A Friendly Trial of the Grounds Tending to Separation, Chapter 7
CHAP. VII. The churches of God have both uſed and approved a ſtinted Liturgie.
THE Jews before the coming of our Saviour Chriſt uſed a preſcript form of prayer and praiſe or thanksgiving in the celebration of the paſſeover;6. Argum. See Paul. Burgenſ. in Pſal. 112. and that which they uſed was (as it is probable) approved of our Saviour Chriſt himſelf. Joſeph. Scalig. De emendat. tempor. l. 6. Beze Annot. ma…or. in Matth. 26. …0. Druſ. Praeterit. lib. 1. in Matth. 26. 30. Anſw. Annot. in Exod. 12. v. 8.The Chriſtian churches of ancient times, for the ſpace of this fourteen hundred yeares at leaſt, if not from the apoſtles times, have had their ſtinted Liturgies: and all reformed churches at this day do not onelyonly tolerate but approve, as very expedient,Muſcul. in Pſal. 95. Apparet hunc pſalmum eccleſiaſticae congregationi, praeſertim frequentiori, deſtinatum: qualis erat apud Judaeos die Sabba…. Moller. in Pſalm. 95. 1. Apparet autem ex verbo foreign, pſalmum hunc non in privatum uſum ſcriptum, ſed ſacris couventibus deſtinatum fuiſſe, quando populus frequens ad templum conveniebat. Fulc. in 1. Cor. 14. §. 12. It is not certain whether they had any ſet form of Liturgie… and if they had any, the ſame ought to have been in one tongue ordinarily. Fulc. 1. Cor. 11. §. 10. Petrus Diaconus and the reſt that were ſent from the Eaſt to Rome in their book to Fulgentius and other Biſhops of Africk, cap 8. do rehearſe a prayer of Baſils Liturgie, which they ſay almoſt the whole …aſt frequented. Theſe words, LIFT UP YOUR HEARTS, and, WE LIFT THEM UP UNTO THE LORD, were anciently in uſe, if not from the age of the apoſtles, Clem. lib. 8. Conſtitut. apoſt. cap. 16. a ſet form of prayer or Liturgie.
There is no mention from Moſes to Chriſt of any Liturgie deviſed by man:Object. 1. Which might not have been concealed,Copy of a Letter, p. 5, & 12. if it had been for the edification of the church to ſet up ſuch means of worſhip, as Liturgie read publickly for the prayers of the church.
That there was no preſcribed Liturgie particularly ordained and determined of God,Anſw. is freely confeſſed: but, that there was none in uſe, is not proved by the ſilence of the ſcripture. For the ſcripture was given to be the perfect rule of faith and manners; but ſetteth not down particular cuſtomes or obſervations, according to the generall rules of religion. To let paſſe many, take this one for inſtance, The ordinary reading of the Law in the aſſemblies upon the Sabbath is not commanded by Moſes either to the prieſts or Levites;Deut. 31. 9, 10, 11. no mention is found of any ſuch practice for a long time together:Act. 15. 21. We find not for a long time that the Jews had any ſynagogues for the ordinary aſſembling of the people;Pſal. 74. 8. and the Law could not be read in their ſynagogues untill they were built:Synagogas, id eſt, domo… conventuum ſacrorum, ubi legebatur lex, Piſc. ſcholas & ſynagogas, quae paſſim in u…bibus erant conſtitutae, Moll. Heriſbach. Will our brethren hence conclude, either that the ſcriptures were not read in the aſſemblies, or that it was a deviſe of man to reade them in their ſynagogues? It is not good to lay grounds for ſuch concluſions.
If Mr Ainſworths teſtimony be of any value,Object. 2. then mark what he teſtifieth from the famous Jew Maimonie (in Miſneh treatiſe of prayer) That the church of the Jews had no ſtinted Liturgie, Annot. on Deut. 6. 13. Our wiſe men have ſaid (ſaith Maim.) What ſervice is this with the heart? It is prayer. And there is no number of prayers by the Law, neither is there any ſet form of this by the Law, &c.
