mistake and fearefully wrest the words bodily exercise Concerning the meaning whereof Interpreters do not readily agree But this I am sure of that of all the Interpreters which I have seene and I have purposely made some search not one doth understand them of those gestures of the body in Gods worship which we now treate of And it is manyfest that the bodily exercises whereof S. Paul speaketh are such as he setteth in opposition unto true godlines and yet such as wherein foolish people perverted by hypocrites and guided by idle conceits and no better then old wives fables do place Religion Abstinency from meate and from marriage v. 3. unto which we may adde long and frequent watchings pronouncing of long and many prayers lying on the cold ground wearing haire cloth and the like with such kind of disciplining of the body may profit something as they may be used Cor. 7. 26. For S. Paul deemeth those people happy in regard of the present necessity which were unmarried And he alloweth those which are married sometimes and upon some occasions to withdraw one from an other that they may the better dispose themselves to fasting and prayer Watching fasting and such other chastisings of the body are also of profitable use to tame the flesh and to bring it into subjection to the spirit and so to make the whole man the fitter for devotion But if men place true Godlinesse to consist in these very exercises and so conceive with themselves that whilest they performe them they are eo nomine for that alone very good people though otherwise they live in the custome and practise of foule and known sinnes then shall they finde that their bodily exercises do profit little that is nothing at all and that in vaine have they wearyed themselves therein And so if a man thinke that though he neglect the true duties of godlinesse he is yet a godly man because he is very exact in all the gestures of outward reverence in Gods worship I paralell that man with an other sect of hypocrites whose whole godlinesse consisteth in going to to some selected Church and in being present where a Sermon is though in the meane time they learne nothing and practice as little of any true godlinesse Both these sorts of men I acknowledge to be an hypocriticall and superstitious generation both a like And of them both I say that they have a forme of Godlines but deny the power thereof Though then bodily exercises profit not those who place their whole Religion and goodnesse in them as they are meer bodily actes Yet are they not unprofitable for Christian men who make the right use of them either to tame the body and to bring it into subjection by fasting sack cloth and ashes and the like or to make outward expression of inward devotion as by bending the knee bowing the body lifting up the hands and eyes and such like gestures in Gods worship As for the wordes of our blessed Saviour God is a spirit and must be worshipped in spirit and in Psâ— 95. 6. trutb I aske those men which alledge them against outward reverence what they will say to holy and devoute David when he saith O come let us worship and fall downe and kneele before the Lord our maker Doth not the spirit of God here require the gestures of bowing downe and kneeling to be used in Gods worship But for further satisfaction herein we will spend a few lines though one would thinke words needlesse in so cleare a case in the exposition of our Saviours wordes Wee therefore give our brethren to understand that the word Spirit in scripture hath divers sinifications as i. The regenerate man is called the Spirit Matth. 26. 41. The Spirit is willing the flesh is weak 2 The will or inclination 2 Cron. 36. 22. The Lord stirred up the Spirit of Cyrus 3 The courage of a man Josh 5. 1. There was no spirit in them any more because of the children of Israel 4 Vnderstanding and knowledge Dan. 5. 12. An excellent Spirit and understanding and knowlegde were found in Daniell 5 Doctrine or teaching 1 Joh. 4. 1. Beleeve not every Spirit but try the Spirits So then take the word Spirit in any of these significations and it will nothing hinder the use of corporall or bodily gestures in the worship of God For to worship God in Spirit is to worship him with a regenerate or new man which after God is created in righteousnesse and true holynesse Eph. 4. 24. It is no compassing of Gods Altar without hands washed in Innocency Ps 26. 6. no praying to God without pure handes lifted up 1 Tim. 8. No comming into the marriage feast without a wedding garment Mat. 22. So it is not for any to performe the holy act of worship to the holy God that is not regenerate and holy and will so worship in spirit and truth i. in true holinesse For God requireth such to worship him 2. God must be worshiped in Spirit i. with a willing ready and chearefull mind Deborah in her song Iudic. 5. 2. doth prayse God for the people that became so willing And 1 Pet. 5. 2. Gods flock must be fed not by constraint but willingly and so Gods worship must be performed in Spirit that is willingly 3. God must be worshiped in spirit i. Not faintly and droopingly but couragiously and zealously in the fervency of the spirit as Rom. 10 11. 5 God must be worshipped in spirit and in truth i. with understanding and knowledge rightly informed Lastly God must be worshiped in spirit and truth i. Guided by the holy spirit of God as all the sonnes of God are led by the spirit Rom. 8. 14. which leadeth unto all truth Joh. 16. 13. And this is home to the text in spirit and truth when in Gods worship we so make use of either body or soule as by Gods word and spirit wee are thereto directed Corporall actes may be done in the Spirit as our Saviours going up to the mount Mat. 4. was a Corporall act and yet it was done in the Spirit For he was led by the Spirit v. 1. And to this effect are the words of the Schoole-man cleare and full in in the place before alledged Adoratio Corporalis in Spiritu fit in quantum ex spirituali devotione procedit ad eam ordinatur i. Bodily worship is 2. 2. q 84. ar i done in the spirit in as much as it proceedeth from spirituall devotion and is made to serve thereunto When our brethren Pray or Preach do they not use a bodily member viz. the toung to expresse themselves withall The using of the tounge is a bodily exercise as well as the bowing of the knee And yet I hope they thinke that they do both Preach and Pray in the spirit Are not eating and drinking bodily actions And yet I trust wee do eate and drinke in the spirit when wee do it in the feare of God and
