God was better revealed then to the Heathens Thus also thinketh that learned Brentius in his Comment upon Leviticus Chap. 27. Verse the 30 th How they had it from them is not much materiall It was without question time out of mind among them as well as amongst Gods people And a man may as wel declare who was the first that taught Deos esse colendos as who was the first that delivered the Tenth part rather then any other part to bee the reserved and speciall portion appropriated to a Deitie In briefe all these practises serve to shew that by the law of Nature as a part of Gods service all people knew themselves bound to give something to God of those temporall blessings which God giveth unto them This Something was no will worship unrequired but looked for and expected by the Giver of all even from the first times of the worlds beginning Gen. 4. It was likewise for the Quetitie * Gen. 14.20 Heb. 7.4 Gen. 28.22 Levit. 27.30 declared by the practice of the Patriarkes before the Law and by the words recorded in the Law to bee a Tenth What was beside were those Free-will Offerings and Oblations already mentioned Presents but not Rents And yet such as God was and is wel pleased to receive Thus then you have seene Gods right namely that Tythes are the Lords holy to the Lord and therefore out of the power of man to turne them into common uses Next for the Assignation or Deputement of them to the Priesthood wee have againe to observe That as the Lord did not begin to have a right in them when the Law was given so the Assignment was not then although but then declared by a written Law And therefore as the Right was perpetuall so the Assignment For when God declared why the Priests were to receive them hee affirmeth That it was for the service which they doe Numb 18.21 Deut. 18 5. And if for the service then not due to the Levites as the sonnes of Levi but as the Priests of God Or being due principally to the Service and not to the Men but for the sake of the holy Function maintenance of them in their places it must needs follow That where God is served there tythes are due to those in a secondary right who administer in the Priests office and doe the services belonging to it Yea thus have they alwayes followed Gods worship as well before the Law as under it and why not now also under the Gospel cannot bee shewed For the end of their deputation ceaseth not no more now then it did before Are not therefore Priesthood and Tythes fitly called Twins or as Logicians speake are they not Relatives have ever gone together and of Right ought so to doe so long as God hath a Church and Officers belonging to it For in Gods Church the worke for which Tythes were given can never end and therefore the wages cannot without wrong bee detained from those who doe the Services Neither can it bee denied but that the substance even of the legall Services as reading the Law expounding the Law performing of publike prayers blessing the people and such like is still of force For there is nothing ceased but what was typicall all else abideth with what hath ever belonged to it So that although it bee granted that * Viz. parts of sacrifices and such like some portions belonging to the Levites are now ceased because the parts of those Services for which they were due are abolished and gone yet that which was payed for the maine duties and principall services belonging to the substance of Religion before any such Ceremonies were commanded is still of force and of right our lawfull hire this being the full Tenth of all that increase wherewith the Lord Almighty blesseth his people And although Cajetan by the name of Tenth doth not understand the tenth part but a certaine portion which in Moses his time was called a Tenth Lippom. in Gen 14. Yet Lippoman seeking no such evasion overthrowes his supposition with a more downe-right dealing For in that storie of Abraham paying tythes Melchisedech hee renders it from the Hebrew and saith 't is thus Dedit ei decimam ex omnibus Hee gave him a Tenth out of all which as the Chaldee interpreteth Is one out of ten And therefore Iuxta legem naturae Dei solvuntur Sacerdoti saith the same Authour So also in that vow of Iacob Genesis 28. Idem in Gen. 28.22 Et ne forte alicui dubitare contigeret de portione quam pro Decima se soluturum Patriarcha promittit occurrit Chaldaica inquiens Et omnium quae dederis mihi unum ex decem seperabo coram te Meaning as before That this Patriarke would separate one part of tenne And againe to shew how the old Patriarkes came to the knowledge of this part rather then of any other the said Authour recordeth out of Hugo de Sancto Victore Deum docu sse Adam divinum cultum quo ejus benevolentiam recuperaret quam per peccatum transgres sionis amiserat ipsumquè docuisse filios sues dare deo Decimas Primitias Meaning that Gods Divine Worship was immediately taught unto Adam by God himselfe c. And that Adam taught his sonnes to give Tythes and First fruits to the Lord. Certaine it is that they brought their Offerings at a set time and to a chosen place Gods House called by reason of the Lords more speciall presence there See Gen. 4. Gods Face that then and there they might offer unto the Lord not immediately but rather mediately by Adam the Priest of God for so the Lord expounds our offering to him Numbers 5.8 To the Lord even to the Priest Or as it is in the 2 Chron. 15.11 The people are said to offer when as they onely brought their Sacrifices and the Priest offered for them Neither may this seeme strange For among Gods people from Adam to Moses he that was the eldest of every family was both the King and the Priest over his owne family Thus do the Hebrewes tell us that the Priesthood was a perpetuall annexum to the Birth-right Yea thus doth Saint Hierome witnesse in more places of his writings Hier. quaest hebraic et in Epist 126. ad Evagr. then one And wee also find it in those many priestly practises of the blessed Patriarkes Saint Chrysostome likewise saith that the Prerogative of Birth-right was great whether it were by nature or of grace When Iacob and Esau therefore strove about their Birth-right they contended not about a trifle but about a matter of great weight and moment And howsoever it was that in sundry families there were sundry Priests yet the eldest Patriarke then living was as it were high Priest among them all Bp. Mount against Mr. Seld. c. 1. pag. 207 208. Gen. 14.18 their office ceasing or being suspended for a time when a greater high Priest was present
For as in the case of divorce Christ sent the Scribes and Pharisees to see how it was Ab initio so in this case of maintenance for Gods Ministers Inquire of the old wayes and when you find that in the beginning it was not so as sacrilegious persons now would have it nor commanded since that it should be so you may conclude without any more adoe that the Quota pars is still a tenth And indeed that wee may bring the totall of this dispute home to the Apostles Text that very way of paying tithes is a reall communication of all kind of goods whereas in stipens taxing of houses or rating of persons cannot but bee much errour Pars celatur pars subducitur ausim dicere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Omnia bona non communicantur saith that famous (*) Bishop And. in his Posth De decimis pag. 148 Worthy of happy memory And againe secondly that it ought stil to be as in diebus illis St. Paul †1 Cor. 9.13 14. in another place speaks it more plainely expresly setting downe the practice of the Old Testament for a President unto the New He fetcheth proofes (*) Deut. 2◠1. from Moses awnot only to confirm the equity of providing maintenance for Gods Ministers but also to shew and confirme