The least thought of what hath beene said lights up a Candle to shew the truth hereof which no blast of Puritane mouthes set against it is able to blow out though Boreas had made his bellowes in their Cheekes Sure wee are by that which hath beene said that Churches were built and made with the very Cradle of Christianity and when they were made they were consecrated For a man may as lawfully and Christianly administer the blessed Sacrament in a Barne or Towne-Hall as in any place that is not Consecrated to such holy uses And when the Church was Consecrated was not the Altar the chiefest place which with most ceremony and devotion was hallowed when it was hallowed was it not kept more carefully from prophanation than any other part of the Church Levita eligatur sayes Saint Ambrose qui Sacrarium custodiat not the Vestry onely but the Altar belonged to his care Was there not a feast annually kept in a joyfull remembrance of the dedication of every Church and did not the Consecration of the Altar carry the name of that feast doth not St. Augustine say my brethren you know right well that to day consecrationem Altaris celebramus was not the Altar set and fixed in the most eminent place of al the Church The Readers Tribunall stood in the body of the Church in loco editiori in a place exalted above the rest there But was not the Altar set in Sacrario or Sancto Sanctâ—rum in the highest place of all whereunto the Priest ascended by certaine steppes and degrees and when they did so ascend were there not Psalmes of degrees sung called for that cause Graeduals were not tythes of greatest sanctity given to the Altar was it not the only place whither none but Priests might be allowed to come to officiate was not the holy Eucharist there and no where else Consecrated Durst the Priests themselves ascend thither without doing lowly reverence three severall times Was not this holy Altar and the mysteries thereof at some time kept rayled from the eyes of most men doth not KING Edward the 6th call it Sacro-sanctum Altare in his writ to the Bishop doth not Saint Nyssex say Altare hoc Sanctum c. this holy Altar at which we stand is in his owne nature no more but a stone such as our houses are made of but being Consecrated and Dedicated benedictionem accepit and is become meâ—sa Sancta Altare immaculatum quod non ampliâ—s ab omnibus sed à solis sacerdotibus iisque venerantibus contrectatur Veneration towards the Altar was then required and practised Doth not the most holy and blessed Archbishop as the fifth Councell calls him performe his low obeysance toward the holy Altar and exhort all others to doe the like doth hee noâ— say adoremus primum Sacro-sanctum Altare did not the reverence of holy Altars prevaile so farre with the furious Souldiers and barbarous Goths that in all humility they willingly fall down and kisse the holy Altar doth not Tertullian say that in his time Altars were had in that reverence that their Penitents used adgeniculare to fall downe upon their knees doth not St. Chrysostome say dum vides sublata vela tum cogita câ—elum ipsum sursum resâ—rari Angelosque descendere when the Curtaines are drawne by our hearts which even then we are bidden to lift up unto the Lord conceive heaven it selfe to be open to us when Iesus Christ is given to the faithfull Communicant who wee may be sure commeth not alone but with the blessed Spirit attended with his blessed Angels whom hee hath made ministring spirits for their good who shall bee heires of salvation Doth not the same Father say semper in Altari manere solet Christi Crux the Crosse of Christ alwayes used to stand upon the Altar doth not Beatus Rhenanus say out of Tertullian and Lactantius that in those times Christians had no other Images in their Churches praeterquam crucis signum super Aram adorientem versum ut mentem oculosque in coâ—lum ubi Pater est omnium erigerent espansis manibus but only the Crosse of Christ which stood upon the Altar And is it not also said that the Altar which stood in former Princes times continued in Queen Elizabeths Chappell with the Crosse upon it Doth not Bishop Iewell in the place cited by the Author confirme the greatest part of all that hath beene said And are these arguments that Altars crept into the Church If the Governours of the Church had come in to see the furniture of the Church as the good man of the house did to see his guests and had espied there an Altar amongst sundry other Consecrate things would they not at one time or other have questioned some or other for it and have said Friend how came this hither Neither the Altar nor his furniture are such guests or wedding garments as I look to find here and therefore doe you take it and cast it unto utter darknesse There it was bred and so crept in hither and there let it bee buried But the case yee see is quite otherwise they honour reverence and adore towards it for his sake whose