Adam and Eve when they were first created because in that state they saw no strangers in their Family These words were especially related to the ancient Israelites who had lived in Aegypt like strangers to the end they might learn when they should possess the Land of Promise to deal with all the World otherwise than the Aegyptians had dealt with them And therefore the aforementioned cannot be understood ex Jure naturali as belonging to the Moral Law it being alike and the same among all Nations Fourth Answer The next words For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and allthat in them is and rested the seventh day do not infer in themselves an indispensable necessity for no body doubts but that God could create this great World with all its perfections in a less time yea in a moment if he had pleased and consequently that he could appoint another day than the seventh to be kept holy as for Example the third if on that day he had finished the Creation of the World But being finish'd in six days the Question is whether the seventh be of an indispensable necessity Wherefore I Answer Fifthly That the day assigned by God for his Worship was Symbolical Mystical and Ceremonial and consequently ought to be abolished and so was not of an indispensable Necessity and therefore did not belong to the Moral Law That the institution of the Sabbath day was such may be seen clearly because Adam the first of all men was able by the strength of his natural Reason in the state of Innocency to comprehend what belonged to the Natural and Moral Law but by the strength of his Reason he could never understand why the seventh day ought to be kept holy rather than another Therefore the Reason of it was the good Will of God which Adam could never understand of himself wanting a special Revelation or positive Commandment wherein the Reason of it might be manifested unto him And it signifies nothing to say that it is written we are bound to keep holy the seventh day for ever because by the word for ever is meant only a long space of time assigned by God as it appears in these Texts Exod. 21. 6. Exod. 32. 13. Levit. 24. 8 9. Numb 18. 19. Numb 25. 13. Wherein though the word for ever be used yet we say it belongs to the Ceremonial Law and consequently ought to be abolished under the Gospel where the body of these things whereof they were but a shadow is made manifest And that the Institution of the seventh day reduplicativé ut sic could be abolished appears by the words of the Prophet Ezekiel I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctifie them An by the other words of St. Paul to the Colossians Let no man judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day or of the new Moon or of the Sabbath days which are shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ. Now seeing the Plural Number contains all Singulars Sabbaths being taken in the Plural Number it followeth that that contained in the Decalogue and which is here in Dispute is also included therein Otherwise St. Paul would not have failed to make an exception The Sabbath saith Christ was made for man and not man for the Sabbath therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath Now he that is the Lord of any thing can dispose of it as it seems good unto him therefore the Son of man being Lord also of the Sabbath he may dispose of it as he pleaseth and therefore might abolish it and consequently it doth not belong to the Natural or Moral Law which cannot be changed even by God himself And it signifies nothing to say that Jesus Christ himself and his Apostles have kept and sanctified the seventh day for they did keep it as they did some other Commandments of the Ceremonial Law which were all abolished in their convenient time to the end that they might not offend the Jews among whom they were born and to whom especially they were to preach the holy Gospel but might convert them to Christian Religion and call them that were predestinated and might by all means save some and so propagate the more the Kingdom of God Which doth not consist in meat and drink or in distinction of sabbaths but in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost From whence it follows that the Sanctification of the seventh day reduplicativé ut sic did not belong to the Moral Law and consequently might be abolished I say the Sanctification of the seventh day ut sic for in reference of that which is Moral I mean the true Piety and Worship due unto God it could not be abolished and no man in the World in whatsoever dignity yea nor God himself can dispense with Now the Worship due unto God may be considered in two respects inwardly or out wardly Considered in the first sence it respects our Confidence in God our Obedience to his Commandments our Invocation Praises and Thanksgivings Considered in the latter it respects places where are publick Meetings wherein the Word of God is preached and his Sacraments are administred In reference to the outward Worship due unto God it is necessary to avoid Confusion from whence proceed great evils to establish some Order and to appoint certain days and hours to meet together that we might praise and worship our Lord call upon his holy Name and give thanks for all his unmeasurable mercies Now the Church to which Christ gave his Authority and Power and whose Ordinances he will have us to keep as it appears by these words If he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a Publican had good and sufficient Reasons to change the seventh into the first day of the week First Because being Typical and Mystical and not belonging to the Moral Law as I have made it appear it might be abolished as all the other Precepts of the Ceremonial Law were For Christ blotting out the hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing it to his Cross Secondly The Sanctification of the seventh day being ordained unto us to the end we might remember the day and benefit of our Creation as it appears by the words of the 11th verse For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth c. The Church which we ought to obey in all things not contrary to the holy Scripture finding that the day of our Redemption was very considerable yea much more excellent than that of our Creation as it appears by the words of Jesus Christ concerning Judas Good were it for that man if he had never been born And finding that in the first day of the week Jesus Christ
