Practice and set up themselves against the Authority of the whole Catholick Church I come now to consider the Opposition it self their Allegations and Reasons Such is the Wit of Man and the Subtilty of Satan that scarce any Truth is so evident but they can find out some specious Appearances to set up against it But such is the Mercy and Wisdom of God that he hath provided sufficient means for Direction for all such as keep within the Bounds of Humility and Obedience that is in Subjection not only of their Wills but also of their Intellects and Understandings to his Orders Ordinances and Prescriptions the very Business of their Lives in this World for Preparation for another And to such besides the Common Means he will kindly vouchsafe a special Guidance sufficient for their Circumstances Of the Danger our Saviour and his Apostles have given to all fair Warning and great Caution acquainting us with the End why the most Wise and Gracious God permits it for Tryal and Exercise the Danger and Subtilty of the Ministers of Satan such as should deceive if it were possible the very Elect the special Marks to know and avoid them viz. Their Fruits specious Pretences Sheeps Clothing and Distraction and Disagreement among themselves crying Here is Christ and There is Christ and special Directions Believe them not Go not out after them All this Provision hath the Devil attempted to undermine partly by raising real Scandals and Offences and partly by strongly representing Imaginary ones But against all this Humility and Charity will fortifie us and the Grace special Guidance and Mercy of God will preserve us if we be careful to continue in those Graces It was Pride and Arrogance and Discontent in Aerius which gave the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Epiphan p. 905. a. Devil Advantage to instigate him to the first Opposition of such a Catholick Practice It was Pride Vanity and Ostentation of Parts by which he set Gobarus to work to shew his Learning and Acuteness in finding out Differences of Opinions among them who perhaps in many of those things differed no more than the Writers of the Sacred Scriptures seem to do For I do not find that he made any special Opposition against this Practice But I doubt it was not imaginary but real Scandal and gross Abuses of a good Practice by which Waldo and his Followers and the Albigenses were moved to oppose all without Distinction tho' there seems to have been in him with a Zeal for God but without Knowledge a Mixture of Pride and Conceitedness And it was real and not imaginary Scandal by which Luther was at first moved to oppose Indulgencies and his Followers at first to oppose even this innocent and commendable Practice But in such Men as Vsher and Bucer it was the Reputation of the Cause they had espoused in gross and Compliances with the Times and their particular Interests by which they were moved But let us but carefully follow our Saviour's Admonitions and Directions wisely distinguish the Ingredients of the Composition of Truth and Falsehood and honestly imbrace hold fast and own the Truth when we have the Opportunity and we shall not want sufficient Light and Evidence to find it The specious Appearances set up against this Catholick Practice of the Church of Christ are these 1. That there is no Scripture Authority for it 2. That the Ancient Practice was to Pray for all such as were at Rest 3. That the Ancients were not agreed in their Opinions concerning the State of Separate Souls or the general Intention of the Church in those Prayers To detect the Fallacy Falsity and Impertinence of these Allegations as briefly as may be To the first I say it is a meer Fallacy and grounded upon a false Supposition that nothing is to be admitted in Doctrine or Worship but what there is Scripture Authority for if it be understood of a special Authority and their usual Pretences of not Adding or Diminishing are to be understood of those particular Parts or Books of the Scripture as is plain by the Additional Writings and Practices of Holy Men afterwards 2. It is inconsistent with the Tradition of the Doctrine and Institutions of the Gospel and of the Ordinances of the Apostles which were all by Word and Deed without Writing as the Common Laws of this Nation were at first settled and much of what was written was written upon special Occasions and much with that Brevity and Conciseness by the special Providence of God as was sufficient for them for whom it was intended and yet so as should need an Authentick Explication to preserve the Authority of the Catholick Church 3. It is contrary to the express Directions of the Scripture to contend for the Doctrine once delivered to the Saints in general and to hold the Traditions they had received whether by Word or Epistle c. And if it be understood of a general Authority the Allegation it self is false For it is contrary to all those Scriptures which declare the Authority of the Church and require Obedience to Superiors And either way it is contrary to the Sentiments Testimony and Practice of the Ancient Christians who in Questions of Difficulty and Contests with Hereticks always inquired not only what was written by the Apostles but also or principally what was delivered by them to the Churches which they founded in all Parts of the World of which the Catholick Church doth consist which the Scripture it self stiles the Pillar and Basis of Truth 1 Tim. 3.15 v. Grot. not only for the Sense and Meaning of the Scripture as Lawyers with good reason do when in doubts about the Construction of Writings they inquire how the Usage hath gone for in that case the Writing is the Principal Evidence but in this case what was delivered to the Churches which were compleatly and plainly instructed and ordered by the Apostles was the principal Inquiry and the Scriptures but an accessory Evidence as our Year-Books are of the Common Law in Questions concerning the Common Law But I doubt not but there was a special Providence in it that so much was written and no more and that it was written in such a manner Lastly This hath been the Practice and Pretence of Hereticks and Schismaticks in all Ages to the intent with the better colour to set aside the Authority of the Catholick Church that they might so make way to set up their own private Opinions and Conceits in the Place thereof but never more grossly nauciously and scandalously than by some of the Principal of the late Reformers Calvin especially on the one side inculcating and crying up The Pure Word of God The Pure Word of God and on the other abusing it by straining wresting it to serve their own turns and eluding and evading what is plainly contrary to them which is now past all doubt not only by the Confessions of Mr. Baxter and Le Blank but the many of all
Payment of the last Farthing Mat. 5.25 Prisoners of Hope Zechar. 9.11 12. Sins blotted out when the times of Refreshing shall come Act. 3.19 Such as shew the Incertainty of many Souls in their separate State even such as were Professors of a high Form in this World of what their final Doom shall be at that Day as Mat. 7.22 23. and 25.44 45. c. And the Recompence of Rewards at that day 2 Thess 1.6 7. 1 Cor. 5.5 Luk. 14.14.2 Tim. 4.8 c. Which if our confident Opposers had sufficiently considered one would think they should not have presumed to make so light of that middle State as for the maintaining of Parties to deprive so many Souls there of all Benefit they might receive by their surviving Friends here which many Apparitions even among Protestants do frequently signifie The Practice of the Jews I have noted already and shall add only here That in Discourse lately with one of them he assured me that the Form they now use for that purpose is generally believed by all to have been composed by Eâ—ra and the Great Congregation I there also remembred an instance of the Practice of the Apostles themselves in St. Paul's Prayer for Onesiphorus in such a Form as is hardly to be met with for any Person living however proves it not in vain to Pray for any Person of whom there is Hope but not Certainty till that day So that tho' our great Man with more Considence I doubt than Conscience and without any Proof or Reason at all doth positively affirm him then living p. 210. he gets nothing at all by it Thus we see in this a Universal Agreement in all things but on the contrary if we examine the Obstinate Opposition of it throughout we shall find nothing solid and consistent in it neither with Truth nor Honesty nor any good Consequence but a plausible Pretence of the Pure Word of God to cover an impure Inclination and Desire to set aside the Authority which God instituted and set up themselves and their own Conceits in the place of it 2. Inconsistent with it self first denying or cavilling at the Antiquity or Universality of the Practice and then when they thought they had found out an Evasion confessing that which they could no longer for shame deny and betaking themselves to their new Invention 3. Inconsistent with the Sincerity Simplicity and Ingenuity of the Gospel in their shameless Shuffles Cavils and Evasions of which I have noted divers and many more might be observed but there is one not to be omitted here