Selected quad for the lemma: knowledge_n
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A41505
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A discourse about ceremonies, church-government and liturgy humbly offered to the consideration of the convocation / by J.G.G.
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Gailhard, J. (Jean)
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1696
(1696)
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Wing G120; ESTC R25091
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108,929
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160
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scandalous and ignorant Drone because he conformeth as it too often happeneth if Drunkards Swearers Fornicators Sabbath-breakers be let alone if a Man for not coming to the Offering or refusing to pay his Groat be fined or excommunicated and then the Writ de excommunicato capiendo be issued out yet in the mean time one who lives in open and notorious Drunkenness Whoredom and Adultery be winked at do we not prefer our Tradition before the Commandment For Abuses in things of this Nature I shall bring an Evidence without Exception a darling Son of the Church Dr. Andrews in a Sermon of his before he was a Bishop preached to the Convocation Truth forceth these Words out of him The Church Censures now a days do only touch the Purse Evil doers when they have paid their Fees return Scotfree if no Money then have at the Offenders with the Episcopal Sword presently at one Blow they are cut off from the Church and delivered over unto Satan proclaimed Publicans Heathens Anathema for the most ridiculous things and against every good Man these brutish Thunderbolts do fly up and down and only to be feared of the Purse so let become what it will of God's Law Man's shall be executed though contrary to Right and Reason Yet I think Man ought to consider that the Church is a Society in order to Salvation rather than to buying and selling or Depredation 'T is an imperfect Body except Christ the Head be comprehended and his Right of Ruling and making Laws asserted By these Laws he hath left us a Freedom from the Yoke of Ceremonies for the Body as for the Soul not only an inward Liberty of Mind and Conscience but an external Freedom of Body and outward Man from such Rites in Worship as have not his Stamp such are our Popish ones that are evil from the Beginning and most taken out of the Mass-book and the Ceremonial All this he saith according to Truth only we must add how those Popish Dregs we do retain are of the same Nature with those we left off and were by him condemned In every thing we perform about Religion it is our Duty to obey Ordinances and use the means which God hath appointed God indeed can work without but we have no warrant to think he will In this case we are sure to be tied by a Commandment and encouraged by a Promise if we go the contrary way it will be with us as with the People of Israel about Manna they were told upon the Sabbath there would be none they would not believe but try they went and found none Exod. 16.16 27. V. 19 20. They were charged upon Week-days to leave none till the Morning but they would do it but it bred Worms and stank So it will befal any one that goes out of God's Way and follow their own they shall find no Instruction no Wisdom no Comfort or if there be any it will stink be of no Use and come to-nothing let us take notice of what the Prophet saith Isa 1.16 Put away the Evil of your doings He doth not enjoyn to take away the Works but the Evil of them as if he had said sacrifice still according to the prescribed Rules chuse a Sacrifice without Blemish for the matter offer it according to the Rites I appointed as to the manner but bring also a reformed Life an humble Heart a Submission to and Conformity to my Ordinance and bring nothing of your own but Obedience from the Heart wherein hitherto ye failed It is a Sin not to do well and to do ill Ignorance excuseth though not from the whole yet from the measure of Punishment but in those who sin against Knowledge namely that God hath not commanded but rather forbidden such things 't is a double Sin and with a Witness many Stripes for the Servant who knows the Master's Will and doth it not and I think we may truly say no Nation was ever more severely punished than the Jewish because they sinned against greater Lights 't is not enough to know the Truth but also we must obey it This whole Discourse I can no better conclude than with some few Observations upon the 14th Chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans I wish it to be read more than it is and what is therein contained better observed for it doth justly fit and reach our Case the whole being reduced to the great Rule of Charity great I may call it Rom. 13.10 for it is the fulfilling of the Law Charity now a-days is much talked of but little practised we are all agreed about the Speculation and Theory but the whole Difficulty lies in coming to the practicable Part thereof Which that it may be well ought to be universal in every thing we do according to that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 16.14 Gal. 4.9 Let all your things be done with Charity however it will never do if Men stand upon Punctilios and Niceties and say tell us which hath been told a thousand times what ye would have and in case we think fit to grant you some of the things you desire will you joyn with us as to the rest This is pertinaciously to defend a barren and unprofitable Ground and this kind of Capitulations do not become the truly noble Spirit of Christian Religion ye keep the Doors shut upon us do but level all the Rubbish of out-Works those Humane Buildings to make way for us to come into the Body of the Church which whether we come or not 't is your Duty to do and that once being over you have done your Part and if after it we do not come in you may lay the Blame at our Door but not only you keep Men from Church but also stop all approaching to it you shut them out of the Places that are accounted the Springs of Learning as Vniversities to hinder them from qualifying themselves for publick Service in the Church you will not allow them Wells to drink Waters out of their own but of your own not so much as allow them to draw together with you but upon such hard Terms and Conditions as are unjust and they cannot accept of Thus all Schools Universities Places Preferments Offices whether ecclesiastical or civil ye do wholly monopolise to your selves Well this by the by but to come to St. Paul he exhorteth not to despise or condemn one another for things indifferent he instanceth it in two things that may serve for all of the same Nature namely eating or not eating some kinds of Meats keeping or not keeping some certain Days which were the Dispute of the Times and though they may be indifferent of themselves yet by the Access of some Circumstances become unlawful as may be when Men stand too much and lay too great a Stress thereupon which makes the Apostle call it weak and beggerly Elements Gal. 4 9 10 11 and condemn it when he saith Ye observe Days and Months and Times
