Christians why should the word Sabbath signifying rest be allowed as applyed to it Is there any reason why names should not in sense bee surable to things to which they are applyed but rather contrary to them To call that day by a name of rest which is a day allowed for labour and to deny that name to the day wherein we are required to rest is not so little an absurdity as that which Master Braburne remembred of deafe men who when a man calleth for a knife doe bring him a sheath for there is that neernesse betwixt them that they may bee both together the one within the other but rest and labour are like light and darknesse in a contradictory distance which cannot be reconciled nor brought together It is no marvell that Master Braburne who denyeth the thing holding the Lords day for no day of rest but for a workeday should deny the name Sabbath as in application to it for hee taketh it to bee a proper name of the day of rest in the old Testament which if it were granted would doe him no good nor the Lords day any hurt for its right to this title for Adam was the proper name of the first man Gen. 3.8 9. and yet it is used in Scripture for man in generall Psal 9.1 ver 12 20. But saith c M. Ironside quest 3. cap. 12. pag. 122. Master Ironside the name Sabbath leads us onely to an outward cessation from bodily labour which of it selfe and precisely considered was indeed a dutie of the Jewish Sabbath but it is not so of the Christian Festivall d Ibid. cap. 13. pag. 123. The corporall rest was a chiefe thing aymed at in all the dayes of publick worship in the Jewish Synagogue being both memorative of some things past and figurative of things to come The name Sabbath is therefore no more morall and to bee retained in the Gospel then the names Priest Altar and Sacrifice To which wee may say First that the word Sabbath signifieth not a cessation with limitation to outward worke nor precisely a Jewish memorative or sigur ative rest proper to the weekely holiday of the Jewes but rest absolutely and therefore e Master Ironside quest 3. cap. 13. pag. 124. Si vocis primaevam signisicationem spectemus Sabbatum erit omnis dies sestus Estius 3d. Cent. d. 37. hee confesseth out of Estius That if wee looke to the first and originall signification of the word every holiday wherein men rest from their labours may be called a Sabbath and that f M. Irons ubi supra p. 123. God himselfe in Scripture imposed the name Sabbath upon all the dayes of publik worship in the Jewish Synagogues Secondly Hee acknowledgeth g Ibid. quest 6. cap. 24. p. 223. That there is a cessation from works required of Christian people under the Gospel upon all dayes of their publick worship and assemblies for Nature her selfe saith hee out of h Natura dictat aliquando vacuam diem quieti Gers de decem Precept Gerson teacheth all men sometimes to rest from their owne imployment and to spend that time in the prayses of God and prayers to him for as i Ibid. cap. 24. pag. 223. he very well saith to attend Gods publick worship and at the same time to follow our owne imployment are incompatible and imply contradiction And that 's enough to qualifie the Lords day or Sunday for the title Sabbath which hee implicitly yeeldeth when upon that ground hee saith k Ibid. The Turks nay the Indians have their Sabbaths Thirdly Whereas hee saith as by way of distinction of the old Sabbath of the Jewes from that day which Christians celebrate that it was memorative of things past and sigurative of things to come I answer That that cannot consine the name Sabbath to their day nor restraine it from ours for in the former of the two wee have as much interest as the Jewes for wee are to remember Gods finishing his workes in sixe dayes and his resting the seventh as well as they and to have a gratefull memory of the benefit of creation as they had and we need such a remembrance so much more as wee are at more distance from it and for the later wee build not the title upon a figure which is but a feeble and sandie foundation but upon the letter or sense already confessed which is firme and solide Fourthly For that hee saith That the name Sabbath is no more morall and to bee retained in the Church then the names Priest Altar and Sacrifice wee will him to remember what elsewhere hee hath said viz. l Mr. Ironside quest 6. cap. 25. pag. 231. That there is a rest which is eternall and morall to all dayes of publick and solemne worship if so the name Sabbath may bee eternall and reach as farre as the thing it selfe And whereas hee saith That rest to the Jewes was an essentiall dutie i. e. of it selfe and in its owne nature without reference or publick worship which hee denyeth to the Christians weekly holiday I answer That the question is not here whether the Jewes were more restrained from labour then the Christians but whether there be not so much rest required now both in respect of publick duties and of private which require