A Defense of the Sabbath Day, Chapter 5 · Commentary · Section 3 · Testimony 1 – Testimony 6
1.
I will begine with that which M. Perkins reporteth, ſaying, The obſeruatiō of the Sabbath, was neglected of thoſe Churches which ſucceeded the Apoſtles, but afterwards, it was establiſhed by Chriſtian Emperours: his Author for it is Leo & Anton Edict, of Holy daies: Perk. in his firſt volume, vponupon the 4th com. pag. 48. by the word Sabbath M. Perkins vnderſtandeth the Lords day Sabbath: Now of this Lords day, he ſaith according to his author, that the Churches which ſucceded the Apoſtles, they neglected it vntill it vvas eſtabliſhed by Chriſtian Emperours; now theſe Churches, were the primitiue Churches, for they liued immediatly after the Apoſtles: & they liued in the neglect of the Lords day Sabbath, for about 300 yeeres after the daies of the Apoſtles; as is gatherable by this, that he ſaith, it was eſtabliſhed by Chriſtian Emperoures: now the firſt Emperour that eſtabliſhed the Lords day, was Constantine the greate, as ſaith Hoſp. Cap. 9. pag. 27. & this Conſtantine, liued aboute 300 yeers, after the Apoſtles: now for aſmuch as theſe Churches, liued about 300 yeeres without the Lords day Sabbath it followeth, that they all that time kept the 7th day Sabbath; vnleſſe we ſhall vncharitably cenſure them, to hauehave liued profanly without any Sabbath day all that while, which were abſurd to thinke: many Churches kept both Sabbaths together, to wit, the Sabbath day, and the Lords day, as you ſhall ſee by and by; now can it be thought, that ſome of the Primitiue Churches, ſhould be ſo zealouſe, as to keepe two daies, & other ſome ſo key could, as to keepe none at at all? wherefore, ſince theſe Churches kept not the Lords day, therefore it muſt follow, that they kept the Sabbath day: thus you ſee it followeth, that the Sabbath day was in vſe in the primitiue times, for about 300 yeeres after the Apoſtles: ſo then as the Apoſtles kept the Sabbath day, conſtantly, after Chriſts reſurrection; ſo the primitiue Churches that ſucceded next after the Apoſtles, they kept it for a matter of 300 yeeres longer.
2.
My next Teſtimony ſhall be out of the Centuries: where it is thus recorded, Romae conventus eccleſiasticos non fuiſse in Sabbato, quemadmodum in aliarum terrarum eccleſiis: Centur iiij. Cap. vj. pag. 477. de ritibus eccleſiae Romanae. The ſumme whereof is this, that There was no Eccleſiasticall or Church aſſemblies, vponupon the Sabbath day at Rome, as there was in other Churches. In which words, there is an oppoſition made, betwixt the Church of Rome, an other Churches (to wit, Chriſtian Churches) aboute keeping of the Sabbath day, now it is recorded, that there was no Church meetings, vponupon the Sabbathday, at Rome; but yet, there was Church aſſemblies, vponupon the Sabbath day in other Churches abrode in the world: ſo then by this Record, it is plaine, that the moſt Churches kept the Sabbath day, albeit Rome did not: and it is no maruaile, that Rome had learned of the Laodicean Counſaile, to reiect the yoke of Gods 4th com. with the firſt; & further', this Teſtimony was of what was done in theſe Churches, for 300 or 400 yeeres after Chriſt: ſo then you ſee that the Sabbath day, was obſerued in the moſt Churches 300 or 400 yeeres after Chriſt: & ſo much for this ſecond Teſtimony.
3.
My third Teſtimony ſhall be from an acte made by the Laodicean Counſaile in the yeere of Chriſt 364. Laodicenum Concilium celebratum circa annum 364 ſanxit: Non oportere Iudaizare Christianos, & in Sabbatho vacare, ſed potius operari in eadem die, Dominicam praeponendo Sabbatho: quod ſi inventi fuerint Sabbathum Judaeorum obſervantes, anahemate ibidem feriuntur. Hoſpin: de origin. Feſt. Chap. 9. pag. 27. The ſumme whereof is this; The Laodicean Counſaile held about the yeere 364 made a Law, that Chriſtianes ſhould not Judaize, & reſt vponupon the Sabbath day, but rather worke vponupon it; & that they ſhould praeferre the Lords day aboue the Sabbath day. And if ſo be any were found obſeruing the Iewes Sabbath, they ſhould be excommanciated or accurſed. By this Law then it appeareth, that the Sabbath day, was in vſe in thoſe times, for elſe this Law had bene made in vaine, which forbad Chriſtians to kepe the Sabbath day any more, vponupon paine of excommunication; for gouernes doe not enact Lawes againſt nothing. 2. Note, that as the Sabbath day was in vſe in thoſe times, ſo alſo it was in vſe amōgft Christianes: for this law as you ſee, was bent againſt the practiſe of Chriſtianes, forbidding Chriſtianes to keepe the Sabbath day; whereby we ſee, that in theſe times, the Sabbath day was honoured among Chriſtianes. 3. Note, that vntounto this time Chriſtianes did honour the Sabbath day with or aboue the Lords day: & this I gather from hence, becauſe this Counſaile ordeined, that for time to come, Chriſtianes ſhould preferre the Lords day before the Sabbath: now they neded not to hauehave made a law, to bind Chriſtiās, to preferre the Lords day before the Sabbath day, if they had done ſo before the making of this law; & this is a remarkabl thing, that in theſe times the Sabbath day was had in ſuch honour with Chriſtiās, as it was as highly, or rather more highly ſet by then the Lords day was. 4. Note the time; this Law was made 364. yeeres or there about after Chriſt: whereby we ſee, that the Sabbath day, was in vſe amongſt Chriſtianes, for nere 400 yeeres after Chriſt.
