page 23. his words are This Position to wit that the fourth Commandement is properly and perpetually morall and is for quality and obligation equall to the other nine Commandements which for many yeares hath raigned in Pamphlets Pulpits and Conventicles and is entertained as an Oracle by all such as either openly professe or doe leane towards the disciplinarian faction is destitute of truth These are his words which comparing with the words of the Homily of our Church already cited are found quite contrary For the Homily saith That the fourth Commandement is a Law of Nature and ought to be retained and kept of all good Christians in as much as it commandeth one day of the Weeke for rest and God hath given an expresse charge to all Men that the Sabbath-day which is our Sunday should be spent wholly in heavenly exercises of God's true Religion and Service Answ The Summe of the former accusation is That the Bishop in his Treatise overthrowes the Doctrine of the Church of England in the point of the Sabbath For his Doctrine is repugnant to the Homily c. which teacheth that the fourth Commandement is of the Law of Nature c. and that all Christians ought to keep it holily and one day in seven is perpetually to be kept holy the keeping of the lord's-Lord's-day is commanded by the 4th Commandement The lord's-Lord's-day may be called the Christian sabbath-Sabbath-day Lastly the lord's-Lord's-day ought wholly to be spent in holy rest and duties of sanctification Now the Bishop saith the Objector hath opposed all these positions for he hath affirmed in his Treatise of the Sabbath that the fourth Commandement is not properly intirely and perpetually morall like as are the other nine and he hath permitted some bodily exercise and recreation to wit such as is honest and sober upon the Sunday and hee denies that in a legall sense the Lord's-day is to be called the Sabbath-day To the former the Bishops answer is that the Objector hath snatched some words of the Homily but he hath not duly observed the true sense and meaning thereof Athanas Orat. 1. c. Arrian Verba quidem profert veram tamen inde sentontiam sufferatur Tertul. ad Praxean Malo te ad seâ—â—um â—â—i quâ— ad sonum vocabuli exerceas For first the Homily doth not affirme that the fourth Commandement is purely intirely and properly morall and of the Law of Nature like as are the other nine But that whatsoever is found in the Commandement appertaining to the Law of Nature being most godly most just and needfull to the setting forth of Gods glory ought to be retained Now if nothing else in the fourth Commandement is of the Law of Nature but only that which is most just godly and needfull to the setting forth of Gods glory then the Homily maketh not the letter of that Commandement of the Law of nature but the intent and meaning thereof is That the fourth Commandement in respect of the naturall equity b Al. Hal 3. â— 32. m. 5 ar 1. Hoc praecepto praecipitur tempus vacationis aliquoâ— secundum hoc est morale legis naturae hoc secundum indâ—terminationeÌ„ hoc modo secundâ— indeterminationem praecipitur Dominica dies tempore gratiae which is that the Rulers of the Church must appoint necessary convenient and sufficient time for Divine Worship and for religious offices is morall and of the Law of Nature And if the Objector will straine the words of the Homily to a further sense let him well consider into what absurdities and contradictions he will be forced to plunge himselfe For if this Commandement be intirely purely and properly Morall a H. B. Gosp and Law recon p. 38. The CoÌ„mandement of the Sabbath is morall and so no lesse perpetuall then all the rest for if none of the rest of the CoÌ„mandements be abolished then neither the fourth Pag. 42. 49. The Law of the Sabbath was imprinted in Adams heart by the Law of Nature and of the Law of Nature like as the other nine Then it must have all the essentiall characters of the Law of Nature and of Precepts purely and entirely morall But it wanteth all these as is proved by demonstrative arguments in the Bishops book pag. 26. untill pag. 37. and pag. 172. Neverthelesse that I may more fully discover the ignorance and presumption of this Dialogist I shall propound an argument against him which he will hardly be able to solve to wit The Law of Nature was made knowne to all mankinde b Isidor Etimol l. 5. ca. 4. Ius naturale commune est omniuÌ„ nationum eo quod ubique instinctu naturae non constitutioneâ— aliqua habetur by the Common light of naturall reason The same is immutable unchangeable c Decret Dist 5. Naturale jus ab exordio rationalis naturae nec mutatur tempore sed immutabile permanet Aug. Confess l. 2. c. 4. Lex scripta in cordibus hominum quam nec ipsa quidem delet iniquitas eternall indispensable But the fourth Commandement concerning the Sabbath was not imprinted naturally or made knowne to all mankinde by the common light of naturall reason but it was made knowne only and wholly by divine and supernaturall revelation Also the fourth Commandement was changeable and mutable for the Sabbath of that Commandement which was Saturday according to the Objectors owne Tenet was changed into Sunday And lastly it admitted sundry dispensations pag. 34. 67. Now the premises being indubitate Verities The conclusion is firme to wit That the fourth Commandement of the Decalogue is no precept of the Law of Nature d Theod. in Ezek. 20.12 Illud non moechaberis non furtum facies alia cum his conjuncta alios quoque homines naturae lex edocuit At Sabbati observandi non natura magistra sed latio legis Walaeus Alii Synops purior Theolog. disp 21. n. 20. Sabbati praeceptum non est à naturae necessitate ut reliqua praecepta quae menti insita per se cognita sunt sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ex voluntaria Dei institutione D. bound d. Sab. l. 1. p. 11. Indeed this Law was given in the beginning not so much by the light of Nature as the rest of the Commandements were but by expresse word For though this be the Law of Nature that some dayes should be separated to Gods worship yet that it should he every seventh day that the LORD himselfe set downe neither is it purely intirely and properly morall like the other nine but meerely positive in respect of any one particular day of the Weeke specified in the same The Bishop desires to receive some reasonable answer from Br. B. to this and to other the like arguments delivered in his Treatise of the Sabbath for if he shall according to his rude manner barke and blatter against his adversaries Positions and dissemble his arguments it is apparent that he maintaines a forlorne and
be free when her pious Sons are so traduced and reproached and that for defending those very doctrines which by her means they sucked from the breasts of both the Testaments A. That must needs follow I confesse Answ In the former declamatory passage these particulars following are to be observed 1 The hypocrisie a August Serm. in Mont. l. 2. c. 3. Qui vult videri quod non est hypocrita est Id. in Psalm 103. Parie dealbatus hypocrisis simulatio paries dealbatus foris tectorium intus lutum Id d. civ D. lib. 2. Malignitas Daemonum nisi alicubi se transfiguret in AngeluÌ„ Lucis non implet negotium deceptionis of this Declamitant who professeth himselfe an obedient Son to his deare and reverend Mother the Church of England wheras in the precedent Section he most contemptuously disgraceth Episcopal Authority ordain'd by the holy Apostles and established in the Ch. of England ever since the reformation accounting the Prelates if they exercise that power of judicature which the Church of England approveth as being descended from Primitive and Apostolicall Ordination Vâ—ines of the Pope And more than so This Dialogue-broacher b Reade this Auth rs Treatise intituled Christs coÌ„fession and complaint pag. 30. anâ— pag. 59. In wh ch he condemneth Episcopall government saying It is prohibited by Christ Luc. 22.24 1 Pet. 5.3 Mat. 20.25 2 Tim. 2.3 4. And he applyes S. Pauls Text Col. 2.20 to the Ceremonies of the Church pag. 60. They look to little but the silencing of such as stumble at their Ceremonies and Hierarchie To defend the injunctions of men and their unprofitable Hieraâ—chie Plea Such kinde of Ministers are not wanting to helpe forward the re-erecting of the Romish Baal in our Land had they but a yong Manasses to restore the Altars and Groves which good King Ezekiah his Father had pulled downe in other Pamphlets declares himselfe to be an adversary to the Ecclesiasticall policy Rites Ceremonies and Canons of our present Church and scarce any professed Schismatick of later dayes hath intreated conformable persons of good quality with more despitefull abuses than this hypocrite who stileth himselfe an obedient Sonne of his Mother the Church hath done 2 This Dialogist falsely accuseth his Adversary in laying to his charge that he hath stigmatized all such as dissent from him in the Question of the Sabbath Venomous Serpents