CHAP. I.

'TIS Observable of Satan that when he temped our blessed Saviour to throw himself Headlong from the Pinacle of the Temple, he urges Psalm 91.11, 12. He shall give his Angels charge con­cerning thee; and in their Hands they shall [Page 2]bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy Foot against a Stone; but the Devil leaves out part of the Verse which made against him, To keep thee in all thy ways, i. e. the ways of God, but not in all thy wandrings from them; wherein it would have been Presumption to ex­pect the Divine protection; the like Course does John Bunyan take, when he urges 1 Cor. 14.15. I will pray with the Spirit, and I will pray with the Ʋnder­standing also; he omits the later part of the Verse, I will sing with the Spirit, and I will sing with the Ʋnderstanding also; and he does not only omit this in the Title Page, but in six or seven Repetitions af­terwards, which no doubt was designedly done, because if he had once mentioned this, it would have been a plain and full Confutation of his Argument deduced from the former part of the Verse, and indeed of his whole Book; for if we may Sing with the Spirit, when we have a form of Words and a Tune also to ob­serve, which is supposed and allowed in our present Practice of Psalmody, Why may we not as well Pray with the Spirit [Page 3]when we have a form of Words before us? Is there not the same Reason for Praying as for Singing with the Spi­rit, when both are done in a form of sound Words? This is such a convinc­ing Proof of the lawfulness of Forms of Prayer, and that those who devoutly use them, may be assisted by the Spirit of God, that it overthrows all his Cavils and Exceptions against them, and strikes his Cause dead; thus the Author stumbles in the Threshold, and discovers the clo­ven Foot in the very entrance, and al­most in every Page of his Book, as is evident from his intolerable Pride and uncharitableness which he shews there­in; of which I shall give you a taste, for to mentionall would be to Transcribe his whole Discourse, Page 14 he says, That Ignorance, Profaness and the Spirit of Envy reigns in the Hearts of those Men that are so hot for Forms of Prayers, &c. scarce one in Forty of them knows what 'tis to be born again, to have Communion with the Father through the Son, &c. they still live Cursed, Drunken, Whorish and Abominable Lives, full of Malice, Envy, Decit, Per­secuting [Page 4]of the dear Children of God; Oh what a dreadful after-clap is coming upon them! Which all their Hypocritical assemb­ling themselves together with all their Prayers shall never be able to help them against, or shelter them from, and p. 43, 44. he says, Every cursed Whoremaster, Theif, and Drunkard, Swearer and Per­jured Person, they that have not only been such in times past, but are even so still, these I say, by some, must be counted the only ho­nest Men, and all because with their Blasphe­mous Throats, and Hypocritical Hearts, they will come to Church and say, Our Fa­ther: Nay farther, these Men, tho' every time they say to God, Our Father, do most abominably Blaspeme, yet they must be com­pell'd thus to do; and p. 45, 46. says he, Give me leave to Reason with thee thou blind ignorant Sot; it may be thy great Prayer is to say, Our Father which art in Heaven, &c. Is not the Devil thy Father? And darest thou say to God, Our Father, &c. But as the Devil presented himself a­mong the Sons of God, Job 1. when they were to present themselves before the Fa­ther, even our Father, so is it now, be­cause [Page 5]the Saints are commanded to say our Father, therefore all the blind ignorant Rabble in the World, they must also use the same Words, Our Father.

These are some of the base, scurrilous and unchristian Reflections he every where bestows on the Members of the Church of England, without excepting any out of that number, making them, as St. Paul affirms himself, and his holy Brethren were accounted in his time, 1 Cor. 4.13. As the filth of the World, and the off-scouring of all things unto this day; and I appeal to all sober and good Men, whether this be not the Language of a pround and uncharitable Spirit, and of a Tongue set on fire of Hell? Jam. 3.6. and as his Malice and Uncharitableness appears in calling us the Children of the Devil, so does his Pride also, in calling himself and his Party Saints, as is mani­fest from the last Passage I quoted out of him, Before the Father, even our Father; to whom the Saints, i. e. such as themselves, may thus address, but none of the blind ig­norant Sots, (as we are) of the World besides.

Page 73, he starts a Question, What would you have us poor Creatures to do that cannot tell how to Pray? &c.

Where, before I give you his Answer, I cannot choose but take notice again of the subtilty of the Man, in suppressing so much of the Objection, as would have made it unanswerable, if he had but fair­ly proposed it, and that is this; How shall we poor Creatures Pray in our res­pective Families, since we have not the Gift of Prayer, which you and others pre­tend to? If it be an evil thing to make use of Forms, to have Prayerless Families is much worse, and that ours must be, if we are denied such needful helps; Now what would John Bunyan say to this untoward Objection? Wou'd they advise these poor Creatures, as I am credibly inform'd, a Non-conformist did a Neighbour of his, when he was desired to compose a form of Prayers for him to use in his Family, viz. that he had better sit down and Groan, I suppose by what follows in my Author, that such poor Creatures must kneel down, for that is a more humble posture than sitting, and groan awhile, and that must [Page 7]for as good a Family Prayer, as if he had said one out of the Practice of Piety; but alas! This will not serve the turn, for what Edification is this to the Fami­ly, altho' they should all groan with him? What reasonable Service is this to present to Almighty God? or, Wherein is this better than the Quakers Silent-Meetings? And if Groaning with ones Family, in­stead of Praying with them be Absurd and Ridiculous, I would fain know what other course such ignorant Masters must Steer, who have not this pretended gift of Prayer? Certainly there is no other Remedy for them but to use the help of some Pious Form, in Praying with their Family, or else they must forbear Praying with them, till they have at­tained this pretended Gift, which per­haps may not be so long as they live; and then they must never Pray with them at all; and so fall under the Curse denounced against such Families as call not on the name of the Lord, Jer. 10.25. Where those that cannot pray in their Fa­milies without it, and yet despise the assistance of a Form, have a form of Prayer made to [Page 8]their Hands, but it is a dreadful one, that Woes and Vengeance in it; which I desire all concern'd therein seriously to consider, lest it fall one day upon their Guilty Heads; But in Answer to this Query, as our Ad­versary has mollified it, what would you have us poor Creatures do, that cannot tell how to Pray &c. he say, poor Heart! Thou canst not, (thou complainest) Pray; canst thou see thy Misery? Hath God shew­ed thee that thou art by Nature under the curse of his Law? If so, do not mistake, I know thou dost Groan, and that most bit­terly; I am perswaded thou canst scarely be found doing any thing in thy Calling but Prayer breaks from thy Heart; Have not thy Groans gone up to Heaven from every corner of thy House? I know 'tis thus, and so also doth thine own sorrowful Heart Witness thy Tears, thy forgetful­ness of thy Calling, &c. is not thy Heart so full of desires after the things of another World, that many times thou dost forget the things of this World?

What abominable Pride and fulsome Flattery is this? He is perswaded of his own Party that Prayer breaks from their [Page 9]Heart in every thing they are doing, tho' he does not hear them utter one Word to that purpose; he knows they groan most bitterly in every corner of their House, as if he were by, and heard, and saw, and followed these poor Creatures from one Room to another; he has the Confidence to say more than once; I know 'tis thus with them; but when he is speaking of some of our People, he has the impudence to say, scarce one in Forty of them knows what 'tis to be born again, and to have Communion with God, and this he is as sure of as he is of the Heart breaking Prayers and bitter Groans of his own dear Brethren, and as if he had seen and read the Book of Life. John Bunyan can tell how few of us, scarce one in Forty, and how many of them, yea, all his own poor Creatures have every one of their Names written therein; and he lays down one Mark whereby to discern it, viz. that their Hearts is so full of Desire after the the things of another World, that they forget many times the things of This, tho this is a very fallible one, as is clear from Balaam, who had sometimes such [Page 10]eager Desires as these, Let me Die the Death of the Righteous, and let my last End be like his, Num. 23.10. yea he was a Prophet, and had his Visions and Trances, wherein without doubt he thought and spake so much of a­nother World, that he sometimes quite forgot this; and yet notwithstanding his Gift of Prophecy, (which surely e­quall'd if not exceeded Jo. Bunyans Gift of Prayer) notwithstanding his Raptures, Revelations, and Heavenly De­sires, Balaam was a very wicked Man, giving that pernicious Council to the Moabites to seduce the Israelites to I­dolatry, by the Temptations of their Beautiful Women, Num. 31.16. he al­so loved the Wages of unrighteousness, and is Branded for his Iniquity in several places of the Old and New Testament, and in this evil and wretched Conditi­on he lived, and so in all likelihood he dyed, Josh. 13.22. And this I the rather mention to shew that for all their Pretences to Pray by the Spirit, and to other extraordinary Gifts, this Man and his Party, may be as bad as [Page 11]Balaam was; but God forbid, I should think so of all of them, and be so uncharitable to them, as they are to us; I hope better things of the worst among them, but I speak this to prove that if they had greater Gifts than they pretend to, they may not­withstanding this, be very wicked Men, for so was Balaam, and so was O. Cromwel, so was Major Weir of Scot­land, and so were some Witches and Wizards, who could all Pray in a won­derful manner, and were believed by their Followers, to Pray by the Spirit, and far more Powerfully too than any Tin­ker Preacher of this Age; for we must carefully distinguish between the mira­culous Gifts, and saving Graces of the Spirit, wicked Men may, and sometimes have the former, but the latter fall to the Share of none but good Men; and the Praying with the Spirit, which St. Paul speaks of, 1 Cor. 14.15. was such an extraordinary and miraculous Gift, it was Praying in an unknown Tongue, in such a Language as a Man had ne­ver learnt, and neither the Congrega­tion, [Page 12]nor perhaps himself understood, tho he cou'd speak it, for ver. 14. he says, If I Pray in an unknown Tongue, (which in the next verse he calls a Praying with the Spirit) my Spirit Prayeth but my Ʋnderstanding is un­fruitful, being not able to Inter­pret what he said, which was another extraordinary Gift of the Spirit, and which he that had the Gift of Tongues sometimes wanted; and therefore the Apostle intimates in this place, that there may be a separation between them, between Praying with the Spirit, and Praying with Ʋnderstanding, and when there is, the latter is to be pre­ferred before the former; ver. 19. in the Church I had rather speak five words with my Ʋnderstanding, that by my Voice I might Teach others, than Ten thousand words in an unknown Tongue. i. e. in the Spirit which bestowed that Gift; so that in St. Paul's Judgment, Praying with the Spirit, is not always to the Edification of the Church, not always performed with Ʋnderstanding: And so much my Author owns, p. 58.59. This [Page 13]distinction was occasioned through the Co­rinthians not observing, that it was their Duty to do what they did to the Edifi­cation of themselves and others too, whereas they did it for their own Commendations, so I judge, for many of them having ex­traordinary Gifts, as to speak with di­vers Tongues, therefore they were more for those mighty Gifts, than they were for the Edifying of their Brethren, which was the cause that Paul wrote this Chap­ter to them, to let them understand, that tho' extraordinary Gifts were excellent, yet to do what they did was more excel­lent, for (saith the Apostle) If I Pray in an unknown Tongue, my Spirit Pray­eth but my Ʋnderstanding is unfruitful, and also the Ʋnderstanding of others; therefore I will Pray with the Spirit and I will Pray with the Ʋnderstanding also; but (as I observ'd in the beginning of this Chapter) he stops short here, with­out adding (which I shall therefore add) I will Sing with the Spirit and I will Sing with the Ʋnderstanding also; the plain meaning of which Phrase, is this, viz. that in the Apostles Days, [Page 14]some were enabled by a miraculous Gift of the Spirit, not only to Pray in an unknown Tongue, but also to Sing in an unknown Psalm or Hymn, as ap­pears farther from ver. 26. When ye come together, every one of you hath a Psalm, hath a Tongue, &c. both these were ex­traordinary and miraculous Gifts, by the Confession of our Adversary, and he may as well pretend to Sing as Pray extempore from this Text of Scrip­ture, but unless he can Sing and Pray in an unknown Tongue, he doth not Sing and Pray as St. Paul and the Co­rinthians did; and if notwithstanding this, devout Christians may Compose Spiritual Songs and Hymns, and Sing them according to the Rules of Mu­sical Notes, and yet all that while be assisted by the Spirit; so may they also Compose Prayers and Praises before-hand, and read them in the Congre­gation, who are to join with them therein, and yet all that time be assist­ed by the same Spirit, for Praying and Singing with the Spirit; are expressed, [Page 15](as*Discourse of extem­pore Prayer p. 13. Dr. Taylor ob­serves) in the same Place, in the same man­ner, to the same end, and I know no Reason why there should be differing Sen­ses put upon them to serve purposes.

