A Treatise of Divine worship, tending to prove that the Ceremonies imposed vpon the Ministers of the Gospell in Enland, in present controversie, are in their vse vnlawfull.
CHAP. I. Of divine worship in generall.
DIVINE worship is any actiō or service that is immediatlie and directlie performed vnto God him selfe, whether the true God or a false, whether commanded by divine authoritie, imposed by humane, or assumed vpon our owne heads & pleasures. For in this latitude of sense is divine worship to be cōceaved, [Page 4]that it may comprehend vnder it both true and false worship.
2. Though all Actions and services that Man performeth vnto Man are not partes of civill worship, yet every Action and Service that man performeth directly to God, is a parte of divine worship, and ought meerely to concerne his own glorie. It being impossible to imagine how the creature should performe any service, or doe any action to the Creator him selfe but worship. For the ground of worship is the sence of some excellent eminencie of goodnes in the partie worshipped & defect and inabilitie to doe an answerable good to a good receaved in the partie worshipping, for wee need not to worship God, if we could be as good to him as he is to vs, & therfore (except we should mock him) because receaving all good from him, we are not able to doe the least good vnto him, all that we can doe, is to worship [Page 5]him, that is, to glorifie him aboue all thinges; & debase our selues before him as nothing in his presence.
3. All speciall things therfore done in the service and worship of God, is worship: and a part of that honor that is done vnto him. And what so ever speciall thing done in divine service, is not a speciall honor and worship vnto God, must needes be a dishonor and abuse of his Maiesty, who requireth nothing but worship at our handes, & vnto whom we can not possibly doe any other good.
4. If therefore a man shall doe any speciall action in the service of God, of which there is no vse out of the same: and that action so done, bring no speciall honor to God; the doing of it is a profanatiō of the name of God. For all speciall actions done in the Service of God, must either bring speciall honor to God, or els they must needes dishonor him.
[Page 6] 5. Divine worship is Internal only or Externall also. Internall worship is meerely spirituall, & performed only within the temple of mans heart, of which none are witnesses but God & a mans owne conscience. All the inward motions of the hart directed vnto God are partes of this worship, as faith, hope, confidence, love, feare and ioy in God, &c. which are all of them diverse actes & partes of Inward worship, in every one of which God is honored. All which spring from the apprehension of our owne wantes, and Gods infinite excellēcy and goodnes towardes vs. We need not proceed anie further in handlinge of this worship, it nothing appertayneth to our present purpose.
6. Externall worship is an expressing and setting forth of the Internall by outward signes and rites: by which as by certaine outwarde bodily shadowes and colors the spirituall & Inward [Page 7]worship of God is made visible and sensible to others.
CHAP. II. Of Ceremonies in generall.
THESE signes and rites are called Ceremonies. A Ceremonie is a corporeall advmbration of some hidden thing in the mind, that it desireth to affect others withall, in some effectuall maner, for by such meanes as these, are the secretes of the soule disclosed and paynted out or figured to our owne and others bodily senses.
2. Such actions properlie are ceremoniall, that are meere shadowes and signes exhibiting nothing but some similitude and resemblance of such things, as man is desirous but not able to exhibite in substance and in deede. And therefore are called cōplements, because in doing thē a man laboureth [Page 8]to supply that in a shadow, that he can not doe in substance. And hence it is that the more vnable a man is to doe that he would, the more he vseth to supply his defect with signes and tokens.
CHAP. III. Of Naturall Ceremonies.
CEremonies are either Naturall or Instituted. Naturall ceremonies are all such voluntary compositions & gestures of the body, as are with moderate deliberation vsed to shadow forth those hiddē motions, affections, and habits of the mind, that are begotten in the mind by some goodnes in those vnto whom they are performed and done; for a man performeth no ceremonie vnto him selfe, but vnto others, and the ground of that ceremonie is in him, vnto whom it is performed.
[Page 9] 2. For example: Authoritie in another begetteth reverence in me. This reverence possessing and affecting my soule, it breedeth in me a desire to manifest it vnto the partie reverēced, but I cannot possibly doe it by any other meanes, but by some bodily shadow and signe, wherevpon nature teacheth me to bow the body; the like may bee said of lifting vp of handes, casting vp the eyes, &c. All of which kind are certaine naturall impressions of the soule made in and vpon the body, endevouring in and by them to make her hidden motions so visible and effectuall, as they may affect our selues & others.
