he means the erection and dictating of it which may be done either by natural suggestion or by general and positive institution And then we must distinguish betwixt erection as I may call it and direction betwixt natural suggestion by which we understand the dictate or impression of the Law of nature and occasional Application betwixt general institution and particular determination The erection whether by natural suggestion or general institution may be from the wisdom and will of God and yet the direction as to occasional Application and particular determination may be referr'd to the Power and Wisdom of the Church this will appear in some Acts or Rites of external Worship Nonnullas Ceremonias diotat ipsa natura Nature her self does dictate some sort of Ceremonies for example to kneel down when we pray to smite the breast to lift up the eyes and hands to Heaven which are therefore common to the Heathen with all Sects saith Herinex And Zanchy proves that some external Rites used in God's worship are from the Law of Nature because they were common to Jew and Gentil He does instance in howing and kneeling when they worship God and in lifting their eyes up to Heaven when they said their prayers c. And he adds we can use no Ceremony wherein the Law of Nature has not some place Vsque adeo Natura nos ad Deum adorandum ac ritè honestèque ac pie colendum instigat So far does Nature incite us to adore and orderly and honestly and piously to worship God To give some instances bowing the head bowing the knee and bowing the body are external Rites or if you will Acts of external worship and so is prostration They are suggested to us even by the Law of Nature and injoyned by the Decalogue in general But in regard it cannot be performed all at once therefore the particular determination Pro hic nunc or the occasional Application of them to God's service is left to the Wisdom and Order of the Church In like manner the Confession of Christ is a Rite or an Act of God's external worship for there was never any Nation that did believe a God but would also declare that he was to be own'd and acknowledged But whether this confession and acknowledgment should be made viva voce by word of mouth or by subscription or by some Symbolical signe or gesture This is left to the prudence of such as are concern'd to determine it Thus much touching the Creating of worship as our Author calls it with such Rites as do attend and protest the truth and piety of it 2. The Acceptableness thereof follows Some things are acceptable to God as they are suggested by the Law of Nature which is from God and therefore cannot but be very pleasing to him Some things are acceptable as they are inservient to the exercise of internal Piety and so Alms and Beneficence are well pleasing to him Heb. 13. 16. And some things he is pleased with because they are inservient to the solemnity of publick worship and Ornamental to it Such was the holy Temple with the musical Instruments and all the magnificence of it The Lord loveth the Gates of Sion Psal. 87. 2. For Adiaphorae actionis possunt Deo placere saith Vrsin licet aliter quam cultus Dei proprie dictus Indifferent actions may please God tho not upon the same account but in a different manner from the worship of God properly so called God may therefore accept what he does not particularly or directly injoyn In the free-will Offerings under the Law tho God determined the Quid and the Quale yet he let the Quotum undetermined which nevertheless was acceptable to him And what shall we say of David's purpose to build the Temple which resolution he took up not as our Author says of some others Jure Prophètico for it was not the manner of Prophets to be mistaken in their intendments as David was in that case yet God accepted the Piety of his design tho he would not allow him the execution of it Another instance we have in the great Apostle Potuit B. Paulus ex Evangelio sibi victum quaerere quod maluit operari amplius erogabat saith St. Austin Blessed Paul might have lived of the Gospel That he chose rather to earn his own living he laid out himself so much the more And was not this acceptable to God Gratis Evangelium praedicare voluntaria quaedam est libertas eoque gloriam promeretur To preach the Gospel freely is a kind of ingenuous liberty and deserves glory saith the Theophylact And a little After Haud quaquam tantundem futurum est ut is mereatur c. He that preacheth the Gospel for reward can never deserve so much as shall be given to him who preacheth the Gospel freely I will instance but once more and that shall be in Mary Magdalen who commanded her either to wash Christ's feet with her tears or to wipe them with the hair of her head or to poure so costly a box of Ointment upon his head which according to Law might have been sold at a great rate and given to the poor Was she not accepted herein She had the Son of God to be her Advocate against the cavils of his own Disciples she received the comfort of a declarative Absolution and the honour to have her devotion celebrated whereever the Church should preach the Gospel These Dissenters say further whether the things imposed be Integral or Essential parts of worship they do not know but in the worship of God they find them standing upon even ground with those that are certainly Divine or at least as high as man can lift them That the Church does impose or command any parts of worship not of God's Creating is but their pretence and our Denyal Affirmanti incumbit Probatio The proof lies on their side and if they cannot make it good they are uncharitable and false Accusers What Ranke they hold in the esteem of the Church and Learned Protestants we may best learn from her and themselves This Church of England saith That without some Ceremonies it is not possible to keep any Order or quiet Discipline in the Church they were reserved therefore and establisht as well for a decent Order in the Church as because they pertain to edification What Rivet saith from Robert Loëus of the time consecrated to God's service may be applyed to all Ecclesiastical Rites and Ceremonies Moralis potius legis usui subservire quam vim naturam ejus continere nec tam propriè quidem virtutem aut Pietatem quam nervum virtutis vinculumque Pietatis dici He saith that it is rather subservient to the use of the Moral Law then that contein the force and nature of it neither can it so properly be called Virtue or Piety as the sinew of Virtue and the bond of Piety The titles
