Selected quad for the lemma: rest_n
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A17571
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The altar of Damascus or the patern of the English hierarchie, and Church policie obtruded upon the Church of Scotland
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Calderwood, David, 1575-1650.
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1621
(1621)
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STC 4352; ESTC S107401
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125,085
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228
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Gâ—spels and Epistles In a word all the dayes dedicate to Christs severall acts are all humane inventions some later some more ancient Iewish formes wherwith that people was brought up under the pedagogie of the law a rudimentarie kind of instruction not beseeming the Christian Church nor answerable to the cleare light of the Gospell The Iewes anniversarie dayes were abolished not onely for their peculiar service or signification of things to come but altogether howbeit memorials of by-past benefits Christ and his Apostles did institure no day for remembrance of a particular benefit no not the weekly sabboth let be an anniversary day For the weekly Lords day was not appointed for remembrance of the particular benefit of Christs resurrection but for the whole worship of God If the Lords day were referred directly and expressely to the commemoration of the resurrection then should it be the proper and peculiar service of the Sabboth then should we not have at all a day determinate in the new â—estament and institute to worship God for himselfe and all his workes in generall There was then no memoriall dayes appoynted in the new testament but a morall day for the worship of God The sacrament as often as it is celebrate it is a memoriall of his passion When the word is preached Christ is crucified before our eyes But dayes of particular commemorations of some speciall actions with solemnitie and cessation from worke we have none nor was it the intention of Christ or his Apostles If there be no warrant to dedicate anniversarie dayes to Christ farre lesse to the virgin Mary and the rest of the Saints and of Angels Their holy dayes of Saints are called the Saints dayes as well as Christs dayes are called his And they have their collects gospels epistles as well as Christ hath his and what reason have they to have some anniversarie remembrances of so many Saints of the new testament and never one for any of the old Can they give any reason of this difference but a â—opish one And among these of the Christian Church why is Timothy and Titus and many â—oe not remembred as the rest are Is the 〈◊〉 purification of our Lady upon the candleâ—masse day a matter of such moment that it is to be honoured with some speciall day and actions of greater importance are not so to be celebrate This night the Maior of London kneeleth downe at S. Edwins tombe in Pâ—ules Church and sayth a Pâ—ter noster as Barroâ— reporteth If I should insist upon every particular day and rip up their collects gospells pisâ—les hymnes and songs I should be too proâ—ixe For we should fall upon many fooleries and impertinent application of the word of God In the collect from Christmas to New-yeares day they are appointed to say that Christ was borne upon this day when as it beâ—oved him to be borne onely upon one day 〈◊〉 it is grounded upon an erroneous conceit of Zacharies high priesthood that he was born â—n the 25. day of December In the collect upon Innocents day it is sayd that the infants whom Herod murthered were Gods witnesses Athanasius creed is to honour the high dayes 〈◊〉 not the common creed and is appointed to be read onely upon certaine holy dayes it must not grace other dayes Venite may not serve at Easter as it doth all the yeare before and after follow Domine labia mea They have no reason for these and other like superstitious vanities but such as Durandus or any other papist can give them out of their reasonlessâ— Rationalls What holynesse they place in their holy dayes may be seene in that they haue a stricter rest enjoyned upon them not they urge for the sabbath whereas the Lord required a stricter rest upon the Sabbath then upon other dayes appointed by himself Then againe their principall feasts haue Eaves and devout fastes going before Thirdly they say they will not change them to let us see that they may be changed but retaine the same dayes which the papists observe and which they say were consecrate and made more holie then other dayies be the actions which were wrought on these dayes as the manger and crosse of tree was with the truth of Christs body Even howbeit this reteyning without change doeth nourish in the people both a superstitious and popish conceit of the holynes of the day and the erroneous conceits that Christ was borne on such a day Iohn Baptist on such a day that Zacharie was high priest etc. To let passe other popish opinions of worship and merite The most part observe it with masking dancing gluttonie games enterludes For the which superstitious and erroneous conceits and incorrigible abuses they ought to be abolished suppose in themselves they had bene never so indifferent Besides their Eaves they have their ordinary fridaies Ember weeks and lent fast And if they say that abstinence from flesh onely is coÌ„manded for some politicall respects I would demand wherefore is the minister or Curate enjoyned after sermon homilie or exhortation to declare unto the people whether there be any holy dayes or fasting daies the week following Are not the people commanbed likewise to repaire to the Church to pray and to heare divine service Their lent beginneth as the popish doeth upon Ashwednesday with a terrible coÌ„mination where are pronounced many bitter curses and the people answer ratifie every one of them with their own mouth saying Amen The priest before he utter the curses after the lettanie is sayd goeth to the pulpit to imitate the levites who pronunced curses upon mount Ebal and never but once he saith Brethren in the primitive Church there was a godly discipline that at the beginning of lent such persons as were notorious sinners were put to open pennance and punished in this world that their soules might be saved in the day of the Lord and that others admonished by their exaÌ„ple might be the more afraid to offend In stead wherof untill the same discipline may be restored again which thing is much to be wished etc. it is thought good that at this time should be read the generall sentences of Gods cursings against impenitent sinners Yee see that corporall and afflictiue penance is commended for good discipl for the disci of the prim church for the discipl of lent and espetially on ashweonesday that it is wished to be restored again I beleeve theÌ„ It is displing ashes shriving and such other gear that they would haue In the last collect upon the first day of lent or ashwednesday the priest or Curate sayth Be favourable to thy people which turne unto the in weeping fasting and prayer Is this to fast for ciuil respects onely for the main tenance of sea faring men and preservation of cattell The Priests and Clerks kneeling say the Psalme miserere mei Deus The prayers and special exhortations tend to begin their repentance that day The week before Easter hath a prescript service
