Brotherly Persuasion to Unity and Uniformity, Tract · Chapter 9
CHAP. 9. Touching the practiſe of the orders in the booke of reading of the Scriptures Canonicall.
THough by a rubricke in the tract of the Communion, we be directed to read Homilies, yet ſeeing that concernes onelyonly ſuch as cannot or will not then preach: and none ſuch (for any thing that I heare) refuſe to yeeld the vrged conformitie, we may (whiles we are in hand only with this point) omit ſaying any thing of them, reſeruing that which we hauehave to ſay thereof, vntill we come to the other point, touching ſubſcription, within the compaſſe whereof the allowance of the reading of them indeed comes, not onelyonly by meanes of that rubricke, but alſo by vertue of the 35 article in the book of articles. The things therefore that now only we hauehave to conſider, are the exceptions that the refuſers of conformitie make againſt the order that the booke appoints, firſt for the reading of the Scriptures Canonicall or Apocrypha, and then againſt other things ſet downe in the ſame to be read, in the formall vſe and practiſe thereof, in all which I will ſtriue by how much I hauehave bene longer then I had thought I ſhould, in the former, by ſo much to be the briefer. In the order appointed by the booke touching the reading of the Canonicall Scripture, three things are miſliked, namely that thereby a great part thereof is not appointed to be read at all, that ſome portions therof are appointed to be read at ſuch times as they are, as namely the Epistles and Goſpels the firſt day and Sonday of Lent, the Epiſtle on Innocents day, and the Epiſtles on Eaſter eue and Michaels day, & laſtly that the portions of ſcripture inſerted into the booke, and the Pſalter annexed thereunto, are ſo preſcribed thereby to be read as they are, wherein yet there are many knowne faults that by no meanes can ſtand with the ſame Scriptures in the originall tongues wherein they were firſt written. The firſt, whereof is prooued to be a great fault, for that it is a kinde or taking from the word, and forbid, Reuel. 22. and a depriuing the people of one good meanes the better to enable them to ſearch them: and ſo is the ſecond ſaid to be, for that by the preciſe appointing them at thoſe times, the people are occaſioned to miſtake and to miſunderſtand them, and likewiſe is the third, for that ſo there is falſe witneſſe borne both againſt the ſcriptures, and the ſpirit of God the authour thereof, as to hauehave ſaid and meant that there, which they neuer did. But to the firſt of theſe, for any thing that I can gather out of the 14 Canon (for by the ſtatute made at the firſt, Eliz. 1. to eſtabliſh the booke, aſwell all addition, detraction, or alteration thereof, in the vſe and practiſe of it was forbid as it is now by that Canon) it may as well now as before, and indeed both before and now truely and iuſtly bee ſaid that no ſuch inconuenience neede ariſe by that order, for that no miniſter eyther by the booke, or by any other ordinance of our Church, is … forbid, ouer and aboue thoſe that are appointed (being allowed to be a Preacher) to read any or all of thoſe that are not, at ſuch times as he ſhall thinke good, with expoſition thereof, and ſure I am, I myſelfe hauehave ſo done, and in ful perſwaſion that therin I hauehave done nothing againſt order therin taken eyther before or now. For doubt leſſe any man may iuſtly think that by our Churches order they were onley ſo left out as they are, in that they were not thought ſo lightſome and eaſie to be vnderſtood as the other, that are appointed to be read, being but barely read without expoſition and interpretation: and in the meane time none that can, are forbid to read, and ſtudie them priuately: But if they were by the Kalender aſwell appointed as the other orderly to bee read, yet in that in pariſh Churches the people com not together, but vponupon few daies in the weeke, they might miſſe the hearing of moſt of them aſwell then as now. And as for the ſecond, the inconuenience imagined to ariſe therby, eueryevery miniſter that makes ſcruple at conformity, being a Preacher as commonly and generally he is, that likewiſe he in reading of thoſe Scriptures at thoſe ſet times by ſoundly interpreting them, and preaching thereupon, which the booke no where nor any other Canon forbids him, may preuent. And touching the laſt I hope ſhortly all occaſion of that obiection will be remoued when the new tranſlation by his Maieſties moſt Chriſtian and Princely order in hand, ſhall be finiſhed, and authoriſed as the onelyonly authenticall tranſlation to be vſed in our Churches: and in the meane time I am perſwaded that no Biſhop in this land, will denie any miniſter (that can and will in peace and quietneſſe vſe that his liberty) to read all the foreſaid Scriptures, in the booke according to the great Bible by order alreadie from themſelues appointed to be in Churches, that we may read the Chapters out of it: for though we may find that the Booke appointes Epiſtles & Goſpels, Chapters and Pſalmes to be read, yet no where ſhall we finde there eyther that they are ſaid to be any part of the Booke, (and therefore they were left out in the latine tranſlation thereof) or that it ties or bindes vsus to any one certaine tranſlation for the ſame. But if it expreſſly did, may we iuſtly thinke that it is contrarie to the word, to read the Scriptures to the common people, in a tranſlation that hath ſuch faults, as the originalls thereof rightly vnderſtood ſometimes will not beare? Doubtleſſe then I feare (in faith and aſſurance in our conſciences that wee doe alwaies well therein) we ſhall neuer allow them to read, or to hauehave read vntounto them the Scriptures in any tranſlation at all: for when can we be certaine that any tranſlation is free from all ſuch faults? vnleſſe therefore with the Papiſts we would debarre them from hauing and hearing the Scriptures at all in the vulgar tongues, we muſt be contented that they read and hauehave them read vntounto them in tranſlations that (happily when we hauehave all done) may hauehave ſome ſuch faults. And this is it, that both they and we muſt content our ſelues withall in this caſe, firſt that the faultes be ſuch, which though they ſtand not full with the originall, yet they import not any errour againſt any neceſſarie truth elſewhere taught in the ſcriptures, of which kind (for any thing that I can remember) amongſt all the faults noted in the foreſaid inſerted Scriptures, in the booke there is not one: and then that thoſe faults are not ſo defended by our Church to be no faults, but that alwaies it hath beene permitted the godly learned miniſters in preaching of any of the ſaid Scriptures, in a wiſe and diſcreet manner, notwithſtanding, to acquaint the people with the ſenſe moſt agreeable with the original: yea we ſee moſt of the ſame faults corrected and amended alreadie in the foreſaid great Bible, commonly called the Biſhops Bible: and now againe, that that whole tranſlation and others are to be examined and ſo all faults that hauehave paſt in any hertofore (as far as the learning and diligence of man can reach vntounto) are to be reformed, all which duely conſidered I hope may ſerue to anſwere theſe obiections.