Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
scripture_n	call_v	day_n	sabbath_n	4,345	5	10.2877	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A53956	The good old way, or, A discourse offer'd to all true-hearted Protestants concerning the ancient way of the Church and the conformity of the Church of England thereunto, as to its government, manner of worship, rites, and customs / by Edward Pelling.	Pelling, Edward, d. 1718.	1680 (1680)	Wing P1082; ESTC R24452	117,268	146

Friday betrayed and on the Friday murther'd sequestred these dayes weekly to their solemn Devotion spending the time in reading of the Scriptures with Prayers Tears Almsdeeds and Fastings from the beginning of the day till three in the afternoon We find continual mention made of these dayes by the Greeks under the Names of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fourth day the preparation the day before the Sabbath or Saturday The Latine Fathers call them generally the Quarta sexta Feria and Tertullian Tertul. de jejunio sometimes stationum Semi-jejunia the stationary half-fasts because their abstinence at this time was not so long as in Lent and on other occasional days of humiliation when they fasted until night And Epiphanius tells us that these dayes were constantly observed all the world over and that the Original of this custome Epiphan lib. 3. adv Haer. Haeres 77. adv Aerium was owing to Apostolick Tradition It is most likely that it was so if any Credit in the World may be given to Antiquity But instead of disputing and quarrelling about that it would be for the Interest of Religion and for the great good of the World if men would buckle in good earnest to that Piety which is humble grave and serious and not give occasion to the old fashioned Christians to tell them that the cross-grain Spirit of Aerius hath undone all and to upbraid them that their Belly is their God and a Kitchin their Church 5. As times of Fasting so days of Festivity and joy were very Anciently kept by the Church for they celebrated not only the weekly day of Christs Resurrection but also the Anniversary day of Easter and the day of the Nativity and of the descent of the holy Festivals V. Euseb Eccl. His l. 5. c. 24. Ghost and indeed all that course of fifty days from Easter to Whitsunday And not those onely but moreover they honoured Cur Pascha celebramus annuo circulo in mense primo cur quinquaginta exinde diebus in omni exultatione decurrimus Tert. adv Psych Martyrum Passiones Dies anniversariâ commemoratione celebramus Cyprian ep 34. v. Pamelii Annotat. Memorias Sanctorum facimus Origne in Joh. lib. 3. Harum sc Innocentium memoria semper ut dignum est in Ecclesiis celebratur secundum integrum ordinem Sanctorum ut primorum Martyrum Id. Hom. 3. in diversos tom 2. p. 282. Oblationes pro Natalitiis annua dii facimus Tertull. de Cor. Mil. those days whereon the holy Martyrs did suffer commemorating their Lives and Sufferings and offering up Thanksgivings to God for their Faith Constancy and good Examples and calling the days of their Martyrdom their Birth-days when they entred into Life Eternal The Church of England in observing this custom doth but follow the steps of the Catholick Church of old And in mine opinion men do greatly wound the Protestant Cause when they call this and other ancient Customs by the names of Popery and Superstition For they do the Church of Rome too much honour in calling things which are ancient and Catholick Popery We know that Popery is of a late and a base Extraction and this hath abundantly been proved by Church of England-men And how do the Dissenters contradict us and justifie the Romanists when they say that this and that Observation whatever is laudable ancient and of Catholick usage is Popery Herein they befriend the Pope and give Arguments and Encouragements to the Papists more than perhaps they are aware of 6. We are required in the time of Sacred Ministrations to be clothed with a white Vesture This forsooth giveth much Surplice offence and is a great eye-sore to some now And yet for many hundreds of years before it was not offensive when men had very good eyes and Consciences too that were very tender but not galled The old Fathers startled at the very name of Perjury Rebellion and Dishonesty but they were not frighted at the sight of a Surplice but lookt upon it as a decent Habit and fit to be used in Ministerial Offices because it did resemble those Robes wherein the Angels those Ministring Spirits were wont to appear This is clear that the custom of wearing a white Garment in time of Divine-Service and S. Hieron Com. in Ezek. 44. lib. 1. adv Pelag. S. Chrys Hom. 60. ad pop Antioch Clem. Const lib. 8. especially at the Administration of the Sacrament is as old as St. Hierom in the Latin Churches and as St. Chrysostom in the Greek and that is 1300 years ago and in the most flourishing times of the Church It may be much older for ought we know to the contrary however I am sure that there is more to be said for its Antiquity than can with reason be pleaded against its Vse 7. Our standing up at the reading of the Holy Gospel is an act Standing at the Gospel Expressive of our great Reverence unto it and Significative of our Readiness to observe and obey it And questionless this Custom was originally derived from the Jews as many other Christian Customs were for at the reading of the Law this posture was used by the Congregation Ezra opened the Book in the sight of all the people for he was above all the people and when he opened it all the people stood up Nehem. 