personal favours of his Prince to pay the Rights which belong to the Crown yet the formal object and reason of his so doing is the Sovereignty and dominion which the Prince is invested with As the Son so likewise the Spirit is the Object of Adoration He is placed in the same rank with the Father and the Son Mat. 28. v. 19. Jo. 1.5 7. and honoured with the attribution of the peculiarities of the Deity as Eternity Immensity Omniscience The dishonour done to him by Blasphemy has as black a character in the Scripture as the dishonour of the Father or Son It is represented as a delinquency of the first magnitude and excluded the benefit of pardon He who is thus dignified and secured by the most severe commination against dishonour must necessarily of right challenge the same degree of Honour and Worship which is due to the Father and the Son The Adoration given to them all must be so directed that we may worship the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity The ground of divine Veneration is the unlimited and peerless perfection of God The motives conducing to it are the benefits which none but so transcendent a Being can conferr The same internal eminency is common to the Three Persons Every external benefit is the product of their joint concurrence They having all an equal interest in the foundation of Religion and the motives conducing to it it is very reasonable when we direct an act of Worship to one that we should not exclude the other When we name the Son only the Father and holy Spirit are to be understood or the Father only the Son and the Spirit or the Spirit only the Father and the Son Consonant to this doctrine are the words of Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Let us Worship in Three one Deity and the practice of the universal Church which is apparent by the Latin and Greek Liturgies Now I have done with the fourth Proposition This One God is to be Worshipped 5. This God is only to be Worshiped This is the express assertion of the Holy Scripture the dictate of Reason the sence of the Ancient Church 1. The assertion of Holy Scripture It is the first of the moral Laws Thou shalt have no other Gods but me and placed in the front of the Gospel Him only shalt thou serve In a sense of this appropriate allegiance to Jehovah the Angel did forbid S. John and S. Paul and Barnabas the people of Lycaonia to pay them any Divine Veneration Daniel's refusal of the portion of meat which was first consecrated to an Idol will easily induce us to believe that he had an equal disgust of the Idolatrous worship which was given to him If Abraham's deportment when the Angels appeared had more than a moral or civil respect The Son of God his being in the company will excuse him from Idolatry one of them is expresly dignified with the incommunicable name of the Deity 2. The dictate of reason Worship is either internal or external Internal includes a deep and reverential esteem as an ingredient essential to its nature This esteem must be of an elevation agreeable to the excellency of the Object it is terminated upon There being no object that can be a Rival with the Supreme Being in point of perfection it is not possible that the same esteem which his transcendent dignity challengeth from us should with justice be given to any other External imports a declaration of inward esteem by some outward acts As the Veneration terminated upon God is peculiar and appropriate So must the Acts be which are designed for the signification of it Betwixt the sign and the thing signified there ought to be such a similitude that the one may be known by the other This cannot be done in the present case except there be such an appropriation as we speak of The nature of Divine Supremacy requires in outward as well as inward Worship a discrimination from that which is given to the Creature Earthly Monarchs expect an agnition of their Sovereignty to be made by the payment of an appropriate homage They have some Jewels in their Crown which they will not permit any of their Subjects to wear Tho' Moral and Civil regards may be tendred to a Creature yet if they rise so high as to have any mixtures of those peculiarities which are devoted by nature or institution to signifie Divine Veneration they are as distasteful to God as it would be to a Prince to stand by and see the Allegiance which is due only to himself given to another This Truth is warranted with so much clear reason that those who have had no other advantage but the light of Nature have taken notice of it Among those instructions which Orpheus left with Musaeus Lib. de Monarch Det p. 104 108. This is one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Adore him alone who is the King of the World It was the advice of Menander 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to honour him alone who is Lord of all Ad Antolycum p. 122. The Verses of the Sibyl in Theophilus Antiochenus are of the same importance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Laâ—t de â—â—lsa Relig. p. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Ruler of the World alone adore Who ever was and shall be ever more 3. The Sence of the Ancient Church Among those Truths which are owned by the most early Writers this is of the first magnitude that God only is to be Worshipped They never mention the worshipping any thing else as the Sacrament the Cross the Relicks of Saints When they delineate the rites appertaining to the Eucharist there is not the least intimation of that Veneration which the Romanist say is due to the Sacrament They were far from asserting that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quae debetur vero Deo is to be given to it Circumstances purely accidental as the time when the Institution was made the place where the mingling Water with Wine are recorded Those who had leisure to preserve the memory of these circumstances would not have omitted a point so material in case any such thing had been known to be agreeable to the mind of God As for the individual Cross upon which our blessed Lord suffered there could be no Adoration directed to it for the first three hundred years It is confessed that it lay concealed under ground till the time of Helena mother to Constantine the Great Neither is there the least signification of any religious addresses made to artificial imitations of it When the Veneration of the Cross is objected by the Heathens against the Christians Mirâ—â— Fâ—l it is answered by them Cruces etiam nec colimus nec optamus We neither Worship Crosses nor wish for them Bellarmine indeed infers that the objection implies that some such practice was then in use but he may by the same reason perswade us that the Christians Worshipped the Head of an Ass because their