noisome Tares pestilent Weeds and uncleane Beasts for it is apparent ex Pagina secunda of the Epistle Dedicatory that those termes are applyed to notorious Hereticks malicious Schismaticks prophane Hypocrites and proud disturbers of the peace and unity of the Church c Hieron apolog c. Ruff. Tu nimium suspitiosus querulus qui dicta in Haereticos ad tuam refers contumeliam The Bishops words are This being the condition of the Church militant it cannot be otherwise but that in all ages there shall be found among those which professe Christ not only such as are vertuous and sound in faith but also men of corrupt minds and reprobate concerning the faith Venomous Serpents noisome Tares pestilent Weeds d Idem c. Luciferian Non solum in Ecclesia morantur oves nec mundae tantuÌ„ aves volitant sed frumentum in agro seritur inter nitentia culta Lappaeque tribuli steriles dominantur avenae and uncleane beasts Our Saviours owne prediction was There shall arise false Prophets c. S. Paul Oportet Haereses esse c. 3 Another branch of Br. B. his Declamation is The Bishop in his booke brandeth those whose opinions he impugneth with the odious name of Novell Sabbatarians Our answer is 1. The Bishop in his Treatise brandeth not all such as dissent from him in his Tenet of the Sab. c. with that name neither brandeth he any therewith because they teach Christian people to observe the lord's-Lord's-day religiously and to spend the same in the performance of holy and spirituall duties so far as is necessary for their godly edification and in such manner as the Canon and Precept of the Christian Church hath enjoyned for he holdeth this to be a necessary duty obliging al good Christians 2 He giveth this Title and Name very justly to all those who proudly and peremptorily maintaine the maine Principles and Positions upon which Sabbatarian Hereticks in ancient and in moderne times have grounded their errour touching the necessary observation of the old legall Sabbath The Reader shall finde these Principles and Positions peremptorily taught for divine truth by those Teachers whose opinions the Bishop impugneth layed downe in his Treatise Page 20. c. The observation of the Seventh day and also the precise resting from worldly affaires is morall neither is there any thing in the fourth Commandement that might intimate it to be Ceremoniall The 4th Commandement can be no more partly morall partly Ceremoniall than the same living creature can be partly a Man and partly a beast The fourth Commandement is part of the Law of Nattre and thus part of the Image of God and is no more capable of a Ceremony than God himselfe The fourth commandement in every part thereof as it is contained in the Decalogue is morall and of the Law of Nature The Decalogue being the same with the Law of Nature is one and the same for ever it followeth necessarily that the Sabbath being a part of that Decalogue is to remain for ever The observation of the seventh day is of the Law of Nature it was established before Christ was promised and therefore it is not ceremoniall but of the Law of nature and perpetuall The Summe and substance of the former Positions is The fourth Commandement of the Decalogue is purely intirely and totally morall it is a Precept of the Law of Nature and of the same quality both for morality and perpetuity with other Commandements of the Law of Nature neither was there any thing Ceremoniall in it Now the judicious Reader will presently observe that the Sabbatarian Heresie concerning the perpetuall observation of the old Legall Sab. is a necessary and undeniable Conclusion issuing out of the former Positions For every Law or Precept purely intirely and totally morall is perpetuall and unchangeable the same must be intirely observed and if nothing positive or Ceremoniall be found therein then no branch or member thereof can cease or be omitted But the keeping holy of the Seventh day Sabbath namely Saturday was a maine part of the fourth Commandement for it was the Subject or materiall Object of that Commandement literally expressely and positively specified and commanded by God Almighty in the Decalogue Therefore from the Premises it will be consequent that the Seventh day Sabbath being Saturday must be kept holy untill the end of the world The first Proposition is confirmed in manner following The prime speciall and expresse materiall Object of every Law is a substantiall part of that Law and it is of the same kinde and
desperate cause B. The Homily saith All Christians ought and are bound in conscience of the fourth Commandement to keepe the lord's-Lord's-day holily Ans 1. The equity and Analogie of the fourth Commandement obligeth Christians to observe a convenient and sufficient time for Gods worship and service and for the exercise of spirituall and religious duties 2 After such time as the Orthodoxall Catholike Church hath upon the example of the holy Apostles and for other weighty reasons devoted the Sunday of every Weeke to the exercise of Religious duties Christian people in obedience to the Law of the Church grounded upon the equity of the fourth Commandement and the example of the Apostles are bound in conscience to observe that Day holily in the performance of religious duties pag. 100. B. The Lord's-day is and may be called our Christian Sabbath-day and therefore it is not Iewish to call it so Answ 1. The Lord's-day is not the litterall Sabbath of the fourth Commandement and therfore in propriety of speech it cannot be called the Sabbath-day expressely or in particular commanded in the Decalogue but the same is stiled by the Homily our Christian Sabbath in a mysticall and analogicall sense even as mortâ—fication is called Circumcision Rom. 2.29 and sincerity and truth are called unleavened bread 1 Cor. 8.5 B. That this day is wholly to be spent in holy rest and duties of sanctification and therefore no part of it to be spent in vaine pleasures and profane pastimes Answ 1. The Homily according to the Tenet also of other Divines a Bucer in Mat. 12. p. 113. Eximatur è cordibus hominum opinio necessitatis ne quis credat eum diem per se esse aliis sanctiorem vel operari in eo per se esse peccatum Danaeus Eth. Christ l 2. c. 9. Nobis Christianis non tanta tamve severa rigida observatio ne laboremus in die Dominica imposita est Nam ex lege Constantini licet serere metere in die Dominica si commodum sit Aquin. 2. 2. q. 122. ar 4. ad 4. Non est ita arcta prohibitio operandi in die Dominica sicut in die Sabbati sed quaedam opera conceduntur in die Dominica quae in die Sabbati prohibebantur sicut decoctio ciboruÌ„ c. permitteth some kinde of labour upon the Sunday Therefore by wholly it understandeth not every houre and minute of the day but so much thereof as is necessary and morally sufficient for the performance of the religious duties of the day pag. 218 219. 225. 231. 2 If the Objector would have proceeded sincerely he should have declared whether by vaine pleasures and profane pastimes he understandeth all bodily exercise and recreation in generall or such only as is vitious in quality or by reason of circumstances pag. 229. If he meane the first we finde no words in the Homily condemning in generall all recreation to wit such as is sober and honest in quality and which is not attended with evill circumstances But if he understand the Homily in the latter sense to wit that it condemneth ungodly pastimes Then he might have observed the Bishops words pag. 258. The Lawes of our Church and Common-wealth condemne and chastise all things profane and vitious upon the Lord's-day And pag. 259. All obscene lascivious and voluptuous pastimes are prohibited on this day And pag. 229. All kindes of Recreations which are of evill quality in regard of their object or which are attended with evill circumstances c. If they bee used upon the Lord's-day or on other Festival daies they are sacrilegious c. And in the Ep. Dedicat. Profanation of the Lords-day and of other solemne Festivall dayes which are devoted to religious offices is impious and hateful in the sight of God and all good men and therfore to bee avoided by such as feare God and to be corrected and punished in those which shall offend and pag. 109. 