If Mr Ainſworth be not croſſe to himſelf,Anſw. he cannot deny the uſe of a ſtinted form amongſt the Jews in the celebration of the paſſeover; of a ſtinted form free and voluntary, not neceſſary, as preſcribed of God. And that which is here cited out of Maimonie is no way repugnant thereunto: For he ſpeaketh not of the paſſeover, or any obſervations in the celebration thereof; but of prayer, and that private by one alone, and not publick in the aſſembly or congregation. Now the Jews might well uſe a ſtinted form in the celebration of the paſſeover, when yet by the law there was no number ſet nor form preſcribed for private prayer. Theſe two may well agree.
After long ſearch no copy can be found of any ſtinted Liturgie in uſe among the Jews till they ceaſed to be the church of God:Object. 3. which is a poore and weak proof of the lawfulneſſe of a ſtinted Liturgie amongſt Chriſtians.
It followeth not,Anſw. that they never had or uſed a ſet form becauſe it is not to be found at this day: For many monuments of antiquity are periſhed. Again, though forms, which now are extant, were not entire as now they be untill they ceaſed to be a church; yet many things conteined in them might be in uſe before. So it is in the counterfeit Liturgies which goe under the name of James, Mark, Baſil, and Chryſoſtom: they contein many things which ſhew the whole compoſure to be late in compariſon, whereas divers things in them mentioned were of more ancient uſe in the church of God. And if this do not pleaſe, though there never was any ſtinted Liturgie or form of prayer to be uſed in all their ſynagogues and aſſemblies, yet that is no reaſon to queſtion the truth of that which the learned have obſerved touching the ſtinted form uſed in the celebration of the paſſeover, and the probabilities (at leaſt) they bring to ſhew that our Saviour Chriſt approved the ſame: which is all that is affirmed in the argument, and maketh more for the lawfulneſſe of a ſtinted form of Liturgie, then any thing that hath been objected, againſt it.
As for the reformed churches,Object. 4. Copie of a Letter, pag. 21. Shall I in your heat be preſſed with the multitude of churches? Greenwood pag. 17. then heare what the Lord ſaith, Thou ſhalt not follow a multitude, &c. we are not to conſider what they do, but what they ought to do.
It is moſt true:Anſw. but we muſt conſider wiſely, and not cenſure unadviſedly. The churches of God are companies of men called out of this world, in part onelyonly inlightned, ſubject to errour: they have erred, they may erre: their ſole teſtimony cannot be the ground of divine faith and aſſurance: Nevertheleſſe the conſtant judgement of the churches of God for many ages in a matter of this nature, in the times of reformation, when clouds and darkneſſe are expelled, when the ſunne is riſen, and great light given to the ſcriptures by the benefit of languages, tranſlations and commentaries; I ſay, the judgement of the churches at theſe times, and in a matter of this nature, is not lightly to be regarded. A man ſhould try and examine his grounds and reaſons and miſtruſt himſelf rather then ſo many wiſe, learned and godly ſweetly conſenting in a matter of this nature, unleſſe his evidence be very good. He had need be well adviſed before he charge them to maintein a worſhip not allowed, an idole-prayer for the ſpirituall worſhip of God, a ſtrange form of prayer, which was never approved, whereat a Chriſtian may not ſafely be preſent, againſt which he is bound to witneſſe. Be it that the churches do erre herein; yet I hope they be not obſtinate, and ſuch as will not give conſent to the truth when it is ſhewed and manifeſted: How cometh it then to paſſe that none of them hitherto have ſubſcribed to their opinion and practice? Either their arguments are not ſufficient to convince, and then their Separation is unjuſt; or they generally want eyes to ſee the light (for they will not ſay they want conſcience to acknowledge what they cannot but ſee) and then in meekneſſe they are to be born withall, if upon well tried grounds a man be aſſured, that they all, and not he himſelf, is in the errour. The teſtimony of the church then is not infallible; becauſe it may erre, and hath erred, and ſome members of it at this day do erre in the particular differences that be amongſt them: but yet the conſtant teſtimony of the whole church in the times of light and reformation is of great weight;Acts 15. 22, 28. otherwiſe the Apoſtles would never alledge the practice and conſent of churches,1. Cor. 11. 16. & 14. 33. to confirm the faithfull, and ſtop the mouthes of the contentious.