Properties and Attributes of the most high God 66 c. This truth acknowledged by all sorts of men the Primitive Christians 69. the Jews 71. the Heathen 72. Our not comprehending the difficulties of it no reason against it 73. Some considerations added to lead us thro' 'em ib. 4. Proposition This One God is to be Worshipped For First consider'd as essentially his nature and perfections justly challenge the deepest veneration 75. Then Secondly considered personally the Scriptures require him to be Worshipped 76. 5. Proposition This God only is to be Worshipped This shewn First from Scripture 78. Secondly from Reason 79. Thirdly from Antiquity 81. What the Papists say in opposition to this considered with respect to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Invocation of Saints and Images 84. 1. As to the Eucharist That the Papists pay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to it ib. and thereby put the greatest affront upon Scripture 91. upon the analogy of Faith 94. upon Antiquity 97. upon Reason 106. and upon Sense 108. The declaration of their Church in this matter and the impossibility of an innovation considered 110. 2. As to Invocation of Saints This injurious to the peculiar honour of God 115. and of Jesus Christ the only Mediator 116. and has not the same grounds and reasons as our praying to each other here below For First the Saints and Angels are at a distance 117. And then Secondly 't is the prerogative of Jesus Christ only to be our Mediator in Heaven 118. as the Primitive Christians thought 119. The Origine of Invocation c. 122. 3. As to Images 123. They who use them are of three sorts First such as say they use them only as memorials to quicken their devotions which has no kindly influence on Religion 124. Secondly such as say they give only inferiour worship to 'em which yet is either vain or sinful 125. Thirdly such as profess to give the same worship to the Image as to the Prototype in kind thô not in degree i.e. relative or respective worship only ib. the vanity of this distinction shewn 126. and that 't is Idolatry 128. contrary to the Second Commandment 132. and unknown to the Primitive Church 135. SECT III. Concerning the True Worshippers of God THE whole reduced to Three Inquiries 142. I. Enquiry Who they are that are obliged to Worship ib. And they are in general all rational Beings as Angels 142. and Men whether secular 143 or more especially Ecclesiastical and consecrated to the performance of Religious Offices 145. the necessity of these shewn ib. such have been in all ages 147. before the floud ib. between that and the Law 150. that the First-born then were Priests 151. such also there were from the giving the Law till Christ 154. as appears from the Priests and Levites ib. from the Schools of the Prophets 155. from their studies there 156 from their Ordination by imposition of hands 157 from the place where they exercised their function 159. such lastly there were under the Gospel ib. II. Enquiry How men are to Worship God 163. This shown in several Propositions 1. Prop. We are to Worship him with all our Soul and heart and strength ib. and 2. Prop. Outwardly with our Bodies 165. 3. Prop. All the modes of external Worship must be decent orderly and to edification ib. 4. Prop. Different deductions from this general rule are no just grounds for distinct Churches to differ among each other and so violate the Vnity of the Vniversal 166. 5. Prop. Yet in the same Church 't is very expedient and desirable That there should be the same external mode of Religion 167 but yet 6. Prop. If contests arise in the same Church about external modes a ready way to compose them is to appeal to Primitive Order and give the preference to those that come nighest to it 169. And 7. Prop. If it cannot be known what the Primitive Order therein was the next step to Peace is to make prudent condescensions on each side before Authority has made any determinations 171. Then 8. Prop. If condescensions cannot be had and yet a determination is necessary all both weak and strong are obliged to acquiesce in such a determination 173. which is neither against nor inconsistent with the perfection of Scripture as a rule 174. nor prejudicial to our Christian Liberty 175. nor yet induces any necessity of violating the Law about scandal 176. III. Enquiry What ends we are to propose in the acts of Religious Worship ib. This shewn in three particulars First and chiefly The Glory of God 177. Secondly The Salvation of our Souls 178. Thirdly The good of the Community 179. The tendency of Religious Worship to all these shewn under each SECT IV. Concerning Assistance relating to Divine Worship THE Introduction from the general and acknowledged depravation of our Natures whereby we want Light to direct and Strength to enable us in the Worshipping God a-right and Merits to render our Services acceptable 185. Against all these God has provided sufficient helps and remedies in that 1. We have the holy Scriptures to direct us 186 2. The Holy Spirit to communicate strength 186 3. The Merits of our Saviour to procure acceptance 186 All which are treated more largely of And 1. Of the holy Scriptures to direct us which that we have grounds to depend on shewn in several Propositions as First The Worshipping God is absolutely necessary to Salvation 187. Secondly Moses and the Prophets Christ and the Apostles did by Oral Tradition reveal all things necessary to this purpose ib. Thirdly What they spoke was evidenced to be the real mind of God by inward characters of Divinity and external miraculous operations ib. Fourthly This word of God thus evidenced was faithfully committed to writing 192. Fifthly This Writing is digested into 24 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New 193. Sixthly These Books have been transmitted to us without corruption 194. Two opinions inconsistent with what has been said considered 1. That the Church of Rome as being infallible is to be our guide in matters of Religion 206. 2. That every one ought to rely upon the conduct of his own reason ib. As to the First Proved that the Pope is not infallible 207. nor a Council ib. nor the body of the People 210. nor all these together ib. nor are the reasons they urge here sufficient such as first The peremptory necessity of such a Guide 211. nor secondly their having all reasonable evidence that the Church of Rome is such a Guide 216. For they have not first The evidence of Scripture ib. shewn as to the chief places they urge 221. nor secondly Vniversal Tradition 228. nor yet thirdly the motives of credibility 232. shewn particularly as to Antiquity Diuturnity Amplitude ib. uninterrupted Succession of Bishops 235. Agreement in doctrine with the Primitive Church 236. Vnion among themselves 237. holiness of doctrine 239. efficacy of it 240. holiness of life 242. Lastly the
a Prince in the plural number but himself In the holy Bible others speak of God in that number 2. The plurality intimated in these expressions is determined to Three in other places of Scripture There are three which bear record in heaven 1 Joh. 5.7 They are represented under the name of The Father the Son the Holy Ghost Mat. 28.19 This was not so clearly revealed in the Old Testament but reserved for a more mature state The Jews being under strong propensions to Idolatry this Doctrine was not then set in the fullest light that no occasion might be from thence taken to confirm them in their errour 3. These Three are not three manifestations only of God If they did import nothing more no reason can be given why the number should be thus confined Since the Creation there have been many signal Manifestations of the Deity far exceeding this number A manifestation supposeth some discovery of that which was secret before and by consequence must be made in time but the holy Scripture attributes Eternity to the Father the Son and the blessed Spirit 4. These Three are not three names only of the same God under divers inadequate conceptions For then when it is said that Christ was baptized the Holy Ghost descended a voice came from the Father the meaning would be that one name of God was baptized another descended in the form of a Dove a third uttered a voice than which nothing can be more incongruous Nay when a command is given to baptised in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost the sence will amount to no more than this go and baptise in