their alleadging the Writings of Epiphanius Chrysostome Augustin and others against not only their own but the confessed ancient Practice of the Church in their time in this Case Inconsistent with that Modesty Respect and Decency which the Gospel requires toward all in their Censuring as delirous not only some particular Persons but generally all the most Holy Ancient Christians in what was their common Sentiments and is believed by the most learned of the Church of England to be plainly taught in the Holy Scriptures 5. Inconsistent with that Reverence and Regard that Christians should have for the Honour of the Church of Christ his Promises to it and Care of it in so foul and scandalous an Imputation as that they received their common Notions of the present State of separate Souls in the other World from an Impostor which was not their Impudence therein as notorious as it is groundless and destitute of any proof at all might prove a Tentation to unsettled Souls to suspect all to be no better And for other Consequences it is plain they lead the way to all others to reject their own usurped Authority with the same Ease and Impudence that they do that of the Church of Christ and to set up their own Conceits against theirs and pretend Scripture for it and so to an endless Course of Separations Schisms Sects and Confusions and in conclusion set up that Authority over others which they themselves in the mean time reject as by their Synod of Dort and others in France appears And besides all this it is much to be feared that they lead multitudes of Souls into that miserable Security and Presumption wherewith our Saviour hath acquainted us that many will find themselves deceived at that day Mat. 7.22 And therefore if these be not pertinacious Schismaticks and Hereticks speaking perverse things to draw away Disciples after them and therefore carefully to be avoided I know not who are or what so many Cautions in the Scripture to that purpose do signifie FINIS The Doctrine of the Scriptures concerning The Middle State of Souls And the Tradition of the Church for Prayers for the DEAD Summ'd up by Dr. Jer. Taylor late Bishop of Down and Conner With the Judgment of Mr. Herbert Thorndike a late most Learned Prebend of Westminster ALtho' there hath been lately Printed a Discourse of Prayers for the Dead proving the Practice and Tradition thereof in the Church to be truly Catholick and a competent Evidence of Apostolick Original and Authority wherein divers Learned Protestants are alleadged to have been of the same Opinion yet for the Readers farther Satisfaction in that respect it hath been thought fit to Print the Discourse of these two other eminent Persons of the Church of England more at large than was thought proper for that place And first that of the late Bishop Dr. Jer. Taylor 1. Of the Middle State of Souls THE Holy Jesus promised to the blessed Thief That he should that Day be with Him in Paradice which therefore was certainly a Place or State of Blessedness because it was a Promise and in the Society of Jesus whose penal and afflictive part of his Work of Redemption was finished upon the Cross Our Blessed Lord did not promise he should that day be with him in his Kingdom for that day it was not opened and the everlasting doors of those interior Recesses were to be shut till after the Resurrection that himself was to ascend thither and make way for all his Servants to enter in the same Method in which he went before us Our Blessed Lord descended into Hell saith the Creed of the Apostles from the Sermon of St. Peter as he from the Words of David that is into the State of Separation and common Receptacle of Spirits according to the Style of Scripture But the Name of Hell is no where in Scripture an appellative of the Kingdom of Christ of the Place of final and supream Glory But concerning the Verification of our Lord's Promise to the beatified Thief and his own State of Separation we must take what Light we can from Scripture and what we can from the Doctrine of the Primitive Church St. Paul had two great Revelations he was wrapt up into Paradice and he was wrapt up into the third Heaven and and these he calls Visions and Revelations not one but divers for Paradice is distinguished from the Heaven of the
THE LITURGY OF THE ANCIENTS REPRESENTED As near as well may be IN English Forms WITH A PREFACE Concerning the RESTITUTION of the most Solemn Part of the Christian Worship in the Holy Eucharist to its Integrity and just Frequency of Celebration LONDON Printed for the AUTHOUR 1696. Bp. Andrews's Sermon on Gal. 3.4 p. 32. No Fulness there is of our Liturgy or Publick Solemn Service without the Sacrament Some part yea the chief part is wanting if that be wanting Dr. S. Patrick the present Bp. of Ely Our Worship must be confessed to be but imperfect when the Holy Communion is wanting Discourse of Frequency of Holy Communion p. 68. Id. ibid. p. 61. The Church in the best Times and the best Men in the Church in after-Ages look'd upon this as an Ordinary part of Christian Worship which Christ intended should be performed in his Church as oft as they assembled for Divine Service QUESTIONS Concerning the Proper and Peculiar Christian Worship 1. WHether the Divine Service or Liturgy as from Act. 13.2 we may conceive it to have been anciently termed as it hath been in all Ages since of the Christians hath not from all Antiquity been distinguished into two Parts The first consisting of Reading of the Scriptures and Explication thereof or Exhortation to the People with some few short Prayers called The Service of the Catechumens The other consisting principally of a Solemn Memorial of the Passion of our Saviour represented before the Father as the great Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World with Thanksgivings and Prayers for the Catholick Church and all Mankind for the particular Church and People of all Orders and Degrees where it was celebrated and for all the Necessaries of humane Life called The Service of the Faithful to which the Catechumens and Penitents were not admitted but were excluded 2. Whether this latter Part called The Service of the Faithful hath not been retained and celebrated in all Churches of the World from the Apostles Times to this Day except those called Reformed as the Peculiar and most solemn Part of the Christian Worship daily where they had any daily Worship as in most great Churches they had from whence it had the name of Sacrificium quotidianum in others three or four times in the Week and in all every Lords Day and the rest without it be any more than the Service of Catechumens and Penitents 3. Whether there be any plain Evidence or Appearance in the Holy-Scripture of any solemn Assembly of Christians in the Apostles times where this sacred Rite was not used or that any present at any such Assembly where it was used did ever depart without Communion or Participation And whether the Sacred History Act. 20.7 relating that the Disciples came together to break Bread as the End and Occasion of that famous Assembly of the Christians at Troas though Paul so eminent an Apostle was then to Preach there and to Preach his Farewell Sermon doth not thereby signify or imply that that was notwithstanding the principal Business of that and such settled Assembles And St. Paul himself 1 Cor. 11.20 speak of their coming together to eat the Lords Supper as the constant and Principal Business of such Assemblies and the same also be not strongly implied in those other Expressions Act. 2.42 46. and 1 Cor. 10.16 4. Whether by ancient Canons all the Faithful who came to Church and heard the Scriptures were not oblig'd to stay this Solemn Service of the Faithful and Communicate under the Penalty of Excommunication 5. Whether there was ever any Doubt or Question whether all the Faithful ought to Communicate every Day that is if where there was a daily Celebration till the time of St. Augustine And whether many did not continue to do so then 6. Whether this most Holy Solemn and Peculiar Worship of the Faithful Christians be not being duly performed most highly Honourable to the Father by Solemn Worship and Recognition of him as the Soveraign Lord of the Universe and also to the Son by like Solemn Worship and Recognition of him as our Lord and Redeemer and that we are all his Purchased Servants and to the Holy-Ghost by whose Presence and Virtue all Sacred Operations are perfected And moreover of very great Benefit to the Souls of the Faithful duly disposed by a Communication of Divine Virtue to them 7. Whether what some Learned Men have rightly observed à posteriori from matter of Fact That the Devil hath exercised and vented more Malice against this Holy Rite than against any other part of the Christian Religion except the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity be not also credible upon Considerations â priori from the Nature of the thing from the Honour and Worship therein performed to the Father and to our Saviour and to the Holy-Ghost and the Benefits communicated to Humane Souls but more especially because therein that Passion of our Saviour which the Devil had maliciously procured is solemnly Honoured and represented before the Father as the great Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World to the Confusion of that Proud Malicious and Envious Spirit 8. Whether great Elevation of Soul and Devotion to God and Enlargement of Souls in mutual Charity of one to another being principal Benefits ordinarily communicated to Souls duly disposed in the frequent and Reverend Use of this Holy Sacrament Deprivation of these Benefits and instead thereof Dissentions Contentions and Animosities and Decay of Piety and over-spreading of Wickedness may not be just and deserved Punishments of the Neglect of so great a Duty and Solemn Worship and of so Holy Means for the obtaining of those Benefits and may not therefore reasonably be believed to be Special Judgments of God for the same when we see them follow Notorious Neglect thereof at no great Distance 9. Whether therefore Neglect of Communion by the People in the Greek Churches where Chrysostom preached vehemently against it both at Antioch and Constantinople may not reasonably be believed to have been severely Punished by the Special Judgement of God and Malice of the Devil getting Advantage thereupon by the Divisions and Confusions which arose there not long after his Death and continued till almost all the Eastern Churches were first over-spread with them and at last over-run and enslaved by the Turks and Mohemetans And in the Latin-Churches by the abominable Corruptions Abuses Impostures and Usurpations of the Papacy 10. Whether the Neglect not only of Communion by the People but even of Celebration by the Clergy so that such of the People as would have Communicated could not and in a manner taking away of the daily Sacrifice in the Churches called Reformed may not also reasonably be believed to have been punished by the special Judgement of God and Malice of the Devil by their Divisions amongst themselves from the Beginning of their Reformation and by the great Decays of Piety and Over-spreading of Wickedness which hath by degrees increased amongst them
or among the Ancient Christians of the first Ages is known ever to have been held without it Thes 6. No Church upon the Face of the Earth from the Time of the Apostles to the Time of the Reformation nor to this Day except among Protestants is known to have kept the Lord's-Day or had any ordinary Assemblies for the And as to the Communion or Participation Thes 1. By most Ancient Order in the Church who-ever departed after the Reading of the Scriptures or Sermon and stay'd not at the Communion and received were to be excommunicated Thes 2. In the first Ages till about the Time of St. Augustin we find not any Doubt or Question concerning the Obligation of all to Communicate daily if they were where it was Celebrated and had no just Impediment But then when many especially among the Greeks began to neglect that Holy Duty that Question arose among the Latines and the more Devout continued to receive every Day an Argument of Daily Celebration then and others intermitted certain Days Thes 3. By Ancient Canons if any neglected to Communicate for Three Sundays together they were to be excommunicated Thes 4. It was Anciently commonly reputed a grievous thing to be hindered from Receiving the Blessed Sacrament but to be denyed it a grievous Punishment and such was the Judgment of the Church concerning the Importance of it that to such as were hindered from coming to the Church it was sent home to their Houses by the Deacons Thes 5. It was Anciently not only Scandalous but Punishable in a Clergy-Man to be in a City or other Place where it was celebrated and not to attend and communicate Thes 6. These Orders of later Ages concerning Receiving at least Three times in a Year and so indulging a Neglect for all the rest are most justly by Calvin said to be Certissimum Diaboli Inventum Thes 7. It hath been always the Practice and Advice of all Devout People to be very frequent at it and of most to neglect no Opportunity Dr. Taylor 's Conclusion concerning it in his Holy Living is very agreeable to the Sentiments of the Ancients and deserves to be Read by all Concl. 1. From all this it appears how far different the Devotion of this Age is from that of the ancient genuine Christianity and short of it 2. This Holy Service having been constantly performed in this City in Publick Churches ever since the Sixth of Janunry 1694. and in the Heart of the City for a Twelve-month together and frequented by so few is a Notorious Argument of the miserable Ignorance and Indevotion for all our Pretences both of Priests and People amongst us 3. It hath been the Opinion of several Learned Judicious and Observent Men that a great part of the Mischief which hath been in the World in these latter Ages is to be imputed to so woful a Neglect of this Holy Ordinance Now for Proofs of these things They who pretend to any kind of Learning I suppose will be cautious how they require it lest they betray their own Ignorance in Antiquity and for others they are not so much to be regarded as to insist upon them meerly for them but if there be Occasion abundant Proofs both Old and New may soon be produced And in the mean time for the Satisfaction of such well-meaning People as doubt they may be referred to Mr. Joseph Mede Dr. Sherlock the present Dean of St. Pauls in the last chap. of his Book of Religious Assemblies Dr. S. Patrick the present Bp. of Ely in his Discourse of Frequency of Holy Communion Mr. Thorndike Bp. Andrews Dr. Jeremy Taylor and others who have several considerable Passages to the Purpose in several Parts of their Works very consonant to the Sentiments and Practices of the Ancient Christians and the whole Catholick Church And certainly it is a wonderful thing that Almighty God should ever permit the Enemy of Mankind so to impose upon such as may well be supposed did really intend his Service and had a great Zeal for it as some leading Men in the Beginning of the Reformation and that such Men of Learning and Parts should be so imposed upon as by a mistaken Zeal against Superstition to abolish and deface so considerable a Part of the most Holy and Solemn Worship of God and even of the true Notion and proper Use thereof But our most Wise and Gracious God for most Excellent Ends no doubt though we cannot comprehend them all hath again concluded all under Sin that he might have Mercy upon all abolish that Enmity and Uncharitableness which the Enemy hath fomented amongst us and teach us henceforward by a very remarkable Example in the Work of God to attend with more Reverence and Circumspection to his Conduct and not presume too much upon our own Conceits and Opinions These Men who so much over-shot themselves had the Honour and Service of God for their End and the Word of God for their Rule and yet How have they erred from both done Dis-honour and Dis-service to God for the Honour and Service they intended and instead of the Pure Word of God followed their own or their Leaders meer Fancies and Imaginations The Great Business of Man upon Earth is the Intire Subjection of the Creature to the Creator in the Subjection of the Intellect as well as the Will and therefore it is absolutely necessary that we should have great Experiments of the Danger of Presuming too much upon our own Opinions as well as of adhering too much to our own Wills And such is this we are now considering And if we inquire into the Causes of it they are such as I have just now touched 1. Not sufficient Attendance to the Conduct of God over us for he is always present in a special manner with all those who are imployed in any special Service for Him to direct them if they be careful to follow Him fully and not unadvisedly conclude upon their own Opinions like them Jos 9. when they should ask Counsel of the Lord. 2. Conceitedness and Presumption upon our own Judgments which makes us apt to neglect that Attendance 3. Want of Charity to such as are otherwise minded and a Spirit of Opposition apt to run without due Consideration and be insensibly transported from one Extream or Errour into another beyond either the Conduct of God or Mature Deliberation of our own Minds 4. Want of due regard to Humane Authority For though we must obey God rather than Man yet we must be subject to Humane Ordinances too so far as they are not inconsistent with the Orders of God and even in those things wherein we cannot obey yet have due regard to the Authority 5. Having Mens Persons in Admiration and receiving their Opinions as the Oracles of God a secret Principle of all Sectaries 6. Indiscreet Zeal without Knowledge for the Honour and Service of God another Occasion of running out of one Extream or Errour into another 7. Mixture
