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 given to these Rites and Ceremonies by Learned men are these Retinacula Adminicula Incitamenta Ornamenta They call them the hold-fast the helps the Incitements and Ornaments of Religion and Piety These were the Traditions mentioned by the Apostle 1 Cor. 11. 2. Precepts left
this occasions the Church to make that invitation in our entrance upon our Publick Service O come let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our maker Psal. 95. 6. 2. There should be some congruitie in the external Rites of our Worship to testifie the inward reverence and affection we have for the God whom we serve and also a congruity and suitableness to the duties which we are to perform a worthiness in all other solemn addresses as well as in receiving the holy Sacrament of our Lords blessed Body and Bloud His condescention to be Incarnate hath not depretiated his Majesty nor lessened his Greatness but heightned our obligation to a greater duty and observance Upon these clearer Revelations which we have received our Worship indeed should be more spiritual but not at all the less solemn or celebrious The Rites and Ceremonies with her external Worship S. Augustin terms the vesture of the Church And she should be clothed as becomes the Kings daughter and the Spouse of Christ. She may be all glorious within and yet have her clothing of wrought Gold Upon the coming of the Empire into the Church there is promised such a glorious state and face of things as is resembled to a new Heaven and a new Earth and when the Kings of the Earth should bring their glory and honour into it it was also promised that the Church should be prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband Hic ea cum novo cultu procedit latè conspiâ—na fulgore suo hostibus aciem oculorum praestringens saith Grotius so conspicuous in her Worship and the beauty of holiness that her splendor should dazle the eyes of her Adversaries In short when we approach Gods presence we must remember we are not in an earthly Court but in a holy Temple All our actions therefore and our deportment should not be light ludicrous or histrionical but grave serious and reverent not such as befits a Stage but such as becomes the Altar And care must be taken that the splendor of external Forms may not detain the mind not eclipse and lessen that inward and spiritual Worship which they are designed to promote and heighten 3. These Rites must be significant if they be dumb idle and insignificant they are not onely useless but nugatory and ridiculous Certum est ceremonias omnes corruptas esse noxias nisi per eas homines ad Christum dirigantur saith Calvin It is certain that all Ceremonies are corrupt and hurtful unless they direct men unto Christ. If they be not significant they cannot reach the end of their institution which is Gods Glory and the Churches edification That they may make for Gods glory they must not be against his Word for his Word is his Will and what is done against his will is done to his dishonour These Rites therefore must in their use be inservient to the moral law and be as helps in the nature of Objects to promote our spiritual duty It is therefore a great mistake that because they are reckoned among things indifferent therefore they are but like chips in Porridge When we call them indifferent we do not mean that they are neither good nor bad in any sense but that they are betwixt Commands and Prohibitions 't is no Sin to omit nor bounden duty to perform or use them yet such things they are as by a Prudent use may be very profitable and of good advantage These Rites and Ceremonies were invented saith P. Martyr partly that we might transact Divine Matters with the greater Decency partly that they might be signs whereby we might manifest and profess the inward Piety of our Minds Et aliquam eruditionem divinarum rerum per sensus acciperemus and by our very Senses receive some kind of instruction in Divine Matters And that Learned Author saith further That Ceremonies are the more laudable Si sint instar Concionum if they be like Sermons to put us in mind of our Duty That Learned Protestant was far from condemning significant and Teaching Ceremonies for this was it that all Rites and Ceremonies in the Church should aim at Why of old did they rent their cloaths but to shew their indignation Why did they put on sackcloath and ashes but to express their humiliation and their sorrow Why did James Cephas and John give Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship but to be a sign and evidence of their Concord Did not the Holy kiss and the Feasts of Love among the Primitive Christians put them in mind of that accord and charity that ought to be betwixt them By a threefold dipping or sprinkling of the Baptized they profest their Faith in the Blessed Trinity and by standing at their Prayers betwixt Easter and Whitsontide they did assert the Article of the Resurrection And why did St. Paul give order that Men should be uncovered and the Women cover'd in the place and at the time of God's Publick Worship but that the very Rite and Ceremony might proclaim the Modesty of the one and the Reverence of the other So that if we look upon these Rites and Ceremonies as the Wisdom of God and his Holy Church would have us this is the end of their appointment and observation