3. Comelines and decency doth especially consist in the vse of Ceremonies of this kinde, and they haue bene ever carefullie observed in the Church of God, aswell before Christ as since, both in her publique and private ministrations; which willfully to neglect, were to sinne against God, [Page 10]and for any to inhibite only vpō their will and pleasure, were impietie. But these Ceremonies in controversie are of another nature as shall afterward appeare.
4. This first kind of Ceremonies the more naturall they are & the more they shall appeare to flow from the free & inforced will, of him that acteth them, the more decent and of greater grace they are, for they are such shadowes as are sent forth from our passions by the light of nature, and are not fit for any other vse or signification.
5. And as nature only frameth them well, so if it shal appeare that they proceed from her and are not forced and wrong from men (invita minerva) she putteth into them such a light, that any of ordinarie conceyt may in the signe see the thing signified.
6. These Ceremonies though Naturall and therefore common to all men, yet are they not in all degrees vniversally [Page 11]the same, because havinge their originall from the naturall motions and conceptions of the minde, especially passion & affection, by which they are animated and formed, there being in the stock of mankind such diversitie of natures & dispositions; such diverse degrees of the same inclinations; such a divers composition and minglinge of affections, it can not be but nature must needes vary and bee divers in them.
7. And though they are naturall, yet are they not such as nature by violence forceth and wringeth from men (as the actions of panting and breathinge) such as men cannot at their pleasure abstaine from, or lay downe, for laughter in extreeme mirth, and weeping in great sorrow, though they be naturall impressions and signes of inward and hidden passions, yet are they not Ceremonies; but such signes only are ceremonies, wherein there is [Page 12]concurrence both of nature and will, in the framing and vse of them, as appeareth in the particulars aboue specified; and therefore are such, as may vpon some speciall or particular occasions, be omitted or suppressed.
8. Thus much of naturall ceremonies. Instituted ceremonies are such outward rites and signes as by reason of some Analogie or similitude, are ordeyned and appointed to signifie and shadow forth any mystical truth. They being not brought forth by nature to any such end or purpose: of whiche kinde are all the Iewish Ceremonies, Our Sacramentes, All Paganish & Popish rites, & those Ceremonies in present controversie. For none of al those externall rites, doe by nature signifie any such matter, but their vses & significations are put vpon them only by the wil of the institutor or vser, and are not so much intended for decencie & order, as for solemnitie and state.
[Page 13] 9. Those things that are put to this Ceremoniall vse, being not made by nature to any such end or purpose, must, if they be not vaine and foolish, borrow light from some word of institution, for the more mysticall the Ceremonies of this kinde are and of secreatecsense, of greater grace they are.
10. Naturall Ceremonies, if by institution & appointment they bee put to any other vse thē nature it self hath fitted them vnto, doe loose their name and become Instituted Ceremonies, as kneeling tied to eating and drinking in the Sacrament, &c.
CHAP. IIII. Of civill and religious Ceremonies in generall.
THE vse of both these kindes of ceremonies, that is naturall and instituted, is either in civill services of [Page 14]man to man, or in religious services of man to God from whēce ceremonies receave a second denomination, and are called (whether they be natural or instituted) either Civill or Religious Ceremonies.
2. Civill Ceremonies therfore are such Rites and Ceremonies, as are performed in Civill offices and duties betweene man & man, as they are members of a civill body or incorporation. The right vse whereof is called Civilitie, and the contempt rudenes; the end of civill Ceremonies is to signifie and shadow those inward affections that one man desireth to shew to another, in the due vse of these ceremonies cō sistes humanitie, lowlines, curtesie, good manners, civill state and pompe, &c. because the Ceremonies of this kinde are not controverted, we passe them by.
3. Religious Ceremonies are such outward Rites as are perfourmed in [Page 15]religious duties and services of man to God: and they are outward shadowes of zeale, devotion, faith, holynes, reverence of the maiestie of God, &c.
4. In the vse of these Ceremonies especially doth externall worship cō sist whether true or false.
5. Religious Ceremonies are either Common or Proper: common Ceremonies are such as are equally vsed in civill and religious matters: bowing the knee vsed in prayer, is a religious ceremonie, signifying in that action a Divine reverence of God. Yet it is not a ceremonie peculiar and proper to Religion, because it is a ceremonie that is and may be vsed to the Magistrate, to shadow forth also civill worship due vnto him. Of which nature all naturall Ceremonies seeme to be, and any Instituted Ceremonie may bee, if it haue no reference to Religion in the vse.