Temporal Interests and Respects and Pre-ingagement of Reputation for maintenance of Opinions received especially when intermixed with something of Truth to support them it is absolutely necessary to the Discharge of this Duty Securing of this Interest and Exercise of this Wisdom Esteem and Reverence to consider well and settle it in our Minds that those are no Principles of Truth but commonly of Error and Means of which wicked Spirits make great Advantage to harden Mens Hearts and make them obstinate in the Errors which they have intermixed with the Truths of God and therefore be assured that since we are all Fallible there may be as much Truth on their side with whom we contend as on our own and that it is more likely that both Parties are in Error than that either is intirely in the Right and thereupon to set generously and impartially to examine and distinguish and retain what is plain and clear reject what is manifestly false and leave what is doubtful and obscure till God shall reveal that also in the mean time as of less Importance and where there is occasion of consulting others make choice as in consulting Lawyers or Physicians of such as are not only well versed in such matters but also disinterested unbyassed and faithful And because to resist reject or make light of any Truth but offered by the gracious Providence of God is a Sin of great Ingratitude and very offensive to his Divine Majesty and usually provokes subtraction of his Grace and Spiritual Judgments it greatly concerns all who have any true Devotion to God and considerate Care for their own Souls to be very cautious that they do not unadvisedly reject or neglect any such when proposed to them but especially if such as have been believed professed and practised if of that nature by the most eminent Saints in all Ages and in all Parts of the Church of Christ and more-especially if such as concern the Honor of God and of our Saviour the Interest of his Church which is the Kingdom of Christ upon Earth the Communion of Saints or the Salvation or Consolation of Souls whether in the Body or out of the Body and more yet if there appear just cause of Suspicion of the contrary Opinions as when the first Teachers differ and fall out among themselves and principal Men of their Followers afterward confess that what was greatly magnified by them before was greatly mistaken when Charges or Accusations are of themselves monstrous and unreasonable as that Catalogue of Errors of the Church of Rome published by two several Persons eminent in their own Parties which computed amount to above Five Hundred a great sign of more Partiality than Prudence more Heat than Truth and of more Contention and Calumny than of just cause of Accusation and one of the same Persons after-terward confessing that those of that Church are unjustly and untruly charged in many things and especially when that remarkable Note of the Apostle viz. Going out 1 Jo. 2.19 according to his Masters Cautions before Luk. 17.23 21.8 which by the Ancient Christians is so much insisted on as a certain Note of Heresie and Schism is manifest beyond all contradiction In all such cases a Godly Jealousie and Circumspection is highly necessary that we do not obstinately persist in Error and resist the Truth So much is required of all Men as Rational Creatures that they be faithful to their Creator and their own Souls in the due Use and Improvement of their Talent of Natural Reason and Understanding But Christians should farther consider that they have many subtile and powerful invisible Adversaries to contend with called Principalities and Powers and the Rulers of the Darkness of this World and one chief called the God of this World who commonly puts on the Appearance of an Angel of Light blinding the Minds of Worldly and Carnal Men least the Light of Truth should shine unto them and therefore be very watchful against their Wiles beware of their Snares be not conformed to this World but transformed by the Renewing of their Mind be mindful of their Baptismal Covenant their Renunciation not only of the Devil but of the World and the Pomps and Vanities thereof and of the Flesh with its Lusts and Affections which are two great Engines of the Adversaries that they may attain to true Purity in Heart that the Light of Truth may shine into it and be kindly and effectually received For this they have first the implicit Document of the Great Example of their Redeemer their Lord and the Captain of their Salvation which they must follow if they do sincerely indeavour to attain the End and besides the Explication of it in manifold express written plain Declarations affectionate Admonitions obliging Exhortations and strict Injunctions they must be Doers of his Will if they will know the Truth of his Doctrine and be careful to avoid Pride seeking Honor of Men Jo. 5.44 and Conceitedness the common Levin of Hereticks and Schismaticks be mindful also of the other part of their Baptismal Covenant their Profession of Faith observe and consider well the Order of the several Articles of their Belief and study to understand the Importance of each For there is nothing in that Form of Sound Words either in Matter or Order but is of Importance to be noted and understood and consider well what special Means and Helps our Lord hath provided for them for Evidences of his Word and Doctrine and be careful they neglect none of them much less set them one against another and abuse what they pretend to receive as is very usual I know not any Means whereby Men are more effectually imposed upon than by Misapplication of manifest Truths nor any Matters wherein in this part of the World they are more commonly deceived or deceive themselves than in false Notions concerning the Two great Evidences of the Christian Doctrine and Institutions the Catholick Church and the Sacred Scriptures which rightly understood and used do mutually confirm and corroborate one the other but misunderstood separated and abused are the very Principles of all our Differences and Confusions The Catholick Church is the Kingdom of Christ upon Earth and to have great Regard to the Interests of it is certainly the Duty of all Christians but to despise or slight the Testimony or Authority of it is a great Sin in it self and the Inlet to many others and a Fundamental Error To conclude they who sincerely desire to understand and imbrace the Truth of Christianity must consider what is required before their Engagement declared by our Saviour in two Comparisons Luke 14.28 31. what is to be performed after declared likewise by two other Comparisons Matt. 13.44 45. and what are the Terms upon which only Men may be Christ's Disciples indeed in express Terms inculcated upon divers Occasions Matt. 10.35 37 38. and again Matt. 16.24 Luk. 9. and again to the Multitude Luk. 14.26 33. and the Danger of Denying or being
Experience is to be expected from them and on the other side how necessary notwithstanding it is for the Peace and Repose of this Nation that the Occasions of such mischievous Dissentions should be better considered and removed I presently perceived I had a fair Opportunity in this to present a proper instance of a Matter of such Importance to Persons as well qualified to judge and who were likely to be as sensible of the Importance of it as any and thereupon concluded to present it alone to the Consideration of Your Lordships and the Gentlemen of Your Honourable Profession having already as to the rest made a considerable Experiment of what I have here said of the Hopes we may have of a good Success if they to whom it doth belong will but do what is in their Power towards it For having published a Liturgy Entituled The Liturgy of the Ancients represented as near as well may be in English Forms not much different only a little more compleat from that Restitution of the True English Liturgy attempted by the Scotch with the Assistance of the Principal of the English Bishops Anno 1637. I presented it to some of the principal learned Men first of the English who much approved it and wished it restored by Law then of the Lutherans who also approved it and declared their Satisfaction to communicate in that Form and at last of the Roman Catholicks who had no Exceptions to the Matter or Form of it And in short to say the Truth the Abuse and Corruptions of the Publick Liturgy in these two particulars Of Prayers for the Dead and the Christian Sacrifice to mention nothing more are so gross and notorious that they alone are sufficient to make the Church of England inexcusably Guilty of Schism and justly obnoxious to Excommunication which may be the Enchantment it seems to lie under and unsafe for any pious Person after notice to hold Communion with it so that it seems not only expedient and prudent for the State to consider these Matters for otherwise nothing is to be expected from these Bishops but absolutely necessary And so I leave it with Your Lordships Your Lordships most Humble Servant Of the Practice of Prayers for the DEAD In the Christian Church THE Performance of any good Offices for the Dead even to their Bodies their Bones their Memories their Wills c. hath always been reputed a very commendable thing among all civilized Nations and whatever hath been acted to the contrary barbarous and inhumane and the only Neglect of such Offices by such as were under any special Obligation of evil consequence as if Mankind had some secret sense that Separate Souls were sensible of the Kindness or Unkindness of those who survived them and had some power to gratifie or revenge the Kindness or Injuries especially of their Relations and such as they had any special Interest in in their Life-time And if such inferior Offices to their Bodies and Memories have been so reputed much more may such good Offices as Prayers for