of God So thy Worship is found out of the Truth and contrary to the Scriptures and thy Law of men to compel into a Conformity unto thy Worship is found to be Antichristian and to stand only in thy own Tradition and not in the Power of Christ so thou must either prove it from the Scriptures or all thou canst say of it will not be received for Truth Trad. My Worship is that which hath been accustomed through many Generations and from many antient Fathers I have good proof of it and though some things may be practised in Worship which I cannot positively prove from the Scriptures yet the continuance of them and the National Law upholding them makes them warrantable and out of question Truth That which is accustomed and not in the Power of God is out of the Truth and an evil custom and is to be abolished and not maintained for that is the subtil ground from which many are deceived who have nothing to say for their Religion and Worship but what in thy bowels is generated saying It hath been good and why is it not so now and our Fathers thus worshipped and why may not we and the Nations Law warrants and upholds it and we must be subject to the Law Thus do thy Children reason from thy deceivable working by which their minds are blinded that they cannot see the things that are but lye groping after things that have been which now are not and from the continuance draw conclusions of their lawfulness And because Laws are made to uphold them therefore are they subject to them when the Nation 's Law doth not reach nor is not to meddle with things that pertain to God or to the Conscience of any man so that it doth not make the thing warrantable or put it out of question because it doth provide for the upholding of it seeing it hath not any thing at all to do with it but the Truth doth call it in question And if it cannot be proved to be a practice which the Scriptures do allow and warrant the lawfulness of it Truth doth reprove it and also the Nations Law that doth provide for the upholding of it Trad. I would know what those things are that the Scriptures do not allow or bear witness to which in my Worship is set up and doth belong unto it in the custom of it and if they be but ceremonial I shall not stand so much upon them but as for my Fundamentals I shall prove them from Scriptures and the Saints practice to be sound Truth Lay down thy Fundamentals and what they are that they may be known and in their place come to Tryal and be proved Trad. These be the Foundation-Principles of my Religion and of which I have good ground to believe that they are sound because I find in the Scriptures that the Saints performed them and served God in them and also such as were appointed for the performance of them which in my Worship I do truly observe as they did for I have Churches and Preaching and Praying and Singing and Bishops and Ministers to perform them and also other Officers under them which is for my Church-Order Truth These in their place must all be examined and tryed and by the Spirit of Truth proved whether they be right in the ground and have their rise from the Power of God But what thou canst not prove amongst thy Ceremonies to be warrantable from the Scriptures of Truth open thine eye and behold them that thou mayest see what Monsters thou hast generated and brought forth from thy adulterous womb and behold thy Eldest son that sits in the highest seat in Rome who hath preferred and set up all thy Children in great honour and dignity and people in the Darkness have run after them without any enquiry from whence they came and they have been delightful to the carnal mind and from thence have been highly esteemed and so hath the birth of thy adulterous womb deceived the Nations and the names that thou hast given them are not to be found in the Scripture as in any wayes to belong to the Saints Worship thy Rails thy Altars thy Sacraments thy Cross in Childrens foreheads and sprinkling Water in their faces and calling it Baptism thy Organs thy Anthems thy Singing-men and Boyes thy Hoods thy Surplices and thy Tipits with many other things which by thee is observed in thy Service and Worship that the Lord never commanded nor the Saints never practised neither is there any Scripture for them but thou hast generated them and brought them forth in this dark night of Apostasie and hast set them up in thy Worship as things of great use and from that perswasion that in thy self thou hast of them thou wouldest compel by thy Laws all others to bow unto them Trad. I am reasonably satisfied from what hath been said as to the Ceremonies belonging to my Worship and I do see that they are not of such absolute necessity to be used or by any Law to be imposed therefore I shall be willing to leave every man to his liberty in observing them and shall not force or compel any But as for my Church Preaching Praying Singing Bishops and Ministers they must be duly observed and every man by a Law compelled thereunto who in himself is not made willingly subject for all these are warrantable from the Scriptures and I have their names from thence and in these cannot be deceived Truth I shall try them in order and if I find them right in the ground I shall approve them but if not I must testifie against them for I judge not by the appearance or by the names but in the ground and nature therefore speak plainly what thy Church is and also shew the Foundation it stands upon that I may proceed to tryal Trad. My Church is that which through many Generations hath been a place for my Worship to be performed in and it is consecrated and set apart for that Service and I have also looked many Ages past and have found from antient Fathers that it hath been much set by and highly esteemed therefore the Foundation cannot but be right and I must uphold it and my Worship in it Truth Now I shall try thy Church and the Foundation of it and see upon what it stands for if the Foundation be not right the whole Building must fall and there is no man can lay another Foundation than that which is layed which is Jesus Christ and that which is brought forth from his Power that is of God and this is the Church of the living God the pillar and ground of Truth And if it be not in God it is none of his but an adulterated Harlot covered over with the mystery of Iniquity Therefore Tradition be silent a little and Truth will shew thee thy Error and let thee see the false Foundation thy Church stands upon and also manifest the true Church and thereby thou mayest see how
