truth But if from that facility of phrase exception be taken against the right of the Christians weekely holiday though a day of rest to the name Sabbath a name of rest then we must have recourse to the proper sense of the word and correspondence of the thing and rather speake according to both then to the improper and abusive application of it though customarie or usuall And as for the word Catholick though many Protestants have familiarly called the Papists by that name yet since they have insolently gloryed in it and perversely inferred from our use of it agreeing with their usurpation that wee that call them Catholicks doe by consequence confesse that our selves are Hereticks who are opposite to them as Coqueus concluded from
of all good meanes to keepe them out for future time Gods Providence which doth nothing in vaine may well bee thought after so long absence and so great distance of your ordinary residence to have brought you hither at this time for so great so good a purpose So that though there be some ſ Sunt qui quod sentiunt etiamsi optimum sit invidiae metu non audent dicere Cicero l. 1. de Offic. p. 362. who think better then for feare of envie they dare speake and so doe a great deale worse then perhaps they think for as t Veritatem reticere quoddam sacrilegium est Sedul in epist ad Rom. c. 11. sol 8. Sedulius saith to conceale the truth when there is just cause and a fit season to set it forth is a kind of sacriledge It is both beleeved and looked for that your Grace as you can upon occasion shew your selfe a Paul in eminence of knowledge and a Barnabas in sweetnesse of spirituall consolation so with Paul and Barnabas you will waxe bold in the cause of God and his truth though as it was their lot you should meet with contradiction even unto blasphemy Act. 13 ver 45 46. and indeed the sincerest and wisest working may sometimes not onely faile of due acceptance and successe but bee as wilfully withstood on the one side as it is zealously pursued on the other Yet your Grace may take the more heart to give free scope to your conscience herein because you are so generally gracious that as Hierome said to u Tuae dilectionis fama dispergitur ut non tam laudandus sit qui te amat quà m scelus putetur facere qui non amat Hier. ad Florentium priore epist tom 1. p. 53. Florentius To love you is not so much to be reputed a praise as not to love you a crime I should be guilty of no lesse if I should not in mine heartiest prayers to Almighty God commend your good health and long life for his glory and his Churches comfort and sincerely professe all humble observance to you as the duty of Your Graces most cordially devoted client and servant JOHN LEY From my lodging in Pauls Church-yard March 19. 1640. The PREFACE to the Reader THe Name and Lot of the Sabbath as many of this generation have used the matter are very unlike for that is fixed on an Hebrew root which signifieth Rest this as a watery reed tossed to and fro with contrary winds by the manifold oppositions that are made about it almost if not altogether Restlesse Not all the Commandements of the Decalogue besides that of the Sabbath which for number have the oddes of nine to one have suffered more or worse under the strife of tongues or conflict of pens then it hath done It was by divine Ordinance to be as Noahs Arke for in that not men alone but the unreasonable creatures likewise though most disposed to range abroad were under an arrest confined to a narrow compasse and though otherwise adverse to each other united in a quiet and peaceable repose among themselves So on the Sabbath both man and beast for that day were to have each of them their quietus est by the one sort Rest was only to be enjoyed as a benefit to the other it was enjoyned as a duty but not Rest onely but Religion with it nor Rest meerly for it selfe but for Religions sake and that so farre as it consisteth in communion with God is another kind of Rest and of all kinds the best and most delightfull But now is this Sabbath or day of rest and quietnesse become as a Ball betwixt two Rackets bandied this way and that way by mutuall contradiction not onely betwixt the godly and the profane which is no newes but among many of those who are in no mean accompt in the Church of God whether they bee valued by the eminence of their places the excellency of their parts or the holinesse of their lives The more is the griefe of religious hearts that doe observe it and the more hearty their desires no doubt to see some good accord at least betwixt the better sort or which is next unto a peace that the differences about it may bee carried with such pious and prudent moderation on both sides as that God may lose no part of his tribute of honour nor his servants be defrauded of the fruit of their holinesse nor fall to a change or cooling of those charitable affections towards each other without which Pomegranats even the golden Bells of Aaron are but like sounding brasse or tinkling Cimballs Towards this purpose if the employment of the Talent committed to my trust may any way conduce I shall make no scruple to adde unto my other taskes an assay of satisfaction to their Doubts or Reasons who either waver in the right or are already swayed to wrong opinions in this point And to this endeavour I shall with more diligence addresse my selfe First because the day in question is the training day of military Discipline by which the Church of Christ is unto the Synagogue of Satan as is said in the Canticles terrible as an Army with Banners Cantic 6.4 which if it should not be well united and often exercised the powers of darknesse would be mightily exalted It containeth as a Cùm subyersam omnem religionem vult apud Prophetas signisicare polluta violata non custodita non sanctificata sua Sabbatha conqueritur quasi omisso hoc obsequio nihil ampliùs restaret in quo posset honorari Calvin Instil l. 2. cap 8. parag 29. pag. 140. Calvin sheweth and b Mast Perk. exhortat to Repent vol. 3. pag. 421. col 2. Doct. Prid. his lect on the Sab. Doct. Rivet in Exod c. 31. ver 12. pag. 253. Grotius de jure belli ac pacis l. 2. c. 20. pag. 244. Mast Primrose Treat of the Sab. part 2. c. 6. p. 120 121. other learned Divines in effect say the same the summe and substance of all Religion The Sabbath is unto it as the border of Sinai to that mountaine of terrour and as the tower of Sion to that city of perfection and so cannot be battered or broken down without an open breach upon Religion it selfe Secondly because as it stands in eminency for force and use so it is the fairest marke for Satans malignity to aime at and as if he had given his souldiers some such charge against it as the King of Syria did once against the King of Israel fight against neither small nor great 1 Kin. 22.31 but against the King of Israel spend all your might against his person so against this whether King or Queen of dayes for both these titles are attributed to the day of Rest as I shall note in another place are all his forces set in battell array and though in some respects adverse to one another yet in their way they all of them doe violence to the
their different Tenets come with indifferency to be examined In the meane time I thought this speech after so many inducements as before I have touched though directed to him was pertinent to mee And besides other respects somewhat more to mee then to Master Bifield in that a great f Mast W. C. Admirer of Master Breerwood brought mee divers of his Dictats on this Argument which are not in print that I might peruse them and so might either take the impression of his opinions from them or if my judgement swayed mee otherwise that I might endeavour to take off the errour of his and other mens mis-conceipts by some better evidence of truth herein then yet had been offered to their view At this marke while I direct mine aime and addresse mine endeavours my resolution is and care shall be to deale with such diligence as not to neglect any meanes of due information in matters of doubt and with such fidelity as not to tell a lye for God nor to out-face a truth against the meanest man And if while I devote my thoughts pains to make some truths not of meere speculation but of ordinary practice to shine which have been obscured with manifold scruples and to fence them from the storme of some mens oppositions it bee mine hap to derive contradictions upon my selfe it shall not discourage mee from any duty I owe unto the truth for he that gain-sayeth me in that maketh himselfe Gods adversary more then mine for truth is not any mans so much as his who I hope will give mee eyes to see both what wrong is done unto it and by what meanes and in what manner it should be righted But if the exception he taketh against what I write be true and just I will take it for a matter not of disgrace but of gratification for I shall accompt it a favour if he shew mee an errour of mine owne and it shall be no longer mine then untill it be seen which yet I see not For which discovery I shall hold it my duty to give him thankes without taking offence at any good office hee performeth for the truth and shall alwaies be ready to debate any doubtfull difference so as with the g Et refellere sine pertinacia refelli sine iracundia parati sumus Cicer. Tus qu. l. 2. p. 137. 5. Oratour to give or receive a refutation without pertinacy or passion and as h Nobiscum nulla contentio cum uterque pari jugo non pro sese sed pro causa niteretur Plin. opist lib. 3. pag. 85. Lucius Albinus and his friend to joyne my necke with his in the yoak sociably to draw not the waine of our vaine conceipts or selfe-wills but the chariot of truth that shee may ride on in state and triumph which will I am sure be the last issue of these Sabbathary dissentions wherein falshood though for a time it may advance as Pageants doe by an unnaturall and violent force shall fall under her wheele and receive the reward of the wicked by Solomons doome Prov. 20.26 In hope whereof and heart by that hope I shall betake my selfe to my taske which will bee a double discourse The former Historicall wherein I shall shew how the controversie of the Sabbath hath proceeded from the Primitive to the present times The later Doctrinall and Practicall in which the differences of the Doctrine shall be discussed and the duties of practise accordingly delivered But because we can treat of none of them without the use of Termes and Names which are called in question and by some condemned of profanenesse or Judaisme especially the name i In the book called Sunday no Sabbath made by Doct. Pockl. Sabbath whereof we must needs make frequent mention it will bee very convenient and neere unto necessary first of all to discusse the exceptions taken at the titles of our weekly Holiday Yet so as that the discourse of them may be a preparative to reall resolutions afterwards In all which the God of Truth and Piety be mine aide and guide Amen The Copie of the Letter mentioned in the Preface To the Reverend and our worthy Friend and Brother in the Ministery Mr. John Ley these Reverend and worthy Sir SInce the due observation of the Lords Sabbath is of so much importance both for Gods glory and mans good that the whole Decalogue is usually with more or lesse conscience regarded as the Sabbath doth abound with or is abated of its due respect and observance and being conscious of the variety of opinions in these dayes of contention and controversie both touching the day and duties thereof Which it is When it begins By what force and how farre it obligeth with the distractions which these differences may produce in the mindes of all especially of weake though well-affected Christians wee are bold in assurance of your wisdome and abilility this way as well as otherwise to entreat you to add light to the truth in these points by a serious sifting of them and a seasonable divulging of your judicious Labours on them wherein you shall not onely gratifie us in particular that much desire to partake of your pious endeavours but promote the publick good and peace of Gods Church stop the mouthes and stay the pens of such as are carryed away with mis-conceit and errour settle and comfort their consciences that hover betweene doubt and resolution having neede of all learned and religious helpes to cleare this doctrine from such clouds as doe eclipse the brightnesse and beauty of it The Lord incline your heart to undertake this work and so direct and assist you every way to plead his cause that Truth may triumph over all subtleties and sophismes that with their faire appearances are apt to deceive the simple So wee commend you to the Grace of God and rest Your very respective Friends and Brethren in the Ministery William Moston Andrew Wood. John Conny Samuel Clerke Matthew Clayton William Shenton Richard Holker Robert Whittell Charles Herle Nathaniel Lancaster Richard Wilson Alexander Clerke John Glindale Thomas Holford The Contents of the Discourse following CHAP. I. IN what cases we may be indifferent for the for bearance or use of Names In what wee must bee chary concerning both Pag. 1. Chap. II. The divers names of the Christians weekely holiday pag. 4. Chap. III. Of three most usuall names of the Christians weekely holiday and first of the name Lords day Revel 1.10 The strange opinion of Dr. Gomarus and Mr. Braburne charging the title as applyed to the Christians Sabbath with impertinency and noveltie pag. 7 Chap. IIII. A comparison of the old Sabbath day the day of our Saviours Birth of his Passion Ascension and of his Apparition to S. John with the day of his Resurrection as touching right to the title Lords day and the pertinency and propriety of that title to our weekly holiday p. 13. Chap. V. The imputation of novelty in applying the title