the Souls departed deserve commendation And accordingly it hath been always commonly practised by all Nations Gentiles Jews Mahometans and Christians and that without any known Beginning but very probably by Tradition from the common * Concerning Matters transmitted from them and received and conserved by the Gentiles See Mr. Dodwell's 2d Letter § 8. Parents of Mankind being very agreeable to Nature and confirmed by Apparitions And certainly this is a thing so innocent so free from all appearance of Evil so desirable both for ones self and their Friends that it is very strange that any especially good People should be persuaded nay frighted from it and much more that any should so presume upon their own Opinion and Conceit as to offer to persuade them so contrary to the Practice of the whole World in general and of the whole Catholick Church without clearer Evidence in so obscure a Case as is that of the middle State of Souls to us Mortals which is not to be believed could ever have been without some secret Energy of those Powers of Darkness which have effected greater Mischiefs than this by the same Instruments It is the Practice of the Jews at this day and has been so without any known beginning was so before our Saviour's time as appears by the Book of Maccabees and their ancient Form of Prayer which 't is said they used in the Captivity still extant in their Talmud and never was reproved by our Saviour or any of his Apostles or of the Primitive Christians It is the Practice of the whole Catholick Church at this day and of all Christians except such as according to the unanimous Sentiments of the Ancients are gone and are out of it and hath been so without any known beginning in their most solemn Worship so that no Church can be assigned where they who scruple at it now could have had Communion without it And never was opposed contradicted or questioned by any one of any Reputation in the Catholick Church or by any one at all for near 400 years The first who is known to have questioned it was Aerius in the time of Epiphanius a Presbyter a frantick proud conceited Man discontented because he could not get a Bishoprick and thereupon 't is probable quarrelled not only at divers Practises of the Church but at Episcopacy it self an ill Man by the Judgement of all and Epiphanius and St. Austin reckon him in their Catalogues of Hereticks for his Opposition of this Practice especially The next whose Testimony is produced in this Cause is one Stephanus Gobarus and obscure Scribler and a confessed Heretick even by Vsher who alleadgeth his Testimony as well as by Photius from whom he takes it and who gives this Character of his Book that it seems a Work of much Labour but little Profit and a Study rather of Applause and Vain-Glory than any great Usefulness It was a Collection of the different Sentences of the Fathers in divers points of Doctrine and alleadged to prove such a Difference of Opinions in this Case and what was the true Sentence of the Church A special Witness and to much purpose an Heretick to prove the true Sentence of the Church and a vain-glorious Person who out of Ostentation of Parts and Learning seeks for Differences in the Fathers and sets himself up for a Judge which he might if he had pleased have done also in the Scripture it self But after all he doth not so much as declare his Opinion in the principal Question in this Case but only in a by-point A poor Cause that stands in need of such Supports If we set him aside as well we may who is neither a competent Witness of the Sentence of the Church nor doth declare his own in this Case we find not another in near 700 years after Aerius till Peter de Bruis and one Henricus a runagate Monk who took up a Trade of Preaching and spent what he
Parties who have deserted divers of those Assertions which were so hotly contended for under that specious Pretence a plain Evidence and Demonstration that they were no better than their Predecessors in that Pretence But besides all this what I am now doing if I be not much mistaken will be a particular demonstration of the Truth of what I say To the other two Allegations I say they are both impertinent to the Question under consideration here which is only concerning the Matter of Fact and Practice I do not say that they are impertinent to the Subject in general to be considered upon other Occasions but to this special Question and therefore to insist upon them in this Case instead of directly answering to the Question is fallacious captious and an abuse to the Reader to impose upon him distract him and withdraw him from the proper Question There might be Difference in Forms and various Intendments and all consistent Certainly there was no such Difference or Variety either of Forms or Intendment as there is this day amongst Protestants of both in their greatest Solemnity of the Sacrament But if the matter of Fact be certain it may be in the Power of the Church to order the Form and at Liberty for every one to construe the Intention or make his Inferences or Observations for his own Use as well as of the Scripture And the Matter of Fact is granted by the very Allegation Nor indeed is it much denied by any Men of Learning Scio esse pervetustam hanc precandi pro piè defunctis consuetudinem saith Bucer in his Censure and after he had a little indeavoured to put off Tertullian S. Cyprian and Dionysius he adds Sed sit hic quantumvis vetustus Dionysius Et sit hujus atque aliorum S. Patrum authoritas quantumlibet magna attamen nostrum est tanto anteferre omni humanae authoritati divinam quanto Deus omni homine major est sapientia nostri charitate docendique nos omnia propensione Jam or are pro Defunctis nullae docent Scripturae sive verbo sive exemplo Et vetitum est quicquid his adjicere vel detrahere Deut. 4. 12. Solet nobis objici says Peter Martyr Ecclesiam semper pro Defunctis orasse quod quidem non inficior sed assero illius facti neque Verbi Dei neque Exempli quod desumitur ex Sacris literis auctoritatem habere in 1 Cor. 3. fol. 45. Ed. Tig. 1579. Verum est quod Papistae aiunt says Bullinger Dec. 4. Ser. 10. Veteres orasse sacrificasse pro Defunctis Scio quid Doctor Ecclesiae Insignis Augustinus quid Eloquentissimus Chrysostomus aliique viri vetusti ac clari hac de re scriptum relinquerunt Sed quaero num hi rectè fecerunt Scio damnatum fuisse Aerium quod hujusmodi Orationes Oblationes improbaret Afferunt secundum Maccabaeorum librum Sed is nihil probat cum non sit Canonicus Adjiciunt Traditionem Apostolicam Sed mihi id non videtur nec illi unquam in scriptis ita praecipiunt This is the Sum of the Case and honestly said and therefore I shall conclude this part with it Such is the Folly Passion and Inconsiderateness of Men that they many times bring such Causes to Tryal as upon their own shewing and hearing their own Evidence only appears to all intelligent and indifferent Persons to be against them And such I believe will this Cause of these Men appear to be to all competent Judges without more a do Notwithstanding for the more plain and full Conviction and Satisfaction of such as are less intelligent and more scrupulous and that those Honourable Persons to whose Consideration I present it may themselves judge of the Evidences which extort these Confessions from such as would elude them if they could I will produce so much as is sufficient for the purpose and that I be not tedious I will forbear all that which would prove it to have been a true Catholick Practice of the whole Church for above 1200 years last past and confine my self to the time allowed and approved by the Church and State of England that is the time of the first four * 1. Of Nice Anno 325. 2. Constant Anno 381. 3. Ephesus Anno 431. 4. Chalced Anno 481. general Councils and that preceeding to the time of the Apostles that is from that to the Year of our Lord 451. As for the succeeding Ages to this day that it was observed all along per totum Orbem and therefore believed to have been delivered by the Apostles as the most ancient Writers upon the Church Offices affirm I presume no Man will deny and therefore I shall only mention one Observation concerning those Ages I have made all the Search that possibly I could both by Manuscripts and printed Books to discover the most ancient Forms of celebrating the Holy Eucharist in the Latin Church and tho' I have met with divers Variations in other parts yet I never could discover any Alteration in that that is the principal part and as Dr. Barlow late Bishop of Lincoln says the most innocent part of the publick Office called The Canon of the Mass since Gregory the Great nor indeed by him 〈…〉 believe the whole Canon is not of less Antiquity than Gelasius or S. Ambrose if not much ancienter divers particulars of it being found in more ancient Authors It is not long since a very Reverend and Learned Bishop since deceased speaking to me of it said it was a Noble piece of Antiquity and Dr. Barlow hath left under his hand a just Censure of one who cut that part out of an ancient Missel at Oxford for an ignorant half learned Fellow This alone is an ample Evidence of the Practice of all the Latin Churches for these Ages which from thence I shall indeavour to trace back to its Original S. Austin and S Paulinus both lived within the time prescribed and died 20 years before the last of the said four Councils about An. 431. S. Augustin was a Person of great Natural parts acquired Learning Piety Holiness and of great Authority and Reputation in the whole Catholick Church especially in the Latin Church of which he is reckoned one of the chiefest Doctors He had in his younger time taught Rhetorick at Rome and afterward at Millan so that he was acquainted with the World as well as with Books and every way as well qualified to bear his Testimony in the Case as possibly could be S. Paulinus was a Person of great Quality and Estate in great Esteem with the Emperor and of so great Devotion that imbracing our Saviour's Counsel he Sold all distributed it to the Poor and pious Uses and betook himself to a strict Religious Life in Poverty after he had been preferred to great publick Offices he was a Man of Parts and Learning and well acquainted with the Western parts especially Italy France and Spain and for his great Virtues
