A Course of Lectures UPON THE CHURCH CATECHISM IN Four VOLUMES VOL. I. Vpon the Preliminary Questions and Answers By a Divine of the Church of England OXFORD Printed by Leonard Litchfield Printer to the University for the AUTHOR 1696. TO THE Right Reverend Father in GOD WILLIAM LORD BISHOP of Coventry and Litchfield Lord Almoner to the KING My Lord HAving your Lordship's Commands for the Publication of these following Discourses I have reason to hope my Readers will prove candid and favourable in their Censures since they cannot but pay the greatest Deference to the Judgment of a Prelate whom all the Learned both at home and abroad do unanimously rank amongst the greatest Divines that this or former Ages can glory in But that I may not too much lessen that Esteem which the judicious part of Mankind at least do justly bear to your Lordship as the nicest Judge in Things of this Nature by proclaiming to the World that Encouragement you have given to a Work which no doubt will be found very defective I am apt to believe and am forward to own it that it might be more your Approbation of the Design than the Goodness of the Performance that has made your Lordship so exceedingly kind to it and its Author And indeed if ever there were a necessity of attempting any thing to promote Catechetical Instruction there is now too sad an Occasion for it Some Years since we thought it sufficiently hard upon us that we were put to the trouble of defending a Church so excellently Constituted as ours is by susteining those slight Skimishes made only upon its Outworks namely against its Rites and Ceremonies Solemnities I would rather call 'em so wisely order'd for the more grave and solemn Administration of Divine Worship and for the better Edification of the Souls of Men. But alas the Enemy has now enter'd through our Breaches into the very heart of our City as St. Austin calls the Church of God And as if there were an Vniversal Conspiracy made at this time against it All the Grand and Fundamental Articles both of Natural and Revealed Religion are now either most furiously storm'd by Atheists Deists and Socinians on the one hand or secretly and dangerously undermined by Enthusiasts and Antinomians on the other And if the next Generation should grow worse in its Principles and Morals than the present what Vengeance from Heaven even to the removing of our Candlestick may we not fear But especially what Indignation from God may not we of the Clergy dread should we suffer the Youth of our Nation to go abroad into the World without having first given 'em those Religious Impressions by good Principles as will guard 'em from the danger thereof and especially without having first prepossess'd the Minds of such with a deep Tincture of Divine Knowledge as are likely to be the Leading Men in their Countries and yet by a fatal mistake in Education are generally brought up in those Vndisciplin'd Societies amongst whom the Oracles of false and pretended Reason are more universally read and more highly applauded than the Lively Oracles of Divine Revelation I know how deeply sensible your Lordship is of the growing Infidelity and Heterodoxy of this Age and how much it is your Opinion that a constant Course of Catechising our Youth in the Fundamental Principles of Christianity is the only means that can effectually obviate and Cure those Great and prevailing Evils And if what I have here offered to the Publick may be at all serviceable to any of my Brethren in affording some useful Materials for their own Composures of this kind and in assisting any of 'em in their Method I have my End and shall therein in sone measure answer I presume your Lordship's Design who out of a pious Zeal to have this Work of Catechising universally set forwards by every Individual Minister in your Diocess would have the way so plain'd that we might all proceed therein without interruption And sure where the Authoritative Injunctions of so great a Father and Governor of our Church are join'd with such an unparalell'd Industry in the discharge of all the most Important and difficult Duties of the Episcopal Care it is impossible for us who are under the Influence of your Power and Example to be Remiss in that which is the very principal part of Ministerial Instruction incumbent upon us For if we no sooner saw your Lordship entring upon that Diocess to which you were Translated so Happily to us though so disadvantageously to your own Fortunes but we saw you apply your self with the utmost Vigour to the Business of it in Visiting not only your Clergy but Cathedral Schools and Hospitals If in your Lordship's primary Visitation we heard such a Learned Scriptural Proof of the JUS DIVINUM of the THREE DISTINCT ORDERS and what Evidence of that Nature is not to be expected from one so Mighty in the Holy Scriptures as cannot but silence all Adversaries and all the Learned of our Nation would be glad to see made publick If we also saw at the same time that Venerable Ordinance of Confirmation even amongst those vast Crowds