restlesse turbulencie of sinne for that is a very troublesome evill the sinne of Simeon and Levi troubled Jacob Gen. 34.30 the sinne of Jonas troubled the aire and the sea and made it restlesse untill hee was offered up as a sacrifice to becalme it and The wicked saith Isaiah are like the troubled sea whose waves cast up mire and dirt Esa 57.20 and though the godly having lesse sinne have thereby the more rest yet to them it is a very troublesome and toylesome evill which will not suffer them to sleepe Davids teares are eye-witnesses hereof Psal 6.6 and for a more solide assurance of this truth hee bringeth in his bones to give testimony to it I finde no rest in my bones saith hee by reason of my sin Psal 38.3 The third acception of the name Sabbath but adding it to the former the sixth is that which the Apostle useth Heb. 4.9 the word in the originall is not Sabbatum but Sabbatismos but the termination troubles not the rest of the former part of the word and therefore our best Bibles render it as if it had beene the word Sabbatum by our English word Rest and this is the best Sabbath or Rest of all others wherein the Elect shall wholly cease from sinne and labour and it is that eternall Sabbath whereof the externall or temporall Sabbath was a Type in respect of the time of it as the Tabernacle or Temple was a Type for the place to the kingdome of Heaven where it shall bee enjoyned CHAP. XII Whether the day called Lords day or Sunday may not also be called Sabbath day or the Sabbath The exceptions which are taken up by divers against it THese acceptions premised it will bee the more easie to answer the exceptions which some have taken at the use of the name Sabbath as applyed to the Lords day who would have that name under so rigorous an arrest at the sute of Saturday that it may not stirre one step to the day next unto it and so wee may not by their leave call the Lords day the Sabbath day Of this minde are some of the greatest friends of the Lords day as well as they that as enemies oppose the divine authority of it for a D. bound l. 1. de Sab. p. 110. Doctor Bound a man sincerely devoted to the doctrine and duties of the fourth Commandement saith The name of the Sabbath was changed into the name of the Lords day which must bee retained and if the old name bee to bee changed and the new must be retained then the old name must bee taken to bee abolished at least to bee prohibited as to the day now solemnely observed and generally received And b M. Brerew repl p. 73. 74 Master Brerewood an opponent against divers points of Doctor Bound his Booke of the Sabbath in his Reply to Mr. Byfields Answer saith The name of the Sabbath remained appropriated to the old Sabbath and was never attributed to the Lords day for many hundreds of yeers after our Savious time none of the Apostles nor of the ancient Christians for many hundreds of yeers after them ever intituled it by the name of Sabbath and since him c Bish white treat of the Sab. pag. 134 135. Bishop White hath written Wee Christians keep a weekly holiday namely Sunday which with the holy Apostle Revel 1.10 wee stile the Lords day not the Sabbath day d D. Heyl. Hist Sab. part 2. c. 8. pag. 255. Doctor Heylin in his History of the Sabbath having objected against some an intent to cry downe holidayes as superstitious and Popish ordinances mentioneth as in scorne their new found Sabbath and Sabbath now saith he it must be called And the Translator of e The Transl of D ◠Prid. his Lect. on the Sab. Praef. pag. ult edit 2. Doctor Prideaux his Lecture of the Sabbath in his Preface before it bringeth in Barkley a Papist with a notable Dilemma as hee calleth it the better to encounter those who still retaine the name of the Sabbath What is the cause saith hee that many of our sectaries call this day meaning the Christians weekely holiday by the name Sabbath If they must observe it because God rested on that day then they ought to keepe that day whereon God rested and not the first as now they doe whereon the Lord began his labour If they observe it as the day of our Saviours Resurrection why doe they call it still the Sabbath seeing especially that Christ did not altogether rest but valiantly overcame the powers of death His question God willing shall bee answered anon as yet wee are to note onely his disallowing of the name as applyed to the Lords day which wee may observe also in f M. Dowe in his Discourse pag. 4. 19. Master Dowe his late Discourse of the Sabbath or Lords day and in g Mr. Ironside quest 3. cap. 12 13. Master Ironside his seven questions concerning the Sabbath h Mr. Broad his MS. of the Sab. part 2. cap. 2. p. 26. propè sin Master Broad forbiddeth Preachers in their Sermons to say Remember the Sabbath day to sanctifie it and would have them in stead thereof to say Remember to sanctifie the Lords day for the Lords day saith hee may bee called no more Sabbath then the Sabbath may bee called Lords day If as much it will bee enough as shall be shewed afterward But Master Braburne as hee misliketh that the Lords day should lord it over the Jewish Sabbath more then any so he cavilleth more at the calling of it by the name of the Sabbath lest under that name it should take up some authority from the fourth Commandement Hee beginneth his Discourse which is his former Book against it thus i Mr. Braburns Discourse of the Sab. p. 1. Bee pleased Christian Reader first of all to note that wee now adayes apply the name Sabbath to the Lords day promiscuously and without difference now thus to confound two proper names of dayes is as if wee should call Sunday Saturday and Saturday Sunday And to restraine the name Sabbath to the old day of the Jewes which hee pleads for hee would have the words of the Commandement rendred thus k Ibid. pag. 7. pag. 68. Remember the Saturdayes Rest to keepe it holy from which saith l Ibid. p. 200. hee the name Sabbath cannot bee separated And in his other Booke which hee wrote in defence of the former hee saith m M. Brab Defence p. 164. edit 2. That it is an errour of our Ministers to call the Lords day or the first day of the weeke by the name of Sabbath and a n Ibid p. 164. 626. meere fiction since none of the Apostles ever called it so nor is it any where so named in the Scripture hee addeth that o Ib. pag. 52. by calling the Lords day by the name of Sabbath they have robbed the Sabbath of its honourable ornaments that
Christians why should the word Sabbath signifying rest be allowed as applyed to it Is there any reason why names should not in sense bee surable to things to which they are applyed but rather contrary to them To call that day by a name of rest which is a day allowed for labour and to deny that name to the day wherein we are required to rest is not so little an absurdity as that which Master Braburne remembred of deafe men who when a man calleth for a knife doe bring him a sheath for there is that neernesse betwixt them that they may bee both together the one within the other but rest and labour are like light and darknesse in a contradictory distance which cannot be reconciled nor brought together It is no marvell that Master Braburne who denyeth the thing holding the Lords day for no day of rest but for a workeday should deny the name Sabbath as in application to it for hee taketh it to bee a proper name of the day of rest in the old Testament which if it were granted would doe him no good nor the Lords day any hurt for its right to this title for Adam was the proper name of the first man Gen. 3.8 9. and yet it is used in Scripture for man in generall Psal 9.1 ver 12 20. But saith c M. Ironside quest 3. cap. 12. pag. 122. Master Ironside the name Sabbath leads us onely to an outward cessation from bodily labour which of it selfe and precisely considered was indeed a dutie of the Jewish Sabbath but it is not so of the Christian Festivall d Ibid. cap. 13. pag. 123. The corporall rest was a chiefe thing aymed at in all the dayes of publick worship in the Jewish Synagogue being both memorative of some things past and figurative of things to come The name Sabbath is therefore no more morall and to bee retained in the Gospel then the names Priest Altar and Sacrifice To which wee may say First that the word Sabbath signifieth not a cessation with limitation to outward worke nor precisely a Jewish memorative or sigur ative rest proper to the weekely holiday of the Jewes but rest absolutely and therefore e Master Ironside quest 3. cap. 13. pag. 124. Si vocis primaevam signisicationem spectemus Sabbatum erit omnis dies sestus Estius 3d. Cent. d. 37. hee confesseth out of Estius That if wee looke to the first and originall signification of the word every holiday wherein men rest from their labours may be called a Sabbath and that f M. Irons ubi supra p. 123. God himselfe in Scripture imposed the name Sabbath upon all the dayes of publik worship in the Jewish Synagogues Secondly Hee acknowledgeth g Ibid. quest 6. cap. 24. p. 223. That there is a cessation from works required of Christian people under the Gospel upon all dayes of their publick worship and assemblies for Nature her selfe saith hee out of h Natura dictat aliquando vacuam diem quieti Gers de decem Precept Gerson teacheth all men sometimes to rest from their owne imployment and to spend that time in the prayses of God and prayers to him for as i Ibid. cap. 24. pag. 223. he very well saith to attend Gods publick worship and at the same time to follow our owne imployment are incompatible and imply contradiction And that 's enough to qualifie the Lords day or Sunday for the title Sabbath which hee implicitly yeeldeth when upon that ground hee saith k Ibid. The Turks nay the Indians have their Sabbaths Thirdly Whereas hee saith as by way of distinction of the old Sabbath of the Jewes from that day which Christians celebrate that it was memorative of things past and sigurative of things to come I answer That that cannot consine the name Sabbath to their day nor restraine it from ours for in the former of the two wee have as much interest as the Jewes for wee are to remember Gods finishing his workes in sixe dayes and his resting the seventh as well as they and to have a gratefull memory of the benefit of creation as they had and we need such a remembrance so much more as wee are at more distance from it and for the later wee build not the title upon a figure which is but a feeble and sandie foundation but upon the letter or sense already confessed which is firme and solide Fourthly For that hee saith That the name Sabbath is no more morall and to bee retained in the Church then the names Priest Altar and Sacrifice wee will him to remember what elsewhere hee hath said viz. l Mr. Ironside quest 6. cap. 25. pag. 231. That there is a rest which is eternall and morall to all dayes of publick and solemne worship if so the name Sabbath may bee eternall and reach as farre as the thing it selfe And whereas hee saith That rest to the Jewes was an essentiall dutie i. e. of it selfe and in its owne nature without reference or publick worship which hee denyeth to the Christians weekly holiday I answer That the question is not here whether the Jewes were more restrained from labour then the Christians but whether there be not so much rest required now both in respect of publick duties and of private which require also cessation from outward workes as that our Sunday or Lords day hath thereby a better title to the name Sabbath then Saturday hath which hath been long agoe deposed from the dignity of an holiday and made an ordinary workeday Lastly For the names Priest Altar and Sacrifice I perswade my selfe he will not deny the name Priest since hee tooke orders under that name and doth under that name officiate according to the Liturgie of the Church of England which hee will not say is rather Jewish then Christian Legall then Evangelicall and for the words Altar and Sacrifice I remit him if hee doubt of them to bee resolved by the late Treatises wherein both the Names and Things are busily discussed onely I will say by way of answer to his comparison that since wee have a literall Rest of a weekly recourse and not literall Altars and Sacrifices the name Sabbath thus may bee retained under the Gospel though the names Priest Altar and Sacrifice be abolished But saith m M. Ironside quest 3. cap. 13. pag. 125. Mr. Ironside the day is to be named not from the nature of things done but from the quality of the person to whom they are intended and therefore not Sabbath but Lords day I answer The Antecedent is subject to exception many wayes First The chiefe holidayes in the old Testament were nominated from the things done and not from the quality of the person to whom they were intended as the Passeover from the Angels passing over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt without hurt Exod. 12.25 the feast of Trumpets from the solemne sounding of Trumpets at it Levit. 23. Levit. 23.
