DU MOULIN'S REFLECTIONS Reverberated Being a full ANSWER TO A Pernicious Pamphlet ENTITULED Moral Reflections on the Number of the Elect. TOGETHER With several Arguments against TRANSUBSTANTIATION Of the outward Elements in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper transubstantiated into Falshood and Absurdity To which is added A Postcript in Answer to some Passages in Mr. Edmund Hickeringil's Scurrilous Piece STILED The second part of NAKED TRUTH By Edward Lane Vicar of Sparsholt Hants LONDON Printed for William Crook at the Green-Dragon without Temple-Bar 1681. A PREFACE Christian Reader THis following Tract was prepared to be a Refutation of Dr. Lewis du Moulin's Reflections upon the Number of the Elect long before his Death But you may see no haste hath been made to impart it to the World having been too long I confess retarded in expectation of some other more able Pen which could have convinced him of his Error Yet since it hath pleased God to put an end to his Days and that no man hath hitherto so far as I can learn appeared for the Vindication of the Truth of the Gospel against him in this particular I have accounted it my Duty to undertake it in regard I have already been an Aggressor upon him in the Antidote which I gave the World about a year past to keep poor desponding sinners from receiving harm by his uncharitable Opinion of the small number of those that shall be saved He hath It seems Repented him before he died of all those personal Reflections which he made in his Books on the Divines of the Church of England as that they leaned towards Popery and in down-right terms that they had made several Advances towards Rome But as for this Book of his Reflections upon the Number of the Elect I find no Retractation of it made by him at all or by any else for him And do therefore fear that he left the World with this Opinion which he had so deeply imbibed upon his Soul without any publick Repentance of it Whereupon he having been such a leading man among those that pretend to know more of the mind of God in holy Scripture than others it is much to be doubted he will have many Disciples to follow him who will Jurare in verba Magistri take all to be Gospel which he hath written of this Subject For seeing there are many of them as it is said who still persist in their Invectives and have since his death published under his name an Additional Account of the Church of Englands Advance towards Popery though it appears clearly by many Infallible Proofs to be as false a Slander as the Father of Lies himself could Invent what can be otherwise imagined but that such blust'ring Zealots will much more second him in this Antifundamental Opinion Such people being prone to publish that Doctrine which seems to Canonize them for the few that shall be saved and to damn to Hell all those whoever they be that shall but look awry upon them out of a dislike of their Fraternity and their Opinions Upon which Account I would that this which is here written against the said Doctor may be construed as directed unto them to prevent their precipitant Zeal in following his Example by mealing with the number of Gods Elect. For him I hope God hath forgiven him his Error therein And seeing that he lived to wish that his Soul might be with theirs whom he had in his life-time according to his own confession wronged in his uncharitable Censures I believe he hath found before this time a real Demonstration of his Error in numb'ring those that came not within the compass of his Arithmetick I do therefore leave him in his Bed of Rest but shall withal warn all men by this which is here written against him to take heed that they run not after him into such want of Charirity which he lamented on his Death-bed as being Inconsistent with the power of Godliness and true Christianity Yea I would advise those that profess themselves to be his Disciples seriously to consider with their own Souls betimes whether their defaming the Church of England as this Doctor had done or their rash determining of the number of Gods Elect like unto him be such as he would have approved on his Death bed or as it hath been already said such as they will dare to Answer for at the great day before Gods Tribunal But if any will yet be so Anti-Evangelical as to appear in the defence of his desperate Doctrine of a general Damnation and their defence be managed by them with Learning Piety and Moderation in the Judgment of those that are wise and godly with whom I hold a Conversation I shall though I be superannuated as being in the seventy seventh year of my Age certainly maintain the truth of the Gospel in that point against them Humbly beseeching God to give us all a right Understanding more and more in the Mystery of the Gospel And if in the publication of this my labour of Zeal I have offended either in the manner or matter of it the good Lord I hope will pardon me seeing I had prepared my heart only to aim at his Glory though I have not done it exactly according to the Rule that is set me Having thus far given my Apology for publishing this Tract It is meet that somewhat be also here premised concerning that Doctor to the end my Readers may discern how unfit he was to enter upon such a Controversie He was desirous it seems having been publick Professor of History in the University of Oxford to appear to the World as an Atlas in that kind of Learning by