a time or place for publick worship without Order and Authority For when matters are left at random Quot homines tot sententiae So many men so many minds and the confusion of Tongues is not so destructive as that of Judgments One will be for the hour Nine another will not have his Devotion up and drest till at least Eleven One again will be for the Barn another for the Tabernacle And although this Gentleman tells us of a Church that will and must certainly agree about such things though all determine to the contrary as was observed above yet I have not been so happy as to converse in that Vtopia 2. Natural Circumstances are not Rites in the practice of Religion and God's worship upon that account but as they are capable of improvement in a Moral or Religious respect That all things be done decently according to Order and to Edification These Rules look a little higher then those Natural circumstances which adhere inseperably to all Actions for which there was no such need of a solemn charge or Apostolical direction Time being a Fluid thing and always in motion we can fix no respect upon it but as we seperate several portions of it to be the measure of our worship and service for point of duration and take care for the strict observance of them But the place is capable of more advantage to help devotion God therefore seems to distinguish them as to the respects we are to give them for he saith Levit. 19. 30. Ye shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my Sanctuary I am the Lord. And here I must repeat That Order requires the same time the same place the same gesture and Decency requires that the Rites and Vsages in God's worship be honest grave solemn suitable to the Majesty we adore and the Offices of Divine worship which we pay to him 3. We say New Rites do not make a New Duty not alter God's Law or change his Worship as was noted out of Zanchy 'T is the same Duty still whether performed at 9. or the 12th hour in a Church or Chappel Cathedral or a Parish Church in a Cloak or Cassok Gown or Surplice standing or Kneeling And because our Author is so good at illustrations I will make bold for once to borrow a familiar instance from him Suppose a Law promulgated by the Legislator That every Subject shall sweep his door once a week with a Beesom Now to sweep my Door with a Beesom of Birch or Broom cannot possibly be any Addition to that Law or say I the setting up of a New Duty because 't is necessarily required to the putting of the Law in practice that I do it with the one or the other and therefore they are both comprehended virtually in the Law by way of disjunction that is either with this or that or some other Again to sweep my Door on the Third day of the week and at the ninth hour of the day can be no addition to the Law because I am commanded to do it upon some day in the week and at some hour of the day and the Law not having defined the precise day and hour supposes it indifferent to the Lawgiver which I choose but one or other I must choose unless I will obstinately disobey the Law We shall make use of this illustration thus God makes a Law that we shall give him external worship Now to worship him by Bowing Kneeling or Prostration cannot possibly be any addition to that Law because 't is necessarily required to the putting of the Law in practice that I do it with the one or the other and therefore they are all three comprehended virtually in the Law by way of disjunction that is either after this or that or the other manner Again God commands me to confess the Faith of Christ Crucified and profess my self a Christian Now to make this Confession or Profession by word of mouth or by the subscription of my hand or by some Symbolical sign or significant gesture cannot possibly be any addition to that Law because 't is necessarily required to the putting of the Law in practice that I do it either the one way or the other and therefore they are all comprehended virtually in the Law by way of disjunction that is I must do it either this way or that or the other And the Law not having defined the precise way supposes it indifferent to the Lawgiver which I chuse but one or other I must chuse unless the Church has chosen for me or else I am an obstinate Transgressor 4. It is no derogation to the perfection of Scripture as a Rule that the Singulars or Particular instances of Worship are not specified in it For as our Author well observes 't is always supposed that every one in his private or more publick capacity be able to use and apply the Rule As the Square or Rule of the Architect however exact in it self yet presupposes him to have eyes to see and Brains to apply it to his work so the Scripture as a Law teaches Duty and whatever of well-pleasing Obedience we can perform to God yet supposes us at least to be Rational Creatures that can apply that Law to our own particular Actions whence these two things must necessarily follow 1. That it was not only needless but impossible that the Scripture