Christianae Religionis observantissimus inter alia virtutum suarum praeconia hoc reliquit exemplum sanctimoniae die Dominico c. Albert. Krant metr l. 4. c. 8. p. 106. highly commended by Krantzius but for i Cum die Dominico cogitationibus gravatum cum gereret animum baculumque manibus reneret cultello ut sit scindulas fâ—â—it admonitus ab astante per jocum de violatione Sabbati non leviter in se punivit admissum scindulas collegit diligentissimè manuique suae impositus jussit incendi ut in se ulcisceretur quòd contra divinum praeceptum incautus admisisset Albert. Krantz Metrap lib. 4. cap. 8. pag. 106. our present purpose we are especially to note that that day which Dr. Heylin calleth Sunday was then called the Sabbath Ob. He saith the King was told by way of jest that he had trespassed therein against the Sabbath Ans So it might have been in jest if the party had used another name whether Lords day or Sunday and in using the name Sabbath rather then either of them it is most like that was a name rather of common use then of speciall choice to breake a jest withall l D. Heyl. Hist Sab. part 2. c. 5. pag. 158 159. Hee addeth for the yeere 1120 the time of Rupertus an observation of one Petrus Alphonsus calling the Lords day the Sabbath of the Christians but saith hee he meant none otherwise then the feast of Easter is called the Christian Passeover for which hee bringeth nothing out of that Authour that may bee a just ground for such a glosse And on the contrary it may be said that there is a Sabbath or Rest according to the letter confessed in the observation of the Lords day but the word Passcover was figurative even to the Jewes after their comming out of the Land of Egypt much more is it so to Christians since the comming of Christ Besides hee bringeth in one John de Burie Chancellor of the University of Cambridge about the later end of the reigne of King Henry the eighth assirming That every day designed to divine service might be called Sabbath which seemeth also to be the judgement of Bernard who expounds the fourth Commandement thus m Observa diem Sabbati quod est in sacris feriis te exeâ—ce quatenus per requiem praesentem discas sperare aeternam Bern. super salv Regina Serm. 4. col 1744. Observe the Sabbath that is Exercise thy selfe upon the holidayes that by present rest thou mayest learne to hope for rest eternall If so much more may the Lords day be called Sabbath which hath the preheminence of other dayes as the old Sabbath had every weeke throughout the yeere and not onely once a yeere as Easter and other holidayes which have in an anniversary revolution one turne and no more We need say no more then this to confute the fond and new found conceipt of Doctor Pockl. concerning the novelty of the name Sabbath wherein also n D. Heyl Hist Sab. part 2. c. 8. pag. 269. Dr. Heylins negative observation That a Sabbath day was not heard of in the Church of Christ forty yeeres agoe is disproved for a day of cessation from worldly works for religious duties which indeed is a Sabbath hath been in use in the Christian Church in every age since our Saviour ascended and the name Sabbath hath been often and answerably applyed to the thing as hath been shewed And if the Doctor said right touching the late time of the Sabbath and made a true returne by his ″ Search we did with all care and dil gence to see if we could find a Sabbath in any evidence of Scripture or Writings of the holy Fathers or edicts of Emperours or decrees of Councels or finaliy in any one of the publick acts and monumeÌ„ts of the christiaÌ„ Churcl but after severall searches made upon the aâ—ias and the pluries wee still â—eturne non est inventus So in the second page of his Epist to the Reader before the second part of his Hist of the Sabbath non est inventus for the fore going ages hee gave a wrong Title to the second part of his History when he called it The History of the Sabbath from the first preaching of the Gospel to these present times for if there were no Sabbath day heard of from the beginning of the Gospel untill forty yeers since he should rather have called it for that time the History of no Sabbath And albeit it be as strange to write an History de non ente or of a meer nullity as it is untrue that there was no Sabbath all that while yet such a Title had beene though more contradictory to the truth more correspondent to his owne tenet which with greater desire and more diligent endeavour hee striveth to defend yet haply as the truth in his conceipt and so without any contestation against his owne conscience I will yet think so charitably of him and if hee had done so by others it had been better both for them and him CHAP. XV. Royall and reverend Authority for putting the name Sabbath upon Sunday whereby it is cleared from schisme as well as from novelty THat it is no novelty to call the Lords day or Sunday by the name Sabbath wee have proved in the precedent Chapter by sundry Testimonies all of them of much ancienter date then the yeer 1554. designed by Dr. Pockl. for the first use of the word in that sense And for the time since which is long enough to gain allowance to a word especially such a one as hath congruity of reason to the thing whereto it is applyed we can name Authority for it sufficient to over sway any thing that he hath said against it and to cleare the use of it from schisme which the same Doctor Pockl. hath objected against it 1. The Book of a Homil. of the time and place of prayer pag. 102.164 twice p. 166. twice The Author of the Dialog betwixt A. and B. reckoneth ten times edit 2. p. 25. Homilies ratified by the Royall Authority of three Princes and by subscription of all the conformable Clergy in their severall reignes calleth the Lords day the Sabbath divers times 2. King James in his b Apud D. bound on the Sab. l. 1. p. 268 269. And D. Heyl. Hist Sab. part 2. p. 257. Proclamation against profane sports dated at Theobalds May 7.1603 giveth to Sunday or the Lords day the name of Sabbath and in his second book of his c K. James Basilic Dor. lib. 2. pag. 164. Basilicon Doron having spoken of the lawfulnesse of recreations hee concludeth with a proviso that the Sabbath bee kept holy and no unlawfull thing done therein 3. 1639. 1. For the Towne of Weedenbeck 2. For John Cheny of Leftwich in Cheshire 3. For Walker in Yoâ—â—shire 1631. 4. For Riddlâ—hurâ—â— of Davâ—nhâ—m in Cheshire 5. For the Towne of Yaxall 6. For William Small of Cletham
also further strength to this that Saint John in his Revel calleth this our Sabbath day the Sunday Dominicumdiem and afterward having set downe some generall duties of the day saith he m Ibid. p. 74. These things are not to bee done onely on the Sabbath day but every day even all our life long So doth that renowned and so admired n Sacratissimus antistes Lancelotus Andrewes linguarum artium scientiarum humanorum divinorum omnium infinitus Thesaurus stupendium oraâ—ulum c. So in the Title page the second edition of his Sermons Bishop of Winchester Bishop Andrewes who used to make a curious choice of his words as well as of his matter in his third Sermon of the Resurrection where speaking of the women that would have embalmed our blessed Saviour hee saith o B. Andrewes his 3d Sermâ—n on the Resurrection p. 406 407. Though they faine would have been embalming him yet not with breach of the Sabbath their diligence leap'd over none of Gods Commandements for haste no not this Commandement which of all other the world is most bold with and if they have haste somewhat else may but sure the Sabbath shall never stay them And beginning his Sermon at the Court on Whitsunday 1606. hee saith thus p B. Andr. his Serm. Acts 2. vers 2 3 4. pag. 595. Wee are this day besides our weekly due of the Sabbath to renew and to celebrate the yeerely memory of the sending down of the holy Ghost And even there where he set himselfe most seriously against Judaicall opinions viz. in his Speech against Mr. Traske in the Star-chamber hee saith thus q Ibid. In his Speech to the Starre-Chamber against Master Tracke pag. 72 73. and this name new Sabbath hee hath if the Authour of the Dialogue betwixt A. and B. reckon right twenty times in his Book called Catec Doctr. So the Dialogue betwixt two Divines A. B. edit 2. pag. 20. the Sabbath had reference to the old creation but in Christ wee are a new creature a new creation by him and so to have a new Sabbath if a new Sabbath then not no Sabbath as Doctor Pocklington would have it And the Bishop meaneth by that the Lords day which hee maintaineth against Master Traske who stood for Saturday the Sabbath of the Jewes Bishop Alley Bishop of Exceter in his Book called The poore mans Library printed Anno 1560. speaking of the due observation of the day wee celebrate saith r Bish Alleys Poore mans Library miscelan praelect 5. fol. 143. p. 2. All Governours and Housholders offend against this precept if they doe not their diligence to retaine the sanctifying of the Sabbath in their houses whosoever despise the Religion of the Sabbath give evident testimony in themselves of impiety and contempt of God c. Bishop King not long since Bishop of London Bishop King who in his time was accompted a very venerable Prelate and alwaies well affected to the Government of the Church before himselfe was made a Governour of it in his Lectures upon Jonah of severall impressions useth the name Sabbath divers times for Sunday or the Lords day as in his sixth Lecture where he reproveth carelesse dissolute and ill disposed persons he saith f Bishop King lect 6. p. 90. They love the thresholds of their private doores upon the Sabbaths of the Lord and their benches and ale-houses better then the Courts of the Lords house And a little after he taxeth them by the name of Profaners of our sanctified Sabbaths And in his seventh Lecture he hath these words t Ibid. lect 7. pag. 96. The Sabbath is reserved as the unprofitablest day of the seven for idlenesse sleeping walking rioting tipling bowling dancing and what not I speake what I know saith he upon a principall Sabbath For if the resurrection of Christ deserve to alter the Sabbath from day to day I see no cause but the comming downe of the Holy Ghost should adde honour and ornament to it I say upon a principall Sabbath c. Doctor Howson late Bishop of Durham though a reall opposite to the Sabbath in some particulars was not an enemy to that name when hee made mention of the thing for in his Sermon u Bish Howsons Sermon of Festiv pag. 6. edit 2. in defence of Festivities he hath these words Beloved Christians were any of those excellent Fathers in our times what thinke you he would say if he should see Oratoria turned into Auditoria Churches into Schooles our Sabbaths and Festivities not spent in cultu latriae but in hearing of Exercises as some call it c. though hee were no friend to the Sabbath either for the dignity of the day or the duties belonging unto it for both in opinion and practice he was opposite to preaching yet was hee not so ill affected to the name as Doctor Pocklington and others have been That very learned Bishop of Bath and Wells whose Sermons were so approved by Doctor Reynolds Bishop Lake that what he heard him preach hee still desired to reade and therefore used to crave a copy of his Sermon was not onely a friend to the name Sabbath for Sunday but a zealous pleader for it as we shall observe in another place And the Bishop of Exceter that now is who hath so decently dressed Devotion and Piety with delicacie of conceipt and elegancy of expression as to make it amiable in all eyes in his art of divine meditation saith in approbation of it thus * Bish Hall in the art of divine meditation cap. 10. p. 111. No Manna fell to the Israelites on their Sabbath on ours it doth Where the word Sabbath must bee necessarily understood in the word Ours And if so it be not plaine enough see further in his second booke of Characters where part of his description of a distrustfull man is this x Lib. 2. Charact p. 196. Hee dares not come to the Church for feare of the croud nor spare the Sabbaths labour for feare of want nor come neere the Parliament house for feare it should be blowne up I make no doubt but the Articles of Episcopall Visitations give allowance for the like use of the name Sabbath for Sunday or Lords day for so it is in the 15. Article of Archbishop Parker his Visitation Nor is it to be doubted but in Archbishop Whitgifts Articles the word was in the same sense for as we have noted before hee turned the word Sunday into Sabbath in translating a testimony out of Justin Martyr And sure wee are that Archbishop Bancroft used the word Sabbath for the Lords day foure times in his Articles of Visitation twice in two Articles viz. 75 76. whence it is probable that other Bishops were in phrase and forme of speech for that name conformable to them for in the Province of Yorke much more in that of Canterbury it was so as in our Diocesse of Chester Bishop Lloyd in his Visitation