quoting several of the Antient Fathers and other Writers that he might thereby add some strength to his Opinion But the truth is he did rather in so doing lay open his weakness to the pre-judging of his own Cause As may be made evident by two of his Quotations wherein he failed and it is therefore to be suspected he hath done the like in many more The two Quotations which I have singled are these that follow In the thirteenth Page of his Book where he undertook to prove that the greatest part of the World was in the state of Damnation and must inevitably sink in it it is thus written The Popes drew all Europe into Perdition And this is what all the World would suffer Per Docilitatem Asininam unless some or other were permitted to Resist the Pope and to demand of him By what Authority he led so many Millions of Persons into Hell For it is that which we learn from the Canon Si Papa c. Which Et-Caetera signifies that this Doctor was of that Opinion in which others before him have been deceived For it to is most shamefully false which is alledged from the said Canon viz. that the purport of it is this Albeit the Pope should drive the whole world into Hell no man ought to say unto him
to be far short of proving that which is so stoutly affirmed in the Title-Page of his Book of Reflections viz. That not one of a hundred Thousand nay probably not one in a Million from Adam down to our times shall be saved Or as the said opinion is stretched in the 21th Page of the said Book viz. the proportion of the number of the Reprobate to that of the Elect before the Advent of Jesus Christ and before the Preaching of St. Peter had Converted three thousand men is not the number neither of a Thousand nor of a Million but of Millions of Millions to one Person that is saved There yet remains one Reflection more which will require some animadversion upon it that is the Idea or Character as the Reflector calleth it of the Children of God made by himself in setting a multitude of Marks and Signs upon them without which he saith they cannot be saved all which he makes the essential and constituent Parts belonging to every true Christian And from thence he imagined that his opinion of the general Damnation is concluded to be a certain truth because they are not all to be found in one man amongst a Million But festina lentè as we say for haste makes waste are these all being about thirty of them to be found together in one man I believe without any breach of Charity they were not all to be found in himself that so compiled them else he would never have been so uncharitable nor so unrighteous as he was in his passionate raging Heats against the Church of England nor in accusing several of the most Eminent Champions of the Gospel in it against the Superstitions of Rome laying to their charge things which they knew not as that they leaned to Popery and had made their advances towards Rome wherein by his own Confession upon his Death-bed he thought they were not guilty wishing that his Soul might be with their Souls whom he had so much and unjustly defamed but let that go This I may say boldly to glean the holy Scripture raking together several Duties of Piety Charity Righteousness c. required in it and to annex unto them such a terrible Threatning as this viz. without them there can be no Salvation this cannot agree with the Spirit of the Gospel Had it been said without Faith and Repentance no man can be saved I for my part would readily have subscribed thereto But as that Legislator had stated the Case designedly to give some corroboration to his unevangelical Opinion he seemed to me to be as one sent from Moses with two new Decades of Laws more dreadful than the Decalogue proclaimed on Mount Sinai For as for the Violation of that Decalogue we hear a comfortable sound Jesus Christ the Righteous is the Propitiatory 1 Joh. 2.2 meaning doubtless that such a Violation shall upon true Repentance pentance be so hidden by Christ that it shall never appear in Judgment for Condemnation to any that believe for in those words the Holy Evangelist alludeth to the Mercy-Seat which covered the Ark of the Covenant from the sight of God where the Tables of that Law lay But for the Violation of these Laws which come out of Sion as being written in the New Testament there is no Propitiation for where there is a failing in these we are told there can be no Salvation But let us consider the matter a little better It were an excellent thing indeed and as it were a Heaven upon Earth to have such a Characterism upon us while we live in this present evil World and let us on Gods name press toward it as the Apostles word is Phil. 3. that if by any means we may attain not only to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to which all Mankind shall attain but to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that 's the word the glorious Resurrection of the Dead Let us be spiritually minded for for so the Reflector Characteriseth the Elect of God which is so to know the things of the Spirit as to believe them so to believe them as to affect them and esteem them so to esteem them as to seek them so to seek them as to seek them in the first place let us abstain from carnal and worldly Lusts let our Thoughts and Meditations be more set upon God than the World let us live Soberly and Righteously and Holily in this present evil World c. Nevertheless if in these