of God So thy Worship is found out of the Truth and contrary to the Scriptures and thy Law of men to compel into a Conformity unto thy Worship is found to be Antichristian and to stand only in thy own Tradition and not in the Power of Christ so thou must either prove it from the Scriptures or all thou canst say of it will not be received for Truth Trad. My Worship is that which hath been accustomed through many Generations and from many antient Fathers I have good proof of it and though some things may be practised in Worship which I cannot positively prove from the Scriptures yet the continuance of them and the National Law upholding them makes them warrantable and out of question Truth That which is accustomed and not in the Power of God is out of the Truth and an evil custom and is to be abolished and not maintained for that is the subtil ground from which many are deceived who have nothing to say for their Religion and Worship but what in thy bowels is generated saying It hath been good and why is it not so now and our Fathers thus worshipped and why may not we and the Nations Law warrants and upholds it and we must be subject to the Law Thus do thy Children reason from thy deceivable working by which their minds are blinded that they cannot see the things that are but lye groping after things that have been which now are not and from the continuance draw conclusions of their lawfulness And because Laws are made to uphold them therefore are they subject to them when the Nation 's Law doth not reach nor is not to meddle with things that pertain to God or to the Conscience of any man so that it doth not make the thing warrantable or put it out of question because it doth provide for the upholding of it seeing it hath not any thing at all to do with it but the Truth doth call it in question And if it cannot be proved to be a practice which the Scriptures do allow and warrant the lawfulness of it Truth doth reprove it and also the Nations Law that doth provide for the upholding of it Trad. I would know what those things are that the Scriptures do not allow or bear witness to which in my Worship is set up and doth belong unto it in the custom of it and if they be but ceremonial I shall not stand so much upon them but as for my Fundamentals I shall prove them from Scriptures and the Saints practice to be sound Truth Lay down thy Fundamentals and what they are that they may be known and in their place come to Tryal and be proved Trad. These be the Foundation-Principles of my Religion and of which I have good ground to believe that they are sound because I find in the Scriptures that the Saints performed them and served God in them and also such as were appointed for the performance of them which in my Worship I do truly observe as they did for I have Churches and Preaching and Praying and Singing and Bishops and Ministers to perform them and also other Officers under them which is for my Church-Order Truth These in their place must all be examined and tryed and by the Spirit of Truth proved whether they be right in the ground and have their rise from the Power of God But what thou canst not prove amongst thy Ceremonies to be warrantable from the Scriptures of Truth open thine eye and behold them that thou mayest see what Monsters thou hast generated and brought forth from thy adulterous womb and behold thy Eldest son that sits in the highest seat in Rome who hath preferred and set up all thy Children in great honour and dignity and people in the Darkness have run after them without any enquiry from whence they came and they have been delightful to the carnal mind and from thence have been highly esteemed and so hath the birth of thy adulterous womb deceived the Nations and the names that thou hast given them are not to be found in the Scripture as in any wayes to belong to the Saints Worship thy Rails thy Altars thy Sacraments thy Cross in Childrens foreheads and sprinkling Water in their faces and calling it Baptism thy Organs thy Anthems thy Singing-men and Boyes thy Hoods thy Surplices and thy Tipits with many other things which by thee is observed in thy Service and Worship that the Lord never commanded nor the Saints never practised neither is there any Scripture for them but thou hast generated them and brought them forth in this dark night of Apostasie and hast set them up in thy Worship as things of great use and from that perswasion that in thy self thou hast of them thou wouldest compel by thy Laws all others to bow unto them Trad. I am reasonably satisfied from what hath been said as to the Ceremonies belonging to my Worship and I do see that they are not of such absolute necessity to be used or by any Law to be imposed therefore I shall be willing to leave every man to his liberty in observing them and shall not force or compel any But as for my Church Preaching Praying Singing Bishops and Ministers they must be duly observed and every man by a Law compelled thereunto who in himself is not made willingly subject for all these are warrantable from the Scriptures and I have their names from thence and in these cannot be deceived Truth I shall try them in order and if I find them right in the ground I shall approve them but if not I must testifie against them for I judge not by the appearance or by the names but in the ground and nature therefore speak plainly what thy Church is and also shew the Foundation it stands upon that I may proceed to tryal Trad. My Church is that which through many Generations hath been a place for my Worship to be performed in and it is consecrated and set apart for that Service and I have also looked many Ages past and have found from antient Fathers that it hath been much set by and highly esteemed therefore the Foundation cannot but be right and I must uphold it and my Worship in it Truth Now I shall try thy Church and the Foundation of it and see upon what it stands for if the Foundation be not right the whole Building must fall and there is no man can lay another Foundation than that which is layed which is Jesus Christ and that which is brought forth from his Power that is of God and this is the Church of the living God the pillar and ground of Truth And if it be not in God it is none of his but an adulterated Harlot covered over with the mystery of Iniquity Therefore Tradition be silent a little and Truth will shew thee thy Error and let thee see the false Foundation thy Church stands upon and also manifest the true Church and thereby thou mayest see how