the name of three Names This explication of the Trinity is not reconcileable with the scope of S. John when he asserts that there are three which bear record in heaven For the reason why he mentions three is to evidence that there is a sufficient number of witnesses to testifie that Jesus is the Christ Now if by the Three are meant only three names of the same person the Apostle fails of his end and is represented as guilty of a manifest collusion He does as if a man should undertake to prove Oratory an excellent Art by three witnesses and produce only the three names of the Orator Marcus Tullius Cicero 5. All things required to the constitution of a person belong to them A Person is an intelligent Being which has a peculiar subsistence This definition agrees to the Father the Son and Holy Spirit They have all Intelligence and Knowledge The Father is said to know the Son and the Son the Father The Holy Ghost is stiled a Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding They have peculiar subsistence The Father is without communication from another The Son is from the Father The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son His procession from the Father is asserted in express words John 15.26 From the Son supposed in the Mission of the Comforter in the same Verse For as the Father is sent of none because he is of himself the Son is sent of the Father because he is of the Father so the Spirit is represented as sent by the Father and the Son because he proceeds from both Now he who is begotten or proceeds must necessarily be distinct from him by whom he is begotten and from whom he proceeds and by consequence have a peculiar mode of subsistence The Father 's being in the Son and the Son in the Father doth not destroy this distinction God is in every man and every man in God In him we live and move and have our Being and yet the discrimination remains betwixt the divine and humane subsistence 6. Such Actions are attributed to these three as belong to none but a person It will be superfluous to instance in those which are ascribed to the Father and the Son All the doubt is about the Spirit and yet the Scripture is very clear in this particular He is said to know will 1 Cor. 2.10 11. 1 Cor. 12.11 Job 33.4 Psal 104.30 create preserve These actions are undoubted indications of a person Actions are attributed to things either properly or improperly Whensoever they are attributed to them in the first sence they are infallible Arguments of suppositality Actiones sunt suppositorum And it is apparent that when they are attributed to the Spirit it is not always in an improper and figurative sence He is said to make intercession Rom. 8. v. If this action be assigned to the Spirit improperly or tropically then it may be properly attributed to the Father who according to the Socinian notion useth the Spirit as a power or virtue to produce what he designs even as those operations which are ascribed to Charity in a tropical sence 1 Cor. 13. properly belong to the Man which is indued with it and makes use of it as a moral power or virtue But Intertercession betwixt the Father and us cannot with any congruity be said to be made by the Father himself The Father is one party and we the other Where there are two parties Intercession supposes the interposition of a third person All this makes it manifest why the Father Son and Holy Ghost are represented in Scripture as Three Persons The personality of the Father is mentioned Heb. 1.3 The Son is said to be his express Image which can import no less than that he is a person like unto his Father The Holy Spirit is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another Comforter like unto the Son He is set forth by the demonstrative Pronoun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an undoubted note of personality If in any humane Writing the matter of which was never drawn into controversie by the pride or prejudice of a Party such expressions as these should occur He shall teach you He shal bring all things to your remembrance He shall testifie of me He will reprove the World He will guide you into all Truth He shall glorifie me and that He who is to do all this proceeds from the Father and is sent by the Son We should account him a very absurd Interpreter that should say that the He so often repeated is not a person nor personally distinct from him by whom he is sent and from whom he proceeds All this is asserted in the Scripture of the Holy Ghost The Socinians willingly grant an eternal personality to the Father but deny it to the Son and the Spirit They say that the Son is a Person but not eternal that the Holy Ghost is neither a Person nor eternal but a Power and Virtue from God or an effect produced by that Power and yet the personality of the Son must be as early as his Filiation and his Filiation or Sonship is undoubtedly eternal The Prophet Micha saies His goings forth have been from old from everlasting c. 5. v. 2. The Spirit cannot always signifie Power or an effect produced by the Power The Spirit and Power are plainly distinguished
Jesus is said to return in the power of the Spirit Luk. 14. S. Paul prays that the Romans may abound in hope thro' the power of the Holy Ghost Rom. 15 14. Mighty signs and wonders are said to be done by the power of the Spirit of God If the Spirit in these places did signifie no more than a divine power the meaning would be that Christ returned the Romans abounded miracles were wrought thro' the power of a Power The Spirit is likewise evidently distinguished from effects or gifts The Apostle saies that There are diversity of gifts but the same Spirit 1 Cor. 12.4 To one is given by the Spirit the word of Wisdom to another the word of Knowledge by the same Spirit v. 8. And that all these worketh this one and the same Spirit So that there can be nothing left in these Texts for the Spirit to signifie but a Person He being manifestly distinguished from the Divine Power and the gifts and products of that Power Now I have finished the second Proposition In the Godhead there are Three Persons 3. These Three are One God Unity is essential to the Deity Plurality proceeds from the fecundity and fruitfulness of Causes but God is of himself without dependence upon any Cause If there be more Gods there must be more Infinites in the same kind which implies a contradiction for one infinite Being contains all perfection not only as considered in the general notion but actually and therefore there is none for any other Deity to be invested with and possessed of in the same manner If there be more Gods they must be distinct one from another This distinction must arise from some diversity in Nature to attribute such diversity to the Divine Nature is to make a dishonourable reflection upon the simplicity of it The Father Son and Holy Ghost are this One God 1. The Scripture plainly asserts that they are one 1 John 5.7 Tho' these words are not found in some Copies yet they are extant in more than they are wanting in and in that which is dubious the decision is according to the suffrage of the major part If such an addition has been made to the Text it must be done before or after the two first General Councils If before it was either accidental or intentional Not Accidental thro' the inadvertency of the Scribe For tho' a Scribe may mistake and leave out letters and words yet it cannot be imagined that he should casually without any design add a whole sentence and not presently upon a review which may be justly presumed in a Writing of such importance discover and correct his errour Not Intentional