that came to it and with so great a Fatigue to your self administer'd with a particular Application of the stipulatory part to every Individual Person that was duly attested to be sufficiently Qualified and with that Order Gravity and Solemnity which raised in all who were present that Value for it which is due to it If against every EMBER we see those wise Precautions used with Reference to the Candidates for Holy Orders as would effectually prevent the admission of Persons unworthy upon the account of any Immorality or will wholly lay the Guilt at the Doors of those who are backward to Inform their Church-Governors of the Miscarriages they know in order to their Correction and Remedy and yet are most apt to raise their Outcries against the Scandals of the Clergy And if also in the Probation of those who are permitted to stand Candidates there is constantly such a Treasury of Sacred Learning open'd to 'em in your Explications of Holy Writ as renders those Examinations one of the most learned and useful Theological Exercises that this Age does know and is alone sufficient to render those in a good measure Qualified with Scriptural Knowledge who come not thereto altogether prepar'd before-hand And indeed if agreeably to your Lordship 's so useful Examinations those who have the Happiness to be conversant with you in your Studies do always see you searching the Scriptures and do scarcely ever find you without the Holy Bible before you though one would think the sacred Page need be no more turn'd over by one who seems to have it wholly by heart already both in our own and all the Learned Languages If farther yet we have seen your Lordship by a Method equally worthy to be admired and imitated in so short time to have got such an exact Knowledge of a numerous Clergy
And now Catechizing you are told in the Title and Description of that Catechism which you are Learning is requisite in order to this your Confirmation I. â—o the solemn Ratifying of â—ur Covenant â—ith God And First in order to your solemn Renewing therein of the Covenant and Vow made with God in your Baptism and that you may Ratify and Confirm the same in your own Person For why In your Confirmation you do Voluntarily and of Choice take upon you that Profession of Christianity which before in your Minority was done by others in your behalf And it is necessary before you take upon your selves so great and weighty a Business as the Performance of the Conditions of the Covenant of Grace that you be first Instructed so as to understand them well both what those Conditions of Repentance Faith and Obedience are and what mighty Blessings God Vouchsafes to make over to you in the same Covenant that should be an Encouragement and reasonable Consideration to you to undertake so great and weighty a Charge Just as in the case of a Person under Age who by reason of his Minority being uncapable of himself to Enter into any Covenants his Trustees may do it for him But when he is come to Age and must Seal to and Confirm such Covenants himself it is requisite he have them Read to him and be made to Understand what Advantages accrue to him thereby before he Confirm them in his own Person But why not this Instruction rather before Baptism than Confirmation It is in Baptism that we Enter into Covenant with God and Catechetical Instruction should therefore properly go before that you 'll say And in the beginning of Christianity indeed when the Parties Baptized were for the most part Persons grown up to Years of Understanding who Abandoning their Heathenish or Jewish Principles and Practices gave themselves up to be Christ's Disciples it was required that such even before they were Baptized should be first Catechized in the Principles of Christianity and be made to understand the Conditions of that Covenant which by their Baptism they were to Enter into with God And so it is still requisite that all New Converts from Paganism or Judaism or Mahometism or any other contrary Religion should be likewise first Instructed before they be Admitted to Baptism because such being as well to Unlearn as it were their former false Religion as to Learn the true Christian Profession they ought therefore to Understand both e're they can well Renounce that or before they can Reasonably put on or Embrace this But as to you who are the Children of Christian Parents your Case is quite different for having no false Religion to Unlearn and Renounce and having a kind of Right of Inheritance by Virtue of your Christian Parentage to be Baptiz'd even in your Infancy into the Profession of the True It is therefore sufficient that you be Instructed after your Baptism in the Nature and Tenour of the Baptismal Covenant provided that when so Instructed you afterwards appear Solemnly to Confirm it before Christ's Ambassadour the Bishop But then it is highly necessary you should be so Catechized and Instructed before you Personally undertake a Matter of so great Importance that so when you come to make a solemn and publick Profession of such