the same or greater wickednesses are committed and increase groans to the Lord in us to cause the light of his glorious Gospel to arise and shine upon them as also stir us up to thankfulness for the light of the Gospel he hath sent amongst us and whilst we have it to walk in it not loving darkness more than light But thus far will the light of Nature engraven upon the heart lead us with respect to the right Worship of God and I humbly conceive ne plus ultra not a step farther 2dly As there is a natural or moral Worship of God so is there that which is ceremonial or instituted which depends upon Divine Revelation and is nothing but the expression of the moral and internal Worship of God our love faith fear subjection of and to him in those external wayes that are of his own revelation wherein he hath said he will have us manifest and express them and as a great encouragement thereunto hath promised in our so doing to meet with us and bless us This is that which is most usually in Scripture called the Worship of God and Christ And this is that Worship whereunto I refer hearing the Word as 't is a Gospel-Institution to be practised by the Saints which was so plainly asserted in the Sober Testimony that there was no occasion for Mr. T. to trouble himself or the Reader with his guessing at the meaning of the Author did he not delight to multiply words but to have owned it if true or otherwise to have addressed himself to the confutation thereof That which I asserted was that Hearing by the Saints under the dispensation of the Gospel for of them and their duty is the question proposed pag. 13. is part of Instituted Worship Which when Mr. T. endeavours the confutation of I may be supposed to be concern'd in his discourses but till then the most partially addicted Reader will acquit me from any bounden service or attendance on them 'T is an easie way of answering Books though not much to edification to desert the main point to be impugned and divertise ones self and Reader with discourses that are but at best collateral thereunto and scarce speak a word to that which is the alone thing to be spoken to as Mr. T. in this matter hath done So that in what he saith not speaking to the thing in question in these two first Sections I am little concerned yet can I not but take notice of one thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as we pass on which I cannot close with him in viz. That we worship God in hearing when we hear which he pretends to prove from 1 Thess 2. 13. which as thus crudely proposed I humbly conceive is very remote from truth There is more to be done than so I am apt to think that those who worship God in hearing must first come to it as to an Institution of Christ Which if a man doth nor he worships not God at all therein For persons to come to hear a Sermon out of custom curiosity lothness to undergo the penalties of the Land censures of others for company or the like not heeding it or coming to it as an Institution of Christ will hardly be accounted by the Lord as worshipping him being indeed not at all so 2dly That they set themselves to hear what is spoken as the Word of the eternal God receive it in meekness faith love giving up themselves to its authority and conduct which except we do we worship not God Jehoiakim in Jeremiah heard the Roll read but he takes his Penknife cuts it in pieces and throws it into the fire The Pharisees hear Christ preach Luke 16. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they blew their noses at him in scorn and derision Act. 7. you have Stephen preaching to the Jews who for a great while hear him with silence and attention bâ—t v. 54. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they were vexed so as if they had been cut with a Saw 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they shewed their teeth and grind them like mad dogs against him To which many more instances might be added of such as heard the Word of God under such abominable passions Will Mr. T. say that such as these worship God in hearing what more absurd And yet if he deny it his Assertion falls to the ground That men worship God in hearing when they hear 'T is one device of Satan to undo souls and no mean one by miscalling things and appropriating those names and titles to them that do not belong to them to cause them to think that they have and do what they neither have nor do Some transient checks of conscience slight and superficial sorrow for sin assent to propositions of truth escaping the pollutions of the world saying their prayers going to hear he calls and would make poor hearts believe they are so the saving convictions of the Spirit Gospel-humiliation precious unfeigned Faith Evangelical Sanctication and Holiness worshipping God c. which if they do they have only this advantage that they go down with more pomp and state to Hell than those that know nothing of these semblances of Grace and Holiness 'T is a fond conceit that poor blind ignorant creatures