110. This Ordinance and observation of the Lord's Day began in the holy Apostles age and hath universally beene continued ever since to the great honour of Christ our Saviour and to the marvellous benefit of Christian soules who upon that holy day are edified weekely in godlinesse vertue and true Religion And therefore we justly account all those who maligne the honour of this blessed day prophane and sacrilegious A. The Author seemes to acknowledge some morality naturall to be in the fourth Commandement for pag. 135. He saith Our resting from labour in respect of the generall is grounded upon the Law of Nature or the equity of the fourth Commandement B. This is nothing to the purpose to acquit him from being an Adversary to the expresse doctrine of our Church Dolosus versatur in Vniversalibus it was the speech of King Iames. The naturall morality of the fourth Commandement is not in generall to imply some Individuum Vagum some certaine uncertaine indefinite time for God's Worship a Vrsin Cat. de Sabba Non sumus allegati ut diem vel Iovis vel Saturni vel Mercurij vel ullum alium certum habeamus Rivet in Exod. 20. pag. 193. Petitur principium cum id pro confesso sumitur ad substantiam maÌ„dati quarti quatenus morale est pertinere circumstantiam dieâ— septimi Phil. Melancht loc Com. d. 3. praecepto Recte dicitur in tertio praecepto duas esse partes unam naturalem seu moralem seu genus altera pars est caeremonia propria populo Israel seu species de die septimo De priore dicitur naturale seu genus esse perpetuuÌ„ non posse abrogari videlicet mandatuÌ„ de conservaÌ„do ministerio publico sic ut aliquo die populus doceatur caeremoniae divinitus institutae exerceantur Species vero quae nominatim de septimo die loquitur abrogata est for the Commandement is expresse for a certaine day in the weeke for the Sabbath Day Remember the Sabbath to sanctifie it It saith not remember to set apart and allow some time for the service of God but it determines the time and day lest otherwise being left undetermined man should forget God Himselfe and allow no time or day at all for God's service or if he did God should bee beholden to him for it Ans 1. Is he Dolosus a deceiver who maintaineth there is a generall equitie in Divine Positive Lawes No man living is able to justifie this For in the Old Iudiciall Lawes yea in many Ceremoniall Lawes there is contained a generall Equity grounded upon the Law of Nature In the judiciall Law set downe Exod. 22.1 2. there is a generall equity implyed obliging Christians to restitution of goods unjustly by them taken away In the Law of Deuteronomy 25.4 Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the Oxe that treadeth out the Corne there was contained a generall naturall equity 1 Corinth 9.9 Therefore he is not Dolosus who maintaineth a generall equity in the fourth Commandement but he is a Dolt who denies
the former Principles stiled the Lord's Day an Idoll and a Superstitious Tradition The Bishop thought it his duty to vindicate the honour of that Day and to deliver the true grounds upon which the Christian Church observeth it also to declare the Antiquity of the Observation thereof and the more to advance the honour of the Day he collected out of the Primitive Fathers Ecclesiasticall Histories and Ancient Records sundry remarkeable observations concerning the Religious use and sanctification of this Day Page 196. c. Lastly because some Novell Teachers here in England had wronged this Day by converting it into a Legall Sabbath and likewise they had presumed without any lawfull authority to lay heavy and unreasonable burdens upon God's people Affirming that all bodily exercise and all civill passe-time and Recreation although the same be sober and honest is simply unlawfull upon all houres of the Lord's Day and not only unlawfull but a mortall and enormious crime of the same quality and iniquity with Murder Adulterie Theft c. The Bishop had just reason to discover the error and falsiâ—ie of such principles and arguments upon which these presumptuous Dogmatizers grounded their rigid edicts pag. 235. unto pag. 250. Now after all this the Bishop himselfe is perswaded and so likewise are his Honourable and Religious Superiours that he hath performed faithfull profitable and necessary service to the Church whereof he is a member in composing and publishing his Treatise of the Sabbath And likewise his confidence is that those honourable and Reverend Commanders who imployed him in this religious service will ever protect him a Aug. de Doctr. Christ Sic Doctor bonam eligat vitam ut etiam bonam non negligat famam against base envious and scurrilous abuses and detractions such as hee is rudely and injustly loaded withall by this unmannerly and foule-mouth'd Dialogue-Broacher Neverthelesse if any learned judicious and modest Reader shall at any time note or observe any passages in his Treatise seeming to thâ—â—epugnant to Orthodoxall Verity b Aug. de Trin. li. 3. In omnibus literis meis non solum pium lectorem sed etiam liberuâ— correctorem desidero let 〈◊〉 proceed soberly substantially and modestly in propounding their exceptions c Ib. Noli meas literas ex tua opinione vel contentione sed ex divina lectione vel inconcussa ratione corrigere The Bishop is and ever will bee ready without giving the least offence to yeeld them a just and reasonable satisfaction But rude envious and clamorous Carpers such as this Dialogue-Broacher is and hath ever bin c Hieron ad Iulian. Gloriae animal popularis aurae vile mancipium are incompetent Iudges in Questions and Controversies of this quality for such Mens Tractats and Pamphlets containe nothing but only that which is Verball Illiterate and no wayes sufficient to discover or settle Truth The end also of their writing is not Verity but they study onely to flatter an irregular Multitude which is adverse to Ecclesiasticall Regiment setled in our Church and the Leaders of this Anarchicall Sect by applying themselves to the humour of these Proselytes gaine popular applause d Greg. Nazian Orat. 8. de pace Ex rebus novis claritatem famae venantur Chrys In Ioh. He. 65. Prava doctrina nihil aliud est quam inanis gloriae silia and likewise authority to make their own fancies and traditions to be no lesse esteemed than Divine Oracles For being wily as Serpents they have by long and subtill experience observed that impetuous speaking clamorous inveighing virulent declaming prevaile more with that generation than solid materiall and substantiall disputing e Hieron ad Nepotian Nihil tam facile quam vilem plebeculam indoctam concionem linguae volubilitate decipere â— quicquid non intelligit plus miratur Id. c. Ruffin li. 1. Quotidie in plateis sictus hariolus stultorum nares verberat obtorto scorpione dentes mordentiâ—m quatit miramur si imperitorum libri lectorem inveniant Now this verball forme hath the worthlesse penner of this Dialogue observed both in this and in all other his unlicensed Pamphlets The Bishop of Ely his Positions concerning the Old Sabbath Day and the Lord's-Day which are opposed by the Dialogue-Broacher Thesis 1a. The Law of the fourth Commandement concerning the religious observation of the Seventh Day Sabbath of every weeke was not purely morall or of the Law of Nature like as were the other nine Commandements of the Decalogue This Position is confirmed by Demonstrative arguments in the Bishops Treatise of the Sabbath pag. 26. unto pag. 37. Thesis 2a. The Law of the fourth Commandement concerning the Seventh Day Sabbath was Legall in respect of the speciall Day designed by the letter of that Commandement The same Law in respect of the literall Object thereof is ceased under the Gospell and obligeth not Christians to the religious observation thereof as it did the Iewes in time of the Old Law This Position is confirmed by many weighty arguments and by the Vnanimous testimony of the Ancient Fathers Page 6. 7. 8. 148. 161. 276. Thesis 3a. The Christian Church in the New Testament hath received no speciall or expresse divine precept in holy Scripture commanding the same to observe any one particular or individuall day of every weeke rather than another for their Sabbath Neither hath the Christian Church received any Divine mandate to observe any day of the weeke according to the rule of the fourth Commandement pag. 189. 239. Thesis 4a. The observation of the LORD'S-day is not grounded upon the particular Law of the fourth Commandement But onely upon the Equity of that Commandement and upon the practice and example of the holy Apostles and of the Primitive Church And after such time as the Persecutions of the Christian Church by Infidels ceased Then godly Lawes and Canons were framed by Constantine the great and by other succeeding Emperors Theodosius Valentinian Archadius Leo and Antoninus and by Bishops in their Synods for the religious observance of the LORD'S-day pag. 109 110. 135. 143. 189. 211. Thesis 5a. The Sabbath day of the fourth Commandement and the LORD'S-day both in holy Scripture and in the writings of the godly Fathers are made two distinct dayes of the weeke Neither was it the ordinary stile of the Fathers and Primitive Church to name the LORD'S-day the Sabbath-day in a proper and literall sense to wit in such a sense as the Iewes stiled their Seventh day the Sabbath day pag. 201 202. Thesis 6a. There is no Divine Law extant in the old or in the New Testament prohibiting all secular labour and all bodily exercise and honest recreation upon some part of the LORD'S-day namely at such time of the day as the religious offices thereof are ended much lesse is there found any divine Law which maketh honest and sober recreation in manner aforesaid an enormous crime equall to Murder and to Adultery pag. 229.