compel any man to pay or part with any of his Increase contrary to his own freedom or else to sue him and imprison his body and spoyl his goods for he himself would not be so done unto So that what thou hast provided for the maintenance of thy Bishops and Ministers is not according to the Truth of God nor answereth not to the Maintenance of Bishops and Ministers in the Primitive times who first gathered people unto the Spirituall before they reaped their Carnall and they had no need to compel the Carnall by a Law after they had gathered them to the Spirituall and brought them to taste of that there was then an openness and a freeness begotten in their hearts to minister their whole Substance and to lay it down at the feet of them that had begotten them into the Truth and laboured amongst them in the Service of God and here was no seâ—â—ing out any part of what was encreased and a Law to compel it either of the Ninth or Tenth or any other part but the whole Substance freely offered and so much taken of it as there was need And this is as truly trusted in the hands of true Bishops and Ministers now and they receive what they need and no more and whether it be the Tenth or Twentieth or Thirtieth part If it supply their need they are truly contented and so they gather Flocks and feed upon the Milk of those they have gathered and plant Vineyards and eat the Fruit of them but do not compell by any outward Law Milk to be given them out of another Flock nor Fruit out of another Vineyard So that thy decent Order which thou speakest of is proved Confusion and Disorder being out of the life and power of Truth and all thy vain Tradition is seen with the pure Light of Christ in which all things are made manifest and with the Light and Truth thou art reproved Trad. Certainly this thing which makes such discoveries of my practices and with such boldness reproves me for them it is of God for it is not in any fear of me or my Power which now is strong and in great authority and unto which I had thought all would have bowed without disputing or questioning but I see there is that risen that appears against me and makes such discoveries of me that I cannot keep hid any longer therefore I shall let it alone and deal with others that I can cause to be subject for the more I deal with this Manifestation of Truth the more is my Tradition discovered and opened unto all People so that it is safest for me to be quiet and let it alone lest by striving to uphold all I come to lose all and so be rejected and disesteemed and all my Honour and Dignity wherein I now stand be laid in the dust and trodden upon And if I had thought that there had been such a thing made manifest in this Age as the Truth I should have been more reserved and retired but I had thought I might have boasted and gloryed in my own handy-work and that it would have passed without being questioned as heretofore it hath done but now I see it is otherwise therefore I shall be silent Truth That which doth discover thee and thy deceitfull practice that is a Manifestation of God and is the Truth of God which was before thou hadst a name and will abide when thy name is lost and it doth boldly reprove thee and is without any fear of thee or thy power and hath opened thee and ript up thy bowels and discovered thy adulterous womb and all the false conceptions that have been conceived therein and it hath made manifest thy first-born and eldest son unto whom thou hast given a name and calls him the Pope of Rome and thy younger Children are also by the Truth discovered and the names which thou hast given them by which thou hast deceived the Nations Now behold ye Arch-Bishops Lord-Bishops Deans Prebends Doctors Vicars Curates and all Prelaticals here is the womb of your conception opened and that made manifest from which you draw your breath and prolong the length of your dayes with all your Service and Worship which you so much esteem and promote and labour to compel a Conformity to It is here discovered in the Power of Truth and you may see by perusing this Catechism in moderation your great degeneration from the Life of the Prophets Christ and the Apostles and how the Names invented and the Worship by you practised differ in the ground from the Practice and Worship that the Saints performed in the Power of God's Spirit Where have you from the Scriptures or the Saints Practice any Precept or President for your builded Church of Wood and Stone your Bells hanging in the end of it and to toul and ring them when you would have people come together to your Worship your set-time before mid-day and your set-time after mid-day to meet together and perform your Worship your Common-Prayer-Book and your Letany and your Prayers divided and appointed when and how to be said your Preaching in your methods and forms your Text taking and your Doctrines raising with your Uses Reasons Helps Motives Arguments and Applications your Singing in the riming and tuning your Bishopricks and Diocesses your Deanries and Prebendries your Doctors Vicars and Curates your Tithes and set Maintenance your great Livings and lesser Livings your Parishes and places of Settlement your Mattens and Evensong your Organs Rails Altars Fonts Sacraments Crossing Children in their foreheads and sprinkling Water in their faces and calling it Baptism your Anthems and your Singing-men and Boyes to sing them your Hoods Surplices and Tipits with many other things which by you are observed in your Service and Worship that the Lord never commanded nor the Saints ever practised nor any Scripture to prove the lawfulness of them Therefore consider the rise of them and the truth of them before you pursue so eagerly to impose them or compel a Conformity to them for tender people who are come to the least manifestation of Truth they cannot bear such an Imposition upon their Consciences though by Laws and Statutes you may strive to impose them and proceed against them as transgressors if they deny submission to them yet will not your Cruelty bring tender People into a Conformity to your Traditions and if you will but consider coolly and pursue this Catechism soberly you will see that it is not reasonable to compel a Conformity unto those things that you are setting up and practising in your Devotion and Worship or to impose them upon the Consciences of any people but rather leave all to stand in their own liberty and to chuse or refuse as they are perswaded in their own Conscience which is but a reasonable thing to be granted for if you see no further in your selves than that which Tradition hath brought in and set up and you in your Conscience be perswaded of