flatter themselves with that their going to Church as they call it and joyning with the Preacher in the outward acts of praying and preaching supposing it to be according to the Institution of Christ is worshiping God and I am sorry to find Mr. T. by such expressions hardning them in this dangerous conceit Alas ye cannot thus worshâ—p God for he is a jealous God he is a Spirit and will be worshipped in Spirit and in Truth Precious Mr. Burroughs in his Treatise of Gospel-Worship speaks excellently to this matter pag. 93. Though I do kneel down in prayer and present my body to hear the Word this is noâ— to worship God as a Spirit and yet he that worships him not as a Spirit worships him not at all And p. 109. Many people think it a very easie matter to worship God and so it were if Mr. T. his Assertion were true If it were nothing else to worship God but to come and hear a Sermon then it were the easiest matter in the world to worship God but there is more required in the duty of God's Worship than thou hast been acquainted with there is a power of Godliness in it And citing Josh 24. 19. he adds q. d. You think it is nothing to serve the Lord alas you cannot serve the Lord for he is a holy God and a jealous God you must have other manner of hearts than yet you have you must understand his Worship in another manner than yet you do until you understand God his Wayes and Worship you cannot serve the Lord i. e. you do not cannot worship him Nor doth the Scripture 1 Thess 2. 13. prove his Assertion but rather the contrary The words are For this cause thank we God without
is a contract of the word Worthy-ship and notes singular respect by reason of some worth in the thing worshipped conceived in the heart and expressed by some sign which he gathers from the use of the word Worshipful and your Worship given to Superiours and gives us several distinctions about Worship which as they are trite and obsolete so what the intendment of the Animadverter should be in producing them excepâ— to shew his reading or amuse the Reader with a multiplicity of words and distinctions and thereby render him the more unfit to examine what is offered in the Controversie to consideration I cannot divine As the quibling upon every particular word in a Dispute is much like that which the Apostle condemns 1 Tim. 6. 4. 2 Tim. 2. 14. so I know not of what use it can be to the Reader nor that it serves to any thing save to render the Controversie more arduous and difficult when the meaning of each other is obvious to any considerate understanding without it There is as I know of no more than a twofold Worship of God 1. That which is natural original or moral which I call natural because in the principle of it it was concreated with man and moral because it is invariable and alway the same and is comprehensive of our saith affiance and trust in God our subjection to him as the God sovereign Lord and King and Lawgiver to all That Worship which the Law of Nature or the Law written and engraven upon the hearts of the children of men teacheth is that I call the natural Worship of God Four things this Law teacheth with respect to Worship First that God is to be worshipped Whether there were ever any so guilty of Atheism as to deny a Deity is not much to our present purpose to enquire Cicero saith Nullam unquam fuisse Gentem c. That there was never any Nation so barbarous which knew not that there was a God And to the same purpose Seneca Epist 3. Veritatis Argumentum est omnibus aliquid videri tanquam Deos esse quod omnibus de Diis opinio in sita sit neque ulla gens usquam est adeo extra Leges moresque posita ut non aliquos Deos credat Nor is there any thing Psal 14. 1. opposit thereunto which the Chaldee Paraphrast renders No power or dominion of God in the Earth But this as was said is not of our present disquisition Upon the acknowledgment of a Deity the principles of Nature dictate that he is to be worshipped 2dly That as God is to be worshipped so is he not only severally each one by himself but by persons in particular bodies and societies to be worshipped and served is another dictate of Nature The erection of Temples for Worship with the forms of publick Service and Priests for the managery thereof to be found amongst the most ignorant and dark corners of the World both before and since the Gospel-dispensation sufficiently evince the truth of the suggestion Yea 3dly That God is to be worshipped according to that Revelation â—â— Himself he is pleased to exhibit to the children of men not according to their wills one or other of them Hence when any had a design of imposing Laws upon others of their own devising they presented them unto them not as their own inventions upon which foot of account they knew they would meet with little respect from persons attending the dictates of Nature but as received from the Godds Thus did Zaleucus Lycurgus Minos Numa the most famous Lawgivers amongst the Gentiles Famous is the saying of Socrates in Plato to this