the manner how even to the measure thereof For it must be granted Dr. Carlet of tythes c. 4. that the Apostles words concluding sometime certainly doe rather conclude that which was the ordinary maintenance commonly received in the Church than that which was never in use insomuch that as the Levites lived by tthes and offerings so should we For it is in the Text plainely and directly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Even so Even so hath the Lord ordained that they who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel And if even so then by tithes and offerings for so was the Ministery of Law maintained Nay marke it yet a little better and it cannot but be yeelded that whereas the Apostle saith The Lord hath ordained that they who preach the Gospel should liue of the Gospel there must be some ordinance of the Lord shewed concerning this of which hee speaketh but none can be shewed excepting that of old The Apostles times were extraordinary and such as they could be where Persecution put all things out of square yea such as they could be in the first founding of a Church the Planters and Waterers being sent from place to place and things not setled till a long while after as anon shall bee further shewed Here therefore was no ordinance for a continued maintenance Their taking of benevolence proves no such thing no more than their going from place to place proveth that a Church should be always unsetled And therfore his Ordinance was of old so this Even so can plead for nothing else to bee ordinarily received than tythes and offerings for Even so hath the Lord ordained And why Even so or after the same manner but because Gods part is certainly annexed to Gods worship the rate or measure whereof beside offerings is said to be a tenth of all that wherewith the Lord yeare by yeare blesseth his people this being that maine and principall tithe Deut. 18.1 which in Deuteronomy is called the Tythe of Inheritance as afterwards more fully shall be shewed Bullinger in the tenth Sermon of his fift Decade speakes not so much of tithes as of stipends to bee given to the Ministers of the Gospell yet when hee commeth to this of Saint Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Even so hath the Lord ordained hee then concludeth thus But I judge saith he this especially to be observed which the Apostle speaketh in plaine words viz. That the Lord instituted his Ordinance concerning the maintenance of the Ministers unto the imitati 〈◊〉 of the ANCIENT LAVVES of of the Iewish people Hereof wee gather that wee misse not much the worke if in this and such like cases wee doe not utterl reject the ancient institutions of the Fathers Thus he Another speaking of our owne countrey saith Here onely was the errour of that marke the King did not restore the Tenths to the constant maintenance of the Ministery which portion whether it now belong to the Church or no Iure divine I intend not to dispute pro or con But this I dare say Gods owne order hath manifested it to be both competent and convenient for that purpose beyond all old exceptions or new inventions and so proves it to agree with the Law of Nature if not to flow immediatel from thence deserving therfore to live after the honourable buriall of the Ceremoniall Law as it breathed long before it Thus that other Neither thirdly is it but that in the seventh Chapter to the Hebrewes Levi is said to pay tythes unto Christ because Abraham in whose loines Levie then was paied tithes to Melchisedech the type of Christ which whether it bee pertinent to our right and claime who are the Ministers of Christ I shall need to say little Only this I would should be well observed that as under the Law it was not so much the Levites as God by them who received this sacred tribute So before the Law not so much Melchisedech as the Lord in Melchisedech yea and now also under the Gospel not so much the Ministers as Christ receiveth Tythes For hee saith the Apostle Of whom these things are spoken is Christ our Lord who sprang out of another Tribe then that of Levi even out of Iudah Heb. 7.13 14. Quod debehat Ahraham Deo solvit in manum Melchisedeck saith Calmin Calvin in Heb. 7. That which Abraham owed unto God hee paied into the hands of Melchisedeck Or as Saint Chrysostome speaketh Abraham the Father of the faithfull Chrysost hous 5. adversus Iudaeo paying his Tythes to Melchisedeck shadowed out all the faithfull paying Tythes unto Christ Againe Tythes payed to Melchisedeek are here brought by the Apostle to prove not onely the greatnesse but the perpetuity of Christ's Priesthood and therefore Tythes ought to bee payed as long as Christ's Priesthood standeth And as I said before although the Priests have alwayes received them yet the originall right is none of theirs They have them but by way of Deputation or Assignment and this but once made manifest by any written Law Howbeit that once was enough because the end was ever the same namely for the service that they do This very end made it be practised in Nature towards them that then were the Lords Priests though (†) Bishop Mount against Mr. Seld. ◠1. pag. 210. no doubt the Patriarkes had for this as for all other points of Divine service speciall instruction and direction by Illumination Angelicall information or divine Revelation which was the Pedagogy God trained them up in untill that Scripture came in place wherein the Assignation and reason of it was recorded And from thence also it was that before the Law
title which to others of a better temper may be mitigated to a more milde and gentle meaning serving onely as a caution to let them know that they might be more zealous of Gods glory if they were lesse indifferent and more forward to manifest their inward feare and reverence by their outward devotion for so shall they glorifie God both in their soules and in their bodies even as they looke to have both partake in the heavenly joyes of the life to come At which Saint Paul hath plainly pointed in the 1 Cor. 6.20 Nor is it but certaine that a reward presupposeth a worke If therefore we live in hope of an happie resurrection why then doe we exempt our bodies from the service of God and lay the totall of this dutie upon the soule Or if we know that the happinesse of the soule separate from the bodie neither is nor shall be consummate till the bodie be againe united to it Why doe we not for the present joyne both together and grant that as the outward worship without the inward is but dead so the inward without the outward is incompleat even as is that happinesse alreadie mentioned I will not be tedious to adde any more save only this The discourse now tendred desires thee good Reader to be taken up as an exposition of the first Precept in the Second Table For though it be grounded upon a Text in Salomon yet my acceptation of of it aymes chiefely at such a latitude as may not cause it to be excluded from out the bounds of the Fift Commandement but suffer it to be considered in a Catechesticall way Farewell Feb. 26. 