no good reason can be given why any should industriously make such a spurious insertion before the controversie concerning the Deity of Christ and the Holy Ghost did commence Neither was the addition which is pretended made after the two first General Councils Because the words we speak of are found in those Copies which the Fathers who lived before those Councils made use of S. Cyprian asserts de Patre Filio c. Of the Father Son and Holy Ghost it is written and these Three are One. This gives us just reason to believe that the Copies in which these words are wanting fell into the hands of the Arrians and that a rasure was made by them 2. As the words of S. John assure us that The Father the Son and the Spirit are One so we are assured by other texts of Sacred Writ that this Unity is in the Divine Essence They have all one and the same infinite Nature This is evident by the attribution of the Name Properties and peculiar Operations of the most High God to them None doubt of this relation to the Father The matter is likewise clear concerning the Son and the Spirit Christ is called the mighty God Isa 9.6 God blessed for evermore Rom. 9.5 The true God 1 Joh. 5.20 The most high God Psal 58.17 56. The most High which the Israelites tempted and provoked in the wilderness is expresly called Christ 1 Cor. 10.9 The name of God is never attributed in the sacred Oracles with such emphatical Epithets to any finite Being They are intentionally inserted to signifie that Jesus is stiled God not upon the account of his Embassy from his Father or a deification in the state of Glory but his infinite Nature He who is made God and is not so essentially cannot be said to be the true mighty most High God blessed for evermore As the Name of God so the Properties of the Divine Nature are attributed to him Omniscience Joh. 21.17 Immutability Heb. 1.11 Omnipotence Rev. 1.8 Eternity He is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is which was which is to come v. 4. Eternity comprehends all differences of time Was he but a meer Creature such perfections could not reside in him A finite Being under the greatest Elevation has not a capacity large enough to entertain and receive such boundless excellencies The peculiar Operations of God are likewise attributed to him as Creation Joh. 1.2 Coloss 1.16 God is said to create all things by Jesus Christ Eph. 3.9 The Son did concur with the Father and the Spirit in this great Work as a co-ordinate cause The Nature of Creation will not admit the interposals of an instrument There being no matter to prepare a physical instrument has nothing to do in the case And Christ is represented as more than a Moral The infinite power whereby all things are made is often ascribed to him which is never done to a meer moral instrument such as the Apostles were in the production of Miracles Conservation is likewise ascribed to him He is said to uphold all things with the word of his power Heb. 1.3 It was usual for the Jews to express the Deity by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 power and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is here inserted to assure them that Christ sustains the World and prevents its relapse into its primitive Abyss by virtue of his Deity Lastly He is said to work Miracles He made the blind to see the lame to walk the dead to revive This he did not bring to pass by any mutuatitious power When he healed the multitude it is said Virtue went out of him Luk. 6.19 The power whereby he did it was not adventitious but innate When S. Peter wrought a miracle that Christ by whose power it was effected might not be deprived of the glory of it he names him as the principal cause His name thro' faith in his name hath made this man whole Act. 3.16 As the name properties and operations of the Divine Nature are attributed to the Son of God So likewise to the Holy Ghost The Spirit of the Lord 2 Sam. 23.2 is stiled the God of Israel Ananias who lied unto the Spirit Act. 5.3 is said to lie unto God v. 4. The body which is the Temple of the holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6.19 is stiled
the Temple of God 1 Cor. 3.16 He is Eternal Heb. 9.7 Omniscient 1 Cor. 2.10 Omnipresent Psal 139.7 The whole Creation is represented as the effect of his power The host of Heaven Psal 33.6 Man the principal Work of God upon the Earth Job 33.4 The Fish in the Sea Psal 104.3 are all of his formation Before there was any Wind Immeasusque Deus super aequora vasia meabat which is peculiar to the Firmament a work of the second day the Spirit of the Lord is said to move upon the Waters The Chaos by his incubation was digested into Order and brought to a state of Maturation Certainly God who composed the Scripture and declares in it that he will not give his Glory to another would never have assigned his name nature and peculiar operations to the Spirit had he not been of the same Essence with himself To assert that all this is attributed to the Spirit because God makes use of him as an instrument to effect his Work will not remove the difficulty For there is some work attributed to the Spirit to which no instrument can concur as Creation There are other operations in doing of which God cannot be said to use the Spirit according to the sentiments of the Socinians as to know and search his deep things For the Spirit in their apprehensions signifies a Divine Power and it is very incongruous to say that God knows and searches things by his Power This Truth concerning the Trinity in Unity hath been so fully discovered that all sorts of men have taken notice of it The Mind of the Christians before Constantine may be very well known by Athanasuis Orat. 1.121 Ad Serapio tom 1. p. 366. de Spi. Sanâ—â—o Apol. 2. who wanted no opportunity to be acquainted with their Writings He expresly asserts that there was nothing established by the Nicene Synod but what was agreeable to them S. Basil cites several Authorities of the first Centuries for the same purpose In those Writings which are come to our hands there are many evident expressions of this doctrin Justin Martyr speaking of the Father of righteousness saies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. him and the Son coming from him and the prophetick Spirit we receive and adore Athenagoras in vindication of the Christians whom the Heathens accounted Atheists saies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. who would not admire to hear them called Atheists who own God the Father God the Son God the Holy Ghost Clemens Alexandrinus ends his Paedagogus with very lively expressions of this Truth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. to the only Father Son c. with the Holy Ghost all in one c. There are Testimonies of the same importance in Tertullian Cyprian Lactantius All these with many others agree that there is but one God and that there are Three which participate of the Deity and that one of them is the fountain of the rest from whence it inevitably follows that they must be personally distinct The fountain and the streams are always different one from the other Indeed there are some things spoken in the explication of this Mystery which are liable to an ambiguous construction as is manifest in the discourse of Justin Martyr with the Jew Tâ—â—â—h and the Treatise of Tertullian against Praxeas This Truth being not then encountred with so direct an opposition as it was in the time of Arrius some degrees of caution in point of expression are wanting and too great a condescension made to the Sentiments of the Philosophers by blending their notions