To awaken the Senses to whet the Memory to fix the Understanding to inflame the Affections to encourage and exalt Devotion and make it according to the occasion either more retir'd and severe or more exultant and festival as St. Austin says of the Lord's Nativity That upon the annual Revolution of it it ought Festâ devotione significari to be celebrated with a Festival Devotion 4. These Rites and Ceremonies must be prescrib'd some Rites and Ceremonies are suggested by Natural Religion and that makes them so spontaneous and familiar that we are apt upon all occasions to practice them without any other Authority or Monitor besides the light of Nature such are the lifting up of the hands and eyes to Heaven when we stand in need of help or blessing There is a sursum Corda imply'd in all these Natural and Arbitrary Gestures But in other Matters if every man should be left to do what is right in his own eyes we should have no Publick worship no Solemn Assembly for it some would be for the Ninth some for the Tenth some for the Twelfth hour Some for the Field some for the Barn some for the Tabernacle one would sit another stand another loll one would be Mute and another vent himself in an unknown Tongue or in a canting and unintelligible Language and in this tumult and distraction of Parties we should become Barbarians to one another and seem to worship a God of Confusion and not of Peace and Order To prevent which all the parts of God's Worship are to be perform'd in a due and commodious Order and Method and to this effect there must be a standing
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
promise before God That God would preside amongst them and direct them into all truth and equity The Church of England requires no such subjection As to the twentieth Article They object first against the Substance and secondly against the Superfoetation of it since the time of Edward VI. 1. That the Church hath power to decree Rites and Ceremonies This they say is false or at least a truth which hitherto they have not been able to discover This is a bold Charge against the Church of England That she obtrudes a falshood to be subscribed But doth it not argue an affected blindness in these Dissenters that they will not see the Churches Power or else a malicious obstinacy that they will not acknowledge it But To clear the Article it will not be amiss to declare what we mean by Church and what is intended by Rites and Ceremonies which we assert the Church hath power to Decree and establish As to Rites and Ceremonies David Rungius for the Lutherans tells us That the necessity of Order and Decency which the Apostle injoins doth require that there should be some Ceremonies in the Church and among the Calvinists it is the peremptory assertion of Zanchy That the Church of God on Earth never did or ever can want Ceremonies cum sine Ceremoniis c. because the Faithful can neither grow up into one body nor perform any publick Worship to Almighty God without them Hereupon Grotius has very well observed That the Christian Church as established by Christ and propagated by his Apostles and their Successors is a Body joined together not onely in Opinions as the Sects of the Philosophers nor in Rites and Ceremonies only as the Pagans of old nor in Government onely as the People of Poland sed in tribus his vinculis colligatum but a Body bound up together in all these three Bonds of Union To this effect others have observed that there are two sorts of Laws prescribed to the Church of God some concern the very essence life and substance of Christianity and the necessary Acts and Duties of Faith Hope and Charity And these are the primary the principal and fundamental Laws of Christs Kingdoms these are of Christs own Institution and appointment and for any Church to pretend to a power herein is Vsurpation In reference to these Laws and Ordinances the Church hath but the Office of an Ark to preserve and keep them and of a Pillar to support and declare them to the World Other Laws are secondary and suppletory having respect to the circumstances of those principal Acts and Duties and tending to the more facile and commodious observation of them These Laws may be called positive and inservient for that reason and the whole Legislative power of the Church consists in making Laws of this inferiour nature To this purpose Zanchy observes a twofold Power given to the Church one definite and determined quatenus scilicet determinata praescripta habet mandata ultra quae non licet progredi Inasmuch as it hath Commands determined and prescribed which it ought not to transgress And such is the Power which the Church hath in preaching the Word administring the Sacraments c. The other Power of the Church is indefinite and more ample whereby according to the circumstances of time and place and as shall seem most expedient She may appoint many things of their own nature indifferent that may make for good Order Decency and Edification Sub Ceremoniarum nomine complecti quicquid externe geritur ad cultum divinum celebrandum religionisve causa peragitur saith Joan Bunderius Under the name of Ceremonies is comprehended all that is outwardly acted in the celebration of Gods Worship or performed for Religion sake But this definition takes in all Gods external Worship even the Holy Sacraments are Ceremonies in this sense