of God howbeit he doth it in effect and so doth the Archbishop For simonie non-residencie pluralitie of benefices readmission after the irregularitie of apostasie observation of superstitious dayes and times not eating of flesh in Lent and forbidden dayes which are here expressed are repugnant to the law of God Therefore he may take the like libereie in usurie perjurie incest mariage within degrees of the Leviticall law and the rest of the cases and causes which were reserved to the Pope of old It is not without reason then that the authours of the Admonition call this Court a filthy quagmire and poysoned plash of all abbominations seeing the filth of all these abominations are washed here and the guiltie person commeth forth after the Archbishops dispensation as white as snow leaving his filth behind in that Court Beside the Prerogative Court the Court of Arches the Court of Audience the Court of Faculties the Archbishop hath yet another Court called the Court of Peculiars which dealeth in certaine Parishes exempt from the Bishops iurisâ—iction in some Diocesse and are peculiarlie belonging to the Archbishop of Canterburie Hee hath also inferiour Courts such as other Bishops have You see then Canterburie is a petie Pope or according to Bancrofts reckoning a vice-pope made up of the old spoyles of comprovinciall Bishops and Synods and also with the new spoyls of the Pope beeing armed beside with the Kings delegate temporall power in the High Commission and so greater in his intensive power then ever he was in time of Poperie And when the union shall be accomplished shal be greater in his extensive power also with his Courts over-ruling our Nation and shall be vice-pope of this little World O if faithfull Patriots would forsee and prevent this The least of their Ceremonies will prepare a way to this mischiefe CHAP. 4. Of the Dignitie and Power of English Bishops IN the former chapâ—er we did onely give not grant superiorite of Bishops over Pastors which being supposed we medled onely with the vnlawfull power and dignitie of Archbishops but the truth is that the superioritie of Bishops over Pastors is unlawfull also By divine Law one Pastor is not superiour in degree above another no more then one Apostle or Euangelist above another Apostle or Euangelist The name of Bishops was not appropriate to any eminent rank of Pastors but was common to all as may be seene Act. 20. Philip. 1. 1. Timoth. 3. Tit. 1. 1. Pet. 5. And that their office was also common may be sene in the same places from whence Hierome in his Epistle to Evagrius doth conclude that a Bishop and Presbyter was all one And in his Commentarie on the Epistle to Titus cap. 1. that communi Presbyterorum consilio Ecclesiae gubernabaÌ„tur the Churches were governed by the joynt advice of Presbyters Our Opposites say that government was onely private in the inner court the court of Conscience not publicke in the externall court or Consistorie It was so in the time of Poperie when the Priests were excluded from the externall governement of the Church which Bishops did vendicate to themselves and their Courts the poore Priest having no further power then to receive privately auricular confession ponder the weight of secret faults and accordingly to enjoyne pennance But Hierome speaketh not of a severall but of a common councell and joynt care of many assembled together For this private government in the inner Court of conscience was not onely then but continueth to this day wherby every Pastor may deal with the consciences of any of his own flock But Hierome speaketh of a government which was altered after the Apostles times and different from the Episcopall government which followed When the Churches were thus governed in common by joynt advice of Presbyters they had not a perpetuall President or as we use to speake a constant Moderator who had this preeminence during life set over them to moderate the common Meetings but they choosed their Presidents and changed them as they thought fit No Pastor could claime this prioritie of order and direction of the common Meetings as belonging to him of office The Apostles did no where institute this same small difference of Pastors that some during life should be moderators of the rest let be that majoritie of rule and superiority in power which Bishops doe claime The Pastors who were at Alexandria the first we read to have set up a constant Moderator to whom also they did appropriate the name of Bishop This was the beginning of that great mischiefe which followed This was the Cockatrice egge out of the which Antichrist himselfe was hatched For this perpetuall Presidencie and prioritie of order did degenerate in superiority of power and majoritie of rule and the Bishops growing to some grandeur they behoved to have an Archbishop and at last a Pope So that if a Bishop had not beene a Pope had not been and if there had not been a Pope the great Antichrist had not been Boni-gratis supposed to be the author of the Treatise de aetatibus Ecclesiae wondereth that the Popes Monarchie should arise from so small a beginning But the Apostle telleth us that that iniquitie was a Mysterie and that this Mysterie was working under ground even in his time For even the Apostolicall times wanted not a proud Diotrephes loving preeminence A little seed will bring forth a great Tree If the Discipline had not beene corrupted as well as doctrine the great Antichrist could not have risen All the errours and heresies in doctrine and matters of faith which have entered in the Church could not have brought him in unlesse errour and corruption in the government had entred in also for unlesse this had been he could pretend no claime at all to governe and rule I come therefore to our English bishops Let a man travell through Italie where the Pope is or Spaine where the Spanish Inquisition is he shall finde no difference betwixt the power of an Italian Spanish or English bishop The English bishop is the same now for power and greatnesse that hee was an hundred years since in the time of poperie There are foure things chiefly to bee considered in him First the derivation of his power 2. the sole exercise of his authority 3. the deputation of this his authoritie 4. his extensive power As for the first they are not bishops as we have sayd iure divino by divine institution or right nor cannot bee Neither are they Bishops by humane law that is the constitutions of the ancient Church which imprudently and unhappily set up the first bishops erring in taking up right the nature of Church government and the qualities of the Antichrist who was to be revealed but in the full time For they are not of that kinde of Bishops which ruled together with the Presbyterie or Ecclesiasticall Senate but they are bishops by the Municipall law of the land onely in the judgement of the lawes For all their