living amongst us or they who were Witnesses before us and who held the same Tradition in the Church before us which they had received from their Parents and their Parents had learned from their Ancestors as the Church to this day observes the true and sincere Faith which it received with the Traditions from the Fathers In all this we may observe 1. The Practice of the Church both in the General Commemorations and in the Prayers agreed on both Sides 2. The End and Intendment of the Church that it was the Profit and Benefit of the Deceased also agreed 3. The Question between them Whether the Prayer of the Living could profit or benefit the Dead as the Church intended 4. That this was what Aerius did principally deny and therefore that the Practice was reasonable as a necessary consequence 5. His only reason was that it would make Piety and good Life needless 6. Epiphanius his Answer 1. from Reason 1. as it is a seasonable and excellent Declaraction of the Faith and Hope of the Church 2. as an Act of Charity for the Benefit of the Deceased 2. from Authority as received in the Church by Tradition from our Saviour and the Holy Spirit And now how does our great Man elude this Epiphanius saith he doth not Name this viz. That Prayers and Sacrifice profiteth not the depa ted in Christ an Heresie 2. Nor doth it appear that himself did hold that they bring such Profit to the Dead as these Men Dream pag. 236. 3. He doth not at all charge him with forsaking the Doctrine of the Scripture or the Faith of the Catholick Church but with rejecting the Order p. 237. 4. Aerius his Argument would have been in force indeed if the whole Church had held as many did That the Judgment after Death was suspended until the General Resurrection and that in the mean time the Sins of the Dead might be taken away by the Suffrages of the Living But he should have considered as Gobarus as great an Heretick as himself did that the Doctors were not agreed upon the Point p. 238.5 It was a foolish part in him to confound the Private Opinion of some with the Common Faith of the Universal Church 6. That he reproved this particular Error he did well but that thereupon he condemned the General Practice of the Church he did like himself headily and perversly ibidem As to the first of these I must refer the Reader to Epiphanius himself for the Character he gives of the Person and Opinions of Aerius a very Vile man a thorough-pac'd Arian and who exceeded Arius himself in his new Opinions which he imputes to the operation of the Devil though he doth not particularly name them Heresies yet it is plain he and S Austin too accounted them such and of the rest the Reader may judge by what is here laid plainly before him S. Ephraem was not much before these but because he was neither Greek nor Latin but a Syrian and a Man of Parts and extraordinary Sanctity greatly esteemed by the most excellent Persons of that time and of so great Reputation that his Writings were read publickly in divers Churches after the Holy Scriptures I cannot pass him by without taking notice of his Testament his Discourse to his Disciples upon his Death-Bed wherein he tells them he is Dying and desires to be mentioned in the Commemoration of their Holy Prayers and bewailing his Sins and declaring his Sense of the terrible Judgment of God he doth admonish exhort and strictly enjoyn them to remember him constantly after his exit and passage in their Prayers and after some Admonitions to them and account of himself he again desires to be remembred in their Prayers Then he strictly forbids his being Buried under the Altar or in the House of God all Solemn Pomp and Funeral Orations and Encomiums and all cost of rich Vestments of Grave Cloaths of Spices of Odors of Candles and the like but desires that all that Cost may be bestowed upon the Poor and for himself that in the place of all such Pomp and Funeral Orations they will accompany him with Psalms and help and assist him with their Prayers and Bury him in the Church-yard where the contrite in heart are Buried Then he bids them come near and imbrace him for his Spirit fails him and again intreats them diligently to make Oblations for him and prettily represents the Communion of Saints by a Simile of the Sympathy of things in Nature the Wine which flowers in the Cellar when the Vine Buds in the Vineyard and the like And tells them that the Oblations of Priests under the Law were effectual for those who were slain in their Sins and how much more the Priests of Christ under the New Testament And gives great caution that when they come to his Memory I suppose he means the Thirtieth Day which he expressly mentioned before and his Anniversaries ne quisquam in Sancta peccet that none commit any thing unmeet for holy things by any Excess but that the Vigil be kept attentively and reverently and humbly and holily and purely for it would be a miserable thing for him if by occasion of his Memory he should be accountable to his God for their inordinate Actions Thus this Holy Man an Instance equal to a very ample Testimony of the Practice in those parts About the same time was S. Cyril Bishop of Jerusalem He in his Mystagogick Catechism concludes all with a Description and Scheme of the Liturgy then in use wherein after mention of the Holy Trisagium Hymn * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Therefore saith he do we recite this Seraphick Theology delivered to us that in that Coelestial Hymnody we may communicate with the supra-mundain Militia the Heavenly Host and thus by such kind of Hymns sanctisying our selves we pray the most benign God that he will send out his Holy Spirit upon the proposited Elements that it may make the Bread the Body of Christ and the Wine the Blood of Christ. For certainly whatever the Holy Spirit doth touch it is sanctified and transmuted Then after that Spiritual Sacrifice that unbloody Worship is done that is after the Consecration and Oblation in Commemoration of the Passion of Christ over that very Host of Propitiation do we obsecrate God for the common Peace of the Churches for the Tranquility of the World for Kings for their Armies and Confederates for the Sick and Afflicted and in sum for all who need Help We commemorate also those who have fallen asleep before us First the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs that God at their Prayers and Deprecations would accept ours Then we pray for the Holy Fathers and Bishops deceased and lastly for all who are deceased amongst us believing it to be a very great Help to the Souls for whom the Obsecration of that tremendous Sacrifice which is placed on the Altar is offered I will add but one instance more for the flourishing times of the Church
and so comprize the whole time of the four first General Councils from first to last Eusebius in his 4th Book of the Life of Constantine describing the Martyrium of the Apostles built by him at Constantinople adds chap. 60. All these did the Emperor dedicate that he might consign to Posterity the Memory of our Saviour's Apostles But he had another Design in his Mind when he built this Church which was at first concealed but in the end it became known to all For he had designed this place for himself after his Death foreseeing by a transcendent Alacrity of Faith that his Body after Death should be made Partaker of the Apostles Apellation that even after Death he might be esteemed worthy of the Prayers which should be performed there in Honour of the Apostles believing that their Memory would be useful and advantagious to his Soul And afterward describing the Solemnity of his Funeral chap. 71. he saith that a vast Number of People together with those Persons consecrated to God not without Tears and great Lamentation poured forth Prayers to God for the Emperor's Soul thereby performing a most grateful Office to this pious Prince And herein also God demonstrated his singular Favour towards his Servant because after his Death agreeable to his own most earnest Desire the Tabernacle of his thrice blessed Soul was vouchsafed a place with the Monument of the Apostles and that it might be joined with God's People in the Church and might be