1638. Thine to his power in all the offices of charitie and truth IOHN SVVAN REDDE DEBITVM PROV 30.11 There is is a generation that curseth their Father and doth not blesse their Mother THis text in generall is the declaration of an offence wherein we have two parts The first is a Denomination of the parties offending The second is an expression of the particularities of their offence The denomination is in the word generation for saith the Text There is a generation The offence is twofold First that they curse Secondly that they doe not blesse For as there is a generation so there is even such a generation as curseth their father and doth not blesse their Mother Concerning the first of which there lurkes perhaps some ambiguity in the word generation I shall by degrees therefore unfold or explicate what a generation is together with the kinds thereof that thereby it may appeare what the text meaneth by saying There is a generation A Generation is either in respect of succession or in respect of qualities That of succession is either generall or in more particular The Generall hath respect to the succeeding times of all ages and all persons in every nation under heaven Thus were the chronologicall periods of time and ages of the world Generations as from the Creation to the Floud from the Floud to the Promise from the Promise to the Law from the Law to the Temple from the Temple to the captivity from the captivity to Christ from Christ to us and from us to the end of the world Or if they be accounted according to that distinction of 6. Ages wherein men suffer the labours and travells of this present world they are from the Creation to the Floud from the Floud to Abraham from Abraham to David from David to the captivity from the captivity to Christ and from Christ to the end of the world These are the generall The more particular were pertinent either to some one nation or to a private descent of particular families Of the first of these in the Gospell it is said that This generation shall not passe till all bee fulfilled And of the second Lâ—k 21.32 in the Psalmist thus we read Psal 109.12 that In the next generation his name shall be cleane put out which if we respect the time is seldome or never more then an hundred yeares Gen. 15.13.16 as is witnessed by that of Moses in Gen. 15. where we read of foure generations in the compasse or space of foure hundred yeares Now because a generation in these large extents produce a diversity of factions and severall multitudes of dispositions some following the streame of one thing some another it is that I have secondly observed another kind of generation viz. in respect of qualities And unto this the text adhereth as most pertinent for that 's a generation in respect of quality wherin a race Sect or company of people follow either the doing of that which is good or the doing of that which is bad The first of which is a generation not so much pure in their owne eyes as in Gods The second is a froward perverse and crooked generation from which as the Apostle speaketh every good Christian must save himselfe The kinds of these perverse or crooked ones are many and among the rest this in the text is one and as one so none of the best For There is a generation that curseth their father and doth not blesse their mother And thus much of the denomination of the offenders 2 Their offence followeth and it is two fold First that they curse Secondly that they doe not blesse The first is a sinne of commission The second of omission the one commits the evill he should not do the other omits the good that he should doe And so like erring sheepe both have wandred and gone astray In the commissive part the sinne of the generation is set downe positively In the omissive privatively Or in the commissive part there is the act and the object The Act is cursing The object is the father The Act in it selfe single and alone is bad enough but is made so much the worse by reason of the circumstances or by reason of that speciall object at which it aymeth For such relation as is between the Father and the Sonne such yea the same is between this Act or and his Object The omissive part affords an object also but 't is detained in the privation of such an act as of right should looke towards and not from it for although the power of a Father be in many respects greater then the power of a Mother yet as saith Chemnitius there must be an exequation of dutie and honour Chemnit in Loc. as well to the one as to the other as well to the inferiour as the no bler sexe as well to the weaker as the stronger vessell Neither are sinnes of omission in knowne duties but every way as bad nay rather worse then sinnes of commission So that if it be a sin to curse the Father it must needs bee no lesse not to blesse the mother But who are they to whom this right belongs Are they onely such as in respect of being The summo extention of the Text. begat and brought us forth My answer must be negative for
obey the officers of his Church whom they have seene For as judicious Hooker truly speaketh It doth not stand with the duty which we owe to our heavenly Father who is the universall Father of us all that to the ordinances of our mother the Church we should shew our selves disobedient Let us not say wee keepe the Commandements of the one when we breake the Lawes of the other for unlesse wee observe both we obey neither And againe seeing Christ saith he hath promised to be with his Church untill the end of the world her Laws and Ordinances cannot be contemned or broken without wrong and despight to Christ himselfe Neither doe the words of Solomon but tend to the same purpose For he doth not only say Prov. 1.8 Heare thy fathers instruction but addeth also and forsake not thy mothers teaching By Father meaning either God who is the universall Father of all creatures or the Pastours of the Church who are sent of God as Ghostly Fathers to teach and instruct the people And by Mother meaning the Governours of the Church as even the Genevae note declareth Or more plainly thus They who teach and instruct thee in the Word must be heard and not only so but even the laws and directions of the Guides and Rulers who sit to governe may not be neglected And what our Saviours doctrine likewise is concerning this you have heard already and may heare more afterwards when you have read a little further In the mean time if I be desired to speak more plainely concerning the word Church What is meant by the word Church and of changing the phrase from Father to Mother whose lawes must be obeyed My answer is that here is not meant the whole popular or collective company of beleevers but the Church in her Officers which is differing from the popular and promiscuous bodie thereof For the Church is either representative or collective By the first is meant onely the spiritualitie and chiefely the governing Fathers or highest Priests By the second all others as well as the former them and all who live within the compasse or pale of one the same Church And because the whole Church together is oftentimes resembled to a woman bringing forth and nourishing up of Children unto Christ we sometimes alter the phrase from Father to Mother although we speake but of the Church in a representative bodie where by a Synecdoche one part is put for the whole But I proceed A twofold objection And here some object that the Church officers either bring in rites and orders at which their conscience stumbleth Or secondly that Bishops ought not to have any Courts Ecclesiastical for the correction of those who break such lawes as are sayd to be the lawes of the Church Answer â— Answ to the first objection Who can speake more like loose Libertines then these But I answere more distinctly First See the Conference at Hampton Court pag. 66. that it is an ordinarie thing for those who affect singularitie to turne all into a subtill inquirie rather then into an harmelesse desire of being satisfied and under an outward cloake of religion and conscience hypocritically to cover the grossenesse of their disobeience which is as Christ sayd of the Pharisees They doe things under pretence For it is to be feared that some of them which pretend weaknesse and doubting are as King Iames observeth strong enough and such as think themselves able to teach the King and all the Bishops of the Land In which case there is I thinke no better