Sacrament is Consecrated thereon And this is the first man that I can find that â—aith Altars crept into the Church And if he bee not I hope hee will discover himselfe and â—ell us by whom hee doth president himselfe I am sure not by Kings or Bishops Chappels or Cathedrall Churches or by any true Christian member of them But if Altars crept into the Church I would but know how he and I came in I will begin with my selfe I had my Ordination from Bishop Dove he had his Consecration from Archbishop Whitguift and the Archbishop his from the undoubted successors of Saint Peter and of our Saviour Christ Here is no creeping in all this And I perswade my selfe he crept not into his if he had orders in the Church of England If the Porter or Sexton had led him aside in the night into the Belfrey and had put what belongs to his custody into his hand and so he had stole up to the Chancell this had beene Creeping But Priests in our Church have their Ordination usually at the 4. tempora they prepare or ought to prepare themselves with Fasting and Prayer three dayes before and at the Ordination they kneel upon their knees before the holy Altar The Bishop and they pray before the holy Altar then is given imposition of hands before the holy Altar then the Bishop taketh the holy Gospels from the holy Altar and delivereth the same into the hands of him that is ordained who maketh solemne protestation before Almighty God meekely kneeling still upon his knees before the holy Altar and in the presence of the Bishop and the whole Congregation that hee will read these holy bookes c. Here is no creeping but this holy action is
Petrus tanquam os Apostolorum caput pro omnibus respondet Truth distinguisheth Christs Disciples from other men then Love declareth and maketh known whose they are Truth then is first of all to be searched after Pilate once made this seasonable Quaere Quid est veritas But unhappy man he turned his back before Truth it selfe returned him an answer No marvell then if much bussle and stirre have continued ever since about it His haste to please men exivit as Iudaeos lost him and so will us that resolution Pilate to get favour of the Iewes made haste out and left Truth behind him The like reflexion upon the men of Gr. and their friends moved our Pen-man to affect a by-path and to run counter flat-crosse to the present directions of the Governours of our Church Marry you may not parallell him with Pilate it was not for favour but deare charities sake which he commends to the Vicar and preferres before all obedience to Ceremonies appointed by the Church And doubtlesse if the Vicar could have seene Truth the foundation of his Charity he would have received it as he doth the commands of his mother the Church with all reverence and subjection but a formall recommendation of disguised charity he conceiveth ought neither to be given nor received as a legall supersedeas to the rules of Truth and directions of his Ordinary Wherefore for the calling and setting of the Lords Table he thinks fit to follow the directions of his Ordinary and to traverse the whole matter contained in this strangers bill and to give answer to the chiefest points thereof CAP. II. Of the antiquity of Christians Altars in Scripture In the Decretals THe first point I will begin withall is this The name of Table is not two hundred yeares more ancient than the name of Altar in the Christian Church The Authour maintaines it is but not according to his owne directions to the Vicar rationibus cogentibus and so makes a bad cause starke naught Now that neither the Authour nor my selfe be mistaken in the name of Christian Church let us both hearken to St. Ambrose Accipe quae dico anteriora esse mysteria Christianorum quam Iudaeorum And againe Intellige primò priùs coepisse populum Christianum quà m populam Iudaeorum Christ was Christ before he was born of the blessed Virgin Himselfe saith Before Abraham was I am And as Christ was so were Christians and Christian Sacraments and Christian Ceremonies before Christ was borne or the Iewes either Iudaei quando esse coeperunt sayes St. Ambrose I pray you when began the Iewes why ex Iuda pronepote Abraha from Iudah Abrahams nephewes sonne 1. Take we then a view of the Christian Church in the Old Testament and there we find the name and use of Altars is above eight hundred yeares more ancient than the name of Tables in Gods Service The children of God by the light of nature infused into them without any direction or speciall command or rather by inspiration of Christs blessed Spirit who delighted to walk with the sonnes of men erected Altars Noah that durst not step out of the Ark without speciall warrant and direction from God by instinct of nature guided by Christs Spirit built an Altar Abraham also with whom Christ walked as a friend built two Altars in one Chapter Whereupon St. Ambrose sayes ubi Bethel est hoc est Domus Dei ibi