their Customs so we may say will ye overcome and convince Papists cast away their Ceremonies for let us not deceive our selves Ceremonies as well Popish Heathenish and Jewish we ought to part with As for instance if to avoid the Jews Worshipping towards the West our Altars or Communion-Tables are towards the East then we shall fall into the practice of the Idolatry of the Heathens who Worshipped towards the East whereof God takes notice Ezech. 8.16 the way to avoid these two or any other extream is to have no certain affected place but only that which is most convenient But before we come to particulars we must speak something more of Ceremonies in general there are such Circumstances and Ceremonies without which nothing can be done in any Society whether Ecclesiastical or Civil as Times Places and Persons but both these do not come within the question nor those of another kind as are derived from Scripture such are Kneeling in the solemn Duty of Prayer and breaking Bread in the Lord's Supper which be necessary and instituted nor those that are truly and only for Decency and Order which anon we shall have occasion to speak of but the Dispute is of Rites not commanded by God but devised by Man unnecessary in the Church yet are pressed as necessary though by them owned to be indifferent and are used as analogically Sacramental as well as properly Moral and in their signification they make them partake to the nature of Sacraments also in their significative teaching and stirring up of the Heart and being used in Worship as external Acts of God's Worship falsly appointed by Men and serve not for Order Decency nor Edification In the Preface of the Common Prayer Book discovering the intent of the Imposers are these words concerning Ceremonies Such are retained which are apt to stir the dull mind of Man to the remembrance of his Duty to God by some moral and special signification whereby he might be edified To this may be applied that complaint of God against the People of Israel Isa 29.13 Their fear towards me is taught by the Precepts of Men. They say they make not our Ceremonies necessary to Salvation no more do Papists theirs for say they 't is by the Church's Institution yet they make it sin to omit them out of the case of Scandal and Contempt and our Church Men say no less I am sure their practise saith so much for they punish Men for not practising them and they make them as necessary to Salvation as Men can make them when the ordinary means are absolutely denied to all those that refuse them Papists own many or most of their Ceremonies to be Humane because instituted by Men as their several Garments in the Church c. 'T is very strange indeed that when we press our Ceremonists to lay aside so many idle distinctions about Humane unnecessary insignificant Ceremonies that have been and are abused to Superstition and Idolatry and so may not lawfully be used and imposed upon Christ's Church and People they take up the Cudgels for Popery saying their Idolatry and the Pagan's considered in themselves not to be alike and we say though Popish Images be not the same as those of the Heathens yet they are as abominable Idols as theirs and the Worshipping of them as much to be abhorred by all true Christians as the Worshipping of the Images of the Gentiles The wisest sort of Heathens knew well there is but one true God Maker of all things but the ignorant and rudest sort of Papists Worship the Creature more devoutly as Divine Objects than those Heathens were used to do They who have conversed amongst them may speak of this according to their certain knowledge and this I must add how therein Papists sin against greater Light than the Heathens Besides is there among the Heathens any worse or so bad an Idolatry as that of the Mass Heathens Worshipped pretty Figures finely wrought by cunning Workmen but Papists worship a Wafer which any Dunce can make nothing commendable either for Matter or Workmanship Now the Ceremonies in question having undeniably been derived to us from Popery we ought to abhor them for surely Christ hath not left his chaste Spouse so bare and naked as to need borrowing Garments from the Whore of Babylon Our holy Religion is pure why then should it be defiled with the pollutions of the Roman Church For none can deny but that most if not all of them were invented in that Synagogue of Antichrist and were and are still by them used in a Superstitious and Idolatrous way Psal 4â— 13 The King's Daughter saith David is all glorious within The Beauty of Christ's Church is inward and spiritual Humility Chastity Sincerity Holiness Faith Charity c. are her proper and necessary Qualifications and Ornaments plain and modest Cloaths and Behaviour become an honest and virtuous Wife who proposeth to her self to please only her Husband but a Strumpet and a Harlot who would intice and draw Adulterers to her self puts on gaudy Cloaths She deckt her Bed with Coverings of Tapestry Prov. 7.16 17 with Carved Works with fine Linen of Egypt she perfumes her Bed with Myrrh Aloes and Cynamon She painteth and uses all imaginable Art to hide the rottenness stinking Breath and every thing else amiss in her to bring in Custom No Vertuous Woman will wear any Cloaths that she knows to have been used by a Whore so the true Church will hate to make use of the Trinkets of the Romish Harlot And if Men separate from Churches where Images are retained who is the cause and in fault they who dislike Images or those that retain them To this purpose 't is observable how although the name Baal God Lord Master may justly be used towards God yet in respect the same was given to Idols God both hated and forbad it Hos 2.16 17. Thou shalt call me no more Baal for I will take away the name of Baalim After he had said before ver 13. I will visit upon her the days of Baalim for God is very jealous in things relating to his Worship as he calls himself so in the second Commandment whereof the sum is that in his Worship or Ceremonies about it we are to devise nothing of our own Brains or borrow any thing of Heathenish or other Idolatrous Rites and the Equity of that Precept to avoid Idolatry is set down in Scripture 1. By the detestation which God beareth unto all Tokens and Instruments of Idolatry Deut. 7.25 26. 2. We cannot be said to have repented of Idolatry except we be ashamed of 2 Chron. 33 15 Isa 1.29 and chap. 2.20 and cast away the Instruments and Monuments of it else we shall be in continual danger to be corrupted Exo. 34.12 15. and there is more danger in Popish Ceremonies because we converse with them more than with other Idolaters Farther with retaining those Rites that have been and