6. Though matters of civill order [Page 16]and decencie be very improperly called Ceremonies, they being rather matters of substance, and it being impietie wilfullie and without necessitie to neglect them in the Congregation of Saintes, or to do any thing contrary vnto them: Yet all things tēding therto, may for doctrine sake be referred to this head. For though Gods worship doe not consist in them, yet Gods worship is profaned in the wilfull contempt & neglect of them. Yea as farre forth as naturall and civill decencie & comelines are outward shadowes of inward worship, They may bee safelie reputed partes of diuine worship.
7. Matters therfore of order and decencie in the service of God are all such matters as are drawen from the ordinarie civill customes of men, and which for any to neglect wilfully, would seem to the reason of a natural man a disorderly & vnseemely thing. As to come to the assembly clothed, [Page 17]and that in seemely and usuall apparell, according to our civill callings in the world, to sit there quietlie and in a comely manner, in respect of compositiō of body, to give as much as may be, vpper place to our civill superiours, that the place of mecting be fair swept; that the Table of the Lorde in the time of Communion, bee spread after the civill fashion of the Coū trey, with a faire table-cloth; that men pray bare-headed, &c. These orders vsed in civill meetinges of men, wherein civil decencie is observed and kept, ought not to bee neglected in religious meetings, and therefore they may be called common Ceremonies or orders.
8. These ceremonies of civill order and decencie, are of that nature & necessitie, that for the Magistrate wilfully to inhibite, were [Page 18]sinne in him, and for any particular man not to vse and observe as much as convenientlie hee can, (though authoritie had never enioyned them in particular) were impietie. And therefore they are of a farr different nature from the ceremonies in controversie: For let it be supposed to bee no sinne to vse these when the Magistrate enioyneth thē: yea suppose them to be holy ornamentes and Rites, yet if no authoritie humane or divine had iustituted them, it had bene no sinne for any man to neglect them, nay it were a foule sinne to vse them. For example: Our Lords spirituall enioyne every Minister in Divine service, to weare a white linen Ephod or surplice, they may (if it please them) as lawfully enioyne him to have painted before and behinde, two faire red crosses: but if a private [Page 19]man vpon his owne head should vse his Surplice so, though it bee an honourable signe that he addeth, it would be made a grievous crime.
9. They therefore doe but gull the simple of the world, that from humane authoritie to institute such civill orders as are aboue specified, doe inferre that man hath authoritie to bringe into the service and worship of God such ceremonies, as are cleane of another nature. As though because the Magistrate may ordeine such Ceremonies, as without his ordināce, were impietie for a man not to observe, therefore hee may ordeyne such ceremonies whiche without his ordināce at least, were impietie and wickednes for any to vse.
CHAP. V. Of Ceremonies peculiar to Religion.
THOSE Ceremonies that are proper to Religion are such as in a peculiar manner are tied to religious persons actions and purposes only, especially such as are in a speciall manner tied to the solempne worship of God. In these ceremonies consistes the external forme of divine worship, and they are the outward badges & cognizances of the same.
2. All Ceremonies vsed in the service of God, are either civill ceremonies (to witt such as are also of the same vse out of the service of God) or holy Ceremonies, to wit such wherin holines consistes in the due vse of them; or els they [Page 21]are prophane, that is such as have no vse, or a superstitious vse. The ceremonies in cōtroversie are not For then the bare omission of thē, would argue rudenes and incivilitie. civil ceremonies: again it is graū ted there is no holynes in the vse of them Som nigher his M. haue given it out yt he would (if he could) hang those that put holines in thē., Therefore they are prophane ceremonies, and by consequent not to be mingled with holy things.
3. As there are diversities of religion and Churches, so there are diversities of Rites and Ceremonies by which they are distinguished, and ceremonies are the partitiō walles wherby (for the most parte) one Church is devided frō another. For he that shall with a more narrow eye seeke into these things shall see, that for the most parte, the diversities and varieties of Ceremonies are the begetters of diversitie of doctrines, and opinions, whereby one Religion differeth from another.