is Trinity And Thomas Aquinas saith impossibile est per rationem naturalem ad cognitionem Trinitatis divinarum Personarum pervenire quia homo per rationem naturalem in cognitionem dei pervenire non potest nisi ex Creaturis Creature autem ducunt in Dei cognitionem sicut effectus in causam Hoc igitur solum ratione naturali de Deo cognosci potest quod competere ei necesse est secundum quod est omnium entium principium Virtus autem Creativa Dei communis est toti Trinitati unde pertinet ad unitatem essentiae non ad distinctionem Personarum per rationem igitur naturalem cognosci possunt de Deo ea quae pertinent ad unitatem essentiae non autem ea quae pertinent ad distinctionem personarum That is It is impossible by natural Reason to come to the knowledg of the Trinity of divine Persons because by natural Reason we cannot come to the knowledg of God but by Creatures which lead us to the knowledg of God as effects to the Cause Therefore by natural Reason that only may be known of God which by necessity belongs to him as he is the principle of all things But the Power of creating in God is common to the whole Trinity therefore it belongs to the unity of Essence and not to the distinction of Persons We may then by reason know the things belonging to the unity of the Essence of God but not the things belonging to the distinction of Persons Secondly I answer That though it be contrary to Reason that Peter Paul and John who are three distinct Persons have but one nature Numericè nevertheless it doth not imply that the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost who are three really distinct Persons have but one nature or substance Numericè For it is otherwise in divine than humane Persons And although Person in God be a real being and consequently being really taken a Substance yet it doth not follow because there are three really distinct Persons that there are three Substances really distinct one from another For God being an intellectual Being he knows himself to be infinitely Perfect and knowing himself to be so he loves himself The term of his Intellect is called the Son as we call the Holy Ghost the term of his love but it is not so with the term of the Intellectand Love of God as with the term of the Intellect and Love of men because this is an Accident that a Substance I say a Substance because no Accidents can be found in God as it is the consent of all Writers therefore since the term of the Intellect of God and the term of his Love is a Substance and since one is call'd the Son and the other the Holy Ghost it follows since three Substances cannot be in God because it would import three Gods which is contrary to the nature of God to Reason and to the Holy Scriptures that they have but one and the same Substance as it is taught both in the Symboles of Nice and Athanasius Thirdly I answer That though the Trinity be not found distinctly in the holy Scripture yet it may be inferred from thence by clear and necessary Consequences And though the two Texts of St. Matthew and John before mentioned be not sufficient to convince the Reader since they may be explained as they are in the Objection nevertheless the essential Attributes of God as his Eternity Immensity Omnipotency Creation Conservation of the World Sanctification of Souls Resurrection of the Bodies Prayer and Worship being equally attributed to the three Persons the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost as it may be seen in several places of the holy Scriptures and I will shew in the sequel of my Discourse it follows by an evident and necessary Consequence that they are God and therefore that they have but one substance or Nature Numericè which is called Trinity Obj. The Church of England believes that the Son is Consubstantial with the Father but the word Consubstantial is not found in the holy Scriptures therefore the Church of England believes an Article of Faith which is not in the word of God therefore she is not the holy Catholick Church Answer Though that word Consubstantial be not read in the holy Scriptures yet the thing signified and meant by that word is found therein For when we say and believe that the Son is Consubstantial with the Father we mean that he hath one and the same Substance with his Father which is inferred from the holy Scripture by clear and necessary Consequences for these words of St. Jahn I and my Father are one do signifie nothing less than the Son hath an unity of Substance with his Father for if had only an unity of Will of Mind and Agreement as the Arians and several other Persons in France England Holland c. do believe at this time he should not be called in the holy Scriptures the only begotten Son of God the true God eternal Life and God blessed over all for ever He should not be called the brightness of the glory of his Father and the express Image of his Person and we should not read of him that he being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God he should not be called Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending which is which was and which is to come the Almighty Or that In him are hid all the Treasures of wisdom and knowledg and that In him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily We should not read that By him were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth vistble and invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers and that All things were created by him and for him and that he is before all things and by him all things consist and that He upholds all things by the word of his Power and as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickens them even so the Son quickens whom he will Neither should we read that He knows the hearts of all men and that All men honour the Son even as they honour the Father and that All the Angels of God worship him and that Four and twenty Elders fall down before him and worship him and cast their Crowns before the Throne saying Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast Created all things and for pleasure they are and were Created Now since by these Texts of the holy Scriptures ye see that the Name of the true God which cannot be proper to a Creature is not only ascribed to the Son but also all the essential properties of God are attributed unto him it follows by a clear and necessary Consequence that he is Consubstantial with the Father or that he hath with him one and the same Substance Numericè You may further urge