an Undertaking you may do it in a way and manner that becomes reasonable and wise Persons to do so great a thing in who always know and consider the Weight and Consequence of Matters of Moment e're they will Solemnly make a Profession of them or Undertake them So necessary is Catechizing in order to the Renewing and Ratifying in Confirmation that Covenant and Vow which was made in Baptism Nor Secondly II. To the Receiving Benefit by the Episcopal Benediction Prayers and Laying on of Hands Is it less necessary to your receiving Benefit by the Prayers the Blessing and by the Laying on of Hands of the Bishop in Confirmation As Beneficial as these really are to all those who shall come duly Prepared yet it is certain that without some necessary Qualifications in such as come to be Confirm'd amongst which to understand the Nature Terms and Conditions of the Covenant of Grace and seriously to Intend to Perform the same are the first and chief none will be much the better for the Bishop's Prayers Benediction or Imposition of Hands These may be a Means indeed of Obtaining the Graces of the Holy Spirit to Enable those that understand their Baptismal Vows and Covenant with God to perform such their Engagements but they are utterly unlikely to have any Operation upon those who understand not what a Covenant of Grace does mean And therefore Catechizing which is the only proper Means to give you such an Understanding must needs be exceedingly necessary to your being Benefited also by what the Bishop shall perform in your Confirmation And so much for the Nature Necessity and End of Catechizing so far as the Title of your Catechism does give us occasion to discourse of it And if we consider it so far only you have a great deal of reason to value Catechizing as a most necessary and useful Kind of Instruction so as to need no great Invitation to it The Points you see therein taught are the most substantial and weighty Truths of Religion The Persons to be so Instructed are indifferently any Persons of whatever Age Sex or Quality till they come to a competent Understanding of those most necessary Points as has been Practiced in the Apostle's Times and the Primitive Church And the End thereof you see is no less than to render you capable to Confirm that Covenant with God wherein are contain'd the Highest and most Valuable Priviledges in the World and which cost the most inestimable Price to purchase them for us even the Blood of Christ and which except you shall secure your selves an Interest in you are desperate and undone Persons And now each of these Considerations are Reasons sufficient to bring you to be Catechized and to make you value it as a great Happiness you may be so Instructed to your Soul's health But that nothing may be left unsaid to raise in your Minds a due Esteem of Catechizing and to perswade you to Attend it I shall over and above what the Title of your Catechizing directly leads me to say concerning it give you to understand several other good Uses to which Catechizing serves as so many Arguments to Invite you to it THE Second Lecture A Catechism that is to say an Instruction to be Learned of every Person before he be brought to be Confirmed by the Bishop LAST Lord's Day taking these Words which are the Title of your Catechism for my Text as I shall do the several Parts of the Catechism it self till I have gone through with it and by Commenting upon them I have given you an account of the Nature and End of Catechizing and the Persons to be Catechized First As to
all that but preserv'd himself notwithstanding a true Worshiper of the True God And for the Encouragement of you who are Children and Servants if it has been your misfortune to be Born of wicked Parents and Bred up in ungodly Families consider that There was found some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel for which God had a Regard to him even in Abijah the Son of wicked Jeroboam who made Israel to Sin 1 King 14.13 And Obadiah preserv'd himself a good Man even in the House of wicked Ahab Chap. 18.13 And so must you likewise as you will approve your selves faithful Souldiers of Jesus Christ be wrought upon by no Examples to comply with Sin Nay secondly to Confront their bad Examples with an excellent One of his own Nay Secondly So far must a Christian be from Conforming himself to the Examples of wicked Men which would Influence him to Sin that he is call'd forth to do more Namely to confront their bad Ones with an extraordinary good One of his own and in the midst of an Evil and Adulterous Generation he must shew himself an excellent Example of Religion and Vertue Hence it is that in the Fifth of St. Matthew of us Christians it is said that we must be the Salt of the Earth ver 13. that we must be the Light of the World and a City set on a Hill that cannot be hid and a Candle not put under a Bushel but on a Candlestick ver 14 15. And lastly we are there commanded ver 16. To let our Light so shine before Men that they may see our good Works and glorify our Father which is