[Page 22] 4. The more one Church differeth from another in Rites and Ceremonies, the more it vseth to differ in substance of doctrine; and the more one Church draweth neare vnto another in Ceremonies, the more it draweth neare vnto it in substance of doctrine. The Churches of France & Scotland in substance of doctrine doe so much the more differ from the Synagogue of Rome, by how much the farther they differ from her in Ceremonies, then other Churches; and some in the Church of England that doe strive to come to Rome in Ceremonies, come so much the nearer to her in doctrine, as might appeare by divers instances if the matter were not too too apparent.
5. He that hates the Religion it selfe, hates all the shadowes and shewes of the Religion; & he that [Page 23]loves the shadowes and rytes of a Religion, he loves the Religion it self; he loves a Pope wel that loves the triple Crown; he loves a Fryer well, that dotes vpon his Cowle, and shaven crowne; and out of question he loves a Maspriest with all his heart, that is mad, vpon his massing attire, or any part therof.
6. As it is rudenes and want of civilitie, to neglect or contemne a Civill Ceremonie, so it is prophanes & irreligion to neglect or contemne a Religious Ceremonie: & as outward civilitie consists in the due vse of civill Ceremonies, so outward holines & religion consists in the due vse of all Religious Ceremonies: Those Ceremonies therefore are prophane and not beseeming the true worship of God, that are so far from any shew of holines in the vse of them, that they make the partie that refuseth [Page 24]the vse of them to seeme, and to be reputed pure, holy, and precise, of which nature our Ceremonies in controversie are.
7. As civill Ceremonies tend to the honor of them vnto whō civil worship is due, & is a part therof: So Religious Ceremonies tend to the honor of him vnto whom religious worship is due and is a parte therof, neither can a man possibly imagine how any thing should be religious whether a Substance or a Ceremonie, but it must needes respect him that religion it selfe respecteth, as therefore we performe civill honor vnto those vnto whō we performe civill ceremonies, so we performe Religious & Divine honors vnto those that we obey in a religious ceremonie. They therfore that claime & perform obedience therin, do claime & perform that which is due only to God.
[Page 25] 8. Nothing intended or done by man is an honour to God, but that which is an obedience vnto God in some Commandement. All Ceremonies therefore of Religion that are an honour vnto God, must be commāded by God himselfe: and to bring in such Ceremonies into his worship as are no honour to him, is to mocke God.
9. All Religious Ceremonies or Ceremonies of Religion, are spiritnall, that is, are ordeyned for spirituall vses and endes, and not for civill or temporall, and therefore are outward notes and testimonies of those things that make vs spirituall men, and they are partes of spiritual honor due vnto spirituall authoritie and lordship.
10. All spirituall Lordes may clayme as their due, spiritual worship, and therefore may institute [Page 26]religious Ceremonies: for looke what difference there is betweene humane and divine, Temporall & Spirituall, the same differēce there is betweene the peculiar worship due to the one, and to the other: if therefore Temporal Lords may require all civill rites and honors, Spirituall Lordes may require all Divine and Spirituall rites and honors.
11. Civill honor & reverence onely can not nor ought not to please a Spirituall Lord, hence it is that the Spirituall Lordes of our Church cānot cōtent them selues with such honor that we giue to civill Magistrates and Princes, but we must obey them in peculiar religious duties and services; and surely it is meete that if there bee any such besides Christ, that we performe spirituall homage vnto them, and they are not worthie [Page 27]that high style that wilbe content with temporalls, when spiritualls are due.
12. Those Ceremonies that are enioyned by true spirituall Lords, are truely spirituall & holy, even as spirituall and holy as the Sacraments, though they consist of som things in their own nature indifferent; and those Lordes are not spirituall, that are not able by their sole authoritie and word, to hallow that which before was not holy.
13. Those that can make a Surplice, a Cope, a Crosse, &c. to be ornamentes of Religion and holy Ceremonies: can, whē it pleaseth them, make a shaven Crowne, a Monkes habit, spitle in Baptisme, holy Water, the triple Crowne, & all the Missall rytes, as holy. For they are al of the same nature: and those that can finde no reason to [Page 28]prove those vnholy and vnlawful, would finde none to proove anie other externall Rite to bee so, if they should in the same maner be imposed.