Anno 1605. Bishop Lloyd in the 2.4.8.44 45. Artic. calls that day Sabbath day So did Bishop Morton in his Visitation of the same Diocesse Anno 1617. Artic. 11.30.33.39 Bishop Morton And Bishop Bridgman in his trienniall Visitation Anno 1631. Bish Bridgman Artic. 11.41.43 used the word Sabbath for the weekly Holiday of our Church who were yet all of them both in judgement language and practice far enough from siding with Schismaticall Novelties To these Bishops of England I will adde two out of Ireland and so conclude my Episcopall Testimonies for the name Sabbath The one is Bishop Usher the most reverend Archbishop and Primate of Armagh who I know by conference with him approveth of the application of the name Sabbath to our Sunday or Lords day The other is Bishop Downham the Bishop of Derty who hath done and suffered much in the defence of the Prelacie he in his abstract of the duties commanded and sinnes forbidden in the Decalogue treating of the fourth Commandement taxeth with reference to our times those that are mindfull of the Sabbath to profane it who having extraordinary businesse will not bestow any part of the weeke upon it but will reserve it for the Sabbath and make bold with God to borrow part of his day and those who observe the Sabbath for fashion sake keeping the outward rest onely putting on gay clothes and doing nothing c. After these reverend Prelates in number sixteene whereof foure are Archbishops wee will give in the names of some Cathedrall Deanes and Doctours of venerable estimation in our Church noting the Lords day by the name Sabbath as y Doct. Boys expos of the Liturgy p. 92. Doctor Boys Archbish Whitgifts Chaplaine and Deane of Canterbury and Doctor Donne Deane of Pauls The Deane of Canterbury saith The Sabbath is as one calls it Gods Schoole-day the Preachers are his ushers and the Church is his open Schoole house which he doth not onely repeat but approve of and when Sabbath breakers are rebuked saith z Doct. Boys ubi sup pag. 93. he all their answer is that most doe so If they will follow fashion and example let them follow the best scil Gods example And againe a Ibid. pag. 95. The duties required on the Lords day are principally two Rest and Sanctification of this rest a double Sabbath rest from labour and rest from sinne and if there bee a double Sabbath in it it hath a double right to the title Sabbath Doctor Donne the Deane of Pauls Dr. Donne preaching at the dedication of a new Chappell in Lincolnes Inne where hee was Lecturer speaketh thus b Doctor Donne of Pauls in his Sermon Joâ—n 10. vers 22. which hee calls the Feast of Dedication at the dedication of a new Chappell in Lincolnes Inne consecrated by the Bishop of London anno 1623. pag. 7. Though God take a seventh part of our time in the Sabbath yet hee takes more too for hee appoints other Sabbaths other Festivals and in all the Sabbaths there is still a cessation Hee saith not God tooke but takes in the present tense a seventh part of our time not of the Jewes onely though hee tooke it first of theirs and though hee call other Festivals Sabbaths also the seventh day may have an especiall right to the name Sabbath above the Rest for so it had under the old Testament though then there were other holidaies which for their congruity with it in rest or cessation for in all Sabbaths saith hee there is still a cessation might be partakers of the same title and prosecuting the same point afterwards he reproveth some who think we are bound to no festivals at all but to the Sabbath but God requires as much service from us as from the Jewes saith c Ib. pag. 10 of his dedication Sermon he and to them hee enlarged his Sabbaths and made them divers And to the same purpose hee speaketh in his Sermon on the 10. of John As God taketh the tenth part of our goods in Tythes but yet more in Sacrifices so though hee take a seventh part of our time in the Sabbath yet hee takes more too for hee appoints other Sabbaths or Festivals There bee some to take in a doubt by the way which his coupling of Sabbaths and Festivals as Synonymaes induceth us to consider who so precisely distinguish betwixt Sabbaths and Festivals as to deny that the Sabbath may be called by the name of a Festivall The Sabbath saith the d Re-examiner of Perth Assemb p. 187. printed in anno 1636. Re-examiner of Perth Assembly under the Law was never called Jom tob a good that is a merry day as were the solemn Feasts which seemeth to bee a portion of Sacrifice taken from the e Altare Damasc pag. 666 667. Altar of Damascus where the same observation is made and concerning Festivals in particular the Authour saith It was not lawfull to fast on a Festivall But it may bee answered that though there bee difference betwixt the Sabbath and other dayes properly called dies festi in regard of particular occasion of the institution and of more liberty in meats and delights then on the Sabbath yet might the Sabbaths yea all publick solemnities even the Fast of Expiation not excepted bee sometimes called Feasts or Festivals and so much the Authour of the f Ib. pag. 666. Altar of Damascus not without some apparant contradiction to himselfe hath acknowledged And as the old Sabbath was unto the Jewes a day of spirituall delight for which purpose some cite Isa 58. how fitly wee shall note in another place so is the new Sabbath to the Christians on which in g Die dominico jâ—junium nesas ducimus vel de geniculis adorare Tert. de coronmilit c. 3. tom 2. pag. 747. Tertullians time it was held a great offence to fast and in all times when the Sacrament of the Lords Supper is administred which in the Primitive times was as oft as that day returned it exhibiteth a Feast of the body and bloud of Christ the best and most delicious cheer that can be desired to him who is rightly prepared to receive it But this onely by the way or rather as an occasionall digression out of the way takâ—n from the doubt in the words of the Deane concerning the Sabbath from whom wee have one observation more to remember and that is in his Sermon on Mat. 21. h Idem Serm. on Mat. 21.44 pag. 16. printed 1634. at Cambridge We will admit of Christ saith hee but wee will not admit him to reigne over us If hee will bee content with a Consulship with a Colleagueship that hee and the world may joyne in Governement that wee may give the weeke to the world and the Sabbath unto him that of the day wee may give the forenoone to him the afternoone to our pleasures If this will serve Christ wee can bee content to admit him but nolumus
is honoured yea and all weeke dayes as hee is Lord of all time however measured or entitled might bee called Lords daies and onely use hath shrunke in generality into a propriety and confined the title Lords day to that which hath a weekly recourse for religious observation as it hath done the name Scripture and Bible but now mentioned and in this also the name Sabbath hath as much propriety as it Object To succour this objection c M. Ironside qu. 3. ch 12. pag. 122. Master Ironside his Argument may be brought in which is this That name which doth lesse edifie is lesse proper this I thinke saith hee will be easily agreed on by all parties But the name Sabbath doth lesse edifie for it leads us onely to a cessation from bodily labour on the contrary the Lords day doth betoken and explaine the whole nature and duty of the day as the remembrance of Christs resurrection acknowledging his Lordship over the Church and over all other creatures in the world Ergo c. I answer Answ Both major and minor are infirme and unable to beget or bring forth the conclusion which hee desireth First for the major That name which doth lesse edifie is lesse proper saith he and hee saith it with confidence that all parties will yeeld consent to that conceipt But if his proposition bee generall and so it must be or it will be too narrow for a Logicall conclusion I conceive it is subject to just exception and so is not like to obtaine an acceptation of such an extent as he talketh of for it imports a neerer affinity betwixt propriety of words and edification then wee find in use and sets words not proper at a further distance from edification then there is cause First for the first Proper words doe not alwaies best edifie nor improper or figurative least nay many times improper words and figurative speeches give both most light to the understanding and worke with greatest force upon the affections and so are of best use for edification There are memorable instances hereof both in the Scripture and in other Authours which will be superfluous in this place since we need none other then his owne word edifie which as hee useth it is a figurative and not a proper terme for it signifieth properly the building of an house figuratively the bringing of light to the understanding working heat upon the affection or any furtherance in matter of Religion and in that sense it is usually both uttered and understood by men whether learned or illiterate Secondly if propriety and edification consort so well together as hee saith it maketh much for the preheminence we plead for for the name Sabbath is proper First as not figurative signifying a literall Rest which is requisite for celebration of our weekly Holiday and proper Secondly as not common to all Holidaies common use now having confined it to our weekly Holiday though called also Sunday or Lords day according to the different impressions set upon the fancy or affection of those that mention it Secondly for the minor which is But the name Sabbath doth lesse edifie then the Lords day doth for it leads us onely to an outward cessation I answer First that the name Sabbath doth lead us directly to the fourth Commandement the fundamentall Authority for a weekly Holiday and if the foundation be of most use in building and edification the name Sabbath leading us to that doth best edifie the word Lords day leads us to a tenure of lesse both evidence and assurance and consequently of lesse authority as hath partly been shewed already and we shall further manifest afterwards Secondly The name Sabbath leadeth not onely to a cessation from bodily labour but to holinesse also for it leadeth us to the Commandement which saith as well Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy as Thou shalt do no manner of work Thirdly Whereas hee saith The Lords day doth best open and explaine the nature and duty of the day as the remembrance of Christs Resurrection and acknowledgement of his Lordship over the Church and all other creatures of the world Let any one reade the fourth Commandement where the Sabbath is named and the first of the Revelat. ver 10. where the Lords day is named and let him tell mee which of them doth more explaine the duty of the day nay the name Lords day doth neither expressely nor by necessary consequence direct to the duties of the day nor to the Evangelicall ground of it the Resurrection of our Saviour since other dayes have been set up with our weekly holiday by way of competition for that title as hath before beene observed Besides When the name Sabbath leadeth to the fourth Commandement it bringeth us to the title Lords day for if it be the Sabbath of the Lord as it is there called it is the Lords day for the Sabbath is a day and hee is called Lord of the Sabbath Mat. 12.8 Mark 2.28 and the Lordship hee hath there is not onely particular over the Church but universall over the world for there it is said that in sixe dayes the Lord made heaven and earth and sea and every thing contained in them all Yet I deny not but the title Lords day is generally used for the day of our Saviours Resurrection wherein as a Lord of life and death he raised his body from the state of the dead and returned to the living accomplishing thereby actually his owne restitution to a glorious liberty and vertually ours but that consideration is more remote from the sanctification of one day in seven then that which the name Sabbath doth import Notwithstanding I deny not but that it might bee well used to edification if men would so take it to bee the Lords day as to take none of it from the advancement of his glory to the promotion of their owne profit or practice of their owne pleasures wherein most make as bold with it to serve their sâ—â—â—lar affaires or sensuall humours sometimes upon very sleight occasions as if not Christ but they were Lords of that day Object But the name Lords day inclineth to no erroneous conceipts and the name Sunday though once it did doth not in our dayes bring with it any perill of Paganisme but the name Sabbath may import some danger of Judaisme therefore the name Lords day is the best the name Sabbath the worst Answ I have in effect though not formally answered to this objection before and have made it plaine that Judaisme is best opposed and those that are Jewish most displeased by entitling our Lords day to the name Sabbath and to the authority of the fourth Commandement as it prescribeth the holy observation of one day in seven and by averring that their seventh day in order is not expressely there prescribed but a seventh day in number as shall be manifested in its proper place Object But a learned and zealous Pleader for a weekely Sabbath in the