CHAP. II.

HAving clear'd the Scope and Meaning of this mangled, divid­ed and abused Text, and detected the Au­thors Pride in Sainting himself, and his own Party, and his Diabolical Slanders, in making Devils Incarnate of us; I shall next, consider the malicious Reflections he casts on our Churches Liturgy, in the Prosecution of his Discourse: Page 11. he says, Our Common Prayer Book is taken out of the Papistical Mass Book, being the Scraps and Devices of some Popes, some Friars, and I wot not what; and this he repeats Page 29. Paul and his Companions, were as able to have made a Common Prayer Book, as any Pope or Pre­late in the Church of Rome, and could as [Page 16]well have made a Common Prayer Book, as those who first Composed this, &c.

But I have these things to offer, to shew the Falseness, and Senselessness of such Suggestions.

• 1st. That our Common Prayer Book was not Compiled by any Pope or Pre­late of Rome, but by some Reformed Protestant Divines, who suffer'd Martyr­dom for the Protestant Religion, Sealing it with their Blood; and how can that savour of Popery, that was the joint and unanimous Work of Protestant Martyrs, who, without doubt were assisted therein, with the same Holy Spirit that enabled them to resist unto Blood? and one of them (*See Fox's Martyrol. p. 1524. They with weeping Eyes Prayed together, and Kissed one another, and he gave unto her a Book of the Church Service set out by K. Edward, which in the time of his Imprisonment he daily used. Doctor Rowland Taylor) made use of the Common Prayer Book when he lay in Prison, and a little before his Martyrdom, commended it to his Wife, as the last Token of his Love.
• 2d. If it were true, that the Common Prayer Book were taken out of the [Page 17]Mass, that is no Proof of its Unlawful­ness, if there be nothing else Sinful in it, the Papists using some such Pray­ers as we do, does not render them Unlawful: They use to anoint Sick and Dying Persons with Oyl, and so do the Anabaptists; and when urg'd with this, that theirs is a Popish Practice, their Answer is, that 'tis never the worse for all that, if it be according to the Word of God; and may not we re­turn the same Answer? That our Pray­ers are never the worse, tho' some of them shou'd be found (yet in another Lan­guage) in the Mass Book, so long as they are agr [...]able to the Holy Scriptures, and pursuant to those excellent Forms Re­corded there.
• 3dly. The Papists are so far from like­ing and favouring the Common Pray­er, that the first thing they did after Queen Mary ascended the Throne, was to abolish and cast it out of the Church, which they would never have done, if they had thought it conducing to the advancement of their Cause; but they knew it was the best Defence and Bus­wark [Page 18]we have against Popery, and there­fore demolished and took it away, and so did the Dissenters again, in the Crom­wellian Days, and we may on their own grounds, conclude them to be Popishly affected, because they shewed the same Enmity and Spight to the Com­mon Prayer Book, and with disdain laid it aside, as the Papists had done before; and if these Men are never the worse for doing the same things the Papists did; Why is our Common Prayer Book the worse, for having some things in it, which the Mass Book has? Espe­cially if it be consider'd, that all their Prayers are in Latin, which [...] a Lan­guage unknown to the common People; all our Prayers are in English, which is our Mother Tongue, and understood by the Vulgar; most of their Prayers are presented to the Virgin Mary, and to other Saints and Angels; all our Pray­ers are offer'd up to God, through the Mediation of Jesus Christ; and with how many and (to say no worse) bur­densome Ceremonies, Baptism and the Lords Supper is Administred among them? [Page 19]And with how few and Significant ones those Sacraments are Celebrated by us; (all which, make a vast Difference, between the Common Prayer and Mass Book) any one will easily find, that has leisure and opportunity to Compare them both together.
• 4ly. How does J. Bunyan know that St. Paul never composed a Form of Prayer? The sound Words he commands Timothy to hold fast, 2 Tim. 1.13. might (for ought he can prove to the contrary) be such a Form; himself allows the Form of Godliness, which the same Apostle speaks of, 2 Tim. 3.5. to have respect to a Form of Prayer, as I shall shew hereafter, and is there not as good reason that this Form of sound Words should likewise re­gard Prayer? And if it does, we may thence infer, that St. Paul made such a Form for the Church, and commanded Ti­mothy to hold fast the same by using it therein; however this be, we may be sure St. Paul used a Form of Prayer him­self, even that of Christ's own compos­ing, Luke 11.2. when ye pray say, our Father, &c. and he taught others to use [Page 20]it also; or else he could not have kept a Conscience void of Offence towards God and towards Man, neither would he have declar­ed unto his People the whole Council of God, as he protests he had done, Acts 20.27. and Chap. 24.16. and if St. Paul and the rest of the Apostles used no other Form of Prayer, it was because they were assisted by the immediate inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and had miraculous Gifts be­stowed upon them, such as the gift of Tongues, of Prophesie, of Healing, &c. and so did not stand in need of it; and let John Bunyan and his Party prove they have the like wonderful Gifts, and can work the like stupendious Miracles, and they shall be dis­pensed with in the use of the Common Prayer Book; but if none of those extraordinary Gifts and Miracles can be truly pretended to by them, then I think they need the help of such a Form of sound Words as well as we; and this has been the constant Judg­ment of the Church of God in all Ages since those Miracles ceased; and therefore did she at first establish Liturgies, and has always used them, if not in, at least ever since the Apostles Days.

Page 31 our Author is very witty and says, But here the wise Men of our Days are so well skill'd, as that they have both the Matter and Manner of their Prayers at their Fingers end; setting such a Prayer for such a Day, and that twenty Years be­fore it comes, one for Christmas, another for Easter, and six Days after that; they have also bounded how many Syllables must be said in every one of them at their publick Exercises; for each Saints Day also they have them ready for the Generations yet un­born to say.

All this (which is meer Banter) must pass for an invincible Argument to over­throw our whole Liturgy at once, and every Collect therein; but such as it is we will examine it, and shew the ab­surdity and folly of it.

1st. This Man does not shew his wis­dom in pretending we make Prayers for certain Days twenty Years before they come; since those very Days happen all within the compass of One Year, and therefore there cannot be the distance of twenty Years between them, and the making such particular Prayers; and if [Page 22]it be said that these Prayers are repeated for more than twenty Years one after a­nother; we may answer, there is good reason for it, that as often as such solemn times return, we should suit our publick Prayers and Praises according to such so­lemn Occasions, having the Example of God himself, and his Servant Moses, to justi­fie our Practice; for by the Divine ap­pointment, the Priests under the Law, were confin'd to a Form of Words in bles­sing the People, which they were al­ways to pronounce when they dismissed the Assembly; Numb. 6.22, 23, 24, 25, 26. the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto Aaron and his Sons, saying, on this wise ye shall bless the Children of Israel, saying unto them; the Lord bless thee, and keep thee; the Lord make his Face to shine upon thee; and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up his Countenance upon thee, and give thee Peace; in which one Blessing, wherein the name of Jehovah or Lord is thrice repeated, we are taught the great my­stery of our Christian Faith, even the Tri­nity in Ʋnity, or the three Persons and one God, it being the peculiar property of God [Page 23]the Father to bless and keep us, of God the Son to be gracious unto us, and of God the Holy Ghost to give us Peace, as*See his Com. on Num. pag. 109. Dr. Patrick has observ­ed; to the like form of Words was Moses himself confin'd as often as the Ark moved and rested in the Wilderness, Numb. 10.35, 36. When the Ark set forward, Moses said, rise up O Lord, and let thine Enemies be scat­tered, and let them that hate thee flee be­fore thee; and when the Ark rested he said, return O Lord to the many thousands of Israel; and by the same divine Insti­tution the Jewish People were obliged to a set form of Words in praying to God, and praising his Name, when they of­fer'd their first Fruits, Deut. 26.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Thou shalt speak and say be­fore the Lord thy God, a Syrian ready to perish was my Father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a Nation great, mighty, and populous; and the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard Bondage; and when we cried unto the Lord God of our Fathers, the Lord [Page 24]heard our Voice, and looked on our Afflic­tion, and our Labour and our Oppression; and the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty Hand, and out stretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with Signs and with Wonders, and he hath brought us unto this Place, and hath given us this Land, even a Land that floweth with Milk and Honey, and now behold I have brought the first Fruits of the Land which thou, O Lord, hast given me. The like Form of Words were they obliged to use in the Offering of their Tythes, Deut. 26.13, 14, 15. Thou shall say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of my House, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the Stranger, to the Fatherless and to the Widow, accord­ing to all thy Commandments which thou hast commanded; I have not transgressed thy Commandments, neither have I forgot­ten them; I have not eaten thereof in my Mourning; neither have I taken ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the Dead; but I have harkened to the Voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that thou hast [Page 25]commanded me; look down from thy holy Habitation from Heaven, and bless thy People Israel, and the Land which thou hast given us, as thou swearest unto our Fathers, a Land that floweth with Milk and Honey; And both these Forms of Prayer and Thanksgiving, were the Jewish People constantly to observe twice every Year in all succeeding Generations when they offer'd their first Fruits and Tythes before the Lord; but according to John Bunyan's bantering way he would expose them thus; The Wise Men of Moses his Days, with himself the Priests and People, were so well skill'd, that they had both the matter and the manner of their Prayers at their Fingers end, set­ing such a Prayer for such a Day, and that twenty Years before it comes, one for the Day wherein they Offered their First-fruits, another for the Day wherein they Offered their Tythes; they have also bound­ed how many Syllables must be said in every one of their Prayers, at their pub­lick Exercises, for each of these Offering Days, they have them ready for the Ge­nerations yet unborn to say; so that if [Page 26]there be any weight in this way of Arguing, it will cast as much disgrace upon the Prayers of Moses, (which yet were Dictated and Directed by the infinite Wisdom of Almighty God) as upon the Prayers of the Church of England, which were also Composed by the same Spirit.

If it be said, that Moses, the Jewish Priests and People had not the assist­ance of the Holy Spirit, as we have, and therefore they were tyed to Forms, from which we are now set free: I Answer, (or rather John Bunyan does it for me, p. 53) You do not find any Words of Prayer that we read of, come out of the Mouth of Moses, when he was going out of Egypt, and was fol­lowed by Pharaoh, Ex. 14.15. and yet he made Heaven ring again with his Cry, but it was the inexpressible and unsearch­able Groans and Cryings of his Soul, in and with the Spirit; And this he re­peats p. 75. so that by our Adversa­ries own Confession, Moses had the Spi­rit, and could Pray by it, even in their Sense as well at least as any Gifted [Page 27]Brother of them all; and yet this very Moses, sometimes used a Form of Pray­er himself, and also prescribed a Form of Prayers for others, even the Jewish Priests and People, to be constantly observed by them on solemn Occasions, and on such particular Days, and Sea­sons of the Year.