also cessation from outward workes as that our Sunday or Lords day hath thereby a better title to the name Sabbath then Saturday hath which hath been long agoe deposed from the dignity of an holiday and made an ordinary workeday Lastly For the names Priest Altar and Sacrifice I perswade my selfe he will not deny the name Priest since hee tooke orders under that name and doth under that name officiate according to the Liturgie of the Church of England which hee will not say is rather Jewish then Christian Legall then Evangelicall and for the words Altar and Sacrifice I remit him if hee doubt of them to bee resolved by the late Treatises wherein both the Names and Things are busily discussed onely I will say by way of answer to his comparison that since wee have a literall Rest of a weekly recourse and not literall Altars and Sacrifices the name Sabbath thus may bee retained under the Gospel though the names Priest Altar and Sacrifice be abolished But saith m M. Ironside quest 3. cap. 13. pag. 125. Mr. Ironside the day is to be named not from the nature of things done but from the quality of the person to whom they are intended and therefore not Sabbath but Lords day I answer The Antecedent is subject to exception many wayes First The chiefe holidayes in the old Testament were nominated from the things done and not from the quality of the person to whom they were intended as the Passeover from the Angels passing over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt without hurt Exod. 12.25 the feast of Trumpets from the solemne sounding of Trumpets at it Levit. 23. Levit. 23.
King James his courteous charientismes in the use of that title it is requisite that wee take it according to the right sense and signification which it properly importeth and so to deny them and affirme our selves to be Catholicks as the learned and judicious Chamier hath done who in his controversies continually calleth the Protestant tenets and arguments by the name of Catholick and the contrary Popish or the doctrine arguments or objections of the Papists So since the name Sabbath is impertinently applyed to the wrong day and wrongfully with-held from the right with purpose to impeach the tenure of our Christian Sabbath by the fourth Commandement wee must not so much regard how it hath been rightly used in former times while Saturday was allowed and observed for a Sabbath or day of rest or how the tyranny of custome hath carryed the name along where there is no realty to answer it as what it properly signifieth and how that propriety of signification now belongeth rather to our day which we celebrate with religious rest then to the Jewes day which we hold not for an holiday but for a workday as the other dayes of the week allowed and imployed in secular labours and wee must inure our tongues with correspondent titles to make mention of them And for the proper signification of the word wee may appeale more pertinently and truely then Master Braburn could to all Dictionaries in all languages which render the word Sabbath according to the ″ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sabbatum à radice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cessavit quievit destitit is dies quietis Hebraeis est septimus vel dies Saturni Christianis verò est primus vel Solis So Schindler Pentaglot pag. 1801. col 1. Hebrew originall by rest repose or cessation from bodily labours And though it bee usuall with them to take the terme rather according to custome then to truth and to apply it to Saturday the day of rest which anciently was but now is not many of the b So Thomasius word for word followeth Morelius in exposition and application of the name Sabbath later transcribing what they find in the former yet c Sabbath a day of rest among the Jewes celebrated on Saturday among the Christians on Sunday or the Lords day Minshei Dictionarium 10437. some more wisely and warily distinguish the name and render it according to the difference of time first to Saturday and then to Sunday for that day first and for a long time had and this now hath and shall have the honour of a sacred Sabbath untill the worlds end and therefore if it bee fit to speake rather according to the tenour of things as for the present they are and in perpetuity they shall bee then as formerly they were but now are not and must be no more when wee render the word Sabbath without distinction and difference of times wee should rather say according to d Cotgraves French Dictionary verb. Sab. printed 1632. the French Dictionarie that the Sabbath is Sunday then as Master Braburn would have it Saturday Ob. But then it will bee said though wee may differ in phrase and forme of speech from the primitive times because wee differ in practice from them wee should not so dissent from the Churches of later ages who have left off the observation of the Jewish Sabbath and with it the word Sabbath also Wee of the reformed