Christian Church first giveth the Lords day a reall preeminence above the old Sabbath saying f M. J. Walker in his book of the Doctrine of the Sabbath p. 89.90 that the old Sabbath had no other light nor life in it but onely from obscure promises and dark shadowes through which Christ was seen as things afarre off are seene and in the starre-light nights but the Lords day the first day of the weeke hath light and life from the Sunne of Righteousnesse who in it rose up to bee the light of life to all Nations And after that hee giveth it a nominall preheminence under the title Lords day g Ib. p. 90 91. God saith hee hath given it a most honourable name and title above all the daies of the weeke for the holy Evangelist and divine Apostle Saint John who was the intimate beloved and bosome Disciple of the Lord and did best know his minde calls it the Lords day Revel 1.10 and the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord is the same in signification with Gods proper Name Jehovah and most commonly is used in the new Testament to expresse that sacred Name And if that day and name both be more excellent then that of the old Testament the denomination should be taken according to it and so we should call it rather Lords day then Sabbath To which I answer First That howsoever the new Sabbath bee in many respects more excellent then the old yet the name Sabbath may be very agreeable to them both Secondly that if name Lords day be a more excellent name then the name Sabbath it doth not follow it should be more usuall ordinary for there be many other intimatious of moment for the use of a name as before we have noted and for instance though the name Sonne of God bee a more excellent name then Sonne of man yet our Saviour who best knew how to speake for he spake as no man ever did John 7.46 called himselfe oftner Son of man then Son of God Thirdly the name Sabbath doth import more clearly and assuredly a weekly Holiday as wee observe it then the name Lords day doth for that is questionable as before wee have shewed whether it be to be taken for the day of our Saviours Resurrection or no and if that be resolved on then whether it note that individuall day onely on which he arose or other daies also that succeed it and if others whether onely an Anniversary day as Easter or a weekly day as the Sabbath is and hath been since it was first ordained but the word Sabbath without all question signifieth a day of Rest among sixe daies of labour and so one set day within the circle of the weeke Fourthly the name Sabbath being the title of the fourth Commandement which is the best warrant for a weekly Holiday and which prescribeth our duty both for what we must forbeare and what performe and presseth it by many effectuall reasons there is great reason that it should bee more used then any other which in such materiall considerations is not comparable to it Fifthly the name Sabbath guiding us to the fourth Commandement will bring us readily to the title Lords day as before hath been observed but the name Lords day in that text where it is noted viz. Revel 1.10 the chiefe if not the onely text for that title in the New Testament giveth none intimation of a Sabbath neither in Deed nor in Name therefore the name Sabbath as more significant and monitory is fitter for instruction and use then the name Lords day is Sixthly for such reasons as these or some other of like importance the fore-cited Authour useth the name Sabbath more frequently throughout his whole booke then any other whatsoever and setteth it as the title in the highest place of every page though no man expresse a dearer affection to the dignity of the Lords day then he doth Lastly he so far approves of the name Sabbath for our weekly Holiday that he setteth upon them who say the Lords day was not called Sabbath in the Primitive times next to the Apostles nor since by any but onely Jewish Sabbatharians with some sharp termes calling them h M. Walker in his Doctrine of the Sabb. ch 16. p. 113. but pag. 112 of the impression at London 1641. Adversaries of a bold and impudent face who make that objection Thus farre the exceptions against the name Sabbath both simple and comparative with other titles Though I have set my wits on worke on the Antisabbatarian side both to multiply fortifie objections against that name as applyed to the day of our Christian devotion I can find nothing more which is of any weight or worth to bee objected or answered concerning the comparison of the names of Sabbath Sunday and Lords day and the resolution for the name Sabbath of which we may now I hope without all appearance of partiality or presumption conclude That the name Sabbath is of best use to support the true Doctrine of our Christian Holiday both for the time and tenure of it for discovery of duties required on it and for incitement to the conscionable practice of them accordingly and therefore notwithstanding the contrary determination of i Better by farre and farre lesse danger to be feared in calling it the Sunday as the Gentiles did and as our Ancestors have done before us then calling it the Sabbath as too many doe and on lesse Authority nay contrary indeed to all Antiquity and Scripture Doct. Heyl. hist Sab. part 2. c. 2. p. 163 164. Doctor Heylin to bee most used when we speake of the weekly Holiday of the Christian Church yet without prejudice to the liberty of any one to call it Lords day or Sunday as just occasion shall incline them or religious discretion induce them to terme it CHAP. XXVII A briefe accommodation of this Nomenclature or nominall discourse to some purposes of importance concernning the Sabbath HE that doth reade thus farre will not I hope conceive I have need to make an Apology for this discourse as if it were some idle Logomachy or word war which the Apostle forbids 1 Tim. 6.4 for First it may serve to stint the strife of words Esay 29.21 which some have already raised up making a man an offender for a word which affords not a syllable of just exception or offence and to prevent the like in after times since by what we have said our lawfull liberty is fully declared and firmly assured so that we may without doubt or danger of sinne call the time or day we celebrate Lords day Sabbath day or both as the holy place of Gods publicke service was called the Lords house and the Temple And for the name Sunday wee have shewed the lawfull use of it if it be not brought in like the Sunne with a burning glasse as Doctor Pocklington doth to scortch the name Sabbath or to cast a shadow upon it to conceale or obscure
Lords sacred ordinance of the Sabbath Some endeavouring to undermine and supplant the fabricke of it from the very foundation on which it is set and others piling upon it so many over rigorous positions and observances as with their sad and sullen weight may incline it to crack and fall asunder Thirdly The necessary instruction of the people in the heads of Catechisme pressed by especiall command of our dread Soveraigne that late was and of his Majestie that now is maketh the Decalogue and within it the Commandement of the Sabbath a more common Theme for popular discourses and therewith all a more fruitfull ground of erroneous descants then heretofore if in such variety of opinions which cast a mist upon the truth there be not some more means to cleare it and to guide men to that choice from which too many now endeavour to seduce them Fourthly I observed that as some set their wits on worke to impeach the piety of the doctrine of the Sabbath so many set their wils either to worke or play and so to pursue their profit or pleasure as to make the Lords holiday every way in practice as unholy and profane as in position it could be Irreligion and Libertinisme being a descent from Sion hill which hath no need of hands to thrust it downewards towards hell It was well said of a grave c The Bish of S. Asaph Prelate when hee heard of some too indulgent doctrines this way that therules of manners should be strict for mens behaviour would incline fast enough to loosenesse of themselves Besides there is a sinister zeale in some against superstition which proveth many times prejudiciall to the practice of religion for as our late learned d King James his Cign cant â— 8 Soveraigne hath observed under colour of weeding out superstition it will pluck up by the roots many plants of Paradise And wee see but too many ill harvest men using the weeding hooke to the wheat which should bee exercised onely to plucke up the tares of whose ill worke I shall beware for my selfe and I hope shall give such warning unto others as may not only withhold them from the like but may bee a direction to the simpler sort what to take and what to take heed of as either of them shall bee offered to their choice Fifthly While men make no scruple to violate the holy rest of the Lords day they become the more bold to disobey their Superiours whether supreme or subordinate for Mat. 22. v. 31. as giving to God the things that are Gods and unto Caesar the things that are Caesars are sociable duties and well sort together so commonly where dues are denyed detained from God the King is not like to receive his right either for aid or obedience for the fourth and fifth Commandements are so neere neighbours that the like lot whether of observance or of sleighting is like to befall them which wee may well perceive if wee doe but observe how our people have lately fallen not onely from piety but from civility and broke out into manifold offences against the lawes of the King since they were taught a lesson too easily learned to make light of this holy Commandement of God Nor is there any cause to expect any better behaviour among them untill their consciences let loose from this bond bee tucked up to it by a more religious regard both of the authority and observation of the Sabbath Then may wee have more hope and not till then under our Governours for whom the Apostle prescribeth all manner of prayer to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godlinesse and honesty 1 Tim. 2.1 2. Sixthly These motives were the more sharpned and I the more quickned for the safer conduct of them that doubt to set out my light whether candle or torch I must leave to other men to judge by severall sollicitations of many religious and learned friends but especially by a joynt Letter the copie whereof I shall present to the view of the Reader next after this Preface sent me under the hands of many of my Brethren of the Ministery of whom there are divers for their gifts and parts of especiall note and all of them painefull and profitable Preachers in their places and such as build up the walls of our Jerusalem as with both hands with sound doctrine and religious conversation Seventhly Since that time I have received not onely incouragement but incitement to the same service with a Manuscript Treatise of the Sabbath from the hand of a great Prelate a glorious Starre of the first magnitude shining illustriously in the Church both by his admirable learning and answerable living Eighthly I was not a little provoked to lend my poore ability to the protection of the truth herein by the importunate pressing of Master Breerewood whereby Master Nic. Byfield was forced to the field when hee had no thought nor minde to fight as wee shall seasonably note in another place for when hee had excused himselfe for being unwilling to enter the lists of controversie with him as wanting warrant to leave his calling and to spend his time about such confutations Mast Breerwood returnes upon him with this patheticall expostulation e M Breerw his first Treat of the Sabbath p. 89 90. How Sir is the defending of the doctrine you have taught a leaving of your calling Are you called to teach the truth and not to defend it Are not Gods Ministers to defend Christs truth is that no part of their calling or have you no warrant say you for such confutations What no warrant to confute them in the behalfe of the truth whom ye yet condemn for adversaries of the truth Why Christ is the authour of the truth John 14.6 or the truth it selfe you are a Minister of Christ there is a warrant for you The holy Ghost is the spirit of truth Ephes 1.13 and he sanctified you to that Ministry there is a warrant for you The Gospel is the word of truth you are a Preacher of the Gospel there is a warrant for you The Church is the Pillar of truth you are a Pillar of the Church there is a more warrant for you For would not the Authour of the truth the spirit of truth c. and to all these you owe your service and allegiance have their Minister to defend the truth A strange thing that Christs Ministers should have no warrant to confute oppositions made against the truth who are bound to give their lives in defence of it Must they spend their life and bloud for confirmation of it and may they not spend a little labour and time about such confutations So farre he Where whether the goodnesse of Master Breerwood his cause or the apprehension of his owne better abilities and more list and leasure then Master Bifield had to reciprocate disputes of this sort did more prompt him to these braving provocations may bee better discerned when