We muſt look to the primitive churches plantedObject. 5. by the apoſtles, who are patterns to them and us:Copy of a Letter, ibid. But the apoſtolick churches for many yeares had no ſuch Liturgie deviſed or impoſed: And therefore it is no ordinance of Chriſt, becauſe the churches may perfectly and entirely worſhip God without it with all the parts of holy and ſpirituall worſhip.Robinſon, Againſt Bern. pag. 474.
We freely confeſſe it to be no ordinance of Chriſt by ſpeciall inſtitution,Anſw. nor part of his worſhip: It ſufficeth, that it is allowable in the worſhip, and conſonant to the generall rules given in ſcripture, but not of abſolute neceſſitie. Whether any ſtinted forms of prayer were in uſe in the apoſtolick churches, is more then can be affirmed certainly or denyed. That the apoſtles preſcribed none as neceſſary, that is eaſily beleeved, becauſe no mention of it: That none was in uſe, our Divines will neither peremptorily affirm nor deny. But if that be granted, it is no prejudice to a ſtinted Liturgy, nor to the churches apoſtolick, who are to be our patterns.At the firſt preaching and publiſhing of the Goſpel certain barbarous nations received the faith of Chriſt, had neither books nor letters, Iren. lib. 3. Adverſ. …aer. cap. 4 Jewel, Againſt Hard. art. 15. div. 4. For it is more then probable, that many aſſemblies had not the ſcriptures read in a known tongue at their firſt planting: it is more then can be ſhewed by precedent or example, that they were read in any Chriſtian congregation. Some churches converted by the preaching of the Goſpel had neither books nor letters. It may be others received the book of the Old Teſtament from the apoſtles at their firſt converſion: but ſuddenly they could not be tranſlated into every language; and till they were tranſlated they could not be read in the congregation unto edifying. The books of the New Teſtament could not be delivered untill they were written: but they were not written all at once: and when they were all written, being ſent to ſeverall churches, it muſt be ſome time before they could be gathered together and tranſlated. And if nothing be allowable in the church but what was found in the primitive churches planted by the apoſtles by record of ſcripture, I fear the reading of the ſcriptures in a known tongue muſt be caſt out of the congregations. I go not about to equalize ſtinted Liturgies with ſet tranſlations of the holy ſcriptures:Arias Montan. in Iſa. 28. 20. but I would intreat ſuch as oppoſe a ſtinted Liturgie by theſe reaſons, to conſider whether they do not put weapons into the adverſaries hands to fight againſt the ſcriptures.Quae oratio ut clariùs exponatur, obſervationem poſtulat conſuetudinis Judaeorum, qui breves artes ſive catechiſmos conſcribere conſuevere: quibus tota Legis ſumma in ſexcenta & ſex praecepta breviter diviſa continebatur. Quorum libellorum exempla adhuc exſtant, Erat (ut videre etiam atque expetiri licebit) in libellis iſtis verbum frequens Tſau, quod non ratò apud Moſen invenitur. Hoc voluit Eſa. populum illum in nudis & brevibus atque jejunis elementis & rudimentis haerentem, &c. The Prophets and the Apoſtles are not found to preſcribe ſet words for the miniſter to teach, or the people to anſwer being examined, Ainſworth, pag. 238. See Calvin. Opuſc. Praefat. Catechiſm. Again, ſet forms of catechiſmes publick or private, compoſed by the miniſter or deviſed by others, uſed with liberty to adde or alter as occaſion requireth, are no more commanded of God then ſet forms of prayer, nor no more in uſe in the apoſtolick churches: Chriſt our Saviour, the Prophets or Apoſtles have no more appointed the one then the other: if all parts of holy and ſpirituall worſhip may be performed without a ſtinted Liturgie, they may be performed alſo without a ſtinted or ſet catechiſme: and if a ſet form of prayer muſt be diſallowed, a ſet form of catechiſme, publick or private, compoſed by the miniſter or deviſed by others, muſt be condemned alſo: But the antiquity, excellency and neceſſity of catechizing is known to them who are exerciſed in the building and governing of the houſe of God: the uſe and profit of a ſet form therein is both manifeſt by reaſon, and confirmed by experience, at home and abroad, in publick and private, to them who have laboured to lay the foundation of Chriſtian religion, and train up the people committed to their charge in ſound wiſdome and underſtanding. And in theſe things we ſwerve not from our pattern, becauſe we teach and profeſſe the ſame doctrine, and worſhip God with the ſame worſhip and ſubſtantiall means of worſhip that the primitive churches and Chriſtians did.