should enumerate or determine upon the Particular Natural Circumstances of general Time Place Person When Where Who should worship God every day hour minute to the End of the World for so the whole World would not have afforded sufficient stowage for Rubricks nor have been able to contain the Volumns that must have been written for as the End and use of a Rule is not to teach the Artificer when he shall begin to work but how he may do it like a workman whenever he begins so neither was the Scripture design'd for a Clock to tell us at what hour of the day we should commence the publick Service of God but that whenever we begin or end we mannage it according to this Rule 2. That when the Scripture hath prescribed us all the Parts of worship instituted the Administrators of worship given Rules how to seperate them to that Office and laid down general Rules for the regulating those natural Circumstances which could not particularly be determin'd as that they be done to edification decently and in Order And has withal commanded us to attend to this Rule and no other which is true Sano sensu it has then discharged the Office of of a Rule and as a Rule is compleat and perfect Thus our Author has Architectonically erected his Hypothesis but the singulars are not yet determined And what must be done for them Jus Naturae docet esse Deum ip sique reddendum esse quod suum est nempe Cultum tum internum tum externum says our Synopsis The Law of Nature teaches there is a God and
stubborn and inflexible that St. Peter himself was pendulous and knew not well how to handle them yea tho' he had a Vision from Heaven to instruct him in his Duty that way Act. 10. 10. yet still he was sometimes afraid to own the Conversation of the Gentiles and as his fear had once betrayed him to disown Christ himself so in this Case it betray'd him to disown his own Christian Liberty Gal. 2. 11. St. Paul was pendulous too and acted the same part for some time upon the same account for one while to comply with their Zeal for the Law of Moses He circumcised Timothy Act. 16. 5. and purified himself with other Votaries after the Rites and Custom of the Law Act. 21. 23. But afterward he grew more resolved as he perceived the Jews grew more obstinate and malicious and would neither yield to have Titus circumcised nor endure Peter's counterfeit compliance with the humour of the Jews to the prejudice of the Gospel Gal. 2 3. 11. But when certain of the Sect of the Pharisees would needs intail Salvation upon Circumcision and the Law of Moses Act. 15. 1 5. 't was high time to consult the Apostles and Elders about this matter lest the Gentiles in general should be discouraged from embracing the Gospel and such as had embraced it already should be tempted to Apostatize from the Profession of it The Council Convened at Jerusalem to decide this Controversie determines in this Decree That the Gentiles should abstain from meats offered to Idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication Vers. 29. Here is a restraint put upon the Gentiles in favour of the Jews and they restrain'd them in one practice which was amongst them as a Foederal Rite of their Religion eating in their Idols Temples and of such meats as had been offer'd unto Idols These things of themselves were indifferent as St. Paul proves at large 1 Cor. 8. 4. and Chap. 10 25 27. And among these they reckon Fornication because tho' forbidden by the Moral Law it was lookt upon as a thing indifferent among the Gentiles In order to a Coalition of Jews and Gentiles into one Communion they would have the Gentiles so far to conform to the Jews in their daily and familiar Conversation as to abstain from such things as the Jews did most abhor the eating of things offer'd to Idols from blood and from things strangled These were not necessary simply and in strict speaking but indifferent yet being so highly expedient to the Edification and Unity of the Church they were pass'd into the Decree as necessary things Act. 15. 28. Here was nothing determin'd as to the Point of Circumcision yet in this very Decree it was tacitly imply'd That after the Death of Christ neither Circumcision nor the Sacrifices or Ceremonies of the Law were necessary either to the Jews or Gentiles toward the obtaining of Faith or Salvation And yet to such Jews as became Christians and lived in Palestine they concluded the observation thereof so far forth necessary till the Destruction of the Temple that they might not seem to have lost their reverence for God's Commands and by that means so alienate the minds of their Countreymen both from themselves and from Christianity To decide the Case concerning the Ceremonial Law St. Austin does distinguish three Periods of Times The first before Christ's Passion wherein those Precepts were alive in vigour and of great obligation The second time was from the passion of Christ to the sufficient Promulgation of the Gospel wherein those Precepts were dead and did neither bind nor profit any body yet they were not deadly but tolerated and exposed to view as a Herse lay'd in state till they might receive an honourable Burial in the rubbish of the Temple But when men began to pay an awful Reverence to this deceased Body of Moses and to put their trust in it for Grace and Salvation then the Rites and Ceremonies of this Law became deadly and began to stink as false signs of a thing to come which really was already past and then this Law was utterly exploded as an Imposture and an object of Superstition To this observation of times by the Apostles I shall add but one thing more There was a time when the Apostle thought fit to tell the Philippians that in some Cases they might then expect a clearer Revelation Phil. 3. 