to be fulfilled Againe was it Superstition in the wisemen of the East to bring out of their treasures and to Matt. 26. 7. present unto Christ Gold Frankincence and Myrhe more then if they had bestowed on him some cheaper commodity was it Superstition in the woman to power on the head of our blessed Saviour a box ful of very pretious oyntment or in her that annoyntted his John 12. 13. feete with costly Spicknard more then if she had bathed them in faire water No. But as devout and godly people they expressed their love and good affection The like we say of them that embalmed his dead body And so of them which are at cost in adorning and beautifying the house of God and enriching the place where his honour dwelleth or in being at charge with those things which belong to his worship wherein we place no superstition or merit but only acknowledge and endevor our duty and thankfulnesse our respect and devotion to almighty God according to the measure wherewith God hath enabled us It is true that S. Jerome seemeth something sharp against the adorning of Churches But withall the truth is he doth not condemne the thing it self for Ep. 8. ad Demetr so he saith of it non ab nuo non reprehendo I disclaime it not I reprehend it not But the Fathers heate is against such men as pleased themselves with the only wals and outward splendor of Churches having Es 1. 11 12. c. in the meane time neither faith nor charity As when almighty God disclaimeth the externall glorious doings of Hypocrites wanting true piety sincerity Ep. 3. ad Helid and common honesty For that S. Jerome did not dislike the adorning and beautifying of Churches appeareth in that he commendeth Nepotian for being carefull Si niteret altare templi parietes essent absque fuligine pavimenta tersa quod basilicas diversis floribus arborum comis atque vitium pampinis adumbrabat i. That the Altar might be kept neat the wals faire the floore cleane and for that he did set forth the Churches with various flowers boughs of trees and vine branches Gregory Nazianzen commendeth Gorgonias quod sumptuosis donariis templa exornaverat i. that he had bestowed costly gifts upon Orat. in Lan. Gorg. the adorning of Churches Optatus reporteth that even in the dayes of Maxentius there were very many ornaments for the Churches of Africa And he commendeth the Emperour Constans for that when he sent almes into Africa for the poore he sent thither l. 1. ad parm l. 3. also ornaments for the Churches So his piety and his charity went hand in hand Shall wee imagine that God enriching the world with silver and gold and pretious stones hath destined Hooker l. 5. sect 15. these only to set out secular pomp and state will have none but the basest of his creatures to be imployed in his own service as Mr. Hooker observeth and other learned countrimen of ours lately an swering an accusation of the Papists who would have the world beleeve that we waver in our Religion and leane to Popery because of the cost now more then of late bestowed in beautifying of our Churches hath a passage so apt to this our purpose Chillin hic relig of protest in prefac as I thinke fit to transcribe it at full in these words What if out of devotion towards God and a desire that he should be worshiped as in Spirit and in Truth in the first place so also in the beauty of holynesse What if out of feare that too much simplicity and nakednesse in the publique worship of God may beget in the ordinary sort of men a dull and stupide irreverence and out of hope that the outward state and glory of it being well disposed and wisely moderated may ingender quicken increase and nourish the inward reverence respect and devotion which is due unto Gods Soveraigne Majesty and power What if out of a perswasion and desire that Papists may be wonne over to us the sooner by the removing of this scandall out of their way and out of an holy Jelousie that the weaker sort of Protestantes might be the easier seduced unto thē by the magnificence and pompe of their Church Service in case it were not removed I say what if out of these considerations the Governours of our Church of late more then formerly have set themselves to adorn and beautifie the places where Gods Honour dwelleth and to make them as heavenly as they can with outward ornaments Is this a signe that they are warping towards Poperie Is this devotion in the Church of England an argument that she is comming over to the Church of Rome Sr Edwyn Sandys I presume further saith the author every man will grant had no inclination that way yet he 40 yeares since commended this part of de votion in Papists and makes no scruple of proposing it to the imitation of Protestantes His words are This one thing I cannot but highly commend in that Survay of Religion imit sort and order they spare nothing which either cost can performe in enriching or skill in adorning the Temple of God or to set out his service with the greatest pompe