the matter this name may give us light to see the shining beauty of that day M. Herb. Temple pag 66.67 and in a religious and sound sense to say as that pious and ingenious Poet doth O day most calme and bright The week were dark but for thy light the other dayes and thou Make up one man See many pertinent conformities betwixt Christ and the Sun in Dr. Tailors Meditat. on the creatures from pa. 44. to 55. at the end of his treatise of the practice of Repentance whose face thou art Knocking at heaven with thy brow The working dayes are but thy back part The Sundayes of mans life Thredded together on times string Make bracelets to adorne the wife Of the eternall glorious King Thou art the day of mirth And where the work-daies traile on ground Thy flight is higher as thy birth O let mee take thee at thy bound Leaping with thee from seven to seven Till that we both being toss'd from earth Fly hand in hand to heaven If yet any bee afraid of Idolatry or Superstition in the use of the word and wee may so shun one superstition as to slip into another as Pope Sylvester did when he left the old names of the dayes of the week and called them ferias that m Feriae dictae à feriendis victimis Polidor Virg. de Invent. rer l. 6. c. 5. pag. 367. The like hath Dr. Fulke observed out of Isidor orig l. 6. Sext. Pomp. de verb. veteribus in Rev. c. 1. v. 10. Sect. 6. word as some give the Etymologie of it being very much stained with idolatrous bloud wee may call the day Sunday as n Dominica nobis ideo venerabilis atque solennis est quia in ea Salvator velut Sol oriens discussis infernorum tenebris luce Resurrectionis emicuit propterea ipsa dies ab hominibus dies Solis vocatur quòd ortus eum Sol Justitiae Christus illuminet Ambr. Serm. l. 6. tom 3. pag. 286. Saint Ambrose o Aug. cont Faust Manich. tom 6. lib. 18. c. 5. p. 420. Saint Augustine and others do with especiall respect to that of the Prophet Malachy chap. 4. ver 2. where Christ is called the Sunne of Righteousnesse enlightning as the Sunne doth every one that cometh into the world Joh. 1.9 And if the Lord bee likened to the Sun and for that likenesse be called by that name as he is by David Psal 19 the Lords day as his day may in that sense bee called Sunday and so the title will not as Dr. Bound feareth lead us from the Lord but light us to him Hereto if wee add Saint Hieromes note upon the text in Malachy the name Sunday may bee improved to a more profitable use thus p Orietur Sol Justitiae quiverè omnia indicabit nec bona nec mala nec virtutes nec vitia latere patietur Hier. in Mal. 4.2 tom 6. pag. 365. col 2. The Lord as the Sun will bring every thing to light so that as he saith he will suffer neither good nor bad vertue nor vice any more to lye hid I will say no more for the warrant of this word Sunday for I think I need not save that it hath had the honour to bee many times named in the publick Liturgie of the Church of England and hath beene allowed by divers who were so farre estranged from that grosse Idolatry of the heathens in offering up Sacrifice to the Sun that they offered themselves to be sacrificed in the fire for the Sonne of God rather then they would yeeld to the Idolatry of the Papists for there were of those that approved of the Communion Booke in King Edwards dayes who suffered martyrdome in the dayes of Queene Mary and in that Book the name Sunday is brought in in the titles of the Epistles and Gospels five and twenty severall times in order without interruption besides that it is mentioned often also in other places of the same Booke and with that Book for this note agree our Service Books of all editions in the dayes of Queene Elizabeth King James and our Soveraigne that now is And that the name Sunday was taken up by them who first penned the Communion Book not as a profane but as a Scripture name it is very probable by this The Epistles and Gospels in the Communion Booke agree with the ancient Translation of the Bible printed in the yeere 1540. to which Archbishop Cranmer prefixed a Preface and that Translation rendereth Saint John Revel 1.10 I was in the Spirit upon a Sunday So also in 1 Cor. 16.2 q In Master Tindall his second edition of his Translation printed 1540. hee useth the same word thus Upon some Sunday c. 1 Cor. 16.2 Upon some Sunday let every one of you put aside c. Wherein the Translator descended to the capacity of simple persons to whom the day in those times was best knowne by that name Of that Translation is the Bible of the Chapelrie of Warburton in Cheshire which is the eldest of that sort and best accordeth with the Service book in use of any that I have seene That which hath beene said on both sides if duely considered will serve to commend a caveat unto us against that fault which the Prophet Isaiah reproveth in making a man an offendor for a word Isa 29.21 either for not speaking of a word as those who with some scruple of conscience doe forbeare the name Sunday whom for Saint Hieromes and Saint Augustines sake as before wee have produced their Authorities wee should not too sharply censure or for speaking of a word as if men could not name it without some savour of Pagan superstition Whereas the common people use it out of common custome and without any intention or intimation of ill and the wiser sort may well bee thought to mention it with an intimation of good as out of Saint Ambrose and Saint Hierome we have observed And so wee will shut up all for this question of the name Sunday with a conclusion like that which the Apostle maketh concerning the difference of meates Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not and let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth Rom. 14.3 So let not him who useth the word Sunday despise him as foolishly precise that useth it not and let not him who useth it not judge him as carelesly prophane that useth it since in that sense wherein wee have taken it there is neither duty nor sinne either in the use or forbearance of it CHAP. VIII Of the name Sabbath And first of the writing Sabboth Sabaoth and Sabbath which of them is the right And by occasion thereof some observations of skill and ignorance of the originall Tongues THere is difference though not much controversie for it goeth rather by a diverse practice then by an adverse position about the writing of the word more about the etymologie but most and that which is of
loquamur meliùs est ut reprehendant nos Grammatici quam non intelligant populi August enarrat in Psal 138. tom 8. part 2. p. 871 872. S. Augustine when he said e Ib. in Psal 36. part 1. p. 358. ossum for os and foenerat for foeneratur as being desirous rather that Grammarians should reprehend him then that the people should not understand him and among us many learned men use to say with the vulgar f The words Chirurgus and Apostema are so englished by Cooper in his Dictionary Surgeon for Chirurgeon and Impostume for Aposteme and there bee many more words of this sort But for the name Sabbath there being such sufficient reasons to set it as a title upon the Lords day when the more judicious make use of it in that sense they may well bee conceived to doe it not as complying with the erroneous dialect of the common sort but as guided to it by reason as well as by use And for such as have so taken it or the conjugate to it which is the same in sense wee may mention divers of eminent place both of ancient and of later times as first Ignatius the Disciple of Saint John the Evangelist who having spoken against the manner of the Jewes spending their Sabbath in sensuall jollity excessive feasting dancing and other revelling g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat ep ad Magnes pag. 57. adviseth Christians every one of them to sabbatize or keep the Sabbath spiritually that is rather to bestow the time in religious delights then in carnall contentments If any one except and say that hee meaneth this of the Jewish Sabbath day which in his dayes and a good while after was kept holy with the Lords day wee may thence inferre that if Ignatius could brook the observation of Saturdayes rest without any feare of Judaisme when that day was to give up to the Lords day the holinesse and honour of a weekely holiday which necessarily requireth both Rest and Religion hee would not have made scruple to call it the Sabbath h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as it is fore-cited cap. 13. lit ◠Athanasius hath a sentence from whence wee may derive the like inference for his opinion of the name Sabbath with reference to the Lords day The Lord hath changed the Sabbath day saith he into the Lords day Whereof saith i D◠Twisse in a MS. of the Sabbath a learned Doctor of our Church what can be the meaning but that the Lord himselfe hath now in these times of grace made the Lords day to become our Christian Sabbath So that upon the change the Saturday is not what before it was a day of rest but the Lords is so as before it was not And if the holy rest of Saturday bee translated to the Lords day shall not the name that is answerable to the nature of it passe along with it If more expresse and formall Testimonies be expected for these are but implyed and vertuall evidences wee finde k Origen in Numb cap. 28. Hom 23. tom 1. pag. 259. Origen in his three and twentieth Homily upon the book of Numbers expresly applying the name Sabbath to the day set apart for Evangelicall devotion Ob. l Dr. Pockling Sunday no Sab. pag. 16. But it will be said he addeth the word Christian to it calling it not simply Sabbath but the Christian Sabbath Ans Let them allow of the name Sabbath and wee will not stick with them for the title Christian if for distinction sake and to prevent misprision there bee any reason to make that addition but where the word will bee readily referred to the right day without another to explaine or restraine it it is needelesse to adde it Ob. Here Doctor Pocklington to extenuate this Testimonie saith m Dr. Pockl. Sunday no Sab. pag. 19. That Origen his Christian Sabbath is not kept on Sunday onely but every day in the weeke he meaneth I suppose according to the conceipt of divers of the Ancients a Sabbath consisting in cessation from sinne and sanctity of life Christ saith hee out of Origen is our Christian Sabbath and hee that lives in Christ rests from evill works and worketh uncessantly the works of Justice Answ This is no contradiction to that wee have said but a concession of much more then wee demand Christ himselfe saith Doctor Pocklington and every day in regard of the holy life of a Christian might be called a Sabbath If so the Lords day which was ordained and must bee observed with more generall and solemne holinesse and with more rest and cessation from worldly affaires for holinesse sake might much more bee called a Sabbath In the Latin Fathers the name Sabbath in this sense may also bee observed I will give some instances as in n Nos octava die quae ipsa prima est perfecti Sabbati festivitate laetamur Hilar. Prolog in Psal oper p. 335. Hilary Upon the eighth day which is also the first day saith he we rejoyce in the festivity of a perfect Sabbath Whereby we are to understand not an every dayes Sabbath in forbearance of sinne but an especiall sabbatizing above other dayes as in the celebration of the Lords day by cessation from works of the weeke dayes and exercise of religious duties belonging unto it which hee calleth the eighth day though it have a weekly returne in the number of seven because in the first observation counting on beyond the Jewish tale of dayes comming next after their seventh that maketh the eighth To this purpose wee may produce Saint Augustine o Observa diem Sabbati non carnaliter non Judaicls deliciis quae otio abutuntur ad nequitiam August enar in Psal 32. tom 8. part pag. 242. in his enarration upon the 32. Psalme where hee exhorteth to observe the Sabbath day not carnally with Judaicall delights for they abuse their Rest c. And in his p Observa diem Sabbati Magis nobis praecipitur quia spiritualiter observandum praecipitur Judaei enim serviliter observant diem Sabbati ad luxuriam ebrietatem August Tract 3. in Johan 1. tom 9. pag. 30. fourth Tract upon S. John Wee Christians saith he are more strictly commanded to keep the Sabbath then the Jewes for we are to keepe it spiritually they keepe it carnally in luxurie and drunkennesse which in the readiest construction of the words must runne thus Wee Christians are more strictly commanded to keepe not the Saturday Sabbath from which we are discharged Col. 2.16 but our Christian Sabbath then the Jewes keep their Jewish Sabbath If then wee bee commanded to keep a Sabbath wee must have the thing and the thing may have the name that belongeth to it and that name properly is Sabbath There is another allegation for the name Sabbath taken out of the 251. Sermon de tempore in Augustine his name which I forbeare to urge as his because the q B.