15. But we being so well assured that the perfect Canon of Scripture is Consigned to the Church He will be in great danger of Enthusiasm who now expects a further Revelation 2. As the Apostles did observe times so they did determine things What things were determined by that Council Act. 15. for a temporary observation among the Gentiles you have seen already But the Capital question that about Circumcision was left undecided At this the false Apostles and Sect of Pharisees took advantage That Gentiles might be admitted into their Communion they did not deny but would have Them made Proselytes of the Covenant whereof Circumcision was the foederal Rite This Sacrament therefore they must receive for their initiation else they could not be saved as Act. 15. 15. This makes the Apostle write so sharply against Circumcision which in effect did imply an obligation to observe the whole Law Gal. 5. In short Those Converts whether brought into the Christian Church from the Communion of the Jews or Gentiles Their Case was this The Jewish part of them had been Educated under the Discipline of Moses The false Apostles told them they were yet under the bond of that Dispensation and some were so simple and weak as to believe them Hereupon they had still an eye to those Jewish Rites and Sacraments even in the use of Christ's own Institutions They did Judaize in the Matter of Circumcision and Paschatize in the Use of the Lord's Supper wherein they had a greater veneration and respect for their old Passover than for Christ's Sacrifice and for this reason the Apostle taxeth them That in the Celebration thereof They did not discern the Lord's Body By this means the Apostle tells them they did renounce their part in Christ and were faln from Grace Gal. 5. 2 4. And he says as ill things of the Gentiles For by the Rites and Ceremonies of their Religion and particularly by their Feasts in the Idols Temple they held a Communion with Devils Now to see such as had taken upon them the Profession of Christianity play the Jews and Gentiles in addicting themselves to the Institutions Rites and Ceremonies of that Religion and Worship which those Jews and Gentiles respectively did profess and practise This was such a Scandal to the Conscientious and weak Disciples the Apostle could not dissemble the resentment of it but tells them plainly They did renounce Christ in it they were faln from Grace and were in Communion with Devils and Christ should profit them nothing and the Scandal they gave hereby might harden unbelievers and
But the Apostle himself seems to be much more tender in the point as appears not only by his general advice but also by his personal resolution It is good saith he neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth or is offended or is made weak Rom. 14. 21. and 1 Cor. 8. 13. If meat make my brother to offend I will eat no flesh while the world standeth lest I make my brother to offend To this I answer That many Expositors do restrain the words of the Apostle to such Wine and Flesh as had been offer'd up in Sacrifice to Heathen Idols and so the sense is clear and easie and I know no good Christian but would observe the Rule if there were occasion for it For as S. Ambrose noteth upon 1 Cor. 8. 13. a measure is to be observed in those things which the Law allows us Vxorem certè licet habere sed si fornicata fuerit abjicienda est ita Carnem licet edere sed si idolis Oblata fuerit respuenda est It is lawful to have a Wife but if she commits Fornication she is to be put away so we may eat flesh but if it be offer'd up to Idols it is to be refused Thus St. Ambrose But this concerns not us at all For we have no such flesh sold in our Shambles no such wine in our Taverns no such Heathen Feasts no such Idols God be thank'd among us But I answer 2. The Apostle writes especially to the Corinthians as an Orator by way of Hyperbole exaggeration We have the like kind of Expression Mat 5. 29. as Grotius has observed There is apparently an Excess in it and 't is impossible that Rule should be observed to a general Satisfaction This we may learn from St. Austin For as he hath it Sicut quod ait Apostolus verum est Malum esse homini qui per offensionem Manducat ita malum est homini qui per offensionem jejunat As that of the Apostle is true 'T is evil to him that eateth with offence so it is no less true 'T is evil to him that fasteth with offence Hereupon De la Cerde doth very well observe that sometimes it may be necessary to eat flesh and drink wine to avoid Scandal lest by abstaining from such things as were Prohibited by their respective Laws a man should fall under a Suspition that he plays the Jew or observes the Law of the Saracens Wherefore in strict speaking this branch of the Apostles discourse is neither to be drawn into Practice or Argument For one man as he himself hath told us Rom. 14. 5. will observe a day another will not one man will eat Swines flesh another does abhor it I cannot satisfie them both for both are scrupulous and both respectively offended at one anothers practice To eat and not to eat to esteem a day and not to esteem it These are perfect Contradictions and 't is impossible for any Charity for the Charity of an Apostle to reconcile his Practice to both their Scruples St. Paul himself at last found this insuperable difficulty by Experience upon the congress of the Jew and Gentile Converts Therefore instead of a charitable and prudential expedient which in this Case was impossible to find out He withstood St. Peter to the face and with great integrity and stoutness asserted the truth of the Gospel and the extent of Christian Liberty Gal. 2. And herein He left us His own Practice an example to maintain our privilege and not to govern our selves by the timorous squeamishness or pretended scruples of superstitious men which may be contradictory and endless but by the solid Rules of Truth and the Prudent Resolutions of Pious Governours 7. It may be further alleadged that the Apostle would not have us make use of our Christian Liberty against Charity Rom. 14. 