way to cure them then that Aarons rod should devoure their Serpents otherwise they will not only hisse against but also sting where they can the bosome of the Church Now in this perhaps as their custome is they will be ready to complaine of cruelty and persecution But doe they not know Non est crudelit as pro Deo pietas as saith Saint Hierom Zeale for God and the Churches peace is no cruelty neither are they persecuted whom the hand of Justice punisheth for breaking the Law They may beare the world in hand that they suffer for their conscience and abuse the credulity of the simple herein but wise and moderate men know the contrary For as Seminary Priests and Jesuites give it out that they are martyred for their Religion when the very truth is they are justly executed for ther prodigious treasons and felonious or treacherous practices against lawfull Princes and Estates So the disturbers of the Churches peace pretend they are persecuted for their consciences when they are indeed but justly censured for their obstinate and pertinacious contempt of lawfull authority Could they well remember it 't is they who be the true Ismaels not ceasing to infest their better brethren making head against their Heads and crying out like unto Libertines that all their Christian liberty is destroyed And why but because in these matters of order the private fancies of every idle head or addle braine may not countermand the warrantable authority of a publike Law nor set downe such Rites as shall better please them or in their judgements be thought more fitting then such as the Church ordaineth This were indeed to invade anothers right to give Lawes to our Law-givers an Husteron Proteron and therefore may not be Nay were it so that every man should be left to his owne liberty then look how many Congregations so many varieties There would be I dare say little or no concord but in diversities and disagreements and so the Church of God in one and the same Kingdome should be rent and torne most miserably The fourth Councell of Toledo had an eye hereunto Symson hist of the Church lib. 4. pag. 527 and did therefore in the second Canon thereof enjoyne one uniforme order in their Church service And surely seeing Christ's coat was without seame there is no reason why in one and the same Kingdome the orders should be different It were rather to be wished that the whole Catholicke Church throughout the Christian world under her several governours in every Kingdome or Church Nationall were ordered after one and the same manner but because this cannot be in every respect either in regard of the places times or conditions of the people it is left to the discretion of every Church to appoint such as shall best serve them for decency order and edification For if they be destitute of these properties they are but brutish and insignificant altogether unfit to stirre up the dull minde of man to the remembrance or expression of his duty to God For as it is with Tongues so with Ceremonies if they be darke and obscure or not understood they cannot edifie Many such are at this day in the Church of Rome and I thanke God that we of this Church are free enough from them It were well therefore that what appertaines unto us were better observed for in the generall their institution is divine
the Temple at Ierusalem was stricken with a palsey and died miserablie 1 Mac. 9.55.56 Heliodorus and his companions who came to take away the holy treasures both saw and felt the power of God against them Antiochus 2 Mac. 3.24 who had spoyled the Temple 2 Mac. c. 5. c. 9. vowed to make Ierusalem a place of buriall was in the height of his pride pursued by divine punishment Iudas John 12.6 Matth. c. 26. c. 27. who first of alrobbed Christ and afterwards sold him to the chiefe Priests became his owne accuser judge and hangman Ananias and Saphyra Act. 5.3.4 for keeping backe part of what they had devoted to the Church were suddenly destroyed which fact of theirs as Saravia hath well observed though it were more excuseable then if they had done so with others monie could not avoyd the high hand of Heaven and therefore remaines as the great terrour to all Christians Their death was coelitus immissa and therefore God therein declared that even now in the times of the Gospel he himselfe is a punisher of these wicked offences Nay more in that example may be observed First that God is well pleased to see us dedicate our goods to holy uses Secondly that things so dedicated are after that act none of ours and therefore may not be taken backe againe or detained from that use for which they were devoted without the danger of that great impietie which calls for a direfull judgement to attend upon it Of which nature bee our Bishops lands Gleabe lands and such like other portions given to the Church by pious Princes and other zealous Christians I doe not say that Abbie lands are of the same nature For as it is certaine that the Popes and Monkes did in many things rob the Church of what belonged to those who did the services therein So they did also in as many things or more robbe and wrong the Common-weale which was done not upon the calling and planting but upon the corrupting of Churches whereas the lands of Bishopricks were given presently upon the planting of Churches before they were corrupted with prevailing Heresies or Superstion Dr. Carlton of tythes c. 5. no storie being able to shew that ever there was a Church planted in the best times but either lands were committed to the government of the Bishops for the use of the Church and them in their government or else the price was brought to them who had the government as in this of Ananias and Saphira is apparent And therefore though such Ecclesiasticall possessions as they commonly called them which were gotten by fraud or force and usurped against all right or given at first to a meer esupersticious use Sarav of the honour and maintenance of the Clergy c. 7. are in the power of the chief Magistrate to take them away and employ them to better uses yet on the contrary what hath lawfully been given to the Church received is without doubt consecrated to God nor may without sacriledge be otherwise transferred In which regard the Impropriations also though taken from the Monkes who tooke them from the Church cannot be of right given to any other use then to the upholding and maintaining of Gods worship and those who do the services belonging to it Thirdly and last of all from hence we likewise learne that they who do either keep back or take away any part of that portion lawfully devoted doe it because they want the true feare of God or as it is in the words of that Text because Sathan hath filled their hearts See the whole passage in Acts 5. And againe how many Stories relate the plagues which fell upon Iulian for his Apostacie and Sacriledge who in derision of Christ and Christians when hee had stripped the Church and Bishops of all they had told them that in so doing he had an especiall care of their soules health because the Gospell commended poverty to them We also know what became of that other Iulian this mans uncle viz. how his privie members first Sozom. lib. 5. c. 7. and afterwards his other parts rotted and corrupted for his sacriledge scorne and blasphemie the rottennesse whereof turned so fast into filthie vermine that no phisicke could helpe him Theod. lib. 3. c. 12.13 Neither are we ignorant how miserable was the end of that scoffing Felix formerly mentioned Besides which Malac 3.9 even the very negligence of paying Tythes and Offerings hath beene punished And although all and every offender against the Churches right hath not on the sudden met with speedie vengeance yet let not this