8. 5. Now seeing it was more reasonable for Christians to do Honour unto Christ than for the Jews to do it unto Moses it came to be an universal Custom even from the beginning to stand Durant de Rit lib. 2. c. 23. Constit Apost lib. 2. c. 57. up at the hearing of our Saviours Doctrine and Life and to bless God for it So the Apostolical Constitutions require When the Gospel is read let the Presbyters and Deacons and all the people stand with all quietness for it is written Hear O Israel and keep silence And accordingly St. Chrysostome witnesseth S. Chrysost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that when the Deacon opened the Book of the Gospel and began to read they all stood up and cryed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Glory be to thee O Lord. 8. It is order'd by our Church that for persons to be Baptiz'd there shall be Sureties whose Office it is to call upon Sureties them to hear Sermons to see them Catechiz'd and vertuously brought up And surely by the Laws of our Religion every man is to be his brothers Keeper And what these Sureties do binde themselves to by a Particular and Personal Obligation every Neighbour is bound to by the General Rule of Love In my opinion among all the Constitutions of our Church this is one of the most Charitable and most Profitable Constitutions and that which thousands have been beholding to for their Christian Education And were it only for the Motherly Care and Tenderness of our Church in this particular she might well claim a dutiful Observance at the hands of all her Children but that St. Paul

to order the public Service of God and to take care that decency and a grave decorum might be in Christian Assemblies He was to see that such as would be Bishops and Deacons should be rightly qualified c. 3. 2. and himself to keep up his Authority by being an Example of Believers He was to allot a double Portion of c. 4. 12. maintenance to Elders that Ruled well under him and c. 5. 17. laboured in the Word He was to take cognizance of the 19. irregularities of Presbyters but with this caution that he should not receive an Accusation against an Elder but before two or three Witnesses And such as sinned he was to Rebuke before all He was to hold Ordinations but with 20. this Proviso That he should lay bands suddainly on no man 22. Briefly St. Paul gave him a plenitude of that power which he had himself And if to Model Churches to prescribe Rules to confer holy O deus to command examin judge and reprehend O fenders Openly and even Presbyters themselves I say if these are parts of Episcopal Power then was Timothy a Bishop indeed And I should be loth to see half that Charter given to a single Presbyter as is here given to Timothy by this Great Apostle 3. The third instance to shew that the Apostles setled the Episcopal form of Government is Titus whom Antiquity acknowledgeth to have been Metropolitan of Crete an Island consistng of an hundred Cities and to have been intrusted with the power of Modelling and Governing of all the Churches there That St. Paul left him there is clear from his own words and Tit. 1. 5. questionless his design was that Titus should remain and continue there unless summoned away upon some Emergency and for a Time only and even then St. Paul promised to send either Artemas or Tychicus to be his Vicar and Procurator c. 3. 12. in his absence Now that Titus was indeed a Bishop superior in Authority to Presbyters and invested with a Superintendency and Power over all his Clergy doth plainly appear from the Authority he had both to Ordain and to Judge of so many Bishops as St. Chrysostom declares he had For this cause Chrysost Hom. in Tit. 1. it was that when the Apostle himself could not stay in Crete to put every thing into due Order but was obliged to be gone he left Titus behind him to set in order the things that Tit. 1. 5 11. c. 2. 10. were wanting and unsettled at S. Paul's departure to ordain Bishops and to dispose of them into Cities into every City one to provide against the heterodox Preaching of Deceivers to stop their mouths to silence them and to rebuke them sharply and to admonish Hereticks once and again and then to excommunicate them upon their Contumacy This was Titus his Office and this was plainly the Exercise of Episcopal Power and Jurisdiction And to confirm this further two things are observable First that this Authority was given to Titus alone not to a College of Presbyters which 't is presumable S. Paul appointed before his going away but to Titus singly for this cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldest set things in order that thou shouldest ordain c. This