A CATECHISM FOR BISHOPS DEANS PREBENDS DOCTORS VICARS CURATES AND ALL PRELATICALS FOR Them to Read in the Fear of the LORD GOD and with a meek and quiet Spirit By WILLIAM SMITH LONDON Printed in the Year 1662. A Catechism for Bishops Deans Prebends Doctors Vicars Curates and all Prelaticals for Them to Read in the Fear of the Lord God and with a meek and quiet Spirit THere is in man a Corruptible will an Earthly wisdom and a Carnal mind and where these bear rule there is a strong Enmity against God and all things that be good and under these Corruptible Earthly Carnal things the Seed of God is in bondage and groans under their burden and in that state the understanding of all men is darkned and fast closed that the things of God neither are nor can be perceived And this is the ground of Error when the understanding is so darkned that the things of God cannot be perceived and then not being known as they are in the ground they are supposed to be what they are not and so Opinions drawn concerning them and Professions made of them and a Worship and Service set up in them when they have no savour of God nor agreement with the Scriptures of Truth So for Doctrine men set up Traditions which rise from the many Inventions And from this ground is risen all your Profession and Worship which in your Prelatical Power is set up and unto which you would compel a Conformity and impose it upon all Consciences which is a thing of great weight and needful to be truly tryed and examined before it be so eagerly pursued and so wilfully endeavoured to be imposed Therefore admit in coolness of a true Examination and Tryal by the Spirit of Truth and from the Scriptures of Truth and if your Practice and Worship be found to agree in one without adding or diminishing then you will be freely owned without any Law to compel but if your Practice and Worship be found contrary then be not angry because it is denied and testified against for in so doing you will manifest degeneration from reasonable men therefore hear your Examination cooly and quietly and if Truth prevail then own it and submit unto it and cease from your Traditions but if you have any thing against it then bring forth your strong Reasons and prove them from the Scriptures of Truth that it may be manifest to the understandings of people what is Truth and what is Error And for the better understanding of it here followeth a short Catechism which is given forth in love to the Simple and for you to reade and peruse ye Bishops Doctors Vicars Curats and all Prelaticals wherein you may see Tradition and Truth moderately reasoning Tradition I have heard that there is a God and that he is the maker of all things and I have also heard that from Generation to Generation this God hath been worshipped and served and I think it but my reasonable duty to do as others have done before me Truth One onely true wise God there is who is the maker of all things and is over all things but if thou hast no more knowledge of him than by what thou hearest thou art yet without him and a stranger to him and art an ignorant worshipper and dost not know what thou worshippest and what others have done in Generations past will not make thy service accepted though thou mayest worship in the observation and do all things in the custom of it for it is only the present manifestation of God's Spirit in every man in which God is truly served and worshipped and in which the Service and Worship is accepted Trad. But cannot I come to know God by hearing that which is reported of him and cannot I worship him and serve him by observing what others have done and how they have worshipped in Ages past and so following them for my Example Truth God is a Spirit and makes himself manifest in Spirit and that which is truly reported of him is from the Spirit 's manifestation which all the holy men of God were inspired with and made their Report from and worshipped God in and thou mayest hear this Report and reade it but being from the Spirit of God manifest in thee thou canst neither know God nor truly worship him for God's Worship stands not in the observation but in his living power neither canst thou follow the Example of the holy men of God but by the leadings of the same Spirit which they were guided by and lived in Trad. But it is safe for me to minde the Scriptures and that which therein is reported and to endeavour to observe and do it and then I question not but I shall know God and be a true worshipper of him Truth That which all are to minde is the manifestation of God's Spirit for that is his own gift to every man that they might profit and all that turn to it and believe in it their understandings are opened in the power of it and then the Scriptures are truly known and this is safe and will not deceive any but will bring the assurance with it of Eternal Life for as thou standest in the Questioning so also in Doubting and Condemnation and all thy endeavours will not profit thee or bring assurance of Eternal Life unto thee for it is not in him that willeth or in him that runneth but standing still in obedience to the present manifestation of God's Spirit Salvation is seen and shewed in the Mercy of God So thou must lay down thy life in thy observation which stands in thy Tradition and come to Truths present manifestation Trad. But I cannot know the Truth but by the Scripture for it is the Scripture that makes the Truth manifest and from the Scripture do I set up my Worship and there ought to be a Conformity yeelded unto it and such as will not to compel them by a Law Truth The understanding of Truth is by the Spirit of Truth and the Light of Christ in every man's Conscience makes it manifest and this is reported in the Scripture and is the sure Foundation upon which the true Worship stands and all that come to the Spirit and walk in the Spirit they are truly subject to it and bow before it and yeeld all obedience to the manifestation of it and this is the true Worship and the true Worshippers and they that come into this Worship are not brought into it or made conformable to it by any National Law neither do they seek after any such Law to force or compel others that differ from them but commit it to the Power of God And who comes into subjection to God's Power and are made conformable unto that they are the true Worshippers and their service is performed unfeignedly without any deceit or hypocrisie and they appear not so much in an outward Conformity as in Simplicity and godly Sincerity in which they are approved in the sight