purpose That every God will be worshipped 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that way which pleaseth best his own mind Contrary to which as if those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 enstamped upon the hearts of men as men were totally obliterated Some assume the confidence to plead that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or manner of Worship is not from divine direction and prescription but only the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Worship it self 4thly That the Voice of God when he should be pleased or in what manner soever to speak to them was to be hearkned and attended to the same Law of Nature did indoctâ—inate them in I say the Voice of God for however unto some of them there were Godds many and Lords many yet the wisest and most learned amongst them did acknowledge but one chief Deity or God at whose beck and ordinance all the rest were whom therefore they contemn'd as things of naught Hence Plautus in Casina Act. 2. Unus Tibi hic dum sit propitius Jupiter Tuistos minutos cave Deos flocci feceris Hence Satan easily abused them to an attendance upon his dictates as the Oracles of God though never so cruel and sanguinary That it was usual amongst the Gentile Nations to offer up Men and Women in Sacrifice to the Godds is known Tacitus tells us of the Germans that they were wont to sacrifice Men to Mercury Tacit. de morib German Tertullian assures us that the people of Africa sacrificed their Children to Saturn and that openly even to the time of the Proconfulship of Tiberius Apol. c. 8. And when the Carthaginians were overcome by Agathocles the Sicilian Tyrant judging the Godds to be greatly angry with them they at once sacrificed two hundred Noblemens Sons to Saturn as Pescenninus Festus witness The same Abomination was rife among the Romans which seems to have continued amongst them to the time of the Consulship of Cornelius Lentulus and Publius Licinius Crassus as witnesseth Pliny Natur. Hist l. 3. c. 1. the French as Cicero Orat per Fontei the Britans as Tacitus Annal. 14. of whom saith Horace Visam Britannos hospitibus feros were led captive to the like ferosity to their own flesh That they received this Abomination from their diabolical Oracles which they mistook for the voice of the Gods to them is more than probable That the destruction of Menecaeus and Iphigenia is to be fixed here is known Nor had the maner of the Lacedemonians wounding themselves in the worship of their Gods any other spring as witnesseth Apollonius apud Philostrat l. 6. c. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. i. e. in the honour of Diana it was their custom to wound themselves according as men say to the Commandment of the Oracles And Pausanias Baeotic 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Oracle of Delphos enjoyns that a beauteous Child be offered in Sacrifice to Bacchus This was the state and condition of the Gentile World whilst God was known only in Jewry the times of which ignorance he winked at and suffered each Nation to do what was good in their own eyes under the regiment of Satan perpetrating the most horrible abomination being fearfully cruel to their own flesh The review of which may fill us with pity and bowels towards the poor dark corners of the World wâ—ere this gross darkness is still residing and
Jonathan Every Minister must be 1. Seperated 2. Authorized 3. have allotted to him a certain portion of people which may be instructed by him which the diminutive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may seem to insinuate Now as God doth give every Pastor his several Flock so he will that we travel in leading of them we must not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we must not be Bishops in other mens Diocesses lest God say Who hath required this at your hands When the Lord lighteth Candles he doth find Candlesticks on which to set them c. The sum is 1. The Body of Christ Eph. 4. 11 12. is a particular Church of Christ for the edification of which Pastors and Teachers are given 2ly Ordinary Officers are limited to particular Churches From whence the vanity of this Animadverter's Argument is conspicuous to every eye If by Body of Christ he understand in his first Proposition the Universal Catholick Church 1. His Argument is naught consisting of four terms for we have manifested that the Body of Christ in the Minor which is the Apostles is a particular Church of Christ 2. Hiâ— Major is invalid It doth not follow that if men may be Ministers of Christ though they be Ministers for the Body of Christ and all the members thereof that they may be Ministers of Christ though National If he think Ministers for the Body of Christ and all the members thereof and national Ministers are aequipollent upon second thoughts he will be so ingenious as to acknowledge he was mistaken Nay 3dly The very truth is 't is so far from being true that upon supposition a man may be a Minister of the Body of