magificence that can be devised And although for the most part much basnesse and childishnesse is predominant in the Masters and contrivers of those ceremonies yet this outward state and glory being well disposed doth ingender quicken increase and nourish the inward reverence respect and devotion which is due unto Soveraigne Majesty and Power And although I am not ignorant that many men well reputed have embraced the thirsty opinion of that disciple who thought all to be wasted that was bestowed upon Christ in that sorte and that it were much better bestowed on him in the poore yet with an eye perhappes that themselves would be his quarter Almoners Notwithstanding I must confesse it will never sinke into my heart that in proportion of reason the allowance for furnishing out the Service of God should be measured by the scant and strickt rule of meere necessity a proportion so low that nature to other most bountifull in matter of necessity hath not failed no not the most ignoble creatures of the world and that for our selves no measure of heaping but the most we can set No rule of expence but to the utmost pompe we list Or that God himselfe had so enriched the lower partes of the world with such wounderfull variety of beauty glory that they might serve only to the pampering of mortall man in his pride and that in the Service of the high Creator Lord and giver the outward glory of whose higher palace may appeare by the very Lampes that we see so farre off burning gloriously in it only the simpler baser cheaper lesse noble lesse beautifull lesse glorious things should be imployed Especially seeing as in princes courtes so in the Service of God also this outward state and glory being
by the holy Ghost in the reasonable creature And this holinesse is either inhaesive or expressive In haesive holinesse is that seasoning and gratious constitution wherewith the heart and conscience is Ps 51. inwardly so qualified by the holy Ghost as disposeth it wholy to the will honour and glory of almighty God And this is it which David hungered after when he said Create in me a mew heart and Eph. 4. 24. renew a right spirit within mee Yea this is that Image of God according whereunto man was fist created in righteousnesse and true holinesse Expressive holinesse is the outward manifestation of the former by the words of our mouthes and by the performances and gestures of the rest of the lymbes of our bodyes as in their severall kindes we be occasioned to make use of them and this is fully required at our hands Ro. 12. 1. present your bodyes a living Sacrafice holy and acceptable unto God This expressive holinesse is to be practised two wayes First in our conninuall conversation before God Secondly in our speciall approaching unto God As the duty of a Servant to his Master is first in being diligent and faithfull in all his businesse Secondly in his respective behaviour when he commeth to his Masters presence or is in speach with him and yet more specially when he is to crave favor or to give thankes for favors received from him So the Servant of God having his heart possessed with the feare of God is first very carefull that he offend not in the tounge that there be no pride nor lust in his eyes that his feete neither walke nor stand in the way of the ungodly that his hands be free from bribery oppression and all iniquity And finally that all his members be instruments of righteousnesse unto God and his conversation honest before the world That his light may so shine before men that they may see his good workes and glorifie his father which is in heaven God hath made as well the body as the soule And therefore he is to be served as well by the outward members of the body as by the inward abilities of the soule He that saith by Solomon Sonne give me thine heart Saith also by Saint Paul present your bodyes a living sacrifice And as there must bee no strife among the members so neither must the soule and bodye disagree But joyne sweetly both 1 cor 6. 20. as one in the Service of God And therefore he saith Glorifie God in your bodyes and spirits for they are Gods And of all this we must be constantly carefull Ps 16. 8. so to set God alwayes before our eyes and to have alwayes a good conscience both towards God and towards Act. 24. 16. man that when we come to give an accompt of our Stewardship we may with joy heare that comfortable approbation of our Lord and Master well done good and faithfull servant But when the servant of God approacheth unto God in his holy House ai his holy Table to speake to God by holy Prayer to heare him in his holy word to give him thankes for received blessings for health food rayment manifold preservations forgivenesse of sinnes the hope and expectation of the joyes of heaven to begge all things requisit for body or soule to receive the holy Sacrament of the body and blood of his blessed Saviour thereby to be sealed to the day of Redemption Then as to be specially reverend and devoute in heart within so to expresse the same by such behaviour and respect without as may shew the reverence and humility suitable to and becomming the holy servant of the holy God in so holy a businesse in the holy place And in all this there is no Superstition CHAP. IX Gods worship is to be performed with outward expressions THat in the common way of our ordinary conversation wee must conscionably serve God as well with the members of our bodyes as with the faculties of our soules None except peradventure some bruitish familists a generation given over to a reprobate sence will deny But I finde it beyond exceptation difficult to perswade diverse men who yet will seeme specially zealous Pro. 23. 