14. Those that have power vpon their owne will and pleasure to bring into Gods service some indifferent thing, may bring in any For all indifferent thinges are of the same nature. indifferent thinge: those that may bring in without special warrant from God, pyping into his service, might aswell bringe in dauncing also; those that haue authoritie to ioyne to the sacrament of Baptisme the sign of the crosse, haue authoritie also (no doubt) to ioyne to the Sacramēt of the Supper, flesh, broth, butter or cheese, and worse matters then those, if they will. Yea, those that have power to make peculiar formes of Religion & worship, have power to make and invent a Religion & [Page 29]worship of their owne.
CHAP. VI. Of Divine worship in speciall, and first of true worship.
THvs much of Divine Worship in generall, both Inward and Outward, & of Ceremonies wherein Outward Worship especially consisteth. Now lett vs in speciall consider the same. Divine worship therefore is eyther true Worship or false.
2. True worship is that immediate service that the true GOD him selfe requireth to bee performed vnto him selfe. In the exercise whereof consisteth true holynes and Religion.
3. True worship both for matter and manner, ought to be according to the prescript rule of [Page 30]Gods word only: neither hath any mortall mā authoritie to frame according to his owne conceyte, any forme or fashion of Gods service and worship; for the manner of worship also must be holy, and not the matter only; and no man hath power to make any thinge holy, that God halloweth not by his word and spirit.
4 All civill furtherances and necessarie circumstances of Gods solemne worship, though they be not essentiall partes of the same, nor by speciall Nomination commaunded: Yet are they to bee esteemed Ordinances of God, and not humane inventions. As God having ordayned that his Saints dwelling together both Men, Women and children, of all sortes and degrees, should ordinarilie at appointed times meet together, it must needs be presupposed to bee [Page 31]his ordinance that they meete together in some such ordinarie places, as are fittest for to receive most commodiouslie such Assemblies: so God having ordeyned that his Ministers should preache or proclayme salvation to a multitude geathered together, and that they should sit at his feete, hath also ordeyned that the Ministers seate should be higher then the rest of the peoples; and the like may bee said of all other such Circumstances of Divine worship, which are matters of so base and low consideration, and so subiect to cōmon sence, that it neither besemeth the maiestie of the worde of GOD in speciall, or humane authoritie derived frō God, to make any lawes in particuler about them; no more then to make lawes that one shold not sit in the Congregation vpon anothers lappe, or one spit vppon [Page 32]anothers clothes, or face: or that men should not make antick faces in the Church.
CHAP. VII. Of false worship.
THVS much of true worship. False worship is such a service of God as hath no warrant from God him selfe: worship is false in matter or manner in whole or in parte; neither can the true matter of worship sanctifie a corrupt maner, or the true manner sanctifie a corrupt matter, or some partes of true worship, or the whole it selfe, sanctifie any parte of false worship that shalbe adioyned to it, or mingled with it.
2. Whatsoever is vnholy and superstitious out of Gods solemne service, can not bee made by the [Page 33]sole appointment & will of man holy and good in the solemne servise of God, but must needes be more vnholy and superstious therein, & therfore a parte of false worship. If for a man to signe him selfe or another in the forchead with the signe of the Crosse out of baptisme, be superstitious and vnholy, it can not be good in Baptisme but a prophanerite.
3. The more light and toyish the thinges seeme to bee that without warrant from God are brought into the worship of GOD, the more wee should abhorre conformitie vnto them, it being a fearfull presumption, to serve God in a toyish manner: for who is he that trembles at the Maiestie of God, that dares vse in his worship any toy and trifle? They are deceaved therefore that thinke that therefore we should not make scruple to vse them because they are toyes.
[Page 34] 4. That is a corrupt manner of worship wherein there is confusion and vndecencie, for all things must be done in the service of God, in decencie, order and comelines, as it is graunted; & vnder the name whereof these ceremonies are obtruded vpon vs: But those things that are vndecent and disorderly in other matters, and of no necessarie vse in Gods worship, can not be matters of order and decency in the service of God, except God him selfe should in a speciall maner commaund them.
5. It being therefore confusion and disorder in civil matters where a multitude ioynes together in a common suite and supplication for all to speake at once the same wordes: and comon wisdome and discretion having taught it to be a decent and orderly ceremonie, that some foreman should speake, and the rest hold their peace, giving only some signe and testimonie [Page 35]of assent: he must be more then a man, that must make it an orderly thing in our generall and ordinarie suites and prayers to God, for all the congregation to open their mouthes together in a prayer, especially sith God hath in speciall appointed the Minister to bee the mouth of the people, and expressely requireth the assent of the people only in the word, Amen.