Christ and yet the Minister of Christ i. e. by the appointment of Christ a Minister for his Body and all the Membeâ—â— Churches thereof That therefore he may be the Minister of Christ though National that ejus contrarium est verum A man cannot be a Minister of Christ if a National Minister or Minister of a National Church upon supposition that Christ hath instituted and appointed his Ministers to be Ministers for his Body i. e. his Church-Catholick-visible which is not sure confined within the narrow circumference of one Nation A mans residence wherein will be accounâ—ed but a pittiful discharge of his Ministry upon the supposition aforesaid But 4thly By the Body of Christ Ephes 4. we have proved a particular Church of Christ to be intended That there is any shew of reason in the Animadverters proposition They that may be Ministers of Christ though they may be Ministers of the Body of Christ i. e. a particular Church of Christ and all the Members thereof which by the appointment of Christ they are may be Ministers of Christ though National which none are but by the devisings of man and appointment of Antichrist he himself will not have the confidence to aver There are these things incumbent upon him to prove if he ever reinforce this Argument First That by Body of Christ Ephes 4. is not meant a particular Instituted Church of Christ Secondly That ordinary Church Officers for to run into a discourse of what was done by the Apostles extraordinary Officers who were not fixt any where nor could be whilest they made conscience of their Commission Mat. 28. 19. which was to Preach the Gospel to every Creature In which Office none are their Successors as we prove Chap. 4. is such a pittiful fig-leaf to cover ones nakedness with that every eye will see through are not limited to or fixed in a particular Congregation Thirdly Manifest the truth of this proposition shoulâ— it be granted him for disputes sake that by Body Ephes 4. is meant the Church-Catholick-visible They that may be Ministers of Christ though they may be Ministers of the Body of Christ i. e. the Church-Catholick-visible and all the members thereof may be Ministers of Christ though National The Bottom or Basis upon which it is built I must acknowledge my short-sightedness to be such that I cannot ken nor it may be a wiser man than either of us His Fourth Argument is like the rest 't is thus formed If any of the Saints as well as one particular Congregation have an Inâ—erest in all the Ministers of Christ so as that they are truly theirs then Ministers of Christ may be National But 1 Cor. 3. 22 23 Paul and Cephas and Apollos were all the Corinthians and all others who were Christ's Therefore Answ En cor Zenodoti en jecur cratetis What is most admirable in this Argument I know not A few things will manifest its nakedness to all 1st The Ministers of Christ are either such as were called extraordinary as were immediately sent by Christ or assumed to themselves by them who were so sent to be coadjutors or fellow-workers with them in that service and employment to preach the Gospel throughout the world and were fixed no where related as Pastors or Teachers to no one particular Congregation more than another or such as were mediately sent by Christ ordained in and set apart for particular Congregations Of the former sort were the Apostles c. Of the latter Pastors Teachers as we but now proved 2dly The having an interest in Ministers is either the having an interest in their gifts and abilities God hath given them or in their persons as Ministers appointed by the Lord to oversee instruct and watch over their souls as such that must give an account Heb. 13. 17. Now let him take Ministers in either sence for extraordinary or ordinary Ministers and an interest in them for an interest in their gifts or in them as Ministers appointed by the Lord to watch over and instruct them the consequence of his first proposition is most weak and invalid Though all the Saints in the world might claim an interest in Paul c. it doth not follow that they were National Ministers which 't was impossible they should be there being no such thing as a National Church from whence a National Minister hath his denomination And Mr. T. may as well surmise a King without Subjects a Father without Children or a Husband without a Wife as to surmise Paul c. to be National Ministers when there was no such thing in being as a National Church The like may be said of Pastors and Teachers in that day But 3dly If he take Ministers for ordinary Ministers as he must do if he speak to purpose extraordinary Ministers being ceased with the Apostles and their interest in them for their interest in them as Ministers to oversee and instruct them in the Lord by virtue of Office-power there is nothing more false than this that every Saint hath an interest in them as such none but that particular Congregation having in that sense an interest in them to which they are related as Ministers Nor doth the Apostle 1 Cor. 3. 22 23. say that every Saint hath 1. All is yours is no more