with the ineffable Mystery that it might gain a more ready entertainment among them Such prudential accommodations must not be construed in such a sence as to prejudice the Truth which in other places of the same Authors is clearly acknowledged The clear must not be expounded by that which is obscure but the obscure by that which is clear The Jews have not been without some knowledge of this Mystery Pugio fidei p. 397. Raimundus Martini says that he scarcely ever conferred with any of them who were in any estimation for Wisdom who would not grant that God was Trinus Vnus They have a Tradition that when the Benediction Num. 6.26 was pronounced by the Priest he used when he came to the word Jehova to lift three fingers higher than the rest to denote the Trinity It was their manner to call the Father Son Voisin in Pug. fidei p. 400. and Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Subsistences and to assert the unity of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the infinite God Those words The Lord our God is one God are in Zohar applied to the Trinity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is interpreted the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Son the second 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is added with a great letter in the Hebrew Text to denote their Unity The Hebrew Scholiast says that the repetition of the name of God three times Psal 50.1 2. is to denote the three 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which created the World These are stiled inward persons It is observed that all the names of God have a plural termination Voisin p. 406. p. 400. except Jehova his essential name to import the plurality of Persons and unity of Essence It is a saying among the Cabalists 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. the Father is God the Son is God the Holy Ghost is God Three in One and One in Three By the Abbreviature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they understand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Father and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Son They say they are put together to express their Unity and that the three Letters do signifie the three Hypostases in one Essence Tho' this Doctrine is very much disguised in the Writings of the Heathens yet there is so much of it left unmask'd as it may be plainly discerned they were not totally strangers to it The chief God among the Persians was stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 threefold with relation to this Sacred Mystery The first Hypostasis they called Oramasâ—les the second Mithras the third Arimanes Plato likewise mentions Three 〈◊〉 5. l. 1. l. 3. c. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These by Plotinus are represented as the three Hypostases which are Principles or first causes in the Universe When Thulis King of Aegypt went to the Oracle of Serapis to inquire Saidas in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who before him could do such exploits as he had done and who would be after him The Answer was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First God after him the Word and then the Spirit concurring with both Bâ—rnier's Mâ—moirs â—â—m 3. p. 130. The Indians own Three in the Deity known by the names of Brahma Bischen and Mehaâ—denâ— Dervis â—rsielebi a Mahometan acknowledged to a Christian who was disputing with him about Religion that at the commencement of all their Negotiations Epito
de Turc moribu◠c. 4. p. 130. it was their custom to use these words In the name of God of Mercy and of their Spirit If any shall be so in love with his private Sentiments as to deny this Truth which has gained so universal a Testimony upon the account of some difficulties which our shallow Intellects cannot reach to the bottom of he may with the same reason assert there is no such thing as the Ocean because he cannot by his line find the depth of it in every place If all this will not satisfie let him exercise his reason about some difficulties in nature and he will find the existence of things very plain where their contexture is so concealed and intricate that the greatest Wits are at a loss in their disquisition about it If the intricacy of some modes in natural things be no reasonable inducement to deny the reality of the things themselves much less is the ineffable union betwixt the Divine Essence and Subsistence a justifiable plea for the denial of the Sacred Trinity He that shall think fit to try the acuteness of his Intellect about some knots in Philosophy will find the edge of his reason so much blunted in the encounter that it will not be easie for him to perswade himself that it is sharp enough to penetrate into all the Mysteries in Divinity If this will not prevail without an engagement with those difficulties which this Truth is usually assaulted with let a Catalogue be made of them and it will not be difficult for him to make his way thro' them who is armed with the following considerations 1. Altho' there be Three Persons or Subsistences in the Godhead yet there are not three Essences Every Person distinctly considered has an Essence but every person has not a distinct Essence 2. Tho' one finite individual Nature cannot be communicated to Three Persons yet an infinite may If the whole Divine Essence is intimately in all created persons at the same time there is no reason to think but that it may be communicated to three increated Whatsoever is alledged against this Communication holds as strong against the Universal Presence which all acknowledge but those who deny the Deity 3. Finite and infinite perfect and imperfect are not proper predicates of Subsistence but of Being So that when we are interrogated whether the three persons in the Holy Trinity are finite or infinite perfect or imperfect if by Person is meant only a mode of subsistence without the Nature it is a very incongruous question For infinity and finity perfection and imperfection are but modes of Entity and every mode imports variation and one variation cannot properly be predicated of another If by Person is understood the Divine Essence subsisting in a peculiar manner then we answer that every person distinctly is infinitely perfect tho' every person has not a distinct infinite perfection 4. Altho' the three Persons have one and the same Nature yet the Son cannot be said to be the Father or the Spirit the Son The same specifical Nature agrees to Joh Moses and Daniel Every one of them has the whole nature of Man yet we have no reason to assert that Moses is Job or Joh Daniel As there is some thing not contained in the common Nature which doth individuate them So there is a characteristical property appertaining to the Father the Son and holy Spirit whereby they are distinguisht altho' they are all equally interested in the same infinite Essence 5. When it is said that the only God is the Father Jesus Christ is the only God therefore Jesus Christ is the Father the major proposition is peccant For in every proposition the predicate is never less comprehensive than the subject but always of a greater latitude and therefore bears the title of the major term But here the predicate Father is less comprehensive than the subject the only God Now I have finished the Third Proposition The Three Persons are One God 4. This One God is to be Worshipped If we consider him essentially his peerless perfections do justly challenge the deepest veneration They being infinite cannot admit of any additions All that We are capable of doing is to own them with the decent