together in the Church they did and therefore what is coming together v. 17. coming to the Church v. 18. coming to one place v. 19. is coming together to eat v. 33. Accordingly it was the Custom of the Church from the Apostles times thus to communicate upon the Lord's day Pliny in his Epistle to the Emperor Trajan Soliti sunt stato die ante lucem convenire c. Ep. l. 10. Ep. 97. tells him That he found nothing to alledge against the Christians but their Obstinacy in their Superstition and that is was their Custom to meet together on a set day before it was light and to bind themselves by the Sacrament to do no evil Now this Epistle was writ only Six Years after the Death of the Evangelist Saint John. And Justin M. who wrote but Fifty Years after his death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apol. 2. p. 98 99. thus speaks On Sunday all the Christians in the City or Country meet together because that is the day of our Lord's Resurrection and then we have read unto us the Writings of the Prophets and Apostles this done the President makes an Oration to the Assembly to exhort them to imitate and do the things they heard then we all join in Prayer and after that we celebrate the Sacrament and they that are willing and able give their Alms c. Fourthly § 4 This may be further proved from the Church's Testimony and from the plain Expressions of the Fathers who flourished in the first and purest Ages of the Church For to this Effect Century the first besides the words of Clemens Romanus already mentioned the Apostle Barnabas saith of the Apostles and Christians in the General 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sect. 15. We keep the eighth day a Festival in which our Jesus rose from the dead Century the Second I have produced the plain Testimonies of Ignatius Justin M. Irenaeus Dionysius of Corinth Melito Sardensis Century the Third I have produced already the Testimony of Clemens of Alexandria to which add that of Tertullian who saith in his Apology Diem folis laetitiae indulgemus Cap. 16. Sunday is the Festival of us Christians And in his Book Ad Nationes That they did rejoice upon that day Solem Christianorum deum aestimant quod innotuerit nos die solis c. Lib. 1. cap. 13. and that this was a thing so well known to the Heathens that hence they took occasion to conjecture That the Sun was the God of Christians Neque enim Resurrectio Domini semel in anno non semper post septem dies celebratur In Esa Hom. 6. Hom. 7. in Exod. fol. 41. Ep. 38. Ed. Ox. p. 75. that of Origen That the Resurection of our Lord is not celebrated annually only but every seventh day which therefore in opposition to the Jews he calls Dominica nostra The Christians Lord's day And that of Cyprian That Aurelius Dominico legit reads on tâ—â— Lord's day Centuny the Fourth Epiphanus informs us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Expos fid cap. 22. That the Holy Catholick Church keeps every Lord's day as a Festival In a word no Church no single Writer ever represented this as a new or introduced Practice but do continually speak of it as the constant Practice of the Christian Church We never read that any of the converted Jews though they retained the Jewish Sabbath ever disputed the Observation of the first day of the week in honour of our Lord And therefore as the Reverend Bishop Bramhal truly saith Pag. 918. To question now whether there was a formal precept for that which all the Christian World hath obeyed ever since Christ's time and shall obey until his Second Coming is a strange degree of Folly. And that this may be farther evident I add this second Proposition That the Apostles had Commission from the Lord Christ § 5 Prop. 2. or were directed by his Spirit to ordain and chuse this day to be employed in the publick Exercise of Christian piety and in remembrance of the Resurrection of our Lord. For First Christ did Commission his Apostles to teach the Churches all his Doctrine and to deliver them all his Commands and Orders which concerned their Duty and his Service for thus he delivers his Commission to them All Authority is committed to me in Heaven and Earth Matth. 28.18 Go therefore and disciple all Nations teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you John 20.21 He also saith unto them That as my Father sent me so send I you and surely the Father sent him who was Lord of the Sabbath with full Commission to change and alter it and substitute another day in lieu thereof Accordingly the Apostles exercised this Power they founded Churches they delivered to them the Doctrines and Commands of Christ they setled Church Officers Orders and Discipline and surely then they had Commission also to settle the time to be appointed for the Service of their Lord and Master When therefore they began to practise the Observation of the first day of the Week they only did what their Commission from the Lord impowered them to do Secondly That the Apostles were directed by the Holy Ghost to set apart this day for Holy Worship or to appoint Church Meetings on this Day and therefore that this was done by a Divine Authority appears from this That their Determinations touching smaller Matters and which were only â—porary are by themselves ascribed to the Holy Ghost thus when Saint Paul gives his advice in respect of the present necessity touching a single Life though he confesseth he had no express from Christ touching that matter yet he ascribes this Counsel to the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 7.40 For I think saith he I have the Spirit of Christ Again the same Apostle speaking of the Directions which he gave concerning their Church Meetings and their Behaviour in them saith 1 Cor. 14.37 If any man think himself to be a Prophet or Spiritual let him acknowledge that the things I write unto you are the Commandments of the Lord. The same must therefore be much more acknowledged of things of so high a nature as that is which they delivered to be observed by the Universal Church they being equally Appointed and Authorized to instruct them in Discipline and in Matters of Divine Worship as in matters of Doctrine and as well by Word as by Epistle and therefore as well in the Observation of the time appointed for the Worship of their Lord as in the due Regulation of it when they came together The same Saint Paul professeth 1 Cor. 11.23 That he had received from the Lord what he delivered to the Church of Corinth touching the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper and when he speaks of one particular concerning which he had no precept from Christ he saith expresly This speak I not the Lord 1 Cor. 7.12 if then the practice touching the Observation of
be observed by Christians the day of Rest enjoined in the Fourth Commandment must be abolished which was the thing to be proved Thirdly § 12 This will be still more evident from those words of the same Apostle to the Colossians affirming Argum. 3 2 Coloss xiv 16 17. That Christ had blotted out the hand-writing of Ordinances which was contrary to us and had taken it out of the way nailing it to his Cross and making thence this Inference Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day or of the New Moons or of the Sabbath days which are a shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ Where Note 1st That the hand-writing of Ordinances respecteth Ceremonial Orders for of them only can it be truly said That they were against us and were contrary to us as being Yokes of Bondage and Burthens grievous to be born that they were blotted out and cancelled and nailed to the Cross of Christ and that they were shadows of or shadows in respect of things to come 2dly When it is said Let no Man judge you in respect of these things the meaning clearly is Let no Man censure or condemn the Christian for not observing these New Moons Feasts or Sabbaths Hence then these Arguments result First No Man ought to condemn the Christian for not observing of the Jewish Sabbath because that Christ hath blotted out the hand-writing of ceremonial Ordinances which was against them therefore the Jewish Sabbath was a ceremonial Ordinance therefore 't is blotted out therefore the Christian is not obliged to observe it That which is joined with Meats and Drinks and with New Moons which are things confessedly Ceremonial no difference at all being observed by the Apostle as to their being named hand-writings things cancelled shadows or the like that must be ceremonial that which is a shadow of or in respect of things to come of which Christ by his Advent exhibited the Body that must be ceremonial that must be cancelled and abolished by Christ therefore the Jewish Sabbath must be abolished as being only ceremonial The Answers which the Sabbatarians return to this last Argument are these 1st Answer 1 That the Apostle meaneth here by Sabbaths not the weekly Sabbath of the Jews but the first and last days of the great Jewish Feasts which were by them observed as Sabbaths and are in Scripture sometimes stiled by that Name 1. Reply The Apostle having said before Let no Man condemn you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for not observing of the Jewish Festivals or any part thereof cannot be rationally supposed in the word Sabbaths following to forbid only the same thing 2. In the New Testament the word Sabbath or Sabbaths is used above sixty times and in Fifty six of those places it doth unquestionably signifie the Jewish weekly Sabbath and in the other places the whole week sith then the Sabbath in the New Testament is never used for the first and last days of the Jewish Feasts but ordinarily is there used for their weekly Sabbath we ought in reason to conclude it here importeth the same thing which it is used to signifie where it is mentioned in other places by the Holy Ghost and not conceive it here importeth that which it is never used to signifie in the New Testament that is we ought to judge is signifies the seventh day Sabbath and not the solemn days of the great Jewish Feasts 3. Where-ever the word Sabbath in the Old Testament is mentioned in conjunction with New Moons or Jewish Feasts it doth import the seventh day Sabbath distinctly and separately from all others as will appear from the perusal of all the places where these things are jointly mentioned as v. g. 2 Kings iv 23. Esa i. 13. Esa lxvi 23. Lament ij 6. Ezek. xlv 17. Ezek. xlvi 1. Hos ij 11. Amos viij 5. Being then here mentioned together with New Moons and Jewish Feasts 't is reasonable to conceive it signifies the same thing 4. The Sabbath day in the Old Testament is often contradistinguished to all other solemn Feasts and more particularly to New Moons and anniversary Feasts and therefore being here mentioned with them we may presume it cannot signifie them or any portion of them but rather that it doth import that Jewish Sabbath which in other places is put in opposition to them as for Example 1 Chron. xxiij 31. 2 Chron. ij 4. xxxi 3. Neh. x. 32 33. And lastly Moses having reckoned up the solemn Feasts Leviticus the 23 he adds v. 37 38. These are the Feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim besides the Sabbath of the Lord seeing then the word Sabbath where-ever it is used in conjunction with New Moons or Feasts in the whole Book of God doth always signifie the Jewish weekly Sabbath we cannot doubt but in conjunction with them here it signifies the same seeing the word is often put in opposition to New Moons and solemn Feasts indefinitely taken what reason have we to conceive that in this place it should be taken for any part or portion of them Some Sabbatarians tell us Answ 2 That by Sabbath here the Apostle understandeth not the weekly but the yearly Sabbaths viz. the seven Years Sabbath and the Sabbath of the Year of Jubilee But the same Observations do confute this Gloss Reply for seeing the word Sabbath in the whole New Testament doth never signifie the yearly Sabbath but still the seventh day Sabbath or the whole week since the word Sabbath when it is joined with New Moons and Feasts as here it is doth always fignifie the seventh day Sabbath this Sabbatarian Gloss must be repugnant to that Sence in which the word is used by the Holy Ghost and therefore contrary to those Rules by which we are obliged to expound the Scripture 'T is Thirdly Answered Answ 3 That the Apostle saith not as the words are rendered Let no Man judge you in respect of a Feast but as they ought to be rendered Let no Man judge you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in part of a Feast New Moon or Sabbath whence they conclude that he intends not the whole Sabbath but that part of it which consisted in offering Sacrifices and this he calls a shadow or a hand-writing of Ordinances This Quarrel at the Translation of these Words is groundless Reply for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth as truly signifie on the account or on behalf or in respect as it doth signifie in part as when the same Apostle saith 2 Cor. 3.10 That which was made glorious had no glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this respect by reason of the Glory that excelleth 2 Cor. 9.3 And again I have sent the Brethren least our boasting of you should be in vain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on this behalf 1 Pet. 4.16 And when Saint Peter saith If any Man suffer as a Christian let him not be ashamed but let him glorifie God 〈◊〉