There is the ſame reaſon of reading the Apocrypha, Object. 6.books of Maccabees and thoſe that follow them in the congregation, and of reading a ſtinted form of Liturgie:See Robinſon, pag. 476. and the ſame reaſons that ſilence the Apocrypha will ſilence ſtinted prayers as well and as much.
When we prove the lawfulneſſe of a ſtinted form of prayer by the ſtinted forms of pſalmes and bleſſing mentioned in ſcripture,Anſw. it is thought anſwer ſufficient to ſay, There is great difference betwixt bleſſings or pſalmes and prayer: and yet here it is enough to match things unlike together, and to ſay of them without all proof, There is the ſame reaſon of both. But if it have any ſinews, it will ſilence the ſinging of pſalmes, ſermons, profeſſions of faith, and conceived prayer no leſſe then ſtinted, eſpecially the uſe of notes to help memory, and forms of catechiſme by whomſoever and howſoever uſed: For there is the ſame reaſon of reading and uttering by heart in the congregation. And if nothing but the canonicall ſcriptures muſt be read in the congregation, nothing muſt be uttered by heart or ſtrength of memory but the ſcriptures alone: But ſermons, profeſſions of faith, conceived prayer, are not canonicall ſcripture. The reaſon is one; and whatſoever can be anſwered truly in the one, will put the other to flight. If it be ſaid, That it is the prerogative of the ſcripture to be the rule of faith and manners, and therefore nothing is to be read in the congregation as the ground undoubted and immediate of faith and manners but the ſcripture alone; this openeth way for ſtinted prayer as well as for ſermons or conceived prayer. The ſubſtantiall means of worſhip both publick and private are determined of God. It is unlawfull to ſet up an image for worſhip either publick or private. The ſcripture muſt be acknowledged the ſole rule of faith and manners both in publick and private. It is unlawfull to deviſe ſacramentall ſignes in private as well as in the congregation. And if it be unlawfull to reade any other book in the congregation, becauſe the reading of the ſcripture is the onelyonly approved medium cultûs, by the ſame reaſon all forms of catechiſmes, and ſinging of pſalmes, and reading or uſe of ſtinted praiers in the family are unlawfull. And if the one be an image in the congregation the others are ſo in the family.Copy of a Letter, pag. 18. When the Lord had deviſed and appointed a perfume (ſaith the authour of the Letter) all men are forbidden to make a compoſition like that perfume, Exod. 30. 35, 37. So if it could be proved that Chriſt had made a form for the churches and believers alwayes when they pray, then the offering up of any other prayers, Mr Greenwood perceiving the weakneſſe of this objection, frameth it thus. No Apocrypha muſt be brought into the publick aſſemblies; for there onelyonly Gods word & lively voice of his own graces muſt be heard, Greenwood, pag. 10. But this limitation is groundleſſe, propounded without warrant of …ripture, and may be rejected as … deviſe. For the phraſe of ſpeech in …, prayer, profeſſions of faith, … of pſalmes is of man as well as in ſtinted prayers deviſed by others; and … may not be heard in the congregation, neither may the other be uttered or … moſt certain it is, that neither the one nor the other is to be received as the undoubted rule of faith or manners.made by others or of our own deviſing, would ſeem to be as unlawfull as the offering of ſtrange incenſe, Exod. 30. 9. Where it is implyed, that ſeeing God hath determined no certain form, therefore forms deviſed by men are not neceſſary, but lawfull. In the ſame manner they may be anſwered from their own grounds; That ſeeing God hath ſanctified and ſet apart the canonicall ſcriptures, given by immediate Divine inſpiration, to be the ſole and perfect rule of faith and manners, therefore the ſcripture alone muſt be read and acknowledged as the ſole ground of heavenly inſtruction: But ſeeing he hath determined no certain form of prayer or ſermons, profeſſions of faith, or thanksgiving, therefore either none at all muſt be made, or forms deviſed by men are lawfull to be heard in the congregation; yet not as immediate and undoubted grounds of faith, (for that is proper to the ſcripture) but as inſtructions and exhortations builded upon, or petitions framed according to the ſcripture, as preſent occaſion