or the like any of us shall come short of the Glory of God or of the Glory from God meaning Gods Acceptance and Approbation as it must be confessed with the Apostle in many things we offend all and too many offend in all we are comforted from the Evangelist we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous c. 1. Joh. 2.1 Having yielded thus much in this Point let me now Expostulate a little with the Disciples of this Reflector concerning these things Is it agreeable with the Sense and Scope of the Gospel of our Saviour to multiply signal Demonstrations of Gods elect Children by imposing Duties upon them as if they were all exactly to be performed without any the least digression from the Rule and without making any mention at all either of Gods Grace assisting and enabling thereto or of Gods Mercy by Christ in pardoning the transgression of them adding only the Condemnation as the Reflector hath done that shall fall upon those in whom those marks are not to be found What Thunder and Lightning from Sinai could be more dreadful could any thing be said or written more consonant to the Covenant of Works Upon this account I confess the Doctrine of general Damnation may prove to be according to the usual saying as true as Gospel but what then will become of the Covenant of Grace and consequently of the comfortable Doctrine of Salvation will it not by this means be utterly annulled and made of no Effect 2. What did the Reflector mean when he said that in our days we can meet but few that labour to take the Kingdom of Heaven by Violence What but that he would catch at any thing that would but seem to hold up his Opinion of the small number of persons that shall be saved For I demand is the Kingdom of Heaven in these days to suffer violence and do the violent take it by force according to Christ's meaning when he spake those words Mat. 11.12 Certainly if that be a good Exposition which I have read an Interpreter one of a Thousand hath given of them viz. that the multitude and meaner Crowd of the Jews who had heard John's Preaching came and submitted themselves to the Rules of the Gospel together with the Publicans and Sinners who were all lookt upon by the Jews as those that were accursed and had no right to the Messias and so were accounted as violent Persons Invaders and Intruders upon those Priviledges which they imagined did peculiarly belong unto them
written already in the Vindication of the Doctrine of our Church against that of Rome Insomuch that it may be thought what is here done is but actum agere to repeat only the Arguments that have been formerly used Yet this I will be bold to assirm that that old saying nihil erit dictum quod non dictum fuit prius cannot here be objected against me True it is impossible but we must sometimes take up the same Weapons to encounter our Enemies which others have before used yet may they be sharp'ned and furbish'd afresh that an insipid Crambe shall not in the using them be here laid to my charge nor dull the edge of them Yea and a new Weapon shall be here taken out of the Armory of holy Scripture that never was so far as I can find managed before by any which may prove as convincing absit arrogantia as any other The design of which little Tract is according to the Title that is set before it to lay open the Falshood and Absurdity of that grand Error of Transubstantiation and because the Church of Rome hath been a long time so infatuated as to wrest the words of our Saviour which he spake of the Bread at his last Supper viz. This is my Body to make them speak that which be never intended but very little or not at all medling with his other words concerning the Cup as well knowing the very reciting of them would be a sufficient Conviction of their Error I shall therefore here deal with them at their own weapon and to that purpose will at the very entrance call upon my Reader to remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ which he spake at his last Supper viz. This is my Body DU MOULIN'S Reflections REVERBERATED THE Design of this Treatise is to put a stop to the Carieer of one Mounsieur Moulin I say not that Reverend Dr. Peter Moulin Who is As he well deserveth an Eminent Dignitary among us but his unworthy Brother Lewis who like Jehu marcheth furiously here in our Nation out of his Road venting his Paradoxes not only against the Order and Discipline established in the Church of England But against the very Doctrine of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ which should be dearer to us than our Lives It is Reported by some that he is a Schollar and possibly they may have taken his Dimensions in that kind from his Office that he held by the Title of Usurpation in the University of Oxford during the late Schism But doubtless his Pamphlet Entituled Moral Reflections upon the number of the Elect was not Penued at Athens Sure I am It did not spring from the sweet Fountain of Israel for whatsoever his Learning may otherwise be he hath not yet learned Christ sufficiently to know the Truth as it is in Jesus A Character hath been given me of him in scriptis from London by a very good hand which is as it here followeth This Lewis Du-Moulin is by Profession a Civilian by perswasion an Independant a man of a Morose and insolent Conversation he was a History-Professor at Oxford in the times of the late Troubles and Distractions But being thrown out of