and notion Whereas the Rites and Ceremonies we treat of have their Scene in a lower Sphere among things indifferent Such are The Time of Publick Worship not onely as to the ordinary proportion but likewise as to extraordinary occasions for Fasts and Festivals The Persons in their several stations and parts of the Ministration The Place with all the Furniture of Books Utensils and Ornaments thereto belonging The Forms of all particular Offices and Administrations The Ministerial Habit and the Gestures both of Priest and People respectively in the performance of Divine Service with all Observances Actions and Circumstances of Deportment pro hîc nunc in Religious Assemblies which may be judged more commodious to procure Reverence and Devotion or to add Solemnity to Gods Publick Worship and Service These in the general are called Rites and Ceremonies and as to the Specification and particulars of them they are in the Churches power and are left to the prudence and care of Governours to determine and set in order But we meet with Complaints in many Holy men and learned Authors That the Church of God hath been made a Theatre of Ceremonies many of which are unintelligible and some of them opposite to the Word of God and yet in these men place their righteousness and holiness and in these consist the whole Practice of their Piety These Ceremonies are made matters of Merit and of Merchandice too Remission of Sins and other Spiritual Effects are attributed to them they are made so essentially necessary as if Christ could not save us nor be served at all without them The Grievances which have afflicted godly minds upon this account do arise 1. From the number and multiplicity of these Ceremonies 2. From their Futility and Lightness 3. From the necessity and value that hath been put upon them And lastly From the use and end that hath been assigned them And indeed they are not onely vain as our Saviour calls them but pernitious when through the high esteem men have for them 1. They do depretiate Gods Word and Ordinances 2. When they incumber and justle â—ut Gods substantial Worship and Service 3. When men rely upon them in an expectancy of grace and life from them as if the use of these could supply the want of Reformation and amendment That we may not split upon this Rock we have certain marks given us by the great Apostle to steer our Course and Practice by and those marks are four The Ceremonies ordained must be 1. Expedient 2. Decent 3. Significant 4. Prescribed by Authority 1. They must be expedient and that requires two things 1. That they be few and easie 2. That they be safe and inoffensive 1. They must be few and easie because we are not under the Law but under Grace and Christs Yoke is easie his Burden light Whereupon he hath knit together the Society of Christian People novi populi by Sacraments in number few in their observation easie and in their significancy most excellent saith S. Augustine who therefore towards the end of his 119. Epist. complains that
the Religion which the Mercy of God had made free was so oppressed with servile burdens through the presumption of men that the condition of the Jews was much more tolerable than that of Christians Multitudo Ceremoniarum suffocat potius opera Spiritus a multitude of Ceremonies doth rather choak the fruits of the Spirit than refresh them saith Catharinus for they are like the leaves upon a Tree quae si nimis densa sunt succum fructibus suffuâ—antur ut nequeant maturare if they be too thick they steal away the Juice from the Fruit that it cannot ripen Many times by their multiplicity and the burden of them they do both obscure and hinder Gods substantial Worship Ritibus operosis distenti praecepta Dei minus curare solent saith Grotius such as are busied in troublesome Rites and Ceremonies care so much the less for Gods commands But this objection lies not against the Church of England whose Rites and Ceremonies in a strict sense are but two or three and very easie We must remember therefore that Religion is not therefore to be stript naked because hypocritical Professors will dote upon her outward Ornaments to the neglect of her substantial Worship To such we must say as our Saviour did to the Scribes and Pharisees in a like case These things ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone As these Rites and Ceremonies must be few and easie so 2. They must be safe and inoffensive and the Apostles rule of expediency was given more especially upon this account The Jews and Gentiles respectively had their federal Rites characteristical and distinctive notes of their several Religions These were now upon the promulgation of the Gospel become matters of indifferency in their own nature yet very inexpedient to be continued For the use and practice of them had been apt to harden the Jews and Gentiles and make them more obstinate in their several Professions and to tempt Christian Converts either to Judaize or to think it innocent enough to conform to the Custom and Religion of the Gentiles It was a Rite among the Gentiles to eat of things offered to their Idols in their Idols Temple and thereby to testifie their communion with such Idols Now though the Apostle did account an Idol nothing and to eat of things offered to Idols a matter of indifferency yet he told them it was highly inexpedient for Christians to