15. 'T is very true Charity should direct and moderate our Christian Liberty that our mutual content may not be disturbed by the abuse of that Liberty but rather that we may Worship and glorifie our God with unanimity Charity is a great Mistress within her own Jurisdiction and when positive Laws may be superseded the Law of Charity will oblige us But must the Church spend all her stock of Charity upon these Dissenters while they have no love no respect at all for the Church In reference to a private Neighbour there is Debitum Charitatis a debt of Charity but in reference to my Governours there is Debitum necessitatis in respect of their Authority over me a debt of Necessity The Apostle tells us That love is the fulfilling of the Law and certainly if it be an Ordinate love when it looks upon the Second Table it will begin with the Practice of the Fifth Commandment And it ought to be considered that St. Peter speaks with reference to Authority when he gives that injunction 1 Pet. 2. 16. As free and not using your Liberty as a cloak of maliciousness but as the Servants of God My Liberty is like my cloak in this that I may lay it down or put it on as occasion shall require And it shews very little respect to my Superiours if I will not lay aside my cloak to take an innocent walk with them into the House of God And if notwithstanding our Christian Liberty Gal. 5. 13 14. the Law of love does oblige us to serve all Men sure it can never allow us to dispise our Governours or their Commands Besides there are other ways to express our Charity Potest is qui infirmus est sufficienter instrui doceri Fratrem bene agere quodque ejus facto offendi non debeat The weak may be sufficiently instructed and taught that his Brother does well and that he has no reason to be offended at him so saith Estius and this will be the best instance of our Charity Whereas if I encourage him in his disobedience either by my Discourse or Example I do certainly give him Scandal and that we are sure is against Charity But what if my weak Brother will not lay aside his errour That Learned Man hath answer'd this question too Post quam sufficientem ac plenam instructionem si adhuc in Scandalo perseveret non erit illud scandalum datum sed acceptum After sufficient and full instruction if he still perseveres in his Scandal it will not then be a Scandal given but taken for then it will proceed not out of ignorance but out of malice Quale erat Scandalum Pharisaeorum quod Dominus in Evangelio docuit non esse Curandum Mat. 15. and such was the Scandal of the Pharisees which the Lord hath taught us in the Gospel is not to be regarded Thus the Learned Estius ibid. And now I suppose we shall not need to fear any objection from Christ's example in this Case tho' propound by the Apostle Rom. 15. 3. 5. For never
that we ought to render him his due that is both External and Internal worship And the Learned Zanchy resolves Substantia legis Ceremonialis est perpetua That the substance of the Ceremonial Law is perpetual Natural Religion does Dictate something and where there is equity and a parity of Reason and a due Analogy for it we may take some directions from the Levitical Law as the very Learned and Judicious Sanderson observes Our blessed Saviour reteined many Ceremonies and Usances of that Carnal Commandment as Imposition of hands and both the Sacraments And from whence did the Apostle take the hint to injoyn the Women to wear a Vail and keep silence in the Church but from the Custom among the Jews And how does he establish Maintenance for the Evangelical Ministry but upon this bottom 1 Tim. 5. 18. 1 Cor. 9. 13 14. Sanciens Leges Vet. Test. Conformes establishing Law conformable to those of the Old Testament saith Theophylact. And perhaps this Analogy may be a fair ground for the strict observation of the Lord's day of Fasts and Festivals provided they do not typically respect things to come as those of the Law did but reflect upon what is past and fix us upon present Duty The Apostle did not always pretend to inspiration in such matters but used Christian Prudence yet not without a divine assistance and made Inferences out of Generals yet strictly observing such general Rules he concludes that the Particulars were the Commandments of God 1 Cor. 14. 37 40. The Learned Mede observes That it is a Synechdoche proper to the Decalogue Vt ex una specie intelligeremus omnes ejusdem generis Species unâ rerum Sacrarum specie omnes Omnino res sacras that from one Species we are to understand all of the same kind Quaedam sunt dicuntur in Scripturis saith Dr. Sclater out of Nazianzen quaedam verò sunt in Scripturis tametsi non dicuntur And 3. Rules are laid down by that learned Dr. First 1. Where Generals are delivered there are all Particulars comprised in those Generals intentionally delivered because Generals comprehend their Particulars 2. Where Principles and Causes are delivered their effects are also intended as being virtually conteined in their Principles 3. Where one equal is taught all of like reason is taught quia Parium Par ratio and where is Par ratio there is Par lex Where is like Reason there is like Law So take Contents of Scripture saith he no instance of any Point of necessary or but convenient Faith and Practice can be given but what is delivered in the written word Thus Dr. Sclater on 2 Thes. 2. 15. p. 199. The Psalmist tells us The Commandment is exceeding broad And very Learned Protestants think all matters of Decency impli'd in that of Rom. 12. 