detestandis Idolis The truth of these things is so generally known throughout the Nation that as I am sorry the mention thereof should drive Mr. T. into such a sweaâ—ing passion as it seems to do so can I not but wonder at his confidence in calling those things palpable gross untruths when the whole Nation knows the contrary His Satyrical expressions I omit The visible Lineaments and Characters of false Prophets being instamped upon the fore-heads of the present Ministers they are not to be heard but separated from CHAP. VIII Arg. 6. Sect. 1. A sixth Argument against hearing the present Ministers Saints must not have Communion with Idolaters The vanity of Mr. T. his arguings to the contrary evinced 1 Cor. 10. 14. 2 Cor. 6. 14 15 16 17 18 opened A threefold Idolatry Whether the Idolaters of old worshipped the creature terminatively Of the golden Calf Baal Molech That the Worshippers of them worshipped them not terminatively proved Of Devil-Worship Psal 106. 37 38 explained The Heathen Images dedicated to the true God The Testimony of the Heathens in this matter Of refined Idolatry Worshiping of God in a way not of his appointment is Idolatry The Testimony of Calvin Perkins Ames Pareus Willet Peter Martyr c. to the truth of the Assertion The Romans worshipped the Godds an hundred and seventy years and more without Images A Sixth Argument advanced in S. T. against hearing the present Ministers is this Those that are guilty of Idolatry Saints may not have communion with much less own them as their Teachers but ought to separate from them But the present Ministers of England are guilty of Idolatry Therefore The Major is bottomed upon express Commands from Christ 1 Cor. 5. 11. 10. 14. 2 Cor. 6. 14 18. To which Mr. T. replies 1. The Conclusion is not the same with that which Chap. 1. was undertaken to be defended That it is not lawful for Saints to hear the present Ministers which we may do though Communion with them be unlawful though we are bound not to own them as our Teachers but separate from them Answ Now this I confess I understand not Communion consists in giving and receiving a constant or frequent attending upon any ones teaching especially when by the Prelates instituted and inducted to such a Parish as a Teacher whereof I am a Member is an Argument of my owning him for my Teacher Separation from any one consists in this that I have no Communion with him in that in respect of which I am bound to separate from him That I should with frequency hear a man preach as a Minister of the Gospel and yet be said to have no Communion with him to separate from him is an Aenigma that needs some Oedipus to unravel He tells us 2dly The Major is not true if the Idolatry be in worshiping in any other way than what he hath prescribed or if the Idolatry be secret or if open if by infirmity a man falls into it and repents or be not censured as such or teacheth not such Idolatry nor requires any communion with him in his Idolatry Answ 1. If the Major be not true it follows that its lawful to have Communion with Idolaters for with persons guilty of Idolatry the Major saith we must not have Communion Mr. T. is driveâ— to his shifts indeed when to defend the cause he hath undertaken he is forced to plead for such gross absurdities so contradictory to the Scriptures and the judgment of all sober Christians that ever were in the world 2. If worshipping God in another way than he hath appointed be in Scripture Idolatry and in it we are commanded to abstain from such Worship and Worshippers then though the Idolatry consist therein the Major is true When the Scripture commands us to flee from Idolatry it means that which is so in its own sense not Mr. T 's 3. 'T is true I am not to separate from a person I know not to be guilty of Idolatry till I know he is so but this reacheth not the case of the present Ministers whom we prove manifestly guilty hereof When Ezekiel once came to understand that the Antients of the House of Israel committed Idolatry in the Chambers of their Imagery Ezek. 8. 7 to 13. he might not have Communion with them though they committed it in the dark 4. Repentance restores a man fallen into the same place amongst the Saints he was in before he fell but this is not at all to the purpose the present Ministers justifie their actings would compel aâ—l to do as they do 5. That 't is not our duty to separate from Idolaters till they are under Church-censure is a meer fancy 1st What if they are such as are in no Church-state persons without with whom the Church hath nothing to do 2dly What if the so called Church be generally overspread with Idolatry as our Animadverter will confess the Church of Rome is must I wait the Churches censure till I refuse to hold communion with Idolaters Is it ever likely that an Apostate Idolatrous Church will pass sentence upon it self or rational that I hold communion with them till they do So is 6. That 't is not our duty so to do except they teach it and require my communion with them in it For 1. he that practiseth it teacheth it by his practice 2. As it relates to the present Ministers 't is vain and frivolous they both practise and preach it and require my communion with them in it He saith 3dly The Texts do not prove the Major Answ Let the judicious Reader judge for himself whether they do or no 1 Cor. 5. 