A digreſſion, by the way ſhewing 1. the Invalidity of this Laodicean Counſaile & Decree, made againſt the Lords Sabbaths. 2. The Originall of the Lords day Sabbath. 3. The time when, and the perſones by whom, the ancient Sabbath was firſt throwne downe.
Firſt of the firſt, that this Decree made againſt Gods Sabbaths, is not to be regarded or eſteemed, ſhall thus appeare, becauſe it was an vngodly act & decree: for they made a Law directly againſt Gods Law: for God ſaid, Remember the Sabbath day, to ſanctify it: but they decreed, that no Chriſtianes ſhould obſerue the Sabbath… day, to ſanctify it: and therefore this Counſaile, was guilty of that brand of that wicked one, Prophecied of by Daniel, Who ſhould ſpeake words againſt the moſt high, and thinke that he may change times & Lawes. Dan. 7.25. Now this Counſaile, did here change times, to wit, ſacred times, ſanctified of God, the Sabbath day; and decreed, that this time ſhould now be profaned, & men, yea Chriſtians ſhould profane it by working on it: & further, they changed this day for an other day, to wit, the Lords day, caſting downe ſinfully the Sabbath day, & ſetting vp in its roome, and preferring aboue it ſuperſtitiouſly the Lords day.
And as this decree againſt the Lords Sabbaths, was vngodly in them, ſo was it Schiſmaticall alſo: for they now begane not onelyonly to decline from ancient purity, but alſo to rend Chureches, and to diuide betwixt Church and Church, Chriſtianes & Chriſtianes: for other Churches which liued about their time, & together with them, kept that ancient ordinance of Gods Sabbath, as we hauehave proued already out of Perkines, and out of the Centuries, and as you may perceiue by thoſe Teſtimonies which you ſhall ſee by & by; and other Chriſtanes, kept the Sabbath alſo, euen among themſelues; as appeareth by their law inacted againſt Chriſtians, for keeping the Sabbath day; thus it appeareth, they rent themſelues, both from thoſe other Churches liuing then with them, and from Chriſtianes then in their owne Church alſo: You ſhall ſee by and by alſo, how this Counſaile, hath made a rent from the Churches, whereof thoſe famouſe lights Athanaſiius & Ignatius were Biſhopes, & which liued before this Counſaile, & therby you ſhall perceiue, how they hauehave made a Schiſme & rent alſo, from the moſt ancient and pureſt Churches, that liued before them.
Neither is any man to wonder at this, for if we conſider what was Prophecied of this Church of Laodicea, whereof this Counſaile hath its name, we can expect no better from it: for of all the 7 Churches, which Iohn wrote vntounto in his Reuelation, this of Laodicea, it was the worſt: and therefore ſaith Chriſt, becauſe thou art luke warme, & neither could nor hote, it ſhall come to paſſe, that I will ſpue thee out of my mouth Reuel. 3.16. Chriſt here forteld them, that it ſhould come to paſſe, that he would ſpue them out of his mouth, as moſt loathſome vntounto him; and thinke you that they did not well deſerue it at this time; when they begane to make a Schiſme & rent from other the Churches of Chriſt, and to change Gods time: and to enact lawes againſt Gods Law? conſidering therefore, what an vnzealouſe Church, Chriſt foretould this Laodicean Church ſhould be, it therefore is not to be regarded, what they decreed againſt Gods Sabbaths.