fuit imperatum quam id ab Imperatoribus Christianis nequis à rerum sanctarum meditatione abstraheretur neque ita praecise sancitum est It seemes therefore that the Homily hath not most clearely and fully declared all things necessary to be knowne touching this question Againe the Homily saith Whatsoever is found in the fourth Commandement appertaining to the Law of Nature as a thing most godly most just and needfull for the setting forth of God's glory it ought to be retained of all good Christians Our of the former words it may be collected that nothing in the fourth Commandement is simply morall and of the Law of Nature but that which is most godly most just and necessary for the setting forth of Gods glory And if this be the sence of the Homily as no doubt it is then the fourth Commandement is not in force according to the letter but only according to the equity and Analogie thereof Lastly the Homily saith God hath given expresse charge to all men that upon the Sabbath Day which is now our Sunday they should cease from all weekely and worke-day labour and God doth command the observation of this Holy day and we must be carefull to keep the Sabbath day which is the Sunday Out of the former passage these questions arise 1. What the Homily intendeth in saying God hath given expresse charge c. and God hath commanded c. Whether God hath immediately by any Divine Law expressely commanded the Observation of Sunday and in what Texts of Scripture this Law and Commandement touching Sunday is to be found Or whether the meaning of the Homily is not that God hath thus commanded Christians by a mediate or ministeriall Law and precept of his Church It may beâ— questioned likewise in what sence the Homily stileth the Sunday the Sabbath day whether in a proper and literall sence according to the stile of the old Law or in a mysticall and analogicall sence as Christ is called our Passeover 1 Cor. 5.7 Now from the precedent observations it is consequent that the Doctrine of the Church of England is not most clearly or so plainly and expressely set forth in the Homily as this Objector pretendeth when he saith pag. 13. The words of the Homily as you have heard and every one may plainely see are so expresse cleare and full that they cannot possibly admit the least ambiguity Reasons to the contrary 1. Evidens censeri solet illud quod ita sufficienter movet intellectum ut in libera hominis potestate non sit dissentire a Aqu. Sum. Greg. Valent. Et alij Scholast Doctores Aug. c. Crescon Gram. li. 3. Ipsa sententia loquatur cujus verba sic fulgerit ut si eam veliâ— abscondere quarumlibet tenebrarum latebras suo nimio splendoâ—e perruâ—peâ—â—t That onely is to be reputed cleare and evident which in such sort affecteth the understanding that it is not in the free power of an intelligent Person to dissent from it But this definition of cleare and evident cannot bee applyed to the words of the Homily for the reasons before delivered 2. According to Tertullian b Tertul. d. Resur Carnis ca. 33. Sententiae et definitiones quarum est aperta natura aliter quam sonant non sapiunt Sentences and Definitions which are cleare and evident cannot be expounded otherwise than as the words sound But the words of the Homily concerning the Sabbath which this Objector produceth doe neither force the understanding of every intelligent Reader to yeeld assent to Br. B. his Exposition and unlesse wee expound them otherwise than the words seeme to sound we shall fall into many absurdities Ergo. It is false which the Objector delivereth to wit The words of the Homily are so expresse cleare and plainely delivered as that they cannot admit the least Question or Ambiguity B. The Homily of the time and place of prayer part first sheweth That our Lord's Day is grounded upon the fourth Commandement of the Decalogue in these words Whatsoever is contained in the Commandement appertaining to the Law of Nature as a thing most godly most just and needefull for the setting forth of Gods glory it ought to be retained and kept of all good Christian people and therefore by this Commandement we ought to have a time as one day in the weeke wherein we ought to rest yea from our lawfull and needfull workes For like as it appeareth by this Commandement that no man in the sixe dayes ought to be slothfull or idle but diligently to labour in that state wherein God hath set him even so GOD hath given expresse charge to all men that upon the Sabbath day which is now our Sunday they should cease from all weekely and worke day labour to the intent that like as God Himselfe wrought sixe dayes and rested the Seventh and blessed and sanctified and consecrated it to quietnesse and rest from labour even so God's obedient People should use the Sunday holily and rest from their common and daily businesse and also give themselves wholly to heavenly excercises of God's true Religion and Service So that God doth not onely command the Observation of this Holy Day but also by his own example doth stir and provoke us to the diligent keeping of the same Good natural children wil not only becom obedient to the Commandement of their Parents but also have a diligent eye to their doings and gladly follow the same So if we will bee the children of our Heavenly Father wee must be carefull to keepe the Christian Sabbath Day which is the Sunday not only for that it is God's expresse Commandement but also to declare our selves to bee loving children in following the example of our Gracious Lord and Father Againe thus it may plainely appeare that God's will and Commandement was to have a solemne time and standing day in the week wherein the People should come together and have in remembrance his wonderfull benefits and to render Him thankes for them as appertaineth to loving kind and obedient People This example and Commandement of God the godly Christian people began to follow immediately after the Ascension of our Lord Christ c. So the Homily and much more whence we plainely observe these conclusions 1 That all Christians ought and are bound in conscience of the fourth Commandement to keep the Lord's-day holily 2 That by the force of the fourth Commandement one day in seven is perpetually to be kept holy 3 That the keeping of the Lord's-day is grounded upon and commanded in the fourth Commandement and so is not of humane institution 4 That the lord's-Lord's-day is and may bee called our Christian sabbath-Sabbath-day therefore it is not Iewish to call it so 5 That this Day is wholly to be spent in holy rest and duties of sanctification and therefore no part of it to be spent in vaine pleasures and prophane pastimes Now the Author of the Treatise doth overthrow all these conclusions for
it 2 It is granted that the fourth Commandement is expresse for a certaine day for a particular day Namely for Saturday But if it be expresse for Saturday and for that Individuall day only Then it is not expresse for Sunday and the observation of Sunday must either be grounded upon the naturall equity of the fourth Commandement or else it cannot be grounded upon that Commandement at all 3 Brother B. saith in this passage of his Dialogue The fourth Commandement is expresse for a certaine day But in another of his treatises hee delivereth the contrary to wit The Commandement saith not Remember the Seventh day to sanctifie it but Remember the Sabbath whatsoever it be to sanctifie it Now a certaine day is definite and a Sabbath day whatsoever it be is indefinite Therefore if the fourth Commandement enjoyneth a Sabbath Day whatsoever it be it commandeth a day indefinite and not a particular and certaine day 4 If the fourth Commandement is expresse for the Lord's-Day then it either nameth this day in particular or it describeth the same by some Characters by which it is distinguished from other dayes But the Commandement neither nameth the Lord's Day in particular nor yet describeth it by any speciall Characters but on the contrary it both nameth the Seventh day and describeth it by a speciall Character whereby it is distinguished from other