his Desk at the happy Return of our Peace he is led away by a misguided Zeal turns Malecontent Peevish and Froward quarrelling with all good Order and Discipline thinking himself not enough out of Babylon unless he be out of himself A man that ought to be severely corrected for his Insolence and Folly it being to be wished the Magistrate would take such Men under their Discipline which will work a more effectual Cure upon them than the most Satyrical Pen though dipt in Gall as wise Generals punish mutinous Persons more than Thieves and Robbers The Reason saith my Friend that makes me more severe with him is because he hath since I writ to you last set forth another Discourse under this Title viz. The Conformity of Discipline and Government among those who are commonly called Independants to that of the Antient Primitive Christians You may guess of the Book by the Title It is not worth your Animadversion nor my time to give you any Rehearsal of it This is the Man with whom we have here to deal about his Moral Reflections upon the number of the Elect so he calls them and as the man is so is his Work wherein he advanceth as his braving Transition is on and on without any Order or Method insomuch that whosoever he be that shall undertake him shall have but as 't were a Rope of Sand to hold by in following his Track Only it must be the Pages of his Book that are to be my Conduct and the Exercise of my Readers Patience if he will give himself the trouble to peruse them Which Book of his though I had it in my custody before I writ my Preface to the Antidote being then at the Press for I would not answer a matter until I hear it or know it That as a wiser man than either he or I are ever like to be hath said would be Folly and Shame unto me yet have I for born hitherto to answer it particularly because I hoped some other would have Reverberated this Reflector according to his Desert before this time And well might it have been expected seeing his hand hath been so busie against every Man not above one in a million escaping the Virulency of his Pen I supposed every Mans should be against him But since it is so that no man hath hitherto appeared in this Contract but my self albeit several Persons both Wise and Godly have approved of that which I have already done in it I shall now proceed further to make his Folly manifest to all men hoping that I may thereby do somewhat in the service of my Master Jesus Christ for the Glory of his great Name The good Lord give his Blessing unto it that the good People of God may be confirmed in the Truth of the Gospel and that this Unevangelical Doctor may have some sight of his Folly also who now sits Brooding upon his Error And against whom I confess I have a zealous Indignation fearing Lenity in this case may be imputed as a sin unto me First then to begin with the Title of his Book he calleth it Moral Reflections upon the number of the Elect. Moral Reflections Would any man that had Learning Fear of God in him Christian Love or good Manners towards the Church of God have Reflected so boldly upon the secret Counsels of the Almighty as this peremptory Mounsieur hath done by using this Term of Reflection in this case I know the word hath of late obtained a Pass and gone for current instead of Observations Considerations c. But it is so toto Coelo Excentrick as we say from God that it cannot be used in the Sense it is here put to without Blasphemy Not therefore to be passed by without a Reflection or a Repercussion rather
our Creed the Corner-Stone of our Religion must this be of necessity to Salvation No greater Truth than this which is no Truth at all O that men should not only forget themselves but God also and in their Zeal for their own vain Fancies utter words bordering upon Blasphemy I cannot likewise but protest against that which is written Page 23. where complaining of the neglect of Piety in this Age which is too true and a thing much to be lamented it is said that many masters of Families otherwise Sober Civil True Honest Upright Dealers and good Friends have wholly neglected Family-Duties c. God forbid that I or any man should speak or write a word against the Religious Exercises of good Christians in private that is and shall I hope be ever far from me let them still be continued in their due order provided that the publick service of God as it is now in use among us here in this Church and Nation be not thereby sleighted and brought into Contempt as it hath been in many places especially in populous Cities and Towns Nay it were much better that the Family-Duties were wholly omitted than the publick Worship of God in our Churches and Congregations should be despised The Church certainly hath taken great care for her Children in this matter appointing a method to be commonly used in the Service of God twice a day throughout the year morning and evening commanding the Holy Scripture to be read so daily that the Old Testament shall be read once every year and the New Testament thrice And were it so that the Church-Liturgy were exactly observed in every Church throughout the Nation Ministers and People heartily joyning together as the Common-Prayer-Book doth appoint what a Nation should we be of holy Zealots for Gods Glory Glory would then certainly dwell in our Land and never till then Jesus Christ would be in his Throne amongst us and God would delight in us as his peculiar