28. to have God rightly worshiped that in Gods worship there is any use of any more then the soule or minde alone And that because it is sayd sonne give me thine heart And herein they deale with us as the Papists do in another case For when we teach that a man is justified by faith in Christ They presently charge us that we exclude workes as not requisite in a Christian So these men hearing us urge that the members of the body must be used in the worship of God except against us as if we excluded the heart from this duty But I would gladly request my bretheren to understand that as being justifiâ—d by Jac. 2. 18. faith wee labour to shew our faith by our workes knowing that to be no true or lively faith which doth not fructifie and bring forth good workes So by the outward gestures of our bodies we declare that worship which is in the heart assuring our selves that there is no devotion in the heart of that man who maketh no expression thereof in his outward behaviour And whereas God saith sonne give me thine heart I conceive under correction that God dealeth herein as a tender father who seeing his sonne plunged into some dangerous gulph saith sonne give me thine hand not that the father intendeth to reskue onely the childes hand But because the hand is the gainfullest limbe for the child to reach out and for the Father to take hold on to draw the whole childe out of danger So almighty God seeing his childe at a lametable passe ready to sinke to the bottome of hell saith sonne give me thy heart That so God having gayned hold on the heart may thereby draw the whole man to eternall safety There is such correspondency and sympathy between the Soule and the body as maketh to accord one with an other like those Creatures and wheels mentioned by the Prophet Ezech. when those went these went when those stoode these stoode when those were lifted up these were lifted up for the spirit of the living Creatures was in the wheeles So may I well say when the Soule moveth forward in devotion Eze. 1. 21. towards God the body will not be left behinde but will beare the Soule company If the Soule in humility be dejected then the body with a bare head a bowing waste and bended knees is in all gestures of submission If the Soule be elevated and encouraged by desire and hope towards God then the eye looketh up and the hand is lifted up towards heaven expressing outwardly the inward disposition of the Soule And on the other side every man findeth in his owne experience that his Soule doth sympathise with the temper of his body For if the body be tired with labour the minde becometh heavy
and dull And do wee not perceive plainely that when we betake our selves to our knees for prayer the Soule is humbled within us by this very gesture And when when wee lift up our hands and our eyes towards God wee feele an elevation of the Soule also towards the throne of grace There is an instance in the booke of Exod. which fully illustrateth this point For when Israel was in fight with Ameleck Moses Aaron and Hur went up Exo. 17. 10. 11. to the tope of the hill And it came to passe when Moses lift up his hand Israel prevailed And when he let downe his hand Amaleck prevailed Shall we thinke that there was a charme in this his holding up and letting downe of his hand Is it not manifest that Moses was heard at his prayers to God for his people and that as his handes were borne up his soule did beare up also in the greater measure of zeale and faith whereby his prayer became the more Lyr. powerfull per hoc ostendttur suae orationis efficacia i. by this is manifested the efficacie or force of his prayer Nec contra Amalechitas tantum vis armorum Orig. in num hom 13. quam Moysis valuit or atio Vt enim elevasset manus ad Deum vincibatur Amalech remissae vero dejectae vinci faciebant Israel i. The force of armes was not so powerfull against Ameleck as the prayer of Moses For as he lifted up his hands to God Ameleck went by the worst but if his hands setled or fell downe Israel tooke the foyle St. Aug. speaketh to the same effect And may we not conceive Ser. de tom 93. that Saint Paul meaneth the same thing when he will have menat their prayers to lift up pure hands A learned interpreter speaketh full home to this 1 Tim. 2. 8. purpose saying upon that text Voluit hoc symbolo significare vim orationis Elevatio enim manuum contentionem orationis remissio manuum remissionem orationis adumbrabat Elevans manus elevabat mentem Cornel. a lap intendebat in Deum Cum vero lassus remittebat manus remittebat orationem i. He would by this symbol set out the force of prayer For the lifting up of his hands did signifie the earnestnesse of his prayer and the setling of his hand the slaking of his devotion In lifting up his hand he rowsed up his spirit and dealt with God the more fervenly but when growen weary he let fall his hand then he cooled in his prayer As for my part Whensoever I see any man using outward reverence in the act of Gods worship I shall judge him to be the more devoute within by how much the more he doth outwardly expresse in reverened gestures Neither can I ever be perswaded that that man is inwardly affected with reverence towards God who doth not outwardly declare the same by the reverend behaviour of his â— a. 2 a. q. 94. body For as Aquinas alleadgeth out of S. Aug. Exterior cultus est confessio quaedam cultus interioris i. The outward worship is a certeine confession of the inward worship Wee cannot deny but that men may make a faire outward shew of holinesse and devotion when they are most foul within through hypocrisie and prophanesse as the Pharisies made long prayers whilest they intended to devoure widdowes houses But yet let me prevent or represse insolent censures with the words of St. Paul Who Râ—â— 14. 