the divine Authority of the day or to diminish ought of the duties of devotion belonging to it so that all three names if there bee not more fault in their minds that make use of them then in the words themselves may and will with peaceable men be passable without any cavill at all Secondly hereby may bee precluded their intents that they take not effect who by cavilling at the name bewray a mind to undermine and overthrow the thing it selfe which I will not say nor do I think of all that take exception at that name yet I have shewed it of some that they plead against the word Sabbath to supplant its fundamentall right by the fourth Commandement and there is no little power in the use or refusall of words to advance or undervalue the things themselves to which they are applyed as hath been proved in that wee have before produced yea sometimes as b Nescio quid veneni in syllabis latet Hier. ad Damasc tom 2. pag. 132. Saint Hierome observeth there lurketh a kind of poyson under syllables as in every page of Doctor Pocklington his booke which weares this title Sunday no Sabbath whereof I have said enough before and hee too much though very little to the purpose for proofe of his distructive determination against the name Sabbath Thirdly In clearing the doubts that are made of those names and titles of our Christian Sabbath divers personages of highest place with many more of the better sort though of inferiour rank in the Church or Common-weale are cleared from such reproachfull imputations as by taunting at or traducing of the lawfull use of those names especially that of the Sabbath some with Ismaelitish malignity expressely or by consequence have cast upon them to which purpose the fore noted judicious Divine hath said somewhat in his Antidote against Sabbatary errours though me thinks a little too faintly viz. c A soveraign Antidote against Sabbatary errors qu. 1. pag. 5. That men otherwise sober and moderate ought not to bee censured with too much severity not with any severity at all hee might have said nor charged with Judaisme if sometime they call Sunday by the name of Sabbath if hee had said if commonly they call Sunday by the name of Sabbath hee had spoken no more then the truth will beare d Ibid. p. 8. for there is none of the three names saith hee to bee condemned as unlawfull but every one is to bee left to his Christian liberty herein so long as superiour Authority restraineth it not and so that hee doe it without vanity or affectation in himselfe and without judging or despising of his brother that doth otherwise which is a pious and prudent proviso though so farre defective as it importeth a meere paritie without any preheminence on the Sabbaths behalfe Fourthly By explication of these titles in this sort wee may answer many passages of the ancient Fathers produced against our weekly holiday in the name of the Sabbath whereby they meane not as many misconceive them and so misapply them any prejudice to the holy observation of the Lords day as in weekely recourse in the Christian Church but precisely and punctually the Saturday Sabbath which we hold as much as they to be abolished and much more then some of them did Fifthly If all the names bee lawfull and that of the Sabbath most usefull as hath beene shewed let us bee sure to make use of it upon all faire and fit occasions though wee neither wholly forbeare the other two titles nor quarrell with any for their more familiar use of them that wee may uphold the tenure of the day together with the title of it by the fourth Commandement whereto I desire to exhort the Reader with the more earnest intreaty First Because some with such supercilious disdaine have indeavoured to disgrace that title that others as much too modest as they too bold have beene affraid or ashamed to use it and I remember one who was of eminent parts and place and who formerly had divers times used it in a printed booke having upon occasion named the Sabbath presently recalled the word as if it had beene a fault and tooke up the title Sunday in stead thereof Secondly Because if wee let goe the name of the time wee may bee like to lose the thing in time to come or at least to loosen and weaken its claime to the best authority on which it depends for as it is a weekly holiday wee cannot plead better for it then by the proportion of the fourth Commandement and that being made good upon that ground the difference about the particular day within the circle of seven will bee the more easily composed since it is no more then other proofe and evidence inferiour to an expresse precept of the Decalogue may well support I would now put a sinall period to this comparative discourse but that opportunity prompts mee and it may bee a twofold duty which I owe both to my superiours and to this sacred cause wherein they are interessed as supreme Judges over it and I as a faithfull Advocate for it bindes mee to bend my conclusion towards the Barre of the most awfull Court in the Kingdome and with prostrate humility to beseech you most Noble Lords and you most worthy Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the high Court of Parliament now assembled to take into your prudent and pious consideration the weighing of the precedent titles and the poyse of Religious reason swaying the resolution on the Sabbath side and that as you have occasion to mention the day by divine ordinance designed to the solemne service of God and the salvation of man in your Discussions or Decrees you will bee pleased to give it that authentick and edifying appellation which best serveth to uphold the surest tenure by which it holdeth and most mindeth us of that holy observation to which by many and weighty reasons we are obliged whereby as it haâ—h been most highly honoured from heaven by Gods owne hand writing in the fourth Commandement so it may bee ratified by the highest authority on earth the highest to us viz. an Act of Parliament to secure it from contempt and to restore it to the right whereof many either in simple ignorance or inconsiderate rashnesse or audacious profanenesse or partiall prejudice or in politicke impiety for all these are Antisabbatary symptomes in some or other have endeavoured to deprive it You have already to the great joy of the godly throughout the Land raised your devout indignation against the indignity done to Religion by the most irreligious Pamphlet of Doctor Pocklington though composed and published under the sacred title of a Sermon and if now as by an act of your Justice SUNDAY NO SABBATH must burn so by some act of your Grace SUNDAY A SABBATH may shine and the same holy zeale will dispose you to this double devotion you will further advance his honour who hath promised to returne you like for like in that kinde 1 Sam. 2.30 and hee will doe it not onely in kinde but in degree and give us of the Clergie the better meanes to perswade the people with better mindes to compose themselves to all due obedience for what your Honours shall decree concerning their dutie both to God and man And so I conclude the titles of our weekly Holiday which will both conduce to the contracting of our taske and to the clearing of the truth to our understandings when wee come to deliver more materiall observations which from henceforward are to follow and which we shall begin in another Booke and goe on withall as God giveth ability to performe and opportunity to publish what this great and weighty cause of his and his Church requireth at our hands FINIS Errata PAge 1. line 2. after the word times adde with many pag. 4. line 3. aâ— the end of the quotation c leave out Selden pag. 5. lin 8. for the word for read and. pag. 8. lin 5. for desire reade more pag. 8. lin 24. for Videlius reade Vedelius pag. 9. lin 3. after but adde the. pag. 10. lin 6. after the words crosse and blot the words crosse to pag. 12. in the margent over against the third line reade Mr. Duraeus and lin 11. for distraction reade division pag. penult lin 3. for grace reade honour In the subscript of the Letter to the Authour for Samuel reade Sabbath and for Glindale Glendole p. 15. l. 21. or reade of p. 16. initio lâ— 30. adde be pag. 38. l. 18. respest reade respect p. 63. in the mar for in locico reade in lexico pag. 64. lin 16. after the word is adde but. pag. 82. lin 22. for or reade to pag. 89. lin 21. for Christians reade Christian pag. 124. lin 25. for hominum reade hominem pag. 143. lin 7. for Parenaesis reade Paranesis pag. 179. lin 1. for Sabbath reade Lords day pag. 195. lin 2. after the word if adde the.