embolden any for God punisheth some with sudden and remarkeable judgements that others may take warning But if after all they will not be warned he is as just to them in what way best pleaseth him as to others guilty of the like wickednesse They fare no better then their Predecessours their judgement sleepeth not It is a favour if men could see it that hee proceeds many times but slowly to revenge But his patience being abused he turnes his favour into the more bitter frownes and so though it be Lento saepe interitu yet it is certo tamen to every one not freeing themselves out of that snare wherewith they are taken Remember therefore that Optimum est aliena frui insania or to be warned by another mans harmes is a great happinesse Or otherwise thus The wrath of God sayth one is either a ruine suddainly throwing downe or a net catching and after a certaine time destroying Yea the Lord threatneth that sometimes Ephraim should finde him as a moth Hos 5.12.14 sometime as a Lyon As a Lyon hee devoureth speedily and as a moth hee consumeth by degrees Which is fitly applied to the Robbers of the Church for whil'st they are bent wholy upon the prey they forget the snare and on the sudden are not able to feele it Yea though for the present they bee frolicke fresh and flourishing yet their foundation â—ayleth as being built upon the devouring quick sands of covered quagmires And therefore a man cannot be better secured from this sometimes slow comming evill then by removing the moth which unremoved must needes consume him I say no more For aliter perit navis sentina neglecta aeliter obruente fluctu sed utroque perit They bee the words of Bishop Andrewes in his learned Posthumus I might now make mention of the Heathens but I suppose it needlesse for although they have been punished by an invisiblehand for robbing of Idol Temples yet it was by the Devill who being Gods Ape strives to come neere him in the imitation of such things as shall best make for his owne purpose as is seene in that answere which he gave to his Priests at Delphos when Brennus with his Souldiers came to robbe the Temple there Livius lib. 38. For when they asked counsell of the Orâ—cle what they should doe he willed them to
solemne oath Psalme 119. Verse 106. In like manner Iacob shewes his resolved and willing mind desiring to be prompted forward to this duty by making of a vow And whereas it was conditionall how could it bee otherwise for hee that shall make a vow for the payment of his tythes repairing Gods House or giving almes to the poore whilst hee wants meanes to performe these duties cannot make his vow de presenti but de futuro and that but sub conditione neither namely that when God shall blesse him with goods he will then performe what now hee voweth And thus I am sure it was with Iacob for when he fled from his Fathers house by reason of his brothers hatred what had he more then his staffe that he caried with him Gen. 32.10 Hitherto then it well appeareth that tythes belong not either to the Ceremoniail or Iudiciall Laws for tythes were long before them and are therefore due by the Morall Law which bindeth all men at al times And though perhaps Captivity War or Persecution may sometimes put all things out of square and cause them to be as it were suspended for a while de facto yet the Ins or right remaines in it selfe inalterable Which ought therfore to teach that in setled times the fact be reduced again to his true Sic as abinitio Obiect Object 4 But 't is objected that tythes were Ceremonies before the Law as well as sacrifices Answ To which I answer Answ that if tythes be compared with sacrifices they cannot bee compared with any but with such as were meerely Eucharisticall nothing relating to Christ as types of his great Sacrifice upon the Crosse They come neer indeed to that of Cain and Abel who payed to the supreme Lord of all a part of what he gave them as formerly hath bin shewed But to ranke them among the Figures or Types of Christ is altogether beside the scope of any thing intended in them For first they are Gods then by him assigned and in that if wee marke their end there is no cause to dream of Ceremonie For â—s wee have already heard their end of payment to the Priests was for the maintenance of Gods worship being due principally to the Service and not to the Men but for their Service sake Insomuch that so long as God hath his Church and Officers belonging to it tythes are due to those who exercise therein the functions of their office For why else were they paid to the Priests before the Law as well as to the Priests under the Law at which time in expresse words it was thus written I have chosen them in the stead of the first-borne I have given the tythes for the service that they doe And albeit some would make ten to be a number of perfection Aquin. sum 2.2 q. 87. art 1. resp ad 1. Argument and so a type of Christ yet why it should be a more perfect number then seven I cannot see Aquinas himselfe cannot say that it is any other then Quodam modo perfectus and yet the Lambe which was indeed a type of Christ was to be without any blemish And as for seven Lib. 1. Moral c. 11. as in Lip in Gen. 2 in ancient times it was reckoned to bee the very summe of perfection Certis simè scimus sayth Saint Gegorie quod Septenarium numerum Scriptura sacra pro perfectione ponere consvevit c. We know for certaine that the holy Scripture useth to put the Seventh for a number of perfection For sixe daies were spent before the workes of Creation were perfected and on the Seventh God rested Hinc etiam est quod septimus dies in requiem hominibus id est in Sabbatho datus est Hinc est quod Iubileus annus in quo plena requies exprimitur septem heb domadibus consumatur Saint Austine likewise sayth De septenarij numeri perfectione dici quidem plura possunt c. Sed hoc satis sit admonere De civit Dei lib. 11. c. 31. quod totus impar primus numerus ternarius est totus par quaternarius ex quibus duobus Septenarius constat Thus he by which it appeareth that Seven rather than Ten was held to be the most perfect number Besides all that perfectnesse which is sayd to be in Ten is not so much as it is a number but as Art hath taught us how to write our numbers or how to divide them into Simple and Compound which I take to bee for plainnesse of teaching and reckoning rather than for any thing else Men I confesse may straine their wits if they please to bring a Quidlibet ex quolibet and yet may be farre enough from the thing aymed at which in this case is plaine enough because the end mentioned in Gods assignation sheweth why Tythes were paid although we invent no new causes never read nor heard off till the corrupt times of the Church Oh but though they were no ceremonies Object 5 yet they might be judicialls that is they might be paid in their proportion of a Tenth by determination of the judiciall Law Whereto I answere Answ that this also must needs be false as is apparent even in what hath beene said to prove that they are not ceremoniall Beside which this may be added namely that the judiciall Lawes of Moses were onely concerning things common or outward actions wherby the civill societie of the Israelites ought to be governed It was a Law medling onely in things appertaining to men not at all belonging to any other than to things of common use And if so then Tythes are beyond the reach of such a Law for they are seperated from common use Levit. 27. Numb 18. they are holy to the Lord and devoted to the Priests for the service that they doe And againe the newnesse of these two last opinions overthrow them For first that Tythes are ceremonies no man ever thought till about an hundred yeares agoe or little more Secondly that they are judicialls was first broached by one of our owne Countrimen Alexander de Hales the Master of Bonaventure and of Thomas Aquinas He flourished about the yeare of our Lord * Or 1230. as some others reckon 1240 and dyed in the tenth yeare after to wit in the yeare 1250. In which passage I cannot but take up D. Carletons observation Namely that after the Pope had through corruption made Tythes away from their proper Churches by Impropriations then to salve up this corruption least it might have been thought open sacriledge these devices were first invented being as pat for the Popes purpose as could be imagined of which more shall bee spoken afterwards Oh but some perhaps will say Object 6 that the civill Magistrate may deale in matters of Religion and may therefore set downe the quotitie or stint of the Priests maintenance I answer here with Master Robarts Answ that the Magistrate may provide that God may receive what he hath required but may not