Yet further, if we ſhall note the time wherein this Counſaile liued, and made this decree, their decree will grow more ſuſpitiouſe, and leſſe to be regarded: for it was 364 yeeres after Chriſt; about which time, begane the Myſterie of iniquity to worke: for the purity of the primitiue Churches, begane to decline and be Ecclipſed then, & ſuperſtition & popery, begane to inſinuate it ſelfe, and creepe into the Churches: for thoſe pure Churches of the primitiue times, are compared to a riuer, the which the further off it runneth from the ſpring heade, the more filth it gathereth, & ſo it was with theſe Churches: for, as you may reade in Perkins his Demonſtration of the probleme, about the 300 and 400 yeeres after Chriſt, then begane Images to creepe into Churches, The Croſſe to be adored, Invocation of Saints, prayers for the dead, Pilgrimage, Purgatory, Single life of Miniſters, Monkery, & Monaſticall profeſſion &c. Till at laſt they had corrupted the ſecond commandement by Images, Cruciſixes, and the breaden god: now what maruaile, that they had alſo corrupted the 4th com. and aboliſhed the Lords Sabbaths, when thoſe times had corrupted the ſecond commandement? wherefore their decree made neere 400 yeers after Chriſt, is to be ſuſpected, becauſe then was the time of the Churches declining and faleing away, from their former purity.
A ſecond thing to be obſerued by the way, from the decree of this Counſaile, is to note the Originall and firſt vpſpringing, of our new Sabbath, caled the Lords day, as a ſole Sabbath, and generally receiued; The pite out of which it was digged, is the Laodicean Counſaile; the Antiquity that can be alleaged for it, it is no higher thë 364 yeeres after Chriſt; for, 1. vntill about the time of this counſaile, & ſince hitherto, this Lords day was neuer generally receiued in the Chriſtian Churches, for the Churches whereof Perkins ſpeaketh, wich liued immediatly after the apoſtles, they neglected the Lords day, for a matter of 300 yeers, vntill Chriſtian Emperours eſtabliſhed it; it is true, that Conſtantine enacted a Law for the generallobſeruatiō of the Lords day, which was 300 yeeres after Chriſt, and ſo a matter of 64 yeeres before this Counſaile; but in Conſtantines time, the Lords day was not kept as a ſole Sabbath; for the Sabbath day was then kept alſo, as by & by we ſhall proue by Athanaſius who liued in Conſtantines time. 2. Vntill the time of this Counſaile, and ſince, the Lords day was neuer receiued and kept for a ſole Sabbath, as now it is: for before the time of this Counſaile, the Sabbath day, and the Lords day, were both kept together, in many Chuches, as you ſhall ſee by thoſe Teſtimonies which by & by I ſhall produce, out of Socrates, and from Jgnatius, but now, at the time of this Counſaile, begane the Sabbath day to be reiected, and alſo the Lords day, to be ſet vp as the ſole Sabbath without any other: and now the Lords day muſt forſooth be preferred before the Sabbath day: and ſo you ſee the firſt Originall of our Lords day Sabbath, to be a ſole Sabbath, was this Counſaile of Laodicea.
The third and laſt thing to be obſerued is, that here we take knowledge, of the perſones by whom, the Lords Sabbaths were firſt throwne downe, and of the time when they were firſt throwne downe. The perſōes that did commit this horriblefact they were that lukewarme people of the Church of, Laodicea: none others durſt attempt to change Gods times, & to make a ſacred time become a profane time but theſe: the time when, it was in that declined time, to wit, 364 yeeres after Chriſt: the former times, which were the more pure times, they durſt not lay violent hands of Gods ordinance: thus we ſee when, & by whom Gods Sacred Sabbaths were rooted out of the Church. Thus my digreſſion finiſhed, I returne whence I came.
4.
My fourth Teſtimony ſhall be the words of M. Perkins, and Doctour Prideanx, & M. Brerewood; For M. Perkins, he moueth a queſtion, to know who changed the Iewes Sabbath? And then his anſwer is this, It is commonly thought (ſaith hee) that the Iews Sabbath, was changed into this Lords day, by Chriſtian Emperours, long after the Aſcention of Chriſt. Perk. in his Expoſition vponupon the firſt Chapter of the Reuelation; and verſe the 10th. In which words M. Perkins doth deliuer, though not his owne, yet the common opinion and iudgment of others: now the common opinion is (ſaith hee) that the Iewes Sabbath was changed, long after Chriſt his Aſcention; and that by Chriſtian Emperours: ſo then, it is the common opinion, that the Sabbath day laſted in the Churches, a long time after Chriſt his Aſcention; euen 300. yeers.