argues a supreme and a sole Superintendency and Authority in Titus Secondly that there was a necessity for S. Paul's committing this Authority unto him for otherwise the things that were wanting could not be set in order nor could Ordinations or Censures be there for this cause left I thee in Crete Which is a manifest Argument that the Presbyters in Crete had no power either to ordain or to excommunicate or to do such acts of Jurisdiction for then why was Titus left to those purposes And yet we see S. Paul left him and for this cause left him so that unless we will offer violence to the Sence of Scripture we must confess that Titus was left and fix'd at Crete as Bishop and Metropolitan of the whole Island To these three Apostolical Bishops I might add many more Const Apost l. 7. c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whose Names we meet with in Ecclesiastical Writers either occasionally and scatteringly mentioned as in Irenaeus Eusebius and divers others or more orderly collected as in the Book of Constitutions commonly called Apostolical But because the truth of this dependeth upon the Credit of Church History which yet we have no reason to question I shall forbear further Instances having already and I hope sufficiently shewed out of Scripture that the Order and Authority of Bishops was in being 〈◊〉 in the Apostles days and from them continued and transmitted to succeeding Ages 2. Having done then with the Proof of the Affirmative I proceed next with what brevity I can to answer that grand Argument usually brought to make good the Negative viz. that the Names of Bishop and Presbyter are indifferently and promiscuously used in the Apostolical Writings as if onely one Order of men were meant by them As for instance in Tit. 1. 2 5. Paul tells Titus that he left him in Crete as for other reasons so for this that he should Ordain Elders or Presbyters in every City Then ver 6. he layeth down the Qualifications of these Elders and as a reason for it he saith ver 7. for a Bishop must be blameless c. Here a Bishop and a Presbyter seem to be not two distinct Orders but one and the same and so some say that by a Presbyter is here meant a Bishop and others affirm that by a Bishop is here meant a Presbyter and hence are willing to conclude that in the Apostles time they were not thought to be two distinct Offices but Bishop and Presbyter to be one both in Name Order and Authority and so Prelacy must fall to the ground without any help from Scripture For the removing of this Difficulty three things are to be observed 1. That Aerius the Heretic was the first that ever found out or insisted on this Community and Identity of Names for the Writers before him in the first and second Age after the Apostles did not discourse at this rate could not discover such a promiscuous use of the words 2. The Catholick Writers after Aerius who thought as he did that the Names of Bishop and Presbyter were common in the Apostles days did not yet think as that Heretic did affirm that the Office and Order were ever the same No they held that though Bishops were sometimes called Presbyters and Presbyters Bishops yet Bishops were a rank of Ministers above Presbyters both in Degree and Authority even in the Age of the Apostles 3. But then there is one Observation more for which I must thank a very Learned Prelate of our Church viz. that notwithstanding Vindic. Epist Ignat. p. 184. this Construction and late Pretence of the Promiscuous use of the words yet it doth not appear that the Scripture gives the Titles of

deliver this City from evil days from famine from pestilence and from invasion Compare this Prayer with S. Cyprians words and then judge if he did not point to this or to some other Form to the same purpose and of the same strain Again whereas Celsus the Pagan slandered the Christians as men given to Magical Arts and Sorceries Origen who was but one remove from the times of the Apostles affirmes positively and upon certain experience that they who worship Orig. adv Cess lib. 6. the Lord of the Vniverse by Jesus Christ and live according to the Gospel using night and day constantly and rightly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Prayers which were Appointed cannot come under the power of Devils There is little Reason to doubt but that by these Prayers he means the Nocturnal and Diurnal Offices which we then prescribed and ordered by the Church and less Reason there is to fancy that such were not used in his time and for confirmation of this it is observeable that Origen himself else where quotes a customary Form then in use We frequently Orig. H●om 11. in Jerem. say in our Prayers Grant us O Almighty God grant us a Portion with the Prophets grant us a place among the Apostles of thy Christ grant that we may be found followers of thine onely begotten Questonless this was an usual Form in the Alexandrian Liturgy and though we do not now find it in so many express words in the Liturgy ascribed to S. Mark yet we find in it a form to the same purpose grant us O Lord to have our Portion and inheritance with all thy Saints