dayes to wit by God's resting from his grand worke of prime Creation Therefore the fourth Commandement is not expresse for the keeping holy of the Lord's-day but if wee will have the day expressely commanded we must observe the Old Sabbath Day according to Theoph. Brabourne's Tenet 5 Whereas the Objector saith the Commandement must determine the particular time and day in Individuo because otherwise if the same be lef◠indetermined man should forget God and himselfe and allow no time at all for God's service The answer is there can be no just reason for people to forget God and to allow no time at all for his service if a sufficient and convenient time be indefinitely commanded by the Law of Nature and a definite and particular day and time be appointed by the Pastors of the Church For the precepts of the Church being godly and holy and subservient to God's glory and being grounded upon Apostolicall example oblige Christian people to their particular duty in observing time and place and many other circumstances concerning God's service and Christians are obliged to observe all such godly precepts when the same are meanes to execute God's generall Law which is Let all things in the Church be done decently and in good order and to edification c. pag. 99. B. It is a Law of nature that every Lord and Master should have the power in himselfe to appoint not only the kinde of service but the time when it should be performed of his servants As Alexander d. Ales a Alex. Hal. part 3. quaest 32. saith upon the fourth Commandement The time of this Rest it is not in Man's power to determine but God's Answ The chiefe Lord and Master of the family hath the supreme authority to determine the time and circumstances of his owne service But hee may delegate subordinate power to his Steward or other Officers to performe the same In the Old Law God Almighty prescribed the particular day and place of his publike worship to wit the Saturday of every weeke c. and the Tabernacle c. But in the Evangelicall Law he hath not expressely or literally appointed either a particular day or a particular place But Christian Kings being nursing Fathers and the Bishops being Pastors and Governours in the Church and Stewards of this great Lord by a delegate and ministeriall power may lawfully performe this pag. 187. I desire the judicious Reader to consider that the former Objection is a pestilent drug borrowed from Schismatickes and from Separatists pag. 95. and if the same bee admitted it takes away all power from the Kings Majesty and from the Church to appoint any set place for God's publike service or to ordaine any holy dayes or festivall solemnities or to determine the houres of the day for peoples resorting to Church and their continuance at the Church Lastly it denies the Churches power of composing any externall forme or Liturgy for God's publike and solemne worship B. Againe the Adversary acknowledgeth an equity in the fourth Commandement What equity If as it bound the ancient people of God to one day in the weeke it doe not also binde the Christian People to keep one day in the Weeke And if it be the equity of the fourth Commandement to prescribe one day in seven then they are very unjust that deny the keeping of the Lord's-Day to be grounded upon the equity of the fourth Commandement It were well if they would stand to equity But this doth our Adversary flye from for he saith in the next words The particular forme and circumstances of resting are prescribed unto us by the precepts of the Church our spirituall actions according to that which is maine and substantiall in them are taught by the Evangelicall Law Their modification and limitation in respect of rituall and externall forme and in regard of place duration gesture habit and other externall circumstances are prescribed by the Law of the Church So He. Thus you see how hee limits the prescription of circumstances which comprehend time and place persons and duration when and how long God shall bee served unto the prescription of the Law of the Church which he expresseth more fully pag. 270. saying It was in the free election of the Church to appoint what day or dayes or times she thought good or found convenient for religious duties a P. Martyr in Genes 2. Quod hic dies magis quam ille eligatur ad Dei cultum liberū fuit ecclesiae per Christum ut id consuleret quod magis ex re judicaret Bulling Cō in Apoc. 1.10 Sponte vero Ecclesiae receperuntillam diem non legimus eam ullibi praeceptam Hospin de Orig. Fest ca. 8. Et si ex hijs constet Dominicum diem jam tum Apostolorum temporibus Iudaici Sabbathi loco fuisse solennem non invenitur tamē vel Apostolos vel alios lege aliqua aut praecepto observationē ejus instituisse sed illam fuisse liberam c. In primitiva Ecclesia ipsius quoque Dominicae diei observatio nulla certa lege praecepta sed libera fuerit c. For the Evangelicall Law hath not determined any certaine day or time And those actions or circumstances which are not determined by divine precept are permitted to the liberty and authority of the Church to be determined and appointed So He. But cleare it is that the Church of England disclaimeth all such power a Reade the words of the Statute recited in the Preface to the Reader and it will be evident that Br. B. is a deceiver but ascribes all authority
The Church in this sinneth not as being not guilty of the breach of the fourth Commandement which bindeth us Christians to no certaine proportion of time as the Adversary himselfe would have it but in this respect is now abrogated c. Answ The Objector at his entrance saith Now I shall prove â—nd make it evident c Q. Curtius Apud Bactrianos dici solet Canem timiduÌ„ vehementius latrare quùm mordere c. and then falsifieth his word for his Argument is of no force at all If saith Br. B. the naturall equity of the fourth Commandement determineth not one particular and certaine day of the week but only a sufficient and convenient time for Divine worship Then there is no obligatory equity in the fourth Commandement And the Church sinneth not if it appoint one day in twenty forty a hundred or one day or halfe a day in a yeere or in an age c. But the Adversary maintaineth that the naturall equity of the fourth Commandement prescribeth only a sufficient and convenient time but no one certaine or fixed day of the weeke Ergo. The Adversary leaveth it in the Churches liberty and arbiterment to allow as small a proportion of time to wit one day in 20. 40. 100. or in the whole yeare c. as it pleaseth The consequence of the former argument is a Lame Giles for one day in 20. 40. 100. or in the whole yeare Or one halfe day in a Weeke Moneth or Yeare c. is not a competent and sufficient time for God's service or for religious duties and for the spirituall edification of Christian people Therefore the naturall equity of the fourth Commandement requiring a necessary competent and sufficient time for Divine worship obligeth the Church to allow a greater measure and proportion of time than one only day in 20. 40. 