appoint him what he shall require For when hee tooke the Levites to himselfe and for his service instead of the first-borne no man might be suffered to proportion the quota pars of their allowance Numb 18.21 what they were to have was by Gods appointment For I sayth he I have given c. The Lawes therefore which have beene made insundry places of the Christian world concerning the paying of Tythes are not to be reckoned as the fountaines from whence wee claime our right but rather to bee taken as good and wholesome Laws made in favour of the Church for the maintenance of divine right and for restrayning the filthie wickednesse of such devourers as would not have payd them had not the feare of humane Lawes beene more powerfull with them than the Law of God Audi ergo indevota mortalitas for this is the true and onely end of such Christian Lawes as will better appeare if I mention some which I shall do and those of no farre fetcht proceedings neither but of the ancient Kings Bishops and Nobles of our owne Land I. And first in the yeare 786 with the full consent of the Lords both spirituall and temporall there was a generall Synod held under Elfwold King of Northumberland and Offa King of Merceland where among other words to the same purpose thus we reade Therefore we adjure all men that they studiously endeavoure to pay the Tenth of all that they have quia speciale domini Dei est because the Tenth is God's speciall part II. In the yeare 855 King Ethelulph made a Law concerning Tythes Totam terram suam ad opus Ecclesiarum decumavit propter amorem Dei redemptionem sui In the conclusion of which grant this is added Qui autem augere voluerit nostram donationem augeat c. That is But if any will be willing to augment this our donation the Lord Almightie make his dayes prosperous Si quis vero minuere vel matare praesumpserit c. But if any shall presume either to lessen or change the same let him know that he shall give an account for it Ante Tribunal Christi nisi prius satisfactione emendaverit that is Hee shall give an account for it before the Tribunall of Christ unlesse before that time he make satisfaction for the same III. In the yeare 930 or thereabouts King Athelstan made a Law for Tythes and grounded it upon the example of Iacob and athoritie of certaine Texts in the holy Scripture whose words concerning his owne goods to his Stewards and Overseers be these Vt imprimis de meo proprio reddant Deo decimas IV. About the yeare 940 in a great Synod held under King Edmond it was strictly enacted That all Christians should pay their Tythes upon forfeitur of their Christendome V. Neere about the same time were certaine Constitutions made by Odo Arch-bishop of Canterburie in the tenth Chapter whereof we reade the same adjuration which we read before in the lawes of Elfwold and Offa. VI. And in a Councell held under King Etheldred about the yeare 1010 Declmationes frugum vitulorum agnorum c. Domino per singulos annos temporibus rependantur congruis VII Also in some of the Lawes of the sayd Etheldred thus Et nemo auferat Deo quod ad Deum pertinet the words being spoken concerning Tythes VIII And in the Lawes of King Knout thus we reade Reddantur Deo debitae rectitudines annis singulis that is let God have his dues yearly payd him IX And againe in the Lawes made by King Edward the Confessour concerning Tythes this is written Decima garba Deo debita est ideo reddenda that is The tenth sheafe is due to God c. And againe Decima pars ei reddenda est qui novem partes simul cum decima largitur that is The tenth part ought to be payd unto him who giveth the nine parts together with the tenth X. And in the 21 yeare of King Henry the Second among other things this was decreed as in a Synod at Rosne viz. Omnes Decimae terrae sive de frugibus sive de fructibus Domini sunt illi sanctificantur All the Tythes of the Land whether the increase of the Earth or of Trees are the Lords and sanctified to him By all which Tenne testimonies beside other which might be gathered it well appeareth that these godly Kings grounded their Lawes for the performance of this dutie of paying Tythes upon the Law of God and did not declare that by vertue of their Lawes they were first of all due but that by vertue of their Lawes the jus divinum was upheld and the obedience thereunto commanded Wherfore where such lawes are enacted the Clergie may take up that old Grace and say Deo gratias quod nos satias bonis Rusticorum contra voluntates eorum Which I English thus The Lord be thanked for this good banket Which comes from the Hinds against their minds And sure mee thinks hitherto the passages are all cleare and nothing to the contrary but that the Tenth is stil the Churches due Lesse cannot because the Ministery of the Gospel is in it selfe farre more glorious than the Ministery of the Law When we therefore speake unto Lay-men concerning these things wee may fitly say unto them as Pilates wife said unto her husband For as shee said Have thou nothing to doe with that just man so may wee say Have yee nothing to doe with these holy things They are separate and set apart from common use which separation of such a portion in case it had beene made but by men yet were it dangerous to alter it witnesse that direfull judgement in the fatall storie of Ananias and Saphira of which I have spoken a little before Oh but say some Object 7 the Clergy doth but betray their covetousnesse in pleading thus strongly for outward things And is it so indeed Answ why then have Lay-men the more their honour wrote in defence of what wee claime * See his reports in Bp. of Winch. case Sir Edward Cook Sir Henry Spilman Sir Iames Sempill those men of note have laboured to expell this sinne of Sacriledge have bent their forces point blanke against it and shal Clergy-men whom it more neerely concernes to rebuke the world of sinne bee forced to hold their peace and stay their pens or else be covetous Wee plead indeed but doe not strive immodestly when wee demand by an orderly proceeding that portion which the word of God assigneth to us Nor secondly is hee to bee accounted covetous who asketh but his own They are indeed covetous and injurious too who detaine the good from the owner thereof who rob Aram Dominicam to furnish Haram Domesticam Or in a word thus some who thus object are covetous others are prodigall and some are proud The very covetous are scarce content to allow themselves things necessary and convenient and therefore no marvell to see them grudge