vouchsafed the Divine Rights and Mystick Service and might enjoy a Communion of the Holy Prayers This was but 12 years after the Nicen Council and a great and most illustrious instance of the common received and settled Practice of that time And here before I proceed further it is fit to consider how far the continuance of that wicked and shameful Abuse by Cranmer put upon the Church of England in his clandestine Corruption of the True English Liturgy I say the Continuance of it to this day whether by supine Negligence or base Compliance with a Faction of Sectaries be consistent with that Profession of Reverence to Antiquity in general and to those first four General Councils in particular which is made by all who pretend to be genuine Sons of the Church of England with their use of the Constantinopolitan Creed in the most solemn Office so fouly deformed contrary to the Publick Office at that time used in the Church and attested by S. Cyril Bishop of Hierusalem who was present at that Council and a principal Man there How consistent with the Statutes of most ancient Colleges in both the Universities and the Oaths taken by so many Scholars for the Observance of them How consistent with the Belief of One Holy Catholick Church and of the Communion of Saints with that Reverence and Respect which the Holy Scriptures require should be paid to the Body of Christ the Depository of Christian Verities and the Pillar or Monument and Basis of Truth with that Reverence and Honour and Esteem which all true and genuine Christians cannot but have for so many glorious Saints as flourished in the Church of Christ and all agreed in this pious Practice for more than 1200 years from the time of Constantine who himself was none of the least being converted in an extraordinary manner by special Vision from our Saviour and the Truth thereof confirmed by very remarkable Victories and afterward so great a Promoter of Christian Piety that he was as Eusebius relates partaker of the Apostles appellation being called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Offices of the Greek Church and deservedly How it can be consistent therewith and with Christian Modesty to set up a Calvin a Bucer a Cranmer an Vsher like little Idols above all and not rather an undeniable proof of the very Spirit of Hereticks and Schismaticks Mr. * Life Appendix p. 55. Baxter's Questions in another Case not unlike this may very properly be proposed to our modern Opposers of this Catholick Practice Would they have held Communion with the Catholick Church for a Thousand Years together Or would they not if they had lived in those times If they would then why not with us who are of the same Judgment Was it a Duty then And is it unlawful now If they would not in all those Ages have held Communion with the visible Church what would they have done but separated from the Body and so from the Head and cast off Christ in all his Members and taken him to be a Head without a Body which is no Head and so no Christ What would they have done but denied his Power and Love and Truth and consequently his Redemption and his Office Hath he come at the end of 4000 years since the Creation to redeem the World that lay so long in Darkness And hath he made such wonderful Preparations for his Church by his Life and Miracles and Blood and Spirit c. and promised That the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it and that his Kingdom shall be an Everlasting Kingdom and his Dominion endureth from Generation to Generation and yet after all this shall he have a Church even as the Seekers say but for an Age or two Thus Mr. Baxter and very good but if this be good in the Case of Baptism of Infants why not as good in the Case of Prayers and Oblations for the Dead which I think hath as good Evidence of Apostolical Original as that or the Lord's-Day or Episcopacy or a good part of the Scriptures of the New Testament And if they stand all upon the same Foundation why should they not stand or fall together There is also an Assertion of St. Augustin 's which deserves to be here considered in this Case That * Quod universa tenet Ecclesia nec in Consiliis institutum sed semper retentum est non nisi Authoritate Apostolica traditum rectissimè creditur cont Donat l. 4 c. 24. what the Vniversal Church doth hold and was not instituted in Councils but always retained is most rightly believed to have been delivered by no other than Apostolical Authority For as this is a Practice which none did ever pretend was instituted by any Council so amongst all who have written concerning the Original or first Invention or Introduction of things none has ever assigned any Original of it in the Catholick Church later than the Apostles or in any part of the Catholick Church later than of the rest of Christianity it self So that could we trace it no further back than the time of Constantine it would be unreasonable to believe that the whole Christian Church so largely spread over the Face of the Earth and planted by so many several Persons at first and in Places so divided and remote one from another should so unanimously agree in such a Practice did it not proceed from some Common Cause which could be no other than the Mutual Agreement of all the Apostles in it
* Nostra quidem Scripta cur ignibus meruerunt dari Cur immaniter Conventicula dirui in quibus Summus oratur Deus Pax cunctis venia postulatur Magistratibus Exercitibus Regibus Familiaribus Inimicis adhuc vitam degentibus resolutis corporum viâ—ctione lib. 4. suo fi But tho' this might be sufficient yet have we further Evidence to trace it even through the more troublesome times of the Churches so near to the Apostles that no Man without Disparagement to his Judgment or his Honesty can question its Original to be indeed Apostolical For tho' those troublesome times have left us so few Monuments of the Primitive Christianity in comparison that all will hardly equal the Writings of some one of the Writers of after-Ages yet among those few have we what is sufficient Arnobius an eminent Professor of Rhetorick who had been a bitter Enemy against the Christians even in the time of Persecution under Dioclesian turned Christian and wrote Seven Books against the Gentiles in the fourth of which he expostulates with them in this manner Why have our Scriptures deserved to be cast into the Fire Why our Meeting-Places to be cruelly destroyed in which the Great God is prayed to Peace and Pardon is besought for all for Magistrates Armies Kings our Familiars and Enemies for those yet living and those released from the Bond of their Bodies Where he speaks of Prayers for these last as as common as for any of the rest About 50 years before this was S. Cyprian Bishop of Carthage a Person of great Worth and most deserved Reputation in the Church and at last a Holy Martyr He in his LXVI Epistle with his Collegues in Council tells the Clergy and People to whom he wrote that their Predecessors upon religious Consideration as a necessary Provision had decreed That no Christian Brother at his Departure should name a Clergy-Man for Guardian or Executor and that if any one should do this there should be * Si quis hoc fecisset non offeretur pro â—o nec sacrificium pro Doâ—mitione ejas celebretur Neque enim c. no Offering for him nor Sacrifice celebrated for his Departure for he doth not deserve to be named at the Altar of God in the Prayer of the Priests who would call away the Priests and Ministers from the Altar And therefore since one Victor †Contra formam nuper in Concilio à sacerdotibus datam contrary to the Order lately made in Council by the Priests had presumed to constitute a certain Presbyter for a Guardian ‖ Non est quod pro Dormitione ejas apud vos fiat Oblatio aut Deprecatio aliqua nomine ejus in Ecclesia frequentetur there should no Oblation be made among them for his Departure or any Deprecation commonly used in the Church in his Name that the Decree of the Bishops religiously and necessarily made might be observed by them and Example given to others c. This Prohibition of those things to be done by way of Punishment is a plain Evidence of what was accustomed and should have been done if there had been no Prohibition and an Evidence not of a single Person but of a Council and not of Matter of Opinion but of plain Matter of Fact and that so notorious as was well known to all and of such Importance in the Opinion of all as the Prohibition was adjudged a competent Punishment for such a Crime as they all thought no little one It was a kind of Excommunication Another fifty years before this lived Tertullian a Man of very great and universal Learning very acute Parts and very strict for Discipline and for the Orders of the Church He mentions this Practice in divers of his Writings not only as common and usual but also as delivered by Tradition and so well known and unquestionable as to be it self an undeniable Instance and Proof of unwritten Traditions This he doth in his Book de Corona Militis § 3. where amongst the Instances which he alleadgeth for proof of the Authority of unwritten Traditions this is one Oblationes pro Defunctis pro Natalitiis annua die facimus We make Oblations for the Dead upon the Annual day of their Departure