significations of the most humble and submissive regards It is an Article in the Jewish Creed Fag in Deut. c. 14. v. 1. The Blessed God is worthy to be Worshipped It is a principal part of the Confession of the Christian Church Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour It was usual among the Heathens to worship the Head of great Rivers Sax. Will-worship He who considers God as the fountain of all that goodness which circulates in the veins of the Creation can conclude no less than that the most profound veneration is due to him If the Deity be considered personally every person doth require Divine Worship to be directed to him The Father Jo. 4.23 The Son Heb. 1.6 Psal 2.12 Phil. 2.10 S. Stephen directed his Prayer to him Act. 7.59 Ananias enjoyned S. Paul to call upon him Act. 22. v. 16. Salvation is promised to those who express a conformity to this command Rom. 10.13 When we say the Son is to be Worshipped we do not consider him without his humane Nature but as a person consisting both of Divine and Humane Supreme Adoration is given upon the account of the infinite excellency of the Divine Nature This excellency is communicated to the Person which has assumed our Nature and advanced it to the dignity of an Hypostatical union but not to the nature it self And therefore the Worship which is due must not be terminated upon the nature considered abstractedly but the person who is clothed with it This induced Athanasius to say Epist ad Adelph 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Let them know meaning the Arrians that when we Worship the Lord in the flesh we do not Worship a Creature but the Creator cloathed with a created body Neither must our blessed Lord be considered without his Mediatorship Tho' supreme Adoration doth not immediately terminate upon the relation of a Mediator yet it doth upon him who is invested with that Relation Our Saviour in this respect is inferiour to the Father and nothing inferiour to the Deity can challenge Supreme Adoration The taking up the mediatory Office was an act of free Grace and by consequence might not have been done Now that which might have been or not been must be inferiour to that necessary and immutable excellency which is the proper Object of the highest Veneration We must distinguish betwixt the foundation of Worship and the Motives to it Tho' the free acts of the Divine Benignity as redeeming mediating c. are vigorous inducements to Worship yet the sole foundation and immediate object is infinite excellency which will not permit any thing which is inferiour to share with it in the same degree of Honour A Subject may have many motives from the
adversaries were as peremptory in this as the other charge Tertullian reckons the report that the Christians were Crucis religiosi amongst those scandals which were raised by malice in order to the eclipsing their reputation As for the Relicks of Saints we find no mention of any religious respect which was paid to them Those who have the greatest zeal for them are usually mounted upon tradition but finding it not able to carry them thro' the first Centuries in this particular they think good to alight and content themselves with some instances in Scripture which are nothing to the purpose as the hemm of Christ's garment the shadow of S. Peter the Handkerchiefs and Aprons that touched the body of S. Paul Because the Woman diseased with an issue of blood was healed by touching the first the sick were brought into the streets that they might be overshadowed by the second many were delivered from evil spirits by the third They have a mind to perswade us without any good reason that these particulars with all Relicks of an equivalent Nature challenge religious veneration No doubt Peter himself was every way as valuable as his shadow and yet when Cornelius made an attempt to worship him he prevented him by an express prohibition The Fathers in the ages next to the Apostles were not such good husbands as to make such an advantagious improvement of these instances but on the contrary we find them charging the Heathens with Superstition of a like nature as the worshipping the Monuments of the Dead and we never read that the Heathens did retort upon them their guilt in the same kind which no doubt they would have done in case there had been any such practice among them Celsus Lucian c. were not so dull as to overlook so signal an advantage They which use to charge them with too much would have paid them their own in case there had been the least appearance of reason for it As the most early Writers next to the Apostles never mention the Worshipping any else but God so all the words which import Divine Worship are by them exclusively applied to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Justin Martyr Apel. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Theophilus Antiochenus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Tatianus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Origen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 L. 1. Cont. Cels Servire by Irenaeus Huic servire soli oportet discipulos Christi Colere adorare by Tertullian Apol. c. 17. Inst l. 1. c. 20. Quod colimus unus Deus est Praescribitur ne quem alium adorem Venerari by Lactantius veneratio nulla alia nisi unius Dei tenenda est Hitherto I have asserted the verity of this Proposition God only is to be Worshipped In the next place I will consider the opposition that has been made against it by the Church of Rome and those who adhere to Her Maldonate makes no scruple to pronounce n Mat. 5. v. 34. that it is a wicked error to maintain that religious Honour is to be tendered to none but God The Inquisitors have blotted out such Words and Sentences out of Books as cast a favourable aspect upon this Doctrine In a Sentence cited out of Gregory Nyssen by Antonius in his mellifluous Sermons in these words eam verò folummodò naturam quae increata est colere venerari didicimus they condemn the word Index Exp. solummodò to an expunction The Index to Athanasius's Works Printed at Basil has been treated with the same respect These words adorari solius Dei est are not permitted to remain in it The Gloss in the Margin of the Bible upon 1 Sam. 7.3 Prepare your hearts unto the Lord and serve him only has not escaped their severity Their decree concerning it runs in these terms deleantur illa verba serviendum Deo soli They have done with these Testimonies as Caesar Borgia used to do with men namely contrive the death of those who did impede the accomplishment of his designs This practice doth evidently declare that they are conscious that their Worship cannot stand without this Principle be taken out of the way The sence of it is opposed by them in many particulars as the Worship of the Sacrament the Invocation of Saints the Adoration of Images c. 1. The Worship of the Sacrament The Church of Rome hath given too much occasion to believe that the Accidents of the Bread and Wine are to be honoured with supreme Veneration The Council of Trent in plain words asserts that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is granted to signifie supreme honours is to be given to the Sacrament It does not say to a part only of it but useth the Word in general which must necessarily imply the whole and extend to all which is appointed to be received Now it is evident that the Accidents are a part of the Sacrament which is to be received They constitute the outward and visible sign L. 4. Saâ—r Bellarmine represents them as the principal ratio Sacramenti magis convenit speciebus ut continent