use those Rites for the Practice would tempt others to think they did it in honour to the Idol that they were friends to that way of Worship that there was no harm in it and that they had more Gods than one and that the God they profest especially to believe in did not disallow what they saw these his pretended servants did not abhor and so this practice might be apt to inthral some and insnare others into Idolatry Hereupon St. Austin resolves touching the Conversion of Pagans Si quaeritis c. If you inquire how Pagans may be won how inlightned and brought to salvation forsake their Solemnities forsake their trifling and superstitious Ceremonies that if they will not consent to our truth they may be ashamed of their own falshood Zanchy hath very well observed that though we are obliged by the Law of Nature to worship God with external worship yet it is not lawful to worship him as the Jews were commanded to worship him because their sacred Ceremonies were appointed for their Discipline onely till Christs coming So that he who should reduce them again to practice should deny Christs coming and renounce his Christianity So that in matter of Rites and Ceremonies in the Practice of Religion that injunction of the Apostle binds inviolably Give no offence to the Jew by hardening him in his persuasion nor to the Gentile by tempting him to play the Jew nor to the Church of God by seeming to communicate in their Worship either with Jew or Gentile 2. These Rites and Ceremonies must be decent And for the Rule of decency the Apostle directs us to have recourse to Nature or common Custom 1 Cor. 11 13 14. This direction was of some necessity to confront the Custom of the Gentiles who had Rites in their Religious Worship which were dishonest They worshiped Devils to whom they offered themselves for Slaves and their Children for Sacrifices They had a God of Turpitude Baal Peor and many of their Rites were such as are not to be named among Christians v. Bonfrer ad Exod. 32. 6. especially ad Numb 25. 3. The men put on womens apparel and the women such as used to be worn by men and this was in honour of the Deities they took upon them to worship This induced the Apostle to call so earnestly for all things that are honest and decent among Believers especially at their Religious Assemblies and in the performance of Gods Publick Worship And that is the sum of his Discourse 1 Cor. 11. Wherein saith Bullinger there is nothing else delivered quam Publica quaedam honestas ut decorem modum in vestitu totoque corporis habitu servemus maxime in coetu ecclesiastico in quem colligimur ut humiliemur ut peccata nostra deploremus ut verbum vitae veritatis audiamus utque puris precibus fide ac veritate ipsum numen demereamur quibus rebus quam non conveniat luxus superbia nemo est qui non videt The Apostles discourse saith he is of publick Honesty that we should observe a Decorum in our Vests and the whole disposition of the Body and especially in Church Assemblies where we meet together that we may be humbled that we may bewail our sins that we may hear the Word of Life and by pure devotion in Faith and Verity win the favour of God And there is no man but sees that Pride Luxury and all Undecencies are very opposite to that effect But 2. Decency implies more then common Honesty The Rites we use in Gods Worship must be grave and solemn suitable as well to the Majesty we adore as to the Offices we perform in his Service 1. David and Solomon his Son have given us an instance as to the Place of Gods Worship When his People were in the Briars God was well content to dwell in the Bush But when they were setled in Peace and a flourishing prosperity then a stately Temple was to be prepared for his Solemn and Publick Worship The house which I build must be great wonderful and exceeding magnifical And why For great is our God above all Gods Hereupon it follows with great reason God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the Saints and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him Psal. 89. 7. Wherefore he urgeth Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness Psal. 29. 2. And
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
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
for we are not God's Mates and Companions but only Religious And that this External Religious Worship is due to God and to God only he proves thus The Devil when he tempted our Saviour desired no more of him but the pròstrating of his Body But Christ denies it and Answers Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Matt. 4. 10. This is a Part of God's Worship but of whose Creating Not of the Churches but of God's the Church does not immediately and Originally injoyn it but rather exhorts to it Psal. 95. 