Sabbath who gives us Rest from our Sins Catech 4. p. 38. Saint Cyril of Jerusalem tells his Catechist That all Observation of Sabbaths is to be rejected It would be endless to recite all that the Fathers say upon this Subject but if we do consider how constantly the Fathers teach That the Patriarchs and pious Men before the promulgation of the Law of Moses observed not the Sabbath how generally they teach that it was a shadow of good things to come by Christ and that our Saviour both by his Miracles performed upon that day and by his Contests with the â—harisees designed to insinuate the dissolution of it we can no longer doubt the Judgment of the Ancients in this Matter To proceed then to Answer the Objections of the Sabbatarians § 14 First Mr. M. Objects Object 1 That God Blessed the Seventh day and Sanctified it because in that and not in any other §. 9. p. 205. he had rested from all his Work Gen. 2. And then enquires How comes this Blessing given to no other day among the Seven but given to the Seventh day only to be lost who took away the Sanctification of it given by God himself and given for a Reason which is as obliging now as ever To this I Answer Answ That to Bless and Sanctifie the Seventh day doth only signifie to set apart that day for his peculiar Worship or as the Badge and Sign by which the People who owned Jehovah for their God should be distinguished from all other People and by which He should also be disting uished from all other Gods by a Work peculiar to himself for it being the Custom of all Nations and of all Religions to set apart some day or time as Sacred for the Worship of their Gods and in that time to Solemnize their Worship by the Commemoration or the imitation of some peculiar Actions for which they were Honoured God would have this to be the Sign of His peenliar People the Resting on the Sabbath day in Token that they owned him as the Creator of the World by imitation of the Rest he took when he had made it This God himself declares by saying Exod. 31.15 16. The Children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe it through their Generations for a perpetual Covenant It is a sign betwixt me and the Children of Israel for ever for in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and on the seventh day he Rested that is Now that the Seed of Abraham are come to be my People in Covenant they shall keep the Seventh day as a Sign that they are Consecrated to the Service of the Creator of the World and that they own him as their God. Ezek. 20.12 Hence are these Sabbaths said to be given to be a sign betwixt God and them that they might know he was the Lord that sanctified them and God commands them to observe them Exod. 31.13 that they might know he was the Lord that sanctified them that is did consecrate and separate them from all other Nations to be his own peculiar People Hence also was it that till God had made of Abraham a great Nation till he had freed this Nation from that Bondage they were under to the Aegyptians who would not let them rest from Work and chosen them to be his own peculiar People He laid not this injunction on them for even the very Sabbath day before that mentioned by Moses to be observed by them as a day of Rest Exod. 16.1 Neh. 9.14 they marched a wearisom Journey and came at Night to the Wilderness of Sin and therefore Nehemiah saith That God made known to them his Holy Sabbath by the hand of Moses his Servant that is then did he set a part that day to be a day to be observed by them in Honour of him Accordingly the Christian Fathers generally teach That none of the Patriarchs did keep the Sabbath nor do we find from Adam to Joseph the least mention of the Observation of it though we find frequent mention of all other Acts and Requisits of their Religious Worship of their Groves and Oratories their Priests and Altars their Sacrifices and Oblations Prayers Vows Thanksgivings and after Abraham of their Circumcision the Book of Genesis is partly spent in giving an account of the Travels of these Patriarchs from one place to another and yet it addeth not one word of their resting any where because it was the Sabbath day Now doth it not seem strange that such a solemn Command should have been given to Adam and all Mankind as some conceive it was and not the least Print or Token of the Observation of it to be found for Two thousand Years And whereas some Object those Words of Moses Object This is that which the Lord hath said Exod. 16.23 To morrow is the Rest of the Holy Sabbath to the Lord and thence Collect that God had before Moses given a Command touching the Observation of that day It may be Answered That the word is is wanting in the Hebrew and so the Words may thus be rendred This is that which the Lord hath said To morrow shall be the Rest of the Holy Sabbath to the Lord and so they will accord exactly with those other Scriptures which tell us That the Sabbath was made known to the Jews not by Abraham or Joseph but by the Hands of Moses Ezek. 20.10 12. that God caused them to go forth out of the Land of Aegypt and then gave them his Sabbaths to be a sign between him and them whereas the Sign of the Covenant between him and Abraham was only that of Circumcision Now from all these Considerations it seems evident that the import of those Words of Moses in Genesis the Second Wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it is only this God made the World in Six days and rested the Seventh which was the Reason that when he chose to himself a peculiar People he made that the day they were to set apart for his Service that so they might acknowledge him whom they served to be the Creator of the World. And Because on the same Day God overthrew Pharaoh and his Host in the Red Sea See Mr. Mede Disc 15. p. 56. and by that Action compleated his Deliverance of his People from Aegyptian Bondage therefore he gives that as a farther Reason of the Observance of that Day Deut. 5.15 saying Remember that thou wast a Servant in the Land of Aegypt and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence with a mighty hand and with a stretched out arm therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day Hence therefore 1. We see sufficient cause why this Command should be inserted into the Decalogue with as much Ceremony and Solemnity as the others were although it were not Moral as to the Nature of it it being so far Moral with respect unto the end of
its Observance viz. The owning the Creator of Heaven and Earth as their peculiar God in opposition to all Heathen Deities that upon this depended the performance of all the other Duties which belong to the First Table For 't was this Institution which continually brought this Fundamental Article to their Remembrance that the God they Worshipped was the Creator of the World they could not ask themselves why they thus rested but this must come into their Minds this could not come into their Minds but they must be inclined to despise all the old Heathen Deities the Sun Moon and Stars and the whole Earth as being all the Creatures of their Great Jehovah Wherefore this Precept having such strict Affinity with the other Three which were unquestionably intended to remove the Kinds the Objects the Signs and Instruments of Idolatry and keep them close to the sole Worship of the True Jehovah might very well find place among the Precepts of the Decalogue 2. Hence also may we see sufficient Reason for the strict Charge God gave for Observation of the Sabbath for the severest Punishments which he inflicted on the Violaters of it and for the Promises he made of signal Blessings to the Observers of it viz. Because the Observation of this day tended so fully to establish the great Foundation of the Law of Moses That Jehovah the Creator of the World was their God in Covenant and because it was a most effectual Bar against the Old Idolatry of the World which chiefly did consist in Worshipping the whole or else some parts of Heaven and Earth on which account we find God often mentioning these things together the keeping of the Sabbath and the fleeing from Idolatry Levit. 19.3 4. as in these words Ye shall keep my Sabbath I am the Lord your God turn you not to Idols nor make to your selves molten Gods Levit. 26.1 2. I am the Lord your God. And in these following You shall make no Idols nor graven Images nor shall you set up an Image of Stone in the Land to bow down unto it for I am the Lord your God ye shall keep my Sabbaths Lastly Because the Violation of this Law was a virtual denial of the Creation of the World and consequently of that God who made it and gave them this Temptation to Worship the Heavenly Beings that they were eternal Accordingly we find the Jews usually committing both these Sins at once Idolatry to wit and violation of the Sabbath as in those Words They polluted my Sabbaths Ezek. 20.16 for their Hearts went after their Idols and in those of the Author of the Book of Maccabees Many of the Israelites consented to the Religion of Antiochus 1 Mac. 1.43 and sacrified unto Idols and prophaned the Sabbath Since then the Observation of this Day was of so great moment for preservation of them from that Idolatry to which they were so prone and the neglect of it put them in so great danger of returning to it Surely we may discern sufficient Reason of the Severities and Promises forenamed and of the frequent Charges given for the strict Observance of it 3. Hence also may we see the plainest Reason for the non-Obligation of the seventh day Sabbath now Because that Reason of the Institution of it which concerned their Freedom from Aegyptian Bondage was peculiar to the Jews and therefore never could concern the Christian The other Reason Assigned by God that it might be a Sign between God and them that they were his peculiar People and that he was the Lord that sanctified them must also cease upon their ceasing to be his peculiar People and to have any more Relation to him as their God in Covenant Yea seeing God hath now cast off that very People to whom he gave the Sabbath for a Sign and as Josephus truly saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Law peculiar to that Nation and that dispensation it seems to be a kind of Judaism and as it were a virtual revolting to the Mosaick Dispensation to be still out of Conscience Observers of the Rest which was peculiar to that Law and Nation If it be here enquired Object whether the Reason of the Observation of the Seventh day assigned in the Fourth Commandment viz. Because God rested on that day doth not remain and equally concern all Christians I Answer No. For 1. Answ it seems a vulgar Error to conceive that God did chiefly and primarily command the Jews to rest upon the Seventh day in imitation of his Rest there being nothing moral or nothing in the Light of Nature which could induce them to imitate him in this matter any more than in the Work of the Six days preceeding in which God worked which was so far from laying any necessary Obligation on them to work upon those days that God himself established many other Festivals as a perpetual Ordinance in which they were obliged to cease from Labour on those Days on which he Worked Wherefore the great design of God in requiring them to Rest upon that day as he did was this that by so doing they might acknowledge as by a Sign and Pledge That they did Worship and own him as their God in Covenant who was the sole Creator of the World according to these Words of God to Moses Speak thou unto the Children of Israel saying Ex. 31.13.14 Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep for it is a sign betwixt me and you throughout your Generations that you may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctifie you You shall keep the Sabbath therefore for it is Holy unto you Wherefore the Children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their Generations for a perpetual Covenant It is a sign between me and the Children of Israel for ever for in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and on the seventh day he Rested Now hence it follows That God neither did nor could agreeably to his Design Command the Gentiles then or before to observe the seventh day in imitation of his Resting for then the doing this by his own Nation could be no sign betwixt him and the Jews that they were his peculiar People because it was according to this Supposition the common duty of all other Nations The Gentile Christians therefore never were obliged to observe this rest by virtue of the fourth Commandment and being also not obliged to it by any Precept Evangelical it cannot be in them any act of Christian Obedience but rather must be deemed the Fruit of Jewish Superstition so to do Secondly Answ 2 I add that the injunction of this Rest upon a reason which remains and which doth in the General concern all Christians will not inferr the Obligation of the Christian to observe the Rest commanded for that Reason it being very common in the Law of Moses to require the Observation of Ceremonial Precepts for Reasons which remain and which do equally concern all Christians Lev.