For Doctour Prideaux, ſaieth he in his worke vponupon the Sabbath pag: 140, Annon Sabbathum Iudaeorum oum Iudaeis, ſine ſcrupulo & murmure obſeruarunt Apoſtoli? caetus in Sabbatho coactos libentiſsime instituerunt? Annon inſequens Eccleſia, tam Sabbathum hoc, quam diem Dominicum per aliquot annorum decurſum ſacris conventibus diſtinauit? Notiora ſunt ista quam vt probatione indigeant. The ſumme whereof is this, did not the Apoſtles (ſaith hee) obſerue the Iewes Sabbath, with the Iewes, without the least ſcruple making? & did they not most willingly appoint aſsemblies on the Sabbath day? and did not the Church which followed them, appoint both the Sabbath day & the Lords day, for holy aſsemblies, for diverſe yeeres? theſe things are ſo well knowne that they need not to be proued. By whoſe Teſtimony, you ſee, that the Churches which followed the Apoſtles, they obſerued and kept the Sabbath day, for diuerſe yeeres: & this is ſo plaine by Hiſtory, that it needeth not any quotations or profe.
For M. Brerewood, Profeſſor in Greſham College in London, in his Treatiſe of the Sabbath day, againſt M, Byſield pag. 77. thus writeth: And little doe you know (ſaith hee) of the ancient condition of the Church if you know it not, that the ancient Sabbath, did remaine & was obſerned, together with the Lords day, by the Chriſtians of the Easterne Church, aboue 300 yeers after Chriſts death &c. And againe, The Sabbath of the 7th day, was religiouſly obſerued in the East Church, 300 yeeres & more, after our Sauiours paſſion. That Church being a greate parte of Christendome. Thus by the iudgement of thoſe who are well ſeene into the Hiſtories of the Church, it is a plaine caſe, that the Sabbath day, was religiouſly obſerued, and that by Chrïſtians, for more then 300 yeeres after Chriſt.
5.
My fifth Teſtimony ſhall be that recorded by Zanchie out of Sozomen, the ſumme whereof is this, That thoſe of Conſtantinople, & almoſt all others hauehave Eccleſiaſticall Aſſemblies, to heare Gods word, on the Sabbath day, & on the Lords day. Zanchie vponupon the 4th com. Theſ. 1. Here you ſee, that not onelyonly at Conſtantinople they kept the Sabbath day, but alſo, almoſt in all other Churches, the Sabbath was kept.
6.
My ſixth Teſtimony ſhall be out of Socrates, the ſumme whereof is this. Aſſemblies were wonte to be in the Churches, eueryevery weeke, vponupon the Sabbath day, & vponupon the Lords day. Socrat. Chap. 8. lib. 6. & againe, At Ceſarea, Cappadocia, & in Ciprio, vponupon the Sabbath day, & vponupon the Lords day, the Preſbiters & Biſhopes did euermore interpret & expound the Sciptures. Socrat. Cap. 21. lib. 6. here you ſee, a weekly obſeruation of the Sabbath day; & a conſtant practiſe of Preſbiters and Biſhopes, to expound the holy Scriptures vponupon the Sabbath day.
But before I proceed any further, it ſhall not be amiſſe, to anſwer a doubt, that may riſe in the minds of ſome that reade theſe Antiquities: may they ſay, what did the primitiue Churches keepe two Sabbath daies eueryevery weeke? for it ſeemeth ſo; becauſe they kept both the Sabbath day, and the Lords day. For anſwer hereto, we muſt know, that howbeit they kept two daies, yet it is not to be thought, that they kept them both for Sabbath daies, reſting from labour all day long, according to the 4th com. for, 1. This were more then euer God required in his morall Law, to reſt two daies in Seauen. 2. Jgnatius put a difference betwixt the Sabbath day, and the Lords day, as betwene the King and the Quene: for he caled (as you ſhall ſee by & by) the Lords day, the quene of daies, hereby intimating, that the Sabbath day whereof he ſpake alſo in that place, was the King of daies. 3. The Chriſtianes, againſt whom the Laodicean Counſaile, enacted that law foreſpoken of, they honoured the Sabbath day aboue the Lords day, as there we ſhewed. 4. Many Churches of Chriſtianes, they kept not the Lords day at all for 300 yeeres together, as we hauehave ſhowne out of Perkines. 5. In Cōſtantines time he gaue leaue for men to goe to plough, and other workes of huſbandry on the Lords day, as elſe where we hauehave ſhowne: by all which it is more then manifeſt, that the primitiue Curches, though they kept the Lords day, yet they kept it not for a Sabbath day, or like the Sabbath day, but rather much like as we now keepe a common Holy day, or a lecture day, wherin we come to Church & heare the word of God, but we keepe not the whole day, in a reſt from laboures & in conſcience of the 4th com. thus you ſee, albeit they kept two daies in a weeke, yet but one onelyonly was kept for their Sabbath, the other was kept lightly and partially: they kept theſe two daies in a weeke then, much like as we now kepe the Lords day, and ſome light Holy day; or the Lords day & a Eecture day, when they fall both in one weeke.