People Then should we not need to fear the Encroachments of Popery upon us any more if we had once this Unanimity and uniformity setled among us in the daily service of our God O that God would be pleased yet to open the Eyes of the People of this Nation both high and low to see and understand this one needful thing that will above all things else bring Peace unto us and establish it Let Family-Duties I say again be performed in their due time place and order but let them yield the precedency to the publick which of late years they have not done the greater is our sin Yea though the private Piety and Zeal I mean that which is according to knowledge hath been the Fruit and Offspring of the publick Service of our God yet through the Malice of the Devil it hath come to pass that the old word is verified in our Land Filia devoravit Matrem the Mother which under God give a Being to the Daughter is devoured most viperously by her own Issue and the Daughter is perked up in her stead And though a spurious Brood of Errors doth commonly spring from her yet will she pretend that all saving Truth is confined to her private Conventicles Let this then be done and there will be no need to complain any more of the omission of Family-Duties Nor let any be scandalized at that which is here written in the behalf of our Book of Common-Prayer but for Lewis du Moulin's sake let men have better Thoughts of it who while he was in his Health and Jollity did possibly joyn with others in a prejudice against it but when he saw Death the Sergeant of Heaven ready to lead him before Gods Tribunal he then was of another mind to which purpose somewhat shall be here related of that which is published of him by a good hand when he lay dying Doctor Du Moulin having sent to the Reverend Dr. Patrick Dean of Peterborough to desire a Visit from him being of his Parish the Dean immediately upon the Evening of the same day went unto him and was Entertained with many Expressions of great Affection to him and high Esteem of him when after some comfortable words spoken to the sick man he endeavoured with meekness to convince him of his great Offence against the Church of England which he had wronged Intolerably to the great Gratification of its Enemies at such a time when all sober Men should be its Friends and without any real Cause for such imputations as he had charged upon it Whereupon Dr. Du Moulin replyed somewhat needless here to be repeated but yielded thus far as to say well Doctor pray to God to pardon me all my Sins especially my want of Charity Accordingly the Dean kneeled down by his Bed side and began with the Lords Prayer so proceeding to the other Prayers which are appointed by the Order in the Common Prayer-Book for the Visitation of the sick in all which the sick man joyned with lifting up his hands often and other Expressions of Devotion Especially at that passage in the Prayer when there appears small hope of Recovery give him unfeigned Repentance for all the Errors of his Life past c. He gave more than ordinary signs of his fervent Desire and when the Dean had done he gave him most hearty thanks and renewed his Expressions of extraordinary Affection to him and esteem or him A little after the Dean coming to see him again he was so affected with his Kindness in giving him a new Visit that he said Are you come again Sir O how charitable are you This is indeed to return me good for evil And after some discourse with him desired him to Pray with him again for your Prayers said he were very comfortable to me the last time And accordingly he did in the same form of words he had used before With which he was so much affected that when the Dean had solemnly commended him to Gods Blessing in that excellent Form Vnto Gods gracious Mercy and Protection we commit thee the Lord bless thee and keep thee c. he laid hold upon his hand which he held up over him and kissed it with an unusual Passion Such an Example as this one would think should incline People who are apt to speak evil of that excellent Form of Prayer prescribed by the Church in that Book and of the whole Method of Divine Service in it to be much humbled before God for their depraving it and to make better use of it than hitherto they have done by making it their daily Rule for the ordering of their publick and Family-Duties and Devotions with Reverence and godly fear The last thing that I shall here take notice of is that which is added toward the close of these Reflections viz. a plain contradiction of them and which overthroweth all that is before written of the general Damnation in these words They that find there is nothing but Wickedness in them and Death by sin and that