doth require. In ſermons who doth not put a difference betwixt the text whereupon the diſcourſe, inſtructions, exhortations, rebukes & comforts be grounded & deduced, & the exhortations, rebukes & comforts which are propounded in method & phraſe of ſpeech deviſed by men? The firſt is & ought to be canonicall ſcripture; the other not ſo. But it would argue great ignorance, if not perverſeneſſe, if a man ſhould cavill in this manner againſt the preaching of the word, That the ſcriptures alone are to be read in the congregation, therefore the miniſter of the Goſpel muſt ſimply reade the ſcripture, but never give the meaning, Concil Laodic. can. 59. Concil. Carthag. 3. can. 47.nor make application. In the Primitive church ſundry councels have forbidden the reading of any books as parts of Divine worſhip but canonicall ſcripture onelyonly of the Old and New Teſtament: Concil. Hippon. can. 38.but no councel ever condemned the uſe of a ſtinted Liturgie.See Jewel, Def. Apol part. 5. cap. 3. div. 10. Thoſe churches which forbad the reading of any books which be without the canon,Co…cil. Laodicen. can. 15, 16, 59. Concil. Carthag. 3. can. 23. did firſt receive a ſtinted form of prayer: and the councels themſelves take order touching the reading of the ſcripture, and the ſinging of pſalmes, and other things which pertein to a ſtinted Liturgie.Jewel, art. 3. dit. 2. So that thoſe Fathers & churches had not learned, that the ſame reaſons which ſilence the Apocrypha in the congregation will ſilence all ſtinted forms of Liturgie as well and as much.
As it were a ridiculous thing for a child,Object. 7. when he would ask of his father bread, &c. to reade it to him out of a paper: ſo it is for the children of God,Robinſon, Againſt Bern. pag. 475. eſpecially for the miniſters of the Goſpel in their publick miniſtrations, to reade unto God their requeſts for their own and the churches wants out of a ſervice-book, wherein they are ſtinted to words and ſyllables.
It is a common ſaying,Anſw. Similitudes agree not in all things; and a rule as generall, That to argue from a bare ſimilitude is the looſeſt kind of reaſoning: which may be applyed to cover or countenance any errour or abuſe whatſoever. Therefore this objection might well have been paſſed over (as it is omitted by the moſt that have written of this ſubject, that I have ſeen) but that colours and ſhadows do often take more with ſome then that which is ſubſtantiall. If a man would ſet himſelf to plead for ſuperſtitious abuſes and idolatrous practices, errours and unwritten traditions, is it not an eaſie matter by ſome ſimilitude to caſt a fair gloſſe upon them? And it is a ſtrange thing, that ſuch as with ſo much earneſtneſſe ſet themſelves againſt all humane inventions and deviſes in Gods worſhip, ſhould by their form of reaſoning open the floud-gates wide for all ſuperſtitious, idolatrous, antichriſtian deviſes and impieties, as this reaſon doth. I need not inſtance: every man that knoweth what is principally alledged in defenſe of any popiſh, vain, unprofitable, ſuperſtitious or idolatrous practice or cuſtome, or will take pains to look, muſt needs ſee this to be ſo. But to look upon the objection it ſelf; If a child being to ask many particulars of his father for himſelf and others ſhould write them in a paper for the help of memory or ſome other reaſon, and having committed them to memory as they are regiſtred in his paper, ſhould in that form of words digeſted and written down preſent his requeſts before his father without addition or alteration; what morall evil or incivility ſhould be committed in this caſe? why ſhould this be eſteemed a thing ridiculous? And if ſimilitudes do pleaſe ſo well, may we not ſay with more reaſon and upon better ground, That as a learned oratour being to make an oration in an honourable preſence about divers matters of weight and importance, will not onelyonly ſtudy and digeſt but penne his ſpeech, and deliver it word for word as it is contrived and penned; ſo the miniſter of the Lord of hoſts in his publick miniſtration is not onelyonly to conſider what requeſts he is to make to God in his own and the peoples behalf, but to digeſt them into fit method, and to penne or write them down, and to utter them in the congregation as he hath contrived them. Let the indifferent judge whether of theſe two be the moſt reaſonable.