2dly. Those two great solemn Festi­vals, which my Author mentions as observ'd by our Church, Christmas and Easter, have good Authority for their Observation, even in the New Testa­ment; for can we have better War­rant for our keeping Christmas-Day, than the Holy Angels keeping of it in a full Quire, as they did Luke 2.13. and suddenly there was with the Angel (i. e. who brought the Shepherds the joyful News of Christ's Birth) a Multitude of the Heavenly Host, Praising God, and saying, (and they did it all in the same Form) Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth Peace, and good Will towards Men. Now, What other Reason can there be given, why so many (if not all) the Angels [Page 28]should be present on Earth at this time, and unanimously Worship God, except it were to teach us to set apart this Day in all future Ages, for a Day of Thanksgiving to God, for the greatest Mercy was afforded the World since the Creation, even the Birth and In­carnation of the Saviour of it? Well may we keep Christmass-Day, our Hu­mane Nature being assum'd into the Godhead, and a Saviour being Born to us upon it, which is Christ the Lord: When the Holy Angels kept this Day, whose Nature he did not assume, and to whom he was not Born a Saviour, as he was to us.

I shall say no more in behalf of this great Festival, but Transcribe a Pas­sage out of the Assemblies Annotations on this portion of Scripture, Luke 2. 13.‖See the As­semblies An­notations on Luke 2.13. Thus God would (say they) have this publick Service (for so their Multitude made it) performed by all who have Knowledge of, and Interest in the Birth of Christ, as to manifest his Mercy and Truth, so to Condemn their [Page 29]stupid Ingratitude, who perversely refuse to joyn in this Duty; as if general Pre­cepts in Gods Word, right Reason, and the Examples of Men and Angels inspir­ed by Gods Spirit, chosen Witnesses of of our Saviours Nativity, and for this same purpose sent by God himself from Heaven, that they might thus Celebrate that Day; were not sufficient Warrant to lead them to Imitation, and joining in an Holy Harmony with them.

And as for our keeping Easter Day, can we have better Authority than St. Pauls Command for it? 1 Cor.. 5.7, 8. Christ our Passover is Sacrificed for us, there­fore let us keep the Feast; i.e. Easter, which is our Christian Passover, that comes in the room of the Jewish; not with the old Leaven, neither with the Leaven of Malice and Wickedness; which is a plain Allusion to some of the Typical Cere­monies wherewith the Israelites kept their Passover, and proves that we Christians should keep Easter with the substance of those Types, even the unleavened Bread of Sincerity and Truth; i. e. in a pious Preparation for, and [Page 30]devout Participation of the Lords Sup­per, in a Death to Sin, and a Resur­rection to newness of Life.

Yet besides this Scriptural Argument, I shall add one Consideration more, and that is King Charles the Martyrs Quaery propounded to the Parliaments. Commissioners at Holdenby, April 23. 1647.

Lastly, As to the Observation of Saints Days, those Men have no Reason to upbraid us with it, who every Year keep their Festival Days, in Memory of the Seiges, and prosperous Rebellion, they rais'd and maintain'd against their rightful Soveraign: Indeed, had they Fought for him, and been preserv'd and deliver'd in so Just and Loyal a Cause, to have kept an Anniversary Day in Remembrance of it, wou'd have been a justifiable Practice; and so it is to observe those few Saints Days, whose Memory our Church requires us once a Year to Celebrate, having the like Authority in the Holy Scripture, for their continual Observation, as Psal. 116.15. Precious in the Sight of the Lord is the Death of the Saints, and 'tis the Days of their Death and Mar­tyrdom, [Page 32]and not of their Birth, which we Commemorate, not their first Days in which they were Born into the World, but the last Days, in which they were Born into an happy Eterni­ty; and on these Days, we do not only Bless God for those eminent Ver­tues and Graces which Shone in them, but also, we desire him to enable us to follow their good Examples; that being compassed about with so great a Cloud of Witnesses, we may run with Pa­tience the Race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus their Captain General, who with them has endured the Cross, and receiv'd a Crown in Heaven; and by this means we do what we can to perpetuate their Memory on Earth, as God expects we should, Psal. 112.6. The Righteous shall be had in ever­lasting Remembrance. And this the Pri­mitive Christians began, by first keep­ing the Day of these Saints Martyrdom at the very Place where they suffer'd; and this after Ages follow'd, by Ce­lebrating it in all other Places where Christianity was professed; and I doubt [Page 33]not but it will be continued in all fu­ture Ages, even unto the end of the World, among all Orthodox Chri­stians.

CHAP. III.

HAving in the former Chapter, de­tected the Sophistry and Fallaci­ousness of John Bunyans Arguments, against Forms of Prayer, and shewn how they rather conclude for them, and against his Pretences to Pray by the Spirit: I shall now proceed to discover the Weakness and Folly of his Answer to that convincing Proof for the Lawfulness of Forms, even our Saviour's Command for it, Luke 11.2. When ye Pray, say our Father, &c.

To this he says, p. 80. I cannot think that Christ intended it as a stinted Form of Prayer, because he lays it down diversly: But how diversly? Mat. 6.9. our blessed Lord says, After this [Page 34]manner Pray ye, Our Father. &c. the plain import of which is, that this ought to be the Pattern by which we shou'd Compose all our Prayers; but least his Disciples (who had desired their Master to teach them a Form of Pray­er, as John Baptist had taught his Dis­ciples) shou'd think it well enough to have an Eye only to this Pattern in Composing all their Prayers by, tho' in the mean time they never made use of this very Form it self, therefore in Luke 11.2. our Saviour said unto them, When ye Pray, say Our Father, &c. i. e. do not content your selves to Pray after this manner, in other Prayers of your own, Composing them according to it; but also use this very Prayer it self, together with your own of the like Nature, that putting up your Petitions to Almighty God, with a good Heart in Christ's own Words, ye may be sure to be heard; and let any honest Christian but Read and Compare these two Evangelists toge­ther in this Point, and I am confident he will acknowledge, that Christ must [Page 35]needs intend this Prayer of his should it self be daily used, and also the true Standard of all our Devotions; and con­sequently, he must needs intend it for a Form, or else his Words and Inten­tions would not agree, which is Blas­phemy to imagine.

But out Author answers farther, p. 81. We do not find, that the Apostles did ever observe this Form as such, nei­ther did they admonish others so to do; search all their Epistles, &c. But did not the Apostles do many things which are not written there? As St. John says, there are also many other things which Jesus did, which are not written every one of them in the Gospel, Joh. 21.25: For, were not all the Apostles Baptized? And yet we do not Read in the New Testament, of the Bap­tism of any one of them; so the Apostles might, and without doubt did make use of the Lords Prayer, tho' there be no mention of it in their Epistles; o­therwise how were they Faithful in keeping Christs Commandments them­selves, this being one of them? When [Page 36]ye Pray, say, Our Father, &c. and this doubtless they taught others to use also, or else they were not Faithful in exe­cuting Christs Commission, who at the delivery thereof, speaks thus; Mat. 28.19.20. Go ye therefore, and Proselyte all Nations, Baptizing them in the Name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have Commanded you; and this being one thing that Christ had Commanded them, when ye Pray, say Our Father, &c. we cannot suppose that they fail'd to teach others to observe this also, as well as Baptism, or any other Gospel Duty.

But after all his trifling Answers to this invincible Objection, Jo. Bunyan confesseth, p. 81. That Christ by these Words, Our Father which art in Hea­ven, doth instruct his People, what Rules they should observe in their Prayers to God: And if it is a Rule for all our Prayers; is not this as great a Con­finement of the Spirit, as the limiting of it to this, or any other Form of sound Words? This Author, p. 75. and those [Page 37]that made the Directory, (tho' they are Enemies to all Forms of Prayer, and therefore abolished our excellent Litur­gy) yet lay down certain Rules, which we must observe in Praying to Almigh­ty God; which is indeed, to do that thing themselves, which they condemn in us, and call a Restraining of the Spirit; for to dictate to the Spirit the Heads of Prayer which he must insist upon, and leave him at liberty only in the choice of Words, is every whit as much, if not more a restraining of the Spirit, than only to appoint the Words, and leave him at liberty in the choice of the Sense; the Matter of Prayer be­ing more considerable than Words, and the Sense more valuable than Language: If therefore the Spirit must be left free, why do they themselves confine him, in imposing on him the Heads of his Prayer? As if he needed help for In­vention, (as our*See his ex­cellent Book, p. 686. Royal Martyr observed) tho' not for expression; or as if Mat­ter did not as much stint and obstruct the Spirit, as if it were cloath­ed [Page 38]in, and confined to fit Words, (so slight and easy is the Leger-de-main which will serve to delude the Vulgar) And from hence any one may well conclude, that these Men instead of being inspi­red with the Spirit of God, are possess­ed with the Spirit of Pride and Singu­larity; what else is the meaning of their taking away the Book of Common Prayer, and yet establishing a Directo­ry in its room, which is as much a restraining of the Spirit as the other? What else is the meaning of that Pas­sage in the entrance of the Directory, p. 5? Let all enter the Assembly, not irreverently, but in a grave and seemly manner, taking their Seats or Places with­out Adoration, or Bowing themselves to­wards one Place or other: But that be­cause when we enter the Church (the Place of Gods gracious and more im­mediate Presence) we solemnly Wor­ship God, by Bowing our Bodies and Knees before him, therefore the Dissen­ters when they enter the Church will not Worship God at all, being requir­ed by the Directory to take their Seats [Page 39] without Adoration; tho' herein they act contrary to David, who says, Psal. 95.6. O come let us Worship and Bow down, let us Kneel before the Lord our Maker: They act contrary to St. Paul's Converts, of whom he says, That com­ing into the Church, they will fall down on their Face and Worship God, 1 Cor. 14.25. They act contrary to those Pious Souls that came to Christ to ob­tain a Cure for themselves or Friends; who did not approach or address them­selves to him, without a solemn act of Adoration, they always first Worship­ed him, by Kneeling, Bowing, or Pro­strating their Bodies before him; as you may see, Mat. 17.14. Mar. 5.22. Luk. 5.12. And if those good Peo­ple paid Christ's Corporeal Presence so much Reverence in the Days of his Hu­miliation, certainly we ought not to give his Spiritual Presence less Honour in his Exaltation, since he is now advanc­ed to the Right-hand of God; but when we approach him, should Wor­ship him with our Bodies, as well as Souls; but the Directory in opposition [Page 40]to the Practice of these Holy Men, Commands the People to enter the Assembly (where they suppose Christ Spiritually present, or else, What make they there?) without Adoration, or Bowing their Bodies towards one Place or other; and consequently they must not Bow their Bodies or Knees to Adore God at all; for if they do so, it must be towards some Place, it being impos­sible to Worship God with our Bodies without it

But to return from the Presbyterian Directory, (whither I have a little di­gressed, presuming it would be a Par­donable Digression) to our Anabapti­stical Director of Spiritual Prayer, John Bunyan; p. 45. 46. he affirms, That none but such as are Regenerate, can tru­ly with allowance, say Our Father, &c. and yet even these must go no farther, nor venture to say out the Lords Pray­er, because it is a Form, and to use any such Forms, is as bad as setting up, and Worshipping Jeroboams Calves, which was downright Idolatry; and p. 110. What is this (says he) less than [Page 41]that accursed Abomination of Jeroboam, which kept many from going to Jerusa­lem, the Place and Way of Gods ap­pointment to Worship?