Whether Christ intended thereby that a new Sacrament should be ordained and continued in his Church till his fecond Advent or because his words being spoken in this manner viz. Take eat this is my Body which is broken for you whether his Apostles should at that time take that Bread which was then broken with his own Hands in their sight and which they did then Eat in his Presence whether I say they should take that Bread for his Human Body made of a Woman Gal 4. which was the next day to be Buffeted Scourged Crowned with Thorns nailed to a Cross and pierced to the Heart with a Spear And this his Body which was present with them sitting at the Table and speaking these very words should contrary to his own meaning and Resolution often before declared by himself in express terms and contrary to the clear Apprehension of his Apostles be free from all this Cruelty and extream hard Usage A very easie Passion certainly it must needs be which Christ endured if this be granted as it must if their Doctrine of Transubstantiation be from that instant time allowed being the thing which they contend for Neither indeed can we say as it is commonly and truly said that there was never Sorrow like unto his Sorrow if he had such a Proxy to suffer for him But without controversie Divine Justice would not now be satisfied with Figures Shadows Representations and Resemblances but seeing the Body is come which they did all typisie the Body it self must be Sacrificed or all mankind must perish for ever This latter part therefore of this Hypothesis must be cashiered and the former retained viz. that Christ intended only by these words This is my Body to ordain a Sacrament in his Church which should be a standing Memorial and Declaration of his Death as the Apostles word 1 Cor. 11.26 signifies till his coming again And herein there cannot or should not at least be any difference between them and us Well then if our Saviours intent was by these words to institute a Sacrament will not all men say that he used a sacramental kind of Speech to that purpose in his forming of such an Ordinance Hither to have we dealt only with our Romish Adversaries those Psendo-Catholicks about this matter We should now shew the Sense which Orthodox-Catholicks have rendred of it But first because there have been some who have joyned with us against those our common Adversaries that have in their haste given such an interpretation of these words as is inconsistent with Truth and Reason lest their Sense should be objected against us as if we were wounded with our own Weapons it will be necessary to shew in one or two particulars what is not the Sense of the Catholick Church of England nor of most of the Reformed Churches that harmoniously agree with it First then the misconstruction which is made of the excellent Form of sound Words in our Liturgy is not the sense of the Church whose Children we are There it is said the Body and Blood of Christ are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lords Supper which is a most true saying and worthy of all Acceptation But to infer from thence that there is a areal Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in that Bread and Wine is such an Error that they who make this Inference do in Effect pass over to the Tents of the Romanists or Consubstantiate themselves with the Lutherans in their Heterodox Opinion which is also very absurd The truth is those words are not to be understood with a Reference to the Bread and Wine immediately after Consecration as our Venerable Mr. R. Hooker hath excellently declared his Judgment in this point which shall be shewed at large hereafter but to the time in which they that are worthy do really entertain Christ and feed on him in their Hearts after they have Received So the words spoken to them by the Minister when he gives them the Sacramental Consecrated Bread do plainly signifie which words are these Take and Eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee and feed on him in thy Heart by Faith with Thanksgiving And this feeding must necessarily imply a reall Presence of Christ unto them not to any other This mistake therefore of the premised form of sound words in our Liturgy doth not shew the true sense which we are inquiring into Much less doth that form of unfound words devised in the time of the late unhappy Schism and Rebellion among us give any satisfaction herein The words which were imperiously imposed in those times upon every Minister to use when he gave the Bread of his God after he had broken it were these Take ye Eat ye this is the Body of Christ which is broken for you But now I appeal to the Conscience of any man that is able to discern in this Case could these words be thus spoken without assuming presumptuously a power which Christ had not given yea could they be spoken without great offence to the Communicant For might not he well demand how can this man give us the Body of Christ to eat which hath been in Types and shall be really broken for us And what can he think when he heareth these words of the Bread which he seeth with his Eyes and feeleth with his Fingers Ends but that either the Minister is Blind or that he intends to deceive him or that he believes as the Church of Rome believes viz. that the Substance of the Bread is vanished the Accidents of it only remaining and that the Body of Christ is really substantially present in it I know well what they will alledge for their Justification i. e. seeing our Blessed Saviour used this sacramental Form of Speech in his first Institution they likewise may use it in a Conformity to him when they Administer the said Sacrament Which is somewhat like unto him whom I mentioned before who will say unto God at the day of Judgment Tu docuisti thou hast taught me But they may hear that now which possibly they never heard of before or at least did not well consider viz. Because our Saviour like a King that hath command over his Broad-Seal to Confirm or alter it as he pleaseth spake this word This is my Body when he first Instituted this Sacrament it will be too bold an Arrogancy for any man since whatsoever he be who pretendeth to be a Subject unto him to say the Bread is the Body of Christ when he Administreth it Sure I am the great Apostle St. Paul doth not word it in so bold a manner as to say The Cup which we Bless is the Blood of Christ or The Bread which we break is the Body of Christ no but with a pious Modesty worthy of Imitation only thus The Cup of Blessing which we Bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ And the Bread which we break is it not the
