Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	act_n	church_n	king_n	3,418	5	3.7630	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66383	The case of lay-communion with the Church of England considered and the lawfulness of it shew'd from the testimony of above an hundred eminent non-conformists of several perswasions.	Williams, John, 1636?-1709.	1683 (1683)	Wing W2691; ESTC R1501	57,793	83

total separation from the Church is unlawful And this the old Non-Conformists did generally hold and maintain against the Brownists and the Dissenting Brethren did declare on their part We have always professed and that in those times when the Churches of England were the most either actually overspread with defilements or in the greatest danger thereof c. that we both did and would hold Communion with them as the Church of Christ. And among the present Non-Conformists several have writ for Communion with the Church against those that separate from it and have in Print declared it to be their duty and their practice So M r Baxter I constantly joyn in my Parish-Church in Liturgy and Sacraments It s said of M r Joseph Allen That he as frequently attended on the publick worship as his opportunities and strength permitted Of Mr. Brinsley that he ordinarily attended on the Publick Worship Dr. Collins saith as much of himself Mr. Lye in his Farewell Sermon doth advise his People to attend the Publick Worship of God to hear the best they could and not to separate but to do as the old Puritans did thirty years before Mr. Cradacot in his farewel Sermon professeth That if that Pulpit was his dying Bed he would earnestly perswade them to have a care of total separation from the Publick Worship of God Mr. Hickman freely declares I profess where-ever I come I make it my business to reconcile people to the publick Assemblies my conscience would fly in my face if I should do otherwise And Mr. Corbet as he did hold Communion with the Church of England so saith That the Presbyterians generally frequent the Worship of God in the Publick Assemblies It s evident then that it is their principle and we may charitably believe it is their practice in Conformity to it Thus Mr. Corbet declares for himself I own Parish-Churches having a competent Minister and a number of credible Professors of Christianity for true Churches and the Worship therein performed as well in Common-Prayer as in the Preaching of the Word to be in the main sound and good for the substance or matter thereof And I may not disown the same in my practice by a total neglect thereof for my judgment and practice ought to be concordant And if these two judgment and practice be not concordant it would be impossible to convince men that they are in earnest or that they do believe themselves while they declare against separation and yet do keep it up Those good men therefore were aware of this who met a little after the Plague and Fire to consider saith Mr. Baxter whether our actual forbearance to joyn with the Parish-Churches in the Sacrament and much more if it was total might not tend to deceive men and make them believe that we were for separation from them and took their Communion to be unlawful And upon the reasons given in they agreed such Communion to be lawful and meet when it would not do more harm than good that is they agreed that it was lawful in it self 2. They hold that they are not to separate further from such a true Church than the things that they separate for are unlawful or are conceived so to be that is that they ought to go as far as they can and do what lawfully they may toward Communion with it For they declare That to joyn in nothing because they cannot joyn in all things is a dividing practice and not to do what they can do in that case is Schism for then the separation is rash and unjust If therefore the Ministerial Communion be thought unlawful and the Lay-Communion lawful the unlawfulness of the former doth not bar a person from joyning in the latter The denying of assent and consent to all and every thing contained in the Book of Common-Prayer doth not gainsay the lawfulness of partaking in that Worship it being found for the substance in the main c. as a judicious person hath observed This was the case generally of the old Non-Conformists who notwithstanding their exclusion from their Publick Ministry held full Communion with the Church of England We are told by a good hand That as heretofore M r Parker M r Knewstubs M r Vdal c. and the many Scores suspended in Queen Elizabeth and King James's Reign so also of later times M r Dod M r Cleaver c. were utterly against even Semi-Separation i. e. against absenting themselves from the Prayers and the Lord's Supper So it s affirmed of them by M r Ball They have evermore condemned voluntary Separation from the Congregations and Assemblies or negligent frequenting of those Publick Prayers And some of them earnestly press the People to prefer the publick service before the private and to come to the beginning of the Prayers as an help to stir up Gods Graces c. And others did both receive the Sacrament and exhort others so to do as I shall afterward shew Again if in Lay-Communion any thing is thought to be unlawful that is no reason against the things that are lawful This was the case of many of the godly and learned Non-Conformists in the last age as we are told That were perswaded in their Consciences that they could not hold Communion with the Church of England in receiving the Sacrament kneeling without Sin yet did they not separate from her Indeed in that particular act they withdrew but yet so as they held Communion with her in the rest And thus much is owned by those of the present age as one declares The Church of England being a true Church so that a total separation from her is unwarrantable therefore Communion with her in all parts of real solemn Worship wherein I may joyn with her without either let or sin is a duty So another saith of them They are ready and desirous to return to a full union with the Parishes when ever the obstacles shall be removed And again They hold Communion with the Parishes not only in Faith and Doctrine but also in acts of worship where they think they can lawfully do it This those of the Congregational way do also accord to that they ought in all lawful things to communicate with the Churches of England not only in obedience to the Magistrate in which case they also acknowledge it to be their duty as well as others but also as they are true Churches and therefore plead for the lawfulness of hearing the established Ministry and undertake to answer the objections brought against it whether taken from the Ministers ordination or lives or the Church in which they are Ministers c. as you may find them in Mr. Robinson's Plea for it of old and Mr. Nye's of late as they are Printed together Upon the consideration of which the latter of these thus concludes In most of the misperswasions of these latter times by