But if this be less than Blaspemy, I know not what can be called by that Name; for if the use of godly Forms of Prayer (not excepting the Lords Prayer it self) be as abominable Idola­try as Jeroboam's Calves, then our Lord in commanding us when we Pray, to say, Our Father which art in Heaven, &c. must Command the Practice of Idolatry; which is to Charge God not only Foolishly, but Presumptuously; and in so doing, to fall himself into Jerobo­ams great Sin, in devising another way of Praying, than that revealed in the Word of God, and in slighting and despising that Form of Prayer which Christ has given us; a Practice which we justly detest and abhor, and there­fore in our Morning and Evening Ser­vice, we always use the Lords Prayer, and all our other Prayers are Composed according to this divine and admirable Pattern; and Mr. Baxter, (whose Au­thority [Page 42]may have great Influence on the Presbyterians, if it should have little on John Bunyan and his Party) was so much for the use of the Lord's Prayer, that (I am credibly inform'd) he con­stantly concluded his own with it, and on his Death-bed, earnestly*See Mr. Bax­ters Funeral Sermon, by Dr. Bates. Recommended the like Practice to all his Dissent­ing Brethren, and wondred that any of them should lay aside the Lord's Prayer; assuring them he always found much Comfort in the use of it, and his Heart raised and lift­ed Heaven-wards, in the frequent Re­petition thereof; which I mention on purpose to silence the Clamours of these Men against our Church, for using the Lord's Prayer twice, and sometimes more in our daily Devotions; for why may not our People receive as much Spiri­tual Comfort (as Mr. Baxter says he did) in such Repetitions? And can a good thing be repeated too often? They say, it cannot, when they require their Followers to attend the Repetition of their Sermons; and I presume, they [Page 43]dare not say that the very best of their Discourses, are so good as the Lord's Prayer, or that the Words of uninspired Men, are equal to the Words of Jesus Christ; besides, the Lord's Prayer being delivered by the two Evangelists, with some little Alteration, the one reciting the Doxology, the other omitting it, there­fore also we repeat this Prayer once with and once without it; in the one ending thus; Deliver us from evil, Amen, as St. Luke Chap. 11.4. and in the other thus; for thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, for ever and ever, Amen: Our Church enjoyning all its Members to make use of both Forms, that none may fail to comply with our Lords Commands, who requires us to Pray thus, and after this manner; and this I think is enough to satisfie the Scruples of any reasonable Person, that may be offended with the Repetition of the Lords Prayer in our Churches Li­turgy.

But if Jo. Bunyan cannot disswade Christians from using the Lords Prayer, (and 'twill be hard to do so, so long as [Page 44]they find it in their Bibles) he invents such shifts to limit and confine this Di­vine Form, that he will allow none but Saints, i. e. such as himself and his own Party to use it; (tho' I believe few have ever heard it from their Teach­ers) and sometimes he will not permit the Saints themselves to make use of it, as p. 41. I tell you, (says he) however Hypocrites may think, yet the Christian that is so indeed, (and that surely must be one of the Saints) finds all the difficulty in this very thing, he cannot say God is his Father.

But certainly the Author of the Pilgrims Progress, had here forgotten the Parable of the Prodigal Son, who before he was a Saint, and a great way off from God, and in the far Country of Sin, whither he had fled from him, he said; I will arise and go to my Father, and will say unto him, Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee; and am no more worthy to be called thy Son. Luke 15.13. 18.20. But had Jo. Bunyan heard this Prayer, he would have School'd him thus; Thou Poor Blind Prodigal Sot; [Page 45]thy great Prayer is to say; Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee: Dost thou know the meaning of the first Word of this Prayer? Canst thou indeed with the rest of the Saints, cry Abba Fa­ther? Art thou truely Born again? Hast thou receiv'd the Spirit of Adoption? Dost thou see thy self in Christ? And canst thou come to God as a Member of him? Or art thou ignorant of these things, and yet darest say Father? Is not the Devil thy Father? And dost thou not do the Deeds of the Flesh? Hast thou not been a Prodigal Spend-thrift, wasted thy Substance with Riotous living, and devouerd thy Estate among Harlots, and yet darest thou say to God, Father?

Thus Rudely, Unchristianly, and Uncharitably, would Jo. Bunyan treat the Prodigal Son, as the elder Brother would have had him treated; but God himself treats him far otherwise; even as a dear and tender Child; for when he was yet a great way off, his Father saw him, and had Compassion on him, and ran and fell on his Neck and kissed him; and his Reception and Entertainment [Page 46]was extraordinary, ver. 22.23. The Author of the Pilgrims Progress, had likewise forgotten the Parable of Dives and Lazarus; the former, tho' in Hell, call'd Abraham Father, Luke 16.24. But Jo. Bunyan wou'd for this alone, have call'd him, Damn'd Wretch, and Child of the Devil, and demanded of him, What hast thou to do cursed Man, to call Abraham Father? But Abraham has better Language in his Mouth, and is so far from reproving even this Damn­ed Rich man for calling him Father, that he gives him a mild Answer, and the Title of Son, perhaps, because he was one of his Off-spring, tho' much degenerated from him that was the first Root and Stock of them; Son re­member that thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things, &c. In like manner the most wicked Person in the World may call God Father; he being the God and Father of all Men by Creation, who are therefore said, to be all his Off-spring, Acts 17.28, 29. So on the Account of their natural Being, which they receiv'd from God, all Mankind [Page 47]may truly call God Father; as all the Children of an earthly Parent, tho' of far different Natures and Behaviour, may yet call him their Father; 2dly. God is the Father of all Men by Re­demption which is universal, and extend­ed to all that will sincerely accept and lay hold of it, as is clear from 1 Joh. 2.1.2. If any man sin, we have an Ad­vocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole World: So that Jesus Christ dyed for all Men, even the most profligate Wretches in the World, or else they were not bound to Repent and Believe the Gospel; for to what purpose shou'd they do either, since none can be saved, but those for whom Christ dyed, and then all their Repentance and Faith wou'd be in vain: So that on the account of Creation and Redemption, we may all call Almighty God Father; altho' we were never so wicked, even as Satans Chil­dren, as this Author supposes us to be; and by consequence, may safely use the Lords Prayer, without being guilty of [Page 48] Lying or Blasphemy; altho' none of us were Saints, at least not one in Forty did deserve that Name: Indeed Wil­liam Pen and his Party, upbraid us for saying in our Prayers; Lord have Mer­cy upon us miserable Sinners; and, We have erred and strayed from thy Ways like lost Sheep: And John Bunyan and his Party, upbraid us for saying, Our Fa­ther which art in Heaven, &c. So that if we should hearken to these Men, we must not Pray at all, neither address our selves to God as Saints, nor as Sin­ners; neither say Our Father, nor, God be merciful to me a Sinner; but the truth is, we may, and on good Grounds do say both, having the Examples of David and St. Paul, to justifie our Practice, whom I presume our Author will allow in the number of Saints, and that they might truely call God Father; and yet one of them says in his Prayer to God; I have gone astray like a lost Sheep, O seek thy Servant, Ps. 119.176. the other says; Jesus Christ came into the World to save Sinners, of whom I am chief, 1 Tim. 1.15. and if after their Examples, [Page 49]and that of the penitent Publican we come to Church, and confess our Sins, and desire God to be Merciful to us Sin­ners; and also after the Example of the poor Prodigal, we arise and go to our Father, and say unto him, Father we have sinned against Heaven and before thee, and are not worthy to be called thy Children; we may hope to go back again to our Houses justified before the envious Elder Brother, and proud Pharisee, that Censure and condemn us for our Humility and Faith.

CHAP. IV.

AS nothing is more usual than for Hereticks and Schismaticks to pro­pogate their false and pernicious Do­ctrines by Fire and Sword, and all the studied Arts of Cruelty and Violence, that what is wanting of Truth on their side, may be made up with blind furious Zeal, and ungovernable Rage, so none are more forward to shift the Odium of such bloody Proceedings, and cast it [Page 50]upon others that are not guilty there­of, and to make loud Outcries of Per­secution and Oppression, which in reality must be charged upon themselves, and laid at their own Doors. Thus of old the Arians dealt with the Orthodox Chri­stians, complain'd of hard Usage from them, and of their great Sufferings for Conscience sake, and yet none were more bloody Persecutors than themselves, as the Orthodox found by sad Experience, when these Men had gotten the Power into their own Hands, from whom they suffered more than ever they did from the most barbarous Nations, or under the worst Heathen Persecutions. And thus their Successors the Anabaptists have carried themselves towards the Churches of Christ, where they have had means and oppor­tunities to shew the Savageness of their Natures and Dispositions, witness the dismal Tragedies they acted at their first rise in Manster, and other Parts of Ger­many, which were so barbarous and inhu­mane, that the Modern Anabaptists pre­tend to be asham'd of them, and of the levelling carnal Principles, which their [Page 51] first Founders held: However this by the way shews their Religion to be very bad, whose Foundation was laid in Rebellion and Blood, and so indeed has it been propo­gated ever since, when any fair occasion has been offered for the discovery of their Intentions; witness their Persecut­ing King Charles the Martyr, and some of his loyal Subjects, to the very Gates of Death, and some of them to strange Cities, in which these Men had a great Hand, being some of the worst, tho' most potent in Cromwel's Army, who with their assistance rul'd all, and accomplish'd those Villianies, which are a Scandal to our Na­tion, and Reproach to the Protestant Re­ligion.

And yet Page 45, speaking to a mem­ber of our Church, John Bunyan says, art not thou a desperate Persecutor of the Children of God? He is their Father whom thou Persecutest; Strange confidence in­deed! that this Man should not be a­shamed to complain of Persecution, who was himself a great Persecutor, as this very Book of his shews; wherein he treats us with bitter Words and railing [Page 52]Language, which is one kind of Persecu­tion, and not the least neither, even that of the Tongue; for what Moses calls Ish­maels mocking, St. Paul styles his Perse­cuting of Isaac, Gen. 21.9. compared with Gal. 4.29. and I doubt the Perse­cution of the Hand would soon follow, if it lay in these Mens Power this way to hurt us; and perhaps they might think it meritorious, and that they should do God good Service in destroying us, as the mad Jews did when they killed Christ's Disciples, Joh. 16.2. This is certain, that the Anabaptists and other Dissenters, who now cry out so much of Persecution, have proved themselves desperate Persecutors, as often as they have had Opportunities to shew it, witness their Ejecting, Decimating and Sequestrating, their Imprisoning, Ba­nishing, and Beheading so many of the Loy­al party in Cromwell's Days, who by these Mens advice and assistance, acted all those Villanies upon his faithful fellow Subjects, and imbrued his Hands in his gracious Sovereign's innocent Blood, in the shedding whereof all the Sectaries concurred, but especially the [Page 53]Anabaptists, who some of them sat as his Judges, and condemned him; [...] *See the Life of King Charles the First p. 55. interrupted him in his last Devotions, and offer'd Affronts to him in his dying Moments and Agonies, not suffering him to Pray or Dye in quiet, without disturbing his Charitable Soul with unusual rudeness and injuries, witness their Rebellion like­wise against King James the Second, un­der the Conduct of the Duke of Mon­mouth, a considerable part of whose Commanders, Officers and Soldiers were Anabaptists, and this resistance of their rightful Sovereigns tho' contrary to Rom. 13. and the practice of all the Primitive Christians; yet these Men Justify, Defend and Canonize such for Saints and Martyrs as died in it, and were executed for it, as may be seen in a Rhiming Pamphlet of Ben­jamin Keach's entituled*See distressed Sion relieved. p. 25, 26, 27. &c. where some that were Rebels to two if not 3 Kings are named as Saints and Martyrs. Distressed Sion releived or the Garment of Praise for the Spirit of Heavi­ness, wherein are to be found diverse instances of such Army Saints and [Page 54] Fighting Martyrs, tho' I dare say, the first the Christian Church ever heard of since the Foundation of it, all the Mar­tyrs in Queen Mary's Days, and under the Ten Persecutions, being Strangers to Carnal Weapons, and accustomed only to Spiritual ones, even Prayers and Tears, thinking the other unlawful to be used against their Sove­reign, or for Christ's sake, whose Kingdom is not of this World, nor are his Servants to fight for him, as himself expresly affirms, Joh. 18.36. So contrary to the Gospel and the holy Christian Martyrs is these pretend­ed Protestants Practice, and so is that passage in the solemn League and Covenant, the Presbyterian Idol, to which they would have all Hands lifted up, and all Knees to bow, we shall in like manner, without res­pect of Persons, endeavour the extirpation of Popery and Prelacy, (that is Church Go­vernment by Archbishops, Bishops, their Chancellours and Commissaries, Deans, Deans and Chapters, Arch Deacons and all other Ecclesiastical Officers depending on that Hierarchy) we shall also with all Faithfulness endeavour the discovery of all such as have been or shall be Malignants, &c. by hindring [Page 55]the Reformation of Religion, &c. or mak­ing any Parties, &c. amongst the People contrary to this League and Covenant, that they be brought to publick Tryal, and receive condign Punishment, as the degree of their Offence shall require or deserve; by which Clauses they are bound to destroy our Church Root and Branch, and all others too that shall help us, or hinder them in this reforming Work, which any one would think could not be done without a bloody Persecution, unless therefore John Bunyan and his Party renounce the solemn League and Covenant, and their other Persecuting Oaths and Books, and also all their violent and cruel Practises, in this and other Coun­tries, let them not for shame complain of Persecution, who have been, and are them­selves the great Accusers and grand Perse­cutors of their Brethren.