when the Church began more and more to stretch out her armes over the world or when the state of it did require another course namely that particular men should bee assigned to particular Cures constantly to reside among them for by that meanes they could the better see to them admonish exhort and comfort them then every Minister had the tythes and oblations of his own parish which fitly agreeth to that questionary direction of blessed Saint Paul Who feedeth a flocke and eateth not of the milke of the stocke Say I these things as a man or saith not the Law the same also And now suppose it could be proved that the Primitive times paied no tythes for a long while together no not till towards the end of the first foure hundred yeeres yet were this nothing against that right which the Church had alwayes to them If the inconveniences which Persecution brought upon the Church was an hinderance concerning practise what were this against the Right A facto ad jus as I have already shewed is no good argument And indeed without suppose this is certaine that the practise as well as the right was manifested long before foure hundred yeares I shall produce some testimonies and then passe on to the first times of their alienation declaring likewise the successe that it found in after-times among such as delighted to strip the Church of these holy dues 1. Origen shall be first he was famous about the yeare of our Lord 226 and thus hee sayth Quia unus est author omnium Homil. 16. in Genes fons initium unus est Christus ideirco populus Decimas quidem Ministris Sacerdotibus praestat which is Becacuse there is one Authour of all one fountaine one beginning even one Christ therefore the people payeth Tythes to the Ministers and Priests 2. Saint Austine also who was borne in the yeare 350 hath recorded that the paying of Tythes was practised long before his time For Majores nostri Decimas dabant Homil. 48. inter quinque bomil Our Ancestours payed tythes And if his Ancestors then a practice of greater antiquitie than himselfe Ideo copijs abundant quia Deo Decimas dabant c. They therefore abounded with plenty because they payed their Tythes unto God See also his 219 Sermon De tempore which is wholy for paying of Tythes 3. And Saint Ambrose who was famous about the yeare 374 admonisheth concerning due care in the practice of this dutie Serm. 34. inseria 3. post prim Dom. Quadrages whose words be these Quicunque recognoscit in se quod sideliter Decimas suas non dederit modo emendet quod minus secit That is whosoever knowes in himselfe that he hath not faithfully payed his Tythes let him amend what 's amisse 4. And in the imperfect worke upon Saint Mathew sayd to be Chrysostomes who flourished about the yeare 398 it is thus written Homil. 44. Quod si Decimas populus non attulerit murmurant omnes All which wee see is spoken concerning practice which must needes be more ancient than these men as by their words appeareth although we cannot declare in what yeare of the Primitive times it first began Neither upon a further view can we finde that there was any manifest or remarkeable corruption in this practice untill a long while after No manifest corruption in practise concerning the alienation of Tythes from the Ministers doing the service into any other hand untill the dayes of Carolus Martellus Major of France who came to that office about the yeare 714 as Calvisius writeth and looke what he did was upon this occasion When those Barbarous people the Hunnes Gothes 〈◊〉 Rob pag. 74. out of Gagwin hist of France lib. 4. and Vandals were become lords of Italie and the Sarazens began to set themselves against France Charles Martell was chosen to goe out with an Armie against them but would by no meanes undertake that charge untill he had gotten the Clergie of the sayd kingdome to resigne their Tythes into his hands that thereby he might maintaine the Warre promising and protesting that when the Warres were ended he would restore againe unto them their owne and that with advantage To which request the Church and Clergie there yeelded partly through feare of being spoyled by the enemie and partly by the faire promises of this new chosen Captaine But the Warre being ended and the enemie conquered he broke his promise with the Clergie dealt perfidiously with them and gave the Revenue of Tythes among such of his Souldiers as hee thought good to reward This was done about the yeare of our Lord 740 Calvis Chron. little lesse than a yeare or thereabouts before the sayd Martells death for hee dyed in the yeare 741 upon the 22 day of October His story is recorded by many and they very ancient Authours See Dr. Tillesely c. 5. Ivo in his Chronicle calls him Tutudi and sayth this Tutudi who by his people was called Martellus because sieldome he had peace in his Kingdome gave for the most part the Church estate for wages to his Souldiers who being dead and buried in St. Dennis Church on the left side of the great Altar was seene by night in the shape of a great Dragon breaking the Sepulchre to go out of the glasse windowes with great terrour Thus he But whether this last of his carrying out of the Grave betrue yea or no it makes no matter nor will I contend about it Certaine it is that he was a notable Church-robber For Boniface Archbishop of Mentz who lived at the same time complaines likewise of him and is a witnesse that he tooke away Monasteries Bishoprickes Church-rents and possessions from the Clergie and prophaned them to Lay-hands as are ward of their military service then done against the Sarazens And for any man to thinke that Tythes were no part of this great Sacriledge is to affirme that the Church as yet had no such Rents whereas it is witnessed by the foresayd Boniface That the milke and wooll of Christs sheepe was received in his times and the Lords flocke was neglected received I say Oblationibus quotidianis ac Decimis fid lium In the dayly oblations and Tythes of the faithfull And in the dayes of the second Councell at Mascon a Bishopricke in the Diocesse of Lions in the yeare 586 which was 155 yeares before Martells death Churches had their tenths payd them out of that annuall increase wherewith God Almightie blessed his people Nor hath it but beene already * See also St. Cyprian epist 66. sou lib. 1. epist 9. where memion is made of paying of tythes He flourished about the yeare 240. shewed that Tythes were payd in the dayes of Origen Ambrose Austine and Chrisostome And in the relation of the Centuriatours who quoted what they sayd from Aventine mention is made that Carloman restored Tythes formerly taken away by Martell And so also sayth Goldistus in his
edition 1613 although in his edition 1610 hee mentions them by the name of Pecunia Ecclesialis which is no great advantage neither but may bee well interpreted by the word Decimae as a generall by a speciall But howsoever what is one Authour against more and yet this one in his last thoughts is nothing differing but speakes just like those other already mentioned Well then without further question here was the originall of Infeodations and first beginning of lamentable Sacriledge in the alienation of Tythes from the Ministers or Churches to the which they were payd And in the summe of the whole answere note that at the first they that had possessions sold them and brought the money to the Apostles this was about Ierusalem And in other Churches collections were made both for the necessities of the Saints and of the Ministers Then after this it was thought more convenient rather that such as were minded to give should give the Lands themselves rather I say than the price of them that thereby they might remaine as a perpetuall helpe to the Church Here began the endowment of the Church with Gleab and this is commonly attributed out of Polidore Virgil Polid. De invent lib. 6. c. 10. and others to the dayes of Urban the first who was in the * Calvis in Chron. yeare 224 about which time Origen spake of Tythes as of things