4. art thou that judgest another mans servant Thou dost with thine eyes see reverence in the outward behaviour Thou seest not what is within in the heart 1 Cor. 13. 7. But Christian charity beleeveth all things and hopeth all things and requireth that wee judge the best according to the outward appearance God only is the judge of the heart we are to judge according to what wee see and not according to what we see not Wee are taught to be devout and reverend both within and without And to performe worship to God not with the body alone nor with the Soule a-alone but with body and Soule both that so wee may not seperate those which God hath conjoyned No doubt but there is too often an outward shew of much devotion and reverence where there is none or very little within For impiety can dissemble Sathan can change himselfe into an Angell of light The woolfe can put on Sheepes cloathing But there can be no inward reverence or devotion in the heart which doth not shew it selfe outwardly except peradventure when some perplexing terrour may for a time make a Christian man discover humane frailety for true Religion loveth not to dissemble The Angell of light will not transforme himselfe into a Divell of darkenesse nor will the sheepe cloath it selfe with the skinne of a woolfe And the man which hath a devout and Religious heart will not seeme prophane but will declare his piety and probity outwardly by the holinesse of his workes in his conversation and by the reverendnesse of his behaviour in the worship of God The Schoole-men make a threefold act of adoration Pined in 3. q. 25. ar 2. whereof the first is in the understanding apprehending and conceiving the excellencie of the object or that which is to be worshiped The second in the will inclyning and disposing a man to honor that object And both these they call inward worship The third act is the expression of that inward apprehension and inclination by sensible signes as by word deede or gesture and this they call outward worship Ex duplici natura Compositi sumus intellectuali sensibili Duplicem adorationem deo offerimus Spirituale qua consistit in interiori mentis devotione corporalem 2. 2. q. 14. ar 2. in exteriore corporis humiliatione i. Wee consist of a two fold nature intellectuall and sensible Wee performe to God a two fold worship The one Spiritual consisting in the outward devotion of the minde and the other corporall in the outward humiliation of the body But here my brethen are ready to tell me that by these words of Aquinas what is done by the Object body is but a corporall worship and that the spirituall worship consisteth in inward devotion and then they urge the words of our Saviour saying Josh 4. 24. 1 Tim. 4. 8. God is a spirit and must be worshipped in spirit and trueth whereto they adde the words of St. Paul bodily excercise profiteth little It may be thought by these words first of Saint Ans Paul that bodily exercise doth profit some thing though but a little and we are not to neglect much more to abhorre that which may afford the least furtherance in the way of Godlynesse and in Gods worship But if my brethren tell me that I do much mistake the meaning of the word litle in this text I must tell them that they in thus applying it to our behaviour in the worship of God do much more
as St. Paul adviseth to 1 Cor. 10. 31. Gods glory Wee read in Rev. 4. v. 10. of foure and twenty Elders who fell downe on their faces worshipped him who liveth for ever Shall wee say that they woshiped not in Spirit and truth because they used a gesture of humilitie and reverence in falling downe upon their faces It is lamentable to behold men pretending sincerity and love of trueth thus perversly wringing Gods holy word and willfully shutting their eyes against so cleare light of so manifest a truth When the knee is bent the body bowed or the hand lifted up devoutly unto God these are indeede bodily exercises or actes done by the members of the body as outward expressions of inward devotion but no acts of Superstition CHAP. X. The severall gestures used by Gods Servants in his worship are all free from Superstition WEE have hitherto made scearch in and about the house of God or place of Christian assembly wee have carefully pryed into every nooke and corner thereof and observed the Servants of God performing worship unto God so as their inward devotions are declared and expressed by their outward gestures and demeanures God being so worshipped by their whole man body and Soule But in all this wee have found no Superstition But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all things decently and in good order Come we now and examin those outward demeanures gestures and expressions severally and perticularly And all that wee do in our Churches in their distinct formes and postures least yet under any of them some peece of superstition be paradventure concealed and here I must confesse some evill Surmisers have unjustly caused much suspition For our justification therefore and the manifesting of truth to Gods glory Come and see all that is done in our Churches Wee confesse our sinnes unto God Wee begge pardon at the hands of God Wee give God thanks for what wee have received Wee crave from God what wee stand in need of Wee remember the afflictions of all distressed people with our prayers for them all and our almes to the poorer sort We reade and heare read the holy Bible and godly expositions homilyes and sermons whereby the ignorant are instructed the unruly admonished the backward exhorted the hard-hearted terrefied the feeble encouraged the aflicted conscience comforted We administer the Sacraments of Baptisme and the Lords supper Is any of these any superstitious act Our scrupulous