Priests and Deacons who have been wont to be called the Clergy he speaks of them under this notion of Clergy not like an honest Clergy-man but like a mar-prelate indeed with infinite Disdain repeating the word scossingly enough Clergy Clergy But from whence comes all his clashing like a vaunting Swashbuckler about this word Why he will make us believe we have all this while been mistaken in the word the word Clergy is indeed saith he a Scripture Expression but never but once found in holy Writ and then it signifies Lay-men 1 Pet. 5.3 The Flock not the Shepherds that feed the flock the Presbyter Peter advising his fellow Presbyters or Priests 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 neque ut dominantes cleris not lording it over Gods Lot over the Flock there called Clergy-men that is to say Laymen thus he Doubtless this man hath not Read the Holy Scripture with that care as became him or else he hath sancied all men to have as his word is a wide swallow capable of all that he will cram in upon them Whereas if he had had but Clergy Spectacles with him so he wordeth it also he would have seen his opinion here to be a grosser Error even the naked Truth would tell him the said word is more than once or twice or thrice set down in Scripture for besides this of sit Peter which he quoteth let him see Joh. 19.24 Act 1.20 Act. 8.21 Act. 26.18 Col. 1.12 c. Nevertheless he will out of his huge Bounty vouchsafe the favour that the word shall be appropriated as it hath been For thus he writeth Since this word Clergy hath so long obtain'd in the World and also is become part of some Statutes in England mark that I will even let it go as it is and take it in its common Acceptation hereafter I only have said thus much true enough to show that neither the name nor the thing neither the word Clergy nor yet Gods Heritage belongs to this Tribe of Levi more than to other Christians if so much Truly Sir this Tribe of Levi is little beholding to you Yet the best of it is it is not you that can turn them out of their Inheritance You have seemed to be very friendly to them and Oh how much Reverence you have for them But is this your kindness to your Friends Hah these are his own words upon another Account But I will here show his naked Untruth to his shame in this particular It is not to be denyed as it is before said but that all People whatsoever that are in Covenant with God are Gods Clergy Gods Lot Gods Inheritance and blessed be God for it that they are so as all the Israel of God were of old called Gods Inheritance Psal 78.71 c. Yet was the Tribe of Levi then chosen out in a more peculiar manner as is evident by sundry places of Scripture to be Gods Heritage his especially Numb 3. Numb 8. c. And for the service which they did at his Altar he gave them the first Fruits the Tithes and Offerings which were his Due And can any man think but that Ministers of the Gospel have as good a Title to these Priviledges as the Levites had under the Law for even so saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 9.14 observe hath the Lord ordained that they which Preach the Gospel should even so live of the Gospel upon which accounts they may well be called Gods Clergy and the Churches Clergy in a more peculiar manner than other People may All Gods People were called his Anointed Psal 105.15.2 Cor. 1.21 yet were there some in publick office among them who had that Denomination given them Honor is Gratiâ and now are there not Titles common to all the Faithful which yet are without any the least scruple ascribed Eminemiae Gratiâ to Ecclesiastical Persons viz. Spiritual Men a term which the Prophet Hosea likewise applied to the Preachers of Gods Word in his days Hos 9.7 Watchmen Churchmen Ministers Priests Disciples And amongst the rest this of Clergy men hath been commonly so used till this Objector hath devised a Cavil against it But Observable it is how he is Choakt with the word Clergy in his tenth and twelfth Pages c. when he can with much facility swallow the word Priest a term more excepted against now-a-days than this of Clergy Neither of which though can in truth be justly cavilled at by him or any man else For the naked Truth is Ecclesiastical Persons are not usually called by us Clergy or Priests with any Reference at all to the order of Aaron or to the disorder of Antichrist as some blasphemously prate but only in a more excellent way as is before said than the community of the People are being as such set apart by God himself to preserve in his Church his publick Worship and Honour to keep a Commemoration of the Sacrifice of the Death of Christ and to offer up Sacrifice of Praise and Thanksgiving even for the People when they are solemnly Assembled together in their Congregations Neither will the word Church please him as it is upon any Emergency applied to Clergy-men But so long as the word of our Saviour stands in Holy Scripture Mat. 18.