far thou art degenerated from the Life and Truth which the Saints enjoyed and possessed and upon which the Church of God hath ever been builded and stood So be cool and hear what Truth saith for now thy Church comes to tryal Thou hast perverted the right way of the Lord by thy Tradition and hast been setting up thy visible things in the stead of that which is spiritual and hast given them a name out of the nature by which thou hast deceived the Nations and thy things that do appear are not the things of God though thou hast made them very beautiful to behold yet a sandy foundation they stand upon and will not abide the day of tryal for the Foundation of thy Church is of thy own laying and the Building is thy own handy-work and thy Church hath been set up in the midnight of Apostasie since the true Church hath been driven into the Wilderness and the Consecration of it hath been performed by men of polluted lips and thy Eldest son hath been the promoter of it who himself hath lost the key of knowledge and so promotes and sets up what thou generates in thy bowels and this is come to pass since the dayes of the Apostles the Spirit of Truth being lost and ravined from darkness hath overspred and gross darkness hath covered and peoples minds have been blinded that thy Witchcraft and Sorceries hath not been perceived and so hast thou formed a false likeness and given it a true name by which thou hast deceived in drawing the minds of people to believe that thy work is that which it is not But the Foundation of God is more sure and the true Church is built upon it and receives its name from the nature and not from any false conception for the Church is in God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and this is the pillar and ground of Truth and is laid upon Christ the living stone in whom the building is fitly framed and groweth up unto an holy Temple in the Lord and it is presented without spot or wrinkle or any such thing and there is the Consecration of it received in the Holiness of his life and he becomes the Head of it and it is truly his own Body which he takes to himself in everlasting Righteousness and espouseth it in his Life for ever and ever and this doth not decay nor wax old but is the same without any variableness throughout all Generations So is thy Church truly tryed and the Foundation of it is found false and the true Church nature it hath not therefore is the name to be blotted out that from henceforth none may be deceived with it Trad. This is strange that my Church should be questioned which through so many Ages hath been much esteemed and promoted and if it be not right then what is become of those that are gone before and did not know it otherwise Truth In thick darkness things seem to be that which they are not but the day makes them manifest as they are and the Light of Christ truly discovers in the ground and being found amiss they must be questioned and also denied And what other Generations have observed and how they walked is not now the question for they knowing no more and being faithful to what they did know they have their reward And this proves nothing for thy false Church and Worship which thou upholdest by thy Tradition and not from the present manifestation of God's Spirit in this Age and Generation Trad. I shall further consider of this but for my Preaching which is a chief thing in my Worship I know that is sound and there can be nothing against it Truth That Preaching which stands in the demonstration of Gods Spirit and in Power is sound Preaching and pierces through the darkness unto that which lies in bondage and revives and raises it in Power But that Preaching which stands in the enticing words of man's wisdom that is not sound and this is the ground of thy Preaching which is so chiefly esteemed by thee in thy Worship and by which thou deceivest many people having got good words and in thy wisdom speakest them forth and labourest in the strength of that wisdom to entice and draw disciples after thee and so dost thou teach for Doctrine thy own Tradition and other mens lines and labours are the strength of thy Preaching and what Ambrose Austine Luther Calvin Gregory and others have said and what Expositions they have made of the Scriptures thou canst say they have well observed And this is the ground of thy Preaching O thou deceiving Tradition And now is thy Preaching found to be out of Truths power and contrary to the Preaching of those that were made able Ministers not of the Letter but of the Spirit Trad. But cannot I have sound Preaching in my Worship though something from the Fathers may be quoted and observed for they have spoken good things and have expounded the Scriptures plainly and given true meanings of them which is a great help in Preaching Truth Sound Preaching is in the Power of God and not from any Exposition or meaning that from others is given upon the Scriptures for who run thither and speak from that they stretch themselves beyond their own measure which the true Preachers dare not do but keep to the gift of God and as it moves in the measure so it is preached and so believed For true Preaching is a declaration of the Truth of God as it doth arise and make it self manifest to the understanding and so there comes to be a true witnessing of it in the Experience through the operation of the Power of God from which it is preached as it is known and this is not found among old Authors and Expositors nor in thy Rhetorick and Logick or in thy made Doctrines Uses Reasons Helps Motives Arguments and Applications but in the Spirit 's Demonstration and in Power Trad. What is it I can say that will be received and not opposed Those things that I have long observed and Ages past have looked at them to be very good now are denyed but for my Praying in my Worship that I know is right and without exception for it is mentioned in the Scriptures and was practised very much by the Saints and I have the Lord's Prayer and have made many other good Prayers and have set them forth which be very useful and comfortable for all conditions and upon all occasions and I have put them together in a Book which I call the Book of Common-Prayer and make use of it in my Devotion and Worship Truth Prayer in the Spirit the Saints practised and their Service was accepted but from this thou art degenerated and in thy Tradition hast made and formed such Prayers as the Lord hath not required neither doth he open his ear to hear them though thou makest many of them and that which thou callest the Lord's Prayer which is so often set