CHAP. V.

OUR Author (I suppose) being sensible of the small success his railing against the Common Prayer may [Page 56]have to withdraw any rational Persons love from it, or to raise his hatred there­of, bethinks himself of better and stronger Arguments against it, and endeavours to perswade the World, that the holy Scrip­tures are on his side, and do in several places manifestly condemn it, which in­deed would effectually do his Business, if he could but prove this vainglorious Assertion; but how well that is done, we come next to examine, for p. 35, 36. Jo. Bunyan, says, The Common Prayer Book is a meer humane Invention and Institution, which God is so far from owning of, that he expresly forbids it, with any other such like, and that by manifold Sayings in his most holy and blessed Word; and one of the Texts he quotes is Prov. 21.9. It is better to dwell in the corner of the House top than with a brawling Woman in a wide House, which perhaps is a mistake of the Printer, being nothing at all to his pur­pose; but all the other Texts he produ­ces being altogether as Impertinent, and this a second Edition of the Discourse, I am tempted to think this is no errour of the Press, but what the Ignorant Author [Page 57]might imagine a good Proof of the un­lawfulness of Forms of Prayer, and as good Proof indeed it is, as those that fol­low, which he there inserts, as Mark 7.7, 8. In vain do they worship me, teach­ing for Doctrines the Commandments of Men, for laying aside the Commandment of God, ye hold the Tradition of Men, as the washing of Pots and Cups, and many other such like things ye do, where 'tis plain our Saviour condemn'd the Hypocritical Scribes and Pharasees for preferring their vain Tradations (of which they had a great many, and particularly the Cor­ban, mentioned ver. 11.) before the Com­mandment of God, i. e. they forbad Chil­dren to help their Parents when they were in want, if they had either rashly made a Vow never to do it, or had de­voted their Substance to pious uses, con­trary to the Fifth Commandment, which requires Children to relieve their Parents when they need it; that being one way of honouring them; and thus those Hy­pocritical Scribes and Pharasees were very curious in cleansing their Pots and Cups, lest themselves should be pollut­ed [Page 58]with any Legal uncleanness; but yet they notoriously neglected those great Moral Duties which were plainly Com­manded, and also signified by them, even the cleansing their Hearts and Lives from the filthiness of Sin; as is evident from ver. 20, 21, 22, 23. and Luke 11.39. And the Lord said unto him; Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the Cup and Platter, but your inward part is full of Ravening and Wickedness: But how does the Jewish Corban, and their superstitious Washing of Pots and Cups, conclude against the use of the Common Prayer Book? Do we equal or prefer it to the Bible, as the Pharisees did these things to the Commandments of God? And what Commandment do we break in the use of the Common Prayer Book, as they did the Fifth in the Practice of their Corban? Certainly if this place has any respect to Prayer, it more forceably con­cludes against their extemporary Prayers, which they constantly use in their Meet­ings, whilst in the mean time, they re­ject that excellent Form which Christ him­self has Commanded, Luke 11.2. When [Page 59]ye Pray, say Our Father, &c. So that with more reason any one may think they themselves are the modern Scribes and Pharisees, that are here Condemned by our Saviour, of whom he says, ver. 9. Full well ye reject the Commandment of God, even that concerning the Lords Pray­er, that you may keep your own Tradition, even that of extemporary Prayer, which is a meer Invention of Men, and no where commanded in the Holy Scriptures: But in our Common Prayer Book, we retain that Divine Prayer; and all our other Prayers are Composed according to it; 'tis after that manner we Pray in all the rest, Mat. 6.9. so that in the use of the Common Prayer, we keep the Com­mandment of Christ, and they in despis­ing thereof reject it; and then, these Words which they urge against us, turn upon themselves; and so does that of Deut. 12.30, 31, 32. Take heed to thy self, that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee, and that thou enquire not after their Gods, saying, how did those Nations serve their Gods? Even so will I do likewise; thou [Page 60]shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God; for eve­ry abomination unto the Lord, which he hat­eth, have they done unto their Gods, for even their Sons and their Daughters have they burnt in the Fire unto their Gods; what thing soever I command you, observe to do it, thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. For, first, are we such heathen People as these seven Nations were? Do we Worship the Host of Heaven, Sun Moon and Stars as they [...] Do we Sacrifice our Children to Idols as they did? If this were true, they might have some pretence for urging these Texts of [...] ­ture, and from them also might [...], that they are bound to cut [...] Branch, (as by the Covenant they are S [...]or [...] to do) even as the Israelites were oblig'd to destroy the seven Idolatrous Nations. But, if none of these things can be laid to our Charge, who Worship the God of Heaven, and his Son Jesus Christ, and abhor Ido­latry, with what Face dare they produce such Scriptures against us, as concern none but Idolaters? In the next place, How do we add to the Word of God, or diminish from it, by the use of the Common Pray­er Book? Do we thereby, make more [Page 61]or less Canonical Books of Holy Scripture than the Church of God has allow'd and approv'd of in all Ages? Do we not acknowledge and believe every tittle of the Holy Scriptures, and abominate the least addition or diminution to them?

But some call it Divine Service, and the Common Prayer Book is Bound up with the Bible, and is not this an ad­ding to the Word of God? No, by no means; for when we call the Com­mon Prayer Divine Service, we give it that Title from the Object thereof, which is Almighty God, to whom all our Pray­ers are directed and offered up; and we are not so Presumptuous, as to intend thereby, that they are of equal Authori­ty with the Holy Scriptures, or that God himself, is the immediate Author of them, (excepting that only of Our Father) but only that Prayer being the Service of God, and our Churches Pray­ers Composed according to the Rule of his Word, some on that account call it Divine Service, tho' that Title be not to be found in the Book it self, and there­fore can be no Objection against it; [Page 62]and as for the Binding it up with the Bi­ble, that does not make it any part there­of, no more than the Contents of the several Chapters, and the Marginal Notes can be said to be part of the Holy Scrip­tures, which yet are Bound up with them; but to shew the great value we have for the Word of God, it is order­ed by the Common Prayer Book, that in this solemn Worship of Almighty God, some Psalms and Chapters out of the Old and New Testament, shall be read every Morning and every Evening; wherein, we follow the Example of Christ and St. Paul, the former of which, did read part of the Prophet Isaiah to the People, and it was his Custom to do so, Luk. 4.16, 17, 18, 19, 20. and the latter after the read­ing the Law and the Prophets preached to the Congregation, Act. 13.15, 16, 17. &c. a thing which is never Practiced (as I am credibly inform'd) by John Bunyan and his Party, no more than it is by the Quakers, which shews the little regard they both have to the Holy Scripture, and that they prefer their own Extemporary Prayers and Preach­ments before it, with what Forehead then [Page 63]can this Author pretend that we under­value the Word of God, either by add­ing to it, or diminishing from it? which not we but they themselves are guilty of; for they never read the holy Scriptures to their Congregations as we do; but instead thereof pretend that their Extemporary Prayers and rambling Discourses are the im­mediate dictates of the Holy Ghost; and then both must be as good Scripture as any in the Bible, which is truly to add to the Word of God, and to break the foregoing Precept of Moses, and that other to the same purpose, Deut. 4.2. Ye shall not add unto the Word which I command you, neither shall you diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the Commandments of your Lord your God, which I command you; which these Men thus openly neglect and con­temn, in rejecting that Form of Prayer which Christ requires all his Disciples to use; and so those two other Texts he men­tions, as Rev. 22.18. and Prov. 30.6. concern themselves and not us, in that pretending to pray in the very Words of the Spirit, they thereby add unto the Reve­lation of St. John new ones of their own, [Page 64]and therefore have all the reason in the World to fear the Plagues there threatned, and lest God should reprove them, and they should be found Liars; lastly, as for Col. 2.16. to verse 24. how does that effect the Common Prayer Book? Do we therein teach the Observation of new Moons and Sabbaths, and the Worshiping of Angels? Or do we therein forbid to touch, taste or handle those things which God has allow'd, (as some of the ancient Hereticks did? as particularly Marriage, and unclean Meats, which they held to be unlawful) but if no­thing of all this can be fastned upon us, what Impudence is it for this Man to produce this place of St. Paul against us? especially when we may with better reason urge it against him and his Adherents; for do not they forbid to touch, i. e. any Form of Prayer, even that which our Lord Command­ed? Do not they forbid to taste, i. e. any Meat that has blood in it, which they hold unlawful to be eaten? do not they forbid to handle, i. e. Psalms, Hymns and Spi­ritual Songs, which St. Paul has commanded to be Sung? And what is all this but to subject others to their own Ordinances, [Page 65]which are but the Commandments and Tra­ditions of Men? Thus those very Texts of Scripture, which these Men foolishly bran­dish against us, sometimes urging them against Infant Baptism, sometimes against Sprinkling, sometimes against the Cross, and other Ceremonies, and sometimes against our Common Prayer, (as our Author here) do all turn upon themselves, and give them a deadly and incurable Wound.

CHAP. VI.

BUT if none of the aforementioned Texts will serve the turn, but ra­ther prove mischeivous to him, Jo. Bun­yan has Two in reserve that shall effectu­ally confute us; the first is Zachar. 12.10. I will pour upon the House of David and Inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of Grace and Supplication, &c. which being Prophesied of the Gospel Days, he thence infers that the Spirit is the Author of all our Prayers, and therefore must needs invent and dictate them to us; in An­swer to which, I say,

1st. That what we Translate the Spirit of Supplication, may as properly be rendred the Spirit of Mercy, and so the Seventy render it, the Word in the O­riginal signifying as well to shew Mercy as to Pray; and then the Argument de­duced from this Place, is of no force at all; that because God wou'd have Mercy upon the Jews, (who are here meant by the House of David, and In­habitants of Jerusalem) in bringing them out of Captivity, that therefore we Christians, have a Promise here to Pray by the Spirit, in that Sense our Author wou'd have it.

2dly. If we allow the Vulgar Tran­slation, in rendring it the Spirit of Sup­plication, and that this Prophecy has re­spect to the Gospel Days, it was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, when so many Thousands were Converted by St Pe­ter's Sermon, of whom it is said, they were first pricked to the Heart, Acts 2.37. i. e. for all their Sins, and parti­cularly for that great one, of Crucifying of Jesus Christ, and so, they looked on him whom they had pierced, (as the Prophet [Page 67]foretold they should, in the same place) by the Eye of Faith and Repentance, and received from him, the Spirit of Grace and Supplication, i. e. such miraculous Gifts and Graces, as were bestowed up­on the Apostles and first Disciples of our Lord, and were confined to that Age; when was fulfilled also that Prophecy of Joel, Chap. 2.28, 29. as St. Peter as­sures us, Acts 2.16. This is it (i. e. those miraculous Gifts which you see us have) which was spoken by the Prophet Joel.

3dly. The Holy Ghost is called, the Spirit of Supplication, because all those Prayers in the Old and New Testament; which were made by the Prophets and Apostles, and particularly that of our Lord, were immediately Inspired and Di­ctated by the Holy Ghost, and they are left upon Record, as so many Patterns for us to Compose our Prayers by them on the like occasions; and so the Spirit helps our Infirmities, in teaching us to Pray according to these Scripture Forms.