Corpus quà m corpori Christi ut est sub speciebus The following words of the Council confirm this Interpretation nec enim minùs adorandum c. neither is it the Sacrament to be less adored because it hath been instituted by Christ the Lord that it may be taken for him the same God we believe to be present in it whom the eternal Father bringing into the World saith Let all the Angels adore him c. Here the Sacrament is represented as that in which our blessed Lord is present and contained under and by consequence as distinct from it That which contains any thing is always diverse from that which is contained in it Now what is there left for the Word Sacrament to import but the outward Elements the signifying part under which it is supposed that the Sacred Body of our blessed Lord is latent His Presence in the Sacrament is alledged as the reason of the Adoration given to it Tho' this is not sufficient to justifie the practice for then every thing in which God is present would be an adorable object as the Sun and Moon and whole Creation yet it leads us into the meaning of the Word Sacrament as it lies in the Council and assures us that it imports some thing besides our blessed Saviour which can be nothing but the outward Elements whereby he is represented A command to give civil honour to the Throne of a Prince because the Prince himself sits in it evidently implies that the Throne and the Prince are distinct one from the other To expound the Decree by the Canon in which there is mention only of Worshipping Christ in the Sacrament is very preposterous They aim at two distinct things The first obligeth us to Worship the Sacrament the second to Worship Christ who is present in the Sacrament These two are as different as to Worship the Palace in
continues its pursuit that which is now good in the appetitive faculty will presently become evil because it acts contrary to its immediate rule Tho' there may be policy yet there is but little piety in the practice of those who perswade their Proselytes That light puts out the fire of devotion and an implicit belief is the perfection of Religion The truth is They are so conscious of the infirmity of the foundation they build upon that they use their best endeavours to deprive others of their sight that they may be in no capacity to discover it As we must Worship with our Understanding so likewise with our Will that which is free and of our own election is most acceptable to God Josephus says That God rejected Cain because he offered a Sacrifice which was extorted by force out of the earth and accepted Abel because his victim was free and natural Tho' he missed of the true Reason yet he hit upon a great Truth That a free and uncompelled obedience is most agreeable to the Divine Will God being a Spirit is concerned chiefly in the frame of our Spirits and disvalues that Service which doth not proceed from them 1 Kin. 6.4 The windows of the Temple which Solomon dedicated to him were broad within and narrow without his eye looks more within upon the temper and composure of our hearts than without upon our external performances All the faculties of our Soul must be screw'd up to the highest pitch In the Intellect there must be a superlative esteem of the Divine Majesty in the Will the deepest devotion Every sacred performance challengeth the most reverential regards Altho' there may be culpable excesses in the imperate acts of the Body yet there is no fear of them in the elicite operations of the Soul It is impossible to value love and obey God too much An infinite good requires the utmost vigour of a finite Spirit when it is conversant about it 2. God must be worshipped outwardly with the Body It is to be presented as a living Sacrifice Rom. 12.1 holy and acceptable to him We must not imitate them who use to take to themselves all the flesh of their victims and offer up nothing but the Blood and Soul to their Deities Our Bodies being the Lords as well as our Spirits and very proper instruments to commend the practice of Religion to others they are not to be exempted from this Service Outward profession which cannot be without the acts of the body is a duty as well as inward devotion Adam did wear the skins of the beasts which he sacrificed to God The Scripture never censures bodily Service but the want of the heart and a right direction of the intentions in the performance of it He who Worships God with his Body and suffers his Soul at the same time to be under irrelative motions is like a Souldier who imploys his Scabbard in the service of his Commander and his Sword to some other purpose 3. All the modes of the Body must be decent orderly and tending to Edification It is the pleasure of him who is the Supreme Head of the Church to give this general rule and to furnish subordinate Governours with such discretion as will enable them to make convenient deductions from it in particular cases Upon this account the Apostle appeals to Nature that is natural reason when he treats about matters of order 1 Cor. 11. and asserts That disorder will administer occasion to unbelievers to charge the Congregation with madness that is with a deportment contrary to the rule of common reason 1 Cor. 14. 4. Different deductions from this general rule is no just ground for distinct Churches to commence a contest one against another and by this means violate the Unity of the Universal Decency is not confined to a point but has a certain latitude Under a Genus there are more Species than one The Carthaginian and Roman Army at Cannae were not drawn up in the same form and yet in both there was a mode agreeable to the rules of Military Order Upon this account the present Church has no quarrel with the antient altho' she differs from her in matters of this nature Formerly it was thought to be very decent to stand at Prayer on the Lord's day in token of the Resurrection To plunge three times those who were to be Baptised in signification of the Trinity to cloath them when they came out of the water with a white garment Altho' these customs are now laid aside yet we are so far from reproaching those who did use them that we highly value their authority in the important concerns of Religion The several parts of the ancient Church altho ' they differed in things of this Nature yet they had communion together Euseb l. 5. c. 24. Irenaeus in his Letter to Victor says That some conceived that they were to fast but one day before the Passover some Two some Forty nevertheless they had Peace Those Churches which dissented in such matters Sozom. use to send the Sacrament one to another as a token of their agreement in the Faith They thought it a vain thing to be divorced upon the account of some different customes when there was a harmony betwixt them in the great concerns of Religion Firmilianus asserts Epist ad Cypr. That the same Rites were not at Rome and Jerusalem and the like differences were in other places yet the Unity and Peace of the Catholick Church was not broken S. Austin takes notice Ep. ad Casulan 86. That in the garment of the King's Daughter there is variety of work to import that there may be diverse Rites in the Church and yet all reconcileable with the Unity of the Faith 5. Tho' this variety is very excusable in different Churches yet it is highly expedient and desirable that in the same Church there should be the same external mode of Religion Edification is the great design which ought to be aimed at in an Ecclesiastical Community There is nothing which is more opposite to this end than discord and contention and nothing will sooner kindle and blow up the fire of contention than differences of this nature Tho' Men at distance do bear one with another in such variations yet when they are near and in frequent Communion under the same constitution they are apt to take great distaste We like well the different fashions of another Country and treat Strangers which are in them with significations of a due respect yet if any of our own Community affect such an exotick Garb they are usually the object of vulgar scorn and derision The different dress of one is a reproach to another and charges him with folly and weakness as tho' he was not able to discern what is convenient and under such an imputation Men are commonly very uneasie and break out into an exchange of the greatest unkindness The animosity occasioned by a variation in Religious Rites