Book-prayer is generally laid aſide in the families of beſt Chriſtians:Object. 8. And in all reformed churches generally the uſe of a book by every able and godly miniſter is left off;Rovinſ. ibid. and at home it is accounted and complained of as a burden by the better ſort of them that uſe it.
Many things are diſuſed,Anſw. and that by the beſt Chriſtians, which are not unlawfull. Where there be many wayes to the wood, ordinarily men may make choice of one or two, not diſallowing the other. It is lawfull for Chriſtians when they pray in their families, dayly to reade the ten commandments, the profeſſion of faith, &c. which is generally laid aſide without ſinne. Many things alſo may be decent in the congregation which are not ſo expedient and requiſite in the family. And in one congregation a thing may be lawfull and of uſe which is diſuſed in another without ſin, where yet it would not be unprofitable.Chryſoſt. hom. 3. in 2. ad Theſſ. Quand… enim qui lectutus eſt, ſurgens dicit, Haec DICIT DOMINUS; & diaconus … omnes indicto ſilentio compeſcit. The deacons in Chryſoſtomes and Baſils time uſed to call upon the people with theſe words, Oremus, Attendamus, Let us pray, Let us give eare. The deacon at the holy myſteries ſtood up and thus ſpake unto the people, Oremus pariter omnes. The manner was, that before every leſſon or chapter the miniſter ſhould ſay unto the people, Let us attend. If this cuſtome be diſuſed either in the congregation or Chriſtian families at this day, it doth not argue the thing it ſelf to be indecent or unprofitable.Chryſ. hom 3. in Epiſt. ad Ephel. Jewel. Def. art. 3. diviſ. 16. And if by Book-prayers all ſtinted forms, whether read or repeated by help of memory, be underſtood, they are not ſo generally rejected in the families of the beſt Chriſtians nor in the miniſtery of the moſt able and godly miniſters as the objection importeth.Chryſ. in Act. hom. 19. Stat miniſter, & communis miniſter, & altâ voce clamar. Poſt illam vocem incipit lector prophetiam Eſaiae. Iſidor. Hiſpalenſ. l. 1. De eccleſ. offic. c. 10. & l. 2. c …. St. Egèrton Practic. of Chriſt. Certain advertiſements touching prayer, &c. Synopſ. turior. Theolog. diſp. 3…. theſ. 33. Quaeri hîc ſoler, utrùm conceptis precationum formulis publicè aut privatim uti liceat. Nos, ſi modò cum debita animi attentione pronuncientur, non tantùm licitas ſed & valde utiles eſſe contendm us, quia novas foreign concipere cuivis Chriſtiano datum non eſt, & attentio auditorum in magnis conventibus per uſitatas formulas non parùm juvatur, &c. Imò Chriſtus ipſe in cruce pendens, deprecationis formâ, a Davide tanquam typo antea obſervatâ, uſus eſt, Matth. 27. 46. Let us heare the teſtimony of a godly, learned, and well experienced miniſter now at reſt with the Lord: When as, ſaith he, the queſtion is made by many of the lawfulneſſe or at leaſt of the expediency of praying by the help of a book, or of uſing a preſcript and ſet form of prayer, it is to be conſidered, that there be divers degrees and meaſures of gifts, both naturall (as wit, memory, utterance) as alſo of grace (as knowledge, faith, zeal) given to divers men; beſides that ſome have been more trained and exerciſed in this holy duty then others: Now they that are better gifted, either by nature or elſe by grace and cuſtome, may uſe the more liberty. Which difference I have obſerved not onelyonly in divers private Chriſtians, but alſo in ſome moſt reverend, faithfull and worthy miniſters; ſome uſing both in their