Churches saith e Mr. Ironside quest 3. cap. 17. pag. 121. Master Ironside should not forsake the Roman Church but where necessity doth inforce us for then wee are guilty of the schisme made in the Christian world f Ibid. neither should we vary from our selves so much as were it possible in a sound or syllable for then wee may justly bee noted of singularity and affectation but both the Roman Churches and all the Reformed use to stile it the Lords day not Sabbath day Ergo c. This Argument is made up of three particulars whereof there is not one but it is liable to reasonable exception The first is That there should bee a strict union betwixt the Church of Rome and the Reformed and betwixt other reformed Churches among themselves except where necessity doth enforce a difference Secondly That to differ except in such a case from the Romane Church is to become guilty of Schisme and from the Reformed is to bee guilty of singularity and affectation Thirdly that to stile the Lords day Sabbath is to make our selves obnoxious to the charge of both Whereto I answer First that not to allow one Church to differ from another but where necessity doth inforce is to take away the Christian liberty which God hath granted to his Church contrary to the 34. Article of subscription which runneth thus It is not necessary that traditions and ceremonies be in all places one or utterly alike for at all times they have been diverse and may be changed according to diversity of countries times and manners so that nothing be ordained against Gods Word and a little afterward every particular or nationall Church hath authority to ordaine change or abolish Ceremonies or Rites of the Church ordained onely by mens authority And accordingly we find them exercising their power in varieties of Rites and Ceremonies for the ancient g Die Dominico jejunare nefas ducimus vel de geniculis adorare Tert. de Coron milit c 3. tom 1 pag. 747. quoniam sunt in Dominico die quidam adoratione genua flectentes propterea utique statutum est à sancto Synodo quoniam consona conveniens per omnes Ecclesias custodienda consuetudo est ut stantes ad orationem vota Domino reddamus Concil Nicen. 1. can 20. apud Caranz sum Concil pag. 109 edit 1633. in 8no. Bin. tom 1. pag. 345. edit Paris 1636. Die Dominico per omnem Pentecosten nec de geniculis adorare jejunium solvere Hieron advers Lucifer tom 2. epist p. 140. So also in a Councell of Towers an 813. can 57. Patr. Symps hist of the Church lib. 4. pag. 557. Church for many hundred yeares partly forbad and partly forbore kneeling at prayer all the Lords daies in the yeare and all the daies betwixt Easter and Whitsuntide the later Churches neither forbad nor forbore it The Popish Church keeps the celebration of our Lords Nativity and other Holidaies according to the Gregorian Calendar ten daies sooner then the Reformed especially in England Scotland and Ireland And in many other points they differ besides these which are not of necessity as if necessity required might bee abundantly manifested out of William Durandus his Rationale and John Steph. Durantus his three bookes de Ritibus Eccles Cathol The Reformed Churches differ among themselves in many particulars For instance we in England observe more Holidaies then the Transmarine Churches more then his Majesty that last was required to be kept of the Church of Scotland by the Articles enacted at
Perth an 1618. our Church of England hath a Canon for the Crosse after Baptisme and bowing at the name of Jesus many Reformed Churches have none for either of them and in England Cathedrall Churches differ from most others in the use of Copes Organs prick-song tunes and many other waies besides Of these with the rest of the differences we may say they are such as no necessity doth inforce yet will not Master Ironside I suppose be forward to charge the later Church in departing from the former nor the Reformed in dissenting from the Romish nor the English in differing from the Scottish Church nor Cathedralls in varying from other Churches for such particulars with schisme singularity or affectation Which I doe not mention with any mind to maintain any thing that is amisse in the different manner of Cathedralls from other Churches for I wish rather a reformation then a ratification of them as now they are but to give fit instance against Master Ironside his position Secondly I say and shall where it is requisite prove it that neither the Romish nor many of the Reformed Churches out of England are so Orthodox in the Doctrine of the Sabbath in particular for the explication of the fourth Commandement as they should be and as the Churches of England and Scotland are and it is no marvell if their dialect be like unto their Doctrine Thirdly it is too late to impute schisme singularity or affectation to the word Sabbath when the use of it is justified by such both reasons and authorities as have been produced and when not