the Sabbath Day Answered § 16. His fourth Objection That in Christ Jesus nothing avails but keeping the Commandments of God Answered § 17. His fifth Objection from the Words of Christ Pray that your flight be not on the Sabbath day Answered § 18. IN this Discourse I have endeavoured to shew in what Sence we admit of Tradition as a sufficient Evidence of the Truth of what we do believe or practise And have demonstrated That in those things which we receive upon her Testimony the Romanists cannot pretend unto a like Tradition for any of their Doctrines Two things they farther do object against us as instances of things necessary to be believed which yet say they have no Foundation in the Holy Scriptures and therefore must be believed only on the account of Tradition or the Authority of the Church viz. First The Observation of the Lord's Day and the liberty we take in working on the Sabbath and not observing it as a day set apart unto the Service of the Creator of the World. Secondly The Baptism of Infants of which what Mr. M. offers is sufficiently considered in the following Treatise and the practice hath of late been fully justified from Scripture and Tradition jointly by Three learned Treatises to which I shall referr the Reader Mr. Walker's Modest Plea for Infants Baptism The Case of Infants Baptism Dr. Still Rational Account Part. 1. cap. 4. Touching the first particular I shall Discourse at present in this Preface and shew in opposition to Mr. Mumford that we have sufficient Ground from Scripture for observing the Lord's Day and not observing of the Sabbath Day and that as far as we depend upon Tradition in these Points the Romanists can shew no like Tradition for their Tenets To begin with the first of these particulars That the Lord's Day is by all Christians to be observed as a Religious Festival will be made good from these Considerations First That it is mentioned in the Scripture as a known Festival Day a Day which bore Christ 's Name a Day on which the Christians did assemble for the performance of Sacred and Religious Worship Secondly That it was perpetually and universally observed as such by the Catholick Church including the times of the Apostles And First That it is mentioned in Scripture as a known Festival Day a Day which bore Christ's Name a Day on which the Christians did assemble for the performance of Religious Worship will appear 1st From that Expression of St. John § 2 Rev. i. 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day For explication of which words observe first That the Name Lord in the New Testament doth ordinarily signifie the Lord Christ for God the Father having committed all Authority into his Hands he by so doing made him as Saint Peter saith both Lord and Christ Act. ij 36. and therefore by this name he is distinguished from God the Father in these words 1 Cor. viij 6. There is one God the Father of whom are all things and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things And again 1 Cor. xij 5 6. There are differences of Administrations but the same Lord diversities of Operations but the same God Wherefore by the Lord's Day here mentioned we cannot reasonably understand the Jewish Sabbath that being not the Day of the Lord Christ or a Day instituted in Memorial of him but a Day sanctified to Jehovah who is in the New Testament stiled God the Father or absolutely God and by that phrase distinguished from the Lord Christ Moreover the Sabbath is in Scripture sometime said to be a Day Holy to the Lord but it is never stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord's Day either in Scripture or in the Records of the three first Centuries and therefore we can have no reason to believe Saint John intended the Jewish Sabbath by that Phrase 2dly Whereas Saint John to denote the time when he received his Vision saith It was on the Lord's Day It follows that this Day must be a Day well known otherwise he could not by this note sufficiently declare the Time when he received his Vision Since then the first Day of the Week and that alone was by the Christians of the first Ages stiled the Lord's Day and known to them familiarly by that Name it is rational to conclude That the Apostle by this Phrase did understand the first Day of the Week For Confirmation of this Argument it is observable that some Copies read that Passage of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. xvi 2. On the first Day of the Week being the Lord's Day let every one lay by in store Ignatius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ep. ad Manes Et ad Trallian §. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb Hist Eccl. l. 4. c. 23. Euseb H. Eccl. l. 4. c. 26. who lived Thirty Years in the Apostles Days speaks thus That Christians must no longer Sabbatize but keep the Lord's Day in which our Life sprang up by him Dionysius Bishop of Corinth who flourished in the second Century writes thus This day being the Lord's Day we keep it Holy. Melito Bishop of Sardis who flourished in the same Century composed a Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Lord's Day and another of the Paschal Solemnity clearly distinguishing the one from the other Justin M. Qu. Resp Qu. 115. Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons in his Book of the Paschal Solemnity declares That Christians did not on the Lord's Day which was a Symbol of their Resurrection bend the Knee Clemens of Alexandria calls the Eighth day Contra Cels l. 8. p. 392. De Cor. Mil. c. 3. Cyp. Ep. 38. Ed. Ox. p. 75. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord's day Origen among the Christian Festivals enumerates the Lord's day the Easter and the Pentecostal Festival Tertullian saith Dominico die jejunium nefas ducimus vel de geniculis adorare We judge it wickedness to kneel on the Lord's day and then he adds That on the Easter and the Penticostal Festival we enjoy the same freedom And indeed the thing was so notorious even to the Heathen World that it was usual with them to put this Question to the Martyrs Dominicum servasti Hast thou observed the Lord's day To which their usual Answer was Christianus sum intermittere non possum I am a Christian and cannot cease to do it And that Dominicum agere which is sometimes the Phrase imports not to celebrate the Lord's Supper but to observe the Lord's day is evident from Clemens of Alexandria Strom. 7. p. 744. who tells us That the true Gnostick doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make that day truly the Lord's day by casting away every evil thought and celebrating the Resurrection of Christ Now from these Passages it is clear That the Easter Festival could not be here intended by Saint John that being never stiled by the Ancients absolutely the Lord's day but always
did oblige the Jews and Jewish Proselytes to rest from Labour on that day laying no Obligation on the Christian so to do And First § 9 That this Command to observe the Seventh day from the Creation could be no Moral Precept obliging all Mankind is evident 1. From the Reasons there assigned of it Because God having made the World in six days rested the seventh and that therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it Now evident it is that no Man by the Light of Nature could discern that God imployed six days in the Creation of the World or that he rested on the seventh day only from his Labour no humane Reason could with any certainty inferr That because he rested from his Labour on this day we should rest also on it and so no Man without a Revelation could be acquainted with these Grounds for Observation of this day Moreover no Man by the Light of Nature could know that Time ought rather to be computed by Weeks or by the Number Seven than any other Number and much less that one day in seven precisely rather than in ten should be dedicated to God's Service this being neither a principle evident in it self nor derivable from any thing that is so and much less that the last of seven days should be kept holy rather than the first or any other of the seven no day being more holy than another by inherent Sanctity but only by God's free and arbitrary injunction to apply it or consecrate it to Religious Vses And sure God notwithstanding the Creation of the World in six days had he so pleased might have designed any of those days for his Religious Worship 4thly Such Precepts as are purely Moral and are injunctions of things good antecedently to the command can in no time or case be violated or transgressed whereas our Lord expresly hath declared That this Law touching the Sabbath in many cases might be violated And therefore Chrysostom observes That of those natural Laws Thou shalt not Kill or commit Adultery c. God gave no Reason because the Light of Nature taught them but when it pleased him to prescribe the Observation of the Sabbath day according to the Fourth Commandment he adds these Reasons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Stat. Orat. 12. Tom. 6. Ed. Savil. p. 542. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theod. in Ez. 30. because he rested on the seventh day from all his Work and because thou wast a Bondman in the Land of Aegypt as knowing this Commandment was not primogeneal nor made known to us by the dictate of our Consciences but was temporary and particular i. e. given only to the Jewish Nation according to those Words of Moses I have given you the Sabbath Exod. xvi 19. Secondly § 10 This clearly doth appear from that Defence our Saviour made of his Disciples when they were censured by the Pharisees for violating the Sabbath by plucking Ears of Corn Matth. xij and rubbing them for our Lord justifies their Action 1. by the Example of David and his Men vers 3. Who being hungry ate the shew Bread which by the Law of Moses was to be eaten only by the Priest Now in all Arguments à pari or taken from Example the Ground or the Foundation of them must be this In paribus par ratio the Reason is the same where the Case is so And so in Arguments drawn from such Actions the Cases must be still alike in all considerable Circumstances and so it will be in the Example here produced provided that the rest enjoined in the Fourth Commandment be Ceremonial for then the Case runs thus I and my Men and David and his Men being both hungry did that which was forbidden by a Ceremonial Law of Moses if therefore David and his Men were blameless I and my Disciples must be so But if the Rest enjoined by the Fourth Commandment had been Moral 't is evident the Cases could not be alike since David and his Men did only violate a Ceremonial Precept but Christ's Disciples did transgress a Moral Precept So that we stand obliged to confess the Rest enjoined by the Fourth Commandment was Ceremonial or that our Saviour 's Argument was unconcluding and unsound which it is Blasphemy to assert Again our Saviour Argues That his Disciples were not to be accused of doing evil Vers 7 though they did not observe the Rest required on the Sabbath day because God had declared he will have mercy and not Sacrifice that is he will have works of Mercy which are Moral Duties to be preferred before Sacrifices which are but Ceremonials the feeding of the hungry Body must therefore be compared to works of Mercy the violating the Rest prescribed by the Fourth Commandment is that which is compared to Offering Sacrifice Since then the Law concerning Sacrifices most certainly was Ceremonial the Law concerning the Sabbatick Rest must be so also Secondly § 11 This may be fairly gathered from these Words of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians Argum. 2 Gal. 4.10 11. You observe days and months and times and years I am afraid of you least I may have laboured among you in vain Whereobserve First That the days and months the times and years here mentioned are only Jewish days and times as will appear first from the scope of the Apostles which is to shew the Christian Gentiles were exempt from any Obligation to observe the Law of Moses for this being the chief design of that Epistle the days forbidden here must be the days and times commanded by the Law of Moses 2dly By Observation of those days and times c. they are here said to be willing to return again to the service of weak and beggarly Elements Now these Elements to which they are said to have been in Bondage are the Mosaick Ceremonies v. 3 and 4. For we saith he when we were Children were in Bondage to the Elements of the World but when the fulness of time was come God sent to redeem those that were under the Law from any farther Bondage to it Secondly Observe That the Months Times and Years here mentioned do comprehend all other Jewish Festivals besides the Sabbath for the Months signifie their New Noons the Times the set times of going up to Jerusalem the Years their solemn Anniversary Feasts which constantly returned at such a time of Year or after such a period of Years and therefore the Days here mentioned can only signifie the Sabbath Days observed by the Jews and so Saint Jerom and Saint Chrysostom interpret the Place Thirdly Observe That the Jewish Sabbath or the Day of Rest appointed by the Fourth Commandment is certainly the seventh day from the Creation as is evident 1. From the Reason there assigned You shall keep the Sabbath for in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and rested the seventh day 2. That was the day which the Lord Blessed and Sanctified if therefore that be abrogated and not to