about V. It cannot in reason be less than one whole Day every Week which will be evident if we consider 1. The Object of our Worship Were we to live the days of Methusalem he might challenge every moment of our time as a just debt and if all be due reason will not allow That so considerable a portion as a Week should pass without a solemn dedication of a Seventh part of it to his service Let us suppose one man to owe unto anothers as much or more than his whole estate is worth the rule of equity will not allow him to offer less than the Seventh part in order to the compounding his debt and the just satisfaction of his Creditor 2. The Nature of Worship In it the Glory of God the eternal happiness of the Soul the temporal felicity of the Community are highly interested The difficulty in the right discharge of it is equal to the importance The Prince of this World makes it his work to hinder it The natural tempers of Men furnish him with a signal advantage to compass his design There is an inbred Love in us to sensible objects which are apt to ingenerate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Athenagoras speaks Leg. 〈◊〉 Christianis p. 30. This is the reason why the Second Commandment which relates to Worship is fortified with so many inducements to obedience One taken from the power of God to punish offenders 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Another from his will to exert his power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Third from the execution of his Will upon the off-spring of those which offend visiting the iniquity c. A Fourth from his kindness to the obedient shewing mercy c. Had it not been difficult to confine our selves within the bounds of this Precept the fence which is set about it would not have been so strong If the Worship of God be a matter of such difficulty and of the greatest importance then it requires a very large proportion of our time to be spent in the performance of it and if so was it left to our own disposal we could not in justice allot less than the Seventh part 3. The pattern of the triumphant Church In Heaven a perpetual Sabbath is celebrated The glorified Spirits are constantly imployed in worshipping him who liveth for ever and ever Rev. 4.10 This heavenly example the Church Militant must makes as near an approach unto as the circumstances of this present life will permit she being obliged to endeavour That the will of God may be done on earth as it is in heaven Matt. 6. v. 10. Those who are most exercised with the incumbrances of this world have nothing to plead in their own behalf why they may not come up so nigh to this celestial pattern as to devote One Day of every Week to the concerns of Religion 4. The practice of the Militant Church not only under the Law but before From the beginning of the Creation the Time for Solemn Worship was no less than One whole Day every Week as is evident from the testimony of the Author to the Hebrews altho' the works were finished from the foundation of the world For he spake in a certain place of the Seventh Day on this wise And God did rest the seventh day from all his works Heb. 4.3 4. Here is an evident remembrance of a day of rest not only to God but to Men. For the design of the Apostle is to prove out of the 95. Psal That there remains a rest to the people of God under the Gospel In order to this purpose he shews it is not the rest of the Seventh from the Creation which the Psalmist had his eye upon If the Seventh here mentioned had not been a rest to the people of God but only to God himself there would have been no necessity of such care to distinguish it from that other rest which is concluded still to remain to the people of God 2. That time is expressed when this rest commenced from the foundation of the world The works then finished are represented as the ground upon which the Sabbath was instituted It cannot with reason be imagined That the foundation should be laid at the beginning and the superstruction not built upon it as some think till above Two Thousand years after This Assertion receives a great deal of strength from the early division of Time into Weeks Noah had his eye upon the Hebdomadal Cycle Gen. 8.10 12. A Week is represented as a period familiarly known in Jacob's time Gen. 29.27 God himself did point out this division by his own example distinguishing the Six Days by peculiar Works the Seventh by rest A universal consent prevailed amongst all the Eastern Nations about this particular The testimony of Joannes Philoponus is known 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 7. c. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It is agreed amongst all Nations That there are Seven Days which by a constant revolution constitute all time Georgius Syncellus in his Chronology which begins with Adam and ends at Dioclesian asserts That the Patriarchs divided their time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that the division into Months and Years is of later date Josephus against Appion says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. There is no City whether Greek or Barbarian to whom was unknown 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If the division of Time into Weeks was from the beginning and a week consisted of seven days and one of those were a Sabbath or a day of rest the Sabbath must needs be from the beginning There is no record which makes mention of a week that doth not suppose the Sabbath to be a part of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 amongst the Greeks is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among the Hebrows which Theophilus Antiochenus says E. z. ad Autol. p. 91. All Men had knowledge of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Sacred Oracles sometimes is put for a week the denomination of the whole being taken from the principal part Lev. 23.15 In the book entituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is expressed That for many weeks the Seventh Day was celebrated as a day of rest The Chaldee Paraphrast upon the Title of Psalm 92. useth these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Song which the first Man sang on the Sabbath-day and upon the first verse of the Canticles the first Song Adam spake at the time when his sin was pardoned and the day of the Sabbath came and protected him Cain and Abel are said to bring their Sacrifices 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at the end of days by which we must understand theh period of a year or a month or some other term there being no division of time so early as that into Weeeks and nothing here can be so well understood by the end of Days as the end of a Week which was the Sabbath Indeed it is objected That if the Sabbath was so early as hath been