onely persons of chiefe preheminence so call it but that it is as well received into use by most as approved by the best as hath been observed Fourthly for the Reformed Churches the Waldenses who first separated themselves from the Church of Rome as the Whore of Babylon called the Lords day Sabbath and that so familiarly that nothing was more usuall among them as a learned h Doct. Twisse in a MS. of the Sabbath Doctor hath observed of them Fifthly wee must not accompt it schisme singularity and affectation to conforme rather to our brethren about us then to either brethren or adversaries that are separated from us Sixthly nor are wee more liable to exception of schisme singularity or affectation by using the word Sabbath for Lords day then by putting Sunday for it the most usuall name in our Service Booke which is as unwonted a word in the reformed Churches as the word Sabbath is and hath been i Pope Silvest See Polyd. Virg de invent rer lib. 5. c. 6. forbidden by the most Cathedrall Doctor of the Popish Church with more probability of reason then hath been urged by way of exception against the name Sabbath CHAP. XXV The objection taken from the Statute and language of Lawyers answered THere remaine yet two objections more and but two that I have read or can call to minde which are brought in by Master Broad a Mr. Broad his 3d. quest p. 22. marg in his printed book of three questions the one is That a Processe to appeare die Sabbati is meant and understood upon Saturday The other in b Mr. Brad his 2d. MS. p. 18. marg another book of his which is yet a MS. wherein saith hee the last Parliament may well bee thought to dislike the name Sabbath as to the Lords day for neither in the title of the Act which is for the keeping of the Lords day nor yet throughout the body thereof is this name used though the heathenish name Sunday be in both yea and though the Commandement read in the Church speaketh of sanctifying of the Sabbath Hee might have alledged two Acts of two Parliaments the one anno 1. of King Charles chap. 1. The other anno 3. ch 1. In the former whereof there is the name of Sunday in the title of the Act though not in the body of it as in the Statute anno 5. 6. of King Edward the sixth chap. 3. pag. 133. of the Stat. at large and the name Lords day once in the title and thrice in the body of the Act and in the later Act they are each of them named once in the title and once in the body of the Act but the name Sabbath not at all Whereto I answer first for the Processe concerning which I say First That such a Processe might be taken up when there were many Jewes and much Judaisme in the Land as in the reignes of many of our Popish Kings which gave occasion of warrant in contracts and bargaines against Jewes by especiall mention who kept a foot the name and observation of the old Sabbath and so it might bee then as in the dayes of ancient Fathers a word of distinction betwixt the Jewish and Christians holiday Or Secondly If not for that reason yet the use of the name in that sense having obtained such generall passage in the times precedent might bee a motive to the Lawyers to continue it though the reason which began it descended not so low as to their age as wee call an houre-glasse in Greek and Latin Clepsydra which signifieth the stealing away of water drop by drop from one bottle to another for at first it was made to measure time by water though now it bee made to run with sand only Thirdly Their Processe being Latine haply they made choice rather of that word which had in it some relish of Religion both among Jewes and ancient Christians and so hath the word Sabbath then of that which was for that language in a manner meerly heathenish to wit Saturday and though the word Sunday which is originally heathenish as wel as Saturday be used in our Church Liturgie yet we call the Lords day Sunday not from the Sunne in the Firmament but from the Sun of Righteousnesse Mal. 4.2 as hath been formerly observed the word Saturday is not capable of a signification so sacred and sutable to the person of our Saviour the Lord of the Sabbath Fourthly Though the Lawyers did in their Latin writs use the word Sabbath for Saturday yet they did neither forbid nor forbeare to use it of the Lords day in French and in English as in Fitzherberts natura Brevium it is said Pleas cannot be held upon Quindena Paschae c Que est le Sabot jour Fitzherb natur Brev. fol. 17. because it is the Sabbath day whereby not Saturday but Sunday or the Lords day must be meant for on the Saturday it was lawfull not onely to hold Pleas but to keepe Markets as Judge Fairfax in the Prior of Lantonies case resolveth viz. d Devant le Incarnation le Sabbadi suit le Sabat jour solenize mes ore est change per les eglise at jour demain c. the yeer book 12. of Ed. 4. b. That before the incarnation Saturday was the Sabbath day but since it is changed by the Church into the Lords day that day is