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this behalf Moreover this expression was in use among the Jews of that Age as appears from that saying of the Book of Maccabees 2 Maccab. 15.18 The care they took for their Wives and Children c. was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in least account with them their principal fear being for the Holy Temple whence it appears that our Translation of this Phrase is very suitable to the Language of the Apostles and of the Age in which they lived and consequently to the true meaning of these Words 2dly The Apostle here makes no distinction of parts of the Sabbath to be retained and other parts to be abolished if therefore no Man should condemn us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for not observing part of a Sabbath then no Man should condemn us for not observing the Rest enjoined on that day that being eminently part of the Sabbath 3dly If 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word in part can only be referred to the Sacrifices offered on the Sabbath then must it only relate to the Sacrifices of the New Moons and other Feasts to which it more immediately is joined whereas it is acknowledged not only that the Sacrifices offered then but even the whole New Moons and Feasts were part of that hand-writing which was blotted out and shadows of things future and Solemnities for not observing any part of which the Christian was not to be censured or condemned and therefore this must be affirmed also of the whole Sabbath Festival 4thly There is not one Example in the whole sacred writ in which it can be shewed that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie the Sacrifices offered on the Sabbath day in distinction from the other Duties of the Day whence evident it is That this Exposition of the words is groundless Besides had the Apostle intended by these words only to signifie That no Man should condemn the Christians for not offering Sacrifice on that day what Reason could there be why he should not have plainly said so rather than signifie his mind in Terms so much offensive to the Jews as seeming to declare the Abrogation of their whole Sabbath and to misguide the Christian into such an apprehension Surely had the Apostle embraced the Sabbatarian Doctrine he would not have afforded so great occasion to others to reject it But against this Argument the Sabbatarians thus Object That the Sabbath here mentioned is said to be a shadow of things future Object 1 but the Seventh day Sabbath was a sign of a thing past viz. of the Creation of the World. That the Sabbath was not as the Objection without Ground Answer affirms A Sign but a Feast Instituted in Commemoration of the Creation of the World proves not that it was not a shadow also of things future for the Passover was the memorial of God's Mercy in passing over the Houses of Israel when he smote the Aegyptians the Feast of Tabernacles was a memorial that their Fathers dwelt in Tents and Tabernacles Pentecost was a memorial of the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai the Feast of unleavened Bread was celebrated in memory of their Passing out of Aegypt with their Dough unleavened and of their deliverance from the Afflictions they endured in Aegypt if therefore notwithstanding the Institution of these Feasts in memory of what was past it is acknowledged by all Christians that they were shadows of good things to come the Seventh day Sabbath may be both And whereas it is by the Sabbatarians said That the seventh day Sabbath seems not to be a shadow of any Blessing which we at present do enjoy by Christ it may be Answered 1. That this Expression of the Apostle doth not necessarily import that the things mentioned here were shadows which related to things future but only that comparatively to those future things which were to be prescribed and taught by Christ and his Religion they were shadows 2. This Objection seems to contradict the very Words of the Apostle Apostolo responde si potes qui vacationem istius diei umbram futuri esse tesâ—â—tur Contra Faustum l. and therefore what Saint Austin said to Faustus is very proper here Answer thou the Apostle if thou canst who witnesseth That resting on the Sabbath day was a shadow of that which was to come Even the Ancient Jews acknowledged That their Sabbath was a shadow of the Age of the Messiah this being their Assertion That the Sabbath was given as a Type of the Holam Habba or the Age to come by which they understand the Age of the Messiah whence in the Epistle to the Hebrews the World to come doth clearly signifie the Gospel Age and this they gathered from these Expressions of the Prophet Isaiah Ch. 66.23 which say That it shall come to pass that from one New Moon and from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before the Lord which say the Jews is spoken of that Age to come which shall be all Sabbath In signo data sunt Judaeorum populo Iren. l. 4. c. 30. Ita Iren. l. 4. c. 30. Barnabas Ep. §. 15. Orig Hom. 23. in Numer f. 136. August l. 4. De Gen. ad lit c. 11. Clemens Alex. Strom. l. 4. p. 477. Orig. Hom. 23. in Num. f. 136. Machar Hom. 35. Greg. Nyssen Hom. 7. in Eccles Tom. 1. p. 440. Cyril Alex. in cap 6. Amosi p. 315. Sabbata perseverantiam totius diei erga deum deservitionis edocebant Iren. lib. 4. cap. 30. Just M. in Dial. cum Tryph. p. 229. c. Tertull. advers Jud. c. 4. And all the Ancient Fathers do with one Voice declare That the Jewish Sabbath was Typical and figured the Spiritual Rest which Righteous Persons should enjoy by Christ and their Spiritual Ceasing from the Works of Sin and that we always ought to be employed in God's Service Fourthly § 13 The Fathers with one Voice Assert That the Sabbath was ceremonial and that the Christians or at least the Gentile Converts were not obliged to observe it Justin M. Asserts That after the Appearing of the Son of God we have no need to observe the Sabbath Lib. 4. c. 30. Irenaeus That it doth not Justifie and that the Ancient Patriarchs pleased God without the Observation of it Adv. Jud. c. 4. Tertullian That the Observation of it was Temporary and that it was blotted out like as Circumcision and other Rites of the Old Law. The Council of Laodicea declares That Christians ought not to Rest on the Sabbath Can. 29. but work on it preferring before it the Lord's day Epiphanius saith That our Lord did his Miracles on the Sabbath and commanded the Impotent Man to take up his Bed on that day to insinuate that the Sabbath was to be dissolved Haer. 30. Ebion §. 32. vid. Haer. 66. c. 82. that hence the Apostles knew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Sabbath was dissolved that it was dissolved by the Coming of Christ the Great
and vehement in declaring his and our freedom from the legal Ceremonies saith notwithstanding that to the Jew he became as a Jew 1 Cor. 9.20 that he might gain the Jews to them that were under the Law as under the Law that he might gain them that were under the Law and therefore his example in these cases will as much prove that we are to observe the Law of Moses and the Jewish Customs as that we are obliged to keep the Jewish Sabbath Mr. M. farther adds §. 17. Obj. 4. p 210. 1 Cor. 7.19 That St. Paul tells us that in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth any thing nor Uncircumcision but the keeping of the Commandments of God of which the Sanctification of the seventh day was one Answ To which I answer that here he plainly begs the Question which is only this Whether the Saturday under the Christian Oeconomy be still by God's Commandment to be observed as a day of Rest and contradicts the plainest declaration of our Lord and the whole Christian Church that it was Ceremonial a shadow of things to come a temporary precept which laid no obligation on the Christian Mr. M. closeth with the common Sabbatarian Objection §. 18. Obj. 5. p. 211. That Christ foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem which was to happen forty years after his Resurrection when all the Ceremonial Laws belonging to the Jews were abrogated bids his Disciples pray their flight might not be in the Winter or on the Sabbath-day Mat. 24.20 that they might avoid the profanation of that day whereas if that Commandment had been Ceremonial and then abrogated they might have fled upon that day as well as upon any other and could not by so doing have profaned it Answ 1. To this I Answer first That these words of Christ cannot be rationally deemed to import that he advised them to pray their flight might not be on the Sabbath because he thought such flying then a sinful action or a profanation of that day seeing he so expresly hath declar'd the contrary Mark 3.4 saying that it was lawful to save life upon the Sabbath-day and that in all such cases God would have mercy and not Sacrifice Mat. 12.7 that the Rest of that day might be violated to preserve the life of a Beast and much more to preserve the life of man that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath and therefore man might wave the Rest required on that day when it was for his good to do so Having then so oft and so expresly taught his Disciples that it was lawful to fly for saving of their lives upon that day he could not use these words to intimate the contrary 2ly Tho' it were lawful even when the Fourth Commandment was still in force to flee upon that day from danger and travel upon case of urgent necessity yet many of the Jews thought otherwise esteeming this an intolerable profanation of the Sabbath persecuting and condemning our Lord for teaching the contrary If therefore his Disciples or other Christians should have been compell'd to flee upon that day they might have been molested and persecuted by their own Superstitious Nation and so had cause to pray their flight might not be on the Sabbath-day And 3ly The believing Jews adhered stiffly to the observance of the Jewish Rites and consequently to the observance of the Rest commanded on the Jewish Sabbath till the destruction of Jerusalem and thought themselves obliged so to do and therefore Christ might well advise them knowing that they would still retain these apprehensions to pray their flight might not fall out upon that day And tho' it cannot be expected that we should know the Reasons of all his actions yet might he still permit the Christians to continue under this apprehension of their obligation to observe the Law of Moses that so the unbelieving Jews might be the less offended at them and so might be more ready to embrace the Christian faith and because he knew the time would shortly come when the Temple should be destroyed and they should thereby be convinced that the Rites confined to that Temple were abolished OF TRADITION CHAP. VI. That there is no Evidence of Traditions for the Doctrines of the Church of Rome is proved 1. Because there is no mention of them in the ancient Councils the Codex canonum Ecclesiae universalis the Discourses of the Ancients Church Government and Discipline or in their Rituals § 1. 2. Because we find no mention of their Articles of Faith in the Creeds Enchriidions Compendiums of Christian Doctrine and Ecclesiastical Opinions or in the catechistical Discourses of the ancient Fathers § 2. 3. Because the Fathers of the first Ages were very careful and concerned to preserve the Traditions of the Apostles truly so called and so esteemed by them and had occasion to mention them by reason of the pretences of the Hereticks of their Times to Tradition and yet they have not been concerned to preserve the pretended traditionary Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome § 3. HANING thus Stated the Question in these propositions I come now to shew that there is no Evidence of Tradition for any much less for all those Doctrines of the Church of Rome which she hath put into her Creed and hath required all her Clorgy to believe and teach as that true Catholick Faith without which no Man can be saved For First § 1 Had they this Evidence concerning the Exercise of the papal Jurisdiction over all Christians the practice of auricular Confession and Indulgences of Prayer to Saints and Angels of Veneration of Images of performing the publick Services of Prayer Singing Reading in a Tongue not understood by the People I say had they that evidence of Apostolical Tradition for these things it would be as notorious that these Doctrines were handed down by the Catholick Church throughout all Ages to this present as it is of other matters of continual practice viz. The Lord's Day Assemblies the Ordination of Presbyters and Deacons by Bishops the Government of the Church by them the Observation of the Easter Festival Baptizing by Trine Immersion the mixture of Wine with Water in the Sacrament c. For all these matters are therefore evident in the Tradition of the Church because being continually practised by her Members they had continual occasion to speak of them in their Discourses of Church Government and Church Assemblies and of the Sacraments of the Church and made numerous Constitutions about them they all appear in their most ancient Rituals in the Accounts they give us of their Assemblies and of their practice when Assembled and in their ancient Councils the Primitive Writers mention them upon all Occasions they draw Arguments and Conclusions from them and shew the Reasons why such establishments were made by the Apostles The like we see now practised in the Roman Church touching the Novelties now mentioned since they have