And in the Aethiopick Liturgy it is twice Lit. S. Marci in Anaphorâ Be propitious unto us O Lord and vouchsafe to make us joint-Possessors and partakers of the inheritance of the Apostles and cause us to follow their steps And again Lord write our names in the Kingdom of Heaven and joyn us with all thy Saints and Martyrs Furthermore Tertullian another African writer and somewhat Elder then Origen speaking of the Jam vero prout Scripturae leguntur aut Psalmi canuntur aut Adlocutiones proferuntur aut Petitiones delegantur c. Tert de Anima c. 3. Divine-service in his time which he calls Dominica Solennia reckons up four parts of it the Reading of Scripture the Singing of Psalms Allocutions and Petitions This place being throughly understood is very pregnant and full to our purpose 1. Here we have the reading of the Scriptures which in those early and pious times was perform'd not with that conciseness and brevity which was usual in after-ages but 't was Lectio fusissima and Lit. S. Jacob. large potions were read both out of the old and the new Testament 2. They Sung whole Psalms not only those composed by David and other Prophets among the Jews but as we shall see hereafter several Hymns and Songs of Praise which had been framed in the beginning by Faithful Christians and more immediately relating to the Christian Religion 3. But then a doubt may be moved what Tertullian means by those Allocutions which were made to the people and uttered at large for that I conceive to be his sence And the difficulty may be easily assoiled if we call to mind that in the Primitive times it was a general custome for the Deacon that read the service to direct the people in their devotion to tell them what they should pray for and to stir them up to beg such and such things of God calling upon them after this manner Let us pray let us pray earnestly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let us pray on yet further and with an intense Zeal and other such Forms there were which he frequently used and then dictated to them the matter of their devotion to which all the people gave their Suffrages readily and with much fervency of Spirit Litany-wise Now these Forms of exhortation were called by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Latines rendred Allocutions We call it Bidding of Prayers And though the custome be for certain Reasons grown much out of use among us yet there are many plain footsteps of it to Clem. Const be seen in our Liturgy especially in our Litany and Communion-service in which offices it was most used of old for the Minister is often ordered to say Let us pray let us pray And as to the custome it self it is so Ancient that I cannot find the beginning of it and 't was so universal that 't was observed in all the Primitive Churches for in all the Liturgies which I have yet seen either of the Eastern or Western or African Churches such Allocutory Expressions are still extant more or less Sometimes the Minister used short and concise Forms saying Let us Pray let us behave our selves reverently Lift up your hearts let us give thanks unto the Lord and to these the Congregation gave their customary Answers Sometimes these Allocutions were more large as for instance in that Prayer for Persons who intended to be Baptized to which several others did correspond the Minister said on this wise as we find in an African Liturgy Let us that are Believers pray for our brethren who prepare themselves for holy Illumination or Baptism and for their salvation let us beseech the Lord And the People answered Lord have mercy That our Lord God may please to confirm and strengthen them let us beseech the Lord Ans Lord have mercy That he may please to illuminate them with the light of knowledge and godliness let us beseech the Lord Ans Lord have mercy That he may please in due time to vouchsafe them the Laver of Regeneration and forgiveness of their sins let us beseech the Lord Ans Lord have mercy That he may please to regenerate them with water and the Holy Ghost let us beseech the Lord Ans Lord have mercy That he may please to give them a perfection of Faith let us beseech the Lord Ans Lord have mercy That he may please to gather them into the holy Fold of his Elect let us beseech the Lord Ans Lord have mercy O Lord save pity help and keep them by thy good Grace Ans Lord have mercy These and such Forms as these were undoubtedly used by the Churches of Christ in the first Ages of Christianity And these were the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Allocutions which Tertullian speaks of as used in his time and anon I shall make it probably appear that they were used before his time too 4. In the mean time it is observable that in the place before-cited he makes mention of Petitions also used in the Publick Assemblies of Christians By which I understand certain entire Prayers called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Collects when the requests of the Church were cast into one Body of Prayer offered up by the Minister to which the People answered Amen In the use of these he was the Apol. c. 30. mouth of