4thly. Because, the Holy Spirit stirs us up to this Duty, and assists us with fer­vent [Page 68]Desires in the actual Performance of it; on this account also he may be Styled The Spirit of Supplication, altho' he does not Dictate to us the very words of our Prayer, (as he did to the Pro­phets and Apostles) and for any to pre­tend he does, unless they can produce the like Miracles as the Prophets and Apostles wrought, is the greatest vanity and Pre­sumption in the World.

5thly. We may on as good, or better Grounds affirm, that he is called the Spirit of Supplication, because, He assists us in the Composure and Devout use of godly Forms of Prayer, since 'tis said, Zach. 12.11. In that Day shall there be a great Mourning in Jerusalem, as the Mourning of Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddo; and how that was, we are given to understand, 2 Chron. 35.25. And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah, and all the Singing-Men and Singing-Women spake of Josiah in their Lamentations to this Day, and made them an Ordinance in Israel, i. e. the Jews had a Form of Prayer and Lamentations, to be Sung with doleful Notes every Year to Con­dole [Page 69]the great Loss of that good King Josiah: And if the Spirit of Supplica­tion will cause us to Mourn in our Pray­ers before the Lord as the Jews did, we must compose and use the like Form as they did; and such a Form have we in our Com­mon Prayer Book, wherein, on January the Thirtieth, we Mourn for our English Josiah, I mean, King Charles the Mar­tyr; and therefore it ought to be continued as an Ordinance among us, like that of Jeremiah's among the Israelites; and 'tis to the Shame and Scandal of some of our Clergy, that this Day is antiquated, and the Anniversary-Service disused in several Places, and I mention it for no other Rea­son, but in hopes they may be speedily Re­form'd, or exemplarily Punished.

John Bunyan's second reserved Proof, is, p. 112. How will the Favourers of such a Practice, (i. e. Forms of Prayer) an­swer that Scripture, which commandeth the Church should turn away from such as have a Form of Godliness, but deny the Power thereof? 2 Tim. 3.5. and this he had urged before, p. 57. The great Cheat that the Devil and Anti­christ [Page 70]deludes the World withal, is to make them continue in the Form of any Du­ty, the Form of Preaching, of Hearing, of Praying, &c. These are they that have a Form of Godliness, but deny the Power, from such turn away.

But this Text also, tho' he repeats it, and puts false glosses upon it, makes nothing to his purpose, but rather against him; for, 1st. St. Paul does not here Condemn a Form of Godliness, having Commanded it a little before, in the very same Epistle, 2 Tim. 1.13. Hold fast the Form of sound Words, which thou hast heard of me: And surely the same Apostle who Commands us to hold fast, cannot be supposed so changeable, as to Command us to turn away from a Form of Godliness; that can never be the meaning of the Place, to make the same inspired Penman, to Write Contradictions in the same Epistle: When therefore he upbraids them, with having a Form of Godliness, it was only because it was separated from the Power thereof; i. e. they had put asunder those things which God would have united; as Almighty [Page 71]God upbraids the Jews with the Multi­tude of their Sacrifices, their vain Obla­tions, Incense, new Moons and Sabbaths, as if he did not require, but abominate them; and yet these things God himself had strictly enjoyn'd under great Pe­nalties; Isa. 1.11, 12, 13. But the Rea­son why he is there said to loath them, is, because their Hands were full of Blood, they did not bring these Sacrifices and Oblations, with such pure Hearts, and clean Hands, with which he command­ed them to be Offer'd at his Altar, ver. 15, 16, 17. Now this Author might with as much or more reason from these Texts infer, that God had forbid­den the Jewish People to Offer any Sacri­fice or Incense, to keep any new Moons or Sabbaths; as from the other Text to pretend that God forbids a Form of Godliness, whereas indeed nothing but the Abuse of these Religious Duties is reprehended in either place; and when St. Paul commands Timothy, 2 Epist. 3.5. (for this is spoken to him, to whom this Epistle was sent) to turn away from such, the Apostle gives him Di­rection [Page 72] what to do with such notorious Hypocrites, as had the Form of Godliness, but denyed the Power thereof; even to cast them out of all Christian Society, by the Censures of the Church, and so to with­draw from them, but not from the Form of Godliness, which was good still, and ne­ver the worse for these Mens abuse of it: Turn away from such Men, but not from such a Form: So that this Text like­wise (as all the rest he hath hitherto urged, if it has any respect to a Form of Prayer, as this Objector insinuates) is a good Argument for the Lawfulness of such a Form, and will justifie us in the use thereof, provided we let the Power of Godliness go along with it, and on this account St. Paul commands Ti­mothy, or the Church, (as this Man would have it) to hold fast that Form of sound Words, which he had heard of him; and in another place to the same purpose with this and the former, he says, 1 Tim. 6.3, 4, 5. If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome Words, even the Words of our Lord Je­sus Christ, and to the Doctrine which is [Page 73]according to Godliness, he is Proud, know­ing nothing, but doting about Questions, and strifes of Words; whereof cometh En­vy, Strife, Railings, evil Surmisings, per­verse Disputings of Men of corrupt Minds, and destitute of the Truth, supposing that Gain is Godliness, from such withdraw thy self; i. e. by passing the Sentence of Ex­communication upon them: Now do not all three places concern Jo. Bunyan and his Party, who teach otherwise, and who condemn that Form of sound Words, which Christ himself has taught us, and St. Paul commands us to hold fast? Are they not also Proud, false Accusers, Trayterous, Heady, High-minded, and plainly decipher'd under the black Character the Apostle there gives of such as reject that Form of sound Words, which is according to Godliness? And so we have hence also gain'd a­nother good Proof of the Lawfulness of the Common Prayer Book, as being a Form of Godliness, and containing a Form of sound and wholesome Words; and if we joyn the Power thereof with it, we may and ought to continue in the Devout use thereof, and never to Teach or [Page 74]Practise otherwise, for fear of falling under the black Character before given, and more at large set down in that Chapter.

CHAP. VII.

BUT our Author having had such bad Success in the choice of his Arguments against Forms of Prayer, which prove no such thing, but rather the Lawfulness of them, and the Ʋnlaw­fulness of their withdrawing from them for the sake of their extemporary Effusions; let us, in the next place, see what better Arguments he advances to make good his Pretences to Pray by the Spirit, and that such extemporary Prayers are com­manded in the Scriptures: As for his Text out of 1 Cor. 14, 15, which is the chief Proof he brings, it is no Proof for but against him, as I have already shewn in my first Chapter, and shall now far­ther make appear.

For, 1st. This is no Command but an Example, and that of an extraordinary and miraculous Nature, even by the Con­fession of our Adversary, St. Paul's Pray­ing with the Spirit being accompanyed with the Gift of Tongues, and therefore he says, ver. 18. I thank God, I speak with Tongues more than you all; so that unless Jo, Bunyan and his Party had the same miraculous Gift of Tongues, (which I presume they have not the Confidence to pretend to) they cannot urge St. Paul's Example for their pretences to Pray by the Spirit, having it not in the same ex­traordinary Measure which he had: They may as well pretend to Visions and Re­velations which were vouchsafed to that great Apostle in an high degree, he be­ing caught up into the third Heaven, and hearing there such Words as are not law­ful, i. e. not possible for a Man to utter, 2 Cor. 12.2, 3, 4. They may as well say, I have been caught up into Paradice, as I will Pray with the Spirit in the same manner that St. Paul did: But if these Words should (as I think they cannot) refer to the ordinary Gifts of the Spirit, [Page 76]then we may from them deduce, not only the Lawfulness, but necessity also, of using a Form of Prayer, (as I have be­fore observ'd) being so closely connected with the latter part of the first, I will Sing with the Spirit, and I will Sing with the Ʋnderstanding also: Now since all Christians make use of Forms in Sing­ing, or else the Congregation can never joyn with them; and when they do, they may Sing with the Spirit: What Reason can there be given, why they may not as well Pray by the Spirit, altho' they Pray according to set Forms which are before them? So that this is as unlucky a Text for his purpose, as the Author could possibly have lighted upon; for instead of concluding against Forms of Prayer, it is such a convincing Argument of the Lawfulness of them, as I believe neither be nor all his Party will ever be able to Answer.

His next Argument, is from Rom. 8.26. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our Infirmities, for we know not what we should Pray for as we ought, but the Spirt it self maketh Intercession for us, with Groan­ings [Page 77]that cannot be uttered; which he sets down in the Title-Page, and re­peats and flourishes with several times in his Book, and does thus Paraphrase up­on it, p. 29. Consider first, the Person speaking, even Paul, and in his Person all the Apostles; We Apostles, we extraor­dinary Officers, the wise Master Builders, that have some of us been caught up into Paradice; we know not what we should Pray for: And p. 31. The Apostles when they were at best, yea when the Ho­ly Ghost assisted them, yet then were they fain to come off with Sighs and Groans, fall­ing short of expressing their Mind, but with Sighs and Groans which cannot be uttered. A false and silly Paraphrase indeed; for first, When St. Paul says [We] or [I] we are not to understand it always as spoken of himself; but he takes upon him the Person of others, and sometimes such as are unregenerate, even after his own Conversion, as Rom. 7.8, 9.14.23.25. where he says, Sin wrought in me all manner of Concupiscence; Sin reviv'd and I dyed: I am carnal sold, under Sin; I see another Law in my Members, warring [Page 78]against the Law of my Mind, and bring­ing me into Captivity to the Law of Sin and Death; with my Flesh I serve the Law of Sin: All which Expressions by no means agree to St. Paul, who was Converted before this, being quite con­trary to the Nature of a Regenerate Man, who is said in other places of this Epi­stle, to be free from Sin, and the Servant of Righteousness, Rom. 6.18. That the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ, has made me free from the Law of Sin and Death, Rom. 8.2. That he has crucified the Flesh, with the Affections and Lusts, Gal. 5.24. That Sin does not Reign in his mortal Body, that he should obey it in the Lusts thereof, Rom. 6.12. So that unless we can twist Contradictions, we cannot suppose St. Paul to speak of himself, in that seventh Chapter, but only of a Ju­daising Christian, or a Convinced but not Converted Person, and nothing is more usual, than for Prophets and Apostles, to speak in the Person of others, when they say [I] or [We] did so or so; for we cannot suppose St. Paul and the rest of the Apostles, or indeed any sen­sible [Page 79]Christian so very Ignorant, as not to know to whom, and thro' whom, and for what to Pray; and therefore the, we know not &c. must have respect to other Men, and such as were Heathens and Unconverted, who had not before heard of Christ, or seen the Gospel, where there are Rules laid down, and those Dictated and written by the Holy Spirit, how they and all Men ought to Pray, even to our Father which is in Heaven, thro' his beloved Son Jesus Christ, for such Lawful things as are according to his Will: And when Men Pray thus, according to that excellent Form which Christ has prescribed, his Holy Spirit will also assist them with good Desires, so that they shall Heartily wish and long for those things for which they Pray, with submission to the Will of God; and thus the Spirit helpeth our Infirmities, in revealing to us the Holy Scriptures, where those that were Ignorant before, are taught how to Pray as they ought.

But our Author goes on with his Pa­raphrase, p. 30.31. The Apostles when they were at best, yea when they were assisted [Page 80]with the Holy Ghost, yet then they were fain to come off with Sighs and Groans, &c. Mark here, (says he) they could not so well and fully come off, in the man­ner of performing this Duty, as these in our Days think they can.