A CATECHISM FOR BISHOPS DEANS PREBENDS DOCTORS VICARS CURATES AND ALL PRELATICALS FOR Them to Read in the Fear of the LORD GOD and with a meek and quiet Spirit By WILLIAM SMITH LONDON Printed in the Year 1662. A Catechism for Bishops Deans Prebends Doctors Vicars Curates and all Prelaticals for Them to Read in the Fear of the Lord God and with a meek and quiet Spirit THere is in man a Corruptible will an Earthly wisdom and a Carnal mind and where these bear rule there is a strong Enmity against God and all things that be good and under these Corruptible Earthly Carnal things the Seed of God is in bondage and groans under their burden and in that state the understanding of all men is darkned and fast closed that the things of God neither are nor can be perceived And this is the ground of Error when the understanding is so darkned that the things of God cannot be perceived and then not being known as they are in the ground they are supposed to be what they are not and so Opinions drawn concerning them and Professions made of them and a Worship and Service set up in them when they have no savour of God nor agreement with the Scriptures of Truth So for Doctrine men set up Traditions which rise from the many Inventions And from this ground is risen all your Profession and Worship which in your Prelatical Power is set up and unto which you would compel a Conformity and impose it upon all Consciences which is a thing of great weight and needful to be truly tryed and examined before it be so eagerly pursued and so wilfully endeavoured to be imposed Therefore admit in coolness of a true Examination and Tryal by the Spirit of Truth and from the Scriptures of Truth and if your Practice and Worship be found to agree in one without adding or diminishing then you will be freely owned without any Law to compel but if your Practice and Worship be found contrary then be not angry because it is denied and testified against for in so doing you will manifest degeneration from reasonable men therefore hear your Examination cooly and quietly and if Truth prevail then own it and submit unto it and cease from your Traditions but if you have any thing against it then bring forth your strong Reasons and prove them from the Scriptures of Truth that it may be manifest to the understandings of people what is Truth and what is Error And for the better understanding of it here followeth a short Catechism which is given forth in love to the Simple and for you to reade and peruse ye Bishops Doctors Vicars Curats and all Prelaticals wherein you may see Tradition and Truth moderately reasoning Tradition I have heard that there is a God and that he is the maker of all things and I have also heard that from Generation to Generation this God hath been worshipped and served and I think it but my reasonable duty to do as others have done before me Truth One onely true wise God there is who is the maker of all things and is over all things but if thou hast no more knowledge of him than by what thou hearest thou art yet without him and a stranger to him and art an ignorant worshipper and dost not know what thou worshippest and what others have done in Generations past will not make thy service accepted though thou mayest worship in the observation and do all things in the custom of it for it is only the present manifestation of God's Spirit in every man in which God is truly served and worshipped and in which the Service and Worship is accepted Trad. But cannot I come to know God by hearing that which is reported of him and cannot I worship him and serve him by observing what others have done and how they have worshipped in Ages past and so following them for my Example Truth God is a Spirit and makes himself manifest in Spirit and that which is truly reported of him is from the Spirit 's manifestation which all the holy men of God were inspired with and made their Report from and worshipped God in and thou mayest hear this Report and reade it but being from the Spirit of God manifest in thee thou canst neither know God nor truly worship him for God's Worship stands not in the observation but in his living power neither canst thou follow the Example of the holy men of God but by the leadings of the same Spirit which they were guided by and lived in Trad. But it is safe for me to minde the Scriptures and that which therein is reported and to endeavour to observe and do it and then I question not but I shall know God and be a true worshipper of him Truth That which all are to minde is the manifestation of God's Spirit for that is his own gift to every man that they might profit and all that turn to it and believe in it their understandings are opened in the power of it and then the Scriptures are truly known and this is safe and will not deceive any but will bring the assurance with it of Eternal Life for as thou standest in the Questioning so also in Doubting and Condemnation and all thy endeavours will not profit thee or bring assurance of Eternal Life unto thee for it is not in him that willeth or in him that runneth but standing still in obedience to the present manifestation of God's Spirit Salvation is seen and shewed in the Mercy of God So thou must lay down thy life in thy observation which stands in thy Tradition and come to Truths present manifestation Trad. But I cannot know the Truth but by the Scripture for it is the Scripture that makes the Truth manifest and from the Scripture do I set up my Worship and there ought to be a Conformity yeelded unto it and such as will not to compel them by a Law Truth The understanding of Truth is by the Spirit of Truth and the Light of Christ in every man's Conscience makes it manifest and this is reported in the Scripture and is the sure Foundation upon which the true Worship stands and all that come to the Spirit and walk in the Spirit they are truly subject to it and bow before it and yeeld all obedience to the manifestation of it and this is the true Worship and the true Worshippers and they that come into this Worship are not brought into it or made conformable to it by any National Law neither do they seek after any such Law to force or compel others that differ from them but commit it to the Power of God And who comes into subjection to God's Power and are made conformable unto that they are the true Worshippers and their service is performed unfeignedly without any deceit or hypocrisie and they appear not so much in an outward Conformity as in Simplicity and godly Sincerity in which they are approved in the sight