which the Ancient Christians called their Natalitiae or Birth-Days And after all concludes * Harum aliarum ejusmodi discipiinarum si Legem expostules Scripturarum nullam invenies Traditio tibi praetenditue auctrix Consuetudo confirmatrix Fides observatrix If of these and other Matters of Discipline you seek for a Rule of Scriptures you shall find none Tradition is alleadged for the Author Custom for the Confirmer and Faith for the Observer But of Traditions in general he hath other Discourses elsewhere and of this particular Tradition which he does but only mention here as an instance of Fact not to be denied we have farther mention in other of his Writings In his Book de Monogamia against second Marriages speaking of the Custom of the Widow's praying for her deceased Husband he says * Et pro anima ejus orat Refrigerium interim adpostulat ei in prima Resurrectione Consortium offert annuis diebus dormitionis ejus § 10. She prays for his Soul and intreats for Refreshment for him in the interim and Consort in the first Resurrection and offers for him on the Annual days of his Departure Again in his Book de Exhortatione Castitatis he thus upbraids him who had had several Wives †Et jam repete apud Deum pro cujus Spiritu postules pro qua Oblationes Annuas reddas Stabis ergo ad Deum cum tot Uxoribus quot illa oratione commemoras offeres pro duabus commemoras illas duas per sacerdotem de Monogamia ob pristinum de virginitate sanctitum circumdatum virginibus univiris ascendet sacrificium tuum iibera fronte inter cete ras voluntates bonae mentis postulabis tibi uxori castiatem◠§ 11 Say before God for whose Spirit thou dost pray for which thou dost make thy Annual Oblations Wilt thou therefore stand before God with so many Wives as thou dost in that Prayer remember and offer for two and commemorate those two by a Priest once married by reason of the ancient Sanction of Virginity incompassed with Virgins and once married Women And will thy Sacrifice ascend with Confidence and amongst other Habits of a good Soul wilt thou pray for Chastity for thy self and thy Wife This I think is plain and full for the common Practice both in private and in publick by the Priest at the Altar and for the Tradition But it is objected that Tertullian when he wrote these Books was a Montanist and wrote them against the Church And it is as easily answered that it is not Matter of Opinion but Matter of Fact for which they are here alleadged and it is certain he was no Fool which he must have
relied not upon any Hypothesis but upon the received Custom of the Church And that he did rely upon as is confessed But he did not in the least rely upon any thing at all of the pretended Sibyl Nor hath this Champion produced I think any one Proof that either Tertullian or any other of the Ancient or Modern Christians did at all rely upon any such Authority for that Practice but all unanimously relied upon Tradition from the Apostles His whole Book is full of Fallacy and Deceit and of the very Spirit and Genius of an Heretick who makes no scruple to abuse the whole Church of Christ and the most Excellent Persons in it to maintain his own Principles It is certain that divers of the great Truths of Christianity were known to the Gentiles long before and received by Tradition from the Common Parents of Mankind but received as Articles of Faith by Christians upon the Authority of Christ and his Apostles And such was this which he fathers upon an Impostor and pretends the Church received it from him without any Proof of either whereas if he was a Christian it is much more likely that he received the Hypothesis from the Practice of the Church at that time and is therefore rather an Evidence of it Other matters of this Book have been considered by learned Men of our own Country and I think I need say no more of this with any regard to him But as to the Practice besides all this positive and Affirmative Evidence I do deny that any competent Evidence can be produced among all the Churches of the World of any where the Christian Religion was planted without it or where it was introduced by any particular Person upon any special Occasion at any different time after the first planting of Christianity there in all those Ages since the Apostles being verily persuaded that no such thing can be produced but what will strongly confirm and illustate the contrary Evidence like Mr. Vsher's Flourish with his most ancient Manuscript Missals wherein the Commemoration of the Dead doth no where appear which yet were but two in all if not all but one mentioned by two several Authors and that no compleat Missal neither but only Liber Sacramentorum an Abstract and it self at last not to be found as his expression habebatur seems to imply a good Argument of the Agreement of all or most others in that particular that so industrious a Searcher into ancient Records and Monuments of Antiquity of that kind especially could neither see nor hear of any other either at home or abroad wherein it was not Such another Exception may perhaps be met with which may serve to confirm the general Rule but not any thing considerable I believe to any other purpose Certain it is it must either have been settled in all those several Places in the World where Churches were planted together with the rest of the Christian Doctrines and Institutions and then it must have proceeded from the same Founders who agreed as unanimously in this as they did in other necessary things of which sort this may therefore be concluded to be one or it must have had a several distinct particular Introduction by it self in all or most of those several Places and be derived from several Authors Originals Occasions and Times and then the Accounts of its special and particular Introduction in all probability would have very much varied in several places at least have remained upon Record or by Tradition in some But not a word of any such thing can I find that was ever heard of in any part of the World but a Unanimous Agreement in all both in the Practice continued by Custom and Original by Tradition from the Apostles And thus much for Proof à posteriori from Evidence of Matter of Fact which I think enough to satisfie any reasonable Man of competent Ability and to convince any Man of Modesty and Sincerity yet because simple genuine Truth is always consistent with all that is such it may ex abundanti gratifie an honest ingenuous Reader to observe briefly the Vniversal Agreement of this Catholick Practice of the Church of Christ 1. With common Reason and the Nature of things 2. With the common Sentiments of the Primitive Christians concerning the middle State of Souls 3. With divers plain Texts of the Holy Scriptures And 4. with the common Practice of the Jews in and before our Saviour's time never reprehended by him or any of his Apostles and therefore allowed by all and indeed practised by them and on the contrary the Inconsistence of the obstinate Opposition with Truth and Justice in divers respects As for Common Reason The Universe is of vast and unconceivable extent in it we see are many great Bodies Orbs and Regions the Life of Man upon this of the Earth is very short the Time from the Resurrection of our Saviour to this is near 1700 years and how much more it may be to the General Judgment no Mortal knows in the mean time the Souls of Mortals go out of their Bodies in infinitely various States of Purity and Impurity And certainly it is most reasonable that there should be not only one general Distinction of Souls but moreover many distinct Places States and Conditions wherein the separate Souls are disposed according to their several Qualifications when they go out of the Body And as that curious Observer of the Works of Nature as well of the Holy Scriptures the late Lord Chief Justice Hale speaking of towardly Plants by Death transplanted into another Region a Garden of Happiness and Comfort adds And possibly by continuance of time as they received Improvement and Perfection here so in that other Region they add to their Degrees of Perfection and are promoted to farther Accessions and Degrees and Stations of Happiness and Glory till they come to the State of Spirits of just Men made perfect Now in all these Varieties of States is there nothing capable of receiving Benefit by the Prayers of the Living Is there no Communion of Saints between those in the Body and those out of the Body But if there be how can it better be exercised or expressed than in the solemn Offices of the Church For the Common Sentiments of the Primitive Christians because it would be too long to recite so many Testimonies in this place and they are collected already to my hand by Sixtus Senensis and others I need but refer the Reader to them But this also is confessed and asserted by Blondel and Dalle but they would have us believe that they received them from an Impostor a Counterfeit Sibyl a groundless impudent and impious Calumny The Agreement with plain Scriptures is observable in that expression of our Saviour concerning the Sin which shall not be forgiven neither in this World neither in the World to come Mat. 12.32 and that which agrees with this of being cast into Prison and not coming out by any means till