But is not this another good Argu­ment for Forms of Prayer, when the Apostles themselves stood in need of them, and therefore desired Christ to teach them such a Form as John had taught his Dis­ciples, Luke, 11.1. Lord teach us to Pray as John also taught his Disciples: And certainly they had need to be taught such a Form to help them out, if they were such Bunglers at Prayer as J. Bunyan represents them, viz. That they were not able to make an end of the Pray­er they had begun in the Congregation, but were forc'd to break off abruptly, perhaps in the midst thereof; which must needs cause Shame to themselves, and Disappointment and Confusion to the whole Assembly, which all their Sighs and Groans, would never be able to compensate; but no Man of Sense, can believe, the Apostles ever Prayed [Page 81]at this rate in the Church of God, where they command all things to be done Decently and in order, and to the Edifica­tion of the People, 1 Cor. 14.26.40. For, what Order, Decency, or Edifying is there in Sighs and Groans, which Hy­pocrites may utter, as well as Sincere Christians? And when either does it, who can tell the meaning of them? And may not a Man edifie as much by the Quakers Silent-meetings, as by such Sighs and Groans, which have no certain and determinate Signification as Words and Speeches have? And yet if we may be­lieve Jo. Bunyan, these were a good part of the Apostles Prayers, even in their publik Assemblies; but the Proof which he brings for it, is Simple and Ridiculous, viz. [For the Spirit it self, maketh Intercession for us, with Groanings which cannot be uttered] Whereas these are not the Groanings of the Apostles, or of any Man else upon the Face of the Earth, but the Groanings of the Holy-Ghost himself in Heaven, where toge­ther with the Lord Jesus, he maketh In­tercession for us, at the Right-hand of [Page 82]God, and that in a very fervent and powerful manner, which St. Paul calls his Groanings which cannot be uttered, and therefore can never be applyed to the Groan­ings of Men, which are always heard, and make a sound in their very utterance: So foolish and presumptuous is this Man in Expounding and Applying this Text; especially in endeavouring to prove from it, that the Holy Spirit does invent and dictate to us, the very words of Pray­er; for here are no Words at all proceed­ing from the Spirit, but only Groanings; How then can this place prove, that the Spirit suggests to us the Words of our Prayer, when he interceeds for us without Words, even with Groanings, (but pray mistake not) not with such Groanings as Jo. Bunyan and his Party makes, and may be heard in every corner of the House, and in the very Streets, but with Groanings that cannot be uttered: And that these are the inexpressible Desires of Christ and the Spirit of God in Heaven, is plain from Rom. 8.27. He that search­eth the Hearts, (i. e. Almighty God, whose Prerogative it is) knoweth what is the [Page 83]Mind of the Spirit, because he maketh In­tercession for the Saints according to the Will of God. So that this Text also, as all the rest, turns upon the Ob­jector, and proves, that the Spirit does not put Words into their Mouths, nor cause those Groanings, which are so loud and frequent in their Meetings; the Spi­rits Groanings here, being said to be with­out noise or sound, without utterance or expression; they are such as cannot be ut­tered: Whence I may well conclude, that Jo. Bunyan's extemporary Prayers, his dismal Groans, and those Fits and Agonies of the Spirit, which (he says) he was sometimes in, when he was strongly perswaded to leave off, and to seek the Lord no longer, p. 71. I may conclude, (I say) that this is a great Cheat of the Devil and Antichrist, by which he does delude and deceive the World, by which Men would perswade themselves and others, that they Pray with the Spirit, that they Preach with the Spirit, and Hear with the Spirit, even with the same extraordinary Spirit which St. Paul had, when there is no such thing, but they are rather possessed [Page 84]by an evil Spirit, which makes them think and speak so highly and vain-gloriously of themselves, and so contemptibly and uncha­ritably of others; their Mouth speaketh great swelling Words, having Mens Persons in admiration because of advantage: These be they that separate themselves, Sensual, having not the Spirit, Jud. ver. 16.19.

CHAP. VIII.

HAving said in the Conclusion of the former Chapter, that J. Bu­nyan and his Party, have not the Spirit to which they so much pretend, I come now to prove this Charge against them, from two substantial Arguments.

• 1st. Their Disobedience to their Lawful Superiours in Church and State: The Spirits of the Prophets, are Subject to the Prophets, 1 Cor. 14.32. And the Spirit of God, perswades and commands Men to Obey every Ordinance of Man, for the Lord's sake, and to be subject to our [Page 85]Civil and Ecclesiastical Governours, not only for Wrath, but also for Conscience sake, Rom. 13.5. 1 Pet. 2.13. But these Men by their causeless and sinful Separation from our Church, make a Schisme in it, as by their frequent re­sistance of our rightful Kings, they have made Rebellions in the State, a thing which the Apostles and primitive Christi­ans, were never guilty of, under the most bloody Persecutions, but always abhor'd it as contrary to the good Spirit of God.
• 2dly. The base Railing, and filthy Language, which this Author and his Party do aften bestow upon us; a brief account of which, I have before given, and shall now give an instance or two more of it, to fill up the Measure of his Iniquity, p. 44. speaking of Men that use Forms of Prayers, (by which with­out doubt he marks out us) he says; They in Person appear as Hypocrites, and their Prayers are an abomination; when they say, they have been pouring out their Souls unto God, he saith they have been Howling like Dogs, and for this he quotes Hos. 7.14. tho 'tis plain, he here adds [Page 86]to the Word of God, there being no men­tion of Dogs in that place, but only of the Children of Ephraims Howling upon their Beds; and this bold Man adds thereunto, like Dogs, to render us more odious in the application. But if we should take the same liberty, and say, that these Men in their Conventicles, Groan and Grunt like Hogs, and Snarl and Bark like Dogs, tho' they cannot Bite and Devour us, I believe they would Proclaim us for the most Wicked and Uncharitable People in the World: For this very Man, on the Score of our slighting his Praying by the Spirit, (as I think I have sufficiently prov'd we have Reason to do) breaks out into this strange and horrid Exclamation: Is it not the Mark of implacable Reprobates? O fearful! Can you not be content to be Damn'd for your Sins against the Law; but you must Sin against the Holy Ghost? Good God! That we should be accused of the Sin against the Holy Ghost, only for Vindicating his Honour, and exposing such Men as would father their Nonsense and Blasphemies upon him! But in Truth, [Page 87]'tis these are the Blasphemers of the Holy Spirit; 'tis these are the Corahs and Ba­laams of the Age, that Rebel against our Moses and Aaron, and Curse God's Peo­ple to their Face, even with bitter Words, and venemous Expressions, which shews them to be acted by the Instigation of another Spirit, even that of Satan and Antichrist, who are all for Railing and Reviling, but the good Spirit of God, is all for mild, gentle and charitable Speeches, Jud. 9. Michael the Arch-angel, when contend­ing with the Devil, he Disputed about the Body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing Accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. The good Spirit of God, where'er he rests, produces kind Thoughts, and charitable Expressions, both which, Jo. Bunyan is a Stranger to, as is evi­dent from p. 89. When Men Pray for a shew to be heard, and thought some body in Religion; there are two sorts of Men, that Pray to this end, 1st. Your Trencher-Chaplains, that thrust themselves into great Mens Families, pretending the Worship of God, when in truth, the great Business is their own Bellies, which were notably Paint­ed [Page 88]out by Ahab's Prophets, 1 K. 18. and also Nebuchadnezzar's Wise-men, Dan. 2. who, tho' they pretended great Devotion, yet their Lusts and their Bellies, were the great things aimed at by them in all their peices of Devotion.

Now can there be a greater Ʋncha­ritableness shewn, than is couch'd in these few Words? Wherein all the Chap­lains of great Men, without any exception, are represented as a Company of gorman­dizing Epicures, that make their Belly their God, and to be as bad as Ahab's false Prophets, which fed at Jezabel's Ta­ble, and as bad as Nebuchadnezzar's Magicians, who were initiated into the Black-Art, and in a solemn League and Covenant with the Devil: Good God! That a Man should publish to the World, such Base and Scandalous Re­flections, on some Divines, who, for ought he knows to the contrary, may be as good Christians and pious Persons as any in the Nation; But if they call the Master of the House Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his Houshold? Mat. 10.25.

May we not with more Truth, call this Author a Corner-Chaplain? That follows his poor Creatures, that are delud­ed by him, into every Corner of the House, and there makes them Groan most bitter­ly, or else he could not say as he does p. 73. I know 'tis thus with them; their Groans go up to Heaven, from every Cor­ner of the House; I know they do Groan, and that most bitterly: Of this sort are they, that creep into Houses, and lead Captive silly Women, laden with Sins; and that is enough to make them Groan indeed, 2 Tim. 3.6. But if this does not please him, he must be contented to enjoy the Title of Tinker Chaplain, as most agreeable to his old Trade, tho' af­ter all, for want of Charity, he proves to be but as sounding Brass, or a tinkling Cymbal.

CHAP. IX.

FOR a farther Proof that Jo. Buny­an's Pretences to the Spirit are vain, I shall produce his own Words in Evi­dence against him, where he advises Parents not to teach their Children to Pray by any Form, no not so much as the Lord's Prayer; and then being not of themselves able to Pray extempore, they must not Pray at all Evil Coun­cil indeed, and which never came from the good Spirit of God; it is p. 77.78. My Judgment is, (says he) that Men go the wrong Way, to learn their Children to Pray, in going about so soon to teach them a set company of Words, as is the common use of poor Creatures to do: For to me it seems to be a better way, for People betimes, to tell their Children what cursed Creatures they are, and how they are under the Wrath of God, by reason of original and actual Sin, as also to tell them the nature of Gods Wrath, and the duration of the Misery; which if they con­scientiously [Page 91]do, they would sooner learn their Children to Pray than they do.

But tho' this Author gives his Judg­ment, in the Style of St. Paul, yet does he shew by it, that he has not the Spirit of God, as St. Paul had; for that Apostle advises Parents thus, Ephes. 6.4. Ye Fathers provoke not your Children to Wrath; and to tell them, they are all cursed Creatures, in a damnable Condition, and obnoxious to Hell torments, which shall last for ever; one would think, were the ready way to provoke them to wrath indeed, but St. Paul says, provoke them not by any harsh Speeches at all, as these certainly are, which may sooner drive them to Despair, than perswade them to Pray; but (as he immediately sub­joyns) bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; and what can that import, but to teach them to say the Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Ten Com­mandments, which contain the Sum and Substance of the Christian Religion, even what we ought to believe and do, and how to Pray, in order to Salvation? But especially to teach our Children to [Page 92]Pray according to that perfect and com­pleat Form, which our Lord Jesus has taught us, and left upon Record in the Gospel, this is to Breed them up in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord; and not the next way to make them cursed Hypocrites, and puff them up with Pride, as our uncharitable Author says it will, p. 78. I am confident, to tell little Children of Hell-fire and Damnation, and their own Wretched and Miserable estate, (if they understand what we say) is the next way to cast them down into the Gulph of De­spair; and therefore our blessed Saviour took a quite contrary Course with them, Mark 10.14. Suffer little Children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven; and v. 15. Whosoever shall not receive the King­dom of God as a little Child, he shall not enter therein, and ver. 16. He took them up in his Arms, puts his Hands upon them, and Blessed them, which without doubt he did by some short Form of Prayer, and so by that taught little Children to Pray also: Our Lord Jesus to encourage little Children to be good betimes, says, [Page 93]of such is the Kingdom of Heaven, but J. Bunyan to discourage them, says, of such is the Kingdom of Hell. Christ pro­poses them as a Pattern of Meekness, Innocence, and Humility, Mat. 18.2, 3, 4, 5, 6. But John Bunyan ex­poses them as the Objects of Gods Wrath and Vengeance, and so many Brands of Hell-fire; and this he says, will make Tears run down your sweet Babes Eyes, and hearty Groans to flow from your Hearts, tho' any one else would imagine this would swallow them up with overmuch Grief, and sink their tender Spirits in­to downright Despair; and here I can­not chuse but take notice how much this Man is for Groaning, since he would have Children to learn it, instead of their Prayers; Why? according to his way of Expounding Scripture, Rom. 8.26. the Childrens Groanings may be as accept­able to God, as the best of our Prayers, for, (as I observ'd before, Chap. 7.) he says, The Apostles could not so well come off, in the manner of performing this Duty, &c. When the Holy Ghost assisted them, yet even then, they were [Page 94]fain to come off with Sighs and Groans, falling short of expressing their Minds, but with Sighs and Groans which cannot be utter'd. (But how then could they ex­press their Minds by them, if they were unutterable?) and cannot Children as well express their Minds this way as the very Apostles themselves, if they can but Groan lustily, as he supposes the other to have done? So that our Author has found out a new Way, to teach Chil­dren to Pray, as well as their ungifted Brethren, 'tis but for them to Groan well, and often, and loud, and the Work is done, and they may be said to Pray as well as the Apostles ever did; and this Groaning will save them the labour of Reading the Bible, or Learning any Catechism that has the Lord's Prayer in it: O poor sweet Babes! The Lord open your Eyes, and make you see, and shun the wicked and pernicious Counsel, of such groaning Hy­pocrites.