11. we have already vindicated from his exceptions That 1 Cor. 10. 14. is not to our purpose because the Apostle onely saith Flee from Idolatry not from teachers that are Idolaters is a fond conceit The intendment of the Apostle is to provoke to the greatest circumspection not onely to avoid the thing it self which saith Pareus Was not only the gross Idolatry of the Gentiles but every kind of Idolatry but all the occasions thereof And certainly the hearing or attending on the ministry of persons guilty of Idolatry is no mean occasion thereof 2 Cor. 6. 14 15 16 17 18. commands separation from the Idol Mr. T. grants Now I must profess I know not by what Logick he will prove that though it be my duty to separate from Idols I may so far retain communion with the Idolater as to own him for my Teacher the very repeating these absurdities is confutation sufficient Before we attempt the proof of the minor Proposition we premise in S. T. That Idolatry may be considered under a threefold Notion 1. Most gross and absurd Idolatry when the creature is worshiped terminatively This we say few are guilty of In the matter of the golden Calf Israel was not they worshipped God in it Exod. 32. 5. Maimonides de Idolat 8. 2 3. tells us That through the Idols Idolaters worshipped
the God that made the Heaven and the Earth Mr. T. replies 1. To worship the Creatures terminatively is most gross-Idolatry the Israelites Exod. 32. and many Heathen Idolaters did not do so 2. 'T is not true that few or none worship the Creature terminatively for the most of the Idolaters of old worshipped the Host of Heaven and at this day the Devil himself is worshipped in the East and West Indies Answ 1. That most of the Idolaters of old worshipped the Host of Heaven is granted that they worshipped these or any other Idols terminatively our Dictator attempts not the proof of What is said of Baal 1 Kings 16. 31. or Molech Psal 106. 37 38. who is also call'd Moloch Amos 5. 26. and Milcom 1 Kings 11. 33. and Malcham Zeph. 1. 5. i. e. the Sun proves not that they so worshipped the Sun in commemoration of which these Images were erected 'T is true Psal 106. 37 38. 't is said They sacrificed to Devils but that therefore they worshipped the Devil as the utmost terminus cannot be conceived 'T is call'd Devil-worship because it was not from God but of the invention and instigation of the Devil as all the false worship in the World is Of their worshipping Molech or Milcham 't is expresly said that they worshipped the Lord too when they worshipped him Zeph. 1. 5. Heb. to the Lord and in Malcam as the Papists say they direct their worship to God only in or through their Images which fully answers what can be pleaded from Acts 7. 41 42 43. 2. The most learned of the Heathens do affirm That their Images were dedicated to the true God whom in them they worshipped reputing the Images themselves but Stooks and Stones and that in them they worshipped but one God Seneca saith By Jupiter standing in the Capitol with Lightning in his hand they understand the Preserver and Governor of all things the Maker of all the World Qu. natur l. 2. c. 45. Who it was that sang 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mr. T. is not ignorant See Arnobius l. 6. contra Gent. We premise 2dly That there is a somewhat more refiâ—ed Idolatry and to this Head we refer 1. The ascription of a God-head to any creature as to Herod Acts 12. 22. 2. The ascription of the properties of the God-head to any Creature 3. The worshipping God in any other way than what he hath prescribed which is the Idolatry forbidden in the second Commandment 4. The Oblation of Worship and Service to God that hath been offered up to Idols for which there is no prescription in the Scriptures 'T is this second sort of Idolatry we say the present Ministers of England are guilty of Mr. T. answers 1. The definition of Idolatry by Dr. Rainold â—ath hitherto been received by all Protestants that he knows of that it is exhibiting Divine Worship to a Creature proved from Rom. 1. 15. Answ 1. That this is Idolatry I grant that nothing else is so will not be proved Protestants affirm otherwise as Calvin Perkins Ames Paraeus Though 2. the very truth is when we submit to a Worship of humane devising we exhibit Divine Worship to a Creature viz. the deviser imposer thereof we worship him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 besides the Creator as Hilarius Beza expound the Phrase Rom. 1. 25. And Paraeus Explicat cate p. 3. Q. 9. p. 528. saith What is required in the second Commandment Answ That we express not God by any Figure and that we worship him not in any other way or manner than he hath in his Word commanded us to worship him 1 Sam. 15. 