17. and the Apostles expression Phil. 4. 8. is of a very great latitude Whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest if there be any virtue if there be any praise These with the other particulars there enumerated will extend a great way And the Learned A. Rivet makes good use of that Text against works of Supererrogation nor is it less valid or useful against Will-worship Omnia quaecunque homines possunt ex gratia Dei Deo debentur All that ever men can do by the Grace of God is due to God according to that exhortation and consequently they are in the General injoyn'd by God At least as Luther hath observed from the Apostle ad Gal. 5. 13. They are under the Law of Charity Quaecunque Ceremonialiter humaniter statuuntur Pro Charitate servanda sunt propter eos cum quibus vivendum est nobis donec ipsi easdem servari a nobis exigunt ne pax Solvatur in Schismata Seditiones What things soever are appointed by way of Ceremony and Civility are to be observed out of Charity for their sakes with whom we live so long as they require us to observe them lest Peace should break loose into Schismes and Seditions And a little after he conclude that there is no Law but is comprehended in Charity Nam sine omni dubio si tu quicquam statuisses c. For without all doubt saith he if thou shouldest injoyn any thing thou would'st be obeyed therefore thou art obliged by the Law of Nature and Charity to perform the same to another especially to God and his Vice-gerents provided you do not place Salvation in the Precepts of men but only consider that you are bound to serve others in Charity Hereupon Calvin Argument in Ep. ad Romanos in fine observing a sort of men who thought their Christian Liberty could not stand without a disturbance of the Civil Powers he resolves the case thus Verum ne quid videretur imponere Ecclesiae Paulus praeter Officia Charitatis hanc quoque obedientiam sub charitate contineri indicat Lest St. Paul should seem to impose any thing upon the Church besides the Offices of Charity He declares viz. Rom. 13. 8. that this obedience to the higher Powers is comprehended in Charity Those Impositions therefore which these Dissenters quarrel at are commanded in General and not being against any command of God if there were no more in the Case yet they are under a General Rule because done According to Order 5. It is to be noted That external Worship is a Duty of Religion and of great necessity It is the Observation of the Author of our Synopsis upon Josuah 22. 25. Ita est Mortalium ingenium ut Adminiculis opus habeant quibus mentes erigant in Coelum Such is the disposition of Mortal Men that they stand in need of helps to raise their Minds to Heaven Whereupon it often comes to pass Vt ubi Cultus externus negligitur that where God's outward Worship is neglected Ibi animorum quoque Religio sensim Tabescit Minuitur there the internal Religion also of the Soul flaggs and by degrees dwindles away to nothing Rectè igitur as that Author goes on wherefore they made a very good inference that if the Ritual Worship were obstructed or hindred the Spiritual Worship that I may so call the inward Piety of the Mind will decay and depart with it And the Learned Grotius hath very well observed that to make external Worship but a matter indifferent is the way to make the Courage and Constancy of Christians to languish and nothing is more destructive to Christianity then to bring in Conciliating expedients to mingle the Christian Religion with others whether approved or only tolerated 6. We must consider That when there are many ways of external Worship to express our inward Piety which cannot all be performed at once God has left it to the Wisdom of his Church In Publick Administrations to determine which we should observe And for the proof of this I 'le go no further than one of our own Divines Learned and Zealous and
very Famous in his Generation 'T is Mr. Perkins in his Cases of Conscience concerning the Gesture to be used in Prayer wherein he lays down these Three Rules he speaks of Publick Prayer 1. When Publick Prayer is made in the Congregation our Gesture must always be comely modest and decent 2. All Gesture used publickly must serve as much as may be to express the inward humility of the heart without Hypocrisy Now these kinds are manifold saith he some concern the whole Body as the bowing thereof the casting of it down upon the Ground Some again concern the Parts of the Body as lifting up of the Head the Eyes the Hands bowing the Knees c. Touching these the Scripture hath not bound us to any particulars 3. Therefore we must saith he in publick Prayer content our selves to follow the laudable fashion and Custom of that particular Church where we are For to decline from Customs of particular Churches in such Cases often causeth Schism and Dissentions And what he says upon the Epistle to the Galatians to the same purpose is worthy to be noted and seasonable for our Christian Practice The use of the Law among the Jews saith he was to shut them up into the Unity of one Faith and Religion For this Cause they had but one Temple one Mercy-seat one Highpriest c. Hence it follows saith that Holy man that in a Godly and Christian Common-wealth when true Religion is established there may be no Tolleration of any other Religion For that which is the End of God's Laws must also be the end of all good Laws in all Common-wealths and Kingdoms namely to shut up the People into the Unity of one Faith The Church of the Jews saith he is called a Fountain Sealed a Garden enclosed Cant. 4. 13. a Vineyard hedged in Isai. 5. 5. Psal. 80. 