ad Judaeorum codices amplexata est The Church of Rome hath given Patronage to the Censure of Jerom by leaving the Version of the Septuagint which had obtained in the whole Church Catholick and Embracing the Version of Jerom made new according to the Books of the Jews If then the Heathenish Story of the Phoenix could obtain such Credit among the Primitive Fathers as to be gain-said by none but Maximus If the Jewish Fiction of the Cells obtained still greater Credit being only questioned by St. Jerom what Security can we have that other Stories of like Nature are of unquestionable Credit If the sole Assertion of St. Jerom is patronized by the Church of Rome against the constant Judgment of the whole Catholick World if his Translation from the Hebrew which when he made it first was generally Condemned and Censured and for which some charged him with Heresy and all with Innovation Ruffinus ei notam Haereseos impingebat Erasm Arg. Apol. Hierom. adv Ruff. Ep. Tom. 2. f. 82. b. is now made Canonical must not the Church of Rome have changed her Judgment Must she not have rejected the Sentence of the whole Church Catholick of the Five first Ages and given us just Reason to use the same Liberty if we were minded so to do in any other Instance of like Nature For further Explication of this Question § 9 let it be observed that we contend not with the Church of Rome about Ecclesiastical Traditions touching Ceremonials Qu. 4. Dist 3. unnecessary Observations and Constitutions Ecclesiastical such as are the Cross in Baptism Trine Immersion the Renunciation of Satan and his Pomps the Unction of the Baptized Persons the Words used at the Consecration of that and of the other Sacrament the Kiss of Charity the Lent Fast the Worship of God towards the East Prayer standing on the Lord's Day c. but only touching necessary Rules of Faith and Manners In matters of the first kind we say in the words imposed upon St. De Spiritu Sancto c. 27. Basil That the Practice of the Church is sufficient though we cannot tell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from what Scripture we derive these practices but in Matters of Faith we say with the true St. Basil De vera pia fide p. 386. treating upon the Articles of Christian Faith That it is the property of a faithful Steward to deliver nothing to his fellow Servants as part of holy Faith but what is committed to him by his good Lord i. e. what he hath learned from the Holy Scriptures That it is a manifest falling from the Faith and an argument of Pride either to reject any thing that is written or to superinduce any thing that is not written our Lord having said My Sheep hear my Voice Vid. Chap. 10. That the Apostle vehemently forbids that any thing should be added to § 5 or taken from the divinely inspired Scriptures which are Christ's Will and Testament Of matters of the first kind we say with Tertullian De Cor. Milit. cap. 2. that they are such as we think fit to be received and observed in any Church which shall enjoin them sine ullius scripturae instrumento solius traditionis titulo exinde consuetudinis patrocinio Vpon the sole account of Tradition and Custom though Scripture hath said nothing of them In matters of the second kind we say with the same Tertullian L. de praescript c. 15. Cap. 38. Adv. Hermog c. 22. Ep. 118. ad Jan. cap. 5. p. 558. None can discourse of the things of Faith but from the Holy Scriptures That none can have the Integrity of Doctrine without the integrity of those Instruments that what the Scriptures are we are and that we adore the fullness of the Scriptures If the Question were of the first as v. g. Whether on Holy Thursday we should offer in the Morning and after Supper too or fast the Evening and then offer we answer to that Question with St. Austin Si quid horum totum per orbem frequentat Ecclesia If the whole Church doth any thing of this nature it is insolent madness to dispute whether it ought to be done for this is to dispute and trouble the Church about a thing of nought and so to discover an unpeaceable and ungovernable temper of mind Or if the Question were Whether the Sacrament is to be received fasting or not we think it fit to be concluded by the practice of the Vniversal Church Ep. 118. ad Jan. c. 6. p. 559. not contradicted by our Lord's Precepts nor repugnant to Faith or Manners For in such cases St. Austin saith Emendari oportet quod perperam fiebat That which was ill done ought to be amended Cap. 5. ibid. and that none should vary from our Lord's Command But if the Question be of Articles of Faith and necessary Rules of Manners we say with the same St. Austin De Bono Vid. cap. 1. Tom. 4. p. 1018. Wherefore should I teach thee any thing more than that we read in the Apostle for the Holy Scripture fixeth the Rule of our Doctrine lest we should attempt to known more and again If any one I will not say if we Sive de Christo five de ejus Ecclesia sive de quacunque alia re quae pertinet ad fidem vitamque nostram si Angelus de coelo vobis annunciaverit praeterquam quod in Scripturis legalibus evangelicis accepistis Anathema sit De lit Petil l. 3. c. 6. no way to be compared to him who said Though we but if an Angel from Heaven should preach unto you either concerning Christ or his Church or any other thing which belongs to our Faith or Life besides what you have received in the Legal and Evangelical Scriptures let him be accursed In a word the Kiss of Charity the Office of the Diaconess the breaking of the Bread distributed and Baptism by immersion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cap. 20. which are all Ceremonies and Constitutions mentioned in Holy Scripture Prayer standing on the Lord's Day commanded by the first General Council of Nice Prayer towards the East the Consecration of one Loaf for all the Communicants carrying home the Eucharist to omit many things of a like nature were all of them Customs received generally in the next Age to the Apostles and yet now generally disused by the present Church of Rome which therefore cannot justly blame others for disuse of any Customs of like nature CHAP. II. Fourthly For Explication of the Question observe That the Tradition we admit is the Tradition of all past Ages and not that of the present Church and much less of the Church of Rome § 1. This also is the Tradition pleaded by Origen St. Basil and St. Austin and which 't is suitable to Reason to allow Ibid. The Testimony of the present Church of Rome and her Adherents can be no sure Evidence of true Apostolical Tradition 1. Because
ad tempora regni pertinet Lib. 5. c. 33. Manifestissime cap. 34. The Benediction doth without contradiction belong to the times of the Kingdom saith Irenaeus And again These promises do most manifestly signifie the Banquet of the Creature which God hath promised to give them in the Kingdom of the just And a third time Sine Controversia dicta sunt c. 35. These and other things are without Controversie spoken as things which are to happen in the Resurrection of the Just 3. They confidently cite § 2 as plain Assertors of this Doctrine the Prophets of the Old Testament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 307. Lib. 5. c. 34. Lib. 7. c. 26. and the Sayings of our Lord and his Apostles in the New. This Thousand Years saith Justin Martyr the Prophets Esaias and Ezekiel and others do confess Esaias manifestly declares saith Irenaeus that there shall be such joy in the Resurrection of the Just Ezekiel saith the same thing and so doth Daniel The Testimony of the Prophets touching this matter are so many saith Lactantius that it would be infinite to collect them Propter hoc beatus dicebat miles l. 5. c. 32. That our Lord referred to it when he promised that the meek should inherit the Earth is the Assertion of Irenaeus and the forementioned Testimony of the Nicene Council and also when he said Thou shalt be recompensed at the Resurrection of the Just Cap. 33. saith the same Irenaeus and when he promised to them who left Lands Houses Parents Brethren and Children for his sake That they should have an hundred fold now in this life Lib. 5. c. 33. Ibid. so Irenaeus and St. Cyprian when he said to his Disciples I will not henceforth drink of the Fruit of the Vine till I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom When to that Question of St. Peter's Ex occasione hujus sententiae quidam introducunt mille annos post resurrectionem Hierom in Matth. 19.28 Peter's We have left all and followed thee what shall we have he answers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the new and Second State the Resurrection of the Just when the Son of Man sitteth on the Throne of his Glory you also shall sit upon Twelve Thrones judging the Twelve Tribes of Israel And when having corrected their mistakes about this matter he adds Ye are they who have continued with me in my Temptation and I appoint to you a Kingdom as my Father hath appointed to me that you may eat and drink at my Table in my Kingdom this saith Justin Martyr Pag. 312. is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Mystery of our Regeneration They cite to the same purpose that testimony of St. Paul Rom. 8.21 saying That the creature shall be delivered from the bondage of Corruption into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God which Liberty is in the next Verse stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iren. l. 5.32 34. the Redemption of the Body from that Death to which it was subject through the disobedience of Adam and with which will be also a Redemption of the creature from that Curse which the Earth suffered for his sake 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 308. Pag. 307. Lib. 5. c. 35. They cite to the same purpose that passage of St. Peter who saith One day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day and this we know saith Justin M. that these words do relate to the Millennium Again when Esaias saith We look for new Heavens and new Earth hemeans saith Justin M. the Promise of the Millennium These things saith Irenaeus are without controversie spoken of the Resurrection in quâ regnabunt justi in terrà in which the Just shall reign on Earth Lastly As for the Author of the Revelations they all with one consent declare he speaks expresly of it and indeed he seems to do it so expresly that when in the Third Century some Christians began to dislike this Opinion they began also to question the Authority of this Book which never was before doubted of by any Christian Fourthly Observe that these Fathers do expresly teach § 3 That this Doctrine of the Millennium was denied chiefly by Hereticks and such as were deceived by them Quoniam transferuntur quorundam sententiae ab Haereticis sermonibus Lib. 5. c. 32. Haeretici enim despicientes psalmationem Dei non suscipientes salutem carnis suae Lib. 5 c. 31. thus Irenaeus in the Preface of his Discourse upon this Subject saith he found it necessary to speak of it Because some Mens Opinions were perverted by the Speeches of the Hereticks and they understood not the appointment of God and the Mystery of the Resurrection of the Just and of the Kingdom And again he saith That some of those who are thought to have believed aright do go beyond the order of the promotion of the Just and know not the methods of their training up or being exercised to incorruption having in themselves Heretical sences of this matter For the Hereticks despising the formation of God i. e. the Body framed by him and not receiving the Salvation of their Flesh or not believing that it shall be saved say That as soon as they are dead they transcend the Heavens and the Maker of them and go to that Mother or Father which they have feigned to themselves they therefore who reject as much as in them lies all Resurrection of the Flesh what wonder is it if they know not the order of the Resurrection which order with the method by which we are exercised to incorruption and the enjoyment of God he afterwards declares to be this Cap. 32. That our first Resurrection is principium incorruptelae per quod Regnum qui digni fuerint assuescunt capere deum the beginning of incorruption by living in which Kingdom they who are worthy so to do by little and little do accustom themselves to enjoy God. Cap. 35. And that the Just Man thus raised verè praemeditabitur incorruptelam augebitur vigebit in Regni temporibus ut fiat capax Gloriae Patris shall truly exercise or fit himself for incorruptibility and increase and flourish in the times of that Kingdom Cap. 36. that he may be made capable of the Glory of the Father And a third time That Man being renewed vigente ad incorruptelam ut non possit jam veterascere and making such progress to incorruption that he cannot now wax Old tunc qui digni fuerint coelorum conversatione illuc transibunt id est in Coelos then they who are worthy shall ascend to Heaven Justin M. being asked by Trypho whether he believed That Jerusalem should be rebuilt Pag. 306. and the Christians should be gathered together there with Christ and the Patriarchs and Prophets Answers thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have before confessed unto thee that I and many others are of this