THE CASE OF Lay-Communion WITH THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND CONSIDERED And the Lawfulness of it shew'd from the Testimony of above an hundred eminent Non-Conformists of several Perswasions Published for the satisfaction of the scrupulous and to prevent the sufferings which such needlesly expose themselves to LONDON Printed for Dorman Newman at the Kings Arms in the Poultry 1683. TO THE DISSENTERS FROM THE Church of England Dear Brethren YOU being at this time called upon by Authority to joyn in Communion with the Church and the Laws ordered to be put in Execution against such as refuse it it s both your Duty and Interest to enquire into the grounds upon which you deny Obedience to the Laws Communion with a Church of God and thereby expose our Religion to danger and your selves to suffering In which unless the cause be good the call clear and the end right it cannot bring Peace to your selves or be acceptable to God Not bring Peace to your selves For we cannot suffer joyfully the spoiling of our Goods the confinement of our Persons the ruine of our Families unless Conscience be able truly to say I would have done any thing but sin against God that I might have avoided these sufferings from men Not be acceptable to God to whom all are accountable for what portion he hath instrusted them with of the things of this life and are not to throw away without sufficient reason and who has made it our duty to do what we can without Sin in Obedience to that Authority which he hath set over us as you are told by some in the same condition with your selves To assist persons in this enquiry I have observed that of late several of the Church of England have undertaken the most material points that you do question and have handled them with that Candor and Calmness which becomes their profession and the gravity of the Arguments and which may the better invite those that are willing to be satisfied to peruse and consider them But because Truth and Reason do too often suffer by the prejudices we have against particular persons to remove as much as may be that obstruction I have in this Treatise shewed that these Authors are not alone but have the concurrent Testimony of the most eminent Non-Conformists for them who do generally grant that there is nothing required in the Parochial Communion of the Church of England that can be a sufficient reason for Separation from it The sence of many of these I have here collected and for one hundred I could easily have produced two if the Cause were to go by the Pole so that if Reason or Authority will prevail I hope that yet your satisfaction and recovery to the Communion of the Church is not to be despaired of Which God of his infinite mercy grant for your own and the Churches sake Amen THE CONTENTS THE difference betwixt Ministerial and Lay-Communion pag. 1 The Dissenters grant the Church of England to be a true Church p. 4 That they are not totally to separate from it p. 12 That they are to comply with it as far as lawfully they can p. 16 That defects in Worship if not essential are no just reason for Separation p. 23 That the expectation of better edification is no sufficient reason to with-hold Communion p. 39 The badness of Ministers will not justifie Separation p. 48 The neglect or want of Discipline no sufficient reason to separate p. 59 The opinion which the Nonconformists have of the several practices of those of the Church of England which its Lay-Members are concerned in p. 64 That Forms of Prayer are lawful and do not stint the Spirit ibid. That publick prescribed Forms may lawfully be joyned with p. 66 That the Liturgy or Common-Prayer is for its matter sound and good and for its Form tolerable if not useful p. 69 That kneeling at the Sacrament is not idolatrous nor unlawful and no sufficient reason to separate from that Ordinance p. 71 72 That standing up at the Creed and Gospel is lawful p. 73 The Conclusion ibid. THE NON-CONFORMISTS PLEA FOR Lay-Communion With the CHURCH of ENGLAND THE Christian World is divided into two Ranks Ecclesiastical and Civil usually known by the names of Clergy and Laity Ministers and People The Clergy besides the things essentially belonging to their Office are by the Laws of all well-ordered Churches in the World strictly obliged by Declarations or Subscriptions or both to owne and maintain the Doctrine Discipline and Constitution of the Church into which they are admitted Thus in the Church of England They do subscribe to the truth of the Doctrine more especially contained in the Thirty Nine Articles and declare that they will use the Forms and Rites contained in the Liturgy and promise to submit to the Government in its Orders The design of all which is to preserve the Peace of the Church and the Unity of Christians which doth much depend upon that of its Officers and Teachers But the Laity are under no such Obligations there being no Declarations or Subscriptions required of them nor any thing more than to attend upon and joyn with the Worship practised and allowed in the Church Thus it is in the Church of England as it is acknowledged by a worthy Person to whom when it was objected that many Errours in Doctrine and Life were imposed as Conditions of Communion he replies What is imposed on you as a Condition to your Communion in the Doctrine and Prayers of the Parish-Churches but your actual Communion it self In discoursing therefore about the lawfulness of Communion with a Church the difference betwixt these two must be carefully observed lest the things required only of one Order of Men should be thought to belong to all It 's observed by one That the original of all our mischiefs sprung from mens confounding the terms of Ministerial Conformity with those of Lay-Communion with the Parochial Assemblies there being much more required of Ministers than of the People private persons having much less to say for themselves in absenting from the Publick Worship of God though performed by the Liturgy than the Pastor hath for not taking Oaths c. Certainly if this difference was but observed and the Case of Lay-Communion truly stated and understood the people would not be far more averse to Communion with the Parish-Churches than the Non-Conforming Ministers are as one complains and whatsoever they might think of the Conformity of Ministers because of the previous terms required of them they would judge what is required of the people to be lawful as some of them do And as the Ministers by bringing their Case to the Peoples may see Communion then to be lawful and find themselves obliged to maintain it in a private capacity so the People by perceiving their Case not to be that of the Ministers but widely different from it would be induced to hold Communion with the Church