23. Deut. 12. 30. Mat. 15. 9. Idolatry is contrary to this Commandment which is a false and superstitious worship of the Deity of which there are two chief kinds one more gross ☜ as when a false Deity is worshipped this is forbidden in the first Commandment another more refined when the true God is pretended to be worshipped but there is a mistake in the kind of Worship i. e. when Worship is pretended to be performed to God in some work which he hath not required this is condemned in this second Commandment p. 529. Those who sin against the second Commandment sin also against the first because they who worship God otherwise than he will be worshipped they feign to themselves another God and indeed worship not God but the figment of their own brain To feign another Worship of God is to feign another will of God and by consequence another God Mr. Perkins Vol. 1. p. 659. saith When God is worshipped otherwise and by other means than he hath revealed in his Word that is Idolatry Idolatrous Worships are all they which are appointed without the Command of God Mel. Tom. 2. p. 107. We shall onely add what we find mentioned by the Learned Peter Martyr in his Comment on the first of Sam. ch 7. p. 40. Men are wont sometimes to feign to themselves Commentitious gods as Jupiter Neptune Mercury Sometimes to worship the one and true God but with a Worship that is forbidden or strange i. e. not commanded as if any one should slay his Son or do what King Ahaz did who constituted a Damascene Altar in the Temple of God To do thus is nothing else than to worship an Idol For men do hereby feign a God who will so be worshipped who is in truth no God Therefore August Quest 29. in lib. Jos in which place the same thing is proposed to the people by Joshua that is here by Samuel He that feigns to himself God to be other than he is doth carry in his heart another God Wherefore not only Jupiter and the vain Deities but also those Idols and Phantasms are altogether to be cast out of our mind This will be done if we constitute to our selves God to be such as he is described to us to be in the Holy Scriptures Tertul. in lib. de idololat saith Not only the Cross and made Worship of Images is Idolatrous for the Antients of old had Temples †The Romans for above 170. years worshipped the Godds without Images say Vario Plutarch without Images who were nevertheless Idolaters It matters not whether thou make to thy self a God of Plaiscering or Marble or of a Trunk of a Tree I add saith P. Martyr or of thy own Phantasm an Idol is so call'd of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a Form an Idol therefore is a little Form Samuel therefore exhorts chap. 7. 3. that they cast away commentitious Godds and vain Worship and evil Opinions of God out of their minds What this Animadverter mentions out of Tertullian in his Book of Idolatry c. 15. makes for us If Idolatry be when any thing that is not God is extolled beyond the measure of humane honour then when the Prescribers of Divine Service are so extolled as they are when the Service prescribed by them is subjected to it being the peculiar honour
themselves considered But this is but one Doctors opinion retracted by him de Sac. Euch. l. 4. c. 29. where he asserts that which is contrary thereunto should two or three more be remarked of the same mind with him they amount but to a few in comparison of the generality of mankind otherwise minded The Minor Proposition viz. That the present Ministers of England act in the holy things of God by virtue of an Office-power received from Idolaters and offer up to him a Worship meerly of humane composition once abused to Idolatry with the Modes and Rites of Idolaters we do in S. T. demonstrate Three things are in this matter argued and evinced 1st That the Romish Church are Idolaters their Worship in the complexion thereof Idolatry This we prove at large and our Animadverter grants it to be true 2dly That the present Ministers of England act by virtue of an Office-power from this combination and Assembly of Idolaters This they themselves will not deny Succession from hence being one of the best pleas they have for the justification of their Ministry This we argue at large in S. T. and Mr. T. after a great many words grants their succession from Rome But adds 2dly That this is not one of their best pleas they have for the justification of their Ministry Answ 1. When they or he for them produce a better it shall be considered this is what they especially plead an Argument 't is one of their best pleas in their account however our Animadvertâ—r thinks otherwise Nor indeed 2dly Do I see how their Episcopal Ordination can be justified without it He conceives 3dly That they will deny that they act by virtue of an Office-power received by succession from the combination of Idolaters in the Church of Rome Answ 1. The derivation of their