publick miniſtery and in their private families a ſtinted prayer and ſet form of words, with little alteration at all, except ſome extraordinary occaſion have happend: and yet both ſorts ſo furniſhed with pietie and learning as I could hardly preferre one before the other. And a little after, For the publick congregation, for the moſt part it is expedient to keep a conſtant form both of matter and alſo of words; and yet without ſervile tying of our ſelves to words and ſyllables. If the judgement of reformed churches abroad, or of the godly, faithfull, learned and reverend at home, be of any weight, they are ſo farre from complaining of a ſtinted form as burdenſome, that in many caſes they judge it expedient. Raine, in 2. Tim. c. 1. verſ. 13. It is good to have a ſet form of doctrine. God gave this ſumme to Adam. The ſeed of the woman, &c. The ten commandments, the propheticall ſermons abbridged, Heb. 6. 1. They had the principles of the doctrine of Chriſt. And when religion was reſtored, new forms, inſtitutions, catechiſmes, were appointed in the church.A ſet form of prayer and adminiſtration of the ſacraments, not onelyonly deviſed by the miniſter himſelf, but agreed upon by the churches, is approved by generall conſent. Is there any reformed church eſtabliſhed which hath not their book of common prayer? The miniſters at home to whom the uſe of common prayer hath been thought moſt burdenſome,Concil. Laodit. can. 59. have from time to time profeſſed their liking and approbation of a ſtinted Liturgy;Concil. Carthagin 3. can. 23. That they like well enough of that councel that forbad vulgar pſalmes in the ſervice of God,Concil. Mil… vitan. can. 12. and thoſe forms of ſervice which are not antea probata in concilio, vcl cum prudentioribus collata, African. can. 70.leſt haply ſome things againſt faith, either through ignorance or want of conſideration, ſhould be compoſed; That they never ſought a razing of the communion-book, but a filing of it after the pattern of that care which former examples ſet them, wherein they thought ſome things reteined which might well have been ſpared:See Regers 7. They have evermore condemned voluntary Separation from the congregations and aſſemblies, Treatiſ. 3. treat. chap. 4.or negligent frequenting of thoſe publick prayers: They have ordinarily and conſtantly uſed the communion-book in their publick adminiſtrations; and ſtill mainteined unitie, peace and love with them who in ſome particulars have been of another judgement. All this is ſo notoriouſly known that it is waſt labour to produce teſtimonies herein. As for the reading of a ſtinted form, it may be it is not conſtant in all reformed churches, exacted of every miniſter at all times; but, that it is not uſed at all, is more then I can credit: and if they exact not the uſe of the ſame form continually, the thing it ſelf they greatly approve. If any man deſire an inſtance of their doings,See Zepper. De polit. eccleſ. lib. 2. cap. 4. Calvin. Opuſc. Precum eccleſi…ſt. formula. Beza in Cantic. Hom. 1. let him compare the prayer which Beza conſtantly uſed before and after ſermon with the Geneva-book of common prayer. And if they impoſe not their forms upon all congregations to be uſed of neceſſitie, but leave it free to uſe them or ſome other in ſubſtance one and the ſame; yet this is certain, they diſallow their opinion who condemn all ſtinted forms and Liturgies as vain, ſuperfluous, humane inventions, a ſtrange worſhip, and breach of the ſecond commandment.