6. It being a ridiculous disorder in other matters in any solemnitie, where any Deed or Record is to bee read or rehearsed for one to read one period, and another read or say another, how can it by mans witt & wil, without ordinance from God, bee a matter of order, for the Minister to read one verse of scripture, and the people another; for the Minister to say one piece of a prayer, and the people by way of catch, to saye another.
[Page 36] 7. If any thing be vndecent out of the worship of God (the same reason of vndeacency remayning) it is much more vndecent in the worship of God; for the more excellent the thing is, in whiche an vndecent thing is vsed, the more vndecent the thing is that is so vsed. As if it be vndecent to goe naked in any companie, it is much more vndecent to goe so in the Congregation: If fowle apparell be every where else vndecent, it can not be decent in Gods service, though all the Bishops in the world should decree it.
8. An vndecent and disorderly thing the more strictly it is vrged in the service of God, the more daungerous it is to yeelde vnto the same, & so much the more effectuall cause of false worship.
9. If there be some apparell that doeth in speciall maner become the service of God, and deserves to bee [Page 37]appropriated vnto it, thē by the same position there must be some apparell that doeth deforme and disgrace the service and worship of God: for if no apparell can deforme it, then no apparell can bee an ornament or decent forme vnto it.
10. If any apparell doe deforme Gods true worship, it is that apparel, that doth most beautifie and grace the false and Idolatrous worship of God, As that apparell must needes most deforme a wyse man that doth most adorne a foole, and that apparell must needes bee most vnbeseeming a King, that is seemely and decent for a begger.
11. If therefore men would sett their wittes vpon the highest streyne to invent an apparell to disgrace the Ministers of the Gospell, they could not invent a more odious attire then the consecrated attyre of a filthy masse-priest, the most abhominable [Page 38]Idolater in the earth.
12. Those that abhorre Idolatrie as much as they doe beggerie and folly, can not but hate and abhorre the badges of Idolatrie as much as the badges of folly and beggerie, and therefore can not but accompt that priestly attyre that is enioyned vnto vs by our Prelates, an apparell more vnbeseeming the Minister of the Gospell, then a Cloake with a thousand patches, or a coate with foure ellebowes, for beggery and folly being iudgementes and not sinnes, the notes of beggerie and folly can not be so odious in a spirituall eye, as the notes of Idolatry.
13. If it be denyed, that the apparell enioyned is popish, because it was before popery was; this answere may be made. 1. It can never bee proved that it was before popery. For though not all popery, yet some [Page 39]popery was in the Apostles tymes: most of the heresies were before the full revealing of Antechrist which notwithstanding wee fasten vpon them and count popish they having intertained them. If therefore an errour mainteyned before Popery, & retayned by Papistes, deserue the name of a popish errour, why should not vnnecessary apparell, though vsed before, yet entertayned now only by them, and those that receaue it from them, bear the name of Popish attyre. 2. As a Coat of divers colours is a fooles coate, notwithstanding that Ioseph one of the 12. Patriarkes wore one, so a white linen garment is a popish garment though some Ministers in the East Churches did weare them, and yet it can never bee proved that either they wore such a one, as is prescribed vnto vs, or that it was a ministeriall garment and not their ordinary civill attyre, [Page 40]or proper to the Minister only, or if al this, that it was wel done: for there being no one father that wrote since the Apostles times, but haue erred in some matters of Doctrine, why may they not as well erre in matters of ceremonie, if all the true Churches of God beside our own in England, and the greatest parte of the sufficientest Pastors of our owne Church, are held to erre in the generall renouncing of these ceremonies; why might not some few Ministers in the olde Church, as well erre in instituting and vsing them?
14. A corrupt and scandalous Ceremonie in the worship of God is so much the more dangerous and scandalous to others, by how much the more it comes graced and countenanced with lawfull authoritie. A corrupt ceremonie enioyned by a Heathenish Pagan & Tyrāt vnto the Ministers of the Gospell living vnder [Page 41]his iurisdiction, cannot doe so much spirituall hurt, as when it shalbe required by a Christian Magistrate, for the good conceyt of the institutour and ordeinor of a religious Rite, is it that breedes superstition. Those therefore whose special calling from God is, to edifie the soules of men & not to destroy them, ought so much the more to avoid these Ceremonies they iudge & know to be scandalous and hurtfull to the soules of men, by howe much the greater grace and countenance they receaue from the authoritie of man, neither can the commandement of the Magistrate bee a sufficient plea at the barre of Gods iudgment seate for a man that by vertue or force thereof alone, hath done any action (how indifferent so ever in it selfe) that his conscience tels him will scandalize his brother, and so hurt his soule; grosse therfore is the doctrine of them that teach, [Page 42]That Paule (if the Magistrate had commaund him) should haue eaten fleshe, though his brothers soule should haue bene damned for it.