13. And here viz. Gal. 3. ver 23 24 25. we see what is the Hedge or Wall of this Garden or Vineyard namely the Regiment or Policy of Moses by a Threefold kind of Law This admonisheth us saith he to respect and with care to observe good Laws because they are as it were Hedges and Fences of all good Societies and the breaking of them is the pulling down of our Fence Thus Mr. Perkins from which principles of his good God! How much are these times degenerated and let all the World judge who honours the Reformation most they who professedly violate or they who zealously maintain the Laws and legal establishment of it 7. We may add That the Church hath this Power not only in Sacred Rites and Acts of external Worship but also in such as are civilly decent and such is the Womans Vail which I look upon not as a thing properly Religious or Sacred but only as a decent Habit according to custom common estimation and the Law of Nature especially in Ecclesiastical Assemblies whereupon Bullinger concludes his Commentary upon that head thus Haec verò de Habitu Ecclesiae ingredientium dicta sufficiant This shall suffice to have spoken touching the Habit of such as approach the Church of God And now one of the Apostles Instances when he is giving Orders to establish Decency in publick Assemblies being in the matter of Habit methinks this should be warrant enough as a General Rule for the use of the Surpliss by Ecclesiastical Ministers in the Publick Offices and Administrations of the Church For to Officiate naked is against Natural Decency and so dishonest to Officiate in a Fools Coat or some singular Habit taken for it is ridiculous and scandalous And such as are peculiarly seperated to the Service of the most High God why should not they be distinguisht by special Habits in the publick and solemn Administration of their Sacred Offices as well as Civil Judges Mayors and other Publick Officers Does this make any alteration in the substance of Religious Worship Quòd veteres Episcopi coenam administraturi aliam induerint Vestem ad Mutationem Coenae nihil pertinet saith Zanchy That such as Administer the Holy Office do put on another Vesture this does not change the Worship but adds solemnity to it To prevent indecency we have the Order of a just Authority to determine the Point And our Governors for their direction besides the light of Nature and common custom where any Religion was in Vogue had the Rule of Analogy from the Vests of the Priests and Levites in their Solemn Assemblies under the Law and an Invitation by a fair Allusion to that Practice in the Vision of St. John Apoc 7. 13 15. And what Habit more Decent then White to represent that Holiness becomes both the Priest and the Christian Profession aswell as the House of God However this being about the use of a Habit in Ecclesiastical Assemblies as was the Womans Vail which the Apostle gave special Order for it must certainly be comprised under the General Rule of Decency and consequently as such under the command of God according to the Observation of Hemmingius In 1. ad Cor. 14. 37. Sunt Mandata Domini quae hîc à Paulo praecipiuntur quantum quidem ad Genus attinet quatenus praecipiunt Decorum Ordinem in Ecclesia Publicae aedificationis Pacis gratia They are the Commandments of God which are there injoyn'd by St. Paul as to the Genus or Generality of them inasmuch as they require Decency and Order in the Church of God for Edification and Peace-sake As to Kneeling at the Sacrament a Ceremony much scrupled at heretofore much need not be mentioned to Judicious Persons For Kneeling it self is undoubtedly an Act or Part of God's External Worship and not a Mere Rite or Naked Ceremony 't is suggested by the Law of Nature dictated by Common Sense and the Reason of all Nations and declared to be our Duty by the Second Commandment of the Decalogue A Gesture so familiar and frequent at our Prayers that 't is many times put for the whole Duty aswell-under the Old as under the New Testament Micah 6. 6. Ephes. 3. 12. Zanchy makes it a Part of Adoration or External Worship Where the bowing of the Knee to Baal is disapproved and they are commended who did not bow the Knee to him Whereever we find a Command that every Knee should bow to God and Christ In all those places the Speech is not of Internal but of External Adoration Whence 't is easy to Collect that God requires External Adoration also and External Worship as the Testimony and Fruit of that which is Internal Zanchy and Mr. Perkins is clear and express for it Adoration in general saith he is outward Worship signifying and testifying the inward Worship of the heart More especially by it we must conceive the bowing of the Head and Knee the bending and prostrating of the Body the lifting up of the Hands Eyes and such like And a little after Adoration that is due to God the Creator must not be social
But to think the Walls of the City are presently to be broken down to let in this Trojan Horse as a great Prelate exprest himself at Court is an attempt like to be fatal and a certain way to bring in ruine 5. That some should be obliged to obey the Laws and shew Conformity and others be dispensed with cannot stand with Equity Aequalitas prima pars aequitatis saith Seneca Equalitie is the first and chiefest part of Equite We are taught also by a dear experience that such a dispensation will breed division for a division in Laws makes division in Kingdoms a choosing of sides and a mustering into Parties whence strife infallibly with Envy Emulations Contentions and a Worldr of other mischiefs do arise And as Division in Laws causes division in Kingdoms so those divisions cause the subversion and overthrow of such Kingdoms For 't is Gospel that a Kingdom divided against it self cannot stand Satans Kingdom thus divided would come to desolation how then can