succession from the Papacy they deny not This their succession pleaded for is a succession of Ministry That they should be so absurd as to acknowledge a succession in respect of their Ministry from them and deny the reception of their Office-power from them which is nothing more or less than their Office of Ministry I cannot imagine What follows in this Sect. hath already been replied to and therefore we shall not further trouble the Reader therewith We say in S. T. 3dly That the present Ministers offer up to God a Worship meerly of Humane composition as the Common-Prayer-Book-Worship hath been proved to be once abused to Idolatry being the Worship of that Church whose worship is so the whole of it being taken out of the Popes Portuis with the Rites and Modes of Idolaters viz. their Holy Vestments Bowings Candles Altars which are the Rites of the Idolatrous Church of Rome and were introduced from thence by Austin the Monk cannot be denied And hence conclude That the present Ministers acting in the holy things of God by virtue of an Office-power received from Idolaters and offering up to him a Worship meerly of Humane composition once abused to Idolatry with the Rites and Modes of Idolaters are deeply guilty of Idolatry What Mr. T. replies hereunto Sect. 14. hath for the most part already been removed out of the way 1. The Forms of Prayer in the Service-Book by their Imposition are made an essential part of Worship as we have proved as such they are not agreeable to Gods Word not of Divine but meerly humane composition 2. Had these Forms never been in the Mass-Book being made by their imposition a part of Worship they had been superstitious Idolatrous being an open violation of the second Commandment 3. I wonder at the forehead with which 't is affirmed that the Rites and Modes used in the Church of Rome that are Idolatrous are not observed and used What thinks he of bowing at the Altar the Name of Jesus which Dr. Willet acknowledgeth to be superstitious Idolatrous Synops Papism the 9th gener Contro p. 492 493. as do our Protestants generally kneeling at the receiving of the Sacrament the Cross in Baptism These are some of the Rites used in the Papacy and as so used Mr. T. will not I presume deny them to be Idolatrous 4. The learned Muccovius proves what he asserts That the sacred Rites of Idolaters though they be things in themselves indifferent are †So say our Divines generally to whom Zâ—nchie Junius Pelican Calvin Beza Farrel yea Lyra though a Papist Pezelius Mollerus Zegedinus Danaeus Zepperus Sadael not to be retained because all conformity with Idolaters is to be avoided from Lev. 19. 19 27 28. 21. 5. Deut. 14. 1. The things there interdicted were in themselves indifferent the ground of their interdiction was because they were the sacred Rites of Idolaters as say Salmasius Herodotus l. 3. Maimonides Treat of Idolatry chap. 12. Sect. 7 11. Vatablus Fagius c. I cannot upon this occasion but remind the judicious Reader of what the learned Zanchy writes touching this matter to Q. Eliz. l. 1. Epist p. 431. 'T is not honest saith he that those things which have a long time been used in idolatrous Worship if they are things in themselves indifferent should be retained in the Church with the hazard of the Salvation of the Godly The brazen Serpent which was appointed by the Lord and indeed for the Salvation of Israel because the Isruelites abâ—sed it contrary to the Word of God was by the good King Hezekiah taken away who is greatly praised for it how much more should things and Rites indifferent instituted by men when they decline to Superstition and other abuses be removed which Mr. T. may answer at his leisure Sect. 6. A third Argument proving the Ministers of England Idolatâ—rs That worshipping God in by or before the creature respectivè or with relation to the creature is Idolatry WE advance in S. T. a third Argument to prove the Ministers of England Idolaters which is thus formed Adoration in by or before a creature respectivè or with relation to the creature is idolatrouâ— such as so adore or worship God are Idolaters But the present Ministers of England do adore or worship God in by or before a creature respectivè or with relation to the creature Therefore The major proposition we say is generally owned by Protestants it being the very same Maxime they make use of and stop the mouths of the Papists with in the point of adoring God mediately by the Creature The truth of the minor proposition their bowing and cringing at the Altar their kneeling at the receiving the Sacrament do evince That their kneeling is an adoration or worshipping God before the creature respectivè or with relation to the creature is manifest Nothing being more certain than that the Elements are objectum a quo or the motive of their kneeling which if they were not there they would not do Didoclavius p. 755. tells us That Genuflexion is Idolatry which Maccovius assents to Loc. Com. p. 861. To which Mr. T. Sect. 15. 1. The Author of S. T.