100. c. B. Argument 1. Observe we the words of the Commandement Remember the Sabbath Day a Praemittitur memento quia nimirum cum non siâ— naturale praeceptâ— poterant illud facile Iudaei oblivisci to keepe it holy which words saith the learned Zanchy b Zanc. d. oper Redemp in 4. Mand. Adjecimus sine ulla conscientiae obligatione fuisse hunc diem divino cultui destinatum Hoc liquet è sacriâ— literis Nullibi enim legimus Apostolos hoc cuipiam mandasse tantum lâ—gimus quid solitâ— fuerâ—â—t facere Apostoli fideles illâ— die liberum igitur reliquerunt Walaeus de Sabb. pag. 156. Nec Christus nec ipsi Apost ex praescripto Christi de observatione hujus diei ullum expressum mandatum quemadmodum de aliis pietatis officiis reliquerunt are the very morall substance of the fourth Commandement The Lord saith not remember to sanctifie some convenient and sufficient time as the Church shall thinke fit The Commandement prescribeth a certaine and set time yea a day the Sabbath Day one day in the weeke which is the Sabbath day Againe it teacheth what day in the week the Sabbath day is to wit the Sabbath day of the Lord thy God that day in the weeke wherein the Lord our God resteth must bee our Sabbath Day So that as the Commandement prescribes unto us a weekely Sabbath day to be sanctified So God's president and example points out unto Vs what or which day in the weeke we must rest on to sanctifie it And this is not only the naturall equity which the Adversary in generall confesseth but the very naturall Law and substance of the fourth Commandement to prescribe a set solemne day in the weeke to be sanctified and not to leave it in the power of Man or of the Church to appoint what time they please The Reasons are these 1. because the Commandement expressely limiteth one set day in the week being the Sabbath day of the Lord our God Now the Commandement prescribing a set and fixed day in the weeke what humane power shall dare to alter it into an indefinite time call it what you will convenient or sufficient to be appointed at the pleasure of man This is with the Papists to commit high sacriledge in altering the property of God's Commandements For upon this ground of generall equity they have beene bold to suppresse the second Commandement saying it is comprised in the first As they have robbed the people of the Cup in the Sacrament saying the bloud is contained in the body under the formes of Bread So our Adversary imagining a generall I wot not what equity in the fourth Commandement of some certaine uncertaine time for God's publike worship doth thereby destroy the very propertie of the Commandement which expressely prescribeth the Sabbath Day in every weeke Answ 1. This argument is downe right for Theophilus Brabourne's Tenet concerning the Saturday Sabbath For Saturday is the set fixed and particular day in the weeke concerning which God said Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy That speciall weekely day which is called the Sabbath of the Lord thy God This only day and no other was it In which the Lord God rested from the worke of prime Creation and God's example expressed in the fourth Commandement pointed out this particular day of the weeke and not any other of the sixe dayes The Law and substance of the fourth Commandement was fulfilled in the religious observation of this very day and during the time of the Old Law it was not in the power of the Church or of any humane creature to alter this day into any other Now from hence it is consequent that if the Christian Church stands obliged to observe that weekely day which was stiled the Sabbath of the Lord thy God and which is thus marked and pointed out in the fourth Commandement Then wee must observe the Legall Sabbath day according to Th. Brab his Tenet It might bee admired but that the pride and stupid ignorance of this Goose-quill is notorious that he should not foresee the consequence so directly concluding for the observation of the Old Legall Sabbath Secondly Whereas this Babler saith that they which deny that the fourth Commandement in time of the Gospell prescribeth a set and fixed weekely day for publike worship comply with the Pâ—pists who take away the second Commandement and the Cup from the people c. Our answer is 1. Let him resolve us whether Calvin Beza Bullinger P. Martir Rivetus b Rivet in Exod. 20. pag. 184. Quaestio agitatur an salâ—em unus è septem diebus etsi non à creatione septimus sed in unaquaque septimana in orbeÌ„ reâ—urreÌ„s septimus ex quarti praecepti vi ut qua morale est â—â—t necessario obserâ—andus in Ecclesia Christiana Resp pag. 186. ArgumeÌ„ta pro negativa parte talia sunt ut me moveant ne disceâ—am ab ea quam Calvinus probavit â—inâ—entia c. who mainâ—ained the former position complied with the Papists 2 Hee should first have proved by firme arguments but his manner is to
to say there is a world in the Moone consisting of Land and Sea and inhabitants because there are some blacke spots in it which is yet not a more Lunaticke opinion than that is presumptuous and absurd Hath not the profane world found by woefull experience and that of late dayes within these two yeares last past wherein men have taken a liberty to prophane and pollute but a part of the Lord's-Day that this is a most horrible sin And a sin it cannot be but as a breach of one of God's Holy Commandements for where there is no Law there is no transgression The profanation I say of the Lord's Day is clearely shewed to bee an horrible presumptuous sin and in speciall a bold breach of the fourth Commandement by those many remarkeable judgements of God which have fearefully fallen upon fearelesse Sabbath breakers and that I say within these two yeares last past the like whereof cannot be parallell'd in all the Histories of all the Centuries since the Apostles times Which alone if men were not altogether possessed with the spirit of stupidity and of a croced conscience were sufficient to teach their dull wits that the fourth Commandement is still in force commanding the Sabbath-day to be sanctified the profanation whereof we see so terribly punished by divine revenge A point also which our Homily hath noted which were sufficient to admonish the Adversary of his presumptuous oppositions thereunto Answ 1. Divine Lawes being generall or indefinite oblige to obedience in particulars when the speciall Object commanded or prohibited by any other just Lawes is reduced to the Divine generall Law by lawfull consequence For example Thou shalt not steale is generall Therefore thou shalt not without license from the Owner or without other lawfull authority take away thy Neighbours Oxe or his Asse and yet Meum and Tuum thy Neighbours Oxe and his Asse are made his owne by humane Law So likewise in this present Question the generall equity of the Divine Law is Christian people must observe a convenient and sufficient time for Divine Worship c. And Christian Princes and the Bishops and Pastors of the Church having lawfull Authority to appoint such Observations as are subservient to true Religion have ordained Christmasse Easter and the Lord's day of every Weeke for Divine Worship and Religious Duties Ergo Christians are obliged by the generall Equity of the Divine Law to observe Christmasse Easter and the Lord's-day after that the Rulers and Pastors of the Church have appointed the same to be done to God's glory It is a frantick Paradox to maintaine That Christians are obliged to nothing but such things only as are definitely and in particular commanded by some expresse written Law of GOD in holy Scripture For many things which are in Nature and kinde indifferent when they are commanded by Parents Masters Magistrates or any other lawfull authoâ—ity come within the compasse of God's generall Law and that generall Law obligeth people to performe them Mediante Praecepto Parentis Heri Magistratus Ecclesiae c. by a mediate precept of Parent Master Magistrate or Church pag. 93. 2 To the Objector's Argument the answer is Where God's Law commandeth not either in particular or in generall there is no sin but if God's Law command in generall That we must obey every lawfull ordinance of the Church being subservient to God's glory and the edification of his people and the Church commandeth us religiously to observe the Lord's-day Christian people are bound in conscience to obey a Bernard d. Praecept Dispens cap. 12. Sive Deus sive homo viâ—â—rius Dei mandatum quodcunque tradiderit pari profecto obsequendum est cura pari reverentia deferenduÌ„ ubi tamen Deo contraria non praecipit homo and if they doe otherwise they transgresse God's Commandement and are guilty of sin pag. 93. 