a Kingdom of Flesh and Blood a Kingdom of Mortal Men subject to impetuous passions subsist under Agony and conflict of divisions If there were no such danger likely to ensue upon a Toleration or Connivance yet it cannot stand with Decency and Honour that one People within the same Land and under the same Government and especially Monarchical should be under divers Laws 'T is like an Oracle in Curtius Ejusdem Juris esse debent qui sub eodem Rege Victuri sunt Such as are under the Government of one and the same King within the same Land and Nation should be under one and the same Law especially as to publick Administrations 6. But the prevailing Argument is The Hellish Plots the Implacable Malice and the Secret Combinations of the Popish party to destroy us the consideration whereof is thought sufficient to induce us to take into Union and Association with us all sorts of Dissenters that have but Mettle and Edge enough to encounter and oppose the Chuch of Rome But has the matter been duly weighed in an equal Ballance Or has not the dreadful apprehension of a present attempt from the one party so far transported us as to make us forget the like tho perhaps a little more remote danger which threatens us from the other Queen Elizabeth in her time thought it a measuring cast which of the two Factions was the more pernitious to the Rights of the Crown and the establisht Government She knew the Principles of these Dissenters as well as those of the Popish Priests and Jesuites she observed their practices also and the Methods they took that altho they began with tender and meek Petitions yet they proceeded to Admonitions nay to sharp and Satyrical Remonstrances and at last having Calculated their numbers and Computed who was and who was not for their Cause they supposed themselves certain of so great a Party that they durst and began to threaten first the Bishops then the Queen and Parliament Hereupon the Queen having a strict Eye and Check upon them in a Parliament held the 28th of her Reign Commanded Serjeant Puckering who was then Her Mouth as well as the Speaker of the House of Commons to declare her Majesties sense and to caution her Subjects against them which was done in these expressions And especially you are Commanded by her Majesty saith he to take heed that no ear be given or time afforded to the wearysome Solicitations of those that commonly be called Puritans wherewith all the late Parliaments have been exceedingly importun'd Which sort of men whilst in the giddiness of their Spirits they labour and strive to advance a new Eldership they do nothing else but disturbe the good People of the Church and Commonwealth which is as well grounded for the Body of Religion it self and as well guided for the Discipline as any Realm that professeth the Truth And the same thing is already made good to the World by many the Writings of Godly and Learned Men neither answered nor answerable by any of these new fangled Refiners And as the present Case standeth it may be doubted whether they or the Jesuites do offer more danger or be more speedily to be repressed For albeit the Jesuites do impoyson the hearts of her Majesties Subjects under a pretence of Conscience to withdraw them from obedience due to her Majesty yet do they the same but closely and only in privy Corners But these men do both publish in their printed Books and teach in all their Conventicles sundry Opinions not only dangerous to the well setled Estate and Policy of this Realm by putting a Pyke between the Clergy and the Laity but also much derogatory to her Sacred Majesty and her Crown as well by the diminution of her antient and lawful Revenues and by denying her Highnesses Prerogative and Supremacy as by offering peril to her Majesties safety in her own Kingdom In all which things howsoever in many other points they pretend to be at War with the Popish-Jesuites yet by this Seperation of themselves from the Vnity of their fellow Subjects and by abasing the Sacred Authority and Majesty of their Prince they do but joyn and concur with the Jesuites in opening the door and preparing the way to the Spanish Invasion that is threatned against the Realm This was the sense of that Great Queen and her Great Council And hereupon such Laws were Inacted as were designed to strike equally at both Factions Now upon the premisses the Quere will be whether such as attempt to violate and dissolve those Laws which she made to secure the Church and Kingdom as then established do Cordially affect the Authority she had and the Government she exercised In all reason such as pretend so great a veneration for her Name should defer some thing to her Judgment and yield something to her Wisdom and Experience But if she were now alive might she not find just cause to expostulate with Subjects as our Saviour did some time with his Disciples Why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say You call me Renownd and Glorious a Queen of Blessed Memory and you honour me with a piece of Formal Pageantry but you have no Reverence for the Authority which I was invested with For have you not the same Crown the same Sword and the same Scepter still Have you not the same Government the same Reformation the same Religion which was publickly profest maintained and honoured in my Reign For where 's the difference No alteration no addition has been made but for the advantage of the Nation and the Protestant Cause in general yet what Elogies are given of her daies and how is the Protestant Religion cry'd up for the flourishing condition of it under her Government The Protestant Religion says Vox populi in which they and their Fathers have been so many years bred and under which they have seen so many happy Days freed from the