brethren allow all this But then thus they take exception In your very entrance into the Church you Object put off your hats and kneele downe and pray as if either God were not in other places or that wee might not pray but in the Church If we taught men that they ought not to pray Ans anywhere else but in a Church or place consecrated or that we did not use to pray in any other place then there were some cause to object thus against us But we are in our Churches from time to time called upon to pray continually and in all things to give thankes Is it not thus extant in our booke of common prayer It is very meete right and our bounden duty that we should at all times and in all places give thankes to thee O holy father Lord of heaven and earth Is there not in that booke speciall service to be used in privat houses at the bed side of sick people Is not the booke it selfe free and vendible by every Stationer not only for the publick worship in Churches but also for the use of every private man in his own house Be there not also plenty of other bookes in print of formes of prayers to be made unto God upon severall occasions at any time in any place by any man whose soule is possessed with so good devotion And therfore it is plaine that our devotion and discipline doth not therfore encline us to pray when we come within a Church as if we held that the only place where a man may pray but for that the Church is an house of prayer as we have already shewed this very place putteth a man in mind and calleth upon him there specially to pray in somuch that it is a place purposely set apart for that very end and purpose that whatsoever a man doth elsewhere yet here he should pray because this is the house of prayer We uncover our heads in the Church as in the presence Chamber on earth of the King of heaven and earth And when we pray we kneele because kneeling is the gesture of humility becomming a man who preferreth his petition to the God of heaven In the fourth Century a time abounding with prodigious haeresies arose one Eustachius who among others of his prophane opinions wherwith many became infected maintained that Churches Concil Gangr and meetings therein are to be despised Damascus and Saint Augustin mention this to have been the haeresie of the Messalini otherwise called Euchites and Enthusiastes who also had so meane an opinion of Baptisme and the Lords supper as that they held Dan. de haeres 8 Aug. Serm. contra Arrianos l. 4. C. 11. de ecliis c. 37. them altogether uneffectuall and unprofitable as Theodoret reporteth Turrecremata telleth us that the fratricellian haeritiques a most impure sect maintained among other things Eccelsiam non plus valere ad orandum quam porcorum stabulum i. That the Church avayleth a man for prayer no more then a swine-sty O my brethren conforme not yourselves to the abominable fancies of these filthie dreamers odious to God and in the judgment of the Church damned haeretiques To pray is no superstitius act To pray kneeling is no superstition To pray in a Church as we shewed cap. 4. is no superstition To use reverend gestures and behaviour of humility in the presence of God is no superstition To repute the Church to be Gods house is no superstition Therefore for a man entring into a Church to put off his hat and being come in to kneele downe and to pray to God are no superstition but pious acts of christian devotion You have so many severall gestures and postures Ob. sometimes sitting sometimes kneeling sometimes standing sometimes bowing Why may not men use what gestures they please so that the heart be right I have already shewed that a reverend heart can Ans not but produce reverend demeanure in Gods worship And yet further to answer this cavill I say It is not inough that our gestures be reverend and sober in the generall except also they be suteable and fit to expresse the present act whereto they are applyed And first for sitting If humane frailty specially in aged people could endure it sitting would not at all be used in the house of God specially during the holy businesse of Gods service But in consideration of the infirmity of flesh and blood Rest is sometimes requisite least too much weakenesse either diminish or disturb devotion Therefore the indulgence of the Church permitteth
God will give the eunuches in his house a name But now what of all this will they say that the reverence mentioned in the text Philip. 2. is to be given peradventure to the power renown or memory of the sonne of God and not to be done when wee heare him named by the name JESUS But then here would I know of them which of these power renowne or memory shall I conceive to be meant in this text by the word Name If they say his power then I aske why not his renowne If they say his renowne then why not his memoriall For the word Name doth in Scripture by a trope signifie every one of these And when we leave the proper sence of any word in Scripture wee must shew some necessity why we do so and make it plaine that it must be taken in that significative sence which we give therof It is not inough to say such De doct Chrâ—â— 3 C. 10. a word is in some places taken in a figurative sence and therefore I will so understand it here and where I list besides St Austine dealing with such loose expounders of Scripture saith Nihil facilius est quam dicere Tropus est figura est modus quidam dicendi est Hebraismus est i. It is an easie matter to say it is a Trope It is a figure It is a certaine forme of speech It is an Hebraisme And therefore he giveth this rule Oratio figurata est quae proprieintellecta nec ad fidem nec ad dilectionem nec ad ullam aedificationem accoÌ„modari potest i. Then is the speech figurative when it cannot be