all things which words do not establish but with the greatest Evidence destroy this vain Tradition And First That the words of Malachy Mal. iv 5 6. Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet c. cannot be understood of our Lord's Second Coming to pass Judgment on the World will be exceeding Evident from these considerations 1. That this Forerunner was to come the Lord there mentioned to follow before the Ruine of the Jewish Temple this is evident from these words Behold I will send my Messenger Mal. iij. 1 2. and he shall prepare my way before me and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his Temple For that the Messenger in this Third Chapter is the same with Elijah the Prophet in the Fourth Chapter will be apparent 1. From the Office of this Messenger which was to come before the Face of the Lord or to be his Forerunner as the Elijah mentioned Chapter the ourth was to be and as John Baptist was 2. From the Consideration of the work he was to do Mal. iij. 1. This Messenger being to prepare the way before him as the Elijah promised also was to do by turning the Hearts of the Fathers to the Children and of the Disobedient to the Wisdom of the Just And as the Angel doth inform us that the Baptist should do for saith the Angel He shall go before him in the Spirit and Power of Elias to turn the Hearts of the Fathers to the Children and of the Disobedient to the Wisdom of the Just to make ready a People prepared for the Lord. 3. Luk. i. 17. From the consideration of the Day of his Coming mentioned Chapter the Third as a Day so dreadful that few could abide it or stand when he appeareth by reason of the Severity of the Judgments which should then befal them vers 2. And Chapter the Fourth as a Day great and terrible Since then the Lord here mentioned was to come suddenly seeing he was to come to hi◠Temple 't is certain that the Day of his coming was to be before the Temple was destroyed and therefore could not be the Day of Judgment 4. This will be further evident from the Consideration of the persons to whom this Messenger and this Elijah were both sent Chap. iij. 1. for the Messenger was sent to them who then sought for the Lord and delighted in the Messenger of the Covenant vers 3. vers 4. he was to be his Messenger who was to purifie the Sons of Levi to make the Offerings of Judah and Jesusalem pleasant to the Lord. He therefore was a Messenger peculiarly sent to them to reprove them for their Sins and to declare unto them such things as concerned them and not such things as were common to the whole World. Accordingly Elijah the Prophet was sent to them that fear'd his name Chap. iv v. 2. to them who were obliged to remember the Law of Moses vers 4. which he commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel This Day of Terror therefore must be chiefly that which did concern that Nation And lastly This Elias was to come to call Men to Conversion and Repentance for which was a fit Season at our Lord's first coming whereas at his second coming there will be no time for Repentance but for the Destribution of Rewards and Punishments He was to come to turn the Hearts of the Fathers c least God should smite the Earth Becherem i. e. the Inhabitants of Judah with Destruction so that the Ruine threatned here might be prevented by Repentance and Conversion whereas the general Day of Judgment cannot be thus prevented but will certainly come in the appointed time The only Objection that is considerable against this Assertion Object is That the Day spoken of Chapter iv vers 5. is represented as a dreadful Day which seemeth proper to the Day of Judgment whereas the Day of Christ's first coming is not so called but rather an Acceptable Day and a Day of Salvation To this I Answer Answ That the Day of our Lord's first coming considered as reaching to the Destruction of Jerusalem was indeed a very dreadful and terrible Day Thus in the Prophet Joel we read of a Day of the Lord described in the same Expressions Joel ij 31. The Sun shall be turned into Darkness and the Moon into Blood before the great and terrible Day of the Lord come and yet St. Peter speaking of what was done after our Lord's Ascention and citing these very words saith Acts ij 16. This was that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel Moreover our Blessed Lord speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the miseries that should befal that very Generation saith Luk. xxi 22. Mat. xxiv 21. These shall be the days of Vengeance such days of Tribulation as never were from the beginning of the World and never shall be afterwards Yea Vid Dr. Pocock in Mal. 3. v. 2. the Tradition of the Jews doth in their Talmud make mention of such great Afflictions which should happen in the days of their Messiah unto Israel that happy should he be who did not see them Which notwithstanding this day might well be stiled an Acceptable Day a Day of Salvation to them who received our Jesus as their Saviour believed in him and obeyed his Sayings according to the words of the Prophet Malachy Behold the Day cometh which shall burn as an Oven c. Mal. iv 1 2. but to you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his Wings Whence after this most terrible description our Lord speaks thus to his Disciples Luk. xxi 18 19. vers 28. Be not ye terrified when these things shall happen in Patience possess your Spirits for there shall not one Hair of your Heads perish when these things come to pass then look up and lift up your Heads for your Redemption draweth nigh Secondly That the Elias of whom the Prophet Malachy speaks § 4 was not the Tisbite or that it is not there asserted that he who in the Reign of Ahab was carried into Heaven should be in person sent as the Fore-runner of our Lord's second Advent will be evident from these Considerations 1. Because Elias the Tisbite came not upon the Errands mentioned there to prepare the way of the Lord or turn the Hearts of the Disobedient to the Wisdom of the Just before the ruin of Jurusalem and the destruction of the Temple as the Elijah promised by the Prophet was to do and did 2. 'T is certain that the Messenger described by the Prophet as the Fore-runner of the Lord and of his Day was John the Baptist for so our Saviour doth expresly teach us saying This John is he of whom it is written Matth. xi 10. Luk. vij 27 28. Behold I send my Messeger before thy Face to prepare thy way before thee There hath not risen among Men a greater Prophet
follows 1. § 5 That the renowned Scribes and Doctors of the Jewish Church were all mistaken in their Interpretation of this place of Malachy That they and the whole Jewish Church had entertained a false Tradition in a matter of so great Consequence as the Fore-runner of their true Messiah for they all had embraced it as a Tradition That Elias was to come in Person before the first Appearance of the true Messiah Trypho apud Justin M. p. 268. they all interpreted that place of Malachy to that effect and thence concluded as they still obstinately do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That because Elias is not yet come in Person their Messiah was not come And yet this general Tradition of the Jewish Church gives no Assurance of the Truth of this Assertion or if it doth it must be then confessed that their Messiah is not yet come 2. Hence also we may learn how vainly Men pretend to absolute Certainty on the account of Oral Tradition for that Tradition was received as much as highly reverenced and regarded by the Scribes and Pharisees as by the Romanists I hope will easily be granted when we consider how zealous they were for the Customs and Traditions of the Fathers How they advanced the Tradition of the Elders even to the dissolution and making void the Law of God. And how frequent are such Maxims as these among them Vid. Leight in Matth. 15.2 The Words of the Scribes are more worthy than the Words of the Law and more weighty than the Words of the Prophets That the Words of the Elders are more weighty than the Words of the Prophets That they came from the Mouth of Moses as well as the written Law. That the written Law is narrow but the Traditional is longer than the Earth and broader than the Sea. And yet these Patrons of Tradition had not only generally received such Traditions as made void the Law of God but also such Traditions touching their Messiah his Fore-runner his temporal Kingdom his glorious Reign on Earth c. as gave Occasion to their Rejecting of him when he came If then the Jewish Church might pretend to oral Tradition as much as that of Rome and yet receive such Falshoods as Tradition which did evacuate the Law of God and cause them to reject their Saviour why may not they of Rome receive such Falshoods for Tradition as do evacuate the Law of Christ If the People were deceived and abused by following their Traditions why may not others be equally deceived in following the supposed Traditions of the Church of Rome 3. § 6 Hence also it will follow That the Tradition of the Doctors of the Christian Church can be no certain Evidence in Matters of meer Speculation or of Interpretation of Scripture that what they thus deliver is the Truth for they have generally taught from the third Century That Enoch is to come in the last days to resist Antichrist and be slain by him without the least appearance of any Ground for this Tradition And they have taught more generally even from the Second Century That Elias the Tisbite is to come in Person before our Saviour's second Advent and grounded this their Doctrine upon the Words of Malachy and of St. Matthew against the plain Assertion of our Lord and the most clear convincing Evidence that John the Baptist and he only was that Elias which according to the Prophecy of Malachy was to come as the Fore-runner of our Saviour In a word the Tradition of the Millennium of the Appearance of Enoch and Elias seem to have had their Rise from the Jewish Converts zealous of the Tradition of their Fathers and from them not from the Apostles to have gain'd Reputation in the Christian Church And the Tradition of Prayers for the Dead seems to have had the same Original But now if a Tradition hath been very ancient § 7 and can by Reason be demonstrated to have derived from the Apostles or to be worthy of Acceptation upon rational Grounds then it is sit to be embraced as such For Instance First We have it from Tradition That presently after the Apostles times all Churches were governed by Bishops presiding over Presbyters and Deacons as their lawful Governors whence we inferr we have just Reason to believe this form of Government was Apostolical since otherwise the Government left in all Churches by the Apostles must in the immediate following Age have been not only changed but corrupted every where But that in the frame and Substance of the established Government of the Church a thing always in use and practice there should be so suddain a Change so universal a Corruption in so short a time and that all Christians without the least Opposition that we read of De praescript c. 28. should conspire in this Corruption is a thing morally impossible For as Tertullian argues in like Case Variasse debuerat Error doctrinae Ecclesiarum quod autem apud omnes unum est non est erratum sed traditum What all Christian Churches did so early agree in practising Vniformly came not by Error but Tradition Moreover it is clearly proved by the most learned Bishop of Chester L. 2. c. 13 prima Assertio p. 157 c. That the Writers of the Second Century distinctly mention the several Orders of Bishops and their inferior Presbyters in the same Church and thereby give us Reason to conclude that this Disparity was generally setled in that Age. Now how improbable it is that either such a Change as must be here supposed were this an Innovation should happen unadvisedly or thorough Negligence or that the whole Church should have conspired so early to swerve from the established Order by placing Bishops above Presbyters without Complaint or the Resistance of any single Person that we hear of will appear if we consider 1. The Subjects of this Constitution viz. The Persons appointed by the Apostles to govern and preside in every Church they being constant Objects of every Persons common Sence seen in every Assembly imploy'd in every ecclesiastical Affair publick and private in which all Christians Sick or Well Living or Dying were concerned we may reasonably conceive that which some of the Apostles to gain upon the Jews did observe the Christian Feast of Easter on the Fourteenth Day of the Moon others might have mistaken this compliance as if the Apostles had judged that the fittest time for Christians of succeeding Ages to observe it in or that when they heard of an Elias to come before the terrible Day of the Lord or of the Reign of Christ on Earth a Thousand Years represented to St. John in a Vision they might mistake the genuine import of those Scriptures and of others of like nature but in a matter of this kind which was the daily object of the Senses of all Christians we cannot easily conceive how they could possibly mistake and not perceive that such a change was made if really it