Ara ubi Ara ibi invocatio But the name of Table came in with the Ceremoniall Law about Anno 2465. Whether the Church of God before Moses was called Christian I will not dispute but sure I am that it had the same Christ that we have for their Saviour and we are assured out of St. Ambrose that it was Populus Christianus it was a Christian Church if it were a Church at all which no Christian can doubt of Therefore in the Christian Church the name of Table is not two hundred yeares more ancient than the name of Altar But the name of Altars and their religious use is in the Christian Church guided by Christs Spirit above 1200. yeares more ancient than the name of Tables in the Church of the Iewes and above 2300. more ancient than the name of Tables in the Christian Church erected by the Apostles among the Gentiles 2. The Church in the New Testament I am sure is a Christian Church in the notion of this Authour and at Antioch it was so first called And I am as sure that the name of Table is not two hundred yeares more ancient than the name of Altar therein but if I be not deceived of the same or a later date that our Saviour maketh mention of a Christian Altar and of a Christian oblation in his own Christian Church where he saith If thou bringest thine offering to the Altar c. Leave there thine offering at the Altar c. I suppose no Christian will deny and this was neare three yeares before he makes mention of a Table at which the hand of him that betrayed him was with him S. Paul maketh mention of an Altar at which Priests in the New Testament do serve and of a Table which is the very same Hitherto the name of Table is not two hundred yeares more ancient than the name of Altar 3. For the Primitive Church Damasus sayes that Euaristus died a blessed Martyr this man lived within eighty yeares after Christ Anno 112. who if we believe the Decretall maketh mention of Altars For he speaketh of the dedication of Churches and consecration of Altars Hyginus that lived Anno 154. and died a Martyr maketh mention of Altars for according to Gratian he made a decree concerning the re-dedication of a Church si motum fuerit Altare Pius succeeded him and lived Anno 158. who according to Gratian maketh mention of Altars and of a linnen cloth spread upon Altars whereunto the practice of the Church agreeth for Corpus Domini non in sericis sed in syndone munda consecratur Wherefore for 158. yeares it may seem there is mention made of Altars and none at all of the Communion-Table Ob. But the Centurists tell us that these Epistles are forged things and trifles of no worth Or if they be true then you may see how timely the mystery of iniquity began to worke in the Church of Rome in the dedication of Churches and consecration of Altars Sol. If they be forged things why did no Catholike Father not so much as in the Greek Church detect the same and cry them downe How comes it to passe that both the East and West Church keep so good correspondency in the use of Altars and in the dedication of them Was this a mystery of iniquity in the West Church and none in the East But who gave this Quaternion of Ministers authority to brand the Martyrs of the Primitive Church and the whole Church both Greek and Latine with
the Priest of the living God that remembreth with Saint Chrysostome that by his office he standeth and ministreth in the most holy place of all others under the Cope of heaven and mixeth himselfe in his service with those Ministring spirits the blessed Angels that with bended neckes give humble attendance of their Lord and ours circum circa Saecrosanctum Altare Me thinkes that livery which Tertullian bestowes upon his Psychicus will suite this yeoman of the Dresser well enough Deus tibi venter est pulmo Templum aqualiculus Altare sacerdos coquus Sanctus spiritus nidor condimentâ— charismata ructus prophetia Apud te Agape in cacabis fervet fides in culina calet spes in ferculis jacet If the Prince of the ayre had caused such a thought like lightning to strike through his phansie yet he could not have forced him to nurce it to cloth it with ayre to lend it wings to flye abroad in this sort to fly-blow and cause to putrifie other mens cogitations Zealous and fervent Prayer would have quencht this and all such fiery darts of the Devill And herein is all our hope that we shall take no more hurt by it and that the Author when hee leâ—s what prophanenesse he may kindle in innocent mens hearts by casting such dangerous sparkes as these will be sorry for it And so I leave him in Tertullians words Ne stili potius negotium quam officium conscientiae meae curare videar But for his Dresser Can the Author or any man of common parts in understanding imagine that when the most holy and blessed Patriarch and rest of the Bishops in the fifth Councell of Constantinople that when the Princes and Citizens of that Imperiall City performed lowly reverence and adoration to the