1632. 7. For Richard Wood of Haâ—ton 8. For East and West Rebford 9. For Mariners of Hâ—lbâ—iâ— 10. For Amos Bedford a Minister in Lincolne shire 11. For Thomas Wilson of old Whitingham in Cheshire 1633. 12. For Underhill in Shropshire 13. For one Hubie in Yorkeshire 14. For Roger Posterne of Salop. 15. For the Town of Stone in Staffordshire 1634. 16. For Lincolneshire poore 17. For the poore of Haâ—lscot in the County of Salop. 18. For John Jackson of Langer in Nottingham shire 1635. 19. For Port Patricke and Doneghday in Scotland 20. For Broughton of Southampton where the Church Parsonage house and Schoole-house c. were burnt K. Charles our gracious Soveraigne that now is in his Briefes appointing the time for collections under his broad Seale setting downe the day when they shall be made nameth it the Sabbath day wherby it is plaine he meaneth not Saturday but Sunday and so which is directly against Dr. Pockl. his tenet and title that Sunday is a Sabbath The most that I have seen untill the yeer 1636. have directed to our weekely Holiday under the name Sabbath For intimation of the frequencie of that word in the sence wherein wee take it I have made a List of twenty Instances of Briefs for this County of Cheshire within these few yeeres and noted them in the margine not doubting but there have been many more both within it without which have not come to my view And I doubt not when the truth upon impartiall triall hath broken through all clouds of contradiction as certainely it will doe but the name Sabbath will out-shine the name Sunday and be again received into the stile of the Kings Briefes as formerly it hath been 4. The Reverend Bishops of the Land in the d Confer at Hamp Court p. 44 and 45. Conference at Hampton Court as conscious of the lawfull use of the word Sabbath day for Sunday when Doctor Reynolds desired a reformation of the abuse of the Sabbath before his Majesty that late was and themselves gave a generall and unanimous assent thereunto none of them for ought appeareth in the Booke taking exception that hee called the Lords day by that name And howsoever the name of the Lords day bee more usuall in their Ecclesiasticall Courts for our weekely holiday then the name Sabbath day is yet that they condemne not the use of it is plaine by the seventh Canon wherein they prescribe the use of the Register booke upon every Sabbath day In the Latin edition I confesse the words are diebus Dominicis and not Sabbath and there might bee reason for it because in Latine the word might bee more ambiguous that tongue being more generall and reaching haply to such places as yet have both the Saturday and Sunday in honour and use for the exercise of Religion yet had it beene Sabbath in the Latine also it had beene no prejudice but rather an advantage to the truth if withall it had beene understood to bee meant not of the old Sabbath but of the new Besides they meant no doubt by using the name Sabbath in the Canon in English to shew the lawfull use of that word as well as of others by which the same day is signified unto us and if the Latin bee of more authority then the English which in some respects may be so as before hath been observed wee can quote a Latin Booke of good authority for it it is the Book called Reformatio legum Ecclesiasticarum which mentioning the observation of our religious rest doth it under this e Praecipuus Sabbatorum cultus Reform Leg. Eccles fol. 18. b. Title the principall celebration of the Sabbath The high Commissioners of whom the Archbishop of Canterbury is chiefe are in Ecclesiasticall authority next to a publick Synod and of their indifferency for the use of the word Sabbath as well as the word Sunday or Lords day may appeare by the recantation enjoyned by them to John Hethrington wherein hee was to f The Sermon called the White Wolfe by Steph. Denison preached at Pauls Crosse the same day pag. 34. disavow that which formerly hee had delivered viz. that the Sabbath day or Sunday which wee commonly call Lords day since the Apostles time was of no force and that every day is as much a Sabbath day as that which wee call the Sabbath day Lords day or Sunday and in these termes hee was to publish it at Pauls Crosse Febr. 11. 1627. If it bee needfull to add particular testimonies for calling Sunday by the name Sabbath and such scandalous invectives as some have made against it will not suffer it to be superfluous we may note by name divers Reverend Bishops who take the word Sabbath in that sense as to begin with Bishop Latimer whom g D. Pockl. Visit Serm. p. 28 29. Doctor Pocklington brings in expresly with other Bishops unnamed as a godly Prelate and well affected to the godly discipline of the Church and he was besides that a Martyr h B. Latimer he in his Sermon upon the Gospel of a King that marryed his sonne after he hath cited the story of the man stoned for gathering sticks upon the Sabbath day hath these words i Bish Latimer in his Sermon upon the Gospel of a King that married his sonne preached an 1552. as the title sheweth sol 188. p. 1. Which is an example for us to take heed that wee transgresse not the law of the Sabbath day and a little after hee addeth These words pertaine as well to us at this time as they pertained to them in their time for God hateth the dis-hallowing of the Sabbath as well now as then for hee is and still remaineth the old God hee will have us to keepe his Sabbath as well now as then for upon the Sabbath day Gods seede-plow goeth that is to say the ministery of the Word is executed for the ministery of Gods Words is Gods plow In which few lines hee calleth the Lords day Sabbath no fewer then foure times he calleth it Sunday also I confesse but that is nothing to this purpose since the name Sabbath is in question not the name Sunday which we have treated on before and proved to bee lawfull k Archb. Whit. Ans to T. C. p. 578. or 758. Archbishop Whitgift was after him in time though above him in degree and dignity of the Church and he translating a Testimony out of Justin Martyrs Apologie turneth dies solis into the Sabbath day l B. Babington Bish Babington sometimes his Chaplaine was Bishop of Worcester in the late Queenes reign as Bishop Latimer was in King Edwards daies a venerable Prelate and a frequent and famous Preacher and hee useth the same name of the same day * B. Babington in com 4. p. 72. printed 1594. in 4th wee plainely see saith hee what day the Apostles celebrated and met upon having their solemne Assemblies namely on this our Sabbath and it addeth
the things to which they are applyed and betwixt the name Sabbath and the Lords day there is that congruity for that word signifieth rest and the Lords day is a day of rest whether of such strict rest as the Jewes Sabbath was is a Question not now to be discussed Now if Master Doctor like his owne resemblance let him take the consequence of his odious comparison which is That it is as comely or not more uncomely to put a crowne of thornes upon the head of Christ then to call the Lords day by the name of Sabbath day and then hee may joyne hands and hold society for Paradoxes with them or rather bee the Ringleader to them in such absurd similitudes unto them who match in malignity and guilt h They cannot resolve whether the sinne bee greater to bowle shoot or dance on the Sabbath then to commit murther or the Father to cut the throat of his owne childe all which doubts will soone bee resolved by plucking off the vizzard of the Sabbath from the face of the Lords day which doth as well and truly become it as the crowne of thornes did the Lord himselfe D. Pockl. Visit Serm. p. 20. bowling shooting or dancing on the Sabbath with the commitâ—ing of murther or the Fathers cutting the throat of his owne childe which barbarous absurdities he condemnes and within foure lines after commits the like himselfe in his comparison of the word Sabbath set upon the Lords day with the crowne of thornes on our Lords head Secondly for the persons for whom he seemeth to plead and put in an excuse saying If wee find the word Sabbath for Sunday used in some writings that of late came to our hands blame not the Clerkes good men for it c. It would be knowne First whom hee calleth these good men whether Clerkes or others for his words are ambiguous Secondly whether hee take the word Clerkes for Clergy-men or for such onely as transcribe the Dictats of others if of these as it seemeth he doth then Thirdly how hee knoweth that in such late writings as have the name Sabbath for Sunday or the Lords day the Clerkes who copied them out mistook the Authors mind and hand so much as to write the one for the other there being no such vicinity in the words as might lead them to such a misprision Fourthly whether it bee not more likely that the word might drop from the Authors pens as well as it did often escape the lips as he confesseth of such as he commends for men of judgement learning and vertue rather then that these Clerkes good men as hee calls them should corrupt their manuscripts in their transcription Fifthly how is it probable that a few pretenders to piety should so long deceive the world with zealous clamours of the word Sabbath men of judgment learning and vertue not excepted as hee pretendeth especially since as he saith they were most ignorant clamours hee addeth I grant or cunning clamours but how ignorance and cunning being so contrary should so indifferently bee disposed to produce the same effect in men of judgement and why ignorant clamours should not as much withhold from assent unto them as cunning clamours induce them to consort with them is that which my shallownesse cannot conceive and his wisdome I thinke will not bee able to manifest Sixthly how could hee come to know that these whom hee exempteth from society in this Sabbathary stratagem should detest the drift of the devisers in the closet of their hearts since not hee nor any but God onely hath the key of that closet and if they did so how could they have the name Sabbath whereby it is advanced so frequently in their mouthes If they knew it not how could they detest it If they did know it how could they being such men of judgment as hee taketh them for so familiarly use it without feare of scandall or danger by it Lastly how could so many reverend and learned men Prelates Deanes and other Doctors or these men of judgement learning and vertue i Men of learning judgement and verzue not heeding perhaps what crafty and wicked device may be managed under the vaile of a faire word Doct. Pockl. Visit Serm. p. 21. whom hee commendeth be so blinded as not to see or so mindlesse as not to heed this crafty and wicked device managed under the vaile of a faire word as he suggesteth that not any one from the yeare 1554. when as hee feignes it was first set on foot apprehended it until this Doctor made discovery of such a dangerous plot and withall of their dulnesse who all the while could not discerne it Pardon me good Sir if I beleeve they were so wise and watchfull over the safety of the publicke service of the Church and the purity of Religion as to give due warning against such damnable superstition If there had been any such danger in the use of the word Sabbath as you seeme to conceive they would not have left the honour of that discovery and caution to you much lesse would they have used the word themselves as they have done whereto they were not induced by the Clamours of the pretenders of piety as k Doct. Pockl pag. 21. you pretend but rather in all likelihood by the fourth Commandement it selfe by the Liturgie of the Church requiring that to bee said as a part of divine Service and to be learned by heart as a part of the Catechisme as before was observed wherein all her children by her prescription are to be instructed and examined from hence might the word Sabbath be a name of vulgar use for our weekly Holiday and not from the noise which such men have rung in the eares of all men Here if a man should returne to Master Doctor some of his own language and say No ancient Father no learned man Heathen or Christian ever imagined such a plot or mystery of iniquity to lye hid under the name Sabbath before the yeare 1554. yea not one besides himselfe and yet one besides himselfe were the likest to light upon such fantastick Bugbeares from the beginning of the world untill the day and yeare of his preaching the Visitation Sermon at Ampthill August 17. 1635. ever found out or feigned such a dangerous device in the use of that word as hee hath invented in his study or elsewhere and vented in the Pulpit and since made publicke by the presse I am consident he cannot give one Instance to confute it nor name one man who may be thought to lead him to it and I hope he will find no more to follow him in his strange and extravagant surmises And may not a man cry quittance with him in it by taking a liberty to imagine that he who so vehemently inveigheth against the name Sabbath had a plot therein to shake the foundation of the Lords day which as it is a weekly day of Rest resteth on the fourth Commandement to slacken if