6. O come let us worship and fall down and Kneel before the Lord our Maker She directs also and determines when it is most suitable and decent to be used All the Question then will be whether the Appointment of the use of it at the Sacrament be convenient Kneeling doubtless is a Gesture which very well becomes Supplicants and 't is very suitable and Decent in such as Pay their Homage or beg a Boon or commemorate a sad Tragedy wherein they have been and are still concern'd And all these Cases meet together in such as come worthily to the Sacrament That this Sacrament was always received with Adoration we have Authority and Evidence beyond expectation That in the Primitive Church they received it standing was thereby to assert the great Article that supports our Christianity that is Christ's Resurrection But when the Church was well setled in the belief hereof without any more hesitation and the World generally perswaded of it then to shew her own Power and Liberty in the Alteration she changed that Practice for another no less consonant to God's Law and more suitable to the Nature of the Duty For tho standing be more proper to assert tho Resurrection being a Gesture of Reverence with erection and alacritie of Spirit yet Kneeling being a Gesture of Reverence with dejection and humility is more suitable at the Lords Supper being the Annunciation of the Lord's Passion and death wherein we had a Guilt and now expect a Benefit which cannot but bring an apprehensive Soul that is Devout upon her Knees as well to bewail the one as to receive the other The Rite and Ceremony at which the greatest offence is taken is the sign of the Cross which is fal'n under the same Fate with the Preaching of it and I heartily wish this were only as that was among Jews and Gentiles But if we can find a General Command and some Parity of Reason in Scriptural instances to warrant it I am in good hope among wise and modest Christians this scandal of the Cross will vanish 1. That Confession of Christ Crucified is an External Act of Worship cannot reasonably be denyed and the necessity hereof is grounded upon the words of our Blessed Saviour and his Apostles Be ready to give an Answer always to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you 1 Pet. 3. 15. Here is a flat Commandment for Confession saith Mr. Perkins And our Saviour saith Whosoever shall be asham'd of me in this Adulterous Generation of him shall the Son of Man be asham'd also when he cometh in the glory of his Father with his holy Angels Mark 8. 38. 2. This Confession or Profession has a threefold way to shew it self 1. By the Mouth and that is most Ordinary and of this express mention is made Rom. 10. 10. For with the heart man believeth unto Righteousness and with the Mouth Confession is made unto Salvation Non Solum fidem interiorem affectum requirit Deus sed externam Confessionem liberam ejus professionem saith our Synopsis God requires not only Faith and an inward affection but outward Confession also and a free Profession of it But then 2. This profession may be exprest by the hand by Subscription Isai. 44. 5. One shall say I am the Lord another shall call himself by the name of Jacob and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the the Lord and surname himself by the Name of Israel Upon which place Mr. Calvin observes that true faith will break out into Confession And there are four words used to intimate so much Invocari nomine Israel c. to be call'd by the name of Israel to Subscribe to Surname himself and to say I am the Lords Nec enim obmutescere oportet qui verè Deum Colunt sed quod intus in animo gerunt factis etiam dictis testari Such as truly Worship God ought not to be mute but by Words and Deeds to testify their inward Piety Whence it follows 3. This Profession may be made by Symbolical signs or real tokens Caeremoniae ad Dei Cultum institutae Pars quoque sunt nostrae Confessionis saith Calvin on Rom. 14. 22. This I doubt not will easily be granted of such Rites as are under particular Command and of Divine Institution as Baptism and the Lord's Supper But we can produce other Instances for which there is no such Command or Institution to be alledged What was the true meaning of that Altar forementioned The building of it gave offence to the Ten Tribes as if it had been a Monument of Superstition or Idolatry but as Calvin observes Congeriem Lapidum erigere trophaei Loco vel in testimonium Miraculi vel in memoriam insignis Dei gratiae nusquam lex prohibuit To erect a heap of Stones as a Trophy in Testimony of a miracle or in memory of some special favour of God this was never forbidden by the Law otherwise both Joshuah and many holy Judges and Kings after him had defiled themselves with Profane novelties But those words ver 26 27. Let us build an Altar that it may be a Witness that we may do the service of the Lord before him with our Burnt Offerings Which words make it plain that they intended that Pattern of the Altar Jos. 22. 28. to be a Recognition of the God of Israel a Real Protestation of their Relation to him and of their sincere Devotion to his solemn Worship And that the use of the Cross in the Christian Church was introduced upon the like account is affirm'd by our Synopsis upon that very Text The words are these Sic Ecclesia nobis ante oculos ponit Crucis Christi figuram thus the Church sets the sign or figure of Christ's Cross before our eyes not to invite us to Worship it but to put us in mind of that true and salutary Cross the Passion and Death of Christ which wrought our Atonement and Redemption But we have a more pregnant instance than this to our purpose We read Dan. 6. 10. when Prayer to Almighty God was interdicted Daniel went into his House and opening his Windows towards Jerusalem He Kneeled down and Prayed The opening of his Windows was an open Protestation of his Faith and Worship For why did he open them Not to let in Heaven or to let out his Devotion but to