made to serve for either faith or charity or any edification in the proper sence of the words Illyâ—â—cus that one of the centuristes well knowne to be no friend to Superstition doth among the rest of his rules for the right understaÌ„ding of scripture give this for De rat Cogn Sacr. lit one Verba sacraruÌ„ literaruÌ„ proprie acccipienda sunt nisi loci sensus in aliqueÌ„ fidei articuluÌ„ propalaÌ„ incurrat i. The words of holy Scripture are to be understood in their proper sence ecept that so the meaning of the words do directy fal foul upon some articles of faith And in an other place he thus adviseth Ne quaerat aliquis umbras aut sectetur somnia allegorianum nisi manifesta sit allegoria literalis seÌ„sus sit alioquin inutilis aut absurdus i. let not a man hunt after shadows or dreame of allegories except there be a manifest allegory And that without an allegory the literall sense be unprofitable and absurd And to this point a learned Countriman of our own speaketh home saying Allegoryes Perk. in gal 4. 24. are to be admitted when the words sound against common reason analogy of faith or good manners Let us consider these rules and see if there be any necessity that the word Name in the text to the Philipians be understood in any other then the proper sense Is it against common reason Faith Charity or good manners so to understand it Or is it against the scope of that place or of any other part or peece of scripture for me to bow my knee or to expresse reverence by any seemly outward gesture when I heare my blessed Lord and Saviour named by his proper name JESUS How then dare I suffer my fancy here to leave the propâ—â—â—â—ase and to devise a figure as if I might worke the Scripture like a nose of waxe as I list my self I will here adde one rule more which we have from Saint Hillary Optimus lector est qui dictorum intelligentiam expectat ex dictis potius quam imponat et retulerit potius quam attulerit Neque cogat id videri dictis contineri quod ante lectionem praesumpserit intelligendum i. He is the best l. de trin 1. reader of Scriptures who lookes for the meaning of the words in the words rather then putteth or imposeth a meaning upon them who fetcheth the sense from the words rather then bringeth it unto them And who enforceth not that to seem to be contained in them which he presumed to find there before he read them If any man will contend that yet there is an allegory Ob. in that text because knees are there ascribed to things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth I answer that when knees are ascribed Ans to things which properly have none there necessity enforceth us to acknowledge a figure But the Son of God our blessed Saviour hath a name even the name JESUS in the proper sense And men have knees not figuratively but properly Therefore it is without any figure to say that men having knees naturally shall bow those knees at the name JESUS which is not a metaphorical but the proper name of the Son of God And so there is no necessity to seeke a figure in that text in the word name or in the word knees so farre as the duty concerneth man But it is very dangerous against the faith of a good Conscience and against the true rules of right interpreting the Scriptures thus to rove at figures and to imagine allegories where we need not and upon bare uncertaine conjectures not knowing certainly what to stand unto But by this bowing at the name of Jesus we shall Object magnifie the Son above the Father and the holy Ghost No such matter but we shall honour the Father Ans in the Son For so saith the text that this is done to the glory of God the Father And seeing no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the holy Ghost Let us never feare that that respect which we do to our Saviour by the instinct and direction of the holy Ghost can be any diminution or disparagement to the holy Ghost Will any man say that the blessed virgin Mary did disparage either the Father or the holy Ghost when she said My spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour Luc. 1. 47. But why then is this reverence done at the name Quest of the second person more then at the name of the first or third Ans Because that not the Father nor the holy Ghost but the Son made himselfe of no reputation and tooke upon him the shape of a servant and became obedient to the death even the death of the Crosse therefore God hath exalted Him and given Him a name above every Phil. 2. name that at the name of Jesus every Knee should bow Shall I reverence a word or bow to a sound of letters Quest We bow to and worship not the word sound Ans or letters but God thereby expressed The word is our Remembrancer to put us in minde of the duty which we owe to God our Saviour Why is this speciall reverence done at this more then at any other name of God Quest Every name of God is reverend and holy But whereas a sinfull man shall find terror