adjured upon Oath St. Paul oftentimes called God to witness for the Confirmation of what he saith seeing David and several others have used it in the Old Testament and God himself who cannot give us a bad Example used it for the Confirmation of his Promises it is a clear and evident sign that it is lawful and that we are to explain these words of St. Matthew I say unto you swear not at all as also these others of St. James above all things my Brethren swear not they ought to be interpreted not generally but in a limited sence as only forbidding swearing in common Conversation and in our ordinary Commerce and Affairs as it appears by the words immediately following viz. Let your Communication be yea yea and nay nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil From whence it follows though Swearing or Oaths ought to be avoided in our Conversations because they are then so many sins yet there is a time and there are occasions as when the matter is doubtful and of concern and no Evidence can be had to clear and decide it when they are not only lawful but also very necessary And therefore when at certain times and upon certain occasions the Church of England commands to sware or take an Oath and believes it lawful she doth neitherbelieve nor practise any thing forbidden in the holy Scripture Object It is written in the 20th Chapter of Exod. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt not do any work thou nor thy Son nor thy Daughter thy man-Servant nor thy maid-Servant nor thy Cattel nor thy Stranger that is within thy Gates for in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it The Church of England doth not keep this divine Commandment but observes the first day of the week instead of the seventh therefore she is not the holy Catholick Church Before I give an Answer to this Objection I will give leave to my Adversary to say all that he can to establish his Opinion When I read saith he these words in the 20th Chapter of Exodus or when I see them written in great Letters in our Churches or hear them pronounced aloud at the Communion Table the first day of the week which we call Sunday I think that the words of Isaiah Hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not may be well here adapted And may not this be justly attributed unto us since the Jews excepted with a small number of Christians scattered in the North we neither practise what we read nor what we hear And that this may appear clearly it is necessary to consider without any prejudice that the aforesaid words contain a day determined by God which we are bound to keep holy and whereon we ought to rest But it is the seventh day which God kept holy and whereon he rested therefore it is that and no other which we ought to keep holy and whereon we are bound to rest That it is the day upon which God rested which we are bound to keep holy appears evidently by these words In it thou shalt not do any work For what mean these words but thou shalt not do any work in the day whereon God rested This is the most natural Explication that a man can give to them But God foreseeing he should be forgot by his Creatures gives us warning saying Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day And that that day is the seventh which we call Saturday appears again evidently First by these words But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God Secondly by the next In six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day Thirdly because we read in Genesis God rested on the seventh day from all his works which he had made and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it Therefore it is that day which is to be kept holy for it is an Axiome received in Divinity viz. that men neither can nor ought to change what was established and determined by God as for Example Water in Baptism and Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper cannot be changed by men because they have been established and determined by Jesus Christ who is received as God among Christians Is it not written Cursed is he that addeth any thing to the Law or diminisheth from it doth not St. Paul forbid not to think of men above that which is written and doth not Christ himself say in St. Matthew In vain they do worship me teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of men That the seventh day is our Saturday is again manifested First because since Moses the Jews who did always and do still keep the seventh day do keep our Saturday for their Sabbath Secondly Because as Sabbath among the Hebrews is the seventh day Sabbato among the Italians Sabbado among the Spaniards Samedy among the French so is Saturday among the English men Thirdly Because the Evangelists saying in our Translation that Jesus Christ was risen the first day of the week which according to the Language of the Scriptures is the next day after the Sabbath it follows evidently our Saturday preceding the first day of the week and the Sabbath being the seventh day that the seventh day is our Sabbath But it is in vain to bring such Proofs unto them who acknowledg to have changed the Saturday or seventh to the first day of the week Therefore since our Saturday is the seventh day of the week and God rested on it blessed sanctified it and commanded us to keep it holy is it not just in Obedience to God to keep it so Some will answer saith my Adversary that that change was made First That we might have no Communication with the Jews Secondly Because Jesus Christ arose upon the first day of the week Thirdly Because we read that the Apostles met on that day To the first Objection my Adversary replyeth that we ought to have Communication with the Jews in all things which are good Otherwise the Jews believing in one God we should not believe so and they believing in the Old Testament it should not be the Object of our Faith To the Second he saith that a Question may be made whether he rose on the first day of the week none of the Evangelists in the Original saying in express words the first day of the week but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But though this be true is it a sufficient Reason to change the day which God himself hath prescribed unto us blessed sanctified and commanded We may remember the day of his Resurrection and keep it holy but we ought not because he rose