of the Church of Rome and to believe them as true and uncorrupt as are the Copies of the Holy Scripture But saith Mr. M. § 16 Pag. 399. When we believe that the Copies which we have now of these Books be not forged nor corrupted Copies but truly agree with the Originals given out by the Apostles we trust to the Tradition of all the after Churches that have been in every Age from the Apostles to this very present Church for it is as much in the Power of the Church in any one of these Ages to have thrust a false Copy into their Hand instead of a true one as to thrust a false Tradition into the Mouth of every Catholick every where in place of a true one This Argument in the mouth of a Jew Reply First pleading for those Traditions which were rejected by our Lord and his Apostles runs to this effect It was as much in the power of the Jewish Church to have thrust a false Copy into the Hands of the Jews instead of a true one as to thrust a false Tradition into the Mouth of every Jew every where instead of a true one if therefore their received Traditions actually were false as your Christ and his Apostles taught you can have no assurance of the Copies on which you depend for proving your Jesus to be the true Messiah are not false We say it is not in the power of any of the latter Ages Secondly to corrupt the Originals without corrupting not only all the written Manuscripts but also all the Writings of that Christian Church in which those Scriptures have been cited and all the Commentaries on them and all the Translations of them into all Languages 'T is therefore evidently false That it is as much in the Power of the Church in any one Age to have thrust a false Copy into the Hand of all Christians instead of a true one as to deceive them with a false Tradition instead of a true one No Protestant ever asserted or imagined that the whole Church was either willing or able Thirdly in any point of Doctrine to change at once and in one Age the true Tradition for a false No they unanimously say These Tares were sown by the Enemy whilst Men slept that they came in by degrees and insensibly got Ground by little and little in one Age the Dispute was raised the Opinion broached by some Man of Vogue and Credit in the next it passed for probable in the following Age for an Ecclesiastical Doctrine and in the next advanced into an Article of Faith. Thus for Example Images for the first Three Centuries were disregarded by all Christians the first thing they taught their Proselytes was to contemn them In the Fourth and Fifth Centuries they crept into some few Churches by way of Ornament and symbolical Representation In the Sixth and Seventh Centuries they begun to be received for Instruction and historical Commemoration In the Eighth Century in Italy and in the East they advanced to the Veneration of them though this Novelty met with great opposition in the East till the Tenth Century and in the West till the Thirteenth Century Communion in one Kind came in among some Monks in the Eleventh Century by reason of their negligence and rudeness which made their Governors not trust them with the Cup least they should spill it In the Twelfth Century it began to take place in minoribus Ecclesiis in lesser Churches The Approbation of Thomas Aquinas made it still more prevail in the Thirteenth Century and in the beginning of the Fifteenth Century it was established for a Law. FINIS A TREATISE OF TRADITIONS PART II. Imprimatur Liber cui Titulus A Treatise of Traditions Part II. July 12. 1688. Guil. Needham RR. in Christo P. ac D.D. Wilhelmo Archiep. Cant. a Sacr. Domest A TREATISE OF TRADITIONS PART II. Shewing the Novelty of the pretended Traditions of the Church of ROME as being I. Not mentioned by the Ancients of their Discourses of Traditions Apostolical truly so called or so esteemed by them Nor II. In their avowed Rule or Symbol of Faith. Nor III. In the Instructions given to the Clergy concerning all those things they were to teach the People Nor IV. In the Examination of a Bishop at his Ordination Nor V. In the Ancient Treatises designed to instruct Christians in all the Articles of their Faith. VI. From the Confessions of Romish Doctors WITH AN ANSWER to the Arguments of Mr. Mumford for Traditions And a Demonstration That the Heathens made the same Plea from Tradition as the Romanists do and that the Answer of the Fathers to it doth fully justifie the Protestants Jam primo quod in nos generali accusatione dirigitis divortium ab institutis majorum considerate etiam atque etiam ne vobiscum communicemus crimen istud ecce enim per omnia vitae ac disciplinae corruptam immo deletam in vobis antiquitatem recognosco Exclusa ubique antiquitas in negotiis in officiis totam auctoritatem majorum vestra auctoritas dejecti◠Tertullianus ad Nationes lib. 1. Cap. 10. LONDON Printed by J. Leake for Awnsham Churchill at the Black Swan in Ave-Mary Lane MDCLXXXIX THE PREFACE The Contents Shewing First That the Lord's Day is mentioned in Scripture as a known Festival Day a Day which bore Christ's Name and on which Christians did assemble for Religious Worship 1. From those words Rev. 1.10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day § 1. 2. From 1 Cor. xvi 2. § 2. 3. From Act. xx 7. § 3. 4. From the unanimous and uncontroulled Testimony of the Fathers from the first and purest Ages of the Church § 4. And shewing Secondly That the Apostles were commissionated from the Lord Christ or were directed by his Spirit to appoint this a day of publick Worship in Honour of our Lord and in remembrance of his Resurrection § 5. The Romanists can shew no such Tradition for any of the contested Doctrines § 6. Mr. M's Argument retorted against the sufficiency of Tradition to establish this Doctrine by shewing that there is no Tradition for abstaining wholly from servile Work upon that Day but rather the contrary § 7. The not observing of this Day through ignorance of our Obligation so to do is not destructive of Salvation § 8. The Command for remembring the Seventh Day from the Creation to rest upon it from all manner of Work was Ceremonial and not Moral this proved 1st From Reason § 9. 2dly From the Words and Actions of our Saviour § 10. 3dly From Gal. iv 10 11. § 11. 4thly From Col. ij 14 16 17. § 12. 5thly From the unanimous assertion of the Fathers § 13. Mr. M's first Objection from God's Blessing and Hallowing this Day Answered § 14. His second Objection from those Words of Christ If thou wilt enter into Life keep the Commandments Answered § 15. His third Objection That Saint Paul frequented Synagogues on
either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Great Lord's day or the Paschal Lord's day and being constantly in those first Ages distinguished from and in their enumeration of their Festivals opposed to the Lord's day Moreover the Easter Feast seemeth not to have been so Ancient as the Apostles Vision for then it would have been observed uniformly as the Lord 's day was whereas the Eastern and the Western Churches differed much about it and that very difference demonstrates that the Lord 's day was the more ancient because the Question was Whether the Eastern Festival should be kept on the Lord's day only or on the day of the Full-Moon as by the Jews it was on what day of the Week soever that did happen And whereas Mr. M. asks P. 207. How prove you that it was not Christmas or Ascention day I Answer 1st That we have no Evidence from Antiquity that either of these Festivals were then observed much less that they were then known to the Christian World under that Appellation 2dly The common Consent of all Interpreters and the perpetual Practice of the Church in all Ages from Saint John to Ignatius his Scholar and so downwards to this day do give the name of the Lord's day to Sunday and to no other Festival of the Church Weekly or Annual sufficiently instructs us what Saint John understood by the Lord's day 3dly Observe That whatsoever in the Scripture hath the Lord's Name and Subscription on it as the Lord's Temple the Lord's Offerings the Lord's People the Lord's Priests was consecrated to the Service of Jehovah the Lord of the Old Creation wherefore the day which had so early the Name and Superscription of the Lord Christ upon it must be supposed to be Holy to the Lord of the New Creation and consecrated to his Service For as the Jewish Sabbath being called the Lord 's Sabbath or the Sabbath of Jehovah was by that Title known to be a day Sanctified to Jehovah as Creator so this day being called the Lord 's day is by this Note as certainly known to be a day consecrated to the Service of the Lord Christ And as the Lord 's Supper is stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Supper of the Lord the Sacramental Table 1 Cor. xi 20. x. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Table of the Lord the Sacramental Wine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Cup of the Lord either because the Sacrament was instituted immediately by the Lord Christ to be observed to his Second Coming Or Secondly Because it was appointed for the remembrance of the Lord 's Death and Passion till that time even so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord's day must be so called for one of these two Reasons or for both viz. Because it was enjoined by Christ or by Directions given to his Apostles to command the Observation of it as a Day to be devoted to the Service of our Lord Christ or because it was by the Apostles so observed in memory of our Lords Resurrection and was from them received as a day to be observed for all future Generations of the Church And that this day was certainly observed by the Apostles and by the Christians who lived in their daies in Honour of our Lord is evident from what hath been already proved For if it were then known to Christians by the Name of the Lord's day and if so be the Lord's day must import a day that is consecrated to the Service of the Lord 't is clear that they must then observe it as such or act against the knowledge of their Duty if when Saint John received this Vision it were known to be a day devoted to the Service of the Lord Christ it must be known to be thus consecrated to his Service by some who had Authority sufficient so to do that is at least by those Apostles and Rulers to whom Christ had committed the Guidance of his Church and the determination of that outward Worship he required from his Disciples What they thus consecrated to his Service must be devoted either by virtue of their positive Institution or by their practice only if by virtue of their Institution then is it granted that this day is of Divine and Apostolical Institution if by their Practice only yet is it granted that this day was constantly observed by those Apostles who were assisted in their Actions by the Holy Ghost that 't was by their Example commended to the practice of all Christians and therefore be alone can alter this Apostolical Tradition who better knows the mind of Christ than they did and is more able to discern what Service is well pleasing to him than they were Secondly § 2 This Practice will sufficiently appear from other Scriptures which either presuppose or else directly shew this was a day observed in the Apostles time Saint Paul in his Epistle to the Church of Corinth writeth thus Now concerning the Collection for the Saints as I have ordained for the Churches of Galatia 1 Cor. xvi 1 2. so do ye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon the first day of the week let every man lay by him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gathering when I come Where observe First That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth certainly signifie the first day of the Week the day of our Lord's Resurrection from the dead for the Four Evangelists do with one Voice averr That our Lord Jesus did arise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first day of the week Matth. 28.1 Mark 16.2 Luke 24.1 John 20.1 Nor can this reasonably be doubted by any who believe the Scriptures Moreover Saint Mark doth clearly so interpret the Phrase for the Sabbath being over saith he Mary Magdalene and others came 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 early the first day of the week and found Christ risen and v. 9. he adds That Christ was risen early 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is by the consent of all Interpreters upon the first day of the week Saint Luke observes Luke 23.56 That they rested on the Sabbath day according to the Commandment and then adds That they came unto the Sepulchre 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on the first day of the week Secondly This may be Argued from the succeeding Practice of the Church which in compliance with this Precept still offer'd their Alms upon this Day for Justin M. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apol 2. p. 98 99. who flourished in the next Age to the Apostles tells the Heathen Emperor in his Apology That 't was the Custom of Christians to meet on the Lord's day to Pray to hear the Word to receive the Sacrament and then saith he they who are rich and willing give what they think fit and what is thus collected is laid up in the hands of the President who distributes it to Orphans and Widows and other Christians Locuples dives es dominicum observare te credis qui