3 Whereas this Scribler affirmeth that no man is able to define a convenient and sufficient time for God's worship c. and compares the undertaking thereof to the imagination of the being of a World in the Moone c. I doubt not but that this quaint conceit makes him prick up his eares but upon due examination it will prove as ridiculous as the Man in the Moone For if any one presume to define things which are remote from humane cognisance not having sufficient meanes to prove his affirmation he justly deserves to be condemned of rashnesse and folly But the Governours in the Christian Church want not compleat and sufficient meanes to enable them to set downe and determine convenient and sufficient time for God's publike worship for they have many generall Rules laid downe in holy Scripture for the ordering of Ecclesiasticall affaires they have likewise Presidents of the Divine Law in ancient time they have the practise and example of the Saints of God to direct and leade them and Christian prudence hath enabled them in former ages to appoint sufficient and convenient dayes and times for God's solemne worship and in these dayes they have both understanding and authority to do the like 4 God's vengeance upon malicious profaners of the Lord's-day is no sufficient argument to prove that this day is expressely or literally commanded to bee observed in the Christian Church by the particular Precept of the fourth Commandement For wilfull transgression of the Precepts of the Church commanding such actions and offices as are religious holy and subservient to God's glory brings God's heavie judgements upon profane and disobedient people 5 In the close of the former Argument Brother B. casts dirt in the Face of him whom he stileth his Adversary saying This were sufficient to admonish the Adversary of his presumptuous oppositions thereunto But where or when hath his Adversary delivered any Position in his late Treatise or elsewhere in defence of profanenesse upon the Lord's-day or upon any other day For honest and sober recreation upon some part of the Holy-day is farre more remote from profanenesse than the factious and viperous deportment c Aug. c. Petilian li. 2 Idipsum vipereum est non habere in ore firmamentum veritatis sed venenum maledictionis of this Roarer against such as comply not with him in his presumptuous Dictats B. Mr. Hooker Eccles Pol. lib. 5. Sect 70. hath these words If it be demanded whether we observe these times to wit Holy-dayes as being thereunto bound by force of Divine Law or else by the only positive Ordinances of the Church I answer to this That the very Law of Nature it selfe which all Men confesse to be God's Law requireth in generall no lesse the sanctification of times than of places persons and things unto God's honour For which cause it hath pleased him heretofore as of the rest so of time likewise to exact some parts by way of perpetuall homage never to be dispensed withall nor remitted againe to require some other parts of time with as strict exaction but for lesse continuance
and of the rest which were lesse arbitrary to accept what the Church shall in due consideration consecrate voluntarily unto like religious uses Of the first kind among the Iewes was the Sabbath-day Of the second those Feasts which are appointed in the Law of Moses The Feast of Dedication invented by the Church standeth in the number of the last kind The Morall Law requiring therefore a seventh part throughout the age of the whole world to be that way imployed although with Vs the day be changed in regard of a new revolution begun by our Saviour Christ yet the same proportion of time continueth which was before because in reference to the benefit of Creation and now much more of Renovation thereunto added by Him which was Prince of the World to come we are bound to account the sanctification of one day in seven a duty which God's immutable Law doth exact for ever You see that in termes he agreeth and jumpeth with the expresse Doctrine of our Church in the Homily touching the perpetuall morality of the fourth Commandement We are bound saith he to account the sanctification of one day in seven which before he saith is now our lord's-Lord's-day a duty which God's immutable Law doth exact for ever Answ Mr. H. in the passage aforesaid delivereth nothing in substance differing from the Bishop 1 He saith that God's naturall Law requireth the sanctification of times in generall and he affirmeth the same concerning places persons a Melanch loc com in 3. Praecept Steckel Annot. ib. Sicut nullum certum locum ita neque tempus certuÌ„ nominavit Deus in novo Testamento sed haec reliquit Ecclesiae staâ—uenda pag. 58. c. But the sanctification of particular places is required by no expresse speciall Law in the new Testament but onely by the equity or generall Law of Nature and the practise and example of holy people in ancient times 2 He affirmeth not that the observation of the Lord's-day is commanded by speciall and expresse words of the fourth Commandement for he acknowledgeth a generall Law only which can be no other but the naturall Equity and Analogie of the fourth Commandement B. Bishop Andrewes saith c. It hath ever beene the Churches Doctrine that Christ made an end of all Sabbaths by his Sabbath in the Grave That Sabbath was the last of them And that the Lord's-day presently came in place of it The Lord's-day was by the Resurrection of Christ declared to be the Christians day and from that very time of Christ's Resurrection it began to be celebrated as the Christian Man's Festivall For the Sabbath had reference to the old Creation but in Christ we are a new Creature a new Creation by him and to have a new Sabbath c. Answ 1. If Christ according to Bishop Andrewes made an end of all Sabbaths then he mâ—de an end of the Sabbath of the fourth Commandement And from hence it is consequent that the Sabbath of the fourth Commandement was not simply morall or of the Law of Nature for that which is such is unchangeable and perpetuall and besides the observation of the Lord's-day cannot be enjoyned by a Law or Commandement which is ceased 2 Bp. Andrewes saying The Lord's-day was declared to be the Christians festivall by the Resurrection of Christ and was celebrated rather than any other Day proveth that the celebration thereof was not grounded upon the speciall Law of the fourth Commandement as this Dialogist hath formerly said but upon our Saviour's Resurrection Neither doth the learned Bishop teach that it was grounded upon Christ's Resurrection as upon a Law but according to the common vote of all Antiquity his meaning must be that our Saviour's Resurrection was a motive perswading and inducing the Christian Church to observe that day rather than any other Lastly by new Sabbath the Bishop understandeth the Christian Sabbatisme which is ceasing and resting from the deeds of sin especially upon the Lord's-day and upon other Festivall dayes which are devoted to godlinesse and to Religious Offices B. Bp. Andrewes in a Catecheticall Tractate delivereth these following That the old Sabbath was no Ceremony The day is changed but no Ceremony proved It were not wise to set a Ceremony in the midd'st of morall Precepts The Law of Nature is the Image of GOD Now in GOD there can be no Ceremony c. The Law of the Decalogue is totally of the Law of Nature Now from the Premises we observe what was the judgement of that learned Prelate c. He sheweth plainly that the Lord's-day comming in place of the old Sabbath-day and so becomming our Sabbath-day is by necessary consequence grounded upon the fourth Commandement the Law whereof is perpetuall because naturally morall So as hence I might frame this Argument That day which comes in place of the old Sabbath is commanded in the fourth Commandement But the Lord's-day is come in place of the old Sabbath Therefore it is commanded in the fourth Commandement Answ 1. It is not certaine to Vs that Bishop Andrewes was the Author of the Patterne of Câ—techeticall Doctrine cited by the Objector or if in his younger daies before hee had throughly examined the Question of the Sabbath he delivered the passage here mentioned yet after his riper yeares and when hee was come to maturity of judgement he hath not in any Tractate published by himselfe while he was living or by some Reverend Bishops after his decease maintained the former Doctrine And in very deed hee could not in his riper yeares being a man of great learning and judgement and throughly versed in Antiquity maintaine the same For 1. It is apparently false and repugnant to Scripture and all Antiquitie that the fourth Commandement was intirely morall and had no Ceremony in it This is effectually proved by the Bishop page 161. 