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 advising the offended Brother to make his appeal to the Church meaning the Sanhedrim that is the Church-Senate or seventy Elders who then sate by Gods Approbation to hear harder Causes and to decide greater Doubts against Peace and Charity I say so long may we call the Assembly of Ecclesiastical Persons among us be they in Convocation or other Solemn Meetings or Synods the Church of England notwithstanding the Oggannition of all gainsayers whatsoever One Instance more he saith he will produce as if he had not said enough already to his shame He will at last shew what little Pretence the Clergy hath to Entitle themselves alone the Church Representative of England distinct from the Lay-Brethren and that is in making a Canon to cringe to the East thus he wordeth it according to the scossing Language of turbulent Schismaticks and to bow at the Name of Jesus Was there ever any man that made such Pretensions to truth and withal did Print and Publish such notorious Lies where doth he or any else during this last Century of years as for what may be done before it is not now material find such a Canon as he here speaks of that enjoyneth men to cringe to the East Out upon it This false dealing must be Repented if ever he will look for Mercy from Almighty God at the last Day True it is of late viz. in the year 1640 there was a Declaration made by the Convocation then concerning some Rites and Ceremonies to be observed in the Church which with other Canons was Confirmed and Published under the Great Seal of England which Declaration in that part of it which concerns this present purpose is verbatim in this manner Whereas the Church is the
her faithful Children to bow their Bodies in token of Reverence unto him at the mentioning of his Name in their Solemn Assemblies when they are gathered together for the holy Service of Almighty God I have here given my Reader a sight of some of the ugly Errors contained in that scandalous Pamphlet unjustly called Naked Truth which but a few days past came into my hands And having perceived that a leading man here in our Countrey hath been seduced by it who hath as I have heard spoken these words What will Mr. Lane say to this Let him try if he can answer it I was willing to set Pen to Paper for the Vindication of Truth which hath been miserably abused by this Pretender unto it But having since heard also from some of the Seniors of our College by Winton that one hath already set forth an Answer unto it I shall forbear any further medling therewith And though the Author of it calls them Babies and Boobies such are his immodest terms that will write against him yet I am confident such a work as it may be managed will be acceptable to God and all good men Nevertheless I wish with all my heart that Abuses in our Ecclesiastical Courts those I mean that are not Imaginary but Real if there be any such that they may be removed which I believe the Chief Governours of the said Courts will be heartily willing unto FINIS The Contents of the foregoing Discourse upon the words of our Saviour viz. This is my Body 1. OF the sad Differences that have been about the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Page 71 2. The Romish Doctrine of Transubstantiation proved to be but a late upstart Doctrine p. 72 3. Is is a Doctrine which is destructive to the nature of the Sacrament p. 73 4. It is a Doctrine that disanuls the Verity of Christs Humane Nature p. 74 5. Gods Omnipotency not questioned by us in this case but vainly urged by our Adversaries in it p. 75 6. Of the words used in our Liturgy viz. The Body and Blood of Christ are verily and indeed Taken and Received by the Faithful in the Lords Supper p. 76 77 7. The Sense of the Church of England in her twenty eighth Article concerning this Point p. 79. 8. The Sense which Orthodox Interpreters give of these words viz. This is my Body approved p. 80 9. A Resemblance taken from the two Natures of Christ Divine and Humane and â—pplied p. 81 10. An Additional Sense of these words viz. This is my Body is here offered to Consideration p. 82 11. Venerable Mr. Hookers Judgment of the real Presence of Christs most blessed Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Eucharist p. 84 12. How the words of our Lord which he spake saying This is my Body are the Crown of our Rejoycing 91 13. The Popish Opinion of the real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament is but a Dream 92 Books newly Printed for William Crooke viz. 1680 1681. AN Institution of General History or the History of the World being a complete Body thereof from the beginning of the World to the taking of Rome by Odoacer and erecting a Kingdom of Barbarians in Italy describing the several Empires their Forms of Government Magistrates Laws Customs Polity's c. all in such unbroken Order and Method as yet was never extant By Dr. William Howel Chancellor of Lincoln in Fol. 2 Volums Historical Collections or an exact Account of the Proceedings of the four last Parliaments of Queen Elizabeth wherein is contained the Complete Journals both of Lords and Commons taken from the original Records of their Houses wherein are the Speeches Arguments c. of Secretary Cecill Sr. Fr. Bacon Sr. Walter Rawleigh Sr. John Croke Sr. Edward Hobby c. by H. Townsend idque Member in those Parliaments Fol. 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