the Lord's Day had been of the same nature we may suppose the Apostles would not have failed to inform the Christian Churches That this was their own Constitution not the Lord 's which since they did not we may presume that they in this as well as other things did only what they received from the Lord. And lastly the Apostle doth command the Christians to observe the Traditions which they had received 2 Thess 2.15 whether by Word or by Epistle and therefore must command them to observe that day which by Tradition from the Apostles was certainly delivered to them But against these Arguments it is Objected Object That we read in Scripture of many things ordained by the Apostles which are now laid aside viz. The Kiss of Charity the Love-Feast the Anointing with Oil the abstaining from things strangled and from blood and therefore cannot rationally conclude the Lord 's day ought to be observed perpetually and unalterably because it was ordained by those Apostles who were assisted by the Holy Ghost To this I Answer Answ That Apostolical Constitutions which concern the whole Church must be esteemed invariable and perpetual if they have these Conditions First That they were made upon such Grounds and Reasons as equally concern the whole Church of all Ages and there hath happened since no alteration of Circumstances which made it reasonable then to observe what now we have no Reason to perform v. g. The Anointing of the Sick was a Ceremony annexed to the extraordinary Gift of Healing which ceasing this Appendix of it ceased with it not by any repeal of the Church but by expiration as all the Constitutions of Saint Paul touching the use of Tongues did with the failure of that Gift The Law which obliged the Gentile to abstain from things Strangled and Blood was designed only to avoid offending the weak Jew there being therefore none such now nor any hopes remaining of their Conversion by this Abstinence that Law must cease not by a positive repeal but by cessation of the Cause or Reason of it according to those known Rules Sublatâ causâ tollitur effectus ratio legis est lex Take away the Cause and the Effect ceaseth Secondly When they are not about some lesser Ceremonies or Circumstances which in tract of time may become subject to abuse and hindrance to a greater good and for that reason may be dispensed with and abrogated by the Church by virtue of that general Rule of doing all things to Edification but about Matters of great Moment such as concern the Service of our Great Master and the time to be set apart for the performance of it For Instance touching the Kiss of Charity all that Saint Paul or Peter have delivered concerning it is this That some times or other Christians should testifie their mutual affection to each other by a Kiss and that this Kiss be not a wanton or dissembling one but an Holy one or a true Kiss of Charity and in this sence 't is still continued among Christians Moreover 't is of it self a thing indifferent and only good as 't is an indication of true Charity and therefore is equivalently continued by all Acts of Christian Charity The Love Feasts were designed for the Refreshment of the Poor by what the Rich brought to the Holy Sacrament to be eaten by them at that Feast of Love and since it after happened through the looseness of Christians that great Disorders were committed in those Feasts they being made occasions not of Divisions only but of Intemperance and Drunkenness they were universally disused in the Fourth Century and converted into a more unexceptionable Charity to be distributed among the Poor according to that never failing Rule That where the abuse is greater than the use of a Ceremony if the intended use may be obtained other wife Abusus tollit usum the abuse makes it reasonable to cease the usage of that Rite Thirdly If they have been universally neceived through the whole Christian World from the Apostles times unto our daies not that the neglect of this Observation by any Church in any Age or Ages could have rendered this Ordinance invalid or not obliging to Posterity but because the continuance of it from the time of its first Practice or Institution to this present moment is a just Presumption that all Christians have been always satisfied and well assured of their Obligation to comply with it and that no Christians can have any cause to vary from it Now all these three particulars here meet For 1. This Christian Festival hath always been observed in all place◠and throughout all Ages of the Church 2. It was observed by all Christians for these very Reasons 1st That as the Jews by Observation of the Sabbath professed to own the Lord of the Creation for their God and themselves to be his Servants so they by Observation of the Lord Christ might own him as their Lord and Master who was the Lord of the New Creation 2dly As they observed their Sabbath in Commemoration of the Blessings procured to them by the Creation so the Christians observed the day of our Lord's Resurrection in thankful Remembrance of the inestimable Blessings procured and consigned to them by it Non Dominicum diem timerent enim ne Christiani viderentur Now sure this solemn Act of owning Jesus for our Lord on which account Tertullian says The Heathens feared to observe the Lord's Day is a Duty of the highest moment and surely the Blessings partly purchased partly confirmed to us by our Lord's Resurrection must as well deserve a day to be employed in solemn and in grateful commemoration of them as the Mercies which the Creation did conferr upon Mankind and so this Constitution must be concerning Matters of great Moment And 3dly These are never failing Reasons and such as render it as necessary now to observe this day and will do so for ever and no Man ever can refuse the Observation of this day without being careless to own Christ for his Lord or to return Thanks for the Benefits of his Resurrection or without opposing yea condemning the Wisdom of the Apostles and the whole Christian World to this very day Moreover This Assertion is confirmed by the concurring suffrage of the Ancient Fathers for Justin M. Apol. 2. p. 99. speaking of the Observation of this day saith That our Lord arising from the dead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taught these things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De laudibus Constant p. 664. Eusebius saith That Christ hath prescribed to all the Inhabitants of the World by Sea and Land that coming together into one place they should celebrate as a Festival the Lord's day In time past saith Athanasius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Sement p. 1060. the Sabbath was of great account which Solemnity the Lord translated to the Lord's day nor do we set light by it without his Authority In a word So Athanas Serm.
but never to Tradition the Prophets do exhort them for their direction to repair to the Law Esai 8.20.34.16 Mal. 4.4 and to the Testimonies to the Book of the Lord. To remember the Law of Moses which he commanded them in Horeb for all Israel with the Statutes and Judgments as their only certain Rule and Direction Now that the ordinary Succession of Prophets was to cease from the Days of Malachy to the Times of Christ whereas had Oral Tradition also been their Rule the Prophets must have had like reason to call upon them to remember that Moreover God only calls upon them by Moses To do all the Words of this Law which are written in this Book and promiseth his Favour and Acceptance of them upon that account saying If thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God Deut. 30.9 10. Vers 15. to keep his Commandments and Statutes which are written in this Book of the Law I will rejoice over thee for Good. See I have set before thee this day life and good and death and evil And David speaketh thus unto King Solomon 1 Kings 2.3 Keep the Charge of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways to keep his Statutes and his Commandments and his Judgments and his Testimonies as it is written in the Law of Moses that thou maist prosper in all that thou dost and whithersoever thou turnest thy self If then the Observation of what was written in the Law of Moses was sufficient to procure Life Favour Prosperity and Acceptance with God surely this written Law must be a perfect Rule and must sufficiently contain all that was needful to be believed or done unto those ends Hence is the King commanded to write him a Copy of this Law in a Book that he might learn to fear the Lord God Deut. 17.18 19. and to keep all the words of this Law and these Statutes to do them and to perform the words of the Covenant which are written in this Book 2 Chron. 34.31 is to keep God's Commandments his Testimonies and his Statutes with all the Soul and with all the Heart Whereas had Oral Tradition been any part of their Rule they must have been obliged equally to observe what was delivered by it and all God's Statutes and Commandments could not be written in this Book as it is so expresly and frequently declared that they were Our Saviour in like manner bids them Search the Scriptures Joh. 3.39 because they thought in them they had eternal Life in which apprehension had they been deceived as they must have been provided that there was another Law of Oral Tradition given to lead them unto Life eternal our Saviour doubtless would have informed them of this dangerous Error which yet he was so far from doing that when a Lawyer puts the Question to him What shall I do that I may inherit eternal Life Luk. 10.25 26. he Answers What is written in the Law how readest thou This do and thou shalt live Luk. 16.29 And sends the Jews to Moses and the Prophets that by hearing them they might avoid the coming to the Place of Torments but neither he nor his Disciples do ever send them to Tradition or speak one word in approbation of it which is sufficient Evidence that they knew nothing of this Rule of Mr. M. 2dly § 6 The Traditions concerning Doctrines generally believed and Practices needful to be performed among them after the Law was written by Moses and after God had given them a Charge upon the ceasing of the Succession of his Prophets to remember and stick close unto it I say the Traditions which obtained in the Jewish Church as far as we have any certain intimation of them were such as tended to the evacuating of the Law of Moses to the renouncing of the true Messiah and to the introduction of vain Worship and superstitious Observances whence it demonstratively appears that Oral Tradition was not then a certain Rule nor could the Jewish Nation be obliged by divine Precept to receive it as such To make this Evident consider 1. That our Saviour often sends the Jews to Scripture to Moses and the Prophets but never to Tradition 2. That he still represents the great Asserters of Tradition in the Jewish Nation Matth. 15.14.23.16 17 19. Mat. 15.10 11. to wit their Elders Scribes and Pharisees as blind Guides leading of the Blind as Fools and Blind confuteth their Traditions though generally received before all the People Mark 7. Mat. 12.7 Matth. 15.13 justifies his Disciples in the neglect and violation of them pronounces them Plants which his Father had not planted and therefore such as should be rooted up 3dly He plainly tells them That by these Traditions they did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 transgress make void Mark. 7.10 and null the Commandment of God. He shews this by plain Instances in their evacuating the Fifth Commandment by their Traditions in observing and enjoining such Traditions touching the Observation of the Sabbatick Rest Matth. 12.7 Matth. 12.12 Luk. 6.9 Mark 3.5 Luke 13.15 Matth. 23.16 23. as contradicted that great Law of God I will have mercy and not sacrifice and made it unlawful to do good and preserve Life upon that day and which sufficiently demonstrated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the blindness of their Minds and their Hypocrisie and in absolving them from their Oaths out of an ignorance so Gross as knew not they were virtually made to God. He also charges them that by thus teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of Men Matth. 15.9 they rendered God's Worship vain 4thly It is extreamly evident that by virtue of some of these Traditions they rejected the true Messiah and stood obliged by them so to do For First It is most certain that the Jews had a Tradition generally received among them That their Messiah should be a Temporal Prince that at his Coming he should restore the Kingdom to Israel he should subdue the Nations under them and should erect a Temporal Dominion in the Jewish Nation over all their Enemies Trypho the Jew declares to Justin M. That Dial. p. 249. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Scriptures do compel us to expect a great and glorious Messiah who shall receive as the Son of Man from the ancient of Days an everlasting Kingdom In Celsum l. 2. p. 78. not such a mean despised one as was your Jesus The Jews saith Origen say That their Prophets represent their Messiah to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great Person and a Potentate and Lord of the whole Earth and of all the Heathens and their Armies De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 31. Josephus confesseth there was an obscure Oracle found in their S. Books 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That about that time one of Judea should govern the World. Suetonius and Tacitus say In Vespas c 4. Hist l. 5. That it was in the whole East Vetus constans opinio ut