holy Altar that when S. Chrysostome sayes that the drawing by the Curtaines that the holy Altar may be seene did put them in minde of the opening of Heaven that when holy Gorgonia in S. Nazianzene when Penitents in Tertullian when barbarous souldiers in S. Ambrose when S. Ambrose himselfe sayes that he could be contented immolari pro Altaribus if his fall might make them stand to come home to our countrey when the Author sees the Kings most sacred Majesty and the honourable Lords of the most noble Order of the Garter performe most low and humble reverence to the most holy Altar the Throne in earth of that great Lord from whom their honour proceedeth that these or any of these had that unworthy conceit come into their minds to take the holy Altar for a loathsome Dresser or that any of these would have taken it well that any Buffon should have vented so scurrilous and prophane ascoffe against the sacred Altar which all these thinke worthy of all reverence and when they have done all they can yet still thinke they have done too little And so I leave him to his meditations and follow him to another reason wherein though he argue weakely and like himselfe against Altars in Christian Churches yet he reasoneth so like a Divine that a Christian may heare him with patience which his late rude scurrility and unsavoury language was enough to banish Another reason the Author hath met with for the utter casting downe of Altars stand where they will Church or Chancell viz. that Christ himselfe instituted this Sacrament upon a Table and not upon an Altar as Archbishop Cranmer observes and others I will say somewhat concerning our Saviours first institution of this holy Sacrament and then leave M. Beza to answer what he brings out of M. Fox touching Archbishop Cranmer and others Touching our Saviours institution I conceive none that reade the story reads it and takes it as a rule to guide the Church to the worlds end in all circumstances and ceremonies to be precisely observed in administring and delivering the blessed Eucharist For then the Sacrament must not be administred on any day but on Maundy thursday nor in a Church but in a Chamber and delivered only to twelve at a time and those twelve not Women but Men and those men not Lay persons but Priests and those Priests receiving the same not standing or kneeling or sitting but lying and leaning one on anothers brest or bosome and receiving the same not in a morning but at night and not fasting but after meat and that meat taken at a supper and that Supper not the first Supper but when that Supper is ended and the Table taken away and they all risen up and after all this the deliverer must gird himselfe with a Towell and wash the receivers feet and this done they must all couch them downe againe and so receive the Sacrament These and diverse Ceremonies are to be observed if our Saviours manner of institution be our precise patterne Now if no man will binde the Church to observe these and the like Ceremonies why will the Author binde us to a Table rather than to an Altar and why will he forbid the Vicar to call it an Altar considering that the Author tels him that Altars stand still in some orthodoxall Churches and may remaine in ours still for ought he knowes to the contrary What abomination is the name like to receive in our Church more than in Lutheran Churches which he honoureth as orthodox And why will he forbid the Vicar to call it an Altar since himselfe confesseth also that we have an Altar in regard of participation and communion Have we it and may we not call it as it is Those that have Superintendents may call them Superintendents and those that have Lay-Elders may call them Lay-Elders and shall not those that have Altars obtaine his favour to call them Altars Our Saviours institution at a Table doth not binde us to have such a Table as we have but such an one as he had much lesse doth it binde us to the name of a Table If our Saviour had said doe not you call it an Altar or the Church had ordered and said doe not you call it an Altar he might have had some warrant for his Injunction Doe not you call it an Altar But our Saviours Table doth not restraine the Church from an Altar An Altar we have or the Lords Table set Altarwise which is all one and an Altar we may call it his peremptory imperatives notwithstanding The truth is this the purpose of our Saviour Christ in his first institution of this holy Sacrament was not to make his example our patterne in the circumstances of a Table Times Communicants or the like But when he departed he gave his holy Spirit to his Apostles and to the holy Catholike Church which is the pillar and ground of truth and to the Church are we to resort to heare the Church to be guided by the the Church in all matters of comelinesse and order Other things will I set in order when I come sayes S. Paul and in setting things in order he crost the order