And I must farther observe, that J. Bunyan, does not in all his Advice here, put Parents upon Teaching their Chil­dren to Read the Holy Scriptures, tho' [Page 95]Timothy had done it from a Child, and St. Paul commends him for it, 2 Tim. 3.15. And I doubt, the true Reason why he does not mention the Reading their Bibles, is for fear they should meet with the Lord's Prayer in it, and so have a mind to learn by Heart, that excellent Form, which Christ himself has made, and enjoyned all his Disciples to use; yet p. 79. he Quotes a Passage out of Psalm. 34.11. which is this, Come ye Children, hearken unto me, and I will Teach you the fear of the Lord: Which after his silly way, he Paraphrases thus, David does not say, I will Nuzzle you up in a Form, but I will Teach you the fear of the Lord. Where, if the words refer to Children, and not Men, as they seem to do from the next Verse, ver. 12. What Man is he that desireth Life? Yet, 1st. Jo. Bunyan uses a Beastly Comparison, in calling our Teaching Children, a Form of Prayer, a Nuzzling them up in it; which is an Expression belonging to Hogs, whose young ones are said to be Nuzzled up by them; [Page 96]and 'tis a piece of Profane Wit, to compare the Teaching our Children God­ly Forms of Prayer, to the rearing up young Pigs; this is to offend and despise not only one, but all these little ones, tho' we are cautioned against it, at the Peril of our Souls; and least their An­gels Revenge the Contempt we throw up­on them: Mat. 18.6.10. Whoso shall offend one of these little ones which be­lieve in me, it were better that a Mil­stone were hanged about his Neck, and that he were Drowned in the depth of the Sea: Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in Heaven, their Angels do always behold the Face of my Father which is in heaven.

2dly. 'Tis plain, that David was for Educating Children in a Form, or else he had not kept the Commandment of the Lord, who required him to do it, as is evident from Deut. 6.6, 7. And these Words which I command thee this Day shall be in thine Heart, (which relates chiefly to the ten Command­ments [Page 97]mentioned in the 5th. Chapter) And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy Children; and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy House, and when thou walkest by the Way; and when thou lyest down, and when thou risest up: And Deut. 31.12.13. Gather the People to­gether, Men, Women, and Children, and the Stranger that is within thy Gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the Words of this Law: And, What was all this, but the Teach­ing their Children Forms? So that Da­vid himself, (according to this Fellows unseemly Comparison) did Nuzzle up Children in Forms, or else he had diso­beyed God, which required it; and the Teaching them such Forms, is here called, the Teaching them the fear of the Lord; so unhappy still is this Man, in urg­ing Texts of Scripture, that they all con­clude against him, and for that very thing against which he produceth them.

CHAP. X.

NOW after all, least any should censure me for speaking too light­ly of these Mens Groanings, and Pre­tences to Pray by the Spirit, I have this (which I presume will be thought suf­ficient by all Honest and Impartial Chri­stians) to offer in my Defence and ju­stification.

1st, That when I reflect on Jo. Bu­nyan's Groanings, I do it only to shew his false and absurd Interpretation of Rom. 8.26. where he misapplies the Groanings the Apostle there speaks of, to himself and other Men, which plain­ly belong to the Spirit of God, being such as cannot be heard or uttered; as the Groanings of Men are, and I do not hereby condemn the Sighs and Graans which good People out of a deep Sense of their Sins, and Sorrow for them, may, [Page 99]and often do utter in their Closet, De­votions, and private Ejaculations, which tho' none but God sees and hears, yet he approves and accepts them the better, and meerly for their being Sincere and Secret, he will one Day, Reward them openly, Mat. 6.4.6.18. but as for such Sighs and Groans, which are vented in the Congregation, (a thing constantly pra­ctised among the Quakers, as well as J. Bunyan and his Party, and other Dis­senters) we have no Precept or Example for them, either in the Old or New Testament. We read or hear of no such thing in all their Religious Assem­blies; and particularly those three great ones, wherein the Spirit of God assisted in a more extraordinary manner, than he has ever done since that time; I mean when the Apostles and Disciples, to the number of an Hundred and twen­ty met together, and Prayed to God to direct them in the choice of a Succes­sor to Judas; Acts 1.15.24. and when they were assembled on the Day of Pen­tecost, Acts 2.1. when Three thousand [Page 100]were Converted by St. Peter's Sermon, ver. 14.41. when the first great Council was assembled at Jerusalem, Act. 15.7.12. and when St. Paul Preached his farewel Sermon at Troas, continuing his Speech till Midnight, Acts 20.7. in all which places we read, that the People either kept Silence, or were sorrowful and pricked to the Heart, or else spake in diverse Tongues, the wonderful Works of God; but we do not find there was one Soul that Groan'd among them; which I the rather mention, because all these were wonderful Conversions, and extraor­dinary Effusions of the Holy Ghost; so little Authority from the Scripture, have any Dissenters for the frequent Groanings which are heard among them, in their respective Meetings; or for their making these Groanings, an infallible Mark of their having the Spirit of God; they are ra­ther sometimes a Mark of Hypocrisie; and that those that Delight and Pride themselves in them, do this (as the Scribes and Pharisees did of old) only to be heard and seen of Men; Mat. 23.2. [Page 101]And therefore whatsoever good Men may do in private between God and their own Souls, when none sees or hears but God alone; yet in publick, they are careful to avoid such loud and frequent Groans, at least to be very sparing in them, least instead of passing for Saints, they should be taken for vain-glorious Hypocrites.

2dly. As for my slighting J. Bunyans and the Dissenters Pretences to Pray by the Spirit, I must confess I do so in that Sense they intend it, who imagine and say, That the Holy Spirit Invents and Dictates all the Words of their Prayer unto them; which is to make Almighty God, to multiply Miracles without necessity, and to make also, the Words of their Prayer as True, Infallible, and Divine, as the very Words of Scrip­ture, being both equally Inspired by the Holy Ghost; a thing that has not been known since the Apostolick Age, and then, it was always accompanyed with the Gift of Tongues; and the different [Page 102]and contradictory Prayers of the Quakers Anabaptists, Independents, and Presbyte­rians, (who all confidently pretend to Pray thus by the Spirit, and yet Pray one a­gainst another) is a sufficient Confutation of it; for the Holy Spirit is one, and not contrary to himself; and all his Intercessions for the Saints, are to the same end, in the same manner, and according to the same good Will and Pleasure of Almighty God; but all this is Perform'd in a Secret, Invisible, and Ʋnutterable way; and so is the Assi­stance which he affords to good Men, e­ven by godly Motions, and holy Desires, which are kindled within them, and which they can only feel in their Hearts, but not hear with their Ears, or express with their Tongues; and such an Assistance of the Holy Spirit, our Common Prayer Book allows of, and teaches us to Pray for it; in the beginning of Morning and E­vening Service, after Confession of our Sins, the next Prayer (which is in Form of an Absolution) runs thus; Wherefore let us beseech him, to grant us true Re­pentance, [Page 103]and his Holy Spirit, that those things may please him, which we do at this present, and that the rest of our Life hereafter may be Pure and Holy, &c. Be­fore the repetition of the Ten Com­mandments, the Collect has these words in it, Cleanse the Thoughts of our Hearts by the Inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy Holy Name, &c. In the Litany, one of the Petitions is; That it may please thee to give to all thy Peo­ple, increase of Grace, to hear meekly thy Word, and to receive it with pure Affecti­on, and to bring forth the Fruits of the Spirit.

And 'tis worth our Observation, that what some are pleas'd to call the Gift of Prayer, is not mentioned among the Fruits of the Spirit, which are all par­ticularly set down, Gal. 5.22.23. as, Love, Joy, Peace, long Suffering, Gen­tleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Tem­perance; neither is it reckoned among the Gifts of the Spirit, which are re­counted, [Page 104] Isa. 11.2. as, Wisdom, Ʋn­derstanding, Counsel, Might, Knowledge, [Godliness] and the Fear of the Lord,; nor yet in, 1 Cor. 12.8, 9, 10. where they are plac'd in this Order; The Word of Wisdom, the Word of Knowledge, Faith, the Gifts of Healing, the working of Miracles, Prophecy, discerning of Spi­rits, divers kinds and Interpretation of Tongues; in both which places, there is no mention of the Gift of Prayer, tho' in one of them, there is of the Gift of Prophecy; and therefore these Mens Pretences to Pray by the Spirit, as a peculiar Gift of his, has no Foun­dation in Holy Scripture; indeed, for any to express themselves well on a sudden, and to Pray with variety and fluency of Words, is, and may be called a Gift of God; and so is Speech, Memory, and Invention, which nevertheless, are all common to good and bad Men, and capa­ble of being improved by industry and use, and more apt to Puff up than Edify, and to make such as have them, despise and decry all that use Forms, as Formal [Page 105]Superstitious and Graceless Men, that want the Life, Spirit, and Power of Prayer, and yet I doubt not, but many good Peo­ple can testify this by their own Experi­ence, that some notorious Hypocrites have this Gift of Prayer, and some devout and sincere Christians continue in the use of Forms, and reap the Comfort and Benefit of it: And 'tis farther observable, that all the Gifts of the Spirit enumerated by St. Paul, were of an extraordinary and miraculous Nature, as the Gift of Healing, diverse kinds of Tongues, work­ing Miracles; and the Faith there men­tioned among them, was not such as is ordinary and saving, even to believe that Jesus Christ is the true Messias and Saviour of the World; but it was a Faith of an extraordinary and miraculous Na­ture, even to believe that God would en­able them to Work the Miracle they were about to perform before the People; for the Apostles never attempted to work a Miracle, till they had this extraordi­dinary Faith wrought in them first, by some Divine impulse from the Spirit, [Page 106]which assured them, that they should certainly perform the Miracle they un­dertook; for had the Apostles at any time failed in such attempts, and set about a Miracle, which they were not able to work, it would have exposed them mightily to the World, and giv­en a great Blow to the Christian Re­ligion, and made them and it, to be looked on as an Imposture; and there­fore they had always first a strong and in­fallible Impulse upon their Minds, (which St. Paul calls also Faith) to assure them they could and should be able to work the Miracle before ever they attempt­ed to do it; but this and the other Gifts he there reckons up, were not ordinary and saving, which every good Christian may now hope for, but they were extraordinary and miraculous, as is farther evident from 1 Cor. 12.11. But all these worketh that one and the self­same Spirit, dividing to every Man se­verally as he will; i. e. no one Person had all these miraculous Gifts before mentioned, but they were variously di­stributed [Page 107]among them; one had this, a­nother had that, another a third, and so on, and they all ceased in that Age; which cannot be said of the saving Gifts and Graces of the Spirit, where he that has one in truth, has certainly all of them; as he that truely has saving Faith, has also Hope and Charity, Patience and Meekness in some measure; they being all knit together, as so many Links in the same Chain, that there can be no Sepa­ration made between them, and these shall never cease; and the not understanding and considering this, is the main Cause I doubt, that many in this Age, expect and pretend to those extraordinary and mi­raculous Gifts of the Spirit, which are long since ceased, as St. Paul declares they should, 1 Cor. 13.8.13. Charity ne­ver faileth; but whether there be Pro­phecies they shall fail, whether there be Tongues they shall cease; whether there be Knowledge it shall vanish away; and now abideth Faith, Hope, Charity, these three, but the greatest of these is Charity: But little or nothing of this, is to be found [Page 108]in all Jo. Bunyan's Book, which I have here Answered, as I believe any one will find, that does not think his La­bour lost to read it.