in Heaven It is therefore that we are thus Represented because that by the Excellency of our Examples we must be as Salt to a corrupted World to Season and Recover it from its Corruption that by the Eminency of all Christian Vertues and Graces shining in our Conversations we must Enlighten the dark World and lead 'em by the Brightness of our good Examples into Holiness and Purity of Living So much it lies upon you not to Conform your selves to evil Examples that would lead you into Sin that by the Goodness of your own you must draw others off from it II. When they shall Tempt and Entice us by their evil Company Secondly You must Refuse to Conform your selves as to the Examples so to the Company of wicked Men when falling amongst 'em they would entice you to join with 'em in Sin As there are a great many more of bad Examples abroad in the World than good Ones So the Infection thereof is a great deal more taking when a many of those bad Men are met together in Company than when they remain asunder from one another And so much Charm there is to Bewitch The Company of the Wicked extreamly Infectious or Power in ill Company to Enforce others to sinful Compliances that even sober and good Men when it is their Misfortune to fall amongst such shall hardly preserve their Integrity and come off from amongst 'em with as much Innocence as they went in but either thro' the Noisiness of their Companions forgetting that Guard they have at other times over their Thoughts Words and Deeds or for Fear of being Reproacht as morose dull or ill-natur'd shall too far many times comply with the Rest of the Company both in Speaking and Acting what is not very consistent with the Duty and Reservedness of a Christian But as for the young ignorant and inconsiderate Part of Mankind Good God! What Mischiefs are such drawn into through the Enticements of Evil Company Your lewd Companions indeed as they are usually very Buisy in doing Mischief and Corrupting others and will wonderfully Triumph and Rejoyce when they have Perverted a Sober Person and made him as Bad as Themselves So they are above all Industrious to Corrupt and Ensnare Youth that they may Propagate a Generation as Wicked as they have been And how will they Hug themselves when they have Debaucht an innocent Young Person and made him at any time Drunk or betray'd him into Lewdness or any other Wickedness especially if of promising Hopes and of ingenious Parts and how many Wiles shall be us'd to Ensnare him again Their Mouth is full of Deceit and Fraud under their Tongue is Vngodliness and Vanity they ly lurking in the Thievish Corners of the Streets to wait for the Innocent to draw him into their Net Psal 10.7 8 9. If you look into the particular Miscarriages of Men in the World Most of the Miscariages of Men owing thereunto what a Lamentable thing it is to consider How many hopeful Youth have wofully Miscarry'd through wicked Company How many have we known go Abroad into the World the Hopes of their Families the Expectations of their Country and the most Promising Persons of the Nation but Falling into ill Company have prov'd the most outragious Fiends on this side Hell And what Vices what Villanies are there that Evil Company has not drawn 'em into What shall I say It is Evil Company that makes the Youth an Atheist This makes Men Atheists Alas The unwary Stripling no sooner goes into the World but these Factors for the Devil lay hold on him and with all the wily Insinuations and cunning Artifices with Arguments best suited to the Temper of the Young Man they Perswade him to join with 'em in their lewd Courses They do usually Enter him at first in your Taverns and those Places of publick Entertainment that are something more Remote from and ly as it were only on the Highway to Sin They next carry him from thence into the very Suburbs of Hell those Houses I mean where such Scenes of Lewdness are seen and acted as would Profane the Place we are in to mention as are not fit to be spoke to Chast Ears nor indeed can Enter your Thoughts without leaving behind some base Defilement And now if he has that Talent which they call Wit such a share at least as will enable him to talk Profanely to break Jests upon Scripture and Oh Brutish Stupidity Oh desperate Madness To Blaspheme and fly into the Face of God Almighty they feed his Vanity with loud Applauses and cry up to the Skies his Wit and Parts And by this he thinks himself sufficiently furnisht to be an Apostle of Satan's also himself and henceforwards you shall see him to be Intent wholly upon this very thing to draw all others into the same Damnation also along with him Alas It is nothing but Evil Company Libertines that Emboldens the Young Man for lewd Pranks At first he is Asham'd to have his Name up amongst lewd Companions and his Natural Modesty will not let him look an Harlot in the Face but they soon Laugh him out of that Clownish Shameface'dness so that he can at length Sin with Impudence enough can Glory in his Shame and Brag of more mad Exploits than he was ever