15. The more indifferent an action is in it selfe, the more odious it ought to be vnto vs when we shall perceaue it to hurte our brothers soule, which ought to be a thousand times dearer vnto vs then his body, or our owne liues, for he shewes neither loue nor mercy to his brother, that had rather be the instrument of his everlasting damnation, then omit the doing of a meere indifferent thing, though hee should incurre therefore any bodily punishment whatsoever. That forme therefore of Gods service that consists in the vse of such things indifferent, as experience manifesteth, are a scandall (and by consequent a destruction) to the soules of infinit numbers, ought not to bee vsed of any, much lesse of [Page 43]those, who are called by Christ to feed the soules of men and not to destroy them. How scandalous these Ceremonies are to all, how the omission of them cannot be scandalous to any, but vnto such as are worse scandalized already by embracing them, requires a larger Treatise.
16. No Magistrate that is a Christian will chalenge authoritie to destroy the soule of any man, and therfore he cannot vpon his owne meere will & pleasure without sinne against God, enioyne any thing (not required by God) that evidently tendeth to the destruction of any mans soule; and those subiects that (being ready to performe any dutie that God requireth vnto the Magistrate) shall refuse to doe any such thing so required, and shall patiently and meekely yeeld themselues to any punishment the Magistrate shall thinke good to lay vpon them without resistance, [Page 44]shall A paciant suffring, when wee cannot in conscience obey, is the best obedience. performe more true and loyall obedience vnto his authoritie therein, then any of those that shall yeeld obedience to any lawes of that kind enacted by never so good a Magistrate and (in shew) to never so good an end.
17. No subiect therefore can take any such authoritie from the handes of the Magistrate, which may warrant him to doe any thing that shall evidently destroy his brother soule at any time, much lesse in the service & worship of God wherin all things that are to be done, ought to tende to the edification of his soule in a speciall maner.
18. It is plaine in the word of God, that the kingdome of God (that is) the service and worship of God, standeth not in meates and drinkes, nor any such externall rytes having no authoritie from God. When therefore without any commandement [Page 45]from God, such external things shalbe brought into the service of God, & made the very formes of the same; such Rytes must needs be false worship, and that forme of Gods service must needes bee adulterate, that is made to consist in such thinges. For no authoritie can make that a part of Gods kingdome, that the worde of God doeth expresly deny to be a part thereof.
19. Those Ceremonies therefore in present controversie being meerly by man brought into the worship of God, are by no means to be yeelded vnto, for it is in effect to make the Kingdom of God to cōsist in meats and drinkes or in such like thinges. For if man hath authoritie to make the kingdom of God consist in apparel, &c. he hath also authoritie, if it please him, to make it consist in eating and drinking, & may make them a part of the Liturgie aswel as any of [Page 46]those things that are in controversie.
20. Those peculiar Rites and Ceremonies which are in that maner & forme vsed in the service of God, that if God himself did but ratifie & confirme that present sse of them should then be parts of his true outward worship; must needs as they are vsed (without Gods ordinance) be partes of a false outwarde worship: But our surplices, crosses, kneeling at the Lordes Supper, &c. are such, that if God should but command to vse them as we vse them, that is if hee should require every Minister in divine service to weare a surplice to note ioy, dignitie or sanctitie, or in Baptisme to crosse a child in signe, &c. Nay though he should expresse no vse at all, but barely enioyne the things thēselves to be vsed in his service, yet they should bee partes of Gods true outward worship, for whatsoever God tieth in a [Page 47]peculiar maner to his worship, is a parte thereof. These Ceremonies therfore in controversie having such a vse in the service of God, vnto which they are peculiarly tied, must needes be vsed as partes of Divine worship, for else the bare ratifying of their present vse, could not make them true worship; Being therefore (as they are vsed) partes of divine worship and not parts of true divine worship, because not commanded of God; they are partes of false divine worship, for that divine worship that is not true worship, is false worship.