163. c. and all exceptions and objections to the contrary are solved and cleared 2 It is an infallible Verity that the Law of the fourth Commandement in respect of one determinate weekely day was temporary and legally positive a Tertul. adv jud ca. 4. Manifestum itaque est non aeternum nec spiritale Evangelicum sed temporale fuisse praeceptum quod quandoque cessaret Read the Bishop's Treatise pag. 28. 29. 30. c. 3 Bishop Andrewes having said The Lord's-Day presently came in place of the Old Sab. The rude Dialogist frameth this Argument following That which comes in place of the Old Sabbath is commanded in the fourth Commandement But the Lord's-Day is come in place of the Old Sabbath Therefore the Lord's-Day is commanded in the fourth Commandement When the Bishop read this Argument propounded with no little pride and ostentation by the Dialogue brâ—acher he admired the ignorance and stupidity of the Man For the major Proposition is so notoriously false and absurd and refuted by so many instances that hee is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aiunt liberidem
cap. 37. De nullo ante ipsius finem pronunciari potest quod in electorum gloria sit futurus ut perseverantem humilitatem utilis metus servet qui star videat ne cadat Conclus It is evident by the former Positions of S. Augustine that his constant and expresse Tenet in his Confutation of the Pelagians was That some persons really justified might afterwards bee overcome by temptations and fall away from saving and justificant grace And therefore H. B. is mendacious in accusing the Appealer of Popery and Pelagian Heresie for we trust he will not honour the Papals so much as to make S. Augustine one of theirs And that cannot in any charitable construction be a Pelagian Heresie which S. Augustine the grand Adversary of those Hereticks in his Answers and Confutations constantly maintained against them B. Yea instead of recantation I my self have heard him in open Court speake against both justification that a Man might be justified to day and damned to morrow and against election of some to eternall life and against the sanctification of the Sabbath saying I say there is no sanctification of the Sabbath but Rest Rest only And therefore cease to wonder that this man should be so fearelesse either privily to undermine or apertly to oppugne the expresse Doctrines of our Church Answ 1. It was the Tenet of S. Augustine a Aug. d. Prad Sanct. cap. 14. and of the faithfull in his dayes that if a just person forsake his righteousnes in qua diu vixit wherin hee hath lived long and shall depart this life in wickednesse in qua non unum annum sed unum diem duxerit wherin hee continued not one yeare but one day in poenas iniquis debitas hinc iturum hee shall passe from hence into eternall punishment due to the wicked Huic perspicuae veritati saith Saint Augustine quis fidelium contradicit what faithfull Christian contradicts this evident or perspicuous verity Now if the former doctrine was maintained for Catholike and Orthodoxall in Saint Augustine's daies then he who saith a man may be justified to day and be in perill of damnation the next day b D. Overall Confer Hampt Court p 41. Whosoever though before justified did commit any grievous sinne as Adultery Murder Treason and the like did become ipso facto subject to God's wrath guilty of damnation or were in state of damnation quo ad praesentem justitiam untill they did repent Against which doctrine he said some had opposed teaching That all such persons as were once truely justified although after they fell into never so grievous sinnes yet remained still just 〈◊〉 in the state of justification before they actually repented of these sinnes Yea and although they never repented of them through forgetfulnesse or sudden death yet th y should be saved w thout Repentāce hath delivered nothing savoring of Pelagianisme or repugnant to sound Doctrine in the Article of Iustification 2 Br. B. is false in saying he hath heard his Adversary in open Court speake against God's Election for the Bishop firmely believeth That God hath freely without any merit of their owne in his meere bounty and love for the merit of Christ elected all those to eternall life which shall be glorified in the world to come 3 The Bishop truly affirmed pag. 143. That the fourth Commandement of the Decalogue according to the literall sence thereof enjoyned not such spirituall and Evangelicall duties as Theop. Br. mentioned in his Objection to wit preaching of Christ crucified and raysed from the dead Prayer to God the Father in the name of Christ receiving Baptisme and the Holy Eucharist But he maintaineth that the equity of the fourth Commandement together with the Evangelicall Law requireth not only rest from secular labour and negotiation but also the performance of spirituall and evangelicall duties upon the Lord's-Day and upon other Holy dayes and times devoted by the Church to the service of Christ pag. 143. A. The Adversary in his Booke doth much except against and cannot endure that the Lord's-Day should be called the Sabbath Day And I remember one passage in it wherein he bequarrelleth H. B. for saying that the ancient Fathers did ever and usually call it the Sabbath Day B. Concerning that I have spoken with H. B. and hee saith he will answer and make good what he hath said against his Adversary And howsoever those words indeed ever and usually might give Advantage to the Adversary to carpe yet being rightly understood they may passe currant enough for by ever usually hee meant that all the ancient Fathers although they distinguish betweene the Lord's-Day and the Iewes Sabbath Day yet they ever took and observed the Lord's-Day instead of the Old Sabbath and ever used it for the Rest day or Sabbath of Christians Answ 1. The Bishop's words pag. 201. are I have diligently searched into Antiquity and observed in the Fathers their formes of speech when they treate of the Lord's-Day and I finde it farre differing from the usuall language of the Fathers to stile the Lord's-Day the Sabbath Day And they by the name Sabbath either understand the Old Legall Sabbath taken away by Christ Or the mysticall and spirituall Sabbath which was tiped and represented by the Sabbath of the fourth Commandement 2 In the former passage the Bishop speaketh not of moderne writers neither hath he denied that any of these especially here in England have stiled the Lord's-Day by the name of Sabbath or Christian Sabbath for his assertion was onely concerning the Ancient Fathers a Igna. ad Magnes post Sabbatū omnis Christi amator dominicam celebret diem c. Orig. in Exod hom 7. In nostra dominica semper pluit Manna in Sabbato nō pluit Clemens Apost Constit li. 7. ca. 24. Sabbatū Dominicum festos dies agite quod ille quidem dies recordatio sit fabricationis mundi hic vero Resurrectionis Athanas Epist ad Marcel Si psallere vis in Sabbato habes Psalm 91. Vis gratias agere in dominico habes psal 23. Ambros d. sacram lib. 4. cap. 6. Greg Nyssen orat d. castigat August Epist 86. Hilar. Prolog in Psalm Socrat. hist Eccl. lib. 6. cap. 8. Tripertit hist lib. 1. cap. 9. And therefore Br. B. fighteth with his owne shadow when he produceth moderne authorities to confirme that which concerneth not the point in question 3 The Bishop pag. 205. makes cleare ostension that H. B. had falsified three places of Saint Augustine And to prove himselfe an impudent Prevaricator he had foisted in these words Hoc est Dominicum into Saint Augustine's very text Contra Adimant Manich. Cap. 15. 4 This Br. B. for his last refuge propoundeth a miserable and ridiculous argument to wit The Fathers observed the Lord's-Day in stead of the Old Sabbath Ergo they ever and usually called the same the Sabbath Day This argument may be paralleld with one like unto it The ancient Fathers observed