then payd I have alreadie shewed it And before Parishes were divided these were at the disposing of the Bishop and payd unto him for the use of the Clergie within the Diocesse But Parishes being divided which was in the dayes of Dennis the first about * See Folid Virg lib. 4. c. 6. the yeare 266 they were annexed to the Priests of particular Cures For the defence of whom that they might not bee wronged in their dues there were certaine temporall men appointed either by godly Kings or by such as gave Lands to the Church to bee Patrons of Churches or Defensores Ecclesiarum who might be readie to defend the Churches rights And yet perhaps some particular parishes which were by reason of such Churches as were of Lay foundations were not knowne till some while after and yet not so long after as some have thought For by the fourth Canon of the Councell of Arausicanum held in the yeare 441. it appeareth that Parish Oratories and Churches of Lay-foundations were even then to beseene But what need I loose my selfe in this argument for let a man take these things which way hee pleaseth yet still hee may see that tythes as well as other Church goods belonged and were generally paid to the Clergy either in their own Cures or to the Bishops for them before the dayes of Charles Martell who was the first that brought in the most manifest corruption concerning their alienation for albeit Iulian robbed the Church yet hee did it as a Persecutor from whom no lesse could be expected And although the successors of Martel were more honest and restored somewhat backe againe taking in Lease from the Churches in regard of the imminent warres and many invasions of the enemy such parts as were retained and doing all this with great circumspection hoping that under the favour of God in this necessity they might thus and not otherwise without prejudice doe it yet the former example of Charles Martel was the more powerfull and in succeeding times proved but as a dangerous Load-starre to direct divers other countries to imitate his practise and to prophane their greedy hands with the Priests maintenance while on the other side the Pope did as fast appropriate Parsonages to Abbies and Nunneries which in those blind times was thought to bee no wrong it being commonly conceited that preaching bred nothing but heresies schismes and contentions and that therefore there was no better way to save soules then by the devotions of Monkes and Friars Which also was a cause as superstition more and more increased to get no small portions fraudulently from the hands of the deceived Laity it being a constant practise to give and give evermore to those idle Droanes and fat-bellied Houses that thereby they might have the more speedy passage out of feigned Purgatory To which likewise adde how the Popes againe although they would have somewhat restrained the covetousnes of the Monkes when they saw the greatnesse of it fixed upon another project For that they might enrich their Favourites friends and kindred they would not seldome convert the tythes to their uses And now to countenance and helpe forward these practises with a colour of warrantable proceedings Alexander de Hales began to broach a new Doctrine concerning the right of tythes never knowne nor heard of among the ancient Fathers For this was the Doctrine of the Fathers both Greek and Latine that tythes are due to the Ministers of the Gospel by the word of God secundum literam literally and precisely as they were in the old Testament to the Priests of the Law whereas this Hales who was about the yeare 1230 taught otherwise namely that it was a part of the Morall Law naturally written in the heart that something should be paied but as for the Quota pars it had its dependance meerly upon the Iudiciall Law and so the Tenth was onely positively due and no otherwise due according as the Lawes positively should determine In which Doctrine was inferred that they who might make the Lawes indetermination of the Quotitie which was to be paid might alienate to severall uses as much out of that portion as they pleased The Schoole-men went after him in the same steps to the utmost of their power strained their wits for the upholding of such a politike opinion Howbeit the event proved afterwards extreamely pernicious First in occasioning that heresie which held them as Almes And secondly in giving occasion also to the civil power to take from the Church not only the jurisdiction of tythes but to alienate them in the end from the Church Church-men to a meere civill use Wherein yet one thing is observeable that although the times were darke there was alwayes some or other beside the Canonists who opposed the abbettours of this new doctrine and taught this point of tything not after the corrupt tenets of the School-men but as the Fathers had done before them of which you may reade more in Dr. Carletous history of tythes Chap. 5. And for the doctrine of the Fathers see Doctor Tillesley in his Catalogue of 72. testimonies cleane contrary to what was taught by Hales Aquinas and the rest And last of all why and how they are within the compasse of the Morall and not Ceremoniall or Iudicial Lawes no not for their Quotitie I have already shewed And therefore as known by paid in the name and portion of a Tenth part before the Law unlesse a man could find somewhere in Gods word an expresse command to the contrary For looke but unto the time of the Law it selfe which was the middle time between the time of Nature and of Grace and you shall find I grant that the worship of God in regard of the manner thereof is ceased since the Passion of Christ but God hath caused the ceasing of so much as is ceased Ephes 2.15 Colos 2.14 And looke what was not abrogated by Christ that still remaineth as being the substance which is perpetual Mr. Rob. revenue of the Gosp pag. 10. So also of Gods right or portion which he had in the time of the Law some parts are ceased viz. those fragments of the Sacrifices which were the shares of the Priests for even the Sacrifices themselves being types of Christ to come are fulfilled and abolished in and by Christ being come But tythes as hath beene proved were no types of Christ neither in their substance nor in their circumstance but were only the maintenance of Gods publike worship which being perpetuall they also are perpetual In a word they did belong to the worship of God before there was a Leviticall worship and when they were paid to the Levites they did but follow Gods worship as being principally due to the service and not to the men but for the service sake and so also still such must be their end of Assignation For Levi should have had as little portion in them as any of the other Tribes if God had not chosen him from the rest to the Ministery Num. 18.21 And as for Lay-men besides this that they doe no service the very name of Impropriation pleads against them I shall stil therefore urge that what the Patriarkes and old people of the Iewes practised by the Law of nature or the rule of right reason or by inspiration of Gods spirit many hundred yeers before the Ceremoniall or Leviticall Law was given are not to be ranked among Iudaicall Ceremonies which were fulfilled in our Saviour Christ and were by him taken away nailed to his Crosse This is all for I know nothing else of moment which can bee objected And therefore here an end of this Discourse which may be to the faulty a Correction of their errours if they will if not they have just cause to feare it as a witnesse one day to bee brought forth against them For what have I done but declared such truths as the Scriptures Fathers Councils and other Histories of good authority have recorded Soli Deo gloria FINIS