in other Ans names of God expressing his Majesty Power Justice and the like This is the only name of God which fully setteth out unto us the mercy of God to eternall salvation For therefore is he called Jesus because he shall save his people from their sinnes And there is no other name under heaven given Matth. 1. 21. Luc. 4. 12. whereby we must be saved For so much therefore as in this name we find the greatest yea unspeakable Comfort It is agreeable to good reason that we be by this name stirred up and affected with unspeakable joy within and that we make expression thereof to the glory of God by devout outward reverence I would my brethren which are so scrupulous in this point would without prejudice read the learned and cleare tteatises which are extant on this argument and specially that exquisite peece of that most learned and judicious Bishop Andrews And that setting aside their causelesse quarrell against his being Lord Bishop they would weigh his reasons with an humble spirit and an heart lifted Joh. 16. 13. up to God through Jesus Christ to be guided by that Spirit of truth which our Saviour promised to send to guide us all into all truth Then I make no doubt but they would soone see that in bowing the knee to God at the mention of the name of Jesus there is no Superstition But you call the Communion table an altar and Ob. you adore it by bowing and doing reverence thereunto We are not by any Canon or rule that I know required to call it an altar And the now Lord Ans Bishop of Elie a man specially zealous to restore Gods publique worship to the primitive lustre in the articles which he lately exhibited in his visitation when he was Bishop of Norwich doth Chrys Nyssen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not at all call it by the name altar but sometime the Communion table and sometime in the words of the Fathers the holy Table And yet it hath antiently been called indifferently by either name Coale from the Altar Altar Christianum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Antid Lincol. Altar or Table and may indifferently beare either name as is abundantly cleared of late by divers learned pennes who have eased me from any labour in this point and are sufficient to satisfie any reasonable spirit Neither know I any particular or oppositive law enjoyning us to bow at the altar or Cōmunion table Yet the devotion of those which do practice it being grounded upon the custome of the Catholick Church of Christ is in my poore judgment not only justifiable but also commendable For what is there to be said against it It is superstition in Gods worship to bow or do Ob. reverence to any creature Wee do not bow to the table but at the table Ans as a man in his onw house praying either in his closet by himselfe or in some roome amongst his family kneeleth at his chaire or table is not sayd to kneele to his stoole or table So we that bow at the Communion table do our reverence there not to the table but to God at the table And why there more then any where else Quest I answer first by such another question Why Ans not there as well as any where else what is there to forbid me to do my duty reverently unto God in that place Againe I aske my brother why was Moses commanded Exod. 3. 5 at the fire bush to put his shooes from his feet rather there then in any other place I hope he will answer me with Gods own reason and words viz. because the place was holy ground Then I ask once more what made that place holyer then an other will it not be confessed to be Gods speciall presence there specially manifested in the voice that spake and the fire which burned not the bush All this is cleare and undeniable And from hence then thus it followeth necessarily A place where God by speciall signes manifesteth his speciall presence is more holy then another place though not in nature yet in use and relation And there men are to demeane themselves with special reverence therefore But the Communion table is a place where God manifesteth himselfe specially present in the Sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ And therefore men ought there to demeane themselves with speciall reverence towards God there specially present For when a man considereth the love of God in Jesus Christ sealed unto him by the body and blood of Christ whereof the Communion table doth specially put him in minde as being a table specially set up and set apart for that banquet then the heart if it be right is lifted up in reverend thankefullnesse to our mercifull God and the body boweth to expresse that reverence and thankfulnesse which the heart conceiveth If the Sacrament were alwayes on the table Ob. then this argument might have some shew of reason but we see men bow when nothing is on the table The Communion table being appropriated for the Service of the Communion retaineth still Ans its relation to that Sacrament and still calleth upon us to remember the love of God to us in the body and blood of Christ and therefore to be reverently thankfull And so it continueth still an holy Table in the regard of the holy things which belong unto it though they be not really present upon it If this matter of permanent relation seemeth Gen. 28. harsh to any let him consider a passage in the book of Gen. where the case is thus God in a dreame exhibiteth unto Jacob speciall signes of his speciall presence in that place where Jacob was then sleeping In the morning Jacob awaketh But then there appeareth not any of those signes And yet in relation to that presence of God which had in the night before appeared unto him in those signes he saith O how dreadfull is not was this place It is not was the house of God Is the place now the house of God and a place to affect Jacob with dread though the signes be not present upon the place And shall not the Communion table be stil the table of God and an holy Table to affect us with reverence though the sacrament be not alwayes actually on the table Did not our Saviour call the Temple an house of Prayer and not allow it to be at all an house of Merchandise Neither might it serve the turne of the money changers to save them from the whip to have said wee will not trade in the Temple in the time of Sacrifice or of Prayer or of Preaching but only when the Service is ended For the Temple is alwayes an house of prayer whether men be there at Matt. 13. 21. Praiers or not And so the holy Table is alwaies the Communion Table or Table of the Lord whether the Sacrament be upon it or not Doth not our Saviour also tell us that he which